VANDERBURGH COUNTY

DRAINAGE BOARD

OCTOBER 23, 2007

The Vanderburgh County Drainage Board met in session this 23^rd day of October, 2007 at 4:35 p.m. in room 301 of the Civic Center Complex with President Troy Tornatta presiding.

President Tornatta: Good afternoon. It’s about 4:35, and we’re here for the Vanderburgh County, we’re the Vanderburgh County Surveyor for the Vanderburgh Drainage Board, October 23, 2007. Approval of the minutes, motion?

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Madelyn Grayson: The minutes are not ready.

Commissioner Nix: You didn’t get those to us, did you?

Madelyn Grayson: I just got finished typing them, but they are not ready to be approved yet.

President Tornatta: Okay.

President Tornatta: We’ll move on to Mr. Jeffers.

Bill Jeffers: Okay, thank you, President Tornatta and other members of the board. The first item on our agenda is a drainage plan for AC Warehouse, 1444 North Royal Avenue. I believe that’s lot seven of Ryan Commercial Place Subdivision. Ryan Commercial Park Subdivision. Mr. Reggie Heck is the engineer designing the plan and representing the project manager. He’s here in the audience should there be any questions. The plan comports with the Vanderburgh County drainage code. The County Surveyor recommends approval. It’s a small, commercial lot that’s going to be used as a warehouse.

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Korb: Second.

President Tornatta: All in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

Bill Jeffers: In association with that plan is an encroachment agreement that Madelyn Grayson has on the desk for you. Madelyn does that have a separate page with the legal description?

Madelyn Grayson: Yes, it does.

Bill Jeffers: Okay, so, that has been revised at the request of the County Attorney and the County Surveyor to include now a separate legal description to make it more clear in the, excuse me, in the chain of title, exactly what’s going on there. Basically, the plan is to pave over the drainage easement, install some piping, and other structures so that the property owner can access the extension of Royal Avenue and Oak Grove Road at the northwest corner of the project so the semi trucks can come straight in off Morgan Avenue without turning through the front part of the subdivision. So, that’s a good deal there, and, I believe the County Attorney can tell you whether the certificate of insurance and so forth is in order.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Are we talking about the famous Gillenwater drainage easement? Is that this one?

Bill Jeffers: Yes, sir, we are.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Alright. It’s perfect. Thank you.

Bill Jeffers: World famous, Gillenwater drainage easement encroachment.

Commissioner Nix: Move approval.

Commissioner Korb: Second.

President Tornatta: All in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

Bill Jeffers: I have here, basically, it’s just a simple approval procedure that’s required by statute at 2222 Nuebling Road. Edward and Vivian Ellis would like to build a stock pond to water their livestock. It will drain into Maidlow Ditch through an 18 inch by 30 foot double walled plastic culvert. The outlet end is into Maidlow Ditch, a regulated drain in Vanderburgh County. The statute requires Drainage Board approval of all new drains connecting to a regulated drain. The plan has been prepared by Allen Rellecke, who is the contractor, and he’s very familiar with installing these type of drains. He worked for Koester Contractor for a great number of years and is now out on his own, and has installed these type of drains into our regulated drains in the northern part of the county. He’s also a farmer, so he’s very familiar with what we want done out there, and I recommend that the County Drainage Board approve this new connection on behalf of Edward and Vivian Ellis.

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Korb: Second.

Bill Jeffers: I have a drawing here that I will keep in our files.

President Tornatta: A motion and a second. Bill, are you done with that one?

Bill Jeffers: Yes, sir.

President Tornatta: Okay. A motion and a second. All in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

Bill Jeffers: Okay, on your desk, in front of Madelyn, no, this is the original, pardon me. Okay, I told you last week that the improvement through Wesselman Woods of Harper Ditch was completed by Mark Naas. It was completed satisfactorily, and during the construction and immediately following during my personal inspection out there I noticed a large quantity of debris in front of one of the eight foot diameter pipes that drains Harper Ditch underneath the Norfolk Southern Railroad. Since Mr. Naas was out, I considered that an emergency. That’s plugging one half the drainage coming out of the eastside. It’s basically a lot of tree limbs, trunks, what have you that has, over time, floated down and lodged in front of this pipe. I considered it an emergency. I would ask the board to declare an emergency. I thought the most expedient way to remove this obstruction was to ask for a change order in the amount of $1,050 to Mark Naas for the removal and the disposal of that debris. He will have to bring in an additional piece of equipment and grab that debris, load it into a dump truck, and properly dispose of it. This change order, to his total bid of $15,450, represents a 6.8 percent increase in the overall contract. I don’t know if that has any bearing on it, but I wanted to present that information to you, and ask you to declare an emergency and allow me to institute this change order.

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Korb: Second.

President Tornatta: All in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

Bill Jeffers: The last piece of business I have to present you with are claims for services received, basically, your annual maintenance contracts on the various regulated drains, and some of the studies that have been completed. We’re winding up paying for the services we’ve already received. Everything’s been inspected, approved, and the paperwork is attached to the claims in front of Madelyn. I ask that the County Drainage Board approve the claims for payment.

Commissioner Korb: So moved.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Tornatta: All in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

Bill Jeffers: Are there any questions from the board, or public comment?

President Tornatta: I can guarantee there will be no public comment today.

Bill Jeffers: Okay.

President Tornatta: Nobody’s here.

Bill Jeffers: But, we may, after long awaited rainfall finally saturates the soil we may have comment in the future.

President Tornatta: Well, and, you know, I kind of probably should have addressed this during the regular Commissioners meeting, but the burn ban is still in effect and will be in effect until November 13^th, upon further assessment and then it will potentially be lifted. But, as of today, even though its rained all day and has rained in prior days, the burn ban will be in full effect until those days. If you want to get a temporary permit for burning, you may do that to the –

Bill Jeffers: EPA?

President Tornatta: –EPA, or one of the volunteer fire departments. So, that’s kind of on the agenda.

Bill Jeffers: I’ll pass that along to our farmers. We don’t burn any ditches any longer. I think we’ve stopped that altogether.

President Tornatta: I don’t think you can right now.

Bill Jeffers: However, there may be some private landowners who still burn ditches, and I’ll pass that along.

President Tornatta: Right, and, you know, the whole thing that I want to get out is that we are on top of it, we are working on the recommendation of the EPA and the Fire Chief, the City Fire Chief and the volunteer Fire Chief, but, as of yet, and I checked with them just about an hour ago, they said that we’re still on the burn ban.

Bill Jeffers: Well, I think that’s smart to, you know, to act on the side of caution.

President Tornatta: Yeah, so, anyway, no public comment. Motion to adjourn?

Commissioner Nix: So moved.

Commissioner Korb: Second.

President Tornatta: All in favor?

All Commissioners: Aye.

(The meeting was adjourned at 4:45 p.m.)

Those in Attendance:

Troy Tornatta                            Jeff Korb                                   Bill Nix

Bill Jeffers                                 Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.          Madelyn Grayson

Others Unidentified                   Members of Media

VANDERBURGH COUNTY

DRAINAGE BOARD

Troy Tornatta, President

Jeff Korb, Vice President

Bill Nix, Member

(Recorded and transcribed by Madelyn Grayson.)