Transcript

the July 9th uh 2026 meeting of the

Delaware County Board of Commissioners.

Would you please rise and join me in the

pledge?

>> I pledge alce to the flag of the United

States of America and to the republic

for which it stands, one nation under

God, indivisible, with liberty and

justice for all.

>> Great. Uh thank you. Um, I'm Jeff

Benton, president of the board this

year. To my right is vice president,

fellow commissioner Gary Merrill. To my

left is fellow commissioner Barb Lewis,

our deputy administrator Don Houston.

This year, Kathy Melvin and Jennifer Wal

Raven um are the clerks and we're going

to run the meeting. So, we can we can

begin.

>> Resolution number 26-471

in the matter of approving the

electronic record of proceedings from

regular meeting held June 29th, 2026.

>> So, move.

>> Second.

>> Discussion. Vote

>> vote on motion 26-471.

Mrs. Lewis,

>> I.

>> Mr. Merrell,

>> I.

>> Mr. Benton,

>> I.

>> We do not have any public comment today.

That brings us to item number three,

resolution number 26-472.

In the matter of approving purchase

orders, then announce certificates of

payments of warrants in batch number CM

APR0708

and memo transfers in batch number MT

APR0708.

So

>> second

>> discussion vote

>> vote on motion 26-472

Mr. Merrell

>> I

>> Mrs. Lewis

>> I

>> Mr. Brenton.

>> Hi.

>> Resolution number 26-473

in the matter of cancelling the Delaware

County Commissioner sessions scheduled

for Thursday, July 23rd, 2026, Thursday,

August 6th, 2026, Thursday, August 20th,

2026, and Monday, August 31st, 2026.

>> So move.

>> Second.

>> Discussion. Vote.

>> Vote on motion 26-473.

Mr. Benton.

>> I.

>> Mr. Merrell. Hi,

>> Mrs. Lewis.

>> I

>> resolution number 26-474

in the matter of a transfer of a liquor

license to Madra Spirits LLC, Joe's Pub

Pal, and foring to the Ohio Division of

Liquor Control with no objections and no

requests for a hearing.

>> So move

>> second discussion vote.

>> Vote on motion 26-474.

Mr. Benton,

>> I

>> Mr. Merrill,

>> I.

>> Mrs. Lewis,

>> I. Resolution number 26-475

in the matter of approving a travel

expense request.

>> So move

>> second

>> discussion vote

>> vote on motion 26-475.

Mr. Merrell

>> I

>> Mr. B.

>> I.

>> Mrs. Lewis

>> I. Resolution number 26-476

in the matter of setting date and time

for viewing and public hearing for

consideration of the drainage

improvement petition for the Butler Run

wershed filed by William Thomas

Fitzgerald

>> second

>> discussion vote

>> vote on motion 26-476

Mr. Benton

>> I

>> Mr. Barrell

>> I

>> Mrs. Lewis

>> I

>> resolution number 26-477

in the matter of setting date time for

viewing and public hearing for

consideration of the drainage

improvement petition for the roof main A

number 1415

wershed filed by Mitchell Schmucker

>> so move

>> second

>> discussion vote

>> vote on motion 26-477

Mr. Merrill

>> I

>> Mrs. Lewis

>> I

>> Mr. Mr. Benton.

>> Hi.

>> Resolution number 26-478

in the matter of acknowledging receipt

of annexation petition from agent for

the petitioner Ryan D. Crossley

Coopermanman Mental Crossley Yarst Ltd

requesting annexation of 0.427

acres of land in Delaware Township to

the city of Delaware.

>> Some move.

>> Discussion. Vote.

>> Vote on motion 26-478.

Mr. Merrill.

>> I. Mr. Benton.

>> Hi,

>> Mrs. Lewis.

>> I

>> for item number 10, Director Fishell has

a retirement tribute to bring to us

today.

>> All right, we're going to give Jennifer

a little break on her resolution

meeting.

>> Yeah,

>> that was pretty rapid fire. Welcome.

>> Morning, commissioners. Jeff Fishell,

director of EMS Delaware County.

Uh, I have the privilege

of being able to uh speak on the

retirement of Lieutenant Brad Fischer

from Delaware County after more than 30

years of uh service. Um, but like

anytime I talk about a retirement,

there's some things that must be said

first.

Brad Fischer was hired April 17th, 1995

in Delaware County.

On that day in Delaware, Ohio, the high

was 74 degrees, the low was 48, and

there was 06 inches of rain. So, it was

just a brief shower, but overall was a

warm spring day with little rain. Do you

remember that, Brad?

>> I do not.

>> Okay.

You might remember this. The average

price of gasoline around that time was

$1.21 per gallon nationwide. Average

price of milk was $2.50.

