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COMMISSIONERS MEETING REGULAR SESSION FEBRUARY 17, 2004 at 4:00 p.m.
ATTENDANCE: COMMISSIONERS: Gene Beck, President Donald K. Walton, Vice President Dennis D. O’Hair COUNTY ATTORNEY: Timothy Bookwalter AUDITOR: Kristina Warren COUNCIL: Larry Parker AUDIENCE: Twenty-three Individuals
The Putnam County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on February 17, 2004 at 4:00 p.m. at the Courthouse Annex. The pledge to the flag was given. Don Walton led everyone in a moment of prayer.
EXECUTIVE SESSION Gene Beck said the session had been cancelled because the other party invited to the meeting informed the Commissioners they would not be coming.
BRIDGE 286 Dennis O’Hair said the bridge was located on County Road 100 East over the CSX Railroad. The bridge was down to an eight-ton limit. The Commissioners have been talking to several companies trying to get options to increase the load limit.
In the past few weeks, representatives from Janssen & Spaans Engineering, Inc. (JSE) had come to Putnam County and met with Dave Sutherlin, Highway Supervisor and representative from CSX Railroad. JSE offered a proposal stating a preliminary estimate for the construction cost of this alternative would be $80,000. The engineering designing fee would be $10,000.
Commissioner O’Hair said to replace the bridge would have cost the county around $400,000. With the repairs suggested by JSE, there would be no need for a load limit. A semi truck will be able to cross it. If this bridge works out then they have four to five more bridges they will be looking at to do in the next few years. This would be a bid job. The only companies that will be allowed to bid on the project were the ones approved during the annual bids.
Dennis O’Hair made the motion to approve JSE for the engineering services at the cost of $10,000; Don Walton seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
BRIDGE 282 A representative with Myers Engineering came to the meeting to discuss the bridge project. The bridge was located by the new Highway Operations Center. It was finished about two years ago. It had been a federal aid project. Dennis O’Hair explained the project had gone over the estimated amount due to additional sod needed, fencing and other work. The net amount was $66,385.74. The county’s portion would be approximately $11,000. Dennis O’Hair made the motion to approve and have the State pay and then the State would send a bill to the county for their portion; Don Walton seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
BRIDGES 104 & 105 Steve Luther with Beam, Longest & Neff stated these two bridges were located on Dunbar Road. Their company had submitted an application last year for federal aid to bypass the existing structures and build new ones. A new road would be needed since there was flooding on the current road. The new road would have a high elevation. One of the bridges was a covered bridge, which severely limits emergency services. The county had been notified that they were awarded a grant in the amount of 2.2 million dollars. The county has thirty days to respond that they want to continue with the project.
Dennis O’Hair said this was by far the largest project they have had in Putnam County. It was important to get this project done due to emergency services alone. He stated Mr. Luther had not only worked with the Commissioners but the staff at the Highway Department. It takes a lot of work and planning. He thanked Mr. Luther for the hard work he had done. He had asked Mr. Luther to talk to the County Council informing them of the project. You have got to start somewhere and some of these bridges have been on hold for several years.
Dennis O’Hair made the motion to approve signing the paperwork to secure authorization and approval for federal funds and authorized Gene Beck to sign the form; Don Walton seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
Don Walton said they were looking at other bridges across the county. Mr. Luther had put together a plan for 2004 through 2009 that included seven bridge projects. The bridge projects would be completed through federal aid and other funding sources suggested by Mr. Luther. The county has 220 bridges. He appreciated Mr. Luther’s help.
BRIDGE 137 Gene Beck asked Steve Ostermeier with Floyd Burroughs to give an update. Mr. Ostermeier said they had submitted paperwork and it had been denied. They were still working on it. They also had to deal with the historical issue of the iron bridge. He asked if the Commissioners could move forward with the projects and replace the bridges. The iron bridges would be stored until funding could be found to move them. The Commissioners were willing to do so.
COURTHOUSE NORTH SIDE STEPS Lee Stewart said this was the project of redoing the north side steps to the courthouse. He presented the Commissioners with a picture of what it would look like. Mr. Stewart stated he had gotten time and material donated by Joe Spiker and Cash Concrete. The only thing not covered was the railing. He was asking the Commissioners if the county could not pay for the railing. He felt they would be ready to start at the end of March or beginning of April. He wanted to get the Commissioners’ permission again before they started the project.
Dennis O’Hair asked about the parking. Would the new design eliminate any spaces? Mr. Stewart assured the Commissioners it would not eliminate any parking spaces.
Gene Beck asked for Mr. Stewart to get back with the Commissioners on the cost of the railing. The Commissioner stated they were still in favor of the project.
TOWN OF CLOVERDALE TWO-MILE FRINGE Kim Hyten, Plan Commissioner Director asked how the Commissioners wanted to proceed. Don Walton stated the Commissioners had given the Cloverdale Town Board the opportunity to speak with them. He wanted to move forward. Don Walton made the motion to proceed with the county taking over the two-mile fringe; Dennis O’Hair seconded. The motion carried unanimously. Mr. Hyten would draft paperwork and give a copy to Tim Bookwalter for review and approval.
