By Cheryl Splain, KnoxPages.com Reporter
MOUNT VERNON — County Engineer Cameron Keaton told other elected county officials on Thursday that as the highway department gears up for winter, road crews will go into the winter “with full barns” of salt left from the winter of 2015-16.
Additional good news is that salt bids came in at $48 a ton this year compared to $60 last year. The county bid for 3,600 tons.
In another cost-saving measure, Keaton said he plans to switch insurance coverage for his office staff. The office staff is covered under a separate medical/dental plan; coverage through the county will save about half in premiums yet still provide virtually the same benefits.
The bridges on Thayer, Green Valley and Hyatt roads are awaiting final inspection. Keaton said he is waiting to see if projects on Sycamore and Magers Roads will receive grant funding. A bridge replacement project for Dean Road is in the design stage; Keaton anticipates the bridge will be replaced next year.
He is also working on a new design for the county highway signs that greet motorists as they enter the county. The new signs will say “Welcome to Knox County” and will not have his name as county engineer. He anticipates the new signs to go up around the first of the year.
Commissioner Teresa Bemiller reported that the county received $150,000 from the state’s capital budget fund to be used for installing air conditioning in the ballroom of the Memorial Building. “That’s pretty much what we think it will cost,” she said. The commissioners are getting ready to advertise for bids; between the 12-week bidding process and four to six weeks to get the equipment, Bemiller anticipates the air conditioning will be installed by the end of April 2017.
The security upgrades for the county building are completed and working. A new phone system will be installed by the end of the year. If the county receives a $500,000 grant it will be applying for, the money will be used for a new CAD system for law enforcement and 911.
Bemiller also said the county stands to lose $250,000 and $500,000 in 2017 and 2018, respectively, because federal regulators are requiring the state of Ohio to discontinue taxing Medicaid managed-care organizations. The state has agreed to provide some money in lieu of the tax, but Bemiller said it won’t be a dollar-for-dollar reimbursement and it mostly likely will be temporary. “They want us to learn how to do without it,” she said.
Prosecutor Chip McConville said he is in the process of hiring a replacement for Alysse Giles, part-time special assistant prosecutor, who will be leaving at the end of the year. With the heavier caseload, an anticipated 275 indictments for 2016 compared to 217 last year, McConville said he is moving the position from part time to full time. He is looking for someone who can handle juvenile and criminal cases.
Auditor Jonette Curry reported the unencumbered balance in the general fund as of Nov. 30 is slightly over $3.92 million. This compares to slightly over $3.391 million on Nov. 30, 2015. The dental fund as $10,465.52; the medical fund has over $2.1 million. Curry said the medical fund was “hit pretty hard” the past month with revenues of $5.2 million and expenses of $5.7 million.
Treasurer Shelly Coon reported that first-half tax collections are due Feb. 3. Notices will go out around the end of December or the first of January.
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