Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Hey, welcome to the Porter County Board of Commissioners meeting today, Tuesday, June 23rd, 2026. Consent agenda. Approval of payroll, June 5th and June 15th, 2026. Approval of claims, June 4th, June 11th, June 15th, 2026.

Approval of minutes, June 2nd, 2026.

I move that we approve the consent agenda.

We have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Motion carries. Announcements. We have an appointment with Porter County Airport Board Authority.

I nominate Jonathan Kraft.

Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Motion carries. Next, Ms. Debbie Gunn, 911. We're here to honor the administration team for becoming emergency number, we have a number of administration members for becoming an emergency number of professionals. Can you say that better than I can?

Probably not. Yes, so this is a prestigious certification. Can you hear me better? Yeah. Okay. This is a highly prestigious certification given through NENA, the National Emergency Number Association. And it is actually an international organization. And EMP is the highest certification you can get through that organization. And to give it a little more context, there are 51 EMPs in the state of Indiana. Porter County has five of them. So we are 10% of the EMPs. It's a highly technical certification. It deals with telephony and your CAD systems and a lot of just high tech stuff that was a difficult certification to obtain, but we did it together. We studied together. We all took our tests together and we all passed together. So I'm incredibly proud of this administration and the work we've put toward this.

Thank you. Is this the final view?

That's correct. We have Christina . She is our training coordinator. Rich Howard is our IT manager. Andrew Barber, assistant director. Jeremy Neiman, our CAD administrator. And me.

Congratulations. Thank you.

Congratulations. Homework, a little bit of homework on that. Those certifications are very difficult to get.

And can you just say, because most people, they're not really tuned in to the things that 911 does necessarily, what are they going to see? What is the general public going to see as a result of these certifications? How does that help the community at large?

Well, I can tell you that they have... now an understanding of really the back end responsibility of 911, which is growing, as we know, technologically in leaps and bounds. And so I'm working with a team now who can confidently understand when we have demos from companies and when we have When we're in these meetings with all of the people, the vendors that are trying to sell us different things, I think that it gives us a more comprehensive understanding of what we're looking at and what is best for the citizens of Porter County. With where technology is going right now, there's... you have your basic fundamental systems and there's a lot of over the top applications. This helps us understand those intricately and really be able to assess the benefit or need for Porter County or if it's just a superfluous ask. So all of them here I feel are, have always held that knowledge, but this gives them more of a, I think a strong foundation and an understanding of those technical questions. Great.

You know, I just wanted to say, You know, it's a very challenging job that you guys do and to take it to this next level is outstanding. And, you know, I hear the radio, I hear the calls. I know the great pressure you're all under and the way you handle things. And I just want to say that on behalf of the board of commissioners, we congratulate you. And you also will all be receiving a letter from the board of commissioners for congratulating you on this big task. So thank you very much. And we appreciate what you do day in and day out.

Thank you. Is there any information to have during this past storm that we had? We had the tornado, so what kind of activity was going on in 9-1-1 at that time?

Actually, Andrew pulled a lot of stats. Could you come up and share those, if you have them off the top of your head?

Off the top of my head, I did pull statistics after the storm on June 11th to see just how much of an increase in call volume we saw over a span of about, I believe I checked it from 8 p.m. to about 1 a.m., which is when we had to call in extra staff to come in and help out. We saw an increase of over 100% of our overall call volume. The 8 o'clock hour between 8 and 9 p.m., actually, that was our busiest hour. We saw an increase of over 30% of what our average call volume would be during an hour.

So, yeah.

Usually during storms. Storms like that is when, I mean, the variation. Oh, thank you, Jeremy. So, yeah, so for some perspective, the average June 2025 call stats during a six-hour span, excuse me, is about 126 inbound common calls. We saw a total volume increase of 161.9% from our average. In those same six hours, the busiest average hour in June of 2025, previous year, was 28 total inbound calls. This means the 8 o'clock hours-on increase of about 317.8%.

Yeah, yeah.

So we took a total of 330 inbound calls. We made outgoing 107 calls, so calls to NIPSCO or to tow trucks or to whoever. So in that 8 o'clock hour, we received 117 total inbound calls. And like I said, the previous June, our busy hour during kind of those same time of day was only about 28. So large increase.

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. We had some concern about sirens or there was some issue.

There is an issue with the radios, which obviously a tornado comes through, it's going to damage the infrastructure. So we're working with the state that runs that radio system to kind of shore up those things and make sure in the future it's more stable, hopefully.

I'm not sure how we can really mitigate an EF3 or EF4 tornado, but there are ways that we can, I think, bolster our simulcast system here in Porter County, in which I've reached out to several of our vendors to look for some alternatives and some enhancements.

Right. Yeah, there was a question as to why... Center Township, Valparaiso, did not receive the siren, the tornado siren, the severe storm siren, when they were receiving it down around Collins. My understanding is that decision is made by National Weather Service. They control that.

We don't control that.

And they determine that by their tracking the tornado and seeing where it's headed.

Yeah, those are automatically on it, activated by the National Weather Service, if I'm not mistaken. EMA actually maintains them and makes sure they're . That's right.

Thank you.

Thank you. Great job. Thank you. Can we get a picture with the commissioner? Sure. Thank you.

Where would you like it? Where are we? Maybe over here. Okay.

I'll go right here. You guys can stand there.

Yeah.

They don't block me, man. I'm wearing a tie.

