Commissioners - Regular Meeting

and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Okay, welcome to the Porter County Board of Commissioners meeting, Tuesday, September 15th, 2026. Consent agenda.

Approval of payroll, August 28th, 2026. Approval, I'm sorry, August 28th, 2026 and September 11th, 2026. Approval of claims, August 28th, 2026, September 3rd, 2026 and September 11th, 2026.

Approval of minutes, August 25th, August 31st and September 4th, 2026.

I move that we approve the consent agenda.

I will second that. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Okay, next we have a resolution in support of the 800 families affected by the lockout at the BP refinery. Barb?

Well, the reason that we wanted to bring to our commissioner's meeting today is because it's been almost six months and there are 800 families that have been affected by the lockout at the BP refinery. And I would imagine that many of those families do live in Porter County. And I'm going to just read this resolution. It's a resolution of the Board of Commissioners of Porter County, Indiana, expressing support for the members of United Steelworkers Local 7-1 and encouraging a prompt and fair resolution of a labor dispute at the BP Whiting Refinery. Whereas the BP Whiting Refinery in Lake County, Indiana, has been an important part of the economy of Northwest Indiana for generations. And United Steelworkers Local 7-1 represents approximately 800 skilled workers at the refinery, including residents of Porter County. And whereas the collective bargaining agreement between the parties expired in January of 2026, and since March 19th, 2026, the members of Local 7-1 have been locked out of their employment while the parties continue their efforts to reach a successor agreement. And whereas the lockout has now continued for nearly six months and affects not only these employees and their families, but also the businesses, service providers and communities throughout northwest Indiana, whose economies are interconnected with a refinery and its workforce. and whereas the board of commissioners is informed that the parties return to the bargaining table on september 14 2026 and regards the resumption of negotiations as an encouraging development for the parties their families and the region and whereas the board of commissioners recognizes the contributions that organized labor and skilled trades have made to the economic strength of northwest indiana And Good Faith Collective Bargaining provides the best means of resolving labor disputes and of maintaining stable and productive relationships between employers and employees. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Board of Commissioners of Porter County, Indiana, as follows. The Board expresses its support for the members of United Steelworkers 7-1 and for the workers and families by the ongoing lockout at the BP Whiting Refinery. Number two, the board respectfully urges BP and Local 7-1 to continue the negotiations resumed on September 14, 2026 in a meaningful and good faith manner and to conclude a fair agreement that protects the long-term stability of the refinery and respects its workforce. The board further encourages BP to take the steps necessary to bring the lockout to an end and to return the members of Local 7-1 to work while the parties continue to work toward a lasting agreement. Number four, the auditor of Porter County is directed to transmit a certified copy of this resolution to United Steelworkers Logo 7-1, to BP Products North America, Inc., to the governor of the state of Indiana, and to the members of the Porter County legislative delegation of the Indiana General Assembly. This resolution shall be effective upon its adoption. And I move that we approve it.

Thank you, Barb. I will second that. All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Motion carries. Okay, next we have our local disaster emergency declaration, September 16th, 2026, September 23rd, 2026, and September 30th, 2026. These are to keep ourselves current. Right, Lance? Right, keep ourselves current with the disaster, the cleanup and everything. Do we have a motion?

Do we have to, did we approve these already? No. Okay. I move that we approve the local disaster emergency declarations for September 16th, September 23rd, and September 30th, 2026.

I will second that. We have a motion to second. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Motion carries. Skillman.

Morning. Morning.

We'll start with the jail.

Yes, or pay applications here. I'll run through each of these Gary up number 16 in the amount of 94,836 dollars and 13 cents. Kleckner interior pay up number 15 in the amount of 27,276 dollars and 76 cents. Stance painting payout number 13 in the amount of $35,854.88. H&T electrical payout number 16 in the amount of $35,596.36. I move that we approve.

I will second that. All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye.

And how close are we? I'm sorry. Go ahead. How close are we?

We're a few weeks away here, so just tighten up some odds and ends. We've got some punchless work to do to complete, but as far as the overall jail cells, those are just about wrapping up.

And when are we going to schedule the ribbon cutting?

That's up to you guys. October 1st would be a good time.

Okay. Yep. All right. Perfect. We had a motion and a second. We were all in favor. That motion passes. Moving on to highway.

Highway, Gary, a pay up number 20, $162,076.65. Circle R electric pay up number 18 in the amount of $6,190.20. I move that we approve. I will second that. All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries.

