Flanked by Middle District County Commissioner Cary Groninger, left, and Northern District County Commissioner Brad Jackson, right, Southern District County Commissioner Bob Conley explains the county opioid committee’s recommendation for contracts with two peer recovery coaches for the Kosciusko Community Recovery Program at the jail. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.

By David Slone
Times-Union

KOSCIUSKO COUNTY — Some of the county’s opioid settlement money will be used to contract with two peer recovery coaches for the Kosciusko Community Recovery Program at the jail.

At the Kosciusko County Commissioners meeting Tuesday, Sept. 24, Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Chris McKeand explained as part of the KCRP, the navigator position is in place and “we’ve seen some very positive indications on where that’s going as far as progress, especially right now with our current levels in the jail.” He said they’re wanting to implement the peer recovery piece for the recovery program, which are the individuals coming into the jail itself that have “lived that same path, have been in recovery and help that individual walk that same path.”

McKeand said the request for $95,000 from the opioid restricted fund was for two peer recovery coaches and for software for “note-taking and chart-taking” for the therapy staff to keep track of progress for each individual in the program.

The recovery coaches will be contracted and will not be new county employees.

Commissioner Bob Conley said the county opioid committee met last week and reviewed the request. They thought the two peer recovery coaches was the appropriate thing to do, he said, and the case management software was a good way to keep track of the program. At some point in time, the program will probably be audited and the software will help keep track of the dollars and data, Conley said.

He thanked Sheriff Jim Smith for initiating the KCRP. “I think it’s showing rewards already,” Conley said.

The commissioners unanimously approved the $95,000.

County attorney Ed Ormsby presented to the commissioners an ordinance regarding additional compensation for the county surveyor.

Reading the applicable portions of the ordinance, he said Indiana code sets forth the compensation method for a county surveyor in the state. It states that, “In addition to the compensation fixed under subsection (b) (which is the base salary of the surveyor set by the county fiscal body), if the surveyor describes and certifies the number of miles of active regulated drains in the county to the county executive, the surveyor is entitled, with the approval of the county executive, to $2 per mile for each mile described and certified, if the surveyor is not registered under Indiana code 25-21.5 or Indiana code 25-31.”

The board of commissioners believes it is reasonable and appropriate and in the best interest of the county and its citizens to approve the additional compensation for the county surveyor as set forth in Indiana code, Ormsby continued.

By approving the ordinance, the commissioners approved the additional compensation for the county surveyor if the county surveyor is not registered under Indiana code. The effective date for the ordinance is Jan. 1, 2025.

“This ordinance is in the context of discussion that the county council had in setting the base salary for county surveyors for the upcoming budget year of 2025,” Ormsby said. “The amount at issue for the miles of drains at $2 per mile: There are 1,015.2 miles that are certified here in Kosciusko County. So the amount at issue for the county budget would be $2,030.40.”

Commissioner Cary Groninger asked if the $2 per mile was set by the state. Ormsby said it is dictated by the state.

The commissioners approved the ordinance unanimously.

At their Sept. 12 meeting, the county council approved the total compensation for the county surveyor in the 2025 salary ordinance at $61,934.23, plus the 2,483 section corners at $2 each, or $4,966, for a total compensation for an unlicensed surveyor for the 2025 salary ordinance at $66,360.23. The council left the drain mileage pay up to the commissioners as they are the executive branch of the county.

Current County Surveyor Mike Kissinger, who is a licensed county surveyor, did not seek re-election this year. Moyer, who is not licensed, won the Republican primary and is not challenged in the November general election. A non-licensed county surveyor can’t perform some of the duties of the office so those will have to be contracted out. It’s the first time in 64 years that the county hasn’t had a licensed county surveyor. Because state law requires a licensed county surveyor to make 1-1/2 times more than that of a non-licensed county surveyor, there was some question by the county as to how much Moyer should be paid.

In other business, the commissioners:

• Awarded Phend & Brown the bid for the resurfacing project on CR 1300N and several portions of other county roads, as requested by Kosciusko County Highway Department (KCHD) Superintendent Steve Moriarty. County American Rescue Plan Act funds will be used to pay for the resurfacing of CR 1300N, CR 100E, CR 1250N and CR 175E. Total cost is $1,318,940.50.

The other bid received by the county was from Brooks Construction for a total of $1,325,424.

• Approved repealing ordinance 1988-8, page 32, which is for a stop sign at CR 1300N and Old 15, as requested by Moriarty. He asked to add an ordinance for Old 15, northbound and southbound traffic, to stop at CR 1300N as an adjustment for the overpass.

• Set the advertisement dates for the KCHD’s 2025 bid openings for annual bids for county highway materials, as requested by Moriarty. The two advertisement dates are Oct. 2 and Oct. 9. The bids will be opened at 9:15 a.m. on Nov. 4.

• Approved $11,050 for Kim Reiff Construction, Excavating, Demolition & Environmental Services to remove fuel tanks and do environmental testing at the Justice Building parking lot.

Groninger said as part of the Justice Building parking lot renovation and expansion, some additional excavation was being done because of the soils on the property.

“We discovered what we thought was a 1,000-gallon fuel tank, so we got pricing from Kim Reiff Environmental out of Larwill to come look at it. As he’s digging around, we end up finding we had two 2,000-gallon tanks that were actually on the property, both of which had been closed some time ago and filled with sand,” he said.

It was decided to remove those tanks from the property, do soil testing and documentation with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to make sure they were in full compliance from an environmental perspective.

• Approved a contract with Guyer the Mover as requested by Auditor Alyssa Schmucker on behalf of County Clerk Ann Torpy. Guyer the Mover will move the election machines for the upcoming election. They also authorized for Conley to sign the contract on behalf of the commissioners.

The next commissioners meeting is set for 9 a.m. Oct. 8.