Thursday, September 15th, 2011

County, schools, townships look into combined buying

By Amy Kronenberger
WAPAKONETA - A new initiative has county officials working to cut costs by sharing services between commissioners, township trustees and school districts.
After passage of the state budget this summer, Congress passed House Bill 153, which in part allows educational service centers to enter into shared service contracts with "any other political subdivision of the state" to save money.
This prompted discussion between Auglaize County Educational Service Center Superintendent Jim Herrholtz and county commissioners two months ago. School officials, township trustees and commissioners met Wednesday to discuss which services could be shared.
"We need to do things smarter, more efficiently and more cost effectively in order to survive," commissioner Doug Spencer told the group.
Herrholtz called the legislation allowing shared services "long overdue."
"Perry Corporation copiers have contracts with almost everyone of us," he said. "If we consolidated those into one contract, we could save a lot of money."
Buying paper in one account for the entire county is another way to save, Herrholtz said.
"I asked our paper vendor how much we could save if we bought two truck loads instead of one," he said. "He guaranteed we could save about $1 per case."
Herrholtz, who announced Wednesday he was resigning to take the associate superintendent job at the Ohio Department of Education, asked county officials to continue brainstorming.
Herrholtz was confident a storage location could be found for supplies bought in bulk.
"Brenda, you have an empty elementary building," he said to Minster superintendent Brenda Boeke. "I bet we could store something there."
A difficult aspect may be the potential of eliminating jobs.
"No one wants to fire employees when we've gotten to know them and know they have families," Herrholtz said. "But if one payroll employee is really good, why not have that person handle the entire county?"
Other shared services suggested were health insurance, bus services and garbage and snow removal contracts.
"There's a lot of possibilities out there," he said. "We just have to be open to discuss and work on them."
Those attending focused on six areas: trash pickup, phone system/information technology, payroll, food vendor, storage and health insurance.
"This is the first time I've ever seen commissioners, township trustees and schools come together in a joint effort," commissioner Don Regula said. "And it's all been Doug (Spencer) and Jim (Herrholtz's) idea. They've been working very hard behind the scenes on this."
Additional online stories on this date
Two other reported illnesses remain under investigation
GRAND LAKE - Ohio Department of Health (ODH) officials say it's likely that toxins in Grand Lake sickened a fisherman in May.
It is the only illnes [More]
NEW BREMEN - With an Oct. 1 deadline looming, New Bremen Village Council learned Tuesday night that medical insurance premiums will increase dramatically. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
Current leader in line for state education position
WAPAKONETA - New Bremen Local School Superintendent Ann Harvey has been tapped for the position of superintendent of the Auglaize County Educational Service Center.
FORT RECOVERY - School treasurer Lori Koch this week was given a five-year contract, effective Aug. 1, 2012, to July 31, 2017.
Board of education members on Tuesday night unanimously approved the move. Board president Dave Hull said the contract's length is standard.
GRAND LAKE - Beaver trapping will be allowed on portions of Grand Lake St. Marys State Park Dec. 26 through Feb. 29.
People wanting to trap must fi
A tearful Coldwater woman was sentenced to community control sanctions Wednesday morning in Mercer County Common Pleas Court in a case stemming from the death of her handicapped son.
ST. MARYS - The new director of Arts Place, the Collective Center is no stranger to local arts or to volunteering.
Hope McKnight has been a volunte
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
Nearly two weeks after being one of the final cuts for the Minnesota Vikings, Ross Homan will be heading to a warmer climate.
Computer Points
Having completed the second week of league play for the Western Buckeye League and the first week for the Midwest Athletic Conference, it is starting to become a little clearer to pick out the top teams in each league.
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
St. Henry picked up a Midwest Athletic Conference boys' golf win over Parkway on Wednesday as the Redskins edged the Panthers 177-181 at The Mercer County Elks.
An inability to stop opponents from running the football has been a major problem for Celina in its 0-3 start to the season.
The Bulldogs will drop
The past seven days have been overwhelmingly nostalgic for quite a few former Coldwater Cavaliers' football players.
Last Friday evening, several teammates from the 1961 football season drifted back 50 years on the cloud of extremely special memories.
Impact Game of the Week- Marion Local at Minster:
Already an anticpated matchup because of the closeness of the schools along Ohio 119, last year's