VANDERBURGH COUNTY

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

JANUARY 15, 2008

The Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners met in session this 15^th day of January, 2008 at 5:03 p.m. in room 301 of the Civic Center Complex with President Jeff Korb presiding.

President Korb: Good afternoon. We’re going to call the January 15, 2008 meeting of the County Commissioners to order right now. It’s approximately 5:03 p.m. We’re sorry for the late start. Introductions, please, to my right?

Marissa Nichoalds: Marissa Nichoalds, Superintendent of County Buildings.

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

Commissioner Nix: Bill Nix, County Commissioner.

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: If you would, please, join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

(The Pledge of Allegiance was given.)

President Korb: Let’s start this afternoon with action items, with a first reading please. Does somebody want to do that? Ted?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Yeah, the first item on your agenda is the first reading of an ordinance concerning street signs and traffic control signs, which is county ordinance 01-08-002. You need a motion and a second and a vote on that first reading.

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Korb: All those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

Commissioner Nix: You need a roll call.

Commissioner Tornatta: Roll call.

President Korb: Roll call vote please.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Yes, go ahead.

President Korb: Commissioner Nix?

Commissioner Nix: I vote yes.

President Korb: Commissioner Tornatta?

Commissioner Tornatta: Yes.

President Korb: Commissioner Korb votes yes.

Commissioner Nix: When will that second reading take place? Do we have that determined yet?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Sure, it can be next week.

Commissioner Nix: Okay.

Madelyn Grayson: We don’t meet next week.

Commissioner Nix: Actually it will be the 29^th.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Yeah, on the 29^th. Next meeting, I mean.

Commissioner Nix: Okay.

President Korb: Right.

Commissioner Nix: Thank you.

President Korb: Alright, moving on to department head reports. Mr. Stoll?

Commissioner Tornatta: Contracts, leases and agreements.

President Korb: Oh, okay.

Commissioner Tornatta: Want to do that real quick?

President Korb: Hang on, John. Back up, contracts, agreements and leases. We have Computer Services, Microsoft Select agreement; supplemental agreement number three with Bernardin Lochmueller for Green River Road; Burdette Park, AT&T yellow pages agreement for advertising; right-of-way encroachment agreement for Camden Farms; Health Department, Mulberry Center counseling services agreement; Superior Court, renewal contract between CASA and the Juvenile Court; and renewal of Youth Services Bureau contract with Juvenile Court.

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

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Korb: All those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

President Korb: Now are we ready for Mr. Stoll? Mr. Stoll? This is an aerobic deal here for you today, John. So, back and forth, back and forth.

John Stoll: I need the exercise.

President Korb: There you go.

John Stoll: The first item I have is an administrative settlement letter for parcel 12 on Green River Road. This is owned by Thomas Hollis. We had an original offer amount of $4,900, but there was an extra drainage easement that had to be added as part of the project. So, an additional $110 is requested to be added on there for a grand total of $5,010 for the new, amended offer.

Commissioner Tornatta: So moved.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Korb: All those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

John Stoll: Then, I also have another administrative settlement letter. This is on parcel 25 owned by Jeffrey Head. Back in December I had brought an amended offer that increased the offer to Mr. Head by $100. That was an incorrect calculation. It should have been $250. So, I’m requesting a new administrative settlement to increase the original offer from $1,500 to $1,750. This is also to cover an additional drainage easement.

Commissioner Nix: Move approval.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Korb: A motion has been made and seconded. All those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

John Stoll: Next, I wanted to give you an update on the St. Joe Avenue bridge replacement project. The contractor started out there yesterday, and, by contract, he has four weeks to complete the project. So, he has until February 14^th to complete it, unless he requests a time extension, due to bad weather. So, the project is going on now, and, hopefully, we’ll have enough good weather that the project gets done in the time frames allotted in the contract. Then, next, I have a street acceptance request. This is for Section Two of The Glenns Subdivision. It’s 460 feet of Mariner Drive, 397 feet of Jazmyne Court, and 1,221 feet of Bronson Lane.

