The ordinance limits the hours for part-time employees to 56 hours per pay period. If an employee works over 30 hours per week in a six-month period, the department head can come before the commissioners and request that employee receive insurance benefits. There are only 10 employees that could face that option and most of them work at the sheriff’s department.
One of those items is an ordinance amendment concerning part-time hours in the personnel policy. The change reflects action taken to avoid running part-time workers logging more than 30 hours a week on a regular basis thus being eligible for insurance benefits as laid out in the Affordable Care Act.
The Marshall County Commission members and the council members met in a joint session Monday morning to discuss a personnel policy amendment concerning hours for part-time employees.
As explained by the county’s insurance representative, Tony Nyers, the Affordable Care Act requires that all businesses, including county government, offer insurance benefits for all employees that work a 30-hour work week on a six-month average. Those employees are now considered to be eligible for insurance benefits if they meet the requirements for insurance benefits.
The ordinance discussed the design, construction, installation, maintenance and operation of on-site sewage disposal systems located in the county. The purpose of the ordinance is to provide standards to eliminate disease and health risks in the utilization of this equipment.
Haeck explained that INDOT was interested in the county’s opinion regarding the stop signs along the railroad track that spans from Argos to Walkerton. INDOT wanted to know if the county wanted to amend those signs from stop signs to a yield sign or remove them. Haeck told the commissioners that his department reviewed all of the stop signs and asked the commissioners what to do.
The weather station has been an ongoing issue. The board members would like to set up a weather station so weather conditions can be obtained that pertain specifically to the Plymouth area. Current conditions are reported from the South Bend area, Goshen, Rochester and Starke County but Lattimer suggested that one should be located in Plymouth.
CRC officials are planning an expansion project to include a parking lot north to Jefferson Street plus additional building plans. Liechty stated that the company is expecting to add more citizen services in the way of Saint Joesph Health Center in the building and expansion is necessary. Plans include the demolition of a building to accommodate a 44-space parking lot for the center. Business is expected to triple with this expansion and the addition of the parking lot is necessary.
The Marshall County Commissioners discussed an inquiry by County Attorney Jim Clevenger Monday morning about the growing number of “meth homes” and the issues with cleanup.
Clevenger said he has been in contact with Wesley Burden from the Marshall County Health Department about the nature in which a home is taken care of after police have found an active meth lab on the premises. Burden explained that the state police clandestine lab team goes to the home and removes the harmful chemicals used in the manufacture of methamphetamine. Those officers then notify the health department and the homeowner is required to have Indiana Department of Environmental Management contractors come in and decontaminate the structure. That home is uninhabitable until it has been thoroughly cleaned by IDEM contractors.
Neal Haeck will be informing the commissioners on the happenings at the Marshall County Highway garage, Dave Lattimer will be updating the board on the Plymouth Airport’s five-year plan, and Ronnie McCartney will be discussing the U.S. 31/Michigan Road/3rd Road intersection. The commissioners will also have the third and final reading of the sewage disposal ordinance.
The Marshall County Commissioners will meet at 8:30 a.m. ET in the County Building.
Dewitt explained that any permits along with ordinance issues and concerns will now be processed through the Marshall County office. A similar agreement has been reached with Bremen and Argos. Culver has an online process and may approve an agreement in a later setting.
Dewitt also gave his quarterly report and presented the commissioners with a plaque from the Indiana Geographic Information Council. The plaque was awarded to the commissioners for their efforts in utilizing the Geographic Information System, or GIS. The Marshall County Commissioners will now be considered for a national award.
Holmes told the commissioners that he and his staff are constantly going to conferences and thought it may be handy to have a credit card to pay for needed expenses.
Highway Superintendent Neal Haeck told the commissioners Monday that if they would like to change the stop signs to yield signs, they will need to have a review and traffic study completed by the Indiana Department of Transportation-LaPorte District. Commission President Kevin Overmyer told Haeck that they don’t intend on taking out the stop signs and would like to make sure INDOT receives a letter stating that intention.
Every railroad crossing has a stop sign with the exception of the crossings that have gates.
In a unanimous vote, the Marshall County Commissioners voted to approve ordinance 2013-04 which refers to amendments proposed for Wind Energy Conversion Systems.
Marshall County Plan Director, Ralph Booker, reminded the Commissioners of the proposed amendments and noted that the phrase “large wind systems” and “wind farms” were deleted from the Agriculture and Industrial zoning and “small wind farms” was added. The ordinance calls for a 2,640 foot setback of any wind turbine farm and basically disallows a Wind Energy Conversion System in Marshall County.
The letter was written by the City Manager of Long Beach Jack Schnirman in which he thanked the immediate response of Indiana’s District 2 Task Force in their time of need after Superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc in that area. Members of the Incident Management team set up camp and helped coordinate emergency efforts in stabilizing the conditions in the city.
The Marshall County Commissioners held off on approving a road cut for Crystal Broadband as several customers have complained about the service the company provides.
Highway Superintendent Neal Haeck told the commissioners that a customer has complained for months that his cable service has not been working, but they keep charging him for it and he can’t get a hold of any representative to help him with the situation. He’d change to a satellite system but the location would not provide a direct line of sight for a satellite dish.
The Marshall County Commissioners will be approving resolution spelling out the procedure in obtaining emergency funds for the Emergency Management Agency.
In the case of a disaster, a way to appropriate emergency funds to the EMA Department will follow the state guidelines and will mirror the same procedure that the health department follows. The resolution will be ratified by both the commissioners and the county council.
When the census was conducted in 2010, it was found that the four Center Township voting districts in Plymouth were not equal. The four voting districts were amended to equal amounts. The election board felt that it was confusing to split up the districts in which they had become so the boundaries were changed.
The Marshall County Commissioners acted on the Marshall County Plan Commission’s recommended amendments to an ordinance regulating Wind Energy Conversion Systems.
County Attorney Jim Clevenger reminded the board members that the amendments were presented to them on Monday, March 18 where the commissioners tabled a decision in order to dissect the many pages of recommendations. In a separate meeting, the commissioners asked for a resolution to ban wind farms altogether, but the plan commission later found that to be an unfavorable recommendation.
