Logan County District Board of Health members discussed at their Wednesday, Feb. 8, meeting the proposed four-lot Otter Creek Commercial Park, to be located on County Road 10 just east of East Liberty, and approved a sewage variance request related to the development.
Environmental Health Director Tim Smith said Jeff Demoss of Sidney requested this variance to allow him to develop lot one of the proposed commercial park and to install a temporary holding tank for three years until the proposed East Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant is constructed and operating in that region.
In the case that the new wastewater treatment plant is not operational after three years, the variance allows Demoss to install an aeration system with UV light disinfection, which can be abandoned once the sanitary sewer is accessible to the property.
Members also approved Demoss’ requested subdivision review for Otter Creek Commercial Park’s on-lot water and wastewater systems, prior to requesting preliminary plat approval from the Logan-Union-Champaign Regional Planning Commission today, Feb. 9.
Also during the meeting, Director of Community Outreach Megan Bailey reported on a free upcoming syphilis and HIV testing clinic, slated for 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14, at the health district, 310 S. Main St.
No appointments are needed to attend the clinic. A finger prick is involved for both tests, and the rapid tests results are available within 10 to 20 minutes.
Bailey noted that in the fall of 2022, the Ohio Department of Health classified Logan County as having a syphilis outbreak. In 2022, the county had nine cases of syphilis reported, and two cases also have been reported so far this year.
Members also approved a motion to send a letter expressing the board’s support to accompany Bailey’s application for the Integrated Harm Reduction grants to continue the naloxone program and also to offer new harm reduction opportunities.
She will be applying for both the year one grant, which would begin in April and continue through the end of September; and the year two grant, which would continue the programming through September 2024. For those two grant years, the health district could potentially receive funding of up to $169,000, as detailed at last month’s meeting.
In 2022, the Narcan program at the health district trained 869 individuals and distributed 1,125 kits. There were also 18 known reversals for individuals experiencing an opioid overdose emergency.
Related to the recent city-wide boil water alert in Bellefontaine last week (which was resolved Jan. 31), Smith highlighted the health district’s OEPA-approved water lab that was able to assist with testing the water samples, after the Bellefontaine Water Department was unable to deliver their samples to their normal out-of-the-county lab, which had already closed for the day.
Smith commended staff member Jennifer Mitchell, who runs the LCHD water lab, and fellow employees on their handling of the situation.
“Many thanks to all of the different health district staff members who were involved in responding to questions from the public and concerned partners, investigating water usage complaints, locating safe water source options, securing the health district’s water fixtures and placing hand sanitizer in the restrooms, setting up the lab, preparing and reading the samples, and presenting the happy results to the city, schools and media,” he said.
In other action, the board:
• approved a written action plan presented at the meeting by representatives from La Palma, 2201 S. Main St., Bellefontaine, to correct violations, which includes hiring a professional cleaning service for a one-day deep clean, to address grease build-up on kitchen equipment, as recommended by Mitchell; and
• welcomed new staff member Michelle Gatchel, public health emergency preparedness coordinator/public information officer.
The next meeting is 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 8.
In addition, the Logan County District Advisory Council’s annual meeting is slated for 7 p.m. March 23 at the Logan County Fairgrounds Grange Building, where the council will select a new board of health member to fill retiring member Bob Harrison’s position.