Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Okay, let's call the orders, stand for the pledge.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Okay, welcome to Porter County Board of Commissioners meeting Tuesday, August 25th, 2026, consent agenda.

Approval of payroll, August 14th, 2026. Approval of claims, August 8th, 2026. August 20th, August 21st, 2026. Approval of minutes, August 4th, 2026. Weights and measures monthly report from May 16th, 2026 to June 15th, 2026 and annual report for June 16th, 2025 through June 15th, 2026.

Motion to approve.

Second.

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

Aye.

Motion carries. Before anything else, I want to acknowledge the hardship that many of our residents and businesses have endured since the severe derecho that struck Porter County on August 11th. The storm affected communities across the entire county, but its impact was most severe in the northern half, with damage increasing as you travel towards Lake Michigan. We know these past days have been challenging, and we deeply appreciate your patience as we work through this process. Immediately after the storm, our first priority was clearing roads so emergency services, utility crews, and the public could move safely. This required rapid action, and as a result, large amounts of storm debris, tree limbs, and other vegetation was being pushed to the roadside. In many locations, fallen power lines entangled the trees. Our crews could not proceed until NIPSCO confirmed that those areas were safe to enter. We thank our residents for understanding those necessary delays. The state of Indiana and the federal government have now recognized the state as a disaster area. We are hopeful that this declaration will open the door to additional resources and funding to help offset the significant cost of recovery to protect their eligibility for federal reimbursement. Porter County must follow all required state and federal procedures. This includes careful documentation, proper contacts, contractor selection, and strict oversight over debris and collection disposal. We are now fully in the cleanup stage. There's still much work ahead. Total cleanup will take weeks, and in some cases, several months in some areas due to severity and the widespread nature of this storm. Our compost sites throughout Porter County are near capacity and we cannot accept additional storm debris at this moment to relieve that pressure. The county will be announcing additional drop off sites within the next one to two days where residents can bring that storm related vegetation. Because the sheer quantity of debris along our county roads will be requesting proposals from qualified contractors to assist with collection and disposal. This will supplement the efforts of our county workforce and accelerate the cleanup process. Rest assured, Porter County is taking every necessary step to clear debris from our roadways and keep our recycling centers available for stormwater-related materials or for storm-related materials. capacity allows. We also want to make residents aware that many contractors are currently offering electrical, roofing, and structural repair services. We urge everyone to remember that contractors must be registered, bonded, and insured in Porter County. Our offices are expediting all registration and permit requests to help residents move forward with repairs as quickly as possible. For those dealing with damaged aerial electric services, please note that the county must inspect all the work of your license contract before NIPSCO can reestablish electrical service. The inspection requirement is in place for your safety to ensure compliance with state electrical standards. As the recovery continues, the county will keep residents and businesses informed of revisions, updates, and new information as it develops. We are committed to transparency and timely communication throughout this process. In closing, we again express our sincere appreciations for public understanding and patience as we navigate through the extraordinary circumstances. Porter County is committed to restoring normalcy as quick as possible and safely as possible, and we will continue to stand with our residents in every step of the way. With that, I'd like to bring Lance Bella up here, our director of EMA, to give us a quick update. Good morning, Lance.