You two, Debbie, can you go to the left a little? And you go to the right a little so we don't block your head.

You're a little young for that. Are you bossing? Yeah.

Thank you.

I really will. I really will. Okay, next.

We have a local disaster emergency declaration. Scott, can you speak on that a little bit?

Yes, sir. So whereas Porter County has been impacted by or was immediately threatened by a natural disaster, the incident began on 6-11 of 2026, resulting in numerous roadways being closed due to downed trees and power lines, numerous homes being damaged, and numerous areas inundated with debris. Now, therefore, the Porter County Board of Commissioners declare that a local disaster emergency exists in the county and we hereby invoke and declare those portions of the Indiana code that are applicable to the conditions and have caused the issuance of this proclamation to be in full force and effect in the county for the exercise of all necessary emergency authority for protection of its lives and property of the people of this county and the restoration of local government within the minimum with a minimum of interruption. That is the core of the local disaster emergency declaration. The entirety of that is in our office, but I do believe it's in the good enough, it's in form for me to recommend for you to approve. Okay.

I move that we approve.

Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries. You know, I got to tell you, you know, we had a lot of destruction and property loss, but we're truly blessed that, you know, we didn't have any fatalities or any, you know, major injuries. So, you know, hopefully, you know, summer gets better for us. But, you know, when you look at everything, everything can be replaced, you know, to some degree. But the loss of life, at least we dodged that. So we're very grateful for that. So, yeah. You know, you have to look at the positives in everything, I guess.

Okay.

Moving on, we have an MOU between the Board of Porter County Commissioners and Jasper County Board of Commissioners regarding the use of Porter County's high flow pump testing equipment. I've worked on this for several months with Mr. Harper in our weights and measures. And what this is, and the Attorney Scott, we've all worked on this. We've always had an agreement with Jasper to use our low-flow equipment to protect their gas stations. They don't have that anymore. capability or that equipment and so they would use our equipment, rent our equipment and they would pay for the man hours on their own and pay us for the equipment. We've now gone and we have now a high flow pump testing equipment to do larger gas stations like, for instance, truck stops and high diesel pumps. And when we did purchase this, at the time, Jasper didn't have those types of gas stations. The last several years, they have acquired them. And they had asked our weights and measures if they would be interested in doing so. And so we worked these numbers around with Scott I and Mr. Harper and weights and measurements. And we came up with an amount of $6,000 a year to test their few gas issues they have. This is only a one-time test. That's all they need to be certified for. And considering we have done their low flow for years, We felt that, you know, this amount was good enough. Their board of commissioners looked at it and they felt it was a fair amount and they were also in agreement. So that's what this is about. Any questions? Motion to approve.

Second.

We have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Motion carries. Facilities. Mr. Phil, how are you?

Good morning.

Good morning. Morning.

Okay, start with Sheriff's Department. Back in December, we you guys approved it in the sheriff's garages painted. Well, I thought the price was a little crazy and I wasn't happy with the painter. He was the same one that did JDC and some of our other painting. I had another company come out. So I'd like to get the approval to use white stone painting for less than half the cost to do both full bonings.

Can you just state the amount for the record?

14,350 to be paid out of the bond. My bond.

I move that we approve.

Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries.

Just curious though, what colors are they? I'm going to try to, I'm going to have them match the EMA building that's right down the street.

Yeah.

That way they're, they start to look consistent.

So no mural of the sheriff on this side of the building?

I mean, if he wants to pay for part of it, I'd be happy.

He might.

Then I have F.E. Moran doing sewer repair for $15,200 to be paid out of the commissioner's general fund for the jail.

I move that we approve.

Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Motion carries.

Sheriff's residence. I'd like to have RTC Construction to do the repairs in the back. That's changing out windows, fixing windows. some of the flooring, and then also getting rid of the lead paint for $28,500, $69,000 that I'll pay out of our budget.

And Barb, why don't you explain the larger point of this, or purpose, I should say, of this.

Well, one of the things that we did a couple years ago was we renovated the actual sheriff's residence portion of it, borrowed money from our D.C. so that we could lease that building out. It had been unoccupied at that point in time. When we started the conversation for three years, by the time we actually occupied it, it had been four years that it had been sitting vacant. And you know what happens to buildings when they just sit there. Nobody occupies them. They just start to fall. So we fixed it with the help of facilities, and we were able to lease that out to Market 102 with just the perfect little boutique. It fits that building so well, as well as that corridor in Valparaiso. But they've been so successful, they want to move into what we call the old, old jail. And that had been part of the museum many years ago. And it does need some renovations. And like Phil had said, there's some lead paint in there. So we want to fix that up so that they can now expand into the back of that building. And I think that'll even be a really cool experience to be able to shop in a jail cell.

They understand that, you know, what do you project is finished?

So once they get the approval and they're okay, the windows are, because it's custom-made, because we're saying about a five- to six-week wait, and they'll coordinate with the windows being in, so start the work and everything and the painting to be done. As soon as the windows are there, they're ready to go. So I hope by the end of July they'll be completely done.

So just so the current renter understands... They are not to move a box in there until we approve the rent increase. Yes. We have to find out. We have to determine. I don't know how we're going to determine that, but I'm sure there's a . All right.

Very good.

Great. Okay.

Okay. I move that we approve the building modifications in the amount of $28,569 for the sheriff's residence. Second.

We have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries.

