The Marshall County EMA Director gave an update on activities in his department to the commissioners this week.
Clyde Avery said he talked with some department heads since the severe weather in the winter and will be looking to change some items in the comprehensive plan. Those will be brought to the commissioners for their review at a future meeting.
The Marshall County Commissioners talked with Interim Highway Superintendent Jason Peters this week about offering dirt at the jail to residents who may need it for projects.
The offer was made to residents last year who may have wanted some dirt for various outdoor needs and Commission President Kevin Overmyer asked Peters if that program could continue.
The Marshall County Commissioners are moving forward with deeding property to the city of Plymouth.
There are three lots that were on the county’s tax sales for years that failed to sell. Mayor Mark Senter approached Treasurer Deb Vandemark about the possibility of the county deeding those parcels to the city for the city’s use and she brought it to the attention of the commissioners earlier this month.
The Marshall County Commissioners approved a rather large change order during their meeting Monday morning for the 7th Road project.
At the previous meeting, Bart Trester from USI told the commissioners that unsuitable soil was found along the project route. Upon testing, it was found that the soil had a high organic compound which is not stable for construction. A soil bore had been conducted prior to the start of the project, but the soil composition was found to change frequently along the route. Trester explained that the organic soil needs to be removed.
The Marshall County Commissioners voted unanimously to sign a letter of intent to purchase an asphalt zipper in the amount of $149,470 out of the rainy day fund.
Interim Highway Superintendent Jason Peters presented the paperwork to the three board members Monday morning. Peters said the equipment could be shipped on June 20 with arrival on June 24. A demonstration on how to use the machine would be given by the manufacturer on June 25.
The Marshall County Commissioners received a positive report from Building Inspector Chuck DeWitt where inspections and permit applications are up.
“We had 105 inspections during April and that is actually more than what he had in the first three months. In May, we did 141. All of the contractors seem to be busy out there and doing well. If you look at the permit values, we were at $1.6 million during April and we are at $3.1 million or $3.2 million for May,” said DeWitt.
The Marshall County Commissioners approved a motion to have the county attorney prepare paperwork to assign sale certificates of some property to the city of Plymouth. The parcels are down by the new park by the river.
Treasurer Deb Vandemark approached the commissioners about the properties in question that could not be sold in previous tax sales.
The Marshall County Commissioners discussed the purchase of an asphalt zipper to take care of some of the roads that aren’t in the best shape in the northern part of the county.
Several county officials viewed a demonstration of the machine last week and thought it could fit the county’s needs for asphalt maintenance. The one the county has now is old and parts are not available to repair it.
Interim Highway Superintendent Jason Peters explained what the asphalt zipper accomplishes.
The project supervisor of the 7th Road project in Marshall County gave an update of that project and the Metronet project to the commissioners Monday morning.
Bart Trester from USI told the commissioners that a box culvert was installed, crews cleared the right of way by Michigan Road and an abandoned house has been demolished.
The Marshall County Commissioners will meet in regular session today where Bart Trester from USI will have an update on the 7th Road project and the Metronet project.
The Metronet project started a few weeks ago where conduit is being installed from Ireland Road in South Bend to Marshall County. That conduit will house broadband cables for high speed internet for businesses to increase productivity. The project is expected to be complete this year.
The Marshall County Commissioners will meet in executive session on Tuesday, May 27 at 10:30 a.m. ET where they will interview applicants for the position of highway superintendent.
Former Highway Superintendent Neal Haeck retired at the beginning of the month and highway department crew members, Jason Peters and Jerry Ambrose, have been filling in the interim position until the commissioners decide on Haeck’s replacement.
The Director of the Marshall County Council on Aging gave a report to the commissioners about older adult services and one thing that jumped out was a steady increase in transportation.
Transportation has doubled since 2010. Jackie Wright said money from the Indiana Department of Transportation helped this year. INDOT was unable to provide the county with it’s usual allocation last year due to the federal sequester. Wright had to ask for $20,000 to cover that loss last year. Thankfully, she will not be asking for that money this year.
All of the paperwork for the Metronet project has been signed. That was the information relayed to the Marshall County Commissioners Monday morning.
County Attorney Jim Clevenger said the City of South Bend approved the easement agreement that was prepared for the placement of conduit on the Michigan Road right-of-way. The intergovernmental agreement with the Marshall County Council was approved last week and the Memorandum of Understanding with St. Joseph County was signed at the end of April. Clevenger said all is good to continue with the construction plus the services once that construction is complete.
Phil Faccenda, Jr. of Barnes and Thornburg of South Bend and Kathy Clark, President of the Culver Redevelopment Commission requested the Marshall County Commissioners to approve a resolution to include more properties into the Culver TIF (Tax Increment Finance) District.
Faccenda explained that the Culver Redevelopment Commission is going through a process of expanding the Culver economic development area one.
The Marshall County Commissioners will meet today at 9:30 a.m. ET where the commission members will discuss several items.
EMA Director Clyde Avery will discuss grant agreements, an annual update will be given about events and activities at Older Adult Services and Kathy Clark from the Culver Redevelopment Commission will discuss an expansion to the TIF District and the commissioners will consider a resolution to that effect.
The Marshall County Commissioners entertained a request from Ward Byers, Director of Court Services to streamline software in the court.
It’s a case management software program for court services. Byers said the court system has things in all sorts of different applications and this will allow all information to accessible in one application.
The Plymouth Fire Department is looking for a piece of property to construct a live training facility. Fire Chief Rod Miller approached the Marshall County Commissioners Monday morning to request the use of some land at the Marshall County Jail site.
“The purpose of this is to obtain property for this training facility,” explained Miller. “The use of this property would be a multi-agency use for the county departments including police and fire. It would definitely be an opportunity for every department in the county to take advantage of something like this. The closest one that we have now is in Warsaw.”
The Marshall County Commissioners received an update on the Metronet project during their meeting Monday morning from USI representative Bart Trester.
“The city portion – they’re not going to start until June,” said Trester. The county portion – they’re doing layout work this week and construction will begin next week.”
The Marshall County Commissioners will meet in regular session today in the commissioners meeting room on the second floor in the Marshall County Building.
Bart Trester from USI is expected to discuss the 7th Road project; Director of Court Services, Ward Byers, will talk about the Software Maintenance Project and the commissioners will appoint members to the Argos Plan Commission.
