VANDERBURGH COUNTY

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

MARCH 8, 2005

The Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners met in session this 8^th day of March, 2005 at 3:30 p.m. in room 301 of the Civic Center Complex with President Suzanne Crouch presiding.

President Crouch: Good afternoon. Welcome to the Vanderburgh County Commission meeting. We would like to start by introductions, and I will start to my far right.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: I’m Ted Ziemer, the County Attorney.

Commissioner Musgrave: Commissioner Cheryl Musgrave.

Commissioner Nix: Commissioner Bill Nix.

President Crouch: Commissioner Suzanne Crouch.

Madelyn Grayson: Recording Secretary, Madelyn Grayson.

Bill Fluty: Auditor Bill Fluty.

Jennifer Wigginton: Jennifer Wigginton, Superintendent of County Buildings.

President Crouch: Please join us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

(The Pledge of Allegiance was given.)

President Crouch: First item on our agenda is approval of prior minutes.

Commissioner Musgrave: Move approval.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Crouch: All in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Crouch: So ordered.

President Crouch: Action items, our first action item is we had discussed last week that we wanted to feature a board that the Commissioners make appointments to for education for the public. Area Plan Commission so graciously agreed to be the first board to appear before us and make a presentation. I would like at this point in time to introduce Mr. Mark Foster, who is the President of Area Plan Commission, and to turn over this portion, about the next ten to fifteen minutes, to Mr. Foster. Thank you.

Mark Foster: Well, as you had mentioned, my name is Mark Foster, I’m President of the Area Plan Commission. I don’t have a whole lot to say. Of course, the Area Plan Commission is a board that not only the Commissioners serve on and appoint to, but we are also a city board. We are a joint board between city and county. Mr. Mills will, I’m sure, cover that. Also here today is Burk McCarthy, who is the President of the Board of Zoning Appeals, and our Executive Director, Brad Mills. I think Brad has the presentation, and I will turn it over to him to make that presentation.

