We are happy to report that the council felt it necessary to ask for some more info and present it to the public regarding the riverboat casino sale.

At last night's council meeting, Jeremy Yackle of the CVB spoke and there is little to report. It will remain Caesars of Southern Indiana and supposedly nothing will change regarding how the casino interacts with the county.

Skip to 15minutes into this video to watch his presentation:

https://harrisoncountyin.civicclerk.com/Web/Player.aspx?id=667&key=-1&mod=-1&mk=-1&nov=0

Starting at the 55 minute mark, Larry Schickles updated the council on the move of the Parks Department offices and he lays out a plan with two options:

1) The Parks Department temporarily moves to the Ethel Wright Center, the old Presbyterian Church in downtown Corydon short-term while they build an office building at Hayswood Park.

Cost for repairs while waiting for new building: $42,000

New building estimated costs: $187,500 - $215,000

2) Or they can move to the Ethel Wright Center permanently at a cost of $125-150,000

Holli Castetter proposed that they move into the upstairs of the Discovery Center downtown temporarily, which Shickles was not at all interested in doing.

Holli Castetter also asked Shickles who owns this property and he gave the same answer he has in the past, that it is owned by Friends of Corydon Capitol Inc and that there is no rent exchanged for this use. Skip to 1 hour and 15 minutes into this video to see him explain the ownership. The state dissolved this organization in March of 2019 for lack of filing paperwork and the exact ownership is still unknown (see screenshot below).

Harrison County Animal Control presented a new ordinance with guidelines on loose animals, chain lengths, surrendering fees, etc. and it was adopted.

A Rainscape Education Program proposal was made...  commissioners decided to revisit the idea in January.

Sherry Brown (County Clerk) requested additional funding to cover transitional costs for training new bookkeeper and $420 for to purchase a cell phone for office use...citing need for cell phone verification system through First Savings Bank. Request will be heard by the council. 

Sewer District Update:

It was explained that county’s authority regarding sewer district needed to be clarified as being handed over to the regional sewer district. 

Eric Wise from the Plan Commission discussed several zoning changes.  The required 100ft of green space along interstate hwy 64 was discussed as being “detrimental” to properties along the interstate by a community member.

Eric Shireman brought up concerns regarding Highway Department mislabeling public access point at White Cloud with “no parking sign”...  it was noted that no trespassing signs and purple paint were also put up at the public access point.  It was suggested that signage like that at other public access points be posted at White Cloud.   

A proposal to pursue additional grant funds for covid relief through OCRA...  with its focus on county businesses was agreed upon as a good idea for the Economic Development Corporation to follow up on.  Proposal due Jan. 21.

Charlie Crawford was recommended to be a member of the committee in charge of hiring the county’s new HR employee.

You can watch this meeting online right here: https://harrisoncountyin.civicclerk.com/Web/Player.aspx?id=643&key=-1&mod=-1&mk=-1&nov=0

Last night commissioner Charlie Crawford proposed the establishment of a committee made up of the county attorney, the auditor, a commissioner, and a council member. This committee would be responsible for hiring an HR professional for the county.

As of right now, all HR services for county employees fall to the auditor’s office and/or are consulted out to Waggoner, Irwin, Scheele & Associates.

The proposal would result in creating a new position at a salary range of $40k-$60k plus benefits.

The council was divided on this effort with Jennie Capelle and Donnie Hussung expressing their support. They ultimately voted to advance the project forward by establishing the committee which will create a job description and finalize salary. 

This discussion between the commissioner and the council is a perfect example of its dysfunction and inefficiency. 

To see for yourself, skip to 45:50 in this video: https://harrisoncountyin.civicclerk.com/Web/Player.aspx?id=666&key=-1&mod=-1&mk=-1&nov=0

The council and commissioners have also done away with an employee policy of paying new hires at 90% of their salary during the first 90 days on the job. From now on, new county employees will still have a 90 probationary period, but will receive 100% of their salary.

Yesterday the commissioners unanimously approved a move of the Harrison County Parks Department offices from the government Center at 245 Atwood St to the Presbyterian church downtown at 126 Walnut St. Their former offices at the government center will be filled by the public defender board.

The church is owned by Friends Of Corydon Capitol State Historical Site, and will be used by the Parks Department...the financials of this situation were not disclosed.

It is especially important to note that Shickles is the principal officer of the Friends of Corydon Capitol State Historical Site: https://www.guidestar.org/profile/35-2017645

https://501c3lookup.org/lookup...

Skip to 38minutes into this video to see Larry Shickles detail this plan: https://harrisoncountyin.civicclerk.com/Web/Player.aspx...

Shickles mentioned that while there is no concrete timeline, the Parks Department is interested in constructing their own office building onsite at one of the parks. More details on that to come.

