JCDC job description gets tweak

There’s an updated job description for the executive director of Jay County Development Corporation. But it wasn’t adopted without some discussion and dissenting votes.

The board approved the updated job description on a 12-3 vote Tuesday after several board members questioned the wisdom of having the Jay County Community Development director reporting to the JCDC executive director.

Also Tuesday, the board heard a request for support of a tax abatement for Bitter Ridge Wind Farm and got an update on the JCDC strategic plan.

Board president Duane Sautbine presented the updated job description for the organization’s executive director, saying it was mostly unchanged from the previous version. The biggest difference, he said, is that five years of experience in the field is “preferred” rather than “required.”

Board member Bob Lyons expressed concern about a new employee overseeing community development director Ami Huffman, who has been in that job for 13 years. He said he feels Huffman has been an asset to the community in terms of bringing in grant dollars for a variety of projects. He suggested putting her job and the JCDC executive director on equal footing.

Board member Barb Street responded that she feels there needs to be a single individual in charge to report to the board. She added that it’s important that the executive director, community development director and administrative assistant all be working as a team toward common goals.

Board member Joe Johnston agreed with Street’s assessment, while board member Dan Watson said he’d like to see salaries adjusted to reflect the work that is being done. (For 2018, the executive director made approximately $94,000 while the community development director made about $60,000.)

Board members Randy Geesaman, Gyneth Augsburger, Scott Hilfiker, Keith Muhlenkamp, Dean Sanders, Ashley Savieo, Rex Journay, Mike Rockwell, Doug Loy, Gene Ritter, Johnston and Street voted in favor of the updated job description. Doug Stanley, Lyons and Watson voted against.

The job description has been posted as the board looks to replace former executive director Bill Bradley, who departed in June to become president/chief executive officer of the LaGrange County Economic Development Corporation.

The board also heard from representatives of Scout Clean Energy that the company has resubmitted its application of an abatement for the $135 million Bitter Ridge project. Jay County Council originally denied the abatement on a 5-2 vote in May.

The abatement agreement would include about $1.5 million on economic development payments for the county. The first year of payments would be earmarked, with $250,000 for Jay School Corporation, $10,000 each for Portland, Dunkirk, Redkey, Bryant, Pennville and Salamonia, and an additional $80,000 for Redkey.

Cara Gunderson of Scout asked for support of the abatement, saying it is important to keep the cost of the energy down as it tries to sell the power that will be created by the wind farm. The abatement will be presented to county council tonight, with a vote expected at its September meeting.

The Bitter Ridge project would involve 52 turbines in Jefferson and Richland townships. A study commissioned by the county projected that Scout would pay $18 million in taxes over the 25-year life of the wind farm.

In other business, the board:

•Huffman also reported that she is in the process of finalizing the strategic plan that has been in the works for a year and a half. A preliminary version of the plan was presented to the JCDC board in June. The final version, which has been in the works since early 2017, will be presented to the board at its Oct. 2 meeting.

•Learned a wage and benefit survey will be sent to local employers this week.

•Heard from JCDC executive assistant Jodi Hayes that the goal is for the GFT Corporation facility in Pennville to be sold soon.

•Heard from Huffman that Portland, Pennville and Redkey are all continuing to work on downtown revitalizations plans. Redkey’s final plan will be presented to town council at its regular Aug. 16 meeting and Pennville will hold a planning meeting to gather public input from 10 a,m. to noon Saturday at the community center in Pennville Park. 

•Discussed plans to vote on its 2019 budget at its October meeting.