(Photo by Amber Phipps) Washington County Clerk Ben Cowdery and Washington County Commissioners Charlie Schilling, Eddie Place and James Booth review new agenda items during the regular meeting on Thursday.

Washington County Sheriff Mark Warden announced that his office is in the process of assigning a school resource officer at Frontier Local during the Washington County Commission meeting Thursday.

All seven districts in the county now have a SRO available on-site.

“I’m ecstatic, I want to jump out of my chair and jump for joy right now,” said Warden.

The Sheriff’s Office is currently going through the process of assigning an officer to the district. The officer would cover Frontier, Newport and New Matamoras.

“Huge shoutout to the new superintendent Ryan Caldwell,” said Warden. “The positive impact this is going to have on the kiddos is going to be huge.”

Warden said they’re looking to assign Officer P.J. Brockmeier because he has a lot of experience working with kids and he has a great personality.

“He just recently started working for us after he left his position as Seneca Park’s chief ranger with the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District,” he said.

Warden said this is a huge moment to have all districts covered.

Marietta City Council President Susan Vessels presented the commissioners with the final amended Resolution 81 which asks the Ohio General Assembly to enact a three-year moratorium on Class I and II injection wells.

Class I wells are used to inject hazardous and non-hazardous wastes into confined rock formations thousands of feet below underground drinking water sources, according to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

Class II wells are underground injection wells designed to dispose of fluids brought to the surface during oil and natural gas drilling, the most common being brine, or salt water, according to the state EPA.

The resolution also asks the Ohio General Assembly to halt the import of brine and other waste into existing wells in the county.

“This will be delivered next week to the state House, to the governor and to the Ohio EPA and ODNR asking for the hold of permitting new drilling for injection wells,” said Vessels.

Vessels asked the commissioners to read over the 17-page document.

“Keeping safe water has always been a top priority of mine,” said Commissioner James Booth. “And I think the facts are speaking very loudly.”

Commissioner Charlie Schilling said State Rep. Kevin Ritter dropped a bill on Wednesday for funding for Wayne National Forest. He said the bill will help figure out where the oil and gas revenue is going because the state hasn’t provided any answers.

“We’re working through the audit process and Rep. Ritter has been proactive,” said Schilling. “I think this is progress on one of our priorities.”

The commissioners also approved the Washington County 911 Medical Director Agreement and Resolution which appointed Dr. Lloyd Dennis as the medical director for all Washington County PSAPs (Public Safety Answering Points) and EMD (Emergency Medical Dispatch) activities. The state requires that protocols are approved by a local medical authority.

Dennis was appointed about three years ago and the agreement is simply a combined agreement for all PSAPs in the county. His term will automatically renew annually.