Connecting?

Will the time come to hit the trail between Redkey and Dunkirk?

Jay County Commissioners unanimously agreed Monday to endorse a grant application to Gov. Eric Holcomb’s Next Level Trails program and backed up that endorsement with a pledge of $150,000 in economic development income tax revenues to help with the local match.

John Moore of the Jay County Trails Club said The Portland Foundation has already committed to $150,000, and the club expects local donations to make up the rest of the $50,000 needed to match Next Level grant funds.

The estimated cost of the 3-mile stretch of trail alongside the Conrail railroad tracks between the two towns is $1.6 million, Moore said.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources has set aside a total of $90 million for the program, with $70 million earmarked for regional projects and $20 million earmarked for “locally significant” projects.

A total of $25 million has been set aside for the first round of grants.

“The $90 million from the state right now is the biggest game in town,” Moore told commissioners. “Linking these two communities is going to be a real boost to Dunkirk and Redkey. … It’s something that I think is significant.”

The deadline for the initial grant request is Feb. 15. Moore also asked that the county serve as fiscal agent and contract administrator should the grant be awarded.

Moore noted that the cost per mile is higher because this would be newly-developed trail for biking and walkers.

“This is very good leverage,” said commissioner president Chuck Huffman. “We’d be paying slightly less than 10 percent of the total cost.” 

Commissioners were also unanimous in their role as county drainage board in approving a hike in ditch assessments for the Salamonie River Watershed.

The assessment for farmland will go from $1 an acre to $2 an acre. Individual plots will jump from $12.50 to $20.

While the previous ditch assessments brought in $79,434 per year, the new rates will bring in $140,322 per year.

It is the first time rates for that watershed have been raised since 1994.

Commissioners also praised efforts by county highway department crews to clear snow over the weekend and into Monday.

“You guys were fighting a losing battle,” said Chad Aker, taking part in his first meeting as commissioner.

“I think you guys do a better job than the state,” added county auditor Anna Culy.

In other business over the course of a four-hour meeting, commissioners Mike Leonhard, Huffman and Aker:

•Approved the purchase of a brush chipper from Vermeer of Indiana, Fishers, at a net cost of $35,500. Vermeer was the low bidder for the piece of highway department equipment.

•Agreed to commit $182,700 of local road and street revenues as a match toward an Indiana Department of Transportation Community Crossings grant of $548,250 for a project focusing on Mount Pleasant Road.

•Approved $6,673 in air conditioning work and $7,282.25 in work on a new hydroponic expansion tank as part of the Jay County Jail’s heating and cooling system. The work will be done by Havel, Fort Wayne. “If we have to do it, we have to do it,” said Leonhard.

•Agreed to extend the contract for nursing services at the jail by $13,770 to add more hours to the health care services agreement.

•Reviewed a year-end report from Jay Emergency Medical Service that showed the agency reducing its reliance upon tax revenue and doing a better job of collecting accounts. “The crews have really stepped up,” John McFarland told commissioners. “They’re trying to write the charts so the payers will pay.”

•Agreed to buy five switches for the county’s computer network from Cleaver Cable and Consulting, Martinsville, at a cost of $17,575. Cleaver was the low bidder.

•Purchased an all-wheel-drive Dodge Charger for $24,806 and a Dodge Durango for $28,760 from Fuqua Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep of Dunkirk for the sheriff’s office.

•Elected Huffman president of the commissioners and Aker vice president, with Leonhard president of the drainage board.

•Approved a contract renewal with Purdue University for the Extension Service.

•Accepted donations of $337 from Red Gold for the retirement center, $2,000 from Norfolk Southern Railroad for video equipment for the sheriff’s office and $500 from SDP Manufacturing of Dunkirk to be used by the sheriff’s office for drug buys.

•Approved the purchase of office paper from Progressive Office Products at a cost of $2,799.

•Renewed the animal control contract with the Fields family at $43,000, which is the same as last year.

•Approved the purchase of 20 television sets for resident rooms at the retirement center at a cost of $3,060, with the money coming from the donation account.

•Appointed Terry Hanks to the Alcoholic Beverage Commission, Jim Bruner to Community and Family Services and the public defender board, John Hart to Jay County Cemetery Commission, Michelle Penrod and Scott Hilfiker to Jay County Plan Commission, Angie Paxson to the board of zoning appeals and Gary Theurer to the Jay County Regional Sewer District board.