Okay, I'll just kind of give you one, what we were working on from the initiation of this storm response and then lead up to where we're at now. On the day of the storm, Porter County EMA opened up immediately our emergency operations center in order to get a status of where the county was at and then coordinate resources as requested. So we began assisting the needs as received from the police and fire chiefs and subsequently deployed supplies to a ported shelter that was open. We deployed 48 cots, 100 pillows, 48 blankets. We supplied 125 kilowatt generator and a 20 kilowatt generator to assist a fire station and town hall so they could stay open and residents could come there. We supplied a 10 kilowatt generator and five small generators to assist with water pumping and water reclamation facilities. And then we also deployed two large AC units to the Porter County Library system so that their air conditioning unit had been damaged from a tree. So this was to keep them open so that citizens could go there if they needed to. EMA personnel immediately started doing damage assessments right after the storm so we could see what type of damage we were looking at and that we were later joined the next day by Indiana Department of Homeland Security teams as well. about seeing the damage that triggered a lot of things that we wanted to do. So a disaster declaration was initiated on the 11th, the same day of the storm, declaring a disaster for Porter County. And then we also requested through Homeland Security that they would initiate the 211 system, which supplies a website and a phone number for citizens to call in order to report damage that helps us to track what type of damage people are seeing. And to date, we have received 1,600 calls on that line for damage to households. On the 12th, we stood up a district one command center within our emergency operations center. And that was established to help coordinate resources, not only with Porter County, but across the five county regions. So Lake Porter, Newton, Jasper, and LaPorte counties. And the emergency operations center was staffed by kind of a personnel. Department of Homeland Security National Guard. Nips go eventually came into the emergency operation center, and that was 1 of their personnel who was tasked with helping clear roads, clearing lines. So we could clear roads and then governor bronze office. So we had. for at least a week, those personnel in our emergency operations that are trying to coordinate resources in an effort to help all five counties. On the 13th, Governor Braun declared a disaster for the state. And since then, 21 counties have issued their own declarations countywide. National Guard, as I said, was in our emergency operations center, and we realized that the local street departments, highway departments, there was too much debris for them to be able to clear on their own. So they were there with the mission of assisting with opening roadways up. So we needed to get the roadways open once so we could get emergency personnel through, but then also eventually so citizens could travel on the roadways. Lists were obtained by all the county MAs across the five-county region, and then that was filtered to the National Guard. A plan was put in place, and then they started clearing the roads from that list. They were unable to clear some of the roads due to power lines being entangled in the trees that were on the roads. From there, we initiated a Department of Corrections Task Force to clear the rest of the trees. But we realized that we needed to have NIPSCO personnel embedded in those teams so that they could isolate, cut lines, whatever we had to do in order to get those roads clear. And then that subsequently paved the way also for NIPSCO to be able to start restoring power because until those were cleared, they couldn't even start to decipher what had happened through the grid. So again, those lists that the Department of Corrections used were obtained by the EMAs, and then we coordinated through our Emergency Operations Center for them to go out. Their mission was to clear those power lines and the roads with those trees, and then also trees that were too large possibly for the local municipalities to handle. They brought in some extremely large equipment in order to get that out. So they started in Porter County on the 19th of August and they finished on the 20th. So it was very organized. They moved pretty expeditiously. They cleared 55 roads through that task force. And then across the district one entirely, 367 roads were cleared by the Department of Corrections Task Force. Subsequently, they were demobilized and then sent back. Joint assessments then were conducted on the 19th with Perkin EMA personnel, Department of Homeland Security and FEMA. And that was with the idea of seeing where we were at and determining if we had crossed certain thresholds that would allow or trigger hopefully a response on the federal level which might release FEMA funds. So a declaration was declared by the President, What happens is the counties make a recommendation to the governor, the governor makes a recommendation to the president, and then the president can either sign that or deny it. So we have a declaration. It's not a full declaration yet. We have to cross certain thresholds in order for that to happen to trigger complete assistance, but we at least have partial assistance in that area. EMA responders, we have... Three full-time command staff personnel at EMA. The rest are volunteer responders. So the volunteer responders, they were taking time off work, coming in on evenings, at nighttime, and they were assisting us in a lot of these efforts, and they so far donated 261 hours towards helping the county. And then our full-time command staff people, obviously they were here. And as you know, they're on salary. They don't get overtime, but they worked countless hours. So I just want to acknowledge them. Deputy Director Degnegart was in charge of operations at the Emergency Operations Center and did a fantastic job. So I want to acknowledge him as well. All the command staff had no power, no water, but they came to work every day. It didn't matter. Deputy Director Deckengard had a tree that was broken and hanging over his house, where if it broke, it was going to smash his house. He refused to stay home and came into work every day.

What happened to the tree?

