Washington County Commissioner Eddie Place, middle, speaks about the election results and his time in office during the regular meeting on Thursday. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

Washington County Commissioner Eddie Place spoke on the election results during the regular commission meeting Thursday after being defeated by former Fort Frye Board of Education member Stephanie Lang.

“I want to say thanks to the people who helped me this week with the campaign, we worked hard,” he said. “When one door closes many of them open and I had many of them open.”

Place said he worked hard last year to make the county a better place and he has no regrets.

“I have no regrets as far as the data center coming here … and all the jobs it brings with it and all the people that would be working here locally,” he said. “If this data center is negotiated right, it could change this county forever.”

According to final, unofficial election results, Lang won by nearly 59% of the votes Tuesday.

During the commission meeting, Washington County Prosecutor Nicole Coil was in attendance for the final time before assuming office as common pleas court judge.

Coil’s appointment was announced at the end of April that she will fill the position as judge in the Washington County Court of Common Pleas General and Domestic Relations Division on May 26.

“It’s a little bit with a heavy heart today that I’m here because this is the last day that I will be here in the capacity of the prosecuting attorney,” said Coil. “It’s been a pleasure and an honor to work with all of you and I’m really going to miss it.”

Coil said she will be spending the next weeks attending administration duties before assuming the position at the end of May. She wanted to thank everyone she’s worked alongside for making the job enjoyable.

“I’ve really enjoyed the friendships that I’ve made with all of you,” she said.

The commissioners thanked her for her legal counsel and responsiveness.

“In my almost five years here, it’s been a real pleasure working with you, I’ve never worked with someone that’s so responsive and has such a passion for her job,” said Schilling.

Commissioner Greg Nohe said Coil has been a great asset to the community and she will continue to greatly serve the county.

Coil was appointed to serve the remainder of Mark Kerenyi’s term after he retired from the position at the end of February.

“We should be very, very proud that we have a person with her stature and her experience that’s going to sit on the bench for this county,” said Nohe.

Place said after everything she’s done as prosecutor, she’s hard to replace.

Coil will serve the remainder of Kerenyi’s term before running for election in November to retain the seat.

Coil joined the Washington County Prosecutor’s office in 2015 and became prosecuting attorney in 2019.

Washington County Board of Developmental Disabilities Director Tiffany Neill wanted to thank the community for their support with passing the WCBDD tax levy on Tuesday’s election.

“I just want to share how grateful I am to the Washington County community and thank you so much for believing in our mission and understanding the importance of the services that we provide for folks with disabilities,” she said.

Among the agenda items approved by the commissioners was for the engineering department to purchase two wheel loaders totaling $269,000.

According to Washington County Engineering Department Office Manager Emily Griffin, the current wheel loaders are 30 and 34-years-old.

“We can’t get (replacement) parts for them anymore,” said Griffin. “Our mechanics are fabricating parts just to make them run.”

Griffin said the department would try and sell one later down the road, but they are in need of new wheel loaders now.

“Things become obsolete when it comes to maintaining that type of equipment,” she said.

The purchase will be covered by motor vehicle gas tax from Ohio Machinery Co., according to information provided to the commissioners by Engineer Roger Wright.

Family and Children First Director Cindy Davis said there will be a Help Me Grow Community Baby Shower from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Marietta Knights of Columbus Hall.

“Our target audience is pregnant moms and families with infants or toddlers and we’ll have about 20 vendors,” said Davis.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Washington County Chief Development Director Andrew Parsons said the board voted to take on the Glouster Club in Athens.

“We voted to take on the Glouster Club in Athens to keep it from closing down and to keep servicing those kids,” said Parsons. “So with a year of unprecedented growth, we’re continuing to grow.”

Parsons said there are plans to start making connections and setting up meetings with the Athens County Commissioners and local townships about service expansions.

Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com