VANDERBURGH COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS DECEMBER 20, 2016

Transcription

1 The Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners met in session this 20 th day of December, 2016 at 4:01 p.m. in Room 301 of the Civic Center Complex with President Bruce Ungethiem presiding. Call to Order President Ungethiem: Good afternoon. Let me turn the mic on. I would like to call December 20, 2016 Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners meeting to order. Attendance Roll Call President Ungethiem: Madelyn, will you call attendance? Commissioner Kiefer: Here. President Ungethiem: Here, having two members present, we do have a quorum, so we will move forward. Pledge of Allegiance & Invocation President Ungethiem: Please stand and join us in the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by an invocation. (The Pledge of Allegiance was given.) Commissioner Kiefer: Heavenly Father, please bless us and guide us during these proceedings. Let us remember the Christmas season, and to always do good for other people. Thank You for everybody that is here, especially all those who serve the public and who try to do what is right day in and day out. In Your Name we pray, Amen. President Ungethiem: Amen. Thank you, Joe. Commission President Comments President Ungethiem: Okay, a couple of comments before we get started. If anybody is here for a Drainage Board meeting this evening, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there will be no Drainage Board meeting this evening. So, if you re here for that, check back in January. The other item is that the next Board meeting for the Commissioners will be January the 3 rd, it s a Tuesday, and it will start at 3:00 p.m. At that point in time we will set the agenda for the rest of the year for, I think, for Vanderburgh County Commissioner meetings, as well as Drainage Board meetings and Solid Waste Board meetings will all be set on that period of time. Permission to Open Bids for VC : Traffic Signal Installation at Green River Road and Boonville-New Harmony Road President Ungethiem: The next item on the agenda is permission to open bids for VC This is a traffic signal installation at Green River Road and Boonville-New Harmony. John, anything to add to that?

2 Page 2 of 23 John Stoll: No, nothing to add, just that we ll open the bids, then take it under advisement, and get the contract hopefully awarded on January 3 rd or January 10 th. President Ungethiem: Okay. Commissioner Kiefer: I want to get to the more exciting thing, so I m going to make this motion to go ahead and have Jeff Ahlers open these bids up. President Ungethiem: I will second that. There s a motion and a second. Any discussion? Roll call please. President Ungethiem: Yes. President Ungethiem: Jeff is substituting for Joe this evening, so, he ll be opening the bids, and at a later time in the meeting agenda we will review those. Presentation of Proclamation to Lilly King President Ungethiem: Okay, moving on, back on August the 9 th, everyone in Vanderburgh County woke up to a Courier & Press article that had this on the front page. On that day, we then decided as County Commissioners that we would dedicate August the 9 th as Lilly King Day in Vanderburgh County. Now, as most of you probably know, she was not available to be at that meeting, because she was still in the water, I think, at that point in time, at the Olympics. So, we asked when she might be available, and she has graciously accepted our invitation for this evening. So, we want to read this proclamation again, and then present that to her, because she is with us tonight. So, let me read this, it s a proclamation for Lilly King Day in Vanderburgh County, Indiana. It says: Whereas, Lilly King is a Vanderburgh County, Indiana resident, and 2015 graduate of F.J. Reitz High School; and, Whereas, she became the first ever Reitz High School State swim champion in 2015; and, Whereas, as a competitor of Indiana University, Lilly has set American records, winning the 100 and 200 breaststrokes in the NCAA Championships, and was the World University Games silver medalist in 2015; and, Whereas, Lilly represents Team USA in the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, and the 4 X 100 medley relay; and, Whereas, she is the first Hoosier swimmer to win multiple events at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials since 1972; and, Whereas, our community respects her outspoken advocacy for clean competition at the Olympic Games and all levels of sports competition; and, Whereas, Lilly won an Olympic Gold Medal for Team USA in the 100 breaststroke, setting Olympic Gold record of 1:04.93; and, Whereas, she is a role model for young people around the world, and especially in her hometown. Now, Therefore, be it resolved, that we, the Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners, do hereby proclaim Tuesday, August 9, 2016 as Lilly King Day in Vanderburgh County. Dated this 9 th day of August, 2016, and signed by the Board of Commissioners; Bruce Ungethiem, Joe Kiefer and Steve Melcher, and attested by Brian Gerth, the Auditor. So, I would ask that Lilly come forward and accept this. (Applause) Lilly King: (Inaudible. Not at microphone.) President Ungethiem: Congratulations! Thank you very much. Lilly King: Thank you. Commissioner Kiefer: We want to get a picture. President Ungethiem: Oh, we re going to get a picture? Okay. Lilly King: Oh, where now?

