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Local News

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

State of the County: bad roads
By LINSEY MAUGHAN

STAFF WRITER

Hancock County's 363 miles of county roadways include 116 miles in poor or very poor condition, county officials said Tuesday during a “State of the County” address.

But it would take $9 million to repair those bad roads, the three county commissioners said.

Commissioner Ed Ingold said poor roads account for “almost a third” of all county roads. Sixty-seven miles of the roads are in excellent condition, 74 miles are in good condition, and 105 are in fair condition, the commissioners said.

Ingold said hard decisions will have to be made about roads. Each year there is not enough money in the budget to address all of the roads that could use repairs, so only some see improvement.

In addition, while 265 Hancock County bridges have been replaced since 1990, 20 bridges still need to be replaced “as soon as possible,” according to Ingold.

Four of the 20, Ingold said, are major structures requiring between $400,000 and $1.5 million each to replace.

Commissioner Emily Walton said Hancock County Engineer Steve Wilson “has put a lot of emphasis on getting bridges repaired” since he's been in office.

“When you make that decision, you don't have as much money to do roads,” she said. “He's made a lot of progress. We depend on the engineer to come to us to tell us which ones are priorities.”

Discussing the county's financial status, the commissioners said the county cut its general fund budget by 11.5 percent in 2009 and an additional 10 percent this year.

The county also has had smaller year-end balances. For years, the year-end balance was above $4 million, but the balance at the end of 2009 was about $1.9 million.

Commissioner Phil Riegle said revenue from county investments has also decreased as a result of the economy.

But the county also had accomplishments in 2009, the commissioners said.

Improvements were made to both the courthouse and jail, including heating, cooling and energy-saving upgrades.

Ingold said construction of a wooden covered bridge on Marion Township 241 was “the biggest deal that we have had in a long time,” and said people will come to Hancock County just to see it. Federal money paid for most of the project.

Economic development in the county continues, the commissioners said, citing the building of the Home Depot distribution center near Van Buren, scheduled to be completed by summer.

They said the Hancock County Convention and Visitors Bureau is working to implement new events which will bring more dollars into the community.

River and creek cleanup efforts last year included removal of more than 870 tons of material from the bottom of the Blanchard River, Eagle Creek, Riley Creek and Ottawa Creek. Removed from stream banks were 2,675 tons of woody debris and litter, and 1,382 tires, the commissioners said.

In the area of recycling, the commissioners said the Solid Waste Management District became more efficient with a new recycling depository that can be hauled by a truck and tipped, resulting in easier movement of recycled items.

The new “roll-off design” is more efficient than stationary recycling units, Ingold said.

“We can service that with one driver and a truck,” he said. “This will be a cost-saver from the standpoint of labor.”

Seventy-four appliances were collected in 2009 on appliance recycling days in Hancock County, and 45,412 pounds of old electronic equipment, including televisions and computers, were recycled on an electronics collection day, Ingold said.

On paint disposal day, 16,596 pounds of paint and household waste and 131 lead-acid batteries were collected. On tire recycling days, 2,158 tires were collected.

Ingold said 5.7 million pounds of recycled items were collected through Litter Landing in 2009. He said the state is “always impressed with the recycling that goes on in Hancock County.”

A proposed county landfill gas-to-energy project is still under way, the commissioners said, with a truckload of piping necessary for the project on its way to Hancock County.

Holes will be drilled at the landfill and the piping placed in the holes to draw out methane gas, Walton said. The gas will then be tested to determine if the flow is great enough to proceed with the project.

Ingold said in difficult economic times, “the department that really gets hit when things are bad is Job and Family Services.”

There were 391 Children's Protective Services cases opened in 2009, with substitute care provided to 103 children.

People made about 22,000 visits to the agency's job resource center in 2009, the commissioners said.

Food assistance by the agency increased by 70 percent last year, and temporary assistance was up by 34 percent, the commissioners said.

But emergency assistance by the agency decreased by 78 percent because “in longer-term (recessions), people are not in emergencies any more,” Ingold said.

Ingold also said “one in seven Hancock County residents receives support from Medicaid.”

Hancock County's courts, prosecutor and public defender are seeing record caseloads, the commissioners said. In 2009 there were 2,182 cases, 594 of which were juvenile cases. There were 276 indictments charging 424 crimes, with increases seen in domestic violence and sex crimes involving juvenile victims. Drugs, violent crimes and property crimes are the most common issues faced by local law enforcement and the prosecutor's office, the commissioners said.

