Agenda- WEDNESDAY May 4 Morning Commissioners Meeting

AGENDA

DEARBORN COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING

May 4, 2016 (Wednesday)

8:30 a.m., Commissioners Room

County Administration Building

215 B West High Street, Lawrenceburg, Indiana

I.          CALL TO ORDER

II.          PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

           

III.         OLD BUSINESS

           

IV.        NEW BUSINESS

            1.  Election Update – Clerk of Courts, Rick Probst

            2.  Litter Update – Celeste Calvitto

            3.  Greendale EMS Contract

            4.  Fire & EMS Website

            5.  Request to Approach Council – Highway Engineer, Todd Listerman

               

            6.  Request to Approach Council – Highway Superintendent, Tim Greive

V.        ADMINISTRATOR – Terri Randall

            1.  Internal Controls Ordinance

            2.  Title VI Plan Update

            3.  Request to Approach Council

VI.        AUDITOR Gayle Pennington

            1.  Claims/Minutes

           

VII.       ATTORNEY – Andy Baudendistel

           

VIII.      COMMISSIONER COMMENTS

IX.        LATE ARRIVAL INFORMATION

X.        PUBLIC COMMENT

XI.        ADJOURN

The next Bright 74 Study Public Open House - June 22

**Please mark your calendars…The next Bright 74 Study Public Open House will be held on:

Date:                     Wednesday, June 22

Time:                    4 :00p.m. - 7 :00p.m.

Location:             East Central High School, Performing Arts Center

1 Trojan Place, 

St. Leon, Indiana 47012

**All of the information related to the Bright 74 Study can be found online at: http://bright74.oki.org/

If you have any questions about the study, visit the ‘Contact Us’ portion of the Study’s website to submit an email, or to contact Robyn Bancroft, OKI’s Strategic Planning Manager for this project. The ‘Contact Us’ portion of the Bright 74 Study website is located at:http://bright74.oki.org/144-2/

Please feel free to share the information regarding the next public open house and / or the Study information on the website with anyone that you feel is appropriate…

Mark McCormack 

Director, Dearborn County Planning and Zoning

Initial Surveys Do Not Show Public Support for New Bright-I-74 Connector Road

Initial Surveys Do Not Show Public Support for New Bright-I-74 Connector Road

http://www.thedcregister.com/news-latest/initial-surveys-do-not-show-public-support-new-bright-i-74-connector-road

19 April 2016 Dearborn County Commissioners Meeting Notes

19 April 2016 Dearborn County Commissioners Meeting Notes

Present: Shane McHenry, President, Art Little, and Kevin Lynch

Also present: Gayle Pennington, Auditor and Terri Randall, Administrator

ABSENT: Andy Baudendistel, Attorney,

OLD BUSINESS: none

NEW BUSINESS:

Signatures for Dispatch interlocal agreement with Aurora- McHenry said it had a termination section and it automatically renews annually. Baudendistel had reviewed it per McHenry. Approved and signed. 

Cardono Professional Agreement for archaeological dig for courthouse annex site- Randall presented this item. This is required because it is being funded by Riverboat Funds and the state considers those as state funds. They are not suspecting we will find a lot of artifacts. She went to 4 different firms. Cost estimates were $4750 - 9000. Working with Brad Rullman they were also the lowest and they recommend this firm. They will dig 10 holes and see what they find. This should be completed by mid- May. Baudendistel reviewed this. Approved and signed. 

ADMINISTRATOR- Terri Randall- nothing more

AUDITOR- Gayle Pennington- claims approved and April 5th minutes approved. 

The 2016 tax sale contract from the treasurer and auditor with SRI and Baudendistel already reviewed and the fee is raised from $70-now being $75 per parcel. They do all the research and conduct the sale. There are usually about 100 after the advertising though they start with about 300 parcels. The commissioners end up with 25 certificates at the end that don’t sell. Approved and signed. 

ATTORNEY- Andy Baudendistel- Right of Entry Agreement with Lawrenceburg Redevelopment- presented by McHenry. This is the lot on William Street and Maple Street for parking which is owned by Redevelopment omission of Lawrenceburg. Parking is needed during the construction of the annex. 

Builder’s insurance is also needed and Randall said she will get that for the parking lot. 

Approved and signed. 

COMMISSIONER COMMENTS

Lynch- part 2 of a 3 part series on the heroin epidemic is this Thursday the 28th from 8-10AM

Little- Enjoy the beautiful weather out there. Be careful going thru Bright and patient as they are working on the roads.

