photo by: Joselyn King

Ohio County Commissioner Randy Wharton, left, also president of the Ohio County Development Authority, and Administrator Randy Russell gather thoughts prior to Thursday’s OCDA meeting at The Highlands Event Center.

WHEELING – Ohio County Commissioners have decided they will hand over county money and donations designated for flood relief to the Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley.

County Administrator Randy Russell informed county commissioners of the disbursement during a special meeting Tuesday night that took place via phone conference.

Commissioners initially opted not to spend $30,000 for fireworks at The Highlands this year, and instead planned to direct the money toward flood relief following the flash flooding emergency happening June 14 in the Valley Grove and Triadelphia communities. Additional donations for the effort then began to come to the county.

In total, $169,642 has been generated at the county level for flood recovery efforts, Russell reported.

He asked commissioners to approve transferring the money to the Community Foundation for purposes of flood recovery needs. Commissioners unanimously approved the request.

Commission President Zach Abraham asked how soon the transaction would occur, and Russell responded “as soon as possible.”

In other matters pertaining to county dollars, some Ohio County offices and projects will get additional funding for next year as county government saw a carryover of more than $1 million coming out of fiscal year 2024-2025.

Russell informed commissioners a budget revision was necessary as the county ended the year with a carryover of $1,271,882 that was not in the original budget estimate sent to the state. The county’s budget for this year had been reported at $24,749,400.

The additional funds will be divided up between a number of county departments, Russell continued.

The first $200,000 will be applied to completing ongoing renovations and construction at the City-County Building, while another $60,000 will be directed to improvements in other county facilities.

The general fund will get $523,882 of the money, and $400,000 will go into a contingency fund.

The County Circuit Clerk’s Office received about $10,000 less in their budget for the year, and that amount now will be added to their budget, Russell added. Additionally, the County Assessor’s Office will receive an additional $78,000.

There was also a discussion of opioid settlement funds received by Ohio County from the state of West Virginia.

Russell reported that to date Ohio County has received $510,246. Of that amount, $270,474 has been committed or spent.

About $239,772 remains, according to Russell.

Commissioners also approved the expenditure of about $16,500 to fully equip a sheriff’s cruiser as a transport for K-9 unit Kronos. The vehicle will be equipped with a “hot pop,” explained Chief Deputy Kent Lewis. If temperatures reach an unsafe level in the cruiser, an alert will sound.

The spending of opioid settlement dollars also was approved for Youth Services Systems, who will get $1,500 to place three stations for naloxone in at-risk neighborhoods.

The Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department will receive $5,418 to purchase 13 cases of naloxone, and also $1,548 for equipment to train people on Narcan administration.

Ohio County Emergency Service is also requesting $14,563 to buy five CPR bags and six CPR systems so that all used by emergency services in the county are similar. This permits operators assisting other departments to be able to use that department’s equipment, Russell explained.

Other expenditures from opioid settlement funds could be forthcoming, Russell continued.

The commissioners will next meet at 6 p.m. on Aug. 19 at the City-County Building, 1500 Chapline St., Wheeling.