It’s all about accountability, said Pulaski County Commissioner Larry Brady, who expressed his desire to ensure county employees only have keys to the courthouse doors and their own offices. He told his fellow commissioners and the department heads in attendance that he would like all county building keys to which the commissioners have access to be stored at the county 911 center.
Pulaski County Sheriff Michael Gayer approached the county commissioners at their meeting this week with a request to follow through with the second of two vehicle purchases approved by the county council. Gayer said he had purchased one of the vehicles last year with the commissioners’ approval, but now, he has returned once again seeking permission to purchase the second.
The Pulaski County Commissioners this week tabled a discussion regarding an old, run-down county building shrouded in confusion. Maintenance Director Morry DeMarco told the commissioners that the Fletchers building owned by the county has been out of sight and out of mind for many, many years, but it was recently brought to his attention and he noticed the building has gotten to be in horrible condition.
The Pulaski County Commissioners met last night, their first meeting with two new commissioners Larry Brady and Terry Young, before a packed audience. Many of the attendees were county employees who had a number of issues with the new county handbook, and the commissioners heard their arguments last night.
The Pulaski County Commissioners this week approved a new purchase for the Sheriff’s Department: a new Dodge Charger squad car from Braun Chrysler. Sheriff Michael Gayer told the council that he will obtain several more quotes from local dealerships for both quarter- and half-ton trucks to add to his fleet.
Gayer said that so far, Goble has been the only local county dealership to provide a price on the new vehicle, and Steve Dobson at Jim Dobson Ford has yet to give him a response. On top of that, Gayer’s contact at Braun Chevrolet has been on vacation and Gayer has not been able to reach him.
Ed Clark of the Pulaski County Recycling Center told the county commissioners this week that the recycling center is coming in a bit lower than last year in revenue. Clark explained that while last year the center turned around $300,000, this year’s lower commodity prices have put a damper on their revenue. He anticipates coming in at $275,000 revenue for the year, despite actually having a greater number of sales.
The Pulaski County Commissioners this week approved the purchase of a new emergency 911 system after they learned their current system, which is about 10 years old, has been discontinued for about three years.
The new system, which will cost $144,000, will satisfy the order by the state fire marshal who told the county that they must relocate their 911 system to a new location for fire protection. A representative from a company who handles 911 systems told the commissioners that he developed a number of bullet points for a new system, because his company would be unable to renew the maintenance contract on their current system due to it being effectively obsolete.
The former president and secretary of a Winamac business are in some hot water, as the Pulaski County Commissioners filed a lawsuit against them after they defaulted on a loan from 2004.
The lawsuit, filed on Nov. 29, names Jerry R. Howe, Jr. and Scott Roudebush as defendants and seeks to have $151,425.50 reimbursed to the county, along with the appropriate interest, attorney fees, and court costs. The county has hired the Merrillville-based law firm Genetos, Retson, Yoon and Molina, LLP, after it was learned that County Attorney Kevin Tankerslee had represented one of the defendants in a previous matter.
Pulaski County Highway Superintendent Kenny Becker told the county commissioners this week that he is looking into the purchase of a part washer, which he said he can pay for using money left over in the miscellaneous fund. Becker explained that the equipment would cost just over $10,000, and though that may seem like a steep price tag, he said they are currently paying $1200 per year for their current system.
Two bids for Pulaski County repair work were taken under advisement by the county commissioners this week in light of complications that had developed after awarding a contract for masonry work for the courthouse bell tower.
The commissioners had requested bids for concrete work to be performed at the county annex building as well as an upgrade to the air conditioning unit in the circuit court. Two sealed bids were presented by Maintenance Director Morry DeMarco for each project, including bids by Mau & Son for $4475 and DK & Sons for $18,469.25 for the concrete work at the annex building.
The Pulaski County Commissioners this week received some good news from their insurance company in the form of a $124,000 reimbursement. Commissioner Ken Boswell explained this reimbursement came from savings through their insurance plan, and they’ve already put that money to good use.
“It means that through our renegotiation of our insurance benefits, we’ve been able to bring back $100,000+ savings over the last two years to our county, which in turn, pays for more than one premium of our monthly cost for insurance benefits,” said Boswell.
The Pulaski County Auditor’s Office isn’t getting any additional help any time soon, as the county council this week denied a request from Auditor Shelia Garling to hire an additional full-time employee.
