VANDERBURGH COUNTY COUNCIL

MINUTES

NOVEMBER 5, 2008

The Vanderburgh County Council met in session this 5th day of November in room 301 of the Civic Center Complex. The meeting was called to order at 8:35 a.m. by Council President Marsha Abell.

President Abell: I’d like to call to order the November 5^th, 2008 meeting of the Vanderburgh County Council. Attendance roll call please.

President Abell: Ms. Leader, would you lead us in the Pledge?

(Pledge of Allegiance was given)

COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

President Abell: First on our agenda is the appropriation ordinance, and I’ll turn the meeting over to the Finance Chairman, Mr. Raben.

Councilmember Raben: Okay, thank you. Good morning. First is Co-op Extension Services, 1230-3200 and 1230-3130 in the amount of $3,390, I’ll move approval.

Councilmember Winnecke: Second.

President Abell: Comments from the Council? Roll call vote.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Goebel?

Councilmember Goebel: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

COOPERATIVE EXTENSION                               REQUESTED       APPROVED

(Motion unanimously approved 7-0)

COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

Councilmember Raben: Okay next, County Commissioners, Postage in the amount of $55,000. Madam President, they had stated last week that they thought they may be able to cut that figure, but after further review they say that it’s going to be necessary that we appropriate this 55, so I move approval.

Councilmember Winnecke: Second.

President Abell: Questions from the Council?

Councilmember Sutton: I think it was noted last week that this increase was mainly due to the election and voter registration cards and all going out.

President Abell: Roll call vote.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Goebel?

Councilmember Goebel: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

COUNTY COMMISSIONERS                                REQUESTED       APPROVED

(Motion unanimously approved 7-0)

CIRCUIT COURT

Councilmember Raben: Circuit Court, 1360-3903 Petit Jurors in the amount of $5,810, I’ll move approval.

Councilmember Leader: Second.

President Abell: Questions from Council? Roll call vote.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Goebel?

Councilmember Goebel: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

CIRCUIT COURT                                                   REQUESTED       APPROVED

(Motion unanimously approved 7-0)

THE CENTRE

Councilmember Raben: Next The Centre, Union Overtime, FICA and PERF in the amount of $9,333, I’ll move approval.

Councilmember Sutton: Second.

President Abell: Questions from the Council? Roll call vote.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Goebel?

Councilmember Goebel: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

THE CENTRE                                                        REQUESTED       APPROVED

(Motion unanimously approved 7-0)

BURDETTE PARK

Councilmember Raben: Burdette Park, 1450-4100 Lighting & Sound in the amount of $26,758, Utilities in the amount of $20,000, for a total of $46,758, I’ll move approval.

Councilmember Winnecke: Second.

President Abell: Questions from Council? Roll call vote please.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Goebel?

Councilmember Goebel: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

BURDETTE PARK                                                 REQUESTED       APPROVED

(Motion unanimously approved 7-0)

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Councilmember Raben: County Highway, 2010-4416 University Parkway in the amount of $285,000, I’ll move approval.

Councilmember Leader: Second.

President Abell: Questions from Council? Roll call vote please.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Goebel?

Councilmember Goebel: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

COUNTY HIGHWAY                                              REQUESTED       APPROVED

(Motion unanimously approved 7-0)

HEALTH DEPARTMENT

Councilmember Raben: Health Department, 2130-2241 and 2130-3510 in the amount of $39,193, I’ll move approval.

Councilmember Winnecke: Second.

President Abell: Questions from the Council? Roll call vote.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Goebel?

Councilmember Goebel: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

HEALTH DEPARTMENT                                       REQUESTED       APPROVED

(Motion unanimously approved 7-0)

TOURISM CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT

Councilmember Raben: Next under Tourism Capital Improvement funds, I’ll move approval for 3600-4070 Burdette Park in the amount of $20,000.

Councilmember Sutton: Second.

President Abell: I think there are some questions.

Marilee Fowler: I am Marilee Fowler with the Evansville Convention Visitors Bureau. We brought pictures. The building has been completed, we’ve had our first big racing event out there. It was like three days after the building was completed. We had over 500 people registered to participate in that race. So I brought you some pictures and we’ve also got some big ones that perhaps can be seen by the audience at home. If you haven’t been out there, this is a pretty impressive site. And as you know, the volunteers that have been doing this for over thirty years are very pleased to have this new facility. This particular one is an aerial, it shows the new building, the track itself, and also in relationship to the O’Day Discovery Lodge. That is the entrance and that’s the building right there, on the left. The other thing that we are very pleased with is that the design and the completion looks very similar to the O’Day Discovery Lodge, so it’s very compatible in the appearance. If you haven’t seen this track, it’s supposed to be one of the best in the country. And so this is a great aerial of the track itself. One of the riders. Yeah, this was the event, that first event that was held out there since it was completed. We like this action picture. To be that young again. So that’s some pictures, you have some also right there to review. What we would ask is for your support today in approving the appropriations for us to pay the architect for the completion of this building.

President Abell: Mr. Goebel, did you have a question?

Councilmember Goebel: I’ll defer to Tom.

President Abell: Oh, Mr. Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: How many square feet were involved in that building?

Marilee Fowler: Oh! Do you know how many –

(Inaudible)

Marilee Fowler: 2800, it’s one level.

Councilmember Shetler: And cost?

Marilee Fowler: Cost is $345,000. The building itself has the area for the concessions. It’s probably, the concession area now is bigger than the older building was total. Its got a great area then for the riders coming in to register. It has restrooms and its got a little storage area.

Councilmember Shetler: And did that include equipping the building like with a commercial stove and all those kind of deals for the concession area?

Marilee Fowler: It included all of the equipment they needed for the concessions.

Councilmember Shetler: Alright, thank you.

President Abell: Mr. Goebel?

Councilmember Goebel: Yeah, I’m a little confused as to the request. I think in July, the amount appropriated, the request was 325, and that’s what was appropriated.

Marilee Fowler: The total cost is $345,000, but what we had in our budget for this current year was $325,000. The Innkeeper’s Tax that has come in, there is plenty of resources there to pay this money to finish the project, we just did not have that totally in the budget, not knowing what to anticipate.

Councilmember Goebel: Well, I understand that Marilee, but it seemed to me that the price tag was 325, completed.

Marilee Fowler: No, it was 345 completed. It was just our budget, the resources that we had left in the budget were 325.