They are working on trying to get that thing cut down safely, so that's going to be a process. We are in development plans, you know, in combination with commissioners and a lot of the departments to try to get debris removal plans initiated. So we'll continue to assist and work with the team on that. But we've also, so we've crossed really from the response and emergency standpoint to what we call the recovery phase. And so that includes the debris removal, but also how do we help the citizens now that the roads are open? So we've also initiated a program where each municipality will name a volunteer coordinator. And as we have opportunities from volunteer organizations to help the citizens, that coordinator can funnel where those volunteers need to go. So I would encourage anybody in the municipalities, if you need help, call your town hall or your city hall and report that you need help. Also call the 211 line if you have not already. So don't call one and not the other, call both, but they will triage the order that those need to go to. And then as the volunteer organizations come into the municipalities, they can be dispatched in an efficient manner so we can get as much help to people as we can. So we do have three right now volunteer organizations that are out helping in that effort, and that's the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Team that specializes in this type of thing, cutting trees, helping drag the trees to the parkway, and assisting citizens with their houses. United Way has gotten a lot of donations and got them to some of the areas that were hit hardest in the county, and then they will continue to develop volunteer teams to help citizens at their homes As they are able to and then we've also called in team Rubicon who's right now working in a Lake County, but we are on the list Hopefully for them to come to next which is current and retired military and emergency responders helping citizens all these entities though are working and helping citizens at no charge to the citizens or the county so people can call, again, their municipality to get on a list to get assistance with that. So I just want to thank, you know, I thank my staff, but the commissioners, the council have been great through this. There's never been a time I've called and asked for help and not gotten it. Highway department, facilities, all the emergency responders through the county have worked tirelessly. And then also IDHS, Indiana Department of Homeland Security, and Governor Braun's office. So both Governor Braun and Tony Ferraro, his chief advisor, have been in constant communication with us. And anything we couldn't get and we asked for, they were there to try to help us with that. So I just want to thank everybody for all your efforts. Appreciate it. Any questions?

And I just also want to thank Governor Braun for making his team available to you. And I did want to comment, Tony Ferraro was mentioning he could not believe the caliber of the team.

Oh, thanks.

And I don't think he's ever worked with an organization that is productive and is responsive and professional as yours is. So, kudos. Oh, thank you. Appreciate it. It's been a great job.

So, very much so. And that was a devastating storm in different areas that we've hit. And, you know, you guys do an outstanding job.

Thank you.

Any questions, Commissioner? I'm homeless.

You're more than welcome to come stay with me.

It's events like this that prepare you for events like this. There is no handbook that makes you prepared. I mean, really. That's one thing that, you know, being involved in it, you know, from a personal standpoint and also as a commissioner is that, you know, there's a lot of gears here that have to work together for this to have a decent turning, you know, where you're Because so many lives are affected, so many different areas and varying amounts. Some people have just lost electricity. Some people have lost their homes. Some people have even been injured. And it's just to have your department kind of everything funneled into you guys has really been important. Because all these municipalities, including us, we're doing what we do. We're taking care of what we're, you know, by statute responsible for. Somebody needs to bring all that together. And that's where your department is really helpful.

Well, and I know the work is just beginning and doing our after-action meetings and figuring out where our vulnerabilities are, and obviously we have work to do. And, you know, it also exposes the vulnerabilities in our providers like NIPSCO, too, because when we see all the devastation that has happened, and You know, granted, people had generators, but they don't test the generators. And then for the generator in this building to blow up and the one in Portage that was on their water treatment plant, you know, when that failed. So, you know, we're relying on services like AT&T and Frontier and NIPSCO. And it's just critical. And I hope that we can be involved with them in after action meetings as well. and letting them know what we were experiencing here to make sure that they can be better as well.

Yep, I agree.

And like when you're dealing, and AT&T is not a monopoly, and Frontier is not a monopoly, but when you're dealing with a public regulated utility like NIPSCO, where no, our citizens really don't have a choice of providers. And so, you know, when they have that great privilege of being a monopoly, they also have a great responsibility And they need to understand that, you know, when they say they're all about reliability and safety, they need to live up to what they're saying that their mission is in, you know, in assisting us and our residents. So I'm hoping that we're going to be able to convey that message to them as well.

Well, I know a lot of the citizens were frustrated. I was frustrated on, you know, what's the timeline for power? We didn't have it either. And we were asking and couldn't get it. So I think that's something that. on Nipsco's end, we need to improve the extent of the damage was so much. I don't think they had the timeline because it was just too much damage and they didn't know where they were at. But, you know, as we got information, we put it out, but we also didn't want to put false information. So I'd rather put, not put the information out than put something out and be wrong. So.

And also, also kudos to, uh, the sheriff's department and, uh, E911 of gathering information and getting it to everyone.

think well there were so many departments like facilities and highway and recycling and yeah and engineering and everybody was and what i love about porter county is everybody was just quietly working hard behind the scenes they weren't going and publicly announcing all the work that they were doing they were just putting their head down heads down and getting the work done. And that's all they cared about. And I'm just so proud of everybody in Porter County and all the work that they did to help get our communities back. And I just really appreciate it.

I didn't hear one complaint of another agency or department feuding or bickering with another department. Everybody just seemed to understand they had a job to do and just continue to do it. And we're really probably halfway through this?

Probably half, yeah.

