By Rusty Nixon Correspondent
PLYMOUTH — If there ever is stimulus money, Marshall County is ready.
“It’s really like a moving target,” said Marshall County Highway Superintendent Neal Haeck. “How you apply, where you apply, how the money is going to be distributed... I’ve got three different meetings in the next three weeks to talk about all of that.”
While the federal and state governments are deciding how the money will be distributed, Haeck has been working on priorities for projects to be done when it is available.

Speaking to the Marshall County Commissioners Monday, Haeck said that he has prioritized $2.3 million in county road projects that will be taken care of once the money is available. All of the projects are repair and maintenance projects on current county roads.
The Marshall County Museum renovation is also at the top of Haeck’s list. Being undertaken with Indiana Department of Transportation funding, the project will ask for $500,000 in stimulus money to complete the next phase of the project.
In all, Haeck says that Marshall County will be asking for nearly $3 million in stimulus funds once they become available.
In other business:
• One road project is getting started in the county at Pine Road. County Attorney Jim Clevenger reported that offers on purchasing land for the project right of way had begun. Four offers have been made and one accepted. Seven more offers will be made in the next two weeks with 12 more on March 9.
Clevenger also reported that paperwork had begun for the agreement between the county and the City of Plymouth on their contribution to the project. There was some question on just how much that monetary involvement will be.
• The Marshall County Clerk’s office is looking to make some renovations to the main office and improve lighting in the basement.
Paula Babcock, reporting to the Commissioners for Clerk Julie Fox, said that estimates for the work to the office had been obtained.
Superintendent of Grounds for the county, Rich Ulrich reported that his crews had salvaged extensive amounts of material before the demolition of the old county jail building and said that lighting and wiring for the lights was part of the material saved. The Museum already plans to make use of security cameras from the old jail.
• The county will be looking at its cell phone bill. Currently the county has 67 cell phones with seven having current contracts. The others contracts are due to expire.
The commissioners will begin negotiations for a phone provider and as part of those negotiations take a look at the number of phones currently provided to see if they are warranted.