VANDERBURGH COUNTY

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

FEBRUARY 5, 2008

The Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners met in session this 5^th day of February, 2008 at 5:04 p.m. in room 301 of the Civic Center Complex with President Jeff Korb presiding.

President Korb: Good afternoon, everybody. We’re going to call to order at 5:04 p.m., the February 5^th meeting of the Board of Commissioners of Vanderburgh County. If you would please, we’re going to go introductions right to left. Marissa?

Marissa Nichoalds: Marissa Nichoalds, Superintendent of County Buildings.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Ted Ziemer, County Attorney.

President Korb: Jeff Korb, County Commissioner.

Commissioner Tornatta: Troy Tornatta, County Commissioner.

Madelyn Grayson: Madelyn Grayson, Recording Secretary.

Bill Fluty: Bill Fluty, County Auditor.

President Korb: We have three guests with us this afternoon. If you would, ladies and gentlemen, please introduce yourselves. You can talk right there.

Cody Clark: Cody Clark, Central High School.

Abby Baumgart: Abby Baumgart, Central High School.

Taylor Byrley: Taylor Byrley, Memorial High School.

President Korb: That’s great. If you would, please, join me now in the Pledge of Allegiance.

(The Pledge of Allegiance was given.)

President Korb: Under action items this evening we have Mr. Norb Niemeier from Old National Insurance to give us the 2008 insurance review. Mr. Niemeier? Come on up. If you would, just state your name and where you’re from and you can go at it.

Norb Niemeier: My name is Norbert Niemeier. I have with me an associate, Ernie Brothers. We are with Old National Insurance, the agents on record to service all the lines of insurance for Vanderburgh County. Not to give away our ages, but we have, between the two of us, over 65 years experience. As you know, the employee benefits renewed 1/1 of ‘08. The property and casualty insurance renewed February 1^st of ‘08. I would like to point out some important changes that we’ve made for this new policy year. One issue of concern , I understand, from the past has always been the limit of earthquake. That has had a cap on it of $50 million for the last several years. However, this year we were able to increase the coverage to $65 million. In addition, in the information I’ve provided to you before the meeting, which you don’t have to look at tonight necessarily, you will find an optional quote for another additional $50 million. The extra cost for that is also in that brochure. The rest of it is just the capabilities for Old National Insurance. You are welcome to view that later, or if you want to discuss it now, it’s fine. We also included in there a contact list for all of our staff with phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Another concern in the past has been the insured values for all the properties listed on the policy. This year we have increased those values by $5,515,229, which reflects, roughly, a three percent increase on building values. That gives you a total now, of property values, of $201,256,805. Some time ago Commissioner Nix informed me that there is some concern about the properties being either over or under insured. We would like to get approval, if we may, from the Commissioners, we have on staff someone that will evaluate those properties, at no cost to the county. We thought, with that, after those appraisals or evaluations are made, we could review those to see if any of the values need to be adjusted. We also this year have increased the payroll for the workmen’s compensation by $900,000, and this was basically done to include, or increase it three percent for the employee raises. In addition, the Alternative Service Concepts, your claims administrator, has agreed to lower their fee by $2,000 for this year. Other than the increase in the earthquake coverage, the property values, and the payrolls, we have made no other changes to the policy. With these changes, however, we were still able to negotiate a premium decrease of $10,785 over last year’s. While promising to provide the best service possible to you, we have made arrangements to have all the COBRA benefits handled by our own TPA firm, at no cost, again, to the county. This would actually accomplish two things; it will relieve some of the work base at the Auditor’s office, but, most of all, it will eliminate any liability exposure that the county currently has for administering those COBRA benefits. So, in closing, I would like to thank you for the business, and we look forward to working with you in the future. Any questions?

President Korb: Yeah, Norb, who have you given the contact names to?

Norb Niemeier: Mr. President, in each one of those brochures you will see, in the small one, no, the small one, is that quote for the additional earthquake coverage, along with the contact list.

President Korb: But, I mean, did you give that to like Marissa, Kristin, Madelyn?

Norb Niemeier: Yes, they all, we had already e-mailed to most of the department heads–

President Korb: Great.

Norb Niemeier: –the contact list.

President Korb: Then, the Auditor’s office then has the information required to direct someone to your contact person for COBRA information?

Norb Niemeier: Yes. Yes, they’ve already been–

President Korb: Great.

Norb Niemeier: –Bill also, he gave the approval for us to go ahead, and that is in the making right now.

President Korb: Okay, great. Thanks. Any other questions? Mr. Attorney? Okay. Great, thank you.

Commissioner Tornatta: Thank you, Norbert.

President Korb: Next we have David Quandt from Humana Insurance for retirees. David? Did I pronounce that correctly?

David Quandt: You did.

President Korb: Good.

David Quandt: I have some handouts. May I approach?

President Korb: Absolutely. As long as you don’t bite. Do you want to read this? It’s as dry as toast. I promise. I didn’t say that. Did I say that? I didn’t say that. Does everybody have their stuff? Okay, here we go.