Remember that you can keep up with us on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/bluedotharrisoncounty

The bulk of this meeting was spent reviewing the Health Department’s Annual Report, presented by Carrie Herthel from the Harrison County Health Department.

After reviewing the report, Herthel provided a COVID-19 update to the commissioners. She noted that the county was currently in the anticipated “second surge” and that it was anticipated to last several more weeks.

The “All Case” (includes individuals tested multiple times) positivity for the county is currently 6.52%.... putting the county in the “orange” category. She also noted that with 249 cases per 100,000 that the county was considered to be “red” for the “cases per 100,000” metric.

There were 187 more cases this week than last and that the case count per week had doubled compared to the previous week.

Herthel brought the attention back to the governor’s executive orders and response requirements, which can be found here: https://www.in.gov/gov/files/Coronavirus_Response_Requirements.pdf

Herthel encouraged the commissioners to “take it seriously”. (The commissioner 2nd from the left interior wall) asked her if the health of the individual prior to covid affected the individual’s covid outcome. Herthel referenced several practitioners, whom health department officials had spoken to, who had anecdotes of prior-to-covid-healthy individuals of all age groups developing severe long-term complications from the virus.

It was decided that a weekly meeting between the Health Department and the Commissioners was needed. This will be advertised as weekly at noon on Wednesdays (starting the 11/25).

Several opportunities will arise shortly to apply for CARES money or monies from the state to help with covid Management. Carrie emphasized these opportunities would require rapid turnaround with approval from the Commissioners as a prerequisite.

After the discussion with the Health Department representative, the plan to spend $60,000 on signage for Emergency Services Department was agreed upon.

Lisa Long from the Chamber of Commerce got approval from the Commissioners to extend the payment due date for the local businesses given a loan through the Chamber of Commerce and HCCF (Lisa Long noted that only $37,000 was loaned to one business of the $500,000 available.

THe majority of last night’s meeting was dedicated to a report from the Harrison County Community Foundation, including a comprehensive update from Mainstream Fiber Networks. 

Click here to view the meeting recording via Harrison County government website

Harrison County Community Foundation - Julie Moorman (1:00)

• Lilly endowment planning grant -- strategic plans from various nonprofits in Harrison County, many towns expressed need for new town plans

• HCCF have received a grant ($90,000) to help 10 towns in HC to implement new town plans -- help to update comprehensive plans for towns

• 4 year timeline for this grant, will be hiring a consultant to assist in town planning

• Derek Grigsby, CFO with investment report for 3rd quarter (5:00)

  • $23,323,500.98 available to spend

  • $492,090.75 in casino transfers

  • $115,409,589.60 total as of September 30th

  • First quarter was down 20%, second down 8%, 3rd down 4%

• Zach Stevens, Mainstream Fiber - External Development Manager (8:50)

• Quarterly reporting with HCCF

  • Disconnect between county projects and officials -- want to bridge the gap 

  • 3,000 customers by the end of 2020, 50% increase in one year

  • Reports on various community partnerships (30min)

  • Info on how to drive expansion into an area by community outreach (48:00)

The remainder of this meeting was dedicated to approving transfers and various other funding measures. I’ll be honest, the recording was incredibly difficult to understand in spots.

If you have insight on the last portion or want clarification, let us know.

On Wednesday, November 4th, the commissioner held a special meeting to re-hire Kevin Russel at the Harrison County Highway Department effective November 14th. He will be reinstated with his original seniority and outstanding sick leave benefits.

Full video of the meeting:

https://harrisoncountyin.civicclerk.com/Web/Player.aspx?id=683&key=-1&mod=-1&mk=-1&nov=0

Last night's parks board meeting had a lengthy agenda, but was in actuality a very brief meeting of only 29 minutes.

Middle portion of Indian Creek Trail between bridges will be closed November 9th - Christmas for the Merry Country Christmas hayrides.

A campground with 136 RV spaces at Morvin's Landing is still in the planning stages --awaiting approval and engineering specs. This land is in the flood plain.

The Harrison County Highway Department presented more information regarding the Lanesville Connector Road Mitigation Project and their need of the land at Morvin's Landing. There are major financial consequences if this issue is ignored.

Also, Buffalo Trace Park's raw sewage drainage problem is currently being investigated by the Harrison County Health Department. On-site dye testing to be done next week.

Next month's meeting will be Wednesday, November 18th at 7pm. Location TBD.

How to reach the Harrison County Parks Department: 812-738-8236

https://www.harrisoncountyparks.com/

Superintendent: Larry Schickles

Harrison County Parks Board:

• Teresa Sutton, President

• Heather Davis, Vice President

• Lori Clark, Secretary

• Miranda Ulery

• Maegan DeVore

• Bill Watts

• Scott Fluhr