VALPARAISO | With the $168 million from the sale of the county hospital safely shielded from the plunging stock market, county officials are moving forward with plans to come up with a better long-term investment strategy for the money.

A three-member subcommittee plans to meet Friday with 11 potential consultants to recommend a finalist to the county council and hospital proceeds committee early next month, council member Mike Bucko said.

The consultant will be charged with coming up with an investment policy and plan for the money, he said. A manager will then be hired to carry out the approach and the money will be reinvested, he said.

Bucko, who was elected earlier this month as the county's next treasurer, said he, fellow council member Dan Whitten and county Treasurer Jim Murphy already cut the number of potential consultants in half to reach the 11 finalists.

The remaining consultants were informed that the one chosen would not be eligible to serve as manager or benefit by the investment of the money, Bucko said.

The hospital sale proceeds are currently invested in a money market fund at Harris Bank, Bucko said. The money is earning somewhere between 2 and 3 percent, which is generating $10,000 or more each day.

The county's reinvestment options are limited somewhat by a law prohibiting it from opening any investment for longer than two years, he said. Bucko said county officials will talk to the area's state lawmakers to see if this limitation can be eased, which would give the county a better chance of earning more interest.

"I look at that and say, 'Wow, that's really kind of crazy,' " he said.

There have been a lot of suggestions on what to do with the money, including tax relief, assistance to municipalities and offering grants to various community organizations.

Bucko said there seems to a consensus to leave the principal alone and spend just the interest.