Butler County Commissioners on Wednesday:

Approved a three-year contract renewal with OnSolve, the county emergency services department’s mass communication software, at a cost of $12,753 per year. Steve Bicehouse, emergency services director, said 107,000 people signed up on the county website to receive alerts. OnSolve was activated during the county ‘s 911 system outage several months ago, Bicehouse said.

Approved an agreement with Stephen Campbell Associates for recording of texts that come in to the 911 center for a one-time cost of $3,670. The same firm was approved for RapidSOS recording, which tracks wireless calls to 911, for a one-time cost of $5,795. Bicehouse said he is poised to announce that the 911 center is ready to accept emergency calls via text message.

Approved exonerating unpaid debt incurred by four individuals for hazardous materials services between 2008 and 2014 totaling $2,734. The exonerations will remove the debt from the emergency services department’s hazmat fund.

Approved moving almost $349,000 from the county Human Services department’s homeless prevention fund and an additional $32,000 out of the administration fund to be moved to the emergency shelter fund. Brian Savochka, Human Services director, said the move was made because of the high demand for emergency shelter in the county. Savochka said job loss and other issues related to the coronavirus pandemic could be the reason for the uptick in requests for those services. Savochka said the state Department of Community Development and Economic Development must approve amending the county’s current Emergency Solutions grant to allow for the reallocation of the funds.

Approved an application by Valencia Borough to use $50,000 in funds from the $5 county fee added onto vehicle registrations as leverage to get a grant to upgrade Three Degree Road with reconstruction of the stormwater system, paving and signage. The borough is assuming ownership of the road from the state Department of Transportation. The total cost for the project is $641,000.

Approved using leftover funds from the 2020 project to improve the Lions shelter in Alameda Park to fund a $4,719 increase in the cost of the Marion Township waterline replacement project. The unforeseen costs will be spent adding a new tee, valve and drain pipe to allow the new line to be cleaned, disinfected and drained before being put into service.

Approved action for the prison to contract with PrimCare Medical for inmate dental services at the county prison. Warden Joe DeMore explained that sheriff’s deputies were driving inmates as far as Erie County in some cases for dental care. Local dentists disapproved of the payment process for work on inmates, which precluded local dental care. DeMore said at one point, about 100 inmates were waiting for dental care at the prison. The cost for the dentist to bring in equipment and work on inmates is $69,000 annually or $5,742 monthly. DeMore said the cost will come from the commissary and other funds so the county will not incur any expense. He said the program will be ready to go on Jan. 1.

Approved an expenditure of $50,000 for operational expenses at Deshon Place, a transitional living facility for the homeless that is on the grounds of the Veterans Administration off New Castle Road. Ed Mauk, director of the county housing and redevelopment authority, said he lost the federal homeless funding four or five years ago that supported Deshon Place. Mauk said he has applied for four grants to make up for the loss of about $200,000 in funding, but all have turned him down. He said heaters, furniture and other items are being taken from some apartments to replace broken or unusable items in occupied apartments. Mauk said the 47 people served at Deshon Place would be homeless without the facility.

Heard County Sheriff Mike Slupe announced that his department was approved for a $5,000 Walmart grant. Slupe said the funds will be used to install new printing equipment in sheriff’s department vehicles.