Fairfield County commissioners plan for a busy 2022 with a variety of issues to take on

LANCASTER — Stay financially solid. Work on affordable housing options. Overseeing the $5.9 million renovation of the Fairfield County Courthouse. Improve broadband access throughout the county.

Those are some of the things county commissioners Jeff Fix, Dave Levacy and Steve Davis want to accomplish this year. It would appear the three plan to have a busy 2022. Here's a look at what each of them wants to accomplish:

Jeff Fix

Fix is the county commission president for 2022 and said the county has a lot of opportunities in front of it. Fix said the $15 million in federal American Recovery Plan money the county will receive is significant. He also said the county will receive several other grants this year.

"The main objective is to find the most appropriate and most beneficial way to use those varied funds to help lift people up," Fix said. "We've got an opportunity to make an impact in peoples' lives either through different organizations or things that we do."

He said some options in using the money include improving broadband access in the county along with other infrastructure projects.

MORE: Fairfield County commissioners pass 2022 general fund budget of $56.3 million

"We're working with other groups to identify where the broadband gaps are," Fix said. "And in Fairfield County there are some. We want to find ways to help reach those people with high-speed internet access. We know in these changing times kids need that access for school.

"Parents need it for doctor visits. Businesses need it. The agricultural community needs it. So we want to make sure we're reaching every corner of the county with broadband access."

MORE: County starts major renovation of courthouse building set for completion by year's end

Besides internet access, Fix said there are all kinds of infrastructure projects villages and townships need help with.

He also said the county is working with its land bank and the housing coalition on the best way to address the affordable housing issue and the county's homelessness problem. Fix said the homelessness issue will probably get bigger over the next months and years.

"So we're trying to figure out how to deal with that," he said.

Fix said workforce development will be another priority this year.

"The best way to help people is to provide opportunities for them to have good, well-paying career jobs, specifically in this case in the skilled trades," he said. "We're starting to get some momentum with our workforce development center and people coming through learning skilled trades and our partnerships with the business community and the education community and other governmental entities. It's starting to bear fruit, so we want to make sure we're paying attention to that."

Fix said the commissioners also want to help those with addiction and mental health issues and move the county clerk's title office into the Ohio University Pickerington property. The county is in the process of buying that property.

"It's great to be in a position to be able to make a significant impact," he said of the county's plans for 2022.

On a personal note, Fix is running for re-election and said he'll also be focused on that.

"I feel good about the work that I've done the first three years here," he said. "I feel good about what we're going to accomplish in 2022. So, hopefully, the voters will see that I'm working hard for them and give me another four years to continue that effort."

Dave Levacy

The county is renovating the courthouse at High and Main streets as part of an energy conservation project and is expected to be completed by year's end for $5.9 million. This is the second phase after the county completed the first phase in 2014. Dave Levacy said he wants to see the second phase also completed.

Like Fix, Levacy also spoke of the $15 million in ARP money for this year. He said $10 million of the money does not have the strict guidelines other portions of it have had. He said the county also received $15 million in ARP money last year that was restricted to about four different areas.

Levacy said the money should arrive in April.

"We'll be able to utilize that in some fashion, which is undecided at this point," he said. "We want to strategically think about how we can utilize that money for the benefit of Fairfield County. It's a great opportunity to be able to do it in a strategic way."

Levacy also spoke of affordable housing and called it "a big problem."

"I think that's one of the things we in Fairfield County need to work on," he said. "We've started some of that. But we plan on working with the housing coalition and many of the other agencies that have direct involvement, like Lutheran Social Services and the city of Pickerington and the city of Lancaster."

Levacy said one of the biggest things for 2022 is the title office's aforementioned move to OUP. He said the county may also eventually rent space to the state's motor vehicle bureau there and that the state has some preliminary interest in moving.

"But the big thing is we'll have a sheriff's substation that will be part of that complex," Levacy said.

While the commissioners have plans, the COVID-19 virus is still around. Levacy said the experts are saying the latest surge in the Omicron virus should subside this month.

"That's our expectation," he said. "Maybe if this variant subsides we'll get everything back to normal. Hopefully, it will be business as usual."

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Steve Davis

Steve Davis said maintaining the county's financial stability is his goal for the year.

Davis said since the commissioners are involved in so many aspects of the county it's easy to lose sight that they are the primary funding authority for all county operations.

"And what that means is we're responsible for fiscal operation," he said. "Making sure that the county is on sound financial footing and capable of funding all the operations."

He said after COVID-19 pandemic caused the finances in 2020 and 2021 to become tumultuous, it's especially important to focus on that primary responsibility and ensure the county stay financially stable no matter what happens.

"The good news is after all that tumult we enter 2022 in the best financial shape we've ever been in," Davis said. "But I don't think we can take that for granted. Because every day in the news there's this, there's that, something else.

"There's the federal government changing the rules every other day. And there's some employers changing the rules every other day. So we can't be that. We've got to be the rock. We've got to be the thing that doesn't change and specifically what can't change."

So how do the commissioners ensure the county's financial stability?

"So many local governments operate on an assumption of failure," Davis said. "What I mean by that is a lot of local governments see the train coming sometimes years in advance and they plan to fail. They raise taxes because they failed. Over 25 years of being involved in local government I've seen it time and time again you look at the lines on the charts and you see that expenses are going up and revenue is staying pretty flat."

Davis said there are ways to counter that, including gaining greater control on expenses and making sure county revenue streams are on strong footing instead of waiting for financial problems to occur.

"You can make adjustments years in advance then build into your new model," he said. "And that's what we've been doing for 10 years and that's what we're going to keep doing. We enter '22 in great shape because we do keep our eyes out on the horizon and try to make sure that we can handle every situation."

jbarron@gannett.com

740-304-9296

Twitter: @JeffDBarron

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Commissioners plan for busy 2022 with a lot of issues to take on