The Fayette County Commissioners recently re-appointed Janelle Mead to the Fayette County Board of Developmental Disabilities (DD).
It was moved by commissioner Dan Dean and seconded by commissioner Jack DeWeese to re-appoint Mead as the commissioners’ appointed board member during the Dec. 19 meeting. Mead will serve an additional four years commencing on Jan. 1, 2017 and ending Dec. 31, 2020. The motion was unanimously approved.
“Janelle has been on the DD board for some time,” Dean said. “She has quite a bit of experience and has done a good job. It was recommended by the DD board that they would like to have her back on and we agreed.”
During a recent interview, Dean also spoke briefly on the main goal of the county commissioners for 2017 as they attempt to bring a new jail to the county.
“In 2017 we are looking to start a new county jail,” Dean said. “The jail that we currently operate is overcrowded and there are a lot of things that we can’t do to it to bring it up to today’s standards and needs. Especially with the opiate addiction we are facing, there is no room for treatment there at all. So we have been working with the sheriff and we recently applied for a capital safety grant for $500,000 to help get a start on that. We are looking forward to hearing back after the first of the year. But that is one of our main goals, get the jail project underway.”
In addition, the commissioners approved four contracts per the recommendation of Faye Williamson, Director of the Department of Job and Family Services. The first was between the Fayette County Child Support Agency (CSA) and the Common Pleas Court magistrate to provide court services for child support actions. The second was between the CSA and Kristina M. Oesterle, a local attorney, to act as administrative hearing officer.
The third contract is between the Fayette County Department of Jobs and Family Services and the Fayette County Community Action Commission to provide non-emergency medicaid transportation services to qualified recipients. The final was a contract to provide comprehensive case management to eligible youth, 16 to 24-years-old, under the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act and the Comprehensive Case Management Employment Program to develop and implement an “In/Out of School Youth program.”
The Fayette County Commissioners Office is located at 133 S. Main St. and can be reached at (740) 335-0720.
