A possible bell and mural trail in the veteran’s area of a tentative historic trail was discussed at the weekly Wednesday meeting of the Highland County Commissioners.

Tim Koehl, a former C.S. Bell employee and noted bell historian, was in attendance at the meeting to discuss the possibilities and other things surrounding bells in Highland County. Koehl and commissioner Brad Roades first got onto the topic of the trail because of a bell atop the Highland County Courthouse.

Roades said a small water leak inside the courthouse required him go up to the attic. He said he was “enamored” by the structure. He said he looked up and saw the bell and that it was still up there and still had rope on it. He said he later ran into Koehl and arrangements were made for him to go up and look at the bell.

Koehl said he couldn’t get to the bell. He said it was suspended and not supported from below. He said it was the only “large bell” he’d ever seen like that.

“I’ll give you my bottom line,” he said. “That bell’s gotta come out of there. You can see from the pictures that the wood is beginning to derogate around it and it really shouldn’t be up there.”

Commissioner Dave Daniels said the county is on the National Register of Historic Places for that bell. He said before the county decides what can or should be done with it, it has some aspects that must be worked out.

Koehl and Roades continued their conversation, during which Koehl broached the topic of the bell and a mural trail in the historic district and then to the veteran’s area.

Koehl said he would be happy to donate a bell to that area that could possibly be used for “services or whatever.” Koehl said the bell he planned to donate was a Navy transport bell cast in 1944 that “didn’t have a good ring” and “grew legs,” disappearing for over 80 years. Koehl said he found it and figured out the only aspect that was still original was the bell itself.

Dwight Reynolds, president of the Highland County Veterans Service Commission, said he was “intrigued” by the bell and that the proposed location would be an “appropriate” place for it. He said that he and Rick Wilkin, board member at the Highland County Veterans Service Commission, have already contacted Hillsboro Mayor Justin Harsha about concrete for it. Reynolds said they have the funds to do it with their memorial project. Daniels said a possibility would be to have it done before Memorial Day, with Wilkin saying that would “probably” be the plan.

In other news, commissioner Terry Britton announced that a tentative site has been decided for a new MARCS Tower in Concord Township. He said the commissioners will need to help the Concord Township Trustees on a paving project. Britton, however, said he didn’t know the cost on that project, and that the commissioners received a check for $750,000 from the state for its portion of the MARCS Tower project.

Highland County Economic Development Director Julie Bolender announced a partnership between Great Oaks Career Campuses where the organization agreed to fund a phlebotomy and/or medical assistant course at the Highland County Workforce Development Center for high school students.

Bolender said the course it set to begin in “just a few weeks” and is expected to be completed by the time those students graduate. She said the students who end up taking the course will graduate with their diplomas and credentials.

“I think the intent of the workforce development center, in the beginning, was to make sure that we were giving our residents and our students the best foot up that we could possibly give them for their career and in their future and this does that. They can get a credential to work in the medical field,” Bolender said.

Chad McConnaughey, Highland County recorder, was in attendance to give an update on his office.

McConnaughey said one item the office is trying to finish is the completion of uploading documents back to 1980, which is state-mandated.

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.