Old County Courtroom Video Conferencing Available By Year’s End
November 25, 2020 at 3:36 a.m.
Old County Courtroom Video Conferencing Available By Year’s End
By David [email protected]
To explain the graffiti at the county commissioners meeting, County Administrator Marsha McSherry said, “Yeah, I wasn’t expecting that, but they’re working on getting ready to put up the acoustic panels for the video conferencing. They’re painting around the edges, as you can see, and that will be filled in with an acoustic panel, and so it will fit up against the wood frames and stick out about an inch and a half. That will help with the sound in this room when we get the video conferencing livestreaming up and running in here.”
She said it’s scheduled to be done by year’s end.
Commissioner Bob Conley asked if that would just be on the end of the north/south walls. McSherry said it will be between the windows and on the corners.
Commissioner Brad Jackson said you shouldn’t be able to see them once it’s done, and McSherry agreed. “They’ll be fabric panels, they just may not be the exact color of the paint so they’re painting around the wood so it all just blends in,” she said.
Jackson said they’ve tried diligently to protect the beauty of the courtroom because of its historic value.
It was Jackson who also said the county may have set a government record, referring to the COVID-19 testing site which moved from the Bowen Center Health Clinic to the fairgrounds.
He said the county was made aware last Tuesday or Wednesday that there was an issue at the Bowen Center site with the tents and the large number of people showing up to get tested.
“I talked to (Bowen Center CEO) Kurt Carlson and to Marsha, and they both, mainly Marsha, I’d say 90%, took the ball and ran with it and they actually were testing Monday morning (at the fairgrounds),” Jackson said. “So, three business days.”
McSherry said due to the change in the weather and the number of people getting tested – larger than the Bowen Center expected – and along with the fabric tent set up for the testing, the testing site wasn’t going to continue to work.
“As Brad said, we got a call on Wednesday, and Friday morning we had plans ironed out to get them out to the fairgrounds at the Shrine building,” McSherry said.
Before going to the fairgrounds, she said they looked at commercial properties, talked to a commercial realtor and to the city of Warsaw.
“Just by a process of elimination, we were able to move some meetings around and get them into the Shrine building at the fairgrounds,” McSherry said. “I think things are working quite well for them. They were up and running yesterday morning.”
Jackson said it was “quite amazing” to him.
“For a private sector, that would be amazing. For government, that’s unheard of,” he said.
In other business, the commissioners:
• Approved the third-quarter claims for Kosciusko Area Bus Service, as requested by Cardinal Services Corporate Vice President Matt Boren.
“If you recall, we had the CARES Act funding that went into place in July to really give us 18 months of federal CARES funding for public transportation. However, there was already approved state dollars for 2020 and for 2021 that INDOT wanted us to use prior to” using the CARES Act funding, he said.
The claim for July through September 2020 is for a total of $146,622. Of that, approximately $55,000 will be from the 2020 state money and $91,000 will be from the 2021 state money. He said the next claim will be about $700 from the state and the rest will be the federal CARES funds.
“All of the county dollars, the city dollars, some of the other dollars we generate for KABS is currently going into a restricted fund that can be used for public transportation after the federal CARES Act money is exhausted and that is something INDOT worked out to make sure they were using those CARES Act dollars for public transportation,” he said.
Commissioner Cary Groninger asked what KABS ridership is, and Boren said it’s a little down at about 3,000 rides a month from 4,000-4,500. As the winter settles in, they expect ridership to increase as biking and walking become less viable options.
• Approved County Health Administrator Bob Weaver to replace Kosciusko County Health Department environmental scientist Neal Brown’s truck, which collided with a deer about a month ago.
In getting some estimates to get the truck fixed initially, Weaver said they learned it would only be about a $1,000 difference to trade the vehicle in with a warranty, instead of fixing the old one. He said he had money in his budget to do that this year. He got three estimates and wanted to go with the lowest one from Shepherd’s. The estimate to trade is $3,050.
