11AUGUST 2020 Dearborn County Council Meeting Notes

 11AUGUST 2020 Dearborn County Council Meeting Notes

Present: Liz Morris, President, Dennis Kraus. Sr., Dan Lansing, Kevin Turner, Tim Doll, Alan Goodman, and Bill Ullrich. 

Also present: Connie Fromhold, Auditor, Leah Bailey, Comptroller, and Sue Hayden, Administrator.

Andy Baudendistel, Attorney also present.

Title VI Statement read as legally require by Baudendistel

Meeting started later at 10 AM due to an executive session with Sheriff McHenry which was also advertised at 9:30 AM.

Council certified that they only discussed interviews with prospective employees as advertised. No decisions. 

ORDINANCE 2020-010-  Amending the Stay Home Pay During a Declared Emergency Original Salary Ordinance passed by Council March 25^th, 2020 - Baudendistel stated that the guidance has changed from CDC and local health dept. Balancing the federal law and crafting something that has heart to take care of employees and also relying on them to report close contacts with positive tested person. Within 6 ft for at least 15 minutes is close contact. If employee is quarantined they must stay at home or they will hav veto use personal PTO days for the days they broke quarantine. They must not work or earn from any other source during the quarantine. This ordinance is retroactive to July 16. The penalty section is effective tomorrow- August 12. 

Employees don’t get docked for PTO if ordered to quarantine. The form they use is confidential to verify what they’ve been in contact with and infected person. The employee signs the form swearing to their adherence to the rules of quarantine. Employees will get an email of the amendment to the ordinance and the dept. heads will get the forms for employees to use as needed. Council approved. 

TRANSFERS: required because of the 27th pay that occurs this year- All the transfers Approved below.

911 COMMUNICATIONS- Payroll-27^TH pay-$2,145.18 (4933.33300)  $12,472.43 (1222.32503)

CIRCUIT PROBATION- Payroll 27^th pay $750 (2102.39204) & (2151.32300)

SUPERIOR PROBATION- Payroll 27^th pay $2,228.44 (4906.31807)

HIGHWAY- Payroll- 27^th pay Cum Bridge $7,435.23 (32900)

ADDITIONALS:

AUDITOR- Connie Fromhold-Email Server- $30,000 (1001) also approved by Council separately  & Payroll- 27^th pay $241,468 (1001)

PROSECUTOR- Additional funds for 27^th pay $1,188 (1170), $1181.58 (8897)

BUILDING DEPARTMENT-Part-time- $7,536 (1001)

PARK BOARD- for Gladys Russell Park- this is a study for this the septic tank. Septic Line & Tank Cleaning, Plumbing, Engineering Firm- $3,500(1179) Approved as it is their funds.

Fence Replacement-$21,000 (1179)- Approved for the Split rail fence as it is their funds.

SUPERIOR COURT II- Public Defender- $60,000 (1001)- Decided that $45,000 was enough to do the rest of the year. Approved.

HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT- Riverboat/General $480,000 NRCS grant for the major slip on East Laughery Creek Road.80/20 reimbursement. Approved out of Fund 4916.

COMMISSIONERS- Pictometry , Riverboat/General $128,184- Flight for the county Last one was in 2009. This is a 2 part aerial flight. 360 oblique imagery and straight down view. This can compare the Beacon images with Changefinder and you can find changes in the land use for reassessment. This is a 3 inch flight so the best they can see for assessment. It saves some employees from having to go in person (COVID related) to properties. This get reimbursed out of CARES ACT. They have approval from IFA that this would be covered under Cares Act. This imagery can be share with all depts. Sheriff etc . Approved. To be reimbursed out of Care’s Act monies.

AURORA PUBLIC LIBRARY- Declaration of Fiscal Body- Connie Fromhold presented this as a declaration of fiscal body for the library is the county because they get their revenues through the county. Approved to sign. 

