MOUNT VERNON — Knox County Prosecutor John Thatcher asked the Knox County Commissioners to reissue five resolutions previously made in 2006, authorizing the prosecutor to offer legal representation at no charge to five local fire and emergency medical service districts, pursuant to House Bill 33, which was effective Dec. 20, 2005.
The bill amended Revised Code 309.09, which lists the allowable clients of county prosecutors’ offices. Prosecutors may also represent fire and EMS districts, but to do so without charge, the prosecutor must receive clearance from the county board of commissioners by resolution.
Thatcher felt that since he was starting a new term, it would be appropriate to get newly issued resolutions. The resolutions were requested for legal representation, at no charge, of the Fredericktown EMS District, the Fredericktown Fire District, the Central Ohio Joint Fire District, the Eastern Knox County Joint Fire District and the Bladensburg Fire District.
“I’ve made the decision that even though we do provide legal advice to these fire and EMS districts, it doesn’t take us any additional time or cost us any additional money to provide these services,” Thatcher said.
The commissioners agreed, and voted unanimously to approve the five resolutions.
In other business, commissioners attended the Fredericktown Community Development Foundation Meeting on Thursday morning, where they were special guests of the foundation, along with Rep. Margaret Ann Ruhl, who reported on Gov. Ted Strickland’s State of the State address. Commissioner Allen Stockberger informed those in attendance that the commissioners would be traveling to Washington, D.C., in March to lobby lawmakers about procuring funding for Knox County issues.
One such project in the Fredericktown area is the proposed safety upgrades to Ohio 95. Another one is the proposed new water tower for Fredericktown. According to Commissioner Robert Wise, this water tower would be located west of the Ohio 13 bypass, thus serving both the community with safety upgrades, and being well-positioned for any economic development projects which may target the western industrial section of the town.
Commissioner Teresa Bemiller reported on Community Development Block Grant projects in the area, and Wise reported on the pending change from analog to digital television broadcasting. The commissioners also said that the pending Neighborhood Stabilization Program will not have any applications in Fredericktown, which is collectively above the earnings level targeted by that program. NSP funds will be used in other parts of the county to remove or refurbish blighted residential structures.
