24 May 2011 Dearborn County Council Meeting Notes

24 May 2011 Dearborn County Council Meeting Notes

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

Commissioner Tom Orschell- said RQAW had a charette last year and it showed that Hoosier Square was needed for space addition. Also everyone thought that the jail addition was a priority. He asked the Council for direction since it takes 7 unanimous votes to take money out of the Riverboat Savings. Kraus Sr. said we don’t have a unanimous vote yet. He said we could free up $750,000 a year by not putting it in a bank. Liz Morris said that they don’t know what the commissioners want. Orschell said we have the predesign plans and the financing plans with six scenarios. Joe Mrak of RQAW said we need direction before we go further. Schematic design phase is in the neighbporhood of $150,000. Bryan Messmore said- The scope of this project is about $15million estimated. That puts it in the referendum range. This won’t pass referendum- so we’d have to get a lower cost alternative. Lansing said it should go to a referendum. Let’s see what the people want first. Then we can talk about alternatives. Morris and Ullrich weren’t in favor of referendum. He said we are to the point we could break ground this year, but I’m not sure it won’t pass. People need to do their homework. We could end up under a court order and we could lose control of it. Lansing said- we HAVE a plan- if the court ordered it we could use our plan. Jim Hughes is in favor of a referendum.

Four were in favor of referendum ( Lansing, Hughes, Messmore, and Kraus, Sr.) Ullrich, Morris, and Barrett were not.Morris said the referendum went in a few years back in reaction to school construction projects. This is the public’s money and we are elected to monitor it.

Referendum is the Council’s direction. Orschell thanked Council for their input.

Judge Cleary requested a court reporter to replace one that is going to retire. He wants it to remain a position that is county funded. He wants the new hire to come in using some part time funds to train in early. He will use bail bond funds to cover the sick time and vacation that his current reporter has accrued. Approved.

Bill Ewbank- County Coordinator- presented the plan for Hoosier Square - 17 officials and dept heads have put together the plan for utilization of space to accommodate the new space purchased etc. He thanked RQAW for their continual help with this. Hoosier Square will take Community Corrections and 2 probation depts. this will consolidate our offenders in one building. This gives us one restroom for drug testing.

In adm bldg- recorder to 3rd floor for more space. County Surveyor will have more space and hold GIS maps. Coroner has a small space. A small conference room will be carved out of Health. 2nd floor stays the same. 1st floor will have Health Dept in recorder’s area. Community Corrections and the Building Dept will be Building and PZ and a small area for DCRSD. Veteran’s office remains in place. Permitting agencies will all be on the same floor. It puts all high traffic areas on the first floor. This helps janitorial staff as well.

The Courthouse is the final piece of the puzzle. County Clerk will move to Circuit Court Probation. Sup Court 2 will be on 2nd floor adjacent to her offices. This will add 600 sq ft to prosecutor who will move his deputies to the 3rd floor. Long term for the county, this helps with security too.

Wants funding to adapt Water Rescue to long term records storage. It needs some siding and seams closed. The basement of the courthouse has too much paper. This will help. $1.25 million for all the 3 buikldings- Hoosier Square, Votaw , and Shumway. We have $218,000 left. Votaw will be demolished in 6 months and Lawrenceburg will demolish Shumway for us.

He wants an additional $458,483.50 to pay for everything he’s described. That brings the total to $1.75 million. This is not perfect- but it is cheaper and quicker. We could divide this amount over 2 years. By the time we get through Hoosier Square it will be December anyway. He wants the money for the records storage also.
Next year revisit the numbers and move the adm and courthouse offices around. We will need $190,000 this year plus the money left over from the original plans. Ullrich praised the plan and presentation.

Negangard wanted them to realize this was not the final plan- as they are short on judge and prosecutor space even with this.

Messmore analyzed some of the numbers and questioned the water rescue and adm moves. No more than $190,000 was approved out of Riverboat contingency in a motion by Ullrich and Morris. Approved.

Negangard praised Ewbank’s work. Negangard encouraged them to continue on the jail as it houses robbers, thieves, drug dealers, child molesters, and those who would harm us. Council should not just rely on referendum to solve this. He thought legal action to force jail building would make the $15 million seem like a drop in the bucket.

