Commissioners Update County Council on County Engineer Search

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

The search continues for a county engineer.

The Marshall County Commissioners are looking for a candidate who is a licensed engineer who could help add expertise to the qualified staff already at the county highway. Commissioner Kurt Garner explained to the county council on Monday morning that they received three applications with two of the applicants possessing an engineer’s license. They offered a candidate with a license, 12 years of highway experience and the ability to assist the county with matrix technology to help the county’s focus on prioritizing maintenance on roads, but that candidate turned down an offer from the county. According to Commissioners Garner and Mike Delp, who even offered part of their salaries to add to the proposed pay rate, the candidate wasn’t sure he wanted to take the risk of having an divided council and commission vote on the position and the loss in pay.

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Marshall County Council Approves Rainy Day Fund Transfer

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

The Marshall County Council members approved a transfer of money to the Rainy Day Fund last week.

Auditor Julie Fox said the council is able to transfer 10 percent of the total of all county budgets from the General Fund to the Rainy Day Fund. She noted that the 2018 budget is just under $25 million and she felt comfortable with the transfer of an amount between $1 million and $1.5 million.  Continue reading →

Proposed Job Description for Part-Time Code Enforcement Officer Goes to Consultant

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

Marshall County Planning Commission President Stan Klotz was before the Marshall County Council members this week asking to have consultant Waggoner, Irwin and Scheele to put together a job description for a part-time code enforcement officer.

The company’s representatives would finalize the description and recommend a salary range for the position for approval by the county council. The planning commission members recently unanimously approved the proposal to the company for development.

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Marshall County Council Approves Appropriation for Community Crossings

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

The Marshall County Council members voted to appropriate money toward the Beech Road paving project as a Community Crossings project.

E&B Paving worked on resurfacing Beech Road from U.S. 6 to 3B Road last year. The project was included in the 2017 projects to be done in 2018, but the project was complete in 2017 as Highway Supervisor Jason Peters preferred that work to be done as soon as possible.

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County Council Considers Grant Request for Narcan Kits

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

Marshall County Sheriff Matt Hassel approached the county council members Monday morning with a grant request to apply for Naloxone rescue kits.

“There’s no match or salaries attached to the grant,” explained Hassel. “Simply we agree to submit a report to the Indiana Department of Health when we use the test kits. This would enable the staff at the jail and my patrol deputies to be able to administer Narcan if we have an opiate overdose.”

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Marshall County Council Discusses Engineer/Director Salary

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

The Marshall County Council members discussed a salary range for the Marshall County Engineer/Director position this week.

While the position has yet to be filled, a salary ordinance amendment was put before the council for consideration Monday morning. The range of pay is $62,837-$76,800. The highway administrative manager position will be defunded so the balance of that salary can be transferred to whatever the salary will be for the highway engineer/director position. An additional appropriation will be sought to fulfill the required salary when a person is hired.

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Marshall County Council Approves Pledge Toward Multi-Purpose Building Grant

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

The Marshall County Council approved action on Monday morning to pledge funds toward the Marshall County 4-H Fair Board Association’s OCRA grant proposal for a multi-purpose building at the fairgrounds in Argos.

Angel Balsley explained that the project was not awarded the OCRA grant request in the fall for the $500,000 grant request but the application will be submitted again in an additional grant round in February. She approached the council members Monday morning with a funding request to help the fair board obtain the grant.

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Commissioners Ratify Advertisement for County Engineer/Director

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

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.

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Marshall County Sheriff to Apply for Lake Marine Patrol Grant

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

Marshall County Sheriff Matt Hassel asked the county council members Monday morning to apply for a Department of Natural Resources grant for Lake Marine Patrol.

Sheriff Hassel said the grant is for patrols for Lake Maxinkuckee in Culver.

“There’s no county cash match or anything. It’s strictly the grant. The Culver Lake Association pays for the program,” said Hassel.

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Marshall County Council, Plymouth BOW Discuss Planning Director, Contracts

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

The issue of a part-time code enforcement officer was discussed during Monday morning’s Marshall County Council meeting.

Planning Commission President Stan Klotz noted that there are some issues concerning code enforcement in the county. He said Planning Director Ralph Booker is in an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Plymouth in addition to his full-time duties with the county. He believes that because of the split focus, code enforcement has been lacking in the county.

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County Council Discusses Job Description Change for Position at Highway Department

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

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.

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Marshall County Council Approves Additional Appropriation for Argos Schools

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

The Marshall County Council members discussed an additional appropriation request from the Argos Community School Corporation this week.

Argos Community School Corporation Director of Business Services Jennifer Lee explained that the money will be used for General Fund purposes.

“We just want to make sure we have the permission to spend throughout the year,” said Lee. “We have the money we just need permission to spend it if we need it to cover salaries and basic General Fund expenses.” Continue reading →