News of the upcoming 2024 through 2028 hazard mitigation plan for the county was discussed at the weekly Wednesday meeting of the Highland County Board of Commissioners.

Robert Guentter, Jr., president of RFG Associates, Inc., said a hazard mitigation plan is something that must be done every five years that works to come up with things that a specific community can do to protect it from natural disasters and be better prepared for high winds, flooding, tornadoes and earthquakes, among other disasters.

Guentter said the nine hazards he prioritized as the biggest concern to the county were summer storms (thunderstorms, wind, lightning and hail); winter storms (ice and snow); flooding; landslides (road slips caused by moisture); tornadoes; drought/wildfires; extreme heat; earthquakes; and dam failure.

He said dam failure was included as a requirement due to it needing to be evaluated, but it was the lowest priority due to there being no concerns about one failing.

Guentter said the five highest priority actions the county needs to address, in order from top-down, are:

* The purchase and installation of emergency backup generators for high-critical need locations such as Red Cross shelters, Greenfield fire station 21, Leesburg Community Annex, Southern State Community College Patriot Center in Hillsboro and the Highland County Senior Citizens Center in Hillsboro.

* The continuation of the expansion and strengthening of the early warning siren system by adding sirens in Lynchburg and the Rocky Fork Lake area.

* The delivery of comprehensive annual public outreach/education plans which would seasonally cover hazardous materials, seasonal cold/heat, severe summer storms, flooding, tornadoes and high winds, severe winter storms and drought/wildfires, as well as the education of residents to prepare for seven days of self-sufficiency.

* The construction of two mobile generators to serve as key gasoline distribution sites and the installation of hookups as needed at each identified site.

* The expansion of the MARCS Radio towers to serve and provide interoperable communications between police, fire and emergency medical services.

Guentter said he likes to take a “practical” approach to the projects he works on, meaning that the actions in his plans are “very actionable.”

Including these actions the count can take, he said the hazard mitigation plan also requires a look at the climate resilience and climate change impacts on the community. He said the data comes from the National Center for Environmental Information and a new tool from the Federal Emergency Management Agency called the National Risk Index. He said the climate change impact on Highland County will be minimal.

He said that on average, Highland County has eight days that are 90 degrees or warmer, which will increase to 29 to 32 days by 2044. Then, for days that are 95 degrees or hotter, he said the county has one day per year and that will increase to nine days per year in 2044. Concerning days that are 100 degrees, he said that will increase to one to two days in 2044 compared to there not being a lot of days at that temperature now.

For cold days below 32 degrees, Guentter said that now there are 24 days on average at that temperature, which will decrease to 17 by 2044.

Regarding precipitation, the current average rainfall in Highland County is 43 inches per year, and he said that was projected to increase to 44 inches per year, but with fewer days of rain, meaning each event of rain could be more intense.

Guentter said that the plan is in place. There is a two-week public comment phase that will conclude on Friday, Nov. 17.

Dave Bushelman, director of the Highland County Emergency Management Agency, said he would try to get it on the organization’s website, but was having trouble doing so at the moment.

Bushelman said that after the comment period, each of the local jurisdictions would need to pass a resolution. Following that, he said to expect finalization and approval in early 2024.

However, he said he hasn’t received any communication from Sinking Spring on its participation in the plan. He said that he “bugged” village officials and that not participating would cut them off from pre-disaster help.

In other news, Jamie Wheeler, executive director of the Highland County Chamber of Commerce, announced the Moose on the Loose Campaign as well as Marvin the Moose. Wheeler said a Support Local campaign was scheduled to start on Wednesday of this week and run until Friday, Dec. 22.

She said that each morning the chamber post on its Facebook page the specific business where Marvin is located, after which the user can check out that business’ Facebook page to see what Marvin is getting involved in. She said she thinks there are four days left to be filled. Then business with the most interaction on their post will receive a $500 gift certificate for advertising in 2024.

Anneka Collins, Highland County prosecutor, revealed that she and Molly Bolek, assistant county prosecutor, would be deposed on Friday, Nov. 17. Collins said the situation started in December 2022 when she gave the board of commissioners “sound legal advice to not vacate a township road.” She said the reasoning was that she’d been told there would be litigation or suspected there would be litigation regarding the road and that the county should not vacate it because the county didn’t want to get involved in the civil litigation. The county ended up taking no action on the matter and passed a resolution to take no further action regarding the township road.

Collins said that the litigation had already been filed prior to that resolution being passed. She also said that now an answer has been filed in that case alleging “really unethical things” about Bolek and herself.

Collins said she called the County Risk-Sharing Authority, Inc. (CORSA), saying they might need an attorney present when the two are deposed. However, CORSA “promptly” said that the county wasn’t named in the lawsuit and wouldn’t represent the two of them in the matter. Collins said the only reason the county wasn’t named in the lawsuit was because of the legal advice she’d given the commissioners in the matter.

Regarding Res. No. 23-210, the board of commissioners heard discussions from both sides concerning whether to vacate the alley in Boston, Ohio. Gerald “Buzzard” Wilkin, an owner of properties around the alley, voiced his support for the vacation of the alley and even requested it from the Paint Township Trustees.

But a representative from the water company was present at the meeting to voice a couple of issues, including that the company had a leak from its own line there in the spring.

However, the board of commissioners did not hear sufficient reasoning to decide not to close the alley, and thus agreed to vacate it.

Britton said that the county planned to start a monthly billing process at the Lakeside and Rolling Acres sewer plants in the beginning of 2024. He said the letters would go out “very soon” to property owners.

The board approved a $7,508 bid to repair the flooring of the Highland County Probation Department.

The board approved a replacement blower motor, the fan and the labor to install it at the old dog pound for $752.

The board announced that bids for snow removal around the county buildings would be due on Nov. 15.

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.