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COMMISSIONERS MEETING REGULAR SESSION FEBRUARY 2, 2004 at 9:00 a.m.
ATTENDANCE: COMMISSIONERS: Gene R. Beck, President Donald K. Walton, Vice President Dennis D. O’Hair COUNCIL: Larry Parker COUNTY ATTORNEY: Timothy Bookwalter AUDITOR: Kristina Warren AUDIENCE: Twenty-one Individuals
The Putnam County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on February 2, 2004 at the Courthouse Annex. The pledge to the flag was given. Don Walton led everyone in a moment of prayer.
SR 42 AT PUTNAM COUNTY ROAD 750 E (QUINCY ROAD) Dave Sutherlin, Highway Supervisor said he had received a letter from the Indiana Department of Transportation that needed the Commissioners approval and signatures. It was notifying the county that SR 42 would be closed for installation of the new structure. It was expected to be closed on April 1, 2004 for 110 days. The contract completion date is July 31, 2004. The Commissioners approved and signed the letter. Don Walton made the motion to approve; Dennis O’Hair seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
BRIDGE NEAR KATHY FERRANDKathy Ferrand, county resident said they were concerned with a bridge close to where she lived. They felt it needed a guardrail. She wanted to voice her concern to the Commissioners. Dave Sutherlin, Highway Supervisor had looked at it on Friday. The Commissioners asked Mr. Sutherlin to have Bliss McKnight look at it.
APPOINT KATHY FERRAND TO GREENCASTLE PLANNING BOARDDennis O’Hair made the motion to approve the appointment for the next four years; Don Walton seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
ORDINANCE FOR SUMMITT BUILDERSKim Hyten, Plan Commission Director submitted the ordinance to the Commissioners. The ordinance had been advertised by the Auditor’s Office. Don Walton made the motion to approve; Dennis O’Hair seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
CONTRACT FOR LEGAL SERVICES FOR PLANNING DEPARTMENTKim Hyten, Plan Commission Director submitted a copy of the contract that the Planning Department being both Presidents of Planning Commission as well as Board of Zoning Appeals have signed in the past. Mr. Hyten would be presenting a copy to Scott Hoff for signature as their attorney. The Board of Commissioners accepted the format and advised Mr. Hyten to proceed.
PLANNING & BUILDING DEPARTMENT 2003 ANNUAL REPORTKim Hyten, Plan Commission Director submitted the report.
BRIDGE 152Gene Beck said he had signed paperwork for Steve Luther with Beam, Longest & Neff. This construction project will be for the rehabilitation of the existing steel through-truss located on Devil Backbone Road.
Mr. Luther had advised Gene Beck that the county should estimate the project high for the purposes of the State. The project estimate was $840,000. The county would pay 20% of the project, which would be $168,000.
ROADSMary Williams, county resident said she wanted to thank the Highway Department for the good work they had been doing keeping the roads cleared of snow and ice.
HERITAGE LAKE COVENANTSMary Williams, county resident said there was a committee looking at updating the covenants at Heritage Lake. They were having a problem regarding the domestic animals and had called the State Animal Control Department regarding the issue. They found it was hard to control the amount of animals a person could have in their household. She asked if the Commissioners could check into a county ordinance to restrict the number. It may be the case that their association could put it in their covenants but the county could not.
Gene Beck asked Tim Bookwalter if they could put a limit on the animals. He could not remember the county having one or heard of a surrounding county having one. Mr. Bookwalter said he thought the Association could address the issue.
Kim Hyten said there was also a problem with outside animals. He realized you had to get a kennel license once you had so many animals. However, it did not take care of the problem. Sheriff Mark Frisbie said he did have more restricting regulations they followed. Mr. Hyten did not realize that.
Mary Williams wanted the Commissioners to know at the committee’s last meeting regarding covenants Kim Hyten’s name came up a lot. He was a huge help in getting their covenants put together. He has been a very big asset and wanted the Commissioners to be aware of it. She thanked Mr. Hyten for his help.