Commissioner Nix: Move approval.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Korb: A motion has been made and been seconded. All those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

John Stoll: Then, the only other thing is in regard to the Green River Road supplemental agreement, that covers the alternate bid design for keeping the road open during construction. It covers the sanitary sewer extension that would be required to serve one parcel. We’re going to have to make some changes to the design of the entrance at the soccer park. This adds a right turn lane into that. It also provides for a wetland mitigation site selection, and wetland mitigation site design. So, I just wanted to give you what the scope of work was. Other than that, that’s all I have, unless you have any questions.

President Korb: Questions? Thank you, Mr. Stoll.

John Stoll: Thanks.

President Korb: Appreciate your time.

President Korb: Mr. Ziemer?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Thank you. I just have one item that’s not on the agenda, about which I have e-mailed the Commissioner about. This is an agreement with Thermo Fisher to provide lead based paint analysis for the Health Department. They propose to do, this is a single source purchase, which you can accomplish as a special purchase without bidding under Indiana law. If the Commissioners wish to approve this, which it is satisfactory for execution from a legal perspective, I would suggest that the motion indicate that you move approval, as a special purchase under IC 5-22-10-12 and IC5-22-10-13.

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Korb: Thank you. The motion’s been made and seconded. All those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

President Korb: Next we have board appointments. We have the PTBOA board. We have Aaron Kendall listed. Also, we have the Construction and Roofing Board appointment of John Elpers and Steve Heidorn. I need a motion please.

Commissioner Tornatta: So moved.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Korb: A motion has been made and seconded. All those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

President Korb: New business, discussion of the creation of a County Parks Board. Ted, we have an e-mail that you sent to us. I don’t know if the other Commissioners have received that.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: They’ve all gotten it. I don’t know whether they’ve opened it or not, but it was sent to everybody.

Commissioner Nix: I read everything you send me.

President Korb: Can you review that for us and the people in the audience, please?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Sure.

President Korb: Marissa, I have copies on my desk. Could you go get those for us, please? Go ahead, Ted.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Well, the county owns the real estate on which currently is located the Hamilton Golf Course. The question has come up as to how that property can be handled when the lease, the current lease of that property expires, I think, in 2009. And, basically, you could, well, there are three things you can do with that property. One, you could treat it like you do Burdette Park, and proceed to operate a golf course there, with a manager that you would employ, all done with funds appropriated by the County Council, and it would be like a second Burdette Park, but it would be a golf course. That’s one thing you can do. The second thing you could do would be to lease the property to an entity that wishes to lease it to operate a golf course, or for whatever other public purpose they wanted to operate it. To do that, you could only lease it for up to three years, unless you had the approval of the County Council. In which case you could lease it for more than three years. In any case, you have to advertise for the lease and accept bids, and those bids would typically include what the prospective tenant is willing to pay by way of lease payments, what sort of capital improvements they might be willing to make to the property, what sort of services they plan to offer and so forth, and then you would review those and accept what you believe to be the most responsible and responsive bid to lease the property. Then you could proceed to lease it. As I say, it can only be for three years unless you had County Council approval, and in the initial go round you could not lease it for less than 90 percent of the appraised rental value of the property. If it did not lease at that figure initially, then you could readvertise and rebid, then you could lease it for any lease amount that you wish to. The third thing that you could do is to create a County Department of Parks and Recreation. If you do that, then Burdette Park and this facility, the property where Hamilton Golf Course is now located, would become part of the County Department of Parks and Recreation. To do that, an ordinance has to be initiated by the Vanderburgh County Council, not by the Vanderburgh County Commissioners, the Vanderburgh County Council would have to initiate an ordinance to create a County Park Department. If the department were created, it would have nine, well, let me see, maybe not nine. Two, three, five, six, it would have six members; two appointed by the Circuit Court Judge, one a Republican and one a Democrat; one member appointed by the Commissioners; one member appointed by the Mayor, they would have to be of opposite political parties; and two members appointed by the County Council, one Republican and one Democrat. Those individuals would take title to the park property and would operate the parks. If we did it through a Department of Parks and Recreation, we would be able to lease the property without any other approvals through the Park Department for up to 50 years. And, if we were leasing it to a non-profit corporation for the purpose of developing a golf course, we could do that without seeking bids. If we don’t meet those two criteria, that is use it as a golf course and rent it to an Indiana non-profit corporation, then we could still lease it, the Park Department could still lease it for up to 50 years, but they would have to accept bids on the property, just as you would have to do if you were leasing it not being a Parks Department. So, basically, those are you’re alternatives. You know, I would be glad to answer any questions, or help you anyway I can.

