VANDERBURGH COUNTY

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

SEPTEMBER 12, 2006

The Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners met in session this 12^th day of September, 2006 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 Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners meeting for September 12^th. It is 3:30. We will start with introductions.

Marissa Nichoalds: Marissa Nichoalds, Superintendent of County Buildings.

Kathryn Schymik: Kathryn Schymik from the office of the County Attorney.

Commissioner Nix: Bill Nix, County Commissioner.

President Musgrave: Cheryl Musgrave, County Commissioner.

Commissioner Shetler: Tom Shetler, County Commissioner.

Madelyn Grayson: Madelyn Grayson, Recording Secretary.

Bill Fluty: Bill Fluty, County Auditor.

President Musgrave: Will you please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance?

(The Pledge of Allegiance was given.)

President Musgrave: Is there a motion to approve the minutes of September 5^th?

Commissioner Shetler: So moved.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: The motion carries.

President Musgrave: Our action items today, I would like to introduce my shadow, back again for a second week, Mr. Rick Yeager. Welcome. If you want to shadow closer, you can. Or shadow closer to the table. You can sit up here if you like.

President Musgrave: We have as our first action item the second and final reading of ordinance CO.V-08-06-003, the vacation of drainage easement at 501 Metro. This week I will remember to ask for public comment. Is there any public comment on the vacation of this drainage easement? I see none. Is there a motion?

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Shetler: I’ll second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: This requires a roll call vote. Commissioner Nix?

Commissioner Nix: Yes.

President Musgrave: Commissioner Shetler?

Commissioner Shetler: Yes.

President Musgrave: And I vote yes. Show that the motion carries and that the ordinance is granted.

President Musgrave: The County Engineer is asking for permission to open quotes VC06-09-01, Hogue Road culvert number 771 repairs. Do you have any comments? Is there a motion to open the quotes?

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Shetler: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: The motion carries.

President Musgrave: Purchasing is asking for permission to award the bid for the city-county road salt, APA-041-2007. Would you like to come forward and discuss? We have Ms. Debbie Spalding from Purchasing.

Debbie Spalding: Thank you. At the last meeting you were made aware of the bids for the road salt. You have in front of you a bid tabulation form that shows what the bids were and our recommendation is to go with the low bid, American Salt. Their price per ton is $43.68, and you’ll see at the bottom of the page that last year we were paying $42.17 per ton. So, there’s a slight increase.

President Musgrave: Alright, are there any questions? Is there a motion?

Commissioner Shetler: So moved.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: The motion carries. Thank you.

President Musgrave: On the agenda also is the redemption of 912 East Cherry Street, tax code 11-280-24-049-024. This property’s taxes have been paid in full, and the request is for us to take it off our tax certificate sale. I’m asked to remind everyone that the redemption period for these properties has passed. If you have a property of interest on this tax certificate sale, which is set for, is that September 21^st, at 10:00 in this room, you must now write a letter to the Commissioners asking for permission to do that, which we will consider at a regular meeting such as this. Ms. Schymik, do we need to vote on removing this one from the sale?

Kathryn Schymik: I think just, not a roll call, but just a voice vote.

President Musgrave: Okay, is there a motion to remove this property?

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Shetler: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: The motion carries.

President Musgrave: Approval of expenditure of funds, video meeting notice. Mr. Dave Rector is with us this week to discuss the video meeting notice bids that we received a few weeks back for the Centre.

Dave Rector: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Dave Rector, Building Authority. As you stated, we reviewed this a couple of weeks ago, I believe you tabled that for further review, and had Matt Arvay look at them. I’ve talked with Matt, and we have gone back over them with Darren Stearns at SMG, and we believe that the low bid does meet what we asked for quotes for, and recommend that we award the $143,684, plus the alternates that we select to Digital Connections.

President Musgrave: Are there any questions? Is there a motion?

Commissioner Shetler: So moved.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: The motion carries.

