Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 10:50 am on Aug. 11 to include that Andrew Champlin, IT communications coordinator for the Board of Commissioners, designed the new logo.
MOUNT VERNON — County vehicles, stationery, and promotional items will soon have an updated look.
The Knox County commissioners voted Tuesday to adopt a new logo. Twenty-two stars represent the 22 townships, and rolling hills reflect the county’s terrain in a color combination of red, white, and blue.
To avoid confusion between the numerous Knox counties scattered throughout the country, the new logo specifies Knox County Ohio.
It is unclear when the county adopted the previous green logo, although Commissioner Teresa Bemiller said it was in use in the early 1980s when she worked in the Clerk of Courts Office.
“We don’t really know where the green came from because the county colors are red, white, and blue,” County Administrator Jason Booth said.
In addition to the green logo, some departments, including the highway department, use the original county logo based on the flag that flew at the Ohio Statehouse. When Statehouse officials took down the flag, they offered it to Knox County.
“We’ve talked about it for a while, trying to get one county seal for use for consistency vs. having two floating around,” Booth said. “So we thought we’d just give it a cleanup and link it to the original logo.”
Andrew Champlin, IT communications coordinator for the Board of Commissioners, designed the new logo.
911 operations
911 Operations Director Laura Webster reported that the center’s call volume (3,871) was up compared to June.
“Our 911 and administrative calls were actually a little down; however, our outgoing calls were way up,” she told the commissioners.
Calls included 13 burglaries, 181 disturbances, 40 domestic violence, eight drug overdose, 10 drug-related, 14 mental, and 36 attempted or threatened suicide.
The department is fully staffed with full-time dispatchers. Three are taking the Public Safety Telecommunicator course; two will take the course in a few months. The course includes training on how to handle callers, dispatch calls, and liability issues, among other topics.
“That’s one thing I think it’s important for them to know,” Webster said regarding the liability training.
The 911 CAD system will soon incorporate Animal Control. This allows dispatch to assign report numbers and for animal control officers to do reports. Webster said accessing notes from previous visits provides a “quick picture” of prior events and greater “situational awareness.”
Job & Family Services
The commissioners approved a Memorandum of Understanding between Knox County JFS and New Directions for temporary housing for youth in JFS custody.
The MOU is effective July 14 through Aug. 13 with the understanding it can be extended. JFS will pay New Directions $200 a day for youth to reside in a New Directions facility. JFS is responsible for the supervision and care of the youth.
JFS Director Scott Boone previously said placing youths in facilities is becoming increasingly difficult. Similar to other places around Ohio, local children or youths have spent evenings in the Knox County JFS office.
Litter & recycling
Matthew Baugher, coordinator of Knox County Litter and Recycling, said plans are progressing for the Kokosing River cleanup on Sept. 16.
Most recycling locations are doing well; Apple Valley bins are better, but Liberty Township is experiencing illegal dumping. Switching to Monday and Friday pickups has made a huge difference.
The first batch of about 1,500 recycling guides has been distributed; a second updated guide is being printed.
KCSO
Knox County Sheriff David Shaffer said the dorm reconfiguration will hopefully start this month. The KCSO will house female inmates in Morrow and Richland counties during renovation.
Miscellaneous
The commissioners took the following actions:
•Approved the agreement for professional services for the Cooke Road bridge replacement with Evans, Mechwart, Hambleton and Tilton for $195,099
•Appropriated $164,000 to the contract/projects engineer/roads line account and $360,000 to the lands & buildings account
