Funds OK'd for county projects (10/12/06)

A total of $140,000 in non-tax funds for three projects - including construction of an addition at the Jay County highway garage - were approved Wednesday by the county's fiscal body.

A request by Jay County Commissioners for $60,000 for the highway garage project, $50,000 to use toward a matching grant for a fire station/ambulance base outside Dunkirk, and $30,000 in additional costs related to demolition of a vacant building near the courthouse was approved Wednesday by the Jay County Council.

The expenditures will be paid from the county infrastructure fund, which is generated by a host fee paid by the Jay County Landfill.

The project at the highway garage will include construction of additional bays to house the county's tandem-axle salt trucks.

Until recently, the county's salt truck were single-axle, and two of those trucks could fit into the current spaces available for parking.

Council members Gerald Kirby, Marilyn Coleman, George Meehan, Judy LeMaster, Jim Zimmerman and Todd Wickey approved the $140,000 request from the infrastructure fund, which was presented by Commissioner Faron Parr.

Included in the request was the $50,000 for the Dunkirk grant.

Dunkirk, which is not eligible for state grant funding because a previous grant for the Quincy Place housing addition is not closed, plans to apply for a grant to construct a new building in an industrial park on county 400 South east of town.

That facility will house the city's fire department and the Dunkirk base of Jay Emergency Medical Service.

Jay County Community Developer Ami Huffman told the commissioners this summer the maximum amount granted by the state for fire department projects will be lowered to $300,000 from its current level of $500,000 beginning in 2007, and that she felt it best to pursue the grant this year.

Dunkirk plans to re-pay half of the $50,000 match put up by the county using economic development income tax funds, Parr said Wednesday.

Parr also presented a request for $30,000 to be used for additional expenses incurred in the demolition of a vacant building on West Walnut Street across from the courthouse.

The county purchased the building for $30,000, and agreed to pay LeMaster Enterprises of Portland $38,000 for demolition.

Parr said additional stone and other material was needed to fill the excavated space.

In response to a question from Judy LeMaster regarding landscaping around the planned parking area, Parr said that plans are still being developed. He also said that Charles Miller, owner of the Ritz Theatre, has offered to pay a portion of the paving costs if movie-goers can park in the lot.

The commissioners acquired the lot with the intent of creating a parking area for courthouse employees.

Members of the council also approved a total of $28,000 in additional funds for the 2007 budget for the county jail Wednesday, including $15,000 to pay overtime or compensatory time due to current or former employees.

Additional appropriations totaling $23,000 were made from the county general fund ($10,000 each for jail utilities and other compensation and $3,000 for equipment repair), along with a $5,000 appropriation from the emergency telephone system fund (911) for other compensation.

Other additional appropriations OK'd by council members:

•$2,000 into the surveyor cornerstone perpetuation fund for location of cornerstones. Jay County Surveyor Brad Daniels said a change in state law now requires the cornerstones to be dug up and located if proper records are not available. A "bounty" is paid to private surveyors for each cornerstone located.

•$900.61 into the court interpreter grant fund. The funds are used to pay interpreters for defendants who do not speak English.

Also approved by the council were the following transfers:

•Jay/Portand Building and Planning - $1,000 to gas, oil and lube from travel/mileage.

•Jay County Probation Department - $500 to drug testing from probation user fees.[[In-content Ad]]Members of the Jay County Council, who said last month they wanted more information about a planned Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district, got a few more details.

The district, which will encompass the site of the Premier Ethanol plant currently under construction southwest of Portland, is expected to generate about $3.3 million in real property tax revenue over a 13-year period, Bob Quadrozzi, director of Jay County Development Corporation, said Wednesday. Quadrozzi said that captured funds from personal property, such as equipment and machinery, have not been determined.

Councilman Todd Wickey, who has been appointed by Jay County Commissioners to the newly-formed Jay County Redevelopment Commission, said he believes the concept, which will capture the increase in taxes paid to pay for infrastructure related to the ethanol plant, is necessary.

A portion of the funds generated through the TIF district is also expected to be used by the county to offset costs related problems with failing septic systems in nearby homes.

Those homes, which are along Ind. 67 and county road 125 South, are included in a regional sewage district formed by the commissioners.

Quadrozzi said that preliminary estimates by Premier show that infrastructure related to the plant will cost about $4 million.