BUILDING DEPT- BILL SHELTON- His budget has $25,000 for part time and he’s taking 15,000 for weights and measures. Needs $7500 for part time- approved.  Building permits are up- but lumber prices are up and materials are down. Averaging 10 homes per month. Custom homes on bigger parcels of land. He will send the data out to Council. 

RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING INVESTMENT OF PUBLIC FUNDS- Barb Scherzinger- Connie Fromhold presented - this is done every year. Approved so she can invest her money. 

HEALTH DEPARTMENT GRANT- Emergency Preparedness and PPE stock pile for COVID 

resurgence if needed $ 47,078 no county match. Connie Fromhold presented. This is from grant. Nothing for needle exchange in this. Approved.

RECORDER- Ordinance to use Perpetuation fund for Technology and Records Management 

Upgrade. Connie Fromhold presented. This has a healthy balance and due to a new statute they need to approve and sign the ordinance. Approved.

SUPERIOR COURT- GRANTS- DOJ grant for JCAP- no county match $262,000 and a second grant for Probation- Approved.

AUDITOR – Connie Fromhold - Minutes from May 26, 2020 Approved. 

Salary ordinance includes one extra position - approved. 

PUBLIC COMMENT- none

Meeting adjourned at 10:55 AM

Christine Brauer Mueller

Lawrenceburg Township

AGENDA- DC Council August 11 Meeting

 

AGENDA

DEARBORN COUNTY COUNCIL MEETING

Tuesday August 11, 2020 at 9:30a.m.

Henry Dearborn Room

Dearborn County Government Center

165 Mary Street, Lawrenceburg, Indiana

CALL TO ORDER:

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

TITLE VI STATEMENT FOR COMPLIANCE- 

TRANSFERS:

911 COMMUNICATIONS-

 Payroll-27^TH pay-$2,145.18 (4933.33300) & 12,472.43 (1222.32503)

CIRCUIT PROBATION- Payroll 27^th pay $750 (2102.39204) & (2151.32300)

SUPERIOR PROBATION- Payroll 27^th pay $2,228.44 (4906.31807)

HIGHWAY- Payroll- 27^th pay Cum Bridge $7,435.23 (32900)

ADDITIONALS:

AUDITOR- Connie Fromhold-Email Server- $30,000 (1001) & Payroll- 27^th pay $241,468 (1001)

PROSECUTOR- Additional funds for 27^th pay $1,188 (1170), $1181.58 (8897)

BUILDING DEPARTMENT-Part-time- $7,536 (1001)

PARK BOARD-

Septic Line & Tank Cleaning, Plumbing, Engineering Firm- $3,500(1179)

Fence Replacement-$21,000 (1179)

SUPERIOR COURT II- Public Defender- $60,000 (1001)

HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT- Riverboat/General $480,000 

COMMISSIONERS- Pictometry , Riverboat/General $128,184

AURORA PUBLIC LIBRARY- Declaration of Fiscal Body

RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING INVESTMENT OF PUBLIC FUNDS- Barb Scherzinger

HEALTH DEPARTMENT GRANT- Emergency Preparedness and PPE stock pile for COVID 

resurgence if needed $ 47,078 no county match. 

RECORDER- Ordinance to use Perpetuation fund for Technology and Records Management 

Upgrade.

AUDITOR – Connie Fromhold

ORDINANCE 2020-010- Amending the Stay Home Pay During a Declared Emergency Original Salary 

Ordinance passed by Council March 25^th, 2020.

