Graylin Porter - Reporter

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click here to watch the meeting video

Last night the commissioners heard a presentation from Woda Cooper Companies regarding a possible senior housing development for Poolside Dr and Hwy 337 in Corydon. Woda Cooper Companies own and manage all of their properties.

Woda Cooper Companies utilizes federal tax credits to build affordable housing.

For a complete outline of the project, skip to 10:30 in the meeting video.

This meeting also included discussion of bids with the Harrison County Highway Department and an additional request from coroner Jeremy McKim.

Graylin Porter - Reporter

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Last night parent board president Katie Forte resigned her position due to mounting pressure from her fellow boardmembers. Prior to this meeting, Parks superintendent Larry Shickles contacted SISA league president Amy Whitlatch to lobby for Forte's resignation. The league board then threatened to remove the Hammerheads team from the league or place the team on probation if Forte was not removed.

Rhoads Pool is on the agenda for tomorrow night's Parks Board meeting, stay tuned for more updates.

Graylin Porter - Reporter

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At the June 7th Commissioners meeting, the Commissioners were informed that the State of Indiana Regional Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) $500 million statewide grant program was offering about $50 million in grant money to Southeast Indiana counties who are affiliated with the local Regional Development Authority (RDA) .

To see explanation of READI grant program, click here and skip to 26:21 mark in the meeting video

At the June 14th Council meeting, councilmemberJennie Capelle asked the Commissioners if they intended to pursue any of the $50 million grant money.

Commissioner Crawford said “Not at this time” with no explanation.

Commissioner Jim Heitkemper said since Harrison County is a riverboat casino county, it would cause problems for other local counties applying for grant money if Harrison County tried to apply for the grant money.

Commissioner Stepro had no comment or explanation.

To see this exchange between Capelle and Commissioners, click here and skip to 1:41 mark near the end of the meeting video

The Harrison County Commissioners are not providing a transparent description of what is going on and prefer to pass up the READI grant money that could be used as Capelle pointed out for broadband expansion in the county.

Click here to read the original press release from Our Southern Indiana

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The Our Southern Indiana Regional Development Authority (RDA) has issued a call for projects for communities and non-profits to participate in the Regional Economic Acceleration + Development Initiative (READI) program. The RDA approved the Call For Projects Submission form and the Project Scorecard at their most recent meeting on June 9th. Communities and non-profits are being asked to collaborate with others to submit projects that will have a regional impact.  

The READI program was created in the state’s biennial budget during this year’s legislative session and signed into law by Governor Holcomb. The budget allocated $500 million directly to the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) to implement and oversee the program. According to the READI information on the IEDC website, the program was created because, “Indiana and its regional communities have an opportunity to accelerate economic resilience and growth and become magnets for the talent Hoosier businesses need to thrive. By developing a collaborative, long-term plan for growth, regional communities throughout the state will have a game plan to invest in their future growth and prosperity, deliberately and thoughtfully.” 

Since the legislation was first announced in February, the RDA has been working with community leadership within the region to monitor the legislation and garner support for an RDA application. Upon passage of the legislation, the IEDC has worked with regions around the state to produce guidelines and answer questions regarding the READI program. Currently, the IEDC is looking for regions to collaborate and apply for the available funding. The maximum funding that a region may receive is $50 million.  

The READI application is a two-step process. The first step is for the RDA to submit an online form that notifies the IEDC that they are planning to submit an application and provides details regarding the geographical region of the applicant. This step has already been completed. The second step is for the RDA to submit a Regional Development Plan (RDP) on or before August 31, 2021. According to the READI information on the IEDC website, “A regional development plan should outline the region’s vision for its future and articulate the strategies and projects in which it plans to invest to achieve that vision.” 

The RDA is made up of five counties in southern Indiana: Clark, Floyd, Jefferson, Scott, and Washington. The RDA Board of Directors consists of 5 members appointed by County Commissioners of the five counties. Chair Dana Huber, stated, “The RDA is asking for communities to think outside of the box, be bold, when developing their projects and working on their application. We also want to see project collaboration both inside and outside of the RDA region. 

