Monday, November 29, 2010

29 November 2010 Dearborn County Plan Commission Meeting Notes

29 November 2010 Dearborn County Plan Commission Meeting Notes

Present: Mike Hall, Chairman, Dennis Kraus Jr., Russell Beiersdorfer, Mark Lehman, Mike Hornbach, Ralph Thompson, Jake Hoog, Dan Lansing, and Ken Nelson
Also Present: Mark McCormack, Plan Director, and Arnie McGill, Attorney.

NEW BUSINESS:

Appeal of the decision of the Technical Review Committee to grant primary approval for an 8-lot subdivision, St. Joseph’s Field Subdivision by James Hough, Jerome Hough, and Nina Campbell. The owner of the Ag zoned 21 acres on Chesterville Road in Sparta Township is Joseph Tuechert.

Current proposal involves the retention of the airstrip granted as a conditional use by BZA from 1997 with prospective owners potentially being able to use the one airplane allowed on the site. Hours of operation limited to 2 hours after official sunrise and 0.5 hours before sunset. The use is to be terminated if a residence is built on the southern adjoining property per 1997 agreement. Tech review tabled it this summer and then it was brought back in October 2010. Lot 7 was possibly an unbuildable lot as one of the tech review concerns. There may be only 6-7 lots when it gets to secondary approval phase. Septic placement and setbacks could eliminate one or two lots. Neighbors are appealing the decision. The area is all Ag zoned around this. With current uses though, there are mixtures of uses, the main other use is residential. This site is the flattest in the area around it. The airstrip runs right next to the proposed road.

Issues named by appellants to oppose this decision are: use and density is inappropriate, increased noise, loss of wildlife, and increased fire hazard.

Only one airplane is allowed on site per FAA. No more planes can be added to this. The use of the airstrip is not in question. It has been operated in accord with FAA and County stipulations.
10 letters were mailed out. Chesterville Acres 2005, Long Branch Ridge 2000, and McGuires 2003 were subdivisions from 2000 on in the area- on Ag land.

The appeal was made within the 30 day time limit as stated in the ordinance.
Keep in mind that this is a minor subdivision on two parent tracts. One tract probably wouldn’t have to be a minor division. The whole area has been Ag since 1965.

[NOTE: How did this get decided by Tech Review with something as SIGNIFICANT as an airstrip in it? That would seem to be something that should be decided by the Plan Commission. How is this supportive of the intent of the Agricultural district?]

James E Hough- retired PE and licensed geologist. Speaking on behalf of 3 appellants. There is an issue of 300 ft ROW on the airstrip that goes beyond this property. In reviewing Ag zone code. The purpose of Ag zone doesn’t list this. This does not seem to fit with or support the Ag use. Non-compliance with FAA document. This is a commercial activity and not agriculturally related. Noise from landings. Wildlife issues. Increased risk of pilot error that could damage adjacent property. Contradictory information on plat. The FAA does not approve or disapprove private airstrip development.
Property value issue.
Subject to be reviewed by the board if neighbors complain of noise etc. was listed in the original BZA stipulations.
There are issues with not having enough land to accommodate the airstrip length required. It goes across Chesterville Rd to the Lanvermeyer property.

Nina Campbell- primary concern is value of the property, and the runway length issues.

Rob Sieg- surveyor for Joe Tuechert- want to work with the county- if we need to add a covenant, we’ll look at that. FAA out of Chicago has no issues with this. Joe has all the proper documentation for this to be a private airstrip. They will add that if a house to the south is built, the airstrip goes away if the board wants that.
Sieg said the use is same as the land to the west- a small subdivision. The density is similar. Increased noise is not an issue- same as before. Loss of wildlife- he doesn’t understand. The classified nature preserve next door is the neighbor’s issue. The wildlife can still exist and move freely. There is no airplane fuel stored on the property- so no fire hazard. Not changing anything- other than 6 new potential homes to approve around this airstrip. Joe has discretion as to who is allowed to use or buy an interest in his airplane. He is currently farming the land. He acknowledged that a clear zone does exist on the south adjoining property. That is why the airstrip ceases to exist if someone builds there. He went on to disagree with the apppellants’s statements. He even thought it could increase the value of the property. Driveway surface issues with the runway include grass airstrip. Melanie of the FAA saw all these plans.

