VANDERBURGH COUNTY

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

JUNE 19, 2007

The Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners met in session this 19^th day of June, 2007 at 3:30 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 June 19^th meeting of the Board of Commissioners of Vanderburgh County. It is approximately 3:30. We’ll start with introductions.

Marissa Nichoalds: Marissa Nichoalds, Superintendent of County Buildings.

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

Commissioner Nix: Bill Nix, County Commissioner.

President Musgrave: Cheryl Musgrave, Commissioner.

Madelyn Grayson: Madelyn Grayson, Recording Secretary.

Bill Fluty: Bill Fluty, County Auditor.

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

(The Pledge of Allegiance was given.)

President Musgrave: First item on the agenda is the permission to open quotes, VC07-06-01, Boonville-New Harmony Road culvert number 192 repair. I know Ms. Spalding is out today, does anyone have those quotes? Oh, you have the quotes. Alright, we’re just going to open the quotes today.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: What, these?

President Musgrave: Those.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Yes.

President Musgrave: Alright, ready to go?

Commissioner Nix: Move approval.

President Musgrave: I’ll second. All those in favor? Aye.

Commissioner Nix: Aye.

President Musgrave: Motion approved.

President Musgrave: Our first action item is to welcome the Evansville ARC, A-R-C, to give their quarterly update. Beth Lowery is here, or, Beth, no.

Commissioner Nix: Mr. Crenshaw.

President Musgrave: Mr. Crenshaw is here. My notes are incorrect. I’m sorry to misidentify you, sir.

Newt Crenshaw: Newt Crenshaw, I’m president of the board at Evansville ARC. Thank you very much for this time. I want to let you know that in the past you’ve been given updates on different aspects of Evansville ARC, and today we would like to spotlight ARC Industries. As you know, ARC has served individuals with disabilities for over 50 years. ARC Industries began as a work training program in 1963, called McDonald Hopeland, with 34 students. It basically worked during the school year, so, they got summers off. We don’t get summers off anymore. We work around the clock. It’s a sheltered workshop, and individuals with disabilities have access to a variety of supports to assist them in the workplace, such as nursing and support staff. Flexible scheduling, vocational training and transportation services are benefits that ARC Industries offers it’s clients. Without these types of supports, these individuals would find it difficult to find paid employment. In 2004, ARC added a 50,000 square foot facility that provides competitive employment to both individuals with and without disabilities. This assembly and packaging facility provides revenue to support the programs at Evansville ARC. ARC Industries now employs over 300 individuals, over 200 of which have some type of disability. I would like to take this special opportunity to introduce to you Patty Davidson, a Special Education instructor at USI and her son, Zach, to tell you more about the impact that ARC Industries has had on their life and family. Thank you.

President Musgrave: Welcome.

Patty Davidson: Good afternoon. Thank you for having us here today. I’m Patty Davidson. This is my son, Zachary. Zachary works at ARC Industries, and maybe he could share a little bit with you about what he does there.

Zachary Davidson: This week we do buckets. I do handles on them. I trace them, and then I do handles on the buckets, but I’m pretty much done for the day. I’m gone for most of the day, and then–

Patty Davidson: Five days.

Zachary Davidson: –five days I work, and I work five days, and I, five days I work.

Patty Davidson: Very hard.

Zachary Davidson: And I work hard, and that’s it. I just, you know, okay, thank you. Thank you.

Commissioner Nix: Thank you.

Patty Davidson: We moved here about three years ago. My husband works for Deaconess Hospital. When we were looking at places to relocate, one of the things, one of the main concerns that we had in coming to Evansville was whether or not there would be services available for our son. It’s always a primary concern of ours. He accepted a position at Deaconess Hospital only after we were assured that there were services available for Zach, and that he would be able to be gainfully employed and in an environment that was caring and nurturing. As a Special Ed instructor out at USI, I find that that’s exactly what our son, Zach, needs. If it wasn’t for the ARC, bottom line is I would not be able to further educate Special Education teachers, and that’s what I do now. I’m able to do that only because the ARC is here for us. Zach works five days a week from 8:30 until 1:00, and his schedule allows me to work also. So, we would just, we, it means so much to us to have ARC as a part of our life. We appreciate what they do for us as a family. Thank you.

President Musgrave: Thank you, Mrs. Davidson. Ms. Mangold?

Amy Mangold: Just to wrap up, we want to again say thank you for the support that the county has given to us. If you would ever like anymore information on any of our programs or services, you can visit our website evansvillearc.org, and we always invite everyone for personal tours of our programs and services for people to learn a little bit more about all the services that we have to offer. We, again, thank you very much for all the support that you have given us in the past.