And the most popular song was This Is

How We Do It by Montel Jordan.

>> This is how we do it.

Uh, the most popular movie at the US box

office was Bad Boys, starring Will Smith

and Martin Lawrence. I do remember that

movie. Big fan. Um, and a few more fun

facts. Uh, Windows 95 hadn't been

released yet. Uh, it wouldn't arrive

until that August. Very few people had

internet access and most movies were

rented from Blockbuster on VHS. You

remember that?

>> Uh, cell phones were uncommon and

usually carried in a bag or clipped to a

belt. I still see some people do the

belt thing. Um, and the average new home

cost around 113,000 and the average new

car was about 15,000. In 1995, Delaware

County was just beginning the rapid

growth that would eventually make it one

of the fastest growing counties in Ohio.

The city of Delaware estimate was around

21,000 and the county estimate was

around 91,000. And that was the the day

that uh Brad started his career here. Um

since that time he rose to the rank of

lieutenant. uh he since I have known him

he has worked out in Orander at Medicaid

and he has mentored many many new

individuals within this department. I

can't begin to even calculate the amount

of lives he's touched through uh through

responding to numerous EMS calls and

he's taken part in our quarterly or

yearly core competencies to help educate

new members. And uh

something a few very interesting things

I found out after talking to him the

other day is Brad actually got his uh I

mean he's a paramedic now, but he

actually got his EMT certification in '

87. Uh fun fact, that's the year I was

born. So

we have that in common or at least that

date, a little connection there. Um but

Brad almost didn't become a EMT or

paramedic. Uh he was telling me a story

the other day I thought was really

interesting. and his his father was

going to buy a trout farm um West

Virginia

>> Virginia and he was almost going to be a

trout farmer instead of this but uh

nonetheless he he got his EMT

certification through uh Columbus Fire.

He worked for Concord Liberty prior to

working for us. All in all, uh, over 36

years of service within the county and,

um, you know, personally, from a

personal level, uh, when I got here, you

know, I've been here 7 years. When I got

here, Brad was already a very, very

tenured member of this department. He

has he's never been anything but

pleasant and inviting. I enjoy going to

uh, do station visits when he's there.

He's, even if he's faking it, I I at

least believed it. He he seemed excited

to see me. um wanted to have a

conversation.

>> Yeah. And uh he was just a a a a great

individual to have a conversation with

and talk to and um so you know uh Brad

I'm going to really miss having you uh

in the department. Your experience, your

your time, your tenure. Um there's a

wealth of knowledge that's uh uh

retiring with you. Um we're happy that

we're engaging our retirees again like

through our retirement breakfast and

such. And so, uh, welcome to four unit

as they call it. Um, one day I'll see

you there. And, uh, I think Assistant

Chief Miller would like to say

something. And then we like to bring up

Brad.

>> Hi, commissioners. Jeremy Miller,

assistant chief Delaware County EMS. I I

have the privilege I I parked my vehicle

at station 8, and that's where

Lieutenant Fischer was. Um, and I can

sit here all day talking about him, but

what I'd really like to talk about is

his wife, Pam. So like 80 uh 87 is when

when they got married and she has been

in the EMS family for just as long as he

has. And I uh I I think it's really

important to to acknowledge the family

member that went through everything that

we went through the the long nights of

raising kids and and everything else. So

thank you for what you've for what

you've done. So, um, Brad Brad is a

personality and and on his last day, he

was at station 8, which, uh, isn't our

slowest shift or our slowest station,

but it's also not one of our our

busiest. He took three calls that day,

including he had to switch out of an

ambulance at 1:30 in the morning, even

though technically he retired an hour

earlier, you know, but he was finishing

off his shift and and uh had to switch

out to a new ambulance on his very last

day. And you would think that somebody

would be like, I'm out. But he didn't.

And so he he traded out the ambulance

and he did well. He will be missed um

for more than just one reason, but we

would like to present him with a small

token of our appreciation. So Brad, come

on up.

We uh for me, American flags mean mean a

lot to me and and this flag was flown

over station 8 in honor of you and and

we thought it was important that you got

to keep the flag that came uh from your

station so that when you look at it, you

can kind of remind yourself that uh you

you did a job well done over the years

and uh we're really proud of you and

we're really happy for you to spend some

time with your family. And uh I asked

his wife this morning if she was tired

of them yet and she if she was ready to

kick them out and she said no. So I said

uh give it a week. So

>> um we'll get this and we'll take

pictures, but I want to give you the

opportunity to say anything if you if

you would like to not to put you on the

spot, but

uh what I do remember is I I started out

I started out at 629 an hour. Um since

then

since then there's been quite a lot of

change. Uh so uh I think that you know

we're people of uh repetition and right

now it's uh getting used to a new

repetition. U so uh retirement's

a new adventure for me. So, uh, very

happy to be a part of this

administration.

