Ashland County commissioners delay dispatch upgrade

ASHLAND – Ashland County Commissioners have again delayed plans to upgrade technology in the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office dispatch center and jail.

While board of commissioners president Denny Bittle said last week the county likely would approve either one or two phases of the proposed three-phase project this week, commissioners did not take action at their meeting Thursday. 

Commissioner Mike Welch said he anticipates the board will approve the first phase next Thursday, June 7, but will hold off on phase two. The first phase comprises about $107,000 of the approximately $800,000 project. 

County officials hope the upgrades will help convince city leaders to leave the Wooster Ashland Regional Council of Governments (the dispatch center for the cities of Ashland, Wooster and Orrville) and rejoin the county’s dispatch center.

City council members have expressed interest in moving the city’s 9-1-1 dispatching back to Ashland County, but they have not yet made a decision. 

Also at Thursday’s meeting, the commissioners approved the second of two motions required to place a 1.5 mill renewal levy for Ashland County Board of Developmental Disabilities on the November ballot . 

Superintendent Dave Ashley emphasized the levy is not a new tax or a tax increase and has been in place since 2004. The levy brings in about $1.1 million annually and makes up about 20 percent of total revenue for both child and adult programs for individuals with disabilities. 

“This money is crucial for the continuation of our services,” Ashley told commissioners at their May 17 meeting. “”We’re serving more people than we ever have, and the needs of our young ones coming through are greater.”

The biggest cause of the increased need, he said, is the impact of opiate addiction on families. 

“When families are struggling with this, they struggle to take care of themselves, let along their children, plus their children with disabilities,” he said. “And, children are being born with disabilities as a result of drug abuse.”

Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the county’s budget for 2019 at 9:30 a.m. June 28 in the commissioner’s conference room on the second floor of the County Office Building.