President Musgrave: Thank you for the update.

Commissioner Nix: Just, I guess, just for public information, can one of you speak on the, basically, what all takes place out at ARC Industries, and some of the customers that you guys work with out there? I think that would be helpful.

Deidra Conner: Sure.

Commissioner Nix: Give people a perspective of what goes on out there.

Deidra Conner: Absolutely. ARC Industries provides work opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities. It is a true life manufacturing facility. We’re ISO registered. We’re also FDA certified. We do a variety of packaging and assembly work. When Zach referred to the buckets, we have a contract, a long standing contract with Berry Plastics. Berry produces buckets and handles, but they need the handles attached to the buckets. We have a clean room facility where we package baby bottles for moms who are breast feeding. We do a variety of packaging assembly for Ameriqual. We actually work on-site and prepare MRE packages for the military and for humanitarian rations. We do work for Barton Brands out of Owensboro, Kentucky. A wide variety of local companies who contract us for packaging, assembly, simple assembly, those kinds of things. So, it is a true, real life manufacturing environment where people with disabilities, even significant disabilities, have the support, nursing, case management, transportation, so, they can be gainfully employed. We would love to have any, or all of you out for a tour anytime. Do you have any questions for me or our guests?

President Musgrave: Just where is your facility located?

Deidra Conner: The manufacturing facility is located on Kotter Avenue, off of Old Boonville Highway, and then our other adult and children’s programs are at 615 West Virginia next to Deaconess Hospital. You can call me, Deidra Conner, or Amy Mangold at 428-4500 for tours or information about programs. Thank you so much.

Commissioner Nix: Thanks.

President Musgrave: Thank you very much.

President Musgrave: The Coalition to End Homelessness is also here to give their update. This is one of the numerous boards and commissions that the Commissioners appoint members to. We have invited each of those boards to come and tell us a little bit about themselves. Today we are happy to welcome the Coalition on Homelessness.

Luzada Hayes: Thank you. I am Luzada Hayes. I serve as the resource coordinator for Destination Home. I also serve as staff support for the joint city-county Commission on Homelessness. Commissioner Tornatta is currently the chair of that commission. He and the Mayor will rotate that, but Troy will be chair through December. Just wanted, in your packet, to give you a brief update in a short amount of time. One of the major focuses of Destination Home in the early years is to increase promotion and awareness of homelessness, dispel the myths, and to promote the plan itself. So, we’ve actually established a designated website that individuals are able to access to learn about the strategies and ways that they can get involved. Our plan is actually listed on a national website as well, with the National Alliance to End Homelessness. It’s also on the city-county joint website too. We have been contacted by a community, Eerie, Pennsylvania, which apparently is very similar to Evansville. They will be sending two representatives down here on July 10^th to actually interview us, meet with the different committees and coalitions that it takes to not only plan Destination Home, but to implement it, so that they can learn and take back. The primary way they found us was through the website, and she said after scouring the country they decided that they really liked our plan, and felt like we had some similarities that they could really learn from and take back. We’ve also created a Housing Matters campaign. In your packet you will see a t-shirt order form to promote Housing Matters. Our first attack with this campaign this year was to meet, to attend the legislative Meet Your Legislator sessions that were held, to really promote, there was a state effort to get a designated funding stream for the State Housing Trust Fund. So, that was our first effort with Housing Matters. We are pleased that the state did set aside designated funding. This is the first time that Indiana has designated funding for affordable housing. So, we are very pleased with that. Part of Destination Home strategies are to increase coordination of services. So, last year when I was giving this update, I believe it was Commissioner Nix asked, “How will we know when we have arrived? How will we know that we have ended homelessness?” The Hoosier Management Information System is the way that we will track the numbers. It tells us what services are needed, who is utilizing those services. Your packet is just a brief snapshot for the month of January ‘07. This cannot be used for publication, because until we reach 75 percent of participation, we can’t display these figures as across the community figures. But, it can help us know how many service providers are currently being, utilizing the system, and what some of the stats are. So, you will see that there were, just for that one month, there were 677 unduplicated households that were homeless in Evansville programs, that included folks from Vanderburgh County. So, that information is there. We are working hard to make sure that the data is valid and accurate so that once we hit 75 percent, we can use this data for across the community percentages and demographic examples. Also in your packet is a copy of the discharge policy that has been adopted by the Commission on Homelessness. The goal of the discharge policy is to ensure that housing options are provided to homeless individuals prior to being discharged from a hospital, foster home, correctional facility, or other publicly funded institutions. This is basically a first step at prevention. If we can keep these folks from being discharged into homelessness, there are much more services that could be offered to them prior to, during the discharge planning process and prior to release. So, we are busy trying to implement that among the various public institutions that that affects. Finally, housing is one of our biggest endeavors, and a major part of Destination Home strategies. We have actually hired a developer from Indianapolis. Partners in Housing has been working in the community, and he is working on a 60 unit first project. This housing will be for singles. We have also submitted a 20 unit family project with the last HUD grant. This was due to HUD on June 15^th, and the local community applied for $1.9 million. Of that, $1.2 million will be set aside for these two housing projects over the next three to five years. So, that’s our, that will be the beginning. Until we have housing in place, our numbers will not go down. Finally, we’re creating an assessment tool to actually be able to identify families that are at risk of losing their housing, so that intervention can be targeted to those families prior to them falling into homelessness. For our 2007 strategies, most of our strategies are assigned to some group that has said that we’ll take that on as part of what we’re doing, except the improving coordination and training and economic options. So, that group is still yet to be formed, a committee to work on that. Basically, we have the plan, we have the knowledge, we have the motivation, we have the skill locally to pull this off. The key to the success of Destination Home, of course, is going to be funding. Our success will be measured by the amount of resources that we’re able to develop and apply to these strategies. Patty Avery is co-chair of a sub-committee of the Commission on Homelessness, and that’s the Homeless Youth Council. So, she’s going to tell you just a few things about that particular sub-group, and some of their progress.

