The Starke County Commissioners this week voted to enter into a contract with DLZ Corporation to assess the needs of the county for a new or remodeled jail.
Work will primarily be done by Criminal Justice Planning Specialist and Criminal Justice Systems Analyst, Paul Downing. He talked about the current jail facility.
The Starke County Commissioners and Auditor Kay Chaffins have instituted a new monthly report form for offices that have cash drawers. Some offices missed the turn-in deadline this month, including the highway department.
Highway Superintendent Steve Siddall explains why.
“Kay sent us out a financial statement that has to be prepared every month,” explained Siddall. “We don’t handle cash, so we have been instructed by the State Board of Accounts to fill out another type of form.”
It was on this date in 1979 that the Starke County Council gave approval to the County Commissioners to pursue the matter of constructing a County Highway Garage. The approval followed a presentation by Commissioner Robert Ferch in which preliminary plans were outlined. Earlier in the day, the commissioners approved the purchase of 10 acres of land for the new garage. A purchase agreement has been drawn up for the land, which is located on County Road 250 North and 375 East off of U.S. 35. The land is near the Arrowhead property which was under consideration as a site for a time last year.
The Starke County Commissioners recently passed a motion rejecting a proposal from Alan Hildebrand to annex four roads in the Chesapeake Run Subdivision to the ownership of the county. Hildebrand approached the commissioners with a letter proposing the dedication of the streets to the county in order to have the county maintain the roads.
However, a number of issues arose from the request. The commissioners were uneasy taking responsibility for street lamps located on the easement lines on the properties, and a number of fences were positioned directly on the line as well. The big question on their minds: who would maintain and pay for the lights?
Because of the price of $13,000 for the inspection, some taxpayers thought the price tag might be a little high, prompting Siddall to more thoroughly explain the procedure in seeing if the truck conforms to regulations governing safety.
“The biggest thing is its run by hydraulics, cables, and chains and they wear and we do not have the technology nor are we certified to state that this meets OSHA specs or safety specs of the State of Indiana,” Siddall said.
Siddall said the truck is “in the shop,” and explained what’s next in the $13,000 inspection.
“In the inspection is the replacement of lines, cables, and chains, but if there are worn pulleys or something of that nature it is extra or not included in the $13,000 inspection,” Siddall said.
Safety is the number one priority for Siddall.
“I’m not going to send anyone up in a 55 foot boom truck unless I feel comfortable that it is safe,” he said.
Fearful it may not be safe to operate, Starke County Highway Superintendent Steve Siddall has locked the boom truck. The truck, a 1998 model, is due for inspection.
Siddall discussed the cost of inspection with the County Commissioners this week.
“Just to get the boom truck up and running will cost the county $13,542.38 for an inspection,” said Siddall.
Starke County employees may be going to a time card system in the near future.
Starke County Deputy Auditor, Ruth Jensen, has been researching current systems to see which to take before the Starke County Commissioners for their approval. Jensen said this week at the commissioner’s meeting that the old time clock method has been upgraded for the 21st century to assure that employees are on the job when “clocked in.”
The commissioners asked Jensen to schedule demonstrations from companies that she has investigated.
County IT Director Joe Short approached the commissioners this week with an update regarding their Geographic Information System agreement with WTH Technology. According to Short, the agreement has expired and needs renewed, but he says the state has offered to cover the cost of renewing the agreement in exchange for sharing their GIS information.
Short says the state will fund $2000 toward the agreement for the next two years, while the GIS cost is only $1500. The extra $500, Short says, can be spent on related expenses to the GIS system.
Elaine Beatty, an Employee Benefits Consultant, and Sheriff Oscar Cowen appeared before the Starke County Commissioners during the Commissioners’ recent meeting to discuss the Police Pension Fund.
Beatty administers the Police Pension Fund in Starke County and she discussed a new plan for the officers.
“The Indiana Sheriff’s Association really took hold of it and it is available to all the county sheriff’s departments in the State of Indiana,” she told the Commissioners. “Right now, about 60 of them have this program available to their employees. It’s purely voluntary and there’s no cost to the county to add this program. The expenses come out of the investments which are mutual funds that require that expenses come out of them. Those are the fees that are paying organizations like Morgan Stanley for the program so there’s no fees to the membership.”
