The Kosciusko County Commissioners recognized Eagle Scout Zachary Harris at their meeting on Tuesday, May 10. Harris is the son of Mark and Mandi Harris and a member of Boy Scout Troop 726 of North Webster. From left: Kosciusko County Commissioners’ Vice President Brad Jackson, Harris, Kosciusko County Commissioner Bob Conley and Kosciusko County Commissioners’ President Cary Groninger. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.

By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — Kosciusko County Commissioners have established a county park board and department.

They unanimously approved an ordinance creating those entities at their meeting on Tuesday, May 10.

Kosciusko County Attorney Ed Ormsby read from the ordinance before its approval. People may find the full ordinance by clicking here.

It includes that the board will be made up of five people, with the Kosciusko County auditor appointing one, commissioners appointing two and the Kosciusko County Council appointing two. The board is to include those affiliated with different political parties.

As of now, the board and a potential county park superintendent and other potential staff aren’t to be paid save for “submission of a request to the County Wage Committee and written and specific approval from the County Commissioners and the County Council,” as laid out in the ordinance.

“This is something that we’ve been working on for some time,” noted Commissioners’ President Cary Groninger before the vote. “I know as we walked through our Forward Kosciusko comprehensive plan, this was something that came up on a pretty regular topic when we did our different engagements with the community. We had a lot of comments about this.”

“So this plan hasn’t even been adopted yet, but we’re already seeing the positives coming from that plan where we reached out to the community, we looked for input from you, from everybody, from the whole community on what they would like to see in Kosciusko County,” he continued.

He added people were mainly interested in seeing various trail systems throughout the county connected.

“So we’re pretty excited about what this can do to really create that quality of life here in Kosciusko County that we all want to see. That’s what’s going to attract people to want to live here. I really believe that’s going to be the economic driver of the future … Jobs are going to follow people instead of people following jobs. People are going to want to live where they want to live.”

Groninger also said commissioners were progressing slowly with having a volunteer board and having the board and department enabled the county to apply for parks-related grants.

Following the vote, those in the audience applauded.

Purdue Extension

The commissioners also heard an update on Kosciusko County Purdue Extension from its staff.

Among those speaking was 4-H Youth Development Extension Educator Andrew Ferrell. He said there are about 550 kids in regular 4-H right now, up about 39 from last year. There are about 135 in mini 4-H for younger kids, which is up about 29 from the previous year.

Ferrell noted that he works with kids outside 4-H doing robotics at Baker Youth Club. Other projects he’s working on include recruiting volunteers from Grace College and having a technology fair at the Warsaw Community Public Library for kids.

Assistant Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Educator Emily Luc also shared about how she’s working to assist with mental health needs amongst agricultural communities. That includes educating those working with the upcoming 988 national suicide prevention line about specific mental health needs of those in rural communities and farm families.

In other business, the commissioners:

• Recognized Eagle Scout Zachary Harris. He is a member of Boy Scout Troop 726 of North Webster and the son of Mark and Mandi Harris.
• Approved two grant application requests from Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Shane Bucher. One is a U.S. Department of Justice grant of $250,000 that if received will help pay for the salaries of additional deputies hired for the department for several years. The other, a $4,986 Kosciusko REMC Operation Roundup one, will help pay for suits and equipment for the office’s dive team.

• Approved a quote brought by Kosciusko County Administrator Marsha McSherry for a electrical capacitor to help keep electrical costs down at the Kosciusko County Justice Building. That was for $66,141 from D&D Electric. A quote was also obtained from Dilling Group for $149,480.

The commissioners’ next meeting is 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 24, at the Kosciusko County Courthouse’s Old Courtroom.