Paul Watkins, standing left, addresses Miami County Commissioners Greg Simmons, left, and Wade Westfall, right, on Thursday, July 18. Watkins was appointed acting county prosecutor after Anthony Kendall was appointed to the Miami County Municipal Court.
Eamon Baird | Miami Valley Today
By Eamon Baird
TROY — The Miami County Commissioners appointed Paul M. Watkins as the acting county prosecutor during their meeting on Thursday, July 18.
Watkins will assume the role left by Anthony Kendall, who was appointed to the Miami County Municipal Court by Gov. Mike DeWine on July 2.
“Obviously it’s bittersweet for our office with Tony leaving. He’s filled a big role over in municipal court,” Watkins said. “I’d just like the opportunity to carry the torch and continue to do what Tony’s taught me to do.”
“The commissioners look forward to working with you,” Commissioner Greg Simmons said to Watkins.
Also during the July 18 meeting, the commissioners appointed Dylan Hayes as a new Miami County Animal Shelter agent.
“This will give us two humane agents so that we have an active humane agent on staff throughout the week,” Robert Craft, director of the shelter, said.
In other business, the commissioners approved or authorized the following resolutions:
• A bid to DeBra-Kuempel Inc., of Cincinnati, for the Miami County Boiler 1 & 2 replacement project. The amount of the project is $177,135.
• To sign a change order to a contract with Starco Inc., of Dayton, for the Miami County Safety Building Chiller replacement project for $9,310, which will be taken from the contingency allowance. The new final contract sum including the change order is $280,910.
• To release the sum of $161,635 from the subdivider escrow agreement with North Branch Pass subdivision phase three, as requested by the county engineer. This is a partial reduction of the referenced escrow agreement with a balance of $294,336 remaining.
• A quote from Dave’s Service Air Conditioning & Heating, of Troy, for one new variable speed air conditioner unit and furnace unit including accessories and warranties for the Miami County Transfer Station at an estimated cost of $15,098.
• A quote from MNJ Technologies Direct Inc., of Buffalo Grove Illinois, authorizing the IT department to purchase Cisco Cloud Email Security Inbound Essentials, also referred to as anti-spam for 650 users. The subscription is for three years for $17,875.
• To permit the IT department and project panel to negotiate a contract with Modern Office Methods Inc., of Cincinnati for professional services for the 2024 Document Management Solutions Global Search solution.
• To sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on behalf of the commissioners with the University of Cincinnati on behalf of the Ohio Cyber Range Institute (OCRI). The purpose of this MOU is to provide free cyber security training to any Ohio local government entities via the O-PCI training.
• The auditor’s monthly expense reports and summary.
• To levy and renew an increase in the sales tax by one-fourth of 1% under section 5739.026 of the Ohio Revised Code to pay the expenses of administering such tax and to provide additional revenue to the county’s general fund. Such sales tax shall be in addition to the tax levied by the state and will begin on Oct. 1, 2024, and run through Sept. 30, 2029.
• To authorize the following employment verifications: Angela Carrol as a full-time child support case manager in the Miami County Department of Job and Family Services at a pay rate of $17.82 per hour beginning on July 22; Logan Cupp as a full-time eligibility referral specialist in the department of job and family services at a pay rate of $21.56 per hour beginning on July 22; and Kristen Black as a telecommunicator in the communication center at a pay rate of $22.91 per hour beginning on July 22.
Commissioner Ted Mercer did not attend the meeting.