Brad Mills: Thank you, Mark. As Mark said, I’m Brad Mills, Executive Director of the Area Plan Commission. I appreciate the opportunity to come here and share a little bit about what my department does, and how we help the community. As you can see, up on the board here, we do have an easy way for you to contact our department at contactus@evansvilleapc.com. We also have a website up here, and I as I go through the presentation our e-mail address will be at the bottom for you to write down, if you don’t catch that. Go ahead and go to the next slide. As Mark mentioned, we are a joint city-county department. We are 15% funded by the city, 85% by the county, but we do equal share for both city and county. The main items that our department handles, we are charged with doing the comprehensive plans, rezonings, subdivisions, improvement location permits, signs, and also the Board of Zoning Appeals, which Mr. McCarthy is the president of. The comprehensive plan was just completed this past year. You do have a copy of that on your desk, I dropped that off at the beginning of the meeting. We had just gotten that back from the printer yesterday. So, those are hot off the press. That was approved by both the city and the county last fall. The comprehensive plan is a land use guide for the community. It’s sort of a framework for us to work off of. It’s not set rules and restrictions, but it is more of a guide. It’s something that we use to try to help our county to grow and to prosper. It handles residential, commercial and industrial developments, growth policies, which take care of transportation, water and sewer. We also discuss schools, parks. The implementation of the plan is through our rezonings and our approval of our subdivisions. Rezonings, as you might all know, all the property in Vanderburgh County is zoned something. It’s either zoned agricultural, or our highest zoning which would be industrial. To rezone a property, we have a series of steps that you need to go through. If you have, for example, you have agricultural and you want to put in a commercial development, the first thing you can do is go to our website at evansvilleapc.com, and you can click on a link that will get you to a GIS website which has the actual zonings for the properties. On the screen here you can see the zonings that we have at this intersection, Green River and the Lloyd Expressway. As you zoom in tighter it will actually show you the aerial photography under that as well. This is a view from higher up, so you can’t see those. Once you have your zoning and you say, okay, I know I need to rezone this, the best thing that we recommend that you do is to call us, contact us, tell us what you’re wanting to do. We’ll tell you if what you’re asking to do will be what you really need. You might come in and ask for a zoning for a C-2, and you really need a C-4, and you’ve just wasted $500 or $600, and you have to go back through the process again. You can download our applications right off our website. Once you’ve done that, filled those out, if you don’t know how to fill those out, you can come to our staff, we will assist you in all ways to do that. Once you file that rezoning, you’ll be scheduled to go to Area Plan Commission, then either the County Commissioners in the county, or the City Council. Once it goes to Area Plan Commission, the Area Plan Commission is just a recommending body, they make recommendations to this board and to the City Council as well. Once those recommendations are made, it goes to you, and you all have the final vote on that. Alright. Subdivisions, one of the key things that I would like to point out, which is right underneath the subdivision title there, is that all lot splits must go through the Area Plan Commission. We want you to contact us for anything you do. By law, legally, you can write up a deed, and you can deed off part of your property to someone, and get it recorded in the Recorder’s office. However, when you come to us and say I want to build a house on this, and we say, well, I’m sorry, you have a one acre lot that is in an area that requires septic, which is a minimum two and a half acres, I’m sorry, we can’t give you a permit. So, of course, everybody gets very upset when that happens. So, please talk to us before you deed off any property. There are three main ways to deed off property. That is through major subdivisions, that would be required if you have three or more lots, or if you’re going to dedicate a new street right-of-way to the city or the county. The minor subdivision would then be one or two lots. Parcelization is whenever you want to split off five acres of ground or more. You have to have at least five acres or more remaining. You cannot split something off and have five acres and a remainder of two and a half acres, because that would then be required to be a minor sub. We also do allow lot line adjustments between recorded lots. If you have a one acre recorded lot, and a one acre recorded lot beside that, you can scoot the lot line over and make it a one and a half acre and a half acre, as long as they are recorded. It can’t be from a meets and bounds description to a recorded lot. Next slide please. Improvement location permits. Once again, we ask for you to call or for the community to call us everytime you want to put anything on your lot. We would be happy to answer your questions. If you’re going to do a new home edition, a shed, garage, that requires an improvement location permit. Even if you took the old one down and there used to be one years ago, if you’re going to put a garage back up, you need to get a permit. We want to make sure that you build it to code, that you meet all the required setbacks. Other things that are a little bit of a problem in the county, is any pool that is two foot deep, or more, requires a permit. You also have to have a fence around that. You’ve seen these new, inflatable pools that are popping up everywhere? If those things are over two feet deep, they require a permit and a fence. One other item that we also address are fences. The key thing on that is the height of the fence; four foot in the front yard, and the maximum residential is six foot in the backyard. So, please ask us before you do anything. Commercial, industrial developments, whenever you come in, and you occupy a new strip mall, you’ll need to do a change of use. It could have been that there was a bookstore in there, and you want to put a restaurant in this facility, we want to make sure that you meet all the state and local code requirements. That example with the restaurant, you might be required to have a grease trap. There probably wasn’t one in there for a bookstore. You’ll need those for new buildings, additions, and parking lots. We also require the improvement location permits for apartments, which we do some other items as well. Signage, there’s a little bit of difference for the signage requirements between the city and the county. In the city, for example, with a C-4 or industrial zoning, in the city you’re allowed 500 square foot of signage, and for industrial you’re allowed 1,000 square foot of signage. However, in the county you’re only allowed 300. I know there are numerous times that we have individuals come before the Board of Zoning Appeals and complain that we’re just right across the street from Target, or over at Wal-Mart, why do we only get 300 square feet, and Target gets 500 square feet? Well, that’s a slight disparity between the two different codes. Off-premise signs, all the billboards, we did have a change in the zoning, not too long ago, I think it was ‘89, that limited billboards, and a lot of billboards were placed right before that, unfortunately, and there is a requirement that you have to be a certain setback from other off-premise signs. So, we just ask that you contact our office whenever you want to put anything that advertises your business, not on your lot. If it’s down the street, or on your neighbor’s lot, that is considered an off-premise sign. One thing that I would like to stress is that permits are required for signs. Everybody needs to get a permit for your signs. So, if you want to put up a sign on the building, even though there might have been a sign there before, you need to come and get a permit, because we need to check to make sure that it meets the same size requirements in everything that you do. Or, if your property was rezoned in that process, the signage requirement could be different as well. One thing that I would like to stress also is the yard signs. As you might know, there are a lot of yard signs that pop up this time of year, sort of like dandelions, and we would really like to stress that the yard signs are not allowed in the right-of-way. That is city and/or county property, and we do go around, along with Transportation Services, and we pull those up and we discard those, because they are illegally placed, and we consider them trash. Next slide please. The Board of Zoning Appeals, this is my last slide here. The Board of Zoning Appeals does handle variances, special uses. With the variances, that allows you, for example to have increased lot coverage. If you’re in downtown, the older lots are very small, small lot lines, very small spaces between the houses. If you want to put a garage, for example, on the back of your house, you’re lot coverage is only 30% to 40%, depending upon the zoning. More than likely you would need to have a variance for lot coverage, so that you could have more. Other items that we would require variances for are accessory structures bigger than a house. If you want to put a 6,000 square foot barn up, and you have a 3,000 square foot house, you need a variance. Reduced setbacks, we also do reduced number of parking spaces, and variances for signs, especially out in the county, because they would like to have more. Special uses, there are 42 separate special uses that you can apply for. A special use is not a zoning change. It is a special use of the property. For example, a church or a school might go into a residentially zoned area, but they are required to have a special use for that. Other examples of special uses are parking lots, mobile home parks, electronic message boards, one’s that scroll a name or advertisement, and also owner occupied beauty shops, where you would like to work out of your home. One final thing is appeal of staff decisions. That, the Board of Zoning Appeals does handle. If there’s something that you’re not satisfied that my department has made a decision, either myself or my staff, you do have the authority, we’ll be happy to help you to fill out all the paperwork and go before BZA, and you can ask them to vote on your side. I would be happy to answer any questions.

