Cemetery situation discussed

The Jay County Cemetery Commission is progressing on its mission to re-establish the Portland Pioneer Cemetery near Jaqua Avenue and will seek bids to clean out the wooded area hiding the graveyard.

Commission members Jane Spencer and Paul Pinkerton spoke with Jay County Commissioners this morning to request a copy of the survey done on the cemetery so they can identify how much area will need to be cleaned.

"We want to get those lines re-established in the commissioners' name," Spencer said.

The commissioners told Spencer she could obtain a copy of the survey from commissioners' attorney Bill Hinkle, who was working on the project.

Spencer also gave the commissioners an update on the lost cemetery after she, Pinkerton, Hinkle and county engineer Dan Watson walked through the woods last week.

"It's a mess," she said of the situation. "... It's just all over the place."

Following that walk-through, the group discussed perhaps marking off about an acre and moving stones to that established area.

Now, however, Spencer hinted that the commission might look into attempting to obtain control over a larger area and keep gravestones as close to the locations where they are found.

Either way, Spencer mentioned plans to establish a memorial stone listing names of known dead buried there even if stones can't be found or identified due to wear after time.

Commissioner Milo Miller Jr. asked about access to the cemetery once it's re-established and inquired as to whether Union Street west of Jaqua Avenue had been abandoned.

After some quick research, Jay County Auditor Nancy Culy said it appears the City of Portland had not officially vacated the street. However, there is no physical road in the form of pavement or stone at the site.

Spencer said the cemetery commission will meet June 15 and will discuss its options.

"We are progressing," she said.

Commissioner Milo Miller Jr. and told her the county will continue to do its part.

"We're moving slow but we'll try to keep it going," he said.

In other business this morning, the commissioners:

•Were informed by Spencer that attorney George Lopez had contacted her concerning the Burris Cemetery in Bearcreek Township, which is landlocked in an Amish man's property.

Spencer informed the commissioners that Lopez suggested the cemetery be surveyed. She said that issue will be handled at the cemetery's commission's upcoming meeting.

•Heard a complaint from Mike Leonhard about trucks destroying county road 300 North. Leonhard, a member of the Jay County Council, suggested adding the road to the county's no-through trucks ordinance to prevent further damage.

•Signed three emergency claims, including: Jay County Treasurer, $588.05 for fuel tax; Cannon IV Inc., Indianapolis, $146.90 for plotter paper; Jay County Auditor, $427.50 reimbursement for three-night hotel stay in Fort Wayne for an auditor's conference.

•Excused a parking ticket issued to a courthouse employee. The employee was ticketed for parking in the county-controlled lot. The employee drove a different vehicle and forgot to transfer her parking pass.

•Made Culy purchasing agent to buy a new e-mail server for the courthouse at a cost not to exceed $14,000. Culy said the server will likely cost between $13,000 and $13,500 and will replace the current server that is more than five years old.

•Heard a presentation about life insurance coverage from Western and Southern. The commissioners told the representative that the county is not interested due to the number of payroll deductions already being handled by the auditor's office.[[In-content Ad]]