Dave Rector: Thank you.

President Musgrave: How soon will that be installed?

Dave Rector: We’ll get it on order this week, and he said about a four to six week lead time on the equipment.

President Musgrave: So, what the public will see when they go into the Centre after that’s installed, maybe in a couple of months time, what will that be like?

Dave Rector: We’ll do away with the tripods, and the poster boards, and the, what I would refer to is when we go to these conferences in hotels, they’ll have televisions screens with all the meeting notices on it, and anything, each t.v. can have it’s own separate notice too, or the same, however they decide to do it. That’s controlled by SMG. They (Inaudible) the notices and putting them on (Inaudible). Into the 21^st century.

President Musgrave: Are our signs for the building–

Dave Rector: Thank you. The signs are waiting to be ordered. We have the BZA hearing on the 21^st at 4:00 that I’m hoping maybe one of you could maybe come to show support. I’ll be there to plead our case. I don’t anticipate a problem, but I think your support might go a long way with helping get that done.

President Musgrave: Do you want to do that?

Commissioner Nix: I can, what’s the–

Dave Rector: 4:00, in here.

Commissioner Nix: What day is that?

Dave Rector: The 21^st.

President Musgrave: It’s a Wednesday.

Dave Rector: Thursday, I’m sorry, the 22^nd.

President Musgrave: It’s on Thursday, the 22^nd?

Dave Rector: Yes.

Madelyn Grayson: Thursday is the 21^st.

Dave Rector: Okay.

Commissioner Nix: I’ll be out of town on the 20^th, but it is the–

Dave Rector: It’s the Thursday of next week.

Commissioner Nix: Okay, that’s good. At 4:00?

Dave Rector: At 4:00. We’ve sent all the notices. We had like 40 certified letters we’ve sent now. We’ve done that, complied with BZA requirements.

President Musgrave: Okay, and these are for the big signs that say, “The Centre”?

Dave Rector: Yes.

President Musgrave: On the four corners of the building, so that passersby–

Dave Rector: And then the small ones above the doors that say, “The Centre”.

Commissioner Nix: Is that the final–

Dave Rector: That way you’ve exceeded the signage by the zoning that’s at the Centre.

Commissioner Nix: That will be the final hurdle before we could actually get started with it?

Dave Rector: Yeah.

Commissioner Nix: Installing it.

Dave Rector: I don’t want to be premature and order them without (Inaudible).

President Musgrave: No. Anything else?

Dave Rector: No.

President Musgrave: Alright. Thank you.

Dave Rector: Thank you.

President Musgrave: Contracts, agreements and leases. We have several contracts, and if the Commissioners desire we could make one motion for all of them. I’ll just list them. The State of Indiana Industrial Development Grant Fund, grant for the Brake Supply. If you’ll recall, the state is putting $59,000 toward that project’s infrastructure and improvements, and the paperwork is coming through for that. The DADS interpreter/translator, it has been reviewed, it’s identical to the previous agreement except for a fifty cent increase in the fees for the typewritten pages. We have two Veterans Services contracts, and, oh, I see that we have our other shadow, Samantha Loehrlein has joined us, she is shadowing Commissioner Shetler. Veterans Services having two contracts that Council approved funding for a few weeks ago for improvements to the rooms that they are in. The County Engineer offers a perpetual highway easement from Wayne and Bonnie, is that Fehd? Wrong name?

John Stoll: Right name, but the easement has not been signed off on that as of yet. So, we don’t have it here today.

President Musgrave: Okay, strike that then, from the motion then.

John Stoll: Same with the other easement from Big Shoe Properties LLC.

President Musgrave: Alright, then I have listed the contracts, agreements and leases, is there a motion to accept them?

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Shetler: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: The motion carries.

President Musgrave: We come now to the point on our agenda for department head reports. I see a couple, are there any reports? Mr. Stoll, the County Engineer?