Councilmember Goebel: Thank you.

Councilmember Raben: Now I’m confused. In July what was the amount – originally you came in and it was like 407.

Marilee Fowler: Right.

Councilmember Raben: And we said let’s scale it back a little bit. Let’s make the building where it can be utilized for other services outside of our other park functions. But I thought that the project, and I think that’s where Mr. Goebel is going, I thought the project then dropped to like 320.

Marilee Fowler: That was what we had in the budget. That was what we could put toward that project, but we knew the project, based on those cutbacks was $345,000. So that was why, once we knew the resources would be here in the Innkeeper’s Tax, that we could come back and ask for the $20,000 to complete the project. But you are correct, the budget, the original request was for $407,000, that was with a two-story building and Council had requested that that cut be made to the one story and that was done, but the total price tag was 345.

Councilmember Raben: This is not a cost overrun or anything?

Marilee Fowler: No, this is not a cost overrun.

Councilmember Raben: It came in at budget?

Marilee Fowler: The complication is the fact that the resources that we had in our budget in July when we came to you.

Councilmember Goebel: I understand now. I think you requested 345 on the hit sheet here and we appropriated 325. I was wondering, have the bleachers and lighting, has all of that been taken care of or is this what you’re asking for?

Marilee Fowler: The lighting has not been done. We will not make the final payment, this last $20,000, until everything is done and I want Mr. Craig to sign off on it, I want the BMX people that oversee this project to sign off on it, so that check will not be cut or paid until everybody is satisfied that all the work is done. And the big project left to do is the lights.

Councilmember Goebel: And this is then operating within budget, correct?

Marilee Fowler: Correct.

Councilmember Goebel: Thank you.

President Abell: Anyone else? Ms. Leader?

Councilmember Leader: I just wanted to comment. Mr. Craig invited us out to Burdette after last week’s meeting to look at the track and to look at the park, which is a much cheaper ride than going to Brown County. And it is as beautiful as Brown County. The BMX is pretty astounding so I encourage the public as well as the Council to go visit the park this week before the leaves are all gone.

Marilee Fowler: It’s an incredible facility to see, but it’s also beautiful out there right now.

President Abell: Anyone else have a question for Marilee? I just want to say that I’m encouraged to see the young children using this. That’s a real plus to see these pictures of young children out there and I always enjoy seeing us spend our money for our youth of Evansville.

Marilee Fowler: We had our board meeting out there last week and we had one board member that has two young boys, and she knows they are going to be out there wanting to participate with this new facility – they love biking anyway, so I think, again, once the community finds out this facility is here, it’s a great opportunity for our children. It’s also an Olympic sport at this point, and I think the opportunity to grow this for Vanderburgh County is very, very good.

President Abell: Well, we appreciate you’re coming in this morning.

Marilee Fowler: Thank you.

President Abell: Thank you. Do you have another question, Mr. Goebel?

Councilmember Goebel: Just, you’ll keep us abreast as far as attracting any major tournaments?

Marilee Fowler: Yes. We made that very clear to the volunteers that we have certainly helped them with this project and we hope they can enhance it by bringing in more tournaments and enhancing the ones they already have, making them even larger. So they understand their mission.

President Abell: Any other comments? Roll call vote please.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Goebel?

Councilmember Goebel: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

TOURISM CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT                  REQUESTED       APPROVED

(Motion unanimously approved 7-0)

AUDITOR                                                     AREA PLAN

PUBLIC DEFENDER                                   CIRCUIT COURT

COUNTY COUNCIL                                     CUMULATIVE BRIDGE

FAMILY & CHILDREN                                 REASSESSMENT/CENTER TWP.

COUNTY COUNCIL (LATE)

Councilmember Raben: Madam President, on the transfers, everyone has had an opportunity to review all the transfers including the late transfer today, I’m going to move that all transfers be approved as listed.

Councilmember Winnecke: Second.

President Abell: Does anyone on Council have a question about any of the transfers, including the late transfer?

Councilmember Leader: I have a question about – well, relative to the Green River Road culvert, but its really about the light at Bergdolt Road, do we have any idea when we’re actually going to put that light in? Mr. Stoll, can you address that for us please? I thought we were going to begin that in October or something. And then the Green River Road thing would be following that.

John Stoll: It was supposed to have started back in – I can’t remember the exact start date. Originally, the project was bid in July. It has an August 1^st completion date for next year. Utility relocations have prevented the start of the project, is what it amounts to. Until Vectren and AT & T get out of the way, the contractor couldn’t start. So right now, it looks like a spring start date for the project.

Councilmember Leader: So will that be at the same time as Green River Road, which we were trying to avoid, right?

John Stoll: Unfortunately, yes. With Green River remaining open, that will help, but there will still be an overlap with the two projects.

President Abell: Any other questions? Jim, did you put that in the form of a motion? Okay, I need a second.

Teri Lukeman: Lloyd seconded.

President Abell: I’m sorry. Roll call vote, please.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Goebel?

Councilmember Goebel: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

AUDITOR                                                               REQUESTED       APPROVED

AREA PLAN                                                          REQUESTED       APPROVED

PUBLIC DEFENDER                                             REQUESTED       APPROVED

CIRCUIT COURT                                                   REQUESTED       APPROVED

COUNTY COUNCIL                                               REQUESTED       APPROVED

CUMULATIVE BRIDGE                                         REQUESTED       APPROVED

FAMILY & CHILDREN                                           REQUESTED       APPROVED

REASSESSMENT/

CENTER TOWNSHIP ASSESSOR                       REQUESTED       APPROVED

COUNTY COUNCIL                                               REQUESTED       APPROVED

(Motion unanimously approved 7-0)

Councilmember Raben: Okay, and last, the amendments to the Salary Ordinance, and I’ll move that we amend salary line 1440-1850 Union Overtime as previously adopted, that was for the Centre. Circuit Court Supplemental Adult Probation, amend salary ordinance effective January 1, 2009 to pay interns and part-time help up to $9.00 per hour. This was not included in our approved 2009 salary ordinance.

Councilmember Leader: Second.

President Abell: Does anyone have any comments or questions from Council? Roll call vote?

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Goebel?

Councilmember Goebel: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

(Motion unanimously approved 7-0)

President Abell: Thank you, Mr. Raben.

President Abell: In an effort to hurry right along, I forgot to have the minutes approved from our last meeting. I would entertain a motion.

