May's Commissioners meeting

I arrived a few minutes late to Monday's Commissioners meeting, while Judge Potter was updating the Commissioners on drug problems and counseling. He said that Wabash Valley remains understaffed and that the County has a serious drug problem that is not being addressed. He suggested that maybe it was time for the County to consider alternatives.

First on the regular agenda was the Town of Remington. Remington has a speed limit of 25 mph and people approaching from the south on CR 580W do not slow down properly as they approach town limits. He wanted a speed limit of 30 or 40 mph as a deceleration zone. The Commissioners will schedule a public hearing on the matter, a legal requirement before they can make the change.

Community Corrections cannot fill two part-time positions so would like to see if they could instead fill one full-time position. The change was approved.

Developers wanted guidance on a proposed Speedway station east of the I-65 and SR 10 interchange. It would require changes to the road and perhaps movement of a ditch. The Commissions allowed them to proceed.

A lady from up north had complaints about a neighbor who was parking derelict vehicles on his property, apparently with malice. It appeared that the family and the neighbor had some sort of dispute and it was a case of neighbors behaving badly. The Commissioners suggested that she take the matter to the Planning Commission.

The Sheriff and Coroner said that work needs to be done very soon on a wall of the Northern Annex. The Sheriff reported that the tower that was the subject of much discussion last year is now up and running for his department and will soon be running for the Highway department. Animal Control wanted to increase the adoption fee for cats from $25 to $35, making it the same as for dogs.

After a break, the Commissioners denied the rezoning from GC to A2 for a property north of the US 231 and SR 14 intersection. This item had been discussed at length at the April meeting and I had guessed in the post about it that they were going to deny. Two other rezones  from the northern part of the county that had some controversy were approved. One was a rezone from residential to agricultural for a property that had an Indian burial site and the other was a rezone from local business to general commercial for a lot along SR  10 where the owner wants to place storage lockers.

As the meeting wound down, the was a discussion about vacating streets in communities such as Virgie where the streets will never be developed. The Commissioners thought that these parcels had already been vacated, but the County GIS map does not reflect that. Getting the land properly vacated will put it back on the tax rolls. There was also discussion of a couple of recent laws passed by the State Legislature. Sixty percent of the money raised by the higher gas tax will go to the state and 40% to local governments. The road grants have been continued and for counties smaller than 50,000 people the match is 75% state and 25% county, more favorable to the counties than last year. Finally, the Commissioners approved pending Council approval an increase in the burial benefit for veterans from $200 to $350. The repairs to the flagpole scheduled for Tuesday will be delayed because of high winds.

In SJC news, workers were installing paver bricks with the names of the 2017 graduates in the sidewalk southeast of the Core Building. I wondered why and was told that the graduating class wanted to continue this new tradition that was started last year.

This is final exam week so the campus is emptying out.

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