Jefferson County commissioners hear of agency changes
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STEUBENVILLE -- Officials with the Jefferson County Board of Developmental Disabilities said Thursday they had to make a "fundamental change" in the way the agency's bus drivers are paid to get them to full staff.
Mike Zinno, director of the board, told commissioners he was down to just two drivers. To attract two more, Zinno said they're making drivers "permanent part-time" employees and paying them $25 an hour.
"We're going to a permanent part-time situation of paying at a higher hourly rate and no benefits," he said.
Zinno said the union members currently on the job agreed, as did the BDD board. Commissioners gave the deal their seal of approval after a brief closed-door meeting with Zinno
"I think they looked at the problem of getting the employees they need and they made some significant changes to do it," Commissioner Dave Maple said after the meeting. "They recognize today, the way it operates, vs. the way maybe they operated 15 or 20 years ago."
Zinno pointed out public school districts are grappling with the same driver shortage, and feels fortunate that the board's contract change "brought two (drivers) out of the woodwork that we're training right now."
"We were down to two drivers. We probably need three or four, so with this union contract, with changing the pay structure, two people already came up and said, 'train me,'" he said.
Commissioners, meanwhile, said they'll kick off their 2024 budget hearings Wednesday.
While the budget projections for 2024 haven't been submitted, Maple said the auditor's office reports "everybody's been on pace with this year's budget -- nobody's (departmental) budget is out of whack with spending so far."
Commissioners haven't seen the departmental spending proposals yet, but Maple said he doesn't foresee any problems.
"Once the department heads come in and we go through their actual needs, unless there's some significant program changing departments, which I don't think there is, I don't think we'll see any big surprises," he said. "Now, next year is an election year, so one we'll have to keep an eye on, probably, will be the board of elections. But everything else seems to be in line."
Commissioners also authorized the Ohio Regional Development Corp. to apply for a Project Year 2023 Lead Safe Ohio Allocation grant for Jefferson County and administer any grant funds that are awarded.
Regional Planning Commission Director Betty Lou Tarr said $1,323,000 has been made available for lead abatement services, including window and door replacement in residential properties, congregate care settings and childcare facilities built after 1978.
Maple pointed out that $1.323 million "is a big chunk compared to (what) a lot of other counties (received.)"
"We're not sure of all the details yet," Maple said. "But right now, there's been more than a million dollars targeted for Jefferson County. The amount of money we've spent over the years on lead abatement hasn't come close to that."
Commissioner Eric Timmons pointed out lead in homes "is a huge problem in other parts of the country -- there's no reason to think it's not here."
Maple said it "could be an opportunity for somebody who has an old house that probably has lead in it to have some abatement done."
With the resolution approved, Tarr said the next step will be for the development corporation to "apply for it" on Jefferson County's behalf.
Also Thursday, commissioners:
• Were told the county Road 26 (Fernwood Road/Dogtown Hill) slip repairs begin Monday. The road is closed "until further notice," the county engineer's office reports.
"It's one of the biggest slips I've ever seen," Construction Engineer Eric Hilty said, adding the contractor expects the work to be done by Thanksgiving. "I really hope they can make it happen. We're already getting a lot of calls, plus we'll be going into winter weather."
• Acting on the engineer's recommendations, adopted a resolution supporting speed limit reductions for specific sections of county Roads 10 and 56 and requesting approval from the Ohio Department of Transportation. Hilty said speed studies done on those "indicate the speed limits should be lowered." They recommended a 10-mph reduction on the affected section of county Road 10 and a 15-mph reduction on the designated section of county Road 56.
• Approved a roadway use and maintenance agreement with Jefferson Gathering Co. LLC, which has projects in Steubenville and Wells townships, for county Road 19 and township Road 167
• Authorized Sheriff Fred Abdalla Jr. to purchase three cruisers from TEAM Automotive, the lone bidder.
• Reappointed Ed Looman to the Eastern Ohio Development Alliance board of directors.
• Accepted Timmons' recommendation to hire Kylee Baker, a Cadiz resident, as part-time pound keeper.