On Wednesday morning, the Daviess County Council and Commissioners held a rare joint meeting to act on the sale of the old County Salt Barn and hear a report on the progress of the courthouse renovation.
Dave Shelton from Garmong Construction Services reported that the courthouse renovation was on schedule for a substantial completion date in April 2025. Shelton said that the interior has been gutted and that electrical, plumbing, and HVAC conduits are being put in. He also reported that the Department of Natural Resources had approved the proposed windows, saving the county approximately $170,000. The DNR approval was needed because the county had received a historical structure grant to repair the courthouse skylight several years ago.
The two governmental bodies approved the sale of the Salt Barn for a bid of $95,000. The sale of the salt barn was prolonged when neither of the initial two bids met the minimum bid requirement and were rejected. New bids were solicited, culminating in Wednesday’s sale.
In its regular business, the Council received the recommendation of the Wage Committee to give county employees a 4% raise next year. Council president Tom Shaffer said the committee had looked at several economic indicators and the need to retain and attract employees. Shaffer said that Daviess County is on the low end of the pay scale for counties with comparable populations. Councilman Mike Sprinkle proposed a 3% hike, citing economic pressures and higher property assessments. After much discussion, the council agreed to a 3.5% raise for next year. In other business, they approved several transfers within department budgets and agreed to have Baker-Tilly do a financial analysis of the county’s cash flow over the next five years.
The County Commissioners approved a bid of $66,539 for a truck-mounted roadway paint striping unit. The funds are already in the Highway Department budget. Commissioner Nathan Gabhart said painting stripes on roadways costs approximately $5,000 per mile when contracted out. In other business, the Commissioners approved requests to apply for grants from the Sheriff’s Department, approved the appropriation of Opiod Settlement funds to Community Corrections, and approved the implementation of new multi-event permits by the Health Department. Due to Wednesday’s combined meeting, the scheduled meeting for May 14 has been cancelled.