BUTLER, FAIRMAN & SEUFERT COMPANY John Speidel, client services came to the meeting to introduce himself and to put a face to the names of the Commissioners in the book. He had taken over Putnam County with the passing away of Nelson Steele. He wanted the Commissioners to know he was available to help them with their engineering needs.
INSIGHT COMMUNICATIONS Tom Flora came to the meeting due to the franchise agreement the company had with the county for cable television. They had originally requested a fifteen-year renewal agreement since the original fifteen-year agreement was up. It appeared when the Commissioners reviewed the new agreement they changed it to a one year agreement.
Mr. Flora asked for the Commissioners to reconsider the length of the agreement. The company’s standard agreement had always been fifteen years with their customers. This was a large investment for their company and they need reassurance from the county that this would be a long-term relationship. Mr. Flora had brought a new agreement for the Commissioners to consider signing. Gene Beck said the Commissioners had been concerned with signing an agreement that would bind the county for fifteen years. Mr. Flora said fifteen years was a standard agreement. And the FCC made it a requirement for them to notify the county 36 months in advance if they wanted to pull out of the county. Mr. Beck asked what would be the least amount of time the company would agree on. Mr. Flora said ten years.
Dennis O’Hair asked how long the company had done business with the county? Mr. Flora said TCI was the old operator and they were under Insight. TCI had been with the county for ten years.
Commissioner O’Hair asked how much property tax dollars (real estate and personal property) they had paid to the county in the last two to three years? Mr. Flora said that was not his department, he was unsure. Mr. Flora said there was 300 customers in the county. Commissioner O’Hair asked how much franchise fees they had paid the county? Mr. Flora did not have that information.
Dennis O’Hair made the motion to keep it at one year until he had the answers to his questions; Gene Beck seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
ESI ON NETWORKING COMPUTERS FOR THE COUNTY GOVERNMENT Chris Patterson said the last time he had been before the board they had discussed the possibility of a solution for the computer networking for the county. Mr. Patterson was now with a new company called ESI. He felt this company was more than capable of taking care of the needs of the county. Mr. Patterson introduced Jim Overton, Account Executive. Mr. Overton submitted paperwork regarding their company and a list of references.
The Commissioners had not made a decision last year regarding the networking. Gene Beck said Mr. Patterson had been with someone else the last time. Mr. Patterson said that was correct, he had worked for Logical Choice. He said that Logical Choice was not able to handle the project. However, he did feel ESI was able to or he would not be standing before the Commissioners.
Gene Beck said the topic was dropped last year because they had asked for a proposal of how much it would cost the county to network the offices. No one had come back with a proposal.
Dennis O’Hair said the Commissioners would give ESI the same opportunity as they did the companies last year. ESI needed to submit a proposal to the Board of Commissioners. They will need to visit the departments and come back to the Commissioners. It may take awhile to gather the information.
HUMANE SOCIETY REGARDING ANIMAL SHELTER Barbara Lane said there had been a litigation filed on January 13, 2004 by the new Humane Society Board. The original board’s attorney is Richard Lorenz. David and Barbara Lane had paid the lawyer. They were not using any of the society money.
Ms. Lane said Commissioner Walton had asked the new board why they felt it was necessary to abolish the old board and create a new one. Ms. Lane said to her knowledge there has never been an answer given.
Ms. Lane said at the beginning of September, it had been discovered that the original board’s accountant and Executive Director had already spent the money the Humane Society received from the county. They had started spending the funds that had been placed in a money market. They were not supposed to do that since the money was supposed to be used for special purposes. The board has been trying to clean up the mess since the day they discovered it.
The original board attempted to hire London & Witte to do an account audit since the new board had closed the books. Ms. Lane said 2001 was the last year an audit had been done by accountant David Bray. London & Witte could not do an account because the new board would not furnish the necessary paperwork.
Barbara Lane said they had a problem with outstanding bills. There had been a court order that dictated they pay the bills and they complied. She questioned the future bills needing to be paid. At the last Council meeting it had been brought up that the bills should be brought before the Commissioners to approve and then go to the Council.
The Board of Commissioners did not agree with this procedure. They did not have anything to do with it until this matter had been resolved. Larry Parker said it had been brought up and the Council had frozen the money.