McHenry- The voter conference here and Lynch got the lieutenant governor here. Port board and the state and OKI will be working together to get the ball rolling on the port authority. 

PUBLIC COMMENT- Celeste Calvitto- the fire dept is doing 3 roads in Bright this saturday for litter removal. 

McHenry asked me for update on the Lawrenceburg Council public hearing meeting on county fire service fees for the water line for township residents last night so I repeated  summary of the blog notes essentially.

LATE ARRIVAL- none

Meeting Adjourned at 5:27 PM

Christine Brauer Mueller

Lawrenceburg Township

Public Access Counselor Rules - Brewington Gets Access to Grand Jury Audiotapes

Public Access Counselor Rules - Brewington Gets Access to Grand Jury Audiotapes

This link includes responses to the request from both Judge Hill and McLaughlin.

http://www.dadsfamilycourtexperience.com/Public_Access_Counselor_Advisory_Opinion.pdf

18 April 2016 Meeting with Lawrenceburg City Council

18 April  2016 Meeting with Lawrenceburg City Council 

5:30 PM  Public Hearing  regarding new ordinance for fees for fire protection for all LMU residents including those  in the township and outside city limits. 

Present: Mayor Kelly Mollaun, Councilmen Tony Abbott, Mel Davis, Aaron Cook, Randy Abner, and Paul Seymour, and the city attorney- Del Weldon, Clerk Treasurer, Tyler Rainey, and Bryan Messmore, Administrator.

Olin Clawson,LMU Utility Director also present.

Register Publications editor- Joe Awad- covered the meeting also. 

The audience had about 25 people present.

Public Hearing:

Mr Gensheimer- did not think that renters should be having to pay this tax on their water bill. They don't pay property taxes- the landlord does. This is a new tax on renters- and about 25% of residents rent.

Beverly Hon (sp?) wanted to know why it was necessary.  Clawson said this is the most common approach throughout the state. there are caps on taxes and this is easier to handle when it is separated to the water bill. Hon said the township trustee told her that he had not been contacted by LMU regarding this fee. 

Clawson said that the fire system is much more robust than LMS’s system.

Mel Davis said that if a pumper draws out of a hydration a 4 inch line it will suck it dry. LMU has a more robust system and it is tested. 

Hon said that in reading the utility ordinance there are separate rate schedules for sewer and electricity in the rural area vs the city limits. 

Clawson said that one of the goals of the utility is to get rid of those differences over time. They did the calculations using the 5/8 in meters. They then extrapolated the numbers to the other size meters. 

Paul Seymour- Councilman- noted that they won’t be double charged - the tax will be reduced by this amount. But the schools ?? 

Olin Clawson said that the schools have currently been paying this charge already- even though they don’t pay taxes. There will be no new charges going to the school. 

Ed Sizemore Kirby Rd- said that on his road- he wanted to know if they would be affected by this. No- he is on LMS for water not LMU. They got letters because they were required to be noticed if they were utility customers. They have LMU for electricity. They in essence over notified people. 

Clawson explained that the cost of maintenance is because of the huge lines that they have to install to get the appropriate power. They have to have replacement costs as ongoing costs. It’s not just fire hydrant maintenance. 

Tony Gilb- (former township trustee) asked about the LMS lines just being a 4 inch line- he said they were a 6 in line- but the hydrant connection is only 4 in per Mel Davis. 

Another Kirby Rd resident asked- If they are on LMS- what fire trucks come to our street? Any one can can respond. testing on those lines is up to LMS on LMS lines- even if Lawrenceburg Fire responds to it. They were advised to give LMS a call to see when they maintain their hydrants. 

Beverly Hon asked how you determine who gets changed. Answer- you have to have an LMU water meter to get the charge. 

Geraldine Fay ?- has several properties and she did not get notified. Only the properties outside the city limits will see a new charge. She asked about Harriet Street off Wilson Creek. The charge will be $5.40/month. 

Another citizen asked how they can be sure it comes off the taxes? It will come off the budget. The approximately $43,000 per year will be what is made from the county residents on Lawrenceburg Water lines.

Public Hearing closed at 6 PM as no one else had any questions. 

