By Eamon Baird
TROY — Sara Bowers was appointed as the new director for the Department of Job and Family Services (JFS) during the Miami County Commissioners’ meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 27.
Bowers has been serving as the interim director since Jan. 2 after the resignation of Bonita VanGorden.
“Thank you for the opportunity,” Bowers said to the commissioners at the meeting. “I appreciate all your support, and we have a lot of exciting things happening at JFS in the future, and I’m excited to be a part of it.”
In other business, the commissioners approved or authorized the following agenda items:
• An Age Friendly Grant Award for $10,000 for the Department of Development from the Del Mar Healthcare Fund of the Dayton Foundation. The grant period ends on July 31, 2024.
• A grant of $20,000 for the 2024 calendar year for the Community Service Litter Program. The Miami County Municipal ISP Program provides litter cleanup along the routes leading to the power station if it costs less than the transfer station could provide.
• To sign a contract with Kokosing Solar of Westerville and authorize professional services for the feasibility study of economics, implementation, and performance of solar panels at the Miami County incinerator site in Troy, Ohio, at a total cost not to exceed $15,000.
• To amend a contract with M&T Excavating, of Bradford, for the Swailes Road Waterline Project for a cost addition of $4,870. While completing the scope of work for the project, the contractor determined it would encounter additional expenses for installing an additional valve west of Interstate 75, resulting in a cost addition of $4,870, making the revised total contract $431,673.
At the end of the meeting, the commissioners conducted a hearing concerning the vacation of an alley in the unincorporated village of Bloomertown and Newberry Township. A petition was initially submitted on Jan. 24 by the township trustees for the said vacation.
Dan Baker, deputy engineer for Miami County, said the vacation only affected one property.
“This alley was found to exist during the settlement of an estate. The heirs found that this alley existed between the residents and the detached outbuilding, so they approached the township trustees to pursue the vacation,” Baker said.
Commissioner Wade Westfall was not in attendance at the meeting.
