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Preble County Commissioners' Website
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July 2009 - Preble County to Offer Prescription
Drug Discount Card Preble County to Offer Prescription Drug Discount Card That Can Be Used by All Residents Preble County will soon be introducing a discount card program to help consumers cope with the high price of prescription drugs. The county has signed a contract to make free prescription drug discount card available under a program sponsored by the National Association of Counties (NACo) that offers average savings of 20 percent of the retail price of commonly prescribed drugs. The cards, which will be available July 15th, may be used by all county residents, regardless of age, income, or existing health coverage. Most of the county’s pharmacies will accept the NACo card, and a national network of more than 59,000 participating retail pharmacies also will honor it. “The NACo prescription discount card will offer significant savings for the uninsured and the underinsured residents of our county, and even those fortunate to have prescription coverage may use the card to save money on drugs that are not covered by their health plan, “ said Commissioner David Wesler. “Residents do not have to be Medicare beneficiaries to be eligible for this program. Best of all, there will be no cost to county taxpayers for NACo and Preble County to make these money-saving cards available to our residents.” “Using the NACo prescription discount card is easy,” said Commissioner Wesler. “A cardholder will simply present it at a participating pharmacy. There is no enrollment form, no membership fee and no restrictions or limits on frequency of use. Cardholders and their family members may use the card any time their prescriptions are not covered by insurance.” Beginning July 15th, the prescription drug card will be available at the following locations in Preble County: The Preble County Council on Aging, Preble County Job & Family Services, Preble County Health Dept., Preble County Medical Center, Eaton Family Care Center, Lewisburg Family Practice, Dr. Thompson in Camden and Dr. Ahn in New Paris. Preble County residents can call toll free 877-321-2652 or visit www.caremark.com/naco for assistance with the program. The discount card program is administered by CVS Caremark. The Preble County Commissioners have been busy. On Tuesday, April 7th we visited with Larry Stelzer, Mercer County’s Economic Development Director, and gathered his thoughts about how he manages economic development in Mercer County. We also met with Mercer and Darke County Commissioners for an informational meeting. On Friday, April 10th we attended an informational meeting with several other county commissioners throughout the state. The County Commissioners Association of Ohio (CCAO) was in attendance to provide updates on issues coming before our state legislators. Along with Eaton City Council members and staff, the Preble County Commissioners recently toured the facilities of two area businesses – Electrocap and Cornerstone Industries—two homegrown businesses located right here in Preble County that have a world presence and are continuing to grow. Preble County is very proud to have these two reputable companies in our community. Meeting with Ohio EPA scheduled There will be an Ohio EPA meeting on September 18 at 7 p.m. in the commission chambers (Preble County Courthouse, 101 East Main St.). This meeting will be a public information session about the proposed expansion at the Preble County Landfill. This expansion has been discussed for many years, but it had not been submitted to the Ohio EPA let alone approved. There are a variety of reasons that this expansion is a good for the County. First, if we don’t have an expansion soon, we will have to go through what is called the BAT (Best Available Technology) call in. This will require the landfill to go through a variety of improvements that will make sure the landfill is using the best available technology. The BAT call in, while improving the landfill, will not add any airspace to the landfill and will cost the county a significant amount of money. This expansion will implement the best available technology and in the process we will get an estimated 18 years of additional airspace above the current permit. This expansion will not only give us more airspace, but it will better protect the environment and human health by implementing an improved leachate collection system and other engineered components. What this expansion calls for is hard to explain without pictures, but since we are limited to words we will try to give you a good word picture. Around the bottom edge of the landfill is a perimeter earthen berm. Picture a triangular piece (wide part on the ground) of dirt all the way around the bottom of the landfill. This is the berm. Currently the landfill comes to the bottom of the berm (triangular piece). This creates quite a v-shaped ditch where the bottom of the berm (triangular piece) meets the bottom of the landfill that allows water to collect and become leachate that we have to pay to haul and treat. This expansion calls for the landfill bottom to be allowed to go up to the top of the berm (triangular piece) thus taking away that v-shaped, problematic ditch. Coupling this with the slope of the landfill gives us the additional 18 years of airspace. This is the expansion that is being asked for. There are many good effects that would come from this expansion. One is that it will give us many more years of the landfill space for the people of Preble County. It will also give us more years to come up with the closure/post closure costs. In case you don’t know, we set aside money each year to close the landfill and then provide the necessary post closure costs like hauling and treating leachate. Finally, it will give us the best technology available for the landfill to ensure its continued use and safety. Preble County is committed to good environmental stewardship by complying with all the environmental regulations while meeting the waste disposal needs for its citizens. If you have questions, we would encourage you to come to the meeting to see what we are proposing.
