Morrow County commissioners approve multiple budget transfers, authorize security camera quotes and hear facility update

The Morrow County Board of Commissioners on April 22 approved a series of routine fiscal adjustments, authorized moving forward on security upgrades at the county community service building and received a facilities progress report.

Chair (speaker 1) opened the morning meeting with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance before the board approved the minutes of the April 17, 2024, regular session following a motion and roll-call confirmation.

The clerk (speaker 2) then presented several budget actions. The board approved an appropriation from unappropriated funds to the auditor’s real estate line and a transfer described in the record as an appropriation of certified values totaling $153,000 to support “jobs and assistance.” Commissioners also approved transfers related to the sewer fund and additional transfers requested to cover payroll items originally charged to the 2024 budget for pay periods in late 2023. The clerk said those payments produced negative balances that required corrective transfers, including an action involving fund 2320; the board moved and approved the transfers on roll-call votes.

The board authorized staff to proceed with a set of quotes for security cameras and electronic fobs for the community service building after the clerk presented the vendor estimates and a motion to proceed passed.

During a staff report, David Zee, introduced in the record as “Mister Director Broker, David Zee,” said preparations are underway at the Home Road site for a steel delivery expected the following week and that about 30 students from “Trevor’s” were participating in community-service activities to clean, reorganize and perform landscaping work at county facilities, including near the sheriff’s office. "We'll have roughly 30 students coming from Trevor's to participate in community service today," Zee said, adding crews were working to clean the garage and make facility improvements.

Zee also told the board the building project remained on track and that county staff expected parts of the facility to be operational by June or July.

Procedural items — including a brief recess and the later reconvening of the regular session — were recorded by the clerk with roll-call confirmations. The board concluded the recorded items after noting a well-attended community service meeting earlier in the day.

Actions taken were procedural and budget adjustments; the meeting record did not include ordinance or policy adoptions, litigation actions or contracts awarded with signed contract numbers recorded in the transcript. Where specific dollar amounts or fund identifiers were not stated on the record, the clerk’s remarks were summarized as reported.

The board did not discuss new countywide policy changes in detail at this session; the next procedural steps for the approved transfers and camera quotes will be contract or vendor follow-up by county staff and any necessary placement of funds in the audited accounts. The clerk and county staff are expected to complete the bookkeeping adjustments and report them in the next financial update.