County Highway Employee Honored For 50 Years Of Service
January 6, 2021 at 2:42 a.m.
County Highway Employee Honored For 50 Years Of Service
By David [email protected]
Highway Superintendent Steve Moriarty said, “Today, we’re here to honor Larry Phillips. Larry started at the county highway Jan. 6, 1971. Larry’s worked at the county for 50 years.”
Known by his nickname of “Wally,” Phillips has put in “many countless hours of maintaining our roads, making it safe for our community,” Moriarty said. That time includes during the holidays, “working long hours, spending time away from his own family so that others can travel safely to their own families.”
Phillips has served as the district patrolman for the last 29 of his 50 years with the department. “Being on-call 24/7. Trees down. Stop sign down. Miscellaneous call-outs in the middle of the night,” Moriarty stated.
He said Phillips also operated the backhoe for many years, putting in pipes under the roads that many drive on today. Phillips now sits on top of the roller with the chip and seal crew when he’s not in his district working, Moriarty said.
“I know most of the community is very thankful for the years of service,” Moriarty said. “Also, the local restaurants in Syracuse are very thankful for Larry’s work. That’s how he got the nickname Wally. Guy’s got to eat, right?”
On a serious note, Moriarty said the Highway Department is a very close family.
“And for Larry, we look up to him as being the young grandpa we all look up to,” Moriarty said. “Thank you, Larry, for your dedication to the County Highway and years of service. I know, not yet, that the big dog is not quite on the porch, that you have a couple of years left. But we’re all very thankful for your service to the county.”
Many of Phillips’ co-workers and friends were in attendance for the commissioners meeting. After a round of applause for Phillips, the commissioners presented him with a plaque in appreciation for his 50 years of service to the Highway Department.
Earlier in the meeting, Jail Commander Shane Coney requested the commissioners sign the Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) user agreement for the jail.
“This program is to help sign the inmates up for Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) 2.0 so when they get out of here, they have some insurance to go forward once they get out of incarceration,” Coney said.
HIP 2.0 is a health-insurance program for qualified adults, according to the state website. The plan is offered by the state. It pays for medical costs for members and could even provide vision and dental coverage. It rewards members for taking better care of their health. The plan covers Hoosiers ages 19 to 64 who meet specific income levels.
Coney said they’re trying to get work release more involved in the program so when those in work release get out, they have insurance. He said all the Jail Chemical Addiction Program (JCAP) participants, when they leave, have HIP 2.0.
Commissioner Bob Conley told Coney, “I think that’s great to help them start down that path, the correct path, so kudos to you for getting that done.”
Commissioner Cary Groninger made a motion to approve signing the agreement, and it was approved 2-0. Commissioner Brad Jackson was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.
Sheriff Kyle Dukes, who had been quarantined because of COVID-19, said he was healthy and glad to be back on the job.
He also stated, “I’m very, very pleased to report that currently our jail numbers are sitting at 267, and we have zero with any kind of coronavirus symptoms at all right now. Doing well there.”
He said the prison system is slowly starting to accept inmates. Dukes said the county jail is waiting to send about 20 inmates to a prison.
“It’s nice to get that going and get the numbers down,” he said.
Dukes told the commissioners he’s hired a new work release director and a news release will be sent out this week to media.
He reported the auction that Kosciusko County and the city of Warsaw held is over and it was very successful. The auction brought in $125,000 and $27,000 of that was from firearms sales, which went into the sheriff’s training and equipment.
“It’s a complete game changer for Kosciusko County. $27,000. When you look at that one step further, 2020, the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office had almost 6,000 hours of training. Incredibly proud of that,” Dukes said.
He said everyone in his department receives training, from kitchen staff to officers.
In regards to the Constitutional Rights Sanctuary County ordinance that was passed by the commissioners at their last meeting Dec. 22, county attorney Edward Ormsby said, “We have begun the review and recodification of the county ordinances. We have identified two recodification agents at this point that we can solicit bids for. So that will be an ongoing process.”
He also thanked Chad Miner for helping him transition to the county attorney position. Miner was the county attorney, but was elected in 2020 to serve as judge for Kosciusko County Superior Court III, effective Jan. 1.
