Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Jeanne Jones, on behalf of the Kosciusko County Historical Society, requested a one-time sum of $18,000 from the Kosciusko County Commissioners Tuesday.
The money, she said, would be used for power washing and tuck pointing of the Old Jail Museum. She said they received $7,500 in grant money for the work but it was less than they anticipated. She also said the Historical Society earned $8,500 in the last year but that money was used for storm windows and related repairs.
"We're ready to go ahead with the preservation of the Old Jail," Jones said.
The $26,279 bid to do the job was from Atlas, Wabash.
Ron Truex, county commissioner, asked how many bids the Society received for the work. Jones said just the one.
"There is no one as comparable to perform this service," she said.
Truex said that in the interest of the taxpayers' dollars, the society needs to find another bid. He said he understood Atlas came highly recommended, but at least another bid for the work is needed.
Truex and commissioner president Brad Jackson voted that if the society got another competitive bid, the county would pay whatever the bid is minus $8,000. Commissioner Avis Gunter did not vote on the request because of her involvement with the historical society.
While the Historical Society had only one bid for their project, Kosciusko County Highway Superintendent and Engineer Rob Ladson had four bids for the Bridge 78 project. The bridge is over Dausman Ditch on CR 1000W, north of Ind. 19.
Bids included $81,000 from John Camden Construction; $75,916.10 from Beer & Slabaugh; $113,440 from R.L. McCoy Inc.; and $80,741.57 from Pioneer Associates. Ladson said the engineer estimate was $88,013.45. The bids will be reviewed and in two weeks Ladson will give the commissioners a recommendation on which bid to accept.
In other business, the commissioners:
• Discussed the fluctuating speed limits on Backwater Road. The speed limits on the road go from 45 mph to 30 mph to 35 mph.
Ladson said he would like to possibly put the speed limit at 35 mph along the entire road.
Kosciusko County Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine said he knew of no speeding problems on the road and that there are several roads in the county that also have fluctuations in their speed limits.
"We have several of those oddities," said Rovenstine.
Jackson suggested Ladson and Rovenstine get together and discuss which roads need their speed limits fixed so they can all be corrected at once.
• Approved a bid of $46,030.10 from Word Systems, Fort Wayne, for sound systems in the new courtrooms in the Justice Building expansion project.
• Approved a special permit for a driveway with limited visibility on Chapman Lake Drive.
• Continued a petition by Eric and Melody Hodson to vacate a platted walkway in Beaver Dam Lake, off CR 750W, between lots 24 and 25 of the Grace E. Smith first addition on the southeast side of Beaver Dam Lake.
The petition was continued to allow the Hodsons and remonstrators to potentially reach an agreement. Remonstrators said they didn't want to lose their access to the lake. Richard Helm, attorney for the Hodsons, said that the 6-10-foot walkway didn't actually go all the way to the lake.
Commissioners will make a decision on the vacation at 10 a.m. on July 31.
Members of the county commissioners are president Brad Jackson, vice president Avis Gunter and Ron Truex. They meet at 9 a.m. in the county courthouse every other Tuesday.