Christine Brauer Mueller

Lawrenceburg Township\

AGENDA- April 19 Commissioners Meeting

AGENDA

DEARBORN COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING

April 19, 2016 

5:00 p.m., Commissioners Room

County Administration Building

215 B West High Street, Lawrenceburg, Indiana

I. CALL TO ORDER

II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

III. OLD BUSINESS 

IV. NEW BUSINESS

1.  Signatures for Dispatch Interlocal w/Aurora

V. ADMINISTRATOR – Terri Randall

VI. AUDITOR Gayle Pennington

1.  Claims/Minutes

VII. ATTORNEY – Andy Baudendistel

1. Right of Entry Agreement w/Lawrenceburg Redevelopment

VIII. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS

IX. LATE ARRIVAL INFORMATION

X. PUBLIC COMMENT

XI. ADJOURN

Civil Forfeiture in Indiana: Immoral and Unconstitutional

Civil Forfeiture in Indiana:
Immoral and Unconstitutional

reprinted with permission of IPR

by John Kerr

Under Indiana’s civil forfeiture statutes, police may seize property on a mere hunch that it is connected to a crime. The owner need never be charged with wrongdoing; instead, the asset itself is deemed “guilty.” Once the government confiscates property and initiates forfeiture proceedings, an innocent, third-party owner who seeks to recover his belongings must go to court and prove that the property in question was not involved in criminal activity—a complex and expensive task beyond the financial means of many innocent victims.

The practice of civil forfeiture dates to the 1600s and British maritime law, and was used in this country after the American Revolution to seize vessels seeking to dodge customs duties, which financed a majority of the federal budget at the time. Lawmakers expanded the application of such laws during Prohibition, but it was in the 1980s at the height of the Drug War that forfeiture statutes proliferated under the guise of ensuring that drug kingpins and other criminal overlords didn’t profit from illegal activity.

Although 43 states allow law enforcement agencies to share in the revenue generated by the sale of forfeited property (an obvious incentive to pursue seizures), Indiana does not. Well, at least in theory. In practice, police and prosecutors in the Indianapolis area routinely pocket a hefty portion of the cash produced through their seizure apparatus. In 2011 and 2012, the Marion County prosecutor’s office retained an average of almost $460,000 a year from the forfeiture pot, while the total amount awarded to law enforcement agencies in the county averaged about $1.5 million annually.

The Alice in Wonderland world of civil forfeiture is hardly limited to hardened criminals. Jeana and Jack Horner can attest to that.

The Horners live in Greenfield, a small town of 21,000 residents about 25 miles east of Indianapolis. In order to help Ms. Horner’s son keep his job as a carpenter on work release, they let him use their two vehicles for work. But when he was arrested on a marijuana charge in August 2013, police seized not only the married couple’s 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee, which he was driving, but also their 2003 Ford F-150 pickup truck, parked at a friend’s house.

“When I went to try to find my vehicles, nobody knew anything,” Jeana Horner recounted, adding that she never would have allowed her son to borrow the vehicles if she had known he was carrying pot. Ms. Horner became so frustrated in her quest to find the trucks that at one point she asked a police representative if she needed to “file a theft report.” Meantime, her disabled husband was left without transportation and had to rely on friends to take him to appointments. He eventually purchased another car for $2,500. “It’s difficult to be stranded,” she said.

Ms. Horner said she never got any notice from law-enforcement officials about the seizures and learned that her property had been targeted for forfeiture only when the family went to court in Marion County. “That was the first time anybody ever talked to me,” she said. “We couldn’t believe that we could get caught up in all that.”

The charges against her son were eventually dismissed. In April 2014 — nine months after the vehicles were taken — a judge ruled in favor of the Horners. But it took another three weeks for the police to return both the Jeep and the Ford pickup, one of which had been drained of its oil. According to Ms. Horner, there was “no explanation.”

Unlike too many other Hoosier property owners, the Horners could actually fight for their property. Since the cost to hire an attorney is often greater than the value of the seized property, property owners typically are forced to walk away.

Over the past five years, court records suggest that prosecutors in Marion County have initiated more than 2,700 civil-forfeiture actions. The majority of cases were decided through default judgments, meaning the property owners did not contest the action, leaving the state to profit from the seized assets.

An Indianapolis criminal-defense attorney calls all of this "policing for profit." Whatever it is called, it is unconstitutional, immoral and untenable.

This is excerpted from a white paper, "Civil Forfeiture in Indiana," written for the upcoming quarterly Indiana Policy Review. The author is a communications fellow with the Institute for Justice, a nonprofit public-interest law firm.
 

