PREBLE COUNTY — Commissioner Chris Day provided a COVID-19 update during the Preble County Commissioner meeting on Monday, March 30.
“As of yesterday, we only have two cases confirmed of the coronavirus in Preble County and I don’t know if that has increased or not,” he said. “One thing to keep in mind, as [Health Commissioner Erik Balster] said before, they aren’t doing much testing because they have to send them to Richmond, or Dayton, or somewhere, because they don’t have the ability to test here.
“We will see an increase, it is just a matter of when. Hopefully the residents don’t panic when they start seeing those numbers go up, because I know there are more cases out that we don’t know about. For the most part, most of our residents have done a good job if they aren’t feeling well they’re self-quarantining and things to that nature. I would encourage the residents to do that.
“We have someone [in the courthouse] monitoring temperatures. I think they have turned one person away due to having a fever. That is good news as far as people coming into the building, things of that nature. I just wanted to put it out there so the residents of Preble County [know] we’re doing what we can, we’re doing the best we can. Unless we see an uptick on this, we may have to tighten things down more.
“The elected officials have all taken action, they’ve limited hours and have gone to appointments, things of that nature. I’ve heard some comments where they feel we’re not doing enough and I think we’re doing everything we can in our power. People still have to do business, we want to allow that to happen, but we want to do it in the safest manner we can.”
Commission President Robertson added, “I appreciate that the public is taking this seriously and they are staying home and limiting their exposure. I think people are taking it seriously.”
In other business, the commissioners:
•Approved four resolutions for Agricultural Easements requests from Three Valley Trust. The following properties were approved: Sunnymeade Farms, Inc., Haworth Property, Petry Property, and Rodeffer Property.
The resolutions passed unanimously with Commissioner President Robertson noting, “If someone was coming to me as a friend, ‘Hey, should I do this?’ I would highly recommend against it. Your property rights are valuable and what makes America America. I don’t think going into a forever contract with the government is every a good idea. With that, also, I have my government hat on today and I am not your parent.
“If you decide to do a forever contract — and I say make a deal with the devil — then you go right ahead and do it. I think eventually these are going to cause more problems down the road, but that’s down the road, in the future. As your friend, I would say this is a bad idea, but as your Commissioner — you go ahead and do that, I’m not your mom.”
•Reviewed the State of the County PowerPoint and agreed to contact Commission Clerk Kim Keller with any updates.
•Approved a resolution authorizing payment to Commission ($3,797), JFS ($27,269.34) and Sheriff ($1,485).
•Approved a resolution proclaiming May 2020 as Motorcycle Awareness Month in Preble County.
•Noted receipt of and approved by signing the Child Placement Agreement with City of Refuge, Inc. DBA One Way Farm, $40,000, Children Services.
The Preble County Board of Commissioners meets every Monday and Wednesday at 9 a.m. in the Preble County Courthouse, unless noted otherwise.
