James Peck hired as new county highway chief

A new face will soon be in charge at the Putnam County Highway Department.

On Monday, Putnam County Commissioners Tom Helmer and David Berry voted 2-0 to hire James Peck as the new superintendent and engineer at the highway department.

Though Commissioner Rick Woodall was not present Monday for the vote, he had been part of prior interviews with Peck and other candidates.

The role of engineer is a new one to the local department, as the highway has previously been run by people identified as either supervisor or superintendent, with all engineering work contracted.

However, following the departure of Mike Ricketts at the beginning of 2022, the Commissioners announced prior to the search that additional funding was available from the State of Indiana to hire an engineer for the department. This allowed the county to increase the salary of the position without increasing local taxes while also bringing a different level of expertise to the department.

Peck comes to the department from Montgomery County, where he has served as county engineer. However, Peck is not new to Putnam County, as he resides west of Greencastle in Madison Township. He is set to assume his new role on Monday, April 25.

Clint Maddox has been serving as head of the department on an interim basis since Ricketts’ departure. Despite good reports from residents on the department during the brief time it has been in Maddox’s hands, he expressed no interest in taking on the role permanently.

“Clint, I want to thank you for everything you’ve done on an interim basis,” Berry said. “You’ve done a heck of a job.”