County’s COVID color stays at lowest level

When the Indiana State Department of Health updated its county-by-county heat map of COVID-19 spread on July 21, Brown County was still in “blue” territory for the fifth week in a row, the lowest level. However, more than half of Indiana counties are creeping into yellow or orange status, showing increasing virus spread.

Between Wednesday, July 14 and Monday, July 26, Brown County picked up five new cases of the virus. Current stats and changes in that time span are: 1,057 cases (up five), 4,668 residents tested (up 20), 43 deaths (no change) and 6,515 residents at least partially vaccinated (up 52). Our vaccination percentage is now 43 percent.

Vaccinations and COVID testing are still being given at the new Brown County Health Department office at 200 Hawthorne Drive.

See more data at coronavirus.in.gov.

Paving work underway on some county roads

Some paving work is under way on Brown County roads, and the county is planning to apply for another $1 million in state grant funding to do more roads next year.

At the July 21 county commissioners meeting, Brown County Highway Superintendent Mike Magner reported that new asphalt had been placed and shoulder work was done on Becks Grove and Lick Creek roads. The shoulder was to be repaired on Lick Creek after weekend rain, and striping was to be completed on both roads.

AllStar Paving began paving Becks Grove and Lick Creek roads last month.

Last year, the county received $1 million from the Community Crossings road grant program. The plan was to pave all of Becks Grove Road from State Road 135 to the county line; Mt. Liberty Road from Bellsville Pike to Rinnie Seitz Road; and the southern end of Lick Creek Road south of Cottonwood Road to State Road 45.

Magner said at the July 21 meeting that paving on Mt. Liberty Road would begin within the next week or so.

Those projects must be completed before the county can apply for 2021 Community Crossings funding later this year to pave more roads next year.

The roads to be paved with the next round of grant funding have not been finalized as Magner figures out which other roads will get work with a capital improvement loan that the commissioners are working to secure.

Four Mile Ridge Road is planned to be paved this year and commissioner Diana Biddle encouraged Magner to make it a priority.

Magner plans to reassess the remaining roads to be paved and figure out which could come out of his budget and from the loan this year, along with which roads to submit for Community Crossings grant funding.

“They like for you to do high-volume roads,” he said about the grant funding.

If Four Mile Ridge Road is paved using Community Crossings, then paving would not happen until the first of 2022 due to how the money is processed.

Lanam Ridge was another road Biddle suggested could be paved using Community Crossings next year.

During the July 7 meeting, Magner also reported that all four bridge overlays on Sprunica, Christianburg, Lower Schooner and Hurdle road had been installed by Enneking Pressure Cleaning. “Those look really nice. They did a great job,” Magner said.

A double layer seal coat was used, which will extend the decks “for many years,” he said.

CLR Construction will reconstruct the bridge on Grandview Road that goes over Salt Creek, which is scheduled to start this fall, Magner reported on July 21.

Biddle said that the consulting firm Lochmueller Group was trying for a grant at the state level to address stormwater problems at the intersection of State Road 45 and Helmsburg Road. It has been flooding more frequently, resulting in cars being stalled in the floodwaters.

Magner said last week that his crew had been working on storm cleanup. He said they were also working on mowing before school starting back up, but there was only one mower operating. The second one was set to be back on the roads this week after a new side mower was mounted.

The highway department also has a Facebook page where updates are posted on paving and other road work in the county. Job postings are also there. The department is now down seven employees out of 19, including six truck drivers and a mechanic. The page can be found on Facebook by searching for “BCHighwayIN.”