County Highway presented three action items to the Kosciusko County Commissioners on July 1: permission to apply for a state GRIP (Governor's Road Investment Program) grant for railroad crossing improvements, approval of an unofficial detour for the upcoming closure of State Road 13 and an amendment to a county ordinance to raise the dollar threshold for county forces to complete work in-house.

Steve Morgarty, County Highway, told the commissioners, "I'd like your permission to apply for an at grade crossing. It's part of the GRIP program, and this is gonna be for 30, 8 intersection improvements at the railroad crossings totaling 39,900. This is a program, through the state of Indiana, that's a 100% reimbursable." The commissioners voted to allow application for the grant.

The request to designate an unofficial detour route during the State Road 13 closure was approved next. Morgarty described the proposed detour as running from 1200 North down to 500 East (Syracuse-Webster Road), then to 650 North and back to State Road 13; he said the county will seek Indiana Department of Transportation agreement and maintenance of the route while SR 13 is under construction.

Morgarty also asked the board to amend county ordinance 23-06-22-002 to increase the amount the county may spend using its own forces from the previous limit to $375,000. He said the change reflects House Bill 1198's increase to $375,000 and an annual adjustment tied to the Consumer Price Index. The commissioners approved the ordinance amendment.

Why it matters: the GRIP grant would fund intersection and crossing safety work at no local cost if reimbursed; agreeing an unofficial detour establishes routing and maintenance responsibilities while SR 13 is closed; aligning the county ordinance with state law raises the dollar amount the county can complete with internal crews, potentially reducing contractor costs for moderate-size projects.

Discussion vs. decision: the GRIP application, the detour designation and the ordinance amendment were all approved by motion and vote during the meeting. Commissioners voted "aye" on each motion. No roll-call vote totals were recorded in the meeting transcript.