VANDERBURGH COUNTY

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

SEPTEMBER 16, 2008

The Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners met in session this 16^th day of September, 2008 at 5:00 p.m. in room 301 of the Civic Center Complex with President Jeff Korb presiding.

President Korb: It is 5:00. Let’s go ahead and get our meeting started, if we can, please. We will call to order this meeting. Introductions on my right.

Marissa Nichoalds: Marissa Nichoalds, Superintendent of County Buildings.

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

Commissioner Nix: Bill Nix, County Commissioner.

President Korb: Jeff Korb, County Commissioner.

Commissioner Tornatta: Troy Tornatta, County Commissioner.

Madelyn Grayson: Madelyn Grayson, Recording Secretary.

Bill Fluty: Bill Fluty, County Auditor.

President Korb: Join with me please in the Pledge of Allegiance.

(The Pledge of Allegiance was given.)

President Korb: Under action items, we have a Family Day Proclamation, of which I will read.

“Whereas, the use of legal and prescription drugs and the abuse of alcohol and nicotine constitute the greatest threats to the well being of America’s children; Whereas, 13 years of surveys conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, CASA, at Columbia University have consistently found that more often children and teenagers eat dinner with their families, the less they are likely to smoke, drink and use illegal drugs; Whereas, frequent family dining is associated with lower rates of teen smoking, drinking, illegal drug use and prescription drug abuse; Whereas, the correlation between frequent family dinners and reduced risk for teen substance abuse is well documented; Whereas, parents who are engaged in their children’s lives through such activities such as frequent family dinners are less likely to have children who abuse substances; and, Whereas, family dinners have long constituted a substantial pillar of family life in America. Now, Therefore, we, the Board of Commissioners of Vanderburgh County, do hereby proclaim that September 22^nd of 2008 to be “Family Day: A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children”, and urge all citizens to recognize and participate its observance. In witness thereof we have hereunto set our hand and have caused the great seal of Vanderburgh County to be affixed this 16^th day of September, 2008.”

Ladies and gentlemen, for those of you watching, that is Monday of next week. So, if you’re going to have dinner with your family, plan on it Monday of next week. I need a motion.

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Korb: Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: I would just like to comment that if this meeting gets over by 6:15, I’m going to have dinner with my children tonight.

Commissioner Tornatta: And that counts.

President Korb: Glad you’re back in the country, Ted.

Commissioner Nix: Yeah, welcome home.

President Korb: The first item we have to look at under action items is contracts, agreements and leases with the Superior Court Meth lab license agreement. This is a license agreement under which the terms the licensor will make it possible for the Evansville Police Department to check on-line to see about purchases of drugs from CVS pharmacies that contain pseudoephedrine. This will save the Police Department from having to manually check the purchase logs at 11 CVS pharmacies in Evansville. The cost of the license is $420 per year.

Commissioner Tornatta: So moved.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Korb: Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes. The next item is the Sheriff’s foreclosure project service agreement, an agreement which is in connection with the Sheriff sales of real estate. I need a motion.

Commissioner Tornatta: So moved.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Korb: Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes. The next is with the Commissioners, a lease with Artwork Unlimited for office space in the Old Courthouse. Oh, great! The three year lease agreement providing for increasing rent in the second and third years, providing for some variance in the exhibit dates in the second and third years, providing for a variance in the date of the date, which changes each year, the bottom line is they’re going to rent the space. I need a motion.

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Korb: All those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

Commissioner Tornatta: That’s for a haunted house, is it not?

President Korb: I know, I’m excited though, we’ve still got people leasing the space. That’s great.

Commissioner Tornatta: Okay.

President Korb: That’s what that’s all about. Next is a contract with American Structurepoint for the construction inspection on Baseline Road. It’s an agreement between American Structurepoint and the county for construction inspection services in connection with the construction of the new bridge at Baseline Road and the CSX tracks and provides for a not to exceed price of $396,925.

Commissioner Nix: Move approval.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Korb: Discussion?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Um–

President Korb: Yes, sir?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: John, John Stoll? I believe there’s a slight increase in that amount that we learned since I sent my information to the Commissioners.

John Stoll: I requested they increase that by another $2,900 to include nuclear gauge testing for the dirt that will be out on the project. So, that added $2,900, and that made the final contract amount $399,825.

President Korb: Discussion? Seeing and hearing none, all those in favor say aye.

Commissioner Nix: Aye.

President Korb: Aye. Opposed same sign.

Commissioner Tornatta: Aye.

President Korb: The motion passes two to one.

President Korb: Department head reports, John?

John Stoll: First I have a street acceptance request for section 4A of Windemere Farms Subdivision. This covers 1,573 linear feet of Beaumont Drive, and 127 linear feet of Cayes Drive. It’s requested these streets be accepted for maintenance.

Commissioner Nix: Move approval.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Korb: Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

John Stoll: Next, I have a street acceptance request for section five of Windemere Farms. This covers 134 feet of Michael Shane Court, 290 feet of Curran Drive, 439 feet of Pierce Drive, 770 feet of Gavins Lane, and 647 feet of Aiden Drive. That’s also recommended that these be accepted for maintenance.

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Korb: Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

John Stoll: Next, I have the notice to bidders for the Baseline Road bridge project. This would be approval of advertising for bids. If it’s approved, then the bids would be opened on October 7^th.