David Quandt: Alright, very good. Thank you very much for having us today. My name is David Quandt. With me today is Jim Dye, we are from Humana. Also with me today is Gary Burdsall from Total Benefit Solutions. I would like to thank the Board of Commissioners for the opportunity to be here today, and I especially thank Total Benefits Solutions for their participation in our presentation. My name is David Quandt, as I’d mentioned before, and I’m the Group Medicare Consultant for Humana. The proposal we’re bringing to you today enables Vanderburgh County to offer a zero cost medical and prescription insurance program to any Medicare eligible retiree who previously worked for, at any point in time, for the county. The plan design we’re proposing for the county is a private fee for service plan, our most popular Medicare plan design. Before I begin, let me give you a brief background on Humana. Headquartered just up the river, in Louisville, Humana has been offering public and private sector sponsored retiree programs since 1990. We have offices right here in Evansville, and our state headquarters is in Indianapolis. We offer Medicare prescription drug and health plan products to nearly five million seniors across the country, and we’re currently the national leader of private fee for service programs, with more than 600,000 members nationwide. As I said, private fee for service is our most popular Medicare plan design, because it offers tremendous flexibility for seniors, allowing them to seek care at any health care provider that accepts Medicare and agrees to Humana’s payment terms and conditions. The plan is an open access design with no limited provider network, and the benefit offers equal, or in this case, more coverage than traditional Medicare. The plan we’re offering to the county offers retail and mail order pharmacy services. It also offers free fitness center memberships at participating facilities through our incredibly popular Silver Sneakers program. Finally, Vanderburgh County retirees will have access to Humana’s industry leading consumer guidance tools to help them make well informed health care decisions. Best of all, due to the government’s reimbursement to Humana, we can offer this plan to you at zero cost to the county, and zero cost to your retirees. It is important to point out that the providers acceptance of a private fee for service plan is up to each provider. Health care providers do have the right to choose whether or not to accept the private fee for service plans payments, terms and conditions each time a member seeks service. If a provider decides not to accept the plan, the member would then need to find another provider that will accept the plan. A member must utilize Humana’s broad network of pharmacies to obtain prescription drugs, except in emergencies or urgent situations. Because the county doesn’t currently offer retiree health benefits, we worked with Total Benefit Solutions to develop a program that results in no impact to the county’s GASBE liability or administration costs. In fact, Humana will manage all the administration, all of the communication, and enrollment activity for the county. The material you see before you is the plan design summary that outlines the benefits contained in our private fee for service program. I should note, that if for some reason future funding from the government, if, for some reason, future funding for the government was to change, or participants medical claims increase significantly, the zero premium could increase. In this case, the health plan could choose to either increase the premium, or decrease the benefit level, as long as we are providing more benefits than the plan, to the plan than original Medicare to maintain a zero premium program. This is a fantastic opportunity for Vanderburgh County and past employees. This program allows the county to offer a comprehensive retiree health benefit at no cost to the county, or to the retirees. In short, it’s a classic win-win scenario. Finally, please let me note that Humana is the nation’s second largest provider of Medicare health plans. Our customer satisfaction and retention rates are high, and we offer innovative consumer information tools and compelling value added programs, like the Silver Sneakers fitness center memberships I mentioned earlier. Thank you again for your time again this afternoon. We look forward to your decision. Thank you.

President Korb: Can we ask some questions?

David Quandt: Absolutely.

President Korb: Okay, I’m sort of clueless here. No fee to the county, no fee to the retiree, this is paid for by?

David Quandt: The government reimbursement to this program. Based on the current tax structure, as well as the cost of care for the county enables us to provide a zero premium program for not only Vanderburgh County, but also retirees residing in Warrick County.

President Korb: Okay. Troy?

Commissioner Tornatta: Well, we were able to talk over some of these issues. I talked with Gary Burdsall and had some of the same questions. Kind of like our Rx program, through NaCo, we were able to, as a big county, we’re able to do some certain things. In this case we’re able to have a zero cost program. As I see, at this point, there’s not a down side to the program, just as has been presented. With some of my limited knowledge about reimbursements and insurance, it looks like it gives people the opportunity to grab on to some insurance that they otherwise could not get affordably.

President Korb: Is this the first time you’ve come? I mean, this is the first time since I’ve been here that I’ve heard of this, so, I wanted to be sure I didn’t miss an e-mail.

Commissioner Tornatta: This, we met–

David Quandt: We met off-site.

Commissioner Tornatta: Yeah.

President Korb: Like recently?

David Quandt: I would say probably within the past month and a half.

President Korb: Okay.

President Korb: Well, obviously, since this is catching most of us flat footed, we need some time to discuss it.

David Quandt: Understood.

President Korb: Contact information? Marissa, do we have that? Business cards?

David Quandt: I can provide that for you.

President Korb: Please do.

David Quandt: Okay.