Thompson asked questions – 1450 ft for runway from S property line. He showed some issue with the pole barn and alley on other property and the 125 ft setbacks.

Arnie McGill- attorney for PC- said that they can only address if the tech review decision was correct.

Joe Teuchert- owner- reiterated the airstrip rules. He said it’s only 1220 ft. and it starts further into the property. He said there will be no rental- they will have to be part owners. He may not need to sell part of the plane now that he has this other business venture. He said- this is just about the subdivision- not the airstrip. Airport is open to medi-copters. No one else. Costs $200 to fly it- so he doesn’t do it much.

James Hough- reiterated the FAA requirements- 3 of which he says are not met by this airstrip. He was advised to take that complaint up with the FAA.

Chris Mueller- asked what rules allow tech review to approve something without BZA or PC being consulted particularly if there is something significant in the middle of it.

McCormack cited the state law that allows this. There was some discussion that clarification may be needed in our ordinance.

Thompson- said that putting subdivisions next to wildlife or farm does affect them. But because McGill said they have to stick to just the subdivision concept, Thomspon said he’d have to deny the appeal. Nelson motioned and Beiersdorfer 2nded to deny the appeal. All ayes. Appeal denied.
Proposed amendments to the Dearborn County Zoning Maps. Mark McCormack passed out digital maps and insets along with disclaimer to be posted with it, saying that the official determination of a zone comes from the planning dept. They would also list a month date and year that it was effective to. This would replace the 8 panel maps. Nelson thought this is start in the right direction to see the whole community too. This format will be easier to use. This corrects mistakes too. This will also help suggest correcting some areas in the future. All three commissioners know what this is about. Nelson and Kraus Jr. motioned to send it with notes to commissioners for approval. All ayes.

ADMINISTRATIVE:
1. Passed out performance guarantee list and noted expirations pending early next year.
2. Passed out the schedule for meetings next year. Approved.
3. Printer was approved by Council.
4. St. Leon has adopted new subdivision ordinance effective on Nov 1st and are posted on their website: www.stleon.us
5. Thompson said this was his last meeting as a Plan Commissioner and expressed how he enjoyed it. Protect rights of all property owners as well as developers. Have to look at some of the precedents and not repeat any bad ones. Mike Hall said they appreciated working with him also.
6. Dec 20th meeting only has a street vacation on the agenda.

Meeting adjourned at 9:15 PM

Christine Brauer Mueller
Lawrenceburg Township

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Tom Cheek's Farewell Address to Council

Fellow Council members:

First I want to publicly thank the people of Dearborn County for putting their faith and trust in me for the past twelve years to serve as their Council Representative. I would also like to extend a special thanks to some of the office holders and employees who have treated me with the respect and professionalism that anyone could ever hope for. I started this position with a clear and open mind hoping I could make a difference in our community. Unfortunately it didn’t take long for me to figure out the amount of politics that are involved. Not that I was naïve, but I didn’t imagine it was as wide spread as it is. I distinctly remember my first round of budget hearings. I looked out in the hallway and saw three people changing a light bulb! I thought to myself, what a waste of tax dollars!

On a more serious note, I know that everyone here knows what has to be done to make a more affordable and efficient County government. I know you are all familiar with your Governor’s opinions on streamlining local government. A lot of it is spelled out in the Kernan-Shepard Report of 2008. Although I do not agree with all the recommendations in this report, I do agree with most. For instance, establishing a single more unified legislative body for county government and expand legislative membership to insure representation to all areas of the county. Another would be to create one body to oversee all county public safety services. This would break up all the little kingdoms around the county. We should expand coordination and consolidation of services. This would strengthen the power of voters to compel consolidation. And lastly Prohibit employees of a local government unit from serving as elected officials within the same local unit. I quote directly out of the Kernan-Shepard report. “Allowing the employees of a unit of local government to serve as elected policymakers for that unit is an unacceptable practice for a number of reasons. First, it is a clear conflict of interest for public employees to benefit from their actions as elected officials. Second, it undermines the chain of command and procedures for discipline that are critical to effective public services, particularly public safety. And perhaps most important, it diminishes the faith that citizens have that local governments act in the public interest. End quote. This is part of your Governor’s platform and agenda for Indiana. I would think that this is the direction our county would want to go. With the amount of political power and the number of majority votes in this county and having control of both houses of the Indiana General Assembly in January along with the Governor’s office I am confident that some of these changes will occur. I charge both bodies of our local government to listen to your Governor and step up to the plate and be a leader in some of these reforms that he is advocating. Thanks you for this opportunity to address Council and good luck on your future council agendas. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Tom Cheek

