Oregon Township Trustee Mark Allen asked the Starke County Commissioners Monday night for help in funding a new Koontz Lake Association/Oregon Township Fire Station/Community Center.
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A vacancy on the Starke County Planning Commission has been resolved. It was reported to the county commissioners Monday that the county’s township trustees voted four-to-three to have Oregon Township Trustee Mark Allen fill the trustee’s seat. The commissioners affirmed his appointment with a unanimous vote.
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Oregon Township officials signed lease paperwork for a 2018 Spartan pumper truck for the Koontz Lake-Oregon Township Fire Department during their regular board meeting Tuesday night.
The new truck replaces 1989 truck that will be potentially sold. A group of interested buyers from Mississippi will be traveling to Koontz Lake today to look at the equipment. They will take it back on Thursday if it meets their expectations. Continue reading
Oregon Township officials have purchased a new truck for the Koontz Lake Fire Department.
Township Trustee Mark Allen said they will sign paperwork for the new 2018 Spartan pumper truck during their regular board meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 19 at 6:30 p.m. CT at the Koontz Lake Fire Department on State Road 23.
County officials have offered the Koontz Lake Volunteer Fire Department what they hope is a workable option to make sure they are able to respond in tandem with Starke County EMS to all medical calls. Members of the fire department took exception with the county’s policy to let Grovertown-based Medic 5 decide whether they need their assistance, saying the department has provided medical services to year-round and seasonal residents since its establishment in the early 1940s. Starke County Council President Dave Pearman, who is also a volunteer firefighter, says public safety is the county’s number one concern. He says the Koontz Lake Fire Department’s pagers can be programmed to get the EMS calls automatically. He says it will cost the township about $30 per pager.
Township Trustee Mark Allen called a meeting of fire department, EMS, dispatch, sheriff’s office, emergency management and county government representatives. “The whole purpose of this meeting wasn’t trying to point fingers at anybody. I think some people might have thought about that in the meeting, but it’s not the case. This was just a matter of everybody getting on the same page and working for what’s best for the township. At least now we have an option. Actually Dave had a good suggestion. That was never suggested before. That would have been great to know that,” Allen told WKVI news after the meeting. Continue reading
An economical and quicker solution may come to fruition regarding the radio communication issues in Starke County’s Oregon Township.
The radio tower atop of the Starke County Sheriff’s Department suffered extreme damage in severe storms in June and July and has static communication with Oregon Township and in the San Pierre area. Oregon Township Trustee Mark Allen had approached the Starke County Council this week with an idea for a solution, but the members tabled the issue for further discussion. Council President Dave Pearman explains that decision.
“That original motion basically died – not because we didn’t want to move forward and support the community. The reason why is we wanted to expand this and see if we wanted to look in other areas,” said Pearman.
A bill that would have reshaped county government died yesterday. Republican Representative Kevin Mahan, of Hartford City, pulled a bill that would have eliminated township advisory boards and required referendums in each county on whether to keep township government at all. The bill was to have been debated Friday.
Oregon Township Trustee Mark Allen, a Democrat, traveled to Indianapolis to attend the hearing.
“There was quite a push to keep townships alive and I think it’s a great thing, especially in your rural communities,” said Allen. “Where I live, you’ve got a volunteer fire department that the township trustee is in charge of and you also have a township assistant.”
