Highland County commissioners Brad Roades, Terry Britton and David Daniels honored the County Commissioners Association of Ohio’s Southwest District recipient of the 2025 Ohio Counties Scholarship during their Wednesday, July 16 meeting.
Along with county commissioners, CCAO Managing Director of Enterprise and Retirement Services Steve Caraway presented the check to Halle Jones, a 2025 Hillsboro High School graduate. Jones, who will be attending Wilmington College starting this fall, has been employed by the county for over a year in the records department. Her supervisor, records manager Julie Wallingford, also attended the presentation.
According to the CCAO website, “The Ohio Counties Scholarship is sponsored by the County Commissioners Association of Ohio Research and Educational Foundation. Founded in 1991, as a not-for-profit charitable foundation for the County Commissioners Association of Ohio (CCAO), the CCAO Research and Educational Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization that obtains grants and donations to provide the high-quality information, tools, and training for our members and the people of Ohio. Throughout the state, there will be one scholarship offered to students in each CCAO District (Central, Southwest, Northwest, Northeast and Southeast).”
“It is a scholarship that is heavily based upon the essay, community service and what they desire to do after college or technical school or vocational school or training,” Caraway told commissioners. “We’re very pleased to say that Miss Jones, whom you know very, very well, is the recipient of this district’s 2025 Ohio Counties Scholarship, and her application, of course, was phenomenal.”
According to Caraway, the CCAO “received over 125 applications from every corner of Ohio,” which were reviewed by commissioners who volunteer to serve on panels. Although he said it was “rare” for commissioners to reach consensus easily, they did in Jones’ case.
“We’re very, very proud of you,” Caraway told Jones. “The panel was extremely impressed by your application, and I will tell you that all three review the applications independently, and then we have a virtual meeting to go over those top three. It just so happens that you were the top one on all three commissioners.”
The $2,000 scholarship is for students who “plan on a career in public service in Ohio,” the CCAO website says. Caraway read an excerpt from Jones’ essay, which said: “Our local and state governments are committed to maintaining integrity and supporting economic development and community initiatives. They serve as the backbone of public administration, offering programs and infrastructure that directly impact the citizens’ wellbeing.
“I am proud to have grown up in a county that feels like family, and as a community, we support each other. I’m thankful for all of our public service employees, and I hope to make my community a better place and to one day lead improving the lives of my fellow citizens and the surrounding community.”
Commissioners congratulated Jones, who said she was headed back to work after the presentation at SSCC.
In other discussion, commissioners made the following approvals, each by a 3-0 vote:
• The authorization of a driveway placement at the East Shore Marina Lift Station by Lamb Brothers Trucking & Excavating, LLC at a cost of $5,600.
“There’s a lift station down on the east end that we have been going back and forth to service,” Daniels said. “It’s a grass area, and we’re starting to cut in, so the state’s asked us to put in a roadway back through there to get to it.”
• The purchase of a $3,995 7×14 dual-axle Coyote trailer from Reed’s Trailer Sales for Cierra Moore of the county’s maintenance department, as Highland County Sheriff Randy Sanders said she is currently using a 25-year-old trailer that is “not roadworthy and no longer legal.”
• The execution of a signature on a $25,002.69 Ohio Mutual Insurance Group check for a CHIP program claim.
According to Highland County Community Action Organization housing director Jeanette Mottie, a property owner who has a CHIP lien against her property suffered hail damage, and as the commissioners are lienholders, their signature is required on the check for her insurance claim for repairs.
• The fourth application for payment by Mechanical Construction Co. Inc. for the second phase of Rocky Fork Lake Wastewater Treatment Plant improvements.
• A fund payment request to draw money through the Ohio Water Development Authority for Rocky Fork Lake Wastewater Treatment Plant improvements.
• An amendment to an existing contract among commissioners, Highland County Community Action Organization, Workforce Services Unlimited, Inc. to extend the Highland County CCMEP WIOA/TANF Youth Program for another year.
• A contract among commissioners, the Highland County Recorder and Hopdox, LLC for e-recording services .
• An extension of an OWF-SNAP Job Club purchased service contract among commissioners, the Highland County Department of Job and Family Services and Highland County Community Action Organization, Inc.
• A budget modification within the (2300) 2025 Primary Election Grant in the amount of $200.52 to correct an OPERS discrepancy.
• A resolution to authorize the Sheriff’s Office to declare a list of items as no longer needed by the county and obsolete per ORC 307.2 (I).
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