VANDERBURGH COUNTY

DRAINAGE BOARD

MARCH 3, 2009

The Vanderburgh County Drainage Board met in session this 3^rd day of March, 2009 at 6:17 p.m. in room 301 of the Civic Center Complex with President Lloyd Winnecke presiding.

President Winnecke: At this time I would call to order the Tuesday, March 3^rd meeting of the Vanderburgh County Drainage Board. We’ll begin with attendance roll call.

Madelyn Grayson: Commissioner Tornatta?

Commissioner Tornatta: Here.

Madelyn Grayson: Commissioner Melcher?

Commissioner Melcher: Here.

Madelyn Grayson: President Winnecke?

President Winnecke: Here.

President Winnecke: Mr. Jeffers, good evening.

Bill Jeffers: Good evening, President Winnecke, and members of the Board, staff. We have two drainage plans tonight for approval. The first one is Tri State Module, 2009 building expansion. This is located at 200 East Inglefield Road. It’s a final plan. On your overhead projector we have the area for the building expansion and new parking lot outlined in red. PPG’s property is over here on the right hand side, the east side of the railroad track. The existing Tri State Module factory, it’s a tool and die manufacturer, is located immediately on the west side of the track. This is Inglefield over here, and the new facility will be inside that red square. It’s a pretty neat operation, if anybody’s had the chance to go out there. It used to be called Willner Tool and Die, but they have updated and use some sort of high pressure, very exacting water jet to cut the mold. It’s really a neat operation. Anyway, the drainage plan is prepared by Reggie Heck, a registered engineer and land surveyor, and the recommendation is to approve the plan.

President Winnecke: Questions or discussion?

Commissioner Tornatta: Motion to approve.

Commissioner Melcher: Second.

President Winnecke: A motion and a second. Any other discussion, public discussion? Hearing and seeing none, all in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Winnecke: Aye, sorry. Opposed, like. Sorry, I threw a little curve ball at you. I didn’t mean to do that. Thank you, Bill.

Bill Jeffers: Okay, thank you. The second drainage plan recommended for approval is Evansville Health Campus. It’s located at 8530 Middle Mt. Vernon Road. I believe you considered this as a rezoning a week or so ago. It’s alongside, on the east side of University Parkway, north of Middle Mt. Vernon Road, west of Cherry Hill Drive, and immediately across the Lloyd Expressway from USI, the University of Indiana. Excuse me, University of Southern Indiana. This is a large campus. I think it’s a mixed use of senior facilities and doctor’s offices. The drainage plan is prepared by Cash Waggner and Associates. The engineer is here in the audience, if you would like any questions of him. The recommendation is for approval of the preliminary plan.

President Winnecke: You’ve heard the Surveyor’s recommendation. Is there a motion?

Commissioner Tornatta: At this time, would we be hearing any remonstrators?

Bill Jeffers: You may, if there are any here present.

Commissioner Tornatta: Would there be any in the audience at this time? Upon the recommendation of the Surveyor, I would make a motion to approve.

Commissioner Melcher: Second.

President Winnecke: A motion and a second. Questions, discussion? Hearing and seeing none. Roll call vote, please.

Madelyn Grayson: Commissioner Tornatta?

Commissioner Tornatta: Here. Yes, good grief.

Madelyn Grayson: Commissioner Melcher?

Commissioner Melcher: Yes.

Madelyn Grayson: President Winnecke?

President Winnecke: Yes.

(Motion approved 3-0)

Bill Jeffers: Well, everything’s very positive so far.