And where are we on that one?

The cold storage building has been completed. Highway department has moved into it. Just going to finish up some landscaping here in October once the weather kind of cools off a little bit for seating and finish off the fencing here in two weeks.

Perfect. And when are we going to have the ribbon coming for that?

When you get it ready.

We'll talk on Thursday.

Okay. Thank you, guys. Appreciate it. Thank you. Facilities.

Good morning, Phil. Good morning. Okay, you have a request for a drain installation at the Memorial Opera House in the Courtyard area in the amount of $8,750 to be paid out of the bond. What is that? Is that just repair?

No, so after we did all the renovations there and we put the new chiller in, it happens to be higher up. All the water is actually going towards their two doors and it's flooding down to the hallway, down things. They keep putting barricades and blocking it. The one day they took a picture when we had heavy rain, they had six inches out there going over the sandbags in there. So we did some investigation with the guys and everything. We did cameras ourselves and found that if we put a little storm drain right there to catch the water that we can hook right into their drain and just get out of there.

Is there any money left in the ARP funds? I thought that we had a few thousand dollars left in there. Is there any way that we can check on that, Karen? Okay. Can we just move for approval to move forward with this and the funding to follow? Sure. Okay. I move that we approve the request for drain installation at the a memorial opera house with the amount to be paid out of either the bond fund or a combination of the bond fund and the funding.

Okay, I'll second that. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Motion carries. The second, you have an approval for temporary holiday lighting from glow lighting in the amount of $17,655 to be paid out of facilities for Christmas season. Yep.

Where is this going?

This is, well, there should be another one on there that I just realized wasn't on there. But this is for the courthouse, the admin, and then I'll bring a different one. It's going to be for North County as well.

Okay. I move that we approve.

We have a motion, I will second that. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Motion carries. JDC, you have a mechanical concepts payout number eight, the amount of $88,600.

I move that we approve.

How's it working? This is the last of it. Last of it? This is the, all the pumps are done, all the, we have controls of it and all that. Okay. They seem very happy over there now.

Good. I will second that. All in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Motion carries. Thank you, Bill. Expo.

Yeah. Didn't see you back there, Lori. Not yet. Fighting.

Good morning.

Morning.

Okay, the first, you have a request to transfer funds from 4005, account 4420, motor vehicles, to 2230, food and groceries in the amount of $10,000 to cover increased grocery costs and liquor.

I move that we approve.

I will second that. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries. You have a second request to transfer funds from 4005, account 4420, motor vehicles to 2330, household and bedding in the amount of $5,000 to cover the increased cost of linen and janitorial supplies.

I move that we approve.

Second that. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries. Third request is transfer funds from 4005, account 4420, motor vehicles to 2350, building and maintenance in the amount of $2,000 to cover their increased cost of maintenance supplies.

I move that we approve.

I will second that. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries. Fourth, you have a request to transfer funds from 4005, account 4420, motor vehicles to 3520, water and sewage in the amount of 5,000 to cover increased costs of city and water sewage bills.

I move very approve.

I will second that. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries. The fifth, you have a request to transfer funds from Fund 4005, account 4420, motor vehicles, to 3980, event expenses in the amount of $3,000 to cover increased costs of event supplies.

I move that we approve.

I will second that. All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries. And your last request to transfer funds from 4005, account 4-420, motor vehicles, to 3950, contractual services in the amount of $3,000 to cover increased costs of event supplies.

I move that we approve.

I will second that. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carried.

I just hope you don't need that money in motor vehicles.

We don't. We put that there. last year in case we needed anything in january february march for the new truck that we got yeah following and we did not we had outfitted it really well and we're good to go great

Also, you know, Lori, thank you for being accommodating with the storm damage in the back.

Absolutely.

Yeah. That was a big help.

There's an additional property. I don't know that we've talked about it. I think maybe Mike and I had a quick discussion. There's the 10 acres on the north side that is owned by the Ag Society. But I think that we might be able to talk to us using that if needed.

If needed. Yeah. Either way, that was a huge help. Absolutely. Thank you for that. Yep. You got it. Thank you.

Have a great day. You too.

Okay, JDC. Good morning.

Good morning.

Okay, we have some second readings here. So the first, we have an ordinance establishing a non-reverting fund, 9184, for the ICJIVLCA Victims of Crime Grant Fund. Second reading.

I move that we approve.

