Jeremy Rivas

Plans are coming together for some Porter County government facilities.

The Porter County Council is willing to borrow money for facility upgrades, but members still have some concerns with the county commissioners' project priorities.

Funding for the Memorial Opera House renovation is once again in place. The Porter County Council voted unanimously Tuesday to appropriate $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act money for a scaled-back version of the project.

The Porter County Council is being warned of dangerous conditions at the Highway Department's Valparaiso garage. Andrew Waugh with Martin Riley Architects/Engineers says every building at the Valpo highway facility has structural issues, and one in particular has a central steel column that's rusted through.

How big of a renovation the Memorial Opera House ends up getting remains up in the air. The majority of the Porter County Council supports a larger project that would rehabilitate the historic building and connect it to the former sheriff's residence. But the majority of the county commissioners want to look at lower-cost options, like renting out the sheriff's residence.

Porter County Council members would like to use some of the county's opioid settlement money for a new police social worker.

Funding has once again been pulled from the Memorial Opera House renovation and expansion.

Porter County government employees are set to get significant pay raises next year. The 2023 budget adopted by the county council Tuesday includes raises ranging from a minimum of $4,000 to a maximum of 20 percent.

After months of work on Porter County's ARPA spending plan, the county council has only agreed to approve part of it. Council members voted six-to-one Tuesday to approve the appropriations recommended by the infrastructure and county COVID response subcommittees totaling over $10 million. But they held off on approving the almost $9 million requested for behavioral health and nonprofits.

The Porter County Council is holding off on approving the county's ARPA spending plan. The county commissioners approved a plan for much of the county's $33 million share of federal American Rescue Plan money in early August, but it wasn't placed on last week's county council agenda.