“This is a once in a generation opportunity for our region to receive a much-needed economic catalyst,” she continued. “To receive project funding of this magnitude we must work together and submit the best regional development plan as possible.” Huber and the other four members of the RDA board: Ken Rush of Floyd County, Kevin Kellems of Jefferson County, Steve Meyer of Scott County, and John Jones of Washington County will be reviewing the applications and intend to include a project list within the submitted Regional Development Plan on August 31.  

The Call for Project Submission Form, located on the RDA’s website (https://oursoinrda.org), and ancillary materials are due July 20 at 5:00 pm. “We know this is a short timeline for our communities,” Huber admitted, “but this will ensure that the RDA board members have time to review and grade all submissions based on the published score card. This also allows for us to follow up with submissions to ensure we fully understand the projects.”  

The RDA board members are encouraging all communities and non-profits to submit projects. Huber did mention, “submitted projects should emphasize on their regional impact and sustainability.”  

The Call for Projects is officially open and available to all communities and non-profits within and surrounding the RDA. The submission forms are due by July 20 at 5:00pm (EST). After the RDA board members have had time to review the submissions, they will select a list of projects to include into the Regional Development Plan. Public support of the plan, along with endorsements and approvals, will be solicited during August before being submitted to the IEDC.  

Once a region submits their Regional Development Plan, it may be requested to present to a selection committee in the fall. The current timeline states that if awarded, the RDA will receive notice in December.  

For more information regarding the program and call for projects, please visit the Our Southern Indiana RDA website at https://oursoinrda.org.

Graylin Porter - Reporter

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click here to watch the meeting video

Monday's county council meeting provided some more information regarding the sewer project in New Salisbury.

This is an issue with a long history and Richard Gettelfinger gave an excellent presentation that puts it all into context. To better understand what's happening, skip to 1hr, 6mins into the video. In addition to the sewer project, there were additional requests from the Highway Department, the Parks Department, and Harrison County Assessor.

Also, the council voted 5-1 to deny a request from Harrison County Animal Control, Corydon Indiana to increase pay for one of their part-time employees

This increase would result in $1890 total. A fraction of the recent requests approved by the council in previous months by other departments. Councilwoman Holli Castetter insisted that these increases should be addressed at budget time. Last summer when the council constructed the 2021 budget, April Breeden (director of HCAC), made it clear that her employees needed pay increases and nothing was done.

To quote Castetter, she would "hate to open this can of worms."

To see this vote, skip to 1hr37min into the meeting video.

Councilman Richard Gerdon did not vote in favor of denying. Castetter, Donnie Hussung, Jennie Capelle, Ross Schulz, and Brad Wiseman voted in favor. Kyle Nix was absent.

Graylin Porter - Reporter

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Click here to watch this request — skip to 3:30 mark in the meeting

Given the major developments currently underway in New Salisbury, the Harrison County Regional Sewer District is in need funds to repair and expand the current system. Starting at the 3:30 mark, Bob Woosley outlines the scope of the project and why it is needed for the community.

Berkshire Mobile Home Park is in need of new lines and both the Apple Orchard and Kepley Fields developements cannot reach completion with the system as it is now. This is a capacity issue given the upcoming population growth in the area.

The project will be broken down into two phases:

The request for phase one is $1.4 million and will immediately take care of the capacity issue in terms of growth temporarily. It will essentially buy some time, two to three years. $250,000 of this is needed immediately.

Phase 2: Over $2 million for treatment plant expansion. This will double the size of the treatment plant and be a permanent fix for predicted population growth.

If these funds are not approved, the subdivisions currently being built, especiaally Kepley Fields, will not reach completion under the current system.

Katie Forte - Reporter

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LISTEN TO THE MEETING IN FULL HERE:

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Harrison County Health Department director Carrie Herthel reported that the even though the Harrison County Parks board signed the MOU extension, the Optum contract did not get expanded, so the MOU extension is not needed and

the Health Department will no longer need the Rhoads Pool site.