• Approved the ordinance amendment regarding public use communication towers, as presented by Area Plan Assistant Planner Matt Sandy. Sandy also presented it to the Area Plan Commission Nov. 4, which unanimously approved recommending the county commissioners approve it.
• Voted to use CARES Act funding to reimburse payroll expenses of employees in public health and public safety departments, as presented by county attorney Chad Miner. The commissioners will approve and sign the resolution at their Dec. 8 meeting.
• Approved the interlocal agreement between the county council, commissioners and the Kosciusko County Solid Waste Management District. The agreement allows the county auditor, Michelle Puckett, to be the controller of the KCSWMD for a fee of $6,000 annually, Puckett said.
Puckett also presented the interlocal agreement between the county and the Kosciusko County Convention, Recreation and Visitor Commission (KCCRVC). It allows Puckett to be the controlling agent for the KCCRVC, and the commissioners also approved that.
She said the agreement was reviewed over the last year and her services will be refined “to exactly what is listed in the agreement.” The KCCRVC signed off on the agreement Nov. 4.
“Previously, even though it was listed that I was the controller, I was also the secretary so I did the agenda, did the minutes, had the communication with everybody before and after, as well as the financial responsibilities. So this will narrow that scope to just the financial responsibilities and reporting those at every minutes,” she said, noting that she will still attend every KCCRVC meeting and fulfill her duties to the county council and commissioners.
• Approved all four items presented by Highway Superintendent Steve Moriarty, including reducing the speed on Walnut Creek off CR 200S from 30 to 25 mph; a financial commitment letter for the Husky Trail bridge project, committing the county to 20% of the project with federal funding providing 80%; the purchase of a sign truck to replace the department’s 22-year-old truck, with quotes accepted until Dec. 7, bids opened Dec. 8 and awarded Dec. 22; the acceptance of the highway’s recommendation for the annual bids for supplies, except for fuel.
Moriarty said they want to rebid the fuel as they only received two bids on it and previously received more than that. The bids will be opened and accepted Dec. 22.
To explain the graffiti at the county commissioners meeting, County Administrator Marsha McSherry said, “Yeah, I wasn’t expecting that, but they’re working on getting ready to put up the acoustic panels for the video conferencing. They’re painting around the edges, as you can see, and that will be filled in with an acoustic panel, and so it will fit up against the wood frames and stick out about an inch and a half. That will help with the sound in this room when we get the video conferencing livestreaming up and running in here.”
She said it’s scheduled to be done by year’s end.
Commissioner Bob Conley asked if that would just be on the end of the north/south walls. McSherry said it will be between the windows and on the corners.
Commissioner Brad Jackson said you shouldn’t be able to see them once it’s done, and McSherry agreed. “They’ll be fabric panels, they just may not be the exact color of the paint so they’re painting around the wood so it all just blends in,” she said.
Jackson said they’ve tried diligently to protect the beauty of the courtroom because of its historic value.
It was Jackson who also said the county may have set a government record, referring to the COVID-19 testing site which moved from the Bowen Center Health Clinic to the fairgrounds.
He said the county was made aware last Tuesday or Wednesday that there was an issue at the Bowen Center site with the tents and the large number of people showing up to get tested.
“I talked to (Bowen Center CEO) Kurt Carlson and to Marsha, and they both, mainly Marsha, I’d say 90%, took the ball and ran with it and they actually were testing Monday morning (at the fairgrounds),” Jackson said. “So, three business days.”
McSherry said due to the change in the weather and the number of people getting tested – larger than the Bowen Center expected – and along with the fabric tent set up for the testing, the testing site wasn’t going to continue to work.
“As Brad said, we got a call on Wednesday, and Friday morning we had plans ironed out to get them out to the fairgrounds at the Shrine building,” McSherry said.
Before going to the fairgrounds, she said they looked at commercial properties, talked to a commercial realtor and to the city of Warsaw.
