Heated debate in Sullivan County

SULLIVAN, Ind. (WTHI) - Several members of Sullivan County were up in arms in the courtroom Monday night, waiting to voice their opinion.

The main topic on-hand was the Sullivan County Highway Department. Two of the three commissioners want to consolidate the three Sullivan County Highway Districts into one.

The three-hour meeting got pretty heated as questions were raised and apologies demanded.

A big change that left community members visibly concerned on how each district's money would be used. They are upset that money wouldn't be divided evenly if consolidated. That's a concern that even commissioners couldn't agree on.

"This is very wrong, if it should happen it should be on the board of referendum and the taxpayers should decide this issue," Sullivan County Commissioner Tim Abrams said.

"I've talked with different counties and they've already done this about 10 years ago and consolidated their man power," Sullivan County Commissioner John McCammon said.

In the end, the public's voice was heard and the commissioners denied the consolidation proposal. Commissioners said they would like to revisit this issue again in the future, but are unclear when that would be.