Commissioner Nix: Yes, maybe just touch on how your department is funded.

Brad Mills: We are 85% funded county, and 15% funded city.

Commissioner Nix: And the fees, how does that weigh into the percentage?

Brad Mills: The fees that we receive and everything?

Commissioner Nix: Yes.

Brad Mills: All that goes into the General Fund, and then that just goes toward the monies that we spend to run our department. Any other questions?

President Crouch: Does Mr. McCarthy want to come up to the microphone?

Burk McCarthy: I have nothing to add.

President Crouch: Okay.

Brad Mills: He wanted to sit in the background.

President Crouch: Alright, well, thank you very much for sharing that with us. It was very informative. We hope that the public will learn something, and be in contact with you, which will, hopefully, eliminate problems for them in the future.

Brad Mills: That would be great.

President Crouch: Thank you very much.

Commissioner Musgrave: Thank you for coming.

Commissioner Nix: Thanks.

President Crouch: Our next item is contracts, agreements, and leases. The County Commissioners have an agreement or a contract with Mr. Tom Massey.

Commissioner Musgrave: Move approval.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Crouch: All in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Crouch: So ordered.

President Crouch: Next, there is a DADS contract. It’s for an oral interpretation service. I believe this is an annual contract.

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Musgrave: I’ll second that.

President Crouch: All in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Crouch: So ordered.

President Crouch: Then the Sheriff’s Department has an Evapar contract/agreement, and this is, again, I believe an annual agreement.

Commissioner Musgrave: Move approval.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Crouch: All in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Crouch: So ordered.

President Crouch: Next action item is our travel ordinance. Today is the second and final reading.

Commissioner Musgrave: The travel ordinance was distributed to department heads and office holders for comment. We received a great many of those comments, and the ordinance has been revised. That revision will be distributed tomorrow, with the Commissioners permission, and we will have second and final vote next week, if we don’t get substantial more comments requiring another rewrite. So, with the Commissioners permission, I would like to distribute this revised ordinance.

President Crouch: That’s fine.

Commissioner Nix: That’s fine.

Commissioner Musgrave: Okay.

President Crouch: So, we will defer the second and final reading till next week?

Commissioner Musgrave: Till next week.

President Crouch: Alright. Very good.

President Crouch: Next item on the agenda, the severe weather proclamation. Would either Commissioner care to speak to this?

Commissioner Nix: I didn’t know, do you want us just to read this? Or what do you think?

President Crouch: Sure.

Commissioner Nix: Okay. This is severe weather awareness week, March 6-12, 2005.

“Whereas: Indiana is vulnerable to severe storms throughout the year; and spring in Indiana brings with it likely occurrence of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes; and tornadoes may develop unexpectedly from any severe thunderstorms; and the months of March through June present the highest risk for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes to strike Vanderburgh County; and Vanderburgh County is located within the nation’s “Tornado Belt”, becoming a prime target of devastating tornado outbreaks and other types of severe weather; and the statewide tornado warning exercise will be held on March 9, 2005 for the purpose of testing communication systems, equipment and procedures; and during this week, the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Emergency Management Agency, in cooperation with the American Red Cross, is emphasizing it’s safety procedures involving tornado activity.”