3 Page 3 of 23 President Ungethiem: Don t go away. Lilly King: Oh, okay. President Ungethiem: One of the things that we additionally did, was on that night, for the people in Evansville, Indiana, they got to see a light show, and this was the Old Courthouse that was lit up for the special event. Since we had the good fortune of someone taking a picture, Alex, can you come forward? Alex Morgan: Sure. President Ungethiem: A picture was taken of the Old Courthouse to celebrate this, and we would like to present this to you as a token of our Lilly King: Sweet, that s pretty cool! President Ungethiem: Thank you. Alex Morgan: Yeah, I can set it down, or hold it for you. Whatever you want to do. Lilly King: Yeah, that would be great. President Ungethiem: Basically, this is a picture of the Old Courthouse lit up in red, white and blue on August 9, 2016, taken from the Coliseum. You can see the Coliseum columns in the foreground, and the picture of the Old Courthouse lit up in red, white and blue, celebrating our local hometown hero winning the Gold Medal. Alex Morgan: So, it was my honor to take that and be able to donate it to you. Lilly King: Thank you so much. Alex Morgan: Thanks for winning the Gold. We put that in gold trim there to represent that. Lilly King: Oh, okay. There you go. Alex Morgan: Thank you. Lilly King: That s (Inaudible), you guys. Commissioner Kiefer: Thank you very much. President Ungethiem: Thank you very much, Lilly. (Applause) President Ungethiem: I understand that Lilly is not quite done yet. Last week in Windsor, Canada, swimming for the FINA World Championships, I believe you picked up four additional golds and one silver? Lilly King: Yep. (Applause) President Ungethiem: So, she s still at it. Still making Vanderburgh County proud. We really look forward to 2020? Lilly King: I hope so. President Ungethiem: I hope so. Thank you very much, Lilly. Lilly King: Thank you. Commissioner Kiefer: And, Lilly, you re not obligated to stay for our long, boring meeting, but we do thank you very much. I tell you, it s kind of funny, because I ve never been so excited to come to a Commissioner meeting. So, having you here tonight is like, wow, what a great, great way to enjoy coming to a meeting. So, thank you so much. Lilly King: Thanks.

4 Page 4 of 23 President Ungethiem: You probably have several copies of this, but if you need another one Lilly King: Thanks. President Ungethiem: Okay, now we go on to the more mundane things of the meeting. A road closure, which just isn t quite as exciting as Lilly King: We can t all be, can we? President Ungethiem: --as a Gold Medal. I just, I can t get excited about road closures at this point in time, but thank you, Lilly. Lilly King: Thanks. West Terrace PTA 4K 4Kids Road Closure Request President Ungethiem: Okay, moving on, road closure request for West Terrace PTA for the West Terrace 4K 4Kids Run. William is here to give us the details. William Stein: Yep, I m following Lilly King. Okay, so, this is our sixth annual 4K 4Kids. It s held on kind of surrounding West Terrace Elementary. It s a family event, where people come out and they can run it, they can walk it, and we just need to close the road for a couple hours on the roads surrounding West Terrace. I think we provided a map for you guys. President Ungethiem: The only thing, as I look through the information, I was assuming that it had been run through the Sheriff s Office and everything is okay? William Stein: Certainly. President Ungethiem: I saw the liability insurance and the rest of the stuff. There was a note there from Noah Robinson, so I assumed you had gone through the Sheriff s Department and got everything squared away? William Stein: Yes, sir. President Ungethiem: Okay. Anything else that you want to add? William Stein: No, all of the money goes back to the school. President Ungethiem: I would entertain a motion. Commissioner Kiefer: I ll make the motion to approve the road closure request. President Ungethiem: There s a motion and I will second. Any discussion? Roll call please. President Ungethiem: Yes, and it is approved 2-0. President Ungethiem: Good luck. William Stein: Thank you.

5 Page 5 of 23 Public Hearing and Final Reading of Vacation Ordinance CO.V : Vacation of a 25 Access Easement in Wm. Wortman Sub, Section 2 President Ungethiem: The next item on the list is a public hearing for final reading of vacation ordinance CO.V This is the vacation of a 25 access easement on Lot 22 of William Wortman Subdivision, Section 2. The first thing we need to do is have a motion and a second to open the hearing. Commissioner Kiefer: I ll make the motion to open the public hearing for discussion. President Ungethiem: And I will second that, and then we can discuss this further. Come forward and state your name. Scott Buedel: Scott Buedel with Cash Waggner and Associates. I m here tonight with Bill Wortman, he was the developer of the subdivision, and Mike Conti, he s the one that built the house on the lot that we re trying to vacate the easement on, for the petitioners. President Ungethiem: Okay. I looked through this petition, and we ve had, we ve gotten several letters from various people, be it the Sheriff s Department, or the County Engineer, the MPO, and all of them have indicated that they have no problem with that easement. Joe, any comments on this? Commissioner Kiefer: No, I think we ll just see what the remonstrators, if there are any, have to say, and go from there. President Ungethiem: Okay, are there any remonstrators to this petition? Do they have to be sworn in? Jeff Ahlers: No. President Ungethiem: Okay. Please come forward and state your name. Mike Ruder: Mike Ruder, 15034, Lot 21. I kind of feel I m in a no win situation here. I would like to vacate it, have them vacate it, but I feel that I will be in harm s way if I do this. If I don t protest it, because by vacating it, potentially can harm my property, with improvements that they ll be able to make to their property down the road. Not necessarily the new owners, but the owners after that. I ve lived there 11 years. The alternative is to leave it the way it is and take the chance there s not a road put through, or have my side also vacated. I m kind of in a no win situation. I ve had this problem before, I have been in the past a home builder. I ve built a lot of homes, and in a similar situation to this I was harmed. My property devaluated because of this, and potentially I could have the same thing with this. I m kind of in a no win, either I take a chance a road doesn t go through, or I vacate, we vacate both sides, but if we vacate one side, potentially I could be harmed, most definitely my property, my house, the look. So, what I m asking is, that you take no action or deny, because what would be the ramification if it s denied? There would be no harm, no foul. Nobody gets harmed. They re not going to get harmed, I m not going to get harmed. If you do take action, then potentially I get harmed down the road. President Ungethiem: Can you explain further how you would get harmed down the road if they vacated this easement? Mike Ruder: They could, as long as it complied with building setbacks, they could put a driveway right down there, which ultimately harms my view, my look of street curbability. My house has already been devaluated. Now, it goes up and it goes down. I ve never not paid taxes where my house goes down. They usually go up. It s the positioning of the homes that I have a problem with. Commissioner Kiefer: Mike, what, I m sorry, what lot number were you? Mike Ruder: 21. President Ungethiem: 21. Commissioner Kiefer: 21? We re looking at between 21 and 22?