Tim Bookwalter questioned the information Ms. Lane was giving the Commissioners today. He said the two attorneys needed to settle this matter in court. Ms. Lane questioned if the Commissioners should not be made aware of it since the county was involved. Mr. Bookwalter felt the Commissioners were out of the loop until the matter was settled. Ms. Lane said she would have the attorney send the information to Mr. Bookwalter.
WORK ORDER FOR CLASSROOM FOR THE GRASS ROOT PROGRAM Jamie France, Community Corrections Director said he had submitted a work order to the Custodial Department for the classroom at the annex. He had been notified by Ken Hutcheson to appear before the Commissioners. Gene Beck said he had told Mr. Hutcheson to ask Mr. France to come to the meeting. Commissioner Beck said it had not been brought up during the request for the room that they would want renovations.
Mr. France said part of the issue was the bathroom in the classroom. He had asked for it to be fixed because he felt it had been an issue at the last meeting. He thought the Commissioners did not want the kids traipsing through the hallway. If the Commissioners did not mind then they would escort the kids to the restroom down the hall.
The Commissioners discussed the work order and the items wanting to be repaired. Don Walton said there was an electrical issue. He said they should contact Jerry Ensor of Ensor Electric.
SEATING IN COURTROOMS Judge Robert Lowe and Judge Diana Laviolette came to the meeting to discuss the seating in the courtroom. They had asked Gary McDermid with Commercial Furnishings to also attend the meeting.
Judge Laviolette said they were experiencing problems with the wooden chairs in the courtroom. The chairs were almost one hundred years old. They were the original chairs put in the courtroom. The seats were cracking, breaking and pinching people. They have had to place signs on a good number of seats saying they were out of order. They have had someone fall through a chair.
Judge Lowe said they had checked into repairing the existing chairs. They could not find the parts any more to fix them. Mr. McDermid had checked with the company the chairs were purchased from a hundred years ago. The company said it was their chair but it was a chair they manufactured back in 1876. They simply did not make the parts any more.
Mr. McDermid told the Commissioners their options on replacing the chairs. He felt there would be people interested in the old chairs since they were antique. The estimate to remove the existing chairs and replace them with new chairs was $25,000. There were a total of 108 chairs. It would take about two days to complete the project.
Commissioner O’Hair stated he realized something needed to be done with the chairs. However, was there a way to preserve the chairs? Was there a company that could repair the chairs? The Commissioners strive to keep the original look of the courthouse. Commissioner O’Hair questioned if they could move the good chairs from one room to the other. Then, they would have one courtroom with the original chairs for historic value. The Judges replied they had done a lot of research on the matter.
The Commissioners want to look at the chairs before making a decision. They would get back with the Judges.
Gene Beck asked if the Judges had money in their budget to pay for this project. The Judges did not. Commissioner O’Hair asked if the newspaper could do an article asking for people who could possibly restore the chairs. The Commissioners asked how many chairs were broken. Judge Laviolette said about 30%.
FARM GROUND RENTAL AGREEEMENT AT COUNTY HOME FOR 2004 Dennis O’Hair made the motion to approve the agreement submitted by Vurlin Clark at $120 an acre; Don Walton seconded. The motion carried unanimously. The Commissioners marked out the year 2005 since they planned to include the land in the annual bids in December 2004. The Commissioners asked Auditor Kristina Warren to send a letter to Mr. Clark informing him they had approved the agreement for this year and would be bidding it out for 2005.
COMMISSIONERS MAIL 1. Indiana Department of Environmental Management – New Application for Lone Star Industries and Notice of Decision Approval for Heartland Automotive. 2. Legal Notice for I-69 Evansville to Indianapolis Project. 3. Welfare Report – December 2003. 4. Clerk of the Circuit Court Report – December 2003. 5. Letter from Local History Services Regarding Susan Huber. 6. Board of Trustees Minutes – December 17, 2003.
The Commissioners acknowledged their mail.
