County To Buy Truck For Animal Control Officer; Changes Seen In Duties
November 27, 2019 at 12:23 a.m.
By Amanda [email protected]
Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Sheriff Shane Bucher received permission to purchase a 2019 brown crew cab hemi Dodge Ram pickup for $34,216. Bucher told commissioners it comes with a fiberglass topper and is installed with a police package.
Commissioner Bob Conley asked Bucher if the old animal cages will be able to fit in the bed of the new truck. Bucher said he thinks so but hasn’t measured anything yet, however, the new truck is bigger than the old truck, so they should fit.
Sheriff Kyle Dukes told the Times-Union that KCSO deputy Jeff Clark is “almost positive” he’s going to take the animal control position, but regardless, KCSO will have an animal control officer up and running by Jan. 1. Dukes also said their animal control officer will only deal with domestic animals, meaning no more scraping up dead deer in the roadways. Dukes said the deer and animals will still get picked up, but that will be handled by county and state highway departments.
After the retirement of longtime county animal control officer Jerry Clase, the decision was made to no longer have a county-controlled ACO. KCSO and Warsaw city now have their own animal control officers.
Commissioners also approved County Surveyor Mike Kissinger’s request to purchase a truck to be used for corner section work.
In Indiana, sections were laid out in the early 1800s and marked by wood posts. In the mid-1800s, counties remonumented these corners, usually with stones. Some of those stones were marked with the section number, township number and range number, but many were not.
When surveyors perform surveys within the U.S. Public Land Survey System and relate to corners of a section, they must completely investigate the section corner locations necessary to properly complete their surveys. This includes excavation oftentimes and searching for evidence in a field.
Property boundaries and the precision of maps rely on these corner sections to be surveyed for things such as the county’s GIS or tax maps.
Kissinger told commissioners the money for the truck will come out of the corner section perpetuation fund and will cost about $40,000. He said there’s roughly $212,000 in the fund now. That fund is fee-based funded with $5 from every survey document. Kissinger said the county council approved the cost of a vehicle and this will be the first time the surveyor’s department has had a truck for this purpose.
Commissioner Brad Jackson asked Kissinger if that meant that employees of the surveyor department had to always use a personal vehicle, to which Kissinger said yes. Kissinger said corner section work requires going off road and towing a vehicle.
“We’re the only county that I can find that has to use their private vehicle to do section work,” he said. “It’s a lot of wear and tear on a vehicle.”
Commissioners approved Kissinger’s request.
Also Tuesday, commissioners:
• Approved County Highway Superintendent Scott Tilden’s request to submit an Indiana Department of Transportation grant to replace county bridge #30 on Beer Road over Turkey Creek. Tilden said the bridge now qualifies to apply for the grant that would provide 80% federal funding, with 20% locally. Construction would not begin until about 2025, he said.
Along with the grant application, Tilden also needed approval from commissioners to attach a financial commitment letter. That was approved and will agree that of the $1,896,200 project, federal money will pay for $1,516,960, and Kosciusko County will pay for $379,240. That money will come from the cumulative bridge funds, Tilden said.
• Approved to amend the ordinance pertaining to flood control, as presented by Area Planning Assistant Director Matt Sandy. Sandy told commissioners the flood control language will be less restrictive than the county’s previous rules, lowering the flood protection grade down to the base for fill areas. He said it’s the minimum the county can adopt to keep the flood insurance applicable.
Conley said, “With the told way, you’d see people build a house and have to go up 10 steps to get into a house. Now, it would look more reasonable to get in and out.”?
• Approved David Caswell’s request to have 20 acres of land rezoned from agriculture to agriculture II. Area Planning Director Dan Richard said Caswell agreed the 20-acre tract would only be split into two parcels, meaning there will be no possibility for a subdivision. Caswell told commissioners he’s been living in a subdivision and “hates it” and he’s also well aware of what “country smells are.”
• Signed a revised capital grant agreement from KABS after an increase in the cost of new buses came to light.
• Signed the FireEye Cyber Security Agreement that was presented at the last meeting by County Clerk Ann Torpy.
