Lease OK’d; JCDC offers its response

Jay County Development Corporation agreed to a lease.

It also responded to “points” presented by Jay County Commissioners.

During a meeting Monday, the Jay County Development Corporation (JCDC) board of directors approved its lease agreement with the city for its office space in Community Resource Center.

It also addressed 13 “points” presented by Jay County Commissioners in May as part of the ongoing contract discussion between the organization and the county. Most notably, it rejected a call from commissioners to make changes to its board membership.

Executive director Travis Richards presented the proposed lease agreement with the city, reminding board members that a discrepancy regarding responsibility for furnace, air conditioning and other related repairs had been removed. The contract still leaves JCDC with the responsibility for receiving bills for shared utilities and collecting payments from other tenants.

Board president Angela Paxson recommended that JCDC move forward with the contract for this year and plan to address the utility issue ahead of the 2025 contract.

The JCDC board unanimously approved the lease agreement, which calls for $350 monthly rent, one-year leases to be reviewed annually, the city covering maintenance for permanent structures such as heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical, the parking lot, etc.; and tenants being responsible for utilities and the cost of other shared items such as bathroom and cleaning supplies.

The bulk of the discussion regarding the commissioners’ “points” — they were presented in May after commissioners rescinded contract demands that included not renewing Richards’ contract — was around board membership. The commissions have called for voting members of the JCDC board to be reduced to nine or 11, consisting mayors or town council presidents from Portland and Dunkirk, one county commissioner, one county council representative and representatives from Bryant, Redkey, Pennville and Salamonia. The board could have additional non-voting members.

Other “points” cover issues such as funding, reporting and defining responsibilities.

Josh Atkinson started the discussion by saying he sees no reason for JCDC to entertain any of the demands, saying he believes the May primary election was a referendum on JCDC. (The county will have two new commissioners in May, as Brian McGalliard lost his bid for re-election to Duane Monroe and Rex Journay chose not to seek a second term.) He said JCDC should wait until January and address any items the new group of commissioners would like to discuss at that time.

“If the community did not believe in us, then they would have voted,” he said. “That vote, we all know, was a make or break for JCDC. I don’t see any reason to make any changes whatsoever, because our community told us what they wanted in the last election.”

Alicia Corwin and Mike Medler spoke in opposition to reducing the board membership. Corwin said the business community would lack representation with most of the voting membership taken by election officials. Medler noted that in the current form — the board has 25 members — business, government, industry, education, energy and a variety of other sectors have representation.

“I just don’t see how you reduce this board and make it better,” said Medler.

Joe Johnston spoke to the history of the board, saying it was meant to provide “broad representation” of the community. Cindy Bracy agreed, saying the community is geographically large and diverse.

The board voted unanimously to reject the demand for changing the board membership. They then addressed each of the other “points” one by one.

JCDC agreed to return unused funds from completed projects back to the county; approve the lease agreement with the city (as had already been done earlier in the meeting); amend bylaws to reflect any new changes agree to; meet monthly or as needed; and report to commissioners quarterly in person and via email as needed.

The board rejected the following points: for JCDC to lead the manufacturing sector and the community coordinator to lead the business section; and for the JCDC executive director to be the head local economic development official for the county with the community coordinator as the assistant.

JCDC did not address the remaining points, with Journay advising on some of them that no action was needed.

The board also heard various community updates, including:

•Balbec Days is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 31, at the Balbec cabin, 6703 N. Indiana 1, north of Pennville.

•The new Jay County Chainsaw Carving Invitational is scheduled for Sept. 13 through 15 at Jay County Fairgrounds. Saturday, Sept. 14, will be a busy day at the site, as it will also host the Jay County Cancer Society Cruise-In and a Jay County Fair Cards Coins Comics and Collectibles Show.

•The grand opening for the Jay County Baseball Club’s new facility is scheduled for Oct. 5.