Case Against Former Starke County Treasurer Crawling Along

Posted on Author WKVI
Linda Belork

The case against former Starke County Treasurer Linda Belork is shambling along in Jasper Circuit Court. The Indiana Supreme Court extended Judge John Potter’s decision deadline to Oct. 22, allowing him 13 more days to decide on the case.

Judge Potter has yet to make his decision regarding the case between Belork and the Starke County Commissioners, who claim Belork misappropriated $900,000 during her time as treasurer. The attorney for the Starke County Commissioners and the attorney for Linda Belork and Ohio Casualty appeared before the judge on June 6 and presented evidence supporting their cases.

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Starke County Commissioners to Deed Land to North Judson

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Commissioners Kathy Norem, Dan Bridegroom and Jennifer Davis

The Starke County Commissioners this week corrected a mix-up from years past, as North Judson Town Board President Wendy Hoppe requested their assistance in transferring two parcels of land back to the town.

Hoppe explained that several years ago a building on Lane Street had been demolished, and the county assisted the town in clearing the debris; however, the property which had been split into two parcels was supposed to be deeded to the town, but instead, was deeded to the county. She says that issue was supposed to be straightened out long ago, but it was never corrected.

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Starke Co. Bridge 51 Replacement May Be Ahead of Schedule

Posted on Author WKVI
Steve Siddall

The replacement of Bridge 51 is coming right along, and it may actually be done ahead of time. The commissioners awarded the bridge replacement project to LaPorte Construction in August at an estimated cost of $224,238.25, and the company now predicts that they will be done with the replacement before the original estimated completion date of Nov. 1.

According to Starke County Highway Superintendent Steve Siddall, the bridge needed replaced because the wooden caps that had been installed on the bridge in the 1950s have crushed and failed, and he says this bridge was scheduled to be replaced in 2011.

Siddall told the commissioners that construction on the bridge had started shortly after the bid was awarded, and after the bridge structure was removed, it was hauled out. Work started soon after on placing a new bridge structure, and that is expected to be completed along with the other details toward the end of October.

Starke County Commissioners Sign Contracts For Jail Project

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Commissioners ( L to R ) Kathy Norem, Dan Bridegroom, Jennifer Davis

The Starke County Commissioners this week approved two contracts regarding the proposed construction of a new Starke County jail facility.

One contract was signed with Skillman Corporation, who will be handling the construction of the facility. The local on-site construction manager will be Bob Chorba, a Starke County resident. Chorba currently works with Skillman, and has been the project manager for several projects handled by Skillman. A contract was also signed with DLZ, the architectural firm that will be handling the design aspects of the facility.

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Starke Co. Sheriff’s Dept. Radio Tower Repair Project Hits a Snag

Posted on Author WKVI
IT Director Joe Short

It’s been a couple months since a number of vicious storms tore through the area, causing massive amounts of damage and toppling several tall towers.

According to Starke County IT Director Joe Short, repairing the damage that was done to the Sheriff’s Department’s radio tower is currently one of their top priorities, but they’re running into some complications. Short explained that the city of Knox has a restriction on the maximum height of a tower in a residential area, limiting the tower to a height of 100 feet.

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Starke County Receives First Insurance Payment For Storm Damages

Posted on Author WKVI
IT Director Joe Short

The Starke County Commissioners this week approved a motion authorizing Auditor Kay Chaffins to create a separate fund for funds that will be received from the county’s insurance company. The county will receive $75,000 to get started on repairs and pay vendor claims stemming from the June and July storms.

Unfortunately, County IT Director Joe Short says that chunk of change is hardly enough to cover the cost of repairs from the storm – and they haven’t even accounted for all of the items that need repaired or replaced.

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J.W. Hicks to Install Fiber-Optic Cable Connecting Facilities

Posted on Author WKVI

A manufacturer in the Knox industrial park is looking to install fiber-optic cable beneath some streets in Knox to connect their two officers as if they were under one roof.

Jim Hicks of J.W. Hicks approached the Starke County Commissioners this week with a request to allow them to connect their facility at 20 S. Klockner Dr. in Knox with their new facility near the intersection of Klockner Drive and Pacific Avenue.

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Starke Council, Commissioners To Discuss Jail Project Tonight

Posted on Author WKVI
David Pearman

The Starke County Commissioners and the Starke County Council will meet tonight at 6 p.m. to discuss the proposed jail project.

Council President David Pearman said the council and the commissioners hope to approve a proposed ordinance that would enable the officials to utilize a 0.65 percent tax rate that would help fund the construction of a new jail facility.

Once the ordinance is approved, Pearman said the project will start to take shape

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Starke County Commissioners, Council Discuss Jail Project

Posted on Author WKVI
David Pearman

The Starke County Commissioners and the Starke County Council met in a joint session Monday night to discuss the proposed jail project.

Council President David Pearman talked about the overall objective of the meeting.

“The overall goal of the meeting was to finally end up with getting the first look at the proposed ordinance that would enable us to utilize the 0.65 percent tax rate,” said Pearman. “However, what we did for the benefit of the rest of council, was basically go through the jail presentation but also, during each slide, kind of give a feel and some flavor of what the public had during our presentations.”

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Starke Co. Sheriff’s Department’s Tower Irreparable – Must Be Replaced

Posted on Author WKVI
IT Director Joe Short

The Starke County Commissioners this week heard from IT Director Joe Short, who gave them a bit of bad news. The Sheriff’s Department’s radio tower was damaged by last month’s storms, and Short told the commissioners that no tower companies will make repairs to the tower. Once it’s damaged, Short says, the entire tower must be replaced.