It's all said and done, though. Especially the highway departments. I mean, they've got a lot of work in front of them. Yeah, they've been working around the clock.

Yep. Tireless. They work tirelessly. Thank you. Thank you.

Thanks so much. And please tell Billy thanks also.

I will. Next, we have an emergency declaration, Scott.

Well, that was part of the... Is that what that's also? Yeah, that's what Lance was done. We just need to reiterate that we've approved that. Okay.

And just to give you a perspective on that, Lance was on vacation. Billy couldn't get a hold of anybody but me, and he drove over to my house. There was no internet. Cell phone coverage was very spotty, but he personally came over to my house to get that thing signed so that we could get that submitted ASAP. That was outstanding.

Okay. And we'll have more on the update that we gave you because we've been, like I said, we've been working for the last several days. We've got meetings this afternoon. This information becomes available on the different sites that we're going to be also opening up to take in debris. So we'll have more announcements on that within days here, within a day even. Okay. So the next item, we have a bid opening. County Road 1050 North, Cement Stabilization Project Rebid. County Road 1050 North from 125 West to 50 West.

The auditor's office will receive two timely bids for this project.

That's it.

The first bid is Reith Riley Construction Company Inc. Total base bid $877,627.95. $877,627.95. Milestone Contractors LP, base bid $546,000, $546,000.

Thank you. We'll review the bids and give you the recommendation.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

Before the meeting?

Yes. Okay.

Skillman?

Good morning, Paul.

Good morning.

Good morning, Paul.

We just have one pay application on the jail project. It's Pauley Jail Building Company, pay up number 11, and you count $30,935.50.

I move that we approve.

Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries. Poor Pauley has show up for one single item. Sorry, good to see you.

Yeah, you too. Thank you.

Comp time report.

This comp time report does cover all the way up to the storm to August 19. So I was expecting to have a lot more comp time hours and there are. So I think the department has done a great job on keeping it down. And of course, the ones that were increased, we would expect it through this natural disaster, which is only two departments that it really increased. And those are the two that I would say should have.

Good. Good. Very good. Okay. Good news.

All right. Thank you.

Thank you. Animal shelter.

Morning.

Good morning, Jen. Good morning. Good morning, Jen.

How are you guys? Good.

And you have an animal control and animal shelter services contract extension from the Pound of Beverly Shores.

I move that we approve.

Second for discussion. It would be helpful to know what the...

The amounts, the cost, the increase, are you wanting me to report that? I can, when. This is just contractors. Okay.

This is just the contract extension for.

town of beverly shores to go from july 31st of this year through the end of this current isn't the new country you scared me jim no and we approve pretty much all the other yeah melodies at our last meeting this was just one of the stragglers right sure yeah call a question motion okay we have motion in a second all do favor signify by saying aye aye motion carries Thanks. Thank you.

Thank you. Thanks, Jen. JDC?

Uh-oh, she's got a handful.

Good morning. Okay, we have an ordinance establishing a non-reverting fund, number 9184, for the ICJI VOCA Victims of Crime Grant Fund First Read. Okay. Let's close the commissioner's meeting and open up the hearing. Is there anyone that would like to speak in favor of this ordinance? Second, is there anyone that would like to speak in favor? And third, is there anyone that would like to speak in favor? Is there anyone that would like to speak against? Second, is there anyone that would like to speak against? And third, is there anyone who would like to speak against? Okay, let's close the hearing and go back to the commissioner's meeting.

I move that we approve the ordinance on first reading.

Second for discussion. Could you just give us a Reader's Digest? Sure. What Grant's about.

So the VOCA grant is something that the Family News Services Bureau has received for many years, and we've been the fiscal body to help them apply for that for several years for the CASA program. And so what we are doing is we are moving the CASA program from under the jurisdiction of the Family News Bureau to the circuit court. And this is our first steps in regards to ensuring that we have funds created for these existing grants. They're ongoing grants. They've been the longstanding grants in order to support that program.

Okay. Call the question. Okay.

Do we have a motion?

We do.

Okay. Motion and a second? Yeah. Okay. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Motion carries. Okay, we have a second request for an ordinance establishing a non-reverting fund, number 9185 for the Indiana Office of Court Services, IOCS, grant fund first reading. You want to give us a little synopsis on that one?

