Offices playing musical chairs as county preps for magistrate court

With the chill of winter still creeping in most nights, July seems like a long way off.

But to those preparing for the addition of a third Putnam County court, the July 1 deadline is bearing down in a hurry.

Judges Matt Headley and Denny Bridges appeared before the Putnam County Commissioners this week, requesting a final decision on the location of the third court office.

Bridges emphasized that head custodian Brian Smith believes that converting the current juvenile probation office to a courtroom and office space for Magistrate Melinda Jackman-Hanlin and her staff.

“Brian thinks they’re going to need 60 days to do the work,” Bridges said. “We’re running out of time, so we need them out.”

However, the commissioners hadn’t necessarily agreed to that arrangement.

“We’ve never exactly agreed where we’re moving these guys,” Commissioner David Berry said.

“That’s why we’re here. We need a decision,” Bridges said.

In the end, the decision was made that the first domino to fall will be cleaning out the old microfilm office on the fourth floor of the courthouse. The county has contracted with Nate Wilson to clean out the office and take the records still in need of photographing to the State Archives, which will henceforth handle the county’s microfilm needs.

Though the process of transferring to the state will take longer, the first goal is to simply move things out so the office can be repainted and probation can move in.

Once the Juvenile Probation office is moved, the work will begin on converting the office for the third court.

The judged emphasized that though they aren’t seeking something “gold-plated,” the work still needs to be quality, so a longer timeframe would be beneficial.

The commissioners remained confident that things can be completed on time.

“To answer your questions, yes, we will make a decision and, yes, we will have it ready by July,” Commissioner Rick Woodall said.

In other business:

• The county is continuing to make due with the current county website, which remains slow because it is outdated.

The entire website will have to be redesigned because the technology has changed so much.

Woodall explained that he has received two estimates for bringing the website up to date, one from a local company for $8,000-$12,000 and another from an Indianapolis-based company for $10,000-$15,000.

Right now, the county doesn’t have either sum set aside for such a purpose.

“That’s what I’m struggling with right now,” Woodall said. “Me being the non-tech person, that seems like an absolutely insane amount. According to my son, who does this for a living, that’s pretty reasonable.

“We’re struggling with where we’re going to get the money, so it’s going to be slow and cumbersome for a while as we try to figure it out.”

• Mike Richmond of Main Street Greencastle was granted a request for Main Street to use the stage on the north side of the courthouse as well as electrical outlets for bands during First Friday events.

• Nancy Michael of the Putnam County Fair Parade Committee informed the commissioners of some changes to the parade in 2019.

First, the day of the parade will be different than in years past. Rather than the Friday night at the beginning of the fair, it will now be at 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 14, a week before the fair itself begins and the same weekend as the Fair Queen Contest.

Additionally, Michael requested the commissioners’ permission to possibly move the reviewing stand to the courthouse lawn, as it was years ago.

The stand has more recently been in front of the Masonic Lodge, two blocks to the east.

Michael said the idea is to allow more 4-H’ers to actually attend the parade, as many spend Friday night taking animals to the fairgrounds.

• The commissioners approved a resolution to assign the property at 213 S. Harrison St., Russellville, to the Town of Russellville.

The block in question has been beset by the collapses of the old buildings, as well as the recent condemning of Russellville Town Hall.

The commissioners are in the process of obtaining the two buildings at the south end of the block, and assigning this building to the town is actually a more expedient way of accomplishing the same task.

The goal for all of the properties is to clean up the damage in hopes of selling the property and getting it back on the tax rolls.