Patty Avery: When we began work on the ten year plan, actually, I was just thinking as Luzada was speaking that it’s five years ago this August that we had our first meeting. Because of my background of working with the homeless in Europe and South America, I actually represented the Commissioners throughout the development of the plan, and then they donated my staff time to actually write the plan. So, I’ve been acquainted with the plan since it’s beginning. When we prepared it, we realized that we did not have enough information yet to make viable and well grounded recommendations regarding youth homelessness. So, last fall the city-county joint commission determined that it was time to begin to do some research and develop recommendations. So, the Youth Service Bureau executive director, Cynthia Smith, and I agreed to co-chair that effort. We held our first meeting in January, with over 30 representatives of youth serving agencies present. We presented them an overview of our goals. Our goals were to do the research needed, and bring back solid recommendations to the joint city-county commission. We determined that we should divide into three sub-groups; one that would research existing services here in Evansville and Vanderburgh County and look at how they coordinate; we wanted to look at best practices outside of our area; and we wanted to look into how could we educate the community around youth homelessness. At each meeting since that time the committees have shared their updates, shared where they’re having trouble getting information, and shared the gaps in services that they’re identifying. One of the clearest gaps is that, here in Evansville, we have no drop in center. We have no place that youth who are not in the court system have access to services that can help them if they’re displaced from their home. Obviously, we have young people who are in shelters with their families, but for the unaccompanied youth there isn’t anything available. Beginning in August we will meet monthly to ramp up the pace to prepare our recommendations, and we’ve agreed to have those in the commission’s hands by the January 2008 meeting. One piece of the puzzle, as Luzada alluded to is clearly funding. My husband, State Representative Dennis Avery, put in a request for a study committee this summer that would specifically examine the issues around youth homelessness, and look at ways to better leverage the federal funding that’s been earmarked for youth homelessness. We just got word this week that that committee has been approved. So, this summer, hopefully, then they will begin to research ways that the State of Indiana can set up programs in localities that will leverage that federal funding and draw it down. Let’s see, so, that’s where we are. Our committee, as I said, in August will begin meeting monthly. We meet at noon at Old National. You’re always welcome to come join us, and listen in on the discussion as we begin to formulate these recommendations that we’ll be bringing to you.

Commissioner Tornatta: Patty, I’ve been to several of these meetings, and it’s always astonishing to find out some of the numbers. EVSC has an amount, or number of students that they think could possibly be homeless. Do you have that number?

Patty Avery: Actually, I spoke with Barb Bennett from the School Corp. today, and she gave me permission to share that for this last school year they’ve documented 340 students throughout the School Corp who experienced homelessness at one point of another. That’s about a percent and a half of their student body. Now, you can imagine the implications for these kids when they lose the stability of a home environment, what that can mean to their education. Obviously, that has life long implications. There are studies out there that show how many adults who were homeless first experienced homelessness under the age of 18. It’s staggering. That’s one of the reasons that addressing this piece of the puzzle is so key, because not only can we address the issues that these young people have, and we’ve broadened it out from middle school age up to about what would be college age, 22, 23. Because, we all know, anybody who’s had kids in that age between 18 & 23, that’s a bumpy period even for kids that have a lot of stability. For kids who for whatever reason lack those resources, it’s an even bumpier time. So, we’re looking at that whole continuum. But, those figures from the School Corporation were very sobering to us.

