September is the time for falling leaves, bonfires, harvesting of crops, cooler temperatures, and football games from Thursday until Monday. Smaller counties like Darke County also include a lot of local festivals celebrating the harvest. Fall in our county is the prettiest time of year with all the changing colors in the leaves. September is also the first taste of the approaching winter that we all know is inevitable, no matter how much we don’t want to see it coming.
September has been a very good month in the Commissioner’s office. If you have driven past the South end of Greenville, you will have noticed two significant changes out by the Sheriff’s office and the County Home. The first thing you will notice is the new road that is being constructed behind and around the Sheriff’s office.
This new drive, the South Industrial Drive, is for access to the Industrial park that the Commissioners passed last year. This drive already has a purpose for the Ohio Department of Transportation’s new garage to be built next to the Sheriff’s office, with access from State Route 49.
We also have another business who wishes to acquire 20 acres. This leaves about 50 acres available, plus the available acreage across US Route 127 for development. The Commissioners feel this will be a great asset for the county, as available land is the first key to have for new business looking to locate here.
The second significant change you will notice is the big white barn behind the County Home, and a few smaller buildings, are being taken down and a few will find new homes. Timberframe Reclaimers out of Eaton, is taking the barns down, and relocating them for use by other people. The big White barn is going to North Carolina to be reassembled there for people to use as a gathering place. The other smaller buildings will find similar homes. One of the nice things about this project is Timberframe is having students from Miami University fly a drone in and around the buildings taking video as they are taken down and reassembled so we will have a record of the process for all to enjoy later on. The Commissioners are glad to see this being done as the buildings were serving no purpose to the county, but with this process they will still serve some usefulness to others. This is much more desirable than just having them destroyed, which we really didn’t want.
Economically, the unemployment rate for Darke County has fallen below 4 percent, as more people are hired for the jobs available here in the county. We urge everyone who is seeking employment, or looking to change jobs, to go to our website, hometownopportunity.com, and put your resume’ on the site and look at all the opportunities here locally.
Our E.D. office, along with the C.I.C. and Partnering 4 Progress, and Jobs and Family Services, are working constantly to fill the jobs our great companies have, and to put everyone back to work. Our success the last several years speaks for itself. One of the reasons for Darke County’s success is the continued cooperation from all involved. This is one of the few counties in the State that sees all departments from E.D., J.F.S., Partnering 4 Progress, the C.I.C.’s, Law Enforcement, and our hard working people in the Courthouse, all pulling in the same direction to make this county successful. Thanks to all for putting the people of the County first.
Fall is here, and with the harvesting getting done, it is time for things to slow down a little. If you have more time, why don’t you make plans to come to one of our public sessions? We meet every Monday and Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in the Commissioner’s office located just south of the Courthouse at 520 South Broadway in Greenville. Hope to see you there!