They are working to find another testing situation for the most vulnerable population in Harrison County. It was mentioned that staffing an off-site location for a single digit number of tests each day was not sustainable. Commissioners and members of the Board of Health came up with several options to address the concern to continue to make available free covid testing for those that needed it.

We plan to follow up with the Parks Board regarding the status of the Rhoads pool at their next meeting on June 23rd. If you want to understand this development in context, we recommend listening to this episode of the podcast.

The Commissioners were invited to be briefed and to have discussion regarding the Board of Health’s concerns about Senate Enrolled Act #5 (click here to read more about it).

Herthel and Dr. Andrew Morton, the Harrison County Health Officer, presented concerns to the Commissioners about Senate Enrolled Act #5:

Morton said that “It’s a horrible order,  It’s gonna kill people, but on the local level, maybe there’s something we can do to have some sort of intermediary… give us 72 hours until we can get this sorted out type of thing…  I don’t know…  I’m just spitballing…”

He gave an example:  If a tornado goes through Elizabeth, and the water is no longer safe to drink, the way the law is now, the Health Department can’t do anything about it until the Commissioners meet and make a decision.  Commissioners have to announce meetings ahead of time, so it could be 48 hours before they could even meet.  Additionally, if business owners don’t like the orders by the Health Department, they can protest and not have to follow the orders.  

It was noted that Governor Holcomb vetoed the bill, but the veto was overridden by the General Assembly.  

The new order ties the hands of the Health Department in the event of an emergency and politicizes the position of the Health Officer as that position will no longer be chosen by the Board of Health, but by the Commissioners. 

Commissioners and Board of Health were in agreement that a “work through” was needed.  Jim Heitkemper added, “You folks, in your trade, are more trained to deal with this emergency situations than I am…  I’m trained to know if the cows are out in the road, I’ve gotta get my boots on and go get ‘em.”

An update on vaccinations and testing was given and an additional covid death this past week was noted. 

About 41.5% of Harrison County residents are vaccinated.

Last night's Parks Board meeting was held at South Harrison Park in Laconia and was full of information including multiple proposals and projects regarding the Indian Creek Trail, a media request for filming at the Battle Park, a possible RDA opportunity with neighboring counties, and more.

LIsten to the meeting in full here:

Parks Board president Teresa Sutton also has sent us the minutes for both the April 28, 2021 and the May 12, 2021 Parks Board meetings.

CLICK HERE FOR APRIL 28, 2021 Harrison county Parks Board Minutes

Click here for MAy 12, 2021 Harrison County Parks BOard minutes

NOAH WOODS - REPORTER

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CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS EXCHANGE — skip to the 03:30 mark in the video

To see them ultimately approve another additional request from department, skip to the 39minute mark.

Harrison County Council Meeting - May 24th, 2021

• April Breeden, director at Harrison County Animal came in front of the council at the last meeting to request an increase in payroll to get another part-time animal control officer, as well as a $.20 raise for another officer

• Now requesting an additional $1,890 to give another employee a $.50 raise

  • This employee has been there for over 2 years, “she is the face of our shelter...that place could not run without her”

  • She was hired under the assumption that she would eventually transition into a full-time position

    • This has not occurred, the raise is a hope to help keep this valuable employee on at Animal Control. 

• Animal Control is experiencing high turnover with their employees due to low-wages

  • Emphasized they get good workers, but they are having difficulty retaining these employees due to non-competitive pay

• Kennel Techs make $8.71/Hour and it’s part-time employment

  • Breeden acknowledged that many view the job as not something that should be a career, but expressed how her employees really love their jobs and want to stay but are unable due to low wages.

• They have had to close on Saturdays due to staffing problems.

