24 July 2007 Dearborn County Council Meeting Notes

24 July 2007 Dearborn County Council Meeting Notes

Meeting began at 6 PM- Fehrman had to leave by 9 PM

Present: Fehrman, Chairman, Ullrich, Lansing, Morris, Cheek, Maynard Barrott (replacing Mark Mitter), and Kraus, Sr, (arrived at 7:30 PM)

Also present: Cary Pickens, Auditor and Messmore, Administrator.

1. Probation Dept- Judge Jim Humphrey presenting for Steve Bradley- $487.25 approved to bring computer maintenance account back to zero.
Upgrade for computers used since 1997 using 3 quotes for hardware and 2 for software. PBS is current software provider and will probably be selected due to ease of conversion. Council approved $22-25,000 total with $10,000 from the county funds and $12-15,000 from the Adult Probation funds.

2. Humphrey advised Council of need for new recording equipment in courtrooms as Judge Witte’s system died and both his and Witte’s systems will be unrepairable as of next year. They are considering the county’s system currently in use in commissioner’s meeting room. No money budgeted for this yet.

3. LOIT tax- Jeff Dossett- president of AIC (Ass’n of Ind Counties) also with previous experience as Councilman, Auditor and Clerk in Montgomery County gave an overview of 3 options for LOIT taxes to help offset property taxes. HEA (House Enrolled Act) 1478 allows them to use this by putting it back on COIT or CAGIT. Basically, it’s a way to have COIT taxes increased to decrease property taxes by about 4%. It does NOT lower the school tax, which is about 80% of the property tax bill. This affects low-income families the most.

As Councilman Cheek put it- I’m paying COIT to offset my own property taxes. Liz Morris went a step further calling it a “shell game.”

Only Option B had any degree of flexibility and the taxes are collected by the state and then redistributed. So this would create more bureaucracy and paperwork. [NOTE: Why not just lower the taxes?]

Dossett said his county had a 4 % reduction in property taxes with a 0.1% increase in COIT taxes. Some on Council were noting the percentages as” pay .1% and get 4% back- a no-brainer”- which is NOT mathematically correct. (.1% of your income, which is a larger number (example $40,000) does not = 4% of your property taxes, which is a smaller number (example $3,000.)

4. Andrew Harrison- Schneider Corp- for GIS. Harrison said Pickens invited him to present to Council. Harrison said Schneider is the oldest GIS company in Indiana- since 1962. He showed a list of 10 counties including Dearborn and about 10 other political entities that they serve with GIS. Harrison noted more counties doing this and more pressure to get it done form the public as it saves time and improves access to information both inside and outside the courthouse. The CADASTRAL fabric is what is needed as the foundation to tie our current data together. He estimates about a year to get it all done and about $500,000 or so.

Margaret Minzner noted that it takes about 6 months for a property split to be places on Mylar now. With this system, it could get down to 2 weeks.

Thompson spoke in support as well as letters from P/Z, Assessor, and Auditor’s offices.
Minzner got ordinances approved to establish funds for her part time help hired with GIS grants.

No decision yet on GIS services- perhaps at budget hearings.

5. Frank Kramer- attorney for DCRSD- presented – as Mike Hankins was recovering from medical procedure. Kramer noted that DCRSD serves the unincorporated areas of Dearborn County except for those served by VRUC and LMH. Several years ago a study was done by Woolpert and completed early this year showing critical areas needing sewers: High Ridge Estates, Guilford, Stewart and Cole Lane (discovered later) , and unincorporated area around St. Leon and the West Harrison TIF. There are no sewer lines serving these areas.[NOTE: St. Leon has sewer lines in much of that region.]