Councilmember Shetler: So moved.

President Abell: Do I have a second?

Councilmember Leader: Second.

President Abell: Roll call vote please.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Goebel?

Councilmember Goebel: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

(Motion unanimously approved 7-0)

President Abell: Under old business, I do have something to bring before the Council. We had appropriated and there is money available for the demolition work at the old jail. And we have found that we don’t need the amount of money that we have appropriated. What they need is $100,000 set aside for contingencies which would be for change orders at the jail, $30,000 for the architect in the event of the need for these change orders, and $30,000 which is due now for the preparation of the design, for a total of $160,000, which is a lot less than we had originally appropriated. Since this is not a new appropriation, what I would like to entertain is that someone would make a motion that these figures be set in for that amount and the remainder of the money that we had appropriated be put that in the General F

Fund.

(Inaudible)

President Abell: Well, our counsel told me I could. The money is there.

Councilmember Sutton: So is the question –

President Abell: We’re not repealing it. We’re actually just putting what’s left over back into the General Fund.

Councilmember Sutton: So, I guess, is the question that, the amount that’s being proposed here is less than what was budgeted or expected for this project?

President Abell: Considerably less and we hesitate to leave that money out there when its not needed, that it might be used for something that we don’t want it used for.

Councilmember Sutton: Well, I guess what we would - I mean, wouldn’t we just take the remaining balance after we know what the true final figure is and repeal that back?

President Abell: Well, there was some question about whether or not any of this money could be used for the actual demolition, which is why we set forth what these figures – I had a meeting with Mr. Rector and this is the amount they actually need and the County Commissioners are covering the actual demolition expense with some money that they have. And this way, that kept our money from being used for the actual demolition, which is why I bring this before you this morning.

Councilmember Leader: (Inaudible)

President Abell: Yeah, it was subject to a written agreement and we never did enter the written agreement with them. Mr. Raben had some stipulations on it.

Councilmember Winnecke: Madam President, I’ll make the motion – did you make yours in the form of a motion?

President Abell: No, I did not make a motion, I called for one.

Councilmember Winnecke: I will move that we designate $100,000 for potential change fees, $60,000 for architectural fees, and $30,000 –

President Abell: No, two thirties, not one sixty –

Councilmember Winnecke: I’m sorry, $30,000 for the architect fees and $30,000 for design fees, correct?

President Abell: Yes.

Councilmember Winnecke: For a total of $160,000, and then we would repeal the balance of the previously appropriated money in December.

President Abell: Yes, back into the General Fund, yes.

Councilmember Winnecke: That’s my motion.

Bill Fluty: Jail set aside.

President Abell: Jail set aside, yes, I’m sorry.

Councilmember Raben: I’ll second that motion.

President Abell: Okay, does everyone understand what we did here? Okay, Mr. Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Then I have a question and probably need to talk to Mr. Rector on this. The demolition, do we have a – is the contract signed on that? Do we have someone out there doing it?

Dave Rector: Good morning. Dave Rector, Building Authority. Yes, actually, we started Monday of this week doing the environmental demolition and we have issued them a purchase order.

Councilmember Shetler: The – I guess what concerns me, we’re talking about a potential 100,000, that they could come back on some overruns there, are they getting a part of the scrap metals and things like that, that come out of the –

Dave Rector: That was an opportunity for them. I understand that the contractor that got the low bid is not going to do that. They’re going to landfill the scrap. That’s their choice. They could scrap it out, though. But –

Councilmember Shetler: And they could change their minds at any point, I guess, because it’s not –

Dave Rector: They could, but we didn’t want to get into the market of trying to be in the scrap business ourselves and left that to the contractor hoping to attract some good bids, thinking they’d get some scrap metal value for it. And this particular one decided to go ahead and landfill it.

Councilmember Shetler: Well, that’s kind of getting to the heart of my question there because I know some of that scrap stuff, being on a commodities market is, you know, pretty volatile and goes up and down, but I think it’s on its upward trend from everything I’ve been hearing. And I didn’t know if there was going to be some offsetting to any kind of cost overruns that they may incur on the actual demolition by some of that scrapping.

Dave Rector: If they do, that’s theirs. The local market was not paying as much a ton for scrap steel as in the Chicago area. I know off of the Fulton-Lloyd project, they put theirs on trucks and hauled it up to Chicago and got $300 more a ton. But it was up to the contractor.

Councilmember Shetler: Okay, thank you.

Dave Rector: And the $100,000 contingency won’t be spent without one, unless it’s needed for a change order and two, then with Commissioner approval, because it would have to go from us to them to pay the additional amount.

Councilmember Shetler: Alright. I was just looking for some offsets here, that might pare that down. Thank you.

President Abell: In a meeting that I had with Rector, Mr. Nix was there and Mr. Nix assured us that they would be watching the project rather closely and making sure that we weren’t spending some money we didn’t need to spend.

Dave Rector: Yes.

President Abell: Mr. Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yeah, Dave, on the other fees, the 30 architectural, 30 design, aren’t we kind of putting the cart before the horse on any design work or architectural? Because I don’t know that, well, particularly, this body hasn’t – doesn’t have any future plans for that space.

Dave Rector: That’s not designed for anything new. That’s to pay the architect currently for the bid specs that were done for the demolition and then the 30,000 only spent if needed for any assistance through demolition for questions, for change orders, and that type of thing. So its not for any new design for build out of any sort.

President Abell: Are there any other questions of Councilmembers? We have a motion on the floor, did I have a second?

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben was the seconder.

President Abell: Roll call vote please.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Goebel?

Councilmember Goebel: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

(Motion unanimously approved 7-0)

President Abell: Thank you, Mr. Rector.

President Abell: Under new business, we have the discussion of the interlocal agreement between the County Highway Department and the Board of Public Works for paving project at Evansville Locust Hill Cemetery. Mr. Duckworth, did you want to tell us what that agreement was? We’ve done this before, I think, Council will remember, with the city.

Mike Duckworth: Yes, ma’am. Good morning, Mike Duckworth, Superintendent of County Highway. This is in an effort to help the city save some money as well as utilization of the equipment that we have. I think we have done this with fire stations and this is helping the cemetery project, as well. These are small projects that if they went out to a contractor, for them to mobilize their equipment, it would be quite a bit more for them to do these small projects. So in working with the city, this agreement was put together by the county attorney to ensure that all the paperwork was proper and that we were reimbursed for our labor and our use of our equipment. This agreement and the other fire houses brought back $12,250 to the county and so my recommendation is that, of course, you approve this and that at times when we’re at the end of our paving season, and we still have our equipment out working and we can help the city and bring some revenue back into the county, I think it’s a win-win situation.

