OOR applications open May 28

Applications will open next month for the owner-occupied rehabilitation project.

Jay County Commissioners heard applications for the $1 million program will be accepted from May 28 through June 28.

Mainly funded through a grant from Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA), the owner-occupied rehabilitation project is intended to help residents pay for home improvements such as replacing a roof, water heater or heating, ventilation and air conditioning unit, doing electrical work or making a home more accessible.

Projects are limited to $25,000 per household and will be considered on a first-come, first-serve basis. To be qualified, applicants must make at or below a salary threshold. Those amounts are as follows: one-person household, $44,200; two-person household, $50,500; three-person household, $56,800; four-person household, $63,100; five-person household, $68,150; six-person household, $73,200; seven-person household, $78,250; eight-person household, $83,300. The program will help a minimum of 40 households.

Community coordinator Nate Kimball explained applications will be solely paper-based and must be submitted in-person. They will be available at Kimball’s office at the Community Resource Center in Portland, Redkey Town Hall and Dunkirk’s city building. (He mentioned Penn Township Library in Pennville as another potential location, and commissioners later suggested making a printable version available at jaycounty.net.)

Once submitted, a building inspector — the county has not officially designated personnel for the job yet — will review the homes of approved applicants. Environmental testing on each property is also required, per OCRA standards, before the county can accept bids for each project.

The county is contributing a match of about $90,000 in federal coronavirus relief funds toward the program, which was offered as an incentive for communities allocating their American Rescue Plan Act dollars through OCRA’s Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program (HELP).

Also Monday, commissioners talked about installing dash cameras in Jay Emergency Medical Service (JEMS) and Jay County Highway Department vehicles.

JEMS director Gary Barnett shared an estimate from Brigade Electronics of Portland for a dash camera, which would record audio and video and store up to 32 gigabytes of footage.

The devices were priced at just over $350 each, with related GPS services costing approximately $7.99 per month for each unit. He mentioned a setup fee also estimated around $188.

Commissioner Chad Aker noted the highway department is also considering dash cameras. Schemenaur talked about amending the personnel policy to address employees being recorded, noting the intent isn’t to “listen in” on employee conversations but could help in any potential legal action taken against the county, such as vehicle accidents.

“I think that there’s several times where (recording) could save the county from liability issues if there’s a dispute over something,” said Schemenaur.

In other business, commissioners:

•Agreed to discuss the contract with Jay County Development Corporation during a special session following the commissioners’ meeting May 13. The meeting will be open to the public.

•Set June 14, 2024, as the deadline for non-profit organizations and others to submit applications for economic development income tax (EDIT) funds to be distributed in 2025.

•Approved the following: a resolution proposed by Portland Evening Optimists to declare April 29 through May 4 as appreciation week for local law enforcement; purchasing a Western Star truck and five-year extended warranty for $131,940 from Stoops of Fort Wayne and outfitting the truck for the highway department at $96,198 from WA Jones of Columbia City; transferring a 2006 Sterling truck from the highway department to Jay County Surveyor’s Office; a $50,000 annual permit fee for Jay County Landfill, which increased this year by $15,000 for the first time in more than 20 years; $9,539.01 for repairs to a highway department vehicle; purchasing about $3,600 in equipment from Handtevy for pediatric emergency care for JEMS, with director John McFarland noting the state chipped in to the original price and it will annually cost about the same amount; and a $2,553 settlement agreement with Robert Armstrong, a former Jay County Sheriff’s Office employee who left the department prior to his contract, which stipulates employees must stay for a certain amount of time to pay back education fees.

•Heard from Jon Eads of Jay County Country Living’s advisory board, who noted plans to do a pest inspection on the facility in the near future. He also pointed out furniture and equipment, including commercial washers and dryers, are available from a residential center in Adams County that is closing. (Jay County Country Living is seeking new washers and dryers.)

•Accepted bids for oil from KTech and Asphalt Materials.

•OK’d buying one 20-foot and two 40-foot outdoor containers for $7,844 from Skymax for storing sandbags and related highway department equipment. Emergency Management Agency director Samantha Rhodehamel noted sand has been donated by U.S. Aggregates of rural Portland for sandbags.

•Signed other claims totaling $2,317,612.01.