• Budgeted $71,560 for 4 Kennel Techs at 28 hours/week

  • Money being requested is to raise the current salaries of a couple of employees, plus hire a part-time animal control officer to replace the current officer about to go on maternity leave

  • The $.20 raise for one officer is due to extra responsibilities that are going to be taken on when another officer goes on maternity leave

• Animal Control vs. Animal Shelter

  • Apparently, animal control is not eligible for state/federal grants because they are not a 501c3 organization, whereas Animal Shelters are due to their 501c3 status

  • Animal Control rep. stated that she recently learned of other government facilities gaining 501c3 status, often through creating a “Friends of _____” 

    • She believes this might be a potential route to garnering more funding for Animal Control through grants, but this process is complex and work-intensive and she has yet to find anyone willing and able to take on the endeavor

• “Euthanizing ferals left and right”

  • Raised $6,000 dollars to get a spay/neuter suite in the facility so that vets can come to them, which will save a “tremendous” amount of money - however, the facility is going to cost an estimated $10k

    • Raised this point simply as an example of how conscious she is about maximizing the cost-effectiveness of Animal Control

Animal Control officer and office manager make $13/Hour, 1 Kennel Tech that has been there for 2+ years makes $10/hour, 3 other kennel techs make $8.71.

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At last night’s Parks Board meeting, it was decided that for the next few months, the board will hold meetings out in the various parks throughout the county.

Please see photo for the changes to their upcoming meeting schedule…many thanks to board president Teresa Sutton for providing it to us.

Superintendent Larry Schickles stated that the Nix company dumpster parked in front of the Wright Center will now be paid for by the Friends of Corydon Capitol Historic Site, the organization that owns the building. The FCCHS is made up of Shickles, former parks board member Heather Davis, and perhaps others.

When asked about a second Nix company dumpster parked at Buffalo Trace in Palmyra, Shickles suggested contacting the town of Palmyra for answers.

To hear Shickles explain the Nix company dumpster situation in detail, skip to 1:11 in this audio recording:

Also, the board reversed their policy to refuse questions on non-agenda items. At the end of this meeting, they opened it up to the public and took questions on non-agenda items.

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Graylin porter - Reporter

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Click here to watch this meeting

Lisa Long, president of Harrison County Chamber of Commerce, provided updates and a review on various projects and proposals currently in progress regarding highspeed internet access/broadband for the county.

One specific goal mentioned was working towards getting Harrison County certified a "Broadband Ready" community: https://www.in.gov/indianabroadband/funding-and-program-resources/broadband-ready/

This is one of the most important issues in our community. We recommend skipping to 8:30 in this video to learn more: https://harrisoncountyin.civicclerk.com/Web/Player.aspx?id=716&key=-1&mod=-1&mk=-1&nov=0

April Breeden requested an additional request for $11,696.74 to hire an additional part-time employee, which includes a .20 raise for another part-time officer.

Parks Department superintendent Larry Shickles requested $26,600 repairs on the duck pond/watershed area at Buffalo Trace. Many thanks to councilmember Holli Castetter for asking questions to clarify this request.

Kevin Russel at the Harrison County Highway Department requested $600,000 out of riverboat funds for bituminous as part of the INDOT/Community Crossings grant projects.

Jennie Capelle made a motion that the additional request to fund downtown courthourse renovations be tabled for another two weeks to explore other options. Holli Castetter seconded, insisting that all councilmembers need to be present before voting. Richard Gerdon also stated that he wants to wait until Donnie Hussung and Brad Wiseman are present to vote and the motion was approved 5-0.

As promised, we have more information for you regarding the Nix company dumpster outside of the Wright Center.

It was delivered to the Parks Department at cost due to unreasonable delivery times for other companies.

In order to avoid further speculation, our previous post has been deleted. We hope that in the future, these kind of arrangements are publicized beforehand to benefit both elected officials and the public.

We will continue to advocate for a more transparent Harrison County.

If you want to better understand our position on this, we highly recommend listening to our latest podcast episode:

https://bluedothc.com/podcast/2021/2/7/episode13-ctdjj

Graylin porter - reporter

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click here to watch this meeting in full

Julie Moorman  -- Harrison County Community Foundation 5:30

• Update on adult scholarship program

  • Must be 25 and older at least 2yrs living in Harrison County w/ no degree 

  • So far in 2021, 7 adults have received scholarships totaling $27,500

• Derrick Grigsby -- 

• $22,125,816.93 net available to spend in community fund

• Investments and riverboat revenue trending upward

Lisa Long -- Harrison County Chamber of Commerce 10:00

• Update on the joint effort between the chamber and the HCCF for consultant proposals regarding broadband access in Harrison County

• Goal is to have consultant provide analysis that will ultimately allow Harrison County to be qualified as Indiana Broadband Ready

• The resulting report will be a public document for all elected officials to utilize.

