Commissioners present $$

Jay County Commissioners and NextEra Energy officials presented a check for $100,000 to Jay Schools Monday morning, putting wind farm-related economic development funds to work increasing school security.

“Our kids will be safer because of NextEra’s donation,” school superintendent Jeremy Gulley said in a prepared statement. “It’s a powerful example of community leaders and renewable energy partners finding innovative solutions that benefit everyone.”

Commissioners also tapped NextEra’s economic development dollars to fund a new roof at The Glass Museum in Dunkirk, allocating up to $50,000 for that purpose.

Ron Fuller, vice president of the Dunkirk Public Library board, and Pam Robbins, the board’s treasurer, were on hand to make the request for support.

“Time is of the essence,” Fuller told commissioners.

Quotes on replacing the roof ranged from $32,000 to $60,000. In addition to the work on the roof itself, damage to the museum’s ceiling as a result of leaks will also have to be repaired.

The library and the museum are essentially a single building, Fuller explained.

Next in line for the wind farm discretionary funds was Jay County Fair Board, which is seeking to replace the Farmers Building at the fairgrounds.

Fair board member Brian Aker told commissioners the building was originally constructed in 1942 as a barn for 4-H dairy projects. It was moved to its present location in 1983, but age and normal weathering have eroded its support structure.

“It’s lived a long, hard life,” Jay/Portland Building and Planning director John Hemmelgarn told commissioners. “The county has no ordinance for unsafe buildings, but it’s an unsafe building.”

Aker said it will be cheaper in the long run to raze the building and build new in the same style at the same location.

Commissioner Mike Leonhard agreed. “It’s going to be a safety hazard,” he said.

Preliminary estimates are that the project will cost $175,000, with poured concrete walls replacing the rotting wooden supports.

“How much are you asking for?” said commissioner Barry Hudson.

“As much as possible,” responded Ron Krieg of the fair board.

“I don’t have a problem giving them $75,000 in windmill money,” said Leonhard.

But Hudson noted that their fellow commissioner Chuck Huffman was absent and said he was uncomfortable making a decision on that scale without him.

“We’re with you,” said Hudson. “I just think we ought to wait for Chuck.”

In other business, commissioners:

•Accepted $1,726.47 in donations for Jay County Retirement Center that had been in an unauthorized bank account cited in a recent Indiana State Board of Accounts audit and another $296 in proceeds from a recent garage sale at the retirement center.

•Discussed conflicting test results on arsenic levels in water from the retirement center’s well. Some tests have indicated the need for a filter, while others show no arsenic levels at all. “I’m going to stay on top of this,” said Leonhard. “Hopefully, by the next meeting I’ll know more.”

•Approved spending $2,100 for two days of financial software training for the treasurer’s office.

•Agreed to purchase three Viking radios from J&K Communication, Columbia City, at a cost of $7,992.45 for Jay County Emergency Management Agency.

•Accepted the low quote of $12,504 from Cleaver Cable and Consulting of Martinsville to replace a series of switches in the county’s computer network that have failed.

•Agreed to buy a $2,896.74 computer server and a $1,021 computer from Cleaver for the Jay County Health Department as well as a $912 computer for the Jay County Coroner. All purchases reflected the lowest quote.

•Purchased a new computer for the Jay County Surveyor’s Office from Progressive Office Products, Portland, for $889.

•Approved a three-year lease of about 12 acres of pasture and the barn at the retirement center to Charles R. and Charles C. McClain at a price of $3,000 per year.

•Agreed to hold an auction of surplus equipment from the highway department through Shawver Auctioneering on Oct. 27.

•Took under advisement quotes on diesel fuel for the highway department.

•Learned from county engineer Dan Watson that Indiana Department of Transportation is working on a re-design of the intersection of Tyson Road and Indiana 67 near Jay County High School. “It’s on a fast track,” said Watson, with bid letting scheduled for April of 2019. INDOT is also looking into better school speed zone signs near the high school.

•Scheduled a special meeting for 9 a.m. Monday to hear presentations from three health insurance consulting firms.

•Agreed to purchase a pair of public address speakers from Strohl Appliance and Electronics, Portland, at a cost of $300 for the courthouse auditorium.

•Suggested that a rural Portland man with an ongoing complaint about stormwater drainage after heavy rains seek civil litigation. “The county’s done everything they can do,” attorney Bill Hinkle told Kelley Dixon. “It’s a private matter. You’re going to have to see an attorney.”

•Approved a new service agreement for a generator at Jay County Jail at a cost of $1,474.

•Approved the purchase of a shredder from Progressive at a cost of $999 and a copier from Perry Pro-Tech at a cost of $3,024, both for the jail. Both purchases will be made from the cumulative capital development fund.

•Tabled spending issues related to the heating and cooling system at the jail. “It would be nice if we could have the sheriff here,” Hudson told Bill Baldwin and Patrick Wells of Jay County Sheriff’s Office.