WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE — At the Fayette County Commissioners’ meeting on Monday, bids were opened for the construction of the corporate airport hangar. Nine bids were received and each bid was opened and read into the record. Many of the bidders had representatives in attendance at the meeting.

The construction estimate by architect Mark Heiny was $2.2 million dollars. The construction bids ranged from $1,748,000 to $2,419,511. The bids will now be reviewed and evaluated for conformance to the bid requirements, and a bid award will be announced.

In addition to a new hangar to be built, a commissioner stated that the taxiways were extended on either side of the 5,000 foot runway for easier exit after landing. The latest one was completed in 2023, funded by the federal government by 95% with 5% county funds. The other upgrade to be done at the airport will be the AWOS system move from its current location to more central to the office area, about 1,000 feet from the building. This system upgrade cannot be completed until the new federal money is released for the FAA, therefore, the project will be rebid at a later date.

In other news, Janice Vaught, an animal advocate, spoke to the commissioners regarding the Fayette County Dog Shelter again, expressing her frustration and concerns over the care of the dogs at the facility. Her complaints were: a lack of human interaction, little social or play area time, and she wanted information on the five dogs who were euthanized in the past year. The commissioner said she could file a Freedom of Information Act records request to get that information.

Vaught said she still wanted alternating hours for the dog shelter employees so that people who work could come after hours to adopt a pet. She mentioned that each kennel should have the dog’s name listed for employees to call each animal by name when interacting.

She complained that GiGi’s from Canal Winchester had not been there since May 9 of this year. GiGi’s is a non-profit, regional care organization that provides homeless dogs with access to shelters, vet services and adoption services for Ohio, when they have space available.

Vaught volunteered at the shelter for 10 months (she stopped in April), but since her complaints, now feels unwelcome there. She said in her opinion, the employees are not doing their best.

In an interview following the commissioners’ meeting, dog warden Nelson Prater said that he has a good working relationship with GiGi’s and other rescue agencies throughout Ohio, and they are called to assist as needed. Prater said that there are currently 30 dogs at the shelter (19 is their built-for capacity), and 12 in foster care. Many dogs have been surrendered because of current living conditions or health issues of the former owners.

Prater said the working hours and number of employees are set by the commissioners since the shelter is run under the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office. All funding comes from the commissioners to the sheriff’s office.

According to Prater, each kennel or crate has a clip or clipboard with the dog’s name listed, breed, and health information. A daily record is kept, for example, if the dog needs a medication.

Prater said that “not all dogs are adoptable due to medical issues, behavioral issues, and things like aggression toward other animals or people. Each dog must be evaluated individually.” He went on to say that dogs that have been kennelled for a long period of time sometimes develop mental issues, or the same could be true for a dog that was adopted and returned, readopted and again returned, due to behavioral issues.

Prater said they have evening and weekend hours, by appointment, if a person calls to see an animal(s) after normal weekday open hours. The shelter could always use more volunteers.

The duties Prater said are a daily routine for him and his employees are cleaning kennels, feeding, watering, exercising, cleaning the office area, answering emails, phone calls, doing yard work at the facility, taking photos of each new arrival to post for adoption, checking dog licenses, giving attention to each dog with interaction and treats daily, and as needed, covering the 406 square miles of the county to respond to livestock kills by another animal where an investigation and report must be done. Other duties are patrolling and picking up stray animals and investigating dog bites.

Prater added, “we are entitled to a lunch break.”

He said employees do all the work within the hours and budget that are set for the facility. If you need weekend visitation, just call to make an appointment. The dogs are fed and watered seven days a week and given attention while the employee is there on weekends.

The shelter also follows state guidelines and ASPCA recommendations regarding the welfare of animals in relation to physical and mental states and well-being. The laws state: freedom from hunger or thirst, freedom from discomfort (appropriate environment and resting area – the shelter does use cooling mats for this in the summer), freedom from pain or injury (they provide rapid diagnosis and treatment for any injury), freedom to express normal behavior (such as space and exercise), and freedom from distress. Prater said, “all these are adhered to in all areas of the facility.”

During the interview, a little dog named “Penny” was being surrendered to the shelter due to a family situation. Prater was going to evaluate the dog, and do the appropriate paperwork to accept Penny to his facility. The owner said the dog was good with other animals and people.

The shelter is currently looking for more volunteers to come to the shelter to interact with the animals and help in duties such as exercising a dog in one of the two play areas they have available. Please call the shelter or visit to give some of your time to the animals, Prater said.

The shelter is also looking for fencing contractors for an additional fenced-in play area to be constructed as soon as possible. Prater hopes some fence contractors would reach out to him for this effort.

Also on Monday, the commissioners passed and signed a resolution granting annexation of 429.918 acres from Jefferson Township into the Village of Jeffersonville pursant to the request of the Coe, et al. family, who brought their annexation request to the commissioners’ meeting last week.

The last presentation at the meeting was a visit by Eileen Leuby on behalf of the Mid Ohio Regional Planning Commission. She laid out the strategic framework to focus on improving central Ohio. The commission provides assistance with transportation and infrastructure, economic and community development, community engagement and advocacy and residential services, to name a few.

Leuby predicted in influx of approximately 6,500 people to this community due to the current growth and potential of this county. They provide strong economic development assistance, but Fayette County was not yet a member of their commission. The fees to join are based upon total population of cities, villages, and townships. Her estimate of population for Fayette County was 28,809, pursuant to her presentation paperwork. If the county would join their effort, they would receive two seats on their board of directors.

Meetings could be attended virtually instead of in person, if necessary, and all services would be available to the county, such as access to grant finder services, community-based planning assistance, consulting services, transportation planning, bicycle and pedestrian and trail planning, as well as assistance from interns who are funded through their college.

Leuby said that Circleville and Chillicothe joined as cities, even though Ross and Pickaway counties did not join as a whole. She said they wanted to take advantage of their services to provide growth to their cities.

The commissioners will take this under advisement and report back at a later time.