Graylin Porter - Reporter

Click here to watch this meeting in full (time stamps provided for presentations below)

Harrison County Commissioners Meeting - 03/01/21

Sheila Tempel -- Harrison County Community Corrections annual report

• Community Corrections is an intensive probation program : it is not jail and it’s not probation, it’s an in between.

• Methamphetamine continues to comprise the majority of drug usage in Harrison County

• Questions about how to maintain funding did come up, but details are unknown. 

• Offices are small with no room for growth

• Candidates are evaluated by the prosecutor and the DA and recommended for the program: must live in HC or an adjoining county. 

• No funding requests made by HCCC today, just giving an annual report.

• This program receives no county funding currently. 

A consensus has been reached by commissioners and council to rebid the courthouse renovation project. Motion to move forward with plans, specs in order to re-bid project. Approved 3-0. Bid advertising date tentative goal: 03/17 - 03/24

Jon Stepro - Maintenance Department - 22minutes 

• Two additional requests for equipment repair for aging equipment that is failing including garage doors  ---  $50,000

• Building repairs needed to cover a myriad of things that have accumulated --- $50,000

Nick Smith -- Harrison County Sheriff’s Department -- 31:30minutes

• 32 policemen for all of Harrison County, which is .8 officers for every 1000 people. The national average is 3 officers for every 1000

• Harrison County has one police department for 485 square miles compared to Floyd County, which has 2 departments for 145 square miles. 

• The sheriff’s department is asking for 4 additional police officers.

  • No additional vehicles being requested.

  • 4 new body camera systems which are leased through a service

    • $8320.00 increase per year for camera systems in addition to the cost of officers’ salary, etc. 

• Motion to send this on to the council was approved 3-0

Eric Wise -- Harrison County Planning Commission - 41minutes

• Ordinance adopted by the Plan commission and reviewed by the state was approved by the commissioners 3-0

• Presented a request for a change of zone from agricultural/residential to light industrial located at Hwy 64 and Shady Estates drive 2.16 acre track. 

  • Owner of the property wants to put mini warehouses/storage units on this land which is currently vacant. 

  • This request was forwarded to the commissioners with no recommendation from the plan commission. The commissioners want more information and tabled this request due to some concerns regarding what would be permissible with the zone change. 

County Engineer -- Kevin Russel

• Highway department has received federal funding for two bridge rehabilitation projects: Bridge 25 on Corydon New Middletown Rd at  $1,380,000 and Old Hwy 337 $912,400.

Carrie Spencer

• Representing swim teams that are in need of Rhoads Pool to be open this summer, which is closed due to covid testing.

• Requesting that the covid testing site be moved in order to accommodate swimmers

• Commissioners are supportive of this request and plan to make every effort to find something for them. 

• Scott Fluhr spoke up to clarify that the Parks Board was supportive of the request, but not interested in evicting the Health Department. 

• The commissioners again expressed support for the request and the need for a new location for covid testing. 

Richard Gettelfinger - Reporter

Parks board superintendent Larry Shickles not in attendance due to covid exposure, David Hussung filled in for him.

Approved request from Leadership Harrison County for use of the trail for their annual run on the conditions the Leadership Group provide current insurance rider which also lists Parks as additional insured. Passed unanimously.

Land lease awaiting contract from lawyers office. Board had agreeded to award it to highest bidder. (If I understood correctly the Conservation Board has been dissolved by Commissioners and Council) so Parks Board went with highest bidder approach.

Announced Council had approved request for 166k for renovations to Wright Interpretive center pending reinstatement of 501c and signed contract with County. Battle of Corydon tabled until next week as adjoining neighbor wants fence erected and Parks will have to pay half. Rhodes Pool reopening is not predictable as it is being used for Covid testing site and no firm date has been given by Health Dept as when it will be no longer needed. It was believed it will remain open through but could be longer.

