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Transfer to pay for paving project

STEUBENVILLE –Jefferson County Engineer James Branagan said he will use money transferred to his department from the Medicaid sales tax settlement payment for a large paving project next year.

The Jefferson County commissioners on Thursday approved the transfer in the amount of $598,824.

The state last year decided to stop collecting a sales tax on Medicaid services, which resulted in a decrease in the county’s sales tax revenue. The engineer’s department receives a portion of the county’s sales tax funds.

Branagan said his department has been plagued with road slips this year as a result of heavy rains. The county is receiving Federal Emergency Management Agency money to fix slips caused by flooding in February. He said the department has to pay to fix the slips and then wait for FEMA reimbursement, which will cause a cash-flow problem going into the beginning of next year.

Branagan said paying for other road slips has resulted in the department falling behind in paving.

Commissioners said they will have to add $90,000 to the fund that pays attorneys to represent indigent criminal defendants in various courts in the county. Commissioners on Thursday approved payment to the attorneys in the amount of $48,337 for October.

The county auditor’s office reported the county last year budgeted the correct amount of money to cover the cost of representation. Some of the increase can be attributed to an increase in hourly pay for the attorneys. Commissioners in April, at the request of common pleas court, increased the hourly rate by $20.

The auditor’s office reported $50,000 had been budgeted for attorneys in death-penalty cases. Since there were no such cases this year, the $50,000 can be transferred to the indigent defendant account.

The auditor’s office reported more than $333,000 has been spent on attorneys in common pleas court, including juvenile court, and county and municipal courts so far this year.

Commissioners were updated on the status of the Amsterdam sewer project.

About 400 homes will be serviced with the sewer system, with about one-fourth of them sitting in Carroll County. The sewer system is needed because of faulty septic tanks, said Michael Eroshevich, county water and sewer department director. Raw sewage is being dumped into Yellow Creek.

The project is estimated to cost around $10 million, with about 70 percent covered with grants and loans. Bids are expected to be opened in early in 2019. Work will begin in the late spring, with construction expected to take one year.

Tom Hartwig of Arcadis, the county’s engineering consultant, said about 95 percent of the Amsterdam-area residents are in favor of the project. He said Arcadis has been working with residents about the location of sewer lines on properties of village residents.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday issued the county a permit to install the project.

Commissioners also:

• Agreed to a contract between the sheriff’s department and the county Job and Family Services Department in the amount of $132,355. Two deputies work at the job and family services department, staffing the metal detector and providing security.

• Opened bids on behalf of the engineer’s department for gasoline and diesel fuel. Branagan said the department contacts the bidders when fuel is needed to get the best price at the time.

• Heard from representatives of the Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association and the Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission about efforts to coordinate transportation services for senior citizens, people with disabilities, veterans, low-income residents and the unemployed. The coordinated transportation plan could result in the county being eligible for federal and state funding for the services.

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