Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
The tunnel connecting the county courthouse and the Justice Building under Lake Street has a leak, the Kosciusko County commissioners were told Tuesday.
According to county administrator Ron Robinson, the tunnel is made of concrete and wrapped in rubber.
When the city of Warsaw works on Lake Street in front of the Justice Building, Robinson said, he'd like to get someone to look at the tunnel.
"It's going to be several weeks before they're able to do that," he said.
The leak is not a major problem now, but it could become one eventually, Robinson said.
In other business, the commissioners:
• Approved a quote of $1,941.52 to purchase a new furnace at the Animal Welfare League. County administrator Ron Robinson said the duct work is fine and the furnace being replaced is the building's original furnace.
• Approved three change orders for the Justice Building expansion project, which will save Kosciusko County money.
The change orders include: electrical work on a locking system for the jail for $14,878, but the county's cost will be only $409; electrical work on another portion of the locking system of the jail for $26,404, but the county's cost is only $12,085; and there will be no cost to the county for a change regarding the finishing of a closet for computer equipment.
"Things are really going quite well," said Robinson of the Justice Building expansion project.
Robinson also reported he will work with the city of Warsaw to move a shrub on the northwest corner of the courthouse property. "The shrub is overgrown. It's old," he said.
• Approved a special driveway permit at 474 W. CR 700S, east of Claypool. The drive has restricted visibility and is not the best place for a drive. By approving the permit, the commissioners and the county have less liability.
• Were given statistics from Robinson regarding Emergency 911 calls.
"You can see how all the calls are rising tremendously," he said.
According to the statistics, there were 2,180 E911 calls in July, with most of the calls being cellular calls (749) and calls from the city of Warsaw (513).
So far in 2001, there is a total of 9,695 E911 calls, an increase of 2,133 over 2000. The majority of E911 calls in 2001 were made from Warsaw (3,291), cellular phones (1,810) and party line calls (1,339).
This year, July had the most E911 calls (2,180) followed by June (2,151) and May (1,351).
• Approved moving their Oct. 9 meeting to Oct. 8 because of a conflict with an Association of Indiana Counties conference.
• Heard from county auditor Sue Ann Mitchell that the county will have real, actual assessed values by the time the county council is ready to adopt the 2002 budget. She said this is the first time they have been able to have those values by budget approval time. The values will tell the council what the tax rate will be. Previously, the council had to approve the budget based on the money the county collected.
• Approved 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.
• Approved the vacation of a portion of South Street between Prairie and Harrison streets and a north/south alley between lots 31 and 32 in Atwood for Frank Rhodes, Mentone Christian Fellowship Inc.
There were no remonstrators.
Kosciusko County commissioners are president Brad Jackson, Avis Gunter and Ron Truex. They meet at 9 a.m. in the county courthouse every other Tuesday.