23 November 2010 Dearborn County Council Meeting Notes

23 November 2010 Dearborn County Council Meeting Notes

Present: Dennis Kraus Sr., President, Tom Cheek, Dan Lansing, Liz Morris, Maynard Barrett, Bill Ullrich, and Bryan Messmore
Also present: Bill Ewbank, County Coordinator and Gayle Pennington, Auditor

Superior Court II – Sally Blankenship- Additional request for Public Defenders-Bill Ullrisch said he saw this coming as they are very busy there. This was advertised out of County General- for $25,000. She said they can do it for $20,000. Passed with Cheek as only Nay.

DCRSD- Steve Renihan- transfer of funds for sewer district budget- Gayle Pennington asked permission to move DCRSD budget to where it belongs.

Wages- $ 1,450 for Secretary (Vera Benning) get one more day per week when they were working on High Ridge project. All ayes passed.

West Harrison TIF District- $1,382,000 to serve this area to help promote industry there. This will take it to Harrison. They are NOT going to force people on. They expect to have a payback over a 40 year period. They have an interlocal agreement with Harrison and they will charge the same rate that they charge to West Harrison. There are several businesses in the area that will look up.

Dennis Kraus Sr asked if the taxpayers should be paying so that others will do better financially.

Mike Rozow for Redevelopment Commission- Rozow said they have a company with 140 jobs lined up already that is relocating to Indiana from out of state. This will cause a domino effect if we move forward this evening. Rozow said he wasn’t sure he’d answered Kraus’s question. He did say that he thought that in years to come perhaps people will say that we did this right.

Council members discussed that they’d set the wheels in motion on this to get more jobs to see it through.

Messmore tried several times to make a motion during this interchange.

Kraus asked what’s to stop someone from putting a huge residential development up there.

McCormack said there is almost nor residential zoning up there. All ayes passed.

Guilford preliminary engineering study- $17,500 approved by Commissioners to go to Council for this. 43 homes identified by Health Dept. Options to take it to Greendale or run it to PNS to take it thru their lift station to Pribble to be treated by that. Both municipalities are willing to take this. All ayes passed.

Rozow also said he wanted to thank Tom Cheek for his service. (Cheek is leaving Council at the end of his term)

Planning and Zoning- Mark McCormack- copier, fax, printer machine- he’s trying to save money because of the increased maintenance costs due to being past 5 years. He got quotes and the cheapest was actually an upgrade of current one. Asking to have permission to lease with option to buy the next machine. Also needed direction to either auction the machine or to give to some other dept that has low volume needs. Already have money in the budget to do it. They will get maybe $1,000-1,500 for it. They’ve done 300-400,000 copies on it. All ayes approved.

McCormack said that the money that will be generated in tax revenue will probably pay for this sewer project for the TIF. He thought the Council might want to know that regarding DCRSD’s previous request.

Elks Youth program- Sue Dausch- thanks for supporting them last year. She gave Council a handout. Asking for $1,000 for 2011. All ayes approved.

Coroner-Wesley Holt- day to day operations- was taken care of the last meeting.

Surveyor Dennis Kraus Jr., - Stateline monument- information only. Rough drawing handed out. He will come back for this at a future meeting. There is a monument there on the corner. It has been hit by semi-trucks many times. He met with Ohio in Cleves. It’s been replaced several times. Israel Ludlow, surveyor, originally placed it in 1838. Can’t move the monument as it is historical. They decided to put a turn lane around it. This will improve safety for semi-trucks that swing wide to make that turn. Ohio will pay for most of this. Greendale is probably not wanting to put money into this. $10,000 would be our share. Hoping that the guy that owns the land there will donate it. Only about 10 ft that we have to acquire. He will advertise this out of riverboat revenue for next meeting. Greendale BOW will be kept in the loop and they have no problem with us doing it.

