VANDERBURGH COUNTY

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

FEBRUARY 14, 2006

The Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners met in session this 14^th day of February, 2006, at 3:32 p.m. in room 301 of the Civic Center Complex with President Cheryl Musgrave presiding.

President Musgrave: Good afternoon. I would like to call to order the Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners meeting for February 14, 2006. We’ll start with introductions to my right.

B.J. Farrell: B.J. Farrell, Superintendent of County Buildings.

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

Commissioner Nix: Bill Nix, County Commissioner.

President Musgrave: Cheryl Musgrave, County Commissioner.

Commissioner Shetler: Tom Shetler, County Commissioner.

Madelyn Grayson: Madelyn Grayson, Recording Secretary.

Bill Fluty: Bill Fluty, County Auditor.

President Musgrave: If you will please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

(The Pledge of Allegiance was given.)

President Musgrave: We have on the agenda the approval of the prior minutes of February 7^th.

Commissioner Nix: Move approval.

Commissioner Shetler: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: There was an executive summary of our executive session. I understand there is a summary of those minutes. Is there a motion to approve those?

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Shetler: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: I will abstain as I did not attend.

President Musgrave: First action item, it’s with great pleasure that today we welcome Steve Adams, the Interim Director of the Office of Rural Affairs of the Lieutenant Governor’s office. He is here today to present an urgent need grant certificate. If you could please come forward, Mr. Adams.

Steve Adams: Thank you so much, Commissioners. This is truly my honor and privilege to be down here on behalf of our Lieutenant Governor, Becky Skillman, today. I apologize that with this being an urgent need and such short notice, we could not arrange her schedule to come. But, she certainly will be down as the station progresses and things move forward through that process. As Secretary of Agriculture of Rural Development, Lieutenant Governor Skillman is definitely committed to our outlying areas, such as this station serves. Today is satisfying for not only myself, the Lieutenant Governor, Governor Daniels, and the entire Indiana Office of Rural Affairs, but also to the men and women of that community who know first hand what was faced in November. When thinking about this urgent need grant award, I am reminded of what Tammy Foreman told us last week. She said,”This is truly an urgent need. It’s obvious the fire response can be hampered with equipment housed at different homes, as it is now. I am encouraged with the new fire station that it will built by the end of this calendar year.” The quick pace of the project illustrates the urgent need for a new and safe facility, not only for the firefighters that are behind me and the team of those who are currently in their area, but the more than 4,000 residents who they serve. The Community Development Block Grant program, which is administered by our office and Lieutenant Governor Skillman, is an effective tool for community based initiatives, such as this, that improve local quality of life and foster economic opportunities. The Knight Township Volunteer Fire Department and the station fit the definition to a “t”. The station is important as we look to bring new economic opportunities to the area, many areas in the state, particularly this small, outlying area of Evansville. Fire protection is important in making communities more attractive to businesses, but, more importantly, the station provides the quality of life that tornado victims can attest to. After the tornado, volunteer firefighters didn’t sit down and complain, they did not worry that their own station was destroyed at that time. They did not have time to. They had their job to do, as they have done many other times, probably not to this degree, of course. You did your jobs, and you made a difference is what I can tell them on behalf of Governor Daniels and the Lieutenant Governor. Your work and dedication truly made an impression on Governor Daniels, Lieutenant Governor Skillman, the others from state government who toured the area those days following the November 6^th event. And, on behalf of the Lieutenant Governor, I thank you for your service and your courage, and it is my privilege today to be able to present this $500,000 urgent need Community Development Focus Fund Award to the Vanderburgh County Commissioners.

President Musgrave: Thank you. We are indeed very grateful. I was there the days that the Governor and Lieutenant Governor Skillman came to visit. I saw her react in the deepest emotional way to the debris that she saw. When she first came out of the helicopter and went down to the road there was a child’s doll laying in the street, and she was very deeply touched by what that meant. I could tell then that she was concerned and moved by what had happened to the people in Eastbrook Mobile Home, and, indeed, she has shown her caring through the process of this grant application, and making sure that future disasters will find the Knight Township Fire Department well prepared to meet them. So, please thank her on my behalf.

Steve Adams: I will do that.

Commissioner Shetler: The only comment that I would like to make is that I know you guys do, in fact, I believe you guys do all of the runs, don’t you, for the river? So, the 4,000 residents, you really serve all of this area when it comes to disasters on the river and waterways and stuff. I assume that this, in it’s proximity, is going to be right there on top of it and going to be very, very helpful. So, you know, this is going to be a tremendous asset for all of those folks going up and down, and for the emergencies that happen on the water, on our major waterway here at the Ohio River. So, I think this is going to be something that is going to help tremendously for the future, not just talking about what’s happened in the past, but for the future to come, you guys, you know, this is going to be a great asset for us. So, thank you.

Commissioner Nix: Once again, I really appreciate the guys, the job you guys did that day on the 6^th, and I know you guys are there all the time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and I just, I was there the day that that took place on the 6^th, and I just can’t say enough good things about what you guys have done. Also, to the state, Governor Daniels and Lieutenant Governor Skillman for the timeliness in which you put this together. This was turned around in a quick manner, and I think that shows that everybody’s working together on this.