President Korb: We’ll take a look at it. Glad you came. No offense. I just like, don’t know what this is. So, let’s take a look at it, and, obviously, I want to have some input from Mr. Fluty, the County Auditor.

Bill Fluty: I did meet, and also, then President Nix, at the time, it was last year–

President Korb: Okay.

Bill Fluty: –and we kind of had some feedback.

President Korb: Great.

Bill Fluty: It was late in the year. I think if Bill was here, I think he could elaborate a little bit more on why we finally came to this point. We felt it was necessary that they come before the Commission and talk to you.

President Korb: Great. Well, I think, like Mr. Tornatta and Mr. Fluty have said, it sounds great, looks great on paper, let’s just be sure it passes the smell test. I would be happy to take a look at it. Then we’ll schedule a time to have you come back. Or, do you want us to call you?

David Quandt: What works best for the Commission? That’s fine.

President Korb: How about if we give you a call.

Commissioner Tornatta: Can you set up an appointment, maybe with them?

President Korb: Oh, sure. That would be fine.

Commissioner Tornatta: I know we’ve meet, and, I mean, contrary to, it’s, I think it’s been more than a month, a month and a half. It was probably before you were on this board.

President Korb: Not, yeah–

Commissioner Tornatta: But, regardless, that gives you a chance to talk to them. We’ve had our meetings with them–

President Korb: Okay.

Commissioner Tornatta: –and, then, you know, whenever you set a time.

President Korb: Do you drive over from Louisville to come to these meetings?

David Quandt: I’m here frequently, because we have an office here. So, I can attend.

President Korb: That would be great. Let’s just do it at your convenience then. Just give Marissa a call.

David Quandt: Okay.

President Korb: Yeah, I mean, everything sounds great, I’m just old school enough to know there ain’t nothin’ for free, and it makes me real nervous when someone tells me that it is.

David Quandt: Understood.

President Korb: Yeah, so, but I think it sounds awesome for our retirees.

David Quandt: Okay.

President Korb: Which is, to me, a real benefit. I’m sitting here looking at the deductibles and what not, and it’s like, wow, that’s a real plus. So, yeah, I’ll get ramped up, and we’ll talk about it more as a group and get back with you. Now, do we need to do this with County Council at all? We don’t do we, Mr. Ziemer?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: You’re saying no money is involved. You never have to talk to the County Council if there’s no money involved.

President Korb: See, I told you to watch him. He’s like that.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: However, I do have a question.

David Quandt: Yes, sir.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Will the county be expected to sign anything to make this program go forward?

David Quandt: This is an endorsed, sponsored program. However, there is no requirement to sign a group contract.

President Korb: What does endorsed, sponsored mean?

David Quandt: What this would mean, this would mean that this would be the Vanderburgh County Retirement Program.

President Korb: Okay.

David Quandt: Therefore, Vanderburgh County’s name would be on this program.

President Korb: Got it.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Well, my concern is, if the county has any obligations at all, as the County Attorney, I want to know what they are before they make their decision so I can advise them as to the legality of those provisions. So, I know nothing about this, until I just hear about it today. So, I leave it to you, like if they’re going to be approving something, I need to know something about what they’re approving. So, if you’ve got some things, I know you’ve passed out a bunch of stuff here today. But, you might want to call me up–

David Quandt: Okay.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: –and maybe we can talk about it at more length on the telephone. I’m just looking for the legalities is all I care about.

David Quandt: Very good.

President Korb: Is this mutually exclusive of the city, or are you going to incorporate the city retired employees as well?

David Quandt: This is exclusive to the county.

President Korb: Okay. Okay, great. I have no other questions. Troy, Bill, Ted? Great, thanks for coming.

David Quandt: Thank you. Thank you for your time.

President Korb: Appreciate it. Just get with Marissa on that, if you don’t mind. Give her a call and just say, Marissa, I’m going to be in town, and a couple of dates would be great.

David Quandt: Very good.

President Korb: Great. Thank you very much.

David Quandt: Thank you.

President Korb: Next on the action item list tonight is Jacob’s Village request for project endorsement. Cheryl Kuchna is before us again. She gave us a lot of information. So, Cheryl, if you want to, go ahead.

Cheryl Kuchna: Yes, Cheryl Kuchna with Jacob’s Village, back to seek your support of a senior apartment project that we’re pursuing with the Indiana Housing and Development Authority in Indianapolis. This project would be a 24 unit garden style apartment project aimed at seniors, offering accessibility features, and affordability. We believe that in our area there is an unserved population who would benefit from access to such residential options. From the data that we provided, I think at the state and local level you could see where housing needs for seniors, and special needs populations really are a priority around the state and in local communities. Our own market assessment that was done last fall really demonstrated within western Vanderburgh and eastern Posey County, there is a significant population of over 1,500 households for which this apartment project could really be a viable alternative. Right now, alternatives for them, five other subsidized like housing projects within the Evansville area are all at capacity and with waiting lists. So, from our three years of being in operation and people coming to us looking for options like this, we are at a place right now with our development plans that we would like to see if we couldn’t pursue this project as a tax credit opportunity. This tax credit application process does require the local government support, at least to gain the points needed to win an award in competition with other applications from around the state.

