The Marshall County Commissioners will meet today.
County Highway Supervisor Jason Peters and Highway Administrator Laurie Baker will be before the commissioners for a report as well as information from CHA Design Construction Solutions. Pam Davis will present information on the effort to brand Marshall County and EMA Director Clyde Avery will provide his quarterly report as well as a strategic plan.
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.
Jason Durr from the Christopher Burke Engineering firm in South Bend requested GIS information on behalf of the Kankakee River Basin Commission.
Durr told the Marshall County Commissioners last week that the information will be used as a preliminary evaluation on basin assessment areas. He requested parcel data for the whole county, but the parcels directly affected by the Kankakee River Basin Commission may only be analyzed.
The Marshall County Commissioners discussed a few items Monday.
Highway Superintendent Jason Peters will work with a property owner on 2B Road concerning a drainage issue off the road. An investigation will be held into who is responsible for replacing the tile in that area as it appears to have failed. Further discussion will be held during the commissioners’ next meeting on Monday, Dec. 4.
The commissioners approved a grant request from Marshall County Community Corrections Director Ward Byers to apply for grant funds for Fiscal Year 2019. He said the budget of around $403,100 is for the jail treatment program, community corrections and the prosecutor’s felony diversion program. The council also previously approved this request.
The Marshall County Commissioners considered a zoning ordinance amendment to change the zoning from an agricultural to a commercial zone at 12131 U.S. 6 adjacent to the La Paz Sewer Plant.
Marshall County Plan Director Ralph Booker said the property is located just south of U.S. 6 and west of U.S. 31 owned by Donald Abbott.
Marshall County Economic Development Corporation Director and CEO Jerry Chavez said this is a step in an economic strategic plan by La Paz officials. The town council there could decide to annex that property for tax purposes some time down the line.
Marshall County Highway Supervisor Jason Peters told the commissioners Monday morning that crews are working on transitioning equipment to tackle winter weather.
He said tandems will be moved over and will limit the amount of work that can be done.
Communication upgrades are coming down the line for Marshall County REMC members.
REMC officials told the county commissioners on Monday morning that they are making efforts to bring fiber optic cable to the meter points at their substations so they can do automated switching and voltage reads in a more secure, quicker fashion. This will also increase the time in meter reading.
Marshall County Attorney Jim Clevenger notified the commissioners on Monday morning that former Highway Superintendent Neal Haeck filed a motion recently for the return of his restitution.
Haeck was accused of stealing money from the sale of scrap metal while acting in his position held in the county in 2012 and 2013. Haeck maintained his innocence throughout the time he was accused of the action in 2014 and during his subsequent trial. He was found guilty on one count of theft during a two-day trial in March of 2016 in the matter. He was sentenced to serve one year on home detention and complete 200 hours of community service. Two years of his sentence was suspended with reporting probation. He was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $12,358.41, which was paid in full to the county, plus court costs and fines. Continue reading
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 Commissioners will meet today and are expected hear requests to apply for grants from Community Corrections Director Ward Byers and representatives from the Marshall County 4-H Fair Board Long Range Planning Commission.
Members from the highway department will award construction and resurfacing bids during today’s commissioner’s meeting, while a zoning change will be presented by a representative from the Marshall County Planning Commission. Kankakee River Basin information will be presented by members of Christopher Burke Engineering, LLC. Continue reading
The Marshall County Commissioners last week opened bids for the Shady Rest farm ground lease for a period of three years.
Every three years the commissioners are required to lease out the farm ground area per statute. There are approximately 160 acres. Continue reading
Marshall County Health Administrator Christine Stinson asked the county commissioners this week to apply for a grant to help test known IV users for Hepatitis C.
She explained that the Indiana State Association of County and City Health Officers offered mini grants in the amount of $2,500 to be used at the discretion of the applicant’s choice. Stinson said she submitted a request for a year-long grant to help test IV drug users for Hepatitis C. Continue reading
Marshall County Prosecutor Nelson Chipman approached the commissioners with a request to apply for two grants.
Prosecutor Chipman explained that IPAC Drug Prosecution Grant worth $2,000 was already approved. The money will be used for undercover drug buy money. He said the Marshall County Drug Task Force is very aggressive and that grant money will replenish the money supply for those efforts. The commissioners unanimously approved the grant request. Continue reading
The Marshall County Commissioners discussed a contract to update the look of the county’s website.
IT Director Michael Marshall said this contract is for web hosting and web design for the county.
“It’s a company called e-gov out of Indianapolis,” explained Marshall. “They have Hendricks, Vigo, Kosciusko, Deerborn, Dekalb – they have quite a few counties that they host. They have some tools as far as document management, event planning, and calendaring that we just don’t have right now on our site. Continue reading
The Marshall County Commissioners withheld the approval of two claims during their meeting Monday amid questions of the procedure to purchase IT items.
Superior Court II submitted a claim of $2,820 for Apple iPads and another claim for $160.49 was submitted when an employee bought a printer on Amazon.com. Continue reading
The INDOT contracts for projects awarded 2018 Community Crossing grant money were presented to the Marshall County Commissioners for signature Monday morning.
Highway Administrator Laurie Baker said after the contracts are signed the county can begin the process of receiving the grant money totaling $518,322.87. The county’s match is $129,580.72. Continue reading
Marshall County Highway Supervisor Jason Peters presented the proposed 2018 road program to the commissioners on Monday morning.
Commissioner Mike Delp asked Peters if there are plans to grind up more roads next year.
“Winter can determine a lot of that come March or April when things start falling out,” said Peters. “At that point, we’ll review a lot of our roads – if we’re going to grind them and put them back. I’m sure there will be a few.” Continue reading
Michelle Bachtel was before the Marshall County Commissioners on Monday morning to ask that the speed limit be omitted from the golf cart ordinance.
She made this request as she drives her golf cart on county roads to access her farm ground on the north side and the south side of U.S. 30 in the Inwood community. She was stopped by a Marshall County deputy who informed her that she could not operate the golf cart on the road. Bachtel explained to the commissioners that the ordinance allows the operation of golf carts on roads that have a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less and the road she utilized that day had a posted speed of 30 mph. Continue reading
Marshall County Circuit Court Judge Curtis Palmer approached the county commissioners Monday morning with a request to utilize space in the courthouse basement for residents to fill out legal paperwork.