6 Page 6 of 23 Mike Ruder: Yes, sir. President Ungethiem: Right. Commissioner Kiefer: Yeah, and, I mean, from the drawing there s not a road on the back side of your lot, is there? Mike Ruder: No. Commissioner Kiefer: Okay. Mike Ruder: But, the road could possibly continue on. That s what we re talking about. You could potentially put a road down through that, do away with the cul-de-sac and extend the road out. Commissioner Kiefer: Who would do that? Mike Ruder: Well, if you read the I m sure he s going to come up here and tell you it s all going to be on Bill, because the way the subdivision was platted and the way it was developed, I think he has final say on that. Not typically, subdivisions are done this way in this particular time, but this subdivision has been around for a long time. Like I said, I m kind of in a no win situation here. I m just asking that no harm be found. No harm to me, no harm to them. President Ungethiem: You made the comment that they could build the road on your Mike Ruder: No, they re in the easement. President Ungethiem: -- is there an easement on your property? Mike Ruder: They could do it in the easement. President Ungethiem: Is there an easement on your property now? Mike Ruder: 25. President Ungethiem: At the property line? Mike Ruder: Uh-huh. President Ungethiem: So, these two 25 easements would match one another to get a 50 easement so you could put a potential road through? So, if we took away one of the 25 easements, there s no way we re going to put a road through there. Mike Ruder: Right, right, I understand that. President Ungethiem: Okay. Mike Ruder: But, then I have, how harm has happened to me in the past is that people have made improvements, now that 25 is gone. Now all they have to do is a setback and meet the code and it harms my property because now Commissioner Kiefer: Is there a house right there? Mike Ruder: -- it gives it a different look. President Ungethiem: I don t believe there s a house on lot 32 at this point in time. Commissioner Kiefer: Or 22, or 32, yeah. Is it 22 or 32? Mike Ruder: 22. President Ungethiem: 22. Commissioner Kiefer: Okay. Mike Ruder: There s not only a house there, it s sold and people are living in it. President Ungethiem: So, there is a house on 22 now?

7 Page 7 of 23 Commissioner Kiefer: What is the purpose of, why are they wanting the vacation of this, would be my question? Mike Ruder: I think the builder, I don t know, I can t speak for them. All I know is that I was approached during construction. Let me step back. I was approached during potential construction, they were getting ready to start. I simply asked that I ll work with you, I ll be in favor of the 25, I will do it, you ll do it, but this position of the home, and this position of the driveway so it matches the existing homes. If you look at the existing homes through there, they re side loaded. A side load gives you a different effect. You know that, Joe. Commissioner Kiefer: Yeah. Mike Ruder: It makes it more curb appealable. He didn t want to do that. He had every right. I m okay with that. I mean, it s his lot, it s his house, he could do it however he wants to do it. But, it would have matched the driveway, I would have been more willing to give and take. You know, when I build homes, I always try to work with the homeowner next door on both sides. That s all I was asking. Now we ve reached a point where I potentially can be harmed, and affect my value of my home and my lot. What s it for him? Well, for the county it s probably going to be more taxes, because his lot is going to be worth more now, because there s not going to be a road that can potentially go through there. So, it s a win for him and a win for the county, potentially it loses for me. President Ungethiem: Well, but it could be a win for you because there s no road going through there on your property either. Mike Ruder: And it could be down the road. I m in a no win. Commissioner Kiefer: Wait a second, why would there be one down the road? Mike Ruder: Because if Bill decides, I don t want to speak for Bill, if they decide to extend that road, they can. Commissioner Kiefer: Not at 25. The standard is Mike Ruder: I understand that. If we deny this, I m betting that you won t extend that road. Do you understand? Commissioner Kiefer: Yeah, I understand that. Mike Ruder: That s what I m betting on. If you deny this, that he can t potentially build closer to the property line, which affects my property and my home and the look of how it s going to be curb appealed. I m not saying these people are going to do it, the people might do it, the next one s do it. They may put a driveway, an out building there that conforms with the subdivision and the county restrictions, which ultimately changes the look of my home. Which ultimately affects my price. Commissioner Kiefer: So, basically you don t want to vacate the easement because you want that 25 easement to remain unbuilt on? Mike Ruder: I want 50. I don t want this to pass. Commissioner Kiefer: Yeah, but it s 25 on their property line. Mike Ruder: Right. Commissioner Kiefer: Right. Mike Ruder: That s what we re here about. Commissioner Kiefer: Right, so you don t want that, so that way they can t build on that 25 easement? Mike Ruder: Right. Commissioner Kiefer: That s the bottom line. Mike Ruder: That s the bottom line. I mean, I think we could have worked things out a long time ago so both parties could have been happy, but I think we come at a point now