Jill Saegesser - Wheatley Group 19:00

• Update and congratulations for a $250,000 small business covid relief grant from the Office of Community & Rural Affairs

• In partnership with Harrison County Economic Development 

Roland Lemus - Transportation Director at Blue River Services - 27:30

• Multiple updates on grants and budgets regarding the transportation services provided by Blue River Services 

• Lemus presented a lot of information on this operation and we encourage you to watch video to get full scope of the report.

Larry Schickles - Harrison County Parks Department  - 37:45

• Additional request of $26,600 for Buffalo Trace 

• South watershed was originally built with a retaining pool which is currently full of sediment. Needs to be dug deeper and new aerators installed. 

• A land bridge also needs to be removed

• Also gave an update on the Canadian geese situation, which is improving

Mel Quick Miller - Harrison County Highway Department - 46:00

• 3 open positions at the department: made recommendations for highway crewmen

  • Recommendations were hired by commissioners

• For updates on specific projects and contracts, skip to 48:00 to hear county engineer Kevin Russel speak about INDOT/Community Crossings

• Motion that the county will no longer install driveway culverts for individuals who buy their own culvert. It will now be up to homeowners to hire private contractors to hire Approved 3-0

• Old Hwy 11/Community Crossings project: bid awarded to CNR Construction

After months of reporting on the Parks Department's lack of transparency, we have received some explanations from them.

Yesterday, Parks Board president Teresa Sutton reached out on the Blue Dot Facebook page to explain why their board meetings are not recorded, the minutes and agendas are not posted online, etc. Given how often we've written about this issue, we felt it necessary to pass the info along to you:

In response to why meetings are not recorded:

"I can tell you that the Park Department is not equipped nor do we have the money for that kind of recording system. Minutes are always available you just have to call the park office and request a copy. Since the park office moved from the last office and is now in temporary hold, most documents to include past minutes are in storage. At this time it would be almost impossible to go find them. Once the office is up and running in the Wright Center, everything will get back to normal. We have always been transparent. Since the park department is not a government entity, our procedures do not match that of the county council or the commissioners. I can assure you everything we do is open to the public. Sorry if somehow that has been misconstrued to the public."

When asked why Parks Board meetings cannot be held at the government center, similar to county council and commissioners:

"believe it or not the parks department has tried numerous times to use their equipment. with no success. Just to try and use their televisions to provide visual documents during a meeting was diffuclt because we have no one educated in the use of the equipment. The commisioners have their own devices set up to record meetings. It would not be in our best interest to disturb any of that. We also do not have the capabilites or an adequate website to even display the meetings. We do not have funding to hire a computer technician for our needs. So we do what we can. All the information is available you just have to request it. Our website is very limited in what we can put on it. If we do add or make changes it costs a lot of money. Again we are not a government office. We are a small entity in the county. I understand what you are saying. We have limits. The only thing I can say is we try to do our best to work with the public. We know we can never please everyone. We are limited in our funds."

Please note that the Parks Department is a public agency, which is held to the same rules as any government office according to Indiana Open Door Law: https://www.in.gov/pac/files/pac_handbook.pdf

Obviously, we have many questions about these statements and find them inadequate. However, we are happy to report that Sutton has agreed to forward the meeting minutes to us directly every month, which we will of course share with you.

The Harrison County Council recently gave $166,000 of additional funding to the Harrison County Parks Department for renovations on the Wright Center in downtown Corydon. The county does not own this building.

There is now a dumpster from S&M Nix Excavating parked outside while the work is being done. Yes, Nix, as in county councilman Kyle Nix, who voted to give out the money.

This raises many questions about a possible conflict of interest. We hope to learn more about this...stay tuned for updates.

