No bids were submitted for the materials for the Highland County Reinforced Concrete Storm Sewer Pipe, following a bid opening at the weekly Wednesday morning meeting of the Highland County Board of Commissioners.

“Furnish reinforced concrete storm sewer pipe per ODOR Specification 706.02,” the project description reads. “This is a material-only bid, no installation required.”

Terry Britton, president of the board of commissioners, said he spoke to someone from the Highland County Engineer’s Office about the bids. After speaking to them, he said it sounds like the supply chain is the issue. He said companies won’t set their prices because they don’t know when they can get the materials, meaning that when they receive the materials it the price to supply them may have changed.

In other news, the board of commissioners approved a $9,000 service agreement renewal for the Tek84 Intercept Whole Body Scanner at the Highland County Jail.

Highland County Sheriff Donnie Barrera said that the service contract means someone would come in and service the scanner if it breaks down and a tech would also come in to fix the parts. He also said the parts could range from as low as $20 to as high as $16,000. He said the scanner was under warranty last year.

Barrera said that he was “hoping” the agreement would come out of the county’s budget, with him saying that he didn’t have a budget set up for it, and that it will be an annual expense moving forward.

“Probably make a note to put that in your budget for next year,” Britton said. “We’ll go ahead and take care of it this year.”

Barrera said that since the county installed the scanner in 2020, it has completed around 5,800 scans.

Britton also said that the county has had a “huge” turnover in its dog warden positions. He said there have been three resignations in the last couple of months. With those resignations, he said the county has hired three replacements, with two of them starting in the next couple of weeks.

Anthony Spaetzel, a field representative for Congressman Brad Wenstrup, attended the meeting to introduce himself to the commissioners. He said he was inheriting Highland County from the person previously covering it because the congressional district got “a whole lot bigger” going east. He said Highland County is now considered to be in the western part of the district, which is what Spaetzel encompasses.

In other news, there were three resolutions approved by the board of commissioners:

* Res. No. 23-26 is authorization for a reimbursement of funds from Child Support Enforcement, 2015, to Public Assistance, 2050, in the amount of $23,945.

* Res. No. 23-27 is a request from the Highland County Board of Elections for an additional appropriation from unanticipated revenue to Part-Time Salary in the amount of $44.

* Res. No. 23-28 is a request from the board of commissioners for a budget modification from Transfers Out, County Miscellaneous, to Advances Out, County General, in the amount of $6,000. The board of commissioners also requested an advance from Advances Out to Advances In, Sewer District, in the amount of $6,000.

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.