8 Page 8 of 23 where I could, and I have in the past, building homes, been harmed on similar situations like this. I m just asking that no harm be found on either party, and it was rejected. President Ungethiem: Well, if this easement stays in effect Mike Ruder: I take a chance. President Ungethiem: --then you take a chance that a person, it would be the west of you, whichever this new lot is, which is undeveloped, I believe at this point in time Commissioner Kiefer: Could connect. President Ungethiem: -- could connect to that easement and you would have a through road. Mike Ruder: That s right. President Ungethiem: Which would be worse than him having an out building. Mike Ruder: That s right. President Ungethiem: So, you ve got to pick your poison here. Mike Ruder: That s why I m asking to deny it. President Ungethiem: So, you re going to take a chance that that road doesn t get put in? Mike Ruder: I ve lived there 11 years, and I believe the way it s written, Bill has to approve this for that road to continue. Typically on subdivisions, he wouldn t have that obligation to do that. He wouldn t have that chance to do that. Commissioner Kiefer: I guess I would like to hear why the people that are requesting the vacation want the vacation? What s the purpose and what they re planning to do there? President Ungethiem: Thank you, Mike. Scott Buedel: We got involved with the project when Mike Conti was looking at positioning a house on the property. There s numerous easements that affect this lot. There s a large drainage easement in the back yard, there s side easements and then this easement on the south side of the property. This is one of those lots that, I think, kind of hung out there for a while because it was potentially unbuildable, or hard to build on. The new owners, you know, found this subdivision desirable and wanted to be out there. We did everything we could to position the house that Mike, or that the petitioners wanted to put on the lot. We got it positioned on there so it didn t encumber, encroach into any easements. Basically, the vacation of this easement would just allow them to have a little bit more yard that s not encumbered by an easement. So, they don t have any plans right now to put any kind of out building out there, or do anything in particular with it, but it just enhances the value of their property, from the standpoint of not having a large 25 easement along the side. Commissioner Kiefer: Well, you are allowed, with easements, you would be allowed to use it as yard space. There s nothing wrong with that, and you would be, unless it was a drainage easement. Scott Buedel: Right. Commissioner Kiefer: Then you wouldn t obstruct that, and you could build your driveway on it, if you wanted to, it s just if the county ever decided to use it, you would lose your driveway. But, you re really not at any risk or any damage by having the easement, because you can use it as yard space, and you can use it as driveway space if you wanted to. Scott Buedel: Well, but, I mean, there s also the potential down the road for fencing that in, potentially putting something over there, but at this point in time, you know, they re not looking at putting an out building or anything over there right up against the line. You know, so, from the standpoint of putting a pool in the backyard, or something to that effect,

9 Page 9 of 23 or off to the side, you know, it would give them the ability to be able to do something more with their property than what exists today. President Ungethiem: I don t know if this is a possibility, but would the owner of lot 22 be willing to restrict building on that line with a setback? I mean, right now-- Scott Buedel: I mean, there s already a setback that affects that line, regardless of whether there s an easement there. President Ungethiem: Well, right now it s setback because of the easement 25. The normal setback is what, ten? Scott Buedel: It would be five foot off the line. President Ungethiem: Five foot? Scott Buedel: That would be a side yard line. President Ungethiem: Would the property owner be willing to make that a 25 setback, so that nothing could be built in that area, if we got rid of the easement, but put a 25 setback on that line, would that be a Commissioner Kiefer: Or even something in between, a 15 or something. President Ungethiem: Would that be a compromise that we could live with? Scott Buedel: I ll have to get Mike up here to be able to discuss that. But, I guess my thought from what the statements were before, is that there were conversations that were had before the construction started, there was an idea of how this house needed to be placed on the lot. You know, he wanted it to look a certain way, and it was a difficult lot to be able to place the house on. I heard early on that he had no objection to vacating the 25 foot, if we could work together, and everything would look the way he wanted it to look whenever it was all said and done. So, I mean, I kind of heard that early on that there was no objection to the vacation of the 25 foot, and potentially even the vacation of the entire 50-foot strip, which, and that s where I need to step aside. I know there were conversations that were had early on, before construction, where the neighbor and Mike and Bill Wortman met with them and discussed what was happening, everything that was taking place, everything was out front. There was no hidden agenda, you know, for what we were trying to do. It was even discussed as potentially, because it wouldn t have cost anymore for us to go through the process to vacate the 25-foot easement on his property too, to remove the entire 50-foot strip. So, from that standpoint I kind of get the feeling that there s a lot of uncertainty about what he really wants to have happen here. Just from the standpoint of, because early on in the discussions that happened early on, that it didn t scoot the house or put the driveway on the side that he wanted it put on, you know, that he wanted it to be on, that we re here objecting to something, and something is either taking his chances of leaving the easement there and potentially having a road go through, or I m not sure what was really the outcome. Commissioner Kiefer: I m sure it s a safe bet that the road is not going to go through for a long, long time, at some point in the future. Scott Buedel: Right. Commissioner Kiefer: It might, but probably not in the near, immediate frame of time, because we don t have anybody discussing with the county about doing a project out there. Scott Buedel: Right. Commissioner Kiefer: So, it s probably a safe bet for him. What I would like to do is what we do a lot of times with these type of things where you ve got some differences of opinion, why don t they go back and see if they could meet, come to some common ground, and then come back to the Commissioners, and if they can t come to an agreement, then we ll have to make a decision, but otherwise, try to meet and work something out, and maybe come back next time and say, hey, we ve made an agreement, we ll do a 15 foot setback, or whatever it might be to accommodate them.

