July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Council OKs Hanni purchase (11/13/03)
$175,000 cost will be paid out of Infrastructure fund
Nine months after they were first asked for money to purchase property for possible jail expansion, members of the Jay County Council finally said yes.
The council, which first heard the request for $175,000 from Jay County Commissioners in February, approved the appropriation from a non-tax fund Wednesday by a 5-2 margin.
Commissioner Milo Miller Jr. said Wednesday that negotiations will begin soon with Jeff Sprunger, who owns the property and building at 215 W. Main St. — immediately north of the current jail.
By law, the maximum amount the county can pay is $175,000, which was the average of two appraisals done at the commissioners’ request. The purchase is being made from the Infrastructure Fund, generated from a host fee collected from the Jay County Landfill.
That fee, currently equal to 5 percent of gross gate revenue, will rise to 10 percent beginning Dec. 1, the manager of the local landfill said this morning.
Leon Leach, a district manager for Waste Management of Indiana, said the county’s quarterly revenue will likely be about $100,000 — or about $400,000 annually.
The higher amount is being triggered by a four-year time limit included in a host agreement between the county and Waste Management reached on Dec. 28, 1999.
Miller told the council that the purchase did not mean a jail project was imminent. “We won’t (expand) unless we’re ordered to,” Miller said.
The commissioners say they would like to sign a lease agreement with Sprunger, the owner/operator of Hanni Plumbing, Heating & Cooling, to remain at the site until he decides to build a new, smaller building at a new location.
Miller also said that he would consider moving the offices of Jay County Development Corporation and Jay County Community Development to the office portion of the Hanni Building to save rent expenses for those organizations.
The cost of building an addition next to the current jail would be millions less than building at a new location, Miller said Wednesday, making the purchase of adjacent property vital.
An environmental report completed when Sprunger purchased the building several years ago said there is possibly at least one buried fuel tank at the site. The report also says there is likely lead and asbestos in the building.
Councilman Jack Houck, who is executive director of the Jay Community Center, said Wednesday he had wanted to see soil compaction tests.
Councilman Gerald Kirby said the report presented did not include compaction tests but did indicate silty, sandy soils, meaning that compaction would likely be an issue and that pilings would have to be poured down to bed rock.
As the debate wore on, Miller, clearly frustrated, told council members, “If you’re uncomfortable with it, don’t vote for it.”
“No matter what we build, in 10 years it will be approaching obsolete,” Kirby said.
Council members Marilyn Coleman, Mark Barnett, Todd Wickey, George Noble and Kirby voted to approve the money for the purchase, while council president Andy Schemenaur Jr. and Houck voted against the request.
Also Wednesday, council took no action on request to deviate from the county’s pay plan next year for current Jay County Recorder Judy LeMaster, who is leaving office at the end of the year and who will become first deputy of the office.
Incoming recorder Betty St. Myers said that as a long-time recorder, LeMaster, who currently makes approximately $32,000 annually, is worth more than the $17,800 minimum salary for a first deputy.
St. Myers’ current salary as a first deputy is approximately $22,000.
Members of the council agreed to revisit the issue in December.
Approved by 6-0 margins Wednesday were the following additional appropriations:
•Court Alcohol Substance Assessment and Evaluation Fund — $22,000 to SAP contractual service. Money will be used to pay contract counseling and evaluation services for those convicted of alcohol offenses.
•Pre-Trial Diversion Fund — $2,508.76 to prosecuting attorney equipment. User fees will be used to purchase two radar guns for use by county and state police.
•Highway Fund — $15,000 to gas, oil and lubricant.
•Jay Emergency Medical Service Fund — $5,000 to medical supplies.
•Jay County Corrections Fund — $8,500 for jail meals.
In other business on Wednesday, members of the council:
•Heard brief remarks from Dr. Stephen Myron, a former councilman who was named last month as the new Jay County Health Officer.
Myron, who replaced long-time health officer Dr. Eugene Gillum, said that the transition has gone smoothly, and that as a former councilman he appreciated the importance of spending public money wisely.
“We’ll run a tight department,” promised Myron.