President Korb: This is a result of Hamilton’s Golf Course coming up, the lease coming up in 2009. Commissioners, we’ve all been to those meetings. Feedback, discussion on this?

Commissioner Nix: I know, Commissioner Korb, you’ve had some conversation with the family, I guess, over the last few weeks, and I really would like to sit down with them one on one, one more time, to talk to them. You know, we’ve kind of got these options laid out on the table. I don’t know that this is necessarily maybe all the options we’ve got. Maybe there’s something else out there that we can do besides one of these three things. I don’t want to step on your toes here.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: No, you can step on my toes. That’s alright.

Commissioner Nix: Just to be, to try and keep, to be open minded about this. So, like I said, I would like to meet with them one more time. Then, I think we just need to keep this on the radar screen, because it is coming up. In all courtesy to the Hamilton family, or whoever would end up with the golf course, or whatever it might be, planning is a lot of making this all work. That was the reason why we took this on as early as we did, so that whoever was to take this would have the opportunity to plan events and that as we move forward. I would like to spend, get with the family at least one more time and talk to them one on one.

President Korb: Commissioner Tornatta?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Excuse me, just a comment as to what you said. There are lots of things you can do, but, legally you can only lease the property one of the three ways that I’ve described.

Commissioner Nix: I understand.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Okay.

Commissioner Nix: And I wasn’t trying to do anything illegal. Unless he doesn’t know about it. No.

Commissioner Tornatta: I agree. In fact, I’ve got an appointment to talk with the management out there and just see what kind of things are going on. So, I think it’s good that we’re looking at some different opportunities here, and not getting too rash in how we come out with our recommendations. So, in lieu of that, I would like to see us take whatever time we need, but do it in a timely manner, and go out and see what we can come back with. Maybe in the next 30 to 60 days start to formulate some of our recommendations.

President Korb: Mr. Ziemer, I just want to be sure I understand this correctly. If we were to form a Parks Board, you indicated that we as the County, not just the Commissioners, but the County would relinquish its control of that property to the Parks Board?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Yes.

President Korb: Then you said though that they would be responsible, liable, what is there function as a Parks Board? They just–

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: They operate the park. Instead of, for example, Vanderburgh County itself operates Burdette Park. If you create a Park Board and Park Department, that department would operate Burdette Park. You would no longer operate Burdette Park. You would have one appointment to that board, period. That’s as much control as the Commissioners would have. Not that control is an issue at all, but it would be the Parks Department that does this in the future, not the County Commissioners.

President Korb: If we have to take a look at the option of renewing the lease and/or from a competitive standpoint, leasing that golf course to another person who wants to run it, we have to set up the Parks Board to do that? How does that–

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: You don’t have to set up a Parks Board to do that. You could, for example, you could just let the lease end, and decide that you wanted to engage Mr. Hamilton to be the manager of the Vanderburgh County Golf Course. You would fund it, and he would be the manager, or somebody else would be the, anybody you wanted to employ. Just like Steve Craig is the manager of Burdette Park, you would have a manager of Hamilton Golf Course. That’s one thing you could do. The second thing you could do would be to lease the property to anybody you want to for up to three years, and more than that only if you get County Council approval, and you must bid that out to be able to do that. The third way is to form a Park Department, in which case you can lease it for up to 50 years without anybody’s approval, not you, the Parks Department, and they have to again bid it out, unless they’re going to lease it to a non-profit, an Indiana non-profit organization for purposes of operating a golf course.

