4-H passes 1,000 mark

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Putnam County's 4-H program has surpassed the 1,000 mark.

Participation in the 2007 4-H program was at 1,196 youth, Purdue Extension Educator Lauralee Baugh told the Putnam County Commissioners this week.

That number is up from 930 in 2006, and she credits the new programs being added for drawing more youth people into the program.

The ATV safety, creative writing, shooting sports, bicycle safety and small engines projects reached a new set of youth who might not have been interested in past offerings.

But on the traditional 4-H side, Baugh said the number of youths in the animal projects are also way above the state's expected enrollment.

The annual 4-H Leader Recognition and Achievement Night program is set for 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Putnam County Fairgrounds. And, Baugh said, the Ag Week 2008 committee is also preparing to meet next week in anticipation of next year's event.

In other business, the commissioners:

* Approved Boston Mutual Insurance to provide a life insurance plan for county employees. The premiums will be paid by employees.

* Heard from county Recorder Jeanette Summitt that she has had trouble getting service on a computer maintenance agreement. The county attorney will send a letter to the company about the concerns.

* Heard from county highway Superintendent Dave Sutherlin that the state is looking for new road and bridge projects, and a new bridge bypassing the Houck Covered Bridge is one of those the county should consider. That bridge has a traffic count of about 700 vehicles per day.

* Learned a change could be made to the regulations for the R2 residential district to allow equestrian uses as long as the covenants of a subdivision allow that use. The issue came up with a recent development that wants to allow horses in a R2 subdivision.

* Agreed that the current pigeon control system at the courthouse is not working, so information will be sought on correcting the problem.

* Saw a sample of new county maps that can be customized and updated as needed. An initial printing of 5,000 maps is planned. They will be folded like a state highway map to make them portable by the public. A price for the maps has not been set.

* Agreed to meet Monday, Dec. 17 at the new emergency operations center at 4:30 p.m. to tour the facility. That session will be prior to the regular meeting at 6 p.m.

* Agreed to look into the cost of changing the locks at the courthouse due to too many keys in circulation.

The next regular meeting will be at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 19 at the courthouse annex, 209 W. Liberty St., Greencastle. The meeting is open to the public.

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