St. Leon has a treatment plant in the Longnecker, Barber road SR 52 area with a 300,000gpd capacity. They are looking to expand to 600,000 gpd total and we negotiated to participate in that expansion. This does NOT address the NW Quad area- which is separate in Jackson Township. DCRSD is looking to buy 45% of the 300,000gpd capacity or 135,000 gpd. Financially this was discussed with John Watson also- the attorney for St. Leon. 45% of 5,429,000 = $2,433,000 which is our share of the capacity. We also have 45% of $50,000 depreciation fund= $22,500. We would get a wholesale rate of $3.51/1000gal. Current rates in St, Leon at $52 base rate for first 4000 gal which is $13/1000 gal and $4.72/1000 after that. We stopped discussion with St. Leon- no funding- so if we have funding we could resume negotiations. Watson’s letter indicates St. Leon is ready to talk. Costs are engineering estimates – not construction costs. The operating cost of the plant is $3.51/1000gal.

There is uncertainty in the future- and St. Leon plans another 500,000gpd expansion. We are going to be sure we are not locked into the 2nd expansion if we don’t need it. We want the county to get their money back. Stewart St/Cole Lane pay about $10-11 per month in addition to their bill to pay back the county. This will take 40 years or so to accomplish at that rate. The costs for additional line to the West Harrison TIF are $870,000. DCRSD is asking for 45% of the $5mil to be released.

Ullrich: Is there resolution on the forced hook-up situation?

Kramer: We need a fund to loan them and then put a lien on houses or taxes to pay it back. Of course there are drawbacks to selling homes then.
We would have to establish a county ordinance on tap in fees to repay money to the county.

Cheek: DCRSD was to do High Ridge as first priority- how do you pay for it now?

Doug Baer: I’ll be addressing that next.

Fehrman: There’s $4.5 mil in the account.

Lansing: We’re gaining 135,000 gpd capacity. Woolpert says we need 300,000 for the West Harrison TIF! We keep talking about economic development. If this is for homes then I’m not in favor of it. [NOTE: There are several references to homes vs. businesses using the sewage dollars in tonight’s meeting. It looks like the Council thinks the West Harrison TIF usage might be more of a red herring than the real need for the capacity purchase. If DCRSD is pushing to get sewage around St. Leon and not getting enough capacity for the TIF even- then who exactly will be benefitting from this capacity purchase? There are county developers in that area and it would be a conflict of interest for one of them to be involved in this.]

Richard Butler- Attorney for Greendale (and also for the County Redevelopment Commission) - Greendale gets maligned for being in the way of DCRSD. We think we should sewer the most efficient way possible. We also think that people who already have it should not have to pay for others to get it. Is there a cheaper way to do this? You have fixed costs and depreciation of the plant and incremental treatment costs. The more customers you have to spread the fixed costs over- the better. If it costs $870,000 to put lines in the ground then put it in the ground and say to St. Leon- HERE- they are your customers now. If the county puts $900,000 in pipe in the ground, Greendale would take Guilford’s sewage too.

Your costs at St. Leon figure to $18,000 per dwelling and our costs at SDRSD are at $3,000 per dwelling. That’s a 600% difference.

Fehrman: But the county can be involved- it puts the county legitimately in the discussion.

Rozow: Wish Jim West were here to answer this- sometimes we just have to bite the bullet.
It costs $2.1 mil for a pipe from High Ridge to Dillsboro. Batesville and Ripley County are tearing us up in economic development. They have it all in place.

Thompson: The DCRSD was formed to take care of Cole Lane/Stewart St. and High Ridge. It became a countywide district without any public notice and wasn’t even listed on the agenda of commissioner’s meeting. There was no public input. I have previously talked about the irregularities on Cole Lane and Stewart St and payments there. DCEDI’s website does NOT do anything to promote TIF districts- not like their other properties. I have a problem- how are we to pay for economic development? Existing citizens are paying for those lines. We need a more comprehensive plan- I have advocated a countywide coalition- no warfare on service areas and costly lawsuits. I’d vote NO if this were to service housing- that’s not economic development. The additional pipes operations etc are not in this figure. Look at ALL the factors. IF YOU PUT SEWER OUT THERE, WHERE IS THE REST OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE- SCHOOLS, ROADS, WATER, AND EMS ETC.? You need to be ready for it all.

Morris: Are there provisions for them to buy us out if we don’t use it?

Kramer: we’re negotiating that.

