Builder chosen for jail

Jay County Commissioners, as expected, selected Weigand Construction as general contractor to complete the jail expansion.

With bonds for the project sold Thursday, the commissioners were ready to officially select a contractor and went forward with Weigand, Fort Wayne, which submitted the low bid among 10 received in early June.

After meetings with Weigand to discuss alternates to the project, Jeff Badders of SchenkelShultz told commissioners the contract amount would be $7,320,300. That figure is taking into account $387,500 in various deductions and an additional of $14,800 for a grinder pump on the jail waste system.

The total construction cost is higher than the original engineer's estimate of $6.8 million due to extensive masonry work on the building. While other materials dropped in cost during the last year, masonry costs remained about the same, throwing off the figures.

Weigand has completed projects in Jay County before, recently finishing multi-million dollar renovations to Jay County Hospital.

Badders told commissioners he will prepare the contract and have it approved by the Jay Building Corporation. Once the contract is signed, construction work can commence.

In other business Monday, the commissioners:

•Were presented with a sample ordinance drafted by rural Portland resident Carter Leonard on liability bonds for confined feeding operators. The commissioners will review the ordinance and other informational material provided to them before deciding whether to forward the suggestion to the Jay County Planning Commission.

Commissioner Jim Zimmerman, who is also chairman of the planning commission and a confined feeding operater, expressed some opposition to the idea, which he said would impose further financial burdens on livestock producers.

•Approved an emergency claim for $2,176.49 to pay for medical costs for a jail inmate who received medical treatment at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne. Sheriff Ray Newton said the bill was originally more than $11,500, but he was able to negotiate with the hospital to cut that cost down.

•Told Newton to recycle the sheriff department's law books. Since the jail now has the state code in digital format, the books are no longer needed. Newton said he was unable to find someone who would take them.

•Spoke with Larry Bubp, a resident on county road 300 West between Ind. 26 and 300 North, who expressed concern about through trucks on the road. The commissioners spoke with county engineer Dan Watson about the problem.

•Were advised by Watson to not add or move stop signs around a curve on county road 400 West at Division Road or at the intersection of Blaine Pike and county road 300 South. Concerned citizens had asked for the county to improve safety at the two locations. After doing research, Watson determined there is no unusual risk.

•Spoke with Dennis Boolman about run-off water on property owned by his wife. Watson told Boolman that if he'd be willing to pay for materials to install a drain in the driveway, the county would provide the labor to install it. Watson said it is common practice for the county to install those types of drains if the owner will pay for materials.

•Spoke with Ron May of AECON, who present the commissioners a Phase II draft for bridge inspections in the county. May will return with more information when the plan is accepted by the Indiana Department of Transportation.[[In-content Ad]]