Carroll County Comet

Popular Categories

County entities will be asked to contribute for 911 costs

Lead Communicator chosen for department



Carroll County Commissioners decided at the Monday morning meeting to develop a pay schedule based on the formula used for Indiana’s Public Safety Tax computation. Fees from the schedule will provide a method for all community entities to help pay for E-911 Dispatch services. County Auditor Vicky Snipes advised the county leaders the City of Delphi has not honored a long-standing contract to financially support the service with $50,000 for 2016. She said failure to receive the contracted amount could mean one less dispatcher in the department.

Commissioner Pat Clawson said the contract between Delphi and the county “is null and void.” He said the county has not adhered to the terms agreed upon when the contract was written. Clawson also said it was not fair to charge Delphi residents and not other residents who receive the same service. He said he does not think there will be a funding issue for one position however because the department has not been at full staff for several months and it is not likely a significant number of additional dispatchers will be hired in the near future.

“We are down to one person probably 15 hours a day,” Clawson said.

Commissioner John Brown agreed with Clawson’s assertion that Delphi should not be the only entity to help pay for the service.

“The rest of them should pay something,” Brown said.

Attorney Ted Johnson recommended a fee formula be developed based on the Public Safety Local Option Income Tax schedule. He further recommended Commissioners develop inter-local agreements with other county entities, such as Flora, Camden, Yeoman, Burlington and townships to pay a fee for the service.

State tax warrant

Commissioner Clawson and Auditor Snipes reported they placed a call to the Indiana Department of Revenue about the tax warrant issued to the county and the resulting collection agency involvement for non-payment. Snipes said the county was instructed to complete and submit a form dissolving the business which was created by the Local Emergency Planning Council (LEPC) which in turn, triggered the need to report sales tax received for goods sold to the State. She said when the form is submitted, there will no longer be a tax liability.

Jail roof

Commissioners will solicit engineers’ quotes for services to develop specifications for a new roof on the county jail. Johnson said no formal advertisement for bids was required. Sheriff Tobe Leazenby said it would be best if the county received more than two quotes.

911 advisory board

Leazenby, representing the 911 Advisory Board, advised Board members recommended Cassie Lane be hired as Lead Communicator in dispatch. He said Lane is a former dispatcher in Carroll County and would need to give her current employer two weeks notice before beginning work.

Commissioners voted to give Clawson the authority to formally hire Lane upon her acceptance of the position.

Other business

Highway Engineer Paul Couts was directed to research how to reconfigure the intersection of CR500N. and 400W. Commissioner Clawson explained local farmer Larry Trapp cannot navigate a turn in the intersection in a farm semi without damaging a property owner’s land at the corner because of the current design, a small bridge and utilities location. Clawson said Trapp will present a proposal to solve the situation. He said the road was closed when the Hoosier Heartland Highway was constructed, which contributed to the situation by changing the truck route.

Commissioners voted to pay the annual $100 membership dues to the Greater Wabash River Resource. Representative Lynn Corson reported the group assists area farmers with conservation efforts and technical and financial assistance.

Delphi resident Karyl Treager was appointed to the Carroll County Redevelopment Authority.

Payroll claims for $185,040.28, County General claims for $124,621.72, Highway claims for $149,244.92, early claims for $28,352.38 and claims to be paid from restricted funds for $168,873 were approved without questions.

Commissioners signed a contract with APEX insurance brokers for employee health coverage in 2016. Auditor Snipes said county employees “have full coverage and there was no lapse in coverage for anyone. The Commissioners made sure of that.” SIHO coverage expired at midnight on Jan. 31 and APEX coverage started at one second past midnight on Feb. 1.

The next meeting will be Feb. 15 at 9 a.m.



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.