The Athens County Commissioners responded Tuesday to recent vandalism on the Athens County Common Pleas Court steps by calling for evaluations into the building's surveillance system.
County Commissioner Charlie Adkins said the courthouse steps had been vandalized about a month ago, but law enforcement was unable to identify those involved due to poor video quality and camera placement under the building's current surveillance system.
“We had all the vandalism done with the spray can paint to the front of the building and we had no camera on it because the tree was blocking (the view),” Adkins said.
Commissioners approved a contract with JDM Enterprises to evaluate the camera system, though they still have to work out how much the contract will be for, Commissioner Lenny Eliason said.
"Some of the issues with the current cameras don't pick up as well in light or have some focus issues for details ,so we’re trying to evaluate what kind of cameras we need to fix that. We added one camera for free right now to pick up a dead spot," Eliason said.
Commissioners also gave the go-ahead for stricter load limits on Carthage County roads to prevent the creation of potholes in the winter.
“What creates potholes is when you have water in the base of the road ... it expands and contracts with freezing and thawing,” Eliason said. “When you have high loads riding over that, it makes the problem worse.”
The proposed load limit would take effect on Nov. 8 and last until April 30. The limit would reduce the load trucks are allowed to bear by 50 percent, the maximum reduction allowed by state law.
“The weight limit now is 80,000 pounds which the state sets,” Robert Pullins, President of Carthage Township Trustees, said. “We want to reduce it to 40,000 pounds.”
In the past, Carthage Township has spent over $38,000 repairing roads that have been damaged by heavy loads, Chris Nutter, a trustee, said.
The change does not have to apply to all roads within city limits, but the trustees would need to apply signs notifying truck drivers at “both ends and at the points of intersections,” according to the Ohio Revised Code.
The trustees decided on a list of 12 roads that the load reduction law would take effect on.
Pullins said they have not looked into enforcing the law yet, but hoped it would open up discussion between the trustees and truck drivers.
“What we were thinking was that we could get permission to put (the signs) up, and if we put these up, they could come to our meetings ... and talk about it,” he said.
In addition to the new law, the commissioners also heard a proposal for transforming a former B&O railway track into a bike, pedestrian and equestrian trail that would connect the Hockhocking Adena Bikeway with the city of Belpre.
Commissioners also approved a new lock system for the Jobs and Family Services headquarters in The Plains. The new system would include a keycard system that will eventually be implemented in government buildings in Athens, Eliason said.
