The Allen County commissioners deferred voting on a new public records policy Friday because they didn’t discuss it publicly during their weekly work session.
The policy was one of two initiatives the commissioners considered to improve public access to county meetings and records.
The commissioners heard a proposal to adopt a policy outlining how their office and departments will handle public records requests. The policy would formalize current practice and ensure that the staff and public understand the process, commissioners’ spokesman Mike Green said.
The draft calls for the public to initiate any public records requests through the public information office and to make the request in writing, and includes the cost for making photocopies.
The draft also states that policy should be “liberally interpreted and construed to promote full access to the county’s public records.”
Green said copies of the policy and a form that residents can complete to make their written request would be available at each of the commissioners’ departments. Other elected county officials would not be bound by the policy.
Commissioner Bill Brown, who has pushed for the office to operate more openly, asked that the matter be postponed until next week so the commissioners could discuss it during their weekly public work session, which is conducted Monday mornings.
He wants the office to stick to the protocol of discussing items in work session the same week they are up for consideration. That approach is especially important when the commissioners are asked to vote on something like a policy on access to public records, Brown said.
On the second initiative, the commissioners voted to amend an agreement with the Allen County Public Library in order to provide a streaming video service online. Digital footage of meetings of the commissioners, plan commission and County Council will be available free to the public.
Access Fort Wayne already broadcasts the meetings on a local public access cable channel. But providing the videos online will reach a broader audience and give viewers more flexibility in when they can watch, said Norm Compton, who manages the service for the library.
“It’s about making government more available,” Compton said.
The added service will cost an extra $3,000 a year to be shared among the county, city of Fort Wayne and the library. The county currently spends $32,000 a year for access to record and broadcast meetings.
Maplecrest Road
The commissioners agreed to pay $120,000 for additional design and engineering work for the Maplecrest Road extension. The money will be used to pay the original designer to make modifications as issues occur, county engineer Mike Thornson said.
The $38 million project to connect Lake Avenue with Indiana 930 in New Haven is under construction.
Because of the complexity of extending the road across the Maumee River, railroad tracks and the city’s sludge lagoons, such changes to engineering and design are likely, Thornson said.
