Vantage earns Auditor of State award

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Vantage Treasurer Laura Peters was presented with an Auditor of State Award during Thursday’s brief meeting of the Vantage Career Center Board of Education, while a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) agreement for a $2.5 million Putnam County farm project was also approved during the meeting.

“It’s important to note that this puts Vantage Career Center in a very select group,” said Auditor of State representative Joseph Braden, noting that fewer than 10 percent of the 6,000 entities audited by the state receive the award. “This award represents the hard work of all the school employees here that strive each day to achieve accounting excellence.”

Requirements for receiving the award include filing an audit report within 150 days before the end of a fiscal year and having a clean audit with no findings for recovery, no material citations or material weaknesses, no significant deficiencies or audit findings that question spending, no comments relating to ethics referrals, and no public meeting or public records issues.

Braden also praised the board for performing its fiscal responsibility to the district.

Also attending the meeting was Putnam County Economic Development Office representative Amy Steele, who provided information on a TIF agreement up for approval between Vantage and Grote Farms LLC in Jackson Township, Putnam County. The agreement would allow taxes paid by the agricultural company to be allocated to road and other infrastructure improvements needed in connection with a $2.5 million improvement project being undertaken by Grote Farms. Vantage would receive $281.74 a year as part of the agreement.

The agreement was approved by the board later in the meeting.

In his report, Vantage High School Director Tony Unverferth talked about Friday being Sophomore Day at the school, when approximately 700 sophomores from Vantage member school districts tour the school and obtain information on Vantage’s various career programs.

Ohio Technical Center Director Pete Prichard noted that the CDL program is now operational and noted that several Vantage seniors are also interested in the program, as well as those in the adult education program. Prichard also talked about the Ohio Means Jobs funding that is available for those enrolled in the CDL program.

The board also approved the hiring of two OTC instructors: Michael Dirr for the Police Academy program and Rachael Thomas for the Medical Assistant program.

In other action, the board:

• Accepted a donation of $1,000 from the Walmart Community Grants program for use in the Construction Equipment Technology program.
• Approved the following overnight or out-of-state field trips: An out-of-state field trip by the Auto Body and Auto Technology program to attend the Auto Rama Car Show in Detroit, Michigan, and to tour the Ford Rouge Truck plant in Detroit, both on March 2; an out-of-state field trip for the Auto Body and Auto Technology classes to tour the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in Auburn, Indiana on May 4; and an overnight field trip to Columbus for the state Business Professionals Association competition March 8 and 9.
• Went into executive session to discuss personnel matters, with no action taken following the session.

The next meeting of the Vantage Career Center Board of Education will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 1, in the district conference room.