The Pulaski County Commissioners this week upheld an order to demolish a Winamac home at the request of Building Inspector Dave Dare.
Dare told the commissioners that a building at 419 W. Jefferson St. in Winamac had become dilapidated after a tree had fallen into the home and destroyed the west wall. He said he had spoken to the homeowner, Ryan Galbreath, and informed him that he needed to repair the home or it would be demolished. Dare said Galbreath chose not to repair the home.
A few changes have been made to the drug testing policy currently in place for Pulaski County employees. Cathy Fritz Consulting is the business authorized by the county to conduct drug testing for employees who operate county vehicles.
Cathy Fritz told the commissioners that she wanted to clear up a few things in an effort to make the drug testing process smoother, which she said includes designating county department heads as “designated employee representatives.” Fritz said these representatives are responsible for sending the employees that have been chosen at random to undergo a drug screen.
A few technological upgrades may be in store for the Pulaski Circuit Court, as the county commissioners this week approved $1500 toward installing new phones in the courtroom, judge’s office, and his court administrator’s office.
Circuit Court Judge Michael Shurn told the commissioners that he has no working line in his office as a result of the switch to digital phones, and he has no way to tell his administrator to pick up the phone besides yelling down the hall. Shurn said this is not the ideal way for a phone system to operate, so he requested permission and funding to purchase two phones and a digital phone card to be installed.
The Pulaski County Assessor’s office may soon undergo some modifications as Assessor Holly VanDerAa told the commissioners this week that Maintenance Director Morry DeMarco has offered to make adjustments to the boiler room, enlarging it, to allow her office to expand into that room. DeMarco explained he would have to enlarge a doorway, removing a section of wall, but the commissioners were uncomfortable with allowing that to happen without first having an engineer check the integrity of the building.
DeMarco explained that this would be the most cost-effective plan because the assessor would not have to move her office, but would rather enlarge it. Fire safety exits and other safety requirements will be unaffected, and he estimated that the overall cost would be less than $1000.
The Pulaski County Commissioners last night approved a bid to perform an electrical upgrade to the courthouse. According to Maintenance Director Morry DeMarco, one contractor backed out of the bidding process because the scope of work was too extensive for their company.
Complete Electric presented a bid of $74,910 for the upgrade, and Rogers Electric came in at $49,750. A third bidder, Kennedy Electric, quoted $18,870 for the work.
The Pulaski County Commissioners this week discussed a number of maintenance items for the county with Maintenance Director Morry Demarco. According to Demarco, the old county highway garage is in need of being cleaned out and boarded up, but a number of gas heaters remain in the building. He asked the commissioners if they would like the heaters to be moved to other county buildings where they could be used.
Commissioner Michael Tiede told Demarco to ask the new county garage if they have any need for the heaters, and if not, he told Demarco to try to sell the heaters.
Pulaski County Maintenance Director Morry Demarco told the commissioners this week that he is in the process of clearing out the basement of the justice center. He says he’s moving the dryers from upstairs to the basement, and had to cut a 10-inch hole in the floor for the ductwork.
Demarco says he’s moving the dryers because a fire had developed from the equipment not too long ago, and to prevent that from happening again, he has installed dryer boxes and filters. He says this is a lot more efficient with less headaches, and the way it was set up previously was “doomed to fail.”
The Pulaski County Commissioners this week spoke with resident Jerry Locke regarding a gravel road that he feels should be closed.
According to Locke, he has spoken with several people in the area and he’s not alone in wanting the road closed. He says no one would be affected by its closure as it is a road the he says “goes nowhere,” and he owns the property on both sides of the road. The county doesn’t perform any maintenance on the road, which is across from 500 North in Pulaski County, and Locke feels it would be safer to close the road permanently.
The commissioners spoke with Highway Superintendent Kenny Becker, who confirmed that the county does not perform maintenance on the road, and says Locke will have to make an agreement with nearby property owners to ensure they approve the closure of the road.
Efforts to restore bridges in Pulaski County continue as the commissioners this week discussed the possibility of yet another bridge to work on. Jeff Larrison of United Consulting told the commissioners that he had put together an engineer’s report for Bridge 268, which is in dire need of a new deck. This project, he says, will be a lot cheaper and a bit easier than the complete replacement of Bridge 291 in Monterey.
Larrison says the bridge would be restored rather than completely replaced, and no land acquisition is necessary.
Pulaski County Building Inspector David Dare approached the county commissioners this week with a request to make a number of amendments to prior meeting minutes.
According to Dare, there were a number of issues in appointments to the Board of Zoning Appeals and the Planning Advisory Commission. Dare noted that Jim Keiper was appointed to the BZA along with Bud Krohn and Cassie Thompson, and although the recording of the meeting reflected that, the written minutes did not. A motion was made and approved to amend the minutes to properly reflect the appointments.
The Pulaski County Commissioners last night passed a motion approving a request to rezone the property located at 4877 W. 200 S. in Winamac. According to County Building Inspector Dave Dare, no public comment was heard opposing the rezoning at the public hearing held on Aug. 27. He says the 11.5-acre property has housed the Anvil & Saw business for the last 27 years.
