Thomas, Berry named county council officers

Either the members of the Putnam County Council are extremely happy with their two leaders or none of the other five members want to be on the hot seat each month.

For the fourth straight year, Darrell Thomas will serve as president of the seven-member council with Keith Berry as vice president.

The two men only grinned reluctantly as their fellow board members nominated and unanimously re-elected them Tuesday night.

This sort of continuity is nothing new to a board that had former councilman Mitch Proctor as president from 1985 through 2009.

Council appointments to various boards and commissions were also largely unchanged.

Councilman Deck will represent the council on the planning commission, Operation Life board and E-911 board, as well as serving as the council liaison to morning Putnam County Commissioners meetings.

Councilman Dave Fuhrman will serve on the cemetery board and emergency management agency.

Councilmen Phil Gick (Humane Society), Larry Parker (evening commissioners liaison), Thomas (West Central Economic Development) and Berry (Greencastle/Putnam County Economic Development) also kept the same appointments as last year.

Newly-elected Gene Beck will serve on the community corrections board.

The council also appointed Arthur Zickman to the alcoholic beverage board.

Besides organizing itself for the year, the council also approved the yearly budget for PIE (Prevention, Intervention, Education) Coalition.

Putnam County Community Corrections executive director Jamie France, representing the coalition, told the council the organization had collected $41,497.50 from court fees in 2012.

"It allows the coalition to do wonderful things that address drug and alcohol abuse here in the county," France said.

The court fees, coupled with grants and other funding sources, allow the coalition a yearly budget of around $50,000. France explained that the yearly budget proposal is always based on the amount of fees collected the previous year.

The council also approved its meeting time, dates and location, which will stay the same in 2013. The council meets at 6:30 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month at the Putnam County Courthouse.