A snow storm Friday night and early Saturday morning left varying inches of snow in Starke County. Anywhere from three to 11 inches fell depending on where you were in the county. Northeastern Starke County received the heaviest amount of snow, as a band stretched from lower Michigan into Indiana. The Starke County Commissioners issued a Level 2 Travel Advisory for the area and pulled the snow plows at 2:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon and they resumed duties at 5:00 a.m. Sunday morning. The Commissioners have since lifted that Level 2 Travel Advisory.
Starke County officials were brought up to date this week on the progress made by the EMS to attain Advanced Life Support Certification.
According to EMS Director Paul Mathewson, inspectors approved the rigs for Advanced Life Support care and gave their approval for certification.
More money needs to be poured into the site of the old Starke County Landfill. Brian Horvath, the Senior Project Manager of Weaver and Boos Consultants appeared before the Starke County Commissioners this week to report on conditions at the landfill.
Of the 12 probes placed on the property to detect methane gas, four showed up positive. The county now has 60 days to correct the situation.
Horvath said that trench 15 to 20 feet deep will need to be dug and then filled with gravel . The trench will provide a preferential pathway for any gas in the ground. The gas would then be vented into the atmosphere.
Alan T. Hildebrand, a Certified Public Accountant with Cross Roads Business Advisors, appeared before the Starke County Commissioners this week. Hildebrand represents Teachers Credit Union, owners of the housing development at Chesapeake Run Golf Course in North Judson, and presented a petition the commissioners to accept the roads in the subdivision. If accepted, the county would be charged with maintenance of the streets on the property.
Commissioner Dan Bridegroom said he had observed the paving work done on the property and was impressed. He did express concern over the closeness of the street lamps to the roads, saying this could cause a problem in snowplowing.
The commissioners did not take possession of the roads at this meeting, pending presentation of a legal description of the streets.
The Starke County Commissioners decided this week to not allow the number of polling places to be reduced from 17 to 10 in this year’s May Primary election. The Election Board members were told that the reduction would be too much of a change, and that the Commissioners would rather have it phased in during another election year. Commissioner Dan Bridegroom said they asked the Board to sit down with Democrat Chairman Ken Wallace and Republican Chairman Brenda Stanojevich and they opposed the proposal.
The Starke County Commissioners emerged from an Executive Session yesterday to announce financial improprieties involving taxpayer money by Jennie Carter. Carter is the Coalition Coordinator for Drug and Tobacco Free Starke County.
According to County Attorney Martin Lucas, the commissioners came to the conclusion that Carter committed financial improprieties by transferring funds from the Convention and Visitors Board to the Tourism Board.
Bass Lake resident, Patti Bush, appeared before the Starke County Commissioners yesterday to defend the owners of the Bass Lake Beach and Campground. At the January meeting, there had been some discussion of year-round parking of campers at the campground. The commissioners discussed whether it should be allowed.
The Starke County Commissioners signed documents that showed the schedule for the Starke County Drainage Board accounts to be collected in 2012.
In explaining the documents, Commissioner Dan Bridegroom pointed out that Starke County has more drainage boards than any county in the state.
The Starke County Commissioners discussed the status of the Bass Lake Campground during last night’s meeting. It’s come to the commissioners’ attention that 28 of the 56 campsites are rented year-round. In the course of the conversation, it was stated that when the state of Indiana ran the campground you could only rent a space for two weeks and then you had to vacate to give others a chance at the sites. At the end of the season, all of the campers had to be moved off the campsite.
Advanced Life Support service for Starke County may be only a few weeks away. That was the message the Starke County Commissioners heard last week from EMS Director Paul Mathewson.
“We found out that the application itself got accepted by the State for us to go ahead and move forward in becoming ALS certified,” said Mathewson.
Mathewson said he’s waiting on the state to come down and inspect the rigs and equipment before he can move ahead.
“We’re getting in equipment to stock the ambulance itself with all of the necessary equipment to run an ALS rig. We’re in the process of hiring on new paramedics to upgrade our service so that when the State is able to come down, we’re ready to go.”
An interesting garnishment case came up before the Starke County Commissioners this week.
A public employee complained to the commissioners that her employer had received a “garnishment” notice from the treasurer’s office stating that she was behind in her real estate taxes. The matter was eventually cleared up at the treasurer’s office. It was an honest mistake that was easily corrected.