Minutes from May 26, 2020

Salary Ordinance

PUBLIC COMMENT

ADJOURN

Dearborn County Health Department COVID-19 Morbidity and Mortality Report: 07/31/2020 – 08/06/2020

 Dearborn County Health Department COVID-19 Morbidity and Mortality Report:                                                      07/31/2020 – 08/06/2020

Number of Dearborn County Residents Reported Tested with Results (HPH, ISDH, Bethesda North, Mercy Health, Urgent Care, UC, St Elizabeth, LHI…): 531

Number of Negative Tests: 493

Number of Positive Tests: 38

Positive Tests By age: 

18 yrs and under: 5

19-30 yrs: 8

31-50 yrs: 11

51-80 yrs: 13

81+yrs:  1

Number of Deaths Recorded This Week: 1

Positive Tests for Inmates: 0

Positive Tests for County Government Employees: 0

Ongoing Dearborn County Statistics:

Confirmed Positive Cases: 479

Reported Tested with Results: 6026

Total Deaths: 28 (includes 2 probable COVID19 included in ISDH data)

By age: 60-69 yrs: 1

                           70-79 yrs:  1

                           80-89 yrs:  16

                           90-99 yrs:   8

                           100+ yrs:  2

             By Gender: Female: 17

                      Male:  11 

4 AUGUST 2020 DEARBORN COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING NOTES

4 AUGUST 2020 DEARBORN COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING NOTES

available VIA Bridge Conference Call / 812-496-0136 Conference ID #848832)

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

NEW BUSINESS

Bids for Cyclical Reassessment Contract - Assessor, Megan Acra- opened both bids. First is Tyler Technologies for $310,000 July 23,2020. Second is from Lexur for $297,100 July 23, 2020. Bids need to be reviewed to be sure they comply with specifications. Both are under review. 

Lease Agreement- Health Dept Leader, Mary Calhoun- Dr Eliason passed out plan. Kendra spoke for the Health Dept. They have located a building in Aurora to combine with Ohio County. There is $100,000 per county. Rent is $1000 per month. Trying to keep Optum here. Otherwise they will need to contract for 3 people to fill those roles with grant paying for them. Not county employees. Initial term of lease is 10 months per grant. Sept 1, 2020- June 30, 2021. There are 3 drive thru options. Lots of good options due to the location. Regency Seymour,LLC Leasing agreement for 10 months approved by Commissioners.

Grant Approvals (2)- Court Services Director, Steve Kelly- First grant is Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding for Indiana Criminal Justice Institute grant is for $110,410.19 (the maximum they could receive in our county)  for laptops if working from home if needed and drive thru drug screens, portable scanners , and cost for tech work on this, and Zoom rooms in JCAP pods to keep therapists at home running it. Air sanitizers- UV type for courtrooms and conference rooms and offices. These run all day log by circulating air thru the UV unit. Wi Fi also. Also asking for tactical face wear for sheriff’s dept. Thatcher questioned the UV LIGHTcovering capacity in the large courtroom. They will check that. Approved.

Dept of Justice federal grant- to expand JCAP services. These are for people who do not get into JCAP program. 3 full time positions to serve this. $262,000. When grant goes away- the employees go away. Approved.

Probst asked about ankle bracelets- Answer- the criminals are charged about $2000 when broken or cut off. That’s what they cost per Kelly. It’s hard to collect that sometimes. 

Bid Awards for Bridge #87 Johnson Fork Scour - Highway Engineer, Todd Listerman $287,084- only one bid ( McAllister Excavating) and way over estimate- by over $100,000. Commissioners rejected the bid.

Hard to get bids with the weather and water issues as this requires getting down in Johnson Creek to do.This is a local funds project so they can wait if necessary. Also doing One Mile Road, which is not as weather dependent. One Mile is more critical to get done. The bridge at Jonson Fork is still safe to drive.  

ADMINISTRATOR – Sue Hayden- Thermal scan systems for temps (3) and are being installed. One in Hoosier Square, one in Jail and one in main building here. They can scan groups of people and an alarm goes off if temp is picked up.

AUDITOR – Connie Fromhold  -Claims/Payroll and July 21st Minutes approved and signed. 

ATTORNEY – Andy Baudendistel- filed claim for county in the Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy case. Claim to get money to fight opiate issues. There are a lot of class members in this case. Alan Miller , Aurora’s attorney, who also does bankruptcy cases was helpful in walking the attorneys in the cites and towns and county through that. 