I didn’t know if you wanted to take it from here, Commissioner Crouch?

President Crouch: Well, I think he doesn’t want to read the part that says;

“I, Suzanne Crouch, Vanderburgh County Commission do hereby proclaim March 6-12, 2005 as severe weather awareness week.”

That will be signed by all three Commissioners. Do I have a motion to approve?

Commissioner Musgrave: So moved.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Crouch: All in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Crouch: So ordered.

President Crouch: Next item on our agenda, our department heads. It is at this time that any department head that has business that requires the action of this board to come forth. Are there any department heads that do have? County Engineer.

John Stoll: The first item that I have is a letter for the Commissioners signatures for the Mt. Pleasant Road project. This is a letter to Brad Sterchi, who developed Clear Creek Subdivision. Back when that subdivision was approved, Mr. Sterchi had committed $25,000 towards the Mt. Pleasant Road project, and this letter is just a request that that contribution be submitted to the Commissioners.

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Musgrave: Second.

President Crouch: All in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Crouch: So ordered.

John Stoll: The next letter that I have for the Commissioners signatures is to Roger Wade, who is the I-69, Section One, Project Manager. This letter is to request any information they might have regarding new access to Elberfeld. There is the possibility that new interchanges might be constructed to serve and provide access to Elberfeld in conjunction with the I-69 project. Since the I-164 corridor lies mainly in Vanderburgh County, any new interchange could affect Vanderburgh County. So, this letter is just to request any information, so that way any infrastructure needs that we might have could be evaluated in conjunction with their planning studies for any potential new access, new interchange.

Commissioner Musgrave: Move approval.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Crouch: All in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Crouch: So ordered. Could we get a copy of this also to, perhaps, Warrick and Gibson County Commissioners? Just kind of an FYI for them.

John Stoll: Sure. I did attach the joint resolution. It was passed previously where Vanderburgh, Warrick, Gibson, Oakland City, Evansville had all agreed to cooperate when it came to planning for economic development associated with I-69. So, that will be an attachment to that letter as well. The next item that I have is the Notice of Intent letter for the St. George and Oak Hill project. This is the letter that we have to submit to IDEM in conjunction with getting that project, getting all the permits taken care of for that project. I would request that the Commissioners approve this as well.

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Musgrave: Second.

President Crouch: All in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Crouch: So ordered.

John Stoll: Next, I have a notice to bidders. This is for contract VC05-03-03, the Lyle Road elevation and widening project. This would have the bids opened on March 29^th, and I would request the Commissioners approval to sign the notice to bidders, and to approve advertising for the project for bids.

President Crouch: There is no meeting on March 29^th, that’s the fifth Tuesday of the month.

John Stoll: Okay. We’ll make it, I’m not sure what the first Tuesday in April is.

Commissioner Musgrave: Hold on. It is the 7^th, I’m sorry, I’m looking at the wrong month. It is the 5^th.

John Stoll: We’ll revise it to say April 5^th then is when we will receive the bids. I’ll get Madelyn the revised language for the advertisement.

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Musgrave: Second.

President Crouch: All in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Crouch: So ordered.

John Stoll: Next, I have construction agreements between Vanderburgh County and CSX for the Mt. Pleasant Road project. These agreements have been in the works for quite some time, and Ted’s finally gotten the revisions back from CSX. He’s reviewed those and approved those. They’ve been delayed for quite some time, because we’ve been waiting for CSX to address some revisions that the prior County Attorney had requested. That has all since been resolved, and I would request the Commissioners approve these agreements. It’s for the amount of $25,021, and this is what we have to pay in conjunction with the small amount of work that we’re doing on CSX right-of-way in conjunction with the Mt. Pleasant Road project.

Commissioner Musgrave: Move approval, and offer my congratulations for getting it settled.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Crouch: All in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Crouch: So ordered.

John Stoll: Next, I have construction inspection agreements for Section Three of Lynch Road. This is between Vanderburgh County and Bernardin Lochmueller and Associates. The agreement amount is $574,156, and of that 20% will be our share of the project cost. This will cover their inspectors being on-site throughout the duration of the construction. Here again, I’ve worked with the County Attorney, and we were going to make some changes to the insurance provisions, but INDOT has a long, drawn out process to make those changes. So, the way it turned out, Bernardin Lochmueller provided us with a copy of their certificates of insurance that showed that they had sufficient insurance to meet the requirements that Torian Hofmann and Dillow were asking for. So, that has been done. So, on that basis, I would request that the Commissioners approve these agreements.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Which were those?

