The Marshall County Commissioners discussed the Shady Rest Committee’s recommendation of allowing the addiction recovery program, David’s Courage, to be run out of the Shady Rest Home on Lincoln Highway in Plymouth.
Committee Chair and County Commissioner Kurt Garner explained that the committee approved a favorable recommendation for the program and if the commissioners did not decide to approve the program then the county would divest the property.
The Marshall County Commissioners are still looking to fill the county’s engineer/director position at the county highway department. Commission President Kevin Overmyer said no resumes had been received as of Tuesday morning.
Commissioner Mike Delp said Highway Supervisor Jason Peters has made an offer to hire a clerk at the highway department. Delp added that since things are in a transition phase at the moment, others should be involved when hiring a parts manager.
The Marshall County Commissioners addressed any remaining appointments when they met on Tuesday.
Randy Glingle and Dan Vories were appointed to the Drainage Board, Jan Fisher will serve on the Alcohol Beverage Control Board and Commissioner Kevin Overymyer was appointed to the Central Dispatch Committee as well as the Michiana Area Council of Governments or MACOG.
For the MACOG Regional Development Board, Joe Martin, Jr. was appointed as the private sector representative and Trend Weldy will serve as the Town of Bremen’s rep.
Commissioner Kurt Garner was appointed to the Unsafe Building Committee and the Shady Rest Committee. Continue reading
The Marshall County Commissioners reorganized during their first meeting of 2018 Tuesday morning. Kevin Overmyer was reappointed as commission president while Kurt Garner was reappointed as Vice President.
Highway Supervisor Jason Peters presented a proposed policy to the commissioners regarding mailbox damage during plowing. Peters noted that the policy allows the highway department to repair or replace a mailbox if it is damaged as a result of direct contact of a highway department truck or equipment. However, if the mailbox or wooden post was broken due to the force of snow, it is “most likely” the highway department will not replace it.
The Marshall County Commissioners considered two ordinances on second and third reading when they met Monday morning.
Planning Director Ralph Booker presented an ordinance amendment approved and recommended by the Marshall County Planning Commission that changes the side yard fence height to “six feet in height and must be of uniform, color and style construction materials.” The ordinance amendment pertains to L-1, T-1, C-1, C-2, and industrial districts. Agricultural districts are excluded.
The Marshall County Commissioners considered the intergovernmental agreement between Planning Director Ralph Booker and the City of Plymouth when they met Monday morning.
For years, the county has had an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Plymouth. The Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety recently agreed to a contract where the county would be paid a certain amount for six months in 2018 and Booker paid another amount for the same six months in 2018 for services rendered. Booker is anticipating retirement from his county position in June of 2018 and following that the entire amount would go to Booker as he tentatively plans to stay with the city as the plan director. The Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety members approved that agreement.
The Marshall County Commissioners discussed an E-gov contract with IT Director Michael Marshall last week.
Marshall presented the contract at a previous meeting which calls for a contract with E-gov out of Indianapolis for web hosting and web design. He said they have the skills necessary to produce a user-friendly county website and give it a fresh look. Marshall said he would still be responsible for content.
The Marshall County Commissioners held a public hearing Monday morning concerning an ordinance amendment that makes changes to side yard fences in certain zones.
The ordinance changes the side yard fence height to “six feet in height and must be of uniform, color and style construction materials.” The ordinance amendment pertains to L-1, T-1, C-1, C-2, and industrial districts. Agricultural districts are excluded.
A concept of branding by this production company for Marshall County was presented to the commissioners Monday morning.
Lou Pierce from the Big Idea Company out of Mishawaka presented the findings of members of Branding Marshall County in three meetings held in Bremen, Culver and at Ancilla College. He said Marshall County needs to stand out in a relevant way to promote what Marshall County has to offer.
The Marshall County Commissioners are making a request to the Indiana Department of Transportation for use of the abandoned sub district station by the Tri-way Golf Course off of old U.S. 31.
INDOT built a brand new sub district station in Plymouth just north of U.S. 30 off of Pioneer Drive.
The Marshall County Commissioners took action Monday morning to advertise the open position of Marshall County Highway Administrator.
Laurie Baker announced her resignation from the position earlier this month. Her last day will be Dec. 29.
