The county livestreamed the 2 hour meeting tonight at the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_lUA7H6oLE&t=200s
Uncle Sam for Indiana on Facebook also has video of this meeting.
25 March 2025 Dearborn County Council Meeting Notes
Present: Liz Morris, President, Dennis Kraus. Sr., Dan Lansing, Doug Baker, Tim Doll, Mark Dole, and Glenn Wright.
Also present: Connie Fromhold, Auditor, Leah Bailey, and Sue Hayden, Commissioners Thatcher and Turner.
Anthony Smart covered for Baudendistel as attorney.
Marc Emral, register and Tamara Taylor, The Beacon were also present.
Title VI Statement read as legally required
Morris welcomed Doug Baker to his first meeting.
Redevelopment Board – Doug Baker -
Dole motioned and Doll seconded right away. There was lively discussion sparked by Glenn Wright asking to have Brett Fehrman considered also. Fehrman was in attendance at this meeting. The vote went 3-3 and Morris broke the tie to put Baker on DCRC. 3 nays were Lansing, Wright, and Kraus. [NOTE: When the agenda has only one nominee listed on it, and there is another option, it would seem that there should have been some discussion and consideration of both choices. Instead we did not hear about either candidate, which leaves us with the impression that the decision was made prior to the meeting. ]
Commissioners/EMA- EMS LIT-(1236) $17,446 for EMS Director- Sue Hayden presented. This was from page 10 of the Hanifen EMS report. She read that to them. $20,000 additional as a stipend. Prorated to $ 17,446.00. This is a split position that Jason Sullivan will cover EMA and EMS as Director. This is to get someone with the experience and knowledge to cover that.
Glenn Wright asked what the situation is with Dillsboro EMS- Sue and morris both said they did not know. Approved Stipend for Jason Sullivan.
Building Department-$10,000 part-time 11400- presented by Leah Bailey
($3,000 into 21519 Office Supplies & $7,000 into 36118 Weights & Measures) Approved.
Community Corrections- Fund number changes per State Board of Accounts- Leah Bailey presented. Just moving - no additional money. Approved.
Reductions Additional
Fund 4919 ($310,473) Fund 1122 ($310,473)
Fund 1122 ($515,371) Fund 9193 ($515,371)
Prosecutor- Wage increase $1,235 (1001)- Leah Bailey - missed a salty increase at budget- this is for Victim Advocate. Approved.
Planning & Zoning-
Supplies-$375
Computer Maintenance-$564
Salary Supplements-$9,581
$10,520 - Nicole Daily- Planning and Zoning Director. This is thru the Park Board budget. P and Z is providing help with the Stellar program and the 5 year plan for Parks.They are helping get rentals and charging for them in parks They will. Use those funds for cleaning up and supplies, etc. for park. They need a director to help them. This way staff can help them with her staff as they are volunteer board members. Board questioned where they were getting supplies now and if this is an annual amount for future years. She is asking for additional out of county general into the park board budget. The Planning staff would be doing these jobs for park board during their work day. This is a stepping stone. She will be attending their Park meetings. She thinks she has underdone the hours needed a bit. We are not giving staff a raise.
Glenn Wright brought up that the highway dept has 2 guys mowing the parks and paid out of highway budget. Tim gets a stipend to him for maintenance management. Renting is still free right now. There is a donation spot on website. There are no fees on website for rental yet.
Doug Baker said it is not uncommon for cities and towns to help out there parks with mowing etc.
Nicole- The 5 year plan has to be done so they don’t use ground for the Stellar program. The last one was 2017. (Then they are past the 5 year mark) Fund raising can continue up to the $1million to use it all.
Doll - This is a $9,000 budget item - either way it does out of county general per Morris.Time is of the essence. If it takes too much away from Planning Dept- then Park Board needs to hire a part time person. This stepping stone is needed to get to this. The park board had rescinded the Music Festival for the Bright Park which would have raised money for Stellar match. They had issues raised by the attorney for the parks. Ewbank at the Park meeting said that the entities were not created yet to even sign the contract.
Doll was worried about the liabilities.
Glenn Wright also mentioned liabilities with the volunteers using country equipment fro the parks too. Doll agreed.
Morris reiterated it’s all coming out of County General. Lansing motioned and Doll 2nded. Approved Two nays Wright and Kraus.
911 Communications- $50,000 Datamark VEP Editor (1001 County General)
(4914 RB Contingency)- Nicole Daily- said when Jared Teaney left the contract expired. She worked it out to get it back with an increase as it goes at a flat rate for 5 years of the contract. She re-explained what she had told Commissioners about it at their last week’s meeting. She and Jared had set this all up. She works with this a lot. They have met standards and are placing high in the rating systems for standards. Approved out of County General. There is only 10,000 due this year. They will encumber the $50,000 over the 5 years.
Health Dept- $3,045.02 to correct the approved Local Public Health Budget. (1161)- Leah Bailey presented - They weren’t sure how much state would give them at budget. this is to make their budget whole. Approved.
