Starke County Commissioners held a regular meeting Monday, April 7th and providing time for citizens to voice their concerns regarding the NextEra permit was far from the only item on the agenda.
At the nearly 2.5-hour meeting, the Commissioners discussed and voted on several topics.
Following the portion of the meeting set aside for discussion on the NextEra permit, covered in another story on WKVI.com, the Commissioners dove in to their agenda.
They heard reports on city computers that are obsolete and in need of replacement. Quotes were submitted by IT Director Stanley Budd, along with his recommendation of the Panasonic Baycom models. A motion was made to pay the $52,452 from the Cumulative Capital Development with Sheriff Jack Rosa taking additional costs out of his commissary funds if necessary. The motion was approved and is now pending council approval.
Next, commissioners heard from Mark Rippy; committeeman for the Paul Revere Ride 250th. Rippy asked commissioners to allow lights to be put up in the courthouse in commemoration of the ride, noting that the lights would be supplied by the committee. The request was approved.
Advice was given to a citizen on her next steps in getting a road extended to her landlocked property; tornado policies were presented to the commissioners for the courthouse, annex 1, and annex 2; and commissioners asked the Auditor to advertise a vacancy on the Solid Waste Board.
E-911 Coordinator Stacy Noonan requested a job description change so that one of the dispatchers is retitled as E-911 dispatcher – Communications Deputy; Community Corrections officer Shawn Mattraw requested the commissioners sign a letter of support for their grants, and Purdue Extension requested approval for a contract for their new copy machine. All three of these requests were approved.
Commissioners were presented with a letter from local EMS to approve, in regards to getting their Medicaid Reimbursements from the state. It was approved.
A motion was made to approve a minimum bid of $150 for the Commissioners’ Certificate Sale, to be held in approximately 2 months’ time. This was also approved.
Vendor and Payroll claims were approved, with some clarification taking place in regards to an employee who had missed 2 days of work. Commissioners also approved an agreement with Arcadis US, Incorporated, to share Geographic Information Systems data; an agreement with Community Services to provide them with $10,000; and the changing of the board size of the Convention and Visitors Board from 9 members to 7 members.
During the ‘Other Business’ portion of the meeting, the first discussion revolved around Economic Development wanting to trade some acreage with the county. The discussion was tabled until Commissioners can see a map to be provided by Commissioner Don Binkley.
Commissioner Mike VanDeMark reported that he had asked the highway department to post a map online of area roads they would be working on and the schedule for that work; and he was told the maps would be posted by the next commissioner’s meeting.
A motion was made and approved to have permanent security in Annex 1, which was approved.
VanDeMark reported that he would be working with Tony Black on the police cars.
VanDeMark stated that there was only one guy working on cleanup in the wake of the storms that passed through recently. VanDeMark said the guy was doing a great job but should not be working alone on this, and VanDeMark stated he would like to work with EMA Tori Chessor to create a storm team for cleanups; including looking into safety training and insurance coverage.
Commissioners were asked about the property that had been donated by the Park Board by Dr. Walter Fritz; and why that donation wasn’t brought to a commissioners’ meeting to be accepted. VanDeMark also questioned this and said he would like proof on how this should be handled.
A discussion was started regarding the pricing on social media archiving, which was tabled to a later meeting.
It was stated that there are a lot of areas in Starke County that have no cell phone reception, and that there is a need to work on getting something started to remedy this. Commissioner VanDeMark stated that he would try to attend a Marshall County Commissioner meeting to see how they are handling this problem.
The Starke County Commissioners meet on the first Monday of every month.