President Korb: Great. Motion?

Commissioner Nix: Move approval.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Korb: Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

John Stoll: Next, I have the IDEM water quality certification permit application for the Green River Road project. This is just one of many permits we have to get on the project.

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Korb: Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

John Stoll: Next, I have a Corps of Engineers jurisdictional determination for the Green River Road project. This is another form that has to go, in conjunction with the permitting process on Green River. This basically goes to IDEM to say that we’re acknowledging the Corps of Engineers has jurisdiction out there, and, hopefully, that will get the permits moving ahead.

Commissioner Nix: Move approval.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Korb: Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

John Stoll: Then, next, I have a street plan approval request for section two of Cambridge Subdivision. The plans were reviewed in my office, and we would recommend approval of the street plans.

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Korb: Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

John Stoll: The last item I have is to request your approval to proceed with forwarding the construction inspection agreement for the Oak Hill Road-Bergdolt Road intersection project to INDOT. This agreement is between the county and Commonwealth Engineers, and the amount is $98,312.50. I don’t need your signatures on it now, I just need your approval to forward it to INDOT. INDOT will then do their review, and then send it back for your signatures at a later date.

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Korb: Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

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

President Korb: Thanks, John. Have a good night.

Commissioner Tornatta: John, real quick. How many more permits do we need from Army Corps at this time, on Green River?

John Stoll: This should be all the paperwork. Now, it’s a matter of going through their application process where there is a 30 day comment period, and then they do all their reviews. It could be, like I said in the e-mails, I think I sent it to all of you, it was potentially next March before we get the Corps of Engineers permits. So, that could cause some problems as far as right-of-way clearing and things like that. There’s another process that could go, that could make it take up to a year. So, I believe this is, from talking to Bernardin Lochmueller, this should be the end of the paperwork side of it. Now it’s just a matter of going through their process and finding out whether or not we’ll see it in March or later.

Commissioner Tornatta: Okay, thank you.

Commissioner Nix: Thank you.

President Korb: Great. Thanks.

John Stoll: You’re welcome.

President Korb: Mike Duckworth, would you mind coming up and giving us an update on tree removal and storm damage?

Mike Duckworth: Good afternoon, Commissioners, President Korb, members of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen. Mike Duckworth, Superintendent of the Highway Department. It’s been an interesting last few days, with our wind damage. We, at one time, had 14 county roads closed, with trees across them. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot we could do with many of those because they had Vectren lines, phone lines, or cable lines connected to them. It’s our policy not to get involved in those situations due to safety and liability situations. I would tell you that right now we are down to two roadways that are still blocked off in the county; Orchard Road at Highway 65, and Boonville-New Harmony north of Lynch. It’s my understanding that Vectren is trying to get to those locations as soon as they can to get those roadways cleared. As soon as that takes place, if there’s any debris or anything left on the side of the roadway in those areas, our crews will clean them up and get them disposed of. So, it’s been a lot of work over the weekend for our men and women. I know people are tired, 15,000 without, still without utilities, and we’re just doing everything we can to make our part of it a little bit easier for them.

President Korb: Great. Any other questions for Mike?

Commissioner Nix: On, just on another note, four tens right now, how’s that working? Can you comment on that right now as far as the crews?

Mike Duckworth: We are gathering information. I would tell you that my initial assessment of it is that it keeps us on task longer, especially in designated projects such as paving, such as mowing. I think, in that regard, I think we’re getting a lot more done. Fridays has been a time period when we’ve used in excess of 900 gallons of fuel, on average. Of course, we think we’ll be saving that with less trips back and forth to work sites. We’re gathering information on every piece of equipment that we use that takes fuel, as well as savings on our utilities at our facility when we’re closed down. So, we’ll put that information together, and sometime in October I’ll bring that back to you for a decision as to whether or not we’ll approach the union about extending it any further or not.

Commissioner Nix: And, you’re also tracking call-ins on Fridays too, just to monitor maybe having to bring people in for that type of thing.

Mike Duckworth: That’s right. We’ve not had any at this point where we’ve had to call folks in on Fridays. Of course, we had one on Sunday.

Commissioner Nix: Sure, and that’s to be expected.

Mike Duckworth: That’s something that we take the chance of any weekend. But, I would tell you that we’re monitoring those calls. Most folks hear our message that says that if it’s an emergency contact Dispatch, and we will contact an on-call Supervisor. Or, if it’s something that can take place during regular business hours, leave us a message and then the next business day we get back a hold of them and try to expedite the problem.

Commissioner Nix: Okay. One more, paving, you had mentioned something about paving when we had spoken earlier.

Mike Duckworth: We’re at, we’re close to 20 miles right now. We have about $130,000 in paving funds left, which should equate to somewhere between three and four miles. We’re working down the list that was created from the road hearings. We’ll probably be in the 21, 22 mile mark this year. Asphalt prices are at somewhere around $70 a ton as opposed to 45 last year. That has got the cost down, I mean, the mileage coverage down for us.

Commissioner Nix: Okay. Thank you.

Mike Duckworth: Uh-huh.