Um,

there's been a lot of changes, uh,

throughout the years and it's all been

for the positive. So,

>> thank you very much.

>> Grant, tell us what you're going to do

in retirement. What's your plan?

>> Uh, spend more time with my family and,

uh, I I cut that out during my time

working. I've always been working since

something like 15 years old. So, uh,

it's a different experience. So, won't

do any traveling right away, but next

year I probably will go someplace to

have fun.

>> It's great.

>> Thank you.

>> Yeah. Well, don't go away. We got

>> Anything else?

>> Sure. Um, I I'm just thinking that that

your wife will probably keep you maybe a

little busy. Uh just a few little

things, honeydew things.

>> Uh a lot of things that have been uh

missed for a number of years.

>> Sure. Oh gosh. But thank you so much for

your service and all the lives that uh

that you have saved and the lives that

that you that you prevented from from

dying actually. I mean helping people.

You've done that all your life and so

you certainly deserve a uh a very a very

good retirement and I'm sure you'll have

one.

>> Thank you.

>> Thank you very much.

>> Yeah. Thank you. U we do have a

proclamation that uh do we need to read

the proclamation?

>> No, you can if you want but we don't

need to vote on it.

>> Okay. We don't have to vote on it. Okay.

We have a signed proclamation for you

and we will give that to you in a

moment. But I did want to also thank you

for the 31 years. um and um you know

good good service and outstanding

department of of of our county and and

uh I I was just kind of curious what how

how you think the profession has changed

and the community has changed in those

31 years.

>> Um I'd have to say that uh EMS is always

changing. uh it's changed quite a lot

and it really helps to have the the

education that we have uh with uh with

Dr. Panchchel and

>> uh Nicole um uh to keep up on everything

because uh everything that I learned in

in medical school,

uh a lot of that's changed. Most of the

drugs have changed. Uh a lot of the

procedures have changed. So, it's always

good to have the the education that we

have. U and and I appreciate you guys um

supporting that. So,

>> sure. Well, we want to make sure we have

we maintain the best EMS system in the

state and even the country, which we've

done. And so, you're you've been a key

part of that. So, we really thank you.

Um, okay.

>> Resolution is very very straightforward

and it it says just that we will give

this to you and get a picture.

>> Can you try and get a picture with the

>> with the group, Jeff? I don't know.

>> We have a lot of EMS people in the room.

So, if anybody wants to have a heart

attack, now's a good time to do it. We

got plenty of experts take care of it.

Okay.

>> No, they don't have to. It's just a

>> tribute.

It's going to be a challenge.

All right. Get in where you fit in.

I thought he was cool.

>> All right, we all ready.

Thank you.

>> Thank you.

Yes, absolutely. Thank you so much.

Item number 11, resolution number 26-479

in the matter of ribbing the agreement

with pediatric emergency standards for

hand heavy software.

>> So move

>> second

>> discussion. Uh morning, commissioners.

Jeff Fishell, director of EMS Delaware

County. This is a uh software program

that we already use. Uh it's funded

through the uh the monies that you put

forth to the prehosp care board. Um and

uh I'm coming to you today because we

need more licenses for it is the simple

part of that. It's it's something we

use. We all we all enjoy the product.

It's it's very well received throughout

the county. We just simply need uh more

licenses.

>> Okay. Any questions or comments? just uh

so everybody then from the other um fire

EMS and can can use it too.

>> Correct.

>> Yeah. Yeah. That's great. Thank you.

>> All right, Jennifer, let's vote.

>> Vote on motion 26-479.

Mrs. Lewis,

>> I.

>> Mr. Merrell,

>> I.

>> Mr. Benton,

>> I. Thank you. Thanks, Jeff.

>> Thank you. Resolution number 26-480

in the matter of establishing a capital

projects fund in accordance with

OC5705.13.

>> So move

>> second discussion.

>> Morning commissioners. Justin Avi,

director of finance. Uh this request

would authorize the creation of the

capital development fund within the

chart of accounts for the county.

>> Okay. Any questions or comments? Vote

please.

>> Vote on motion 26-480.

Mr. Merrell.

>> I.

>> Mrs. Lewis.

>> I.

>> Mr. Benton.

>> I. Resolution number 26-481 in the

matter of approving supplemental

appropriations and a transfer of funds.

>> So move second discussion.

>> Thanks commissioners. For this second

item essentially would authorize a

transfer of cash into the newly

established capital development fund.

>> Okay. Questions or comments? Vote

please.

>> Vote on motion 26-481.

Mr. Benton

>> I.

>> Mr. Merrell.

>> I.