County Prosecutor Aaron Negangard requested the following from Riverboat Revenue:
$25,000 for Region 15 Child Advocacy Center Costs- Negangard said that this has allowed cases to be addressed faster. It has made his job easier in prosecuting child molesters. 477 children had been interviewed so far. There has been a budget shortfall and hopes the Guns and Hoses fundraiser will help. This is a one -time request to cover a budget shortfall this year. The most significant number of children served by this are Dearborn County’s residents. He chose $25,000, because he had originally asked for $75,000 and they gave him $50,000. Council asked about this being a one time thing,. He said he may come back in future years.[ NOTE: So it’s not really a one-time thing and the grants may not cover it all.]Lansing asked if this was in his annual budget. Negangard is optimistic that grants and Lawrenceburg etc will help out. Lansing motioned and Morris 2nd to approve the $25,000. Approved.

The following 3 items were requested at budget and it was cut out. Negangard anticipates he will run out of these this fall.
$4,000 for office supplies- Morris said $2,000 should bring him to $10,000. Approved for $2,000.
$3,000 for code books- they keep one set updated – the rest they use the computer for. Negangard explained how this was necessary because of the new laws and all the case laws attached. He acknowledged it is a pretty good racket. They had approved $2,000 and the previous year needed $5,000. He’s asking for $3,000 to bring it up to the $5,000 again. Approved
$2,000 for publication and advertising- this includes copies for court cases etc. Approved.

Negangard then added that one of his employees- an SCU investigator position will be out for maternity leave and won’t be returning. (This is Summer McCarroll’s position that was funded in full by a JAG grant))He wants to hire Sarah Slayback (who is a part timer now) to fill that position when it comes open. [NOTE: Does the JAG grant no longer cover this?]
Morris has no problem with filling this position- sounds like it is necessary. Approved.

Pregnancy Care Center- requested money from Riverboat revenue for blankets and quilts for newborns. 77 babies received blankets. They are requesting money just for the materials to make these. They would like $1,000 again this year. Approved. Messmore voted Nay- no reason given.

Greg Townsend – Special Olympics- for Ripley Dearborn and Ohio counties. 46 competing- and 30+ are form Dearborn county. $1500 is requested for the 11 minors that are competing this year. Kraus Sr. said we usually limit it to $1,000. Council approved $1500.

Animal Control/PAWS Contract requested $60,000 from County General to cover the last 6 months of this year. Bill Ewbank presented a breakdown of costs previously incurred for Animal control. He presented the plan of putting our ACO’s with space at the new shelter off Industrial Drive on Charles Liddle Drive. This might be reduced by $10-20,000 as the building won’t be ready until August or so. $9,883/month was the average the county previously spent on shelter in the past. The contract is for $10,000/month. Morris is comfortable with the numbers. Approved $10,000/month pending the signing of the contract.

Council approved temporary workers to cover the time until the shelter opens. Her previous workers quit as they knew the job was ending. Wages are $7.50 an hour.

County Treasurer Barb Kaffenberger requested $5,000 from Riverboat for the Investment Advisory Service for investing public funds. They will develop a structured investment program. She has talked with Umbaugh and Associates. They will potentially help them earn 2-3 times what they are now. This is a one time deal. Approved.

DCRSD requested $70,000 from Fund 173 to repair the road leading to the High Ridge sewer plant that was damaged due to heavy rains this spring. Robert Lischge and Bob Hrezo presented. Listerman said it’s more than what they can do with in-house crews. Listerman said it’s in line with what he thought it should cost. Kraus Sr said that gravel will not work there- Hrezo said they will seal it and they will line the ditches along the road. He doesn’t think it’s worth $70,000. Barrett asked who built a road that only lasted a year or less. Listerman said it will only hold with a hard surface- but it’s costly. They are thinking of something similar to a double coat of chip seal. The plant has to be pumped out periodically. Morris motioned , Messmore 2nd. Approved.

Dearborn County Juvenile Center requested several amounts for a youth attendants – all from Riverboat revenue for an employee that had been dropped from their budget due to a clerical error. Kraus said it wasn’t in his 2010 budget either.Youth attendant III- $16,789
FICA- $1285
PERF- $1176
Part time Youth attendants- $13,872
Part time youth attendant- $5,000
FICA- $1.444
Council approved all but the $5,000 and Lansing voted Nay. [NOTE: Kraus Sr. was adamant that this was not a position filled even in previous year’s budget and yet I did not hear him vote Nay.]