President Korb: Cheryl, would you mind, Commissioner Tornatta was not here at the last meeting, just kind of let him know what the point system is and how that works, and how we have impact on that.

Cheryl Kuchna: Yeah, all the tax credit applications that go into this state are scored on the basis of a number of criteria, including, for example, the features of the project itself. So, we would be scored on do we offer accessibility features like roll-in showers, and door knobs, or door handles instead of door knobs, wide hallways, those kinds of things. Those would all gather points, as well as just amenities that the complex would offer. Then, beyond that, there are certain things that count toward the application, like local government support of what you’re trying to do. What would benefit the applicant is for the local governing authority to say that this project meets a real need in our community, and we are going to stand behind it and say that if you award these tax credits to this project, a meaningful number of people within our community come away benefitted from it. That would then help us compete with other applicants from around Indiana, the State of Indiana. Last year, frame of reference, there were about 60 applicants state-wide, about half of those applicants were awarded tax credits. Most of those awards draw a line north of Indianapolis, go up state. The one that was awarded locally was the Memorial Baptist Church project in Vanderburgh County. I think there might have been one or two others in the southern part of the state, but more on the eastern side. So, we were just here to, number one, fulfill the requirement of notifying our local government unit, but, then also, ideally, to seek your endorsement and support for what we’re trying to do.

Commissioner Tornatta: I’m just kind of curious, where does the city put their, I mean, you’ve talked to the city, or not?

Cheryl Kuchna: We’re talking to you because we’re within your jurisdiction.

Commissioner Tornatta: Okay.

President Korb: In the county?

Cheryl Kuchna: We’re on the county edge. In fact, we’re almost in Posey County.

Commissioner Tornatta: Oh, okay. I’m sorry. Okay, well, I saw a page in here about the city.

Cheryl Kuchna: Yeah, those were some documents we tried to provide you that show that the state, and city and Posey County level, senior housing needs are a priority across the region and state.

Commissioner Tornatta: Okay.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Also, for Troy’s benefit, an endorsement of this project does not, in any way constitute an endorsement by the Commissioners of any particular zoning for their project out there.

Commissioner Tornatta: Right.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Or their subdivision review, which they have to go through. You’re not saying that you’re urging people to do that. So, you’re not getting in conflict with neighbors on doing this. You’re really saying, number one, we endorse the project, and, number two, what level you endorse it. If you’re satisfied that housing is a high priority for seniors, then you would endorse it and consider it a high priority, for which they would get two points–

Cheryl Kuchna: Yes.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: –toward their proposal.

Cheryl Kuchna: Yes.

Commissioner Tornatta: Okay, and, I apologize.

Cheryl Kuchna: That’s okay.

Commissioner Tornatta: I didn’t, this one slipped past me as well.

President Korb: Well, it’s kind of complicated. And, she sent us War and Peace to read. The question I’ve got for you, Cheryl, is, and I know this would be important for Troy as well, it’s going to be built by Jacob’s Village, Inc., is that what I’m reading?

Cheryl Kuchna: Yes.

President Korb: And, this encompasses the special needs, this is the same corporation that encompasses the special needs housing?

Cheryl Kuchna: That’s correct.

President Korb: So, the less money that you have to spend on building this, is more money that you can use for your overall corporate needs?

Cheryl Kuchna: Yes.

President Korb: That’s what I thought. Okay. What do you think? Are you ready to–

Commissioner Tornatta: Well, I mean, I do consider it a high priority, that type of housing need, at this point.

President Korb: Do you need us to make a motion?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: I think, then a motion to endorse the proposal as a high priority.

Commissioner Tornatta: I will make the motion to support the proposed development and consider it a high priority in Vanderburgh County.

President Korb: Second. All those in favor say aye.

Commissioner Tornatta: Aye.

President Korb: Aye. Opposed same sign. You can’t vote, okay. The motion passes. Cheryl, do you need us to sign this for you tonight?

Cheryl Kuchna: I would appreciate that, if you can.

President Korb: Like now?

Cheryl Kuchna: Or, I could pick it up at another time.

President Korb: No, let’s do it now.

Cheryl Kuchna: Okay.

President Korb: It will only take a second. Madelyn?

Madelyn Grayson: Yes, I’ll just need you to stop in the Commission office and have her make a copy for me.

Cheryl Kuchna: Okay.

President Korb: Do you want us to sign this now?

Madelyn Grayson: Just Jeff’s signature is required.

Cheryl Kuchna: Thank you very much.

President Korb: Do we need to check off the fact that it’s a–

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Then you have to check the right block.

Madelyn Grayson: I did that.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Oh, you’ll do that. Alright, it’s been done.

