By Haylee Pence
TROY – The Miami County Commissioners met to authorize eight resolutions presented during their meeting on Thursday, March 10.
One resolution led to a $1.07/hour wage increase for all full-time Department of Job and Family Services employees, which will put the lowest paying employee at around $15/hour according to Bonnie VanGorden, director of Miami County Job and Family Services. The resolution was approved March 10, but it becomes effective Jan. 1, 2022 and those wages will be reflected. Commissioner President Ted Mercer stated that this wage increase is needed to “help retain skilled employees.”
VanGorden commented that the employees “feel more supported, which is boosting moral.”
Also on Tuesday, the commissioners authorized an agreement for the implementation of the Matrix Case Management Agreement for the Prosecuting Attorney, which will allow the office to operate remotely in lieu of the COVID-19 pandemic. All staff members will be able to access all the files available utilizing this software. The cost of this shall not exceed $45,000 and will utilize ARPA funds. Charlotte said this has “increased efficiency and workflow.”
The next resolution involved signing the lease agreement with Matrix Pointe Software, LLC in order for the Miami County Prosecuting Attorney to utilize the case management software. The license software is for “data hosting, servers, data back-ups, maintenance, data storage, unlimited support services for two system administrators, and access to the State of Ohio criminal statutes database,” according to the prosecuting attorney. The cost of the agreement is $3,500 per month.
Then, the commissioners approved the resignation of Sharon Butz from their position as a Unit Support Worker 2 for the Department of Job and Family Services.
Therefore, the following resolution the commissioners approved was the employee requisition for a full-time Unit Support Worker 2 for the Department of Job and Family Services with a pay range of $13.39 to $20.66 depending on qualifications.
The next resolution was for the authorization for repairs in parking lots by Cooper’s Blacktop. The project involves “repairing, crack filling, sealing, and re-stripping all downtown parking lots (A-H), the Safety Building driveway, and the Hobart Center for County Government,” according to the Operations and Facilities/Maintenance. The total cost of the project shall not exceed $41,720.
Another resolution was to acknowledge the Sheriff’s Monthly Expense Account for February.
The last resolution was to appoint three representatives to the Region 15 Committee of the OneOhio Recovery Foundation, which is set to determine the usage of the opioid litigation funds. The three representatives represent three different aspects of Miami County, one representative from the Miami County Commissioners, one representative for the major cities in Miami County, and the other to represent villages and townships. The three representatives are Commissioner Gregory Simmons, Matt Simmons, and Terry Becker. While there are three representatives for the Region 15 Committee, each county will only receive one vote.
Commissioner Vice President Wade Westfall was not present at this meeting.