>> Mrs. Lewis

>> I. Resolution number 26-482

in the matter of approving a transfer of

appropriations for the regional sewer

district.

>> So move

>> second

>> discussion.

>> Thanks commissioners. Uh this item has

been requested uh because of the planned

installation of additional fencing at

the transfer station.

>> Okay. Any questions or comments? Vote

please.

>> Vote on motion 26-482.

Mr. Benton.

>> I.

>> Mrs. Lewis.

>> I.

>> Mr. Merrell.

>> I.

>> Resolution number 26-483.

and the matter of approving supplemental

appropriations and a revised revenue

estimate.

>> So moved.

>> Second discussion.

>> Uh thanks commissioners. Uh this request

is for various budget amendments and

it's attributed to the recent refunding

of debt in April and May.

>> Yeah. Which will save us a lot of money

over the life of that those bonds. So

thank you for your you and your team for

the effort to do that.

>> Um other questions or comments? Vote

please.

>> That's Yeah, good point.

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah. Thank you. Vote on motion 26-483.

Mr. Merrell,

>> I.

>> Mr. Benton,

>> I.

>> Mrs. Lewis,

>> I.

>> Resolution number 26-484 in the matter

of approving an advance of funds.

>> So moved.

>> Second.

>> Discussion.

>> Uh, thanks commissioners. For this final

item, uh, the cash advance is attributed

to two grant awards for the CDBG

program. Uh, and these monies will be

returned to the general fund in the

fourth quarter.

>> Okay. So, we're advancing the two

projects we previously approved.

>> Correct.

>> Okay. Great. These are nice projects, so

it's good to see this being put to use.

Uh, Jennifer, let's vote.

>> Vote on motion 26-484. Mrs. Lewis,

>> I.

>> Mr. Merrell,

>> I.

>> Mr. Benton,

>> I.

>> Great. Thank you.

>> Thanks, Justin.

>> Thank you. Resolution number 26-485

in the matter of approving a service

agreement between the Delaware County

Board of Commissioners and Elite Air

LLC, a Danakin company for replacement

of two condensing units and two train DX

evaporator coils at the Carnegie

building.

>> So move

>> second discussion.

>> Good morning. John Melvin, director of

facilities. Uh this agreement is to

replace a couple units. We have two

units are failing over in the Carnegie U

building which is primarily affecting

cooling on the first and second floors.

So uh the Dykin has these units

available so they're readily available

to get in there and get this repaired.

>> Yeah. Yep. Got to keep the HVAC in.

>> Yeah, we we bought some extra portable

units to to supplement. Yeah, it's been

>> ongoing problem ongoing challenge. So we

appreciate that. Uh Jennifer vote please

>> vote on motion 26-485. Mr. Merrill

>> I

>> Mrs. Lewis

>> I.

>> Mr. Benton

>> I.

>> Resolution number 26-486 in the matter

of approving a service agreement between

the Delaware County Board of

Commissioners and GC

Wholesale Flooring LLC to replace carpet

at the county's judicial view building.

Sorry.

>> So move.

>> Second.

>> Discussion.

>> Uh this is a replace carpet uh that's in

some hight traffic areas in the

courthouse. uh primarily primarily the

uh 500 level hallways uh back staff

hallways and on the 300 level especially

in doll court services and jury assembly

areas uh this is through a shawl uh

carpet through Omniart omni partners

>> appreciate the clarification because a

building not that old I was curious why

the carpet

>> yeah there there's some really high high

traffic and the building is eight years

old now so

>> okay other questions or comments vote

please

>> vote on motion 26-486. Mr. Benton,

>> hi.

>> Mr. Merrell,

>> hi.

>> Mrs. Lewis,

>> I

>> resolution number 26-487 in the matter

of approving a service agreement between

the Delaware County Board of

Commissioners and Friends Office for

Furniture at the Willis building.

>> So, move

>> second discussion.

>> Uh, this is for kind of the phase one

and phase two of the Willis renovation

project currently going on. Uh it's with

office city who is now friends office uh

they um had a merger. So um this is

primary uh we've completed the

renovation of the former big lot site

for the training rooms, boardrooms and

warehouse and they're currently working

on the uh phase two which is addressing

the rec center area and the early vote

center and what used to be the warehouse

will now be more of an open work area

for the board of elections. Will this

all be done before the fall election or?

>> Yes.

>> Well, phase one.

>> Yeah. Well, phase two currently, like I

say, they're working on phase two, which

primary is the record center um and

renovating that center section. So,

yeah, they anticipate being done here

beginning of August. Uh they should

start next week actually on the asphalt

paving, repaving the lot and stuff. So

they will complete the work first part

of August and actually pull off site

until December when the election is

certified.

>> Yep. Yeah. Yeah. We don't want to be

doing work out there.

