The Daviess County Commissioners heard a report on a proposed renovation and expansion by the Daviess County YMCA and voted to end a cooperative agreement for issuing building permits with the City of Washington at Tuesday’s regular meeting.
Local businessman and Y Board member Jeff Owens outlined the YMCA’s 75-year history of serving the residents of Daviess County. Owens said that faced with needed renovations, the Y Board looked at options to expand services and provide more opportunities for a wide range of age groups in the county. Owens, along with local businessman A.J. Miles, told the Commissioners that the Y wants to be more than a “swim and gym” for the county. Owens said the Y already offers critical day care and after-school care for area families; there are also health, recreation, and educational programs available to all segments of the community. Owens said the projected cost of the project is $25 million, with two-thirds of the cost covered by private funding. Shannon Dalton, plant manager at GPC, suggested that instead of letting the GPC TIF district lapse, the county redirect funds generated by the GPC TIF district to help support the Y Project.
In other business, after many years of using the City of Washington’s Building Commissioners office to issue county building permits, the county has decided that there is now enough business to justify the county having its own office. The Commissioners voted to give the City sixty-day notice cancelling the agreement. After that, Daviess County residents outside of Washington’s jurisdiction will get building permits at the County Highway Garage west of Montgomery.
In other business, the commissioners opened bids for highway department supplies and commercial and industrial reassessment services. All bids were taken under advisement. The Commissioners also approved a request to apply for a program grant for the Health Department, approved the purchase of a scanner for the Recorders office, and approved a contract between the Assessors office and Murray and Murray. The Commissioners also approved a new policy requiring that all new computer purchases have approval of the IT Department and heard a report from DCEDC Executive Director Bob Grewe. At the end of the meeting, David Gray told the Commissioners that he was retiring from his position as the County’s Weights and Measures inspector. The Commissioners thank Gray for his years of service to the County. There will be no Commissioners meeting on Nov. 11.
