Coordinating challenge

Jay County is challenging data accrued by the state and federal government.

Officials encourage local residents to get involved in order to potentially change broadband access across the county in the future.

Jay County Commissioners OK’d becoming registered challengers Monday in the Indiana Broadband Office challenge process.

Jay County Council vice president Cindy Bracy, Jay County Development Corporation executive director Travis Richards and East Central Indiana Regional Planning District regional coordinator for broadband Autumn Marshall all encouraged commissioners for their support in the effort.

Jay County has committed $3.9 million toward a project from Mainstream Fiber Networks to install 395 miles of fiberoptic or fixed wireless internet across the county. (The project hinges on receiving approximately $9.5 million in grant dollars, which may be obtained from Indiana’s Next Level Connections grants or the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program.)

 If funded, the project will involve setting up internet connections in all homes and businesses categorized as unserved or underserved in Jay County.

“Unserved” individuals are categorized as residents with less than 25 megabytes per second downloads and 3 megabytes per second uploads, and “underserved” individuals are categorized as those with less than 100 megabytes per second downloads and 20 megabytes per second uploads. Currently, according to data from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), about 36% of homes and businesses or 3,900 locations in Jay County are unserved or underserved in terms of broadband access.

JCDC, East Central Indiana Regional Planning District and other local officials are working to coordinate the challenge process for the county in order to identify areas in which the FCC data is incorrect. The deadline is April 17.

A survey for residents to answer questions about their internet access is available at jayregion.com.

Commissioner president Chad Aker agreed to set up the county as a registered challenger on the Indiana Broadband Office’s website after the meeting. Commissioners OK’d contributing about $600 for advertising the survey.

Also Monday, commissioners heard from Bracy about the new Jay County Country Living Board of Directors current plans.

The board is reviewing and making revisions to policies, procedures and job descriptions. (It won’t take emergency housing requests until the changes are in place.)

She said she thinks the facility can continue to function with adjustments to the budget, noting various salary changes and capital improvement projects that need to be done.

“We’ve got lots of things on the table, it is un-peeling a very big onion with many layers,” she said. “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. So we’re chomping.”

In related news, commissioners learned Jay County Country Living received a $43,320 reimbursable grant from the Indiana Residential Care Assistance Program. The living facility will be undergoing renovations, including new flooring and paint throughout the building. The funding comes from leftover state dollars that must be spent by June 30.

In other business, commissioners Brian McGalliard, Rex Journay and Aker:

•OK’d purchasing a new 2024 Ford ambulance for Jay Emergency Medical Service at $210,000. A JEMS ambulance was destroyed in an accident March 2. JEMS director Gary Barnett noted insurance would contribute $100,210 for the damaged vehicle. The remaining $109,790 will come out of the cumulative capital improvement fund in the commissioners’ budget.

•Tabled decision on selecting a date to begin accepting applications for the owner-occupied rehabilitation program, a $1 million effort intended to help low-income Jay County residents make repairs to their home. County attorney Wes Schemenaur noted he was waiting to hear back on some questions about how each project would be prepared. (The funds won’t be available until 30 days after an agreement has been signed.)

•Heard Jay County Sheriff Ray Newton is suspending the inmate work program this year because of a lack of personnel to run it. He noted hopes to reinstitute the program in 2025.

•Learned public forums have started for East Central Indiana Regional Planning District’s comprehensive economic development strategy, a five-year plan for Blackford, Grant, Delaware and Jay counties that serves as a summary of the economic conditions of the region and contains a list of projects identified and prioritized by each county. Upcoming forums are from 5 to 7 p.m. March 12 at Innovation Connector, 1208 W. River Blvd., Muncie; 5 to 7 p.m. April 3 at Blackford County Fairgrounds, 310 E. Park Ave., Hartford City; and 5 to 7 p.m. April 9 at Jay County Public Library, 315 N. Ship St., Portland.

•Tabled decision on a three-year contract with Perry ProTech for managing printer services throughout county offices. Commissioners asked Schemenaur to coordinate with representative Tyler Sprunger about adding in a 30-day out clause.

•Approved the following: an ordinance amending the annual landfill permit fee, increasing from $35,000 to $50,000; a $167,268 quarterly claim from LifeStream Services; and a safety inspection report for Jay County bridges.

•OK’d purchasing new holsters and related equipment for Jay County Sheriff’s Office from Municipal Emergency Services of Indianapolis for $14,839.

•Agreed to terminate a contract with Emerald Business Solutions for the sheriff’s office website. Newton explained the agreement had been with an employee who resigned from the department. Plans are in the works to create another website.

•Were informed Great Lakes Chloride would offer calcium chloride at $1.56 per foot for residents interested in dust control for their roads. The company would offer its services for roads at a minimum of 300 feet in length and 16 feet wide.

•Appointed Shannon Current as the non-voting school representative on Jay County Redevelopment Commission.

 •Asked Newton to gather two more quotes for laptops. (He had asked to spend $2,319.32 for two new laptops from Dell.)