>> No.

>> Right before our gumator.

>> It was bid this way. It was anticipated

so that we do not have any chance of

interfering with any election.

>> Right. Right. Very well planned. Um vote

please.

>> Vote on motion 26-487. Mr. Merrell. I

>> Mr. Benton.

>> Hi,

>> Mrs. Lewis.

>> I thanks John.

>> Yeah, thanks John.

>> Resolution number 26-488

in the matter of accepting a donation

made to the Department of Job and Family

Services.

>> So moved.

>> Second discussion.

>> Good morning, commissioners. Bob

Anderson with Job and Family Services

joined by Chris Baker from the Delaware

County Foundation. Um over the past

several years, our family service

planning committee has been a strong

support of our PRC program or prevention

retention contingency program that serve

uh provides services to TANF eligible

youth. Our school clothing program is

our most popular and serves the most uh

individuals in a year. We serve over 750

youth annually through our clothing

voucher program. As budgets become

tight, uh we had a difficult decision to

reduce the number of youth receiving

services or reduce the dollar amount

that we were providing on vouchers. The

committee agreed that on the value and

benefits provided to youth uh through

this program and they challenged us to

maintain the program at past year's

levels. Um, we started talking with

community partners on funding so that we

could do that and within a couple months

I spoke with Chris and then the

foundation stepped up and provided us

with $100,000 to continue the program at

the same level we did last year. Um,

with the $100,000 we will serve 500

youth providing $200 for school

appropriate clothing for TANF TANIF

eligible youth. the agency will commit

another $50,000 um for the 250

additional youth as budgets allow. If we

can increase our donation or our

contribution of $50,000, we will do so

as well. So, I cannot thank Chris and

the foundation enough for their generous

donation to continue this program. I do

think this assists youth um self-esteem

and confidence as they enter a new

school year um that they're arriving in

appropriate clothing that fits um that's

not worn and things like that. very

valuable program to our families and I

cannot thank Chris enough for all he's

done. Before I turn it over, I did want

to recognize a couple folks in the back,

Mike Mlan and Diana Roberts who lead the

team that administer the program and

most of you know Jeff Sell with our our

protective services who's working with

you on a daily basis.

>> Chris, thank you. I can't say that

loudly enough. Thank you.

>> Well, absolutely. I think it's a, you

know, a great program and our work

really is to bring together generous uh

folks in the community around, you know,

community needs and, you know, for me,

having been a plastic spoon myself,

plastic spoon kid myself, um, we're

certainly pr proud to be able to meet

that critical need that we see and and

give everybody a great head start to the

year with, you know, some new clothes.

So proud to be able to step up and

really appreciate the work that Javin

Family Services is doing and we're glad

that we could partner.

>> Yeah.

>> Um question or comments?

>> Just just like to uh thank the Delaware

Foundation and and Chris for for

stepping up and uh that's that's great.

I mean it is so important as as Bob

mentioned that that uh students feel

good about what they look like and uh

and uh that's that's just great that it

it will really help their their

self-esteem and uh make for a a much

better school year. Thank you very much.

How many how many people roughly do you

think this serves? Is it possible to

>> uh we will serve a minimum of 750 youth

uh with 150,000.

>> Okay.

>> Um as our TAN of funding as we work

through that through the last quarter of

the federal fiscal year. If we have

additional funds we'll add to that.

>> That's great. That's great.

>> Does that cover most of our needs?

>> No.

>> Um we will we normally turn off the

application process within a week um

because we are we're already over the

number. Um, but it it's it's a a small

bite in the need, but it definitely is

helping those families.

>> Um, we've had a good working

relationship with Kohl's um that that

brings in additional inventory and they

they work with us on the um monitoring

of of what's purchased and and receding.

>> Oh, that's great. Good. Good.

>> Yeah. Um, yeah, I, you know, Delaware

County obviously is is relatively

affluent county, but there are, uh,

there are folks, kids, uh, with need,

you know, that need help and, and it's

just great that we're able to help them.

>> Um, Chris, is this a donation on behalf

of the foundation or is it a specific

donor within the foundation?

>> Uh, it it's actually, uh, you know,

both, uh, of the of those. uh so a

specific donor within the foundation you

know I I talked with them about the you

know the project they would like to

remain anonymous uh so hence why it's

coming under the name of the foundation

you know itself

>> yeah we want to thank that donor

>> be sure to do that on behalf of the

county and and the kids who who are

getting the help so

>> um any other questions or comments again

thank you thank you very much out

>> uh Jennifer

>> vote on motion 26-48 88. Mrs. Lewis,

>> I

>> Mr. Benton.

>> Hi,

>> Mr. Merrell.

>> Hi.

>> Thank you.

>> Thank you.