President Korb: Any questions? Thanks, Mike. Any other department heads out there?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Yes, I just, I received about three o’clock this afternoon, from the Health Department, an amendment number two to a grant agreement, and they need to return that to the Health Department, the State Health Department, within seven days. So, I have sent you an e-mail on this, but you may not have seen it. So, let me explain, the Health Department currently has a grant of $284,134 to continue providing family care coordination services to low income and underserved maternal and child health populations in Vanderburgh County. This is amendment number two to that grant. It will increase the grant amount by $86,725, to a total of $370.859. It will reduce funding for 2008 by $25,000, and will increase funding for 2009 by $111,725, and it extends the grant period to December 31, 2009. The Health Department would appreciate that, if you could approve that, so they can get it signed and returned.

President Korb: I need a motion, or discussion.

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

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Korb: Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Thank you.

President Korb: You’re welcome.

President Korb: We have a board appointment for this evening. It is the Commission to End Homelessness. Nominated for this position is Craig Berkeley.

Commissioner Nix: Move approval.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Korb: Discussion? Hearing none, all of those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

Commissioner Tornatta: He’s actually going to fill a financial spot on the board, I believe.

President Korb: Okay.

President Korb: New business? Any new business to appear before the Commissioners this evening? Yes, sir?

John Dyer: My name is John Dyer. May I address the Commission?

President Korb: Will this fall under public comment, Mr. Dyer?

John Dyer: This falls under action requests.

President Korb: Okay. Come on. Not a problem.

John Dyer: I sent all of you an e-mail earlier today, and I apologize for the last minute (Inaudible).

Commissioner Tornatta: Just give us a second, and pass these out. We need you on tape.

John Dyer: Oh, okay.

Commissioner Tornatta: Okay?

Madelyn Grayson: Do you have an extra one for the record?

John Dyer: I’m sorry. I don’t.

Commissioner Tornatta: I’ll split it with you.

Madelyn Grayson: Okay. I can use his.

John Dyer: Okay.

Madelyn Grayson: Can you repeat your name on the microphone?

John Dyer: Yes. My name is John Dyer. I’m a resident of Vanderburgh County on Old Henderson Road, next to Dogtown Boat Ramp. The document that I just passed to you is an aerial image of Nu Plaza Yacht Club, which resides at mile 797 on the Ohio River in Vanderburgh County. On Sunday we had an event at Nu Plaza Yacht Club, and you’ll see on the front page I’ve described the event in a letter that I sent to Steven Fuchs at the Building Commission office. During the morning of Sunday, September 14^th, tether cables that moor the docks to the shoreline and to anchors in the river, parted, causing docks to collapse towards the shore, damaging several boats and sinking one. Next, the walkway that joins the facility’s floating dock to the shore collapsed. Now, I would point out that this walkway is the only land access to the facility. The walkway carries heavy electrical service to the facility, and it carries motor fuel across the water to the facility. As far as I know, no serious injuries were sustained. I do not, however, attribute this outcome to the diligence of the marina operator. While the marina owner and volunteers worked to mend cables, boat owners and other persons roamed the damaged facility in rough water and high winds without preservers or supervision. Despite the loss of structural integrity to the walkway, the owner did not disconnect the power service, which remains energized as of today. I and adjacent property owners are concerned about public safety in connection with the continued operation of this business. To date, Nu Plaza Yacht Club has not complied with any codes or regulations, nor submitted to inspection by any regulatory authority except for the US Army Corps of Engineers, which does not inspect or regulate physical facilities. The presence of an illegal, uninspected electrical service in combination with an illegal, uninspected motor fuel dispensing facility, and structurally unsound infrastructure imposes an intolerable risk upon our neighborhood. I urge your agency to move immediately to disconnect electrical service at Nu Plaza Yacht Club, remove motor fuel and mitigate hazards at the site. Going forward I ask that you assure Nu Plaza Yacht Club comply with all codes, regulations and minimum standards pertaining to public safety. Now, I know this is a lot to digest all at once. Let me back up and tell you a little bit about our perspective. There are about 15 homeowners at the site. What you see there, from an aerial view, is about 2,000 feet of boat docks that has basically tripled in size since 2001. These boat docks are installed in front of property belonging to others in defiance of Indiana law. The business has deployed 2,000 feet of boat docks that is accessible to the general public. These docks were designed, built, installed and maintained without the involvement of any competent engineer or architect, and without permit or inspection by building authorities. This Sunday, the collapse that occurred in conditions that were not very severe, if this event had occurred around midnight, at flood stage, we could have been looking at fuel and electrical in the water around the marinas docks and in our own yards. Okay? It has an illegal electrical service, installed without permits or inspection, installed by persons other than a licensed electrician. It has an illegal motor fuel dispensing facility and storage depot. This is made of tanks that have been scraped by an oil field service company, and installed without a permit or inspection. I believe that the permitting authority is IDEM, in this case. The fuel tanks expose the public to risk of life by fire, explosion and contamination of the water supply. We are asking the county to intervene. The electrical service should be disconnected, the motor fuel removed from the site, and the business condemned until it comes up to code. The business should be compelled to remove all docks that lie outside its own property lines, except where it has obtained lease hold agreements from property owners. We’re asking that the Commissioners consider asking the Prosecutor to file public nuisance charges, consider asking the Building Commission to issue trespassing, I’m sorry, to ask the Sheriffs Department to issue trespassing citations, ask the Building Authority to issue code enforcement citations. Other things that you might do is petition US, the United States Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw its permits, which it has issued, and contrary to its own rules in this matter, and sue USACE if it refuses. I know we’re asking a lot.

