By David Fenker
david@nmpaper.com
WABASH COUNTY, Ind. – Despite a petition to remove it, the three-way intersection of Ogden Road and 200 West will remain.
The Wabash County commissioners voted unanimously Monday, Dec. 4, to keep the stop signs on Ogden Road at the recommendation of Sheriff Bob Land and Commissioner Barry Eppley.
“I’ve talked to Mr. Epply about it; I believe it probably should stay,” Land said.
“It wouldn’t be so bad if the school wasn’t there, and the fire department, but I think it needs to stay.”
Eppley concurred.
“My inclination is to leave it in place. We had a petition to put it in place; now we’ve got one on record to remove it, but the time that it has been in place has not been adequate to demonstrate whether or not that’s something we want to do,” he said.
“I don’t want to go back and forth.”
The request was brought to the commissioners as a petition at their Nov. 6 meeting by County Highway Superintendent John Martin, who at the time said he agreed with the petitioner regarding the stop signs.
The signs stopping traffic on Ogden Road at the intersection were established by county ordinance in 2012. That same ordinance also established stop signs on Ogden Road less than half a mile south, at its intersection with 1050 North.
In other business, the commissioners approved a resolution confirming that the county would again participate in the Wabash River Heritage Corridor Commission, and appointed Michael Beauchamp as the county’s representative.
According to its website, the commission’s goals are to promote improvement of the natural environment and recreation opportunities of the Wabash River Heritage Corridor, and to promote cooperation between all groups with an interest in the corridor, among others.
The commissioners also opened several bids for the County Highway Department’s 2018 supplies, materials and equipment rental needs. Local and non-local companies submitted bids on a variety of items and services, including fuels, paving materials and equipment rental supplies.
The commissioners took the bids under advisement.
Land also provided an unofficial jail report, saying that the Wabash County Jail had 85 inmates, with an additional 42 in Miami County, three in Blackford County and one in Elkhart County. He noted that those numbers were subject to change.