WABASH COUNTY, Ind. – The Wabash County Council approved several measures at its monthly meeting Monday, March 26,
The meeting started off with the approval of a tax abatement for Midwest Poultry as they begin to rebuild from a fire back in the fall.
“This was a no-brainer situation,” council chairman Randy Curless said. “We have a company that has supported Wabash for many years. And, I think altogether they have 400-some employees. I believe that passing this abatement has something to do with the $25 million they are going to invest.”
Superior Court Judge Amy Cornell requested the council pass ordinance 2018-85-2 creating the Wabash Superior Court Administration of Justice Fund No. 4020 and the Alternative Dispute Resolution Fund No. 2200.
“We use funds like this for odds and ends, when they need computers, desks, things like that” Curless said. “So that keeps it from having to come out of the county general fund. Now, they don’t have to come to us for each of these little things. It saves the county general quite a bit of money.
The council also heard a concerning report about the jail from Bob Land, who received his jail inspection report from the state.
The lighting, lack of outside space for inmates recreation time and, and limited segregation space for inmates were among the major concerns in the report to go along with an over crowding issue. The sheriff’s department was currently holding 35 inmates in Miami County as of Monday night, and have seen a Wabash County population above 90 regularly for some time.
“It’s absolutely concerning because there are absolutely no easy answers,” Curless said. “The jail report has been the same for the past several years. They make general guidelines as far as staffing and we’re normally a little low. All those are issues that all of us know need to be addressed. The problem is none of us want to take that staff to build a jail because of the cost to the county. We keep putting this off, but this year, the state passed a new tax that we could use. But that word tax is going to raise a lot of eyebrows.”