Greensburg — Monday morning, at the regular meeting of the Decatur County Commissioners, Commissioner Rick Nobbe was re-appointed president of that body for 2013.

2013 will be Nobbe’s second consecutive term.

In a brief phone interview with the Daily News Tuesday morning, Nobbe said the Commissioners also reappointed a number of county officials to offices that expired Dec. 31.

County Auditor Tammi Wenning provided the Daily News with a listing of the reappointments addressed at Monday’s Commissioner meeting.

Commissioner John Richards was reappointed to the Fair Board, while Brenda Dwenger was reappointed to the Economic Development Commission.

The Commissioners also reappointed Andrea Dennett to the Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals, while Al Knecht was reappointed to the Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

Dr. Hank Martin was reappointed to the Greensburg/Decatur County Animal Control Board, and Rev. Jerran Jackson was reappointed to the Decatur County Hospital Building Authority

Paul Gosnell and Bill McVay were both reappointed to the Lake Santee Regional Waste and Water District, while Kathleen Tarzwell was appointed to complete Peter Zillick’s term. Zillick passed away during his term.

Decatur County Highway Superintendent Mark Mohr reported to the Commissioners that final inspection of Bridge 19, which connects highway 650 in Adams Township, has been completed.

The Commissioners also discussed the county’s response to the recent weather emergency posed by the recent snowfall.

“The county’s response to snow removal was good for the most part,” Nobbe said. “Although we did have some drifting problems.”

According to Nobbe, the Commissioners held daily conference calls with city and county officials during the snow-related emergency.

“Some days we held two conference calls,” Nobbe added. “We’re also considering the creation of a call-in number for city and county businesses to call in the event of severe winter weather to receive updated information about road closings and other information related to snow emergencies.”

Also on Monday, the Commissioners appointed Harold Sample of the Decatur County Veteran’s Service to oversee a state-directed audit of the county’s accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

“We selected Harold,” Nobbe explained “because he deals with disabled Decatur County veterans on a regular basis. We felt like he probably has more contact on a day-to-day basis than anyone else in the county with disabled Decatur Countians.”

As coordinator of the county ADA audit, Nobbe further explained, Sample will, for example, take phone calls from disabled citizens who might not be able to get into a building or who might require a large-print version of a given book or document. He will then report that information as part of the audit so that ADA accessibility can be improved.

The Commissioners also reviewed the county’s stop sign ordinance Monday morning to provide an updated blueprint of all county stop sign intersections to the courts.

“That hadn’t been updated for some time,” Nobbe said.

At the behest of Executive Director Marc Coplon, the Commissioners also granted $25,000 in funding to the Greensburg-Decatur County Economic Development Corporation’s revolving loan fund Monday morning. Coplon is seeking an equal amount from the Greensburg City Council.

The next regular meeting of the Decatur County Commissioners will be held at 8 a.m., Jan. 21, at the Decatur County Courthouse.



Contact: Rob Cox at 812-663-3111 x7011.