'Stalled' MARCS tower project revisited; commissioners OK Marriott Hotel contract

Highland County commissioners Terry Britton, David Daniels and Brad Roades shared their concerns about a grant-funded project for a new MARCS tower that they said has “stalled” and made several approvals — including one for the new Marriott Hotel project in Hillsboro — during a nearly two-hour meeting Tuesday, Oct. 24.

Angela Canepa, the Ohio Department of Administrative Services’ Deputy Director of First Responder Communications Initiatives, attended Tuesday’s meeting, along with Highland County EMA Director David Bushelman and Highland County American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding coordinator Nicole Oberrecht, who is the project manager for the MARCS (Multi-Agency Radio Communication System) grant.

As previously reported, then-State Rep. Shane Wilkin announced in June 2022 that “the state’s new construction budget includes $750,000 to improve radio communication for law enforcement and first responders in Highland County” with the construction of the new MARCS tower.

Commissioners held a work session Jan. 9 with Marshall Township Trustees to discuss a proposal to place the tower on township-owned property. According to Britton, the commission asked the township trustees “to donate the property” for the project, and the county gave the trustees a month to make a decision. In February, commissioners said Marshall Township rejected that offer.

As noted by Britton in January, they are looking to construct the tower somewhere on the “southeast side of the county,” where radio coverage is lacking. They are trying to find a township-owned property in another township, he said in February. According to Bushelman, the tower will be 300 feet tall, and the county needs a 100 foot by 100 foot space.

“The reason that we're here today is we felt like we are kind of not moving forward, or stalled,” Britton told Canepa Tuesday. “We’re still kind of sitting here spinning our wheels.”

Daniels added that Canepa had reached out to the county about requesting their drawdown from the Ohio Controlling Board, which prompted them to ask for a meeting.

“Our concern was, you asked about us taking the grant money,” Daniels said. “We don’t exactly know that we want to take the money until we're sure that we've got a project.”

Canepa said that she was just trying to get them on the Controlling Board’s radar ahead of the end-of-the-year deadline.

“I don't think it's a bad idea for you guys to take the money, because there is going to be a project, right?” Canepa said.

“Well, we hope so,” Britton said.

Britton said the county had received a proposed contract for a possible agreement with a property owner, but “we really never got anything solid” from the state, and he felt like conversations among the three parties had stopped.

An appointment in April, with Bushelman and Ohio MARCS Field Operations Manager Dick Miller, was the last time the MARCS project has been on the commissioners’ meeting agenda. Britton reported during that meeting that they had identified a landowner in Marshall Township who might be willing to enter a lease agreement, but “the best option we have right now with township-owned ground is in Concord Township” instead. As of that meeting, the plan was for the commissioners to give the prospective landowner’s contact information to Miller so the state could start pursuing a possible lease agreement.

Canepa said the last she’d heard was that the previously discussed tower location was not “going to work out … but it would have been nice” if that had been “communicated to you guys.” Bushelman said that was the “first I’ve heard of” it.

“I think part of it is that we're trying to get away from leases on private property if we can,” Canepa said. “I know that's not possible everywhere we go.”

In order to use that property, Canepa said they would have to enter a lease, and that “becomes cost prohibitive.” An offer to purchase the parcel was apparently declined.

Canepa added the state’s preference is for county-, state- or township-owned property, or to purchase the land from a private owner.

“I think it’s fair to point out that we reached out to the Marshall Township trustees,” Daniels said. “They’ve got property in an ideal location. They turned us down on using that, but at the same point, I don't think there was any consideration that there might be some, I guess, financial reward to that.”

Bushelman said he didn’t think a possible lease or purchase agreement would “entice them,” and Britton said, “I don’t think so, either.”

“Which is a shame, because that enhances safety and security for their residents, and residents all through southern Ohio,” Daniels said.

Bushelman said there is another property owner in that region who indicated he is “open for discussion.”