President Musgrave: Thank you, Mrs. Avery.

Patty Avery: Thank you so much.

President Musgrave: I do have one question for Ms. Hayes. Ms. Hayes? You said that you’re in the process of getting some HUD grants–

Luzada Hayes: Yes.

President Musgrave: –to build more, I assume it’s called low income housing? Or is it called housing for homeless?

Luzada Hayes: No, it’s supportive housing.

President Musgrave: When do you expect that to be announced? Or, when will you know?

Luzada Hayes: This is part of the HUD Homeless Assistance Funding. Traditionally, they like announcing the awards around Christmastime.

President Musgrave: Okay.

Luzada Hayes: However, this year we did not hear about last year’s funding until, I believe it was March.

President Musgrave: Was that federal?

Luzada Hayes: Yes.

President Musgrave: Okay, well, you were lucky to hear in March, I think. So, if things get back on track, we might be looking more at Christmastime?

Luzada Hayes: Correct, and what we applied for for the single project was rental assistance.

President Musgrave: Okay.

Luzada Hayes: The developer is also looking for other sources. It will take a variety of funding sources to be able to develop.

President Musgrave: So, this would be, if I were homeless and I came and got one of these grants, then you would give me money to rent an apartment, an existing apartment?

Luzada Hayes: Well, actually it would be, the 60 units will be under one roof.

President Musgrave: Okay.

Luzada Hayes: Yeah, and it could be that it’s, it will be a mixed site, some low income and some homeless. So, all of those details haven’t been flushed out. The 20 units for families will be scattered site.

President Musgrave: Alright.

Luzada Hayes: The program would be more of a rental assistance. We have quite a high vacancy rate among our apartments, but the people that need the apartments can’t afford what the apartments rent for. So, we have to bridge that gap to be able to maximize housing that already exists.

President Musgrave: Do you already have a location in mind, in general, or specifically?

Luzada Hayes: He’s looking at a location, but all of the negotiations are in progress.

President Musgrave: I don’t want to let any cats out.

Luzada Hayes: Yeah, thank you. Okay, thank you so much.

President Musgrave: Okay, thank you.

President Musgrave: I want to make sure that I have not missed any other board updates. Is there another board here who’s looking to give us an update? Sir, Chief Zuber. Welcome. Are you here for Central Dispatch?

Kenneth Zuber: That’s correct.

President Musgrave: Well.

Kenneth Zuber: At least I was told to be here.

President Musgrave: We’re pleased to have you here.

Kenneth Zuber: Okay, great.

President Musgrave: You’re president of the Central Dispatch?

