At a recent Fayette County Commissioners’ meeting, a resolution was adopted to assist with the construction of a new road which is being built on donated farmland.
The road will be called “Bluegrass Boulevard.” According to commissioner Dan Dean, the road is named after Bluegrass Farms, which is owned by Dave Martin. Martin had donated the land to the county so the road could be constructed.
The road will be located in Jefferson Township and will intersect with State Route 435. The road is to assist with economic development as it will be going through the industrial park (also know as the Fayette County mega-site).
“The first section will be about half a mile long. Eventually, it will go all the way through the park as the park develops and empty out onto 729 — on the east side,” explained Dean.
Not only did Martin donate land for the road, he sold part of his land to McKesson for its new facility, according to Dean.
The new McKesson facility is under construction north of State Route 729 and the intersection of State Route 435. The current local McKesson facility, a pharmaceutical products wholesaler located at 3000 Kenskill Ave. in Washington C.H., is planned to relocate there in 2022.
As previously reported, this relocation should retain 129 positions while creating 42 more.
Dean explained that McKesson will be paying for Bluegrass Boulevard to be built, although it will remain a county road.
In other recent business, two appointments were approved. Commissioner Tony Anderson was appointed to the Local Emergency Food and Shelter Program Board. Butch McCoy was appointed to the Fayette County Fair Housing Board to fill an unexpired term that was held by Toni Penwell.
Several agreements and contracts were considered.
One of the agreements that was entered into allows the Fayette County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) to take and coordinate responsibilities on behalf of the Fayette County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC). The agreement is at the cost of $12,000, which is to be taken from the LEPC budget and placed in the EMA budget. The contract is in effect from July 1 through June 30.
A modification was accepted for a contract with the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging of the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department. The modification was to increase meal services, which increased the cost of the contract from $62,550 to $94,686.
Per the request of the Fayette County Department of Job and Family Services (FCDJFS) Director Faye Williamson, a contract was accepted between the FCDJFS and Workforce Services Unlimited. The contract is at a maximum cost of $40,000, and the term is July 1 of this year through June 30 of next year. The purpose is to provide WIOA consulting and professional services.
The county entered into a supplemental agreement with the City of Washington C.H. to assist with paying for Public Defender (Ohio Public Defender Commission) services. This is to represent indigent criminal defendants in the court system of the county, including representation in the municipal court.
As part of this agreement, the city will pay the county a total of $21,741.80 for the 2020-21 fiscal year (July 1 of this year through June 30 of next year). That total will be split into payments of $5,367.95
Fayette County Sanitary Engineer Steve Luebbe was authorized to enter into an agreement with Bowser Morner. The agreement is for engineering and surveying services to verify proper construction and to create requisite reports for the closure of existing C&D facility. The estimated cost is $8,500.
Stay with the Record-Herald weekly for more updates from the Fayette County Commissioners. The Fayette County Commissioners’ Office is located at 133 S. Main St., suite 401 in Washington Court House, and their office hours are Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. They can be reached at 740-335-0720. Condensed minutes from the meetings are available on the county website.
Reach Jennifer Woods at 740-313-0355 or on Twitter @JennMWoods.
