Nathan Origer of the Pulaski County Community Development Commission approached the county commissioners this week to request permission to purchase a manual covering building codes and other information for the Planning Commission. According to Origer, the money is available in the Planning Commission budget, and it can be appropriated to Training and Supplies to cover the cost of the manual. However, Origer says, that appropriation would require approval from the county council.
The Pulaski County Commissioners moved to stick with their decision of allowing Cathy Fritz to conduct drug testing for the county. This comes after Brandon Williams of Indiana Testing approached the commissioners to present information about their company.
According to Williams, Indiana has been working with the Pulaski County Highway Department for 25 years, handling the testing required by the Department of Transportation. Additionally, the county is under an automatically-renewing contract with Indiana Testing to conduct drug testing for the Highway Department.
The Pulaski County Commissioners approved a request from former police officer, Cathy Fritz, to conduct drug testing for the employees of the county. The Commissioners asked for a list of which employees will be subject to testing. The approval of her completing the drug testing is dependent on the approval of Attorney, Kevin Tankerslee.
The Commissioners also heard from a representative from WTH Technologies to discuss the GPS system. The representative will be working on getting the map live on the internet for public viewing, plus other features. The cost to the county will be $300 per month at a cost of $3,600 a year.
The Pulaski County Auditor’s Office may soon find itself painfully understaffed, according to Auditor Sheila Garling. Garling says that a vital deputy has announced her resignation, and she will need to find a replacement as soon as possible. Garling says it will cost $1500 for a new employee to receive training on their software systems, and on top of that, the office expects to have a difficult time getting by while that training is conducted.
Ed Clark of the Pulaski County Recycling Center has announced his intent to approach the county council to request funding for repairs on the transfer station. According to Clark, a number of emergency repairs were recently performed at the transfer station, including repairs on cylinders that had been leaking oil since October.
Commissioner Ken Boswell told Clark that because they had known the equipment was in need of repair since October, regular maintenance should have been performed and the equipment should have been repaired prior to becoming an emergency situation.
Retired State Trooper Cathy Fritz approached the Pulaski County Commissioners this week with a proposal to handle the county’s drug testing. Currently, the CDL-licensed drivers are required by the state of to be tested for drug use, and Fritz says she is willing to handle this testing at a lower cost than the county’s current provider, Indiana Testing.
Another slight hiccup in the Monterey Bridge project was brought before the Pulaski County Commissioners yesterday, as Jeff Larrison from United Consulting announced a small slip of land would cost the county $329 more than previously expected.
The commissioners previously agreed to offer the landowners $900 for a small, previously overlooked sliver of land near the riverbank, but the landowners have countered with a request for $1229. Larrison explained that the increased cost comes from the landowners’ desire to sell the entire parcel of land, rather than a significant chunk.
More trouble has found its way to the Pulaski County Recycling Transfer Station. Recycling Center Director Ed Clark told the Pulaski County Commissioners that the transfer station’s blade has rusted out with an estimated replacement cost of $4,000. At the same time, cylinders from their equipment have begun leaking oil, and Clark says that these cylinders need repaired immediately. A company has been hired to fix the equipment, but they have received no estimate on the repair.
Jeff Larrison of United Consulting and Pulaski County Highway Superintendent Kenny Becker told the Pulaski County Commissioners this week that they expect a delay in the construction process of the Monterey Bridge Project because of a delay with the INDOT agreement. Larrison explained that INDOT has pushed bid letting for projects throughout the state back several months and as a result, the Monterey Bridge project is expected to be let for bid in September—a two-month setback from their planned letting in July.
Pulaski County Maintenance Director Morry Demarco told the Commissioners this week that the bell and clock tower atop the courthouse is in pretty rough shape. According to Demarco, the tower is in need of being re-tuckpointed to reapply mortar between the bricks with an estimated repair time of up to four weeks.