Kenneth Zuber: I am president of the Central Dispatch Board. Madam Director, Jo Ann, is not available. She’s experiencing a well deserved vacation. So, I’ve come in front of this board to speak about the issues and the progresses and the things that we’ve done out there at Dispatch. I’ve very proud of what....once again, Jo Ann would be remiss without telling you that she has a very dedicated and committed staff out there at Dispatch, and they do a wonderful job. But, they also have their challenges that exist out there. One of the greatest challenges will take place next year, and that will be the replacement of the phone system that’s out there. It’s antiquated, it’s old, it’s no longer supported. So, next year, it will have to be replaced. So far her and Matt Arvay, Matt Arvay is teaming with her to help us, because, anymore phone systems are so reliant on computer systems. So, Matt Arvay is assisting her. They had been up to Chicago to look at their dispatch center up there, and they are also going up to Indianapolis as well to look at what’s available out there. The only two providers that I am aware that are out there are AT&T and Verizon. So, but, it looks like, well, I’m not going to let the cat out of the bag on that one either there in regards to which one would be applicable to provide what we need for our dispatch center. In her 2008 requests for the emergency 911 telephone system, she has put in a request for $2.69 million. So, really $2.7 million to replace the telephone system out there. I know we as a board, we did sign one more year of agreement to provide the maintenance agreement on that system for $75,000. But, obviously, this will be the last year that we will, you know, continue with that, because otherwise what’s the sense of paying a maintenance fee on an obsolete and non-supported equipment. So, once again, that’s something that that’s probably her, the biggest objective of Dispatch is to replace our telephone system out there. Obviously, with your efforts and the city and everything, we have had our new emergency 911 fee, 35 cents of which goes to the county, 35 to the city, and 25 cents, of course, goes to capital improvements. One of the things that we have discovered in regards to, especially in regards to public safety, is the location of our towers. Obviously, we have the one out there at the Dispatch Center, we have one on the east side out by Station Nine, out there on Keystone Avenue. The one, Chief Williams has said that one of the concerns that they have out there as well, at the suburban fire departments on the northern side, is the lack of a north side tower. So, it’s one of those things that we’ve placed emphasis on trying to do some studies in regards to the coverage of placing a north side tower out there to better help triangulate, I guess, without a better lack of terms, the system, so, we don’t have those dead spots for public safety. That would be, a turn key you’re looking at about $725,000 to do that. So, you guess, with your infinite wisdom and things of the way you know how to spend a dollar here and there, and with the capital improvements, hopefully, that’s something that it’s a goal that’s attainable. With that I asked also too that we, she supply some of the volumes that what’s been going on out there at Dispatch. In 2006 the CAD activity, the total number of runs that were dispatched was 220,659 runs. That averages to 605 runs a day. So, once again, very significant in regards to the amount of work that those people do out there. Just for reference, back in 1996 they dispatched 149,000 runs, and now we’re up to 220,000. So, once again, you can tell that they have a tremendous job, and their volume continues to increase as well. One of the issues that has been on public safety’s mind for quite some time, if you’re not aware of it, is the Sprint Nextel. I know, Commissioner, we talked about that before. We are finally making headway, we feel, in the Sprint Nextel agreement. Basically, what’s going on with that is the transition plan. We have a MACOM EDACS 800 megahertz trunk system. It has 16 channels on it. Well, right now, 13 of those 16 channels are okay in the bandwidth. In other words, they’re okay, they are not interrupted. Three of those, however, are in the expanded bandwidth that Nextel is populating. So, it leaves the potential of crosstalk, losing a signal, things of that nature, because we’re competing for that bandwidth, for that air space. So, we’ve put together this transition plan to where we’re going to move out of that bandwidth, so we don’t put our public safety people at risk. We have partnered with EMR Consulting, basically, that’s the firm that has helped us develop that transition plan. They will talk about doing their frequency reconfiguration, the licensing. Then what happens is there’s two elements to that in regards to the radios themselves. We have portables, which are the walkie talkies, and then we have the mobiles, which are in the police cars, sheriff’s vehicles, fire trucks, and also some of the fire stations as well. Some of those will not be replaced, they will be simply reprogrammed because they are newer technologies, they are adaptable to be able to have the circuitry width inside those programs. So, we can still utilize those. Another added benefit too, through the state we are going to pick up five mutual aid channels too to help us in each one of these radios. But, also, we are going to have to go back and replace probably two thirds of our equipment through this transition plan. The numbers suggest that ones that will have to be reprogrammed, we’re looking at about 554, and to be replaced we’re looking at 928 units. So, I figured at about $3,500 each. So, you can understand the significance of this project in regards to what Nextel has to do. So, once we get done with the reprogramming, we’ll then come back and start putting our hands on the ones that will actually have to be replaced. Fire engines, police cars will all have to be taken to either Tri-State, take out the old systems, replace with the new one. Also, time that is spent by anybody that’s dealing with this program, those are billable hours as well. From my staff on the Fire Department, for Jo Ann’s staff out at Dispatch, Sheriff, Evansville Police Department, those are billable hours that will be billed to this transition plan. Then, once we get done with that, we’ve touched all of the radios, they’ve been reprogrammed or replaced, then at that point in time what we’ll be doing is that we’ll be doing some Beta testing to make sure that the system is working. Obviously, they have to go out to Dispatch and retune all their equipment out there and all their consoles out there. Then we’re going to do acceptance testing and verify that it works. Then we will finally sign off on the FCC that says that we will accept the Nextel transition plan. Where it stands right now, the last I heard was in a meeting that we had with Mr. Black with the consulting firm, is that Joe Harrison is supposed to be getting a transition document, if not now, anytime soon. So, hopefully, by the end of the summer we will again start seeing the actual equipment that’s coming from Nextel. I know that Motorola is down there in Houston, Texas, they’re just sitting there waiting for our order. We are as well. The next, obviously, one of the things that we talked about, as a result of the tornado that we had, due to lack of better terms, the reverse 911. That’s the best way to exemplify what the need is. We, as a committee, at the Dispatch Board have done a little research into that. However, we feel that there’s got to be a partnering element to that. So, we’re hoping in the near future that we will have a meeting that gets all those people, those individuals; public safety, governmental entities, EVSC, that can take benefit of it. The one thing we need to be sure that we tell the community is the fact that in the instance of a tornado, the reverse 911 emergency telephone notification system would not have been of benefit to those folks. However, in the instance that severe weather, things of that nature it could help. Severe snow storm, a boil advisory, school outages, things of that nature, those are the types of situations where we see that that could be of benefit too to communities. As well as for our fire service when we have a mutual aid, excuse me, hazardous material incident, I’ve got to spit that out, one of those situations there that where if we were to protect and place in a certain area to give them instructions of what they need to do. Once again, that is something else that we’re moving on. Then, lastly, as you can see, by the increased volume of the work that the folks out there at the Dispatch Center are doing, they are busting at the seams at that building. So, in the very near future, I know Jo Ann is looking at some design plans in regards to trying to expand that building, because of the grade of work and volume of things that they do out there. Hopefully, too, that within this year, we can also get her a Deputy Director, so that when she has an unfortunate instance like she had with her grandchild here a couple of weeks ago, she can feel like she can leave that Dispatch Center and tend to her family.

