Athens County Commissioners talked about the water and sewage plant upgrades, the new child support contracts, and the possibility of adding a new constable position at the courthouse.
A new child support contract — which will update funding for child support programs in the county through Athens County Jobs and Family Services — was agreed upon Tuesday morning at the weekly Athens County Commissioners’ meeting.
“We signed off on the new contracts, there weren’t any major changes that we made either way,” Charlie Adkins, county commissioner, said.
Updating the contracts is an annual process for both the county and the department of job and family services.
“We do this every year so we can obtain the necessary funding to support the child support programs,” Bob Gallagher, director of Athens County Job and Family Services, said.
The county commissioners decided on what child support programs to implement next year at their Tuesday meeting, and will now look to submit their new contracts to the state to obtain the money necessary to put these programs in motion.
“Once we apply for the programs and send in the paperwork, the state of Ohio will send us the money,” Adkins said. “Both parties agreed so now we can take that next step.”
Rich Kasler, superintendent of the Athens County Water and Sewer District, was also present at the weekly meeting Tuesday.
Kasler came to announce the progress of renovations that have been made to the county’s water and sewage treatment plant.
“He said that they were about 95 percent complete with the project,” Adkins said.
The project included obtaining new equipment, renovating the pumps and making some overall upgrades to the facilities, Adkins added.
On Tuesday, the commissioners also discussed the possibility of adding a new constable position to the Athens County Common Pleas Court.
“We used to have two,” Chris Chmiel, county commissioner, said. “We added one more to make it three, and now we will discuss the possibility of adding another.”
Recently, one of the constables left their position, prompting the courthouse and the commissioners to hire a replacement. That has further pushed the discussion as to whether or not a fourth worker is necessary.
“We told them we would look into it,” Lenny Eliason, county commissioner, said. “There are no guarantees right now.”
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