By Haylee Pence
TROY – The Miami County Commissioners, excluding Commissioner Ted Mercer as he was not present, met on Tuesday, Dec. 21, to authorize several agreements, including awarding the 2021 Miami County Bridge Package Project.
The first of these authorizations involved the purchase of two Fujitsu Front Side Post Imprinters for the Board of Elections for a cost that shall not exceed $5,775. These devices will increase the ballot scanning process and ensure that the physical copy ballot and the electronic submitted ballot are paired correctly and easy to find.
The next agreement was to award the bid and give the notice to proceed for the 2021 Miami County Bridge Package Project which was given to Brumbaugh Construction, Inc. from Arcanum. The project bid was for $1,017,613.
Next, the commissioners authorized the Housing Revolving Loan Fund Administration Agreement with the Department of Development. The agreement is for a five-year period and becomes effective on Jan. 1, 2022. The funds received are from CDBG and HOME and can only be used for eligible activities. The next authorization involved the release of legal advertisement to be published on Dec. 23, which will discuss the CDBG budget and plans for the funding. The following authorization was for a change in the CDBG requirements for HUD funded contracts.
The next authorization was to use the PY 2020 Community Housing Impact and Preservation Grant Program for the LMI property owner, Gary and Phyllis Carmack in Tipp City, for an amount of $15,982 for a roof and spouting.
The commissioners also authorized the listing of three vehicles from the Operations and Facilities to be auctioned off. The vehicles include a 2007 GMC Savana Passenger Van with 95,499 miles; a 2014 Ford Econoline Passenger Van with 30,805 miles; and a 2013 Ford Interceptor Explorer SUV with 167,910 miles. The auction will be on GovDeals.com with a link on the Miami County website.
Then, the commissioners authorized a memorandum for public funds to be used by the Miami County treasurer as needed. The final agreement authorized was for the Miami County treasurer to print and process real estate tax bills with an effective period of 48 months.
Following the authorizations, the commissioners opened bids for the Miami County Fuel Island, which saw two bids. One bid was Lawrence Building Corporation for $1,225,000. The other bid was for Westerheide Construction Company for $1,149,000.
Then, the commissioners heard the biweekly COVID update from Emergency Management Agency Director Joel Smith. The current infection rate is 742.1 per 100,000, which “is a pretty big jump,” according to Smith. Miami County is now 48th county in the state. Miami County has had a total of 18,406 cases with 1,150 hospitalizations and 360 total deaths. They estimate 44.65% of the county is fully vaccinated.
To wrap up the meeting, the commissioners wanted to thank the residents of Miami County who donated items for the Operation Miami County Cares and all of those who helped collect donations and run the project. They collected 45 pallets of items. The donated items will be delivered to Dresden, Tennessee because “Kentucky was no longer in need of donations,” according to Commissioner Gregory Simmons.
Commissioner Wade Westfall wanted to thank Magistrate Gary Zuhl for his years of service to Miami County and to congratulate him on his retirement. Westfall thanked him for “his time, leadership, hard-work, and commitment.”
