All posts by Anita Goodan

Starke County Election Board to Meet Today

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

The Starke County Election Board members will attempt to vote on the Vote Center plan for the third time today. 

The Vote Center Plan would move the county from the current status of precinct polling sites to Vote Center sites.  The move to a Vote Center county would allow any eligible voter the chance to vote at any of the seven Vote Centers proposed in the draft plan.  They would be located at Koontz Lake Property Owners Building, Hamlet Fire James R. Hardesty Community Building, Washington Township Community Building, Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center in Knox, North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Department, San Pierre Fire Department, and the Bass Lake-California Township Fire Department on Election Day.

The Koontz Lake Association Building and the North Judson-Wayne Township Public Library are two proposed sites for early voting.  They would be open Monday through Wednesday from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Thursday from noon to 6 p.m., Friday from noon to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  Clerk Bernadette Welter-Manuel noted that the only thing that needs to be decided is which site will be open during which of the two weeks prior to Election Day.

Past meetings have shown an overwhelming positive public response to the change to Vote Centers, but the Vote Center Plan has failed twice to gather a unanimous vote by the Starke County Election Board.  A third vote is planned today. 

The Starke County Election Board will meet at 9:30 a.m. today in the ground floor meeting room in the Starke County Annex No. 1 Building at 53 E. Mound Street in Knox. 

Culver Town Council Awaits East Shore Corporation Contract

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

The Culver Town Council members will wait until their next meeting to act on a proposed contract between the town and the East Shore Corporation for a sewer contract in anticipation of an initiation of a Conservancy District.

A special meeting was scheduled for Thursday, but Town Attorney Jim Clevenger said he hadn’t seen a contract as of last night’s meeting so it may be best to meet with the subcommittee prior to the Feb. 11 meeting to finalize the details before it is presented to the town council for adoption.  It also gives the council members a chance to read through the entire contract prior to taking action. 

Corporation officials are looking to hook a Conservancy District to the town’s Wastewater Treatment Facility system to treat the waste from the estimated 100 homes in the area.  A wetland disbursement system utilized by those residents failed last year. 

A current contract allows waste to be hauled to the town for treatment.  To date, about $146,000 has been paid to the Town of Culver for a pump-and-haul contract.  It is the hope of the members to get the sewer system up and running in May, which begins the tourism season in Culver, so there aren’t additional expenses for pump-and-haul services through the summer.