I will second that. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries. and we have a second here another ordinance establishing a non-reverting fund 9185 for the indiana office of court services iocs grant funding second reading i move that we approve i will second that all is in favor signify by saying aye aye aye motion carries thank you very much sheriff's department good morning good morning And you have a request for Kraft Auction Services, LOC, personal property auction contract with a 15.4% buyer's premium, no cost to the county.

Is this any change from last year?

Change is the, I put it in the email to Melanie. There's a cancellation fee, right?

There's what? $2,000.

Yeah. There's a $2,000 cancellation fee. That's the only difference in the contract. And you reviewed it?

I move that we approve.

I will second that. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries.

Thank you. Thanks.

OK. Waste and recycling.

Morning, Jane.

Good morning. So we have approval of the 2027-2028. DISTRICT FEE AGREEMENT BETWEEN RECYCLING AND WASTE REDUCTION DISTRICT AND THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS THE AMOUNT OF $20 PER IMPROVED RESIDENTIAL, AGRICULTURE, INDUSTRIAL, AND COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE PARTIALS.

AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE DO EVERY YEAR?

EVERY TWO YEARS. EVERY TWO YEARS. SO THIS WOULD BE FOR 27 AND 28. SO IT JUST ALLOWS OUR FEE TO BE PUT ON THE PROPERTY TAX BILLS AND COLLECTED THAT WAY. RIGHT.

WHAT WE DO CURRENTLY.

YEAH, WHAT WE'VE DONE.

I MOVE THAT WE APPROVE.

I will second that. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries. Thank you.

Thanks, Jane.

Highway Department, Mr. Polarik.

Good morning.

Okay, we have a request to transfer funds from fund 1176, account 11110, hourly full-time, to 11200, hourly in, the amount of $50,000 to finish the year.

What is the difference between this?

The one is full-time hourly, and the other is part-time hourly.

Okay. I move that we approve.

I will second that. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries. Second, you have a request to transfer funds from 1176, account 11110, hourly full-time to 1100, overtime in the amount of $50,000 to finish out the year.

I move that we approve.

I will second that. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries. We have a third request to transfer funds from fund 1176, account 11110, hourly full-time to 31300, training and education in the amount of $3,000 to send four of our employees to bucket truck training.

I move that we approve.

Second that. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries. Fourth, you have request for an additional funds for fund 1169, account 22100 fuel in the amount of $100,000 for increased fuel costs.

And you'll be going to the council?

Yeah, it's been submitted to the council. Correct.

I move that we approve.

I second that. All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries. Thank you. More.

Oh, I got one more. Martin? Martin's got one here. Okay.

Okay, number five, you have 2027-1, community crossings match grant application, financial commitment letter, $1 million in the local match of 50% of the total project cost. Total project cost is $2 million.

Yeah, so the in-depth CCMG process did open up this month. We have to submit it by the end of the month. This is a commitment that we will contribute our portion, and we are submitting for the microservice list that we discussed.

Okay, I move that we approve.

I will second that. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Motion carries. Thank you.

Thanks, gentlemen.

Development Stormwater Management, Mr. Jabo. The best for last. Good morning.

Morning.

Morning, Mike. Okay, Mike, you have this Michael Satowski. Am I saying that right? Satowski. Zoning map amendment, lots three, seven, 24. and all but the south 10 feet of the lot 26 in the Hayden Mander Subdivision, Belper, Arizona, Indiana Center Township. From Burlington Beach Road, John Street and Charles Street, revising zoning act for multiple family residential R4 to residential Lake District RL. Second reading.

I move that we approve.

Second that. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Motion carries. Making my job easy.

You're making my job easy today.

He's going to lose his voice before the end of this meeting.

No, we'll be good. The next, you have this Victory Christian Academy Encroachment Agreement and Dedication of Public Right-of-Way along 360 North. And 325 East?

These will be two separate documents, two separate motions. It's part of Victory Christian Academy's development on their site. They are dedicating public right-of-way, which is, as you know, a lot of cases it's pretty cloudy, the title to the right-of-way in the front. So they'll make a deed of dedication of the right-of-way in front of them. I believe it's 40 feet. Correct. That would be the first motion. And then second, because they're dedicating the right-of-way, they have some drainage structures that are theirs, not related to the road. The second one is an agreement to allow them to, an encroachment agreement to allow them to keep those as long as they maintain them. They don't become a hazard. If they do, we can immediately ask them to be removed.

