County OKs a new plan

The capital improvement plan has been updated.

Jay County Commissioners approved amendments to the county’s capital improvement plan on Monday.

In September, commissioners rescinded their former plan and re-approved it as a capital improvement project list. (According to language in the ordinance, they amended the plan Monday.)

County attorney Wes Schemenaur explained items in the two-year plan have been fleshed out to meet state statute requirements for economic development income tax (EDIT) capital improvement plans.

It includes plan objectives, descriptions of capital projects — they include general descriptions, estimated total costs, all potential funding sources and planning, development and construction timelines — and specifies that the cost of projects on the list accounts for “at least 75% of the fractional amount of revenue allocated for economic development purposes,” according to the ordinance.

There are six projects on the plan approved Monday, which include projects for broadband ($10 million total cost), Jay County Highway Department ($2.2 million total cost), Jay County Solid Waste Management ($1.6 million total cost), Jay Emergency Medical Service/Jay County Health Department ($3 million total cost) and development of the 68 acres owned by the county on the western edge of Portland ($395,000).

A new edition to the plan is a sober living facility project currently being pursued by members of Jay County Drug Prevention Coalition. According to the plan, the estimated total cost of the project is around $750,000, with hopes to use EDIT, opioid settlement and local, state and federal grants to make the project a reality. The goal is to complete the facility designated for residents struggling with addiction in 2025.

Jay County Redevelopment Commission also approved the plan Monday as its list of potential projects for future TIF allocations. (See related story.)

Commissioners approved a capital improvement plan in August, which was specified in September as a project list. Prior to that decision, commissioners had been working for months to create a new plan after rescinding the five-year economic development income tax (EDIT) capital improvement plan in February. (The plan created by Jay County Development Corporation and approved by county officials had been in place since 2020.)

McGalliard suggested in September creating a similar document to JCDC’s plan, but making changes such as providing updated figures using estimates from Indiana Department of Local Government Finance and specifying projects and their allocations.  In 2024, Jay County will receive an estimated $675,794 in EDIT dollars.

The plan is a living document and may be changed at any time.

Commissioners Rex Journay and Chad Aker, absent Brian McGalliard, approved the plan.

Also Monday, commissioners confirmed with highway superintendent Eric Butcher they did not want to invest in a card system for monitoring the new gas tanks being installed at the highway department. Originally expected to come with the tanks, it would cost an extra $21,000. Butcher said his employees can continue to log each time they fill up their tanks, like they do currently, instead of purchasing the additional feature.

Butcher noted Jay County Council tabled a $50,000 additional appropriation for the highway department at its last meeting. He pointed out that fund, truck and tractor repair, is at a negative balance, and he planned to speak with council during its meeting set for 6 p.m. today.

Also Monday, commissioners agreed to pay a $19,340.35 invoice to All Central Electric for its work so far in replacing lights with LEDs at Jay County Jail and Jay County Sheriff’s Office and OK’d the company to continue the process, which started a few years ago. (The original bid for the project came in at about $53,300.) Ryan Hurt from All Circuit Electrical in Bryant explained American Electric Power is sending a $8,200 rebate to commissioners for the work completed so far, or about 35% of the facility. All Circuit Electrical had been replacing lights as inmates cycled through cells.

Commissioners heard an update from Jay County Development Corporation executive director Travis Richards and Jay County Chamber of Commerce director Tabby Sprunger. Richards and Sprunger spoke about their organizations’ joint effort with the Launch Jay! business pitch competition Saturday.

Richards also provided information about progress with the Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) 2.0 initiative. East Central Indiana Regional Partnership’s call for projects, as well as guidelines for submitting projects and a project-scoring rubric, will be released around Oct. 25.

Commissioners also:

•OK’d an unofficial detour from Indiana Department of Transportation for work scheduled along Indiana 18 west of Bryant in spring 2024

•Selected a $55,405 bid from Glass Capital Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Dunkirk for a Dodge 2500 Tradesman pickup and a $9,382.50 quote from Lehman's Automotive in Berne for a Boss 8.2 Plow for Jay County Highway Department

•Gave permission to Butcher to sell several items through Purple Wave Auction website, including a 2004 International

•Reviewed several bids for a new excavator at the surveyor’s office. The excavator purchased in 2017 has had several problems in recent years.

•OK’d combining five watersheds with the Salamonie River. Jay County surveyor Brad Daniels noted tax rates for each watershed will either stay the same or decrease with the change.

•Gave permission to Jay County clerk Jon Eads to purchase new computers for his office from Cleaver Cabling & Consulting for a total $10,650. (That amount includes technical support. The funding will come from Eads’ budget.) Eads explained issues with his employees’ current computers and noted representatives from Odyssey, the statewide case management system, have told him to account for purchasing new computers every two to four years.

•Decided not to participate in the Indiana Bond Bank fuel program in 2024. Aker noted the fuel budget program — it’s meant to act as insurance to protect against fluctuating fuel prices — has not helped or hurt the county this year, with commissioners paying administration fees each month.