Money allotted for sewer work (12/15/05)

As 2005 comes to a close, the Jay County Council approved requests Wednesday night for additional money and transfer of funds for county officials and department heads — including funds to get a regional sewage district off the ground and for courthouse exterior work.

Council approved a request for $25,000 for regional sanitary district engineer services. The money will be used to get the regional sewage district going to deal with the Foxfire Addition sewage problem.

Commissioner Milo Miller Jr. told council the money was needed to pay Commonwealth Engineers Inc. of Indianapolis for engineering costs related to the formation of the district. Problems in the addition were discovered after failing septic systems apparently caused raw sewage to flow into the Salamonia River.

“We are trying to recoup money at Foxfire,” Miller said of the process of forming the sewage district. That district would have the authority to develop plans for correcting the problem and to assess affected property owners.

An application to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to create a regional sewage district has been filed but has not been approved.

Miller also asked the council for an additional $24,800 to cover expenses for work done on the exterior of the courthouse.

He told council members that Atlas Building Services Inc., Wabash, recently repaired mortar around the windows on the building.

“They still have a little to do,” Miller said, but added the majority of the work has been completed. “We gotta keep her goin’,” he said about maintenance on the structure.

The council approved additional appropriation requests from public defender Max Ludy of $10,808.02 from the county general fund and $8,219.11 from the public defender service fund for public defender pauper counsel expenses.

Also the council approved an additional $3,000 of a $5,000 request from Jay Circuit Court Judge Brian Hutchison to pay the jury for an upcoming trial.

Hutchison had told council that a jury trial expected to begin this week had been continued into 2006 and expenses for that trial would come from next year’s budget and the additional money would not be needed at this time.

A transfer of funds within the following departments were also granted:

•Coroner — $300 from office supplies to deputy payroll, $350 from official records to deputy payroll, and $300 from photography expense to dues and subscriptions

•Public defender — $257 from telephone to office supplies.

•Jay County Community Corrections — $1,066 from home monitoring equipment leasing to home monitoring equipment.

Jay County Emergency Medical Services — $1,294.59 from overtime to paramedic squad leader, $161.91 from overtime to claims coordinator, and $3.12 from overtime to director.

In other business Wednesday, Miller read a letter from Purdue Cooperative Extension Agent John Knipp, asking about the possibility of upgrading the restrooms at the courthouse annex on West Arch Street.

Knipp noted the restroom is not compliant with the American With Disabilities Act.

Miller told the council, “We’re thinking about it, just not acting on it yet.”[[In-content Ad]]