Okay. I move that we approve the date of dedication of public right-of-way along 360 North Victory Christian Academy.

I will second that. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries.

And then I move that we approve the encroachment agreement with Victory Christian Academy.

I will second that. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries. I'll let Martin take the next two.

He's very intimately familiar. Probably give a little more commentary.

So as part of the Marquette Greenway project that's been ongoing this summer, one portion of that is work on Furnaceville Road in between Hayden Felt Road and Schoolhouse Road. And it's a conversion to use one lane for the proposed bikeway path. So the road is technically under the jurisdiction of National Parks. We did transfer right of way to their care. They have approved the plans and they're going to be implementing the one lane closure here in the next couple weeks. So we have signs out there that are posted alerting the public that the westbound lane is going to be closed in between those two limits. The remainder of the road is going to be two-way traffic and will resume. But the only affected road would be Vadine or Vadon. I'm sorry, I don't know the pronunciation, but it's going to have to be turning right to go eastbound or to get around the closure of that westbound lane. Outside of that, the project's been continuing well, and we hope to have an update shortly here in the next meeting. So this was just an announcement to let the public know we are going to be closing one lane of travel in westbound in between. And again, that's on Furnaceville Road in between Haydenville and Schoolhouse Road.

And what is the estimated length of time of closure?

Oh, that's a permanent closure.

That's permanent?

Yes.

So, yeah. And correct me if I'm wrong, it feeds just... Is it the National Park Service has a maintenance area there?

Correct. There's no residences on that stretch that's getting closed. The only thing that would be affected on that eastern limit of that closure is the maintenance shop for National Park Service. Oh, okay. Outside of that, Veeden Road feeds into Fernsville in between those two limits and would have to go eastbound in order to get around or go down to US-20.

Okay. Is there anything else that we need to do? We don't need to vote on this. This is just they're letting us know. Is there anything that we should be doing as a county in terms of alerting residents? Should we be putting something on the website or something like that?

Well, I think today's meeting is for the residents. If you want to add something to the website, you can. But ultimately, it's just not our jurisdiction. This is public information only.

We will be posting on the Highway Engineering website since we do project documents anyway.

Okay.

And we have, we've been working with National Parks so that they can put out their own notice as well. And in addition, we have, like I said, signs on the roadway, mobile display trailer boards that are detailing that closure.

What town is that there?

That's the township?

Yeah.

Yeah, that's on, it's in Furnaceville, so that's... Isn't it Westminster?

So there is a town called Furnaceville?

Yeah. Well, it's not incorporated, I don't believe.

Right.

Okay.

Unofficially.

No, that's okay. I was just wondering.

Yeah. That's for the trail, where we're moving the trail, correctly? Correct. Yeah. The westbound lane is going to be dedicated for the two directions of travel for bicycles and pedestrians. Okay.

That's very cool.

Yeah, the project overall is looking very nice. When we're done, and I know that,

Burns Harbor is doing a portion also, right? How many months are left to be done? Because I know they're not quite meeting up yet.

There was an article actually in the paper. It went all the way from the Illinois line to the Michigan line. They reported all those segments. But I would say in Porter County, Portage still has work to do. Burns Harbor is working to close theirs. Porter is, I believe, done. their small section. We are the next biggest section and I'd say in the next two, three years we'll be done. As far as portage, I can't speak for them, but they would be the last Porter County section to be done.

All right. Moving on to number four, you have approval for the Porter County title. What is that, six?

Yes.

Implementation plan?

Yeah, Title VI implementation plan is a requirement for our grant funding opportunities, including CCMG with the state. So this submits our plan to the state and says how we're maintaining our Title VI compliance and outlines those details. Essentially, it's something we have to maintain in order to be eligible for funding federally. Could you explain Title VI? What does that involve? So, from my understanding, Title VI is... how we intersect with disadvantaged persons that come into into the fold of porter county involvement so if they're coming in to interact and need assistance in any way we are going to accommodate those requests mostly that's information that we put out such as hearings and other matters such as that that we're sensitive to those needs that are blind have we ever have we had any requests so far not since i've been here okay No, and that is logged in the plan. We don't have any of those requests that have been filled out or complaints.

Okay. All righty. Well, I move that we approve.

I'll second that. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Motion carries.

Thank you, Commissioner.

Same. Thank you. The Caring Place.

Good morning. Hi. How are you?

Good.

Good.