President Abell: Questions of Mr. Duckworth? Mr. Goebel?

Councilmember Goebel: Mike, you’ll have just an in-kind trade on this type of work or do they always –

Mike Duckworth: Well, what happens is, they buy the mix on their own, that’s a separate expenditure – we don’t want to get into the middle of that. But as far as we understand that, you know, we’re going to have some personnel out there for a couple days, we’re going to have the use of some equipment, and the more you use it, you know, the more you depreciate it, so it’s just a formula that we use to ensure that, you know, it’s not really a win for us, but it keeps us on a level playing field. I would also tell you that, before I forget it, that in this last disaster, we made 98 runs on downed trees in this last wind storm. And in connection with Sherman Greer and FEMA, we submitted the paperwork, and we’re going to be reimbursed about $98,000 for that work as well, so it’s always nice that the work that we do to bring revenue back into the county, and that’s basically what this is and helping the city as well.

Councilmember Goebel: That’s good. As far as this work, though, if they have a request, is that put at the bottom of your priority list or as can do?

Mike Duckworth: Well, specific to paving, we will not do any paving for them until all of the county paving is completed, and, as well as other things unless we’re looking at an emergency situation.

President Abell: Mr. Duckworth, is this done normally when you’re in that area anyway or...

Mike Duckworth: We try to do that but normally, but as Mr. Goebel was pointing out, we do it at the end of the season, we’ve still got the equipment out, its not been cleaned up and put away for the winter, so to speak. So we’re still mobilized and so, you know, they have selected some this year and, of course, the cemetery that is in pretty close proximity, so there’s not a lot of driving, not a lot of fuel use and that kind of thing, so I feel like this is a win-win for county government and the residents of Vanderburgh County.

President Abell: Any other questions of Council? Thank you, Mr. Duckworth.

Mike Duckworth: Thank you.

President Abell: I will need a motion to accept the interdepartmental agreement between the city and the county.

Councilmember Winnecke: So moved.

Councilmember Shetler: Second.

President Abell: Any further questions? Roll call vote please.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Goebel?

Councilmember Goebel: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

(Motion unanimously approved 7-0)

President Abell: Resolution of the County Council of Vanderburgh County providing approval of the issuance of bonds for the purpose of financing certain economic development facilities. Does everyone have a copy of that? Any questions? I’ll entertain a motion.

Councilmember Leader: I make that motion.

Councilmember Winnecke: Second.

President Abell: Any questions? Did you have a question, Mr. Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: No.

President Abell: Okay. Roll call vote.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Goebel?

Councilmember Goebel: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

(Motion unanimously approved 7-0)

President Abell: An ordinance of the Vanderburgh County Council authorizing the issuance of Vanderburgh County, Indiana variable rate demand limited obligation multifamily housing revenue refunding bonds series 2008 Arbors at Eastland project in the aggregate principal amount of $9,415,000 for the purpose of refunding certain outstanding bonds and approving and authorizing other actions in respect thereto. Mr. Ziemer?

Ted Ziemer: Good morning, Madam President, and members of the Vanderburgh County Council. I’m Ted Ziemer, I’m the attorney for the Vanderburgh County Economic Development Commission and the Vanderburgh County Commissioners. In this capacity, this request for a refunding of this bond issue came to me as attorney for the Vanderburgh County Economic Development Commission to call a meeting of that commission and have them adopt a preliminary resolution, if they determined to do that, to recommend to the County Council that an ordinance be adopted by the Council at this meeting today. The original bond issue to Arbors at Eastland, and they are owned by Sterling Group, and I have Mr. Lance Swank here today, he’s a representative of the Sterling Group, was a refunding of a bond issue that was originally in the amount of $9,600,000. That bond issue has been paid down to $9,415,000. The bond issue was made under an initial credit enhancement or letter of credit, if you will, given by the Bank of America to support the bond issue for a five year period. That five year period expires at the end of this month, I think actually on November the 28^th, 2008. The Sterling Group then began to negotiate terms for a refinancing of the bond issue and that required, of course, the issuance of a new credit enhancement or letter of credit, and the Bank of America, who had offered the original credit enhancement for a five year period was willing to extend it for a period of one year only. Under the terms of that credit enhancement of Bank of America, the interest rate would have been substantially higher than is now being paid under the current credit enhancement. So they looked further and the Freddie Mac, acting through Wachovia Bank, agreed to give a twelve year credit enhance-ment letter of credit which would avoid the necessity for the Sterling Group to have to keep coming back and renegotiating letters of credit every year if they use the Bank of America letter of credit. So they began the process to have the bonds refunded and new bonds issued, secured by the credit enhancement of Freddie Mac. That resulted in a reduction of the interest rate on these bonds by 38 basis points, thereby being a good thing in this credit market we’re in today, and especially a good thing since the developer and owner of the project would have more money to put into the project than would be the case if the developer turned out having to pay higher interest than is currently being paid under the letter of credit which will expire at the end of this month. At the Economic Development Commission meeting, a question was raised by one of the members who happens to be a realtor, who suggested that she thought perhaps the property wasn’t being maintained as well as it could be maintained. I had never seen the property, I did know about the property, you can see it off of I-164. If you’re going north and look to your left when you get near Old Boonville Highway, you would see the project over there, these apartments. But she said that she thought the additional savings that the developer would achieve by having this refinanced should better be put into the project to augment the status of the present maintenance of the project. But she was impressed by the fact, as were the other two members of the Vanderburgh County Council, that the project is entirely tenanted, rented 100 percent, and those who are renting the facility fall in the 60 percent median income bracket for this area as determined by HUD. So she, along with the other two members of the Vanderburgh County Economic Development Commission voted in favor of adoption of a resolution which has been presented to your body, as an inducement to you to adopt an ordinance today to allow this bond issue to go forward. After that meeting, I immediately contacted members of the entire working group, the Wachovia people and the Freddie Mac people, and Baker & Daniels, who are our bond counsel for this issue, and members of the Sterling Group, in a conference call and advised them that, well, I did not know the status of the maintenance of this property, that I knew that there was some concern about the maintenance of this property, and I suggested that a representative of the Sterling Group be here today to discuss this with you and to answer questions that you may have regarding the maintenance. So with your permission, I have Lance Swank with me today, who is one of the owners of the Sterling Group, and he is going to discuss the project with you and will be pleased to answer any questions that any of you may have regarding the project.

