County Council Appoints Park and Recreation Board Committee

Posted on Author WKVI
Bass Lake Beach
Bass Lake Beach

Bass Lake Beach is closed for the season, and overnight camping will not be allowed at the campground during the winter months. That’s the decision of the Starke County Commissioners. Richard Callahan will continue to manage the two attractions. The county council is in the process of establishing a park and recreation board to oversee the management of the beach and campground and other non-municipal parks. For now a study committee chaired by county councilman Tony Radkiewicz and comprised of councilman Marvin McLaughlin, commissioner Kathy Norem and county attorney Marty Lucas will decide how to proceed with setting up that panel.

Starke Council Approves Budget, Salaries

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
The Starke County Council this week made a number of salary and budget-related adoptions, including the salary for the sheriff in 2015. The council first adopted the county’s 2014 budget, having held a number of workshops and discussions, according to Council President Dave Pearman, who said this is “as good as it’s going to get.” He said the budget is based on the county’s levy, and County Auditor Kay Chaffins was instrumental in the budgets development.

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Starke Council Performs Non-Binding Budget Reviews

Posted on Author WKVI
David Pearman
David Pearman

The Starke County Council this week performed the non-binding review of other taxing units’ 2014 budgets throughout the county, and according to Council President Dave Pearman, the proposed budgets mostly seemed to follow a trend of proposing increases in their budgets that exceed the state’s annual growth rate.

“As you know, we spend a lot of time working on our budget, trying to fit within the calculated annual growth rate, which for the state, was 2.6 percent, it was actually 3.6 for Starke County. But the expectation from the state is that, that rate would be at a 2.6 percent growth quotient. Several of the non-binding reviews had spoken to the fact that many of those budgets were over the calculated annual growth rate,” said Pearman.

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Starke County Council Talks Budget in Special Meeting

Posted on Author WKVI

The Starke County Council members had a chance to go over the 2014 budget during their special meeting Friday night.

Council President Dave Pearman noted that it’s a very tough time of the year and the budget process has been very lengthy. The council examined the budget further on Friday night.

“We really just needed to tighten some things up,” explained Pearman. “We’ve really had a lot of difficulty every year – dealing with a frozen levy, dealing with a very small budget for such a large amount of inhabitants with 23,000 people in our county. We have a smaller budget than many counties that have half that many residents.”

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Starke Commissioners Choose Two Possible Redistricting Plans

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
The Starke County Commissioners met yesterday afternoon at 2 p.m. to discuss the redistricting of the county council. Commissioner Kathy Norem said she drew up maps including the current layout of districts, and said the commissioners needed to look at six different plans, each with different strengths, weaknesses, and most of all, boundaries. She said the goal was to choose two frontrunners to bring to their next regular meeting to be voted on.

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Special Meetings for Starke Council, Commissioners Today

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
The Starke County Council will meet in a public work session today at 5:30 p.m. to discuss the establishment of a parks and recreation board in greater detail, and could potentially act to formally set up such a body during their regular September meeting. After quite a bit of discussion, council members decided more input is necessary before creating a new department within the county.

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County Council Approves Chipper, GPS Purchases for Highway Department

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Highway Superintendent Stephen "Rik" Ritzler
Starke County Highway Superintendent Stephen “Rik” Ritzler

The money the Starke County Highway Department saved on gas is being put toward new equipment to further improve safety and efficiency. The county council approved superintendent Rik Ritzler’s request to transfer $42,000 within his budget to cover the additional cost of a new wood chipper to replace one that was recently stolen. That chipper was 10 years old, and questions have been raised about why the county should spend the money on a new one. Ritzler says they demoed a new one in order to have something to use in the meanwhile and realized how far superior it is to the one that was stolen.

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Starke County Council Approves Ordinances for Jail Funding

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
Construction of a new Starke County Jail cleared another procedural hurdle with the adoption by the county council of a resolution and ordinance to commit to funding the project. Both are required before the county can sell bonds to finance the construction. They simply state that the additional economic development income tax the county has been collecting for the past year will be used to repay the bonds. The time frame for the project calls for the sale of bonds in November.

Starke Council Approves Cumulative Capital Rates

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
The Starke County Council after a public hearing last night established the Cumulative Capital Development Fund and the Cumulative Capital Bridge Fund. New requirements from the Department of Local Government Finance requires that cities, towns and counties publicize and establish these funds on an annual basis. If these entities do not establish these funds, their share of the money gets split up among other counties in the state.