John Stoll: Construction inspection.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Okay.

Commissioner Nix: Is this just to the county line? Or is this the total project?

John Stoll: Total.

Commissioner Nix: Okay, this would also include Warrick? Are they participating financially with that?

John Stoll: Yes. This does cover the Warrick County portion, and we’re also working on revisions to the interlocal agreement between Vanderburgh and Warrick counties. There again, I’ve worked with Ted, and with the Warrick County attorney to review that agreement. It was previously approved last year that outlined the percentage splits that Vanderburgh County pays, as well as Warrick County. We need to make some revisions to that, and that’s in the works. But, I’ll bring that agreement to you, hopefully, within the next couple of weeks, and we’ll get that finalized, once and for all.

Commissioner Musgrave: So, when does the project start?

John Stoll: The bids are supposed to be taken on March 16^th.

Commissioner Musgrave: Move approval.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Crouch: All in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Crouch: So ordered.

John Stoll: Next, I have a letter from Ragle, Incorporated in conjunction with the Stockwell Road project. This is for a time extension request of 15 days on the culvert project that’s on-going out on the project. I mean, out on Stockwell Road, I’m sorry.

Commissioner Musgrave: They’re requesting two weeks?

John Stoll: Yes.

Commissioner Musgrave: Why?

John Stoll: In this letter, Ragle has outlined some delays that they’ve seen as a result of some utility conflicts out on the job. Through that they have itemized the number of days that they feel their entitled to because of these utility coordination problems. Like I said, they had requested an additional 15 days to complete the project, at this point, I’m prepared only to recommend granting an additional seven at this stage. The additional seven days would coincide with the amount of time that the Safety Board has already approved for road closure. And, the Safety Board approved from February 21^st to March 21^st. By granting seven additional days, that would make our contract’s time coincide with their road closure time. So, like I said, I’m only recommending seven days at this point. If conditions warrant, this is something that we can revisit again later.

Commissioner Nix: I spoke to Mr. Stoll yesterday on this, and I would like to maybe do a site visit here in the next day or two, and see what we could do to maybe get things sped up a little bit. I understand that we’re having a little bit of problem with the Water Department, with a water line.

John Stoll: Yes. The utilities that were in the way, primarily, were a gas main, a sanitary sewer force main, and a water main. The gas main was never relocated. Originally, it was intended that that was going to be cut off during construction, and then it be reconnected and relocated upon completion of the box culvert installation. The force main was planned to be relocated outside, actually, originally it was a temporary connection was proposed, and then that temporary connection idea was scraped, and then a permanent rerouting of the force main was going to go outside the west boundary of our project. Then, during the construction of the Sewer Department’s work, they ended up putting the new force main back over the top of our new box culvert. Then, as far as the water main goes, it was shut off on both ends of the project, and the water lines should have started back again last Friday. At this point, the water main has not been even started. So, at some point, they still need to get back out there and run a new water main over the top of the box culvert. So, those are the three primary problems that have been seen to this point.

Commissioner Nix: I would ask that before we give an extension that we take a look at it together, and maybe I’ll contact someone from the Water Department and have them out there also, to look at that. Maybe we can look at this again next week.

President Crouch: If we don’t grant the extension today, what does that do to the project?

John Stoll: The project will proceed. The way the contract was written, the contractor had three weeks of road closure time, and there are liquidated damages associated with not completing within that three week period for road closure.

Commissioner Musgrave: When does the Safety Board meet again?

John Stoll: Pardon?

Commissioner Musgrave: When does the Safety Board meet again?

John Stoll: Tomorrow at 4:00, I believe.

Commissioner Musgrave: Is it possible that they will grant road closure for longer?

John Stoll: I’m not sure, at this point. I spoke to the secretary for the Safety Board, and she told me that they had approved everything up through March 21^st, but anything beyond that, I don’t know if the contractor’s requested it, nor do I know if they would grant it.

President Crouch: So, you’re asking that this be delayed?

Commissioner Nix: I would like to take a look at this with Mr. Stoll, and, once again, get someone from the Water Department out there before we grant any kind of extension at all on this. Maybe after this meeting we could set up a time to meet out there in the next day or two.

John Stoll: Okay.

Commissioner Musgrave: Do you need a motion to–

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: I think this gentleman wanted to say something about this.

President Crouch: Sure.