Daniels said he wasn’t sure they had “exhausted all possibilities” at Rocky Fork Lake on state-owned property yet, but Bushelman said there was “a considerable elevation difference” to keep in mind as well.

Canepa responded that the state could easily provide elevation maps for the county, which Bushelman and Oberrecht both indicated has not been the case in their experience.

“I have submitted several locations, trying to figure out, and crickets,” Bushelman said.

“That’s frustrating to me,” Canepa said. “I will take care of that, for sure. I've been able to get a one-ay turnaround on those when I've asked, so I will be happy to get that for you.”

Oberrecht said getting that information could help them “narrow down” possible locations, because the list is currently “too broad.”

Britton pointed out that they had also picked the possible location in Sugar Tree Ridge (Concord Township) — which Bushelman said is “a go” — but Daniels said it would not provide “the ideal coverage” and would “overlap” with the existing tower’s coverage.

“I’ve got a couple places,” Bushelman said. “I know one landowner is willing to talk, but there again, it’s been on hold. I didn’t know what to say.”

Canepa said she wanted to “again apologize” for the delays from the state’s end and said it sounds like the county has “some potential options.”

“We've got options that really haven't been addressed or pushed forward, because we thought this one was still on the table,” Bushelman said.

Canepa then asked about the county’s plans for “building the tower.

“Are you building the shelter and buying equipment, or was there some agreement on that?” she asked.

“What we were told was that with the money we had, and whatever the additional was, it was the tower — it was everything [tower, shelter and equipment],” Bushelman said.

Oberrecht said that the county was “awarded $750 [thousand], and we were going to put a local match of $530 [thousand], for a total of $1,280,000.”

“That will do it,” Canepa said. “I knew the $750 [thousand] would not.

“And so then at the end, you give it to MARCS, MARCS does the maintenance on it for the duration, has the insurance and all that stuff?”

“Yes,” Bushelman said.

“OK, so we just need to move this forward,” Canepa said. “It’s just going to be a matter of selecting a site that works, and I, again, apologize that this stalled out for four to six months that it's been just laying there.

“Make me your contact person, and I will bring in whoever I need to bring in on this as we go along, but the next step will be getting locations that are realistic options, and we will do the coverage maps for any that you don’t already have them for. You guys will just decide which one of those you think is the most ideal.”

Bushelman and Britton said that county and township leaders will need to “get together” and try to narrow down a site.

“As far as coverage, the most ideal is right there in the Marshall area,” Britton said.

Canepa added that “we won't be able to solidify the agreement between” the state and county “until we have the exact location, but I could certainly start on that.”

Canepa advised that once a spot is selected, they will also have to do a study on the land, but the county could go ahead and start the Controlling Board funding process.

“Once we run through the Controlling Board and receive those funds, if we can't come to an agreement with anybody, then are we able to return the money?” Daniels asked.

“I am certain the state would take money back,” Canepa said.

“From our standpoint, we don't want to commit to a project if by some chance we can't find the appropriate land or that sort of thing,” Daniels said. “I don't have a problem moving through the Controlling Board process and receiving the money as long as we're not locked into something that we can't deliver.”

Canepa said if they wait, they can be on for “next year to receive the money [from the Controlling Board], but just let me know.”

In relate discussion, Bushelman asked Canepa if there would be any funding opportunities for Link Layer Authentication (LLA) upgrades. All MARCS radios will be required to have the LLA upgrades by July 1, 2025.

“To upgrade all the MARCS radios that are capable of being upgraded in the county, and to replace the ones that are not upgradeable, we’re looking at $700,000,” Bushelman said.

Canepa said the Ohio Fire Marshal’s Office has a grant open, but Bushelman said that would only pay “$70 per radio, and it costs $550.” She said she was “unaware of any other grants” at the moment.

“This Link Layer Authentication is going to be very costly,” Bushelman said. “Some of these smaller departments are going to have a hard time coming up with it.”

Canepa agreed “that’s a steep cost.” Bushelman said he has received estimates from “$550 to $1,050 per radio.”

