New Board of Commissioners enact 2-year moratoriums, appoint department heads and move forward with Bowen Center building purchase

The Marshall County Commissioners held a special meeting Thursday morning at 8:30 in the second-floor meeting room of the County Building. Several important issues were discussed, including the board's reorganization.  Commissioner Stan Klotz will remain as President of the Board of Commissioners and Jesse Bohannon will serve as Vice President, and Adam Faulstich will be the member. 

The next business item was hiring an attorney since Jim Clevenger had retired. Sean Surrisi was appointed to serve as Commissioner’s Attorney for 2025. A one-year contract was approved with a 3% rate increase on the hourly portion of the fee from $250 to $258 an hour. Surrisi said there is also a fixed portion of the cost for attending meetings and being available for discussions.    

The commissioners unanimously approved the 2025 Department Head Appointments. No changes were made. 

Billy Schoff will serve as the Building & Grounds Supervisor of County buildings.

John Greer was retained as Building & Grounds Supervisor at the Jail.

The County Building Commissioner will continue to be Chuck Garman.

The Museum Director will be Sandy Garrison.

Jerry Huss will continue as Weights & Measures Inspector.  

The County Highway Superintendent will be Jason Peters.

Pam Switcher Betzs will continue as the County’s Veterans Service Officer.

The Emergency Management Agency Director will be Jack Garner.

Michael Marshall remains the county’s IT Director and

The Human Resources Administrator is Jennifer Daake.

The new board of commissioners also enacted 2-year moratoriums on Farm-Scale Solar Projects, which are 10 acres or more, utility-scale Battery Energy Storage Systems, Data Centers, and Carbon Capture Developments. Commissioner Klotz said, “Right now, we don’t have ordinances that cover half of this stuff.”     

Newly appointed County Attorney Sean Surrisi said, “The state zoning statutes allow for an amendment to the zoning ordinance to be initiated either by the Plan Commissioner or by the Commissioners as the legislative body for the county.”  He said the moratorium is just an amendment to the zoning ordinance.  While the county has some current development standards already in place, this will pause action for 2-years, allowing the Plan Commission and Commissioners to work together to create standards for operations in Marshall County.

The Plan Commission will conduct public hearings on each of the four moratoriums and seek public input before recommending them to the commissioners for final action. 

The County Commissioners also took steps to move forward with purchasing the former Bowen Center Building at 990 Illinois Street.  Commissioner Klotz said he would like to offer them $450,000 for the property, which was appraised at $960,000 and $980,000.  Klotz said this would be a joint project between the County and Health Department. 

The County Health Department is currently paying $36,000 a year for basement space in the Community Resource Center, but it needs more room to offer more services. The additional space and renovations needed were estimated at $104,000 for 2025. The County Health Department is currently in a month-to-month lease with 90-day notification. 

The new commissioners have toured the facility, and the county’s maintenance department, along with professionals in various fields, has examined its mechanical systems closely. Klotz said the AC units are 25 years old, and part of his proposal is to ask the County Council for funding. He said the Health Department will put $250,000 down on the purchase and invest $100,000 in renovations. The County would accept the burden of the other $200,000, which Bowen Health is willing to split over two years with no interest.

Klotz said there is enough room in the new building for another county office with the Health Department.  He said, “We are running it like a business.  This makes us more efficient because at some point in time, if that funding (Health First Indiana) goes down they are going to be coming to the county for money.  If we can get it to where they operate cheaper, they won’t have to come to the council for money to keep functioning.”   

Commissioner Bohannon thanked Klotz for his leadership on this project and said, “This is something I think is the right move for the county.  I think it’s going to save us a lot of money in the long run.  It’s a beautiful building and gives us some additional options for another department as well.”  He then motioned to have Commissioner Klotz and the County Attorney negotiate the deal with Bowen Health and take the proposal to the County Council for funding.  His motion passed with a 3-0 vote.