From left, County Attorney Ed Ormsby and Commissioner Brad Jackson appear to engage in lighthearted banter before the meeting Tuesday, March 30. InkFreeNews photo by Lasca Randels

By Lasca Randels
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — Kosciusko County Convention & Visitors Bureau CEO Jill Boggs and KCCVB Board Chair Doug Haines provided the Kosciusko County Commissioners with a local tourism update Tuesday, March 30.

The travel industry has taken a hit over the past year due to the pandemic.

“We remain optimistic here as do a lot of our peers in the state and the country and us specifically that we will someday get back to these numbers because we truly believe we have a dynamic destination that is worthy of visitor travel in Kosciusko County,” Boggs said.

“2019 was a stellar travel year for us economically as well as it was across the world,” Boggs said. “This economic impact research that we did for 2019 gave us a benchmark to move forward within our recovery efforts from the pandemic.”

KCCVB CEO Jill Boggs

Boggs said the tourism industry generated over $47.1 million in tax revenues in 2019, with $9.3 million locally.

“The economic impact of travel in Kosciusko County was significant in 2019,” Boggs said, with $200 million contributed by visitors to the county economy. The local tourism industry generated over 2,161 jobs and $39.8 million in wages. 

Visitors from 12 different states were identified through 2019 research.

Hotel occupancy rate for hotels in the county was down overall at the end of 2020 by nearly 40 percent compared to the end of 2019.  

On the plus side, Boggs said, data collected in the past week through an independent national travel research destination analysis corporation show that many American travelers are planning summer vacations, with 62.5 percent reporting that they will be traveling for leisure this summer.

“This is up 26 percentage points from 2020,” Boggs said. “The desire to stay close to home appears to have retreated, as 70.4 percent of summer travelers say they will be traveling farther, as well as out of state.”

Boggs said KCCVB’s efforts are concentrated on strategic marketing, content creation of all types and local, regional and state collaborations.

“We are focusing hard to build a mobile-first digital 2021//2022 experience guide that will allow users to view over 10 quality-placed videos that are currently in production while engaging with the platform,” Boggs said. “It will also allow us to update content within 48 hours to keep our destination information fresh and accurate for people who are using this digital guide.”

Boggs said she would be happy to return to provide occasional updates. 

In another matter, Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Shane Bucher received approval for a grant proposal to purchase new radios.

The grant is a federal reimbursement grant through the Indiana Department of Homeland Security and KCSO is requesting $150,000. 

The Indiana Department of Homeland Security is assisting with funding to address operational response needs,” Bucher said. “With this proposal, it will help purchase new portable and mobile radios for our department.”

Bucher said with the changes in the county’s current communications system, their current radios will not work.

“We need to be able to purchase at least portable radios for all the merit deputies and 30 mobile radios for our cars,” Bucher said.

Commissioner President Bob Conley said he was under the impression that the cost to replace county first responder radios would be almost $2 million dollars.

Kosciusko County Emergency Management Agency Director Ed Rock explained that this is a new grant that came out, with a cap of $150,000. Rock said he is applying for the same grant. 

“It’s all competitive. I put that out to all response agencies in Kosciusko County,” Rock said. “A hundred and fifty thousand won’t do anything as a county, but $150,000 for each agency will do quite a bit for the county.”

Rock described it as a progression. 

“We also have the assistance – the firefighter grant sitting out there. My confidence level on that one is not very high. The confidence level on this one is at least marginal,” Rock said. “We’re not double-dipping…we’re submitting to a couple of different locations to get funds to help us get where we need to be, but in the same process, if we were to get both of them, we would not use both of them for the same products.”

Rock received approval to apply for a $22,000 radio grant. This would be used to replace the radios in his vehicle and at the emergency operations center, plus some portable radios.

County Administrator Marsha McSherry presented bids for three separate county projects. The first involves the replacement of carpet/flooring at the Kosciusko County Dispatch Center. Commissioners approved a bid for $15,636.25 from J Lane Flooring & Design, Warsaw. 

Next, McSherry presented bids for landscaping work and new flower pots for the courthouse and justice building. A bid from Anderson Property Management, Warsaw, in the amount of $8,300 was approved.

The final project involves the demolition of property, owned by the county, at 211 W. Fort Wayne St. in Warsaw. A bid submitted by Ransbottom Excavating, Claypool, for $19,380 was approved. 

Bids were opened for a small culvert-like project on County Farm Road, just north of CR 450S, Claypool. Bids were received from five companies. County Highway Superintendent Steve Moriarty will take the bids under advisement and return to the April 13 commissioners meeting with his recommendation.

In other news:

• Commissioners approved a 2021 purchase agreement presented by Kosciusko Area Bus Service (KABS) General Manager Tony Peterson for two vehicles to replace two buses. The cost is covered by CARES Act funds.
• Suzie Light and Josh Gordon provided a KEDCo quarterly update.
• The next regular meeting will be held at 9 a.m. April 13.