Highway Dept- Todd Listerman absent so Dennis Kraus Jr- read his request for permission to encumber funds for Short Ridge Bridge- $600,000 needed and only has one last parcel to acquire for it. Approved.

Park Board- Steve Walker- getting a Bright parcel for $53,900 for 3.811 acres. Kraus said this needs to be approved by Planning- and Kraus Jr.- said that it will go thru as a certified survey- minor land division. All ayes approved. Funds are already in their budget. Walker thanked council for their help with capital improvements. He apologized for confusion- it is their first time they have purchased any land.

Auditor- Gayle Pennington- Minutes and EMS Training claims- In the commissioners budget and signed off by Council- there are 23 awards from Dearborn County Hospital for EMS training- needing signatures. Signed. Minutes were tabled till next meeting.

Cheek asked about plans for next year- and resolution on new hires for vacated positions. It has not been drawn up yet.

Tom Cheek asked for a few minutes to make some comments per Dennis Kraus Sr. Cheek later provided the text of his comments reprinted verbatim below:

Fellow Council members:

First I want to publicly thank the people of Dearborn County for putting their faith and trust in me for the past twelve years to serve as their Council Representative. I would also like to extend a special thanks to some of the office holders and employees who have treated me with the respect and professionalism that anyone could ever hope for. I started this position with a clear and open mind hoping I could make a difference in our community. Unfortunately it didn’t take long for me to figure out the amount of politics that are involved. Not that I was naïve, but I didn’t imagine it was as wide spread as it is. I distinctly remember my first round of budget hearings. I looked out in the hallway and saw three people changing a light bulb! I thought to myself, what a waste of tax dollars!

On a more serious note, I know that everyone here knows what has to be done to make a more affordable and efficient County government. I know you are all familiar with your Governor’s opinions on streamlining local government. A lot of it is spelled out in the Kernan-Shepard Report of 2008. Although I do not agree with all the recommendations in this report, I do agree with most. For instance, establishing a single more unified legislative body for county government and expand legislative membership to insure representation to all areas of the county. Another would be to create one body to oversee all county public safety services. This would break up all the little kingdoms around the county. We should expand coordination and consolidation of services. This would strengthen the power of voters to compel consolidation. And lastly Prohibit employees of a local government unit from serving as elected officials within the same local unit. I quote directly out of the Kernan-Shepard report. “Allowing the employees of a unit of local government to serve as elected policymakers for that unit is an unacceptable practice for a number of reasons. First, it is a clear conflict of interest for public employees to benefit from their actions as elected officials. Second, it undermines the chain of command and procedures for discipline that are critical to effective public services, particularly public safety. And perhaps most important, it diminishes the faith that citizens have that local governments act in the public interest. End quote. This is part of your Governor’s platform and agenda for Indiana. I would think that this is the direction our county would want to go. With the amount of political power and the number of majority votes in this county and having control of both houses of the Indiana General Assembly in January along with the Governor’s office I am confident that some of these changes will occur. I charge both bodies of our local government to listen to your Governor and step up to the plate and be a leader in some of these reforms that he is advocating. Thanks you for this opportunity to address Council and good luck on your future council agendas. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Tom Cheek

Ullrich moved to give him a round of applause for his service. {APPLAUSE}

NEXT meeting will be a short one on Dec 14 – 6 PM to transfer money for Votaw building and Shumway along with Hoosier Square. The county will advertise for $1,250,000 to cover this.

Meeting adjourned at 8:30 PM

Christine Brauer Mueller
Lawrenceburg Township

Friday, November 19, 2010

Plan Commission to hear appeal Nov 29th to permit subdivision around an existing private airstrip

PLAN COMMISSION
AGENDA
Monday, November 29, 2010
7:00 P.M.

