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 would like to see what other counties do in terms of mailbox replacement during plow events.
Highway Supervisor Jason Peters presented a proposed policy during the last meeting that outlined a procedure of how mailboxes are replaced if damaged during a snow event. If the force of the snow knocks down a mailbox or damages a post, the county highway will not accept responsibility for that. If the plow strikes a mailbox, the highway department will replace it.
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
Marshall County Highway Supervisor Jason Peters told the commissioners his concerns about the placement of steel posts in the right-of-way area on properties.
Peters said some of the posts are about one to two feet from the county road which creates concern.
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 have not yet hired a person to fill the vacancy of Highway Administrator Laurie Baker. Baker’s retirement begins at the end of the business day today.
The Marshall County Commissioners ratified an action taken to expedite the process in hiring a county engineer/director for the highway position.
The county council last week approved an amended job description for the position. Since the advertisement for the position under the old job description already took place, a new advertisement needed to be done that spells out the new responsibilities.
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.
Marshall County Commissioner Kurt Garner presented the county council members Monday morning with a proposed job description change pertaining to the highway administrator’s position.
Garner explained it is the thought to change the highway administrator’s position to a county engineer/director position. The highway administrator’s position will become vacant at the end of the year with the retirement of Laurie Baker on Dec. 29. Garner said the addition of an engineer to the highway department would be beneficial.
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 Council members will meet today where Commissioner Kurt Garner will discuss the highway administrator position. Laurie Baker is retiring at the end of the year and the commissioners have accepted applications for her position. He will talk more about that with the council members this morning.
The Marshall County Commissioners went a different route when discussing the floor maintenance contract Monday morning.
The commissioners received several bids for floor cleaning as the work is usually done on a contractural basis. Maintenance Director Doug Masterson is under contract now for $850 a month, or $10,200 a year, which is above his full-time position with the county.
Commissioner Mike Delp asked Consultant Kent Irwin of Waggoner, Irwin and Scheele about the practice of a county employee doing work for the county as an independent contractor and receive 1099 wages to perform similar duties.
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 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.
Marshall County Highway Supervisor Jason Peters and Commissioner Kurt Garner went before the county council Monday morning to request funds to complete funding for three Community Crossings grant projects.
Three projects were approved for funding, but with the way the bidding numbers came in only two projects could be fully funded. The highway department is seeking funding for a third project to be funded solely by the county council. Continue reading
The Marshall County Council will meet today with several items on the agenda.
Highway Supervisor Jason Peters and County Commissioner Kurt Garner are expected to request funds for a third project not funded by Community Crossings money for 2018. The South Michigan Street project from Dewey Street to State Road 110 had a low bid of $450,352 submitted by Walsh and Kelly. Continue reading
The Marshall County Council members approved a request for an additional appropriation for a fire suppression system at the Marshall County Museum.
Commissioner Kurt Garner explained that the commissioners approved a quote in September from the NoBi Corporation out of Elkhart in the amount of $5,935. Since the commissioners felt it was an immediate need, they agreed to allow the expenditure to be taken out of the building and grounds maintenance fund. Garner and Museum Archive Manager Karin Rettinger were before the council to ask for an additional appropriation to reimburse the county and for a building project.
