Corydon Town Council board member Tyson Uhl, representing Ward 4, has resigned and moved out of state. This means there is now a vacancy on the town board and someone will be appointed. The Harrison County Republican Central Committee will caucus on Monday, February 15th to elect a new rep. More details here: https://www.harrisongop.com/2021/01/caucus-information-for-corydon-town.html
The next public meeting is Tuesday, February 23rd at 7:30pm.
Meetings are held at the Corydon Town Hall : 219 N Capitol Ave, Corydon, IN 47112
https://townofcorydon.com/boards/town-council#team
Last night Scott Fluhr, Parks Board vice-president/GOP Party Chair, and Larry Shickles, superintendent of Harrison County Parks , gave a thorough presentation at the county council meeting. We have attached photos of the presentation slides which outline details for the Wright Center proposal.
They asked for an additional $166,000 to renovate and furnish the building, which presently is owned by a nonprofit, the Friends of Corydon Capitol Historic Site (FCCHS), of which Shickles is the president and registered agent, a fact that was again not acknowledged during the meeting. FCCHS was administratively dissolved for not filing paperwork in 2019.
Led by council president Donnie Hussung, the members addressed concerns regarding the status of FCCHS, ownership of the building, and its current lease. Jennie Capelle stated she is not comfortable voting before the FCCHS is back in good standing and the current lease has been reviewed.
Schickles insisted that “the Friends group is all people associated with the Parks so this is a matter of it’s a public building that is going to get purposed again. There is no one who gets paid anything.”
Schickles and council agree that a new lease is needed and that eventually the property will be deeded to the county.
Three questions need to be answered:
1) Is this property a wise investment?
2) How will this appropriation improve the daily lives of Harrison County residents?
3) According to Shickles and Fluhr, revenue generation is a high priority for the Parks Department. Is this necessary and should we expect the county to provide services typically left to the private sector?
Last year we watched multiple additional requests get denied by the council. Additionals that would have provided high speed internet to households, increased healthcare resources during a pandemic, and provided much needed support to an already understaffed animal control department. It’s our understanding that the county’s financial situation, stressed by the loss of casino income due to the pandemic, has not changed.
Why would $166,000 for a building we don’t own be considered such a high priority?
We will not stop asking these questions in an effort to hold our elected officials accountable. The council will most likely vote on this request in two weeks on Monday, February 22nd.
If you also think these questions are important, we encourage you to contact the council and make your voice heard. Head here to get the contact information for the HC Council.
In September, the county council voted 4-2 to approve and fund a new full-time aquatics manager position ($42,500 + benefits) at the Harrison County Parks Department.
Skip to 37 minutes into this video for the original discussion and vote: https://harrisoncountyin.civicclerk.com/Web/Player.aspx...
We have received confirmation from the Parks Department that this position has been changed to a Director of Operations and Cory Howard, former park manager at South Harrison has been hired.
We have requested a job description from the Parks Department. The office manager was not able to provide us with that information, but assured us it can be obtained.
We have asked the council if they were notified of this change and received a response from councilman Kyle Nix who insisted that "the Harrison County Parks is not controlled by Harrison County elected officials. They have their own executive governing body that is their board. It does happen to have some overlap with Harrison County Council being the governing fiscal body for the parks."
Yesterday the commissioners heard year-in-review reports from both the Harrison County Community Foundation and Harrison County Lifelong Learning, Inc.
Highlights included a summary of the many collaborative efforts by the HCCF to support nonprofits assisting people with basic needs during this covid year. Example being their free childcare for essential workers during the height of the shutdown in spring 2020. This service was made possible with the support of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Harrison-Crawford Counties, the YMCA of Harrison County, and Blue River Services, Inc.
Harrison County Lifelong Learning, Inc.
highlighted that a CDL course will begin at the end of February.
Derrick Grigsby, CFO of the HCCF presented the quarterly financial review. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the community fund received $993,096.75 in casino revenue. This is a great reduction compared to recent years in which the fourth quarter alone would provide over $2 million.
$132,933,754.76 in the community fund right now.
$24,884,727.58 is available to spend.
Yesterday the commissioners sent an additional request from the Harrison County Parks department on to the council.
The Parks Department is requesting $166,000 for renovations, repairs, and new furniture for the Wright Center in downtown Corydon.
The commissioners expressed interest in knowing more about the ownership of the property and included a clause in their motion that "the property will eventually become county property."
Commissioner Jim Heitkemper admitted that the request was "...a little irregular," but insisted it would be a good investment.
As of right now, the property owner is listed as the Friends of Corydon Capitol Historic Site, Inc, but that nonprofit was administratively dissolved in 2019 (see attached photo and documentation).
Skip to 1 hour into this video to watch the discussion:
https://harrisoncountyin.civicclerk.com/Web/Player.aspx?id=688&key=-1&mod=-1&mk=-1&nov=0
In other news, we are building resource pages on the site: https://bluedothc.com/resources
Let us know what information you need!
