Council approves continued jail repairs
Apr. 18—GOSHEN — More repairs at the Elkhart County Jail have depleted the special purpose fund.
Earlier in the year, $550,000 was provided to the jail for maintenance projects and Elkhart County Administrator Jeff Taylor said while repairs are going well, more problems keep coming.
A chiller in the process of being rebuilt cost around $219,000 initially but now it's over $400,000. A new one, however, would cost almost double, while the rebuilt one should last 10 years.
Garage door replacements, plumbing problems, and other repairs have left the fund lacking.
"While the chiller was down, we thought with it being April we'd have some time but now, Lo and behold, it turned 70 degrees, so now we're renting a trailer or temporary chiller to keep things cool out at the jail," Taylor said.
Taylor said that between all the repairs the fund now only has around $20,000.
"We are slowly getting our arms around things," he added. "We have a new maintenance director and he's doing a fantastic job. We're having a maintenance plan developed and I'm looking forward to not being here down the road."
The council approved $300,000.
Board members weren't in agreement on whether or not Travel Lite's tax abatement agreement has been compliant.
Bruce Korenstra, the investor for Travel Lite and owner of the property, told the council that the RV industry downturn has prevented growth in many sectors of the company, but they did exceed investments and higher wages than projected at around 115% of expected. They also invested $100,000 in improvements on the grounds this year, and have invested 140% of promised investment. Despite that, they didn't meet the employee goal for the agreement.
At-large councilman Steven Clark said in his mind, the purpose of the tax abatements is in part to support the company "when things get tough."
"When we give tax abatements, it's 'if we do this, you'll do this,' and it's a two-sided equation and I think the county's been more than lenient in the past, but I for one say, jobs are very important and it's a shame because economies go up and economies go down, but in order for us to preserve taxpayer dollars I think we have to look out for all the citizens," said District 1 Councilman Douglas Graham.
Councilmen Graham, Clark, and Darryl Riegsecker voted the company was not in compliance, while David Hess, Randall Yohn, and Thomas Stump voted it should be. Councilman Adam Bujalski was not in attendance and the vote was tied. The matter will be carried forward to the May meeting.
CF-1 forms for Smoker Craft and T&T Marchetti, however, were approved and deemed compliant.
The Elkhart County Sheriff's Department salary ordinance was amended to account for employees who have been on the job for over 35 years, as the original ordinance only went to that amount of time, but now some employees have been there longer.
The council approved a transfer from the EDIT fund for bridge repairs on C.R. 26 over Baugo Creek. Charlie McKenzie said the right-of-ways necessary have been purchased, utilities are being relocated now, and the bids are expected to go out in November. The council approved $1.5 million for construction. The county's cost will be around $1.2 million with the project estimated to cost $2.9 million, and $1.7 million available from federal aid. Engineering services will be around $300,000, with 80% to be reimbursed.
The council approved $35,000 to upgrade a manual gate to an automatic at a Highway Department garage, including keypads and entry. Manager of Transportation Kyle Wagner said the facility is not open to the public but they've seen an increase in traffic at the facility with people driving around. They also approved an additional appropriation request for two overhead garage doors at the New Paris highway department facility for $20,000.
The remainder of the 2022-2023 Community Crossing Grant funding was approved to be appropriated. It's about $308,000 of the original $1 million. The remainder of a one-time distribution in 2016 from the Local Option Income Tax Special Distribution fund for about $58,000 was also appropriated.
The council approved interlocal agreements for Animal Control Services with Elkhart, Goshen, Nappanee, Bristol, Middlebury, and Wakarusa. The total is $278,327.00.