John Stoll: I just have one item, and that’s to request approval of the street plans for Chadwick Estates Subdivision. It’s located off of Peck Road, and the engineer was Easley Engineering. They made all of the changes that we had requested, so I would request approval of the plans.

President Musgrave: Do you have any questions?

Commissioner Shetler: So moved.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: The motion carries. Any other department heads? I see no other department head reports.

President Musgrave: We have some new business. In the packet today is a letter of invitation to Senator Lugar. A couple of weeks ago I attended Senator Lugar’s energy summit at Purdue University, where he spoke about the need to replace our dependence upon foreign oil. Given the fact that we are having two, or possibly more ethanol plants locating very nearby, in the next county, I thought it would be a nice program for him to bring to southern Indiana, hopefully, to Vanderburgh County. This letter is a letter of invitation for him to do just that. Hopefully, he can bring his message here during this year, but if not, then next year. For he intends to make this work, apparently the major portion of his work in the next four years. So, I would like to send this letter of invitation to Senator Lugar to come, if that meets with your approval.

Commissioner Shetler: So moved.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: The motion carries. We have notice of a special meeting on Thursday this week, September 14^th at 9:00 a.m. in this room, room 301. This is the special meeting for the sole purpose of awarding the computer contract, and it will be aired and recorded just as all regular meetings of the Commission are. So, if you can attend, in this room, 9:00 a.m, 301. Morgan Avenue intersection update. I see our Surveyor, Mr. Bill Jeffers here. We received word this week that the project that Bill Nix, Commissioner Nix, and Surveyor Jeffers and others, John Stoll, have been working on, and have some good news. I’ll let you report that, if you would like, Commissioner.

Commissioner Nix: Go ahead, Mr. Jeffers.

Bill Jeffers: Well, basically, as the Commissioners know, and for anyone else that doesn’t, the Commissioners authorized a flood plain study that was completed by Morley and Associates this year. It established the flood plain for the eastside commercial area, basically from Green River Road east to I-164, how high the flood water would get during a 100 year storm. It also identified culverts and bridges that obstruct the flow of storm water runoff from that heavily developed commercial area. It identified those culverts that artificially raised the flood plain even more than what’s necessary. Without this study we wouldn’t be able to substantiate our claim that the culvert at Green River Road is one of those culverts that obstructs the flow and artificially raises the flood plain, causing developers and property owners to have to bring in extra dirt from Warrick County and fill in to build. So, what, we have already met, Commissioner Nix, who is President of the Drainage Board, County Engineer John Stoll and I have met with Bart Mueller from Indiana Department of Transportation. John has scheduled another meeting with Mr. Mueller, and one other representative for Thursday, September 21^st at 11:00 a.m. to discuss their plans. Hopefully we’ve convinced them that their plan for the widening and improvement of Green River Road and Morgan Avenue should include a new culvert, a larger culvert to carry more storm water off, out of this area, so that, and, basically, we just want to thank the Commissioners all together. Your support of this matter, which is of the greatest importance to landowners, developers, and shoppers who enjoy the goods and services that are available to us out east of Green River Road. This will make a safer, and it will make it less expensive to develop that land, if we get that culvert replaced (Inaudible).

Commissioner Nix: I guess, our preliminary meeting we had with Mr. Mueller, he indicated that the state was willing to work with us on that. I think that this meeting on the 21^st should, maybe we should have more information on their plans and what they’re going to be doing then?

John Stoll: They plan to bring their consultant, which is RQAW Corporation out of Indianapolis down to review the data that was in the Morley study, and tried to get an estimate as to what it will take to fix the culvert, what kind of study and design work they will have to do. Based on what they told me, in addition to the same people that met last time it will also be their design consultant, which (Inaudible).

Commissioner Nix: I’m going to commend both of you on your forward thinking on this, because this is something that could have really easily slipped through the cracks. This project could have moved forward without any input from you two guys, and, I mean, it’s made a difference, hopefully, we can get this moving.