10 Page 10 of 23 Scott Buedel: I m just going to hand this out, just to read over this too, but this is the owner s certificate on the plat. If I read this correctly, the road, the line above what is highlighted states that all roads shown and not previously dedicated are hereby dedicated to public use. Then there s an extra statement that an access easement shown between these two lots is reserved by the owner, or their future assigns. Bill Wortman is here tonight. He s the only one that reserved an easement across that 50-foot strip. It was never dedicated to the public. It was never dedicated to public utilities. It was a pure reservation by Bill Wortman. When Mike came to us and asked us to see if we could get rid of this easement, you know, because the new property owners were wanting additional yard, I didn t have any problem going through the vacation process whatsoever, but I did talk to Plan Commission, and Plan Commission made a determination that it would be simpler, just to make sure, whatever the case may be, that we go through the full vacation process. So, I kind of want to put that out there too, but right now it is a private reservation. Commissioner Kiefer: Well, but it was recorded, part of the William Wortman Subdivision, Section Two, which does make it in the purview of the county, right? Otherwise, why would you even be here asking us for permission to vacate? Scott Buedel: I m following the instructions of the Area Plan Commission. Commissioner Kiefer: Okay, I mean, so, I don t know what the answer is. I mean, I see what you re saying about the owner s certificate, but I also additionally see, you know, the subdivision plat that s been approved, P-55, William Wortman Subdivision, Section Two, and it shows that easement across there. So, I don t know the answer. I mean, my question to the attorney was, do we even have the right to vacate it? But, it appears we do, because it was recorded. President Ungethiem: It was recorded as a public easement, I assume? Commissioner Kiefer: Yeah, I mean. Scott Buedel: No, it s recorded as Commissioner Kiefer: It says 25-foot access easement, but it s part of the recorded document. I guess there s some Scott Buedel: The access easement is defined by this language. Commissioner Kiefer: --confusion here, but my guess is that, but I m not the attorney, that because it was recorded as an access easement, then it stays that way. Scott Buedel: But, the access easement is defined by (Inaudible). President Ungethiem: Unless it s vacated. Commissioner Kiefer: Unless it s vacated. Jeff Ahlers: Having seen this for the first time, but, you know, I m not stating with any certainty, but my assumption is, what s going on is, is because it s part of the approved platted subdivision, you re changing that plat, which as you said under the Area Plan Commission they want you to come through the process, because you are now changing that recorded plat. Scott Buedel: Right, I just wanted to get that in front of you so you knew how this thing came about. That it is, it s more or less just a reservation. It s not a county right-of-way right now. The county couldn t make the decision to extend this road tomorrow. It s an access easement in favor of Bill Wortman. President Ungethiem: So, in order for the county Scott Buedel: If Bill Wortman dedicated the President Ungethiem: Are you saying that in order for the county to build a road through this 50-foot easement we would have to get Bill s approval to do that? Scott Buedel: Yeah, I mean, that s what the dedication certificate.

11 Page 11 of 23 President Ungethiem: easement? So, does that make it a private easement and not a public Commissioner Kiefer: I think it s public, because it s recorded on the plat as an access easement. That s my opinion, but, you know, it s confusing. President Ungethiem: Well, I think before we act on it we need to have that answered. So, it s no answerable tonight. Commissioner Kiefer: But, either way, I mean, it would be nice if you guys would get together and have some conversation with the neighbor, and maybe you can come to some agreeable terms. Then it s no big deal. We could vacate it whether we had the right to or not, you guys came to an agreement so it won t matter. Scott Buedel: Right, and that s what, I just wanted to get that in front of you, but if they were agreeable, if Mike was agreeable to say 10 foot, 15 foot Commissioner Kiefer: Yeah. Scott Buedel: -- would be acceptable. I don t know if there s a problem vacating it, I think it s repetitive. Commissioner Kiefer: Right. Scott Buedel: I don t think it s really necessary to be done, but if it is done, it s really no harm. Commissioner Kiefer: Right. Scott Buedel: So Commissioner Kiefer: I ll make a motion, or, I don t even think we need to make a motion. Can we just delay it? Or do we need to move to delay it? Jeff Ahlers: I don t know what your normal decorum is, but whatever you usually do. Madelyn Grayson: I think you have to continue the public hearing to a date certain. Commissioner Kiefer: Yeah. Madelyn Grayson: Like you would have to say continued till January 3 rd at 3:00, if that s what you want to do. Commissioner Kiefer: Okay, then I ll make a motion to continue it to January 3 rd at 3:00 p.m. at the next County Commissioner meeting. President Ungethiem: And in the meantime, what we would like to see is the two groups get together and come up with an equitable solution to both sides. If it is the easement goes away, but there s a setback over there I think what Mr. Ruder wants to do is maintain green space in that area. So, whatever it takes to maintain that green space in that area, for not only this owner, but for future owners, I think that s ultimately what he s looking at. So, if you guys could get together and come up with an arrangement to make that happen, that would make this a lot easier. Plus we need to figure out whether this is a private easement or a public easement. We can do that between now and Scott Buedel: Right, and I think that, the reason we re going through this is being cautious about what it is. President Ungethiem: Did the Area Plan have this document in front of them when they advised you? Scott Buedel: They were aware of the plat, yes. President Ungethiem: Okay. Scott Buedel: So, that s why I think they suggested just to go ahead and go through the vacation process, just to make sure.