Morris: The County is looked at unfavorably from the outside- we need to take some actions on some fronts.

Kraus: Mike Rozow- where is all this Ripley County development going on besides Batesville?

Rozow: Well they have shovel ready sites.

Kraus: They have Hillenbrands, which is better than having Argosy.

Butler: Lend your money to the Redevelopment Commission- get a document- an agreement- that REQUIRES payback. Structure it so that you are certain to get taxpayer’s dollars back.

Morris motioned and Barrott 2nd to approve $2,433,000 for St. Leon Expansion. 2 Ayes (Morris and Barrott), 1 Abstain (Kraus who arrived late), and 3 Nays (Ullrich, Lansing, and Cheek) Fehrman didn’t vote- no tie to break. MOTION FAILED.

Doug Baer presented the option for High Ridge Estates where the county would expand and modify the existing permit at Walston’s Trailer Park owned by Rollins and Noel. This could serve High Ridge, Huesman Road and Walstons. The county would operate the package plant and would use 50,000 gpd of the capacity. They can use the other 50,000 gpd for a transfer station to Aurora eventually. The plant will be designed for 100,000 gpd.
Total cost $1.5 mil with 140 users at $10,750 each.
Kraus motioned for $116,000 for design engineering on the sewer package plant.

Thompson noted that 50,000 gpd will be for Gabbard Estates and that high Ridge residents haven’t paid their fees for the past 12 years. High Ridge owns their own distribution lines. [NOTE: If there are 100 homes in Phase 1 Gabbard Estates Development that would average 310 gpd each = 31,000 gpd of the 50,000 excess capacity in the treatment plant.]

Cheek 2nd the motion. 3 ayes (Cheek, Kraus and Ullrich) and 3 Nays (Lansing, Morris, and Barrott) Fehrman broke the tie and voted Aye- Motion Passed.
Morris told Fehrman that she voted Nay because this was for houses- not economic development.

6. Phil Weaver- Clerk- $54,000 approved for voting machines for the visually impaired. 46 machines cost $290,000 and this is what is left for county to pay.
$35,000 was approved from the clerk perpetuation fun (which contains $45,000) to use for imaging equipment to get all court documents digitized for computer storage and eventual microfilm. CSI will furnish the software.

7. Will Stevens for Camp Chazon in Dillsboro requested $3300 from Youth Services fund (which normally only grants $1,000 per year to each requester) for chemicals to treat duckweed blooms on 2 fishing lakes. The Camp is primarily a church camp which also serves Boy Scouts, Respect for Law, and other groups. They have spent $1800 treating the surface problem and bow need $3300 to get at the root of the problem. Approved. Fehrman abstained as he has directed the camp in years past. Stevens noted that he first met Cary Pickens’s daughter, Amanda, when they were both at Camp Chazon.

[NOTE: WOOSH! - That’s the sound of taxpayer money being flushed. Duck weed is next to impossible to eradicate. Some people use it as fertilizer or livestock feed. Perhaps the scouts could consider that project when it grows back.]

8. Aurora Lions requested $1000 from Youth Services for Farmers Fair activities. Approved.

9. Auditor- Cary Pickens- requested $25,000 in legal fees on bankruptcy cases and PSEG appeals. Approved. $26,000 for PERF increases approved. $5,000 from Perpetuation Fund for Minute books approved. $54,000 from old 203 fund ($93,000) in it) for 3 recording systems for judges at $18,000 each. Approved. (See Humphrey’s request for background on this above)

10. Highway- Todd Listerman- Triple Whipple let in Oct and $260,000 transferred into the account to cover this. 80/20 with the state and most will be reimbursed to us later. Approved.
Transfer $100,000 approved from MVHA on equipment insurance that was reduced this year to use for repair and maintenance. Line striping has to be advertised to be transferred for next meeting.

Listerman announced his hiring of Tim Grieve as ass’t hwy supervisor for $39,000 instead of the $54,000 for previous position.

Meeting adjourned at 9:10 PM

Christine Brauer Mueller
Lawrenceburg Township