This is a huge undertaking, as the tower would have to not only be completely rebuilt, but it would also have to be expanded. When the tower was originally built, regulations weren’t quite so strict, but now regulations require heavier-duty towers. The base would have to be expanded from its previous five-foot base to a 16-foot base. Short says they’ve received a few proposals and they’re still waiting to learn how much of the expense will be covered by insurance.

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Starke County Bridge 51 Replacement Underway

Posted on Author WKVI
Steve Siddall

Starke County Highway Superintendent Steve Siddall presented the county commissioners this week with an update on the progress of repairs on Bridge 51, located on County Road 700 South in North Bend Township. The commissioners had accepted a bid in July from LaPorte Construction to perform the replacement of the bridge at a cost of $224,328.25 – the lowest bid submitted.

According to Siddall, the bridge needed replaced because the wooden caps that had been installed on the bridge in the 1950s have crushed and failed, and he says this bridge was scheduled to be replaced in 2011.

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Public Information Meetings Scheduled For Starke County Jail Project

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Jail

The Starke County Jail Committee met recently and a consultant from the DLZ Corporation gave the committee options concerning the jail. Commissioner Kathy Norem said several public information meetings have been scheduled to inform county residents of those findings.

“The first will be Thursday, July 26 at the Knox Middle School Cafeteria at 6 p.m., or you can attend one of the other two meetings,” Norem explained. “One will be Tuesday, July 31 at the Oregon-Davis High School Cafeteria at 6 p.m. or Wednesday, August 1 at 6 p.m. at the North Judson-San Pierre High School Auditorium.”

Norem says a number of options were presented by DLZ, and each of them have their pros and cons.

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Some Starke County Townships Not In Compliance With Nepotism Law

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Commissioners Kathy Norem, Dan Bridegroom and Jennifer Davis

The Starke County Commissioners this week heard an update on the county’s compliance with the new statewide nepotism guidelines, and Auditor Kay Chaffins says that they have received letters of compliance from several townships. Unfortunately, the county has not received them from North Bend, Washington, Jackson, and Center townships.

Chaffins says that although the state did not given the county much time to comply, the Department of Local Government Finance can still penalize the county for not being in full compliance. The DLGF can choose not to approve the county’s budget for next year, which can cause a myriad of financial problems.

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Starke County Commissioners Accept Bid For Bridge 51 Replacement

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Commissioners Kathy Norem, Dan Bridegroom and Jennifer Davis

The Starke County Commissioners this week accepted a bid from LaPorte Construction to perform the replacement of Bridge 51.

The highest bid received was from Yates Construction, Inc., for $325,445.33, while the lowest bid presented was from LaPorte Construction Company, Inc. for $224,328.25.

Five other bids were presented from companies throughout Indiana and Michigan, which the commissioners took under advisement to give Highway Superintendent Steve Siddall time to review the bids and decide which bid he would recommend.

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Burn Ban Still On In Starke County

Posted on Author WKVI

The burn ban in Starke County has once again been extended for two weeks, this time to be reevaluated on Aug. 6 at the commissioners’ regular meeting at 9 a.m.

Campfires, other recreational fires unless enclosed in a fire ring at least 23 inches across and ten inches high, open burning of any kind except grills, and the burning of debris are prohibited. Burning is, however, allowed in burn barrels with a one-quarter inch mesh top from dawn to dusk.

The commissioners and EMA Director Ted Bombagetti will review the conditions and decide whether or not to continue the burn ban at their next regular meeting.

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Class Action Lawsuit Against Starke County Still On Hold

Posted on Author WKVI
Jack Haut

The class action lawsuit against Starke County by former Starke County Jail inmate Jack Haut is still at a standstill, as the court is currently awaiting an expert witness report from the plaintiffs to substantiate their allegations that the jail is so overcrowded that conditions are unconstitutional for inmates.

While they have until Aug. 30 to do so, the plaintiffs have been having a rough time coming up with the expert witness report required by the court. It was reported that they had found an expert witness and had begun developing the report, but the witness unexpectedly passed away, effectively bringing them back to square one. They now have to hire a new expert witness to work on the report, and until then, there is no trial setting for the case.

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Burn Ban Reinstated In Starke County

Posted on Author WKVI

Effective as of noon yesterday, the Starke County Commissioners have reinstated the burn ban due to an increase in fire activity and increasing drought conditions. Campfires, other recreational fires unless enclosed in a fire ring at least 23 inches across and ten inches high, open burning of any kind except grills, and the burning of debris are prohibited. Burning is, however, allowed in burn barrels with a one-quarter inch mesh top from dawn to dusk.

This will be in effect until July 16, when the commissioners and EMA Director Ted Bombagetti will review the conditions and decide whether or not to continue the burn ban.

Starke and Pulaski counties had previously lifted their burn bans on July 2, joining four counties in the state at the time that reported their bans as lifted. While Starke County has reinstated the ban, the Pulaski County Commissioners have not yet made the decision to do so. Their next meeting will take place on Monday, July 16, when they will review the current conditions and decide what course of action to take regarding their burning policy.

Smoking To Be Prohibited On Starke County Government Campuses

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Commissioners Kathy Norem, Dan Bridegroom and Jennifer Davis

The Starke County Commissioners at their recent meeting approved a motion prohibiting smoking on all Starke County government building campuses – this but one day after the state’s new smoke-free air law took effect, prohibiting smoking in most businesses throughout Indiana. Smoking will not be allowed on the properties of the annex building, courthouse, jail, county highway garage, ambulance garages, and other county-owned buildings.

The minimum state provisions for the new smoke-free air law require all non-exempt buildings to post signs prohibiting smoking within eight feet of any entrance, but the commissioners’ motion prohibits smoking on the property as a whole and requires smokers to travel as far as the sidewalk to light up.