LaGrange County Council Update
by Jac Price
The first meeting of 2012 was
opened with the reorganization of the
County Council. Jac Price was elected
president and Mike Strawser was elected vice president. All council committee appointments remained the same
with the exception of Mike Strawser
replacing Jac Price on the Human
Resource, Personnel, Health Insurance
committee. The council had two community member appointments that
needed to be made and there was only
one person who filed a Notice of Intent
to serve each position. Debra Notestine was reappointed to the Property
Tax Assessment Board of Appeals and
Michael Helmkamp was reappointed to
the Alcoholic Beverage Board.
Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Wible
presented a request for three different
projects to be funded from Infraction
Deferral. Item one was a request for
bullet proof glass in the lobby of the
Sheriff’s Department and the lobby of
the Prosecutor’s office. The second item
was for payment of ammunition for
the Chief Investigator in the Prosecutor’s Office. The final item was for
payment for training expenses for the
Chief Investigator and Chief Deputy in
the Sheriff’s Department. The Council
requested that the Prosecutor investigate item number one being funded
from Homeland Department Funds.
The other two items were approved in
the amounts of $279.86 and $826.
The Council next considered an
am endment to the Rainy Day Fund Or-
PING PONG
TOURNAMENTS
START SECOND MONDAY IN JANUARY!
January 9 February 27
Tournaments Will Be Held In
The Topeka Elementary Gym on
Monday evenings, 6 p.m.
pg 22 · The Hometown Treasure · Feb. ‘12
dinance to allow income from the sale
of property to go into this fund. It also
will cause the collection of penalties
and re-inspection money of Building
Department to be placed in the Rainy
Days Fund. The amendment to the
ordinance passed.
The Council was presented with
a request to enact a Line of Credit in
the Amount of $972,125 for a fee of
$12,151.56. The reason for the request
was due to an increase request from
the present carrier to increase the fee
to over $24,000 and the county working to secure another bank to supply
the Letter of Credit. A new supplier
offered the above proposal. The Council
approved the new Letter of Credit with
the new financial institution. It was
also asked if we could earmark the
value of the IDEM shut down of the
old land fill from money in the Major
Moves Funds and save the Letter of
Credit fees. This will be investigated for
the upcoming years.
There was a presentation by John
Sampson, CEO of the Northeast
Indiana Partnership. He talked about
economic efforts and programs of the
prior year and how this has positively
affected LaGrange County. He also
spoke of the funding of the New Tech
High School and on the Project Based
Learning concept. It was noted that
$58,700 in direct grants came into
LaGrange County. This was used and is
being used for training of instructors
in Project Based Learning and to pay
for learning coaches for all LaGrange
County schools.
Zoning Commissioner Bob Shanahan presented the justification for
an increase in wages for Jason Boggs.
He noted that the scope of the job
has changed since the job began and
he has not been compensated for the
additional duties he now does. After a
discussion it was decided that Boggs’
pay should be raised to the lower end of
the category he is working. The Council
also requested that the Commissioners
develop a written job description.
County Assessor Pat Monroe made
a presentation on the reassessment
time line and indicated that she will
need some more help to stay on target
for tax forms to be out on time. After
discussion it became apparent that
additional help would be necessary.
The Assessor has some dollars available
in the Reassessment Fund to help pay
for additional help. County Recorder
Sharon Schiltz joined Pat Monroe
to request that the position of Chief
Deputy be reinstated to each of their
offices. After discussion both the ladies
were informed they should take their
request to the Human Resource Committee for recommendation to the full
council.
County Highway Superintendent
presented the council with his five year
replacement plan. Although no recommendations and no decisions were
made, this information will be used to
determine a financial plan for the replacement of equipment. I believe that
we need to start a replacement plan
since we have not funded any equipment replacement in the past three or
four years. I will keep you informed on
this issue as we move ahead.
County Commissioner George
Bachman presented information on
discussion that is on going with ARK
concerning the Animal Shelter. ARK
is considering being contracted to run
the facility. There are many items that
will need to be addressed before any
decision will be made, but Bachman
wanted to know if the Council would
endorse continuing the discussion. The
Council responded with affirmation.
Bachman also requested that a couple
of Councilmen be included in these
discussions. Charles Ashcraft and Jac
Price agreed to serve in this capacity.
Bachman also reported that the Voice
over Internet Protocol (VoIP) conversation are ongoing and Information
Technology Director Bob Murphy will
make a report at the February meeting.
As always, we will try to be good
stewards of your tax dollars.