12 Page 12 of 23 President Ungethiem: Okay, we ve got a motion to continue the open hearing until January 3 rd. I m going to second that, because I think there s some things here that we still need to work on before we make this final decision. Does anybody else have any comments that they want to make? Roll call. President Ungethiem: Yes. President Ungethiem: This will be continued on January 3 rd. Hopefully we can come to an equitable solution between the two parties. Thank you. Second/Final Reading of Ordinance CO : Establishing the Authorized Use of Credit Card by the Vanderburgh County Health Department President Ungethiem: Okay, the next item is second and final reading of ordinance CO , establishing the authorized use of a credit card by the Vanderburgh County Health Department. We need a motion and a second. Commissioner Kiefer: I ll make the motion to approve this second and final reading of ordinance CO President Ungethiem: And I will second that. A little bit of background here, just for people s information, during the State Board of Account audit it was found that this credit card and the one following this had a limit I believe of $5,000 on it. On a couple of occasions that limit was exceeded, simply because of inflationary problems. So, we are simply taking this authorization from $5,000, is it to ten? Madelyn Grayson: $15,000. President Ungethiem: $15,000? Brian Gerth: $15,000. President Ungethiem: $5,000 to $15,000, so that the Health Department can continue to do their work and use that credit card to purchase things that used to cost $4,000, and now cost $8,000. We want to make sure that we re in compliance with the State Board of Accounts. So, that s the reason for this. Any comments or questions on this item? We have a motion and a second. Roll call please. President Ungethiem: Yes, and it is approved 2-0. Second/Final Reading of Ordinance CO : Establishing the Authorized Use of Credit Card by the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor s Office President Ungethiem: Likewise, we have a second and final reading on ordinance CO , establishing an authorized use of a credit card by the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor s Office. We need a motion and a second for this. Commissioner Kiefer: I ll make the motion to approve this second and final reading.

13 Page 13 of 23 President Ungethiem: And I second that. Again, this is a very similar thing. The State Board of Accounts indicated that this credit card had exceeded its limit, and we need to increase the limit in order to have the Prosecutor use this credit card effectively. Any questions on this one? Roll call please. President Ungethiem: Yes, and it is approved 2-0. Health Dept.: Little Lambs Contract Health Dept: Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Contracts (3) Superior Court: Parenting Time Center Grant Application Commissioners: Dental Health Options (HRI) 2017 Renewal Commissioners: OCH Lease Renewal: Miller-Ellis President Ungethiem: We move on to contracts, agreements and leases. We have a County Health Department annual contract with Little Lambs of Evansville, Incorporated. Parents, children, customers earn vouchers to receive needed supplies for caring of their infants and children. Joe Gries, head of the department, is here to tell us all about it. Joe Gries: Good afternoon. Joe Gries, Vanderburgh County Health Department. This is one of our community partners, an agreement between us and Little Lambs. We help provide some resources, as far as funding, and then they in turn provide services for some of our clientele. Mothers can go to the Little Lambs with vouchers to purchase items that they ll need once their babies are born. So, it s a very good partnership. It s been going on for many, many years, and we would ask that it continue. It doesn t cost the county anything. We actually raise funds through donations. President Ungethiem: Any questions? Commissioner Kiefer: Sounds like a good deal. So, I ll make the motion to approve this contract. President Ungethiem: And I will second that. Any discussion from the audience? Seeing none. Roll call please. President Ungethiem: Yes, and it is approved 2-0. President Ungethiem: The other issue in contracts and agreements is a breastfeeding peer counselor contract with Brandi Lopez, Elizabeth Heiman and Julie Reynolds. Joe Gries: Yes, and these three individuals, as the contract states, are peer counselors. These women have been a part of the WIC program, the federal grant that we administer at the Health Department, and they come back and provide counseling to other mothers, to encourage breastfeeding within the population that we serve. The grant has funding to account for these peer counselors for President Ungethiem: Okay, any questions? Commissioner Kiefer: I ll make a motion to approve the independent contractors to be paid at $10 an hour for the counseling, Vanderburgh County Women Infants and Children Supplemental Food Program.