One other thing I just want to mention, too, is I believe that the NIPSCO bill, at the time we looked at it, was $40,000 a year. And that's because there were windows broken. Once this is all done and all the utilities are being covered by somebody else, they're not going to be on the taxpayer expense. I'm really glad we're going to have a business in there that can really take care of the place. And it's going to reduce our overhead amount that we need to spend on it.

And they really enjoy that building, too.

Yeah, I agree, Barb. And also that it's an historically significant building. So to have somebody help us care for it is just all the better. A genius idea to move them in there. I'm glad I thought of it.

No, that was Barb's idea.

But it was a great use of that building. And it's nice to see that they'll be expanding.

But when you walk in there and on the very first day they open, I asked the sheriff to come with me because it's the old sheriff's residence. And it was just so cool. I mean, it just seems like such a perfect use of that building. I think you would agree, right, Sheriff?

Although I think the fact that we're going to renovate is haunted. Just saying.

They swear they hear stuff all the time in that building.

Why don't they do?

My last thing is at the admin, our loading dock, has been seized up for quite a while since apparently I found out since like November last year, you can't even use it. So out of my own budget, I like to have overhead door replace the whole loading dock for 5,600 and it's going to be all the metal hardware, the bumpers for vehicles coming in.

Out here?

Yep. They can't even use right now. Um, I was brought to my attention by recycling that they wanted to pick up the computer stuff, but, um, It's a hand one, so when you put the gear in and you lift it up, it just stays in a triangle. It won't lay out or anything, so we can't even use it as a function or anything.

I move that we approve.

Second. We have motion and second. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Motion carries. And that's the original door I was coming to.

Yeah, that's the original hardware out there for everything. We got life out of it.

Yeah, we got our money's worth.

Thank you guys.

Next, we have IT Jeffrey Spires. Is he here? He might have got caught up. We'll push that off.

I move that we approve the enterprise quote for $620.88 for 60 months. Thank you.

Think you'll get it this time?

I'm hoping.

Commissioner Rick, I should have called you this morning. You had to drive clear down here.

Well, what can we say?

Was that a motion?

I moved already.

Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye. Thank you so much. Would you please call them right now? No, when I'm back at the office. That's the first phone call. I don't waste it. And thank you for the cookies. Very nice. You're welcome.

Well, I promise cookies.

Wait a second. We don't want to let people know that.

Nobody gives us cookies.

That was prior to the meeting.

Nobody like the Sheriff's Department or anything. Oh, boy. They never give us cookies.

Okay, next, 911. Ms. Debbie Gunn.

Hello again.

You have, this is for RAVE, approval for a five-year RAVE mobile safety renewal in the amount of $59,351.61 per year for total contract value of $296,758.05.

Yes. I'll give a little background with Rave. We have been Rave customers now since 2011. We were the charter county in Indiana. Our usage of Rave, they have several different products on their platform, has continued to grow. The last time that I requested a contract renewal, we had increased our public awareness over 500%, if you may recall. It was three years ago. And we are continuing to develop the product and use it countywide in, I think, just phenomenal ways. One I would like to share is the Safe School Committee has moved from Hero 911, which is an officer-facing notification app, to Rave Panic Button. What that does is that all of the schools now are utilizing Rape Panic Button. It's an app that they can use in worst case scenario, a school shooting, but they can also, there's other variables, EMS, emergencies, fire emergencies. And once they push that button on the app, it sends notification to the 911 center immediately. via our rave command view which is something that we had not had in the past so it gives us eyes on an incident much sooner and all of that is coupled with the facility profiles that are built within rave that all the schools have spent a lot of time building as well as porter county government has facility profiles as well so it's a phenomenal tool that we just continue finding ways to grow and and really provision for our use. And I'd like to share a personal story because I think Rave is, I'm so grateful that I have Rave on my phone and I encourage everyone to download Smart911. With the Smart911 app, you can choose your notification options through the application. And I have it on my phone, and I have chosen to be notified of weather alerts. My husband and I were driving southbound on Smoke Road June 11th, and we got rave alerts associated with the tornado, and it gave the actual trajectory of the tornado's path. And we stopped and turned around, and... waited till it passed, and when we headed back down Smoke, at 8 and Smoke, I don't know if anyone saw it, but 8 and Smoke, that tornado came through, knocked down the signs there, the whole tree line that's on the south side of 8, totally knocked down. So... I can't say that we would have definitely been injured, but it was because of the rave alert we got on our phone that we stopped and turned around and came back. So I encourage everyone to download it. It's a valuable tool on many different levels within the county. It is free. It is free. Smart 911 apps are free. I did choose this year a little bit different than my last renewal request. I chose five years. That will leave the price static. It won't increase our price yearly. We'll hang now.

I moved that one.

Oh, I'm sorry. So the issues in the past with rate, I mean, everybody agreed it's a very valuable tool that people would just use it. So you're telling me that the participation rate has increased 500% in the last, what, 24 months or whatever?

Well, it was actually three years ago. So we were a beta county for Rave, and I was kind of, you may remember, it may not have been a while, I was researching other products. And other products offer a notification platform that mines their data through all of the terms and conditions that we'll get. We don't even read those, and we just accept those. Well, what that does is it creates a pool of information for these vendors to utilize you know, based on maybe a person's, I won't call it ignorance, but just lack of real reading all of those terms and conditions. There were other companies that were doing that. Rave was hesitant to do it, but recognized the value for emergency purposes and wanted to beta test that and used court accounting. So that increased our notification for things like, When we have missing people, those notifications will now go out to a much broader scope of participants because of that. And as we continue moving forward, Smart 911 is an opt-in. So that aspect of the application has to be physically touched by the users. But we're still promoting that, and it is still incrementally growing. The massive growth, though, was from the data mine that we now have provided to RAVE.

