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COMMISSIONERS MEETING REGULAR SESSION FEBRUARY 20, 2006 AT 6:00 P.M. ATTENDANCE: COMMISSIONERS: Dennis O’Hair, President Kristina Warren, Vice-President Gene Beck COUNTY ATTORNEY: Timothy Bookwalter AUDITOR: Stephanie Campbell DEPUTY AUDITOR: Evelyn Owens AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Fourteen Individuals
The Putnam County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on February 20, 2006 at 6:00 p.m. at the Courthouse Annex. The pledge to the flag was given.
HIGHWAYSteve Luther with Beam, Longest and Neff, Inc. will be submitting structure plans for bridge 45 to INDOT this week.
FIRE DEPARTMENT GRANTKim Hyten requested to use tipping fee money from Hazardous Waste to upgrade the radios for the fire department. The various fire departments want to apply for a $400,000 grant. They want to hire Carol Kramer to write the grant. She charges $110 an hour and they estimated the time she would spend on the grant to be approximately 30 hours for a total of $3300. Bill Newgent with the Greencastle Fire Department said the various county fire departments are being forced to go onto the Hoosier Safety System. He stated there are several grants available and all the county fire departments agreed to file for this grant. With this grant there is a 10% match from departments. They want the Commissioner’s approval to pay Ms. Kramer to write the grant. She wrote all of Marion County’s grants. They will not know if they will receive it until the end of the year, possibly the first of 2007. Commissioner O’Hair asked if there was a possibility of some departments wouldn’t get it and some would. Mr. Newgent said what they ask for is what they get. Non-hazardous side of it. Kim Hyten stated that he realizes they will have to get the Commissioner’s approval and then Solid Wastes approval. Mr. Newgent stated that they have to apply between March 4th and April 3rd. Commissioner O’Hair stated he was worried about getting the money within the time line. Commissioner Beck made the motion to take the money out to pay the grant writer. Commissioner Warren seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
COURTHOUSE STRUCTUREKim Hyten presented an invoice from Ace Consulting for the basement structure of the courthouse. Mr. Hyten gave the Commissioner’s a copy of their invoice, plans & design. The invoice is for the design work only. The County will have to hire a contractor. Commissioner O’Hair asked if the draft is good enough to get bids on. Kim Hyten stated that he thinks so. Commissioner Beck made a motion for Berry Construction, Max Watts, Hutcheson and any other local contractors to make bids. Commissioner Warren seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
COURTHOUSE FIRE ALARM PERFORMANCE TESTKim Hyten informed the Commissioner’s that the Courthouse passed the fire alarm test given by B & R Fire Protection Company. The fire extinguishers also passed the performance test.
HUMMINGBIRD HILL SUBDIVISIONKim Hyten presented the Commissioners with Hummingbird Hill Subdivision. Commissioner Beck made a motion to approve. Commissioner Warren seconded. The motion carried unanimously.B & R Fire Protection Contract RenewalKim Hyten presented the Commissioners with the contract renewal for B & R Fire protection. He stated there is an annual 12% increase for services. Commissioner O’Hair asked if all of the county facilities were covered by B & R. Mr. Hyten stated that they are. Commissioner Warren made a motion to approve the contract. Commissioner O’Hair seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
COMPREHENSIVE PLANKim Hyten presented the Comprehensive Plan that applied to the consulting job. Ace, LSL, HNTB – each will have 30 minutes for their presentation. The meeting will be held on February 27th starting at12: 30 p.m. Board members are welcome to write up their own questions. Mr. Hyten has a list of questions for Planning Board. CLARIFICATIONCommissioner O’Hair wanted to clarify a question that was raised at the last Commissioner meeting. The meeting at Heritage Lake last November was in regard to money for roads in Floyd Township. Commissioner Beck stated that he and Dave Sutherlin were invited to attend the meeting with the POA members there. He stated that there was never anything discussed of $4500. The only thing they discussed is how much it would cost to upgrade the roads over a certain period of time. Nothing was ever mentioned of $4500 going to the roads there. DISOLVING REAL ESTATE BOARDAssessor Wanda O’Neal presented the Commissioners with a letter asking permission to dissolve the Real Estate Board. Councilman Don Walton was there representing Jay Fogle who was appointed to the Board. Mr. Walton stated that he and Jay Fogle are for keeping this Board, that it is important for the Real Estate Department. Jim Sheldon was there as a Trustee and stated he did not want to Board dissolved. He stated that it made sense for there to be a board for people to go to. He said that the Real Estate Board was good from the Trustees standpoint and thinks the Board should be kept.