November Elections Information November 7, 2006 is Election Day. As we have all seen and heard with all the advertising, there are many races on each level of government. In addition, there are a variety of local and state issues on the ballot. The purpose of this Commissioners’ Corner is to encourage the reader to educate themselves on the issues. The local issues and all the candidates can be found http://www.electionsonthe.net/oh/preble/ under the current events link on the left. The state issues links with thorough explanations can be found at http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/ElectionsVoter/CurrentElection.aspx?Section=1768. The other purpose of the Commissioners’ Corner is to remind every voter that they need to show proof of identity to vote. Acceptable forms of identification include: a current and valid photo identification, a military identification that shows the voter’s name and current address, or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, other government-issued document that shows the voter’s name and current address. State issued drivers’ licenses and state-issued identification cards may include a current or former address. Notification cards issued from the Board of Elections do not satisfy these requirements. Finally, on election night the Preble County Board of Elections post the results on their website. That can be found on the election night link on their website at http://www.electionsonthe.net/oh/preble/. We encourage every registered voter to exercise their right to vote.
2006 Preble County 4-H Camp Many times in Preble County we hear about what wonderful programs there are other places. Well Preble County has a variety of wonderful programs and we would like to focus on one that was held last week…Preble County 4-H camp. The Preble County 4-H camp is held at Indian Hills 4-H camp in Pleasant Hill, Ohio each year. This year 102 campers and counselors and seven staff, including our three county educators, attended camp from Wednesday evening through Saturday morning. This year’s theme was “Down Under.” The camp had a variety of activities that keep everyone busy. The parents’ program at the end of camp showcases the activities that go on at camp. The highlights this year were the winning skit done by campers and the counselor’s skit. This is not a camp that campers just show up at and someone else has done all the planning. Early in the year the counselors are chosen from applications and then they proceed with the intensive planning with the direction of the extension staff. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in making the 2006 Preble County 4-H camp a huge success.
Correction to May 17th Commissioners' Corner Last week in the commissioners’ thank you for the County Family Fun Night, Jane Marshall goofed and left two people off of the thank you for their help in organizing the fun night. So the Commissioners would like to correct that this week and thank Diana Spencer and Deb Brock for all their help in organizing the fun night and helping make it a great event. I am so sorry that I missed you in last week’s column.
2nd Annual Family Fun Night A Success! On Saturday night, May 6th, the Preble County elected officials sponsored the Second Annual Family Fun Night at the Preble County YMCA. It was a huge hit and we had almost 200 employees and family members in attendance. We gave appreciation certificates to employees who have worked for the county for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years. The YMCA rental and the pizza and pop were paid for out of donations mostly from the elected officials. We would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their donations without which this night would not have been possible. We had several employees who worked hard to make sure that everyone had fun, including the children in attendance. We would like to thank Susan Conley, Missy Smith, Debbie Ledford, Cindy Hitchcock, Marty Bresher, Connie Crowell, Karen Hake, and Sean Maggard for all their help. They truly made it a fun night! A new twist this year was donated door prizes, entertainment and a cake walk. We would like to thank the following donors: AAA of Eaton; Ace Hardware; Arby’s-GZK Restaurant Systems; Argosy Casino & Hotel; Beare’s Restaurant; Bob Evans; Brock & Associates Construction; Brown Transport; Carnahan’s Jewelry Store; CARQUEST; Cathy’s Creations; Cincinnati Reds; Cincinnati Zoo; Company’s Coming; Conley Construction; Also, Daily Agency; Dayton Dragons Pro Baseball; Dyer, Garofalo, Mann & Shultz; Eaton Country Club; Eaton Floral; Eaton National Bank; Eaton-Preble County Chamber of Commerce; Eldora Speedway; Endicott Microfilm; Fifth Third Bank; Frank Parson Paper Company; Freedom First Credit Union; Frisch’s Big Boy; Frog Ranch Foods; Also Gary’s Pharmacy; Governor Bob Taft; I Dream of Cakes; John Travolta; Julie Clark; Kroger; Lewisburg Container Company; Little Nashville Opry; Loudy Office Machines; Marty Bresher; Neaton Auto Products; Newport Aquarium; Office Depot; Pleasant Vineyard; Preble County District Library; Preble County Historical Society; Preble County Recycling Center; Puppy Clips; Also, Relaxology Therapeutic Massage; Remagen; Renfro Valley; Rodeo Shop; Sarah’s Pizza; Splash Moraine; Suggs Family Orchard; Taffy’s Coffee House; TSC; Twin Creek Tea Room; Victoria Theatre; Wal-Mart; WDTN Channel 2; WEDI AM 1130; Welliver’s Smorgasboard; YMCA of Preble County; Thorson, Switala, Wilkins & Snead. We would like to thank the following cake donors: Abby Crowell, Ashley Hake, Brittany Hake, Caitlin Marshall, Charlotte Hake, and Cindy Hitchcock. We would like to thank the following people who provided entertainment: Adam, Holden, Jacob, Nathan, and Abigail Craft; Caitlin, Mariah and McKenna Marshall; Deb Brock; Beckie Glenn; and Cindy Hitchcock. Thanks to all who made the Second Annual Family Fun Night a success! April 23-29, 2006 as National Government Week in Preble County Normally when the commissioners pass a resolution proclaiming a special week we give a proclamation to some group and then they let the people know through the press. Well the week of April 23-29, 2006 has been proclaimed “National County Government Week” in Preble County. Because Preble County Government belongs to the citizens and we, the county commissioners, work for you the citizens, we decided to publicize this special week ourselves. We want to let you know that we meet every Monday and Wednesday at 9am. The business meeting is first thing Monday morning. