Small county parcel grows (6/21/05)

A small piece of county-owned property near the county jail has more than doubled in size thanks to the acquisition of a former railroad right-of-way.

But Jay County Commissioners aren’t sure exactly what they’d like to see done with the small parcel on the southwest corner of West Water and South Ship streets in Portland.

The irregularly-shaped small plot of land, which has been the site of a farmer’s market the past several years, grew to approximately 90-feet by 120-feet by 113-feet after the east half of a Penn Central railroad right-of-way was recently deeded back to the county.

Randy Fisher, the owner of a self-storage facility to the west of the county lot, got the western half of the right-of-way. Jay Halstead, an associate with Fisher Realty, owns a small plot south of the county land bordered by Ship Street and the Salamonie River.

Commissioners’ president Milo Miller Jr. said Monday he had several ideas for the space, including constructing a small pavilion that could be used by the farmer’s market or for small concerts or other gatherings.

“It’d dress up that corner a little bit,” Miller said.

Miller, along with fellow Commissioners Faron Parr and Gary Theurer, also said the space could be used for parking for the jail.

Also Monday, Miller talked with an official from Indiana Department of Environmental Management about an issue dating back to the break-up of the former Mideast Indiana Solid Waste District.

Lynn West, an official from IDEM, contacted Theurer recently because the two other former members of that waste district, Blackford and Wells counties, have not gained approval for their district plans.

When Jay County withdrew from the three-county MISWD several years ago, it agreed to pay for the preparation of a new plan for the remaining two county district.

But commissioners’ attorney Brad Burkett, after reviewing several related documents Monday afternoon, said that Jay County Commissioners, who paid an Indianapolis law firm to work on district plans for both Wells and Blackford counties, have met their obligation.

“Their obligation was to the Mideast (Indiana) Solid Waste District ... they’re done,” said Burkett.

During the withdrawal process, Blackford and Wells counties envisioned staying together in a waste district. But after Jay County’s pull-out, the counties decided to form single-county districts.

Jay County, which had hired the Indianapolis firm of Sommer Barnard to prepare a new plan for the MISWD, reached an agreement with the firm to prepare two single-county district plans for $15,000.

Miller, in a conversation with West Monday afternoon, told her, “It’s between IDEM and Wells and Blackford County. I don’t think you need to be blaming Jay County (for the failure of the districts to get a plan approved) ... I think we’ve met our obligation.”

Miller did agree to call Brad Sugarman, an attorney for Sommer Barnard who worked on the plans, and ask for his cooperation.

In other business Monday the commissioners:

•Approved a contract for the first septic system under a county-backed loan program. The commissioners, acting as the works board on the project, hired LPI Paving, Excavating and Concrete to install a septic system at the home of Dale and Mary Schutz, 5987 West 800 South, Portland. LPI’s quote of $8,200 was the lowest of two submitted.

The cost of the system will be paid back by the Schutzes through an assessment on their property taxes over a 10-year period at 10 percent simple interest.

The engineer’s estimate was $9,320.

The other quote on the project was Culy Construction of Winchester at a cost of $10,968.

Several other requests under the septic loan program are pending.[[In-content Ad]]