COMMISSIONER COMMENTS

Probst- School starting- watch for busses and kids. COVID- still here- follow guidance of CDC. Frustrating when people don’t respect their neighbors enough to put a mask on. 

Little- Wished Sue Hayden a Happy Birthday.  Also he tries to wear his mask whenever in the buildings. And wash hands!

Thatcher- Happy Birthday to Sue also. Compliment the health dept  for all the work they have done. Eliaison thanked him and also noted the staff is working hard. 

LATE ARRIVAL INFORMATION- none

PUBLIC COMMENT- none

ADJOURN- 9:56AM

Christine Brauer Mueller

Lawrenceburg Township

IURC Approves 7.5% increase for LMH Utilities

In a recent order, the IURC approved a 7.5 percent rate increase for LMH Utilities, a sewer utility in Dearborn County. LMH initially sought a 94 percent increase but later reduced it to 24 percent. The OUCC recommended an increase of only 3 percent, with LMH agreeing to less than 8 percent on rebuttal.

A History: Podunk to Nimrod

A History: Podunk to Nimrod

reprinted with permission of IPR

by Leo Morris

Sooner or later, every political columnist quotes George Santayana, and this is my week. If you have a problem with that, then go back to Podunk with the other nimrods.

That was probably a bad way to begin. Some readers might take offense.

Let me start over.

"Podunk" was a common insult when I was growing up, and it generally meant a dull, insignificant place, a cultural backwater where nothing ever happened. People from New York said it of Indianapolis, people in Indianapolis said it of Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne residents said it of Lima, Ohio. Like that.

I discovered later in life that there are several towns and a few regions around the country actually called Podunk, and that the word is of Algonquian origin and denoted both a people and their winter village in what is now Connecticut.

In today’s climate, when we are being shamed into removing all references to indigenous people from the public consciousness, it’s a word we probably shouldn’t even think, let alone write.

Another bad start, so let’s try again.

I suppose we can still say "nimrod." That was another common insult from my youth, and it meant a stupid jerk, especially one with a Barney Fife attitude, a dimwit going through life full of empty boasts.

I later learned – I seem to do that a lot – that the word comes from a king mentioned in the Bible as “a mighty warrior on the earth and a mighty hunter before the Lord.” Extra-biblical sources link him to the tower of Babel, which its builders foolishly thought could reach all the way to heaven. Such effrontery offended God, who decided that people would no longer have a common tongue but start speaking in different languages, forever after unable to understand each other.

That makes for a wonderful metaphor about the state of the world today, but, come to think of it, tends to extol Christianity, which some might see as a denigration of other religions.

So, never mind.

Maybe I should have started with my main premise, which is that people have different breaking points. In today’s insanity, with chaos crowding out rationality on every front, there comes an event that causes the ordinary person to finally say, “Enough! Reset to normal right now.”

For some, it was when the toppling of Confederate statues morphed into attempts to stigmatize all of America’s founders. For others, it was when so-called pandemic scientists said it was perfectly OK to mass in the streets for social justice but the rest of us should continue to stay inside.

For my sister, it was when the Twitter mob came for Vice President Pence’s older brother Greg for having “racist antiques” at his mall in Edinburgh, a Podunk tiny community around Indianapolis. She happens to be an antiquer, and Pence’s place is one of her favorites, being clean and neat and climate controlled, with scores of dealers in a building big enough to have its own ZIP Code.

“It’s an antique mall, for God’s sake,” she railed. “That means the past, including the Jim Crow era. What do they want to do, erase all of history?”

Well, yeah, sort of.

They found my breaking point when the mob came for Warner Brothers, crowing in victory when it was decided to take away the guns from Yosemite Sam and Elmer Fudd, allowing Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck to keep tearing through the cartoon universe unchallenged, mayhem and destruction in their wake.