Garling said her request was denied because the county council felt the office did not need any additional staffing, despite the auditor’s office being down one full-time employee. Fortunately, she said things should change at the start of the new year, when she expects to have three full-time employees and two part-time employees.
Things may soon be a bit less stressful in the Pulaski County Auditor’s Office, thanks to a motion passed by the county commissioners to hire an additional full-time employee. Auditor Sheila Garling told the commissioners that she is dealing with the equivalent of a staffing nightmare as one full-time employee is on medical leave until January, another full-time employee is transferring offices at the beginning of the year, and another full-time employee resigned on Friday.
The Pulaski County Commissioners are still dealing with the old highway garage roof woes, as Highway Superintendent Kenny Becker told the commissioners this week that they need to decide what to do with the dilapidated roof.
Commissioner Mike Tiede recommended sending it to the landfill and billing it to Maintenance Director Morry DeMarco’s budget, but Commissioner Ken Boswell said that he had intended to check with Building Inspector Dave Dare to see if he had the funds to cover it. Tiede, however, said that the funds in that budget are intended for unsafe buildings with violations.
The Pulaski County Commissioners this week approved a request from Building Inspector Dave Dare to hire an additional part-time employee in the Building Department.
Dare explained that the Board of Zoning Appeals had asked that Dare resubmit a request for a part-time staff member in the department to also serve as the secretary for the BZA and Plan Commission. Dare said that there are responsibilities coming up in 2013 and 2014 that involve a lot of work with the county’s comprehensive plan, and the current secretary would not be able to handle the extra workload.
The relocation of the Pulaski County Assessor’s Office is getting nowhere fast, as the county commissioners this week told Assessor Holly VanDerAa that they don’t feel comfortable with allowing a basement wall to be knocked out to allow her to expand her office. In light of the can of worms that the courthouse bell tower repair project opened up, Commissioner Ken Boswell said that the commissioners want to have an engineer or architect take a look at the wall that would be removed to ensure that it would not compromise the integrity of the historic courthouse.
A very frustrated Jim Kuiper, president of Kuiper Masonry, Inc., vehemently assured the county commissioners last night that he is using the correct mix of mortar to repair the crumbling bell tower according to specifications for historic buildings.
County Maintenance Director Morry DeMarco had put a halt on the work being performed by Kuiper because of what he called a number of “red flags.” DeMarco said the first indicator that something was amiss with the repairs when he noticed Kuiper hauling mortar up to the tower, and when DeMarco asked for a sample of the mortar, DeMarco said Kuiper told him that the mix was not ready and he would bring DeMarco an appropriate sample. Further, DeMarco said he was uneasy with the repairs because Kuiper refused to grind out old mortar from several sections of wall in the bell tower that DeMarco felt needed to be replaced.
Nathan Origer, executive director of the Pulaski County Community Development Commission, gave the county commissioners an update on his efforts to bring new business to Pulaski County.
Origer explained that he is currently speaking with an Illinois business that may be interested in moving to the area, but he said they are trying to find a suitable property. He said he is trying to get the county to become more aggressive and proactive with enticing businesses to move to the county, and it seems their efforts are paying off. The Francesville area, Origer explained, has at least two cabinet makers that have set up shop, and T&S Recycling is working on getting their own building up to shape.
The Pulaski County Commissioners this week explained their reasoning behind choosing a bid that was more than twice the cost of another bid for masonry repairs in the courthouse tower. David Zeltwanger, owner of DK and Sons, LLC, asked the commissioners to explain why they chose a $16,828.75 bid over his bid of just $7450.
Commissioner Ken Boswell explained that the winning bidder, Kuiper Masonry, was chosen partly because Jim Kuiper, its president, attended the commissioners meeting on Feb. 20 and toured the tower with the commissioners, explaining the work that would be done. Boswell said they appreciate the time it took out of the vendor’s day to explain the process step-by-step.
The Pulaski County Commissioners this week accepted a bid for office supplies for county offices. They were presented with a breakdown of each company’s prices for the products most needed by the county, and the commissioners added up the totals to determine which company would offer the county the best prices on their most-purchased items.
A motion was made to award the bid to DeGroot Technology Services in Winamac, whose products came in at a total of $351.73 – the lowest of the bids presented.