NEW BUSINESS

1. Request: Appeal the decision of the Technical Review Committee to
grant primary approval for an 8-lot subdivision, Joseph’s
Field Subdivision.
Appellants: James Hough, Jerome Hough, Nina Campbell
Owner: Joseph Tuechert
Site Location: Chesterville Road
Legal: Sec. 31, T5, R2, Map #08-31, Parcel #009.001 & 001.300
Township: Sparta Size: 21 Acres
Zoning: Agricultural (A)

2. Request: Proposed amendments to the Dearborn County Zoning Maps.

F. ADMINISTRATIVE

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

16 November 2010 Dearborn County Commissioners Meeting Notes

16 November 2010 Dearborn County Commissioners Meeting Notes

Present: Ralph Thompson, President, Tom Orschell, and Jeff Hughes
Also present: Gayle Pennington, Auditor, Bill Ewbank, County Coordinator, and Jack Gay, Attorney.

OLD BUSINESS:

Tucker Development- continued tabled- Listerman spoke saying hey were presently working on the ROW along Stateline Rd for part of the resolution of part of the Seldom Seen Sub’n issues. They will then meet with commissioners and attorney to do the resolution regarding that. [NOTE: Apparently, Tucker owns ROW needed for Stateline and they are negotiating acquisition of ROW in trade for fixing roadway in the subdivision.]

NEW BUSINESS
:

Sheriff Lusby- bid openings for inmate food- a female staff member opened the 3 bids as Lusby was not present. Gordon Food and Ellenbee Leggett and US Food service were taken over for analysis for lowest and best. No decision.

Mark McCormack, Planning Director- Proposed changes to articles 4 & 7 of Subdivision Control Ordinance- These were revisions that the commissioners had requested. The PC had given a favorable recommendation to accept the commissioners’ changes. These were regarding financial guarantees on subdivisions. No public wanted to speak and the commissioners passed the ordinance. They will sign it later after Jack Gay modifies the changes into the ordinance.

Maximus Consulting Services- Hughes got hold of them at an AIC ( Association of Indiana Counties) conference. He liked the idea of an independent consultant- they are not a construction or engineering design firm. He wanted to table this to consider more. He wanted to know if inmates were county residents or if they were an influx from outside. Another state study on sentencing guidelines. He said there is a difference if they are a danger to society or just someone who needs to make amends to society. Orschell said he was talking to jail commander and sheriff and at least 50 inmates need to be removed to another facility. Hughes said there is a privately owned facility in Owen Illinois to check out. Hughes said rather than spend the $15,000 we could get the data ourselves with sweat equity. Thompson said sweat equity had a different definition and that we would be paying county employees to get this data still. Tabled for further review.

Signatures for Charity Road Block Ordinance – paperwork was presented and signed by Commissioners.

HIGHWAY DEPT- Todd Listerman gave a 20- minute report:

Traffic Control Sign and Signal Ordinance, which puts the county in compliance with state laws regarding speed limits and signage, was tabled until it can be properly advertised for public hearing.

Drew Barth from Barth and associates was contracted to look at a small structure on Lower Dillsboro Road. It was not sufficient for size and width. They recommend putting in a bridge structure at that location. This road has been closed. This will also require a geotech study for $3560. This is a reduced cost as they are doing another study here. There are issues with back flow that is affecting a hydraulic lift station near it as well. Road stays in the same alignment but the stream will straighten out and remove two 90 degree turns in it. This should remove the occurrences of water over the roadway. Trying to use the Collier Ridge decking for this structure. This will save money. Funding is available. Approved to proceed with geotech survey.
Council had allocated Bridge 24 Cold Springs Road. It qualifies for federal funding and INDOT has a DES number. They will proceed with study to get this started and will allow us to ask for the federal funding for 80/20 split.

Four cost proposals for this Cold Springs bridge design work– the low price was $90,000 Barth and Associates- one of their sub consultants is Land Consultants out of Lawrenceburg to do survey work. $176,000 was the next lowest bid. Barth assured then that their number was correct. Approved Barth.

Got changes in the federal manual regarding MUTCD on street signs sizes and lettering in both upper and lower case lettering. Red is no longer a background color allowed in the new manual. If you meet reflectivity and size than you don’t have to replace signs until the end of their service life. (normally 14 years) This will cost $15-20,000 to change all our signs. Allowing the time now spreads that number out past 2015 when the law is in effect. This is an unfunded mandate. This could affect stimulus funds- you have to be in compliance. Hughes said- if they didn’t take this money and run it thru the bureaucracy we might have the money to do this!