I thought about writing a column to eulogize the passing of Yosemite, one of my childhood heroes. Funny hat, big mustache, waving his guns around and yelling about varmints – I could name several of my uncles in Kentucky he reminded me of.

But, you know, old, white guy with a gun. Not a good role model these days.

Then my research uncovered – I later learned – an interesting tidbit from those old cartoons. Both Bugs and Daffy referred to Elmer Fudd as a “nimrod” – someone who thought of himself as a mighty hunter but was, in fact, a silly, little pipsqueak.

How sly and clever of those subversive cartoon creators. How wonderfully intricate the way history wanders off and meanders and then circles in on itself.

Oh, that reminds me that I was going to throw a Santayana quote at you. I almost – heh, heh – forgot.

He famously said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” That’s been misquoted in a hundred ways and wrongly attributed to many other historical figures, most notably Winston Churchill.

But what’s interesting about that sentence is that is just a part of a longer thought that no one ever quotes.

So, a little context:

“Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Santayana was not saying merely that ignoring history could cause us to keep making the same mistakes. He was saying that knowledge is cumulative, that if we forget the baby steps that got us here, we can never master the baby steps that will take us forward. 

In other words, if we destroy the past, we destroy the future.

But I repeat myself, nimrod that I am.

Leo Morris, columnist for The Indiana Policy Review, is winner of the Hoosier Press Association’s award for Best Editorial Writer. Morris, as opinion editor of the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, was named a finalist in editorial writing by the Pulitzer Prize committee. Contact him at leoedits@yahoo.com.

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AGENDA- August 4th DC Commissioners Morning Meeting

AGENDA

DEARBORN COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING

August 4, 2020   

9:00 a.m., Henry Dearborn Room 

(available VIA Bridge Conference Call / 812-496-0136 Conference ID #848832)

Dearborn County Government Center

165 Mary Street, Lawrenceburg, Indiana

I. CALL TO ORDER

II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

III. TITLE VI STATEMENT FOR COMPLIANCE

IV. OLD BUSINESS

V. NEW BUSINESS

1.  Bids for Cyclical Reassessment Contract – Assessor, Megan Acra

2.  Lease Agreement – Health Department Leader, Mary Calhoun

3.  Grant Approvals (2) – Court Services Director, Steve Kelly

4.  Bid Award for Bridge #87 – Highway Engineer, Todd Listerman

VI. ADMINISTRATOR – Sue Hayden

VII. AUDITOR – Connie Fromhold

1. Claims/Payroll/Minutes

VIII. ATTORNEY – Andy Baudendistel 

IX. LATE ARRIVAL INFORMATION

X. PUBLIC COMMENT

XI. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS

XII. ADJOURN

Dearborn County Health Department COVID-19 Morbidity and Mortality Report: 07/24/2020 – 07/30/2020

Dearborn County Health Department COVID-19 Morbidity and Mortality Report: 07/24 – 07/30/2020

Number of Dearborn County Residents Reported Tested with Results (HPH, ISDH, Bethesda North, Mercy Health, Urgent Care, UC, St Elizabeth, LHI…): 677

Number of Negative Tests: 603

Number of Positive Tests: 74

Positive Tests By age: 

18 yrs and under: 11

19-30 yrs: 21

31-50 yrs: 18

51-80 yrs: 20 

81+yrs:  4

Number of Deaths Recorded This Week: 2

Positive Tests for Inmates: 0

Positive Tests for County Government Employees: 0

Ongoing Dearborn County Statistics:

Confirmed Positive Cases: 368 (-1 duplicate): 441

Reported Tested with Results: 5495

Total Deaths: 27 (includes 2 probable COVID19 included in ISDH data)

By age: 60-69 yrs: 1

                           70-79 yrs:  1

                           80-89 yrs:  15

                           90-99 yrs:   8

                           100+ yrs:  2

             By Gender: Female: 17

                      Male:  10