County not pursuing grant for opioid money

Citing too short a turnaround on the deadline, Putnam County will not seek matching funds to boost the impact of opioid settlement funds administered by the State of Indiana.

Giving an update to the Putnam County Commissioners on Monday, several members of the newly-formed committee said the state’s deadline of Feb. 28 was simply too soon, considering that the grant dollars were not announced publicly until late January and a committee was not formed until the middle of this month.

“It was a little too complicated for a newly formed group to move forward with that,” committee member and Mental Health America of Putnam County Director Karen Martoglio said.

The seven-member group includes Martoglio, Commissioner Tom Helmer, County Councilman Jay Alcorn, Putnam County Health Department Assistant Administrator Brian Williams, Sheriff Jerrod Baugh, North Putnam High School Principal Jason Chew and PIE Coalition President Justin Long.

Williams told the two commissioners present on Monday, Helmer and Rick Woodall, that the committee wanted a bit of guidance before making some spending decisions, such as if the commissioners would like some of the first installment held back for later needs and if they had a general idea of where they would like funds to go.

While the county will receive a total exceeding $1.1 million between now and 2038, the 2022 distribution of $242,197.17 is by far the largest.

Of this, $72,096.52 is unrestricted so the county could, in theory, spend it on any need it sees. Woodall, however, said he wants this to be considered the same as the $170,100.42 that is statutorily required to go toward opioid abatement efforts.

“The unrestricted funds should not be spent for just anything,” Woodall said. “They should also be spent for these efforts.”

The funds are part of a $26 billion national settlement involving Johnson & Johnson and some of its distributors regarding the opioid crisis across the country. As part of the program, Indiana counties, cities and towns are set to receive more than $507 million over a 17-year period.

The advisory committee was formed in a similar manner to when the Putnam County Commissioners and Putnam County Council formed a committee to decide how to use federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). That committee reviewed the applications in an advisory capacity, leaving the final decision to the commissioners.

“We should treat this exactly like we treated the ARPA requests,” Woodall said. “Each request should have a detailed description.”

With this in mind and the county foregoing the state’s sudden deadline, the committee now has time to give requests the reviews they need.

In other business, the commissioners:

• Were deadlocked on a decision regarding the purchase of a new ambulance.

Putnam County EMS Chief Kelly Russ presented two proposals for a new ambulance, one from Fire Service Inc. for $256,986 and the other from ARV for $258,823.16. The two units are similar, both built on Ford E450 chassis but with boxes from different manufacturers.

Russ said her preference was for Fire Service, as the company has built the last two ambulances for the county, she knows the company well and her crews, as well as local fire departments, know the vehicles well.

Helmer made a motion to accept the Fire Service bid, but Woodall declined to second the motion.

Woodall’s sticking point was that the ARV bid included the installation of a $28,000 power load system for cots, while the Fire Service bid included the installation of a unit already in possession of Putnam County EMS.

David Berry was ill on Monday, so no deciding vote was available.

“Sounds like we’re going to have to wait until next meeting when we have a third vote,” Woodall said.

• Approved a $48,240 proposal from Waggoner, Irvin, Scheele and Associates to complete a job classification and compensation study for the county.

Long talked about whenever questions of compensation come up, the study, which should take six to eight months to complete, should give the commissioners and Putnam County Council answers on what appropriate compensation is for various county employees.

“This is something that has been needed in this county for a while,” Woodall said. “We know the chances are it’s going to cost us money, but that’s the way it is. If you do a good job, you should be compensated.”

• Heard from Lee Hoopingarner that he would be willing to continue the county’s dust control program in place of his retired father Loren.

The commissioners discussed discontinuing the program in January, not only due to the retirement, but due to unprecedented numbers of complaints regarding oil on vehicles that drove over the treated areas.

The younger Hoopingarner said he believed this could be better controlled with the application of sand following the oil treatments.

It has also been noted in the past that those who complain about oil on their cars do not tend to abide by the signs posted regarding a 35 mph speed limit on fresh applications.

No decision was made on Monday, but at least one citizen was in attendance to plead with the commissioners to continue the practice.

• Made no decisions on appointments to either the Franklin Township Advisory Board or the Putnam County Airport Authority Board.

• Again discussed employees parking on Courthouse Square, a problem that seems to arise once or twice a year.

Department heads were instructed last year to keep their employees from parking on the square, but some have requested that it be written into the employee handbook to give it more teeth.

County Attorney Jim Ensley said this could be done, but asked what would be the repercussions of not complying.

While the commissioners agreed that they did not want employees parking directly in front of the courthouse, taking up space for citizens, it is hard to enforce.

“I don’t see how you make it a condition of employment,” Woodall said.

Ensley added that some of the offices in the courthouse are “state” offices, which causes further problems with enforcing such rules.

• Approved a request by Riley Houghton, a sergeant for Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, to operate firearms classes at the county-owned Jim Baugh Shooting Range.

• Approved a request from Liberty Trailers to build two crossings of People Pathways immediately south of the company’s manufacturing facility east of Fillmore.

The crossings will create access to a storage lot the company is planning to build.