Wednesday, March 10, 2021
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Vol. 50, No. 37
Milford (574) 658-4111 • Warsaw (574) 269-2932 • Syracuse (574) 457-3666
114 W. Market, Warsaw, Indiana 46580
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%\ 3+2(%( 087+$57 $VVRFLDWH (GLWRU Kosciusko County has two buildings that have stood the test of time: the county courthouse, built in the 1880s, and the justice building, built in the early 1980s. Both have seen their fair share of renovations since then. Currently, Kosciusko County is undergoing other projects at both of the locations. One project is the new security system at the entrance of the justice building. Also, the justice building has new equipment to do video conferencing for Zoom meetings. A new package scanner and the walkthrough are new and have been added. Other equipment, such as sliding glass windows, will be installed soon as well. The new bulletproof glass enclosure was something the county’s been looking at doing for a while to improve security, Marsha McSherry, the county administrator for Kosciusko County, said. The county was able to do the project after receiving a grant to pay for 100% of the work. Several other county building projects have started, said McSherry. The upgrades are mainly due to COVID-19 and better security. “We’ve got a lot of projects going on right now,” said McSherry. Some of the work started two years ago.
This is when the county courthouse was updated because there was no security system there at the time. A security officer is stationed at the courthouse now full-time. All of the current amenities were paid for by the CARES Act fund the county was awarded. McSherry stressed there was no taxpayer dollars used to fund the upgrades. The county additionally added another court bailiff, Mike Speigle, who serves three courts at the justice building. The upgrades for the justice building cost nearly $130,000, McSherry said. “We hope to finish in the next three weeks,” she said. Officers Joe Mooney and Speigle are both security officers. Mooney’s office is at the county courthouse and Speigle’s is at the justice building. In his office Mooney can see all activities going on at both the justice building and the courthouse. “I attend all the meetings,” said Mooney in case of any disruptions. Video conferencing will be in 12 rooms at both the justice building and the county courthouse. The cost is $272,000 and the work is being completed by CSD Inc. “There will be live-streaming capabilities,” said McSherry. Three rooms will have live video capabilities, she added. One is the old courtroom in the county courthouse. Meanwhile, the county jail has a new
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Syracuse Office 102 E. Main St. (574) 457-3666
pneumatic toilet system installed. So far, two cell blocks have had the system installed and the remaining two blocks will be functional by Saturday, May 1. “We already are seeing a cost savings on water,” McSherry said. “We’ve seen this with the first two blocks and it is preventing flooding.” In addition, a new phone system will be installed in all county government offices. The cost is $100,000 and was also paid for by the CARES Act dollars. “We knew it was the end of the current old system,” she said. “We were able to do that with the CARES Act funding and get a new phone system.” McSherry said other projects will be started or completed soon. “By the end of April, we will put a third chiller on the roof of the justice building,” she said. McSherry said she feels the Kosciusko County Commissioners have put the CARES money to good use by not using any taxpayer dollars.
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