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Please get in touch if you would like to report for us here at Blue Dot.
bluedothc.com
Call us with your thoughts, questions, or ideas: 502-653-9157bluedotharrisoncounty@gmail.com
Find us on Facebook: Blue Dot Harrison Countyand Instagram: @bluedotharrisoncounty
Many thanks to Noah Woods for covering last night's county council meeting. His full report is below.
Important to note: in this meeting the council made an official request that the commissioners look into upgrading and/or replacing the AV equipment in the meeting room to make council meetings and presentations more easily visible for the public. Jennie Capelle raised the issue, she was supported by Donnie Hussung.
1/25/2021 - 7:00pm - Harrison County Government Center
CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO OF THIS MEETING
Boone township fire district
Additional request for the general fund for $233,937.00 to buy a new “tanker” truck
General Fund approx. $246K
Cum fund Approx. $75K
CD: Approx. $100K
Jeanie Cappelle inquired about some financial details, inquired about why requests was rounded up to $235K
Harrison County Highway Dept
Call for Community Crossings
Usually twice a year, January and July, true grant program
Call for Old High 111 from State Road 211 down to Rosewood Road
Want to use the money to supplement the resurfacing efforts
Roads in Districts 1, 2, and 3
Tried to target a value of $1.5 Million
75/25 split (maximum value of $1M received at this rate)
Sweet spot at 1.333M to maximize value, Budgeted $1.5M in case estimates turned out lower to ensure ability to use full $1M amounth
Seeking verbal endorsement from council on resurfacing plan
Application due this Friday
If they get the full amount they are seeking ($1.5M) in additional to the current budgeted $1.5M then this would be one of the largest annual budgets for paving in recent years
Submitting a total of $1.516,038.38 (total for 3 districts), if awarded full amount from grant ($1M) then propose paying the difference from the Riverboat Bituminous Fund - Council all in favor of the proposal
Other Riverboat Infrastructure funds:
Corydon $6501.49
Crandal: $316.92
Elizabeth:$337.74
Laconia: $104.10
Lanesville: $1174
Mauckport: $168.87
Milltown: $777.26
New Amsterdam $56.68
New Middletown:$193.16
Palmyra: $1936.22
Total Infrastructure: $11,566.44
Revenue Sharing - Riverboat:
Crawford: $132,187.74
Washington: $33,046.94
Floyd: $16,523.47
Town of Georgetown: $16,523.47
City of New Albany: $49,570.40
Town of Corydon: $18,484.80
Crandal: $2,985.79
Elizabeth: $3,430.62
Laconia: $1,748.18
Lanesville: $5,158.63
Mauckport $2637.14
Milltown: $4,144.09
New Amsterdam: $1632.52
New Middletown: $2694.98
Palmyra: $7,040.65
Total Revenue Sharing: $297,422.42
$1575 funding for a panic system in the health and ed building - motion passed 7 - 0
$11,825 replace and upgrade panic system at courthouse - motion passed 7 - 0
$75,000 covid related expenses for health department - motion passed 7 - 0
- $40K Personal
- $15K for Supplies
- $20K for Other Services
Transfer request from Planning and Zoning to move $1,200 from training budget to vehicle maintenance, $500 budgeted for vehicle maintenance $7,400 for training - motion passed 7 -0
There was a bit of inquiring regarding the amount for repair due to the vagueness of description for the repairs necessitating the request.
Prosecutor’s Office - Otto Schalk
State has mandated body cams and the sheriff's department already has their body cams, expecting ISP and DNR to have body cams within the next couple months.
Last year and this year there was $25k budgeted for a community outreach coordinator, proposing to eliminate that position and roll the money into an “administrative investigative title”
Motion carried 7 - 0
Motion on amendment to 2021 salary ordinance - motion passed 7 - 0
Jeanie Cappelle inquired about going through invoices prior to passing motion to approve them, this drew some pushback from a couple of the council members.
She then made a motion to table until next meeting to have time to go through, Ross Schulz seconded, but the rest of the council voted against - motion denied 5 - 2
5 minutes given to review invoices prior to vote
Jeanie Capelle again made the case for longer time to review the invoices, explaining how in the past errors had been discovered
Motion was passed - 6 for - 1 against (Capelle)
Some controversy surrounding the appointment to the Regional Sewer District board:
Seeking reappointment for Dan Lee and Gary Davis
Push for 1 year appointments instead of 4 years by council members
Charlie Crawford expressed his belief that it important to have a council member on the board because of incoming housing developments will need sewer lines and older sewage systems are going to need repaired/replaced
Council decided to look further into making appointment 1 year rather than 4
Motion made to table appointments passed 7 - 0
Motion to raise Recorder’s salary from ~$25k to ~$27K
1 of 4 elected official positions that is paid under the “external low” stated in an external salary analysis. (Clerk, Assessor, and Treaurer being the others).
