The Washington County Commissioners approve for Assistant Prosecutor Joe Derkin as interim prosecutor starting Tuesday. (Photo provided by Joe Derkin)

The Washington County Commissioners approved the appointment of Assistant Prosecutor Joe Derkin as the interim prosecutor succeeding current Judge Nicole Coil during the regular meeting on Thursday.

Effective Tuesday, Derkin will remain interim prosecutor for a period of 45 days until the Washington County Central Committee gathers and appoints him to prosecutor.

Commissioners Eddie Place and Greg Nohe nominated Derkin as “the best fit.”

“I think it’s imperative that somebody who assumes that role knows how the office functions, and has leadership ability to move that office forward,” said Nohe.

Commissioner Charlie Schilling said Derkin was the longest tenured assistant prosecutor for the county and he had what it took to lead the office.

“Thank you for giving me this opportunity … it’s been an honor and a privilege to serve Washington County as assistant prosecutor,” said Derkin. “I couldn’t be more proud of this moment or more excited to keep working for the community.”

Coil, who became the county prosecutor in 2019, was sworn in as Common Pleas Court judge on Wednesday succeeding retired judge Mark Kerenyi.

Community officials provided various county-wide updates during the meeting.

Washington County Job and Family Services Director Flite Freimann said the county received a gold award from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services for how quickly the county handled SNAP cases. Freiman said cases were at a “99.9% rate.”

He said the county also received a silver award from the Ohio Department of Medicaid for having “the lowest rate of error on redeterminations of any county in the state.”

“We are really proud of that … I can’t speak highly enough of the wonderful employees that we have in the county,” he said.

The commissioners approved the extension of a Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Grant from the original date of June 30 to October 30 to assist with yard restoration completion in Devola. County Engineer Roger Wright said they need a grant extension to stay within the constraints of the project.

“It’s raining today so are we going to miss the spring window? Perhaps, and that means we have to come back in the fall and do more yard restoration in the fall,” said Wright. He said they are working on trying different seed solutions because the grass seed last year didn’t survive for various reasons.

“We’re not happy about the fact that the grass died … so we’ve already bought different grass seeds that we researched,” he said. “It’s just a matter of now getting the soil samples back and then having the contractors mobilize and actually start yard restoration.”

Wright said this doesn’t delay the plan but they want to ensure everything is restored properly and the project comes to a complete end with no loose ends.

“We, as a staff, have begun to review every single yard,” he said.

Schilling said the contractor needs to know that after October 30, there can be no settling of any yards and the project needs to be completed.

Wright said there has been communication with the contractor about the department’s expectations but if there were any minor situations that come up after the yard restoration, his staff can and will help.

“If folks think that we’re going to walk away from it and live with it, we still have staff and we’ll still be responsible for the minor things that will come up,” he said.

Freimann, along with other county officials, commended the engineer for his work.

“Devola is a beautiful neighborhood and if you walked around there this spring … you’d have never known that a year-and-a-half ago it was torn up,” said Freimann.

Although there are a handful of homeowners who have reported issues, Wright ensured the tanks are worth it and the project will wrap up soon.

The commissioners also approved a memorandum of understanding for the Southeast Ohio Building Department that would allow for local organizations to “deploy” staff to other municipalities for damage assessment.

DART, or Damage Assessment Response Teams, would respond to structures that have experienced damages.

SEOBD Chief Building Inspector Rick Dostal said it’s good for him and his team to be part of this through the Ohio Building Officials Association.

“Myself and one of my inspectors went to a full day class to become DART members,” said Dostal. “We would be state certified.”

Dostal said they could respond to a damage assessment anywhere in the state if they are the closest available.

The commissioners also approved a proposal from F&B Engineering, Inc. who would provide plan reviews for the building department if the office is too busy.

“It can take a lot of extra manpower to keep up with plan reviews, so this is our backup plan when we need it,” said Dostal.

To read more about public comments regarding the data center in Waterford and Schilling’s response to the tax abatement, read more at the mariettatimes.com and in the weekend edition.

Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com