John Bassemier: Honestly, I wasn’t going to say anything.

President Crouch: Could you state your name and address?

John Bassemier: John Bassemier, 4220 East Morgan Avenue, with Bassemier’s Fireplace and Patio. We didn’t think a whole lot of this project. We understand that it needed to be done, and had good reasons to be done, but we see different days that nobody’s working on it. I’ve talked to several businesses along the way there, and even the sandwich shop is off $500 a week. My business is down 50% to 80%. There is other businesses that have restaurants with 80 or 90 people a day are now getting 20, 22 people in. I would say, easily, there’s $50,000 to $80,000 worth of negative economic impact in that neighborhood every week. Mr. Ragle was nice enough to call me today, and I’ve spoken to most of the people involved in here, and sometimes the Safety Board, we heard they didn’t close streets, but they do close streets. We get a lot of conflicting stories. I’m not here to raise any trouble for anybody, we just want to see this thing speeded up. We understand that the contracts for the water and the sanitary sewer and the gas and all that was supposed to be done before the contract was started on this, and that didn’t happen. I understand the water line, if it’s left where it is, they could have this road back up and running real shortly, but the water line, I guess, is what’s running right over the middle of the new culvert. Then they would have to tear it up again and start over, but, apparently, the Waterworks is behind schedule, and we’re just getting a lot of conflicting stories. I’m okay with extending it a week. I understand where we are now, you may not get it done by this week, but, I don’t think they need 15 days. The Monday the decision was made it might rain, so, they worked at another project instead of this one. I think it was Weinbach Avenue where the street was open. Our street’s not open, and it’s killing us financially. That gentleman that got hit by a car last Friday night at Stockwell and Morgan, trying to cross the street there, the traffic was just absolutely backed up for half a mile. Last night, the public has caught on that there’s no traffic for businesses, but just for the traffic on Green River Road is busier now, and it’s just a total mess out there, and all of our businesses are really, really suffering. We would just like for you all to get together with the various departments to get in there. Because, to us, this is an emergency. Some of those other projects aren’t quite as important. I’ll be open to any questions, or hang around to talk to, if you want to know anything.

President Crouch: Thank you, Mr. Bassemier.

John Bassemier: Thank you.

John Stoll: One item that I would like to point out too is, Mr. Bassemier’s correct, the contractor was not out there yesterday, but the way the contracts are structured, we don’t dictate when the contractor works. We have them set up where he has to allocate his crews as he sees fit. So, we don’t dictate that they work, or not work, on any given day. It’s up to them to just get the project complete. So, it was the contractor’s decision to have the crews work another job site, and that’s solely their decision. We don’t have any way to force them to be out on the job on any particular day.

President Crouch: The contract, the original contract what was it to be completed in a period of?

John Stoll: The road closure was for three weeks. The Stockwell Road closure. The rest of the project, I believe, has a May 31^st completion date on it. But, Stockwell was limited to three weeks, simply because, like Mr. Bassemier was talking about, to try and limit the impacts as far as the detours go.

President Crouch: At this time the board is taking no action on granting a delay. Commissioner Nix will be getting with you and going out to visit the project to determine what it is that we can do to speed this up.

John Stoll: Okay.

President Crouch: Thank you.

John Stoll: I’ll talk to the contractor and see what we can get set up.

Commissioner Musgrave: Could you send us an e-mail after you get done?

John Stoll: Sure.

Commissioner Musgrave: And let us know what’s going to happen?

John Stoll: Sure. I did have one more item, and that was in conjunction with a damaged guardrail out on the Lynch Road bridge over Crawford Brandeis ditch. Several weeks ago a car crashed into that, or a truck, I’m not sure which, but it destroyed the guardrail on that bridge, and we’ve gotten three price quotes to replace that guardrail. The low price was submitted by C-Tech Corporation for $4,290. I would like to request your approval to get a purchase order to have C-Tech replace that. We would use Cumulative, not Cumulative Bridge. I guess it would be Cumulative Bridge Funds in the meantime until Torian insurance can bill the driver’s insurance, and then the Bridge Fund would be reimbursed for those costs.

Commissioner Musgrave: Move approval.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Crouch: All in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Crouch: So ordered. Mr. Stoll, tomorrow the Safety Board meets, would it be beneficial perhaps for one of the Commissioners, Commissioner Nix, I don’t know if you have time, I would be happy to attend that Safety Board meeting regarding this issue on the Stockwell Road closing.

