June marks the halfway point of 2022. The first half was cold, rainy, and hard on farmers. Now, it seems we are having the kind of weather the Miami Valley is used to: Hot, Humid, and hard, fast summer storms. We hope the second half is a little more stable and predictable, and our farm crops produce record amounts.
The Commissioner’s office continues to deal with a number of issues, and we are in the process of moving them along as quickly as possible. The Solar Company, Apex, has still not filed anything with the Ohio Power Siting Board, so we are still not sure where the final plan will be. In the meantime, we are hearing of other companies contacting people to put in less than fifty megawatt systems. We have only one of them, by letter, and we have not met with any of them. We will continue to monitor what is going on.
On the broadband front, we have now put out a RFP (Request For Proposal) and are hoping to receive some very viable bids. Broadband is a major economic and school necessity, and the Commissioners realize the importance, so we are doing our due diligence to make sure we get the right firm that can handle the entire county. Hopefully we will know something by October.
We are still in the process of doing studies on our future needs space wise for our offices. App Architecture is doing the assessments, and we hope to have a clear picture of what those needs are fairly soon. Our courthouse and the Garst Avenue building are in need of upgrades with technology and space, so this will be an important part of our expenses in the future.
We are also working on a fuel farm and a terminal for the airport, the remodeling and upgrading of the jail, and the purchase of Sheriff’s cruisers too. Along with all of these projects, we also are looking at a Land Use development plan and one of the big targets for Darke County, we feel, is affordable housing.
As you can see we have a full plate this summer, and you can keep updated by attending our public sessions at 1:30 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday in the Commissioner’s office. We are located at 520 S. Broadway in downtown Greenville, just south of the courthouse. We hope to see you at one of our sessions soon.
The Darke County Commissioners
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