Commissioner Tornatta: But, then we would set up, if we had, let’s say we took this on that we would essentially have an advisory board? We would set something like that up in that scenario? Is that, kind of like Burdette Park has.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Yeah, Burdette Park currently has a Burdette Park Advisory Board. They aren’t a decision making board, but they do give advice to the Commissioners as to the manner of operating Burdette Park. They’re not a creature of statute. That was just created by County ordinance.

President Korb: Well, let’s talk further with the Hamilton’s. I mean, that’s been our desire from the get go, and seek their input, and we’ll just go from there. Is that okay? Agreeing with everybody? Good. I’ll facilitate that.

President Korb: Do we have any other department heads that need to give a report? Mr. Duckworth, would you like to come forth? I’ve already had a few phone calls about the snow, but you’ve got a logical explanation. For those of us who were up early in the morning, we know that at 4:00 a.m. there was no snow, and at 5:10, there was.

Mike Duckworth: I think you just gave the report.

President Korb: Well, go ahead.

Mike Duckworth: It was one of those snow events that hit right at the wrong time. The forecast didn’t help any, as well, because it didn’t allow us to be prepared and pre-treat the roads. The forecast was dry conditions and flurries only. You get those kinds of forecasts many times and they don’t pan out. This was a time that the systems changed and we got dropped on. So, and, we were out on the streets by 6:15-6:20, and did all we could. I think by 8:45 to 9:00 the roads were clear. So, we have another system coming forward, we’re pre-treating the roads because we anticipate that it will have some accumulation, and we will move forward with that. The reason I came forward is that one of the next items on the agenda has to do with the 2008 road hearings. I have e-mailed the Commissioners, and Commissioner Tornatta indicated back to me about a specific date. We’re looking at the Wednesdays in February. So, I would ask that you, Commissioner Korb and Commissioner Nix, look at your calendars, maybe by next meeting we can announce those dates.

Commissioner Nix: Okay, the only glitch in that is we’re not going to have a meeting next week. The following week is the 29^th. That’s not going to leave us a whole lot of time in February for people that are planning this. I’m okay with giving you a date today.

Mike Duckworth: Okay.

Commissioner Nix: We can go ahead and get this out to the media so they know too.

Commissioner Tornatta: I’ve got a date and a place.

Commissioner Nix: You’re good to go then, Commissioner.

Commissioner Tornatta: Yeah.

President Korb: Didn’t we pick a date, Marissa, for me? My, I know we’ve got a place, Helfrich School.

Mike Duckworth: Well, that has to be approved through the schools, but they’ve allowed us to use Helfrich Park and Plaza Park in the past–

President Korb: Sure.

Mike Duckworth: –and I would surely–

Commissioner Tornatta: The principal of Oak Hill School, I talked to Mr. Wempe, he said he’s fine, he’s cleared the schedule from 6:00 to 8:00.

Commissioner Nix: On the 27^th?

Commissioner Tornatta: On the 27^th.

Commissioner Nix: Okay. I’m good for the 13^th or the 20^th.

Commissioner Tornatta: Okay.

Commissioner Nix: I don’t know what your schedule is, Commissioner.

President Korb: I’ll be out of town on the 6^th and the 7^th, so, anytime that you want to pick that’s convenient for the public, or that coordinates with the other two.

Commissioner Tornatta: I was just out on the 20^th. If you could do the 13^th, that would be great. I would love to be there, but I will be away on the 20^th.

Commissioner Nix: What about, I could do the–

Mike Duckworth: You could go into the first week of March. That wouldn’t be a problem.

