ASHLAND — Amy Nalley was sure two Wayne County teenagers weren’t going to be cited for repeat traffic violations any time soon.
“I observed the Wayne County CARTEENS last month and these girls had tears streaming down their faces after watching a video,” she said. “You could tell they knew it was real and were not going to be back there.”
Nalley, a part-time 4-H program assistant for the Ashland County OSU extension office, presented to Ashland County commissioners on Thursday morning. She was hired in May and plans to restart CARTEENS and oversee other 4-H programming in Ashland County.
CARTEENS is a traffic safety program conducted by 4-H teen leaders and their program partners for juvenile traffic offenders.
Nalley said a judge assigns a first-time offender to the CARTEENS program to learn about driving safety, awareness and consequences of texting or driving under the influence.
“We hold classes that help kids to understand how their decisions affect the outcomes of their lives,” she said. “I’ve been working with Wayne County a lot and the amount of second-time offenders has drastically gone down since coming to the program.”
The program assistant said the OSU office plans to host CARTEENS at Farmers State Bank and hopes to launch this fall.
“We have the location planned out and we just need to talk to the judge to see what numbers we’d likely have in the program,” Nalley said. “I know Wayne County does theirs every other month and they’re averaging about 30.”
According to the CARTEENS web page, participants are usually referred to the program because of speeding, stop sign violations, reckless operation or driving under the influence.
Jackie Wasilewski, 4-H educator with the Ashland County OSU extension office, said the juvenile court stopped sending kids to the CARTEENS program in 2018. Office staff, highway patrol officers and juvenile court judges expressed interest in restarting the program after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Commissioner Jim Justice said he looks forward to the program’s return to Ashland County.
“I can see its value to the courts and the kids in the program,” he said. “It’s always a positive when you can help educate somebody.”
Also in Thursday’s meeting, commissioners:
- Approved a $5,000 appropriation to the Ashland County Dog Shelter fund to pay for Joe Eggerton’s unemployment benefits after his resignation as dog warden. The county will pay unemployment benefits for 26 weeks.
- Heard a presentation from Wendy Dillingham of County Employee Benefit Consortium of Ohio for a first quarter medical insurance report. She said Ashland County’s average spending is $119.50 for each $100 of premiums earned for the months of January-March. Ashland County’s performance is slightly better than the average performance of the 49 counties CEBCO serves in Ohio.
- Approved a lease agreement with Fred Swanson to use the former Ashland County landfill for agricultural purposes. Swanson is authorized to mow and bale hay for the 2024 season on the property with a rent of $4,200 due by Aug. 1.
- Authorized a one-year contract extension for a farm tire collection event with Willig Tire Recycling. The event allows farmers to dispose of agricultural tires at an affordable price. Commissioner Mike Welch said co-fees vary from $2 to $10 depending on the size of the tire. The event will be for farm tires only.
- Montgomery Township trustee Josh Boley discussed the possibility of the county vacating the gravel County Road 1610, which serves four houses in Montgomery Township. Commissioners said they will discuss their options with township trustees before making a decision.
- SNAP education program assistant Lori Lowman presented a quarterly county snapshot of the SNAP-Ed programs in Ashland County. It primarily serves low-income youth and adults. She said summer programs include cooking classes with Celebrate Your Plate recipes and food programs with the Kroc Center.
