By VICKI URBANIK

An addictions program offered at the Porter County Jail will be expanded in the hopes of offsetting the waiting list among prisoners who need help kicking substance abuse problems.

The Porter County Commissioners on Tuesday approved an agreement with Porter-Starke Services calling for the mental health agency to provide an addtional one-half time counselor for the Chemical Addictions and Dependency Program at the jail.

With the added counselor, the jail will add another session for male inmates. Currently, the jail offers two classes for male inmates and one for females.

The matter was first discussed in June, when County Commissioner President Robert Harper urged County Sheriff David Lain to expand the addictions program due to the waiting list among inmates. Lain noted that most of the jail’s inmates have a substance abuse problem, and that seven out of every 10 prisoners land back in jail. However, those who graduate from the addictions program tend to have a return rate of less than 50 percent.

Both Harper and North County Commissioner John Evans said the expanded program is a good move for the county.

The contract approved Tuesday calls for the county to pay Porter Starke $9,608 per month for the program, up from the previous fee of $7,687 month. The funding will come from prisoner fees.

Opera House Roof

Also Tuesday, the commissioners agreed to pay for a Memorial Opera House reroofing with each commissioner chipping in an equal amount from the income tax funds they can use in their individual districts.

Opera House Facility Director Brian Schafer said the roof on the historic building is leaking. He raised a concern about potential damage to the stage area’s electronic equipment as well as the costume room.

The commissioners agreed to get quotes for the work. Evans noted that the county has spent too much money on the Opera House renovations to allow the roof to keep leaking.

Schafer also won approval to lease a new copy machine capable of copying, folding and stapling printed materials for Opera House shows. The cost will be about $5,200 a year. Schafer said the cost for printed materials for just one show can be as high as $15,000.

Tornado Plan

The commissioners approved a tornado-readiness plan for seven county buildings and in the process discussed the county’s tornado sirens.

Citing last week’s severe storms, Evans suggested that the Porter County Emergency Management Agency re-issue information to the media explaining how the sirens are regularly tested. When the sirens are sounded in intervals, officials are conducting a test. But when the sirens go off for three consecutive minutes, the public is warned of an actual emergency.

EMA Director Phil Griffith said every township has at least one warning siren, and all schools are within a siren range. He estimated that about 35 percent of the Porter County population is not in the range of a siren.

Planning Issues

In another matter, the commissioners took note of the 10 proposals received from consulting firms interested in performing one or both of two planning studies: a corridor study intended to address land use along the county’s major roads and a construction standards study that will apply to roads and other infrastructure.

The proposals were referred to the Porter County Plan Commission for review.

The commissioners also gave first-reading approval to change the Unified Development Ordinance by re-establishing setbacks that were in place prior to the UDO. The setbacks involve only the Lakes zoning district, which include the residential lake communities in Liberty Township. With the amendment, the sideyard setback will go from 5 feet to 8 feet, while the backyard setback will go from 5 feet to 10 feet.

The commissioners also gave second and final reading to the Institution rezoning needed for the new Pines Elementary School on County Line Road.

Posted 8/22/2007

Posted 8/22/2007

Posted 8/22/2007

Posted 8/22/2007

Posted 8/22/2007

Posted 8/22/2007