County will stay with PHP

Jay County will stay with Physicians Health Plan in 2019 after the Fort Wayne-based insurer scaled back its planned hike in premiums to 4 percent.

And county commissioners Monday agreed to try to soften the blow for county employees with coverage for their children and spouses.

Currently, the county provides a flat $550 a month toward each employee’s health insurance. 

That will stay the same in 2019 for those with individual coverage, but as a result of Monday’s action those with coverage for employee and children will receive $650 per month, those with coverage for employee and spouse will receive $750 per month and those with family coverage will receive $850 per month.

“That will make them somewhat more palatable, but still costly,” said commissioner Chuck Huffman. “Once we see how this shakes out, those numbers could be changed in future years. … It’s kind of like a test.”

Cost to the county for the increased support will be $34,800 per year.

The PHP coverage will be through Platinum Benefits, the county’s current insurance consultant. Platinum, Ertel and Company, and USI all made presentations to the commissioners last week, but the PHP proposal through Platinum was the lowest-cost option available.

Another wellness program for county employees through PHP is set for Dec. 4 and will involve medical staff from Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne coming to Jay County.

During a meeting that spanned three and a half hours, commissioners also heard a proposal from the Jay County Humane Society, set a deadline for requests for wind farm revenues and reviewed a long list of repair needs at the Jay County Jail.

About 15 humane society volunteers were on hand to urge commissioners to initiate a comprehensive conversation on the issue of animal control in the county, one that would include not just the humane society but also animal control provided by the Bill Fields family.

“We want a restructuring where we could all work together,” said Julie Forcum of the humane society.

Currently, the county pays Fields $43,000 per year for animal control services. The city of Portland pays another $15,000 a year and provides funding for one tank of gasoline per week under a contract dating back to 2013.

But the Fields facility often has more animals than it can handle, and the humane society shelter is beyond its capacity.

Forcum said the shelter was built to house 12 dogs and 12 cats.

“It is home today to 28 dogs and approximately 40 cats. Our facility is over-crowded, inefficient in many ways and antiquated,” she said.

Huffman suggested that a task force of some kind be formed to take on the issue and urged the humane society to make presentations to both county council and Portland City Council.

“Financing between the city and county needs to be figured out,” said Huffman.

Commissioner Mike Leonhard said he would be willing to serve on whatever task force takes shape.

Forcum noted that the humane society receives no financial support from local government. She also noted that Blackford County had recently built a new shelter and suggested that economic development funds from Bluff Point Wind Energy Center might be used to help pay for a new shelter in Jay County.

Commissioners, however, noted that all but about $133,000 of the funds from NextEra Energy have already been earmarked or committed.

And with a request from Jay County Fair Board for financial support to replace the Farmers’ Building at the fairgrounds in front of them, commissioners decided to set a deadline of Nov. 26 for any other requests that might surface.

Sheriff Dwane Ford appeared before the commissioners to review a number of equipment repairs he’s facing at the jail.

“You don’t expect everything to go wrong at the same time,” said Ford.

Among the issues at the jail:

•A glycol tank bladder in the heating system needs to be replaced and is not covered in the county’s preventative maintenance plan with Havel.

•An air conditioning unit in the control room for the jail’s electronic systems, also serviced by Havel, has failed and will cost about $6,700 to replace.

•A dishwasher, a garbage disposal and a water softener need to be replaced.

“Everything has to go at once,” said Ford.

The jail maintenance fund, meanwhile, is depleted, so when Ford returns with hard numbers, the commissioners will have to look for other sources of money.

That could be the cumulative capital development fund, which was tapped Monday for a number of purchases, including:

•Two new laptop computers for the sheriff’s office at $1,498 each from Progressive Office Products.

•Four new desktop computers for the sheriff’s office at $629 each from Progressive.

•A new server and firewall for the sheriff’s office computer network at $17,638.50 from Restore Store of Bluffton.

•Four new computers for the assessor’s office at $1,065 each from Cleaver Cabling and Consulting of Martinsville.

•Six chairs for Jay Superior Court at a total of $1,008 from Amazon.

In all cases, the lowest quoted price that met the specifications was selected.

In other business, commissioners Barry Hudson, Huffman and Leonhard:

•Accepted a donation of a ventilator for Jay Emergency Medical Service from IU Health. The equipment is an older model which will have to be replaced in about a year. “This one will buy us some time,” said John McFarland of JEMS.

•Heard an update from Jay County community developer Ami Huffman and remarked on the success Dunkirk has had with its blight removal program. Hudson noted that Portland had attempted a similar program with Community and Family Services and gave up on it. “If you don’t let Ami do the job, it doesn’t get done,” he said.

•Heard Hudson say Jay County Regional Sewer District is still dealing with issues north of Dunkirk, but that county council approved having the county take over the district’s bond obligation. “It’s an ongoing money pit,” said Hudson.

•Tabled a request for financial support from Jay County Fourth of July Committee.

•Received a copy of the county’s bicycle and pedestrian trail master plan and were invited to the Jay County Trails Club annual meeting Nov. 2 at the Key Palace Theatre in Redkey.

•Signed a lease for about 12 acres of pasture land and the barn at the Jay County Retirement Center with Charles R. and Charles C. McClain at a price of $3,000 per year and formalized a lease with Cory Muhlenkamp for a hay field at a price of  $150 per acre for 23 acres. The former superintendent of the retirement center had contracted with Muhlenkamp without approval by the commissioners.

•Agreed to advertise for bids for cash rent of the remainder of farmland at the retirement center.

•Approved a payroll calendar for 2019 that will bring the county into compliance with state standards. The Indiana State Board of Accounts requires that employees be paid on a two-week delay basis. Making the necessary adjustment will take place on March 29 and Sept. 13 in order to get into alignment. “We have to,” said auditor Anna Culy. “We have no choice. … It will not be fun. … We’re trying to give everybody a heads-up.”