Bill Jeffers: Our next item is an old business item. It’s an update of the Nickolick hearing. It’s a follow-up report from us. Because of the weather event, we were waiting for Vectren to have a chance to go out and clear the ditch. You can see from the pictures over here on your overhead projector, they had cleared the ditch, the pipe, that’s a new pipe they put in to replace the previously obstructed, collapsed pipe. A much larger diameter pipe. There’s the old pipe out there. So, it’s about 40 percent larger. There is one issue remaining, there it is. It’s hard to see without the lights being turned down, but this is a sewer line that runs in an easement, a sanitary sewer line that runs across the ditch and happens to protrude above the flow line of the ditch. Mr. Nickolick, the petitioner, who asked you to remove all the obstructions is aware of it. The sewer department is aware of it. It’s really beyond our control. Obviously, a private developer placed it there, and the sewer department assumed, I believe, has assumed the maintenance of it. So, we’ll just have to keep an eye out on it and make sure that the property owners remove anything that might lodge up against it in the future. There’s a close up of it. You can see how, at the last rainfall some corn stalks kind of gathered up around it. We’ll just have to keep an eye on it. Other than that, the ditch looks wonderful to me, and I appreciate Vectren acting as quickly as they did, considering all the other work they’ve had over the past month, and recommend that you find that the obstructions previously in the ditch have been removed satisfactorily.

President Winnecke: You’ve heard the recommendation of the Surveyor. Is there a motion?

Commissioner Melcher: So moved.

Commissioner Tornatta: Second.

President Winnecke: A motion and a second. Questions or discussion? Hearing and seeing none, roll call vote, please.

Madelyn Grayson: Commissioner Tornatta?

Commissioner Tornatta: Yes.

Madelyn Grayson: Commissioner Melcher?

Commissioner Melcher: Yes.

Madelyn Grayson: President Winnecke?

President Winnecke: Yes.

(Motion approved 3-0)

Bill Jeffers: Okay, under new business, the first item is to update the Board regarding a project that was completed several months ago, in the fall, on Ms. Linda Phillips’ property at 9223 Big Hill Road. Subsequent to your order to repair some conditions that existed due to a violation of the drainage code, Ms. Phillips failed to carry out those instructions. We then came back and hired Martin Woodward Backhoe Service. He did complete it satisfactorily. Mr. Woodward sent the bill to Ms. Phillips, and, actually, he sent it to us and we forwarded it to Mrs. Phillips via certified mail, return receipt was requested. We got the receipt back. It showed that she received it on December 2^nd. The drainage code allows that after 90 days of no payment that the Drainage Board can pay Mr. Woodward out of an account, which I have a claim over here, it’s an account held in the Auditor’s office for repairs to drainage systems in new subdivisions. The amount is $2,150. Twenty one hundred fifty dollars, excuse me. I am recommending at this time that that bill be paid out of the account that’s indicated on that blue claim. The Auditor upon, if you do approve my recommendation and order the bill paid from that account, I’m sure the Auditor will decide whether the County Engineer should also sign that claim, because the County Engineer, in fact, administers that account. Right now my signature appears on that claim. But, basically, that’s my recommendation is to go forward by paying Mr. Woodward what he’s been owed for the past 90 days, and to attach a tax lien to the property at the address I’ve indicated.

Commissioner Tornatta: On the recommendation of the Surveyor, I would make that in the form of a motion.

Commissioner Melcher: Second.

President Winnecke: A motion and second. Questions or more discussion? Roll call vote, please.

Madelyn Grayson: Commissioner Tornatta?

Commissioner Tornatta: Yes.

Madelyn Grayson: Commissioner Melcher?

Commissioner Melcher: Yes.

Madelyn Grayson: President Winnecke?

President Winnecke: Yes.

(Motion approved 3-0)

Commissioner Melcher: Bill, before we get started, was there some discussion, or are we moving to, I think we talked about it too, about making that 90 days shorter?

President Winnecke: We voted to--

Commissioner Tornatta: We did.

Bill Jeffers: I think you went to 45 days, I believe.

Commissioner Melcher: That’s what I thought.

Commissioner Tornatta: But, we couldn’t do it. This was--

Commissioner Melcher: No, no, I understand, but I wanted to make sure that we did that.

David Miller: The ordinance was amended.

Commissioner Melcher: Right, just wanting to remember.

Bill Jeffers: That was done in the Commissioners meeting, I believe.

Commissioner Melcher: Right.