Myron also announced Wednesday that Jack Wagner, who has worked at several industries in Portland for several years, was recently hired as the department’s part-time food inspector.
There were 40 applicants for the position, Myron said.
Myron also invited members of the council to hold any of their regular meetings at the Jay County Courthouse Annex, which houses the health department, the immunization clinic and the Jay County office of the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service.
•Approved the following transfers:
Surveyor — $558.50 to first deputy from second deputy.
Prosecuting attorney — $125 to office supplies from witness fees and mileage; $75 to travel from witness fees and mileage; $250 to office supplies from equipment repair; $180 to travel from equipment repair; $150 to travel from extradition; $16.45 to law books from equipment repair; and $283.55 to law books from crime control.
Extension service — Total of $1,392.77 in transfers to office equipment from equipment repair ($894.92), telephone ($350), Green Thumb ($50), educational materials ($26.66), computer maintenance ($52.25), and dues and subscriptions ($29).
Jay Superior Court — $600 to law books from guardian ad litem.
Jay County Cemetery Commission — $1,000 to maintenance of stones from office supplies.
Jay/Portland Building and Planning — $250 to education materials from field equipment.
Retirement Center — $500 to livestock from machine hire.
•Heard highway superintendent Robert Sours report that county crews completed approximately 95 miles of maintenance chip-and-seal work this year, and converted approximately eight miles of stone road to chip-and-seal. Crews also re-paved 10 miles of county roads.
Sours said that $57,000 in reimbursement funds were received this week from the Indiana State Emergency Management Agency to offset costs related to flooding in early July and early September.[[In-content Ad]]A proposal that would borrow against future landfill revenue to eliminate most stone roads in Jay County is still being received skeptically by the county council.
The council, which first heard the vague plan from Commissioner Gary Theurer in August, told Theurer Wednesday night it wasn’t ready to make any commitment.
Council members Gerald Kirby and Marilyn Coleman, along with council president Andy Schemenaur, described themselves as “leery” of the bonding proposal, while George Meehan, Todd Wickey, Mark Barnett and Jack Houck said they needed more information.
The council asked Theurer to obtain more specifics about bonding, including whether the money must be borrowed in a lump sum or whether it can be drawn down in smaller amounts.
“Interest rates are down right now ... it boils down to how aggressive the county wants to be in improving our infrastructure,” Theurer said in opening his presentation. He said that some county residents he has talked to are excited about the possibility their stone road might be surfaced.
Theurer, who also has the support of commissioners’ president Milo Miller Jr., is interested in issuing bonds to convert as many of the county’s approximately 255 miles of stone roads to chip-and-seal or paved as possible.
Robert Sours, superintendent of the Jay County Highway Department, said Wednesday that about 50 or so miles of county roads would be left as stone because of low traffic counts.
Sours and Theurer also said Wednesday that committing to the bonding project will likely mean that additional employees will have to be hired for the highway department.
Sours said that excessive rains this summer caused county crews to fall behind on chip-and-seal resurface and repaving work. County crews did 95 miles of chip-and-seal maintenance, eight miles of stone road conversion and 10 miles of repaving.
One scenario proposed by Theurer would have county crews converting 50 miles of stone roads per year to triple chip-and-seal over a four year period. During that time, more than 100 miles per year would also have to have a single layer of maintenance chip-and-seal applied.
“I’ve never liked the idea of bonding for roads. If we bond ... we have the expense no matter what happens financially,” Kirby said. “If I’m going to vote for it, someone’s going to have to do a heck of a job convincing me.”
Theurer suggested, only half-jokingly, that to better understand the issue members of the council should drive on a stone road daily.
Theurer and Sours said that the maintenance costs for chip-and-seal and stone roads are approximately equal, assuming a four-year rotation for re-applying a single chip-and-seal layer.
On another roads-related issue, Theurer urged the council to consider revisions in the county’s wheel tax. Currently, owners of small trailers are assessed $40 annually — the same amount as owners of semi-trailers.
When Schemenaur suggested that host fee money could perhaps replace some or all of the approximately $300,000 in wheel tax revenue, Sours vigorously defended the wheel tax.