Park Board- Steve Walker and Jim RedElk- they put together a flow chart that showed the steps for park board funding and went over it with Gayle Pennington. The new non-reverting capital building budget that Council approved last year. The funding comes from a percentage of riverboat revenue. The fund has $38,500 in it now. Listerman explained that you don’t ask for funds to be appropriated- you just come in for a transfer. Also they had $32,000 that they carried over as unspent capital and they want to spend that for signage and fencing at Bright Meadows. It had been appropriated. So they can just get the bids for fencing. It has already been appropriated. They just submit their claims against that $32,000.

Steve Walker said they want the council to establish an ordinance under state law to be able to obtain funds from other sources and be able to sequester those funds. This will enable the board to use these funds and they are not provided by the Council. Fundraisers, grants, contributions will fund this. They have over 360 acres in County Farm that require improvement- so do other parks that need restrooms. They may use a small fee for major user functions at some parks. Pennington said Animal Control had a 188 fund for donations and they are not part of County General. Park Board is trying to lift some of the burden of funding. They are proposing an operating non- reverting fund also. Park website has a way to register for usage of park spaces. Many ask about what the fee is for that. Messmore said he wants to look at a draft ordinance for this. RedElk said they may use the library funding structure or Hamilton County parks as a model. They will have Bob Ewbank- the Park Board attorney -prepare an ordinance. Council approved getting an ordinance drafted. Barrett and Kraus, Sr. Nays.

Park Board also has property available to add to the future development of county farm the DNR process requires matching funds to be on hand for a grant. There is a 5-year plan in place so they are eligible to pursue this now. This property they want to pursue is one parcel away from County Farm on Lattire Road. This could be where the firing range could go. The current one is a potential impediment to county farm. The hiking path is above the shooting range- and also the flat are would be suitable for sport fields. The Park Board can use their funds to match for this grant. Council approved.

Todd Listerman- County Engineer- 2 summer interns- to help finish sign installation and inventory. $110-130,000 for consultant to do it. $11.50per hour for $26,680 total. Council approved.

Out of 172 account- Listerman wants to spend for improvements:
Striping for 1000 vpd or more except Yorkridge and Old 52 already done. Yellow and white stripes. $ 115,000 approved.

5 school warning flashers on 3 schools at 90/10 reimbursement. Total cost less than $15,000 when finished, but need to set aside $25,000 and part will be reimbursed. Approved.

Salt buildings- Cousins Construction $56,600 approved to build these out of 172.

Equipment replaced on a yearly cycle- scaled back so they want to replace a tandem for $170,000 and tractor $65,000 this year. He wants to do one each for each of the next 3 years. Approved out of 172.

Due to the wet spring- there are many slips. FEMA looked at some of their roads today and INDOT will be back to look at major collectors later. They are looking to get some federal funds. He is asking for $100,000 for doing minor slip repairs. Current fixes are temporary. Approved out of 172.

Commissioners asked Todd Listermanto talk to Council about funding options. He passed out articles and funding trends. He showed the gas tax being used for several other things besides roads. State police went from 56 million off the top to 86 million now. This is our only funding. He is trying to pave road once every 24 years. It would take $2.84 million annually to do this. He talked about a wheel tax that would raise $1million a year. Bridges need over a million a year. Culverts need an additional too. Property taxes cover this. 17 bridges should have been replaced at the end of 2010. Backlogged. He doesn’t want to raise taxes- but where to get the money? Messmore said they should be asking for the money back from the state that they took for other entities.
Council took info under advisement.

911- Gayle Pennington spoke on this- requested $22,000 from the 911 Fund for 911 trunk lines- the fees that get collected will cover this by the end of the year. There is no money in there now. Approved.

Gayle Pennington-EMS training- $4,000 in budget and it came in at less than that. Approved.
All real estate records were computerized for $929 to have then all printed. Approved.

Kraus asked for Hensley who asked to fill a position- approved with Messmore NAY. Kraus asked Messmore to explain his nay vote. Messmore said they could use other staff perhaps from other areas.

County Auditor-FROM THE EXECUTIVE SESSION- Gayle Pennington requested $6,400 from Riverboat Revenue for the Deputy Sheriff matrix payroll adjustment. Council voted to deny request pending an audit.

Meeting adjourned at 9:40 PM

Christine Brauer Mueller
Lawrenceburg Township