President Korb: You didn’t just call me a blockhead, did you, Mr. Ziemer?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: No, no.

President Korb: Okay. Great. Thank you, Cheryl. Appreciate your help. Thanks for coming in, and thanks for coming back a second time. Appreciate that.

Cheryl Kuchna: Thank you.

President Korb: You’re welcome.

President Korb: Okay, the next item, permission to advertise auction of county owned property. Ted will discuss. Mr. Ziemer?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Well, only to say that you have already given permission to advertise for a sale of tax sale property, those are properties to which the county took title after no one purchased them at tax sale. That sale that was advertised previously is taking place today through what, the close of business at 5:00 p.m.?

Marissa Nichoalds: Right.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: That’s the last time for anybody to bid. Anybody bidding, based on that first publication, has to pay 90 percent of the appraised value of the property to be able to acquire it. We have one bidder who is willing to pay, actually more than 90 percent of the appraised value of the property. His name is Clinton Tolliver, and I would, I guess, interrupt myself at this point to ask you to adopt a motion authorizing the sale of this property to Clinton Tolliver for $1,000.

Commissioner Tornatta: So moved.

President Korb: Second. All those in favor say aye.

Commissioner Tornatta: Aye.

President Korb: Aye. Same sign, opposed. The motion passes.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Okay, and, now we are asking permission to advertise again, and this will be for a sale of the remaining tax sale properties, some, I don’t know, 230 of them.

Marissa Nichoalds: 130.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: 130 of them. That sale is to take place on February 29, 2008, and that will be an auction done by Sohn Auction Company. So, what they are seeking now is permission to advertise for that auction sale.

Commissioner Tornatta: Motion to approve.

President Korb: Second. All those in favor say aye.

Commissioner Tornatta: Aye.

President Korb: Aye. The motion passes. Is that it? Thank you, Mr. Ziemer.

President Korb: The next item is the second and final reading of ordinance CO.01-08-003, the establishment of a common addressing system. Asking for public comment with regards to this issue. Is there any? Seeing–

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: I’ll just comment.

President Korb: Okay.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Troy, again was not here last week, this was recommended by Roger Lehman, and it, I believe, having reviewed it, that it substantially improves the addressing of properties in the county. That’s important from the point of view of emergency activity and fire and police and sheriff and so forth. Roger was here last week to answer any questions. There were no members of the public who commented on this. He has discussed this with Bill Pedtke of the Evansville Homeowners Association, and they have no objection to the passage of this. So, he called me today and said, do I think it’s necessary for him to be here. I told him, he had another conflict, and I told him I didn’t think it would be necessary. So, he’s not here.

President Korb: This is primarily for new construction, Troy. They’ve already got the (Inaudible) of the signs, so.

Commissioner Tornatta: We’ve talked about this on the 911 board.

President Korb: Okay.

Commissioner Tornatta: So, it’s pretty positive.

President Korb: Great.

Commissioner Tornatta: Motion to approve.

President Korb: Second. Oh, roll call vote. No further public comment? Roll call vote. Mr. Tornatta?

Commissioner Tornatta: Yes.

President Korb: Mr. Nix is absent. He’s away, and Mr. Korb votes yes. The motion passes.

Madelyn Grayson: Commissioner Korb, I think there was an agenda item that we missed. The permission to advertise the statement of receipts and expenditures.

President Korb: Ah, got it. Okay, permission to advertise 2007 statement of receipts and expenditures.

Commissioner Tornatta: Motion to approve.

President Korb: Second. All those in favor say aye.

Commissioner Tornatta: Aye.

President Korb: Aye. All those opposed same sign. The motion passes. Thank you for that.

President Korb: Resolution to approve the Redevelopment Commission bonds.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: There was a meeting of the Vanderburgh County Redevelopment Commission on January 28, 2008, at which, after a thorough presentation by bond counsel and the finance officers for the proposed bond issue, the Vanderburgh County Redevelopment Commission adopted a resolution on a vote of four to one to approve the issuance of up to $8,500,000 in additional bonds, which, as you know, is for the purpose of providing funding to allow Green River Road to remain open during the anticipated two and a half to three year construction period for the improvements to Green River Road. What you’re asked to do today is to adopt a resolution approving the action of the Redevelopment Commission. You have the resolution before you, and, if you would, in your motion move to adopt the resolution by that number, I would appreciate it.

President Korb: Madelyn?

Commissioner Tornatta: First off, Ted, thank you for all the work you’ve put into that, getting this going. To the people of the Redevelopment Commission, we thank you for having the faith that we can get this job, keep this road open. I think it’s a vital road for Vanderburgh County, and I think that a lot of people have seen that this is a good thing, and good government at work. So, I would like to make a motion on resolution CO.R-02-08-001, approval of the Redevelopment Commission bonds.

President Korb: Second. All those in favor say aye.

Commissioner Tornatta: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Roll call, please, on that.

President Korb: Okay, great. Commissioner Tornatta?