JANUARY 30, 2004 PAYROLL Don Walton made the motion to approve; Dennis O’Hair seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
DECEMBER 29, 2003, JANUARY 5 & 20, 2004 MINUTES Don Walton made the motion to approve with corrections given to Auditor before the meeting; Gene Beck seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
CLAIMS Gene Beck made the motion to approve; Don Walton seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
COUNTY POLICY MANUALS Auditor Kristina Warren explained to the Commissioners that her Payroll/Human Resources Deputy had informed her they were out of county policy manuals. Do the Commissioners want them to start making copies or to have more printed? The Commissioners advised the Auditor to shop around for the best price and have more manuals made.
COUNTY WEB SITE Dennis O’Hair said there had been a lot of response to the web site from the county departments. Mary Williams said there was another possibility, which was Access Indiana. She discussed her thoughts on the county web site. The Commissioners will need to review before making a decision.
PROPOSAL FROM BARRY GRIMES FOR TILE ON NORTH AND SOUTH PORCHES OF THE COURTHOUSE Gene Beck read the proposal for the tile work needed at the courthouse. The amount of the proposal was $17,451.14. Don Walton said they already had part of the tile since Mr. Grimes had went ahead and bought it. The problem was that the tile was the wrong size. It was bigger. It would be a huge task to cut the tile down to match the existing tile.
Dennis O’Hair questioned the other proposal that had been submitted. Don Walton said the other company had wanted to pour concrete and then make indentations to make it look like tile. But, Mr. Walton felt they wanted to keep it as close as they could to the original style. Mr. Grimes was the only person he knew of that could do it.
David Wells asked if Mr. Walton had checked with Santa Rosa. They did really good work. Don Walton said they were trying to keep it local. Mr. Wells said for the quote submitted it would be worth checking into. Don Walton said he had done a lot of work trying to find a company.
Dennis O’Hair said the proposal submitted by Barry Grimes was generic. It needed to be spelled out exactly what he would be doing. He realized Mr. Walton might know what Barry Grimes was doing. But, what if something happened to him tomorrow? No one would know what the agreement was for. They needed specifics.
Dennis O’Hair made the motion to deny the proposal since the work being done was not spelled out. Don Walton said this had drug on for three months now.
What about the windows at the annex Mr. Walton asked. Dennis O’Hair said he had spoken to Max Watts with S & W Masonry and had told him he was not ready to approve any major expense for the annex until there was a plan approved by the Board of Commissioners. Gene Beck suggested a committee to analyze the annex and come up with a plan. Don Walton said he would get back with Barry Grimes for a more specific proposal. Commissioner O’Hair rescinded his motion to deny since the project was being tabled until further information was gathered.
RAINY DAY FUND Don Walton stated the county had received a special distribution from the E.D.I.T. and C.A.G.I.T. accounts held by the State. The county had been directed to put the money into a rainy day fund. If a county does not have that fund then they would need to create one. Mr. Walton had spoken to Matt Brooks, AIC Director to get a copy of an existing rainy day fund ordinance to use for Putnam County’s resolution. Mr. Walton would get a copy of it to Tim Bookwalter.
CEMETERY BOARD APPOINTMENT Don Walton made the motion to appoint Larry Sanders; Gene Beck seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING AN AGENT TO ACCEPT PENSION LIABILITY The Commissioners signed the resolution authorizing Stephanie M. Campbell to act on behalf of the Putnam County Employees. It was necessary to amend the resolution because she recently had a name change.
PRECINCT LOCATIONS Gene Beck said he would be going with the Clerk, Opal Sutherlin tomorrow to look at possible precinct locations in the following areas: Floyd, Town of Roachdale and Van Bibber Lake.
EXECUTIVE SESSION The Commissioners were to have an executive session at 11:00 a.m. today due to a pending litigation. Since no one showed up, the Commissioners decided to advertise for an executive session at 3:00 p.m. on February 17, 2004. The Auditor was directed to advertise the meeting and to send a letter to the Cloverdale Town Council members requesting them to attend.
ADJOURN Dennis O’Hair made the motion to adjourn; Don Walton seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
_________________________________ _________________________________ Gene R. Beck, President Donald K. Walton, V. President
_________________________________ _________________________________ Dennis D. O’Hair Attest: Kristina Warren, Auditor
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