Lance Swank: Thank you very much, appreciate the opportunity to be here. I am Lance Swank of the Sterling Group. We are located in Mishawaka, Indiana and we develop affordable housing throughout the Midwest, primarily Indiana, Michigan and Illinois and we’ve been pleased to be a business owner here in Vanderburgh County for the last five years. Ted contacted us, as he said, and notified me that there was some concern over some maintenance issues potentially in the past at the property. Let me kind of walk through a little bit, if you’ll indulge me for moment, kind of some of challenges we’ve had with the property. Overall, its been very successful, however, during the construction phase of the project, it took an additional eight months to complete due to arson. We had a building that was burned during the construction process. The individual that did that was caught, tried, and is now incarcerated. As I understand it, we were victims of a long line of incidents. As we operated the property, moved on, we noticed we definitely had a drainage issue that really culminated through a poor design in civil engineering. We spent just under $100,000 last year to address that issue and what was happening was, in a heavy rain, we would be getting backup in the parking lots and then it would slowly dissipate through the drainage system as designed, but not as quickly as designed. That’s been remedied, that’s been taken care of. That, I think, has been our primary maintenance issue that has disrupted our resident base and caused us angst from the standpoint of money and issues. Other than that, at the end of May this year, 2008, we were moving along great, 97 percent occupancy, we had a fire, and that is the building that you see when you drive down I-164 and see the blue tarps. We immediately contacted our insurance company, who is Travelers, very helpful, came to our support. However, they got into a tangle with some of the resident renter’s insurance providers and had to wrangle through issues between those two, which held up our ability to start the reconstruction work. That reconstruction work started in September and will be completed on approximately November 20^th. If you’ve driven by recently, I am sure you have seen the progress that’s been made out there. We actually have half of those apartment homes pre-leased to affordable households awaiting the completion. So having said all that, I am here to answer questions and ask for your support on this resolution today.

President Abell: Councilmen? Mr. Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Okay, I guess the first question I have, and probably not for you at the moment, but is the county on the hook for anything? I mean...

Jeff Ahlers: No, and I’ve got both the bond documents which I’ve got two copies on file with the Auditor, which Bill has. I’ve got one here if anybody wants to look, that we printed out. In several places in the bond documents it specifically states that the issuer, being the county, doesn’t have any liability, you know, on the bonds or any payment for the bonds. It’s just simply, it’s under a different section of the code, but similar to the bonds that were done for the Catholic Diocese. Keep in mind, this was passed by this Council in 2003 and this is just a refinancing. In addition, because I knew that would be a question that everyone would rightfully ask, I did get an opinion letter from Baker & Daniels, the bond counsel, specifically reiterating the fact that there is no liability to the county, it’s just merely a mechanism to making public purpose bonds available for the financing.

Councilmember Shetler: Alright, my second question and perhaps you can answer this, if not you will be shortly able to answer it, how much are you paying in county taxes? By November 10^th, I think you’ll have that down pat.

Lance Swank: Yes Sir. Councilmember, is it Stetler? Shetler? Excuse me. It’s a moving target every year, to be honest with you. As you know, here in our state, there’s several approaches to determining your property taxes. In the case of affordable housing, it’s typically based upon the income capitalization approach. And so what happens is, the County Assessor looks at our year end statements and determines the value and then interpellates that into a tax number. We’ve paid anywhere from 500 a unit and we’ve been assessed upwards of 700 a unit. And we usually end up going in, discussing it, and arriving at a number of roughly $500 a unit.

Councilmember Shetler: And you have how many units?

Lance Swank: One hundred and seventy-six, Sir.

Councilmember Shetler: Alright, thank you.

Councilmember Sutton: Mr. Swank, did you guys receive any type of tax credits on this project, local housing tax credit project?

Lance Swank: Yes, Sir. It is a tax credit project and it also has the taxes and bond financing accompanying that. And that’s what couples it to the tax credit, Sir.

Councilmember Sutton: And what is the breakdown regarding the occupancy by income? And I know all of them, as stated earlier, are below 60 percent of the median income, what are the other breaking points on the occupancy requirements that you have for this property?

Lance Swank: The entire property is based upon 60 percent of area median income rents and we will not rent to anyone who is paying rent that exceeds 38 percent of their income unless they happen to be a HUD voucher recipient.

Councilmember Sutton: Now, if their income after they move in begins to exceed 60 percent of the area median income, not necessarily issued just upon occupancy, correct?

Lance Swank: Yes, Sir. There is a rule that allows individuals, and the purpose of the program allows individuals to improve their lifestyle up to 140% of area median income before we would ask them to find another place to live.

Councilmember Sutton: Now along with the tax credits that you receive, there are annual inspections that go along with that? And can you talk about what those, what your scores have been on those inspection reports that are required?

Lance Swank: Absolutely, thank you for that question. In conjunction with the Indiana Housing Community Development Authority in Indianapolis, they are mandated through the IRS, who administers the tax credit program, to do annual inspections. And they hire a third party engineering firm to do these inspections throughout the state. They come in and do physical needs assessments. If they find anything and they have two categories, one is a critical issue and another is just a time and maintenance issue, they report that back to us and we have a certain amount of time to resolve those issues. We have had very minimal items identified. In that process, in fact, they didn’t even note the drainage issue because the day they went there, it wasn’t raining, but something like we have a GFI that may not be functioning in a kitchen, which is a GFI outlet, it needs to be repaired immediately. We may have a light globe that needs to be repaired. The primary item we have pointed out on every property that we manage, is batteries in smoke detectors. Now these are tied in electrically, so the batteries don’t really, they’re backup, but residents tend to take those out. That’s typically what’s on that report.

Councilmember Sutton: When did you guys last have your inspection on this property?

Lance Swank: I don’t know, it was earlier this year. I can’t tell you the exact date, but I know we had to respond to that immediately –

Councilmember Sutton: So have all those items been corrected from the –

Lance Swank: Yes, Sir. Indiana Housing sends us then a notification via email that all of our issues have been resolved.

Councilmember Sutton: Are there any other projects that you guys are planning in this near area?

