Center changes OK'd (10/28/03)

A major expansion of the West Jay Community Center is getting a little bigger — at least when measured by cost.

Members of the community center’s board of directors recently approved several change orders for the project, which is adding a gymnasium to the facility in Dunkirk City Park.

The changes, which were made because additional money was raised, will cost a net total of $22,611, bringing the project cost to about $755,000.

The changes were submitted for final approval by Jay County Commissioners, who acted as the lead fiscal agent for the expansion to help secure grant funding from the state.

Commissioners Gary Theurer and Mike Leonhard approved the changes Monday. Commissioner Milo Miller Jr. did not attend Monday’s meeting.

Among the most significant changes was a major upgrade of the heating and cooling system for the new gym. That upgrade will cost an additional $19,600. Also added was additional two feet of wood floor surface for the gym floor on all four sides at a cost of $5,378.

Also Monday, a rural Portland man who operates a business and who also lives near the Jay County Landfill told Theurer and Leonhard he was upset that a property value guarantee agreed to by the landfill in an expansion process did not include commercial or agricultural property.

Clark Rhodehamel, who operates Como Service just north of the landfill, will be eligible to participate in the program for his home, but the business is not included.

The guarantee, which was reached as part of a host community agreement between landfill operator Waste Management and the commissioners, is for owners of lots with homes on them within a one-mile radius of the expansion borders for the landfill.

Theurer said he had not thought about including Rhodehamel’s business in the agreement.

“Your business, that’s something we’ll have to talk to (Waste Management) about,” Theurer said.

Rhodehamel said he also felt that agricultural land should be included in the guarantee in the event that the landowners decide to sell of lots for housing.

Also Monday, Theurer and Leonhard, after a discussion with Jay Superior Court Judge Joel Roberts, agreed to form a steering committee to study the possible implementation of a new case management system in Jay County. The system is being created by a state consortium.

The committee will include a variety of judicial and law enforcement officials, including Circuit Court Judge Brian Hutchison and Roberts, a commissioner, a county councilman, the sheriff, the prosecutor, a probation officer and possibly an ad hoc member of the public appointed by the commissioners.

In another matter, Roberts also asked the commissioners to consider adding Martin Luther King Day as a paid holiday for county employees.

The commissioners told Roberts that an additional paid day off on Christmas Eve was added to the county’s personnel policy several years ago, and that they did not anticipate adding another day.

County employees currently receive 12.5 paid holidays per year, in addition to one sick day per month and the vacation time they have accrued.[[In-content Ad]]