---

The Indiana Policy Review Foundation is a non-profit education foundation focused on state and municipal issues. It is free of outside control by any individual, organization or group. It exists solely to conduct and distribute research on Indiana issues. Nothing written here is to be construed as reflecting the views of the Indiana Policy Review Foundation or as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill before the legislature or to further any political campaign.

5 April 2016 Dearborn County Commissioners Meeting Notes

5 April 2016 Dearborn County Commissioners Meeting Notes

Present: Shane McHenry, President, Art Little, and Kevin Lynch

Also present: Gayle Pennington, Auditor, Andy Baudendistel, Attorney, and Terri Randall, Administrator

OLD BUSINESS: none

NEW BUSINESS:

Election Business- Clerk of Courts- Rick Probst- early voting started today. Only 7 variations of ballots this year for primaries. Polling locations will be published. Clay 2 and 3 moved to Civic Center. Greendale 3 to new Greendale Adm Building. Miller 5 moved to the Event Center at Sugar Ridge Golf Course.Approved for publication. 

Review of Workforce Investment Board- Kurt Kegerreis- gave a brief overview of the annual report. Federal Government gives money- we are Region 9. The board of Workforce 9 determines how this federal money is spent. Commissioners are liable for work if they mess up so report to them. Work with many different training and education projects. They got the only award for the 17 projects they combined south of Indiana. They provide services to every high school. Economy is fairly good now- so we need to be proactive to prepare people in the even another downturn occurs. The response is overwhelming, They teach resume classes for example. They get out of their offices to be in the community. JAG- Jobs for America’s Graduates- is another program They have 5 schools known that program. They work with Lawrenceburg as the 5th school. They asked for small chance of money for other schools to help prevent dropouts. They had a complete fiscal audit- completely clear with no issues. Core funding is down substantially- down 20% as unemployment went down. We are doing better in this region than other regions in the state. They don’t want o pass tat on to clients- so they cut staff. They are needing to downsize their footprint and are evaluating that. State changes how unemployment works. State moved to a completely online or phone version for unemployment insurance. The Workforce Office no longer does that. Their board has done well at attracting additional money to our region. New funds come in faster as they are using what they got well. $1.4 million extra money has come to region 9 over the last two years. This goes right out to the people who need it. Commissioner Little was thanked as he was one of their most active officials on Board. McHenry asked for more info to see about getting our other two high schools on board too. 

Highway Suprinntendent- Tim Grieve- Salt Truck Quotes- They get one every year now with Council’s approval. $95,103.95- World Wide MACK in Cinti

$93,500- Lischkge- lowest bid- approved.

McHenry asked which truck- and also noted they had issues with 4 trucks this year. Council has asked for opportunities to cut budget so- try to do everything you can do to cut this anytime. Grieve said- this is necessary- trucks too old now. 

HIGHWAY DEPT. Todd, Listerman, County Engineer

Bridge #29 Agreement- Red Bridge Road- Old North Hogan- NTE $34,500- design cost. This is one on the annual inspection of 13 bridges that are in need of replacement. Lane Water Group approved for the design. 

2015 Annual Report- This is required by the state. He presented the report and 7 copies to be signed. Last year they were able to use $7,856,692.83 

$3,792,444.98 casino funds were used for capital improvements mostly- bridge improvements and road repairs and line striping. Commissioners approved signing the 2015 annual report.

Listerman is reviewing SB1001 and HB767 and working with Council to get more money off gas tax to be administered to counties for roads. 

Litter Report- added by McHenry- Celeste Calvitto- more roads set up for litter removal and right now we are trying to get those scheduled. Complaints on Bond and Jamison were sent to Planning Dept- as they may be issues for them or Health Dept. per McHenry. 

ADMINISTRATOR- Terri Randall- Title VI plan ( Hoarse again so she asked Listerman to present the Title VI Plan to them.) Listerman- this is part of federal law for non- discrimination due to disability , age sex, income status, race etc. They will distribute this and post it in all County offices for Civil Rights Law from 1964 and amended in 1987. It’s been around a long time. They have he actual plan that they have worked on thru their committee- Randall is the coordinator same as she is the ADA coordinator. There will be training to all the debts as part of it. All contractor have to follow those rules. There is a formal complaint procedure. Complaints can be made if people feel they have been discriminated against for any reason. 

Randall spoke then- Have to collect data on individuals that attend meetings to show that people can voluntarily fill out. Dept heads will do training also. All employees must sign off on this and have it in their file also. We’ve always had a non-discrimination policy- the focus here is to assure that everyone who works for the county on federal projects is documented as not being discrimnatory. Se said we worked with partner counties to see about interpretive services etc. We are very thorough and we shared it with the cities locally. This helps them set theirs up. She thinks we are ahead of most counties on that. Listerman agreed. 