Commissioner Tornatta: Yes.

President Korb: Commissioner Nix is away. Commissioner Korb votes yes. The motion passes.

President Korb: Next is, Sheriff Williams.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Well–

President Korb: I’m sorry.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: –maybe. It’s a–

President Korb: Sheriff, it’s not my fault, I swear.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: No, actually, what we have, that just has your name there, Sheriff. We have a series of contracts now, and one is the Commissioners, on behalf of the Sheriff’s office, with Southwestern Communications for additional video arraignment capability in Superior Court II. Then there follow the other three additional contracts that I have e-mailed you about.

Commissioner Tornatta: Yeah, and we have reviewed this, and if it’s okay with the President, I would like to just go down and read these and approve them all in one.

President Korb: That’s great.

Commissioner Tornatta: Okay. One is the Sheriff’s agreement with Southwestern Communication, Incorporated for video arraignment systems. Two, is the Sheriff’s Stericycle agreement. Three, is the Vanderburgh County Day Reporting Drug Court agreement for professional services with Deputy Sheriff Shannon Henry, and, four, is Commissioner affiliation agreement with the University of Southern Indiana and the Health Department. I make that in the form of a motion.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Okay, before your vote, I would just like to remind you that, as to the Sterisafe agreement, we’ve done an agreement with them on one other occasion for the Health Department, and their terms and conditions of the agreement contain some provisions which aren’t in the best interest of the county. On the occasion of the Health Department’s agreement, we did prepare an addendum to the agreement, which they signed. I’m recommending that we require the same addendum for this agreement. So, if you approve this, and sign it, then it will be sent off to them. If they refuse to sign the addendum, then the agreement won’t be valid. That’s what I propose.

Commissioner Tornatta: Okay, and I would amend my motion to take out number two, Sheriff’s Stericycle agreement at this time.

President Korb: That’s not what you want?

Commissioner Tornatta: I’m sorry.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: No, I’m sorry. I didn’t make myself clear.

President Korb: We’re going to be filing an amended version?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Go ahead and approve it, and we’re going to sign it, but we’re going to send it off with the addendum. If they don’t sign the addendum, as well as the agreement, we’re telling them in a cover letter, there’s no deal. So, we’re alright to go ahead and approve it today.

President Korb: Okay, great.

Commissioner Tornatta: Original motion.

President Korb: Second. All those in favor say aye.

Commissioner Tornatta: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. Sheriff, I would like for you to come up for just like a minute. Don’t pull a Mr. Jeffers on us. Explain to the Commissioners what’s going to be happening with the video arraignment at the jail. It’s kind of a cool thing.

Eric Williams: I thought I was in trouble. I sit in the back for a reason. Basically, this is an addendum to our existing system. We currently have video arraignment equipment in place in misdemeanor traffic court with the jail. Which, on an average basis, we usually hear about 25 cases daily in misdemeanor traffic court. Those are people that we don’t have to transport from the jail to the courts. This addition will put the same system in Superior II, which handles most of the felony pre-charges and the majority of the felony matters. It is our hope that with cooperation with the judiciary that we’ll be able to begin hearing more cases video, or electronically, as opposed to transporting.

President Korb: So, you’ve had good cooperation from the judges on this, I understand?

Eric Williams: Yeah, they’re all on board, and they’re anxious to see it. They would like to see us put it in more courtrooms, but it’s, we’re doing it in phases to make sure it makes sense.

President Korb: Sure, that’s great. Thank you very much for doing that. We appreciate that.

Eric Williams: No problem.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Mr. President?

President Korb: Yes, sir.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: I do want to raise one item. I’m sorry, this was an oversight of mine. I had previously advised you of this, but with regard to the Southwest Communication agreement, it was determined by the Sheriff, based on the fact that they have a prior arrangement with Southwest Communication, and that this is a continuation of that arrangement, and the price is competitive, that he didn’t feel that there was really anybody else who could perform the same service as economically as Southwest Communication could provide it. So, there were no quotes sought this time. There were quotes sought for the original contract. So, I would like you to, I guess, I think, if you would move and approve that the purchase of the Southwest Communications, Superior Court II video arraignment system will be done as a special purchase by Vanderburgh County, therefore, not requiring bids to be taken.

Commissioner Tornatta: I make that in the form of a motion.

President Korb: Second. All those in favor say aye.

Commissioner Tornatta: Hold on, discussion.

President Korb: Oops, I’m sorry.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Thank you.

Eric Williams: I think he explained it very well. The fact that we have a system in place, and, basically, I am just hooking on another outlet onto the existing system. My fear of bringing multiple vendors in, maintenance on one system, it seemed to make a lot more sense to stick with the vendor that’s done a good job for us and provided good service.

President Korb: I would totally agree with that. It makes total sense.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: The reason that I asked you to revisit it again is that the Indiana law says that if you are going to purchase something on a special purchase basis, you have to announce at the meeting that you’re doing that. That’s what we’re doing.