Message boards on US 50 and SR 1 are still on target.

Still haven’t heard back from Collier Ridge Bridge consultant selection on project design.

Bridge inspection starts its 2-year cycle again in March 2011

Randall Avenue building work is being completed and move is planned by end of December from County Farm to Randall.

AUDITOR- Gayle Pennington- made changes to minutes and Nov 3 was approved. Claims were approved and signed.

ATTORNEY- Jack Gay- has not heard back regarding the real estate ( Hoosier Square) He will follow up on that.

COUNTY COORDINATOR- Bill Ewbank- nothing to add.

COMMISSIONERS:
Jeff Hughes- Langley Heights?- will be on next agenda

PUBLIC COMMENT- none

Meeting adjourned at 9:43 AM

Christine Brauer Mueller
Lawrenceburg Township

Friday, November 12, 2010

Agenda for Nov 16th Commissioners Meeting

AGENDA
DEARBORN COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING
November 16, 2010
9:00 a.m.
City of Lawrenceburg
Administration Building
230 Walnut Street, Lawrenceburg, Indiana


I. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

II. CALL TO ORDER

III. OLD BUSINESS
1. Tucker Development – Seldom Seen I, II & III/ Old Orchard (continued tabled)

IV. NEW BUSINESS
1. Sheriff Dave Lusby
Bid Openings for Inmate Food

2. Mark McCormack, Planning & Zoning
Proposed changes to the DC Subdivision Control Ordinance, Article 4 & 7

3. Maximus Consulting Services

4. Signatures for Charity Road Block Ordinance

V. HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT- Todd Listerman
Updates

VI. AUDITOR – Gayle Pennington
Claims/Minutes

VII. ATTORNEY

VIII. COUNTY COORDINATOR – Bill Ewbank

IX. COMMISSIONER – Jeff Hughes

X. COMMISSIONER – Tom Orschell

XI. COMMISSIONER – Ralph Thompson, Jr.

XII. LATE ARRIVAL INFORMATION

XIII. PUBLIC COMMENT

XIV. ADJOURN

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

3 November 2010 Dearborn County Commissioners Meeting Notes

3 November 2010 Dearborn County Commissioners Meeting Notes

Present: Ralph Thompson, President, Tom Orschell, and Jeff Hughes
Also present: Gayle Pennington, Auditor, Bill Ewbank, County Coordinator, and Jack Gay, Attorney.

An Executive Session preceded this meeting with a discussion of real estate property. Tabled this issue pending questions.

OLD BUSINESS:

Tucker Development- tabled

DCRSD appointments- address Steve Renihan’s term and reappointment- Renihan should have been reappointed in January of 2010. Commissioners agreed to reappoint him now.
Hughes wanted to appoint Robert Liske ( sp?). Boundary issue rules were changed so others can be appointed. No one seconded that motion. There was a concern over a possible conflict of interest.
Orschell wanted to appoint Todd Listerman to DCRSD board. Hughes thought Listerman had his hands full with highway dept. Thompson seconded and Listerman was appointed with Hughes voting Nay.

NEW BUSINESS:

Charity Road Block Ordinance-

Sheriff Lusby was concerned because whenever road blocks occur in the county they get calls and complaints about it. Complaints range from annoyance to safety issues. The safety issues are the biggest concerns.

Peggy Waltz from Bright Lions- they have been doing road blocks for 35 years. They use these funds for charitable purposes and for scholarships. People can drive by if they don’t want to contribute.

Tom Wayne- safety issues with adults and YOUNG KIDS out in the street. Wants these organizations to be able to raise funds.

Thompson said in Mason – they put up signs ahead of the event. He asked Sheriff Lusby for suggestions. Lusby liked the signs and agreed that kids under 16 or so shouldn’t be doing this. Adult supervision is necessary. Definitely use stricter guidelines. Traffic back-up is an issue. Safety vests maybe. Maybe county should require a permit, with a clause that says the county is not liable for accidents.

Mike Kreinhop- giving indication of the charity collected for, people may be more tolerant. Times should be restricted to less busy times. Locations may need to be changed to something less busy. [NOTE: That might defeat the purpose as the busy intersection means more cars to collect money from.]

