During their July 23 meeting, Wayne County’s Commissioners worked on a wide range of business items to keep county government operating smoothly.
The group approved two ordinances to vacate public rights of way in Williamsburg and Jacksonburg, advancing requests from residents looking to resolve property and infrastructure issues.
Shannon Merkamp of Main Street in Williamsburg said that she needed alleyways behind her home closed off so she could install a new septic system to address sewage issues. “Everybody’s sewers are just overflowing everywhere,” Merkmap said.
Russell and Helen Pierson of Sugar Street in Jacksonburg said a similar action would correct a boundary issue with their property that dates back more than 50 years, asking the county to vacate an undeveloped alley to their north and an undeveloped street extension to their south.
Both requests had been reviewed by the Wayne County Advisory Plan Commission June 26 and both received unanimous recommendations for approval, and commissioners did just that.
Commissioners moved to begin the process of selling two vacant county-owned lots on East Main Street. They approved a resolution that declares the properties no longer needed for government purposes and authorizes an appraisal and sale process. Officials plan to bundle the lots due to their shared history and structure.
Proposed wheel tax
County Council members attending the meeting said they are facing budget challenges amid expected revenue reductions and emphasized the need to find new sources for highway and bridge funding, including possible implementation of an additional vehicle tax.
“The state’s philosophy for many years is that they want local government to utilize the tools they’ve put in place to get additional money,” said council member Max Smith. “This is one of those, the wheel tax.”
Council member Beth Leisure said of the uncertainty of funding for essential highway and bridge maintenance that the new tax would help with: “Once we get behind, we’ll never be able to catch up.”
Cathy Williams, also on county council, asked residents to think about bridges they may drive over going to or from work and school. “If we can’t repair them and you have to take a 10-mile detour every day…if we don’t have funds to fix the bridges when they need it, that could happen,” Williams said.
Residents have an opportunity to address council about the proposed taxes during an 8 a.m. Aug. 6 public hearing in the chambers of the Wayne County Administration Building, 401 E. Main St., Richmond.
Other business
In other business, department heads were briefed on a range of topics, including:
* A new county vehicle fleet safety policy tied to insurance and driver records
* Progress on the courthouse entrance renovation and elevator upgrade
* Transition to new “waynecounty.in.gov” email addresses for county employees, to satisfy state requirements for entities that conduct elections
Commissioners also worked to standardize a nonprofit discount policy for rentals at the Wayne County Fairgrounds, figure out how changing environmental policy will affect maintenance of an inactive landfill, and considered options for using a land bank company to help vacant properties that would otherwise end up in the hands of the county and do something useful with them.
The next commissioners meeting is Wednesday, Aug. 6 at 1:30 p.m. at the Wayne County Administration Building, 401 East Main Street, Richmond. The public may attend.
A version of this article appeared in the July 30 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.