The tentative abstract of Highland County’s 2024 property reappraisal has been approved, according to Highland County Auditor Alex Butler at the weekly Wednesday morning meeting of the Highland County Board of Commissioners.

Butler said those values from the tentative abstract are currently posted on the county auditor’s website for the public to review. He said people should log on and search for their address, name or parcel number, pull up their property and see what their value was for tax year 2023 and what has been tentatively approved for tax year 2024. He said the office still has its final abstract due later this year.

He said that an informal hearing period for the public to come in and talk about their property value with appraisers is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 9, through Friday, Sept. 20. He encouraged people to call and schedule an appointment instead of walking in so they can make sure an appraiser is available.

He said some countywide statistics that he has seen is that the average residential property value went up 30 percent, the average agricultural land went up 36 percent, the average commercial property value went up 43 percent and the average industrial property value went up 27 percent.

Butler said his office has “nearly” completed its state-mandated reappraisal which is required every six years. He said the office does an extensive review of every property in the county, which includes a desktop review through aerial imagery and using appraisers that personally look at each property to individually view property characteristics and conditions. He said the office also looks at the last three years of sales data.

Dave Daniels, chairman of the board of commissioners, also pointed out that there is another opportunity available to people after the informal hearing by making a request to the Board of Revision.

In other news, Janet Grothe, manager of community and government relations at Innergex, was in attendance to give updates on the Palomino Solar Project. Grothe said that “as it stands,” the company is looking to mobilize on limited site cleaning and prep work in the third quarter of 2025. She said she knows that farmers need to know about seeds and fertilizer, so have told them to go ahead and plant for 2025.

She said the company has finalized its permit, which they did in 2023, finalized its Road Use and Maintenance Agreement with the county and drafted its emergency response plan in coordination with local agencies. She said the company also executed a purchase order for first solar for the panels and the associated storage due to the project delay. She then said the company has also ordered high voltage breakers and the main transformers.

For other solar project news, Daniels said the board of commissioners has not heard back from the Ohio Power Siting Board on whether the rehearing date was approved or not for New Market Solar.

Gary Cooper, president of Southern Ohio Communication Services (SOCS), was also in attendance to deliver news about the company’s fiber project. He said the company’s fiber build is currently going “really well.” He said they have built about 10 miles on the current project and will build 32 miles in the county. He said that the project will pass 461 homes and that they are on Fair Ridge Road right now.

Cooper said the next part of the project is another 77 miles that the company will start on “probably” the first of 2025 and “hopefully” have it lit up by July 2025.

He then said the company still has a lot of areas to do under the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Program. Steve Williams, a representative from SOCS, said the company is down to 336 homes that it would like to serve that it still needs to find funding for.

Daniels said the county had some funding available through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that it had previously used to help broadband expansion. He said he thought the county still had some uncommitted funds from it, with the county fast approaching its deadline.

Daniels then asked Nicole Oberrecht, the county’s ARPA funding coordinator, to work on the county’s ARPA budget and come in with a recommendation on if there is any money available to give to the project.

The board of commissioners approved a bid for a three-sided pole back “kind of structure” behind the Hi-Tec Center for $16,375.70 from O & M Metal Sales on the condition that Veteran Services could put forward the remainder of the funds after $9,894.03 was subtracted from an adjustment. Daniels said I think would probably be a little more substantial than what we had to begin with.”

The board of commissioners agreed to wait on the Airport Runway Crack Seal Project until all bids are received and tree removal around the Rocky Fork Lake Wastewater Treatment Plant until more information is given.

DJ Aultman of Integrity Energy was also in attendance through a phone call to discuss the cost capacity changes discussed at prior meetings.

The board of commissioners also approved three authorizations to execute, the first being a Notice of Tax-Exempt Bond Financing at the Highland County Jail for an intercom and control systems upgrade of $178,875. Two other authorizations to execute were Change Order No. 2 from Doll Layman, Ltd. for $12,926.45 and an Agreement for Architectural Services by McCarty Associates at the Highland County Administration Building for $23,000.

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

*Res. No. 24-150 is a request for an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within the 2280 Record Storage fund in the amount of $3,700.

*Res. No. 24-151 is a request from the Engineer for a budget modification within the 2065 Repair MVL Fund in the amount of $90,000.

*Res. No. 24-152 is a request from the Sheriff for a budget modification within 2230 Conceal Carry in the amount of $4,228.20.

*Res. No. 24-153 is a request from Highland County Job and Family Services for a budget modification within 2050 Public Assistance Fund in the amount of $116,361.36.

*Res. No. 24-154 is a request for a budget modification within the 4220 Airport Capital Improvement Fund in the amount of $410.

*Res. No. 24-155 is a request from Soil and Water for a budget modification within the 2070 Soil and Water Fund in the amount of $5,000.

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.