Appropriations and discussion: Commission approves multiple agenda items

The Washington County Commission approved appropriations and discussed a department deficit and the status of the DuPont, the Chemours Co. and Corteva Inc Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) Thursday morning.

Commissioners held their regular commission meeting Thursday morning, which was followed by a meeting to discuss a Washington County Department of Jobs and Family Services (WCDJFS) deficit. They also held a separate information meeting via Teams with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to discuss the PFAS settlement.

During the commission meeting, Commissioners James Booth and Charlie Schilling approved four additional appropriations. Commissioner Kevin Ritter was not present.

One appropriation was for $95,080.29 for the Devola sewer project. This appropriation is for American Rescue Plan Act funds, according to a letter from County Engineer Roger Wright that was included with the meeting agenda. Another appropriation was for $1,500,000 to be moved from the general fund to the community development fund. This money was moved for a possible loan application from the Southeastern Ohio Port Authority for it to redevelop the AMP-Ohio Gorsuch site.

Booth and Schilling also approved an additional appropriation of $31,250 for the COPS Grant for the Washington County Sheriff's Office. An advance for the funds was taken out of the sheriff's sales tax fund in 2020 and the funds are to reimburse the fund. The last appropriation was for $40,735.20 for continued professional training for the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

After the commission meeting Booth and Schilling met with WCDJFS Director Flite Freimann and Deputy Director Dawn Freeland.

Freimann opened the meeting by saying,"We are short what we need to operate."

Freimann asked the commissioners to put forth a resolution at the next commission meeting for the amount WCDJFS needs to run.

According to information Freimann provided the commissioners, the agency's projected deficit for the year is $1,075,278.00 and the current amount it needs to operate is $328,435.37.

Freimann said most of the shortfall is related to the cost of placing kids that are in the custody of WCDJFS. He mentioned rising costs for placements including gas prices and the increase in the mileage reimbursement rate for employees as some of the increased costs.

"We're averaging $416,000 a month in placement costs," Freimann said.

Freimann also said funding from the state has decreased. According to the information he provided, in 2022 WCDJFS received $1,078,847 from the state and in 2023 it received $1,058,857, which is a decrease of 2%.

He said WCDJFS will investigate all funding options but they will come back to commissioners in the fall to ask for the rest of what they need.

Freimann let the commissioner know that the $328,435.37 needs to be received soon.

"We need (the money) before the end of the month," he said. "I appreciate this opportunity, $328,000 is a big number."

Booth and Schilling did not say whether they would introduce any resolution for the funds Freimann is seeking.

After the WCDJFS meeting, Booth and Schilling had an informational meeting via Microsoft Teams with the Ohio EPA.

The state of Ohio will receive $110 million in damages from DuPont, Chemours Co. and Corteva Inc. to settle a lawsuit over the release of PFAS into the air and the Ohio River during the production of Teflon at DuPont's Washington Works plant located across the river from Washington County.

During the meeting, Ohio EPA Manager of Drinking and Groundwaters for the Southeast Division Joshua Legg gave an update on applications for money from the settlement for PFAS projects in Washington County.

He said that he has received six applications for PFAS projects from water associations in Washington County.

He said he has recommended to the associations that they also work with the Rural Community Assistance Partnership for free services they might be able to provide. According to RCAP's website, it is a national network of non-profit partners working to provide technical assistance, training, resources, and support to rural communities.

Schilling asked if there were any parameters in place yet for what PFAS settlement money can be spent on. Ohio EPA Chief Community Officer for the Southeast District Office Harry Kallipolitis said that the Ohio EPA is still in the information gathering phase and there are no defined parameters yet.

Ohio EPA Chief of the Division of Drinking and Ground Waters Amy Klei provided information on the status of Ohio receiving the settlement funds. She said that there are some other legal steps that need to happen in the lawsuit before the OHio EPA receives the PFAS settlement money.

Ohio EPA Assistant Chief of the Division of Drinking and Ground Waters Tanushree Courlas gave some details about one of the county water association's PFAS settlement funds applications, what the Ohio EPA calls a nomination. She said the Putnam Community Water Corporation's nomination was for well mitigation. She said on the nomination form the date listed for receiving a loan for the project was January 2025 and the date for construction to start was June 2025.

"We are very much in the thick of reviewing all of those nominations and scoring them," Courlas said about the status of the nominations received from Washington County.

Schilling asked Klei if there is any timeline for the PFAS settlement projects and she said that is something that can probably be part of their next conversation.

Other business addressed at the commission meeting:

*Approved motions to acknowledge the 2023 annual reports for the probate/juvenile court and the municipal court

*Approved paying a total of $252,875.46 in bills.

*Approved a resolution recognizing April as National County Government Month.

*Approved five Then and Nows, which are purchase orders that are more than $100.

*Approved paying an invoice of $228,119.60 to Veregy for an energy and facility improvement project at the courthouse, the County Home and Children's Services.

*Approved paying an invoice of $633,746.16 to RDR Utility Services Group, who is installing the tanks for the Devola Sewer project.

*Tabled a sanitary engineer pump station agreement

Michelle Dillon can be reached at mdillon@newsandsentinel.com