County Commissioner Bryan Davis seemed to imply that the Southern Ohio Port Authority moved offices without giving the commissioners their new address. The matter came up after the Commissioners were discussing roof repairs on a building they own at 5th and Court.
Bill Shope of WNXT inquired as to what county offices were still in the building. Commissioner Davis said the only county office in the building was the Office of Economic Development, though Davis said he hoped more could move in after renovations are completed. Shope asked where the Southern Ohio Port Authority’s offices were. Davis said the agency had moved from the building. When Shope inquired as to where SOPA had gone, Davis said he didn’t have an address, but the agency was somewhere out in the County. “You’ll have to talk to them.”
“When did this happen?” Commissioner Scottie Powell asked.
Davis replied that it was sometime the previous week.
When Shope expressed dismay that the county, which funds SOPA wouldn’t be kept up-to-date on that information, Davis emphasized that while the County pays the salaries of SOPA employees, they don’t have control over the agency. He said that’s just the way the Ohio Revised Code works.
Shope said he’d heard the agency had an office in Minford on private property, but Davis said he didn’t have an address.
“They don’t have to report to you about moving an office?” a puzzled Shope asked.
“SOPA business,” Davis replied. “Where Economic Development ends, SOPA begins and vice-versa.”
He said that commissioners were awaiting confirmation from the agency as to what their plans are and what they’ve done. I don’t want to interfere in their business at all.”
Robert Horton serves as both the County Economic Development Director and the head of SOPA. It’s unclear why he couldn’t have informed himself about the move and passed the information on to the commissioners.
“I’m equally confused,” Commissioner Scottie Powell said. “SOPA just spent money on the building at 5th and Court. They finished it within the past month. Maybe we need Robert to come in next week sometime to discuss it. So we’ve moved. We don’t know to where. And our county employees are sitting in a place where we don’t know where they’re at?”
“It’s out in Minford,” Davis responded. “I just don’t know the address.”
Commissioner Coleman said the situation was not unusual. “The whole time SOPA’s been at the building when our employees are needed on a project, they are working outside of that office. I’m not sure what the big question is. It’s just in process now.”
The commissioners made plans to have Horton come to the next meeting to discuss the issue.