So what did somebody do at the US?

They go to smart911.com, and it's a very simple process. Once you sign up, your data is never shared. Your information is never shared with anyone else. And every six months, you'll just receive a text basically saying, go in, check your profile, make sure all of your information is correct. You just hit OK, and then you stay current on the app. And you can put the information, the personal information you share can be vague or it can be really in-depth. You can notice, you can notify responders of where you may have gas lines or weapons in your home or animals or obviously the most important being if you have illnesses in your home. Any health conditions, all of those things can be added to the app and that will just give us as first responders the first glimpse into what responders are actually responding to.

And when we originally signed up with this in 2011, it was made clear that under no circumstances is any of that information, personal information, shared with anybody, including other governmental agencies.

That's correct. The only people that have access to it would be any other – what is interesting about the app itself is if there are any other counties throughout the country who utilize RAVE as well, that profile will pop up in there – centers as well. So Tennessee, the whole state of Tennessee, if I'm not mistaken, utilizes rape. If you're driving through Tennessee and you get in an accident and you call 911, maybe you're incapacitated, you can't communicate, your profile comes up, you can put emergency contacts in there. The dispatcher would see in case of emergency contact my daughter. And we have that information immediately. So it is a nationwide product. Or that I'm a diabetic. Absolutely. Yep.

Good.

I move that.

It's expensive, but it's worth the value.

Well, in addition, all of the notifications you get for your road closures that the highway department sends out and we get those daily, that's all part of the app as well.

I do that myself.

I move that we approve the rape renewal for five years and the total contract value of $296,758.05. Second.

We have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Aye. Motion carries. OK. Second request for authorization for funding for two additional first class telecommunicator positions resulting in an increase in budget frontline staffing from 32 to 34 positions and to increase the number of CTO stipends from six to eight.

Do we need to do this in a commissioner's meeting or is this part of the budget meeting?

It's both. Okay. So the commissioners do it so the council knows the department head has asked and has the blessing of the executive to move it on for budgeting and appropriation. Okay.

I guess I want to pump the brakes on this just a little bit. After further review of my budget and also where we are with our staffing right now, I would like to hold off on requesting the two additional positions now for everyone's for transparency and so everyone's aware, I will be asking for those two additional positions for the 2027 budget cycle. The reason that I'm asking for those positions, it will increase our numbers from 32 to 34. We are going to be adding an additional talk group for the consolidation of Porter and Chesterton in order for them to have their own talk group. To do that, right now we have five dispatch positions, and that will move us to six dispatch positions. That means that's the position that's going to have to be manned 24-7. So with our numbers, we're going to have to, our day minimum right now is six, our night minimum is five. With the addition of another talk group, we will have to increase those minimums to seven and six, seven on days, six on nights. where there's been a lot of conversation in the background. And until we are fully staffed and we have those numbers released in order to man that position, Chesterton and Porter have agreed to consolidate with the sheriff thought group in the interim, working toward this goal. But because where I am right now, and that segues into my ask for the additional CTO stipends, Several years ago, we had eight CTO stipends approved. Last year, at one point during 2025, I asked to remove two of those and move them to CAD administrator stipends. At the end of the year last year, the CAD administrator position was approved, so now we have, we no longer need and we no longer use the two CAD administrator stipends. I'm asking for the two CTO stipends to be returned to the budget so that we can get these people hired and fully trained.

So you will be asking the council for those?

I will be asking for the CTO stipends. Just for the CTO stipends, correct.

The two additional positions you'll be requesting during next year's budget for 2027. That's correct. Okay.

Motion to approve. Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries.

Thank you very much.

Okay, next. The auditor.

Hi. You were so quiet over there. I didn't even know you were there.

You have a Dorset Consulting LLC agreement to provide fiscal year professional consulting services, contract terms option, one-year cost allocation plan not to exceed $13,500, or three-year end cost allocation plans not to exceed $36,000.

Hey, Brian, I read the thing, but can you put it in English as to what this LOC is going to do for you?

Sure. Pronounce Dossett.

Yes. So Dossett Consulting has been with the county now... 10 plus years, what they do is they take our direct and indirect costs for all of the 40 courts, prosecutors, and they break it down into a cost allocation plan so depending on the amount of square footage that we use for these activities for some of the salaries for some of the utilities we're allowed to reimburse the county based off what their findings are The average that we bring in from this consulting is right around $190,000 a year.

So it's definitely a good return on interest. Then I move that we approve.

I would request that we do the three-year $36,000.

I move that we approve the three-year plan for $36,000. If we do it that way.

Yes. And not to exceed.

Second. We have motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Motion carries. Thank you very much. Yep. Thank you, Ryan. IT, Mr. Jeffrey Spires.

Good morning. Good morning. Do you have in front of you a request to extend the licensing on our storage area networks? We have to get an extended warranty. They are due for refresh, but in the time period and time fringe when they expire, which is next month, we need to extend that warranty instead of replacing them.

And do you have the pricing? It's not on the agenda.

I should have, it was a, I'm trying to remember off the top of my head. It was just over $100,000, and I can get that pricing for you.

