CHANGES — Jefferson County Commissioners look over the new E911 final plan. Director Rob Herrington said under the new guidelines, commissioners will serve as the review authority. -- Linda Harris

STEUBENVILLE — The Jefferson County Commissioners approved plans for a new online application and approval process for the county engineer’s special hauling, utility and driveway permitting system.

Construction Engineer Eric Hilty told commissioners the new system, which will cost $4,500 a year for hosting, maintenance and support services, “will help to streamline our permitting process and allow our office to track, approve and document issued permits for highway use.”

Hilty said the office’s permits are currently free, and “we just want people to work with us in our right-of-way.”

“We see a lot of permits that are submitted with incorrect information,” he said. “A lot of times there’s not even a name or you can’t even tell what road they’re on. One neat aspect of this, the information that needs to be submitted, they can’t hit ‘submit’ until it’s in there, and then it comes to our office for review.”

He said paper applications will still be available for those who don’t have access to computers or the internet, but having online records access will allow staff to access information in the field.

“We want people to get permits,” Hilty said. “And every day I drive these roads, I see someone working in a right-of-way and I call our enforcement deputy and they don’t have a permit — they’re digging holes in our roads, they’re messing with our infrastructure.”

“We want to make that relationship easy,” Hilty added. “We want them coming and doing the proper thing and getting a permit — that way we can work with them on the use of our right-of-way.”

He also pointed out an online system will save the engineer’s office time and money.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Commissioner Tony Morelli said. “We’ve got a lot of (updates) going on in the courthouse and I always say, they’re getting us into the 21st century.”

The engineering staff also submitted the department’s annual report, describing 2023 as “a banner year.”

Among the highlights Engineer Jim Branagan reported: 28.17 miles of county highways were paved and another 10.08 miles chip-sealed. Three bridges were replaced and two others were rehabilitated, while six road slips were repaired. The department upgraded its winter maintenance program so they can use salt brine and “beet juice” to improve performance on wintry roads while reducing salt use.

Commissioners got the go-ahead from Assistant Prosecutor Shawn Blake to use up to $125,665 in opioid settlement funds for a new program aimed at helping inmates break free of their addictions and rejoin the work force, though he cautioned against them keeping their hands on the purse strings unless they’re willing to bid the project out.

State code requires commissioners to bid out any contract in excess of $75,000.

If commissioners allocate the funds to the Jefferson County Prevention and Recovery Board, that board would be free to choose its own partner.

“Basically, it says if the county hires direct it has to be bid, however, we can give the money to BPR (and they are) not subject to the same bidding requirements,” Commissioner Dave Maple said. “I think that’s the way we wanted to do it anyhow.”

Deputy Auditor Mike Warren pointed out that under the opioid settlement rules, the money cannot be spent on police personnel, overtime or equipment. At his urging, commissioners decided to use another funding source to cover the previously approved purchase of new computers for the drug task force, a little over $12,000.

“After seeing this (opinion), it probably shouldn’t come out of there, for that particular purpose,” Warren said.

“I agree, it doesn’t look like we should have done that,” Morelli agreed.

Commissioners also signed off on a new final E-911 plan, as required by the Ohio Revised Code. It replaces the entity’s original plan, adopted in 1991, describing the political subdivisions served by 911 in Jefferson County, the telephone companies they coordinate with, annual cost of services “and how we will interface with the new Ohio Next Generation 911 system, which will include enhanced call location technology,” Director Rob Herrington said.

Herrington told commissioners “the only big change” is that, going forward, they’ll review all changes. In the past the review committee was comprised of a county commissioner, a township trustee and a municipal representative.

“It just basically puts that in place,” he said. “Everything else about how we operate, how we raise funds, stays the same.”

Herrington also told commissioners more school cameras are coming online at the E911 center, part of Jefferson County’s Safer Schools initiative. He said the system is working well, though there have been some “accidental” alerts that have demonstrated how well the system is actually working — including a recent false alarm at Harding Middle School that showed officers responding in 52 seconds.

Water and Sewer District Director Mike Eroshevich, meanwhile, told commissioners notices will be sent to Amsterdam residents warning that in April they’re going to be billed for sewage whether they’re connected to the new, $14 million system or not. The charges will appear on residents’ May statement.

At Eroshevich’s urging, commissioners also renominated the Hammondsville water tank project for an Ohio EPA Water Supply Revolving Loan. Commissioners originally nominated the project in February 2023, a precursor to securing funding assistance.

“When you nominate a project, it’s only good for a year and then you have to renominate it to keep it alive for the next year,” he said. “Every year you have to (act) to keep it active until you actually do it, otherwise it would come off the list.”

Eroshevich said they’ll be doing an income survey in the Hammondsville-Irondale area and if the area qualifies, they’ll apply for $750,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding to be supplemented with WSRLA money.

Commissioners also:

• Were told the county engineer will regroup after the only bid submitted for the Knox Township Road 289 bridge rehab project to the county engineer, from U.S. Bridge of Cambridge, came in at $1,786,195.05 — more than a half-million dollars above the engineer’s estimate, which was just $1,233,996. After the bid opening, Bridge Engineer Kara Bernhart said she’ll consult with the designer, Michael Baker Co., to determine their next step.

• Agreed to move $60,000 from the county’s recreation fund into the Friendship Park budget. The money will be used for operating expenses, board members said.

Commissioners also agreed to pay for a new truck with snowplow for the park, though Maple called it “a big ask.” The nearly $61,000 price tag will be paid with oil and gas revenues.

Friendship Park officials said the truck currently in use, donated in 2010, needs repairs that have been quoted at about $10,000.

“It doesn’t make sense to put that much money in that truck,” they said, pointing out it’s been parked and “the guys are using their own vehicles.”

• Appointed Kevan Brown of IBEW 246 to the Workforce Development Board, serving through June 30.