<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3c4jpA_1H46bcsM00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3c4jpA_1H46bcsM00" width="1500" height="1125" ><figcaption>Kosciusko County Council members pictured (L to R) are Rachael Rhoades, Joe Irwin, Vice President Kathy Groninger, President Tony Ciriello, Kimberly Cates, Will Stockdale and Dave Wolkins.</figcaption></figure>Like anyone else’s, the cost of fuel is affecting the Kosciusko County Highway Department’s budget.Thursday, KCHD Superintendent Troy Kintzel went before the Kosciusko County Council to request a transfer of $88,000 from the department’s lane mile distribution fund bituminous to lane mile distribution fuel. “I’m going to go ahead and say some things about fuel that I’m sure a lot of you are aware of,” he said. “The diesel fuel prices in 2025 were $3.45 a gallon. The diesel fuel that we just purchased in September was $5.84 a gallon. Just like everything that’s going on in the world, everything is going up. We need to transfer some money for fuel for this winter.”Council President Tony Ciriello said he was “pretty excited to see diesel, at least at the pump for me, come down to $6.36 a gallon.”“Exactly! I know your hardship,” Kintzel agreed. The transfer was approved.Kintzel then requested to transfer $135,000 from lane mile distribution bituminous to lane mile distribution calcium, salt and weed spray. “This is for our salt for this year, 2026 ending in 2027 season. We are purchasing salt for $93.05 a ton, and this is from Compass Materials out of Ohio,” he said, adding that the price of salt also goes up every year. That transfer also was approved.His final request to the council was for permission to apply for a federal grant through the Indiana Department of Transportation and for a financial commitment letter from the council. It is an 80/20 matching grant to replace bridge 277 at West Main Street over Turkey Creek in Syracuse, just west of the movie theater. “We recently just had a deficiency rating there and we had to do an emergency repair there, so we had to close a road down and” have the bridge fixed because it was critical, Kintzel reported. The total cost of the project is $4,994,400, and the county’s share of that is $1,038,880, reimbursable, including in lieu of fee mitigation of $50,000 as well. The council approved the grant application and the financial commitment letter. In other business, the council approved:• A salary ordinance amendment for a jailer at an annual salary of $58,569. Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office Matron Michelle Hyden said they had some positions change within the jail.• An additional appropriation of $4,000 from the Comprehensive Highway Injury Reduction Program (CHIRP), as requested by Hyden.She said the 2025-26 CHIRP grant cycle ended and they’re beginning the 2026-27 grant cycle. One small portion of that falls in 2026, and it’s going to be the Click It To Live It (CITL) Safety salary that she was asking to put the additional appropriation into. It is 100% refundable and the KCSO has been approved for the total grant, but right now they’re just asking for the 2026 portion of $4,000. Hyden said they’ll be back in January to ask for the 2027 appropriation. • A transfer of $14,938 from statewide 911 telephone services to computer maintenance and software, as requested by Hyden. Dispatch has found a training program that’s going to help cut down on human error “in the dispatching world,” she said, for the cost of $14,938. The proposal for the program will go before the county commissioners Tuesday. The county council approved the transfer contingent on the commissioners’ approval of the program.• The quarterly commissary report, as provided by KCSO Financial Administrator Cheryl McGettrick. The balance of the commissary at the end of the third quarter, Sept. 30, was $290,581.92; and the balance as of Thursday, Nov. 12 was $306,772.65. • A transfer of $15,000 from court ordered services to legal research, as requested by Circuit Court I Judge Karin McGrath on behalf of all the county courts. • A transfer of $2,600 from Reentry Court coordinator to group health insurance, as requested by McGrath. • An additional appropriation of $20,000 from the Kosciusko County Public Defender Supplemental Fund, as requested by Chief Public Defender Jack Birch. The funds will provide “for the costs of, basically, unanticipated expenses that we did not budget for originally, mostly in the form of appeals, and that’s something that we kind of have to guess at.” He said he didn’t anticipate that there would be very many and he “certainly” didn’t anticipate that there were the number that there are.• For Director of Technology Eric Sorensen to apply for a $40,000 reimbursable 2027 Court Reform Court. The funds, if granted, will help update the Superior I courtroom. • Transfers of $11,259.25 from electronic monitoring to equipment office to replace a copier; $16,600 from electronic monitoring to group health insurance due to staff members having changes in their families; and $3,000 from electronic monitoring to Community Corrections home detention officer due to an officer due to have his year of service raise that was not accounted for in the budget, as requested by Community Corrections Director James Henry.• Four transfers, totaling $4,500, all going to the part-time Emergency Management Agency coordinator fund, as requested by EMA Director Kip Shuter. He said 2026 was the first year the EMA had the part-time coordinator for a full year and the budget for the position came up short. “Part of that reason is, he’s worked a few hours more than he’s supposed to, but also because the part-time salary was not adjusted for the PAT-V level that it should have been adjusted to,” Shuter said. • The 2027 salary ordinance for county employees. • For the 2027 County Council committee appointments to remain the same as 2026. • The Kosciusko Coalition On Drug Education (KCODE) budget, totaling $72,000, as requested by Prosecuting Attorney Brad Voelz. The funds come from court costs, not taxpayer dollars. • An ordinance updating the policy for transfers and appropriation adjustments, as presented by County Auditor Alyssa Schmucker. The council also:• Heard updates from OrthoWorx President and CEO Ryan Christner and Purdue Extension Regional Operations Leader Brittney Schori. • Heard from Mike Loher that A Country Christmas with Susie McEntire and Friends will be at 7 p.m. Dec. 12 at Wawasee High School Performing Arts Center. Doors open at 6 p.m. He also reported he just finished “our America 250 final report. I got that submitted to the state. So, they’re taking reports from each county coordinator and they’re going to create a book. Each county will get a book that shows what each county did to celebrate America’s 250th birthday.” He believes the book is coming in spring 2027 and it’s supposed to go to a public place. “We did log over 3,000 volunteer hours for our America 250 events, and all of that is documented in the national America Gives Initiative, which is on the federal level,” Loher said.</div></body>

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Like anyone else’s, the cost of fuel is affecting the Kosciusko County Highway Department’s budget. Thursday, KCHD Superintendent Troy Kintzel went before the Kosciusko County Council to request a transfer of $88,000 from the department’s lane mile distribution fund bituminous to lane mile distribution fuel. “I’m going...

Fuel Prices Hitting County Highway Dept.’s Budget

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Like anyone else’s, the cost of fuel is affecting the Kosciusko County Highway Department’s budget. Thursday, KCHD Superintendent Troy Kintzel went before 

Fuel Prices Hitting County Highway Dept.’s Budget

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