Is there any way we can get the exact amount done there?

Look, I'm not approving anything. I have a price.

Yep. I have the price, and I'll get it for you. Okay. I apologize for not.

We went through this. Well, you're new.

Yeah.

We went through this last meeting. When these requests appear on the agenda, they have to have the contract going to be approved on the agenda.

I can look it up for real quick. I apologize. I thought it was shared with him, but I didn't.

I move that we approve. Second. Thank you. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Motion carried. Thank you, sir. Sheriff's Department.

We have a resolution of the Porter County Board of Commissioners establishing an hourly rate for use of Porter County Sheriff's Department squad cars pursuant to IC 9-21-23.5 and requiring execution of an identification agreement. Motion to approve. We have a motion.

Second.

We have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Motion carries. All right. Thanks. All right.

Do we also have the second piece of that? Didn't we have to do something else besides that? Okay.

All right. Highwood apartment.

What are you limping for?

Mr. Polaric.

So we're easy on you, feel sorry for you? Well, there you go. Never learned.

I stand behind it. I need to put some weight on it.

You have a request for an additional appropriations of funds for account billing liability insurance in the amount of $77,600 for increase in insurance premium.

I move that we approve.

Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Motion carries. Next item, you have County Road 1050 North Cement Stabilization Project, County Road 1050 North from 50 West to 125 in Liberty Township. Request to advertise internal bid documents and receive bids for cement stabilization. Bids to be opened at the July 14th, 2026 Commissioner's Meeting.

Can you just explain cement stabilization? I mean, on the surface, I think I know what that means, but... What it is...

You go up there with a big machine. It's a reclaimer. They grind up the asphalt, the stone underneath it, everything down to a total of about 12 inches. And then they mix cement in with it. So then that actually turns into about a foot of cement. And then we put new asphalt over the top of it. The issue we have up there on 1050 North is we had borings done. And over the decades, it had a bunch of fill put in there. So it's real bad soil underneath. And this is the best remedy next to digging out about four inches or four foot of fill and replacing that, which would cost way more than we have. So we're going to put drain tiles along the edge of the road and underneath the road so that under that 12 inches of cement, stabilized soil and road base will be drained with drainage tile.

So it'll be good for another 25 years.

I sure hope so.

Well, actually, I get a lot of residents asking about that.

So you guys, as usual, were right on top of it and had it targeted for repair.

So thank you. I know the residents out there appreciate it because that looks like it's been through a war zone.

Yeah, it was paved, I think, five years ago, maybe. And then last year, we went and digged bad spots out from the frost and we ended up at water about a foot down.

Yeah.

We got to get the water out of there and we'll put that cement in there. So it's like a good plan. Yeah.

I move that we approve.

Second. We have motion and second. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Motion carries. And we have a discussion of suspension of the gas tax overview.

I forwarded you all an email from the Indiana Association of Counties, and they kind of broke that. They did a good job of breaking down what we can expect to happen. When we run these numbers, we're kind of looking that over the next three months, we could possibly lose about over a million dollars in revenue from the state between our local roads and streets and our... Right now, our local roads and streets fund and our restricted MVH fund were good as far as the cash to carry us through that. The issue may end up being the unrestricted, because right now is the time of year where we build that cash reserve back up to get us through the winter. Because even though plowing snow and salting roads, it's not considered restricted work by the state. This is all a result of the governor's suspension of the gas tax.

I understand the governor's made a statement that he tried to be good on.

Yeah, he has stated that several times, that he's going to make the municipalities, counties, and cities whole, but, you know. We'll see that when it happens. We'll keep reminding.

So, Jim, what are you recommending? Are you recommending that we not do everything because we might not be made home and then you're going to be really short in the fall?

Well. I think as of now, we're going to have to start cutting back on some of our projects or at least pushing them off until the fall when we do make sure we have the money. Like I said, the hospital money where a lot of this is being paid out of, those projects are still good, obviously, because the money is there from the hospital. But what we have to watch is our unrestricted payroll and stuff. And what really hurt us is for the last two weeks, we've been cleaning up from the tornado. And all that is unrestricted. All are restricted, unrestricted, I'm sorry.

And that's where we're making payroll out of.

Correct.

Unrestricted.

Out of unrestricted. So we're usually, this time of year, we're making payroll unrestricted because we're off building roads.

We're going to have to cut that until we know for sure that we're going to be made whole.

Yeah, I know what some counties have done is they've started offering employees just unpaid time off. We don't want to go that route, but that is what some counties have started doing.

I think we need to find help.

No, I know. I'm just saying that's what other counties are doing. So we're just going to start watching that one fund of the unrestricted. And hope that they do.

The only alternative would be is if we don't watch it and the worst comes to realize that we run out of money there, we will be forced to go to the council for the additional.

Right. You know, and according to State Board of Accounts, because restricted and unrestricted are all one fund, so you can run one in the red, but as long as it has to be zeroed out in the black by the end. So if the state does come through and give us the money that they said they're going to make us whole, we'll be fine. Otherwise, we may run into issues come December when we have to balance. When it matters.

Well, you're going to keep us totally up to date. Correct.

Yeah, we saw we had our first deposit last week, I believe it was, but it only realized about one week's worth of the gas tax at the patent. it cut our MVH funding roughly $50,000 that month.

That's only one week.

And that's only one week.