Finally, Conley reported the commissioners’ next meeting will be at 9 a.m. Jan. 19 in the multipurpose room of the Justice Building.
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Highway Superintendent Steve Moriarty said, “Today, we’re here to honor Larry Phillips. Larry started at the county highway Jan. 6, 1971. Larry’s worked at the county for 50 years.”
Known by his nickname of “Wally,” Phillips has put in “many countless hours of maintaining our roads, making it safe for our community,” Moriarty said. That time includes during the holidays, “working long hours, spending time away from his own family so that others can travel safely to their own families.”
Phillips has served as the district patrolman for the last 29 of his 50 years with the department. “Being on-call 24/7. Trees down. Stop sign down. Miscellaneous call-outs in the middle of the night,” Moriarty stated.
He said Phillips also operated the backhoe for many years, putting in pipes under the roads that many drive on today. Phillips now sits on top of the roller with the chip and seal crew when he’s not in his district working, Moriarty said.
“I know most of the community is very thankful for the years of service,” Moriarty said. “Also, the local restaurants in Syracuse are very thankful for Larry’s work. That’s how he got the nickname Wally. Guy’s got to eat, right?”
On a serious note, Moriarty said the Highway Department is a very close family.
“And for Larry, we look up to him as being the young grandpa we all look up to,” Moriarty said. “Thank you, Larry, for your dedication to the County Highway and years of service. I know, not yet, that the big dog is not quite on the porch, that you have a couple of years left. But we’re all very thankful for your service to the county.”
Many of Phillips’ co-workers and friends were in attendance for the commissioners meeting. After a round of applause for Phillips, the commissioners presented him with a plaque in appreciation for his 50 years of service to the Highway Department.
Earlier in the meeting, Jail Commander Shane Coney requested the commissioners sign the Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) user agreement for the jail.
“This program is to help sign the inmates up for Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) 2.0 so when they get out of here, they have some insurance to go forward once they get out of incarceration,” Coney said.
HIP 2.0 is a health-insurance program for qualified adults, according to the state website. The plan is offered by the state. It pays for medical costs for members and could even provide vision and dental coverage. It rewards members for taking better care of their health. The plan covers Hoosiers ages 19 to 64 who meet specific income levels.
Coney said they’re trying to get work release more involved in the program so when those in work release get out, they have insurance. He said all the Jail Chemical Addiction Program (JCAP) participants, when they leave, have HIP 2.0.
Commissioner Bob Conley told Coney, “I think that’s great to help them start down that path, the correct path, so kudos to you for getting that done.”
Commissioner Cary Groninger made a motion to approve signing the agreement, and it was approved 2-0. Commissioner Brad Jackson was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.
Sheriff Kyle Dukes, who had been quarantined because of COVID-19, said he was healthy and glad to be back on the job.
He also stated, “I’m very, very pleased to report that currently our jail numbers are sitting at 267, and we have zero with any kind of coronavirus symptoms at all right now. Doing well there.”
He said the prison system is slowly starting to accept inmates. Dukes said the county jail is waiting to send about 20 inmates to a prison.
“It’s nice to get that going and get the numbers down,” he said.
Dukes told the commissioners he’s hired a new work release director and a news release will be sent out this week to media.
He reported the auction that Kosciusko County and the city of Warsaw held is over and it was very successful. The auction brought in $125,000 and $27,000 of that was from firearms sales, which went into the sheriff’s training and equipment.
“It’s a complete game changer for Kosciusko County. $27,000. When you look at that one step further, 2020, the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office had almost 6,000 hours of training. Incredibly proud of that,” Dukes said.
He said everyone in his department receives training, from kitchen staff to officers.
In regards to the Constitutional Rights Sanctuary County ordinance that was passed by the commissioners at their last meeting Dec. 22, county attorney Edward Ormsby said, “We have begun the review and recodification of the county ordinances. We have identified two recodification agents at this point that we can solicit bids for. So that will be an ongoing process.”
He also thanked Chad Miner for helping him transition to the county attorney position. Miner was the county attorney, but was elected in 2020 to serve as judge for Kosciusko County Superior Court III, effective Jan. 1.
Finally, Conley reported the commissioners’ next meeting will be at 9 a.m. Jan. 19 in the multipurpose room of the Justice Building.
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