Figures are looking good for the Starke County EMS, as EMS Director Paul Matthewson and Mary Lynn Ritchie told the county commissioners this week that they are currently up 15 percent over last year on incoming funds.
Matthewson said they seem to be in pretty good shape as the end of the year approaches, and despite a high volume of ambulance runs in October, they are relatively up-to-date on billing.
The Starke County Commissioners this week heard from Highway Superintendent Steve Siddall, who informed them of a new method of handling bids that he said will simplify the process.
Siddall explained that during the last audit by the State Board of Accounts, he learned his department is in full compliance. On top of that, Siddall said he learned of a new way to handle the bidding process that came to be in 2010 that they were not previously aware of.
The Starke County Commissioners this week discussed a number of issues with the Bass Lake Beach that need rectified. Commissioner Dan Bridegroom told his fellow commissioners that he had gotten in touch with one of the owners and expressed his concerns with the beach.
The Starke County Commissioners this week received an update on county radio tower repairs from IT Director Joe Short, who explained that the county’s insurance claim of $13,165.84 for damages from the storms in June and July has not yet been paid. He said they’ve already performed repairs on antennas near Washington Township, Bass Lake, and Koontz Lake, but a vendor was unable to perform repairs on a unit in San Pierre. Short said that unit was ultimately replaced.
The Starke County Commissioners, Starke County Treasurer Linda Belork and their counsels were to appear in Jasper Circuit Court yesterday for a hearing, but it was continued without a date.
County Attorney Marty Lucas said that the Jasper County prosecuting attorney found that the Starke County Commissioners were in compliance with Judge John Potter’s order when they reopened the Starke County Treasurer’s office and gave Linda Belork full access to all records, computers and keys to the office. The commissioners had previously closed the office because Belork was not working under a surety bond and Judge Potter found that to nullify his order reinstating Belork to office.
Lucas indicated that since Judge Potter’s ruling has been followed, the special hearing was continued.
The court hearing scheduled for today in Jasper Circuit Court has been continued.
The Starke County Commissioners, the county’s legal counsel, plus Linda Belork and her legal counsel were ordered to appear today in Jasper Circuit Court at 3:00 p.m., but the hearing was continued. A rescheduled date has not been determined.
Judge John Potter has ordered the court hearing to hear the reasoning why the Starke County Commissioners closed the Starke County Treasurer’s Office thus nullifying his order reinstating Treasurer Linda Belork back into the office.
The Starke County Commissioners are in a bit of hot water following their order to close the treasurer’s office in light of Judge John Potter’s order to reinstate Linda Belork as the county treasurer. The commissioners voted to close the office because Belork did not have a surety bond in place as required by state law, but a telephonic case management conference held earlier this week at the order of Judge Potter found that the commissioners had disobeyed his order.
By order of the Jasper Circuit Court Judge John Potter, a telephonic case management conference was held Wednesday, October 24 concerning Judge Potter’s ruling regarding the reinstatement of Starke County Treasurer Linda Belork.
Starke County Attorney Martin Lucas and Belork’s counsel, Ethan Lowe, were part of the hearing where the Court found that disobedience of process or order, and interference with execution of process or order was conducted when the Starke County Commissioners met and voted to close the Office of the Starke County Treasurer, thus nullifying the Judge’s order to reinstate Belork to the office.
The Starke County Commissioners held an emergency meeting Monday morning where Commissioner Dan Bridegroom made a motion to acknowledge that Linda Belork is the Starke County Treasurer but she can not fully serve in that capacity because a surety bond is not in place at this time and they must close the Treasurer’s Office until further notice.
“The only option that would give us, I feel, to close the office at this time. Yes, she is Treasurer, but we cannot allow her to operate the office because of the liability issues,” stated Bridegroom.
The Starke County Commissioners held an emergency meeting this morning where Commissioner Dan Bridegroom made a motion to acknowledge that Linda Belork is the Starke County Treasurer but she can not fully serve in that capacity because a surety bond is not in place at this time and they must close the Treasurer’s Office until further notice.
Jasper Circuit Court Judge John Potter on Thursday ordered that Linda Belork be reinstated immediately to her position as Starke County Treasurer. According to the order, Belork was wrongfully removed from office after alleged discrepancies were found in the treasurer’s accounts. The judge found that it was an accounting error of the auditor.