>> Resolution number 26-489

in the matter of authorizing the

submitting of an application for the

Ohio Attorney General's Opioid

Remediation Grant Program for the

Sheriff's Office.

>> So move.

>> Second.

>> Discussion.

>> Good morning. Cassie Nef, the criminal

justice programs manager with the

sheriff's office

>> and Jeff Ballser, sheriff.

>> This grant is simply not about treating

addiction inside of the jail. It is

about reducing overdoses, recidivism,

and improving public safety by ensuring

that people leave custody connected to

treatment instead of returning to

crisis. This project directly supports

Delaware County's stepping up initiative

by improving identification, connection

to treatment, and continuity of of care,

thus reducing the likelihood of

individuals cycling in and out of our

jail.

Demand for Medicaid assisted treatment

has increased by 153%

from 2024 to 2025. And we know that

individuals leaving our jail are 10

times more likely to overdose than

anybody in the general population.

So this grant helps ensure that they

leave treatment

that they leave with treatment,

community connections, and recovery

support.

Sorry. Okay. This grant also builds upon

and does not replace the county's

existing investments. The grant will

expand treatment coordination, add a

second program coordinator to improve

discharge planning and continuity of

care, purchase life-saving

medicated assistant medications,

strengthen outcome tracking in community

partnerships, and increase access to

evidence-based treatment for individuals

with opioid use disorder. the return on

the investment. The county has already

invested in physicians and mental health

clinicians, nursing staffs, and

community partnerships. This grant

provides the operational infrastructure

needed to maximize those investments.

Every successful transition from jail to

treatment reduces overdose deaths,

repeat incarceration,

medical utilization, law enforcement and

court cost, and future correctional

cost. This allows Delaware County to

leverage state opiate settlement dollars

rather than local tax dollars to

strengthen an already successful

program. And I'll leave you with a

success story of an individual who has

participated um in our medical our

medicated assisted treatment program. Um

so he was in the jail. He is a Delaware

County resident. He graduated from

Delaware County City School or Delaware

City Schools. um and suffers from mental

health and substance abuse, multiple um

drug overdoses. I've talked with his

family. They've called and pled of how

do we get him help. I can't find him on

the yard again um overdosing. He has his

life has been saved multiple times by um

county EMS and he received a furlow from

the jail and overdosed in our jail

parking lot. Um our correction staff

saved his life because we have access to

Nlloxxone.

um he was rebooked into the jail um and

that's when he decided to make a change.

So he got involved with the jail

programs, was admitted to the medicated

assistant treatment program um got into

counseling and received his medications

prior to being released. He has not

returned to jail in over two years. Oh

my gosh. And has remained his sobriety.

He is a loving uncle. Um he is a

taxpaying citizen. Um, and it's it's

really really awesome to see him doing

well.

>> Oh my gosh, that's great.

>> If we receive this grant, this would be

part of our overall plan for the

sheriff's office.

The u overwhelming majority of people

who come to the Delaware County Jail

have addiction and mental health

problems.

They may not be charged with the crime

of drug possession or drug dealing, but

that's the underlying reason why they're

in there. So, by

getting this grant, if we're able to get

it from the state, uh, this helps

protect our community. Like Cassie

mentioned, the people come into jail,

there's two ways to do it. We can either

lock them up, throw away the key, and

then just kick them out when we're done.

Or we can try to get them into these

services, which will help protect them,

which will get them back on the path to

having a worthwhile life, which will

contribute to the safety of our

community. That's what we've chosen to

do.

>> Oh gosh.

>> Sure.

>> Is it pretty competitive grant or is it

likely we will get the grant? Do you

have any idea? The grant is only

eligible for um corrections.

So, it's competitive within our field,

but it's not open to community

providers.

>> I think last time they did the grant,

this is to the attorney general's

office, correct?

>> Correct. Yeah.

>> That they had funds left over, which is

kind of amazing to me. So, there were

agencies that didn't apply. I know that

the Buckeye State Sheriff's Association

was pushing hard for sheriff's office to

apply. We did apply last time. We did

get the grant. We've shown success. I'm

hoping that will help us uh get some

more funds this time, too.

>> Yeah. I was going to ask about the

background. I knew this had been applied

for before and so we were successful

before.

>> Yes.

>> Okay. Good. Mhm.

>> Oh, gee, that's it's heartwarming and uh

just to hear what you've done and uh

continue to do and it it's uh gee, I

should certainly hope you know certainly

the record that you have too would the

attorney general knows that this money

would be very well spent on a program

that that is already been used is used

successfully

and and So, uh, wish you the best on it,

but that's that's that's wonderful, but

definitely needed. We have never, um,

Cassie, you may know this or sheriff,

too, uh, with the federal Medicaid

monies. I know we've been trying for

many years to to uh get that moving when

when uh when uh people are in jail to

get them make sure that their their um

medications are not cut off. Have we had

any luck with that?