“We’ve got to keep the wheel tax ... that wheel tax is what’s kept us moving,” Sours said.
The council, which first heard the request for $175,000 from Jay County Commissioners in February, approved the appropriation from a non-tax fund Wednesday by a 5-2 margin.
Commissioner Milo Miller Jr. said Wednesday that negotiations will begin soon with Jeff Sprunger, who owns the property and building at 215 W. Main St. — immediately north of the current jail.
By law, the maximum amount the county can pay is $175,000, which was the average of two appraisals done at the commissioners’ request. The purchase is being made from the Infrastructure Fund, generated from a host fee collected from the Jay County Landfill.
That fee, currently equal to 5 percent of gross gate revenue, will rise to 10 percent beginning Dec. 1, the manager of the local landfill said this morning.
Leon Leach, a district manager for Waste Management of Indiana, said the county’s quarterly revenue will likely be about $100,000 — or about $400,000 annually.
The higher amount is being triggered by a four-year time limit included in a host agreement between the county and Waste Management reached on Dec. 28, 1999.
Miller told the council that the purchase did not mean a jail project was imminent. “We won’t (expand) unless we’re ordered to,” Miller said.
The commissioners say they would like to sign a lease agreement with Sprunger, the owner/operator of Hanni Plumbing, Heating & Cooling, to remain at the site until he decides to build a new, smaller building at a new location.
Miller also said that he would consider moving the offices of Jay County Development Corporation and Jay County Community Development to the office portion of the Hanni Building to save rent expenses for those organizations.
The cost of building an addition next to the current jail would be millions less than building at a new location, Miller said Wednesday, making the purchase of adjacent property vital.
An environmental report completed when Sprunger purchased the building several years ago said there is possibly at least one buried fuel tank at the site. The report also says there is likely lead and asbestos in the building.
Councilman Jack Houck, who is executive director of the Jay Community Center, said Wednesday he had wanted to see soil compaction tests.
Councilman Gerald Kirby said the report presented did not include compaction tests but did indicate silty, sandy soils, meaning that compaction would likely be an issue and that pilings would have to be poured down to bed rock.
As the debate wore on, Miller, clearly frustrated, told council members, “If you’re uncomfortable with it, don’t vote for it.”
“No matter what we build, in 10 years it will be approaching obsolete,” Kirby said.
Council members Marilyn Coleman, Mark Barnett, Todd Wickey, George Noble and Kirby voted to approve the money for the purchase, while council president Andy Schemenaur Jr. and Houck voted against the request.
Also Wednesday, council took no action on request to deviate from the county’s pay plan next year for current Jay County Recorder Judy LeMaster, who is leaving office at the end of the year and who will become first deputy of the office.
Incoming recorder Betty St. Myers said that as a long-time recorder, LeMaster, who currently makes approximately $32,000 annually, is worth more than the $17,800 minimum salary for a first deputy.
St. Myers’ current salary as a first deputy is approximately $22,000.
Members of the council agreed to revisit the issue in December.
Approved by 6-0 margins Wednesday were the following additional appropriations:
•Court Alcohol Substance Assessment and Evaluation Fund — $22,000 to SAP contractual service. Money will be used to pay contract counseling and evaluation services for those convicted of alcohol offenses.
•Pre-Trial Diversion Fund — $2,508.76 to prosecuting attorney equipment. User fees will be used to purchase two radar guns for use by county and state police.
•Highway Fund — $15,000 to gas, oil and lubricant.
•Jay Emergency Medical Service Fund — $5,000 to medical supplies.
•Jay County Corrections Fund — $8,500 for jail meals.
In other business on Wednesday, members of the council:
•Heard brief remarks from Dr. Stephen Myron, a former councilman who was named last month as the new Jay County Health Officer.
Myron, who replaced long-time health officer Dr. Eugene Gillum, said that the transition has gone smoothly, and that as a former councilman he appreciated the importance of spending public money wisely.
“We’ll run a tight department,” promised Myron.
Myron also announced Wednesday that Jack Wagner, who has worked at several industries in Portland for several years, was recently hired as the department’s part-time food inspector.
