5 July 2011 Dearborn County Commissioners Meeting Notes

5 July 2011 Dearborn County Commissioners Meeting Notes

Present: Jeff Hughes, President, Tom Orschell, and Shane McHenry
Also present: Gayle Pennington, Auditor, Bill Ewbank, County Coordinator, and Andy Baudendistel, Attorney.

OLD BUSINESS:

Private real property Rights Preservation Ordinance- tabled again.

Revised Jail Expansion Project- Orschell says there are some legitimate questions that need to be answered- Tabled.

North Dearborn Road Realignment East of Dover- Todd Listerman said they got preliminary approval from DNR to shorten the ditch of the project and if IDEM approves, they won’t have to use Reinhardt’s property. Tabled to get that info. Hughes said that Reinhardt told him that they didn’t need that big of a road- a highway was not necessary. He also wasn’t sure of the accident numbers there. He also thought the appraisals were low. He may show up tonight and if he does Hughes wanted to give him the opportunity to speak. He was worried about potential sale for a house and this might devalue it. The land was appraised at $8,000 an acre and for the very small piece he was offered $200. The county could go to $1,000 to avoid court costs. McHenry said- hopefully we can avoid the whole issue if DNR and IDEM agree.

NEW BUSINESS:

Assessor’s Vending Contract- already signed has been returned for correction by the DLGF. So they want it signed again $46,000 with Tyler Technology. Baudendistel said the DLGF was worried about liability to the state and so it was corrected. Commissioners resigned the contract.

Barnes and Thornburg Lobbyist Proposal –We have been involved with the county for a number of years. At the federal level they worked on our transportation issues especially with respect to the casinos. At that time the feds were receptive. This took the form of lobbying for earmarks for designated highway funds. They had some success with that. They had a several year hiatus, Now they represent several counties in Indiana. Earmarks are now going to be called something else. They will come through grants, allocations to the state, etc. They help now to do 2 things in other counties. It has been set up so that more money will flow through the state highway program. The MPOs will also be affected by this. Be more vigilant with highway people to work with state to get priorities approved. You need to be positioned with those people to get what you need for your projects. He said he’s been in this business more than 30 years and you benefit by having squeaky wheels up there in Indy. The Justice Institute is also preparing several grants and they help shape those for us. Because the federal government is so vast they can help also with other issues, such as flooding issues. They are there to help supplement our dollars with state and federal money and grants. The cost benefit of their prior contracts has been good.
You have to decide from your perspective, if you want to invest in our services again. McHenry said that we hear from Listerman that we need money for North Dearborn and Collier Ridge Bridge. Listerman said they would be more helpful with the long-range plans more than the local ones just mentioned. We need help to make sure INDOT doesn’t let those die on the INDOT Roads. Orschell said that the bridge at St. Leon would be an example- where we wanted more lanes there than just 3 , because of the schools there etc. Barnes and Thornburg’s rep said lobbying is also about education so the politicians know our needs. The good news now is that with an 18 month cycle coming up- for elections- both candidates will be receptive. We have heard there may be more money coming out. You want to be prepared. Shelf ready projects help to keep you competitive. You have to be there and be pushy. Orschell if we sign, will you come down and get our needs? They said they would for about an hour or so. There’s not a lot of money out there for parks for example. When a grant is denied, they want you to send the denial and then we will find out WHY you’ve been denied. They have had some limited success with subsequent filings. The good thing about earmarks is that INDOT had to work with it then. Hughes said- the Wilson Creek reoairs have been denied and he ultimately found out from the INDOT Commissioner that no one was banging on his door from here, like the others were. Hughes said that sometimes the MPOs are just another layer of bureaucracy to get through. There are questions being asked about the MPO’s and their necessity in the funding process. There is a lot of reporting process for lobbyists now and so this contract has more language as a result. This agreement is general so that we can use it for transportation, criminal justice, some homeland security stuff. [NOTE: How does Barnes and Thornburg decide which of their counties that are under contract get the most attention? What if they are all going for the same funding source?]
The contract is annual but it runs month to month so it can be terminated in 30 days. If we use them a lot more, then they may come in and talk about fees. Orschell wanted to take it home and read it. McHenry also liked the language about the termination of services. Commissioners decided to take time to think about this until next meeting on July 19th at 9 AM. They will love to meet with the sheriff also if they sign this.