Lance Swank: We have actively looked for opportunities down here in the Vanderburgh County area. We’ve been very tentative about what we’re doing, obviously, given the current economic situation that we’re all facing, but we would not probably look at doing another tax exempt bond project down here at this time because the economics are very difficult to make work. But we’re looking at what’s called nine percent tax credit opportunities here in the area.

Councilmember Sutton: Thank you.

Lance Swank: Thank you. I might add one more thing: as part of Freddie Mac’s underwriting due diligence represented by Wachovia, they have to do a site inspection prior to a refinancing and a physical needs assessment as well, that has been done and there was nothing that was of concern noted in that report. Normal things such as paint the entry doors on a regular cycle and things like that. There was nothing of consequence. Thank you.

President Abell: Anyone else have a question? I have a couple of questions. Bear with me, I don’t have a lot of faith in Freddie Mac, I’m sorry, the past few weeks haven’t been very good for them. Local management? Who manages that locally?

Lance Swank: The Sterling Group. Madam President, we’re a vertically integrated development company, real estate services company. We build our own project, develop it and manage our own product, so we manage over 6,000 apartment homes throughout the Midwest, and about half of those are affordable.

President Abell: So you have someone on site here in Evansville?

Lance Swank: Yes, Ma’am.

President Abell: Where are they located?

Lance Swank: We do not have anyone that lives on our properties. That’s a philosophy we have. It tends to make a pretty long work day for the folks, and we moved away from that. We have variable staff members. In fact, if you’d like, I’ll list our positions that we have there. We have an on-site manager who has been there since June, we have an assistant manager that’s been there since July of ‘06, our lead maintenance person has been there since January of ‘06 and we have a leasing specialist that’s been there since August of ‘07.

Ted Ziemer: Mr. Swank, you might tell them who those people are.

Lance Swank: Oh sure, I’d be happy to. Our manager is Carol Blair, I don’t know if you know Carol, she’s a local resident. Mandy Bender is our assistant manager, again local. All these folks are local here. Sarah Watson is our leasing specialist, and Jim Hibbs is our maintenance supervisor. We also then have a district manager who is responsible for their day to day activities as well from a management perspective, meaning managing our staff to make sure the property is being maintained properly, leasing levels, and so on and so forth. Her name is Becky Carty, she’s located out of Indianapolis.

(Tape changed)

President Abell: Do these people work out of their homes or do you have an office or...

Lance Swank: We have an on-site clubhouse that includes office space for our assistant manager, leasing specialist and our manager.

President Abell: And they’re there on a pretty regular basis?

Lance Swank: Every day but Sunday.

President Abell: Okay.

Lance Swank: And our maintenance staff and our management staff are on 24 hour call.

President Abell: Okay, that’s good. Anyone else have a question? Ms. Leader?

Councilmember Leader: My question is regarding the police and the Sheriff’s Department. Do you have any idea how many runs we’ve made to that apartment complex in the last 90 days, six months, and is it a relatively safe area? Do we have robbery there, have we had any additional arson? You know, the residents, who is hanging around out there, because it’s influenced, of course, by the neighboring communities and it’s a great experiment and I’m totally in favor of it, but I’m very interested in what it’s like out there. And the Sheriff is here if you wish to call him.

Lance Swank: Councilmember Leader, affordable housing is a challenging business. It’s needed housing here in our country, here in our state, here in this county. However, it takes vigilant management and there are, from time to time, we have difficult residents. Now this particular property, we’ve been very fortunate, however, earlier this year around June, we identified the start of some vandalism. We hired a security company for 60 days which identified a group of teens that lived in five households which we then evicted and we no longer have the courtesy officer, security company, they are no longer needed out there. We reacted to that, we then received recently, were contacted by law enforcement to say we have somebody we’re concerned about there, they ended up busting a family, a couple, and took them to jail. That’s the extent of what I know about that.

Councilmember Leader: Is that a drug issue then, the family?

Lance Swank: What we found in the apartment after the fact was makings of potential methamphetamine, but there was no lab in it. We try to work very closely with law enforcement, they let us know that they were under suspicion, and we worked in conjunction with them. They did their jobs and now we’re simply trying to go through the legal process and get rid of the stuff out of the apartment and re-lease it. Those are exceptions to the rule, but I bring them up only so you understand how we react to them. Our resident selection criteria is set up to try and minimize that type of situation. We do a credit check on every adult in the household. We do a criminal background check for every adult in the household as well. And obviously, we do a landlord check, and we have criteria set up to, it doesn’t leave it up to our on site manager to make the decision. It’s already set up. If they don’t meet certain criteria, they can’t move in.

Councilmember Leader: Additionally, I’m interested in the average rent and what’s the minimum – are they two bedroom units typically, and how many people are allowed to live in each unit?

Lance Swank: We have four apartment home types. One bedroom, two bedroom, three bedroom and four bedroom, and really, it’s based upon no more than two individuals in a bedroom, to give you an idea. Our rents, I’m going to give you the general sense of it. One bedrooms around 300, up to four bedrooms, they can exceed $800. And square footage ranges from 700 all the way up to 1350.

President Abell: Any other questions from anyone? Mr. Ahlers?

Jeff Ahlers: Yeah, I just wanted to point out, and I don’t know if Mr. Swank or Mr. Ziemer want to comment, too, is that the issue we have with regard to this bond is that there is a time deadline, where this has to be done by the end of the month, so there is one of two things in terms of determining how you want to vote or handle this and that is that you can either do like we do on some bonds where you, you know, make this the first and final reading if it passes unanimously, then that’s it, or if there is going to be a second reading, we probably need to have a special meeting and I was asking Sandie, I forgot what the date of our Personnel & Finance committee meeting is, I guess that’s the 26^th. I don’t know if that’s too late or not, if it was noticed for a final reading on that date or whether it would have to be sooner. But I just wanted to point out the timing issue so that you can all make your decision as to how you want to handle this, because if it goes past the end of the month, I think that the window closes. Is that right, Ted?

Lance Swank: I’d be happy to speak to that. Madam President spoke about Freddie Mac. Obviously, Freddie Mac is a triple A rated company due to our country backing them. However, we were grandfathered into this credit facility and if we exceed the end of the month, the deal changes tremendously, becomes much more expensive and then creates much greater debt service, creating higher burden on the property. That’s the sensitivity to the timing. You know, the world doesn’t end for us, but it will help the property tremendously if we’re able to get this transaction closed by the 25^th of this month. Technically, we have until the end of the month, but with the holiday, it makes it very difficult to try and make that happen past the 25^th.

