By VICKI URBANIK

The rain garden, two-stage ditch and vegetative swales on display at the Porter County Visitor Center might seem cutting edge for this region right now, but the ideas might become more common as the county works to expand its stormwater ordinance.

At Tuesday’s meeting of the Porter County Commissioners, Porter County Convention, Recreation and Visitors Commission Executive Director Lorelei Weimer and Christine Livingston of the Save the Dunes Conservation Fund gave a presentation, similar to one they have given to other boards, about the visitor center’s stormwater project.

The stormwater features were developed in a partnership between tourism and the Save the Dunes in an effort to improve the water quality of Dunes Creek, the headwaters of which are located at the visitor center. The goal is to slow down the water runoff and clean the water before it enters tributaries.

Noting that there is tremendous pressure for development in Porter County, Livingston said one of the goals of the project is to show developers innovative stormwater management techniques that they could use at their own projects. “Not only is it good for water quality, but it increases capacity,” she said.

Their presentation was especially timely, given that later at the meeting, the commissioners retained the DLZ consulting firm of Hammond to review the county’s stormwater manual to make suggested revisions. The stormwater manual was developed in-house by the Porter County Plan Commission and is used in conjunction with the county’s stormwater ordinance adopted earlier this year.

Some of the revisions are expected to focus more on improving water quality. Porter County Commissioner President Robert Harper said the county has enacted good ordinances on stormwater and erosion control, but that they haven’t focused that much on water quality. He indicated that he’d like to see some of the concepts at the Visitors Center encouraged.

The agreement approved by the commissioners with DLZ calls for the company to provide a stormwater review workshop for the plan commission, developers and other parties. The total cost for both the stormwater revisions and the workshop is $8,000.

DLZ is the same firm that the plan commission has retained to review developers’ drainage plans under the new stormwater ordinance.

Livingston said the county has been “pretty progressive” with its stormwater ordinance. “It’s really encouraging,” she said.

In a separate but related matter, the commissioners retained the Ground Rules consulting firm, which prepared the recently adopted Unified Development Ordinance, to codify and reprint the UDO whenever planning ordinances are revised. Harper said the UDO is a dynamic document that will be revised due to errors or when the need arises.

Death Fees Up

The commissioners agreed to increase the fee for death certificates issued by the Porter County Health Department from $6 to $7.

The increase was prompted by a new state law that requires county coroners and deputy coroners to undergo training courses. Health Board Attorney Dave Hollenbeck said that currently, $1 of the fee for each death certificate goes toward the coroner’s continuing education fund. To pay for the additional training required under S.B. 191, an additional fee of 75 cents is needed. The remaining 25 cents will go toward the health department.

Hollenbeck noted that the fees haven’t been increased since 2002.

North Porter County John Evans raised an objection that other agencies, such as police and fire departments, should get a share of the training money. “The coroner’s not the only one that investigates a death,” he said.

Evans also said he doesn’t think the fee should be increased if, as he’s been told, the training fund already has a large balance. The commissioners gave first-reading approval to the higher fee, but with the understanding that they will determine the fund’s balance before final approval.

Credit Cards

At the urging of Evans, the commissioners agreed that elected officials and department heads who don’t quickly turn in claims for expenses made with their new county credit card will have to pay the interest charges out of their own pocket.

County Auditor Jim Kopp has recently proposed issuing county credit cards in order to expedite the payment of bills and to reimburse county employees who pay for items with their own money. Evans said the use of the cards makes sense, since the county’s claim process has resulted in long delays in paying some vendors, who in turn have refused to do business with the county. But he called for the tighter language making it clear that the county government doesn’t intend to pay any interest charges if the claims aren’t turned in within seven days after a purchase.

Museum Changes

As requested by the Porter County Historical Society, the commissioners agreed to the proposal to renovate the dining room, bathroom and store area at the county’s Old Jail Museum, with the projects paid for through donations.

Historical Society President Kevin Pazour also asked for permission to improve the museum’s west entrance to make it handicapped accessible. He said he believes that it’s illegal that the museum currently doesn’t provide such access. The commissioners agreed to seek bids for a ramp.

Also, the commissioners changed their July meeting dates to avoid the conflict with the July 4th holiday. They will meet July 10th and 24th.

The commissioners also agreed to lease individual air conditioning units, at a cost of $5,000 monthly, to keep the North Porter County Government Complex cooled as work proceeds on the installation of new chillers. Harper said the air conditioning went out on Monday.

Posted 6/21/2007