President Korb: Great. All those in favor say aye.

Commissioner Tornatta: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

President Korb: Department head reports. Mr. Stoll?

John Stoll: First I have the plans for the Upper Mt. Vernon Road-Red Bank Road flashing red signal. This is for the four way stop that will be installed at that intersection. This is a federal aid project that is actually through a funding source that has 100 percent federal funds with no local match. So, as it stands now, that project is slated to be on a May INDOT bid letting, and I just need your signatures on the cover sheet for the plans.

President Korb: We can do that. This replaces, what, a four way stop?

John Stoll: Right now the intersection is just a two way stop.

President Korb: Okay.

John Stoll: When this project was originally initiated, it was proposed to put up a flashing yellow light on Upper Mt. Vernon, and flashing red on Red Bank–

President Korb: Okay.

John Stoll: –due to the high volumes of traffic and the accidents. Since then the Metropolitan Planning Organization office has done some additional traffic studies that show that a four way stop was justified. So, the project was changed to be a four way red flashing light instead of red on two approaches and yellow on the other two.

President Korb: Okay.

Commissioner Tornatta: I make a motion to approve.

President Korb: Do we need a motion for this? I guess we do.

John Stoll: Yes.

President Korb: Yeah, second. All those in favor say aye.

Commissioner Tornatta: Aye.

President Korb: Aye. Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

John Stoll: Then, next I have a bike path design agreement with Bernardin Lochmueller and Associates for $111,500. This contract will provide for the preliminary design of the remainder of the bike path for Burdette Park on to USI’s campus. It will provide final plans for the segment from Broadway to USI, which is the segment that we’re anticipating going to construction next. Since it doesn’t provide final design for the Broadway to the Burdette Park segment, we’ll have to have a supplemental agreement for final plans for that later. But, this will get us a set of plans ready for bidding for the Broadway to USI segment.

President Korb: Okay, great.

Commissioner Tornatta: Motion to approve.

President Korb: Second. All those in favor say aye.

Commissioner Tornatta: Aye.

President Korb: Aye. Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

John Stoll: In conjunction with that too, I just want to point out that I will have to bring another contract to you here in the near future for the environmental studies associated with that.

President Korb: Okay.

John Stoll: Since there’s federal money involved, we will have to do an environmental study.

President Korb: Okay, great.

John Stoll: Then, the last thing that I have is a permit application for the Cross Pointe Boulevard project. This is the Corp of Engineers permit for the storm sewer outlet at the north end of the project. It needs the Commissioners signatures so Bernardin Lochmueller can submit that on to the Corp.

President Korb: Okay.

Commissioner Tornatta: Motion to approve.

President Korb: Second. All those in favor say aye.

Commissioner Tornatta: Aye.

President Korb: Aye. Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

John Stoll: That’s all I have, unless you have any questions on anything.

President Korb: Thanks, Mr. Stoll. Appreciate it.

President Korb: Any new business for the County Commissioner this evening?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Yes, sir. I e-mailed you earlier today, after spending some time reviewing the Key Government Finance documents, under which the county will, if you approve this, enter into a lease-purchase arrangement for a new networking system for the IT services of Vanderburgh County. The total cost of the system is three, let’s see here, $395,899. The way it will work, Key Finance is a lending company, they will finance the purchase of this system, the system, after the documents are signed, the system will be installed, Key Finance will then advance the money to an escrow agent, the escrow agent will hold those funds pending work being done on the system, and when work is done disbursement orders will be issued by the IT department, and on the escrow agent’s receipt of a dispersal order they will pay the various vendors who are supplying these materials. We agreed to repay the $395,899 by making 60 payments of $7,334.76 a month for 60 months. There’s a lot of documents, but all it really does is perfect the lease and then the security interest of the financing agency. Then, I’ll also comment that at the time that we did the county telephone system back in August of 2006, we did a similar financing for that system. The dollar amount was also similar, as it turns out, and, at that time we entered into a master agreement with Key, which the Commissioners approved, and that master agreement continues to govern the terms and the provisions of these documents. So, we recommend that they are satisfactory for approval from a legal perspective.

President Korb: I’m just curious, what was our interest rate that we’re going to be charged on that? Was that indicated?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: I can’t tell you what the interest rate is.

President Korb: That’s okay. It’s not a problem.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: I mean, if we go through the documents, we’d find it. But, we did get a report during the department head meeting that it was–

President Korb: Half a percent less.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: –half a percent less than it was in 2006.

President Korb: Okay, great.

Commissioner Tornatta: Motion to approve.

President Korb: Second. All those in favor say aye.

Commissioner Tornatta: Aye.

President Korb: Aye. Opposed same sign. The motion passes. Any other new business, Mr. Ziemer?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: No, sir.

