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STEUBENVILLE -- The Jefferson County Prosecutor's Office confirmed Thursday that repairing the roof at Toronto High School's band camp isn't an allowable use for opioid settlement funds.
Assistant Prosecutor Shawn Blake said the OneOhio Memorandum of Understanding and Ohio Revised Code "strictly limits the use of opioid settlement proceeds" to opioid abatement purposes, including treatment, prevention, recovery and harm reduction.
"A $22,000 roof repair for (the band camp) bears no legitimate connection to opioid remediation and falls entirely outside the approved uses defined by the settlement framework," Blake wrote. "Under Ohio's well-established restricted fund doctrine, using such funds for an unauthorized purpose would be unlawful and could expose county officials to liability for misappropriation of public funds."
Commissioners also nominated Jefferson County for Home Sewage Treatment System principal forgiveness funding through the Water Pollution Control Fund for 2027. Since 2016, the county has been awarded $1,666,000 in WPCF funds for the program, administered locally through the Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District in partnership with the county health department and county commissioners.
"These funds are made available to assist low-median income communities with household sewage treatment system improvements," Aidan Sammut, Cross Creek/Yellow Creek Watershed Program manager for Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District, said. "With the support of the commissioners, 10 rounds of funding have been granted to Jefferson County, which will have resulted in the replacement of over 100 failing septic systems in the county."
Any funds awarded would be used to repair or replace failing home sewage treatment systems for eligible applicants.
"Any Jefferson County homeowner who meets the income requirements and whose residence has a failing septic system will be eligible for principal forgiveness dollars," Sammut said.
Sammut said replacement costs are increasing, "which limits the number of septic systems we are able to replace in each grant cycle."
"Based on costs we are seeing this fall, the average cost to fully replace a septic system is now around $20,000, including permit fees soils evaluation, professional engineering design and system replacement," Sammut said. "In comparison, the average cost to replace a system in 2021 was $12,695."
Commissioners also pledged to work with city leaders to make Steubenville the permanent home of the National High School Football Hall of Fame.
"We need to make this a collaborative effort with us, the county and the port authority," Steubenville Mayor Ralph Petrella said, adding that they anticipate needing a site that can accommodate a 45,000- to 55,000-square-foot building. "It's going to be a huge undertaking."
Petrella said it's going to take "working together, pooling resources" to pull it off.
"I think it would be a huge economic driver, not just for Steubenville but the whole county and the whole region," he told commissioners.
Commissioners Eric Timmons and Jake Kleineke said "whatever we can do, we'll do."
Kleineke said it would be a "huge economic driver."
"Just think about it," Timmons added. "You're talking more restaurants, more hotels--it would be tremendous. It would be a game-changer."
Commissioners also:
-- Signed a road use maintenance agreement with Jefferson Gathering Company for the Downing Pipeline Project.
-- Gave the go-ahead to purchase a replacement keyboard for an X-ray machine, a proprietary system, from Maryland-based Smiths Detection for $3,423.