Plans to respond to a disaster are in place, but what assistance is available after the scene is cleared? Marshall County Emergency Management Agency Director Clyde Avery presented a recovery plan to the commissioners during their meeting on Monday. This will be added to the emergency plan already in place.
Avery said some residents won’t meet the required threshold for monetary assistance after an event occurs in the county. He said this plan can fix that issue.
The Marshall County Commissioners will be putting together a committee to decide how to proceed in finding a way to occupy the Shady Rest Home in Plymouth.
Kurt Carlson from the Bowen Center announced in May that Shady Rest would be closing its doors as some of the new regulations do not fit the needs of the residents at their particular facility. He noted that efforts were being made at that time to transfer patients to family members, other nursing homes, other facilities that focus on mental health needs, or back to the community.
The Department of Local Government Finance will set up a public hearing soon concerning a remonstrance toward the reestablishment of the Cumulative Capital Development Fund at its maximum rate in Marshall County.
The Marshall County Commissioners approved the rate at $.0333 per $100 of assessed valuation in April. The notice was published and residents had 30 days to file an appeal. The petition had to have at least 50 signatures to be filed with the state. Auditor Julie Fox said 83 signatures on the document where verified through tax records. The paperwork was filed by the deadline and all was submitted to the Department of Local Government Finance. Fox told the commissioners on Monday that the DLGF will be the entity responsible for scheduling the public hearing in Marshall County.
The staff at the Marshall County Highway Department is doing their best to make dollars stretch when it comes to road work.
Highway Supervisor Jason Peters, Highway Administrator Laurie Baker and the entire department worked hard to get the proper paperwork submitted for testing at the facility in order to be able to house millings from other road projects. Peters said the millings from the State Road 17 resurfacing project, U.S. 31 work and the Plymouth Community School Corporation parking lot paving project will be recycled and used for road paving within the county.
He said the millings the county has received look to be in good shape. Continue reading
The Marshall County Health Department will be holding a public hearing in July in order to amend some fees within the department.
Health Department Administrator Christine Stinson told the Marshall County Commissioners this week that the cost of birth and death certificates will double to $10 and paternity affidavits will increase to $35.00. New well permits will be $150 and well replacement or repair will be $100. That covers the cost of testing which detects bacteria, nitrates and arsenic.
Work should be done to reclaim roads by the end of this week. Marshall County Highway Supervisor Jason Peters told the commissioners that he anticipates work on 7th Road should be complete this week after repairs are made to some equipment.
The highway workers plan to pave Lilac Road as it’s next on the list. Peters hopes to use the new paving machine on Beech Road when it arrives later this month.
The Marshall County Commissioners have several action and discussion items on the agenda for their meeting this morning.
Highway Administrator Laurie Baker and Highway Supervisor Jason Peters will have an update for the board. Jackie Wright from the Marshall County Council on Aging will present the Federal Transit Act Resolution while Emergency Management Agency Director Clyde Avery will review an emergency disaster recovery document.
Marshall County Commissioner Kurt Garner is looking to form a committee to look into courthouse repairs.
He mentioned to the commissioners this week that work on the courthouse tower and other projects have been on the long range plan for the county. Garner was approached by a representative of Honeywell who would be willing to come in and do calculations on mechanical systems and energy cost savings. Judge Palmer also expressed interest in being on the committee.
Bob Aloi from Territorial Engineering brought forward information to the Marshall County Commissioners about a drainage issue at Jellystone Park.
Aloi said that the park has suffered flooding issues due to poor drainage for several years, mainly by Avalanche Avenue. According to Aloi, at the entrance of the park, on the Plymouth-LaPorte Trail, there is an issue with an overflow of ditches as well as on Redwood Road. Aloi isn’t exactly sure where the water inflow is occurring but he’s wondering what the county can do to help in the process.
A culvert replacement will cause detoured traffic between St. Joseph County and Marshall County beginning on Monday.
Marshall County Highway Administrator Laurie Baker told the commissioners this week that St. Joseph County highway workers would like to use three roads in Marshall County as a detour while the culvert issues are addressed. Lilac Road, King Road, and First Road will be utilized as a route around the construction.
Commissioner Kurt Garner noted that the area doesn’t carry much traffic so the proposed detour should not be an issue.