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Starke County Council Discusses Next Sheriff’s Compensation

Posted on Author WKVI

The pool of candidates interested in becoming Starke County’s next sheriff may shrink based on pending action by the county council to drastically reduce the pay for that position during the next term. Incumbent Sheriff Oscar Cowen earns $102,000 per year in salary plus proceeds from tax warrants, based on the terms of the contract he negotiated with the county. That can’t be changed, but state law does allow the county council to set the next sheriff’s compensation rate prior to the election. A law passed in 1993 requires the sheriff to earn at least 60-percent of what the prosecutor is paid, and that salary of roughly $125,000 is set by the state based on the county’s population. That means the next Starke County sheriff will be paid at least $75,000. Continue reading →

Starke County Council Amends Payment for Jail Suit Legal Fees

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
Starke County officials have agreed to pay the fees stemming from the jail overcrowding lawsuit from a different fund than previously announced. Last month the council announced plans to pay the $90,000 from the County Adjusted Gross Income Tax, or CAGIT, fund. Instead the commissioners revisited their action and opted to use money in the CEDIT, or County Economic Development Income Tax, rainy day fund. Council President Dave Perman notes the money in the CEDIT fund was set aside for a purpose such as that, and using it will allow the CAGIT money to be used to cover other expenses in the county’s general fund.

The public will get a first look at plans for a new jail east of Knox on State Road 8 during the July 22 council and commissioners meeting. That presentation is scheduled to take place at 5:30 p.m. at the county annex building.

Sheriff and Council to Split Vehicle Equipment Costs

Posted on Author WKVI

Sheriff Oscar Cowen
Sheriff Oscar Cowen
The Starke County Council agreed to split the cost of equipping the three new patrol cars with deer crash bumpers and wiring for radios and lights with Sheriff Oscar Cowen. The “ready for the road” equipment package includes the bumpers, which are designed to protect the radiator and are recommended by the county’s insurance company. The upgrades add an additional $10,668 to the cost for the cars over the amount initially approved for the purchase. Cowen initially asked the county to cover the entire cost but agreed to pay half from his commissary fund. Council members questioned why this cost wasn’t included in the initial bid process and asked Cowen to make sure future quotes cover all factory options.

Starke County Council Approves Commissioners Intern Request

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

Starke County government leaders will have some summer help to tackle a few big jobs. Council members approved the hiring of an intern from the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs for 120 hours of work at $7.25 an hour to be paid from the economic development income tax and commissioners budget. The intern’s responsibilities include helping to codify county ordinances and analyzing the county’s salary and wage structure. Commissioner Jennifer Davis will be his supervisor, and he will work Monday through Thursday. Davis says having an intern with a solid background in governmental affairs represents a win-win for the county, as he will be able to get some valuable hands-on experience and the county will get a lot of value for their investment in terms of the projects he’s been assigned.

Council Approves County Highway Truck Purchases

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Highway Superintendent Stephen "Rik" Ritzler
Starke County Highway Superintendent Stephen “Rik” Ritzler

The Starke County Council has taken a first step toward approving the purchase of three new Freightliner trucks for the highway department. Superintendent Rik Ritzler says that eight of the trucks in the county’s fleet are more than 15 years old, and many have more than 300,000 miles. He says they are becoming more costly to maintain than to replace. Even though the initial replacement cost is $439,672 for three new vehicles, Ritzler says they would last the county several years. Money for the purchase is in the county highway fund; however, the state requires the appropriation be advertised before it can be spent. Council members approved the advertisement and expect to give final approval to the purchase when they meet in June. Ritzler also told the council he plans to implement a fleet management plan and replace a vehicle each year after this.

Starke County Council Approves Jail Mediation Agreement

Posted on Author WKVI

Starke County Sheriff's Department
Starke County Sheriff’s Department
Starke County officials took a major step toward settling the federal class action lawsuit filed by inmates who claim jail overcrowding violates their civil rights. After some discussion, council members agreed to accept the mediation agreement worked out last month. County attorney Marty Lucas says it will cost the county $90,000 in attorney fees for the plaintiff’s counsel. The inmates who sued won’t get any money. Lucas says the negotiated amount is considerably less than the county would have paid had the lawsuit gone forward.

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Starke County Council, Commissioners to Meet This Morning

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

The Starke County Council and the county commissioners will meet this morning at 9 a.m. to discuss a variety of items, including a schematic design approval for authority to begin design development for the county jail project. The council will hear from a representative of the Skillman Corporation and DLZ, the architectural firm that is handling the design aspects of the facility.

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