Engineering Firm Hired For Starke County Bridge 43

Starke County Commissioners

After tabling a bid for bridge repairs at their meeting on Dec. 3, the Starke County Commissioners last week hired engineering firm Jones Petrie Rafinksi to replace Bridge 43 in Oregon Township. Bridge 43 is the next bridge to be replaced in the county.

In addition, the commissioners addressed the Marshall-Starke County Cooperative Agreement, which Commissioner Kathy Norem said is an agreement between the two counties’ highway departments regarding equipment and man-hours shared in 2012. She said that has been taken care of as well.

The commissioners also heard from County Attorney Martin Lucas, who informed them that the lawsuit between Jack Haut and the county will soon go to remediation. He said that since the county is already complying with the terms of the lawsuit anyway with its anticipated construction of a new county jail, the two attorneys in the matter agreed to attempt remediation.

Lucas said this effectively halted the discovery process and stopped a number of expenses for the county. The remediation will be scheduled sometime after the first of the year, with more information to follow.