July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Make-up of regional group changes
Jay County Commissioners
The Jay County Commissioners were caught off guard this morning when they were informed a four-county regional economic development district board will not be equally divided among its members.
Jay County Development Corporation director Bill Bradley told the commissioners they are responsible for an appointment to the 37-member board consisting of representatives from Jay, Delaware, Blackford and Grant counties, as well as one appointment from the governor.
Jay and Blackford counties will field seven members to that board, but Grant County will send ten and Delaware County will have 12 members.
The commissioners were surprised by the information, since that makeup is not what was originally reported to them.
"I thought it was to be equal representation," said commissioner Jim Zimmerman.
"Obviously it's based on population," Bradley said. "(Equal representation) was what I was told originally myself."
When discussed at the Jay County Council meeting in June, during which the council later approved the county's inclusion in the district, councilman Gary Theurer expressed concerns about the board's makeup, worried that larger population areas might be able to control district's actions.
Barb Street of the Eastern Indiana Regional Workforce Board said each county would appoint four members to the board and that no one entity would have a majority vote.
That definition changed somewhere in the process, Bradley said this morning.
The county's representatives will come from a commissioner appointment, a county council appointment, and appointments by local councils in Portland, Dunkirk, Redkey, Pennville and Bryant.
Commissioner Milo Miller Jr. volunteered to fill the commissioners' position and said he will speak with Roy Budd of Energize-ECI, a development entity involved with the district, about the issue.
In other business this morning, the commissioners:
•Were informed by county engineer Dan Watson that two stimulus-funded paving projects, county road 300 North between U.S. 27 and Pennville, and 1150 West from Dunkirk south to the Jay-Randolph county line, are being bid this month by the state.
•Made veteran affairs officer Roy Leverich purchasing agent to buy a new computer for his office.[[In-content Ad]]
Jay County Development Corporation director Bill Bradley told the commissioners they are responsible for an appointment to the 37-member board consisting of representatives from Jay, Delaware, Blackford and Grant counties, as well as one appointment from the governor.
Jay and Blackford counties will field seven members to that board, but Grant County will send ten and Delaware County will have 12 members.
The commissioners were surprised by the information, since that makeup is not what was originally reported to them.
"I thought it was to be equal representation," said commissioner Jim Zimmerman.
"Obviously it's based on population," Bradley said. "(Equal representation) was what I was told originally myself."
When discussed at the Jay County Council meeting in June, during which the council later approved the county's inclusion in the district, councilman Gary Theurer expressed concerns about the board's makeup, worried that larger population areas might be able to control district's actions.
Barb Street of the Eastern Indiana Regional Workforce Board said each county would appoint four members to the board and that no one entity would have a majority vote.
That definition changed somewhere in the process, Bradley said this morning.
The county's representatives will come from a commissioner appointment, a county council appointment, and appointments by local councils in Portland, Dunkirk, Redkey, Pennville and Bryant.
Commissioner Milo Miller Jr. volunteered to fill the commissioners' position and said he will speak with Roy Budd of Energize-ECI, a development entity involved with the district, about the issue.
In other business this morning, the commissioners:
•Were informed by county engineer Dan Watson that two stimulus-funded paving projects, county road 300 North between U.S. 27 and Pennville, and 1150 West from Dunkirk south to the Jay-Randolph county line, are being bid this month by the state.
•Made veteran affairs officer Roy Leverich purchasing agent to buy a new computer for his office.[[In-content Ad]]
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