Baudendistel edited some issues with misprints caused by copy and pasting issues. They will fix that.

Commissioners adopted the plan policy as amended.

Randall said that Jason Sullivan and Jared Teaney stepped up to do EMS website. She will supervise that. Hope to have a beginning look at that soon. Lynch is very impressed with the people we have in place- great and new ideas. They will be working on this on a daily basis. Fire and EMS will be on this. Our fire debts have been impressed. Even though fire protection belongs to trustees, not commissioners, they are thankful for our support. 

AUDITOR- Gayle PenningtonClaims and Mach 15th minutes signed and approved. 

ATTORNEY- Andy Baudendistel- Interlocal agreements for 911 dispatch- for the towns and cities in the county that we handle dispatch for. Baudendistel read it into the record. (Greendale is the only one that handles their own) Approved and signed by commissioners. These will automatically renew annually. $2500 for 2016 for West Harrison received so far. The money is due April 1- but the new agreement was mailed out Feb 29 so they will be coming soon. 

Two units for Aurora- $20,000 each to be paid. Baudendistel said the agreements include expectations for the transport of patients. Randall said St, Leon is the only unit that does not transport, but receive the same funding as others. So they may be looking at renegotiating their fees as they continue to work wit them and talk thru their plan. Our long term goal is to maintain the volunteer system. Lynch said with this teamwork approach- they work together to solve problems. The additional funds need to go to the appropriate places for encouraging them to provide services. McHenry disclosed his cousin Jennifer?? is on EMS in the Aurora area. Randall also said Aurora is keeping the county in the loop with their issues recently. They will get audited financials. Approved Aurora’s $40,000.

COMMISSIONER COMMENTS- Randy Frye at D-boro fire dept and local public safety personnel welcome at the program- 8:30 AM this Saturday.

PUBLIC COMMENT- Chris Mueller- requested information regarding Lawrenceburg’s plan to bill county residents with Lawrenceburg water lines and hydrants for fire protection. There is a public hearing April 18 at 5:30 AM in Lawrenceburg Council Chambers on this ordinance. I asked if there was any other situation like this for fire protection in the county. County trustees are tasked with fire protection- not the commissioners. Art Little- former trustee in Miller Township said he has no precedent for this. The water companies handle the lines. The question will be whether there is already a tax in the township covering this or not. Lawrence burg Township has different tax rates than some of the other townships. Though the commissioners do pay for EMS services for all EMS in county including cities and towns. McHenry gave a recap of the meeting 8 months ago where Olin Clawson approached the county administrator with the proposal to bill the county for these services. They had heard nothing since then until the newspaper story last week. It was supposed to be about $5. per month added to the water bill. The ordinance lists it as $5.41 for the typical residential tap in.I also informed the commissioners that the Pribble Road residents had an agreement and paid for the water one and hydrants that went down that road. The contract was from 1990 and the line and hydrants were the property of LM Utilities upon construction. Their total cost was over $37,000 in 1990.  McHenry joked that it was good that I would be getting on Lawrenceburg instead of on them for a change.

[NOTE: I provided Olin Clawson with a copy of that agreement for Probable Road and left contact information for him at LM Utilities after the meeting.]

LATE ARRIVAL- none

Meeting Adjourned at 9:45 AM

Christine Brauer Mueller

Lawrenceburg Township

AGENDA- April 5 Commissioners Meeting

AGENDA

DEARBORN COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING

April 5, 2016 

8:30 a.m., Commissioners Room

County Administration Building

215 B West High Street, Lawrenceburg, Indiana

I. CALL TO ORDER

II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

III. OLD BUSINESS 

IV. NEW BUSINESS

1.  Election Business - Clerk of Courts, Rick Probst

2.  Review of Workforce Investment Board – Kurt Kegerreis

3.  Salt Truck Quotes- Highway Superintendent, Tim Greive

4.  Highway Engineer, Todd Listerman

1. Bridge #29 Agreement

2. 2015 Annual Report

V. ADMINISTRATOR – Terri Randall

1.  Title VI Plan

VI. AUDITOR – Gayle Pennington

1.  Claims/Minutes

VII. ATTORNEY

VIII. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS

IX. LATE ARRIVAL INFORMATION

X. PUBLIC COMMENT

XI. ADJOURN