Just a little cross our fingers that they've been eyeing it as we go along. Yep. Perfect. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Stormwater Development Management, Mr. Jabo.

And you have a really agenda here today. Were you on vacation?

No, we got everything caught up. Good morning.

Good morning. You have a resolution establishing policy and procedures for placement of honorary street signs within the public right-of-way or on public property.

Late last winter, early this spring, I was approached by a resident wanting to put a street name sign in. on a person that lived in the neighborhood and suddenly passed away. Very touching story. I talked to Superintendent Polarik. He said they've never done that. They're a policy. So I did a little research online and found some examples in St. Joe County and other places in Indiana where they do have a policy. And it makes it a fair, equitable situation. There are certain steps. Petitioners must go through such as getting petitions signed by so many people. They obviously pay for the cost of the signs and the labor for our departments to put them up. So before you, and I sent it out to you earlier last month for your review, there's a resolution that would create such procedures and for your consideration. And I'll take any questions you may have.

I think this is a great idea, and I thank you so much for spending as much time as you did on this. So I think it was very well done. Did you have a chance to look at it, Scott?

Scott, what other, other than having a number of signatures, what other control county have on a request that to put another name up on the street.

If I might interject, in the resolution, the commissioners have the last word. All of them have to come before the commissioners and be approved.

Mike could have said that, that just asking him just cost me another $50,000.

Well, you're paying me nothing.

I move that we approve this resolution.

Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Motion carries. Second, we have an update on County Road 100 South Safety Construction Project from 200 West, 725 West to 750 East of 675 West Porter Township.

As a preface, there's a bunch of projects going on that are causing gridlock, especially in North County, Liberty Township, and Jackson Township. No, we're not.

Now, Martin was not here earlier to give the bridge report, but two of those bridges were supposed to be.

I have a report for all of them.

Okay.

So I'm going to expand. I'll talk about this one. If you permit me, I will tell you about all the other projects that are narrowing traffic in the county. As you know, County Road 100 South has been a project, geez, for 20 plus years. Originally, it started out, it was going to improve the road from State Road 2 all the way to the county line by Lakes of the Four Seasons. Never had enough money to do it even back in those days in the 90s and early 2000s. The project since kind of got redefined as a safety project of taking out these rolling hills that as you approach lakes and horse seasons in the area of 725 West and 675 West. There's a lot of hidden driveways. Those two particular intersections are hidden. People do travel at a high rate of speed along that road. So the project was redefined to take out those hills and create safety. Matter of fact, I remember a day, I think Commissioner Biggs, you were a commissioner back there in the 90s, where there were fatals there. And the insurance company was so concerned by that, came in and did what we call today a road safety audit of those intersections in certain areas. Things were done such as rumble strips and signs, but those things don't last forever. And being that there's a school down one of those roads, Porter Lakes Elementary is there, so it's a very busy place. Since NDOT put the interchange at 109th and I-65, 109th turns into 100 South, Winfield has made improvements to their stretch of 109th. This is a very popular road for people going to and from Mid-South Porter County, Valparaiso area, they come down State Road 2, scoot across that way to get on I-65. So the project finally came to fruition, bought 51 parcels of land to get the road widened if necessary. There was some mitigation of wetlands. The project was let by INDOT on May 7th of this year, and the low bidder was Reith Riley at just over $5.4 million for this project. So, talking about the schedule. Now, during the project development, a lot of coordination was done with a lot of the agencies, such as the schools, the fire services, et cetera, like that. So, here, based on the contract amount, there is an intermediate, this is going to be a two-season job. It got let late in the year, so it's going to have to go two seasons. Plus, it's a pretty big job. The first is an intermediate completion date of October 30th of 2026. They can close the roads for 70 calendar days continuously. But once they start, they only get 70 days.

So they got to make sure their start date is a good start date.

They have to be done. They can do those 70 days wherever they want to put them. They got to be done by October 30th. We had a pre-construction meeting last week with the contractor in Dodd and Old Parties. Sounds like toward the latter part of July, he may get out there and get doing things when the closure occurs. Maybe plus or minus or a little more time than that. But we certainly will get the information out to all the agencies and things like that. So that's this year. Then next year, they have a final completion or substantial completion of September 30th of 2027. Next year, they get to close the road again, but they only get to do it for 110 calendar days. So it's just short of three. What?

Yeah, four months.

Four months? Yeah. Just short of four months?

What's the alternate route?

There is a detour posted going to be using county line road over on the lake county side we've coordinated with the town of Winfield and all I think going up to maybe division room, I believe, don't quote me on that. But yes, there's an official detour posting residents will be able to access their driveways that live along that stretch. And I believe it also includes provisions made hopefully for emergency vehicles. If they need to, they can pass through as well. But it's a very heavily traveled and busy road. We're going to be videotaping the roads in Lake County on our side of the line, you know, to see what kind of damage gets done due to the increased traffic loads on those streets. So that's the first one. Any questions?

I mean, the project's been works for a long time, you know.

I think everybody will like it when done. We're just going to have to suffer through it and get it built.

Drive on that road a lot. No, this is going to hurt.

Yeah, it's a busy road. But, you know, is there ever a good time to shut down a road? You know, it's one of those. I know it's been an in-depth project for years. And I know the clock is ticking on that time limit.

And we were able to get 80% of the cost from Federal Highway Administration. So I think it was a good leverage of our money. Now on to some good news. Meridian Road north of US 6, our anticipation will be open by the end of this week.

