The Town of Monterey may take out a larger loan from Pulaski County.
Pulaski County Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer explained that the county agreed to loan the Town of Monterey $10,000 in order to provide matching funds for the proposed wastewater treatment facility project in Monterey. This was approved by Pulaski County government entities last year.
The Pulaski County Commissioners recently gave permission to move forward with a Redevelopment Commission for the county.
Pulaski County Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer approached the commissioners with the idea a few months ago and explained how it could help in terms of economic development.
If it’s not a county-owned road, then the county highway should not be doing any work on it.
Pulaski County Attorney Kevin Tankersley gave that advice to Terry Ruff from the highway department when a question of road work on Swayze Drive, a private lane, was initiated. Ruff said he’s gotten some calls to help plow the road, fix the road, and help a truck that is stuck on the road. He added that he’s concerned about the residents on that road for the purpose of getting emergency vehicles to those who live on that lane.
The new heating and cooling units for the Pulaski County Justice Center are being installed this week.
Maintenance Director Jeff Johnston told the commissioners Monday night that McGrath Refrigeration started installing the HVAC units on Monday. The weather has cooperated and the process should be complete by the end of the week.
During this process, the inmates need to be moved to different cells in order for crews to work in the different pods. Johnston said his staff can perform routine maintenance at the same time while the pods are empty. He said they are able to work on any water issues or other problems while the area is open.
The Pulaski County Commissioners discussed measures to close down the Pleasant View Rest Home in Winamac.
Superintendent Deb Girton told the commissioners that one more person is set to leave the county home on March 25. After that person leaves, she has five days to submit the proper paperwork to RCAP.
The commissioners made the decision to allow Girton and the other full-time staff member to stay on until May 1 to close down the property. All part-time staff will be terminated on March 31.
The Pulaski County Justice Center and the Courthouse will be getting an upgrade in bandwidth.
Willie DeGroot from DeGroot Technologies explained that the Indiana Office of Technology is requiring a higher speed connection. DSL modems are in the offices, and the county is paying $700 a month for those. DeGroot proposed bringing in a direct fiber optic connection to be installed by Lightstream and a network switch would be installed to branch out to the routers. He said it would provide a much faster connection. It would save money in the process, he reported.
Severance pay for the employees at the Pleasant View Rest Home will need to be brought before the State Board of Accounts before any formal action on the issue can be taken.
The request was made to the Commissioners by Larry Rausch at Monday night’s meeting. Commissioner Terry Young had mentioned the possibility of severance pay in a previous commissioners meeting. Rausch said the employees will be out of a job at the end of the month and will be searching for work that is creating a hardship for their families. He is concerned that some employees may not be able to draw unemployment as they may not qualify.
The Pulaski County Commissioners discussed the last Revolving Loan Fund request until Pulaski County Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer revamps the process.
Origer was before the commissioners last night with Sheila Jimenez, who requested a $10,000 loan for fixtures in order to open a new restaurant on Main Street in Winamac. Jimenez said the Warrior Den will be a finer family dining facility at 121 W. Main Street. She hopes to open in May.
The Pulaski County Commissioners said communication is getting better between the board members and the highway department.
It was announced in January that things needed to be changed at the highway department. The commissioners last week said the main issues were communication, and how to deal with problems and the policy book. That was according to Commissioner Terry Young, who spoke on behalf of the commissioners when the question was posed.
The Pulaski County Health Department received a reimbursable grant for supplies in the office.
Sherry Fagner told the commissioners this week that the State Department of Health Public Preparedness Base Grant is worth $13,460.
“We’re doing some updated packet printing for our partners. As far as supplies, we kind of have a lot of different things on there to update our Go Kits for our partners and to support a POD or any other event that we have to do,” explained Fagner.
The long-awaited repairs at the Pulaski County Justice Center are nearly complete.
Maintenance Director Jeff Johnston told the commissioners this week that the water softeners and the water heaters are installed, and all of the old units have been hauled away. Johnston said the HVAC systems should arrive this week or next week. He will coordinate with offices in the justice center for that equipment to be properly installed. The new control system will be added after that, but Johnston said that could be a while yet.
A random drug test recently done on work release inmates at the Pulaski County Jail found positive results on five out of the six tested, according to Sheriff Jeff Richwine, who reported that to the commissioners this week.
“The stuff that’s getting in the back of that jail is getting there two ways: work release or employees. This time it was work release. None of it got back, but these guys, when they were at work, were taking drugs,” said Sheriff Richwine.
The Pulaski County Council added a line item in the surveyor’s budget in order to finance attorney services and engineering costs.
In a joint session with the commissioners, it was explained that the attorney is doing extra litigation work that would need additional compensation to complete. Tim Murray is the attorney for the surveyor’s office.
The Pulaski County Commissioners and the Pulaski County Council will meet in joint session tonight.
One item the joint board is expected to discuss is the change in the salary ordinance in the highway department. When the commissioners met on Jan. 19, the members voted 2-1 to appoint a person in the position that is second in command at the department. The highway superintendent normally makes that appointment, but Commissioner Bud Krohn, Jr., who spearheaded the move, called it a political change. He presented the change for a vote. Terry Young also voted in favor of the change while Commission President Larry Brady was the dissenting vote.
The Pulaski County Commissioners reviewed the copier lease when they met earlier this week.
Commission President Larry Brady told WKVI News that the county experienced hefty overcharges so efforts are being made to correct the problem. The amount of color copies made was the biggest problem. Brady said the staff was not pushing the right button to print in just black and white and they were all color copies. The information has been relayed to everyone so the copier can be utilized properly.
Things are getting better at the highway department, according to Pulaski County Commission President Larry Brady.
When the commissioners last met in January, Commissioner Bud Krohn, Jr. made a motion to appoint a person as the second person in charge at the highway department and the change was approved by a vote of 2 to 1. Traditionally, the second person in charge is appointed by the superintendent.
Pulaski County Sheriff Jeff Richwine has been busy since taking office. He’s been before the county council straightening out budgeting issues, and he appeared before the commissioners last week where he answered questions about his department.
The commissioners brought up the idea of ridding the county of some of the acquired military vehicles.
“I’m not going to sit and wholesale vehicles,” stated Richwine. “If we have a specific need in the county – if the county highway department wants a truck, I’m more than willing to go on there and look for that and get them that truck. It’s the same way with volunteer fire departments. That all makes sense to me. We’ve already returned some tactical equipment.”
Pulaski County Sheriff Jeff Richwine discussed foreclosure/sheriff sales with the commissioners this week.
The sheriff suggested hiring a company to help with the sales which, he said, would save the county money. The county is allowed to charge up to $200 per sale, but the county has only charged $113 for the sale. Sheriff Richwine said the company will take care of most of the sale details.
The Pulaski County Commissioners voted 2-1 to place an employee into the general foreman position at the highway department.
Traditionally, the superintendent appoints the employees in his department, but Commissioner Bud Krohn, Jr. said he wanted a “political change”.
“It’s time for a change. I got elected, and that’s what I’d like to do,” said Krohn.
Pulaski County Commissioner Bud Krohn, Jr. brought up the idea of adding another position out at the county highway garage when they met last week.
He suggested a working supervisor position be created at the Pulaski County Highway Garage and requested a pay raise for that position of $750. He thought that another supervisor position could improve productivity at the highway garage. Krohn said that it would not be an additional employee but just an additional position.