President Korb: Old business. An update, if we can on Hamilton’s Golf Course. We have had between Commissioner Tornatta and myself, Commissioner Ziemer, I mean, Attorney, Mr. Ziemer, we’ve had some very productive talks in the last 48 hours. We have nothing firmed up at this point in time. I want to say it’s safe to say, I can’t speak for Troy, but we want to, obviously, try to tee the ball up and keep it open as a golf course. We feel very positive about that. We’ll know more about that, hopefully, by, before the end of this month. So, we’ll have something more substantial to give. Just to let you know that we’re still working on it and trying to stay on top of that. So, for those of you that are Hamilton supporters, keep cheering for us, because we’re doing the best we can. Troy, do you want to say something about that?

Commissioner Tornatta: No, just along those same lines. Any calls that you have, we’ve appreciated. I’ve gotten numerous calls and numerous e-mails from people giving us their ideas, and what they have. We, I don’t want to say we don’t welcome those at this point, but we are working at it, and don’t want to give the community the idea that we’re not going full force to try and make sure that we’re doing our best opportunity to keep this facility open. So, everything looks good. That’s the good part, but we really want to, we really think we’ll have a lot of information coming up here in the next few weeks. So, bear with us.

President Korb: Yeah, nothing’s been signed. It’s not a deal until it’s been signed. Madelyn, do you want to change the tape?

(Tape change)

President Korb: Great, also a reminder to the community, starting next week, I believe it is, is it next week? We begin road hearings. Road hearings are basically, if you or someone who lives in the community, in the county, that has issue or drama with a road in your neighborhood, now is the time to come and express that. Then we prioritize it, it’s real simple. We are, typically, this year we agreed to have it at the local middle schools. The first meeting is February the 13^th at 6:00 p.m. at Helfrich Park Middle School. The second one, district two, which is Commissioner Tornatta’s territory, and all the Commissioners will be there, is on February the 27^th, starting at 6:00 p.m. at Oak Hill Middle School. The final one is March the 5^th at 6:00 p.m., which is Commissioner Nix’s territory, it’s going to be at Plaza Park Middle School. So, again, now is a great time to begin thinking, okay, what can we do. This is not to say that every project will be done, but we will take a look at them and prioritize them. Commissioner Tornatta will be heading up that meeting in his district, I’ll be heading the one up in mine, and Commissioner Nix will be heading up the one in his. Marissa, our able assistant, has told us that she is going to have this advertised in the newspaper. So, be on the lookout for that as well.

Commissioner Tornatta: Along those lines, if you do have, we’re talking about projects, if you have a road that you think needs to be repaired, if you have ideas on that bring that, that’s the time to bring it. I couldn’t emphasize that more, that’s the time to get some of those ideas out there.

President Korb: Open comment.

President Korb: Any public comment in the audience today? Anybody think of anything? Going once. Going twice.

President Korb: Consent items. Commissioner?

Commissioner Tornatta: Motion to approve.

President Korb: Second. All those in favor say aye.

Commissioner Tornatta: Aye.

President Korb: All those opposed, same sign. The motion passes. Unless I’m missing something, we are ready to–

Commissioner Tornatta: Motion to adjourn.

President Korb: Second. All those in favor say aye.

Commissioner Tornatta: Aye.

President Korb: Aye. Opposed same sign. Beat the gavel, bud.

(The meeting was adjourned at 5:50 p.m.)

CONSENT ITEMS:

Commissioners:

Approval of the January 29, 2008 Commission Meeting Minutes.

Approval of the January 29, 2008 Board of Finance Meeting Minutes.

Approval of the February 1, 2008 Executive Session Summary Minutes.

Barnes & Thornburg Engagement Letter for Bond Counsel.

Umbaugh Engagement Letter for Bond Counsel.

Ziemer Stayman Weitzel and Shoulders Engagement Letter for Bond Counsel.

Key Government Finance: Pay Req. No. 10: Telephone System.

AMR Quarterly Report and Reimbursement.

Village at Deerfield Neighborhood Association Registration.

Department Head Meeting Notes: January 29, 2008.

Employment Changes:

County Highway (1)                  Health Department (2)              Auditor (1)

VCCC (2)                                  Sheriff Office (2)

Travel Requests:

DADS (2)                                  SWCD (1)

County Engineer: Pay Request No. 45: Green River-Burkhardt TIF Projects.

Public Defender:

Request for Reimbursement from State Public Defender Commission.

Burdette Park:

Surplus Request: 2 dryers and 1 washer.

Burdette Park Advisory Board Minutes: 1/16/08.

Department Head Reports:

Burdette Park                           County Engineer                       County Highway

Ozone Officer

Those in Attendance:

Jeff Korb                                   Troy Tornatta                            Bill Fluty

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.          Marissa Nichoalds                    Madelyn Grayson

Norb Niemeier                          David Quandt                           Cheryl Kuchna

John Stoll                                  Cody Clark                                Abby Baumgart

Taylor Byrley                            Others Unidentified                   Members of Media

VANDERBURGH COUNTY

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

Jeff Korb, President

Troy Tornatta, Member

(Recorded and transcribed by Madelyn Grayson.)