Sheriff’s Department To Purchase Scene Scanner
November 28, 2018 at 7:08 p.m.
Sheriff’s Department To Purchase Scene Scanner
By Mark [email protected]
Sheriff Rocky Goshert and deputies Chris McKeand and Josh Spangle talked to the commissioners about the system from FARO Technologies.
McKeand said it will be a time-saver in that it will take measurements in a few minutes, rather than hours. As an evidence-gathering tool, the system will go into greater detail than the current method of taking measurements by hand.
“I know that would be useful,” said commission president Bob Conley, who once served as a reserve officer with the sheriff’s department. “You think you have all the measurements possible, then you get to court and there’s two that got missed somehow.”
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McKeand said that the device will make it easier and safer for the FACT team to investigate crashes, as team members will spend less time blocking traffic and working around moving vehicles.
The $71,994 price tag is about 30 percent lower than when the department looked into the system three years ago. McKeand said the manufacturer has found ways to cut production costs for its product and is passing along the savings to customers.
He added that while agencies in areas with a larger population might use the scanner daily, it would be used 20 to 30 times a year in Kosciusko County.
Goshert said the funds will come from the commissary account, which will have excess funds for 2018.
Other agenda items included Mike Kissinger submitting names to the commissioners in attendance (Cary Groninger was ill and did not attend) for a replacement for drainage board vice chairman Mike Long, who ran unopposed for county council earlier this month. Joe Irwin, Herbert Krull and John Lash are being considered for the board.
The commissioners took the names under advisement and will fill the position next month.
County Attorney Chad Miner had four items for the meeting. The commission agreed to begin the legal process of obtaining a property to house the county coroner’s office, approved an ordinance that expands the unsafe building laws to include the need to seal off structures to prevent trespassers and vermin from entering, and signed a tax sale certificate for Sidney town officials to complete the condemnation of a building there.
Miner also renewed his contract with the county for 2019, which will pay him about $27,000 after a 3 percent increase.
The commission also approved $767,860 to improve security systems at the justice building. The new measures will add cameras and wiring, doors and other items.
Marsha McSherry, county administrator, presented commissioners with a request from the Animal Welfare League for a building donation. Commissioners agreed to give the AWL $100,000 each of the next two years, as it provides services that the county no longer offers. The money was approved on the condition it be used strictly for the new building and not for operations.
McSherry also asked for approval on amendments to county personnel policy. It changes the standard for full-time employment from 35 to 37½ hours a week, stops paying holidays for employees leaving the county payroll and “cleans up a few loose ends,” McSherry said. The amendments were approved.
Commissioners also approved four recommendations from the county’s area plan commission:
• Denying a petition by Dominick McCann to vacate a 16-foot wide easement in the Barbee Shores subdivision on the north side of Barbee Lake. The easement is on McCann’s property line.
• Approving a zoning change from agricultural to commercial for property on either side of Levi Lee Road and on the east edge of Ind. 15.
• Rezoning Reinhold and Claudia Fussle‘s 2.93-acre property on Country Club Road from agricultural to residential. It’s the first step in getting the property in zoning compliance since a former chicken house was converted into a duplex, leaving three residences on the property.
• After altering the legal language, commissioners approved a vacation of a public way from Monica Weigand in Turkey Creek Township. That matter had been continued from the Sept. 18 commission meeting, allowing survey work to be completed to both sides’ satisfaction.
Commissioners also approved bids for highway department supplies for 2019.
The next county commission meeting will be at 9 a.m. Dec. 11 in the old courtroom of the county courthouse.
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Sheriff Rocky Goshert and deputies Chris McKeand and Josh Spangle talked to the commissioners about the system from FARO Technologies.
McKeand said it will be a time-saver in that it will take measurements in a few minutes, rather than hours. As an evidence-gathering tool, the system will go into greater detail than the current method of taking measurements by hand.
“I know that would be useful,” said commission president Bob Conley, who once served as a reserve officer with the sheriff’s department. “You think you have all the measurements possible, then you get to court and there’s two that got missed somehow.”
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McKeand said that the device will make it easier and safer for the FACT team to investigate crashes, as team members will spend less time blocking traffic and working around moving vehicles.
The $71,994 price tag is about 30 percent lower than when the department looked into the system three years ago. McKeand said the manufacturer has found ways to cut production costs for its product and is passing along the savings to customers.
He added that while agencies in areas with a larger population might use the scanner daily, it would be used 20 to 30 times a year in Kosciusko County.
Goshert said the funds will come from the commissary account, which will have excess funds for 2018.
Other agenda items included Mike Kissinger submitting names to the commissioners in attendance (Cary Groninger was ill and did not attend) for a replacement for drainage board vice chairman Mike Long, who ran unopposed for county council earlier this month. Joe Irwin, Herbert Krull and John Lash are being considered for the board.
The commissioners took the names under advisement and will fill the position next month.
County Attorney Chad Miner had four items for the meeting. The commission agreed to begin the legal process of obtaining a property to house the county coroner’s office, approved an ordinance that expands the unsafe building laws to include the need to seal off structures to prevent trespassers and vermin from entering, and signed a tax sale certificate for Sidney town officials to complete the condemnation of a building there.
Miner also renewed his contract with the county for 2019, which will pay him about $27,000 after a 3 percent increase.
The commission also approved $767,860 to improve security systems at the justice building. The new measures will add cameras and wiring, doors and other items.
Marsha McSherry, county administrator, presented commissioners with a request from the Animal Welfare League for a building donation. Commissioners agreed to give the AWL $100,000 each of the next two years, as it provides services that the county no longer offers. The money was approved on the condition it be used strictly for the new building and not for operations.
McSherry also asked for approval on amendments to county personnel policy. It changes the standard for full-time employment from 35 to 37½ hours a week, stops paying holidays for employees leaving the county payroll and “cleans up a few loose ends,” McSherry said. The amendments were approved.
Commissioners also approved four recommendations from the county’s area plan commission:
• Denying a petition by Dominick McCann to vacate a 16-foot wide easement in the Barbee Shores subdivision on the north side of Barbee Lake. The easement is on McCann’s property line.
• Approving a zoning change from agricultural to commercial for property on either side of Levi Lee Road and on the east edge of Ind. 15.
• Rezoning Reinhold and Claudia Fussle‘s 2.93-acre property on Country Club Road from agricultural to residential. It’s the first step in getting the property in zoning compliance since a former chicken house was converted into a duplex, leaving three residences on the property.
• After altering the legal language, commissioners approved a vacation of a public way from Monica Weigand in Turkey Creek Township. That matter had been continued from the Sept. 18 commission meeting, allowing survey work to be completed to both sides’ satisfaction.
Commissioners also approved bids for highway department supplies for 2019.
The next county commission meeting will be at 9 a.m. Dec. 11 in the old courtroom of the county courthouse.
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