Starke Commissioners Accept Two Bids for County Work

  
 
Monday night’s meeting of the Starke County Commissioners featured two bid openings for the county’s reassessment and the County Road 300 East/State Road 8 project. County attorney Martin Lucas opened the bids at the start of the commissioners’ meeting and read them aloud with the bidders’ names and gross bids.

For the reassessments, four companies submitted timely bids and all were compliant with the county’s requirements. The county received bids from Tyler Technologies of Ohio, Accurate Assessments of Fort Wayne, Nexus Group of Zionsville, and the Appraisal Research Corporation of Ohio. The commissioners approved a motion taking the bids under advisement, and will discuss the matter further at a meeting in April.

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Starke Council, Commissioners to Meet Tonight With Full Agenda

  
 
The Starke County Council and commissioners will meet tonight with a full slate of discussions in their monthly joint meeting. The Starke County Council will meet at 5:30 p.m. starting with a presentation from Marshall-Starke Services, the first quarter capital expenditure report from IU Health Starke Hospital, and a resolution to create a loan to the county general fund for a cash flow issue.

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Starke Commissioners Discuss Bridge Redesigns

Starke County Highway Superintendent Stephen "Rik" Ritzler
Starke County Highway Superintendent Stephen “Rik” Ritzler
The Starke County Commissioners this week met with Mark Wilson of engineering firm Jones Petrie Rafinski to discuss bridge projects in the county. Wilson said four county bridges will be redesigned, and the contract with JPR looks good. Martin Lucas, county attorney, gave the contract his approval.

The contract calls for a cost of $140,000 to redesign all four bridges. Wilson did a similar job for the county last year; the project came in under budget and two weeks ahead of schedule. Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler said they are still on track to replace bad bridges over the next four years, and recommended that the commissioners accept the contract.

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Starke Commissioners Table CEDIT Appropriations

Charles Weaver
Charles Weaver

The Starke County Commissioners on Monday morning were forced to table a discussion item until the next meeting because Commissioner Kent Danford was absent, and Commissioner Jennifer Davis could not act on the item due to a possible conflict of interest.

Charles Weaver, executive director of the Starke County Economic Development Foundation, approached the commissioners requesting they authorize the annual CEDIT appropriations to be submitted to the county council. Weaver said half of the CEDIT funds will go toward bridges, one-eighth will go to the commissioners and three-eighths will go to the Economic Development Fund.

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Starke County Saturday Voting Hours May Increase to Seven Hours

 
 
Starke County Clerk Evelyn Skronski this week spoke with the county commissioners regarding election hours, stating that they may have to increase the number of hours on Saturdays due to the population of the county. She said the county recently reduced the voting hours on Saturdays to four hours, and they may have to increase that to seven because the county population exceeds 20,000.

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Starke County to Hold Tax Sale April 8

  
 
The Starke County Commissioners on Monday morning held a public hearing to discuss the disposal of properties owned by the commissioners that will soon be up for tax sale. Treasurer Kasey Clark approached the commissioners and explained that of the 50 properties up for tax sale, two of them have been removed; 48 will be sold at 90 percent of their assessed value.

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Starke County Highway Department Remains Busy

 The Starke County Highway Department continues to stay busy with plowing efforts, as Superintendent Rik Ritzler yesterday morning told the commissioners that his department spent most of the month of February plowing, with 17 days of the month spent clearing roads. He said five of the days were spent hauling material, with the other days used for general maintenance.

Over the past two months, Ritzler said, the county has plowed nearly 100,000 miles, building a total cost of $561,000. Fortunately, he said they did spend less in February – but that may just have been because the month was shorter, Ritzler explained. Continue reading

Starke Commissioners to Meet With Chesapeake Run Developers

  
 
The Starke County Commissioners have agreed to meet with developers of the Chesapeake Run subdivision to discuss the possibility of accepting the roads into the county’s inventory. County attorney Martin Lucas said the county needs to be specific as to what they are taking responsibility over to prevent any kind of issues in the future regarding liability.