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend. The Courthouse offices are open for the most part from 8-4:30. We also have a county website, www.prebco.org that has a great deal of information about all facets of county government. If you ever have questions or would like to see something added, please let us know. And finally, in order for you to be able to reach us, our general office line is 937-456-8143 or 1-800-639-5245 or commissioners@prebco.org . Our office emails are bwithrow@prebco.org , jmarshall@prebco.org , and dwesler@prebco.org . Our home phone numbers are Bill Withrow, 456-3954; Jane Marshall, 787-4333; and David Wesler, 437-5585. Proposed Statewide Constitutional Amendments On November 8, 2005 Ohioans will have the opportunity to vote yes or no on five constitutional ballot issues. This, it seems to us, is an unprecedented number of issues that could make substantial changes to the Ohio Constitution. That being said it is vitally important that all of us as citizens do our homework on these issues before going to the polls and it is equally important that you go to the polls and vote. Some of the ways that we can do our homework is by reading the proposed Constitutional amendments that can be found in the Register Herald, reading letters to the editor, checking with trade associations that we may be a part of or know of or even asking people whose opinion you trust on matters such as these. While there are many reasons to go to the polls locally, please remember to do you homework on the statewide constitutional amendments so that you understand fully what you vote means. June 27, 2005Old Fashioned Independence DayThis Saturday, July 2, 2005 Preble County has an opportunity to be part of an Old Fashioned Independence Day Celebration at the Preble County Fairgrounds. This Celebration will begin at 11 am and go until 10:30 pm. It is hosted by the Give Back! America Committee and the Preble County American Legion. During the day there will be fun, games and food for the family. Beginning at 7:15 pm there will be a Tribute to America and Her Veterans. This will be a time when we can honor all of our veterans from the Revolutionary war to the Iraqi war from where the 1487th recently returned. This will be a very special part of the day because we will be paying tribute to and thanking all our veterans for their faithful service to America. The celebration will be capped off in grand style with a spectacular fireworks display. We encourage you to come and bring your families to this celebration. Not only will we be celebrating America’s Independence Day, but we will also be honoring our Veterans without who we would not be celebrating Independence Day. May 23, 2005Open Meeting and Sunshine Law seminars announcedAt the New Commissioner training that Bill Withrow and Jane Marshall attended in late March there was a seminar on Ohio’s Sunshine and Open Meeting Law. It was very informative and the presenter, Lisa Wu Fate, from the State Auditor’s office, did a great job of keeping it interesting and very informative. Much of the presentation revolved around questions of those in attendance. During that presentation it was discovered that she does these presentations all over the state. The Commissioners have decided to set up two separate seminars and invite the other political jurisdictions and the public to the seminars. Both seminars will be held at Fire Station #2 at 391 West Lexington Rd, Eaton. The first one will be the Public Records Seminar on May 31 from 10:00am – 1:00 pm. The Open Meetings Seminar will be on June 30 from 10:00 am – 11:30 am. Although an RSVP is not required to attend, if at all possible please contact the Commissioners office 456-8143 or commissioners@prebco.org to let us know numbers so that we can have the room set up appropriately by May 27 for the May 31 meeting and June 27 for the June 30 meeting. May 16, 2005Merger Discussion meeting announcedAs a final step before making a decision whether to proceed on with discussion of a possible merger of the Preble County Mental Health and Recovery Board with the Tri County Board, the commissioners have scheduled an evening meeting on Wednesday May 25 at 6:30 pm in the commissioners’ chambers on the first floor of the court house. At this meeting we are looking for citizen input concerning this possible merger. This County Commission wants to hear from the tax payers of Preble County before they make their decision. Following this meeting on Wednesday June 1 at 11:30 a.m. the commissioners will have discussion and then vote to decide if we should proceed on investigating a possible merger or if we should stop the discussion and remain a single county board. If you are unable to make these meetings, please contact the commission with your comments. Please feel free to call or email any of the commissioners David Wesler, 437-5585 Bill Withrow, 456-3954 or Jane Marshall, 787-4333 at their homes or at the office at 456-8143 or email any comments to commissioners@prebco.org Merger Discussion There has been much discussion about the possible Mental Health and Recovery Board merger with the Tri-County Board of Recovery and Mental Health. Last year the Commission created a due diligence team to explore whether merging might save significant dollars which could be applied to additional client services and programs. The Tri County Board also had a due diligence committee to explore whether inclusion of the Preble County Board would be acceptable with a