Commissioner Musgrave: Do you know, is it on their agenda?

John Stoll: I do not know.

Commissioner Nix: I doubt that it would be right now, because I don’t think anybody has put in a request for anything.

John Stoll: I would have to find out from the contractor whether or not they filed a request. But, as of this morning, no, it was not on the agenda.

Commissioner Musgrave: Do they have a provision on their agenda where you can just walk in? Or do you have to have advanced notice?

John Stoll: Off the top of my head I don’t know, because I don’t go to the Safety Board often enough to even remember. I can check into it.

President Crouch: Alright, and let us know.

John Stoll: Will do.

President Crouch: Thank you.

John Stoll: Thanks.

President Crouch: County Highway.

Mike Duckworth: Good afternoon, President Crouch, members of the Commission. Mike Duckworth, County Highway. I placed at your desk before you arrived a copy of a proposed snow route. This was something that we have discussed at each of our three county road hearings and taken input from members of the community. We have now got that down to a listing, as well as a map. I would like for you to look at and come to some decision on, if you could within the next couple of weeks. I would also ask that we ask the County Attorney, Ted Ziemer, to look at a proposed ordinance, and I would be glad to work with Ted on that, in regards to some things that happen along with that snow route, as far as the removal of vehicles that are parked on those roadways that are priority to have snow removed. Also, at some point in time, we want to look at signage designating those routes as county snow routes. This is similar to what the city has done. I’ll get a copy of the city ordinance, Ted, for you to look at as well.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Thanks.

President Crouch: You’ll check with Area Plan before you put those signs.

Mike Duckworth: Oh, most definitely. Most definitely. I would also tell you that, as we have discussed in the past, and a situation that was approved by this Commission, we have purchased a salt brine system, and the majority of that has arrived in, and we are putting it together. We’re not up and operative just yet. We have some pieces of the spray equipment, and of the brine system, production system that have not arrived, and we’re really close to getting that up and operative, which will allow us to pre-treat some roads. Recently we had a one inch snowfall that a lot of residents were concerned about, the fact that it was so slick with just one inch of snow. The problem was, and as, Suzanne, you and I have discussed over e-mail and telephone conversations, is that as your wind hits some of your county roadways with moisture on the road, you get a layer of ice underneath that snow that eventually comes down. Of course, depending upon the time that the snow hits, as I reported in my e-mail to you, at 2:45 there was no snow on the roadway, and at 3:15 the roadway, in some areas, were completely covered. That was 3:15, by 4:30 I had crews on the road. I can’t tell you that those roadways by 6:00 or 6:30, or even 7:00 or 8:00 were even completely cleared, because the salt didn’t have the sunlight and the heat to react to it to clear the roadways. But, I will tell you that Vanderburgh County school busses and Vanderburgh County schools were in session on regular time, opposed to Warrick County, who had some of the similar problems, and they cancelled school on that day. So, we were out, we were active, and I think this brine system will assist us to mitigate some of the ice, and some of the stuff that causes those slick spots. On an unrelated note, I wanted to tell you that our office has received several calls regarding an area of roadway that is actually in the city that adjoins the county, and that is Petersburg Road, from Senate all the way around to Campground, and the conditions of that roadway. City Transportation Director, Ed Ziemer, and myself met with the Water Department, the Sewer Department and Bowen Construction that’s handling that situation, and we’ve been assured that that roadway is going to be resurfaced within the next 30 days. I wanted you to know that, and I wanted to put it on record, because that’s their agreement with us. Frankly, I’m tired of answering those calls. So, I wanted to make that a record with you, because also within that meeting we also had a very frank and open discussion about utility cuts and roadways, and some planning so that we’re not out doing paving projects with Mr. Stoll’s projects and our projects in the summer, and having them being followed up with utility cuts. So, we’re going to try to have some planning and some organization in regards to that, so that doesn’t happen.

President Crouch: When we approve our list of county roads that we’re going to pave, do we then communicate–

Mike Duckworth: Yes.

President Crouch: –that to the utilities?

Mike Duckworth: Yes, we will send that out to the Water Department, Sewer Department, Vectren, all the utilities involved, Transportation and Services, and ourselves, dispatch, all those agencies that may have some involvement in having road problems, or whatever the case may be will be contacted.

Commissioner Musgrave: Has the city looked at this proposed map yet?