President Korb: Wow, that’s a mouthful.

John Dyer: Yes, sir.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Well–

President Korb: Ted?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: –maybe I’ll just comment as to the legalities involved.

John Dyer: Okay.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: First of all, the United States Army Corps of Engineers has control of the river, we do not, and we are not part of the permitting process, have nothing to do with it.

John Dyer: Indeed that’s the case.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: And we would have no authority other than to, I guess, use the good offices of the Commissioners to write a letter to, if you tell us who to write the letter to, the Commissioners might entertain writing a letter to the Corps of Engineers and asking them to take a look at this. But, it’s their jurisdiction, not Vanderburgh County’s. So, we can’t grant any relief with regard to, you know, to that particular problem. Second, as to the riparian rights that you refer to, and I did receive all of this late today, but I have looked at all of it–

John Dyer: Sure.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: –and had one of my associates look at it. Riparian rights do exist in Indiana, but they are enforceable privately by the people who have the riparian rights. To the extent that the marina owner is violating your riparian rights or those of any of your abutting neighbors there, that’s a private, civil matter. The relief for that is to bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction in Vanderburgh County and seek the relief that you’re entitled to. It’s not, again, something that the Commissioners have any authority over. After reviewing the entire distribution that you’ve made to us, it appears that the Commissioners perhaps only have authority in one area, and that would be with regard to actions by the office of the City-County Building Commissioner. I don’t know, I know what you said, so, that’s how much I know today, I don’t know if any requests for permits was made of the Vanderburgh County Building Commissioner. I have seen his letter that’s in your distribution saying that to his knowledge none were made. I don’t know why the Vanderburgh County, the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Building Commissioner does act on all county property and all city property, and if under the codes there is a code violation here, it would be up to the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Building Commissioners office to come out, survey the site, determine whether there are code violations, and then take appropriate action. I think we’ll ask, or at least it will be up to the Commissioners to do this, I would suggest that the Commissioners suggest to Roger Lehman, the Vanderburgh County Building Commissioner that he go out and take a look at the site. I saw the letter, the exchange of e-mail between that office and you, I think, relative to their belief that jurisdiction over this was with the Corps of Engineers. I think that’s a question that needs to be looked at to the extent that we’re talking about structures built on the land. I don’t think they have any jurisdiction over structures built out into the water. But, I think it’s something that they should look at. I don’t know what I might have left out.

John Dyer: If I may address some, I think you’re right on everything that you’ve said. We’ve actually been remonstrating for about four years over our problems with Nu Plaza Yacht Club. We’ve done a lot of investigation–

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: First time here, I think.

John Dyer: This is the first time here. That’s correct. That is correct. We have determined that there are building and fire codes pertaining to operations of marinas. We had approached the Building Commission in the past, a couple of years ago asking for enforcement here. We were told that the owner told them that they had no authority, and, basically, they said, well, okay and they departed.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Well, that’s one thing that the County Attorney’s office can work with the Building Commissioners office on that issue.

John Dyer: Yes. I think that would be productive, because we have seen fire and building codes in Indiana statute pertaining to the operation of marinas. I presume, especially in other communities in Indiana which have large marina facilities, that it may be possible to inquire with other municipal governments and ask them the question, what kinds of enforcement do you carry out at these facilities? What are the premises within the law that empower you to do so? I think that might be something that the Commission might want to do.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: My initial view of it, all of this is speaking from a legal perspective, is that the Building Commissioners office has authority over any structure, constructed on land, in Vanderburgh County.

John Dyer: Yes.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: And to the extent that this is constructed on land in Vanderburgh County, I don’t, right now know of any reason why it would not be subject to the Evansville-Vanderburgh County building code. But, that is something we will look into.

John Dyer: Nor do I. The electrical service certainly starts on land, the transformers, the power pole is on land, the motor fuel depot is sitting on land.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: I will say I did try I did try to call the Building Commissioners office, and I got this so late we were unable to make contact. So, I haven’t heard their side of this, only yours. So, I will be interested to know what they have to say as well.

John Dyer: One of the things that I would hope to accomplish is that I could convince you that there are motivations for action here. This is a fairly large facility. It’s a 120 slip marina. It’s accessible by the public. It’s basically built of salvage and found materials. You know, there’s been no engineer involved in its construction at all. You know, what happened Sunday was really a pretty small event, but I think it illustrates the kinds of things that can happen there. I think the county would be motivated to do something before we had a genuine catastrophe at the site.

Commissioner Nix: Mr. Dyer, I was wondering, there’s a letter addressed from Roger Lehman, the Building Commissioner, dated February 4, 2005, and it basically says that they’ve done a search of the records and they don’t, there’s nothing that indicates there’s been any violation, because there hasn’t been any permits taken out.

John Dyer: Right.

Commissioner Nix: Was there, and once again, counsel here, we’ve all just looked at this for the last half an hour, maybe an hour or so, just had a chance to glance at it. Is there any correspondence after this? I mean, you said you’ve been working on this for three or four years.

