CADIZ — Harrison County officials are preparing for this year’s Summer Youth Employment program.

The Harrison County Department of Job and Family Services and Jefferson County Community Action Council will once again hold the annual youth employment program.

The Harrison County Board of Commissioners approved an agreement between the two organizations for the Comprehensive Case Management and Employment Program, a youth program funded through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. The program has received $57,800 in CCMEP funding.

JCCAC Director Mike McGlumphy said they have begun recruitment for the summer program which provides employment, training services and other supportive services to youth participants between the ages of 14 to 24.

“We are currently running the summer youth program. We’re doing recruitment for that and getting ready to start it. We currently have 11 work sites and 15 participants signed up,” McGlumphy said.

The program is still accepting applications which can be submitted at the Harrison County DJFS in Cadiz.

McGlumphy said officials would like to double the current number of participants this year.

“We can take more people on, we’d like to get up to about 30 participants for the summer youth program,” he said.

“That’s working cutting grass for entities or working in areas as long as we are following the child labor laws.”

The program is designed to provide employment for low-income, in-school youth or out-of-school youth.

Commissioner Paul Coffland made a motion to approve the contract between the two organizations.

Commissioners Don Bethel and Dale Norris agreed and it was unanimously passed.

McGlumphy then briefly discussed the county’s unemployment rate. Harrison County currently has a 15.1 percent unemployment rate, more than doubling in the last month when it was at 7 percent, he said.

“I’m not sure how this is all going to play out, who’s going to get recalled (to work), who’s not. We’re still working on that.

“We’re also watching Murray Energy. I’m not really sure what’s going to happen with the bankruptcy, but that’s going to affect our dislocated worker funding for the area also. We’ve got a lot of things going on that we’re not sure how everything’s going to play out,” he said.

McGlumphy said the unemployment number could be worse though. In surrounding counties, the numbers are slightly higher.

In Carroll County the unemployment rate is 16.9 percent; in Jefferson County it is 18.1 percent; and in Belmont County it is 18 percent, he said.

“It’s bad, but it could be worse. It has been worse. This is not the highest we have been in Harrison County,” he said.

Coffland said much of the county’s unemployment is due to furloughs and layoffs amid the coronavirus.

“I think a lot of that (jobs) will return to employment, especially at the end of July when there’s extra federal dollars,” he said.

In other news, a contractor has been selected to complete the Harrison County Home Wastewater Plant Improvement project.

Hull & Associates LLC, an engineering firm hired by the county to assist with the project, recommended the hiring of Border Patrol out of Hopedale, who submitted a bid last week to complete the project for $120,891.

The second bid submitted was from James White Construction out of Weirton, West Virginia for $167,300.

Both companies’ bids were below the engineer’s original estimate of $239,000. The rehabilitation project includes improvements to the treatment plant and the installation of an effluent discharge line. Additionally, the project will increase water production.

“This is to rehabilitate the county home’s wastewater treatment plant. With that in mind, it is being sized to, anytime in the future we were able to add additional development or existing residence along the U.S. 250 there, the plant can handle that as well,” Coffland said.