A decision has finally been reached in the case against Linda Belork, former Starke County treasurer. The attorney for the Starke County Commissioners, Martin Lucas, told Jasper Circuit Court Judge John Potter that the commissioners were faced with a serious problem when the funds were reportedly misappropriated in the treasurer’s office according to the State Board of Accounts. He said the commissioners acted according to statute in removing her from office and filing suit against her bond.
The Starke County Council this week heard from the Convention and Visitors Commission as they discussed the goals of the organizations. Council President Dave Pearman explained that the council and commissioners felt that there have been a lot of unknowns with the commission, such as an unsurety toward their mission, and unsure how their funds are being handled. He said they need to ensure funds are being used correctly and not going missing, but he emphasized that both boards recognized there is a value to the organization if they can get these issues sorted out.
At the request of the Coalition Against Domestic Abuse, the Starke County Commissioners have declared the month of October to be Domestic Violence Awareness Month and signed a proclamation at their meeting this week making it so. Citizens all across America are coming together this month to raise awareness of domestic violence and to help prevent it.
The Starke County Commissioners last night heard an emotional testimony from Jay Dollahan, a Knox resident whose dog had been killed by a Starke County Sheriff’s officer in September. Dollahan explained his dog had run out of his home and toward the officer to “check him out,” and he said his dog never would have bit the officer who approached his home to serve civil court papers.
Starke County EMS Director Paul Mathewson told the county commissioners this week that they are working on a number of changes to policies currently in place, including the implementation of a standardized vehicle report.
Mathewson explained that they are working on developing the vehicle report, which would keep tabs on all ambulances currently in service with details on each vehicle, including make, model, mileage, and years, in order to help facilitate a two-year rotation. Mathewson said he hopes that it will be standardized across the board for the sheriff’s department, highway department, and other departments that utilize county vehicles in an effort to monitor their use and ensure they are properly maintained and replaced when the time comes.
Starke County Highway Superintendent Steve Siddall gave the county commissioners an update this week on their efforts to lay new asphalt on County Road 700 East. Siddall told the commissioners that he had sent a sample of their asphalt to the state laboratory in Indianapolis, and the results came back good. The state indicated that the typical pug asphalt mix is typically anywhere between 3.8 percent and 4.5 percent for asphalt content, and their mix results were ideal.
Siddall told the commissioners that the asphalt generally takes about a month to harden up after being mixed, so they typically mix the asphalt in the spring and lay it in late summer, allowing the material to flow in the summer heat.
The Starke County Commissioners yesterday morning made a couple changes to the voting system, including a pay raise for poll workers. Clerk Evelyn Skronski approached the commissioners with a few requests, including a request to combine a number of precincts and raise the per-day pay rate for inspectors, judges, sheriffs, and other workers at the polls.
Skronski told the commissioners that she wanted to combine precincts Washington 1 and 2 together, and Wayne 1 and 2. Commissioner Kathy Norem said that Skronski needed the approval of the commissioners to do so, and she was “vehemently against” the idea of combining precincts. Commissioner Dan Bridegroom agreed, saying it would cause a number of problems with people trying to vote, because the increased number of voters at the same location would increase wait times, which could cause some people to turn away from the polls.
Starke County Emergency Management Agency Director Ted Bombagetti gave the commissioners some good news this week. The EMA has for the third year in a row exceeded their assessment goal, earning a wage reimbursement for the county. On top of that, Bombagetti says he and Mary Lynn Ritchie brought back $4050 to the county by performing so well on the assessment.
The wage reimbursement totaled $30,000, which covers half of the department’s wages for the year. Bombagetti says that money goes to the county, but the bonus he and Ritchie earned will be returned to the department to be spent on necessary equipment.
Starke County IT Director Joe Short told the commissioners this week that he has met with a few radio tower authorities and showed them around the county’s radio towers, looking for input on how to go about building a new tower.
According to Short, they recommended building a 180-foot tower and a 20-foot antenna. The construction of the tower would require a request for sealed bids, but before the county can request bid proposals, Short says they must determine where the tower will be built.
