(Photo provided) An aerial view of the Washington County Home located at 845 County House Ln, Marietta from 2025.

The Washington County Commissioners approved a gift from Whipple resident Marjorie Adams for her property and land to be given for the benefit of the Washington County Home. The gift was approved during the regular commission meeting Thursday with Commissioner Eddie Place absent.

Washington County Job and Family Services Director Flite Freimann said after the passing of Adams’ husband, she was brought to the county home where she has been taken care of.

Freimann said she made the decision, with the help of her brother-in-law as her power of attorney, to give the home and land to the county home.

“They felt that it would be better if their home was used to benefit the residents of the county home,” said Freimann. “I met with Marjorie on Monday and had her brother-in-law on the phone and we all spoke and made sure that this is what (she) wanted to do.”

Freimann said they went through all the necessary steps in the process to ensure this is what she wanted.

“This is a fairly substantial gift, but she was pretty excited about it,” he said.

He said he met with her Wednesday to make sure before the gift was accepted and the deed was signed that she was certain she wanted to go through with it.

“She expressed her excitement for this gift to come forward,” said Freimann. “Everything’s prepared and done.”

The gift consists of her home in Whipple and the 120 acres the home is located on. Freimann said the next steps consist of preparing the home and property and items for auction.

“This is the first time we’ve received a very, very large gift,” he said. “But it’s not unusual for family members or residents to make a gift to the county home.”

Washington County Commissioner Charlie Schilling said all of the funds that come from the gift will go directly to the county home.

The commissioners also approved four contracts with four organizations for non-emergency transportation services. Those include Community Action Program Corporation of Washington-Morgan Counties, Daybreak Transportation, GreenCab and 1st Choice Home Care and Transport Foundation.

“We do this every two years and we do a year contract with an option to review,” said Freimann. “This is federal Medicaid dollars that go to the state and then to us, so not from the County General Revenue fund at all.”

He said individuals with Medicaid benefits can use these transportation services to get to and from their medical appointments. Freimann said each provider will cover a different area in the county because of how much distance there is in the county.

“We’ve worked with these vendors before and they’ve done a very, very good job for us and we’re pretty excited,” he said.

The commissioners also approved a contract between the City of Marietta, the Southeast Ohio Building Department and the commissioners for zoning enforcement and property maintenance inspection for the city.

Commissioner Schilling said there was an addendum on the contract which the commissioners had yet to review so the contract was approved but the addendum was tabled.

“We will, once this is signed, take over all zoning,” said SEOBD Chief Inspector Rick Dostal. “It will be better and more efficient, a one-stop-shop.”

Dostal said the department has an inspector and clerical personnel ready to take on the city’s zoning and property maintenance.

Schilling said the two-year contract will require the city to pay the county about $125,000 per year for those services. He said the contract would simplify the process for city contractors and developers.

Marietta City Safety Service Director Steve Wetz said this is something they’ve been working on for about a year and were excited to make it happen.

“There’s going to be savings for the citizens of Marietta to have the Southeast Ohio Building Department administer these programs,” said Wetz. “I have seen the work that’s coming out of the Southeast Ohio Building Department, and I feel like this is going to be a good relationship.”

Wetz said the addendum included legal jargon from Marietta City Law Director Paul Bertram for ordinances that hadn’t been completed yet.

Schilling said he didn’t have any concerns about the original agreement but wanted to review the addendum since none of the commissioners looked over it beforehand.

“I don’t have a problem with approving the agreement and approving the addendum at the next meeting or whenever Mr. Bertram finalizes the legalities he has to finalize,” said Schilling.

The commissioners also approved the appropriation of $20,000 for legal fees for the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement for the data center in Waterford.

Schilling said they’ve met with the developers of the proposed data center over the past few weeks and “are still working out what the PILOT agreement will look like.”

He said they’re discussing the best agreements and parameters for the project based on the community’s needs and concerns.

Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com