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LISBON -- Columbiana County commissioners awarded contracts Wednesday morning for asphalt for 2024 and a slip repair project on Calcutta Smith Ferry Road.
Alan Stone Company, Inc. of Vincent submitted the low bid of $275,586 for the repair project on part of Calcutta Smith Ferry Road, which is slipping and deteriorating.
Columbiana County Chief Deputy Highway Engineer Bill Helscel said the road has remained open with barrels blocking the problem area. The county engineer's office applied for Ohio Public Works emergency funds to make the repairs and received the funding in the amount of $621,000 to cover construction, engineering and other costs associated with the project. According to Helscel, Gannett Fleming was doing the engineering and geotechnical work.
Other bidders for the project included Ohio West Virginia Excavating for $286,400 and Dennison Bridge Inc. for $357,242.
Russell Standard Corp. of Pittsburgh, Pa., was the lone bidder for the asphalt for the engineer's office and was awarded the contract for $1,860,630.
In other business, Commissioner Roy Paparodis gave a brief report on unpaid property taxes, noting that the percentage of properties in Mahoning and Trumbull counties totaled 10 percent, while in Columbiana County the amount was 2.87 percent. He said good job to County Treasurer Bryan Blakeman.
During comments, Commissioner Mike Halleck recognized that Tuesday was the last day for Judge Katelyn Dickey on the county Municipal Court bench. She was recently appointed to the 7th District Court of Appeals by Gov. Mike DeWine to fill an unexpired term. She also won the Republican primary for the term which begins next year. Today was supposed to be her first day with the appellate court.
"We're going to miss her," Halleck said.
Until a new judge is appointed to replace her, former county Municipal Court Judge Mark Frost is returning to his former bench to serve while needed. Since Dickey is a Republican, the county Republican Party is tasked with submitting names to the governor to consider for the opening. On Tuesday, county Republican Party Chairman David Johnson said they were still working on the three names, with one interview set for today.
In other matters, the commissioners approved the 2024 CORSA participation agreement for the joint self-insurance pool. CORSA stands for County Risk Sharing Authority, Inc. and provides property and liability coverage to the county.
The commissioners approved several recommended actions by county Department of Job and Family Services Director Rachel Ketterman, including the hiring of Megan Bryan and Brogan Oller, both of Salem, and Abby Shemasek of East Liverpool as eligibility referral specialists in the Public Assistance division of DJFS.
The commissioners also approved: an increase in contract ceiling from $2,000 to $5,000 for attorney Richard Hoppel as a legal public guardian through the senior services levy from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2024; a renewal of the counseling services contract with Insight Clinical Counseling and Wellness, LLC with federal IV-B and State Child Protective Allocation (SCPA) funds, with a ceiling of $9,950 and a contract period from May 11, 2024 to May 10, 2025; a contact extension for suppliers for the school shoe program funded by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families for June 1, 2004 through Nov. 30, 2024, with a contract ceiling of $112,000 for Shoe Dept. and $88,000 for Shoe Sensation; and a contract extension for Speak Write LLC for Transcription Software Services funded through SCPA funds with a ceiling of $50,000 from May 16, 2024 through May 31, 2025.
Ketterman said the shoe program provides a $125 voucher to each child in a household if the household is eligible based on federal poverty level income standards.
Commissioners also amended the contract for Smith Oil Company for gasoline vouchers for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Educational & Training clients, increasing the ceiling from $40,000 to $50,000 from Oct. 1, 2023 to Sept. 30, 2024.
The next meeting of county commissioners will be 9 a.m. April 17 at the downtown courthouse.