Questions regarding moving it back to Fairgrounds was not a consideration the Board would entertain, mainly because if it were moved back, there would be no fair. Greg Reas also said extensive advertising it as being at Rhoads Pool would cause problems if the site was moved to another location. Representatives of the local swim team inquired as to when several items needed repair were actually going to be made as Larry Shickles and the swim had met earlier and made these issues aware to Larry. David Hussung said to send list back to Larry Shickles for consideration. Contract to have in house life guard training that would meet Red Cross certification was approved.

Morvin's Landing survey proposal was tabled.

Much discussion on putting a bubble on Rhoads Pools during public comment session. Again, swim team members brought up how much stress was put on available facilities and YMCA has cut older swimmers access to the pool due to request from local teams needing the facilities. David Hussung had previously offered South Harrison Pool as an alternative to using Rhoads Pool but swim team Representatives pointed out the distance involved would make it a dire option at best. It was brought to the Boards attention that a prior meeting with Larry Shickles that would make the pool a year round facility and Larry even commented the Parks could offset the cost of the bubble by hosting parties etc, year round. It was not clear if the board had heard that before and the swim team Representatives wanted to make the board aware of this conversation and that consideration for installation of the bubble would not only enhance the pools but make it available for the local swim teams and relieve the pressure now absorbed by the current facilities providing the use of their pools for the teams.

Meeting adjourned at 7:43 pm

Noah Woods - Reporter
RIchard Gettelfinger - Reporter

Harrison County Council Meeting - Monday, February 22 2021

The council voted unanimously to approve the request of $166,000 by the Parks Department to renovate the Wright Center. There are many reasons why this appropriation does not make sense, which we have reiterated several times here.

There is not a public list of board members for the Friends of Corydon Capitol Historic Site, the nonprofit which owns the building.

All 7 members of the council WERE present, as well as the council’s attorney.

Click here to watch thIS meeting in full.

Joe Squire, Harrison Co. Hospital EMS Department Manager

• Back in September 2020, requested 2 ambulance

• Following along with the Replacement Plan began in 2018 for replacing ambulances

  • 2 ambulances in year 1

  • 1 ambulance in year 2

  • 1 ambulance in year 3

  • Repeat 2-1-1 pattern

• 2 ambulances scheduled to be delivered in the middle of this year, but potential delays in production due to COVID might set this back

  • Likely a 10 month+ lead time in getting an ambulance after placing an order

• Stated goal to have all ambulances under 250,000 miles

• Requesting approval for funding to go ahead and order an ambulance given the long lead time with orders

• Est. $345,000 for the ambulance, pretty much the same price as the last purchased ambulance

  • Staff really appreciate features of the most recently acquired ambulances

  • hospital workers comp. insurance likes the additional safety features for workers

• Have not taken possession of 2 ambulances purchased last year, still in queue and set to be delivered in the middle of this year

• Payment for ambulances not due until in the hospital’s possession

• Retired ambulances are going to be auctioned in the early spring auction in Lanesville

Harrison County Highway Dept. 

• Additional request for a new vehicle

  • $29,730 for Ford Explorer

    • Everything is base price besides extra $160 for floor liners

  • Replacing 2007 Suburban that needs an est. $3-4,000 in repairs, has 198,000 miles and is beginning to rust out on the bottom

    • Can repair but felt this would be a bad replacement

    • Didn’t have an answer for how much he thought the sale/auction value would be

• The conversation was largely focused on whether an SUV or Pick Up truck was the better option

• 2020 Highway Department spent ~$4,734,000 from riverboat funds which was the lowest amount since 2001

Additional Appropriations Advertised

• $2,500 for income base study for the county

  • Paid out of County General Fund

  • Motion carried 7-0

• $6,629 for camera system at the courthouse

  • Motion carried 7-0 “to encumber funds near December”

  • Coming out of the courthouse fund

• $683.97 to Circuit Clerk, adjustments made in pay for retiring book keeper to train replacement

  • Motion carried 6 - 0 -1 (abstain)

•  $41,103 Bituminous request by the county highway for “work that has already been done”

