Pulaski County may finally be switching its court software, to bring it in line with much of the rest of the state. Superior Court Judge Crystal Brucker Kocher, Prosecutor Dan Murphy, and Circuit Court Judge Candidate Mary Welker met with the county council and commissioners earlier this month, urging them to make the switch from CSI to Odyssey.
Pulaski County EMS to Continue Researching Possible Ambulance Rental
Pulaski County Council Takes Steps to Make Donation Funds Available for EMS Department’s Use
After a couple left almost $30,000 to the Pulaski County EMS Department in their will, county officials are now taking steps to allow that money to be used. EMS Director Bryan Corn asked the county council this month to formally incorporate that money into his budget. “Just a little over a month ago, I believe, we received a check,” he explained. “It was a donation from the estate of a Henry and Alice Mooi. That total comes out to $29,901.71. That is strictly to be used for the EMS Department only, and that is strictly to be used for equipment for the EMS Department.”
Pulaski County Council Considers Budget Transfer, Additional Appropriation Requests
Funding for Pulaski County’s fiscal plan, the courthouse elevator replacement project, and reassessment expenses was among the transfer and additional appropriation requests brought to the county council last week. Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer explained that he has $50,000 budgeted annually for potential land acquisition. But since the CDC won’t be needing it for that purpose, the county council agreed to let him make $36,000 of that available for the fiscal plan. The county commissioners have since decided to hire Peters Municipal Consultants for a cost not to exceed $24,000.
Pulaski County Commissioners to More Strictly Enforce Comp Time Carryover Limits in Future
The Pulaski County Commissioners plan to quit granting exceptions to the limit on the amount of comp time employees may carry over from year to year. On Monday, they agreed to let an employee in the extension office carry over an extra 10 to 20 hours, so she’ll be able to recover from surgery scheduled for February.
Pulaski County EMS Director Presents Updated Proposal for Winamac Ambulance Garage Expansion
Updated plans for an addition to the Winamac ambulance garage were presented to the Pulaski County Commissioners Monday. EMS Director Bryan Corn said he’s scaled the proposal back significantly from what former EMS Director Nikki Lowry had requested last year. “We took the porch off. We don’t need the porch,” he said. “We took all the interior rooms out. We don’t need the interior rooms. We can make it work without having the interior rooms in there. So essentially what this would be is just an open addition onto the garage.”
Pulaski Council Approves Funding Arrangements for 911 Center Phone Upgrades, New Body Cameras
The Pulaski County Council is making funding arrangements for new communications equipment for the Sheriff’s Department. Plans call for upgrades to the 911 center’s phone system, new body cameras and portable radios for the deputies, new video editing software, and cloud storage.
Pulaski Commissioners Approve Document Scanning, New Computer Equipment for Recorder’s Office
More of Pulaski County’s public records will be available online in the coming months. On Monday, the county commissioners agreed to let Recorder Sue Fox hire CSI to scan documents predating the 1960s. She said that anything newer has already been made available online. “What we’ll do is we’ll have it complete, every record that we have in our vault right now, back into the 1800s,” she said. “And this is important, too, because of people who do searches just for homestead, hundred-year homestead checks, and people are just doing family histories. They use it quite often.”
Pulaski County Commissioners Accept $50,000 Settlement for Unpaid Revolving Loan Money
Pulaski County has been able to recover some of the money owed to its revolving loan program. During last week’s joint session with the county council, the county commissioners accepted a $50,000 settlement from Jerry Howe, following a lawsuit.
Pulaski County to Add Language on Vaping to Tobacco Policy
Vaping will no longer be allowed in Pulaski County’s government buildings. The county commissioners voted Monday to add language on vaping into the county’s tobacco policy.
Pulaski County Commissioners Hire Fiscal Planning Consultant
The Pulaski County Commissioners are moving ahead with a fiscal plan. They voted two-to-one Monday to hire Peters Municipal Consultants to put the plan together, with Jerry Locke voting in opposition. Of the two proposals the county received, Peters’ was apparently cheaper, with a maximum cost of $24,000, compared to Umbaugh and Associates’ cap of $35,000.
Pulaski County Commissioners to Discuss Vaping, Hear Department Reports
The Pulaski County Commissioners will hear updates from EMS Director Bryan Corn and Highway Superintendent Terry Ruff during this morning’s meeting. According to the advance agenda, County Attorney Kevin Tankersley will discuss vaping, Recorder Sue Fox will discuss two bids, and Building Inspector Doug Hoover will ask the commissioners to approve an invoice.
Pulaski County Council Not Ready to Make Building Department Assistant Full-Time
Pulaski County Building Department Assistant Karla Kreamer will apparently remain at part-time status for now. After multiple lengthy discussions Monday, the county council decided not to take any action to change her employment to full-time, despite a favorable recommendation from the county commissioners.
Pulaski County Council, Commissioners Hear Fiscal Planning Proposals
Pulaski County officials continue to consider hiring an outside consultant to help put together a fiscal plan for the county. The county council and commissioners heard presentations from two firms Monday, but no final action was taken by the commissioners. County officials have been looking at adjusting the county’s tax structure for over a year. It currently relies heavily on income taxes, which is expected to become an increasing problem as the county’s population continues to decline.
Pulaski County EMS Department Looking to Fill Vacancies
Pulaski County Emergency Medical Services’ staffing challenges appear to have returned. “In about the last week-and-a-half to two weeks, I have had two full-time employees submit their letters of resignation,” EMS Director Bryan Corn told the county commissioners last week. “So now, unfortunately, we are back to having three openings.”
Pulaski County Announces Plan to Address Accessibility, Security at Government Offices
Improvements will soon be coming to Pulaski County’s government offices. During Monday’s county council meeting, Maintenance Supervisor Jeff Johnston announced a plan to improve accessibility, security, efficiency, and usability. “The plan itself is only in the infant stages of development, and there’s a lot of work to do before the completed plan can be presented in its entirety,” he said. Continue reading
Confusion Remains Over Proposed Changes to Pulaski County’s Campaign Sign Regulations
The Pulaski County Commissioners last week decided to hold off on changes to the county’s campaign sign regulations, due to confusion about the advisory plan commission’s recommendation. Last month, the plan commission voted to recommend removing the “special signs” portion of the Unified Development Ordinance.
Pulaski County Council Approves 2019 Budget, Salary Matrix But Leaves Several Issues Unresolved
The Pulaski County Council almost forgot to adopt the 2019 budget Monday. The approval finally came after more than four hours of occasionally contentious discussions but relatively little action on several budget-related items.
County Offices to Move into Former Winamac Masonic Lodge by End of October
The conversion of the former Winamac Masonic Lodge into a county morgue and office building will be done by the end of October. Pulaski County Maintenance Supervisor Jeff Johnston told the county commissioners last Monday that the construction phase of the work should wrap up by the end of this week. “The cooler and all of that equipment will be installed as soon as that’s done,” he explained, “and then, we’ll start moving offices in.”
Pulaski County Council to Adopt 2019 Budget, Consider Tax Abatement Request
The Pulaski County Council is scheduled to adopt the county’s 2019 budget tonight, but a number of issues still have to be addressed. Assessor Holly VanDerAa has been calling for a tax increase to make up a shortfall in the county’s Reassessment budget. She says the change would reduce the need for various costs to be paid out of the county’s General Fund.