Mike Duckworth: We are currently trying, as we enact our snow routes, then Ed Ziemer and I are going to get together and put some agreement terms together about certain roadways. There’s pieces of county roads and pieces of city roads that it makes no sense for us to stop at a certain area and let them come in and get it, when we could just take another five minutes and finish a roadway. So, there will be some trade off. We’ll bring that back to the Commission and they’ll take it to the Works Board for the agreement to be signed.

Commissioner Musgrave: Well, I think there’s snow forecast for tonight. What are your preparations for ?

Mike Duckworth: Well, we’ll, again, have county foreman on call, and they’ll be driving the roadways. The last forecast, and I noticed channel 25 left, that’s who I listened to, so, I can pick on Wayne Hart. His forecast was for a snow and rain mix with some slick spots. We got a completely slick roadway, and an inch of snow. So, it is a forecast, and there’s not a lot you can do when it kind of dumps on you all at once. So, we will monitor the area, we’ll have our on-call foreman checking that periodically through the night, and when he deems necessary, we’ll get the call out and get the crews out. Thank you.

President Crouch: Questions?

Commissioner Musgrave: I know all the kids really appreciated being able to go to school that day.

Mike Duckworth: I caught heck from my two daughters. They wanted to stay in bed, but it didn’t work out that way.

President Crouch: Thank you.

President Crouch: Mr. Ziemer, County Attorney.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: I’m not sure we actually have anything–

President Crouch: Excuse me, I think we need to change the tape.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Okay.

(Tape change)

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: We have been working with Mary Hart of the Pigeon Township Trustee to get the poor relief standards completed. My information was that they are available in the Commissioners office, but I don’t know if they are available here today to be approved.

President Crouch: I haven’t seen them.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Also, the German Township poor relief standards have been completed and approved by my office, and Madelyn does have those, but she’s planning to bring those for next week. So, there ought to be two sets of standards for approval next week. Then, finally, we have prepared a proposed ordinance concerning parks and recreation advisory committee. That is–

President Crouch: That will be presented to the Burdette Advisory Board tomorrow.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Okay, very good.

President Crouch: Thank you.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Thank you.

President Crouch: Any questions for Mr. Ziemer? Thank you. Have a good vacation.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: I’m gonna.

President Crouch: Next item, or last action item is County Assessor waiver of rental costs and overtime for the Centre. We have waived the rental costs for government entities in the past, but not the overtime. Do I have a motion?

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Musgrave: Second.

President Crouch: All in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Crouch: So ordered.

President Crouch: Any new business?

Commissioner Musgrave: No.

President Crouch: Old business?

President Crouch: At this point in time is there anyone in the audience that cares to address the Commission?

Jerald Jones: Good evening. Jerald Jones, 3919 Lyle Road. I just want to thank all of you folks, particularly John Stoll and Pat Seib, and all the Engineering Department, for the work that he has done, and what you folks have done to try to get Lyle Road out to bid. I truly appreciate it. It’s been a long journey. Thank you so much.

President Crouch: Anyone else from the public?

President Crouch: With that, we do have some consent items, and if there have been no changes in what has been submitted, I will entertain a motion to approve.

Commissioner Nix: I would say that Energy Systems Group pay requisition be withdrawn.

President Crouch: Would you make a motion to that effect?

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Musgrave: Second.

President Crouch: All in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Crouch: So ordered.

Commissioner Musgrave: Move to adjourn.

President Crouch: Well, we need to approve then the consent items.

Commissioner Musgrave: Oh, move to approve the rest of the consent items.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Crouch: All in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Crouch: So ordered.

Commissioner Musgrave: Now my motion to adjourn.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Crouch: All in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Crouch: So ordered. Good afternoon.

(The meeting was adjourned at 4:10 p.m)

CONSENT ITEMS:

         Employment Changes:

         Circuit Court (1)              Auditor’s Office (1)         Prosecutor (2)

         Travel Requests:

         County Assessor (2)       Auditor’s Office (1)         Health Department (1)

         County Highway (2)        Surveyor (1)

         County Assessor: Surplus equipment letter.

         County Clerk: Monthly report for January 2005.

         County Engineer: Surplus equipment letter.

         EMA: County Emergency Response Team Sub-Grant Agreement.

         Commissioners:

         Jail Expenses: Shireman & Associates: No. 54: $55,000

         Energy Systems Group: Req. No.8: $137,936.10: (Pulled)

         Department Head Reports:

         Burdette Park                 County Engineer             County Highway

         Ozone Officer                 SWCD                            CIO