Board that has been a 3 County board for 35 years. After three joint meetings and several Preble County only meetings, the recommendation to merge was made to the Preble County Commissioners citing a financial savings of from $230,000 to $300,000 in overhead that could be used for additional services and programs. One point to note is that none of the funding for the Preble County Mental Health and Recovery Board comes out of the county general fund. Funding for the Mental Health and Recovery Board is from the small local levy and state and federal sources. Now it is before the commissioners to make a decision on whether we should continue to discuss a possible merger. We will examine several important issues to make our decision. They include levy dollars and how they are used, the assets and properties of the Preble County Mental Health Board and if the properties are sold, will those dollars be used in Preble County, how will our County be represented on their Board and the possible creation of another taxing authority for the Preble County. We will be having various meetings about this possible merger. The first will be a meeting with the Preble County Mental Health and Recovery Board Monday, April 25 at 3 pm. The second will be a meeting with the independent accountant who did the financial analysis on Wednesday, April 27 at 1:30. Additional meetings will be scheduled as needed. We would like to know what you think about this merger proposal. Please feel free to call or email any of the commissioners David Wesler, 437-5585 Bill Withrow, 456-3954 or Jane Marshall, 787-4333 at their homes or at the office at 456-8143 or email any comments to commissioners@prebco.org Feb. 28, 2005Help us save Local Government FundsWe need your help. Actually you need your help. I am sure many of you have seen articles or news stories about the governor’s state budget. Part of the budget that Taft is proposing, cuts the local government fund (LGF) by varying amounts from 5% to 20%. That means that the county, city of Eaton, all the villages, all the townships and the libraries will be facing substantial cuts next year if the local government fund is cut. The proposal calls for a 20% cut in the LGF for Preble County. In dollars that means about $200,000 that the County receives now is proposed to be cut. Each of the local governments has an amount that is proposed by the state to be cut in addition to this $200,000 cut at the county level. A point to realize is this money that the state receives is tax dollars that you and I pay. The local level is where the most services are provided. This money is generated on the local level through our taxes to the state and the LGF comes back and is used to provide services to the citizens of Preble County on the local level. Cutting this will cause direct cuts in services that the citizens of Preble County depend on. The local governments in Preble County are working together to protect the LGF by educating themselves about this issue, organizing meetings, passing resolutions demanding the protection of the LGF and confirming that each local government is going to work together with the other local governments to protect the LGF. I am encouraged by this collaboration. We need to go one step farther. We need the citizens of Preble County involved. I would ask that you call or write the following offices as soon as possible and ask that they protect the LGF because our local budgets can’t stand cuts as they have proposed. Please call or write: · Governor Taft at 614/ 466-3555; 77 South High Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215
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President of the Senate Bill
Harris at 614/466-8086; Statehouse,
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Speaker of the House John Husted
at (614) 644-6008; 77 S. High St,
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State Senator Jim Jordan at
614/466-7584; Senate Building
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State Representative Keith Faber
at (614) 466-6344; 77 S. High St If
you have further questions please contact the commissioner’s office at
456-8143. Business meeting has changedThe Preble County Commissioners have changed their business meeting from Wednesday to Monday, effective February 7, 2005. The business meetings are held at 9 a.m. Monday in the commissioners’ chambers on the first floor of the court house. We have done this in order to allow the local newspapers the ability to have timely information so that the residents of Preble County can be better informed about the business of the county. In the past with the meeting on Wednesday, the news was a week old when the Register Herald published it the following Wednesday. This change to Monday was discussed the first meeting of the year. Shortly there after, it was decided to make the change and to make it effective the first Monday of February to allow all the county offices to adjust their schedules. We appreciate very much the cooperation of the county departments with this change.
We are looking at other ways to make county government more available to the citizens. We do have a county website (www.prebco.org) where the agenda for each meeting is published. Included on that agenda are the meetings for the commissioners for that day. All our meetings are open to the public and you are encouraged to attend. Comments and suggestions are always welcome either by phone, 937-456-8143, or email, commissioners@prebco.org . For More Information Contact:
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The Board of Preble County Commissioners is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions. Although this site is periodically updated, information contained herein may not reflect the most current information. Please report any changes or corrections to the Board of Preble County Commissioners. Copyright 2009 Board of Preble County Commissioners - All Rights Reserved
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