“That’s a discussion I need to have with you guys,” he told commissioners. “It’s going to get real expensive for the Sheriff’s Office.”

Also during Tuesday’s meeting:

• Commissioners voted 3-0 to approve an open-end mortgage, cognovit promissory note and loan agreement contract with LEO Capital Investment LLC in the amount of $1 million for the planned Marriott Hotel project in Hillsboro.

As previously reported, Highland County Economic Development Director Julie Bolender announced in July 2022 that the county has been awarded a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant that will, in turn, be loaned to developers of the Marriott Hotel, which was first proposed in 2019.

“What you have in front of you are three documents required by the Ohio Department of Development,” Bolender told commissioners Tuesday. “Should you agree to enter into it and sign those, we will send those to the Department of Development as part of have what's called our closing binder.

“At that point, we are able to go ahead and request our drawdown, that we would take the $500,000 that we were awarded from Department of Development, add that to our revolving loan fund, and then we would have an agreement then with the Leo Capital Investments organization for the loan for the entire year. There will be another closing as well.”

Daniels asked if Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins had reviewed the documents. Bolender said Collins had signed off on both the documents as well as “minor adjustments” requested by attorneys for the Marriott Hotel developers.

Britton asked Bolender who would be “responsible” for verifying “the prevailing wage” and other aspects of the project.

“When they originally applied, they applied with their scope of work,” Bolender said. “If they were awarded this money, they could be utilizing this money for A, B, and C, so the scope of work is in the contract. Also in the contract from the Department of Development, it states that they have to abide by prevailing wage and a myriad of other regulations.

“We’ll have to report back to the Department of Development how that money is spent, and so that's going to fall back on the county as a whole to make sure that they utilize the money for their prescribed scope of work, and that they abide by the Department of Development’s rules.”

Daniels asked if “expectations” for reporting and tracking have been laid out for the developers.

“If this money is not utilized for what the scope of work was, what we applied for, then we're going to be the ones to be held responsible for that,” Bolender said. “Once we receive our drawdown, and once we close that portion of the loan — so that will be the final closing — all of this will be spelled out very clearly for Leo Capital, as to what will be expected, what will the expected use of the money be and how they will be expected to report how they have utilized the money.”

After hearing from Bolender, commissioners moved to approve the contract.

• Commissioners also approved a tuberculosis funding agreement contract with the Ohio Department of Health, Bureau of Infectious Diseases and Highland County Health Department.

Highland County Health Commissioner Jared Warner explained that the contract is for the county to receive reimbursement for steps taken after an individual in Highland County contracted tuberculosis in 2022. Warner said that commissioners and the health department “could talk internally about” how much of the nearly $5,000 allocated would need to go to the commissioners’ office versus the HCHD.

“The state of Ohio is a little odd in that we have health departments that exist as its own political entity, but tuberculosis control still goes through the county commissioners,” Warner said. “You work through the health department to make that happen, and in state law, you're considered what's called a payer of last resort. If we have a TB case locally who doesn't have insurance, or has some other inability to pay for medication, we turn around and say, ‘OK, commissioners, time to make sure they can afford the medication, get treatment and then therefore not spread TB out to the community.’

“This contract is the state of Ohio reimbursing the commissioners and the health department for our efforts involved in handling a TB case in 2022. It's a total of $4,936. If you guys are interested in pursuing that funding, you'd have to have a contract with the state.”

Warner added that the commissioners office had some “out-of-pocket” expenses as a result of the case, while the Health Department’s costs were related to “staff time.

“We do what's called that directly observed therapy, so we have to physically watch a person take their medication for TB every day to make sure that they are on schedule,” Warner said.

Commissioners voted 3-0 to enter the contract.

Also during his appointment with commissioners, Warner reported a successful drive-thru flu shot clinic (which also included other vaccines) hosted by the Highland County Health Department earlier in the month, with a second event scheduled for Oct. 25.

“We had 70 people come through last week, so it was a great, great turnout,” Warner told commissioners.

