The Marshall County Commissioners discussed contractual services with Purdue Extension during their meeting Tuesday morning.
Purdue Extension Area 8 and 10 Interim Director and Extension Liaison for 4-H Josh Winrotte and Interim Marshall County Extension Director Sam Williams were before the commissioners to answer questions.
The county has a contract for services which is in the amount of about $128,000 which covers Ag and Natural Resources services, Health and Human Services, Community Wellness Director, and 4-H and Youth Development.
The issues at hand are 4-H services and the lack of a full-time 4-H educator and the presence of extension staff at the fair. Winrotte said there is a pattern of educators not staying employed long in Marshall County. Since 2014, there have been about five different educators and the biggest thing, he said, is expectations.
“I don’t know that the educators here have always met the expectations of the 4-H Council and we have to make sure we have somebody that’s going to meet those expectations,” stated Winrotte. “I think part of it is is the council hasn’t always had someone who communicated well what their expectations as an educator were. Fifteen years ago, the expectation was that you did the fair well and that was all that mattered. Those expectations for our educators are different. We focus a lot on the youth development side now which is part of what we’ve shown in this documentation of the services that are provided outside of what happens with the 4-H Council. We have to do a better job of communicating from our side so that their expectations match the expectations we’re giving our educator.”
He noted that progress is being made in finding a new 4-H educator for Marshall County pending an interview with the board and the 4-H Council.
Even though there are concerns that are being addressed and waiting resolve, Winrotte asked the commissioners to sign the contractual services agreement to continue the services that are already being provided to the community and the youth.
Commissioner Kevin Overmyer said there are still some questions that need to be answered concerning services and he made a motion to table the contract until the first meeting in February. Commissioner Michael Burroughs seconded the motion and it passed with a unanimous vote. Winrotte said if there is no decision during the meeting in February, he will need something to take back to Purdue University.
