The nominations are in for the 2019 Highland County Women’s Hall of Fame, and of the 15 names that were in contention for induction, three local women will be saluted for their accomplishments to the community at 6 p.m. Tuesday Aug. 13 at Southern State Community College.
Highland County commissioners Gary Abernathy, Jeff Duncan and Terry Britton welcomed members of the hall of fame committee during Wednesday’s regular meeting, with spokesperson and 2010 hall of fame member Virginia Purdy saying her group wasn’t seeking endorsement but rather support for their efforts.
“We come every year to ask you to support us, so we can say that you feel that this is a good idea,” she said. “We try to hold it to two nominations a year, some years we’ve done four, but this year we’re doing three.”
Sue Boatman of the Hillsboro City Schools, educator Mary Stanforth and businesswoman Jane Tissott will join the names of 113 other Highland County women who have been recognized for their selfless service since 1981.
She said that the nominating process is based on merit and not name recognition, stressing that the evaluations were conducted by judges in Brown, Clinton and Delaware counties, and that she felt it was a nice way to recognize women in Highland County.
“Many times, it’s women who don’t get any recognition,” fellow committee member Sue Ludwick Smith said. “They see a need in the community and they go for it, so many times that’s the woman who gets nominated, who has worked for years and doesn’t expect anyone to give them any honors.”
Tickets are $16 and available at Southern Hills Bank in Leesburg, Community Bank in Greenfield and at the offices of The Times-Gazette in Hillsboro.
Indigent case rates
Also Wednesday, commissioners took under consideration a requested increase to the indigent court appointed case rate.
Duncan said the state in its new budget is requesting an hourly rate increase for attorney’s to $75 per hour, compared with the $45 per hour rate that Highland County currently pays.
“We would like to take a look at our budget and see how much money is actually coming from the state before we set those rates,” he said. “We’ll table that until we have a chance to examine it further.”
Abernathy said that the state of Ohio is putting more of the probation responsibilities onto the local level with the local courts and the state was going to provide more funding to assist local courts to cope with the increased burden.
“The question is will there be enough funding, and there usually is not,” he said. “The probation department is busting at the seams at their present location, so we’re looking at addressing this issue and it’s all kind of happening right now.”
Preparing for fair
Duncan said he had met Monday with members of the Highland County fair board, Paint Creek Joint Fire/EMS District and the Highland County Emergency Management Agency to examine safety issues for the upcoming Highland County Fair.
He said there was a list of items from last year’s fair that needed attention pertaining to structures and electrical wiring, and that the fair board had been working through that list and that everything had been addressed.
Britton said that Highland County would be hosting the County Commissioners Association of Ohio budget briefing roundtable at 11 a.m. Oct. 4 at the Hillsboro Orpheum.
“Most of the southwest Ohio commissioners will be here that day,” he said. “They’re doing this in six counties throughout the state, and it’s an honor to be hosting it.”
Highland County veterans were given permission to use the front part of the courthouse for an event scheduled for September, and commissioners signed off on a permit to allow the Highland County agricultural society to feature the beer garden during the Highland County Fair, now set for the first week of September.
Duncan said that recent conversations he has had with the fair board indicate that this year may be the final year for the beer garden at the fair, saying “it hasn’t been quite as successful as they had hoped.”
Other items
In other matters, four resolutions were approved that were line item budget transfers in addition to one contract that renewed homemaker chore services for homebound individuals through Highland County Job and Family Services.
Commissioners then went into executive session, discussing a trio of matters that included personnel, employee compensation and the purchase or sale of property for public purposes.
Reach Tim Colliver at 937-402-2571
