Bartholomew County Commissioners Tony London, left-right, Larry Kleinhenz and Carl Lienhoop are shown during a recent meeting. Mark Webber | The Republic photo
Bartholomew County Commissioners Tony London, left-right, Larry Kleinhenz and Carl Lienhoop are shown during a recent meeting. Mark Webber | The Republic photo
The year 2024 will be remembered as the year that Bartholomew County government emerged as a strong player in economic development.

After a number of unsuccessful attempts at attracting new employers, Irresistible Foods Group, Inc. announced it would build two food processing facilities in the Taylorsville area. King's Hawaiian and Grillo's Pickles will eventually create almost 300 jobs.

Bartholomew County government is now on the same level with Columbus in receiving representation by the Greater Columbus Economic Development Corp.

A new area for economic development has been approved for west of U.S. 31 and north of Tannehill Road that will border Interstate 65.

In recent years, companies that have announced expansions within German Township include Georg Utz Inc., Peer Foods Group (parent company of Mariah Foods) and Tsune America, LLC.

Meanwhile, R+L Carriers recently opened a 105,000-square-foot service center on North Executive Drive that has 120 employees.

“It’s been a wonderful year of investment in Bartholomew County,” said county Commissioner Tony London. “That whole area up there is really going to be special.”

But as London and fellow commissioners Carl Lienhoop and Larry Kleinhenz look ahead to 2025, they see plenty of both opportunities and challenges on the road ahead.

Youth Services Center

A long-awaited study by DLZ Indiana regarding the Bartholomew County Youth Services Center will be released in either January or February. While the center is often considered a facility to house juvenile offenders, the organization also provides a temporary shelter for abused and neglected children.

The center was created in October 1992 under the direction of former judge Steve Heimann, placed in a complex constructed in 1967 as the Bartholomew County Children’s Home.

The design of the building is not very compatible with the center’s mission, Kleinhenz said. There also appears to be no desire on either the county council or the county commissioners for remodeling or expanding the complex.

Some Indiana counties have chosen to close their juvenile shelters in favor of sending juvenile offenders to regional detention centers.

While that is one option, another is to invest $15 to $17 million to create a regional facility in Bartholomew County and charge other counties in our region to use it, Kleinhenz said.

In the past, judges in Columbus have traditionally been supportive of the Youth Services Center. If county officials choose to build a new center on the same 2.5 acres lot at 2350 Illinois Ave., the commissioners say there will likely be debate about which services are necessary and which might be eliminated.

“It’ll be a front-burner item at budget time,” said Kleinhenz, referring to the August through October budget hearings by the Bartholomew County Council.

“It really will boil down to what the council says,” London said.

Roads and bridges

One of the top road projects of 2025 involves expanding County Road 700N from County Road 200W next to the Eastern Bartholomew Water headquarters to Hubler Drive. Traffic will be carried along Hubler Drive to Bear Lane, which connects with U.S. 31 between the Speedway convenience store and Burger King.

The project is essentially reestablishing a section of road that has been abandoned since Interstate 65 arrived in the 1960s, Bartholomew County highway engineer Danny Hollander said.

“(County highway crews) are going to do at least the base layer in-house, and then hire someone to do the rest,” Hollander said.

Announced plans also call for new turn lanes and signage along Bear Lane on either side of U.S. 31 while new traffic signals are installed by the Indiana Department of Transportation. The improvements are part of Bartholomew County’s infrastructure commitment to new and future companies in the area, the commissioners said.

Elsewhere, an application for a Community Crossings Matching Grant for new blacktops for damaged roads will be submitted after the first of the year. If the amount requested is approved, the county will have about $3 million for the 2025 overlay project, Hollander said. About four miles from the 2024 program that was not finished by the time asphalt plants closed in late November will be completed this spring, he said.

While the county has been working to prepare construction of a new Lowell Bridge, Hollander says they have run into an unexpected snafu. It involves new regulations from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources that deals with backwater – a term used to describe stagnant water removed from a river’s current.

“They used to allow 0.15 feet, which is essentially 2 inches of backwater,” Hollander said. “ Now, it’s changed to zero. Doesn’t sound like much, but it is.”

The county still has plenty of time to work things out. Construction on or near the Lowell Bridge is not expected to get underway until 2027.

Courthouse

Although the Bartholomew County Courthouse was completed in 1874, it has been impossible to celebrate the building’s 150th anniversary while a $3.28 million renovation keeps moving from floor to floor The upgrades made it necessary for Circuit Judge Kelly Benjamin to move her staff and courtroom two blocks away to the Court Services building on First Street.

A decision was recently announced that the sesquicentennial celebration will take place in 2025. That will mark 150 years since judicial and county officials moved into their courthouse offices. The event will likely be scheduled after the project is completed this spring.

The installation of new heating, ventilation and air conditioning units means the courthouse probably won’t need another major renovation for up to 40 years, Kleinhenz said.

However, sections of the courthouse roof will need to be replaced in the near future, he added. The commissioners have long acknowledged that several windows are also in need of replacement.

Masonry work on the deteriorating concrete steps leading from the sidewalk up to the courthouse doors will likely take place in 2025, according to Kleinhenz.

“If you allow the courthouse to deteriorate, you get to the point where an effort gets started to have a modern justice center built,” Kleinhenz said. “Our vision is that we want (the historic courthouse) to continue. And if we don’t maintain the building, it will deteriorate and die.”

American Rescue Plan

With the exception of funds earmarked for countywide broadband, all $16.4 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds allocated to Bartholomew County government since March 2021 have already been spent, county auditor Pia O’Connor said.

The money from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) paid for some items normally financed with traditional funding sources like property taxes, Kleinhenz said. Over the past four years, the county council has allowed a limited number of new county employees to be hired.

With all expendable ARP funds gone, concern has been expressed on whether the new salaries and benefits are sustainable without raising taxes.

But Kleinhenz is not worried. That’s because the population of Bartholomew County has seen a growth of 10.14% since 2010. Several new employers have emerged during that time, attracting new taxpayers to the Columbus area, Kleinhenz said.

“As more people come in, it generates more revenue and makes it possible to add employees,” the commissioner explained.

Countywide broadband

The remaining $4 million in ARP funds earmarked for countywide broadband will be paid when internet provider GigabitNow makes their product available to 85% of all Bartholomew County homes.

While the internet provider used to provide an online map showing their progression in availability, London said about the map is no longer available because three work crews are spreading out in all directions.

But London admits the spread is moving slower than expected.

“It all boils down to 1,700 power poles that have to be replaced,” the commissioner said. “They thought they would have all of those done by now. I think Bartholomew County REMC is about halfway done.”

The slower roll-out was largely created by problems beyond the control of REMC and GigabitNow crews. Some areas that were supposed to quickly service via utilities poles have been forced by unexpected obstacles to move underground to deliver fiber optic lines, London said. Underground delivery takes substantially more time, he said.

Despite the delays, the internet provider will still be able to gain access to about 2,400 homes and businesses in 2025, London said.

He expects the 85% mark will be reached this summer, with all work completed by the end of 2026. The last areas that will receive access to broadband internet are homes in northeast and southwest Bartholomew County townships, London said.

London said another benefit has emerged. Due to GigabitNow, their competitors now have an incentive to take steps to keep their customers.

“At some point soon, people will have choices,” London said. “And that’s always good for consumers.”
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