President Musgrave: Thank you very much.

(The Knight Township Fire Department Firefighters approached the Commissioners to personally thank them.)

President Musgrave: We move now to another important local community issue, the dental clinic lease. Does the County Attorney wish to address that?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Well, we’ve been in the process of negotiating both this lease and then the dental clinic grant agreement which will be the next agenda item following this. Negotiations took place between, of course, the county and the County Council, and the Health Department, and in the case of the lease with Southwestern Indiana Mental Health, and in connection with the dental clinic, with the grant agreement with St. Mary’s Medical Center and Deaconess Hospital. The form of the agreement, which is before you today has been approved by all of the parties to those negotiations, and is satisfactory for execution, should you desire to approve it.

President Musgrave: Commissioner Shetler, I know you’ve worked on this.

Commissioner Shetler: I might just speak to it a second, and that is that, you know, first there may be questions out there of why a dental clinic and what’s the need for it? First, a lot of it’s being paid for by the hospitals, and one of the purposes is that they were seeing an extraordinary number of people that come in to the emergency room to get their dental care taken care of and the pain that they’re in. The only thing that they can do in most of those cases was to give them pain medication and stuff and send them on home so they could get a dentist. There’s a lot of infections that really begin in the mouth, and create other problems. It’s, this may be, really, a cheaper way to fight off some of the many illnesses that people, that we have to deal with later at the Health Department. So, it only makes good sense from a money saving way for the hospitals, it makes good sense for us to get involved in it, and it’s certainly something that does impact the entire body when you start having decay and different problems. So, I think it’s an area that’s been long overdue to deal with the situation. So, I will make a motion to approve.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: To clarify, was your motion for the dental clinic lease and the dental clinic grant agreement?

Commissioner Shetler: Does that need to be separate?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: No, they don’t have to be separate. You have to approve both of them.

Commissioner Shetler: It was for both.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Musgrave: Alright. So, we covered that.

President Musgrave: The Barnes and Thornburg agreement amendment. I know that the County Attorney also worked with our lobbyist on this issue.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Yes, previously the Commissioners entered into agreements with Barnes and Thornburg to provide lobbying services for the county at two levels, one for federal lobbying, and the other for lobbying with the Indiana state legislature. It’s developed that the county also is in need, from time to time, with lobbying services for the executive branch of the government, and Governor Daniels has instituted some executive orders relative to lobbying the executive branch. That makes it necessary for Barnes and Thornburg, as our selected lobbyist, to have a separate agreement for lobbying the executive, and a separate agreement for lobbying the legislative branch. So, what they’ve done is modify, you have an amendment here to consider today, which modifies the state legislative lobbying agreement to reduce the cost of that by $12,000 a year, and then they have a separate agreement for executive lobbying services which they agreed to do for $12,000 a year. The net dollar effect is zero to the county, but we will have formalized receiving both legislative and executive lobbying services.

President Musgrave: Is there a motion to approve?

Commissioner Shetler: So moved.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: The motion carries.

President Musgrave: Public Defender, Bob Canada agreement. I understand this is just to provide professional services and is essentially the routine contract with the Public Defenders. Are there any questions?

Commissioner Nix: Move approval.

Commissioner Shetler: I’ll second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: We come now to department head reports. I understand that County Engineer, John Stoll, has some items to bring forward.

John Stoll: First I would like to request approval to work with the Auditor’s office to get some money moved from the TIF bond account for Burkhardt Road to an account set up for the Green River Road and Lynch Road intersection improvements. Those improvements would consist of a right turn lane on the east, west and south legs of the intersection, and a median along the south leg of the intersection. I would like to set aside $53,000, and in reference with the County Auditor’s office, the account number would be 4313. I just want your approval to work with Bill’s office to move that money over.

Commissioner Nix: Move approval.

Commissioner Shetler: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: The motion carries.

John Stoll: Then once we have that, now that we’re getting that money set aside, I would like approval for the agreement we have with Beam Longest and Neff for $53,000 for the design of the turn lanes and median, as I just mentioned. This is at the intersection of Green River Road and Lynch Road. I had the County Attorney review the agreement, it was acceptable to him.

Commissioner Shetler: So moved.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: The motion carries.

John Stoll: Next, I have a request for street acceptance. This is Stellar Drive, and it’s along the south side of Eagle Village Apartments. This street was inspected and found to be in acceptable condition. The developer has complied with the extra right-of-way dedication that was required in conjunction with his development. So, I would request approval of the street acceptance.

Commissioner Nix: Is there a one year warranty on that from the date of acceptance?

John Stoll: Yes.

Commissioner Nix: Okay. Move approval.

Commissioner Shetler: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: The motion carries.