  • Motion carried 7-0

• $166,000 for renovations for Wright Center (approx. 51-minute mark of meeting video)

  •  Out of Riverboat funds

  • A lease between the county and the Friends of Corydon Capitol Historic Site will be entered into and finalized before any funds will be dispersed

    • Entity executing the lease must also be in good standing with the state

  • Slated to be home for Parks Dept. HQ

    • The county was “on the hook” for approx. $18k per year in rent expenses for Park Dept. HQ

    • Est. to save the county $317K in rent expenses over the course of the 25-year lease

  • Motion carried 7 - 0

• Infrastructure sharing from riverboat

  • Corydon = $4730.79

  • Crandal = $230.61

  • Elizabeth = $245.75

  • Laconia = $75.75

  • Lanesville = $854.25

  • Mauckport = $122.88

  • Mill town = $565.57

  • New Amsterdam = $41.24

  • New Middletown = $140.55

  • Palmyra = $1,408.89

    • Motion carried 7-0

• Revenue Sharing Funds to incorp. towns and neighboring counties

  • Crawford = $96,186.07

  • Washington =$24,046.52

  • Floyd = $12,023.26

  • Town of Georgetown = $12,023.26

  • City of New Albany = $36,069.78

  • Town of Corydon = $13,450.42

  • Town of Crandal = $2,172.60

  • Town of Elizabeth = $2,214.68

  • Town of Laconia = $1,272.06

  • Town of Lanesville = $3,753.66

  • Town of Mauckport = $1,918.91

  • Town of Mill Town = $3,015.43

  • Town of New Amsterdam = $1,187.90

  • Town of New Middletown = $1,960.99

  • Town of Palmyra = $5,123.11

    • Motion Carried 7-0

• $17,727 reimbursement for the Convention Visitor’s Bureau for purchases of RV units that Parks Department rents out 

  • Motion carried 7-0

•  $3,000 Transfer request from public defenders office from part-time employees salary to equipment 

  • Motion carried 7-0

• $500 transfer request by emergency management from equipment to contractual services for WTH Mathing???

  • Confusion on what WTH Mathing stands for, but since its under $1k threshold motion was made and carried 7-0 

    • This is the second transfer request that Capelle expressed her wishes for future further clarification for the reasoning behind the transfer request

• Backup generator needing a new above ground tank to prevent water from accumulating inside

  • Concerned that without quick action being taken then serious damage could occur to the generator that is estimated at $300K in price

  • Preliminary pricing:

    • 2000 Gallon Tank - runs approx. 7.3 days

      • Approx. $22-23K

    • 1100 gallon tank - runs approx. 4 days

      • Approx. $19,300

The council has voted unanimously to approve the request of $166,000 by the Parks Department to renovate the Wright Center.

There are many reasons why this appropriation does not make sense, which we have reiterated several times here.

There is nothing to do now but remember this going forward and hold the council accountable next time they insist funding is not available.

We still do not have a full list of board members for the Friends of Corydon Capitol Historic Site, the nonprofit which owns the building. We reached out to Larry Schickles, the commissioners, and the council on Friday with our questions regarding the lease and the FCCHS, but no answers were given.

Joe Squier, manager of the Harrison County Hospital EMS, approached the commissioners Monday with a request to purchase an additional ambulance (around $234,000).

While the commissioners agreed this was a request that needed to be fulfilled, there was concern about where the money would come from given other projects in process, and they "hoped the council is ready to get behind this." (we cannot attribute this quote to a specific individual due to lack of video feed. Due to technical difficulties, only the meeting's audio was posted).

If the commissioners are this concerned about $234k for an ambulance, the council has no busy spending $166,000 to renovate a building we do not own, in which a few people will work.

https://harrisoncountyin.civicclerk.com/Web/Player.aspx?id=689&key=-1&mod=-1&mk=-1&nov=0

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.

Click here to see the presentation and discussion, skip to 28minutes and 55minutes respectively into the meeting video.

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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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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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

bluedotharrisoncounty@gmail.com

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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

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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.