President Musgrave: My understanding is the money was approved by City Council, the line item’s in place, and you’re just lacking approval at the highest city executive level to hire that extra person.

Kenneth Zuber: That may be, but that’s one, that’s still a goal, and we hope to do that.

President Musgrave: Okay, well, I would be happy to help you in anyway, because we always had a Deputy Director out there before, that was Jo Ann, and then when she took over the Director’s spot, suddenly there was no Deputy Director. I feel the way you do, there needs to be one there.

Kenneth Zuber: Sure, sure.

President Musgrave: And the money’s in place.

Commissioner Nix: Just a couple of things, if you all are going to move forward with some kind of location for a tower on the north side, we might look at something that the county has access to as far as property and that. I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to look at that at all.

Kenneth Zuber: And, that’s one of those things we probably kind of brought up for discussion in that regard of kind of partnering on a tower space, be it a cell phone provider, whatever it is. We could certainly look into that, but one of the things there is if something isn’t available within a resource that the county owns that we really don’t want that, because we want to be able to have control of that.

Commissioner Nix: Right. That’s why I said there could be some–

Kenneth Zuber: At the same time we could also turn around and rent that to a Cingular or someone too.

Commissioner Nix: Right, right.

Kenneth Zuber: Yeah, but, what that entails in regards to the research of how that’s all developed in regards to the scope of work, that’s beyond me. I just know that’s something we’re looking at.

Commissioner Nix: Just keep that in mind. I guess, just one other thing, reverse 911, there’s somewhat of a myth there that it won’t reach anyone, with the technology that’s in place right now, with a cell phone. Is that correct? For all practical purposes? I guess, my point is–

Kenneth Zuber: It would be very difficult. Because one of the things you’ve got to remember is the fact that this is going off a database, and you’ve got an ever evolving database with mobile phones.

Commissioner Nix: Right, and–

Kenneth Zuber: I’m not aware of a technology.

Commissioner Nix: My point is, that there are a lot of people that use cell phones in their homes anymore. They don’t use the normal phone service. So, you know, as this moves ahead, I think that needs to be considered.

Kenneth Zuber: That’s correct, which it also is part of our E-911 funds that the fact those are all based off land lines, and, once again, there’s been a transition now from land lines to more mobile phones as well. So, that impacts our E-911 fund as well.

Commissioner Tornatta: And that’s one of the things that we’ve been talking about in getting more partners into this. I think, we made a list at one of the meetings in kind of looking at this and seeing how many partners we could pull in of 25 just as quick as we could write them down on paper.

Kenneth Zuber: Sure.

Commissioner Tornatta: So, right now we’re trying to get all those people involved, and that’s a group that we want to make sure if we get this.

Kenneth Zuber: Yeah, and that part of what it is too, as the Commissioner has reflected, that I think we did have 25, but then as talking to, getting 25 representatives that could sit down and make decisions. I mean, we can sit there and talk about it and have people nod their head, but then they can’t make a decision. So, that is something we are moving towards to see, once again, it’s got to be one of those public/private endeavors that benefits both sides. I think that’s a good amicable way of empowering both government and private industry to help each other.

President Musgrave: Well thank you, Chief. As you know, I’ve been put on the Integrated Public Safety Commission, and I would love to have your company. I’ve been to one meeting so far, and while I think I understood what they said, it would sure be nice to have someone from home go with me and listen to all the talks. Maybe at the next meeting I’ll call you, and since you’re the president you could drive up there with me, we could attend that meeting. I think it would help a lot to understand which direction the state is going, how they intend to get there and have more input–

Kenneth Zuber: Certainly.

President Musgrave: – from the local level, because I don’t think there’s anyone else on it from Southwestern Indiana.

Kenneth Zuber: That’s correct. Throughout the whole fire service, and as we’ll reflect on a lot of times, we’re very isolated down here in Southwestern Indiana–

President Musgrave: Right.