Okay, you have a request to use the northeast corner of the Courthouse Browns on October 22nd, 2026 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. for Witch's Night Out, a Halloween of fun. All proceeds will go to survivors of domestic violence.

Yes. Is Valparaiso doing something else? Is Valpo Events doing something else?

Okay, so Valpo Events is doing their trick-or-treat, and then they have the promenade and things like that. They don't have this. A couple of different realtors are doing their own thing. We have 11... doors right now and five restaurants that have committed to us. There could be others. Basically what this looks like, this is more of an adult thing versus where the cookie walk is a family thing. So you'll get holiday treats. The restaurants will have cocktails like witches brew, boutinis, things like that. and participants will get discounts in certain retail shops, things like that. So it's been really nice to partner with the downtown. It helps us, and it helps, you know, get more foot traffic in there for them as well. Great. I move that we approve.

I will second that. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, guys. Have a great day. You too.

Okay, next we have, is that an I? St. Iacobus? Yeah. Orthodox Church, did I say that right? Iacobus. It's a James in English. We just like it. You have a request for a 5K race route road closure starting at St. Iacobus. Say that again, St. James?

St. Iacobus, yeah. St. Iacobus. Church. It's a Greek for James.

Located at 36 West 700 North, runners will go west on West 700 North and then head north to North 50 West. Take all that highway through where it turns into North 75 West turnaround point. Just before US Highway 6 intersection, reroute would be the same route back. The route will be closed October 24th, 2026 from 8.30 a.m. until 12 p.m. Have you spoken to the sheriff?

I believe they have. I'm here just for the committee. I got my committee, my people working. I believe they have.

Okay. Did you have any questions?

Yeah. Are you going to be able to put up signs for this? Yes. In advance? Have the residents been notified about this closure?

I do not believe so.

Okay. That's important. We just had this Parade of Homes thing and You know, that was kind of a challenge. So the thing that I'm asking is that you get it out to the residents that they know this is going to be closed. How will you be blocking the roads? You know, do you have, you know, something set up to where you can have this shut off to the public?

We can get those things, yeah. It is a first-time event for us, and I, you know,

Well, I would definitely make sure that you speak to the Sheriff's Department because they probably have a whole protocol for how this gets handled since other people do these sorts of things. Okay.

Yeah, you know, you might have to have somebody.

Jim, did you have anything that you need in terms of, do you want to just come up here real quick?

No, yeah. Okay.

Can you speak in the mic just so we have it?

Yeah, they just need to supply their own barricades and manpower for the closing of the road. Right. And what a sheriff requires.

Thanks, Jim.

And of course, the residents are notified. And if you could... If you could get that, let's see, what are you asking for this? Is this for October 24th? Yes. There's time. If you could get us some information back on that, on how you're going to set that up. Okay. Especially the residents. Is there anything I'm missing, Scott? I don't think so.

Basically, do we need to just supply them a letter? How do we notify them?

My suggestion would be whoever is handling the actual policy, putting together of this event, if they would call the commissioner's office, we would give you the name of the other relay that happens. There's another 5K that happens in the spring. But basically, they're dealing with the Sheriff's Department, they're dealing with the Highway Department, and then there is a way they're notifying the citizens. So there is a way to do this smoothly. I know this is your first time, but that's kind of the route to go so no one is surprised when the road closes for a period of time. That's all we're attempting to do.

So we can contact the Commissioner's Department.

Yeah, and I think Melanie has at least a contact name to be able to get you going, but then also Sheriff Highway.

I'm meeting with them this evening, so they're all working, so I'm the guy that doesn't work except for Sundays. So, thank you.

We just want this to be something.

Oh, no, I appreciate it. No, no, these are learning experiences for us, and I appreciate it, and, you know, it'll help us up. We hopefully make this an annual thing, so.

If you'd like to see me after the meeting, I'll get you a card so you have my information.

I appreciate that. Thank you.

Do you want to wait to board on this?

We can wait. I think that'd be best. And then what we'll do is we'll put you on the meeting, our next commissioner's meeting, which was before this.

On October 6th.

On October 6th. And then you can present us with this and we can get this matter resolved. I appreciate that very much. Thank you. Thank you. We'll table this until the next October 6th meeting. Okay. Any other matters that may come before the commissioners? Anyone like to speak? Anyone? No? Okay. The next commissioners meeting will be October 6th, 2026 at 10 a.m. Meeting adjourned. Thank you.