Elkhart County Council approves $20.6 million in additional appropriations, dozens of departmental requests

GOSHEN, Ind. — The Elkhart County Council on Oct. 25 approved a notice to taxpayers covering previously discussed additional appropriations totaling $20,596,856.04 and separately approved a series of department-specific appropriations and transfers at the council meeting.

The council first took a procedural public-hearing step to ratify prior appropriations after a second publisher failed to place required public notices. County Attorney Steve Olsen explained the county used a double-publication process; he said one publisher followed the notice requirements while another had a technical error and the council was reopening the public hearing so anyone who missed the earlier notices could comment. “Anytime there is a, technical concern, we like to make sure we avoid any technical concern concerns and address them via a ratification process,” Olsen said. The council approved the notice to taxpayers 7-0.

Following that procedural vote, the council approved a series of individual additional appropriations and transfers. Many of the items had been discussed at earlier public hearings in June through August; the council recorded unanimous 7-0 votes on each motion where recorded. Major items approved included:

- Highway: $1,000,000 from the EDIT fund for preliminary engineering design for Bridge 126 on County Road 6 over Christiana Creek (federal funding awarded on an 80/20 reimbursement basis). Vote: 7-0. - Highway: $1,500,000 from the EDIT fund for right-of-way…