Jasper Board Delays Action on County Engineer

Jasper County Board members took no action on hiring of a permanent county engineer at Thursday's meeting.

The Board met in closed session on the matter. Several township road commissioners were present in support of hiring Cumberland County Engineer Ben Bland to also serve as Jasper County Engineer. Bland is working for Jasper County on an acting basis since Dick Patterson's resignation as engineer.

The Board did vote to allocate $5,345 in Motor Fuel Tax funds to pay the engineer's salary.

Jasper board members voted to purchase a replacement phone system for the sheriff's department. The system will cost just under $7,000.

There was also discussion of information from County Treasurer Clinton Bigard about letting taxpayers pay their property tax bill with debit and credit cards, and the Board approved an amendment to allow those options. 

Bigard also reported that the County's General Fund balance is up $300,000 from last year. The Board voted in favor of a change in bank securities. If county funds total more than the $250,000 FDIC limit, they will be covered by a letter of credit with the Federal Home Loan Bank. Peoples State Bank and Dieterich Bank, which handle county funds, will monitor if deposits are higher than normal. The Board's motion was to replace the County's public deposits from the current pledged securities to a public unit deposit issued by the Federal Home Loan Bank that will be monitored on a quarterly basis.

The Jasper Board approved a $2,845 file cabinet purchase for the County Clerk's office, and electric heat for the Courthouse lobby for $2,161. There was discussion of an e-mail server for the Board. Rick Haney of Technical Partners discussed options. The matter will be considered by the Board's Finance Committee.