Again, this is a longstanding grant that has been awarded to the Family and Youth Services Bureau. The courts will be taking over this grant if this is approved. This is a long-standing grant that is specifically for CASA and GAL programs throughout the state. There's a matching grant and a capacity grant. What that pretty much shows is that our county with the matching actually is providing some funds for the CASA program in which we do have funds through the circuit court general fund budget in order to do that matching. It pays for salaries for the CASA director, assistant director, and two supervisors, one full-time, one part-time. And then it also pays for volunteer, all the volunteers, training, education, recruitment. Again, this has been a longstanding grant ongoing that the Office of Support Services has awarded the CASA program.

For many years.

I couldn't tell you. Many.

Okay, we'll close the commissioner's portion and open up the hearing. Is there anyone who would like to speak in favor of this ordinance? Second, is there anyone who would like to speak in favor? And third, is there anyone who would like to speak in favor? Is there anyone who would like to speak against? Second, is there anyone who would like to speak against this ordinance? And third, is there anyone who would like to speak against? Hearing none, we'll close the hearing, open up the commissioner's meeting.

I move that we approve the ordinance on first reading.

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

And thank you, Scott, for preparing. I appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you. How's those improvements working out over there?

It's going great. And we're taking off our new security cameras very soon. So we're next on line to get them up and running. So we're going to be all digital and not analog.

Oh, boy.

I'm excited.

Thank you. Highway Department? Award bid for the County Road 1050 North cement stabilization project.

After review of the bids, we did find Milestone's low bid to be the lowest responsive responsible bidder. And we do recommend acceptance of the amount of $546,000. So moved. Second.

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

All right. I think you're next on that one.

Development and stormwater?

No, you're not. Okay.

Mr. Jabo. Good morning, commissioners.

Morning.

First item of the agenda is a contract with Locke-Muller Group. This is for construction engineering, which most people call inspection for bridge one over Hutton Ditch, not to exceed $198,730. And this will also have an 80% federal reimbursement with federal aid project.

So is the 198 our 20% or is that the total?

The total.

Okay.

The 20% of that will be our out of pocket.

Okay.

We have to pay the bills first, then we get reimbursed.

I move that we approve.

Second.

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

Aye.

Motion carries.

This is just the same song, different verse. This is, again, with Locke Miller Group, Bridge 66, County Road 250 West over Phillips Ditch, not to exceed Mount $198,730. with 80% federal reimbursement.

How come those numbers are exactly the same?

They're kind of the same price. Again, these are hourly rate. If they do not use all of it, then it will not all be expense. This is a not to exceed amount.

I move that we approve.

That's, as it says here, it's 80% federal reimbursement. Right. Second.

We have a motion to second. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Motion carries. Mr. Satowski?

Next item on the agenda, this is a zoning amendment. I'll give a little introduction and Mr. Satowski can answer any of your questions. I think it's seven lots or six and a half. One's a partial, but they're all under one parcel number. This is up on Burlington Beach Road, west of Calumet Avenue, the Lakes region. It was a piece of property. These lots were zoned R4, so that means it could have been multifamily, like townhomes, apartment building, whatever, in the Lakes region. Mr. Satowski is the owner of the property, and he would like to just build a single-family residential with the possibility maybe someday in the future he might subdivide, but they'd be single-family homes. They appeared before the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission overwhelmingly approved a positive recommendation for the commissioners for the rezone, that it be rezoned from our Ford RL, which is our residential lakes district, which is then consistent to everybody surrounding him, their own residential lake. And residential lake is a unique zoning requirement we have. You see this predominantly around Lake Eliza and all the lake regions up there because back in the 20s, 30s, 40s, when they were built their teeny tiny little lots with cabins, a lot of them have very small setbacks and everything. So I think I think.

Is that within the Flint Lakes Conservancy District?

It's in the VLACD, Belleville Lakes Conservancy District. So. Motion to approve.

Second.

Wait, we have to do a hearing.

Got to do a hearing. And for the record, I just want to make this so it's embodied in the record. There are conditions that all seven lots would be combined into one parcel. The unified development ordinance chapter 22.22 maximum service because revised from 60% to 35% that is consistent with our one. And lastly, they will dedicate the public right away on the adjacent public roads ordered by. Burlington Beach Road to the north, and John Street and Charles Street to the east and the west. So he will make a dedication to those public right-of-ways.

Okay.

And so it'll be a public hearing, unless you have questions for the petition. Any questions?

I'm a no-brainer.