Herb Schneider
Camera system at the courthouse
Proposal to replace the cameras, recorder, and monitor - system replacement but would not require replacing cabling already in place (just might have to extend that)
1st generation system, 10-20 years old, not high res cameras,
Would want to connect the system to the internet
System would likely be able to hold video for at least 2 weeks
Cameras in the clerk's office would be only 2 with audio capabilities
Tabled for further discussion next week
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Please get in touch if you would like to report for us here at Blue Dot.
bluedothc.com
Call us with your thoughts, questions, or ideas: 502-653-9157bluedotharrisoncounty@gmail.com
Find us on Facebook: Blue Dot Harrison Countyand Instagram: @bluedotharrisoncounty
Charlie Crawford was confirmed as the Chairman of the Board of Finance
Daryl Voelker spoke to the commissioners about the OCHRA grant process
-Harrison County did not enter an application for the first two rounds of grants
- an interest survey was conducted to determine interest in grants. Previous cap at 10K was deemed "not enough" for several businesses who expressed interest in the grants
-The third round of grants coming up does not have a cap on the amount you are allowed to ask for...
River Hills
- Cory from River Hills asked if the Commissioners had appointed anyone to serve on the board
- Harrison County would be able to apply for a grant from the USDA for broadband
- based on the last census, HC income levels were too high to qualify for grant
- Cory requested the Commissioners approval to conduct an income survey of 40 households to show current income levels low enough in the county to qualify for grant. Commissioners approved
OTHER BUSINESS:
Miranda Edge got the approval of the commissioners to apply for the Raingarden grant.
Boone Township Fire was granted approval to spend their own funds on a new fire truck.
Herb Schneider discussed improvements needed to the camera system at Court House... Commissioners requested their attorney review it.
Please get in touch if you would like to report for us here at Blue Dot!
Call us with your thoughts, questions, or ideas: 502-653-9157
Last night's county council meeting consisted mostly of board appointments and officer reorganization for the new year/term. Many thanks to Adam Schneider for attending this meeting and taking detailed notes of all appointments.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS:
Kyle Nix made an opening motion to vote Donnie Hussung Chair of the council, unanimously elected 7-0 vote
Holli Castetter nominated Kyle Nix as Vice-Chair of the council, unanimously elected 7-0
Mike Summers was chosen Council attorney unanimously.
PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
Otto Schalk and Emily Stumler spoke about a community outreach officer position that was already approved in the budget, but not utilized yet due to Covid-19.
They were asking for a modification of the job description and to change it from hourly to salary. Emily Stumbler explained that their workers had to view multiple police body cameras before turning the footage over to the defense, and it was making more work in the process. This change in the position would help their staff address this challenge and still work on community outreach. Lastly, Otto alerted the Council to a mistake in a salary for a worker in his office approved in the budget and asked it to be corrected. Motion to amend by Kyle, carried 7-0
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
Greg Reas addressed the council on behalf of the Commissioners about electrical alarms and panic buttons damaged during the flooding in the Clerks building. He stated that Herb Schneider had been advising. He quoted two amounts, $11,825 and we believe the final request was for $13,400 for the work.
CLERK'S OFFICE
Sherry Brown, Clerk requested additional money for Clerk office salaries from the election. $2,957 for additional clerk staff and part time funding for a bookkeeper $1,2444.20.
Her requests all passed 5-1, Holli Castetter voting against the first and not present for the second vote. Richard Gerdon abstained due to his wife working in the Clerk's office.
BOARD APPOINTMENTS:
Parks Board:
We recently discovered that the Harrison County Parks Board has not been in compliance with state law. Until last night, 100% of their board was Republican. This board is required by law to have at least 2 members of the opposing political party. In Indiana, party affiliation is determined by primary voting. After we alerted the county auditor and the superintendent of Parks, the council has appointed Carolyn Lowe, a lifelong Democrat to the board. Judge Evans is responsible for choosing the other Democratic appointee. We will keep you posted on who that is.
Kyle Nix stated that Adam Schneider had expressed interest but he voted for Ms. Lowe because she expressed interest first.
4H:
Kyle wants reappointed, says his position is a non voting member and he wants a vote on their board due to Council funding them. Asking them to change the position from non voting member to voting member. Chad to draft a letter about this to 4H.
County Extension:
Kyle Nix reappointed
Alcohol Beverage Board:
Jeff Byerly reappointed
Alternative education center:
From Gary Byrne to Ross Schultz
Zoning appeals:
Don Smith reappointed
Chamber of Commerce:
Richard Gordon appointed
Economic Development:
From Gary Byrn to Holly C
Emergency Management:
David Let reappointed
Family and Children:
Jennie Capelle appointed
Lifelong Learning:
Jenny is the Commissioner representative and Brad Wiseman is Council appointment
Solid Waste:
Ross Schulz
Planning Commission:
Brad Wiseman
PT Boa Board:
Patricia Badger Byrd
Regional Sewer:
Postponed appointment due to questions as to the length of the appointment
River Hills Board:
Donnie Hussung
Please get in touch if you would like to report for us here at Blue Dot!
Call us with your thoughts, questions, or ideas: 502-653-9157
bluedotharrisoncounty@gmail.com
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