Yes.

Originally, the contract substantial completion date was August 7th, so that by a week and a half, two weeks. So we're very appreciative of the contractor's effort. Mineral Springs Road over the east branch of Little Calumet River, we call it Bridge 150. That thing was bid October of last year. The substantial completion date for that is August 1st, although there may be 17 days behind schedule because of the depth of the pilot. There was more depth that needed to be due, but they're working to accelerate that. So I would say the time between as early as October 1st to middle of October, that could be open, or August, I'm sorry. That could be open. U.S. 6 over Salt Creek, that's just east of 149. Again, back to Meridian Road. This bridge is causing havoc in the township. I talked to NDOT this week. They anticipate it to be open on June 27th, which is, again, the end of this week, or at the latest, early next week. So that will be open.

So both those at the end of this week or early next week. Correct.

Then the other NDOT project is US-6 over Coffee Creek. That's between Mander and Old Suman Road. That has a substantial completion date at the middle of July. So 6 will be open. Right now 6 is kind of a ghost town in certain areas. Then finally, County Road 200 West, Babcock Road, Bridge 132. We had a pre-construction meeting next week. There's two utilities, Comcast and Nipsco. We've got to get clear. We're working hard to get them done. But we do have to wait for materials. You guys previously approved us getting advanced orders of material. So we didn't wait for a contractor. We got the beams and the bearing pads all ordered. Contractors should be mobilizing their not-too-distant future. They'll start mobilizing. They should be demolishing the old bridge. The substantial completion date for that project is October 15th of this year, God willing. And we're hoping that can go fairly smooth once we get those utilities out of the way. So that's a report of some of the critical. Yes, open the end of this week.

All good news.

Thanks. You're welcome.

Thank you. Next, block party road closure.

This is your second year, right? Third. Third, okay. I move that we approve the request to close Glendale Drive between Sweet Bay and Maryland Way on Saturday, July 11, 2026 from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. Second.

We have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carried.

Thank you. Thank you for your time.

Party on.

Party on.

Courtside Ministries.

Good morning.

We are asking for permission to use the courthouse grounds, southwest corner every Tuesday to offer prayer starting on July 7, 2026 through October 27, 2026 from 9am to 11am.

Yeah, originally we would do this for a whole year, but I think last time I came here, you were concerned about increased use of the courthouse and kind of wanted to see what happened.

And as far as I think what you're referring to is that you had come in and maybe requested several dates at the beginning of the year and they wanted to hold off. Is that what you're referring to?

refresh my memory it's your question but what is your no I mean normally we get this approval for a whole year and you approved it for six months because you were concerned about other groups coming in and increased use right okay so that is what I was referring to and we did have significant use of the courthouse grounds

Through last year, and it has slowed down a little at the beginning of this year, but. To answer your question, we had, I would probably say 1 of our heaviest uses of the courthouse grounds in 2025, leading in the 2026.

Okay. So much so we had.

Yeah, so. That is why we were hesitant as a board to say past six months because we don't know who else is coming in. Yes.

And what does this look like when you're there? Is it just you?

There's usually two of us, two to four people. And we set up a table down where the UPS box is that has our free materials to give out to people. And basically when people come in, we just say, Can we pray with you about anything? And people coming into the courthouse, sometimes they're coming under very stressful situations. And I just appreciate a word to the Lord to help them out, give them peace in a stressful situation. So we always ask their permission. And then we'll pray with them if they agree.

Well, I'm fine with... Offering every Tuesday.

I move that we approve the request.

Second. We have motion and second. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye. Thank you.

Approve. Thank you. Okay. Any other matters which may come properly before the Board of Commissioners would like to speak? Yes. Yes, you can come up here.

And the reason I'm here today is that in my area, matter of fact, I live on 675, everybody. So yes, thank you for the safety of changing that road, but I'm not here today for that. I'm here today because in my area, my neighborhood, we have a neighbor that had excessive dogs. It's been continuing for several years. And when I went to Porter County Animal Control, speaking of concerns and as a resident and having a neighbor that I thought that wasn't really treating the animals properly, what I found out was is that there's not a lot that they can hear from us in the community. to make a strong concern that they would have rights to check on these animals. So then I questioned, I said, well, how many animals can you have in a community before you guys are aware of an excessive amount? community such as maybe breeding maybe fostering maybe non-profit and they said we don't have anything like that we are i'm in district one that's why i said hello to mr morales everybody um in in my community what they told me border county animal control is is that we're considered rural agriculture though so there's no limit on animals So what my concern was is to say, how can we as citizens approach animal control where they think that maybe there is an excessive, right? And to check it out. And if people are breeding animals, or let's say I decide to be a foster with a nonprofit, I think maybe that should be, recognized in our community. And then if that was a foster family and home, they could say, hey, this nonprofit organization has them as use. You know, we know where there's animals there. Everybody knows when you take an animal, it does take a while, right? to get that animal back inclimated into a family. But there's, it seems like there's nothing that when you go to Porter County Animal Control, that there is something that they can hear your concern and do a well-being check. I think that's what I got out of that, that they weren't going to come in to do a well-being check. So the reason I'm here is that how they explained it to me was the commissioners kind of set their guides and ordinances within the community. And I said, well, then I'll bring this to the commissioners to see if maybe we can get more involved with animal control. One thing too, I was talking to Mr. Morales and he says, I said, well, isn't there like a tax or isn't there a certification or isn't there something that we as residents of the county that we have to say we have animals? You know, and in my opinion, I think animals are getting abandoned more. I just turned in a cat. I just turned in a kitten. And when animal control talked to me, they were like, we can't take anything. We're at capacity. And I said, how do I release a kitten into the woods? I can't do that. That's inhumane to me. So I think animal control... as being, what do I want to say, at its seams with animals being released. I think that if somebody within their county comes to them, maybe they can help coach us to say what our concern is and where they can have law to work with us. I just felt like I didn't have a lot of avenues. I did show them things that I was concerned about, but they said, if you don't have black and white for the judge to be black and white, I can't help you. And that's where we're at today.

