St. Joseph County commissioners approve contracts, settlements and road project bids

St. Joseph County commissioners on Tuesday approved a string of routine but consequential items, including a subscription upgrade for public‑records software, participation in an opioid litigation settlement and several construction contracts tied to ongoing redevelopment and roadway projects.

Frank Fotillo of the county’s Division of Economic Development, Infrastructure and Planning told the board the county had exceeded the 500‑request tier for its JustFOIA service and was at about 520 requests per year. "Our current subscription allows for 500 public records requests a year, and we are now at, like, 520," Fotillo said. He described the requested upgrade as moving the county to an unlimited tier, consolidating two request forms into a single form with dynamic fields, and including a $555 one‑time fee to refresh forms; the baseline annual subscription will remain $98.35. Commissioners approved the subscription upgrade unanimously.

County counsel recommended that the county participate in the proposed Sandoz opioid settlement rather than leave the class and pursue litigation separately; counsel said the county is projected to receive $162,000 under the settlement. The board voted to participate.

The board also approved a workers’ compensation settlement described by counsel as resolving a long‑standing matter that originated around 2014 and would avoid further county payment obligations.

On redevelopment projects, Bill Shalio, the county’s economic development director, presented Resolution R15C2025 to authorize purchase of two parcels at Quince Road and State Road 2 for a future intersection improvement. Shalio said the redevelopment commission approved funds to purchase the properties. The staff packet included an appraisal figure and the presenter stated the purchase price; staff indicated they would correct any typographical errors in the packet before signing.

Shalio also reported bids opened earlier for the R92503R GM employee entrance drive. He said three bidders submitted proposals and identified Reeth/Reith Riley Construction as the low bidder with a base bid of $1,298,837 and an alternate bid of $1,147,398. The board approved the base bid award and separately approved the alternate bid subject to concurrence from General Motors and related parties. Staff acknowledged a typographical error in the bid‑summary table and said corrected numbers will be included in executed documents. (The transcript included an erroneous combined total; the base and alternate figures above are those stated during the meeting.)

For demolition tied to the Douglas Road corridor, staff said three quotes were received and recommended C and E Excavating for demolition of 14266 East Douglas Road at $25,985; commissioners approved that quote.

The board approved a no‑cost memorandum of understanding with the Indiana Department of Health to borrow a lead paint analyzer for about six months while the county obtains an additional analyzer. Mike Scribe, director of operations for the Health Department, said the instrument allows the county to continue lead risk assessments and that the agreement carries no cost to the county.

Bree Roberts, director of Physical Assets, requested change order No. 2 for the courthouse reroof project covering surface patching and a clear‑coat sealant for the courthouse dome. Roberts said contractors and architects documented unexpected surface damage to the dome’s concrete shell that likely contributes to leaks; the allowance requested was $14,200. Commissioners asked staff to reconfirm with the architect and historic‑preservation contacts; Roberts said the clear coat would be visually unobtrusive and would not alter materials. The change order was approved.

Routine consent agendas for Infrastructure, Planning & Growth and Physical Assets, a Tech 84 service‑agreement renewal for the Ducomb Center body scanner, a Fiddler Technologies media‑conversion contract to import archived marriage records into the Apex system (1958–1988), and a recorder agreement with Liberty Abstracting were also approved by unanimous votes.

All motions voted during the meeting passed on unanimous votes as recorded by the meeting clerk.