Commissioners' meetings returning to courthouse 10-year absence

Like the prodigal son, the Putnam County Commissioners are coming home.

On Tuesday, the three-member board approved a plan to bring county commissioners meetings, and likely the county council, back to the Putnam County Courthouse.

From 2002 through 2011, both boards met in the Jones School building, which served as the Putnam County Annex over that period.

Following the closure of the annex last November, meetings relocated to the Putnam County Emergency Operations Center.

However, concerns over acoustics and a general desire to bring meetings back to the courthouse drove Tuesday's decision.

In order to make room in the former Commissioners Courtroom on the first floor of the courthouse, the Real Estate Office will be moved to the fourth floor.

Officials hope the move can be completed in time for meetings to return to downtown Greencastle by November.

One other change coming to commissioners meetings will be the way the agenda is generated.

Both the commissioners and council have traditionally had set times for most agenda items, giving those coming before the boards specific times they need to be in attendance.

However, Tuesday's meeting brought into light some of the problems with the old system. A cancellation as well as several quick agenda items put the meeting nearly one hour ahead of schedule and left the commissioners waiting.

It isn't the first time they've encountered such a problem.

Meeting agendas will now feature all agenda items, but no prescribed times. The expectation will be for all who have business with the commissioners to be present at the start of the meeting.