Okay, this is a first reading, so we're going to close the commissioner's meeting and open up the hearing. Is there anyone who'd like to speak in favor of this ordinance or this zoning change? Second, is there anyone who would like to speak in favor? And third, is there anyone who would like to speak in favor? Is there anyone who would like to speak against this change? Second, is there anyone who would like to speak against? And third, is there anyone who would like to speak against? Okay, hearing none, we're going to close the hearing and move back to the commissioner's meeting. Do we have a motion? You made your motion? Yes, so moved.

Second.

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

Thanks for your help.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next, the caring place. Good morning.

Morning, commissioners.

You have a request to use the northwest corner of the courthouse grounds for your second annual holiday cookie walk to take place December 12th, 2026 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. All proceeds will go to support survivors of domestic violence.

I move that we approve.

Second for discussion. Have you gotten permission or a clarification from the city of Valpo to be on that sidewalk?

No. Last year, this is the second year, so last year I checked with Valpo Events to make sure that it was okay because it's not through them, it's just through us, and they were fine with it. They recommended coming to the commissioners and getting approval, and that's what I did. I did let The Valparaiso Police Department, no. I always do that so that they're aware that there's heightened traffic downtown. If there's something else that I'm missing, I'm happy to do it. Retailers that participated last year are excited to participate again. And those that didn't, we have some others that are interested now. So if there's something else that needs to be done, I'm happy to do it.

We've just been redirecting. You know, activities that are not government-sponsored to the south side of the building.

Oh, okay.

I mean, I don't have a problem with it. Okay. But it's just, if you're on the sidewalk, the city regulates that. Okay. We only regulate the lawn.

Okay, that's where we were last year. What day of the week? It's a Saturday. It's a Saturday, yes. And so we were in the lawn. We had tables, two tables set up there. And yeah, that's where everyone checked in.

If you're not going to be on the sidewalk, you don't need their...

Okay. Yeah, no, it wasn't. It was on the grass area there kind of at that time. It's so beautiful decorated down there. So we were right by like two trees that were really little. I don't mind them being on the north side if it's not a Saturday.

Yeah. And Phil, if you would speak with Dana before she leaves here just to make sure we're crystal clear where she's going to be. Okay. If there's something that we need to do to accommodate that.

Thanks for coming. Okay, thank you both. I thank everyone.

We have a motion, right? Do we?

Do we ever get a motion?

We get a motion and a second for discussion.

Oh, that's right. Okay, so we got a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries.

Thank you all. Thanks so much.

Labor Day Parade with Morgan Township Fire Department. Adam Wall. Is Adam here? No? Okay. This is for the Morgan Township requesting to use County Road 300 South to 300 East to 400 South to detour traffic from State Highway 49 for the Labor Day Parade September 7, 2026 from 1130 a.m. to 1 p.m. They've been doing this for years. Motion to approve.

Second.

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

Aye.

Motion carries. Is there any other matters that may come before the Court of Commissioners? Anyone would like to speak? Yes. Good morning, Sue.

I would just like to hand this to you as it's most appropriate for Mr. Biggs. The assessor's office has a form 137R, which is a disaster relief form. We've been trying to get the word out to anyone who's had structural damage to their property in Porter County, they can fill out this form and it will trigger a process by the assessor's office for us to re-look at the property and if you have any severe storage damage, we can do the reassessment and possibly assist in lower property taxes for your paid 27 year.

Can I keep this?

Yes, you may. That's for you.

You saved me from being yelled at when I got home. She asked me to check in, check this, and I totally forgot.

Okay. That form is on a banner on the front of our website, so it's really accessible for you to find it. It's on the forms page. You click on it, and I believe it'll self-populate as you can fill it out online. But I know that a lot of folks, the first thought is, oh, I'm going to save money next year. They're worried about where they're going to live. So we'll continue to get the word out on this.

That will continue to be on our website through the year end. And...

we're available to help folks fill it out or whatever might be necessary.

And I want to thank Sue when my house was damaged that she brought that to me, too. And that's, boy, when you're living someplace else, any reduction in cost to me is so meaningful.

Yeah.

I really appreciate that.

We call the township trustees because many folks hit them first thing when they have problems. So the township trustees have copies of them. There's copies at the front desk. And I'm told that the Portage Township Assessor has been handing that out as well. So we're doing our best to get that one out.

Thank you. Thank you, Sue.

Anyone else? Anyone else like to speak? No? Larry? You good? Okay, with that said, the next commissioner's meeting will be September 25th, or I'm sorry, September 15th, 2026 at 10 a.m. Meeting adjourned.