Commissioners talk duties at CCTC

GETAWAY— Lawrence County Treasurer Stephen Burcham announced that the purchase of five new police cruisers for the Ironton Police Department had been finalized at the county commission meeting Friday at Collins Career Technical Center.

The deal is for $180,000, and came from the Neighborhood Investment Program, in which the county bought a bond issued by the city of Ironton in order to finance the cruisers.

Burcham said that nearly all aspects of the county have utilized the Neighborhood Investment Program over the years, with funds purchasing ambulances, police cruisers, fire trucks, EMS medical equipment and even for improvements at one school district in one instance.

As head of the Lawrence County Land Bank, Burcham also said that the county has conducted 44 total demolitions of abandoned properties so far, with two more contracts awarded Thursday for 13 more demos. Commissioner DeAnna Holliday added that both of the contractors who were signed on Thursday were from Lawrence County as well.

Assistant Director of the Lawrence County Department of Job and Family Services Rich Blankenship addressed the commission with a request to reach out to the Ohio State Senators to see what happened with the cuts to the department’s transportation funding, adding that although it was a statewide issue, the decrease is going to drastically hurt the county.

Commission President Bill Pratt requested a joint statement from DJFS Director Terry Porter and Blankenship to be put into a formal correspondence for the commission to review before reaching out to the senators.

With CCTC students in attendance at the meeting, the commissioners talked about their duties and explained the processes of the county government as well.

In other action, the commission:

• Approved one floodplain permit.

• Approved three transfer funds.

• Approved to extend the benefits not inconsistent with the collective bargaining agreement to those employees of the Lawrence County Department of Job and Family Services not represented by collective bargaining.

• Approved the contract with the Lawrence County Department of Job and Family Services Child Enforcement Agency, Lawrence County Commissioners, Ohio Council 8 of AFSCME, AFL-CIO and Local 890, for the period of Oct. 22, 2017 through Oct. 21, 2020, pending approval from Lawrence County Prosecutor Brigham Anderson.

• Approved the amendment that extends the General Services Agreement from Oct. 1, 2017 through Sept. 30, 2018, at an amount not to exceed $4,500 without approval of the county.

• Approved a donation to the Lawrence County Domestic Violence Task Force in the amount of $1,000.

• Approved a $250 donation to the Chesapeake Buddy League for handicapped youth.