John Dyer: No, not a thing. In fact, we, of course, I’m kind of by myself on this. Me and two other residents are the only people that are really remonstrating. Other people in the neighborhood, for various reasons, are not participating. I think some of them are a little frightened of the process. We had a Dutch Island Neighborhood Association formed, and actually the neighborhood association was formed for entirely different reasons. It was to open up lines of communication with the county administration, with CSX, with the phone company, to get cable t.v. service out there. Things of that nature. When we started talking about these issues, the marina owners attorney contacted all the members of the Dutch Island Neighborhood Association and threatened to sue them for slander.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Do you know who that is?

John Dyer: At the time it was Krista Lockyear.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Okay, thank you.

John Dyer: So, they pretty much scattered like mice. So, it’s really myself and only two other neighbors that are involved at this point. We have been working with no less than a dozen agencies to seek relief. I talked to Federal EPA about the fuel depot, because that’s really a big concern of ours. Gasoline is a cancer causing agent, if it gets in our ground water it will poison our water, and there will actually be no way to cure that when that happens. The American Petroleum Institute says if we have a one drop per minute loss from that fuel facility, that will put 400 gallons of gasoline in our ground in a year.

Commissioner Nix: What are they, what is their response to that? Because I looked at that picture, and that really alarmed me as much as anything is the way that’s stored. Because that doesn’t meet any–

President Korb: None.

Commissioner Nix: –kind of criteria I’ve ever seen before. It looks like it does have an earthen containment around it.

John Dyer: It’s not impermeable. It’s illegal. The spacing of the tanks are illegal. The merchandise is illegal.

Commissioner Nix: Why hasn’t that been stopped a long time ago, I guess is my question?

John Dyer: We are astonished, sir. Astonished. We have worked with, we talked to IDEM about it, IDEM spent two days and they were just hot to come down here and do something for us. Two days later they called and said, well, we stopped at the State Fire Marshall’s office and they instructed us that this was their jurisdiction and they told us to back off. We talked to the State Fire Marshall’s office and they said, yeah, yeah we’re going to take care of you on this, this is a big deal. We’re going to let you know when we’re down there for our inspection. So, I called them, repeatedly, and then all of a sudden I got to talk to somebody that said, oh, yeah, we were already there and we talked to the owner and everything’s fine, there’s nothing to worry about.

President Korb: Mr. Ziemer, are we able, as county officials, to ask the Fire Marshall, because, I mean, at this point this is an illegal structure, and the concern is that we would have a–

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: I don’t know whether it’s illegal or not.

President Korb: Well, it doesn’t have containment–

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: I hear it claim to be, and it may be, but I don’t know that.

President Korb: I can tell you that if any business had this type of containment wall around their tanks, they would be closed down.

John Dyer: Yeah.

President Korb: Pretty simple.

John Dyer: One of our residents owns a chemical factory in Vincennes, and he is very familiar with the state fire code. He prepared an 18 page complaint citing specific violations of fire code and submitted it to the State Fire Marshall’s office. In our opinion, and I hope I’m not inviting liable here, they conducted a sham investigation.

Commissioner Nix: And you haven’t seen any kind of report back from anyone on this?

John Dyer: No. We asked, we asked the State Fire Marshall’s office to explain to us, in writing, the legal basis for their judgement that this facility was grandfathered in and was not subject to the law. They declined to do so.

President Korb: Okay. Is it within our bounds to ask–

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Certainly. Certainly.

President Korb: Okay. I would ask that we do that.

Commissioner Nix: Along with a follow up with the Building Commission, just maybe working with Ted’s office on what we can and can’t do, I guess.

Commissioner Tornatta: I guess, what, I don’t want to see us getting too far into this, because–

Commissioner Nix: No, no, not at all.

Commissioner Tornatta: –we have no–

Commissioner Nix: No, no, I think, I mean, having the Building Commissioner go out and look at the area.

Commissioner Tornatta: Could we just write a letter to the Building Commissioner and have him take it from there?

Commissioner Nix: I have no problem with that whatsoever.

President Korb: Me either.

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

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Korb: Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign.

Commissioner Nix: Do we also want to follow up with the State Fire Marshall? Or IDEM?

Commissioner Tornatta: I would–

Commissioner Nix: Did you say Federal or State?

John Dyer: Well, State, the State Fire Marshall.

Commissioner Nix: The State, yeah, the State–

John Dyer: The State Fire Marshall declined enforcement claiming that the facility had been there so long that it was grandfathered in. These tanks were moved in in 2001. The logic of their reply just completely escapes us.

Commissioner Tornatta: Mr. Nix, I mean, I would let the Building Commission run with it.

Commissioner Nix: We can have him follow up with all of it. I mean, I don’t know if that’s within his jurisdiction to do that. While he’s there, working with the State Fire Marshall, I’m fine with that. Do we need a motion?

Commissioner Tornatta: No, I was just saying send that in the letter–

Commissioner Nix: That’s fine.

Commissioner Tornatta: –and tell him about the follow up in the letter.

Commissioner Nix: That’s fine. I’m okay with that.