>> No. Okay. There's been no movement for

incarcerated individuals to be able to

access Medicaid, which is why this grant

is so critical because it will purchase

those life-saving medications that

Medicaid will not cover. We do sign them

up for Medicaid while they're in jail.

So, when they're released, they're able

to access those benefits um if they are

not eligible while they're incarcerated.

>> Right. When there's that gap, I I just

do not understand. And I know uh

national

um no national counties um organization

and then our state organization has been

advocating for the federal too and and

the state. We've worked on the on the on

the state certainly also but uh okay boy

>> we talked about that before is logical

that

>> jail you're excluded from I mean that's

we've had this conversation I think we

all agree. Yeah. Yeah. Makes absolutely

no sense.

>> I know. I keep hoping we've made

progress on it.

>> They qualify on the outside. They've

gone through the steps. These folks have

uh covered by Medicaid and yet now when

they're in our custody, it it's shut

off.

>> So, yeah, that's that's a national issue

which I know that organizations I belong

to have also been advocating for change.

>> Yes. Yes. Well,

>> it's good to see the the settlement

money being put to. This is the big

purpose of of that settlement money is

to help with situations like this. So,

it's good to see the application.

Hopefully, we'll get the funding again.

So,

>> any other questions or comments?

>> Well, I noticed that our jail director,

>> Nick, would you like to say anything?

Yeah, he's sitting right Yeah. Come on

up. You do the day-to-day work, too.

>> That's right.

I think I was up up next, but uh I will

uh say that I I'm optimistic in us

getting the grant again for this um next

uh cycle. And Cassie and I were talking,

I think the other day, like what we have

structurally set up over the past, you

know, five, six, seven, eight years with

a lot of the programming and the support

from the sheriff. Um,

>> I think that there probably will be some

recognition from the AG's office that

um, we're going to be able to do some

pretty significant things with with

these funds. And, um,

most jails in the nation are around our

size, if not a little bit smaller. Like

we make up the large majority of uh,

these size of institutions. Not they're

kind of in the 100 300 bed range.

um not everybody has the resources and

the the structure and I think the

support and I think that we're going to

be able to kind of take what we're

planning on doing with these

>> uh monies in the position and can really

um you know be much more of a model

nationwide for jails of this size

because the the big big counties can do

a lot of big county things you know

Franklin County has

>> in Cincinnati and Cleveland they all

have a lot of um people to do a lot of

the work and that's not the same

throughout the nation. or the state um

to be able to u utilize some of these

resources and I'm hoping that we can uh

lay some groundwork not just for us but

you know for the rest of the state to

show how that we can make this

successful.

>> That's great.

>> That's great.

>> You'll let us know.

>> Yeah. Thank you. Thank you.

>> When when do you find out? Do you know

when they'll decide on?

>> We'll submit the application upon

approval today and we anticipate

receiving notice of award either late

August or early September.

>> Okay, good question.

>> Funds come in pretty quickly after that.

>> Yeah, we'll execute an

to receive the funds.

>> Okay, great. Thank you so much for all

the work.

>> Thank you for the work and the

application. Uh Jennifer.

>> Yeah.

>> Vote on motion 26-489.

Mr. Bettton.

>> Hi,

>> Mrs. Lewis.

>> Hi,

>> Mr. Merrill.

>> Hi. Thank you.

>> All right. Thank you. Thank you.

>> I think I'm staying up here now.

Resolution number 26-490

in the matter of approving the agreement

for command cloud subscription agreement

between the Delaware County Sheriff's

Office, the Delaware County Board of

Commissioners and Kodiak Corporation

doing business as Guardian RFID to

provide software services to aid inmate

management, monitoring, and tracking

solutions.

>> So move.

>> Second

>> discussion. I'm glad you had to read all

that. Yeah.

>> Um, this is a uh software application

with a little bit of hardware um to uh

increase our ability to uh track uh

inmate movement and documentation. Um

it's a an add-on to our jail management

system. Um and it pretty much is going

to take away a lot of the paper uh that

we utilize to log all of the things for

compliance um and just general tracking.

it comes with almost like a a cell phone

and they're able to really digitize a

lot of the things um you know that we do

dayto-day. So it's hopefully um increase

efficiency significantly.

>> Oh, that's great.

>> Going to be a significant add-on to what

we're doing.

>> So we've not used this software

application before.

>> Correct.

>> Okay. So new new product.

>> Questions, comments?

>> Uh vote, please. Vote on motion 26-490.

Mrs. Lewis

>> I,

>> Mr. Merrell.

