The County Commissioners' meeting Tuesday was going smoothly until Winnifred Grim learned he would not be receiving a deed for his property.
The commissioners were hoping to approve a $40,000 payment to the state of Ohio in order to release the lien the state had placed on the property, which has a radio tower for 911 calls on it. In exchange for the payment, Grim would continue to let the county use his property. But Grim took issue with the fact that the county was planning to offer him a "certificate of transfer" rather than a deed.
"This is the kind of crap I'm not going to put up with," Grim said, adding that Commissioner Charles Adkins had promised him a deed.
Zach Saunders, assistant prosecutor for the county, tried to assure him that the certificate was the same as a deed, but Grim refused.
Grim requested assistance from his attorney, Steven Sloane, who had handled the land when Grim's mother passed. Sloane was unavailable, but Saunders promised to have everything in order in time for next week's meeting.
"Even with the lien, he can live there as long as he wants," Adkins said. "But if he does not pay it off, the state will claim the property when he dies."
Despite the failure to pass the payment, the commissioners gave the green light to several other items. The largest purchase was three new cruisers for the Athens County Sheriff's Office in 2017. The cruisers, when all are outfitted with the necessary equipment, will cost the county about $133,000.
The meeting moved outside the Commissioner's office for about 15 minutes to issue a proclamation for the opening of the new Holzer medical clinic at 5 N. Court St.
The commissioners also approved the sale of an incinerator from the dog shelter and some minor adjustments regarding record-keeping at that shelter.