LAND USE PLANNING Kim Hyten, Plan Commission Director stated he would be giving the Commissioners a document in the near future.
COVERED BRIDGE STATE CERTIFICATION FORM Gene Beck explained the form had to be filled out and returned to the State to receive money for the covered bridges. Gene Beck made the motion to approve and sign; Don Walton seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
COUNTY WEB SITE Marilyn Bigelow, county resident said she was curious to know what the Commissioners had decided on the web site. Gene Beck said they had been contacted by a couple of companies asking for the Commissioners to hold up before making a decision. They wanted to talk to the Commissioners about what they could offer the county in regards to a web site.
Ms. Bigelow asked if the Auditor had received responses from the county departments. Gene Beck said the Auditor had given them the information at their last meeting. Some departments were not interested in a county web site.
Ms. Bigelow expressed the concern that sometimes you get what you pay for. She asked the Commissioners to beware. The one quote for $500 made her nervous.
Mary Williams, county resident said she had received calls from Johnson and Johnson and My Tek. She was concerned with Bud Sharpe (My Tek) since he farmed the information out of county. However, Dave Johnson was local and the information for the web site would stay local.
Don Walton suggested having the companies come back at the next meeting. The Commissioners asked the Auditor to contact them.
COMPUTER NETWORKING Mary Williams, county resident said she was concerned with the company ESI that was at the last Commissioner meeting. The Commissioners had given the company permission to go to departments for information. She felt the Commissioners should advertise to give local firms the same opportunity. Ms. Williams said ESI was based out of Indianapolis. We should publicize that the county was interested in looking for a company to do computer networking for the county.
SEATS IN THE COURTROOMS Judge Robert Lowe and Judge Diana Laviolette said the Commissioners had asked them at their last meeting to come back tonight to further discuss the chairs. Gene Beck asked if Ed Overshiner with Horizon Business Center had contacted the Judges. Both Judges said they had not heard from him. Mr. Beck said Mr. Overshiner had been shown the sample chair and was asked to investigate and come up with a price.
Gene Beck and Dennis O’Hair had looked at the courtrooms. Mr. Beck said there were around thirty chairs that looked like they needed to be replaced. Dennis O’Hair said it had been the Commissioners’ understanding that the metal on the chairs was breaking. Mr. Beck and Mr. O’Hair did not find any chairs that the metal was breaking.
The Commissioners had received a quote from Kasnak Restorations in the amount of $25,040. This was the same price given to them at the last meeting by another company to remove and replace all the chairs in the courtrooms.
Dennis O’Hair said he would like to see one courtroom have the existing chairs and the other get new chairs. Judge Lowe said the current chairs looked nice except for the “this seat broken” sign hanging on some of them. And, the existing chairs looked nice but they were extremely uncomfortable.
The Commissioners tabled their decision on the chairs to allow for more time to get quotes from other companies. They wanted to see what Ed Overshiner came up with.
PTABOA APPOINTMENT Anita Peters, Real Estate Director came to request that the Commissioners appoint someone to the PTABOA. They were recommending Ginny Whipple be appointed. The individual appointed must be a Level II Appraiser. Gene Beck asked how many individuals were on the board. Ms. Peters said five: County Assessor was automatically the secretary to the board and both the County Council and Commissioners appoint two members. The members were paid for each session. They were called on an “as needed” basis.
The Commissioners asked who was Level II certified in the county. Ms. Peters stated the only other Level II’s not on the board: 1) Cliff Norton but he was retired and traveled a lot. 2) Nancy Dennis but she works for the Real Estate Department so that disqualified her from being on the board. 3) Anita Peters but she could not since she was the Director of the Real Estate Department. And, 4) Robbie Cudnik but she recently resigned from the board which was why Ms. Peters was before the Board of Commissioners.
Gene Beck stated he would like to see the appointment be someone from Putnam County. Ms. Peters understood Mr. Beck’s feelings. She said the board was for individuals who were not happy with their assessment. The first step was to go the County Assessor. The County Assessor and herself (as the Director of the Real Estate Department) reviewed the parcel. If the taxpayer was not happy with the outcome, then they could file an appeal. The appeal was heard by the PTABOA. The problem was finding a Level II appraiser. They have four hearings pending because the board was short one member. .
Gene Beck suggested tabling until their next meeting. Ms. Peters said another thing they had to watch was the party of the person appointed to the board. They could only have the most of three of one party (Republican or Democrat). They currently had two Democrats and two Republicans so the person appointed by the Commissioners could be from either party.