CLICK HERE TO WRITE A FORMAL COMPLAINT TO THE PARKS DEPARTMENT

It's no secret that the Harrison County Parks Department restricts access to its board meetings and has been hesistant to answer our questions in recent months. Regarding the Wright Center issue and the ongoing situation at Rhoads Pool, Harrison County residents asked simple questions that were completely reasonable and possible to answer.

However, at their board meeting last night, the Harrison County Parks Board announced that they will no longer take questions on non-agenda items from the public at their meetings. If you want to inquire about any Parks Board business, you must call the office and get placed on the agenda, which will only be posted on the door to the government center prior to the meeting.

This is within their legal right, but it is not a practice of healthy, transparent leadership.

We truly hope that the Parks Board starts posting the agenda online ahead of meetings, otherwise it will be very difficult to know when to voice concerns. Also, this eliminates any person from simply asking any questions regarding the Parks department

We will continue to attend and record Parks Board meetings. If you agree that this new policy sets a dangerous precedent and want to voice your concern, we encourage you to call the office at 812-738-8236 to do so.

NOAH WOODS - Reporter

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CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS MEETING IN FULL

Roll Call: All 7 council members and their attorney present

Public Defender Board (Padraic O’Brien and Nicholas Haverstock)

• 2 full-time attorneys, 2 part-time contract attorneys handling approximately 450 criminal cases currently

• Recently discovered unused fund of approx. $90,000

  • Comes from criminal defendant fees, not taxpayer dollars.

  • Expected that the fund gains $15-20k a year

  • The fund has increased rate of growth under Judge Claypool

• Requesting to create line items within this fund so it may be used as a supplemental fund

  • Statutes dictate the usage of the funds

    • Temporary attorneys, appellate attorney fees, expert witnesses, etc.

  • Don’t expect to exhaust the fund, just use it as a supplemental fund

County Courthouse Bid Results

• Prior to the presentation, one of the council members highlighted the fact that the bid is being paid out of a cumulative courthouse fund that was set up in 1977 to go towards future courthouse repairs - wanted to make this clear for the public because he “doesn’t want the headlines to read Council spends another $2.5 million - or $2.3 million - whatever the number is and they worry about the riverboat. This has nothing to do with riverboat or tax money we’re gonna hit the taxpayer with new - it’s already built into what they are already paying and it’s accumulated.”

  • A portion of the tax revenue goes into the fund, adds about $350k a year

  • (Possibly a subtle nod to BlueDot and all the added scrutiny the counsel is facing because of our efforts :) )

• Total Bid Number is $2,328,635

  • 3 bid alternates with deducts 

    • Door Hardware (locking mechanism replacement)

      • Prepping doors with capabilities to be easily transitioned to electronic locking system so that in the future additional damage (drilling holes in walls, door frames, etc) is not necessary

    • Access Control System Wiring

      • Pretty much the same idea as for the Door Hardware 

    • Video Surveillance Equipment

      • There seemed to be a lack of communication between these guys and the camera installation proposal by Herb Scheider that the council already approved 

  • Painting costs $96,200

  • Plumbing costs $50,685

  • Lighting costs $69,795

  • HVAC system costs $817,950 + $27,040 (commissioning costs)

  • Electrical costs $132,405

• $300,000 contingency included in the bid package

  • One council member inquired about how they arrived at this figure

  • Stated they wanted a big enough number to know they won’t exceed it, fear that they might run into unforeseen problems and not have a delay

  • Described it as an educated guess based on prior projects

Highway Department

• Additional request for $327,355

  • Sum total of appraisals for 13 right of way parcels for the final phase of the connector road

  • Eligible for 80% reimbursement, pay property owners upfront, then get reimbursed on the backend

• Want to transfer the $300k that is in the rejuvenate line to Lanesville Connector road so that the additional request would only be $27,355

  • Consequently, there would be no rejuvenation this year, largely due to budget cuts and reduced revenue from the riverboat.