John Dyer: Mr. Ziemer, if I may comment, one other thing, we are engaged in a lawsuit against Nu Plaza Yacht Club for violation of our riparian rights. It’s gone on for four years, $45,000 out of my pocket, sir, okay? The one thing that, you may not be able to remedy this for us, but I wonder what would happen if someone came and set up a hotdog stand in the parking lot at the Civic Center, without any permission. Okay? Would the County Prosecutor say to the county, you’re going to have to sue the man to get him off your property? Or would they dispatch Sheriff’s deputies to remove him? And, if the answer is the latter, are we not entitled to the same protection?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: If it constitutes criminal trespass, then I think you call the police. Then a charge would be filed. If, in fact, the police find that it’s criminal trespass, then the Prosecutor would take it from there.

John Dyer: We did. The Sheriff’s deputies agreed that it was trespass. They campaigned with the Prosecutor to file, the Prosecutor told us this is not what we do.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Well, as you know, the County Commissioners don’t control the Prosecutor.

John Dyer: I understand that.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Or the Fire Department, or the State Fire Marshall.

John Dyer: But, like you said, with your good offices, I hope that there might be something that you might do to intervene.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: I think what the Commissioners are motioning to do is to ask the City-County Building Commissioner to inspect this whole situation. He actually has contacts with all of these people, not the Prosecutor, but with the other people that you referred to–

John Dyer: Sure.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: –and let’s see, as you say this has been going on since 2005, and maybe prior to that time–

John Dyer: Yes.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: –and we found out about it this afternoon. So, they’re going to take this as an initial step. I don’t think anybody’s interested in sweeping anything under the rug. We don’t want to do what is the private citizens responsibility to do, because that’s not fair to the other taxpayers–

John Dyer: Sure.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: –but we will do what the laws of the State of Indiana allow the County Commissioners to do in this situation. One thing that is needed is some investigation. We have your side, and, obviously, for example, Krista Lockyear may have another position. I don’t know what her position is going to be about this, but it’s something that, you know, would be interesting to hear.

John Dyer: Actually, his current attorney is now Jeff Henning, but Krista Lockyear was involved when–

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Okay.

John Dyer: –the earlier event took place. That’s basically all I can ask you to do. Thank you so much for listening to me.

President Korb: Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Appreciate it.

John Dyer: Who wants this extra copy?

President Korb: That would be Madelyn. We have a motion on the floor. Is there any amendment to that motion? No? Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes. Gentlemen, before us we also have a letter, and I don’t know exactly what we need to do on this, from West Terrace School, making a request to have a 4K run/walk for their elementary school children.

Commissioner Nix: You know, it’s been a while since we’ve had one of these walk or run, I guess, we’ve always asked for insurance.

President Korb: It’s there, it’s attached, it’s on the last–

Commissioner Nix: I’m sorry. I didn’t see it.

President Korb: That’s okay. The next to the last page.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: So, really, I think, what you want is a review by the County Engineer, and the County Sheriff, and the County Highway Department. If they have no objection to this from any safety point of view, then, you know, you can approve it.

President Korb: Put it on our agenda for next? Okay, Marissa, would you please take charge of? Been done? Great, thank you. Alright, that’s taken care of. Any other new business to come before the Commission?

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Excuse me, Ma’am, we didn’t let you say anything. That timing, I saw this is when, November 1^st?

President Korb: Oh, are you from West Terrace? Come on up. I didn’t know that. I’m sorry. I thought you were just grabbing notes off the podium.

Carrie Frieri: No.

President Korb: Just need to have you state your name please.

Carrie Frieri: I’m sorry. I’m Carrie Frieri.

President Korb: No problem.

Carrie Frieri: From West Terrace. We are just looking for approval to have the Sheriff’s Department help us close these specific roads.

President Korb: Uh-huh.

Carrie Frieri: Next month is great if we can pull for that.

Commissioner Tornatta: It could be this month, right?

Carrie Frieri: Is there anything else you need me to do in the process?

Commissioner Tornatta: Oh, it is next month.

Commissioner Nix: I guess, typically the Sheriff’s don’t actually close the roads, per se. I mean, we could give permission to use the road.

Carrie Frieri: Okay.

Commissioner Nix: As far as the barricading and stuff, I think that’s always done by the individuals that request it.

Carrie Frieri: Okay.

Commissioner Nix: That put the plan in place. Real simple, we’re going to put barricades up here, you know, whatever you’re going to do.

President Korb: Do you have enough volunteers in place to pull this off?

Carrie Frieri: I can, yes.

President Korb: Okay.

Commissioner Tornatta: I’ve got a question.

Carrie Frieri: Sure.

Commissioner Tornatta: Just in case there’s an issue with one of the aforementioned people that would have issue with you using that road, do you have an alternative road?

Carrie Frieri: I didn’t, but–

Commissioner Tornatta: Okay.

Carrie Frieri: –if we need to, I can come up with one and re-present again.

Commissioner Tornatta: I don’t know if that’s going to be an issue.

President Korb: I mean, I live in the neighborhood. My only concern, we live at the end of Key West Drive–

Carrie Frieri: Okay.

President Korb: –is Middle Mt. Vernon Road. It’s a little bit quick in terms of traffic that goes primarily to USI, but it’s going to be on the weekend, I don’t see it as being a problem. But, that’s my most worrisome part.

Carrie Frieri: Is the Middle Mt. Vernon?

President Korb: Uh-huh, yeah.

Carrie Frieri: Okay.

President Korb: But, I don’t see it as any big deal. Typically these things run, what, two or three hours?

