Commissioners grill Bradley

County commissioners put Jay County Development Corporation executive director Bill Bradley on the hot seat Monday, grilling him for specifics on economic success stories.

“All these reports are like future stuff,” said commissioner Barry Hudson. “We never get a report on project successes. … The goals are set up for a study, and that becomes a goal for five years. I don’t get that. … Next year my goal is to study. Next year my goal is to study. Next year my goal is to study.”

Hudson noted that issues like the need for shovel-ready industrial sites and more housing have been JCDC goals since 2013.

“It’s taken five years to determine we need housing in Portland?” said Hudson. “How many years does it take?”

“How many new people and how many new businesses did you bring to Jay County last year?” asked commissioner Mike Leonhard.

Leonhard also took issue with JCDC loans to industries and businesses that have never been paid back, specifically citing a $75,000 loan by the county in 2010 and a similar loan by the City of Portland to Fort Recovery Construction and Equipment for a project involving solar panel technology.

“Can we get any of it back?” he asked.

Bradley responded that JCDC is “out of the loan business” these days and said he would get back to commissioners with specifics on the organization’s success stories.

As to that particular loan, said Bradley, “They didn’t do what they said they were going to do.”

“That seems pretty loose to me,” shot back Hudson. “You wouldn’t run a business like that. Who was in charge of that? … You can’t allow people to continue to get away with that.”

Meanwhile, Bradley said he has three prospects for a grocery store to replace the Marsh store on Portland’s north side left behind by the company’s bankruptcy. He noted the building has been over-priced in terms of its annual lease, which has been a stumbling block.

“This is one of the worst times in business history to be going for a grocery store,” said Bradley. “It’s a challenge.”

He said he will be meeting next week with a developer interested in an apartment project on a site of three to five acres in Portland. The apartments would rent for market rates and would not be federally subsidized.

In other business, commissioners:

•Approved easements for a pair of Indiana Michigan Power projects to run fiberoptic cable connecting its substations. The connection would speed communication in the event of power outages.

•Asked that recently acquired traffic counters be installed on county road 300 East to measure the volume and speed of traffic there.

•Learned from county engineer Dan Watson that the last of the paving related to the Bluff Point Wind Energy Center is expected to be finished by May 31.

•Heard Watson say that the next big paving project will involve Boundary Pike from the Portland city limits south to county road 300 East.

•Noted there will be an executive session of the commissioners and the county council at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in connection with the latest wind farm project being proposed.

•Updated the Medicare certification for Jay Emergency Medical Service.

•Signed a proclamation declaring this to be Ag Week in Jay County.

•Approved leasing a copier from Office Concepts, Fort Wayne, for Jay Emergency Medical Service at a cost of $99 per month.

•Continued to review numbers and costs related to keeping livestock at Jay County Retirement Center. “We need to come to a decision on what we do with the cattle,” said commissioner Chuck Huffman, then take a look at the center’s staffing needs.

•Authorized setting up an account with General Truck Sales, Muncie, to handle major maintenance issues, including alignments, for Jay Emergency Medical Service ambulances.

•Agreed to keep the courthouse open on Saturday mornings for the Farmers’ Market in Portland. The market is moving back from the former Kunkle car dealership lot to Main Street because the courthouse location provides restroom facilities.

•Were told by Sheriff Dwane Ford that the county is likely to be approached by Jay Schools about providing a full-time school resource officer at the high school. “That’s going to be coming up,” said Ford. “The superintendent is looking at all different things to make the schools a safer place.”

•Formally approved joining litigation against the pharmaceutical industry over the opioid crisis.

•Approved restoring another penny to the county’s cumulative bridge fund next year. Currently the rate is 3.5 cents. It would go to 4.5 cents if approved when the 2019 budget is finalized.

•Approved keeping the courthouse open May 19 for the annual Arch Bridge Kroozers cruise-in.