16 August 2011 Dearborn County Commissioners Meeting Notes

16 August 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.

Executive session preceded thi s meeting regarding pending litigation- commissioners voted to take no action at this time.

Regarding the Personnel matter from executive session- commissioners voted to have human resources discuss the situation with the employee.

OLD BUSINESS:

Private real property rights preservation ordinance- tabled again

Revised jail expansion project- tabled again

GIS fee schedule- Baudendistel presented the ordinance for signature with the additional revisions suggested by commissioners. Commissioners signed the ordinance 2011-08.

Happy Hollow Road Vacation- Baudendistel said the statute says the commissioners MAY vacate it- allowing them discretion on this. If the commissioners want to they can make no decision at this time. Hughes said with the information from affidavits etc. he wanted to deny the petition to vacate. Orschell said that because of the discrepancy in the surveys- he said that wouldn’t be fair to make a decision- McHenry agreed with Orschell. Hughes said- surveying is not an exact science. Hughes noted people other than the county have worked on that road. He thinks it would cause hardship if there was an intersection there. If Mr. Lykins can let his son build a home along the road, why can’t Mr. Engle have that option for his son as well. Commissioners voted to do nothing- that leaves the row and road as is. Essentially they tabled it. If there is a court order, they will decide.

NEW BUSINESS:

Dennis Kraus, Jr., Surveyor- New state law regarding drainage- Indiana adopted some new laws this year and revised some old laws. They need a way to handle this unfunded mandate officially- with a $100 fee- to work on cases of a nuisance and/or changes to drainage flow. THE DRAINAGE BOARD is 3 commissioners and the surveyor.
Surveyor has to go out and investigate per law. He wants the fee to be low enough to be affordable and high enough to keep people from just harassing their neighbors with these. The landowner requesting the investigation must first request the neighbor remedy it. Then they can approach the surveyor. The surveyor will also have to approach Council for the filing fee approval. McHenry has a problem with the $100 fee. Kraus. Jr. said that with decreased tax revenues we need to look at ways to offset services for these specific items. McHenry asked if other counties are doing this. Franklin has one- but Ripley doesn’t. Ohio and Switzerland are well drained- not aware of a board there. The county does not have to fund this- Kraus, Jr. said. So the filing fee would fund this. Commissioners questioned what happens if their decision is not followed. Hearings are held on the petition of an obstruction of waterway or in the case of storm water nuisance nothing was written as to procedures. Kraus, Jr. was amenable to the commissioners changing the fee amount to what suited them. Ewbank said this is another unfunded mandate so this would be a way of paying for the services. Ordinarily these disputes get handled through litigation. Now the county drainage board mediates. Baudendistel said in the courts it would be $165 and court costs. McHenry said to move forward with a $50 fee. Commissioners tabled until Baudendistel could revise the ordinance for next meeting. Pennington will research if this goes to county general or a special fund.

Grant request- Indiana Criminal Justice Impaired Driving – Hughes signed the IN Criminal Justice grant and needs ratification. It is for seat belt enforcement nd drunken and impaired driving enforcement. It will be administered by Lawrenceburg. This is between Lawrenceburg and the county- and maybe the other municipal police forces. Commissioners ratified Hughes’s signature.

2012 Compensation Recommendation to County Council- the last cost of living adjustment was in 2009. Inflation is at over 5% in that time period. This new recommendation is for 2- 3% tops. Hughes wants to make evaluations part of the decision on how much of a raise they get in each department. Hughes wants to have then have an incentive to do a good job. McHenry said that would be good if we have people willing to step up and tell people if they are NOT doing a good job. Individuals who work and really achieve should be recognized for it, Hughes said. Commissioners voted to forward this with the recommendation that the evaluation process of the handbook be followed. Hughes said this will probably be a HR nightmare- but that’s OK.

HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT: Todd Listerman, Highway Engineer, gave the following report:

Awarded the 2011 line striping contract. 5 bids and the low bidder was IN Sign and Barricade $70,697.32. The high bid was over $120,000.

Unfunded mandate to meet reflectivity standards. He was concerned that it would be required of all roads or just those that are required to be striped. This would perhaps affect the extra roads we striped- as in we would only stripe the REQUIRED roads. This affects stimulus on federal projects.

ADA requirements mandated to make all county sidewalks ADA compliant. This will affect any federal dollars we receive in the county. He will find more out next Tues on that. We have to have a program to get non-compliant facilities into ADA compliance.

We have 17 bridges in dire need of replacement and repair. 4 bridges are on Lake Tambo $51,700 Schwipps $ 56,300, Platt $ 54,300, and Woliung Road $59,700 -Barth and Associates are the low bid on designs for these 4 bridges. Approved to draft contracts to award.

There is a structure to be designed that qualifies for federal funding for structure along Burzelbach and Bonnell. American Structurepoint can design for $139,200. We pay for design to get it shelf ready to go to the feds and INDOT. This puts us higher on the list for funds.

Solid Waste driveway- In the past we did the work and they paid for the materials. We need permission to do this. Hughes wants them to have a cost of our manpower so we know what we’re donating in kind. This will be done when we have the time to do it,

Obverting Road needs one of our boom mowers for Greendale. We need a letter from insurance and a letter held harmless from Greendale for that. Commissioners approved assisting the city of Greendale for this at the dept convenience. Hughes asked Grieve about this. Grieve said we are short handed and have machinery breakdowns. It will have to be on OUR schedule- when we have the time. Grieve will decide when it gets done. Commissioners want to be helpful to all entities in the county and they will be helpful to us at times when we need help.

Bridge at Stuart Street is being worked on for next spring. Bridge on Holt road completed- really nice- per Orschell.

Hughes wants a list of roads that really need to be done. Grieve said the slips are priority too. Orschell asked about Stateline slip. Grieve said Stateline may qualify for fed dollars on that as a mitigation project. Grieve listed several others they are looking for mitigation funds for.

AUDITOR: Gayle Pennington- Claims approved.

Data sharing MOU- Memorandum of understanding with Boone County, KY- an agreement to share data of street center lines and address points. This would be beneficial for Planning and Zoning and GIS. They haven’t heard back from Hamilton County. The adjoining IN counties will share this also. We are agreeing NOT to share theirs with anyone else. Agreement is for one year. Commissioners signed the MOU with Boone County, KY.

ATTORNEY: Andy Baudendistel- nothing to report

COUNTY COORDINATOR: Bill Ewbank resolution # 7 from 2011 from Dillsboro- that allows Bill Shelton- be their building inspector also. Commissioners accepted and approved this. These are documents from the state and their approved format from Homeland security.
Shane asked-Have any dept heads gotten with Barnes and Thornburgh and identified their needs for grants or federal funding? They have gotten with highway dept first per Ewbank.

COMMISSIONER COMMENTS- Per Orschell- PAWS facility -Brand new water heater leaked and extensive water damage to be repaired. It will delay their opening.

LATE ARRIVAL INFORMATION- none

PUBLIC COMMENT- Jeff Stenger- asked do the citizens have a right to drive down the unmaintained ROW on Happy Hollow Road. They cannot obstruct the county ROW even beyond the maintained section. Commissioners all agreed on this as the rules on public ROW.

Meeting adjourned at 10:20 AM

Christine Brauer Mueller
Lawrenceburg Township