Commissioners look to save fuel costs
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ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Belmont County commissioners commented on several hopeful projects for the future during their Wednesday meeting.
The board will look into Appalachian Regional Commissioner grant opportunities to search for alternative fuels for the county fleets in conjunction with Clean Cities Ohio. The program, offered through the U.S. Department of Energy, works with vehicle fleets, fuel providers, community leaders and other stakeholders to save energy and promote the use of domestic fuels and advanced vehicle technologies in transportation.
âWeáre joining their efforts,ã said commissioner J.P. Dutton. âWeáre looking at clean fuel opportunities in this region of eastern Ohio. Through this process, weáll get an evaluation of some of our county fleets to see if there are opportunities, or maybe no opportunities, in terms of looking at compressed natural gas, those types of things, for county fleets.ã
The commissioners also commented on an initiative by Agile Networks in partnership with the county to increase the availability of high-speed Internet services to residents and businesses through broadband access.
âWeáre starting to hear some feedback from people who really didnát have that service,ã said commissioner Josh Meyer. âThereás a lot of positive things going on with that.ã
âTheyáre signing up customers,ã said Dutton. âTheyáre still working on our county vertical assets. Theyáre working with our Belmont County Sanitary Sewer Department in regards to water towers. Theyáll continue to be rolling out additional coverage once that equipment is in place.ã
He also said he believes Agile has identified all available vertical assets.
âItás really just the stage of coordinating with the departments, the water towers and Belmont County Sanitary Sewers on how theyáre going to address that structure, the equipment, where itás going to be mounted, whereás the best place to attach the equipment so it doesnát impact anything at the county level,ã said Dutton. âWeáve had no concerns where that would be the case.ã
Belmont County Port Authority Director Larry Merry said the initial reports have been promising.
âWe are hearing of customers now that have the service available that wasnát available in the past,ã said Merry. âWeáre excited about what weáve seen so far by Agile to serve customers that have not had the ability to have Internet service at the level that we expect in todayás world.ã
He also said the Flushing and Powhatan areas are seeing improved service.
âTheyáre working to get a lot of the area in the western part of the county thatás kind of been ignored and a little more rural,ã said Merry. âSouth of Barnesvilleás an area theyáre working on. I think they continue to address the issues and the areas that donát have great service.ã
Guests included Richard Hord of Martins Ferry, who asked if the commissioners had any comment regarding the recent closing of Powerline Park. Hord said the closure could affect tourism in the county. Dutton said the commissioners had no comment on the decision of a private business and landowner.
Hord also inquired about the process of filling three open spaces on the board of Belmont County Tourism Council, since the application deadline was in April. The commissioners said they hope to see the process completed soon.