Commissioner O’Hair asked Tim Bookwalter about the legal aspect. Mr. Bookwalter stated that the Real Estate Board is an advisory board. That ultimately, the Assessor is in charge. It’s similar to the Planning Commission, they are there to advise, nothing else. Commissioner Warren wanted to clarify that Assessor O’Neal was there to get rid of the Real Estate Board, not the Real Estate Department. Assessor O’Neal said that the Real Estate Department is very good. She said that Nancy Dennis is doing good job along with the two girls in the office. Commissioner O’Hair asked when the last time was that the Board had a meeting. Commissioner Warren said it’s been at least 3 months. She said that the meetings she attended, it was the Assessor telling the Board what has been accomplished and what they want to accomplish. Commissioner Warren asked if the Board were abolished, would the Assessor O’Neal be able to keep trustees in the loop and keep them informed. Wanda said yes she would.
Commissioner Beck asked who created the Board. Everyone agreed that the Commissioners created it after the Real Estate Department was created. Commissioner Warren asked if the meetings with the Township Trustees are open to the public. Assessor O’Neal said yes. She said she has had several calls from counties asking about the Real Estate Department. She thinks it is a very good department. Commissioner O’Hair asked Assessor O’Neal if she can keep the Commissioners & Council informed of dates and times of Trustee meetings. She said absolutely. Commissioner Beck made the motion to dissolve the Real Estate Board and for the County Assessor to keep the Commissioners & Council informed of Trustee meetings. Commissioner Warren seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
TREASURER’S OFFICE - LOCKBOX Treasurer Deaton stated that LOW now has the software that is compatible with Old National Bank Lockbox software. Lisa Hammill with Old National Bank works with several Treasurers offices. Ms. Hammill stated there are many benefits to the Lockbox system. They would get PO Box in Greencastle and their courier will pick the payments up, they process every piece of mail received. It’s then posted on a secure website for the Treasurer’s Office to access. This saves the Treasurer’s Office from manual posting. The tax statements received at the bank can be imaged. This reduces the risk of fraud. The payments received immediately start earning interest. The total estimated fee for this is $3,189.
Commissioner O’Hair stated that he has been asked by several people why the checks haven’t been processed. He tells them that the amount of checks setting waiting to be processed is unbelievable. Treasurer Deaton stated that the county will make quite a bit of interest off of this instead of sitting there waiting to be processed. She asked if the fees could be taken out of the interest earned instead of her budget. Commissioner Warren said that the interest has to be appropriated and there is no money for additionals. Tim Bookwalter said he doesn’t see how the Council would say no. Commissioner Warren said there might be some money in Rainy Day. Commissioner O’Hair said it’s up to the Council to decide where the payment of this would come from. He stated that it’s an excellent idea, but they have to figure out where to get the money to pay for it. The money made off of the interest goes into County General. Tim Bookwalter made the suggestion of transferring it somewhere from the budget and then next year they could change where it comes from. Commissioner Warren made a motion to approve the Lockbox pending where the money comes from for the contract. Commissioner Beck seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
AG WEEK PROCLAMATIONA proclamation was presented for Putnam County AG Week, March 21-23, 2006. The proclamation was approved and signed by the Commissioners. FEBRUARY 10, 2006 PAYROLLCommissioner Warren made a motion to approve. Commissioner Beck seconded. The motion carried unanimously. MINUTESCommissioner Warren made a motion to approve. Commissioner Beck seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
1. Request for proposals – Regional Operator and Fiscal Agent 2. Statewide Voter Registration System Agreement 3. IDEM – Lone Star Industries 4. Deed of Gift to County Museum 5. Cummins Behavioral Health Systems – Meeting Announcement 6. Floyd Twp. Fire Protection District – Meeting Minutes & Accounts Payable Voucher Register 7. IDEM – JBO, Inc. dba Johnny Quick
The Commissioners acknowledged their mail.
ADJOURNCommissioner Warren made the motion to adjourn. Commissioner O’Hair seconded. The motion carried.
________________________________ _______________________________ Dennis D. O’Hair, President Kristina Warren, V. President
________________________________ Attest: Evelyn Owens, Deputy Auditor
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