3 JANUARY 2023 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.
[NOTE: Commissioners near the end of the appointments had an extended discussion with some DCRSD Board members concerning their plan to not reappoint 2 long time members whose terms were up.]
REORGANIZATION OF THE BOARD
Election of President of the Board - Thatcher is President again.
Reappointments of Dept Heads- All were reappointed. Probst thanked those that did show up.
Administrator, ADA and Title VI Coordinator - Sue Hayden
Animal Control Director- Marlene Underwood’
Attorney- Andy Baudendistel
Building Inspector- Bill Shelton
Emergency Management Director- Jason Sullivan
Engineer- Todd Listerman
Highway Superintendent- Tim Grieve
Maintenance Director- Eric Hartman
911 Director- Jared Teaney
BOARDS COMMISSIONERS SERVE ON:
ALL COMMISSIONERS SERVE ON SOLID WASTE AND BOARD OF FINANCE
Commission of Public Records- Thatcher
Emergency Management- Probst
Juvenile Board- Thatcher
OKI- Probst- already done
Personnel Advisory- Thatcher
Plan Commission- Thatcher
Region 9 Workforce- Little
SIRPC Little -Done in December
SIRPA- Port Authority- Thatcher
Justice Reinvestment Advisory Council- Prpbst
Citizen Board Appointments:
911- Table until after Fire Chiefs January Meeting
Alcohol and Beverage Board- Jim Dole- Approved
Aurora Public Library- Sue Manford and Angela Burkhardt
Health Board- Dr Steven Eliason, Mike Hankins, and Jill Tibbe, MD
Plan Commission- Joe Vogel
Property Tax Assessment- PTABOA- Jodi Wolf and Mark Hardback
All the above were approved for reappointment.
Redevelopment Commission- Replacement for Diane Bender- (Bender resigned in November) Proposed Jim Mansfield- Retired Insurance agent, successful in business, and member of Bright Business Association- The DCRC Board feels comfortable with him per Thatcher. Approved Jim Mansfield.
Regional Sewer District- currently Dennis Folke and Robert Lischkge- proposed Steward Cline and Russell Beiersdorfer. [NOTE: The two board members who were proposed to be replaced were not aware of it or why there service was no longer needed. In my opinion, it would be more respectful to notify board members in advance of replacing them.]
Commissioner Probst felt strongly that Lishchge should be reappointed and noted he’s the only one on sewer from D-3 and there are areas in D-3 that DCRSD is working on like Lake Dilldear.
Jeff Stenger- member of the sewer board and surveyor. Worked with both Folke and Lischkge. They bring many things to the table that perhaps you are not aware of, and have served for several years. He wanted to know what the commissioners think the board is, or is not, doing that needs to be addressed. ( There was no answer to that question) Stenger went on about the particular skills the citizen board members bring to the table- like a veterinarian with public health issues, a realtor who knows the area and the spots in need of sewers and being in touch with many partners in the community, etc. There was discussion about forced sewer hook-ups and that the county doesn’t want them to do that. Thatcher wanted to know who told them they couldn’t force hook-ups. Stenger said there were meetings over that issue and the Commissioners decided that forced hook-ups in the farm areas and the rural areas were problematic. There was no political will to do that. He also noted the costs for homes set far back from the road were expensive to hook up plus the ongoing monthly costs , when they had an existing cheaper solution already in place in those areas.
Brett Fehrman- Nov 2003 first appointment to the DCRSD. He said these members have volunteered their time to the county. We rely on the county for our funding, We are not a stand alone entity - we cannot float bonds for example. The county asked us to run a sewer line from Shelton Fireworks to the West Harrison TIF. We did it quickly with county funding. He said Lischkge has mechanical engineering degree- he stores their pumps for free and also praised Folke for being a supportive long time member.
Robert Lischkge- He’s willing to serve again and would have liked to have a phone call to let him know if they were not planning on reappointing him. Said he couldn’t say anything more- as Brett and Jeff had covered it all.
Probst apologized for his lack of attending DCRSD meetings and thanked him for his service no matter what the outcome.
Thatcher said if you want a reason here it is. The ARP committee said they would like to see some folks with leadership- Stew Cline has an aeronautical engineering degree. He recently got $2.9 Million for the Rt 1 Corridor??? Russell Beiersdorfer is on PC and BZA and President of Farm Bureau. Russell is not afraid to ask tough questions. Thatcher said this was just business- nothing personal.
Baudendistel reminded them that the appointments were up Dec 31st. It was also stated by Probst that board members still serve until their replacement has been appointed.
Motion to not reappoint Folke- passed with Probst NAY
Motion to not reappoint Lischkge- passed with Probst NAY
Motion to appoint Steward Cline- passed with Probst NAY
Motion to appoint Russell Beiersdorfer- passed with Probst NAY
OLD BUSINESS
ARPA Committee Recommendation to BOC- TABLED- Baudendistel- said there is a lot of work from the attorneys etc. Thinks it should be off then agenda now- Approved by commissioners to remove from agendas for now.
NEW BUSINESS
Weather Advisories 12/22/22 Winter storm- EMA Director Jason Sullivan- Varied orange and yellow travel advisories. Approved the Advisories.
ADMINISTRATOR – Sue Hayden:
Certification of nepotism acknowledgement- IC 36-1-22.1-16- Three stragglers are still not in. Coroner and sheriff and Councilman Lansing. These will be called today or emailed. Rest are in.
2023 EMS Squad Contracts- Bright, Aurora, Greendale, Manchester, and Lawrenceburg Approved. Added a signature sheet for Aurora. Still waiting on Dillsboro, Sunman, and St. Leon.
AUDITOR – Connie Fromhold -Claims/Payroll and December 20th Minutes were approved.
ATTORNEY – Andy Baudendistel- no business- just thankful for being appointed. Do you have that written down?(Thatcher asked) I have a tattoo ( Baudendistel answered)
COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: nothing newsworthy
LATE ARRIVAL INFORMATION: none
PUBLIC COMMENT: none
ADJOURN- 9:43 AM
Christine Brauer Mueller
Lawrenceburg Townshipi