Appointment of a Commissioner to Personnel Advisory Committee= Bill Ewbank said that they had omitted forming the advisory committee when they had signed the personnel policy about 6 months ago. Some of the complaint processes are starting to percolate through the dept. heads.
The advisory committee consists of the Auditor , Resources Officer, one commissioner ,and 2 council members. Hughes said he was willing to serve thru December- approved.

HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT: Todd Listerman, Highway Engineer
ROW acquisition for Bridge 102, North Dearborn by Creekside- contract for United Consulting for $25,305. Approved.

Message signs for US 50 which is 100% federal funding through the MPO. Approved the INDOT contract for $297,500.

Spoken to a couple property owners by Bridge 102 so they are aware of the process. They want it ready for construction summer 2012 when school is out.

Needs permission to get another $250,000 to buy ROW for the Stateline project in Bright. Hope to have it done in 2013. Approved to go to Council to seek funds.
Cook Road- $750,000- DNR will pick up 80%- and our $150,000 share can be done in like services. Orschell has seen the site- it’s a new- recurring problem. Todd Listerman approved to seek money from Council.

Listerman has not been able to get together with Mr. Irwin on Short Road. The ROW should not be a problem to acquire.

The school flashers project may need 3 commissioners to sign off the plan sheet. Baudendistel said it was OK for him to bring it to them individually to sign outside the meeting. They may not need a plan sheet. If they do this would cover the time sensitivity issue. Approved.

Hughes called Listerman with a question from Fred Stegemiller about the ability to add a sidewalk on the other side of the bridge. Listerman called Barker who had this project. He said the sidewalk would be an additional $200,000 and no extra money. They also have 2 utility lines that would have to be relocated- major sewer and water lines. It is also an historic bridge, so it would require hearings etc. The question was asked because of the bike path etc. Listerman will tell Stegemiller about this.

McHenry brought up a road problem on Timber Ridge- after explaining to Hughes that he didn’t want to step on toes in his district.

AUDITOR: Gayle Pennington- approved minutes from May 4 and June 7. Payroll was signed. McHenry said Sheriff Kreinhop wanted them to hold an $11,630 claim to Commercial Electronics Corp. until they get the system fixed. They are having continued problems with it. It’s recording equipment for interviews. Pennington will hold the claim. The rest of the claims were approved.

449 visitors to the GIS site and 201 were during non-working hours.

Pennington said Hughes had asked about re-districting. They will address the precincts first. They are still waiting on some numbers from the state.

ATTORNEY: Andy Baudendistel- No recommendation came from the Plan Commission on Happy Hollow Road ROW. They will put it on the August 2nd meeting, the parties are going to try to negotiate before then.

They received a tort claim on the jail. The inmate did not have representation. He will follow that- their insurer has been notified.

Per Mr Votaw the warranty deed was signed by Mr Cunningham and so now the county owns the old Votaw Building.

COUNTY COORDINATOR: Bill Ewbank presented Heart House- Emergency Shelter Grant program certification of local approval – was signed by Jeff Hughes. This is needed to participate in that program.

IHCEA- Lifetime Housing- Section 106 Historic Review for rehab or renovation requires approval of the Commissioners for individual houses. Hughes signed the CABG papers for the 2 homes- one in Lawrenceburg and one in West Harrison
.
COMMISSIONER COMMENTS- Hughes asked about the Solid Waste recycle bin that was removed. He wants to send Bill Ewbank to the Park Board meeting at 6 PM at the County Farm about this. He talked to Woodsy and to Bob Ewbank the Park Board attorney. He talked to Jim Hughes and Bryan Messmore- for Council to see if they would fund the fence. Orschell said he would attend that meeting. He’d see if Sandy Whitehead would attend also for Solid Waste. They don’t want to step on either board’s toes.

LATE ARRIVAL INFORMATION- none

PUBLIC COMMENT- none

Meeting adjourned at 7:40 PM

Christine Brauer Mueller
Lawrenceburg Township