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Jones School purchase delayed again
The purchase of the old Jones School from the county has again been delayed.
First agreed upon in the summer of 2017, the sale of the 66-year-old building has always been contingent upon developer Milestone Ventures Inc. successfully obtaining tax credits from the state.
In the latest round of funding, announced in late 2019, Milestone was one of seven developers applying but failed to make the cut.
The proposal is to take the school building and convert it into senior housing.
Situated at the corner of Madison and Liberty streets in Greencastle, Mary Emma Jones School served elementary school students on the city’s West Side from 1954 until 2001.
It was then sold to Putnam County for $1 and served as the Putnam County Annex from 2002 through 2011, when roof and other problems forced the Putnam County Commissioners to shutter the building. For a time the gymnasium continued to serve as a storage area for old files, though these have since been moved off site.
The proposal is not Milestone’s first foray into this kind of work in the Greencastle market. In 2015, Milestone successfully converted the former Miller School property into Miller Asbury Apartments on Anderson Street.
Milestone is also the developer and owner of Millstone Point Apartments on the city’s south side.
Despite its track record, Milestone has found obtaining tax credits to be more challenging this time around. The original purchase agreement ran through July of last year before it was extended through the end of this month.
A new agreement, approved by the Putnam County Commissioners on Monday, will run through July of this year.
“What other choice do we have? We play it out as long as that fiddle will play,” Commissioner Rick Woodall said.
County Attorney Jim Ensley said Milestone has changed its approach and continues to pursue the funding.
In other business:
-- The commissioners kept their slate of officers the same for 2020, with District 2 Commissioner Woodall as president and District 1 Commissioner David Berry as vice president. District 3 Commissioner Don Walton made the motion, with Berry seconding. The measure passed 3-0.
-- A 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe currently in the possession of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department will soon be in the service of the Putnam County Planning and Zoning Department. The need for County Planner Don Hatfield to have a county-issued vehicle was recently brought to the commissioners’ attention.
The SUV in question is no longer in the service of the sheriff’s department, and Reserve Deputy Ken Rozelle plans to get it in shape for the planning department.
Rozelle, who also serves as the Heritage Lake property manager, said he and two maintenance workers at the lake plan to volunteer a few hours of their time to get the vehicle back in working order.
“There’s no charge to it besides the county purchasing the battery and anything that needs to be done,” Rozelle said.
The commissioners said they felt something should be done to reimburse the men, but Rozelle said Hatfield has spent a lot of time on projects in the Floyd Township community, so they are happy to volunteer their time and work.
-- County Highway Supervisor Mike Ricketts warned county residents to be on the lookout for heavy rains late in the week, saying there could be up to four inches that fall.
“There will probably be some flooding this weekend, so we want everybody to pay attention to our website, the WTH Think GIS map,” Ricketts said.
The map, which notes road closures, is available at https://putnamin.wthgis.com.
-- Gregory Meyer was hired as the new Veterans Service officer for the county, replacing the retiring Jerry Williamson.
Williamson and Woodall interviewed Meyer and one other candidate last week.
A retired master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, Meyer spent more than 30 years as a criminal investigator and police officer in Vigo County.