The commissioners unanimously approved the request. The culvert work is expected to be complete on Friday, May 26.
James and Jean Klinedinst can now stop paying taxes on lake water now that all of the legal paperwork is complete.
County Attorney James Clevenger explained that the pair appeared before the commissioners a few years ago asking the commissioners to take back part of the property that they’ve been paying taxes on that is deeded in Kreighbaum Lake. It was found that they had been paying property taxes on 18 acres of the lake. Traditionally, all bodies of water in the county are owned by the local governing body, but somehow a mistake occurred and the Klinedinsts have been paying taxes on that portion of the lake for years.
The work on getting paperwork done for the upcoming bridge replacement project on Hickory Road continues with various reports conducted by engineering firm DLZ.
Laurie Johnson from DLZ told the Marshall County Commissioners this week that the archaeological report is complete and approved by INDOT and no project impediments have been identified on the grounds. Title work for the mitigation site has been received and the permit for waterway construction will be reviewed by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
The Shady Rest Home will be going back to the Marshall County Commissioners as new regulations cannot be reconciled between the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services and the Bowen Center, according to Kurt Carlson from the Bowen Center.
“There were some regulations that were part of the Division of Aging under which the Bowen Center operated Shady Rest that were in direct opposition to some of the patient rights,” explained Carlson. “For instance, residents under the POCO regulations had the right to eat what they wanted, when they wanted and where they wanted. Under the Division of Aging standards, you have to have dietician approved menus with food served at specified times. That was irreconcilable. We decided that there really wasn’t going to be an approval for a waiver.”
The Marshall County Commissioners have a full agenda for their regularly scheduled public meeting today.
Representatives from the Bowen Center will present information to the board as will the highway department. EMA Director Clyde Avery will seek permission concerning the application for the Emergency Management Performance grant. Jane Fuents will discuss first responder training while Joseph Roush will discuss drainage with board.
The Marshall County 4-H Fair Board has a sponsor for an Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) grant in the Marshall County Commissioners.
Angel Balsley appeared before the governing body to request the sponsorship as the fair board is looking to apply for a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant to build a community center on the grounds. The community center could be used for a wide range of activities and it is needed in that community. It is one of the projects that the Town of Argos and the 4-H Fair Board are working on as part of a comprehensive plan with Michiana Area Council of Governments (MACOG).
The Marshall County Commissioners met in emergency session on Friday afternoon to put a resolution in place to restrict the placement or construction of small cell towers in the right-of-way of local governments where utility lines are located or buried underground.
Several municipalities scrambled to get similar documents approved and in place by the May 1 deadline to keep local government control over Senate Enrolled Act 213 which allows that local control option. SEA 213 amends Indiana code that allows the use of the county’s right-of-way for the installation and use of small cell facilities.
The condition of roads in Marshall County has been a topic of discussion since the spring season began, especially with the plan to reclaim roads.
The main concern of Commissioners Kurt Garner and Mike Delp is the turn around in putting the roads back to an asphalt state. They would like to see the reclaimed roads as part of this year’s plan to be resurfaced this year without waiting a year. Commissioner Kevin Overmyer wants the highway department to remain on the current schedule. Overmyer stated that a representative from engineering firm DLZ rode along with Highway Supervisor Jason Peters and witnessed their process of reclaiming roads. According to Overmyer, the representative was complimentary of the highway department on their restoration process.
The Marshall County Commissioners will meet for their first business meeting of the month this morning.
The Marshall County Highway Department will present information on projects, a truck noise issue will be brought before the board and the Marshall County 4-H Fair Board will have a presentation for the commissioners.
An Office of Community and Rural Affairs grant request will also be discussed for the community center.
The commissioners will open the public meeting at 8:30 a.m. today in the second floor meeting room in the Marshall County Building.
The Marshall County Commissioners approved additional readings to the proposed ordinance that reestablishes the Cumulative Capital Development Fund at its maximum rate at $.0333 per $100 of assessed valuation.
No additional comments were made concerning the details of the ordinance. The second and third readings were unanimously approved.
Marshall County Highway Supervisor Jason Peters presented the department’s asset management plan to the commissioners Monday morning.
The list he gave the governing body are the roads that need to be reclaimed. He explained that the roads will be ground up with the hopes of surfacing the roads in the next two to five years. Resurfacing will depend on funding, according to Peters.