Bill Jeffers: Okay, yes. Okay, you have in the clear front with the black back folder, the County Surveyor’s annual report on regulated drains in Vanderburgh County, wherein it’s stated that the condition, the general condition of the drains remains in very good, or excuse me, that regulated drains in Vanderburgh County generally remain in good condition. Also, you’ve received a set of general specifications, dated March 3, 2009, for your approval. These specifications give instructions to the bidders and contractors for regular annual maintenance of all the drains, using customary methods such as mowing, spraying, herbicides, debris removal, and other such things employed to complete the contracts. Isolated areas within the county’s regulated drains are deteriorated, or otherwise require special work to repair their condition and apply certain reseeding, revetment, other actions to attain channel conditions that will more safely convey storm water or achieve a higher water quality to comply with state and federal storm water regulations. Also, you’ve received in this packet special provisions that give specific instructions to bidders and contractors for special maintenance and repair activities, to take care of designated problem spots using specifically prescribed methods to adequately address and achieve permanent or long term corrections of structural deficiencies and deteriorated water quality. Over the past two fiscal years, the County Drainage Board and the County Surveyor have retained engineering and environmental consultants to complete studies and evaluations of certain regulated drains, particularly urban drains. The County Surveyor at this times recommends the Board extend and expand two of those specific contracts, Morley and Associates for Sonntag Stevens and Kyle Ditches, and American Structurepoint for the Eastside Urban Drain, so that those two companies will provide detailed plans regarding storm water sampling, installation of best management practices, and a completion of structural improvements to address state and federal water quality regulations, and to reduce the flooding hazards to two critical, industrial and commercial development zones in Vanderburgh County. This year the County Surveyor is recommending the Board instruct the County Surveyor to pursue requests for proposals for studies and evaluations of two more regulated drains, Aiken Ditch and Henry Ditch, both of which have come under intense urban development pressures that must be addressed adequately and appropriately to resolve certain water quality and environmental requirements relative to state and federal regulations. In addition to the items reported above, our staff has recently become aware of potential opportunities available through the economic recovery project, the Indiana economic recovery project, and following the advice of two of the County Drainage Board members, we have made 16 individual electronic submittals last week, and again on Monday to the placeholder at the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State. Additionally, the County Surveyor, after speaking to Mrs., or, excuse me, Ms. Debbie Bennett-Stearsman, Vice President of Community Development at the Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana, will be delivering a hard copy of each of those 16 electronic submittals, including brief and more concise information about each proposed project. Now, I’ve included all of that information in the back of the report, what we electronically submitted, along with our type written summary of some more detailed data that I’m taking over to Ms. Stearsman. Oh, yeah, there’s a table in the front, right after my report, just inside the cover sheet there’s a table that explains exactly what the projects are, or a summary of the projects and the proposed engineer’s estimate. I would like to point out that three of those projects are proposed to be within Pigeon Creek, Bayou Creek and Carpentier Creek, those are not regulated drains, and, I think, I indicated earlier you might want to participate with Warrick County and the City of Evansville, to some extent, on those. You don’t have any, you don’t collect assessments on those three creeks, so I am asking for the full amount to be funded by this economic recovery program, if we’re lucky enough to attain that. The remaining ten proposed projects are for issues within regulated drains that are administered by your Board. All but two of those have already been studied, evaluated and specific recommendations exist for which the County Surveyor directly took the data and information and forwarded it, via the electronic submittals. The whole project, excuse me, the two, there’s a typo there, I’m going to have to figure that out. Anyway, the County Surveyor’s staff remains available to your Board, and to the Economic Development Coalition to provide the additional information that is required regarding the proposed projects. So, at this time, the County Surveyor recommends and respectfully requests the Board to take five actions that I’ve outlined there at the bottom of my report above my signature. That should take care of the report, and if you approve the actions I’ve recommended, it will take care of the normal course of events we go through to advertise and let bids.

President Winnecke: Just for the record, I’ll just read into the record so we have it, what the five recommendations are. One is to accept the summary and the specifications and the documents attached to the report. That would be the purple bound document?

Bill Jeffers: Yes, sir.

President Winnecke: Number two, approve the general specifications, provisions and notice to bidders, and to instruct the County Surveyor to follow the customary and statutory process to advise for bids to complete the work outlined in the general specification and provisions, and to bring those bids to the Board on March 31, 2009 to be opened and entered into the record.

Bill Jeffers: Right, that’s also in the–

President Winnecke: Purple?