>> I,

>> Mr. Benton.

>> I,

>> Resolution number 26-491

in the matter of establishing new funds

and organizational fees and approving

supplemental appropriations and a

transfer of appropriations for the

sheriff's office.

>> Some second discussion.

>> Good morning. Mel Roy, finance director,

Delaware County Sheriff's Office. um the

establishment of the new funds and

organization keys. Um our office

participates in um a couple of grants

and with those grants um for um traffic

and um monitoring and and reduction in

um

just some of those requirements. We are

um we have been asked to establish new

funds for those. Um that would help to

keep those funds separate for the um

grant purposes. um the supplemental

appropriations is to go ahead and put um

those funds in there that we do receive

from the grant. And then the transfer um

does allow us to go ahead and

um continue to operate our um DTF grant.

>> Okay. Questions or comments?

>> Uh vote, please.

>> Vote on motion 26-491.

Mrs. Lewis,

>> I.

>> Mr. Merrell.

>> Hi,

>> Mr. Bton.

>> Hi.

>> Thank you.

>> Thank you.

>> Brings us to administrator reports.

>> And I have nothing today.

>> Nothing today.

>> Mr. Ben, Tracy's not here, but I do have

a question. Perhaps Ally could answer it

for me.

>> Could you come forward, Ally? I have a

question, but Tracy's not here to

answer.

>> Is today a special day? Is that your

question?

>> I

should have known Gary would know.

>> Oh,

is there anything special about today we

should know about? just July 9th.

>> U I'm just gonna say Ally does so much

for all of us and makes it

>> makes all of us better and I just want

to say happy birthday.

>> Thank you

>> and thank you for all you do.

>> Thank you.

>> Oh, that's I did not realize this Ally.

Yeah. Yeah. She you do you do such a

wonderful job always above and beyond.

You always are said, "Hey, what about

you know you know this that oh yeah

you're wonderful. Thank you.

>> Thank you."

>> Thank you, Ally. Happy birthday to you.

>> Happy birthday.

>> You never should have told us.

>> All right. Uh Commissioner Merrell,

other

>> having just returned from vacation. I

got a lot to catch up on, but I have

nothing to report today.

>> Okay. Commissioner. Well, I attended uh

or was in the uh the Sunberry parade on

the on the 4th.

>> Was it hot?

>> Oh, yes. It really was.

>> And uh it was a great parade though. The

turnout was as usual robust. I mean, a

lot of people. And uh we had two special

guests here uh from Costa Rica. uh they

love the United States and uh they had

wanted to be here on on our 250th

anniversary and a lot of you have

already met them before but uh they were

sitting in that car you know and uh

happy fourth happy fourth and and uh so

it was it it was great um saw the

sheriff and George and and uh and we got

a great picture of Judge Hemanowski

which I sent to him and in in his red,

white, and blue car.

>> He wears that every year. He's new socks

and new shoes.

>> Oh, that's right. He does have new.

>> Yeah. New this year. The stars and

stripes in socks and shoes.

>> Yeah. Oh, yeah. Well, it it was We'll

have to get that picture around because

it's quite a good one. So, anyway, um

that's it.

>> Okay. I'd say a couple other things. Um

hopefully everybody had a good uh fun

safe uh 250th. The the national

celebrations were remarkable um in

Washington DC and New York. It was

phenomenal to watch on TV. Just

incredible. And what I was really struck

by was all the countries that sent uh

you know floats or boats or whatever to

help the celebration. It was it was just

really neat. Um

the trail grants uh announcement just

went out. Jane sent that out. They're

due um October 1st. You know, there's a

set aside at the county level for the

trail uh enhancements. So, if your

organization is is interested in

applying for that, uh need to get that

done by October 1st. Um we had a TID

meeting yesterday and that went well. Um

uh their projects are moving along. the

Stockwell Road project is the in the one

in particular that got approved

yesterday and that's moving forward. Um

then I also want to mention that the

Lewis Center Chamber is uh kicking off

their organization this Tuesday and I'll

be going to that along with Chad I think

is going to be there as well. And um

they're uh congratulations to them.

starting a new chamber is not an easy

thing to do and uh you know they've got

a really good base of membership and so

on. So it's really good to see

>> for quite a while.

>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It takes it takes a

long time and big a lot of energy and a

lot of hours and so on. So

congratulations to the Lewis Center uh

chamber. Um we do need to do executive

session. Resolution

number 26-492

in the mattering into executive session

for consideration of collective

bargaining and to consider confidential

information related to economic

development.

>> So move

>> second

>> discussion vote

>> vote on motion 26-492.

Mr. Merrell

>> I

>> Mr. Benton

>> I.

>> Mrs. Lewis

>> I.

>> All right. We're now in executive

session. Thank