EMA Director Anne Strouth asked the Ashand County commissioners to approve a memorandum of understanding with Homeland Security Region 5.

“The reason we have regions is so that resources can be shared,” said Strouth. “Region 5 is comprised of 13 counties and the team consists of trained members who meet Ohio’s training requirements. We currently have four members here from Ashland County, all from the Fire Department and the team was established in 2013.”

She also explained how Ohio has to operate in accordance with the federal government FEMA.

“FEMA sets the parameters of what type of team they are,” she said. “So then Ohio has to fall in line with what the federal government does in order for us to receive the funds in order to support that team.”

Commissioners approved the memorandum to establish the governance, operations and funding procedures necessary.

Other action at the Ashland Commissioners meeting:

• Approved travel requests for Ed Meixner and Ryan Athy of the Engineer’s Office and Deborah Myers, Clerk of Courts.

• Authorized advertising for bids until 9:15 a.m. on Feb. 15 for construction of the annex addition at the Sheriff’s Office.

• Accepted a bid for $296,550, plus an alternate bid of $18,530 from Lake Erie Construction, for the 2024 Guardrail Installation and Upgrade Project.

• Approved a one-year contract with ParTec Systems for the creation, operation and maintenance of an official public sheriff sale website and auction management system at a price of $1,099.

• Strouth encouraged county residents to visit the County EMA website and subscribe to the free Ashland County Emergency Alerts.

Commissioners will meet 9 a.m. Thursday in the Commissioner’s Conference Room on the second floor of the County Office Building. The meetings are open to the public, and are livestreamed on the Ashland County Government Facebook page.

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Commissioners OK memorandum to satisfy Homeland Security requirement