Representatives of the Highland County Board of Developmental Disabilities (DD) announced the possibility of multiple grants coming to the county from Ohio Bureau of Workman’s Compensation (OBWC) at the weekly Wednesday morning meeting of the Highland County Board of Commissioners.

Larry Gray, superintendent of Highland and Fayette County Boards of DD, said the organization met with its OBWC representative, who made them aware of a couple of accessible grants.

Gray said the first one is a safety intervention grant which is open to the whole county under its BWC number. He said the organization was looking to purchase some equipment with the money it will apply for, that being around $18,000. He said the organization has identified a van lift, a power lift for moving furniture, a ramp and then a portal lift which would replace using ladders in “a lot of” cases. He said there is a total of $40,000 available and includes a three-to-one match.

Gray then said the second grant was a school safety and security grant, with the there being a total of $40,000 available to use. He said this grant was being targeted to replace some of its older cameras, ballistic film for the outside of the building and then some security locks. He said this is also a three-to-one match.

He said the organization still needs to get final estimates on all of these items. He said BWC will help it with the grant and then apply, but needed to get approval from the board of commissioners prior to applying,

In other Board of DD news, Lori Moore, business director for Highland and Fayette County Boards of DD, said the organization is a pass-through for capital housing funds and never knows exactly how much it will receive each year. She said “right now” it has received $124,675 that it needs to pass to Highland County Community Action Organization. She then said it has currently appropriated $63,260.52, and still has the remaining money to appropriate.

In other general news, Kim Baker, outreach coordinator with Arc of Appalachia, and Andrea Jaeger, director of Land Acquisition and Visitor Services with Arc of Appalachia, returned to the board of commissioners to ask for its non-opposition for the Ferneau Road hiking trail project.

Baker said the organization received approval from the township trustees, which the board of commissioners asked them to do before coming back. She said one of the properties is an 18.88-acre tract on and the other one is 10.4 acres.

Baker said the particular grant it is applying for through Clean Ohio is “specifically” to clean up the properties. She said there is an old trailer on the property that they’d like to remove and then put a 2.3-mile trail on the property.

Jaeger said the organization doesn’t know the final total it is applying for yet. She said it is applying for two different grants for one of the tracts of land. She also said this would take care of “a lot of” the stream restoration work and help with part of the acquisition cost, but all of the site improvements.

Jaeger said she thinks the 18.8-acre property was in the $200,000 range and the 10.4-acre one was around $75,000. She also said the organization isn’t looking at the full cost of acquisition, though, only a part of it.

She then said the invasive species removal the organization was planning on doing would be funded by another grant it has already applied for, which she said they would learn if they received it at the end of December.

Following speaking about the details, Jaeger said the application for the grants was due at the end of September, saying that the organization needed non-opposition approval from the board of commissioners on Wednesday, or it would be difficult to get everything done in time.

“Again, it’s just one of those things where you have no financial responsibility for the project or any kind of legal or regulatory responsibility, any obligations like that,” she said. “We’re responsible for the 25 percent match that we would be providing and they would fund the 75 percent. That would be the grant process. This is just saying that you do not oppose this going forward.”

The board of commissioners approved adjusting the agenda to accommodate the resolution for approval on Wednesday despite it not being previously discussed.

Highland County Sheriff Randy Sanders was also in attendance to inform the public of the helicopter flying over the county recently. He said it’s a federal program, with everything paid federally. He said the “only” reason they agreed to it was to “basically” educate the public.

He said they got a marijuana complaint and needed to check on it. He said that “hopefully” people are aware of the law and that if somebody complains, they will be checked.

Daniels then asked, with marijuana legal in Ohio recreationally now, what the regulations and rules are now, saying that there are still laws that can be broken under the new regulations.

Sanders said people can go to the website, but also said “everything” that the states have released are not clear.

He said, in terms of the number of plants allowed, it’s six plants for anyone over the age of 21 and a household maximum of 12 plants. He also said if someone has marijuana plants, they cannot be easily accessible to anyone under the age of 21. He then said the plants can’t be seen “basically” by neighbors, meaning they can’t be put in a garden. However, if they are put in a garden, a fence must be put around them.

In other Sheriff’s Office news, a sheriff’s sale is planned for October 12. Sanders said he thinks there will be some guns, some cars and “probably” three properties, those on Butters Road, one in Leesburg and one in Greenfield.

The board of commissioners also approved one authorization to execute, that being a bid for the Airport Runway Crack Seal Project from Roberts Asphalt Maintenance, LLC. for crack-fill of the main runway and turnaround for $14,200.

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

*Res. No. 24-156 is an authorization for an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within Probation ATP Fund (2660) in the amount of $12,952.65.

*Res. No. 24-157 is an authorization for an additional appropriation from unappropriated within Probation, Specialized Docket Subs fund (2665) in the amount of $75,000.

*Res. No. 24-158 is the appointment of the Health Commissioner of Highland County Health Department to establish the Suicide Fatality Review Committee and select four members to serve on the committee.

*Res. No. 24-159 is an authorization for an additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within County Land Bank (2505) in the amount of $500.

*Res. No. 24-160 is an authorization for a transfer from Public Assistance (2050) to Children Services Fund (2115) in the amount of $54,410.60.

*Res. No. 24-161 is an agreement by the board of commissioners to not oppose the grant application from the Arc of Appalachia to Clean Ohio for the purchase of 18.88 acres on Ferneau Road and the purchase of 10.4 acres on Ferneau Road.

*Res. No. 24-162 is an agreement by the board of commissioners to vacate one (1) alley (483.15 feet) in New Market.

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

*Contract 44 is between the board of commissioners and O&M Metal Sales for an Independent Contractor Agreement for a pole barn for $16,375.70.

*Contract 45 is between the board of commissioners, the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration and the Highland County Airport for the reconstruction of airport drainage /erosion design for $2,365,

*Contract 46 is between the board of commissioners, the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration and the Highland County Airport for the FY2024 Airport Infrastructure Grant Agreement for $7,558.

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.