John Stoll: Next, I would like to request the Commissioners sign off on three notice of termination of construction activity letters for IDEM. This is for the Mt. Pleasant Road project, the Oak Hill and St. George intersection project, and the Lyle Road project. These are all projects that have been finished within the last six months, and we just found in the files that we hadn’t filed the correct paperwork as of yet. So, I’m requesting that the Commissioners sign off on that.

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Shetler: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: The motion carries.

John Stoll: Then, the last item is also in regard to the Lyle Road project. We also need to submit a compliance certification to the Corp of Engineers on that project. I was the original, I signed the original paperwork on that, so, I would like to request your approval for me to go ahead and sign off on that again to certify that we complied with the Corp permit.

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Shetler: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: The motion carries.

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

Commissioner Nix: Thank you.

John Stoll: Thanks.

President Musgrave: I understand that Mike Duckworth is asking us to amend the consent agenda in order to file some travel requests. So, when we come to the consent agenda, if you will accept it as an amendment. Are there any other department heads with items to bring forward? I see none.

President Musgrave: We move now to new business. Commissioners, the university grant application to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, if you will recall, last year we filed this grant with the federal government and received, I believe it was $1.6 million for University Parkway. The time has come around again to file the grant application. County Engineer Stoll and I spent several hours this morning going over those documents again. It looks like we will be asking for $13.8 million dollars, and that would represent the projected construction costs for the rest of the roadway between where it currently ends now at Hogue Road up to Diamond Avenue, State Road 66. So, we’re very hopeful. It would be wonderful to get the $13.8 million in construction that we need. Anyone who can help us with that process, we would definitely take your letters of support. The only other item on the agenda is Commissioner Shetler’s Major Moves testimony.

Commissioner Shetler: Speaking of letters of support, that’s, I will be going to Indianapolis on Thursday to testify in a hearing for the I-69 project that definitely needs to happen. When you just look at the hundreds of millions of dollars of economic development that has occurred on the spur that happened on I-164 on northern Vanderburgh County and eastern Vanderburgh County, you know, I can’t imagine what I-69 will do for us, but, it will be tremendous. While we have that, we have it down there for basically a technicality, I don’t claim, you know, I will not be claiming any money, just to let you know in case of any insurance purposes there that might arise.

President Musgrave: Old business? Commissioner Nix?

Commissioner Nix: Yes, we have a district one road hearing tomorrow evening at 5:30 at Plaza Park Middle School. That will be in the cafeteria at Plaza Park, and I understand there will be some signage, there’s some construction going on at Plaza Park School right now, but there will be some signage there directing you around to the cafeteria. We would really like to get some input from the public on what we can do with roads and any other projects that we have coming up within the next year or so. So, if you can make it out for the meeting, it would sure be appreciated. Once again, it’s at 5:30 at Plaza Park Middle School, 5:30 to 7:00 in the cafeteria.

President Musgrave: We come now to the item on our agenda as public comment. Is there anyone wishing to address the Commission on an item over which the Commissioners have authority? I see no one.

President Musgrave: Is there a motion to accept the consent items as amended?

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Shetler: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: That concludes the Commissioners meeting, if there’s a motion to adjourn?

Commissioner Nix: Motion to adjourn.

Commissioner Shetler: I’ll second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

Commissioners: Aye.

(The meeting was adjourned at 3:53 p.m.)

CONSENT ITEMS:

Employment Changes:

Knight Assessor (1)                  VCCC (Drug Court) (1)             Burdette Park (1)

Circuit Court (1)                        Co-Op Extension (1)                 County Clerk (1)

VCCC (1)                                  Health Department (1)

Travel Requests:

Commissioners (2)                   Treasurer (2)                            DADS (1)

Health Department (3)              County Highway (1)

Auditor:

A/P Vouchers.

Use of Center-Waiver of Fees- Not Overtime-PERF meeting.

German Township Trustee: 2006 Poor Relief Standard Guidelines.

Health Department:

State Record of Appointment of Local Health Officer.

Surplus Letter: computers, monitors, printers.

Commissioners:

Jail Construction Payment: Requisition No. 77: $489,631.24

EPD- Use of Centre-Waiver of Fees-Not Overtime: homicide school.

Vision-e Monthly Report-January 2006.

Department Head Meeting Notes: February 7, 2006

Purdue Co-Op Extension: Business Distributors Inc. Maintenance Agreement

Recorder: Surplus letter: printer.

Public Defender: Surplus letter: table and chairs.

Superior Court: Surplus letter: fax machines.

Department Head Reports:

Burdette Park                           County Highway                       County Engineer

Ozone Officer                           Supt. Of Bldgs.                         SWCD

Veterans Service                      CIO

Those in Attendance:

Cheryl Musgrave                      Bill Nix                                      Tom Shetler

Bill Fluty                                    Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.                    B.J. Farrell

Madelyn Grayson                     Steve Adams                            John Stoll

Others Unidentified                   Members of Media

VANDERBURGH COUNTY

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

Cheryl A.W. Musgrave, President

Bill Nix, Vice President

Tom Shetler, Jr., Member

Recorded and transcribed by Madelyn Grayson.