Commission to reevaluate HSOV issue

After a dispute at last week's Washington County Commission meeting, all parties are stepping back to reevaluate the situation.

During last week's meeting, representatives from the Humane Society of the Ohio Valley were hit with frustrations from Sgt. Kelly McGilton, county dog warden, as well as area veterinarians.

Commissioner Kevin Ritter said he spoke with McGilton and she expressed some of her concerns with the shelter which alarmed him. He also spoke with local veterinarians who had issues with the shelter.

Some of the complaints were frequent staff turnover, lack of organization, no discernible program for basic care in place for the animals, and not paying bills in a timely manner.

Leight Murray, HSOV board vice-president, said they met in private Wednesday night to discuss the concerns.

"We looked at the first draft of Kelly McGilton's concerns," he said Thursday.

"We're meeting on Sunday to review the next draft and plan to go before the commission on Oct. 1."

He said the humane society board plans to make a very detailed reply to present to the commissioners. Wednesday's meeting was the first time the board was able to sit down and talk about shelter issues in person as a group.

Murray explained the board meets at 6 p.m. the first Wednesday of the month at Gold Star Park in Marietta. The first part of the meeting is for feedback from the public, then there is an operations meeting which is always private.

Commissioner David White said after Thursday's meeting the humane society is legally not required to make its meetings public.

"My argument is that when they take county money and co-mingle it with their other monies, even though legally they are not required to have open meetings, I cannot understand why they would not want to have open meetings," he said.

White said he thinks an organization of their nature would want to be as transparent and open to the public as possible.

"They not only take public money, but they also take donations from many people in the public," he added. "There are certain times when it is appropriate to not be public, with disciplinary matters, I understand that."

White said even though they are not a government agency, they are doing a public service.

In other commission news:

¯ An Ohio Water Development Authority loan agreement was signed by the board. White said the loan is for the design portion of the Devola sewer project. When the project is finished, this loan will be rolled into the main project debt, he added.

¯ A resolution was signed to appropriate nearly $59,000 for contract services from WSP Inc. WSP is the engineering firm designing the Devola sewer project.

¯ A check for more than $34,000 was presented to members of the American Legion Post 64 by Flite Freimann, director of Washington County Job and Family Services. OhioMeansJobs recently received a gold award from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. The recipient of the money is Legion of American Veterans Inc., which is the nonprofit side of the post.

¯ DuraMark Company was awarded the bid for the 2020 centerline striping project. They bid $58,608 for centerline painting on multiple roads. The county engineer's estimate for the project was $63,645.

¯ Bob Lane's Welding was awarded the bid for County Road 15 landslip and asphalt repair. They bid $89,297, while the county engineer's estimate was $137,133.

Dates to

remember:

¯ Regular county commission meeting, 9 a.m. Thursday, 1115 Gilman Ave..

¯ Regular county commission meeting, 9 a.m. Oct. 8, 1115 Gilman Ave.

¯ Courthouse closed for Columbus Day, Oct. 12.

¯ County home meeting, 11 a.m. Oct. 13, county home.

Source: Washington County Commission Clerk.

Michele Newbanks can be reached at mnewbanks@mariettatimes.com.