Commissioner Nix: I could do the 21^st. Are you good for the 13^th?

President Korb: Troy, when are you having yours?

Commissioner Nix: The 27^th.

Commissioner Tornatta: Oh, I’m going to be gone starting the 20^th.

Commissioner Nix: Okay.

President Korb: I’ll take the 13^th.

Commissioner Nix: Okay, then I can just do the first week in March then. March the 5^th. Is that okay? Could you check with Plaza and see if that’s okay?

Mike Duckworth: Yes, I will.

Commissioner Tornatta: Road school.

Commissioner Nix: The 5^th is? Oops. How about the 6th?

Mike Duckworth: The 5^th of March?

Commissioner Tornatta: Is it not?

Mike Duckworth: No, it’s the week, road school is the last week in March.

Commissioner Nix: The last week in March?

Mike Duckworth: The 26^th, 27^th and 28^th, I believe.

Commissioner Tornatta: Okay. It wasn’t last year.

Mike Duckworth: I know. It’s during Spring Break this year.

Commissioner Tornatta: It is? Okay.

President Korb: You’re not smiling about that, Mr. Duckworth.

Commissioner Nix: I’m okay on the 5^th.

Commissioner Tornatta: Okay, if that doesn’t correspond with road school, I’m okay.

Mike Duckworth: We’ll double check that.

Commissioner Tornatta: Okay.

Mike Duckworth: Those are your dates and locations. We’ll put a release out to that effect within the next couple of days.

Commissioner Nix: So, the 13^th for–

President Korb: Helfrich Park Middle School, would you check on that for me?

Mike Duckworth: Yes, yes, I will.

Commissioner Tornatta: And I’m 6:00, are we doing it, what’s the time?

Commissioner Nix: 6:00.

Mike Duckworth: 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Commissioner Nix: Does that work?

Commissioner Tornatta: Yeah, 6:00 to 8:00 at the gymnasium at Oak Hill School.

Commissioner Nix: Okay.

Commissioner Tornatta: So, it’s the side load over at Oak Hill School.

Commissioner Nix: And, I guess, when you get all the information from the schools, if you could maybe get with Marissa and we’ll release that out to the media.

Mike Duckworth: We’ll ask the media to share that with the public.

President Korb: That will be great.

Mike Duckworth: Okay. That’s all I have.

Commissioner Nix: Let me say something on the road hearings. Please, please, this is the time when we plan what we do for the whole year for paving. I know we’ve done this the last, this will be my fourth year now. It’s really important that we get this information together so we know what to plan for. I know we get a lot of people come in June and July, hey, I need a section of my road paved. Well, we’ve got it all mapped out already. So, it’s important that we get this information gathered together. We know how much money we can spend on these projects, and we have to prioritize this. I know there was a few things we didn’t get done last year that we want to do this year. So, we need the public’s input to get this taken care of.

Mike Duckworth: In addition to that, I would say somewhere around the first part of April we do a pothole blitz with the City. So, regardless of if you live in the City or the County, you can call in during that week, and if you happen to get the wrong number, we’ll get the information to the other agency.

President Korb: What is the right number, Mr. Duckworth?

Mike Duckworth: Our number is 435-5777.

President Korb: Can you repeat that?

Mike Duckworth: 435-5777.

President Korb: And that’s for pothole repair anywhere, City or County?

Mike Duckworth: Yeah, we’ll put the work orders in now. We’ll start accumulating those. Now is not a good time–

President Korb: Right.

Mike Duckworth: –the mix isn’t available, the weather conditions aren’t good, but once the weather breaks, usually about the first part of April–

President Korb: Okay.