Kenneth Zuber: –and anything we can do to represent ourselves, I’m very encouraged by that.

President Musgrave: I’ll give you a call.

Kenneth Zuber: Fair enough.

President Musgrave: Alright.

Kenneth Zuber: Thank you.

President Musgrave: Thank you, sir. Sorry that we didn’t put you on the printed agenda.

Kenneth Zuber: Well, I got the e-mail.

President Musgrave: I’m glad you got the e-mail. Thank you for coming.

President Musgrave: Next on our agenda, it says John L. Meyer, Local Projects Coordinator INDOT, however, we are going to welcome our own John Stoll, County Engineer, and he will tell us about INDOT’s need for a memorandum of understanding for a Diamond Avenue detour, and he will tell us about the Major Moves project that will keep us off that intersection for awhile.

John Stoll: Right, INDOT has a project to reconstruct Diamond Avenue. As a part of that, they will be closing off the ramps at 41 and Diamond. In conjunction with that, they are going to set up a detour route down First Avenue to the Lloyd Expressway, and then back to 41. So, in conjunction with that, they are crossing the county’s First Avenue bridge over Pigeon Creek. That’s what necessitates this memorandum of understanding and the detour contract. Basically, they’re paying the county for the use of the bridge as the official detour. What they did was calculated for the eight month detour, they figured there would be 10,000 plus cars being detoured, they assigned a dollar value to that, and that was based upon the actual construction costs of the Fulton Avenue bridge brought into today’s construction dollars, and through a bunch of multipliers they came up with a dollar value of $28,500 was the fee for the use of the bridge for the detour. Their procedures seemed logical to me. I had e-mailed all that to you several weeks ago, and it seemed pretty straight forward and we had valid costs for a very similar bridge there at Fulton Avenue. So, I thought their calculations were correct, and the numbers seemed okay to me. I had the County Attorney review the detour contract and he said that was acceptable. So, INDOT was just requesting that you sign both the memorandum of understanding and the detour contract, then we’ll forward everything back to INDOT for all the INDOT signatures and have a final, signed copy for the County Auditor’s office at some later date.

Commissioner Nix: Did they stipulate load limits at all in that? I didn’t see that anywhere, any kind of width or load limits at all?

John Stoll: No, I would just assume it’s legal load since there weren’t any.

Commissioner Nix: Just legal only, there wouldn’t be necessarily any permit loads or anything like that?

John Stoll: Right. I believe you’re correct, though that was not addressed.

President Musgrave: Is there a motion to approve?

Commissioner Tornatta: So moved.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: The motion carries. Thank you, Mr. Stoll.

John Stoll: Thanks.

President Musgrave: Permission to award quotes. Mr. Ziemer, you have the title search services quotes, and you can also read the bids out at this time. This is for 20 year title searches for tax sale parcels. We have a bid, or a quote from Apex Title, which is a subsidiary of Bowers Harrison at $200 per search. One from Bosse Title for $245 per search. One from Evansville Titles for $360 per search, and one from Southwest Indiana Land Title for $250 per search. The lowest quote is $200 per search by Apex Title. As it turns out they did the searches for the county last year, being the successful quoter. It’s our recommendation that we award the contract for that to Apex Title.

Commissioner Tornatta: So moved.

President Musgrave: I’m trying to cut you all off. Do you want to second?

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: The motion carries.

President Musgrave: And the bids?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Yes, we have two bids on the Boonville-New Harmony Road culvert; Deig Brothers, $38,684; and CCC of Evansville, Inc., $31,825.34.

Commissioner Nix: I move we take the bids under advisement.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: The motion carries.

President Musgrave: We move now to the second and final reading of the illicit discharge ordinance, CO.06-07-007. This is a public hearing on this. Is there anyone here that has anything to speak to in regards to this ordinance? Commissioners, do you have any comments? Is there a motion? Mr. Ziemer, if you would turn off your microphone, please.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: I would be happy to.

President Musgrave: Alright, thanks.

Commissioner Nix: Move approval.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: Commissioner Nix?

Commissioner Nix: Yes.

President Musgrave: Commissioner Tornatta?

Commissioner Tornatta: Yes.

President Musgrave: And, I vote yes. Thank you.

President Musgrave: We move on now to contracts, agreements and leases. We have two contracts, the Sheriff revised buffer zone protection program sub-grant agreement, and there’s an exhibit that had to be attached and some other changes. It meets all the requirements. Is there a motion?

Commissioner Tornatta: So moved.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: We’ll pause now so that the secretary can change her tape.

