Washington County Commissioners approve letter of support for school-based health clinic at Fort Frye
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MARIETTA – The regular Washington County meeting on Thursday consisted of the approval of a letter of support for the school-based health clinic at Fort Frye Local Schools, proceeding with two renewal levies to appear on the November ballot, and updates from a few county officials.
The commissioners added the letter of support to the agenda after district Superintendent Stephanie Starcher reached out to the commissioners to request support on obtaining a grant.
Starcher said Thursday the purpose of the health clinic is to support rural communities in need of accessibility to healthcare.
The board of education met Thursday night to approve for the superintendent and treasurer to move forward with bids for the health clinic and begin the process.
"This is a health clinic at Fort Frye and it's going to be operated by Coplin Health Systems," said Commissioner Charlie Schilling. "Coplin has been involved with the district for quite some time and provides a mobile unit right now."
Schilling said the district aims to build a large facility within the school to facilitate operations for students and the community.
According to the agenda from the board of education, the project's estimated cost is around $281,190.
Starcher said the letter of support from the commissioners would allow the district to go for grants to assist with funding for the project.
"I think it's a good project for us to support," said Schilling.
The commissioners have approved the renewal levies for the Washington County Behavioral Health Board and to continue the 911 systems in recent meetings.
During the meeting Thursday, they declared a "necessity" to proceed with the renewal levies and ensure it appears on the ballot in the fall.
Renewal levies are existing money, so there is no new money being asked for.
The renewal levy for the WCBHB will be at a rate of .5 mill for a period of five years, and the first collection year begins in the calendar year 2027. The renewal levy would continue the operations and day-to-day tasks of the board. This includes providing recovery programs, mental health services, prevention and treatment options.
The renewal levy for the 911 center is at a rate of .35 mill which amounts to $12.25 for each one hundred thousand. The levy is for a period of five years and first to be collected in the calendar year 2027.
The 911 system provides emergency service requests for Washington County.
The commissioners also approved a memorandum of understanding that would establish a consistent distribution of funds among each local police department like Belpre, Marietta, and the county for the 911 renewal levy.
The funds are to be distributed based upon the call volume of each department. The Washington County Sheriff's Office would allocate the most around $274,000 with around $185,000 for Marietta and about $70,000 for Belpre.
"We're greatly appreciative of the support and the funding and thank you all for the work on this," said Belpre Police Chief Michael Stump.
The commissioners also approved the PILT (payment in lieu of taxes) program received by the county from Wayne National Forest.
The county will receive around $119,030 for fiscal year 2026 to be distributed amongst the county.
"The evaluation is $600 per acre, which is truly, truly not even close to what the value of it should be," said Schilling.
Fifty percent of the funds will go towards Frontier Local Schools and the remaining 50% will go towards townships and county entities that occupy areas within the national forest.
"We've been very steadfast in our message to the federal government that this is certainly not adequate," he said.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Southeastern Ohio Port Authority CEO Jesse Roush commented on the recent expansion of PowerFlo Solutions in Williamstown.
"I received some criticism about 'why I let them go to Williamstown,'" he said. "The reality is every day we exchange 50% of our workforce with Wood County."
Roush said Washington County didn't have the manufacturing space available that was required and said "it's a logical decision to go to Williamstown."
He said although they would've liked to see the expansion occur in the county, the business also has to make the right decisions for itself.
"At the end of the day, the Washington County workforce is going to support that 50% with better jobs, which means 100 jobs or more are going to be supportive of that facility," he said.
Roush said there are now more high value and high wage jobs coming to the area just across the Ohio River.
Last week, Waterford resident Amber Peck asked Commissioner Eddie Place to visit her property. She said her property had received multiple offers from two data center development companies and she felt trapped.
Peck was present at the meeting Thursday to thank Place for adding her to his schedule as he plans to visit and hear her concerns as a resident in Waterford.
Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com