By David Fenker
david@nmpaper.com
WABASH COUNTY, Ind. – Several used file cabinets are up for sale by the Wabash County government.
The county commissioners approved a public sale of the surplus equipment from the extension office at their Monday, Nov. 27, meeting at the request of County Auditor Marcie Shepherd.
Five used but good condition, four-drawer file cabinets will be available at the Courthouse for $25 each.
“The filing cabinets are actually really good. According to IC Code 5-22-22, we can put an amount on those, and just put like a tag on those saying how much they are, and if anybody’s interested in them they can contact the Auditor’s Office,” Shepherd said.
Commissioners Barry Eppley and Scott Givens briefly discussed the price, settling at $25 per cabinet for an unspecified length of time. Commissioner Brian Haupert was absent.
Additionally, Shepherd asked for after-the-fact approval to dispose of five other file cabinets, a topic which the board has touched on several times in the past few months, and permission to dispose of an additional 17 file cabinets from the Sheriff’s Department.
“On Oct. 27, five four-drawer filing cabinets were scrapped out, and one of those was given to the Wabash Airport. Just wanted to make sure that we have approval for doing that. And, currently there are 13 four-drawer filing cabinets and three three-drawer filing cabinets located in the sheriff’s office that need to be disposed of,” Shepherd said.
Sheriff Bob Land said that Deputy Matt Cox and County Coordinator Jim Dils have been working to decide how many cabinets the department wants to keep “for training purposes”.
The commissioners approved the disposal of up to 17 cabinets from the Sheriff’s Department, with an unspecified amount to remain for training purposes, as well as the disposal or donation of the five cabinets from October.
Shepherd also requested permission to use the county’s Highway Department to dispose of the next round of file cabinets, which was also granted after Highway Superintendent John Martin gave his approval.
“It’s OK with me if it’s OK with you… Marcie and I just feel like we have skipped some steps here, and to cover us, we need your approval to do the work,” Martin said.
Eppley concurred, acknowledging concerns voiced by Martin regarding backlash from the state Board of Accounts for not having recorded approval for certain activities.
“For the Highway Department to be doing non-highway activities, there needs to be approval for that,” he said.
The commissioners also approved a contract extension with Purdue University, and heard the weekly jail report.
“I have an extension of contractual services between Purdue University and the Wabash County government. It’s just for the amounts that we pay to the extension office,” Shepherd said.
The extension calls for an appropriation of $108,960 from the county to Purdue University for the services of the Purdue Extension Office from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2018. These services include research-based public education initiatives in the areas of agriculture, health and human sciences and community development, as well as promotion of 4-H and development of the youth who participate in that program.
Land delivered the weekly jail report, saying that Wabash County Jail housed 87 inmates, with an additional 45 in Miami County, one in Elkhart County and three in Blackford County, for a total of 136. These included 21 new book-ins.