Washington County commissioners approve appropriations, transfers, infrastructure repairs and an appointment

The Washington County Board of Commissioners on April 16 approved a batch of routine and fiscal actions, unanimously passing motions to update appropriations, authorize transfers and accept several departmental requests.

The board approved additional appropriations including $960.08 to County General, $4,224.00 and $870,102.24 to County Home accounts, and $5,000 to Victim Assistance. Commissioners also approved a transfer of $870,102.24 from County Home account 2630‑42‑630‑580200 to 1004‑24‑120‑424000. Flite Freimann, director of Job & Family Services, thanked the board for short‑term loaning of funds to the County Home and said the facility is pursuing a plan to increase residents, lower costs and add a memory unit with a lockdown wing.

The commissioners approved a subrecipient agreement to obligate $3,000 in America 250‑Ohio grant funding to the Village of New Matamoras for activities through Nov. 30, 2026, and authorized a letter of support for Ataraxia Properties’ Glass Press Project application to the Transformational Mixed‑Use Development (TMUD) tax credit program, a proposed Marietta redevelopment at 212 Putnam Street and 217 Union Street that would create 16 residential units, retail space and roughly 10,000 square feet of office and public gathering areas.

The Auditor’s office was authorized to distribute $27,893.37 received under the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program for Wayne National Forest for the Dec. 2025–Feb. 2026 period; the distribution prorates 77.47% to Frontier Local, 9.15% to the county and 13.38% to townships. Commissioner Schilling criticized the federal valuation used in that calculation as too low and urged federal review of per‑acre valuations.

The board approved the mandated county share for Job & Family Services for SFY 2027 totaling $191,245 — an increase of $9,107 from the prior year — to be paid in monthly installments of $15,937.08 from July 2026 through June 2027.

On infrastructure items, the commissioners approved Change Order #1‑Final for the Devola Force Main Repair, increasing the contract by $10,812 for a total $85,559; contractor EMP performed the work, and County Engineer Roger Wright said flooding had clogged the main and that the project added access points. Wright said he expects about 80% of the project cost to be reimbursed by the state. The board also authorized participation in the Ohio Department of Transportation 2026 road salt contracts and accepted the Engineer’s 2025 Roads and Bridges annual report noting the county maintains 341 miles of roads and 377 bridges, with 94% of roads and 89% of bridges rated fair or better.

The board voted to return an appointment to the table and approved the appointment of Jennifer Reed to the Washington County Behavioral Health Board to fill a vacancy with a term ending June 30, 2028; Tim Hahn of the Behavioral Health Board said there was no conflict of interest. Other brief comments included recognition of Dispatcher Week by the Sheriff (referred to in the minutes as Sheriff Warden), a Sheriff request for $450,000 in congressional directed spending for a six‑county coalition, and notices about township events, yard restoration work in Devola and local grant applications for Safe Streets.

All enumerated votes recorded in the meeting minutes were unanimous (three ayes) where roll calls were taken; no motions failed, and no votes were recorded as abstentions or recusals in the minutes. The meeting adjourned at 9:51 a.m.