Property concerns in one neighborhood prompted a Cromwell man to come before Kosciusko County Commissioners today.

Ted Gillem addressed the board with property issues in Enchanted Hills in Cromwell. He said several homes in his neighborhood are abandoned and need to be removed. One property has been abandoned for five years and he said that meth is being made in some of the run-down homes. He also said teenagers are loitering in the area.

Gillem said one man owns about 50 to 60 properties in Enchanted Hills, while another family owns several properties, too, mainly mobile homes.

“I want something done to these properties, and we want a patrol out there,” Gillem told the commissioners. “I want you to know that we have presence out there, too.”

Gillem asked why some of the properties have not been condemned, prompting Commissioner Ron Truex to answer, “I don’t know.” Truex added, “We are all on the same side” and said the commissioners are working diligently with the health department to address the issues. “We will work more aggressively.”

In other county matters, bids were opened for a bridge rehabilitation project. The bridge is located on CR 225 East over Deeds Creek in Warsaw. Three bids were submitted. The lowest bidder was Northern Indiana Construction Co. out of Mishawaka at $93,215.50. The engineer’s estimate is $96,879. Work is expected to start within the next 30 days and could take as long as 45 days.

Commissioners heard a poor relief appeal request from Arthur Wiggs. Wiggs was denied help by Scott Township Trustee Fred Slabaugh. Wiggs sought help from Slabaugh in paying his rent, but Wiggs was denied help because he had not been to several other agencies first, which Wiggs said he had called and sought help but one agency was not taking applications.

The Scott Township Trustee’s Office is the last resort if no other agencies can help someone. After explaining the procedure to Wiggs, he said he would take the proper steps to apply again for help.

In other news, county assessor Laurie Renier presented a contract with Pictometry. An aerial imagery company, Pictometry was selected to do the county’s aerial photos for assessment purposes. County council approved the contract at its last meeting Thursday night.

The fee for death certificates was raised to $5 for each copy, including additional copies. The county issues 4,500 death certificates annually. In the past, the county’s fees for additional copies was $2. However, under a new state law effective July 1, $2 must go to the county coroner’s office.

Eleven significant log jams were found on the Tippecanoe River recently. Once water levels decrease, the bid process can begin to hire a company to remove the log jams. The bid process was approved at a previous meeting.

In other news, the board:

• Approved the 2014 holiday and meeting schedule.
• Approved the county’s new personnel policy handbook with changes and policies required by the federal government.

The next meeting will be at 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 30. The county commissioners are president Ron Truex, Bob Conley and Brad Jackson.