1 MARCH 2022 DEARBORN COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING NOTES
Present: Jim Thatcher, President, Art Little, and Rick Probst
Also present: Connie Fromhold, Auditor, Andy Baudendistel, Attorney, and Sue Hayden, Administrator
TITLE VI STATEMENT FOR COMPLIANCE was read by Baudendistel as legally required.
OLD BUSINESS:
Dave Currence Veteran’s Services Officer- 2021 Year in Review- previously tabled from last month. He said he has the best job in the county government. Currency went over the services they provide for all the branches of service including the newly formed Space Force. The highlights from 2021. Purchased 2 new handicapped accessible vans. Generous donations and grants from Law’bg and DC Community Foundation. $600,000 in additional appropriations for burials for veterans including some COVID related. Completed 2 courses and training this year. Attended National Association on Drugs. Also does a program through the library on an annual basis now. Saw increases in 2021 due to Covid impact. Patient transportation requests are about 48 per month. There are goals for 2022 to build relationships and communication. They will partner with VSO’s to increase value to younger vets also. He has been here 2 years now, and is grateful for the job and the support from the staff and people here at the county. Commissioners thanked him for all that the does.
NEW BUSINESS:
Proclamation - HVL 50 Years- Baudendistel read the Proclamation - population of over 5500 now. Honoring residence and Board of Directors. Commissioners approved the Proclamation. Thatcher said he liked signing it as a resident of HVL and that it was wonderful place to live. Commissioners then posed for a picture with the HVL people.
Update/Review- Bill Shelton, Building Commissioner- reporting 2021 from 1981. This shows residential housing. Last year had 127 new homes. This year is 10 new homes so far. The suppliers are expecting another big year. $210,425 collected in fees. Dyke Industries and Whiskey Rivers building were bigger fees. They have a new way to submit for plan reviews and permits online. A certificate of occupancy triggers emails to the auditor now. This program helps bring everyone together. They use iPads out in the field also. They hired a licensed plumber to help with construction inspections etc. Averaging about 13 inspections a day. Weights and Measures has been calibrated again in Indy. Had a 2017 Ford Escape that was smoking when he drove it. 92,000 miles. Haag said there is no recall yet, but they have had 20 cases of this type of motor issue, Hassle with Ford Mother Company itself being unresponsive. Trying also to work on some houses in need of demolition and also properties with unpaid taxes. The unsafe building grants program also helps. Commissioners appreciate what Shelton is doing- a lot of good stuff happening there.
Update/Review- Marlene Underwood, Animal Control Director- she passed out their statistics for 2021. Probst asked her to show these for subsequent years so they can see trends. Picked up a lot more dogs in 2021 for 2020. For cases involving horses they have sources in Greensburg and Madison. They have a Ford Explorer that is getting high mileage. She needs to get emergency lights worked on also. Vehicles used to be passed down from sheriff’s supply. Now sheriff is using his up. The current Explorer is the old canine vehicle. The sheriff just bought another canine vehicle so they will check on getting the old one from Sheriff.
Update/Review- Jared Teaney, 911 Director- 2021 had 69,791 phone calls. They average 191 calls per day. 89% of the calls are from wireless phones. 18,528 were 911, and the remainder ( 51,263) were non emergency. June 18th was their heaviest day for calls due to storms.Busiest hour was 9 PM with 142 calls. This was the storm that took out the bridge in Weisburg. They also do text for 911. This is used for domestic situations to avoid escalating the situation. They had 36 incoming texts to 911.10 % of calls are hangups or abandoned calls. They follow these up with a call back or text. And then dispatch an officer. He will build on these numbers to compare years. The calls break down as 31,487 police incidents, 3,383 fire incidents, and 8,508 EMS incidents. He will publicize the info on their Facebook page later today. In April he highlights his team every year. The tech is great- but they need the team and he appreciates them. They need more staff, but need funding for that. They will increase public education, training of the team, working to improve processes. Probst has been helping him with some ideas also. They have backup systems in place if they have a full failure. They can use the EMA truck for backup. Thanked him for his services.
Bid Award for Bridge #213- Bischoff Hill Road Erosion - Todd Listerman, County Engineer- the storm in 2021 also did this damage. Paul Rohe was low bid $66,510. The property owner there wants nothing on his property. They will stay in the ROW to work. Commissioners approved the bid.
The Weisburg structure is in place and backfill is in place and they are working on retaining wall. Asphalt plants open in April for paving. But they will have gravel in before then. Complete washout and it was replaced within a year. Alan’s Branch small structure is pretty well finished. Also waiting for asphalt. It is driveable on gravel now.
Still working on ROW for other projects. The one on Harrison Brookville Road will have traffic light controls as they work. Baudendistel got another deed on Brush Fork finished. The Purchase order for Community Crossing Grant has been processed and approved. We are OK for our $1million.
Road School March 14-16. He will be gone for that. He will be off for spring break the following week. Probst said there is more pure state money coming up also. He wants. To keep our priority list cup to date.,
ADMINISTRATOR – Sue Hayden- Scott Carnegie with DLZ- consulted on the Courthouse Annex basement because they were the original architects. Annex basement needs bathrooms and water for the vaccine clinic down there. $10,500 to do conceptual design is what they will do. Probst noted that they need to address the operation of the election machines down there. It’s about more than storage- also about testing the machines. Commissioners signed the letter of intent with DLZ. Make sure that Eric Hartman, Steve Kelly, Gayle Pennington, and others who are involved with this space are consulted on this.
AUDITOR – Connie Fromhold -Claims/Payroll and Feb 15th Minutes approved
Health Dept Grants-
$76,000 Immunizations and Vaccines- approved
$50,000- Health Issues and Challenges Grant- approved
ATTORNEY – Andy Baudendistel- nothing more
COMMISSIONER COMMENTS:
Little- Spring Pancake Breakfasts start this weekend.
Probst- sat on briefly with One Dearborn and others with Midwest Chinese connections. We missed Emergency Mgmt Week- Thanked Jason Sullivan for what he does over there. Probst will be at Road School with Todd on 15th.
Thatcher- Pray for Ukraine and the world right now.
LATE ARRIVAL INFORMATION- none
PUBLIC COMMENT- none
ADJOURN- 10:30 AM
Christine Brauer Mueller
Lawrenceburg Township
