Elkhart County commissioners on Dec. 15 approved a sequence of independent contractor agreements and special-purchase resolutions for county operations and opened bids for a major water project.

County Attorney Steve Olsen and staff presented multiple items under business. The board approved an independent contractor agreement with Blake Ekelbarger related to maintenance of the historic Goshen Courthouse clock and approved a special-purchase resolution for planning-department permitting software that staff said met statutory exceptions to competitive bidding under Indiana Code §5-22-10-5 and §5-22-10-7.

The board also approved an independent contractor agreement and an associated task order with OpenGov Inc. to implement new permitting software for county contractors; staff stated the initial amount for year one is $236,389.42. Other contracts approved unanimously included agreements with SJCA Inc. (engineering), Siemens Healthcare, and American Platform Services (Record Exchange) to maintain court-recording services.

For infrastructure, commissioners approved a task order with USI Consultants Inc. for bridge No. 254 that included a $27,500 topographic survey, a $41,500 abbreviated engineer's report (a $69,000 fixed fee) and up to $5,000 in special investigation services. The board approved the revocation of an earlier license and the grant of a new easement and memorandum of easement with Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) to support landfill-gas transfer and related service arrangements.

Jackie Masters, utilities coordinator, opened bids for the Prairie Creek Run water project for 2026; bids reported at the hearing included $3,498,945.75 (Niblock), $4,143,700.25 (Selj Construction), $4,927,030 (CNE Excavating), $4,622,466 (HRP Construction) and $4,460,791.73 (H & G Underground Utilities). Commissioners directed staff to review the bids and return with a recommendation.

All listed contract approvals and resolutions were recorded in the transcript as passing unanimously. Staff said task orders will be processed per standard contracting procedures and funding was available for the OpenGov implementation this year.