Councilmember Winnecke: Madam President, I would make a motion to waive the second reading and this would be the first and final reading if it passes unanimously.

Councilmember Shetler: Second.

President Abell: Let’s have a roll call vote on that.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Goebel?

Councilmember Goebel: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

(Motion unanimously approved 7-0)

President Abell: Does anyone have any further questions regarding the bond? I don’t know that this is a question or a comment, but, you know, that is a very visible part of our city and you don’t live here, and we do, and we don’t want to see that become a slum, and we’re all very, very – not all, but some of us – are very, very concerned from the comments that residents of that area have made to us and that I talked to our bond committee regarding this, and I would certainly encourage you to realize that whatever we do here, we do with the thought in mind that we want that to be an asset to our city and not a liability.

Lance Swank: Madam President, I appreciate that very much and our goals are aligned, 100 percent. Obviously, we have a reputation, we personally are on the hook and responsible for the property. I would suggest that if there is ever an issue, please do not hesitate to contact us, directly. I’ll be happy to leave my contact information, but, you know, we believe we’ve got it well in hand and our policy and procedures will handle that.

President Abell: Okay. I’ll entertain a motion.

Councilmember Winnecke: Madam President, I’ll move that we approve an ordinance authorizing the issuance of the Vanderburgh County, Indiana variable rate demand limited obligation multifamily housing revenue refunding bonds, series 2008, for the Arbors at Eastland project, in the aggregate principal amount of $9,415,000.

President Abell: Do I hear a second?

Councilmember Shetler: Second.

President Abell: Roll call vote please.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: I echo the comments made by President Abell just a few moments ago regarding the condition of the housing. Affordable housing or low income housing doesn’t necessarily have to equate with poor standards and poor residents in terms of how the maintenance and the care, the selection of residents is handled, so I hope you take to heart the comments that were made here and will take the appropriate steps. Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Goebel?

Councilmember Goebel: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes, and please make us proud that we voted this way.

(Motion unanimously approved 7-0)

Lance Swank: Thank you very much. I’m going to leave these with Mr. Ahlers, so if any of you ever have a direct requirement to get hold of me directly, please don’t hesitate. Thank you very much. May I approach?

President Abell: Yes, you may. Thank you.

Ted Ziemer: Thank you very much.

President Abell: Thank you, Mr. Ziemer. Thank you, Mr. Swank.

President Abell: The next item is the Vanderburgh County resolution requesting that the General Assembly amend Indiana Code 36-2-7-10 (i) to permit the County Recorder fee collected thereunder to be distributed entirely to the County Affordable Housing fund. Mr. Sutton, would you like to explain?

Councilmember Sutton: Sure. We had discussion on this issue. There was a state law that was passed last July and allowed for counties throughout Indiana who have trust funds, that they can help to support their trust funds by generating revenue from their recording fee. The way that structure was set up, though, which caused a lot of our discussion, is that sixty percent of the proceeds from that would stay local, the other forty percent would go into a statewide fund. Obviously, if we’re going to collect funds, we felt that it’s important for us to maintain 100 percent of those funds. And what this resolution here is doing, is encouraging our local delegation to support a change in that law in that 100 percent of the funds will stay here. This resolution, as well, will be presented before the County Commissioners and the city, as well, to gain their support for this so that our local delegation will understand at least what we are trying to do here locally in regards to affordable housing. That explains it.

President Abell: That was great. Anybody have any questions? I think we’ve all had this issue before us for several months and we know what we’re dealing with. Would you like to make a motion, Mr. Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes, Madam President, I’d like to move that we approve Vanderburgh County Council resolution requesting that the General Assembly amend IC 36-2-7-10 (i) to permit the County Recorder fee collected thereunder to be distributed entirely to the County Affordable Housing fund.

Councilmember Leader: Second.

President Abell: Roll call vote please.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Goebel?

Councilmember Goebel: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes, but I probably should have raised this question. Let’s wait until after the vote. Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

(Motion unanimously approved 7-0)

Councilmember Raben: Who would be responsible for the oversight of a new fund like this?

Councilmember Sutton: There is a local housing trust fund that is set up and as a part of the discussions that I’ve had with them on this, the County Council will have an appointment to that commission, that board, the County Commissioners will also have an appointment to that board. Right now, that board is comprised of city appointments. So...

Jeff Ahlers: To answer your question, you can also, I mean, I think we’ve talked about before, we’d have to look at whether or not, if you decided to, at some point, I mean, implement that fee as to whether or not you can set up a fund for the county or whether you reach some sort of agreement that that becomes a joint city/county type fund. But right now, it’s my understanding, Mr. Sutton, there is only a city fund, is that right?

Councilmember Sutton: That is true. But in discussions with individuals involved with the fund and the city, that they are open to that, recognizing that if we’re going to support it financially, if we pass this recording fee, that we obviously would want to restructure that.

Councilmember Raben: Okay, and when will we have that opportunity? I just want to make sure the county has some oversight here for these funds.

President Abell: I would think we’ll have that opportunity when and if the state legislature approves, changes the –

Councilmember Raben: I understand, but I’d like to have that worked out even prior to this, should the opportunity arise.

Councilmember Sutton: Well, we can do that prior to. I definitely understand what you’re saying there, but again, of course, if the legislature does move, we’re probably talking at the earliest, you know, July of next year. But yeah, we’ll, in our discussions with the city, we’ll make sure we can get that moved and changed prior to the state law putting it into place.

President Abell: Any further comments?

President Abell: Alright, next on our agenda is the Disability Advisory Board appointment. This is a relatively new board that’s been set up. I did receive a call from Rob Kerney, who is an instructor at Ivy Tech and who is sight impaired, he asked that we appoint Michelle Kirk. I have not contacted Michelle Kirk. I understand that she has dealt extensively – the Sheriff is shaking his head, so he must know Michelle Kirk and he gave a thumbs up. I have not contacted her. I wanted the pleasure of the Council first unless any of you had someone else that you know, that you think would be a good appointment to this Disability Advisory Board. If not, I will assume that that’s an okay for me to contact Michelle Kirk and see if she would be interested in being our appointee to the board.