Jack Gay- County attorney- said that he has considered this since June. Many of these ideas were put into the ordinance. Problem with permitting is who will issue the permit and inspect it. You also would have a liability issue. If someone came to me with a claim as a lawyer- I’d look for who is responsible. That would be the county. He has prepared an ordinance prohibiting it. It is up to commissioners to decide whether to enact it.

Orschell- told the Lions Club that this is not to pick on them. He said there are a lot more groups taking advantage of that intersection. Can’t see who to put in charge of the permits and inspections.

Hughes said it comes to the kids out there and the safety issues are a concern. Said when the road is redone- this will probably prohibit it anyway. Terrifies people to see someone get hurt.
Orschell thinks they need to pass the ordinance. He would hate to see people get hurt. It’s only a matter of time before that will happen. [NOTE: There are other high volume areas that are safer to collect charitable funds- Walmart, Krogers, and other businesses that allow it in their parking lot, and even putting cans in banks or other business establishments.]

Thompson read the ordinance into the record. Fines are $100 for first offense and more.
Orschell motioned to approve the Road Block ban ordinance. Hughes seconded all ayes approved. Ordinance will be redrafted and d brought to next meeting for signatures.


RQAW- Brett Dodd Pre-design update on jail- he presented materials showing the existing space and evaluated the space. This states we are about 20,000 sq ft shy of what is needed. There are some other significant operational issues as well. 12,000 sq ft of this 20,000 sq ft is in one area- housing of inmates. It is nearly impossible to do separation of different classes of inmates. The second issue is with kitchen space and laundry. Intake and processing is significantly undersized. Patrol issues and training area have been taken over by 911 dispatch etc. Summary page states 62,000 sq ft. we need 90,000 sq ft today. That is not projected into the future needs.
Some spaces actually have more space than needed. This helped improve the overall rating of the facility. The arrangement of these spaces may be part of the problem with trying to borrow space. Wants to come back in December with more data.
Orschell said they are having contraband issues because of some of these space issues and mixing up different populations. Dodd said they are trying to keep felons away from someone who ran thru a stop sign for example.

DCRSD –Dearborn County Regional sewer District- Request to go to Council for Guilford Study- for an engineering study. Health Dept has listed this as having major potential septic health issues. Commissioners approved DCRSD to seek Council funding for this study.
Hoosier Square Purchase- see note above- Tabled after executive session.

HIGHWAY DEPT- Todd Listerman- gave a17 minute report:

Has been working to assure that all our signs and markings are meeting reflectivity standards by Indiana Code. By next meeting he will have this ordinance prepared to be adopted. Asking permission for Jack Gay to look over the draft ordinance and modify as necessary. Ok’d for Gay to review.

Working with OKI- MPO to get funding for George Street Bridge. 80/20 federal funding. Commissioners signed supplemental 2 as it relates to state and federal INDOT TE and OKI TE funds.

Orschell asked about portable flashing speed limit signs a couple meetings ago. Wants to see if he can get a grant to get 1 or 2 of those signs. They cost about $10,000 apiece. Hughes said this may be a good place to cut. Too expensive. He could see if he could rent Lawrenceburg’s. That’s why he’s looking for grants.

Holt Road may be able to be awarded in early December.

Annual material bids for stone, asphalt etc. will be ready for December approval.

Bridge 102- North Dearborn Road east of Creekside- got $69440American Consulting, $86,000 Structurepoint and $37,400 for Barth and associates. Barth and Associates was approved. $350-400,000 possible cost of structure.

Bridge 24 – Cold Springs Road by Chipman road- will be a federal aid project- as it will cost about $900,000. Has 4 consultants submitting proposals for this.

Salt structures- has been working with Hrezo Engineering for these buildings and also they will ALSO look at total property at Randall Avenue topography, utilities etc, and help the county come up with a master plan so that we can have a cleaning facility and capture the waste appropriately before it goes to Aurora sewer. $20,400 to do this and funds are allocated for this. Approved.

Has been speaking with county attorney. Since 2000 the county has been in a lawsuit over Willoughby Road. They have come to a consensus. Surveyor has produced a new plat. This means we will have to vacate the 1999 plat of ROW, so that we can approve the new ROW as approved by property owners.

