LIMA — Allen County Commissioner Greg Sneary on Friday turned the president’s gavel for 2020 over to fellow board member Cory Noonan as the commissioners wrapped up their 2019 year with a special meeting.
The “wrapping up” part took a whopping five minutes as Sneary and Noonan breezed through a handful of mostly routine year-end budget items and actions.
Among the agenda items on which the commissioners acted was a 1% pay hike for management level employees of the Allen County Department of Job and Family Services who are not members of the bargaining unit that represents most JFS employees. The funding for the staffers, approximately 18-20 in number, comes from state and federal grants that are dispersed through the commissioners’ office.
In other year-end business involving the Job and Family Services, the commissioners approved the sale via an internet auction of property — an unspecified number of desks — deemed unsuitable for county use.
Also approved was the purchase of a 2019 Toyota Camry and a 2019 Honda Accord from Allan Nott Honda & Toyota for use by the Allen County Children Services agency.
And in what on its surface seems like an unlikely pairing of agencies, the commissioners authorized an agreement between the Allen County Regional Transit Authority and the Allen County Dog Warden. Noonan said the agenda item simply represented a bulk fuel purchase agreement on behalf of the county departments.
The commissioners will turn to work at 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 2 when Jason Patchet and Dana Sterling are scheduled to present a discussion on capital projects and building improvement plans for the coming year.
The commissioners have in effect been operating as a two-member board since Jay Begg, the third member of the board, suffered an accident at his home in November. Begg subsequently announced he would not seek reelection in 2020.
Sneary, who announced in October his intent to retire at the end of 2019, has decided to continue in his role until Begg’s return or a replacement is found. Sneary’s term expires Dec. 31, 2022.
Noonan has filed for re-election and will be unopposed in the Republican Party primary in March. Several candidates have filed petitions seeking the seat currently held by Begg.
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