There were 40 applicants for the position, Myron said.
Myron also invited members of the council to hold any of their regular meetings at the Jay County Courthouse Annex, which houses the health department, the immunization clinic and the Jay County office of the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service.
•Approved the following transfers:
Surveyor — $558.50 to first deputy from second deputy.
Prosecuting attorney — $125 to office supplies from witness fees and mileage; $75 to travel from witness fees and mileage; $250 to office supplies from equipment repair; $180 to travel from equipment repair; $150 to travel from extradition; $16.45 to law books from equipment repair; and $283.55 to law books from crime control.
Extension service — Total of $1,392.77 in transfers to office equipment from equipment repair ($894.92), telephone ($350), Green Thumb ($50), educational materials ($26.66), computer maintenance ($52.25), and dues and subscriptions ($29).
Jay Superior Court — $600 to law books from guardian ad litem.
Jay County Cemetery Commission — $1,000 to maintenance of stones from office supplies.
Jay/Portland Building and Planning — $250 to education materials from field equipment.
Retirement Center — $500 to livestock from machine hire.
•Heard highway superintendent Robert Sours report that county crews completed approximately 95 miles of maintenance chip-and-seal work this year, and converted approximately eight miles of stone road to chip-and-seal. Crews also re-paved 10 miles of county roads.
Sours said that $57,000 in reimbursement funds were received this week from the Indiana State Emergency Management Agency to offset costs related to flooding in early July and early September.[[In-content Ad]]A proposal that would borrow against future landfill revenue to eliminate most stone roads in Jay County is still being received skeptically by the county council.
The council, which first heard the vague plan from Commissioner Gary Theurer in August, told Theurer Wednesday night it wasn’t ready to make any commitment.
Council members Gerald Kirby and Marilyn Coleman, along with council president Andy Schemenaur, described themselves as “leery” of the bonding proposal, while George Meehan, Todd Wickey, Mark Barnett and Jack Houck said they needed more information.
The council asked Theurer to obtain more specifics about bonding, including whether the money must be borrowed in a lump sum or whether it can be drawn down in smaller amounts.
“Interest rates are down right now ... it boils down to how aggressive the county wants to be in improving our infrastructure,” Theurer said in opening his presentation. He said that some county residents he has talked to are excited about the possibility their stone road might be surfaced.
Theurer, who also has the support of commissioners’ president Milo Miller Jr., is interested in issuing bonds to convert as many of the county’s approximately 255 miles of stone roads to chip-and-seal or paved as possible.
Robert Sours, superintendent of the Jay County Highway Department, said Wednesday that about 50 or so miles of county roads would be left as stone because of low traffic counts.
Sours and Theurer also said Wednesday that committing to the bonding project will likely mean that additional employees will have to be hired for the highway department.
Sours said that excessive rains this summer caused county crews to fall behind on chip-and-seal resurface and repaving work. County crews did 95 miles of chip-and-seal maintenance, eight miles of stone road conversion and 10 miles of repaving.
One scenario proposed by Theurer would have county crews converting 50 miles of stone roads per year to triple chip-and-seal over a four year period. During that time, more than 100 miles per year would also have to have a single layer of maintenance chip-and-seal applied.
“I’ve never liked the idea of bonding for roads. If we bond ... we have the expense no matter what happens financially,” Kirby said. “If I’m going to vote for it, someone’s going to have to do a heck of a job convincing me.”
Theurer suggested, only half-jokingly, that to better understand the issue members of the council should drive on a stone road daily.
Theurer and Sours said that the maintenance costs for chip-and-seal and stone roads are approximately equal, assuming a four-year rotation for re-applying a single chip-and-seal layer.
On another roads-related issue, Theurer urged the council to consider revisions in the county’s wheel tax. Currently, owners of small trailers are assessed $40 annually — the same amount as owners of semi-trailers.
When Schemenaur suggested that host fee money could perhaps replace some or all of the approximately $300,000 in wheel tax revenue, Sours vigorously defended the wheel tax.
“We’ve got to keep the wheel tax ... that wheel tax is what’s kept us moving,” Sours said.
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