County Commissioners approve departmental requests

Thursday, March 6, 2025 at 3:00 AM

By Kathy Bottorff

Janis Holiday, Executive Director of the Marshall County Council on Aging appeared before the commissioners to discuss a new option in the INDOT grant process that would allow the Council on Aging to act as the grant applicant and direct recipient instead of the county as a pass-through grant.

Holiday said the state is concerned that some counties don’t understand how agencies with transportation grants operate in their counties and want to ensure good oversight. She said, “Some counties aren’t really involved.”

Holiday said that starting in 2026, the option to skip over the county will be available, but she wanted to discuss the option with the commissioners and find out what they prefer. She told them she prefers keeping it the way it is with the county being the applicant and passing through the funds to the Council on Aging. Holiday said she likes the transparency it provides.

Commissioner Jesse Bohannon said he also liked the level of transparency it provides to the public by approving the invoices during a public meeting. He made the motion for Marshall County to continue as the pass-through for the Council on Aging and the county will be the grant applicant.

This week the Marshall County Commissioners also suspended the rules and passed on the second and third readings an ordinance establishing a $10 fee for mobile home permits in the County Treasurer’s Office. The funds will be placed in a non-reverting fund and used for office supplies, ink, and paper for the printing required for the mobile home permits.

Sandy Dunfee, Administrator of the County Health Department was approved to sign the Diaper Bank agreement. Dunfee said the Health Department will purchase about 20,000 diapers at about a fourth of the cost, $5,970 using Health First Indiana Funds. The diapers will be distributed to food banks, non-food pantries, and the Marshall County Health Department office.

The Commissioners also approved County Clerk Jenny Bennett’s request to sign a 12-month service agreement for $239 for the office’s time stamp machine.