Bill Jeffers: Like I said, without the study that you commissioned for the eastside flood plain, we would not have been able to substantiate our claim and our concern. So, that’s really what is the key to making the improvement.

President Musgrave: I would like express my appreciation to INDOT for taking the time to sit down and go over the information. They were to have done a bid letting, I believe, in September, this month, and they have pushed that back in order to accommodate this information, which is new to them. Perhaps we’ll see this improvement take place maybe next year. I understand you can’t do any construction in the winter. So, it has to be pushed back a little bit further then, just a few months. So, thank you very much for your work.

Bill Jeffers: Thank you.

President Musgrave: We look forward to the results of your next meeting.

President Musgrave: We have a bid opening. Ms. Schymik, would you like to tell us about those numbers?

Kathryn Schymik: Yes, on the Hogue Road culvert repair project, J.H. Rudolph and Company submitted a bid of $51,285; and CCC of Evansville, Inc. submitted a bid of $22,736.84.

President Musgrave: Is there a motion to take those under advisement?

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Shetler: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: The motion carries.

President Musgrave: We move now to old business. Mr. Steve Craig, the head of Burdette Park and I will be traveling to Indianapolis this Friday to meet with the director of the Department of Natural Resources, Kyle Hupfer. This meeting is designed to plead our case for the bike path funding for Burdette Park, and also to have a better understanding of the application process, and why projects that were submitted last year received funding and Burdette Park’s application for the second year in a row received none. I will be sharing with them a copy of a map that was created showing those applications, applications made from around the state, many from the southern half of Indiana, and applications from the northern half of Indiana enjoyed funding totaling $17 million, a little more than that, and the southern part of the state received four million dollars in funding for our bike path requests. So, I will be asking how we can better our achievement record, at least in Vanderburgh County if not the whole southern part of the state. We come now to the portion of our meeting for public comment.

Commissioner Nix: Madam President? Before we get to that, I’ve got one other thing. I don’t know if this would be under old or new, but I’ve got a pay application here, or pay requisition number 82 for the jail. It’s actually, the bulk of this is for work on the maintenance facility at the perimeter, or at the rear of the jail. There are a few other items on this, but I would recommend approval. It’s in the amount of $184,129.64.

President Musgrave: Does that represent payment in full for that?

Commissioner Nix: No, it does not. No, it’s a pay req. There will be a couple more coming after that. This is a partial to Peyronnin. Like I said, there’s some other items in this also.

Commissioner Shetler: Do you have any idea, roughly, what kind of balance that is going to leave us in that?

Commissioner Nix: I’m thinking somewhere around $300,000 or so. Are you talking about in the contingency?

Commissioner Shetler: Yeah.

Commissioner Nix: I can get that for you next week.

Commissioner Shetler: But, roughly three?

Commissioner Nix: $300,000.

Commissioner Shetler: Okay.

Commissioner Nix: That’s Mr. Rector, I see he’s gone, but I’ll get that.

Commissioner Shetler: That’s fine, I was just wanting the ball park.

Commissioner Nix: It may be a little higher than that right now, I’m not really for sure.

Commissioner Shetler: Alright, thank you.

President Musgrave: My memory may not serve, but I thought that the total amount for that facility was more like 119. That’s the facility where they’re keeping the lawn equipment and that sort of thing?

Commissioner Nix: I think it was a little bit more than that. I don’t have that exact contract amount here. But, like I said, there are quite a few things on there for the jail also. We purchased a lift, like I said, there’s, had some work done on some things inside the jail also.

President Musgrave: Oh, that would come from a different?

Commissioner Nix: Yes, uh-huh.

President Musgrave: Okay. We will amend the consent items to include that in just a moment.

President Musgrave: I believe we have a gentleman here who wishes to address the Commission under the public comment portion of the meeting. That would be you? Please state your name for the record, please.

