Plan set for NextEra funds

A draft plan earmarking economic development dollars from Bluff Point Wind Energy Center won unanimous approval Monday from Jay County Commissioners.

Under the county’s agreement with NextEra Energy, a total of $996,000 will be available in four installments to be used as the county sees fit for community development and economic development. The first installment is already in the county’s coffers, and the second is expected later this month.

“This is our draft,” commissioners president Chuck Huffman said Monday morning. 

Originally, commissioners had asked Jay County Development Corporation to come up with a plan to use the funds, and JCDC executive director Bill Bradley had drafted as many as five different proposals.

But none of those proposals received formal approval from the JCDC board, and with Bradley departing to take a similar position in LaGrange County, JCDC leaders suggested the commissioners go ahead with a draft plan of their own.

“We’re taking the ideas from the five plans Bill Bradley developed,” said commissioner Barry Hudson.

The county plans to earmark:

•$200,000 for JCDC, with $50,000 set aside for each of the organization’s four goals as identified in its newest strategic plan.

•$100,000 for any additional road and drainage work that might be needed in the area involved in the Bluff Point wind farm.

•$100,000 for student safety and security measures in Jay Schools.

•$50,000 each for Portland, Dunkirk, Redkey, Pennville, Bryant and Salamonia for economic or community development enhancements.

•$50,000 to develop certified shovel-ready sites for development in the county that would meet the standards of the Office of Community and Rural Affairs.

“That would leave close to a quarter of a million not spoken for,” said Huffman.

Hudson emphasized that while the money has been earmarked, before actual expenditures are approved, representatives receiving funds must present their projects and budgets to the commissioners for approval.

Projects must be completed within four years of today to qualify.

“People have a tendency to wait,” said Hudson. “You need a time limit. … The money will be there. … This way we have a program.”

Currently, he noted, it looks as if NextEra has completed all its road and drainage work related to the wind farm’s construction. But earmarking the additional $100,000 gives the county more flexibility.

Commissioners also gave unanimous approval to awarding three paving projects to Milestone Contractors, Portland, which had a low bid of $1,358,356.

County engineer Dan Watson explained that this year’s big projects include a 6-mile stretch of Boundary Pike from the Portland city limits to Treaty Line Road, a 2.5-mile section of county road 500 West from Indiana 26 to county road 200 South, and county road 3528 East off of Indiana 26 in Sheffer Acres East.

Watson said the Boundary Pike work will include the installation of rumble strips near the intersection with county road 300 South, which was the scene of a fatal traffic accident in December 2016.

The county is among a number of parties named in a lawsuit filed Thursday in Jay Superior Court on behalf of the family of Melissa Fifer-Campofiore, who was killed in that crash.

Watson said he will be applying to the state’s Community Crossings program for funding to pave Como Road and New Mount Pleasant Road in 2019.

In other business, commissioners:

•Tabled quotes for sealing the exterior of Jay County Jail until they can be reviewed with Sheriff Dwane Ford.

•Were told that the finances of Jay Emergency Medical Service are “moving in the right direction.” The service billed $64,521.31 for ambulance runs in May.

•Appointed Amanda Cox as director of Jay County Retirement Center because of the planned resignation of Patti Clevenger later this summer.

•Approved the re-routing of part of a telecommunications line installation by Indiana Michigan Power at roads 450 East and 500 North.

•Learned that a new mower purchased for Jay County Highway Department won’t be available until late summer.

•Approved the county’s annual contract with LifeStream Services.

•Tabled a request for a new computer and printer for the retirement center so that apples-to-apples quotes can be reviewed.

•Agreed to purchase a safety railing of about 24-feet long around an outdoor stairwell at the courthouse. The stairwell had been screened by shrubbery until a recent fire. Cost of the railing, purchased from Fullenkamp Machine of Portland, is $870.

•Approved five cell phones from Verizon for Jay County coroner Michael Brewster and his deputies. They have been using their personal cell phones.