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Commissioner’s Corner
Record crowds at the fair; great weather

The Great Darke County Fair is underway and with the cooler temperatures and perfect weather, it seems as if the Fair could be in for record crowds.  Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, and as of this writing, there have been very few incidents to report, and so far, nothing major.  It seems as though we have a lot more visitors from in state and out of state this year, and some we have talked to have made the trip just to come to the Fair!  One gentleman and his wife made the trip from near Cleveland just because they had heard of the Great Darke County Fair!  That is a good thing! 

One of the highlights of the Fair was when the State Director of Agriculture, Mr. Dave Daniels stopped by on August 21st.  Mr. Daniels toured the Fairgrounds with Representative Jim Buchy, State Ag Advisory Board Member Jeff Wuebker from Versailles, Dennis Baker, and Commissioner Mike Stegall.  Mr. Daniels enjoyed going through the barns and gave a short speech to the participants in several of them.  He really seemed to enjoy the beef and pork sandwiches that the Cattlemen’s Association fed him.  Mr. Daniels then gave a short speech at the Versailles F.F.A. display before going back to Columbus.  Thank you, Mr. Daniels for visiting our Fair, and thanks to Jim Buchy for bringing him here.

Even as the Fair goes on, the business of the County does not stop.  Although things slow down Fair week, some things still must be addressed.  One of the areas we can make an announcement in is in personnel.  We are pleased to welcome Katie McCabe as the counties new Emergency Management Specialist.  Katie is from New Madison, and interviewed very well and is qualified to handle this new position. We welcome Katie to the team.  The DC Animal Shelter has also added a new employee, Tyler Jobes.  Tyler replaces an employee who left, and according to Duane Sanning, Tyler has picked up on the job fairly quickly.  Congratulations to Tyler and also welcome to the team.

One area of concern we have had is with the Sheriff’s Department.  Since the building was constructed, the air ducts have not been cleaned.  We have recently approved a contract with Service-Tech Corporation out of Dayton to clean all of the duct work in the building.  Service-Tech’s contract is for $18,068.00, and should take several days to complete.  No start date has yet been set.  We have done air quality checks on the building for Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen levels, and numerous other airborne problems.  All readings were above standards, but this was a recommended procedure.  We are slowly trying to do upgrades on all of our buildings as funds become available.  We are looking at doing some work in the Courthouse and at the Garst Avenue Facility as well.  The Wagner Avenue Complex is also in consideration for some work.  It is important to maintain our buildings and vehicles so we can maximize the life of them and get the most for the people’s money.
    
On the economic front, Marc Saluk has taken a much needed vacation.  Marc and Melanie both are putting in a lot of hours, so it is good to see Marc get away to recharge his batteries.  There is much going on with existing businesses, and our main focus for the foreseeable future is going to be workforce development.  We are seeing more companies get on board with this program, as they see the benefit of a well-trained workforce specifically for their needs.  This program will require a lot of time and effort, but is well worth it.  We will keep everyone informed as we progress in our efforts.  Also this week, the Commissioners approved the annexation of property on Jackson Street for Reid Hospital.  Reid is planning on a very nice complex of buildings, hopefully starting in the spring.  The plan is for the first building to be somewhere in the $5 million dollar range.  Now that the annexation has been approved by the County, Greenville City will vote on the project in October. There are a lot of positive happenings in Darke County, and the Economic Department, The Partnering for Progress Initiative, all County C.I.C.’s and the Chambers of Commerce in the county will continue to promote business growth and expansion to make Darke County stronger. 
    
When this is printed, the fair will almost be over.  We encourage everyone to enjoy it while it is here, and to look forward to next year.  We also want everyone in the County to become more involved with County Government.  We need your input.  Won’t you plan to attend a Commissioners meeting soon?  We meet every Monday and Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in the Commissioner’s office located at 520 S. Broadway in Greenville, just south of the Courthouse.  Enjoy the Fair, and hope to see you at one of our meetings soon!

The Darke County Commissioners



 
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