President Abell: Notes for the only two officeholders in here, filing deadlines: for the December 3^rd meeting, the filing deadline is November 13^th and for the January 7^th meeting, the filing deadline is November the 26^th.

President Abell: A couple of other things that are not on your agenda. You had passed out to you this morning: Agreement to extend the interlocal agreement to provide for a joint department of Central Dispatch. This is a verbal agreement I worked out with the Mayor of Evansville regarding the Central Dispatch agreement that we have now is to expire – or has it – did it expire or is it through the end of December?

Jeff Ahlers: No, it actually expired. The Mayor’s office had sent, a little over a year ago, a notice of termination which has to be done, you know, a year in advance terminating the agreement. So, technically, you know, it expires at the end of October. And so what this does is just retroactively extend it for a year and a couple of months to give the parties time to work through a new agreement. And I talked to Mr. Ziemer, this was just sent over to us a couple of days ago, and I guess they have yet to get – I guess the Mayor’s office put this together and so I guess the Mayor will sign it, the Commissioners, I believe, are going to take this up – is their next meeting the 11^th, I believe, and then if you guys want you can wait and in December, pass it and sign it then. But, I mean, we got this at the last minute. While I’m talking, the other thing I’d say is, make sure, if you can, with Teri, we’ve got a lot of bond ordinances, resolutions, and things around here, if, before everybody takes off, make sure we get everything signed because some of this stuff has to be sent on to various people, so if you would, please. Thanks.

Councilmember Winnecke: Madam President, are you looking for approval of this extension today?

President Abell: No, we’re going to do that in December. I just wanted everyone to know why it was so late getting to you. And it really just extends the agreement as it is right now. It is in the best interests of our county and our city residents to extend this agreement and give us time to work out some type of an arrangement with the city on how this is going to be funded in the next few years.

President Abell: I have only one other comment that I wanted to make. I attended a County Commissioner’s meeting and I have some great concern about the insurance contract that the county entered into and I have asked for some figures which I have not yet received, but I do want to go on record as advising the Council that I know that the County Commissioners entered into a health insurance contract from $10,800,000 and some odd thousand dollars and we only have appropriated $9,500,000 for health insurance. They advised me that they intend to get the additional $1,300,000 from other sources, however, I do not know what those other sources are and I do not know whether they have them. I am concerned that they would enter into a contract without the money in place. I’m just making that as an FYI information for everyone here, so that maybe the County Commissioners would get some figures to us so we would know that we have not had them enter into a contract that is not funded.

Councilmember Shetler: Marsha, to follow up on that, do you know what their contract was last year or how much they spent this current year?

President Abell: I think Ms. Deig could probably tell us that.

Sandie Deig: (Inaudible – microphone not turned on)

Councilmember Shetler: I assume it’s going to be in that nine and a half million range.

President Abell: Well, actually –

Councilmember Shetler: They didn’t pull it out of the air, I guess.

Sandie Deig: 9.5 million is general fund money.

Councilmember Shetler: Okay.

President Abell: Turn your microphone on.

Sandie Deig: The 9.5 million is general fund money only. The other funds would come from the Highway Department, the Sheriff’s grants. There’s quite a few of them, it’s grants from the Prosecutor, grants from the Sheriff’s department, County Highway, Cum Bridge, Health Department – the Health Department has, like, five different funds it’s paid out of, and Community Corrections has a grant, too. So it comes out of all the grant money as well as the outside of the general fund accounts.

Councilmember Goebel: So this is standard, though, every year when we pay, this is the way we get the extra funding, correct?

Sandie Deig: Yes.

Councilmember Goebel: And, Bill, are we set to save money on the contract?

Bill Fluty: That’s correct.

Councilmember Goebel: Any idea how much?

Bill Fluty: From what I remember before, it was about 650,000 to 700,000 if each employee remains in the same category they’re in right now, just rates compared to what their rate was last year and what their rate will be this year.

Sandie Deig: Let me say this, too, this 9.5 million also includes, we have to make provisions for retirees such as in the Sheriff’s department and other county employees, that we pick up their insurance, so that’s all included in our budget. You don’t see it, but we have to forecast that, too.

Councilmember Shetler: So kind of looking over your shoulder here, it looks like we have about 11.5 appropriated, rounding numbers off here, but, and the contract was 10.8, rounded numbers?

Sandie Deig: That’s what I’m told.

Councilmember Shetler: Alright.

Sandie Deig: Like the Health Department, the Sheriff’s grants, those monies are not appropriated at budget time. What we do is project what they’re going to need and then the different offices put that money to the Auditor’s office for payment.

Councilmember Goebel: There’s no change in coverage at all? No change of anything as far as doctor selection or plan selection? It’s just a different carrier, is that correct?

Sandie Deig: We were assured that there wasn’t any change, however, I do have a question from yesterday. I intend to talk to Bill’s representative. I visited a doctor yesterday and they said that the new plan doesn’t cover our doctors making rounds with this plan, so I’d like to have an answer to that for the employees.

Councilmember Goebel: That’s a good thing to find out. But in the end, it should be a windfall for the county, I think.

President Abell: Well, it would be nice if someone would provide that to this body because from sitting at this desk, I don’t see that. And I’d like to see that and I think that the general public, who pay the taxes to provide this health insurance, deserve to see that also. And I don’t think anyone has been forthcoming giving us those figures, although they have been requested at least twice. So I would like to see a spreadsheet that shows where we’re getting this money and that we are making a savings. Is there any further business to come before this Council? Mr. Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: There is one other thing, item and it’s a good segue, you’re talking about health related issues, if you remember last year, we unanimously approved participating in the prescription discount card program and it’s administered through our Health Department. Great program, it started back in April of 2007. Through the end of September, that’s when the most recent report is available, we have had a total of 48,291 participants here in Vanderburgh County through that program and they saved an average of $10.71 per prescription that they filled, and through the end of September we went over the one million dollar mark as a county. We have realized a total savings for county residents of $1,121,587.45, so great program for Vanderburgh County.

President Abell: That’s good news, Mr. Sutton. Thank you. Any further business to come before the Council? We stand adjourned.

(There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 9:46 a.m.)

VANDERBURGH COUNTY COUNCIL

        President Marsha Abell               Vice President Lloyd Winnecke

       Councilmember Jim Raben           Councilmember Mike Goebel

        Councilmember Tom Shetler         Councilmember Royce Sutton

        Councilmember Donna Leader

Recorded and transcribed by Teri Lukeman.