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Next month, the Kosciusko County Council will need to decide if they want to approve additional funding for the study of the Western Alternative Route Project.
Thursday, Kosciusko County Councilman Larry Teghtmeyer, who serves as the council's representative on the project committee, told the council the committee thinks the project as originally proposed may be shortsighted.
By ending the project at U.S. 30, Teghtmeyer said, the committee and The Troyer Group, the engineering firm for the project, believe it would create the same "bottle-neck" situation as the county currently has, just in another location.
He said there's a feeling the route may need to be enlarged to the north, possibly tying it into CR 17 in Elkhart County. At this point, however, he said, it's just a point of information, and the council will have to decide next month if they want to spend the extra money to extend the project farther north.
"This will require an additional appropriation to increase the contract amount ... to broaden the scope of the project," Teghtmeyer said.
"I'm in favor of it," said councilman Tom Anglin. He said the project needs to divert the traffic as far from Warsaw and other towns as possible.
"Just something we should consider," Teghtmeyer said.
For several years, the county's had federal funds for work for roads in the area of CRs 350W and 300W.
As originally proposed, with the funds the county can upgrade one of the county roads, build a new road and bridge from Old 30 to Park Schramm Road over Tippecanoe River and put in a new road from Park Schramm Road to Crystal Lake Road, including an overpass for the railroad.
Almost two years ago, the commissioners decided to proceed with the project "in all three phases and with the use of federal aid." The aid will cover 80 percent of the construction cost but none of the engineering and right of way acquisition costs. If federal funds are used, federal guidelines must be followed.
In other business, the county council:
• Approved a transfer of $27,342.34 for the county health department from the public health specialist fund to the vehicle replacement fund for a truck purchase.
Kosciusko County Health Department Administrator Bob Weaver said a 1992 pickup truck with more than 150,000 miles is being replaced. The money is grant money, not tax dollars.
A transfer of $1,500 for the health department also was approved from the official records fund to the workmen's compensation fund to cover a shortfall in the insurance account.
• Approved additional appropriations totaling $55,812 for the probation officers' accounts and then approved transferring the money to the county's General Fund.
Part of the total appropriation is to help fund new probation officers approved at budget time last year. Probation officers are being paid from the General Fund but the money is coming from adult user probation funds. A total of $40,000 of the appropriations was agreed to be paid out of the probation users' fees by the county judges for the new probation officers added this year at budget time.
Kosciusko County Administrator Ron Robinson said the $40,000 is from user fees. "They do keep a tight rein on them," he said.
Probation users pay $10 a month into the fund, he said.
• Approved a transfer for the sheriff's department from the anti-drug grant and the DARE grant funds to the county's General Fund to close out grant funds for salaries paid from the General Fund.
• Approved an additional appropriation of $20,000 for the sheriff's department from law enforcement forfeitures to purchase a new vehicle. Robinson said the new vehicle will replace one that was crashed.
• Approved an additional appropriation of $3,000 for the jail to purchase drug testing equipment for the county's work release program.
Robinson said every time a person is in work release, they are spot-checked for drugs. Those in the work release program pay for the drug testing kits, but the county must order the kits in bulk up front in order to have them.
• Approved the appointment of Brandon Spitler to the Bell Memorial Library board, Mentone. Spitler is replacing Diane Warren, who retired after 16 years on the board.
• Approved the tax abatement forms for Wabash Valley Manufacturing Inc. and Biomet that must be submitted annually for council approval.
Kosciusko County Auditor Sue Ann Mitchell said both companies are right on target with meet the criteria set when the abatements were approved.
"Wabash has met all the criteria of what they turned in," said Mitchell.
Councilman Tom Anglin voted against approving the annual forms and councilman Brad Tandy abstained from the vote.
Members of the county council are Brad Tandy, John Kinsey, Larry Teghtmeyer, Tom Anglin, Harold Jones, Maurice Beer and Jim Tranter. They meet at 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of every month in the county courthouse, Warsaw.