How many dogs are on the property?

Well, I'll tell you what. They come and go. The animals do come and go. There has been times where, you know, I know there's been excess of, let's say, 20 animals. And they're in a small kind of like backyard fenced-in pen area. It's not acres or, you know, they don't roam the dogs. They don't walk the dogs or anything like that. And, you know, I just don't know what...

What are they doing with the... Well, that's my opinion, right?

I don't know them personally. I don't go in their home. I don't talk and socialize with them. So that would be my personal opinion if I told you what I thought they did with the dogs. I mean, I believe that they probably breed these animals. That's what I believe.

They're running a business.

I have no proof of anything. All I have is a concerned... I'm just a concerned neighbor And this is something I was handling. I have been very, very blind eye to a lot of things because neighbors do that, right? We try to work with each other. And I have reported them a couple times within year spans where I try to work with them. But the reason I came here today is, like I said, when I talked with the law enforcement and the group at Animal Control, it seemed like a lot of their standards or what I want to say, ordinances come from the help with you guys. You guys are part of them.

The commissioners do produce animal control ordinances.

Yes.

The animal control ordinances do not, I believe, have a limit on animals. However, that's not the end of the story. Our zoning does have a limit on the amount of dogs before it becomes, by definition, a kennel. I believe, off the top of my head, that number is folks. When you get to four or more, I believe you're at a kennel. It may be the fifth dog you're at a kennel. Again, it may be one dog off or one animal off. But the underlying zoning does control that, and the Board of Zoning Appeals and the Plan Commission routinely handle requests for kennel operations or for more animals. So the animal control officer may not have that authority. However, our code enforcement does have that authority, and that is something that is in the normal bailiwing of that department, is whether or not there's too many animals, therefore in violation of our underlying zoning. I agree, we do not have something like a wellness check for someone else's animals. So to enter where we do start to get into the gray area, so to speak, is when does the animal control officer have enough to enter someone's private property? That is normally when they're looking for something to give them more of an indication that I'm worried or I think. I've seen, I've heard, I have some sort of proof.

Okay.

That is some of the hesitation because we have individuals coming to private property in a quasi law enforcement manner. That's why they're looking for something to hang their hat on, so to speak, of why we're here. We have this complaint that's documented. When it comes to the number of animals or the numbers of what's happening, that is not animal control. That is a zoning question, which that would not make sense to you out of the gate, but in the way county government is set up, That's quasi law enforcement with the animal control. The zoning controls of how many animals, kennels, barking, those kind of things, that's a land use issue. That's why it's over in planning. But we do have those things. So if we need internally to help our animal control to understand that if they get a complaint for X amount of animals, they may not have something in their book to go deal with. but another department of county government does, and that routinely handles that.

Okay, thank you. You're welcome. Yes, because that wasn't clarity that day. I did talk with an officer, let alone just somebody from animal control. So thank you so much.

So, Patty, let me do this. Let me get with code enforcement. I've got the topic we discussed on here. And I've got, as we were talking, I have both. I got a paper pad of these. But that puts in a little bit better perspective for myself. Because there's obviously something going on there. And it's not good.

Well, the whole thing is that when a neighbor has a concern, here's how I want to talk to you guys. When we have a concern, it takes a lot to really come out and be forward. You know what I mean? Everybody wants to be a neighbor in their community.

I was able to grab the definitions quickly yeah so the number is four so a place for keeping up to four animals private okay thank you once you get to more than four so that fifth animal okay now you're into a commercial kennel you're into a business you're into a different zoning a different process and we do have a way to Double check on those.

Thank you. I want to clear this up very quickly. But people don't want to, you know, just outlash somebody to be cruel. But, you know, the concern is that, what did I want to say? The concern is that if you think that's not right there, It's just, I'm sorry, it probably wasn't clear to me that when I did go to animal control, though, I'm sorry to be here today. It really seemed that they needed your guys' support versus going and saying go to a zoning or go to your commissioner. You're at the right place. Okay, thank you. So that's not...

Yeah, this is exactly where you should be asking. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. That's all I have. No, and that's, that's how we get everyone to understand the right. It's easy to think it's one phone number called county government.

Yes.

We're all on the party line. Thank you. Many departments. And that's part of this process to make sure everyone understands it. And it sounds like our own animal control. needs a little update.

Thank you. Yeah, they're wonderful. I can't say enough about Porter County. If I could non-profit for them, I would love to help them.

That's why we're here, though. You tell your neighbors if they have issues. Thank you.

Yes, thank you. Thank you.

There we go. Thank you.

And I'll follow up with you as well. I will. Okay. Okay.

Anyone else would like to speak? No one? Okay. Next meeting. Next meeting is July 14th, 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 14th, 10 a.m. Meeting adjourned.