Commissioners defer approval of Cortland truck storage agreement pending review of liability language

Trumbull County commissioners on Jan. 8 discussed a longstanding, apparently mostly verbal arrangement to store a Cortland back truck inside a county engineer facility and agreed not to formally concur until the county has reviewed a written agreement addressing liability and insurance.

The chair brought forward the concurrence request for the county engineer’s facility. Commissioners and county staff questioned whether the existing practice—apparently in effect on an annual basis for years—had been memorialized and whether the county would assume liability if the truck were damaged on county property.

Mike Silinski (identified in the transcript as the county building manager) and other staff described roof repairs and said the storage area is currently watertight. Prosecutor’s office counsel told the board he would check whether the agreement had been reviewed and cautioned that public subdivisions typically address liability through insurance and clearly structured contractual responsibilities rather than simple hold‑harmless clauses alone.

Commissioners asked county administration to circulate the executed agreement to the board and to confirm whether it includes a hold‑harmless clause or insurance provisions. Several commissioners suggested staff should hurry the review and, if necessary, request a memorandum of understanding or lease that assigns clear responsibility for damage. The board agreed to hold the item until the written agreement is reviewed and to consider concurrence once the prosecutor and administration had signed off.

No formal vote to approve the storage agreement was taken on Jan. 8; commissioners asked staff to follow up and promised a report at the next meeting.