The Marshall County Council reconvened its recessed meeting Thursday afternoon from a regular session held Thursday, January 12.
The council members took unanimous action of the quorum of members present to re-appropriate American Rescue Plan Act funds for the Highway Department. The members previously agreed to wait until the commissioners took formal action during their meeting Tuesday morning prior to their approval Thursday afternoon.
Councilman Tim Harman commented that Attorney Marcellus Lebbin did offer an opinion free of charge to the county about the re-appropriation of funds which lead to the approval of the funds.
During the commissioners’ meeting, it was noted that the re-appropriation of funds would be for $489,175.07 for Highway Material, $10,455.72 for Professional Services, and $84,905.45 for Highway Equipment.
The funds were approved in 2022 to be spent, but they needed to be carried over to 2023 in order to pay invoices.
Also during Thursday’s meeting, the council agreed to hire an independent fiscal council attorney in Marcellus M. Lebbin from the Lebbin Law Office in South Bend. Council President Jesse Bohannon commented that he attempted to seek local counsel, but many had conflicts of interest. Lebbin will work on an as-needed basis at an hourly rate.
Additionally, it was the consensus of the Marshall County Council to schedule a work session with the Marshall County Commissioners to coordinate ideas of projects for the county. The plan is to hold the meeting following a commissioners meeting in the near future.
