Commissioners OK $267,000 in county Honor Fund money for veterans posts and memorials

Five Lorain County veterans organizations and LaGrange Township received a total of more than $267,000 in funding from the Lorain County Board of Commissioners to help with facilities upgrades as well as to help fix World War II and Civil War monuments in the county. Jacob Smith, executive director of the Lorain County Veterans Service Commission, presented each of the proposed projects for funding in turn, accompanied by some of the commanders of the veterans organizations. The board approved: $83,475 in Honor Fund and COVID-19 recovery funds for Italian American Veterans Post 1 in Lorain to replace its 1960s-era heating, ventilation and air conditioning system. Of that, $45,235 is from the county Honor Fund and $38,240 is from COVID-19 recovery funds. $80,000 from the Honor Fund for American Legion Post 12 in Elyria for capital improvements to assist in its renovation project. The post has been fundraising for many years to help keep its post active, modern and functional, Smith said, and the hallways and bathrooms needed significant work including better handicapped accessibility. $52,050 from the Honor Fund for AMVETS Post 47 in Lorain to replace its out-of-date HVAC system. Smith said the Veterans Service Commission had already approved the project. more than $31,572 from the Honor Fund for American Legion Post 30 in Lorain for capital improvements to make "desperately needed" repairs including a wheelchair lift, a room divider, carpeting for the meeting hall and kitchen equipment that will make the post more appealing for use by members and those renting the hall, according to the board's agenda.The post, in existence since 1919, put $216,000 in charity donations back into the community this year through hall rentals and charity gaming, Smith said — up from $170,000 in donations in 2023, Post Cmdr. Jeremiah Garza said. $10,142 from the Honor Fund for Jewish War Veterans Post 222 in Lorain to repair the 70-year-old Jewish World War II memorial in Salem Cemetery in Lorain by installing a sidewalk to the memorial, a new flag pole and fencing. $10,000 from the county Honor Fund for LaGrange Township for its Civil War statue, demolished in summer 2022 by a semitractor-trailer. The money will help the township with foundation work for the new statue that will be installed on the same site and dedicated by Memorial Day 2025. In asking for the funding, LaGrange Township Trustee Rita Canfield said the township was surprised by a 20 percent inflation rate for materials to complete the statue's repair and rehabilitation. The Honor Fund was created in 2022 to pay for workforce development for veterans, fund veterans memorials and parks and for other programs to support Lorain County residents who served in the military. In other construction business, the board awarded a $1,544,995 contract to Kokosing Construction of Elyria for the Lake Avenue road diet project. The bid was one of two received Nov. 14 for work that includes concrete pavement repairs on Lake Avenue from Griswold Road to Elyria Avenue in Elyria Township. The concrete will be overlaid with asphalt and striped for three traffic lanes and two bike lanes, according to the board's agenda. The work should be completed by Oct. 1 and is being paid for by the County Engineers Association of Ohio and Ohio Public Works Commission funding with no local matching funds required. In other business, the commissioners: split a vote 1-1 on adopting a new Lorain County 911 plan and establishing a Lorain County 911 Program Review Committee under state law.Commissioner Jeff Riddell, a Republican, voted to approve the measure. Commissioner Michelle Hung, also a Republican, voted against it.Commissioner David Moore, a Republican, was not present for Tuesday's meeting, and Hung said she would prefer he was present before the board voted on the measure.Riddell said he thought the board could move forward with two votes "and let Commissioner Moore catch up with a signature" because the measure was "housekeeping" and not new policy or budgetary.The deadline to pass the measure is not until the end of the month, Deputy County Administrator Karen Perkins said, so the board still has time to do so. heard a proposal from Patti Donnellan, district administrator for the Lorain County Conservation District, to develop a vacant 2.6-acre parcel of county-owned land adjacent to the Lorain County Agricultural Center at 42110 Russia Road into a pollinator habitat for bees and butterflies over the next two years. Commissioners made no decision. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.