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One bid for the Chinworth Bridge rehabilitation project was received and opened at Tuesday’s Kosciusko County Commissioners meeting.
The bid was from Milestone Construction for $915,412.19.
Kosciusko County Highway Department (KCHD) Superintendent Troy Kintzel took the bid under advisement and will make a recommendation to the commissioners at their 9 a.m. Oct. 6 meeting.
Kintzel also requested approval of the 2027 Community Crossings Matching Grant financial commitment letter, which confirms the KCHD is committed to paying their portion of the 50/50 matching grant from the state. The KCHD’s portion would be $322,434, if awarded. The letter was approved.
He also made a request to purchase a 2027 dump truck. He obtained three bids for the truck and said the best option for the KCHD was Selking International, out of South Bend, for $173,252.03. The money is in the KCHD budget. The commissioners approved the request.
He requested to purchase a new skid loader, upon review of the contract by county attorney Ed Ormsby, for $69,655. It is being purchased through Sourcewell and Kintzel said the money was in their budget.
Eric Sorensen, the county’s director of technology, opened three bids for county courtroom upgrades.
“We’re in the process, we’re looking at upgrading our technology in our courtrooms. We have aging speakers ... that are pushing 40 years old. Old wiring. Old microphones. Just want to modernize that, we put that in our budget,” he explained.
The bids included $87,729.71 from Justice AV Solutions (JAVS), $95,694.73 from VIS Digital and $38,242.77 from Force Tech. Sorensen took the bids under advisement and will make a recommendation to the commissioners at their Oct. 6 meeting.
Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs Northwest Indiana District Service Officer Mark Gourley gave a report to the commissioners on the key performance indicators “as defined by the accreditation standards set by the Indiana Veterans Affairs Commission back in December of 2025, which I had presented to you earlier this year.”
He said he was happy to say Kosciusko County’s veteran service officer, Darryl McDowell, currently meets all standards required for continued accreditation.
The VA data from the 2024 federal fiscal year “shows veterans and other claims living here in Kosciusko County received $17,617,723 in direct compensation and pension benefit payments. This covers a period from Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024, and is the most recent data published by the federal Department of Veteran Affairs. The VA’s veteran population projection model estimates there are 4,146 veterans living here in Kosciusko County,” Gourley said.
A review of fully developed plans submitted by McDowell did not reveal any major discrepancies, he said.
Commissioner Cary Groninger said it was great news they are in compliance. Commissioner Sue Ann Mitchell thanked Gourley and said it was good to hear they were doing well. Commissioner Bob Conley said there are 4,146 veterans in the county blessed to have McDowell as their veteran service officer.
In other business, the commissioners approved:
• The Opioid Committee’s recommendations for opioid settlement funds grants, as presented by Mitchell. She said the committee wasn’t able to give the applicants 100% of what they asked for.
The grants include $75,000 to LITE (Living In Transition Effectively) for their RISE (Resilience, Inspiration, Support and Empowerment) teen growth program; $30,000 to Serenity House for residences; and $175,000 to Fellowship Missions for their Next Step Women’s Home. Mitchell said they have a “wee bit” of money left but that’s where they are with this round of grants.
Mitchell said the sad thing about the opioid settlement money is it doesn’t come in on a regular basis.
County Council President Tony Ciriello, who sits on the committee with Mitchell and Councilman Joe Irwin, said, “When it comes to the Opioid Committee, one thing that I want to make sure the commissioners are aware of, is that we did change the application process. Made it a lot more stringent. Made it so that there were certain requirements that had to be met by the applicant before we even consider the application. I know in the past there’s been problems with a couple of groups not being forthcoming with us on some things, but under the new application process, the stuff that we have, everything is above board, everything is running like it should, everybody’s on the same page.”
He said the new application process has made a difference in what the opioid committee does.
• The Kosciusko Area Bus Service (KABS) bus replacement grant agreement, as presented by General Manager Kristin Rude, to replace two large buses in KABS’ existing fleet. The two buses are being funded with $210,716 in federal funds and $37,186 of local funds.
The commissioners also approved transitioning cameras from existing buses to the new buses for $1,930, funded with local revenue sources.
• All the rezoning and vacation requests presented by Area Plan Director Matt Sandy. There were no remonstrators.
• A zoning ordinance amendment, as presented by Sandy.
He explained, “From inception in 1975, our ordinance had a section in there that required once a permit was issued, you had six months to begin that construction project, otherwise it expired. That was in there for a number of different reasons, and through time that has become more convoluted or not necessarily for that reason. There’s state law, there’s case law that kind of contradicts that as well.”
The amendment removes that specific section from the ordinance. A petitioner still has two years to finish a project once it’s started, but the ordinance eliminates that start expiration date.
• The 2027 holidays and commissioner meeting dates.
