Morrow County commissioners approve routine appropriations, hear airport and Brownfield updates

Morrow County commissioners on April 24 approved a series of routine appropriations and heard staff updates on airport improvements and state-funded Brownfield demolition projects.

The meeting opened with a prayer. The board then approved the minutes from its April 22, 2024 meeting and moved through several consent items, including appropriations for jail commissary and recycling reimbursements and an appropriation to a development special project fund tied to state Brownfield demolition grants. A motion to appropriate $158.22 from unappropriated certified monies to supplies and materials was approved later in the session.

An agency official told the commissioners that the Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) equipment has been installed at the county airport and is awaiting final frequency activation. "We have all the equipment installed for the AWOS system, and so that is waiting to have a technician come in and go live with the frequency," the agency official said. The official added that design work for a new fuel farm is wrapping up and construction is expected next year, and that grant funding for those airport projects requires roughly a 5% local match with about 95% funded by federal and state sources.

Staff also described two Brownfield demolition projects referred to in the meeting as HP1 and HP2. The presentation clarified that the state-sponsored Brownfield funds paid demolition costs while the county is managing project execution; staff said property ownership remained with private entities or LLCs and that owners did not directly receive the demolition funds. The official summarized the program's purpose as returning properties to the market so they can be reused or redeveloped.

Commissioners authorized advertisement of a second public hearing on Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds and heard a brief report on a recent Community Development Department public hearing attended by representatives from several villages seeking funding for local projects.

Several routine procedural items were approved by voice/roll call throughout the meeting, including an assignment and assumption of a lease for property listed in the transcript as located at "245 Neil Avenue, Mount Nelaid, Ohio" (as read during the meeting). The commissioners recessed and later returned to regular session before adjourning.

The meeting included multiple unanimous roll-call approvals of the motions presented; no final votes to deny or table items were recorded in the transcript. The board adjourned after completing the listed agenda items and approvals.