Portland city court caseload drops

Portland City Court saw its caseload drop a by 16.5 percent in 2016, but fees collected stayed almost stable.

City court Judge Donald Gillespie presented those numbers and others to Portland City Council on Monday as part of his year-end report for 2016.

Council also welcomed its newest member, approved a street closure and discussed a decision by the Indiana Department of Transportation.

Portland City Court heard 1,407 cases during 2016, 278 less than the year before. Despite the reduction in ticket numbers, the court collected only $1,155 less — 0.6 percent — in fees than the year before, dropping from $197,940 in 2015 to $196,782 in 2016.

Gillespie said the drop in ticket fees was lessened by the increase in court costs to $15. In total, the city court heard 1,206 infraction violation, 81 ordinance violations and 120 misdemeanor violations.

Gillespie also recognized the work of the court’s clerk, Missy Puterbaugh, in collecting funds on past-due tickets.

In 2016, Puterbaugh recovered $13,573 in unpaid ticket fees, many of which were issued in the 1990s. Since she started collection efforts in 2013, Puterbaugh has collected $47,412 in past-due ticket fees.

Council also welcomed Judy Hedges to her first meeting. She was selected to take over for her late husband and former council member Mark Hedges, who died in early January. Council member Kent McClung noted that council is now majority female, possibly the first time in Portland’s history.

Council members Don Gillespie, Michele Brewster, Judy Aker, Bill Gibson, Janet Powers, Hedges and McClung also approved a proposal for a street closure on May 20 for the Arch Bridge Cruisers.

The closure will go from noon to around 9 p.m. on Main Street from Meridian Street to the west edge of the Graphic Printing building.

Mayor Randy Geesaman mentioned a change to the intersection of Walnut Street and Meridian Street. Indiana Department of Transportation added no turn on red signs to the intersection of Meridian and Walnut Streets. According to Geesaman, INDOT requires that a 30-mile-per-hour speed limit intersection needs 200 feet visible in each direction for cars to turn right on red, and in the case of the Meridian and Walnut intersection, visibility is limited below that threshold. Traffic turning right from Walnut Street onto Meridian Street from either side of the intersection now cannot turn right on red.

In other business, council approved $1,268,379.53 in claims.