Warner added that the health department is also offering free cholesterol checks throughout the month of October.

• Highland County Auditor Alex Butler reported on the most recent permissive sales tax receipt totals, with the county collecting $768,164.35 in October. That is an increase over the October 2022 total of $751,851.

Year to date, the county is almost $131,000 above the then-record totals for 2022.

“We're still headed in the right direction,” Butler said. “It’s less than last month [$828,661.83], but that's to be expected because that's the annual trend. We're looking by the end of the year to, I believe, surpass where we were last year.”

Daniels asked if the county has “met our anticipated revenue.”

“Yes, we have,” Butler said. “The anticipated revenue, in the general fund, was $13. 2 million. We are currently around $13.8, $13.9 [million], in that ballpark. We're going to start this week, in the auditor’s office, working on putting together revenue figures for next year so we can get that to you.”

• Commissioners voted 3-0 to approve a resolution that “prohibits political signs on county property.”

“As we enter into the political season, we've had signs popping up for this or that on county property,” Daniels said. “We deem it appropriate that on county property, it appears that we are not taking a stand on any of those things.”

• Commissioners approved two items related to funding from the Ohio Department of Aging.

The first was a resolution to rename fund 2265 to Healthy Aging Grant, with the new fund having an appropriation of $259,581.37.

Also approved was a grant agreement contract with the Ohio Department of Aging.

As previously reported, Britton said in March that the commission was notified that the state has allocated $259,581 in Healthy Aging Grant funding for Highland County.

“We will be trying to figure out how we’re going to spend that money correctly,” Britton said Tuesday.

• Commissioners also made two approvals related to a new software package for the records department. They voted 3-0 to enter a contract with Canon Solutions America, Inc. for Laserfiche Cloud software; as well as the execution of a statement of work for the county’s Laserfiche Cloud project implementation (software training).

• Discussed, but not acted on, were estimates to repair flooring at the Highland County Probation Department.

Britton said that Cruea Construction has submitted a $7,508 estimate, which Daniels initially moved to accept. However, they decided to “wait a week,” as Britton said, after commission clerk Ashleigh Willey said she believed other estimates were expected to come in.

“The floor over there need some shoring up, and so that's been kind of the problem,” Daniels said. “It’s been kind of sinking and sagging, and it just needs shored up a little bit.”

• Highland County Visitors Bureau Executive Director Jamie Wheeler and Visitors Bureau Board President Casey McIntosh shared a PowerPoint slideshow of the Bureau’s activities since their last update a year ago. For more, see the story at: https://highlandcountypress.com/local-regional-tourism-activities-highl….

• A work session was held Tuesday afternoon.  According to Willey, “Commissioners met with Environmental Engineering to discuss various topics about the day-to-day operations at Rocky Fork Lake and upcoming wastewater treatment upgrades at Rolling Acres and Rocky Fork Lake.”

Commissioners also made the following other resolution approvals, each by a 3-0 vote:

• A resolution to rename fund 2525 within Commissioners Fund to Block Grant PY 22 (CI). The new fund shall have an appropriation of $211,864.70.

• A resolution to rename fund 2740 within the Commissioners fund, to Block Grant PY 23 (CI). The new fund shall have an appropriation of $416,000.

• A budget modification within TCAP FY 24-25 (2625) in the amount of $5,541.60.

• A budget modification within Soil and Water (2070) in the amount of $3,500.

• A budget modification within the Dog and Kennel (2000) in the amount of $6,500.

• A budget modification within the County General, 1000 fund in the amount of $35,000.

• A budget modification within the County General, 1000 fund in the amount of $5,000.

• A budget modification within County General, 1000 fund in the amount of $1,000.

• An additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within the Repair – MVL, 2065 budget in the amount of $200,000.

• A modification within the County General, 1000 fund in the amount of $45.75.

• An additional appropriation from unappropriated funds within CDBG PY 22, 2520 budget in the amount of $2,000.