Votes at a glance: St. Joseph County commissioners approve officers, contracts, leases, grants and change orders

St. Joseph County commissioners on Jan. 7 took a series of procedural and substantive votes. Below are the formal actions recorded at the meeting, with outcomes and key details drawn from staff presentations during the session.

Elections and appointments - Election of officers: The board opened nominations and elected Commissioner Karl Baxmayer president and Commissioner Anthony Hazen vice president. Votes were recorded by voice; Commissioners Anthony Hazen, Rafael Morton and Karl Baxmayer recorded “aye.” - Boards and commissions appointments: Commissioners appointed Karl Baxmayer, Anthony Hazen and Rafael Morton to the Board of Finance ("by statute"), assigned Hazen to the drainage board, Baxmayer and Morton to the Housing Consortium, Baxmayer to the Michiana Area Council of Governments, Hazen to the PSAP Executive Board and St. Joseph River Basin, and all three to the Solid Waste Management Board. Motion carried by voice vote.

Approvals, contracts and leases - Accounts payable docket: Approved by motion and unanimous voice vote. - Contract award: Approved the agreement with Goebel's Commercial Cleaning Services for custodial services at county facilities (see separate article for details). - Lease renewal: Approved a lease agreement with Beacon Health System for the county clinic on Colfax; staff said the lease contains termination language and supports continued clinic operations for county employees. - Recorder agreement: Approved a Laredo agreement for Western Land Services.

Property and capital - Resolution authorizing sale of Healthwind property: The board approved a resolution required by the title company to authorize the previously approved purchase agreement tied to a 2011–2012 lease-with-option. Staff said the purchase price and termination fee were set in the earlier option and the resolution authorizes the county president to sign closing documents. - Construction change orders: The board approved change orders 3, 4 and 5 for the SJEC Water Transmission Main and Fillmore Road Utilities project. Staff described a net set of additions and reductions across the change orders: change order 3 reduced costs by $497,087; change order 4 added $422,852.80; change order 5 added $43,977.62. Staff stated the aggregate effect of change orders to date is approximately $947,632.28 added through change orders, with the project nearing completion; public-works staff and inspectors reviewed the changes and recommended approval.

Grants - Department of Health community grant awards: Approved 14 grant agreements for 2025. Named recipients included Cultivate Culinary School (affiliated with Cultivate Food Rescue), Doctor Angie's Dental Health Exchange, HealthPlus Indiana (doing business as AIDS Ministries), Mental Health Awareness Michiana, Northern Indiana Maternal and Child Health Network, Play Like a Champion Today, Portage Township, Real Services, Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center, St. Margaret's House, Unity Gardens and Women's Care Center. Staff said most are renewals; a few are new agreements for 2025.

Votes and voting Most motions were approved by voice vote. When recorded in the transcript, Commissioners Anthony Hazen, Rafael Morton and Karl Baxmayer voted “aye” on motions to approve the accounts-payable docket, the Goebel's contract, the Beacon Health System lease, the Healthwind resolution and the change orders.

Ending: The meeting recessed after public comments and no additional in-person speakers were recorded.