Commissioners approve animal control officer

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Years of discussion about getting animal control back in Putnam County took a tangible step toward fruition Monday with the hiring of an animal control officer.

At the recommendation of the Sheriff's Merit Board and the Animal Control Advisory Board, the Putnam County Commissioners unanimously approved the hire of Brien Holsapple as the animal care and control director.

With 10 years of experience with the DePauw Nature Park, as well as past employment with the Department of Natural Resources and even as a sheriff's deputy, Holsapple met the expectations of those charged with instituting the animal control program.

The hire will not become official until the Putnam County Council approves the additional appropriation for Holsapple's salary, a move likely to come at the Tuesday, Aug. 19 meeting.

The council has previously agreed in principle to the approval, but no official move has been made.

County officials advised that Holsapple's hire, coming possibly as soon as Aug. 20, does not mean the county humane shelter will be open for business. After the hire, an additional two or three weeks will needed to get the program fully operational.

While his duties will be limited to animal control, Holsapple will be considered a merit deputy under the supervision of the Putnam County Sheriff.

In other animal control news, Dean Gambill of the Putnam County Community Foundation was on hand to present the yearly distribution of the Humane Society of Putnam County endowment. The $14,405.16 will go toward the operation of the humane shelter and animal control department.

A couple of other possible personnel moves will be delayed to a later date, as the commissioners deferred the decision to the Putnam County Council.

Both Kathleen VanArsdale of the microfilm department and courthouse head custodian Brian Smith came to request the addition of employees to their staffs. A hiring freeze instituted several years ago by both the commissioners and council makes such a decision more tricky.

VanArsdale is requesting a full-time employee to keep up with the workload caused by increased court cases. Likewise, Smith has seen increased need for an employee with the current HVAC installation project at the courthouse. The project is likely to take another two years, so Smith is requesting an additional custodian for that time.

The commissioners gave both department heads approval to go before the council.

Following up on a discussion from last month, the commissioners spoke to Roachdale Fire Chief Mike Poole and Putnam County Dispatch Director Dave Costin about missed dispatches in the northeast corner of the county.

Poole reported the problem to the commissioners on July 21, with Monday's discussion planned at that time.

Costin reported that dispatching to Jackson and Franklin townships had always been a challenge, but the FCC-mandated narrow-banding of recent years had exacerbated the issue.

Currently, a relay tower on top of North Putnam Middle School is utilized to get dispatches to the Roachdale area. However, this tower is just 75 feet in the air, compared to a treeline height of 60 feet.

Ideally, the relay would be at 100 or more feet, but sites Costin has previously looked into have not worked out.

He is currently discussing the issue with Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co., which owns a 285-foot tower in the area. A couple of hurdles remain to this option, including the need for approximately $90,000 to build a shed and move equipment.

Costin said he will continue to pursue this option, while looking into others.

The Putnam County Commissioners will meet again at 6 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 18.

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