Group asks for EDIT funds

Dunkirk Industrial Development Corporation is committing $100,000 in Economic Development Income Tax funds toward securing the former Stewart Brothers furniture building.
And it’s hoping EDIT revenues controlled by the county could provide an additional $75,000.
Dunkirk Mayor Dan Watson told Jay County Commissioners on Monday the two-story brick portion of the Gas Boom era structure has roof damage that has led to “more damage than we had originally thought.”
The city, DIDC and the Dunkirk Public Library board have been working toward a goal of converting the building as a future home for both the library and The Glass Museum.
“Structurally, the building is in good shape,” said Watson, “but we’ve got to slow the deterioration. … We have to do it.”
Watson estimates total cost of structural repairs and a new roof to be $175,000.
Commissioners referred the idea to the county’s EDIT advisory board and suggested some combination of a grant and a loan might be worked out. Any decision by the advisory board would then require action by Jay County Council.
In order to speed up the project if funding is approved, the county will advertise for a potential $75,000 additional appropriation in advance of the next county council meeting. That way, if the funding is approved, the DIDC can move forward quickly.
D.C. Construction, Geneva, is the contractor for the project, which will involve working from the ground up.
Once the perimeter of the building and roof are secure, Watson said, grants will be sought for the conversion of the first floor and mezzanine of the former furniture store into library space. A one-story adjacent building, which was also part of the store, would be developed at a later date as home to The Glass Museum.
Commissioners took on a building restoration project of their own, signing a contract with Atlas Building Services Inc., Wabash, for mortar and limestone repairs on Jay County Courthouse. The cost of the project is $110,000.
Commissioners did express concern that as mortar be used rather than caulking for as many of the repairs as possible.
“If it’s mortar, we want mortar back in there,” said commissioner Faron Parr.
In other business Monday:
•Tim Kroeker, watershed coordinator for the Upper Salamonie River Watershed Commission, said he hopes water sampling will begin at 16 sites along the Salamonie sometime in the first half of June. Plans for the sampling are currently under review by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. Ten of the sites would be sampled professionally, while Hoosier Riverwatch volunteers would sample the other six.
•Eric Rogers, executive director of Arts Place, submitted a budget request for 2015 in the amount of $12,250 in support of the Arts in the Parks program. Rogers thanked the county for boosting its support to $11,500 in 2014 and noted that $12,250 would bring support back up to the level it reached in 2010. The bump in this year’s funding has resulted in a significant increase in programming for kids this summer. In Jay County, Arts Place will be providing Arts in the Parks in Portland, Dunkirk and Pennville this year.[[In-content Ad]]