Wood County gives $50,000 to health agency

2/10/2006

BOWLING GREEN - Wood County commissioners yesterday gave the county health department a $50,000 boost.

Responding to a request from Health Commissioner Jeff Cooper, commissioners agreed to provide money for the department's environmental division to cover the cost of equipment, monitoring, testing, sampling, and inspection of surface and ground water, dilapidated structures, and response to residents' concerns.

"The health department made a pretty strong case that they don't have enough time, given their current number of inspectors, to respond to every nuisance call, to evaluate every environmental call," Commissioner Tim Brown said.

He said commissioners realize the county has experienced considerable residential growth and they want the health department to be able to be proactive about environmental concerns, including those related to large livestock operations.