The Highland County Board of Commissioners heard from multiple people in Highland County about the problems in their prospective areas at their weekly Wednesday morning meeting.

Two concerned Clay Township residents were some of those people, as they were in attendance to discuss their issues with the Clay Township Trustees.

One of them said the first issue, which they have discussed at prior board meetings, continued to be a junkyard in Buford. They said the pair have contacted the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and have also attended a township trustee and a land bank meeting.

They said that, despite their attendance and discussion of the issue, nothing has happened or begun to happen. They also said they knows they’re not zoned, but also said there must be a law against having 40 to 50 junk vehicles next to a creek.

Dave Daniels, vice chairman of the board of commissioners, said it is his understanding, while also saying he isn’t an attorney and isn’t giving legal advice, that there are laws that allow township trustees to deal with unlicensed junk vehicles.

However, he also said that they might have the ability to do it, but “rarely” do they have the funding for it. He said that’s because of all the other responsibilities they have.

Daniels said one avenue the board of commissioners is seeing inroads in terms of helping these issues is the land bank. He said it has been finding tax-delinquent properties and trying to get them under control. He also said the board of commissioners would also let the township trustees know that they’ve had complaints in the area about junk and junk vehicles.

The concerned citizen said another issue they’ve had is with the Buford park and the possible stipulations around the school being torn down. They said they went to a township trustee meeting to discuss the issue, and the trustees said it was the responsibility of the commissioners to keep it mowed.

Terry Britton, another member of the board of commissioners, said that is not the case. He said they came to the board of commissioners to help tear the school down. He then said the commissioners had to go through a grant process to make it a park.

Britton said it was a $250,000 grant, of which a little over $100,000 has been spent to tear the school down and a few other things. He said McCarty’s is working to help finish the baseball diamond and also complete the rest of the project because its deadline is the end of the year.

They, overall, also said that all of the issues are pointed at the Clay Township Trustees and that they aren’t listening to the issues.

“And I would, also, that if, if there are like-minded individuals in the community that feel the same way you do, to go as a united front and ask them to do the thing, ask them to address the issues that you want addressed,” Daniels said.

In other news, Richard Stiffler was also in attendance to talk about his issues with water and sewer connection in Greenfield.

He said he purchased a lot in Madison Township on Feb. 24, 2023, when he was told he could connect to water and sewer. However, he said that, now, he is trying to sell the lot and the person interested in it was told they can’t connect by the Village of Greenfield.

Daniels said around probably 25 to 30 years ago that area in and around Greenfield wasn’t in the city limits but in the township and also unsewered. He said the county got grant funding to pay for the installation of the sewer collection lines and then turned the whole operation of the system over to the City of Greenfield. He said Stiffler would need to go to Greenfield to figure out his issues, but that he might also want to contact the EPA.

“Now, I have heard, I don’t know, I can’t say whether it’s fact or not, but I’ve heard that the City of Greenfield has been told by other agencies that they need to limit their connections until they get some of their I&I problems resolved,” Daniels said. “I don’t know whether that’s the truth or not. I don’t know whether or not that’s the case, but that’s what I’ve heard.”

Daniels also reported that the ADAMH Board sent a memo to the board of commissioners to let them know that they have the ability to establish a Suicide Fatality Review Committee, to which Daniels said the board would take it under advisement and consideration.

Alex Butler, Highland County auditor, also gave the sales tax receipts for July, which were from May. He said they ended up being $879,745.16, which was 14.50 percent higher than July 2023, with the overall number of $5,656,696.23 so far in 2024 up 4.80 percent from 2023.

Concerning Res. No. 24-120, Jeremy Ratcliff, the director of Highland County Jobs and Family Services, said that the Highland County Children’s Services levy being a renewal means that people’s taxes will not go up if it’s passed.

There were three resolutions approved by the board of commissioners, which are as follows:

*Res. No. 24-120 is a Proposed Tax Levy renewal for Highland County Children’s Services.

*Res. No. 24-121 is an authorization for a transfer of funds from Child Support Enforcement Administration 2015 to Public Assistance 2050 in the amount of $28,121.03 for 2024 Child Support shared cost distribution.

*Res. No. 24-122 is an authorization for a transfer of funds from Children Services Account 2115 to Public Assistance 2050 in the amount of $100,000 for 2024 Child Support shared cost distribution.

There were also three contracts approved by the board of commissioners, which are as follows:

*Contract 35 is between the board of commissioners, the Highland County Sheriff, the Jackson County Sheriff and the Jackson County Board of Commissioners for Housing Agreement 2024.

*Contract 36 is between the board of commissioners, Highland County Department of Jobs and Family Services and Highland County Community Action Organization for a Purchased Service Contract with the Highland County Community Action Organization for the OWF-SNAP Job Club.

*Contract 37 is between the board of commissioners, Highland County Department of Jobs and Family Services and Highland County Community Action Organization for a Purchased Service Contract with the Highland County Community Action Organization for the Community Case Manager.

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.