Infrastructure Disbursements to incorporated towns - $12,783.54

• Motion carried 7-0

Revenue Sharing - $328,719.66

• Motion carried 7-0

Some request regarding parks department coming out of parks and rec budget (audio too difficult to understand, said they discussed the last meeting)

• Motion carried 7-0

Circuit Court Transfer Request

• $18,202 from Court Admin Assistant to a part-time employee position

• Carried 7-0

Soil and water Transfer Request

• $500 from postage to Travel

• Carried 7-0

Parks Department Transfer Request

• $1,866 transfer from Riverboat Parks Perf??? To parks discovery administrator (old admin not new)

  • Carried 7-0

• $6,000 from Workman’s Comp to liability insurance + $21,700 different line of workman’s comp to liability ($22,300 total, 2 different transfers)

  • Carried 7-0

Motion to adopt the personnel reclassification policy as written by consultants

• Carried 7-0

Discussion on overtime policy for Pandemic Overtime bonuses:

• Three options pertaining to overtime for county employees.

• Hours have already been accrued, this is a one-off ordinance for a pandemic overtime stipend:

  • Hourly Option 1: Straight hourly pay for overtime hours

  • Hourly Option 2: 1.5x hourly pay for overtime hours

  • Stipend Option: Overtime thresholds that must be met for overtime stipend to kick in (e.g. 50-100 hours over regularly scheduled time - $1000 stipend; 100-200 hours over regularly scheduled time - $2000 stipend)

    • Concern raised by Holli Castetter that this option would fail to include people whose hours are just below threshold (49 hours or less using the example given above)

    • $12k would be the total cost if they went with the stipend option (5 people total)

• Bunch of discussions over whether the stipend option is fair, how to implement and disburse COVID overtime pay fairly, who should be eligible for the overtime pay.

KATIE FORTE - Reporter

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Click here to watch this meeting in full

CLAIMS:

Posey Twp. Fire funds for payment for pending contract.

Workers Comp for Health Department, Sheriff’s Department, and others.

Low bid for the Courthouse project... Mr. Heitkemper noted that “not all (of the) Council Members” attended the meeting on Friday. Commissioners recommended the low bid to fix the courthouse.

A representative for Webster Twp. Fire District was at the meeting to request the Commissioners’ approval for funds needed to upgrade their department’s equipment. Commissioners approved.

Harrison County Engineer - Kevin Russel

Lanesville Connect Rd 2A... It was acknowledged that they were going to have to go ahead and ask Council for $948,840, given that they still haven’t heard back about funding they hope to get from INDOT. Mr. Russel suggested the Council be told that $300,000 from the riverboat line could possibly be put towards the town’s “right of way” project.

Mr. Heitkemper said, “We are in a tough spot.”

Turnover at the Highway Department was also acknowledged by all to be a concern. Russel and commissioners agreed that something needs to be done to improve the department’s ability to retain employees.

County Auditor, Chad Shireman, explained the American Rescue Plan dollars coming from the state will have to be placed in a special fund... any unused funds will have to be paid back at the end of 2024.

Graylin Porter - Reporter

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CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS MEETING IN FULL

Last night the county council further debated additional requests from the Harrison County Highway Department regarding the Community Crossings grant from INDOT to complete various projects, one being Old Highway 111.

This issue is ongoing due to the council’s concerns over public safety and lack of adequate funding to service all roads in need vs. ones recently acquired from the state. Councilmembers Richard Gerdon and Jennie Capelle expressed support for the project given the amount of grant money available from INDOT at $883,000. Gerdon mentioned that if the council denies this request, it tarnishes the county’s reputation to receive future grant monies. Donnie Hussung definitely does not approve of the project, but feels like it is necessary in order to protect our relationship with INDOT/Community Crossings.

Councilman Kyle Nix again lamented the lack of funding due to the riverboat casino shutdown, comparing it to a family losing one of two incomes:

“With the casino being shut down, it’s like we went from being a two income county to a one income county and unfortunately some things need to be said no to….it’s tough.”

We feel it is necessary to again point out that this shortfall of income was not a factor when funding the renovation of the Wright Center a couple months back. Councilman Brad Wiseman again voiced his disapproval of the entire process, demonstrating the continued disconnect between the commissioners and the council. Highway Department manager Kevin Russel stated that “we’ve never had a project with this level of controversy.”