14 Page 14 of 23 President Ungethiem: And I will second that. Any comments from the audience? Seeing none. Roll call please. President Ungethiem: Yes, and it is approved 2-0. Joe Gries: Thank you, gentlemen. President Ungethiem: Thank you, Joe. Next is County Superior Court, Parenting Time Center grant application. Judge Lloyd is here. Mary Margaret Lloyd: Good afternoon. Actually it s good evening, I guess, at this point. I m here with Kathryn Kornblum with the Parenting Time Center. We are here before you, at this point, a few weeks ago we became aware of a grant opportunity. Mr. Gerth, we don t have five copies. She will you one, because you re actually, once we finish the app it would be your signature and my signature on it, so, you will definitely get one, is what I m saying. Brian Gerth: That s correct. Mary Margaret Lloyd: Early January we learned about an opportunity for a federal grant, and this federal grant, what we would propose with the grant is to have two components; one would be, funds would go to pay for parenting time exchanges, which are when mom and dad are exchanging the child, they need a safe place to basically exchange the child for parenting time, for visitation. So, the Parenting Time Center is used, but the Parenting Time Center has a cost. Well, when you have victims of domestic violence, you need a safe place for the parents to exchange the child, so we don t have further violence between the parties. That would be one of the components of the grant we are seeking. Another component would be assisting people with lower incomes with supervised parenting time. If there s a reason why the child would not be safe with the parent who has a visitation, they go to the Parenting Time Center and they are supervised, so we know that the child is in a safe place, and that it s very difficult to stop a parent s visitations legally. I can tell you that as a judge for the past 15 years. So, we know that the children are in a safe place, but a lot of times you have people who don t have the means to pay for the Parenting Time Center, because it does cost. So, part of the grant s funds would be used for that. So, the other component is, we would create an intake center in the courts. The purpose of this would be, we would hire, our proposal would be, part time individuals who hopefully would come from one of our universities, and would be able to work on a part time basis. They would be able to assist individuals seeking protective orders, help them fill out the orders, which can be complicated for your average person, and also be able to make lethality assessments for domestic violence individuals, would be able to coordinate cases between the courts. For instance, you could have somebody arrested for domestic violence in Circuit Court, you can have a divorce in Superior Court, and you have a protective order with another judicial officer. So, the Intake Officer would also be able to coordinate between the courts so we know what s going on with the other courts, because with the number of cases we have, we can t always do that. So, that would be part of it. They would also, part of the grant would be used, Guardian Ad Litems are used in family cases, and the purpose of a Guardian Ad Litem is, they can go into the house and explore what the circumstances are that the child is partaking in each house. It helps educate the court. Once again, it costs money. So, some of these federal grant funds would be able to assist people of lower incomes so that they can have the opportunity of having a Guardian Ad Litem assist in their cases. Some of the funds would be for interpreters. The courts have interpreters in our budget normally, but also, a lot of time with a protective order, it s very fast coming in. We have to schedule it, so this would make that, hopefully a quicker option for people who speak different languages, or for people with hearing issues. That s basically what we are proposing with the grant. At this point, I have submitted a letter advising, it s through the office of Violence Against Women is the federal agency on the grant. I ve advised them we are seeking this, and, basically,

15 Page 15 of 23 we re coming today to give the Commission, basically some information on it, so you understand what we are seeking at this time. If we, our date is January 12 to complete the grant application. Then, hopefully, we ll hear an award. Is there any questions? Commissioner Kiefer: Judge, oh, go ahead. President Ungethiem: You re going to complete the grant application on the 12 th, and submit it? Mary Margaret Lloyd: Correct. President Ungethiem: How long before you will know? Kathryn Kornblum: It s usually the end of September. Mary Margaret Lloyd: They re not fast. It s usually the end of September. President Ungethiem: I didn t think it was that long. I figured it would be a few months. Kathryn Kornblum: Sometimes in the summer we get a call regarding the budget, and call back questions about the grant (Inaudible. Not at mic.) consideration (Inaudible). President Ungethiem: Okay, so, at this point it s informational only? Mary Margaret Lloyd: Correct. President Ungethiem: You re going to be applying for this grant. If you are successful, then you will return? Mary Margaret Lloyd: If we were successful, we would estimate about $550,000 over a three-year period to assist in this cause. President Ungethiem: You would return to this Body and ask us for approval of that grant, and acceptance of that grant? Mary Margaret Lloyd: Well, I don t believe it would be necessary. President Ungethiem: Is that necessary? Brian Gerth: I don t think that s necessary. I mean, basically what we ll do in our office is, we ll (Audio feedback) Commissioner Kiefer: Try it now. Brian Gerth: Basically once we sign that application, if you do get awarded, we ll need to see the awards letter, just so we can track the funds, and we ll set up the new fund, we ll do a new fund request and help you through all of that. Mary Margaret Lloyd: Perfect. Brian Gerth: Yeah, it s no problem. President Ungethiem: Okay. Mary Margaret Lloyd: Alright. Commissioner Kiefer: I just want to say thank you. I appreciate the two of you working on this, and your leadership on this as well, because we don t know about these things day in and day out, and all of these grants. Obviously this is a great program, if it can come to fruition. Mary Margaret Lloyd: Yeah, fingers crossed. I mean, it would help our community, and that s the reason why we re seeking this. It would help the kids in the community, and victims of domestic violence. So, it would be a win-win if we could get this grant.