“Just by a process of elimination, we were able to move some meetings around and get them into the Shrine building at the fairgrounds,” McSherry said. “I think things are working quite well for them. They were up and running yesterday morning.”
Jackson said it was “quite amazing” to him.
“For a private sector, that would be amazing. For government, that’s unheard of,” he said.
In other business, the commissioners:
• Approved the third-quarter claims for Kosciusko Area Bus Service, as requested by Cardinal Services Corporate Vice President Matt Boren.
“If you recall, we had the CARES Act funding that went into place in July to really give us 18 months of federal CARES funding for public transportation. However, there was already approved state dollars for 2020 and for 2021 that INDOT wanted us to use prior to” using the CARES Act funding, he said.
The claim for July through September 2020 is for a total of $146,622. Of that, approximately $55,000 will be from the 2020 state money and $91,000 will be from the 2021 state money. He said the next claim will be about $700 from the state and the rest will be the federal CARES funds.
“All of the county dollars, the city dollars, some of the other dollars we generate for KABS is currently going into a restricted fund that can be used for public transportation after the federal CARES Act money is exhausted and that is something INDOT worked out to make sure they were using those CARES Act dollars for public transportation,” he said.
Commissioner Cary Groninger asked what KABS ridership is, and Boren said it’s a little down at about 3,000 rides a month from 4,000-4,500. As the winter settles in, they expect ridership to increase as biking and walking become less viable options.
• Approved County Health Administrator Bob Weaver to replace Kosciusko County Health Department environmental scientist Neal Brown’s truck, which collided with a deer about a month ago.
In getting some estimates to get the truck fixed initially, Weaver said they learned it would only be about a $1,000 difference to trade the vehicle in with a warranty, instead of fixing the old one. He said he had money in his budget to do that this year. He got three estimates and wanted to go with the lowest one from Shepherd’s. The estimate to trade is $3,050.
• Approved the ordinance amendment regarding public use communication towers, as presented by Area Plan Assistant Planner Matt Sandy. Sandy also presented it to the Area Plan Commission Nov. 4, which unanimously approved recommending the county commissioners approve it.
• Voted to use CARES Act funding to reimburse payroll expenses of employees in public health and public safety departments, as presented by county attorney Chad Miner. The commissioners will approve and sign the resolution at their Dec. 8 meeting.
• Approved the interlocal agreement between the county council, commissioners and the Kosciusko County Solid Waste Management District. The agreement allows the county auditor, Michelle Puckett, to be the controller of the KCSWMD for a fee of $6,000 annually, Puckett said.
Puckett also presented the interlocal agreement between the county and the Kosciusko County Convention, Recreation and Visitor Commission (KCCRVC). It allows Puckett to be the controlling agent for the KCCRVC, and the commissioners also approved that.
She said the agreement was reviewed over the last year and her services will be refined “to exactly what is listed in the agreement.” The KCCRVC signed off on the agreement Nov. 4.
“Previously, even though it was listed that I was the controller, I was also the secretary so I did the agenda, did the minutes, had the communication with everybody before and after, as well as the financial responsibilities. So this will narrow that scope to just the financial responsibilities and reporting those at every minutes,” she said, noting that she will still attend every KCCRVC meeting and fulfill her duties to the county council and commissioners.
• Approved all four items presented by Highway Superintendent Steve Moriarty, including reducing the speed on Walnut Creek off CR 200S from 30 to 25 mph; a financial commitment letter for the Husky Trail bridge project, committing the county to 20% of the project with federal funding providing 80%; the purchase of a sign truck to replace the department’s 22-year-old truck, with quotes accepted until Dec. 7, bids opened Dec. 8 and awarded Dec. 22; the acceptance of the highway’s recommendation for the annual bids for supplies, except for fuel.
Moriarty said they want to rebid the fuel as they only received two bids on it and previously received more than that. The bids will be opened and accepted Dec. 22.
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