Carrie Frieri: I have it down for two hours, but our plan is to start it at one, close it at one, and as soon as the last child exits the street to kind of open it back up again.

President Korb: Sure, and have you already sent this attention homeowners letter out? Have you put it in all of our mailboxes?

Carrie Frieri: I have not yet.

President Korb: Okay. You want to wait until you get approval?

Carrie Frieri: Correct.

President Korb: Gotcha, and will this give you enough time to put this together if we approve it at our next meeting?

Carrie Frieri: Sure.

Commissioner Nix: October the–

Carrie Frieri: When is the next meeting? I’m sorry.

Commissioner Nix: –6th.

Commissioner Tornatta: 7^th.

Commissioner Nix: 7^th, excuse me.

Commissioner Tornatta: Is that right? Yeah, yeah.

Carrie Frieri: October 7^th?

President Korb: That would be correct.

Carrie Frieri: I can work with that. That’s fine.

President Korb: Yeah, okay, but just, that’s kind of where we are with that.

Carrie Frieri: Okay.

President Korb: That will be great.

Carrie Frieri: Thank you for your time.

President Korb: Thank you very much. Any other new business to appear before the board?

President Korb: Old business? Any old business to appear before the board? I would like to say something if I can, please. It appeared in yesterday’s newspaper with regards to something that we had voted on four weeks ago, with regards to the construction of a safety training/break room/women’s restroom at the County Garage. As a result of that, I would like to open it up to the Commissioners one more time so the public is clear as to what the purposes are of the two individuals, being myself and Commissioner Nix, and also open it up to Commissioner Tornatta, who is not in favor of that, which is fine. It’s not a big deal. It’s a big deal for all of us, but I would like one more time to lay the record straight, and start with either of the two Commissioners who wish to speak and address this issue.

Commissioner Nix: I’ll start out. You know, I’ve said this, Mike Duckworth and I, three and a half years ago, we came up with a plan to make some improvements out there to the facility and this was just one of those many things that we planned on doing. This is really the completion of that. I’ve got a pretty extensive list here of the things that we’ve actually gotten done in the last three and a half years. That’s pretty well it.

President Korb: Commissioner Tornatta?

Commissioner Tornatta: I mean, it just comes down to finances. We, out of next year’s budget are cutting finances, cutting salaries, we’re not giving salaries, and that totaled $18,000. We’re worried about buying salt for our trucks for the winter out at the Highway Garage. We see that price might triple. We have had issue where we don’t know how we’re going to fund some of the fueling of the cars, or do miles of road in our county, which that money could potentially be put in place to make sure we had a proper amount of miles, which we’ve done anywhere between 26 and 30 miles a year. We’re at 20 right now. So, yeah, there are some concerns. I think we need to make sure that we’re watching the pennies, just like the County Council is. County Council, in unison, voted not to do this project, yet the County Commissioners continue to go on this project. I think it sets a bad precedent.

President Korb: Commissioner Nix, would you like to address where the money is coming from and how we’re doing that with this project?

Commissioner Nix: Yeah.

President Korb: Because the paper made it sound like that because this money was being spent on this project that other projects would not be accomplished or taken care of during the course of the year, and that is simply not true.

Commissioner Nix: This is Infrastructure money. It came out of the Infrastructure account.

President Korb: That we have, and my whole purpose of, I mean, I obviously came late to the party on this thing, with regards to what this facility was going to accomplish and what its purpose was. As I looked at it, there were three very important points, number one, it’s going to be a point of reference for training. With all the new technologies we are using with regards to salt and ice removal, to me, being able to properly train our employees in an environment that is conducive to that is important. Potentially, that could do away with any type of claim we could have medically if one of our employees is burned in any way, shape or form with regards to improper training or lack of training. The other part is safety. The employees will be trained on a regular basis in safety issues, which potentially will give us an opportunity to avoid any type of Worker Compensation cost down the road, which would easily make this $50,000 look like a wise investment. Finally, and most important to me, is it’s a women’s equality issue. It’s been kind of made fun of that we’re building a restroom for the women. I’m sorry, I don’t make an apology for that, the fact that they’ve had to use a unisex bathroom. If we are encouraging involvement of women in our process in county government, then they should be given the equal right of having their own restroom facility. It also needs to be noted that this project totaling just a little bit less, as I understand it, than $50,000, is being built with union labor, which, to us, was very important to do. That was part of the issue with working with the individual that came in to do this. There was also, I think, a comparison, which was interesting to me, comparing this project to the Treasurer’s office with Z. Tuley. The major difference to me is the fact that we are in the process of beginning demolition on the old jail, on the second and third floors of this Civic Center. The County Assessor’s office will eventually be moved to those, because, to that space that is going to be re-built, simply because we need to give them more space to operate the Assessor’s office out of. The initial plan was to move, or to potentially move across the hall into where the Assessor’s is. Therefore, there’s not a whole lot of reason to invest $100,000 into a facility or into an office space that is going to be potentially outdated and no longer used in less than a two year period. On the flip side of the coin, we had this investment of $50,000 into a building that is 50 years old, that’s going to serve a purpose that we don’t intend on moving anytime in the near future. So, as a result of allowing us to have safety for our employees, safety for the people in the community in which we serve and equality for women with nothing less than a bathroom, we see this as an investment. As Commissioner Nix said earlier, this is an opportunity for us to continue to move forward in a progressive way, such as we did last week with Baseline Road, in terms of infrastructure development. So, and to the point of Mr. Raben, he’s concerned about a lack of paving of roads. Everyone is making it a point, which I find curious and almost funny, the fact that this $50,000 is an inappropriate use and we could be paving another ten, 15, 20 miles of road. Well, it’s costing us, what did we say, $35,000 a mile? So, we could potentially add an extra mile to county paving projects. My personal thought is, because I see this as exactly what it is, an infrastructure investment for the betterment of our employees and our staff and our community. Paving one less mile of road, the reason why we’re not able to pave 34 or 35 miles of road this year is why? The same reason you’re paying $4.50 a gallon at the gas pump. That is not hard to construct that. So, I just felt like that the article was unfair in the paper, because it wasn’t making a comparison that was legitimate, especially when it brought in a comparison with the Treasurer’s office. I felt like as Commissioners, especially since we have been blistered in the past for not disclosing and discussing, even though this thing was discussed four weeks ago, talked about publicly, asked for public comment and voted upon then, I wanted to come back and circle the wagons one more time to be sure that there were no unanswered questions with regards to this. Commissioner Tornatta is not in favor of this, and I’m okay with that. That’s why we have elected government officials, and we have this type of dialogue. But, we’ve all been given the opportunity one more time to say why we’re not in favor of it, and I just wanted to, it just bothered me a little bit when I read the article in the paper and felt like it needed to be addressed. With that being said, we are going to open it up for public comment.

