News on the OneOhio settlement coming to Highland County was delivered at the weekly Wednesday meeting of the county commissioners.
Tonya Sturgill, Highland County’s OneOhio board member representative, said the OneOhio “finally” opened its request for proposal on March 4.
“It’s been a long time coming as we all know, I think it’s been going on two years, but I actually have some good news and some dates to give out to everyone,” she said.
Sturgill said the OneOhio Foundation is asking any organizations that plan on applying for the money to register as soon as possible. She said that when the registrations are received, applications for the money would open on April 2. She said they would close on May 3, 2024, after which a four-step process will occur.
Sturgill said each application would be reviewed by the main Ohio board, starting with a look at the organization to make sure all of their certifications are up-to-date or are 501(c)(3) certified. Then, she said an expert panel review will look over each application to rule out any programs that might be “completely far-fetched,” like organizations applying for theories not supported by evidence or facts.
From there, Sturgill said applications will come back to the local OneOhio board and a grant review committee will review all the applications and recommend which program receives what funding.
She said Highland County’s region, Region 9, which consists of Highland, Fayette, Pike, Pickaway, Ross and Scioto counties, decided to leave options open, allowing organizations to apply for anything they want that could impact those affected by the opioid epidemic.
Sturgill said the money coming to Region 9 will be $2,751,049 for this year. She said the OneOhio Foundation is “hopeful” to have the money pushed out to the approved programs by the end of June or July 1.
Sturgill then said the OneOhio Foundation will have an application available online for those organizations to fill out. She also said it would “probably” take a full day to fill out, compared to some that take a week.
In other news, Jeremy Ratcliff, director of Highland County Jobs and Family Services (HCJFS), was in attendance at the meeting. He said that on the public assistance side of the agency, for about a year it’s been working on returning Medicaid to normal operations. He said on March 31, 2024, the organization will be officially through that part. However, he also said the organization still has a few backlog cases to work through.
The board of commissioners formally endorsed the Jobs and Family Service’s bid in the March 19 election for a Highland County Children Services levy renewal.
Dave Bushelman, director of the Highland County Emergency Management Agency, was in attendance to discuss the impending requirement of upgrading all of Highland County’s MARCS radios. The commissioners broached the possibility of using some of HCEMA’s carryover budget funds for some of those upgrades. However, Bushelman and the commissioners agreed to table that discussion until after he had discussed the topic with his board next Tuesday.
The commissioners approved the new 911 plan. Scott Miller, Highland County’s 911 coordinator, said the new plan has the names of the phone companies that provide wireless and landline phone services listed, how it will connect to the next-gen 911 system when that time comes, and how it will immediately transfer relay messages or directly dispatch all 911 calls to the proper agencies.
The board of commissioners made an authorization for a third coat of paint at the BMV and title office.
Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.
