MOUNT VERNON — Major topics discussed when the Knox County Board of Health met Wednesday night included several properties which were declared unfit for human habitation, contracts and fiscal year 2008.
There are five properties in Monroe Township which the township trustees are requesting the board to declare as unfit for human habitation. Neighboring property owners had complained to the trustees, and the trustees contacted the health department for support. Two of the residences are located on Upper Gilchrist Road and two are on Allen Road; the other is on Canada Road.
Brian Benick, director of environmental health at the health department, presented pictures of the dilapidated properties to the board members for their inspection.
“It’s pretty obvious that they’re all about ready to fall down; some of them are falling down,” said Benick, referring to the pictures.
Board member Dr. L. Keith Plocki asked if the board should address the issue of old tires, trash and other junk on the properties in question.
“[This] should be part of the clean-up and eradication process,” said Plocki. “We’ll need to have [documentation] that all that debris has been properly disposed of.”
Benick responded that there was hazardous material that needed to be disposed of properly at only one of the sites, and he would issue a letter to the property owner himself.
“We’re making this declaration so the township can take action,” said Benick. “This is not an order, it’s only a declaration.”
A motion on each residence to be declared unfit for human habitation passed unanimously. Benick said he would send letters for cleanup in the near future.
Health Commissioner Dennis Murray announced that Berlin Township had also contacted the health department, asking it to declare a residence on Hilltop Drive unfit for human habitation. Benick said this property was different than those in Monroe Township because the house was never occupied.
“Construction had started five years ago and it stopped,” he said, leaving just the framework.
According to Benick, the township tried to do everything it could to try and get this property owner to remove it; however, he said, the township received no compliance.
“If there are still active building permits,” asked Plocki, “would we be then acting prematurely?”
He said he wanted to be absolutely certain the board was not getting its hands tied. Benick responded by saying that the building permit for the structure has long since expired, and that what’s there is not fit to be added on to. After discussion, the board unanimously declared the structure unfit for human habitation.
In other new business, Murray said there now was a one-year contract with the DKMM Solid Waste District, as opposed to the multi-year contract the district previously offered the health department. The one-year contract was unanimously approved.
Also in new business, the board unanimously approved contracts for Melanie Small and Annie Doup for occupational therapy services and occupational therapy assistant services, respectively. Concerning the contract for Small, board member Scott Harmon abstained from voting, noting that she is a personal friend.
An agreement with Eastern Michigan University to allow a student from the institution to complete her observation with the health department was also discussed and approved unanimously.
The last item in new business was Fiscal Officer Linette Vance’s presentation of the 2008 budget, which is around $3.5 million. Vance presented on items ranging from dental billing software to re-sealing the parking lot.
“Basically ... we’ve been talking about ways to cut costs,” said Vance in regard to the proposed budget.
Murray pointed out that the 2 percent raises factored into the budget amounted to about $16,000 through the fiscal year.
Plocki noted that transportation costs appeared to be unusually high, being slightly over $70,000.
“I’m wondering, would it be appropriate, if we’re talking about that kind of money ... if the department looked at getting some kind of a rental fleet of vehicles and would that be more cost effective than the methodology that we’re [using] currently,” he said.
Vance and other members of the board said there are too many staff members who would need vehicles to justify looking into a department fleet.
In further discussion, the possibility of reducing the cost of cell phones was discussed. Vance noted that the health department spends around $13,000 annually on cell phones and service; there might be a possibility of reducing that by half if non-emergency personnel did not have cell phones that were paid for by the department. After discussion, the 2008 fiscal year budget was unanimously approved.
Before the meeting adjourned, Murray noted that on March 24, Ohio First Lady Frances Strickland will be visiting Knox County to learn about the needs of the county. Also, at the health department’s annual meeting, scheduled for March 25, two members of the current Board of Health will be up for re-election or reappointment.
