T-L Photo/CARRI GRAHAM Harrison County Commissioners conduct regular business during Wednesday’s meeting. Pictured, from left, are Commissioners Amy Norris, Paul Coffland and Dustin Corder.

CADIZ — Harrison County Board of Commissioners’ first meeting of the year welcomed a new face to the desk as Commissioner Dustin Corder took his seat on the board.

Wednesday’s meeting kicked off with Commissioner Amy Norris, chairwoman, welcoming Corder to the board.

Corder replaced Don Bethel, who served three terms as commissioner before losing the primary election for the Republican nomination to Corder in May.

Following the meeting, Corder said he has been attending the meetings alongside the audience for some time now, which gave him a good understanding of how his first meeting was going to go. He said he looks forward to serving the county in his new role.

Corder previously stated that one of his main goals was to strengthen the relationships with other county offices during his term in office.

The meeting agenda consisted mostly of items pertaining to the engineer’s office. Commissioner Paul Coffland read the agreements.

The county received two separate grants totalling $300,000 for improvements to Harrison County Road 51. Commissioners approved and signed the first grant agreement with the Ohio Department of Development accepting a $150,000 grant for the project — which includes rebuilding a portion of County Road 51 from Ohio 646 to the Harrison/Jefferson county line in German Township. The project’s estimated cost is $1,332,740.

County Engineer Doug Bachman said APEX Environmental is providing the local match for the grant. He noted that Amsterdam — a village in Jefferson County — is listed on the agreement due to it being the closest municipality.

The second grant agreement was with the Ohio Department of Transportation for $150,000.

Bachman said both grants will support the roadway repairs.

Commissioners also signed an agreement with Hammontree & Associates, an engineering company out of North Canton, Ohio, to provide bridge inspections for the county in 2023. The company will perform physical inspections of each of the county’s 184 structures. The contract cost is $31,000.

Bachman opened a bid received for equipment, including a new excavator-mounted pile driver and new excavator-mounted hydraulic impact driver. Only one bid was received from Hercules Machinery of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The company said the cost of a pile driver excavator is $121,400, and $105,900 for an impact driver.

The bid was tabled, giving Bachman a chance to review it.

The board will hold a special meeting for reorganization at 10 a.m. Monday at the Harrison County Courthouse in Cadiz.