County OKs radio lease

Local emergency responders should see a vast improvement in radio performance soon.

Jay County Commissioners approved a resolution Monday agreeing to a $4.64 million lease with Motorola for new radio equipment.

Those receiving new equipment will include Jay County Sheriff’s Office, Jay Emergency Medical Service, Jay County Emergency Management Agency, Jay County Health Department, Jay County Highway Department, Portland fire and police departments, Dunkirk fire and police departments, Pennville fire and police departments, Redkey fire and police departments, Salamonia Fire Department, Bryant Fire Department and IU Health Jay security and emergency room staff.

County officials have been discussing the need to upgrade local responders’ radio equipment for nearly five years. Ritter Strategic Services facilitated a study on Jay County’s radio equipment in 2024, showing a majority of the county’s coverage is available only if users take their radios outdoors, with significant coverage gaps in the northeast and south areas of the county. Ritter Strategic Services recommended joining the Integrated Public Safety Commission radio system and upgrading the county's equipment.

The new system will offer 95% coverage across the county, which Sheriff Ray Newton has said will be a vast improvement.

Upgrade costs for Jay County departments, including installation of a new radio tower at the sheriff’s office, come to $2.68 million. The remaining $1.96 million accounts for municipal and hospital radio equipment.

The 10-year lease OK’d by commissioners Monday — it was also approved by Jay County Council on Sept. 10 — comes at a 3.72% annual interest rate. 

It allows the county to pay the lease off early with no penalties, and payments aren’t required until February 2027. It doesn’t include system upgrades and maintenance costs for the next 15 years, estimated at just under $1.6 million total.

Commissioners president Chad Aker pointed out the annual lease payment is set at $571,654. He added the county could always refinance the loan through Indiana Bond Bank or another entity with a lower rate in the future if needed.

Commissioners Duane Monroe, Doug Horn and Aker approved the resolution.

Also Monday, commissioners heard from East Central Indiana Regional Planning District assistant regional director Darlesia Lee about a regional housing partnership opportunity.

Lee explained she recently visited Terre Haute to look into housing developments. She shared an information sheet with commissioners about regional housing programs, which could draw down payment assistance and private sector investments into housing projects. Two potential partners could include Thrive West Central of Terre Haute or Club 720. 

Adams and Randolph counties are currently participating in the down payment assistance program through Club 720. Clay, Montgomery, Parke, Putnam, Sullivan, Vermillion and Vigo counties participate in Thrive West Central.

She said $4.5 million in public funding was invested in Thrive West Central’s program, returning $132 million in private investments. Nearly 500 homes have been built or are in development as a result.

Pointing to success in Terre Haute, Lee said if Jay County were to add 10 new homes at $175,000 each, it could add $1.75 million to its tax base. That’s roughly a $17,500 annual property tax increase, she said.

Lee encouraged commissioners to look into regional opportunities for housing, saying, if pursued, it needs to be done at a regional level. Aker pointed to a push from Indiana Gov. Mike Braun’s office to work in regional capacities on projects. Jay County Development Corporation executive director Ceann Bales said she would need to look into the programs.

Also, Lee noted her last day with East Central Indiana Regional Planning District is the end of this month. She previously served as the county’s community coordinator before commissioners decided in July not to renew a two-year contract with the regional planning district.

Lee explained some final inspections with Jay County’s owner-occupied rehabilitation program may spill into October, with that work to be handed over to Bales.

In other business, commissioners:

•Heard no bids were submitted for constructing infrastructure on the county’s 68 acres along Indiana 67 on the western side of Portland. Aker noted the county must wait 30 days until it can begin negotiating with vendors directly.

•Approved the following: a four-year, $70,850 contract for cyclical reassessment services at Jay County Assessor’s Office; an annual bioterrorism contract — it’s paid for through a state grant — for Jay County Health Department; spending $10,600.58 on new computer equipment for the health department to combat firewall, connectivity and speed issues; upgrading seven computers to Windows 11 in Jay County Courthouse  for $6,300 through Cleaver Cabling & Consulting; and a right-of-way agreement with Frontier to complete utilities excavation work in rural parts of Dunkirk, including along county road 400 South between Industrial Park Road and county road 1100 West and also on county road 1100 West.

•Agreed to raise the assessment on the Darst watershed, located along Indiana 26 near the state line, to $1 an acre or a minimum of $10 a plot.

•Retroactively signed a burn ban in place for Jay County through Sept. 30 or until otherwise lifted. (As of press time Tuesday morning, the ban was still in effect.)

•Agreed to send a letter to Jason Huntsman in regard to alleged damage on county road 500 South from ditch work and OK’d Jay County Highway Department to coordinate repairs. “I think it definitely needs to be repaired, and I feel that the person who caused the damage should hold some responsibility for paying for that,” said Aker. “Like we mentioned before, if it happened once, that’s one thing, but when it happens three times, that’s a totally different thing.”

•Heard a monthly financial breakdown from Jay Emergency Medical Service director Gary Barnett. JEMS had $122,127.33 in expenses and $81,603.84 in income in August. It also made 122 ambulance runs to hospitals, approximately 61 of which were to IU Health Jay.

•Were informed by county surveyor Brad Daniels that a complaint from a local resident about a neighbor's driveway along U.S. 27 was determined not to be a county responsibility. County attorney Wes Schemenaur added the county has no jurisdiction over private drains or waterways.