Hancock County Common Pleas Court saw a 50 percent increase in its caseload between 1999 and 2009, with the total number of cases for 2009 being 2,107, compared to 1999's 1,389 cases. There also was a 245 percent increase in civil case filings from 1999 to 2009, with 955 civil cases and 534 foreclosures reported in 2009.

The number of civil protection orders, such as those issued in domestic violence and stalking cases, also has increased in recent years, the commissioners said.

Maughan: 419-427-8417,




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6 Comments

Latest comments listed first.
Shadow wrote:
a change is needed
“ the only way the roads are going to improve in this county is when we finally get a new and far more intelligent county engineer! ”
Thursday, February 18, 2010 1:38:19 PM
j wrote:
Roads
“ The roads and bridges around Findlay are getting worse every day. Findlay is like the home owner that goes out and buys a big screen t.v. when the roof is leaking and the furnace is on its last leg. It time to make the infrastructure the priority. A flood major flood may come every few years, but people have to drive on these roads/bridges every day and the cost of repair is only getting greater every day that nothing is done.
”
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 9:43:09 PM
Derek wrote:
Things have got to change!
“ And this is supposed to come as a surprise to us and the county government? What ever happened to fiscal responsibility? Did they not realize that roads do not last forever? How about setting aside a little each year for repaving? Am I the only one that sees the common sense in this idea? No, let's spend every dime we have each year! Makes me sick! ”
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 8:05:05 PM
Shadow wrote:
roads
“ Wow, you mean that the Commissioners finally got off their duffs in their cushy office to go out and discover this? Amazing! It's funny we could have found the money to come up with the idea to build a new six million dollar garage, but we suddenly find that we can't afford to repair any more roads. This also goes to show that this incompetent nincompoop for an engineer cannot perform his duties. The only thing he capable of is to start in-fighting within his department and with the township trustees in this county. I thought dumping all of those roads to the townships a few years back was suppose to solve this problem? Will someone please explain what is the use of repairing any bridge if the road leading up to it is crumbling so bad to the point of being undriveable? Who will then be able to access such a bridge if there is no driveable road will lead to it? Wilson has been a failure for this county since day one! ”
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 12:29:19 PM
Citizen wrote:
Roads
“ Our roads are poor and we all know it, but they want to build a new six million dollar garage. No wonder the county is in the shape it is in. ”
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 8:36:43 AM
Bill wrote:
Roads
“ 116 miles of the roads are admittedly
poor?Nice to know the current Commissioners slept as the roads were disintegrating-remember that next election ”
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 6:52:26 AM
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Benton Ridge Shooting

This video, released by the Hancock County Prosecutor's Office, shows the shooting of a Lima man who led authorities on a three-county chase ending Aug.24 in Benton Ridge. Be cautioned, the video contains graphic content.
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News Briefs Firefighters discover 20 marijuana plants in house
After fighting a house fire early Monday at 815 Howard St., firefighters found 20 marijuana plants in the residence.

"They ran across it and called us," said police Sgt. Justin Hendren with the Hancock County METRICH Drug Enforcement Unit.

Police seized all 20 plants, and Hendren said charges are pending.

High-powered growing lights, fans, and a box filled with dried marijuana were also found in the house, according to a police report.

Investigators said an electrical short started the fire before 3 a.m. Monday.

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CAREY -- Carey offices, including administrative, income tax and utilities, electric, wastewater treatment plant, and public works, will be closed Monday in observance of Labor Day.

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With the promotion, Fletcher will stay at the Findlay post and serve as an assistant post commander, according to the patrol.

Fletcher began his patrol career in 2002 after graduating from the 139th Academy class and has been assigned to the Findlay post since.

Owens announces holiday schedule
The Toledo and Findlay campuses of Owens Community College will be closed Saturday through Monday for the Labor Day holiday.

There will be no classes and the college offices will be closed.

Classes will resume and offices will open again on Tuesday.

Holiday changes ad deadlines
The Courier won't be published on Monday, in observance of the Labor Day holiday.

Because of the holiday, some advertising deadlines have been moved up this week:

Black and white display advertising for Tuesday's newspaper must be placed by noon Friday. Display advertising for Wednesday's newspaper must be placed by 2:30 p.m. Friday.

Color display advertising for the Thursday, Sept. 9 newspaper must be placed by Friday.

Classified advertising and City and Country advertising for Saturday's newspaper must be placed by 2 p.m. Friday. Classified ads for Tuesday's newspaper must be placed by 2:30 p.m. Friday.

Courier business and advertising offices will close at 3 p.m. Friday for the holiday.