William Ritzert: I’m William J. Ritzert. I have land at the end of Voight Road. I’ve been there for 45 years. I’ve seen a lot of water come and go. But, anyway we seen this spring, you know, we had this high water, and it created a problem there of traffic down Oak Hill, because the traffic couldn’t get to Green River Road, because Millersburg Road floods out before Green River. The traffic has to go down Oak Hill. Okay, I would like to see if we couldn’t get Millersburg Road developed, elevated for over to Green River Road, because on Sunday there’s about 1,100 cars or 1,000 that goes to church there. We have a Sheriff there directing traffic in and out as it is, and through the week I imagine that there’s at least 1,000 cars a day that goes across Millersburg Road from Oak Hill over to Green River Road. We have high water it will all go down, trickle down Oak Hill. We have a problem at that end there. Also, if we go that route, it would be really nice if we could run Millersburg Road all the way over, because it connects Oak Hill, Green River Road and run it into Burkhardt. That way it would take the whole corridor off, and the people could, traffic could be fed into our residential and commercial areas without going down Oak Hill. That’s a necessity, Oak Hill, there. It would be really nice if we could get that done, but I’m sure that’s (Inaudible) process. But, it’s an idea. But, the main thing, if we could get Millersburg Road elevated, maybe. They’ve cleaned out the ditches. Now, they’ve done a nice job on that, but if the ditches are running full at the present time, and if a lady or man with these kids strapped in the back of the car and they go off into the ditch, I doubt if they could get them out before they would drown. That’s how vicious it is right now. The ditches are five to six foot deep, and about eight to ten foot across the top. There’s no guardrails. Well, they just cleaned the ditches out and there’s no railing there at the time. I have seen cars in the ditch lots of times. But, it would be really nice if we couldn’t get something done.

Commissioner Nix: Does the road have a tendency to flood further to the west on Millersburg? Because I know right in front of the church there, it seems like it goes up quite a bit.

William Ritzert: Well, yes, it’s on the west side of the church.

Commissioner Nix: Okay.

William Ritzert: Towards Oak Hill.

Commissioner Nix: Okay.

William Ritzert: It’s in between the church, there at the bridge, the bridge is out of the flood plain, I’m sure it is. They done a nice job on that a few years ago, but that (Inaudible) plant there at the corner and they’ve elevated that, and the bridge also. It (Inaudible) the flood plain, but (Inaudible) it floods clear over towards Oak Hill.

Commissioner Nix: There’s a natural drainage swale there, just west of there, I believe, I’m not for sure what that’s called.

William Ritzert: Yeah, that’s Furlich Creek.

Commissioner Nix: There you go. Okay, and that’s where it floods, basically, out of the creek there?

William Ritzert: Yes, right. Across that low land there.

Commissioner Shetler: Now, that intersection, Millersburg and Green River is scheduled to be redone, probably in a year, 15, 16 months, something like that. That’s when they will probably begin on that. Millersburg is going to be raised, what, nine inches, a foot?

John Stoll: Three feet.

Commissioner Shetler: Three feet?

William Ritzert: All the way across to Oak Hill?

Commissioner Shetler: No, not that far down. Probably, what a hundred, a hundred and fifty feet down Millersburg?

John Stoll: It runs, right at the intersection is where the raising of the road will take place, it’s approximately three feet. The limits of Millersburg work actually runs out to the crest of the hill, just east of the church. So, it won’t pick up the areas that Mr. Ritzert is talking about.

Commissioner Shetler: Right.

John Stoll: As far as what floods right now. I believe–

Commissioner Shetler: Will it make it worse? Because you’re going to be putting, or not–

John Stoll: It shouldn’t.

Commissioner Shetler: Okay.

John Stoll: Ultimately, it all ends up in the same, it’s all part of the same–

Commissioner Shetler: It will just get there faster is all?

John Stoll: Just different ditches drain the water at the intersection versus what’s back here at Hedden where the road gets inundated.