The request is to rezone the property from an A-1 agricultural zone to an L-1 light industrial zone to allow Tom Bonnell to move his business from its current location on State Road 119 to the facility on that property. A $132,000 loan was previously approved by the commissioners on the condition that the rezoning take place.
Pulaski County Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer told the commissioners this week that the county council has earmarked $15,000 in next year’s budget to go toward the creation of a county website. Origer says he would like to get county organizations together to come up with a website they can all use and agree with.
He also informed the commissioners that an organization is looking to connect Pulaski County to a nationwide bike trail, U.S. Bicycle Route 35. He says their plan is to come from Illinois, through Starke, Pulaski, and other counties, and ultimately link up to U.S. 35. The organization is asking for the commissioners’ approval.
The Pulaski County Commissioners at their meeting this week discussed the use of military surplus equipment for the Recycling Center, Sheriff’s Department, and other departments as well.
According to county attorney Kevin Tankerslee, the equipment must be used by law enforcement agencies only for at least one year after it has been received from the Department of Defense. After that, however, the title is transferred to the Board of Commissioners, who can then allow other departments to make use of the equipment.
A $132,000 loan has been approved by the Pulaski County Commissioners to L&C Recycling, LLC, to allow Tom Bonnell to move his business from its current location on State Road 119 south of Winamac to a facility on County Road 200 South near 500 West.
The loan was approved pending his request to rezone the new location to industrial to accommodate his business. He was recently granted a favorable recommendation by a revolving loan committee, and now with the commissioners’ approval, the matter falls to the shoulders of the Pulaski County Planning Commission. A hearing will be conducted on Aug. 27 to decide whether or not to proceed with Bonnell’s request.
A change of venue may soon be in the works for the Pulaski County Assessor’s office. Assessor Holly VanDerAa approached the county commissioners this week with a request to move her office into the same building as the county building inspector, because she says there is an open room in the building.
VanDerAa told the commissioners that she wants to move her office because the office conditions are extremely tight and they are extremely cramped, and Commissioner Mike Tiede agreed. He said it would be a great idea to have her closer to the building inspector, and Commissioner Ken Boswell said there is merit to looking into the move.
Jeff Larrison of United Consulting presented the Pulaski County Commissioners with an update on the Bridge 291 project this week.
The last two expenses for the Combs property, which was acquired as part of the construction project, were presented to the commissioners. The Combs property was acquired and their moving expenses were paid in accordance with INDOT guidelines, which allow up to $25,000 to be paid to the owners of a property that are required to relocate.
The Pulaski County Commissioners last week received a report from Recycling Center Director Ed Clark, who informed them that his center has brought in a total of $24,472.11 for the month of June. He says they’re currently breaking even for operating costs, and they’ve brought in over $140,000 this year so far.
Clark explained that the center is suffering from a drop in commodity prices. The center used to be able to sell one kind of plastic for $25 per pound, but the price had dropped twice in June down to $19.50 per pound. While this drop is bad for the center when selling plastic, Clark says this is the perfect time to purchase plastic to sell later at a profit.
Clark also told the commissioners that he will be seeking estimates on repair work at the transfer station. He says that the compactor is in need of repair because of a break in one component, and while the compactor can still be used, he says it’s best to get the break repaired before putting it through heavy use.
The Pulaski County Commissioners approved a number of departmental expenses this week.
Ed Fleury of the Veteran Service Office requested the commissioners sign a lease for a Xerox ColorQube 8700 – a multifunction printer that he says his office requires. On average, Fleury says his office needs to make at least 500 copies per month, and because they currently have no copier, he has been going to the Health Department to use their equipment. However, Fleury says sometimes the office is closed and he is out of luck.
The steps around the Pulaski County Courthouse will soon be a bit safer, thanks to a motion by the Pulaski County Commissioners to replace 420 square feet of sidewalk at a cost of $3345.
County Maintenance Director Morry Demarco presented the commissioners this week with three bids to replace the approaches around the courthouse. He had contacted five contractors requesting bids for the work, but only three returned bids. He says the work is necessary because the sidewalk and steps are not level, creating a tripping hazard for visitors. In fact, the steps are so hazardous in the winter, that Demarco says he had to block some entrances last winter to prevent people from tripping.
In an effort to save some money, the Pulaski County Commissioners this week approved a motion allowing County Assessor Holly VanDerAa to hire a company to prepare the county’s Form 11s. Form 11s were previously sent to Pulaski County taxpayers whenever the assessed value of their property went up, but VanDerAa says new guidelines from the state require her office to send the forms whenever any change to the assessed value occurs.
VanDerAa says one company offered to prepare and mail the forms to county taxpayers at a cost of $11,486.69 – a steep figure, but when you factor in the cost of postage alone at $8100 and the costs of paper, ink, and the expense to pay employees to stuff and mail the envelopes, she says it’s worth it to have the company do it instead, and Commissioner Ken Boswell agreed.