16 Page 16 of 23 Commissioner Kiefer: But, I appreciate you voluntarily coming to the Commissioners and telling us about it too, because we don t always get the heads up on things like this. Just thank you for your leadership on it, appreciate it. Mary Margaret Lloyd: Thank you. President Ungethiem: Thank you very much for that. If there s anything else we can do, let us know. Mary Margaret Lloyd: Thank you. President Ungethiem: The next item on the list is, let me make sure I didn t miss something here, County Commissioners, Dental Health Options for county employee dental coverage rates for This is on the docket because dental health is a separate service than the medical health which we covered a couple of weeks ago, and the vision. We did not include the dental health at that time, so we have to include the dental health for employees. This dental health option will be a minor increase, it s one dollar per month for an employee; $2.50 per month for an employee plus a spouse or a dependent; and $4.30 per month for a family. Since we have already indicated that the dental health option, to the participants of this particular thing, were going to be at no additional charge, we ll have to send out a separate letter to them, indicating to them that it will be an additional cost. This was, unfortunately, some miscommunication between the supplier, the broker and the county, and we re now getting that corrected. So, we need to correct that here. So, looking for a motion to approve this dental health option from HRI. Commissioner Kiefer: Okay, Mr. President, I want to make sure I understand this. So, this increase, one dollar per month increase, or $2.50, or $4.30, depending upon what choice it is, is this being borne by the employees, or borne by the county? President Ungethiem: It s 100 percent borne, the entire fee is 100 percent borne by the employee. Commissioner Kiefer: The employees? President Ungethiem: The county has no Commissioner Kiefer: Okay, no cost involved in it? President Ungethiem: -- cost involved in this. Commissioner Kiefer: Okay, it s a pass through? President Ungethiem: Yeah, it s a pass through. Commissioner Kiefer: I just wanted to make sure I understood that. I ll make the motion to approve this. President Ungethiem: Okay, and I will second. Any questions? Roll call please. President Ungethiem: Yes. Thank you. President Ungethiem: The last item is the Old Courthouse lease arrangement with David Miller and Toby Ellis for Suite B-4. This lease starts on January 1, 2017, ends on December 31, The lease payments are $3,009 a month, and I believe this is a renewal, if I m not mistaken. This is a renewal lease. So, I ll entertain a motion to continue to have tenants. Commissioner Kiefer: I ll make the motion to approve.

17 Page 17 of 23 President Ungethiem: And I will second that. Any questions, comments? Seeing none. Roll call please. President Ungethiem: Yes, and it is approved 2-0. County Engineer President Ungethiem: We move on to department head reports. Who would like to go first? You guys flip a coin. Commissioner Kiefer: Jacob bows to the senior fellow department head. John Stoll: I ve got a few things here this evening. The first is change order number one on contract number VC That s the repair and repaving of St. Joe Avenue and Sheridan Road. This is for an increase of $32, The reason for the increase was we had some additional curb and sidewalk replaced, and we also added some curb ramps at the intersection of Sheridan and 12 th. Commissioner Kiefer: This comes out of which fund? John Stoll: This one is Local Road and Street. Commissioner Kiefer: Okay. So, I ll make the motion to approve. President Ungethiem: I will second that. John, is this the, do you think this is the final for this? John Stoll: This is all we ll have relative to any curb, sidewalk and curb ramps. Don t have any final bills as far as the patching was concerned on the road as of yet. The patching is the actual street patches, not sidewalk patches. So, there may be some increases in that, but as far as concrete items this will be it. President Ungethiem: Okay. We have a motion and a second. Any other questions? Roll call. President Ungethiem: Yes, and it s approved 2-0. John Stoll: Next I would like approval on a right-of-way purchase offer on Green River Road. This is for the section of Green River Road between Kansas and Boonville-New Harmony. This is parcel 32. The owner is Murphy Homes, and the appraiser said that the offer amount is $3,400. President Ungethiem: Okay. Commissioner Kiefer: I m sorry. Can you repeat that, John? John Stoll: Sure. This is a right-of-way purchase offer on parcel 32 on Green River Road. The owner is Murphy Homes, and the appraisal has an offer amount of $3,400. So, I m just requesting approval to have the consultant make the offer. Commissioner Kiefer: Okay. I ll make the motion to approve.

18 Page 18 of 23 President Ungethiem: Alright, I will second that. Any questions, comments from the general public? Seeing none. Roll call please. President Ungethiem: Yes, and that is approved. John Stoll: The next item I have is a late add on. I don t know if you saw your s late this afternoon, but I did get approval from INDOT to go ahead with the construction inspection contract on the Green River Road project. Here again, this is also for the section between Kansas and Boonville-New Harmony. The fee is $780, That will be paid for out of TIF funds, and there is 80 percent federal participation in this. So, we ll only pay 20 percent of that amount, assuming that the costs all come in as they re currently estimated. Commissioner Kiefer: I m excited to see us eventually get up to maybe 57 on all of this construction and improvements and stuff. I ll make a motion to approve this. President Ungethiem: And I will second that. Any comments from the public? Seeing none. Roll call please. President Ungethiem: Yes, and it s approved 2-0. John Stoll: The way that was all set up, there were a number of assumptions built into that, as far as the start would be November of next year, and the project would continue into, I believe it was August of If the right-of-way acquisition goes quicker, we might be able to get it out for bid sooner, which would be, hopefully better, relative to getting more work done in 2017, but there are a lot of unknowns that could eventually lead to a supplemental agreement. Likewise, we may have a final total that s less than this amount, but this is what we came up with based on the current information. So, I just wanted to get that out there as well. The last item I have is also about the Green River Road project. One of the things that we have to submit is an engineer assignment letter for the project. The engineer assignment letter states that Todd Richardson of Structurepoint will be the Project Supervisor on the project. He s the same engineer who supervised the last section of construction on Green River between Millersburg and Kansas. So, he s got a background in working out there already, and, like I said Commissioner Kiefer: They re familiar with the project? John Stoll: Yes. Commissioner Kiefer: I ll make a motion to approve. President Ungethiem: I ll second that. Any discussion? Seeing none. Roll call please. President Ungethiem: Yes, and that is approved 2-0.