Commissioner Kurt Garner said he read the job description and noticed that the candidate could hold an engineer’s license. Commissioner Kevin Overmyer and Commissioner Mike Delp both agreed that hiring an engineer is not necessary.
The Marshall County Commissioners decided keep the requirement in the current golf cart ordinance that requires them to be operated only on roads that have a 35 mph speed limit or less.
Michelle Bachtel and her husband previously asked the commissioners to rescind the speed limit requirement and allow them to be driven on all roads. During that same meeting, the commissioners discussed that the speed limit was included in the ordinance for safety purposes. The initial thought was to keep the slow moving vehicles off of roads that have increased speed as a safety precaution.
The Marshall County Council received information from a consultant on job descriptions and wages.
Kent Irwin explained how he and his colleagues at Waggoner, Irwin and Scheele prepare the job descriptions and determine wages for recommendations for the county. He is looking to assist the county in updating all of the job descriptions for all positions in the county as a major overhaul has not been done since 1989. Several positions have a different set of duties and those descriptions need to be current.
The Marshall County Highway Department will be asking the county council for some additional funds and money transfers in order to pave more county roads this season.
Highway Supervisor Jason Peters told the county commissioners that he’ll be requesting $550,000 to $600,000 in an additional appropriation before the county council on Monday, Sept. 11. Continue reading
The Marshall County Commissioners are looking to improve communication connections at the highway department.
Highway Administrator Laurie Baker mentioned Monday morning that she was unable to access her email for the past few days to report on several bridge projects due to networking being down at the highway department.
The Marshall County Commissioners discussed generator needs at the highway department.
Maintenance Director Doug Masterson along with Gary Masterson approached the commissioners with a quote from M & J Services and Michiana Contracting, Inc. to provide a generator for the highway department. The highway department does not have a generator to help with department needs when there is a loss of power. The commissioners discussed the need previously and Doug Masterson presented the quotes for approval Monday morning. Continue reading
The Marshall County Commissioners reorganized for 2017 Tuesday, as new member Mike Delp took his seat for the first time. The former Plymouth councilman replaces Deb Griewank as District 2 commissioner. During Tuesday’s meeting, Commissioner Kevin Overmyer was reelected board president, while Kurt Garner replaces Griewank as vice president. Continue reading
It is the hope of the Marshall County Council and the Marshall County Commissioners to come together soon to address funding for county roads.
Commission President Kevin Overmyer told the county council Monday morning that the state appropriated money for INDOT but nothing for local roads for the next two years. He said representatives from the Build Indiana Council, Association of County Commissioners, and Indiana Association of Cities asked for those funds, but the request was not approved.
Overmyer said he’s been in contact with an Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) representative who has gathered numbers for a Local Option Highway User Income Tax.
“The fee is set by state statute of $25 for cars and vehicles and then on top of that there’s a wheel tax that is for trailers, semis, and other vehicles,” said Overmyer. “Pat Conner from LTAP has some information. They use information from the BMV to calculate what the revenue would entail. Hopefully, I will know soon when he can come up and make a joint presentation between the council and the commissioners.”
Overmyer believes that additional funding for local roads and streets will not come from the state government. He believes that counties will need to raise the funds themselves.
“I think we’re going to have to address it here locally whether we like it or not. We have about $800,000 to spend on roads this year, and we all know the condition of the roads. It’s just been two bad winters.”
The county highway department has a plan to repair what they can with the resources they have.
“We are out grinding roads right now. We’re going to start berming these roads to get the water off the roads. We’re starting to put a plan together. Some of these roads may not be going back to chip and seal for a year. Some of the roads that go out to the new U.S. 31 or cul de sac will get ground up, and we’ll maintain the gravel roads there. We’re going to have to do something.”
A few of the council members have ridden the county roads with the crews and know of the damage to the roads.
Commissioner Deb Griewank says the county remains under an Advisory Level travel advisory due to the condition of some of the roads.
“We had lowered it, but with this coming on we decided to move it back up to the advisory level just for the safety factor. Our roads are bad,” commented Griewank.
The crews will be working on the newly purchased pug mill this summer and the crews will do what they can to repair what they can.
