EATON — State and local officials gathered at Junction Village Mall on Wednesday, Aug. 10, to celebrate the re-location of the Preble County Title Office and the grand reopening of the driver’s exam station.
“Thank you guys, for being here. I really appreciate it,” Preble County Clerk of Courts Brionne Reynolds told those in attendance. “I do want to thank my staff because I’ve only been the clerk for about 18 months and they’ve been really patient as I decided to move the Title Office and the take on the project of the driver’s exam station.
“Charles Norman is not here, but I did want to thank the BMV for allowing us to be a part of the pilot program,” Reynolds said of the Ohio Registrar. “And then thanks to Rod (Creech, State Rep) for helping kind of bring that together and helping us get started. And thank you to the commissioners for being patient as I worked on this project. I hope that they like the results and are happy with the way the office turned out.
“And thank you to maintenance who worked really, really hard to get this stuff done,” she added.
“This is a huge day. We’ve been looking forward to this day for a year and a half and been working on it diligently. This wouldn’t happen without Breonne,” Rep. Creech told those in attendance. “I don’t know if everybody knows, but it was June 12 of 2020, when our driver’s exam station had a sign up put up on the door that said ‘permanently closed.’ Permanently closed means it’s not coming back.
“Clerk of Courts at the time, Chris Washington, and myself were getting beat up on social media and the phone was ringing off the hook. We were calling the state. We weren’t getting good answers,” Creech continued.
“One of my goals was to bring this exam station back. Thank goodness we got to Columbus, got to work, made the right contacts. Got Brionne involved,” he said. “One of the biggest deals was rent — they didn’t want to pay rent. So I got with Brionne and said, ‘Hey, would there be a possibility that we could provide space, that way they won’t have to pay rent?’”
“Pretty much, we got all the stars lined up,” Creech added. “I got 100 percent out of the way and let them get to work. And it was about four months later, they came to us and said ‘we’re going to have a pilot program in the state. There’s going to be eight pilot programs. Seven of them are independent contractors. You are the only public entity.’
“So, Preble County is the only public entity in the state that’s offering the service. All eyes are on us. And she’s killing it,” Creech added of Reynolds.
People are coming from all around the state to take their examinations in Preble County, according to officials.
Preble County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Karen Moss kicked off the event which included a special celebratory ribbon cutting.
“I’m also happy to recognize Brionne Reynolds and the Clerk of Courts as our newest Chamber member today, and we’re super excited to be a part of the celebration,” Moss said.