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Starke County to Sell Parkview Properties to City of Knox

  
 
With the city of Knox having expressed interest in purchasing five lots in the Parkview Heights area for an “urban renewal” effort, the Starke County Commissioners this week expressed their approval of the idea by passing a resolution affirming that the city be allowed to purchase the tax lien certificates. The city council has become interested in the properties after the five lots were not purchased in the previous tax sale, coming up again this year.

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Government, School Board Meetings Rescheduled

  
 

The weather on Monday caused the postponement of several government and school board meetings. Many of those have been rescheduled.

The Starke County Board of Commissioners will meet Thursday morning at 9 a.m. in the Starke County annex building. EMA Director Ted Bombagetti will have an update for the commissioners, updates will be given on the proposed sale of property in Parkview Heights to the city of Knox, plus a report on landfill monitoring results. Commissioner Kent Danford will provide a report on the meeting of the Knox planning commission and permit fees. The automatic renewal of Kone Elevator’s service contract and a proposed amended agreement from Lawson-Fisher regarding the County Road 300 East and State Road 8 project are also on the agenda for this meeting.

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Starke Commissioners Sign New Hope Proclamation

Robert Hinojosa
Robert Hinojosa
The Starke County Commissioners this week proclaimed each Tuesday in February “New Hope for Families Days,” urging all citizens of the community to participate in all efforts to make Starke County a model of a healthy community.

Bob Hinojosa, director of Starke County Community Corrections, approached the commissioners and introduced case manager Jordan MacKentire, who has been spearheading the effort. The proclamation came about as a result of the high level of drug abuse and addiction that is devastating the well-being of the Starke County community. Continue reading

Starke Commissioners Approve CSI Maintenance Agreement

IT Director Joe Short
IT Director Joe Short
Starke County IT Director Joe Short appeared before the commissioners this week to present the updated maintenance agreement between the county and CSI, the provider of software for the judge, probation department and criminal justice department. County attorney Martin Lucas had previously reviewed the agreement and found one issue within the document.

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Starke Commissioners Hear Updates on EMS, Highway Departments

EMS Director Paul Mathewson
EMS Director Paul Mathewson
The Starke County Commissioners at their meeting Monday morning heard updates from the EMS and highway departments. EMS Director Paul Mathewson and Mary Lynn Richie approached the commissioners and said their department has been busy, but the overtime issues have been resolved and the department is maintaining hours as required by the Affordable Care Act.

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Starke County Building Corp. Hears Water Line Update

This building on SR 8 at CR 550 E will soon house the new Starke County Jail.
This building on SR 8 at CR 550 E will soon house the new Starke County Jail.
The Starke County Building Corporation yesterday morning heard an update regarding the water line project for the construction of the Starke County Sheriff’s Office and Detention Center. Commissioner Kathy Norem said the work on the water line seems to be languishing; work was done in late December and was paid off, but the contractor has not done any work since.

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Starke County Building Corp., Commissioners to Meet This Morning

  
 
The Starke County Building Corporation will meet this morning prior to the regular meeting of the Starke County Commissioners to hear a financial report and the status of the water line project for the soon-to-be-constructed Starke County Sheriff’s Office and Detention Center. A project construction update will also be heard during the meeting of the building corporation from the Skillman Corporation.

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Starke Sheriff’s Dept. to Look Into Auctioning Items

Sheriff Oscar Cowen
Sheriff Oscar Cowen
The Starke County Commissioners at their meeting this week continued discussion regarding the sale of police vehicles. Sheriff Oscar Cowen approached the commissioners and explained that he is interested in selling three vehicles to help fund the purchase of a new prisoner transport van. Cowen said the department recently retired a Crown Victoria police cruiser, and he would like to sell that vehicle, the old transport van and a DARE trailer. County Attorney Martin Lucas explained that any items valued at more than $1000 must be advertised and sold at a public auction, sealed bid sale, internet sale, or other public sale.

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