Restriction review

Jay County Commissioners will revisit truck restrictions on county roads in the wake of complaints and confusion over enforcement.

“Any road that’s on the ordinance … we’ll take a look at those and see if they still need to be there,” county commissioner Chuck Huffman said Monday.

“Some of them need to be waivered,” said commissioner Mike Leonhard.

More than 15 farmers approached commissioners two weeks ago, complaining that they’d been stopped by the Jay County Sheriff’s office, often while attempting to get their grain to POET Biorefining-Portland.

At issue was what exactly county ordinances restrict.

“You have conflicting ordinances that may have been amended,” county attorney Bill Hinkle said Monday.

But, he said, the county’s codified ordinances make no reference to through-truck traffic.

Instead, a series of ordinances and amendments approved since 1995 restrict all truck traffic with the exception of pick-ups, school buses, delivery vehicles and trucks owned and operated by people owning property along the “no trucks” routes.

“The signage should say, ‘No trucks,’” said Hinkle.

The ordinance states, “It shall be unlawful to operate or cause to operate a truck through the following sections of designated county highways.”

Those designated “no truck” routes are:

•Como Road between county road 550 South and county road 400 South and between Indiana 26 and Indiana 67.

•County road 100 North between U.S. 27 and county road 200 West and between U.S. 27 and road 300 East.

•County road 200 South between U.S. 27 and Indiana 67.

•County road 200 West between county road 300 North and Indiana 67 South.

•County road 250 West between county road 900 South and county road 400 South.

•County road 300 East between Indiana 26 and county road 100 North.

•County road 300 West between Indiana 26 and county road 75 South.

•County road 400 South between Como Road and U.S. 27 and between Indiana 1 and Indiana 67.

•County road 500 North between county roads 750 West and 650 West.

•County road 500 South between Indiana 1 and Indiana 67.

•County road 750 West between county roads 300 North and 400 North, 450 North and 400 North, and county road 550 North and Indiana 18.

•Division Road between the eastern edge of the City of Portland and county road 300 East.

But farmer Mike Timmerman, who has served as a spokesman for the group, wondered if that list of restrictions doesn’t put an undue burden on the agricultural community.

“Why should we pay wheel tax when we can’t drive on these roads?” he asked. “Is it legal to charge us wheel tax if we can’t drive on these roads?”

Commissioner Chad Aker joined Leonhard in calling for the restrictions to be reviewed and revised.

“I think farmers should be able to get their grain to POET without being restricted,” said Aker. “I don’t want to penalize the farmers.”

But farmers weren’t the only citizens to bring their concerns about truck traffic to the commissioners.

Residents along heavily traveled 200 South urged the commissioners to continue to restrict traffic on that route.

“I plead with the commissioners,” said rural Portland resident Randy Fisher, “to keep truck traffic off 200 South. … Safety is put in jeopardy.”

“I’ve been run off the road,” said Mary McCord. “I don’t think that road was ever built to be a highway.”

Commissioners said they’ll take 30 days to work with county engineer Dan Watson in re-evaluating the roads on the no truck traffic list. In the meantime, they asked Sheriff Dwane Ford to continue to back off on enforcement until the routes can be reconsidered.

Watson said the initial truck restrictions were put in place because of concerns over increased truck traffic at the Jay County Landfill.

“The intent was not to penalize the farmers,” said Watson. “Mostly it’s been complaint driven. … We’ll look and see what other counties are doing in Indiana.”

Further complicating the situation is the fact that a number of roads are marked with “no truck” signs but are not covered by the ordinance. The county highway department will work to identify those locations and remove the signs that have been posted without legal authority.

“We’ll take it a step at a time,” said Huffman.

In other business, commissioners:

•Agreed to move forward with a new statewide case management system called Odyssey as recommended by the Indiana Supreme Court and Judges Brian Hutchison (Jay Circuit Court) and Max Ludy (Jay Superior Court).

•Set in motion the end of a management arrangement with IU Health Jay for Jay Emergency Medical Service. The decision to end the arrangement was mutual. “The intent was to help JEMS get (financially) stabilized,” said IU Health’s David Hyatt. The agreement will be terminated after a complete legal review.

•Learned that Ralph Frazee, who has served as the county’s emergency management director for 15 years, will be retiring March 29.

•Noted that Jay County Plan Commission will hold an organizational meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday at Community Resource Center in Portland.

•Approved the purchase of a new furnace at the county highway garage at a cost of $3,800. The old unit died during last week’s extreme cold.

•Learned the new JEMS ambulance will be ready to pick up on Feb. 27, which is earlier than had been expected. The price tag on the 2019 Braun Chief XL III is $183,132.

•Approved the county’s investment policy as recommended by county treasurer Paula Miller.

•Approved the purchase of a fire alarm repeater at a cost of $1,187 and radio equipment for the county’s newest police car at a cost of $1,702. Both purchases were from ERS Wireless, Fort Wayne.

•Renewed an annual maintenance agreement with Havel, Fort Wayne, for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system at the Jay County Jail at a cost of $26,268.

•Signed the annual contract with Ford for $101,959.26 for his services.

•Agreed to purchase an additional six licensed email addresses for county employees at a cost of $97 each.