2002 PAYABLE 2003 AND 2003 PAYABLE 2004 PROPERTY TAX UPDATE Auditor Kristina Warren wanted to update the Commissioners. As of this date, her office had yet to receive the information needed from the Treasurer’s Office to distribute the money collected for 2002 payable 2003. Treasurer Janet Deaton had hoped to give the information to the Auditor’s Office by the end of January. Ms. Warren said the Treasurer had experienced problems, which has caused the delay. The tentative distribution date had been the end of February but that would not come to fruition due to the delays. Ms. Warren said to help alleviate the strain for the schools, she had given them all advance draws.
Ms. Warren said Anita Peters, Real Estate Director and herself had met Bob Buckler (software technician with Low Associates) yesterday at the courthouse to rollover the 2003 payable 2004 assessed values. It had been worth coming in on our day off to get this accomplished. Now, the Auditor’s Office would be busy data entering all of the new deductions. Once the deductions were data entered, Ms. Warren would certify the net values to the State.
BRIDGES 146 (HOUCK) & 137 (CROW’S) Jim Cooper submitted a letter to the Commissioners regarding the two bridges. They went through the TEA application again this year. They had not received funding for the project last year. Mr. Cooper said the State did not approve very many projects at all last year. This was a good project and offered his continued assistance in trying to get the two bridges relocated. He understood that Floyd Burroughs & Associates was handling Crow’s Bridge and Woolpert Engineering was doing Houck Bridge. Mr. Cooper would like to see the new bridges and relocation down at the same time.
Dennis O’Hair said he would like to see that too. However, if the existing bridge stood in the way of the replacement bridge the county would need to temporarily move the iron bridge. Mr. Cooper understood the county’s position but he wanted to “keep the eye on the ball”, that this was a relocation project. Mr. O’Hair said the Commissioners would do everything they could do work with him. But, they could not afford to hold off this project much longer.
STRAND ASSOCIATES INC. Melvin Beeker came to the meeting to ask the Commissioners to keep the company in mind when they were looking at potential projects in the county.
LEAK AT THE COURTHOUSE Gene Beck said there was a leak at the courthouse again. He said Joe Weist was supposed to look at it. They felt it was the inside guttering. It water went down the guttering and then went to the basement to drain out. The leak is in the Superior Courtroom.
It had been suggested to the county to install copper downspouts. However, individuals were upset because they felt it would ruin the looks of the courthouse. Mr. Beck said just as soon as they fix this leak then there would be one in the Prosecutor’s Office. They have had this problem for years.
FURNACE FOR E911 Two bids had been submitted: Joe Ellis $1,711.00 and Dave’s Heating and Cooling $3,445.00. Gene Beck suggested going with Joe Ellis. The heat was needed for the equipment. Gene Beck made the motion to approve the proposal from Joe Ellis. The bill would be paid out of the cumulative courthouse fund. Dennis O’Hair seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
FEBRUARY 13, 2004 PAYROLL Don Walton made the motion to approve; Dennis O’Hair seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
FEBRUARY 2, 2004 MINUTES Don Walton made the motion to approve; Dennis O’Hair seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
BIG WALNUT SPORTS PARK Don Walton said the park was looking again for more funding. They may be coming back to the Commissioners and County Council asking for money. Mr. Walton said they might want to start looking at funding possibilities.
Larry Parker said he had spoken to a Park Board member and told them that if the county gave them money then they would want representation on the board.
Larry Parker suggested having a Putnam County Park Board to oversee the county. There were a lot of small parks across the county.
COMMISSIONERS MAIL 1. Memo from Auditor regarding Special Distribution of E.D.I.T. and C.A.G.I.T. 2. Greencastle Flooring Job Estimate for Public Defender Office. (Gene Beck told the Auditor to return the estimate to the department. If they wanted carpet, they would need to find the money in their existing budget). 3. Copy of letter Auditor mailed to Vurlin Clark regarding land he rented from the county. 4. Copy of letters Auditor mailed to Cloverdale Town Council members requesting their presence to an Executive Session. 5. Microfilm Progress Report – January 2004. 6. Welfare Report – January 2004. 7. Cummins Mental Health Minutes – January 15, 2004. 8. Heritage Environmental Services Monthly Log Report – December 2003 & January 2004. 9. Indiana Department of Environmental Management – Approval of Lone Star Industries and Crown Equipment. Sewer permit application from John Setty/Curt Sinclair. 10. Letter to Indiana Department of Commerce signed by Gene Beck for the Reelsville Water Improvement Project. 11. Copy of request for quotes for the Edgelea Subdivision. 12. Fax from eGov Strategies regarding the county web site. 13. Indiana Department of Correction – County Misdemeanant Fund. 14. Indiana Department of Transportation – Dunbar Road Realignment & Bridges 104 & 105. 15. Governmental Interinsurance Exchange (GIE) – Claimant William and Sonya Morrison.
The Commissioners acknowledged their mail.
ADJOURN Dennis O’Hair made the motion to adjourn; Don Walton seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
_________________________________ ___________________________________ Gene R. Beck, President Donald K. Walton, Vice President
_________________________________ ___________________________________ Dennis D. O’Hair Attest: Kristina Warren, Auditor
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