Bill Jeffers: Right, and there is a clean copy of the Notice to Bidder with Ms. Grayson, I believe. Right, so, that’s the one you would be signing, if you passed that motion.

President Winnecke: The third is to instruct the County Surveyor to extend and continue the contracts with Morley and Associates for Sonntag Stevens and Kyle Ditches, and with American Structurepoint for the East Side Urban Drain. Point four is to instruct the County Surveyor to pursue requests for proposals for Aiken Ditch and Henry Ditch regarding storm water quality and channel improvements to address increased urban pressure on those two drains. Finally, to endorse the County Surveyor’s submittal on behalf of the Drainage Board of 16 proposed projects to the Indiana Economic Recovery Project.

Commissioner Tornatta: Mr. President, I would like to, if it’s alright with you, take all five of those as one motion?

President Winnecke: That would be great.

Commissioner Melcher: I’ll second it.

President Winnecke: We have a motion and a second. Questions/discussion? Hearing none, roll call vote, please.

Madelyn Grayson: Commissioner Tornatta?

Commissioner Tornatta: Yes.

Madelyn Grayson: Commissioner Melcher?

Commissioner Melcher: Yes.

Madelyn Grayson: President Winnecke?

President Winnecke: Yes.

(Motion approved 3-0)

Bill Jeffers: Okay, I would like to thank all three of the Board members for those actions, and especially for bringing to our attention the opportunity for, that emergency money was available. I got a little stressed out there for a day or so, at the time, but I think it was a worthwhile effort. I appreciate everyone bringing that to my attention.

Bill Jeffers: On the claims, I believe you’ve already approved the claim to Martin Woodward Backhoe Service. There are four other claims, they are combined on two blue claim forms there, for emergency storm debris removal. It came to our attention during the ice storm, and immediately after the ice storm that several trees and large branches had fallen into specific ditches out in Armstrong and Scott Townships. I took it upon myself to address that emergency by hiring some farmers to go out there with chainsaws and their tractors and remove those obstructions before the rain storm last week, because they were blocking bridge openings and blocking the channel and so forth. One is for $205, one claim is for $95, one claim is for $300, one claim is for $200. The total amount of all the emergency work was $800. I feel it was reasonable, it was quite a bit of work. They hauled away and disposed of the trees and limbs in a proper fashion. I ask you at this time to please allow those claims to be paid.

Commissioner Tornatta: Motion to approve, and if you could, have you submitted those to whoever’s collecting for FEMA, probably EMA?

Bill Jeffers: I have not.

Commissioner Tornatta: If you would do that, and submit that to Adam Groupe in EMA, that could go to our list and we would be refunded on some of that money potentially.

Bill Jeffers: Okay, sounds good to me.

Commissioner Tornatta: Okay, thank you.

Commissioner Melcher: I’ll second it.

President Winnecke: A motion and a second. Questions or discussion? Hearing and seeing none, roll call vote.

Madelyn Grayson: Commissioner Tornatta?

Commissioner Tornatta: Yes.

Madelyn Grayson: Commissioner Melcher?

Commissioner Melcher: Yes.

Madelyn Grayson: President Winnecke?

President Winnecke: Yes.

(Motion approved 3-0)

Bill Jeffers: I have no further business to bring before your Board at this time.

President Winnecke: I do have a note that we need to approve the February 3, 2009 Drainage Board meeting minutes.

Commissioner Tornatta: So moved.

Commissioner Melcher: Second.

President Winnecke: A motion and a second. Questions or discussion? All in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Winnecke: Opposed like sign. Any other business to come before the Drainage Board?

Commissioner Tornatta: Public comment?

President Winnecke: Public comment at all? We are adjourned.

Bill Jeffers: Thank you.

(The meeting was adjourned at 6:39 p.m.)

Those in Attendance:

Lloyd Winnecke                        Troy Tornatta                            Stephen Melcher

Bill Jeffers                                 David Miller                               Madelyn Grayson

Others Unidentified                   Members of Media

VANDERBURGH COUNTY

DRAINAGE BOARD

Lloyd Winnecke, President

Troy Tornatta, Vice President

Stephen Melcher, Member

(Recorded and transcribed by Madelyn Grayson.)