5 May 2010 Dearborn County Commissioners Meeting Notes

5 May 2010 Dearborn County Commissioners Meeting Notes

Present: Ralph Thompson, President, Tom Orschell, and Jeff Hughes
Also present: Gayle Pennington, Auditor, and Mike Witte, Attorney.

Thompson congratulated all the primary candidate winners and wished them well in the main election.

OLD BUSINESS:

Jail security proposals- to be handled in executive session at next meeting.

RQAW-remains tabled from 4/20/10.

NEW BUSINESS:

Surety Bond on Old Orchard Phase II- John Watson attorney there on Tuckers behalf. Jeff Tucker out of town- Jay was present.
Asked the commission to review in two weeks- they will be responsible for the drain box issues etc. Tucker asked him to say that they will commit to replacing the drain box and they will fix the slope issues to the county’s satisfaction. They hope to have it successfully completed in the next two weeks. There are houses built there. The fix will be to the satisfaction of tech review.
Thompson asked about the other Tucker subdivisions in question. Watson did not have enough info to discuss that. Commissioners voted to allow Tucker 2 weeks latitude.

Surety Bonds for Public Works Discussion- Todd Listerman presented as McCormack was not available tonight. A letter of credit, per Billl Ewbank’s research, is not a true surety. Asked the commissioners to eliminate letters of credit and accept only surety performance bonds. This is to eliminate any more problems like Sugar Ridge. Hughes asked about the community centers etc. Witte said the county is only interested in infrastructure. The residents could sue if the amenities were not developed. The bond is only for the infrastructure. Bill Ewbank said the bonds are written for things that the county would become liable for. Commissioners voted to have PC revise PC rewrite ordinances to eliminate letters of credit and have surety bonds. [NOTE: Finally!]

Sugar Ridge Residents Petition- On behalf of the homeowners of Sugar Ridge Lisa Taylor passed out petition of all the homeowners on Augusta and Oakmont. Asked commissioners to complete the final paving on both roads. They asked for them to accept them then and have proper signage. They do not want it ignored as it will go into further disrepair. Homes are $200-800,000 in range. Homes for sale are not moving, and they think the road issue needs to be settled to help these sell.
Hughes said he’d looked at this issue and thinks they should put it on county maintenance because we are repairing it and doing snow removal. He motioned to accept it as is.
Orschell said we can’t commit to accepting it if we can’t cover it. Todd Listerman replied to Orshell’s question about its current standard. He said Augusta would meet depth standard as residential , BUT IT DOES NOT HAVE ITS SURFACE COURSE to shield out water. Oakmont would not. $152,000 would get the top surface done, and we would get about $6,000 from the state to maintain both. Orschell said we can’t say when we’d have the money to finish this.
Lisa Taylor said- there are county regulations that were in place- that were not their fault. We are reasonable people. Five years from now- the cost may be greater as we have had more traffic on it. Orschell said though it was not anyone’s fault in this room, though it is the county’s responsibility. Thompson said they were researching a way to get the costs recouped from the future lot sale.
Orschell would 2nd Hughes’s motion to accept the maintenance, but not to commit to the surface coat- as we don’t have the money yet. Lisa Taylor noted that others use the road. Commissioners agreed to accept Augusta Road as is for county maintenance. They discussed the approximately 1200 ft of Oakmont also. They accepted Oakmont as is into county maintenance. The official acceptance will occur next meeting when Listerman gets paperwork and official lengths for the state. [NOTE: Commissioners are only doing this because the county let the letters of credit lapse. they feel responsible.]
Residents want the potholes fixed too for safety. No commitment made on that.

Jeanine Summers- Youth Career Advisor Work One- these are paid work experiences for youth. The county’s dept. heads will have to be sure to know the requirements on the dept. Liability issues if the youth operate a car fall to the county in this agreement for example. Make sure we are dealing with age 18 and over for the county- though the program does handle 14-18. This is available in the municipalities, and the private sector also if available. Ewbank agrees on age 18. Commissioners agreed to proceed with Ewbank coordinating it.

Highway Dept- Todd Listerman gave a 30-minute report.

Passed out Old Orchard drawings for Commissioners info.

Last Thursday INDOT gave $1million for Collier Ridge Bridge. He is getting and RFP for this. Getting a consultant to do an FA3 for the bridge and road realignment. Based on funds, they will decide where to build the realignment.

Change order for I-275 ITS cameras for 24 hr surveillance of the area from OHIO state line to bridge. $4,000 deducted as no field office needed for the inspector. Other items added and $6383.40 is the total needed. No charge to the county. Mark Payne – OKI rep- said that funding will be sought for message boards also on this section of I-275 to alert traffic to issues. There is sufficient funding. INDOT is considering this as it is a new thing for them here.

Todd also found out that they will fix that RIGHT lane access to 275 that goes in and out as you head to KY.[NOTE: Finally!]

Yorkridge Road has the surface on it now. Finish work and striping yet to be done.

North Hogan and after that North Dearborn sections start next week.

County garage plans were submitted for commissioner’s review. Looking at the remodel to get the dept. into the building. Funding in MVHA and 146 account set aside already for these improvements. Tentative occupancy mid July to Aug 1st.

Striping law changes has 6,000 vpd as cutoff requiring them. With present funding, Listerman wants to do just 3,000 vpd and up NOT the 1000 vpd as before. $41,000 is the cost. Newly paved roads will get thermoplastic striping per their contracts. Commissioners sent Listerman to Council to seek these funds.

Orschell is seeking grant funding from Lawrenceburg for salt dome at Randall Avenue to get it under cover. Existing domes are at County Farm and Jamison. The new one will hold up to 5000 tons of salt- more than we use in a year. Then they will build a smaller building to keep mix under roof (sand too.) it costs more than the $100,000 grant. They will seek extra funds from Council. If not, then they will seek a 2nd grant next year to complete. Commissioners approved.

Listerman explained to Collier Ridge resident (Ritzi) that the funding is secured and available in 2013. Thompson explained how the funds were obtained using the 2 step process they selected at INDOT’s request. Cathy Albert on Collier Ridge asked about specifics on money for realignment, timing, and potential land acquisition for the bridge. Ritzi asked about the earlier realignments when they did the road slippage to see if it was usable for this- answer was yes.

Auditor-Gayle Pennington- Claims and Minutes signed and April 16 tabled. Annual report from commissioners on state education account and this closes this fund out now. It has been moved to the state.

Yearly support and agreement with SRI tax sale services for this year. The only change is a $5 increase in their fee. They tabled this until Witte could review and post it on the agenda.

Attorney-Mike Witte- no new litigation or tort claims. Next meeting that was moved to a Wednesday- he has a commitment- so will send substitute. Animal issue on Cumberland Drive- they will get evidence as required. Witte will get someone to assist with this as it is on an hourly rate anyway. This is more urgent. Compliance audit out of state will mean Witte is missing the 2nd June meeting.

Orschell asked about the animal control ordinance changes. Witte is asking for an electronic copy of this to be ready for next meeting discussion. Thompson to get this for him.

County Coordinator- Bill Ewbank- seeking bids for courthouse roof. Funds set aside. Ok’d to seek bids.

Asking for bids to improve taping and sound system in commissioners room. Approved to do this.[NOTE: this has been an ongoing problem for years. The public deserves a system that works!]

Late Arrivals- none

Public Comment- none

NEXT COMMISSIONERS MEETING IS WEDNESDAY MAY 19th at 9 AM. Date change due to conflict with Lawrenceburg’s meeting room schedule.

Meeting adjourned at 8:25 PM

Christine Brauer Mueller
Lawrenceburg Township