County Spends $48,000 For Environmental Mitigation
May 2, 2018 at 8:34 p.m.
Kosciusko County commissioners on Tuesday approved spending up to $48,000 to relocate wetlands in conjunction with a bridge construction project.
The bridge on West CR 300N over Tippecanoe River will be widened this summer.
To use federal funds on the project, the law requires moving about eight-tenths of an acre of wetlands. Cardno is a company with a native plant nursery near Walkerton, and it was awarded the contract.
The money, already a part of the budget for the bridge-widening project, includes the first year of monitoring the wetlands, according to John Richardson, senior consultant and watershed ecologist with Cardno. Once completed, the newly constructed wetland will have to be monitored for a decade.
“To me, that seems like the biggest waste of federal money ever,” said Commissioner Brad Jackson, who nevertheless made the motion to approve the project.
Jerome Keener, Pierceton, was recognized as the county’s veteran of the month. Keener is a 1968 graduate of Pierceton High School and was drafted right after graduation, according to Rich Maron, county veterans affairs officer.
Keener went through basic training at Fort Knox, Ky., and Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. He served a one-year tour in Vietnam, driving a gun truck and handling a .50 caliber machine gun. He fought in Tuy Hoa, Pleik and Quinhon before being discharged March 31, 1971.
In October 1971, Keener married his wife, Marsha. They have two married sons, with 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, with two more great-grandchildren due this summer.
He retired from R.R. Donnelly after 39 years.
“In his spare time he is always doing for others and enjoys spending time with family,” Maron said. “He has quite the green thumb and enjoys tending to his garden, and his yard is always immaculate, not to mention his beautiful Koi pond that he designed himself and finds it very therapeutic and helps with PTSD that so many veterans deal with daily.”
The only other items of business before the commissioners was to approve a pair of maintenance contracts.
The first contract totaled $8,927 to have three parking lots resealed. One lot is on the southeast corner of Fort Wayne and Lake streets; another is at the old jail at East Main and North Indiana streets; and the third is at the county’s work release center.
The other contract is for $9,654 to seal, waterproof and power wash the east and west stairs at the old courthouse. During the work, the stairs will be closed for about two days on one side, then two more on the other.
The next county commissioners meeting is at 9 a.m. May 15 on the third floor of the old courthouse.
Kosciusko County commissioners on Tuesday approved spending up to $48,000 to relocate wetlands in conjunction with a bridge construction project.
The bridge on West CR 300N over Tippecanoe River will be widened this summer.
To use federal funds on the project, the law requires moving about eight-tenths of an acre of wetlands. Cardno is a company with a native plant nursery near Walkerton, and it was awarded the contract.
The money, already a part of the budget for the bridge-widening project, includes the first year of monitoring the wetlands, according to John Richardson, senior consultant and watershed ecologist with Cardno. Once completed, the newly constructed wetland will have to be monitored for a decade.
“To me, that seems like the biggest waste of federal money ever,” said Commissioner Brad Jackson, who nevertheless made the motion to approve the project.
Jerome Keener, Pierceton, was recognized as the county’s veteran of the month. Keener is a 1968 graduate of Pierceton High School and was drafted right after graduation, according to Rich Maron, county veterans affairs officer.
Keener went through basic training at Fort Knox, Ky., and Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. He served a one-year tour in Vietnam, driving a gun truck and handling a .50 caliber machine gun. He fought in Tuy Hoa, Pleik and Quinhon before being discharged March 31, 1971.
In October 1971, Keener married his wife, Marsha. They have two married sons, with 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, with two more great-grandchildren due this summer.
He retired from R.R. Donnelly after 39 years.
“In his spare time he is always doing for others and enjoys spending time with family,” Maron said. “He has quite the green thumb and enjoys tending to his garden, and his yard is always immaculate, not to mention his beautiful Koi pond that he designed himself and finds it very therapeutic and helps with PTSD that so many veterans deal with daily.”
The only other items of business before the commissioners was to approve a pair of maintenance contracts.
The first contract totaled $8,927 to have three parking lots resealed. One lot is on the southeast corner of Fort Wayne and Lake streets; another is at the old jail at East Main and North Indiana streets; and the third is at the county’s work release center.
The other contract is for $9,654 to seal, waterproof and power wash the east and west stairs at the old courthouse. During the work, the stairs will be closed for about two days on one side, then two more on the other.
The next county commissioners meeting is at 9 a.m. May 15 on the third floor of the old courthouse.