Mike Duckworth: –we’ll have a pothole blitz with the City. We’ll get the small areas taken care of. Then we’ll, you know, have our road hearings where we’ll prioritize and meet with the Commissioners and let you set down what those areas that will be fixed in this year’s monies allocated by the Council. I will point out to you that we have a little bit less money this year. So, we’re really looking at what we have. I’ve been told that put this list together, and we’ll see what it comes up to, our estimations, and then if we would, we may have a possibility to go back to the Council, as we did last year, if there’s money available. I think they would consider that. We’ll do that as well.

President Korb: Great. Thanks, Mr. Duckworth.

Mike Duckworth: Thank you.

President Korb: I appreciate that. Any other questions for Mr. Duckworth from the Commissioners?

President Korb: Alright, old business. I’m sorry, any other department heads that are out there. Any reports. No? Seeing none. Old business, please. Any old business? Seeing no old business.

President Korb: We’ll move on to public comment. Anybody in the audience wish to come up and–

Janice Wittgen: Can I tell you what a nice job that the County does on the roads? Much better than the City.

Commissioner Nix: We need to hear this.

Commissioner Tornatta: You’ve got to come up on that one.

President Korb: Yeah.

Janice Wittgen: Okay, I think I told–

Commissioner Tornatta: You’ve got to say your name.

Janice Wittgen: I think I’ve told Mr. Duckworth before that they do a wonderful job out there. You guys in the County. You could go up Old State and you hit the City, I mean, they’re working at it, but I think we get a double A out in the County. Thank you.

Madelyn Grayson: Ma’am, what’s your name for the record?

Mike Duckworth: It’s Mrs. Duckworth.

President Korb: Please, dear God, no.

Janice Wittgen: Janice Wittgen, and I’ve been a Wittgen for 50 years.

Commissioner Nix: Mrs. Wittgen, if you could, before you pay him that ten dollars, make sure you’re around the corner outside the door for us please.

Janice Wittgen: Sure thing. Sure thing.

President Korb: You’re killing me here, Mr. Nix. Any other public comment? For those that are watching, this is the main reason why we’ve moved these meetings to 5:00 is so that more public people can come and have input. So, if you’re watching please feel free to do that.

President Korb: Consent items please. I need approval of the January 8, 2008 Commission meeting minutes.

Commissioner Nix: I move approval, I move that we approve all consent items.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Korb: A motion has been made, and there’s a second. Any discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. Motion for adjournment.

Commissioner Tornatta: So moved.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

(The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 p.m.)

CONSENT ITEMS:

Commissioners:

Approval of the January 8, 2008 Commission Meeting Minutes.

Approval of the January 9, 2008 Executive Session Summary Minutes.

Hillcrest-Washington Youth Home Payment for 4^th Quarter: 2007 Fees.

IBAP Gatekeeper: Monthly Report, Thank You Letter & 2007 Financial Report.

Evansville ARC: Monthly Report: December 2007.

Department Head Meeting Notes: January 8, 2008.

Employment Changes:

Health Department (1)              County Highway (1)                  VCCC (5)

Coroner (2)                               County Clerk (1)                       Sheriff (6)

Public Defender (1)                  Superior Court (2)                     County Assr. (1)

Travel Requests:

Health Department (6)              County Engineer (2)                 Burdette Park (1)

County Engineer: Pay Request No. 42 for Green River-Burkhardt TIF Projects.

Legal Aid: December 2007 Statistics & September 2007 Client Survey.

Circuit Court: Surplus Request Letter: 7 phones.

Treasurer: Year-to-Date Investment Report: December 2007.

Department Head Reports:

County Highway                       County Engineer                       Ozone Officer

Veterans Services

Those in Attendance:

Jeff Korb                                   Bill Nix                                      Troy Tornatta

Bill Fluty                                    Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.          Marissa Nichoalds

Madelyn Grayson                     John Stoll                                  Mike Duckworth

Janice Wittgen                          Others Unidentified                   Members of Media

VANDERBURGH COUNTY

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

Jeff Korb, President

Bill Nix, Vice President

Troy Tornatta, Member

(Recorded and transcribed by Madelyn Grayson.)