A slight hiccup in the Monterey Bridge project has brought with it some extra cost—but not to Pulaski County. Jeff Larrison of United Consulting told the county commissioners this week that a small sliver of land along the riverbank slipped under their radar and must be acquired before the project to continue. However, because the parcel wasn’t appraised along with the other properties or included in the right-of-way engineering, an additional cost would be incurred.
The use of $20,000 for fuel, oil, and repairs was approved for the Recycling Transfer Station by the Pulaski County Commissioners this week. Ed Clark of the recycling center approached the commissioners requesting to use that amount from a grant they had received, because of the $28,000 the center had requested from the county council, they had only received $8,000—a steep cut.
With over $110,000 in uncollected overdue bills, the Pulaski County EMS may soon be looking to get more aggressive in getting money they are owed. While Commissioner Ken Boswell recommended that the EMS step up their collection efforts, he also expressed that those who are at least making an effort to pay should be given leniency.
The Pulaski County Commissioners this week received some disturbing news: according to Maintenance Director Morry Demarco, someone had gotten very upset at the justice center and slammed the doors hard enough to cause some extensive damage.
“They slammed the doors open real hard, both sets of doors, and twisted the one door frame and bent three hinges on it. So the hinges had to be taken off and replaced and straightened, and the door frame had to be straightened on one door, but they’re in good working order now,” said DeMarco.
With their return of $309,000 to the county, the Pulaski County Recycling Center is continuing with their request for part-time help from the county commissioners. Ed Clark of the recycling center approached the county commissioners this week to request their approval to hire a new part-time employee for the center.
That’s the message the county commissioners would like to send by agreeing to a $200,000 investment in Plymouth Tube’s expansion into Pulaski County. The commissioners agreed this week to invest up to that amount from their SEEDIT fund to support the expansion, assuming the project comes to Pulaski County.
The town of Winamac will possibly be investing $400,000 in the project as well. Currently, the Winamac substation is unable to keep up with demand and requires an expansion to function at full capacity.
In addition to creating extra jobs, the average wage for these positions is expected to rise to $16.45 per hour by 2014. According to Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer, approving the tax abatement would show businesses that Pulaski County is “open for business,” and Commissioner Kenneth Boswell agreed.
Jeff Larrison of United Consulting told the commissioners this week that the purchase of six of the nine parcels of land to be acquired were ready to be signed by the commissioners. Another parcel of land in the size of 83 square feet was purchased for $400 and did not require a signature. There is a conflict with the purchase of the remaining two parcels, however, as counter-offers were returned by the landowners who requested more money than the county had offered.
One of the landowners was offered $43,000 for his property, but had an appraisal performed himself that valued the land at $63,000, but Larrison says that appraisal was very flawed in how it calculated that figure. A motion was passed to raise their offer to $48,000 for the property.
A counter-offer was also received from the landowners of the second parcel. The county originally offered $11,300 for the parcel, but the landowner countered with $15,900, which the commissioners ultimately agreed to.
If the properties are acquired in time for the bids to be let in spring, Larrison is hopeful that construction on the new bridge will be finished before winter.
Sandy Hurd of the Pleasant View Rest Home in Pulaski County told the commissioners this week that she, like many others, is in need of part-time help. Hurd said that her current part-time employee recently applied for Social Security benefits and is now only allowed to work a few hours per week, so she needs to replace her hours with someone else.
Ed Clark of the Pulaski County Recycling Center appeared before the Pulaski County Commissioners Monday for his monthly report with some good news: the Recycling Center has brought in $32,344 this month so far—more than doubling the income from October. Find drop off locations on the Recycling Center Near Me website.
Clark says this trend is going to continue.
“Pulaski County Recycling and Transfer Station has brought back to the county $284,000 to date. We will do better. My goal is to get over $300,000. We’ll make that,” said Clark.
The Pulaski County commissioners were told this week that they could possibly collect approximately $750,000 from invalid homestead deductions in the county. Dave Wishlinski from SRI told the commissioners that they’ve identified nearly 900 properties in the area that could be receiving a hefty tax deduction that they might not qualify for.