(Tape change)

President Musgrave: We have a second revised proposal for engineering services for the storage facility and a training facility, additional restroom and off-site salt barn at the Vanderburgh County Highway Garage. Again, this is just revised to include some specifications that were left off. Everyone has reviewed it. It should be in order.

Mike Duckworth: Yes, it was the fact that the storage facility was omitted.

President Musgrave: Okay, is there a motion?

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: Thank you, sir.

Mike Duckworth: In addition to this, I would ask at this time for permission to accept prices on the training room at the Highway Department facility.

President Musgrave: Is there a motion?

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: Thank you, sir.

Mike Duckworth: Thank you.

President Musgrave: We move now to permission to close Ridgeway Road from Auburn Drive half way up Ridgeway Road on July 3^rd from 5:00 to midnight. We have Mr. Scott Anderson and Mrs. Anderson here.

Scott Anderson: Hello.

President Musgrave: Hi.

Scott Anderson: I think, I guess you guys had met on this a couple of weeks ago, and I spoke with Mr. Ziemer, all we needed really was a certificate of liability. I dropped that off this morning, I didn’t know if all you guys had received any of that, but I do have copies for you.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Could I take a look at it?

Scott Anderson: Sure. It should show on there that the certificate holder is going to be Vanderburgh County.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: It does, and the limits of liability are adequate. Thank you very much.

Scott Anderson: Thank you.

President Musgrave: Commissioners, is there a vote to close that road?

Commissioner Tornatta: I move approval to close the road.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: Have a good time at your party and be safe.

Commissioner Nix: Be careful.

Scott Anderson: Thank you.

President Musgrave: Department head reports, Mr. Ziemer, we’ve already read the quotes, and I’m not sure if you have any other business?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: What about, let’s see, no, I don’t have anything else. Oh, no, we did have, no, that’s under the consent agenda. So, I don’t have anything.

President Musgrave: Wonderful. Mr. Stoll, are you ready? While he’s coming up, are there any other department heads with reports today? Okay, good.

John Stoll: I just have two items. The first is a request for street plan approval for Buckingham Woods Subdivision. That’s a proposed subdivision on the east side of Old State Road between Eissler and Mount Pleasant. It’s just a couple of cul-de-sac streets. We’ve reviewed the street plans and would recommend approval subject to any changes that might be required in conjunction with the final drainage approval.

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: The motion carries.

John Stoll: The other item was a sidewalk waiver request for Buckingham Woods. I would recommend approval of the waiver.

Commissioner Tornatta: So moved.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: The motion carries.

John Stoll: That’s all I have.

President Musgrave: That’s all you have.

President Musgrave: Next on our agenda is new business. Is there any new business?

President Musgrave: Is there any old business?

President Musgrave: Is there any comment from a member of the public? I see none.

President Musgrave: We have a consent agenda. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda.

Commissioner Tornatta: So moved.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: And a motion to adjourn?

Commissioner Tornatta: So moved.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

(The meeting was adjourned at 4:15 p.m.)

CONSENT ITEMS:

Employment Changes:

Sheriff Office (5)                       Circuit Court (3)              Pigeon Assessor (2)

VCCC (2)                                  Burdette Park (5)            Health Department (1)

Travel Requests:

County Assessor (1)                 Health Department (1)

Commissioners:

Bernardin Lochmueller: University Parkway: Phases II & III Project Update

Letter from City of Evansville Regarding Old Jail Space.

Draw Down No. 17: Knight Township Fire Department CDBG Funds.

Hillcrest/Washington Youth Home Audit.

Commissioners Letter to Accept Furniture from Hilliard Lyons.

E-mail to County Council Requesting to Proceed with State Land Purchase.

Surplus Letters:

Burdette Park: computers, ice machine, various food preparation machines.

Health Department: computers, printers, shredders.

Auditor: Continuing Disclosure Undertaking Agreement.

Weights & Measures: Monthly Report: 3/16-3/15 & Annual Report 6/06-6/07.

Department Head Reports:

Burdette Park                           County Engineer                       County Highway

Ozone Officer                           Veterans Service

Those in Attendance:

Cheryl Musgrave                      Bill Nix                                      Troy Tornatta

Bill Fluty                                    Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.          Marissa Nichoalds

Madelyn Grayson                     Newt Crenshaw                        Patty Davidson

Zach Davidson                         Amy Mangold                           Deidra Conner

Luzada Hayes                          Patty Avery                               Kenneth Zuber

John Stoll                                  Mike Duckworth                        Scott Anderson

Others Unidentified                   Members of Media

VANDERBURGH COUNTY

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

Cheryl A.W. Musgrave, President

Bill Nix, Vice President

Troy Tornatta, Member

(Recorded and transcribed by Madelyn Grayson.)