Wayne County will explore submitting a letter of intent seeking up to $8 million from the state’s Stellar Pathways program.
Commissioner Jeff Plasterer requested approval to pursue the funding, and the request was approved unanimously during the Feb. 21 commissioners meeting.
Plasterer said the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs originally deemed Wayne County ineligible for the funding because of community development block grants associated with the Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program. After some lobbying, however, OCRA decided that all county municipalities not receiving CDBG money through HELP would be eligible for Stellar Pathways. That eliminates Cambridge City and Dublin from consideration.
A training session will be March 4 and 5 that Plasterer said he intends to attend with Beth Fields, Richmond’s director of strategic initiatives. The letter would be due May 1, and OCRA will select four finalists to submit complete applications. Two entries will receive funding
Plasterer said the process again gives the county a chance to collaborate with towns, including those that are not part of HELP.
Other state partners with OCRA include the Indiana Department of Transportation, the arts commission, tourism and health department.
Eclipse closing
Commissioners unanimously voted to close county buildings from noon to 6 p.m. April 8 because of the total solar eclipse.
Nonessential employees will be sent home, but they will be paid for their full shifts. Essential employees, such as Emergency Communications Center and sheriff’s officers, will still be working.
Wayne County sits within the path of totality and expects an influx of visitors wanting to see the moon block out the sun about 3 p.m. that day. For safety of employees and to reduce traffic on local roads, commissioners decided to declare the emergency closing, much like a snow day.
Milton sewer line
The town of Milton requested permission to utilize HELP money allocated for a sewer project to pay for emergency sewer line repairs to its major pipe leading to Connersville.
Commissioners unanimously approved permitting Milton to use HELP money to instead pay for the emergency repairs. The county committed $44,000 toward the $89,000 sewer upgrade project through HELP.
Deed sale
The annual deed sale is scheduled for 10 a.m. April 25. At the moment, 33 parcels are included in the sale — 31 inside Richmond and two outside.
Discussions with Richmond will determine if any actions are being taken against the parcels through the Unsafe Building Commission before commissioners decide which parcels will be included in the sale.
Last year’s sale was disrupted by a group that drove bidding to excessively high prices, then did not pay for the parcels when winning the bid. SRI, the company that conducts the sale, had problems with the group at other sales, but reported it has not encountered any problems since Wayne County’s sale.
A version of this article appeared in the February 28 2024 print edition of the Western Wayne News.