SANDUSKY — The ADAMHS Board of Erie County, as Erie County’s mental health agency is now known, is in business.
The new board held its regular monthly meeting Tuesday, mostly taking action on various measures to continue its transition from the former Mental Health and Recovery Services Board of Erie and Ottawa Counties.
When it abolished the old board, the Erie County commissioners chose the name of the new board, the Alcohol, Drug Addiction & Mental Health Services Board of Erie County.
All of the new board’s regular monthly meetings will be at 4:30 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month and on the third floor of Erie County’s downtown office building. The board’s meeting for December has been moved to Dec. 14.
The board agreed Tuesday to hire Caleb Stidham, the Erie County treasurer, to work part time, for 20 hours a week, as a staff person to handle marketing for the board and coordinating with the Erie County commissioners.
Stidham, who has experience with marketing in his work as a political consultant, is overseeing the creation of a new logo for the board, a new social media page and a new website. The new website and social media site should be up by the end of the month, Stidham said.
Stidham’s hiring brings the staffing for the new board up to 2.5 people. The two full-time employees are Diane Taylor, the interim executive director; and Patty Notestine, the office manager.
That’s down from the five full-time staffers the board had last summer. The board does plan to hire a part-time finance officer to replace Maria Robinson, the former full-time chief financial officer, who left to take a new job.
Taylor, the former deputy director, is serving as interim executive director until the end of December. But before the end of the year, it’s likely the ADAMHS Board will conclude a contract with Taylor to make her the executive director, said Tom Tucker, the chairman of the board.
The board will have to vote on the matter, but “at this point, we are planning to continue with Diane,” Tucker said.
The Erie County commissioners have taken ownership of the former board’s building at 1907 E. Perkins Ave., and it appears likely the building will be sold soon, putting it in the hands of a private owner and putting the property back on the tax rolls, Stidham reported.
The building was put up for sale at an asking price of $400,000, and the last offer received for it was for $340,000. Commissioners for both Erie and Ottawa counties believe a sale likely will be concluded soon, Stidham said.
When the building is sold, 52% of the money will go to Erie County, and 48% will go to Ottawa County, matching the distribution of levy dollars for the former two-county board, Stidham said.
Email sent to Taylor and Notestine at their old email addresses will be forwarded for several months to their new addresses.