Commissioner Shetler: Of course, then once Green River Road is all done there could be a whole lot of changing, because the drainage will be following along with all the plans of the road and everything on there too. So, there’s going to be quite a bit of changes take place in the next 16,18 months as well. But, I think that is something that we need to keep our eye on for what he’s, you know, addressing there too.

John Stoll: (Inaudible) the work that we are doing on Green River won’t address the flooding issue. That will have to be a separate project. (Inaudible) that hasn’t been looked at in the past. That’s something we can take a look at, but right off the top of my head, I know the city was in the process of annexing out here in the vicinity of Millersburg-Oak Hill, and I just don’t know whether that ever got finalized. If it did, what parts of the road will be the city’s versus the county’s, and whether or not there would have to be some sort of joint project (Inaudible) route or not. So, there’s a bunch of unknowns; whether or not we have sufficient right-of-way that you could raise the road without having to go through significant right-of-way acquisition process and things like that. So, that’s the kind of stuff that we would need to look at to address the flood issue out there. We can certainly look into it and see what we can find out and report back to you.

President Musgrave: Would you please?

John Stoll: Sure.

President Musgrave: Do you have his contact information?

John Stoll: I just got his phone number a minute ago.

President Musgrave: Okay.

Commissioner Nix: I guess, just for the record, maybe we can have it on next year’s road hearings. We can make that an item that we can address now, and then also then too. Maybe look at it again.

President Musgrave: Thank you, sir, for coming. We’ll look into it and report back.

Commissioner Nix: Thank you.

President Musgrave: Would you make sure you get his address as well? I know he said it on the record.

John Stoll: Will do.

President Musgrave: Alright. Thank you.

President Musgrave: We have another item to amend the consent agenda with. I have thank you letters for the presenters that came to our economic development workshop. I would like to go ahead and add them to the consent agenda so that those may go out today. So, is there a motion to amend the agenda with the two items that we have discussed?

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Shetler: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: Is there a motion to adopt the consent agenda?

Commissioner Shetler: So moved.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: The motion carries. Is there any further business?

Commissioner Nix: Motion to adjourn.

Commissioner Shetler: Second.

President Musgrave: All those in favor?

Commissioners: Aye.

President Musgrave: We are adjourned.

(The meeting was adjourned at 3:58 p.m.)

CONSENT ITEMS:

Employment Changes:

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

Superior Court (1)                     Pigeon Assessor (1)                 Circuit Court (1)

County Clerk (1)                       Dental Clinic (1)

Travel Requests:

Health Department (1)              Legal Aid (2)

Commissioners:

Thank you letters to presenters at the Economic Development Workshop.

Pay Requisition #82: Jail Project: $184,129.64

IBAP Gatekeeper Report: July 1997-Present.

Receipt for Economic Development Dinner: Lorenzo’s.

Southwest Indiana Law Enforcement Academy: Request for Waiver of Fee: Centre

Department Head Meeting Notes: 9/5/2006.

County Engineer: Pay Request No.2: Green River TIF Projects: $173,107.34

Legal Aid: August 2006 statistics.

County Clerk: Installation and Materials Agreement: Cinergy (move phone lines)

Auditor:

Submit A/P Vouchers.

Drawdown No. 2 of Funds for Knight Township CDBG Grant.

Department Head Reports:

Burdette Park                           County Engineer                       County Highway

Ozone Officer                           Supt. Of Bldgs.                         Veterans Service

Those in Attendance:

Cheryl Musgrave                      Bill Nix                                      Tom Shetler, Jr.

Bill Fluty                                    Kathryn Schymik                      Marissa Nichoalds

Madelyn Grayson                     Debbie Spalding                       John Stoll

Bill Jeffers                                 William Ritzert                          Others Unidentified

Members of Media

VANDERBURGH COUNTY

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

Cheryl A.W. Musgrave, President

Bill Nix, Vice President

Tom Shetler, Jr., Member

Recorded and transcribed by Madelyn Grayson.