$480,000- Grant- Connie Fromhold presented,Teens Linked to Care- no match. Amy wrote the grant. Approved.
Highway- Time Grieve, Supt.
$30,000 Repair Budget (County General 1001) (RB Contingency 4914)- Equipment repair. There are 4 new trucks that aren’t on the road yet. They have 26 total trucks. This is for older ones. Approved.
$75,000 Local Road & Street Aggregate Fund (1169 Local Road & Street)- Needs to make that fund whole again. Went thru 1500 tons more than normal salt. Approved
$125,000 Bridge Deck Epoxy Overlays & Repairs (4916 Riverboat Highway Bituminous) Todd Listerman- This is to extend the bridges life.He said that he will be back for Yorkridge Bridge over Tanners Creek- as it needs more than patching, Theres a big dry ford area that they have a structure to repair. This is for others. Use Oklahoma stone that is really hard and a 2 part epoxy with 2 layers..Have done 22 structures with his coating that have met the criteria. Approved.
Hillforest- Andrew Young -New Director - not here
Public Hearing Moore Lane Economic Revitalization Area- This is about Project Fresh- The Proposed Kopp Turkey Processing Facility in the West Harrison TIF area.
Open Public Hearing no public spoke so Closed Public Hearing
Jim Deaton- said so that they could do the road and the RR crossing work.There are concerns raised. They are considering the waste water to be sure the water was secured. They went to an independent 3rd party- Intera engineers- to look at the project with the effects on groundwater and aquifer.
Brett Moore and Brad Schraeder of Intera. They presented the same powerpoint that was done at the DCRC meeting. That can be viewed in those notes on DCRC meeting March 10th on this blog. They ended with IDEM designing the permit to keep the safe. There will be a wastewater treatment plant there.
Lansing asked about lining in the lagoon. Not needed as it’s just temperature as an issue. The temp cools before the river gets it. Sand and gravel aquifers are natural filters.
Wright asked- Since this is $35,000 - were you selected via bid. They took a company that they had used before and got a $10,000 discount as they needed it quickly. This was a desk top study. So it’s pretty expensive. No calling towers.
Brian Kopp- owner- they are using a geothermal system to cool. This is also running the freezer system and flash freezers etc. What effect will 80,000 gas of water? They use it and return it to the river.
Lansing- Treatment are his above the flood plain? Yes.This is similar to the other plant.
Mr Kopp- gave his presentation. His great grandmother stated it in 1952. Moved to Harrison. Grew more and needed a site and it’s close to home. They can do 9000 turkeys a day. This will be a continuous process. They can bring on more turkey growers. There is a full time operator for the water testing. Some is daily and some is weekly. Doll- Independent lab not associated with your organization?yes. He learned a lot-and now more on how to set this newer tech up. It’s all biological processes.
Lansing- disinfection- Use U.V light. There is a push for peroxide. Evaluating that. Employee area uses the same plant- but is plumbed separately. Most of us were concerned about the products getting into the river- and you have answered that.
Dole- The smell? Kopp- the prevailing wind is going towards the flood area so no development there. There are more things inside now too. Feathers, heads and feet. They haul it off daily. There is a market for that.
Doll- asked about the employees. Not all will transplant with us- plus more needed. So there will be new hires too. He has customers and suppliers too. $27/hour. Drivers $25-30. Some $16-25. They also do weekly bonuses. $180/week if they hit all their shifts. Using a carrot instead of a stick. 3 USDA inspectors on site daily. Sanitizing and bird flu checks too.
Glenn Wright- said he was going to abstain and let Mark and Tim and Liz decide. Doll said- vote no then. Glenn asked about the sludge- They do handle that .
2025-003- CONFIRMATORY RESOLUTION OF THE DEARBORN COUNTY COUNCIL CONFIRMING DESIGNATION OF A CERTAIN AREA WITH THE MOORE DRIVE ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION AREA-
Doll motioned and Dole 2nded. One Nay- Kraus, 1 abstained- Wright - Approved
2025-004- A RESOLUTION APPROVING STATEMENT OF BENEFITS FOR REAL PROPERTY TAX ABATEMENTS
Approved with the same voting as above.
Baker asked Anthony Smart- the atty- if it was legal for Wright to abstain from voting. Smart said it was legal.
Morris welcomed Mr Kopp to Dearborn County- looking forward to working with him.
Auditor:
April 15, 2025 DCRC TIF Report- no action needed- just a report on 2024 TIF for the Gateway.
Salary Ordinance- Approved
Amendment to Interlocal with Ohio County- $5,000- towards the courts from Ohio County- Approved
Resolution 2025-002- Resolution Transferring Riverboat Revenue Funds- at August meeting they approved this -Approved moving it and signed.
Minutes – Approved
Meeting adjourned at 7 PM
Christine Brauer Mueller
Lawrenceburg Township
