From the Daily Standard‘s Shelley Grieshop:
Local officials on Tuesday were given the green light to expand the OSU Extension staff to assist its efforts toward Grand Lake’s woes.
In a phone conference Tuesday with OSU regional director Stephen Wright, Mercer County Commissioners were told to proceed with a plan to privately raise funds to subsidize the salaries of three OSU Extension positions.
"I presented your proposals and everything looks great," Wright told commissioners. "We’re excited about this and are ready to move forward."
The changes include boosting Extension educator Jim Hoorman’s job from part-time to full-time status exclusively in Mercer County.
Hoorman, a longtime OSU Extension employee with expertise in cover crops, filter strips and manure management, currently spends 2 1/2 days each week working in the county and the remaining time on state, regional and national projects for OSU.