Clerk declines new state e-mail

The Jay County Clerk will look for a different solution instead of signing up for a new state e-mail service which could potentially cost the county $60 to $144 per year.
Clerk Ellen Coats told the Jay County Commissioners Monday that as part of the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, the state has set up e-mail accounts for all 92 counties to receive e-mail votes.
This issue, Coats, said, came up since some counties have e-mail accounts through common servers such as Yahoo! or Hotmail and that the state didn’t think it would be a secure or professional place to send votes.
The state, therefore, created the e-mail accounts that will be free to hold for the first year but then would cost $5 to $12 per month to maintain after that.
Coats, however, said that the clerk’s e-mail is on the county-operated “@co.jay.in.us” server and that she felt it would be acceptable to either change her account name or create a new account specifically for MOVE votes.
“I don’t know that we necessarily need that,” she said of the state-started e-mail account. “I don’t foresee that we’re going to have many (votes).”
Coats said that during the last election she received no e-mailed votes and that she wasn’t aware of any being received that way in the past.
The commissioners agreed that the additional e-mail and cost seemed unnecessary and told Coats to handle the situation as she feels is appropriate.
In other business Monday, the commissioners:
•Received information from Jay County Soil and Water Conservation District educator Bettie Jacobs about a Conservation Field Day Sept. 28.
The event will cover conservation practices as well as how to keep the Wabash River clean. Jacobs said that there will also be discussion about the Wabash River and the algae bloom issue at Grand Lake in Mercer County, Ohio.
The event will take place from noon to 3 p.m. at the Don and Dwain Michael farm, 8388 North 550 East, Bryant. For more information contact Jacobs at (260) 726-4373 ext. 3.
•Signed a contract with Harris Computers to install a new financial system for the auditor’s and treasurer’s offices.
•Were informed by Coats that the Jefferson Township polling place is still in limbo. Earlier this year, voters said they could make improvements to the Jay County Conservation Club to make it handicapped accessible and therefore eligible to host the township’s polling.
Those improvements, however, were not made and are not planned. Coats said she will check to see if facilities at the Paradise Pointe RV Resort campground are suitable. Otherwise, voters in Jefferson Township will likely vote at the Jay Community Center in Portland.
•Heard a request from Michelle Seibold of the Jay County Humane Society asking to have signs put up directing people to the animal shelter run by Bill Fields. Seibold said the move might help to increase pet adoptions from the shelter.
The commissioners took no action on the request.
•Were informed by highway superintendent Ken Wellman that he may be able to purchase a used sprayer for a pickup truck for the highway department at a cost of $5,000.
The seller said he is willing to let Wellman try out the sprayer before committing to buy it. Wellman told the commissioners he will test the equipment and report back.[[In-content Ad]]