President Korb: Anybody in the public wish to make a comment? Seeing none.

President Korb: I need a motion for consent items please.

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Tornatta: I need to, employee changes, I have one employee change that I would like to take out.

President Korb: Sure. Go ahead.

Commissioner Tornatta: It’s out of the Cum Bridge Fund for Brandee Hunter. I would like to just pull that out and vote separately please.

President Korb: Could you make that in the form of a motion?

Commissioner Tornatta: Well, he’s got a motion.

Commissioner Nix: Yeah, we can go ahead and approve this and pull that out, is that what your asking?

Commissioner Tornatta: Yeah, yes.

President Korb: Okay, so moved.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Korb: Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

Commissioner Tornatta: On this particular matter, I’m still waiting to hear back from Ted’s office on maybe a decision we need to make. I don’t know if we need to move forward with this until I hear that decision. Ted, I don’t know where you stand on that.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: I’m waiting to find out what Dirk Stahl has to say. So, I don’t have any further answer here this afternoon.

Commissioner Tornatta: Well, I guess, you know, I don’t know how far to go into this. My recommendation would be to wait on this until Dirk Stahl makes a motion, and maybe we go from there.

President Korb: Gives us his recommendation?

Commissioner Tornatta: Yeah.

President Korb: I’m very comfortable with that. Mr. Ziemer?

Commissioner Nix: Is that your motion?

Commissioner Tornatta: Yes.

Commissioner Nix: Okay. Second.

President Korb: We’re basically tabling it. Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes. Now, let’s go back and I need a motion please to accept all the consent items as listed.

Commissioner Tornatta: So moved. Oh, we already did that.

Commissioner Nix: Yeah, we’ve done that. We’re okay.

President Korb: Great. I need a motion for adjournment then.

Commissioner Tornatta: So moved.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Korb: Discussion? The meeting is adjourned.

(The meeting was adjourned at 5:50 p.m.)

CONSENT ITEMS

Commissioners:

Approval of the September 2, 2008 Commission Meeting Minutes.

Building Authority: New Jail Pay Request No. 88: $1,725.

Bernardin Lochmueller: University Parkway September 2008 Project Update.

Approval of Gunn Settlement Agreement.

Approval of Titzer, Fields and Kowaleski Condemnations.

Approval of Barnes Settlement Agreement.

Scott Township Fire Department Letter of Support: Baseline Rd. Bridge Project.

IBAP Gatekeeper Report: August 2008.

IBAP Gatekeeper: Client Thank You Letter.

Department Head Meeting Notes: September 2, 2008.

Employment Changes:

Cum Bridge (1) (pulled)           Health Department (2)              Sheriff Office (2)

Election Office (1)                     County Clerk (1)                       Burdette Park (2)

Co-Op Extension (3)                 County Assessor (2)                 Public Defender (1)

Auditor (2)                                Pigeon Assessor (1)

Travel Requests:

Knight Assessor (1)                  Health Department (2)              Auditor (1)

County Engineer (1)                 Treasurer (1)                            SWCD (1) 

Auditor: September 2008 A/P Vouchers.

County Engineer: Pay Request No. 60: Green River-Burkhardt TIF Projects.

Department Head Reports:

Burdette Park                           County Engineer                       County Highway

Ozone Officer

Those in Attendance:

Jeff Korb                                   Bill Nix                                      Troy Tornatta

Bill Fluty                                    Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.          Madelyn Grayson

John Stoll                                  Mike Duckworth                        John Dyer

Carrie Frieri                              Others Unidentified                   Members of Media

VANDERBURGH COUNTY

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

Jeff Korb, President

Bill Nix, Vice President

Troy Tornatta, Member

(Recorded and transcribed by Madelyn Grayson.)