Amish address buggy traffic issues with the commissioners

   Representatives of the Amish community approached the Daviess County Commissioners Tuesday concerning the recent news about horse drawn vehicles damaging county roads.

       Leroy Stoll, William Graber, and James Graber, said The Amish had asked them to relay the efforts the Amish were making to help the problem.  They reported that Amish leaders have recently met with horseshoe providers to see if a different configuration in the shoes would help mitigate the damage.  Stoll also said there had been an increase in the sale of buggy license plates in an effort to help with the maintenance cost of roads.  Buggy plates are $60 with money going to road repairs and upkeep.  Stoll also said Amish families were willing to experiment with rubber shoes, although he did not think that would be a solution to the problem.   The men also suggested that combining pea gravel, instead of crushed rock, to chip and seal treatments might help better maintain road pavement.   

    In other matters at Tuesday’s regular meeting…the County Commissioners considered a resolution Tuesday to opt Daviess County out of Needle Exchange Programs the State Legislature recently gave counties and municipalities power to enact.  Commissioner Tom McCracken said he was in favor of the resolution.  Commissioner Nathan Gabhart said that he is philosophically opposed to the Needle Exchange Program.  However, Gabhart said he had a problem with a blanket ban on the Needle Exchanges.  Gabhart said that, while Daviess County does not currently need a Needle Exchange, he would hate to remove a weapon from health officials if a local crisis arises.  In the absence of Commissioner Michael Taylor, Gabhart and McCracken agreed to table the resolution.  The Needle Exchange Programs have been used in several Indiana counties to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS associated with addicts sharing dirty needles as part of the national opioid abuse epidemic.