No news from OKI and state on flashing lights for schools.

Still working on the message boards for US 50 from INDOT and OKI.

INDOT also getting on the new status of classification for Collier Ridge Road. He will follow up on that.

AUDITOR- Gayle Pennington- minutes and claims approved. Orschell abstained from claims approval as he had not had time to review them.

ATTORNEY- Jack Gay- nothing to add.

COUNTY COORDINATOR- Bill Ewbank- Harrison OH Fire protection/EMS Renewal for 3 years for administration of services in northeastern Dearborn County. Annual possibilities to renegotiate. Thirty days notice to terminate. Thus the county is not obligated beyond a year. We do not have a dept to provide coverage in this area. Harrison Chief was present in case questions arose- none did. Approved the agreement. Chief presented the map of the service area.

Thompson asked if Ewbank had done any work on surveying needs in the county- for county wide coverage with EMS. Ewbank said he has not found someone to do the survey work yet.

Tornado spotted and the courthouse evacuated properly last week.

COMMISSIONERS:

Jeff Hughes- issue with Langley Heights.

Tom Orschell- any problem with a county employee blood drive? No problem. Listerman said it has been done at least once in the past. Hoxworth set up here for a 3 hour period here in the Commissioners room. Bill Ewbank will check on this.

Ralph Thompson- still some issues with sound system.

Thompson also had residents of Langley Heights with issues – confused with what was vacated. He re-read the description into the record. Gay said some of the pieces are necessary to get to the Aurora property up there. Thompson said we need to look at these again and perhaps write a letter to let them know what parts of York were vacated. ( By John Moore and Pat Kern) Sheriff wanted some clarification also, as did Bestway and Rumpke for garbage removal. County attorney to write a letter to let these entities know and the residents what is vacated. They will investigate what happened to pieces of Gibson and Chambers.

LATE ARRIVAL INFORMATION- Bill Black wants to cease being the agent for Homeland security IDHS (Ind Dept of Homeland Security) and have the District 9 administrator takeover these duties. Black said that the grants management people will find a replacement- once we send them his letter. There are a lot more requirements and paperwork and it’s not affecting our grants. We’ve done it for several years now and it’s time for others to take it over. This was just informational to commissioners. They have no action to take. This will eliminate the county being the pass through agent for these grants.

PUBLIC COMMENT-Cathy Albert- Collier Ridge. Wanted to know how much money is going to be spent on the preliminary costs of the 3 bridges he talked about tonight. Todd said still in process of getting proposals on Bridge 24 ( 100% local dollars), Bridge 138 will have preliminary design with 100% local dollars so that we can be ready when INDOT has some money. There are 17 bridges in this county needing to be ready. Albert noted this money will be spent HOPING we get money. She is still dissatisfied with Collier Ridge Bridge plans. Orschell said that these bridges have to be fixed- and if we can’t get the funding, then we will have to do it ourselves. The plans are useful- it just depends on how and when we get funding. She thinks it’s ridiculous – for the amount of money for the jail project and these bridges…. She asked what they’d do with the old bridge. Thompson said the county coordinator is trying to see if we can sell the bridge. she will look over the 13 alternates with Art Wenzel, deputy surveyor after the meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 8: 55PM

Christine Brauer Mueller
Lawrenceburg Township

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Republicans Nearly Sweep Dearborn County Local Elections

Republicans Nearly Sweep Dearborn County Local Elections

COMMISSIONER - Shane McHenry – 10,603 over Jim Schuler- 4,358

COUNCIL District 1- Liz Morris- 3,460

COUNCIL District 2- Dan Lansing- 2,236 (The lone Democrat on County Council)

COUNCIL District 3- Dennis Kraus – 2,915 over Jake Hoog- 1,280

COUNCIL District 4- Jim Hughes 2,021 over Tom Cheek 1,378

ASSESSOR- Gary Hensley – 10,004 over Joan Seitz- 4,899

RECORDER- Glenn Wright- 10,494 over Mary Booker- 4,469

AUDITOR- Gayle Pennington- 12,200

PROSECUTOR- Aaron Negangard- 12,081

CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE- James Humphrey- 12,639

SHERIFF- Mike Kreinhop 10,489 over Charles Combs- 4,715