The next commissioners meeting is 9 a.m. Dec. 10 in the old courthouse.
Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Sheriff Shane Bucher received permission to purchase a 2019 brown crew cab hemi Dodge Ram pickup for $34,216. Bucher told commissioners it comes with a fiberglass topper and is installed with a police package.
Commissioner Bob Conley asked Bucher if the old animal cages will be able to fit in the bed of the new truck. Bucher said he thinks so but hasn’t measured anything yet, however, the new truck is bigger than the old truck, so they should fit.
Sheriff Kyle Dukes told the Times-Union that KCSO deputy Jeff Clark is “almost positive” he’s going to take the animal control position, but regardless, KCSO will have an animal control officer up and running by Jan. 1. Dukes also said their animal control officer will only deal with domestic animals, meaning no more scraping up dead deer in the roadways. Dukes said the deer and animals will still get picked up, but that will be handled by county and state highway departments.
After the retirement of longtime county animal control officer Jerry Clase, the decision was made to no longer have a county-controlled ACO. KCSO and Warsaw city now have their own animal control officers.
Commissioners also approved County Surveyor Mike Kissinger’s request to purchase a truck to be used for corner section work.
In Indiana, sections were laid out in the early 1800s and marked by wood posts. In the mid-1800s, counties remonumented these corners, usually with stones. Some of those stones were marked with the section number, township number and range number, but many were not.
When surveyors perform surveys within the U.S. Public Land Survey System and relate to corners of a section, they must completely investigate the section corner locations necessary to properly complete their surveys. This includes excavation oftentimes and searching for evidence in a field.
Property boundaries and the precision of maps rely on these corner sections to be surveyed for things such as the county’s GIS or tax maps.
Kissinger told commissioners the money for the truck will come out of the corner section perpetuation fund and will cost about $40,000. He said there’s roughly $212,000 in the fund now. That fund is fee-based funded with $5 from every survey document. Kissinger said the county council approved the cost of a vehicle and this will be the first time the surveyor’s department has had a truck for this purpose.
Commissioner Brad Jackson asked Kissinger if that meant that employees of the surveyor department had to always use a personal vehicle, to which Kissinger said yes. Kissinger said corner section work requires going off road and towing a vehicle.
“We’re the only county that I can find that has to use their private vehicle to do section work,” he said. “It’s a lot of wear and tear on a vehicle.”
Commissioners approved Kissinger’s request.
Also Tuesday, commissioners:
• Approved County Highway Superintendent Scott Tilden’s request to submit an Indiana Department of Transportation grant to replace county bridge #30 on Beer Road over Turkey Creek. Tilden said the bridge now qualifies to apply for the grant that would provide 80% federal funding, with 20% locally. Construction would not begin until about 2025, he said.
Along with the grant application, Tilden also needed approval from commissioners to attach a financial commitment letter. That was approved and will agree that of the $1,896,200 project, federal money will pay for $1,516,960, and Kosciusko County will pay for $379,240. That money will come from the cumulative bridge funds, Tilden said.
• Approved to amend the ordinance pertaining to flood control, as presented by Area Planning Assistant Director Matt Sandy. Sandy told commissioners the flood control language will be less restrictive than the county’s previous rules, lowering the flood protection grade down to the base for fill areas. He said it’s the minimum the county can adopt to keep the flood insurance applicable.
Conley said, “With the told way, you’d see people build a house and have to go up 10 steps to get into a house. Now, it would look more reasonable to get in and out.”?
• Approved David Caswell’s request to have 20 acres of land rezoned from agriculture to agriculture II. Area Planning Director Dan Richard said Caswell agreed the 20-acre tract would only be split into two parcels, meaning there will be no possibility for a subdivision. Caswell told commissioners he’s been living in a subdivision and “hates it” and he’s also well aware of what “country smells are.”
• Signed a revised capital grant agreement from KABS after an increase in the cost of new buses came to light.
• Signed the FireEye Cyber Security Agreement that was presented at the last meeting by County Clerk Ann Torpy.
The next commissioners meeting is 9 a.m. Dec. 10 in the old courthouse.
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