After another lengthy discussion, the project was ultimately funded by the council with a vote of 6-1 with Holli Castetter being the lone no vote.

NOTE: the audio quality on last night’s county council video was very poor and difficult to interpret at times. These are important decisions being made and we deserve better AV quality. We are still holding out hope that Jennie Capelle and Donnie Hussung will follow through with their commitment to seek out an upgrade to the system.

NOAH Woods - Reporter

Harrison County Council Meeting - 3/22/21 - 7:00pm Harrison County Government Center

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS MEETING IN FULL.

"At somepoint, we're out of money...the casino was down for a year and it hurts."

"I don't know where we're going to end up...we're going to have to say no on stuff."

These are direct quotes from councilman Kyle Nix at Monday night's county council meeting regarding a request from the Harrison County Highway Department to fund the Community Crossings Matching Grant via INDOT. We are still curious as to why this was never said to the Harrison County Parks Department when they asked for $166,000 to renovate the Wright Center.

Councilman Brad Wiseman, again expressed disapproval of allocating additional funds to maintain the newly acquired 32 miles of road in the south of the county.

Kevin Russel of the Harrison County Highway Department asked for $400,000 in additional funds as part of the Community Crossings matching program with INDOT. He stated that "whether it's been our road for six days, for six months, or for six years, it's our road."

Wiseman expressed further frustration at commissioner Jim Heitkemper for going forward with Community Crossings Matching Grant without consulting the council stating "that's a grant that you all went forward with, without talking to anybody specifically tying it to this road...knowing how everybody on this board felt about it and yet you went and did it anyway." Wiseman then directly addressed Heitkemper and Russel with the following:

"So you put us behind an 8 ball, where you c an say in front of us: we have a million dollars here and if we don't use it, we lose it."

You've heard us talk about the dysfunctional relationship between the Harrison County Council and the Commissioners. This is the best example of that we've seen yet.

We highly recommend you skip to 45minutes into the video to watch this exchange and learn more about our leadership.

FULL NOTES HERE:

Call to Order & Roll Call:

• All 7 members present, as well as their attorney 

Communications from Public and County Officials:

• Boone Township Fire District & Posey/Taylor Township Fire District

  • One rep from Boone, one from Elizabeth

  • Requesting $460,000 and $250,000, respectively

    • Said even if they ordered it would take at least an estimated 14-16 months to receive trucks.

  • Plan to take the $500k allotted in 2021 budget from the current 3 year plan (2021 last year of this plan) and roll it into their 2022 budget because Palmyra was “not ready and needed to collectively regroup.” Therefore, rather than spend anything in 2021, they will plan to spend $1M in 2022 due to the time it takes to assume possession of new fire trucks.

    • Council members made inquires about if there was a plan for a situation where the new plan starting in 2022 is less than what was budgeted in the previous 3 year plan since no discussions have occured around what the new plan will look like (10 min)

  • Palmyra’s plan to build a firehouse/community center now estimated to cost $1.8M

    • Cappelle stated she was “not on board” for using funds allotted to firefighters to fund the building of community centers, rather she would rather see money spent on “firefighting types of things”

      • Wants to “iron out” the parameters for what funds are spent on.

• Circuit Court Judge

  • Judge Evans from Harrison Circuit Court

  • Harrison Circuit Court operates 2 court rooms, records all proceedings as required, both have the same equipment that were installed in 2011

  • Equipment is beginning to fail and is outdated (analog rather than digital system)

  • Shouldn’t be continuing cost associated with upkeep/maintenance.

  • Hoping to get another 10 years or more out of the new system, but uncertain due to the rate at which technology becomes outdated.

  • $12,200 per courtroom ($24,400 total) + $500 installation fee + misc. cost for pulling old wiring.

    • $25k total request

• Highway Department - Kevin Russel

  • $400k additional request for match in Community Crossings Matching Grant via INDOT

    • There was a heated exchange between Brad Wiseman and Kevin Russel regarding allocating money towards a road recently acquired by county from the state compared to roads that have been long owned by county (starts at 45:57 mark in video)

      • Russel explained that this project was applied for because of the highway department’s use of Indiana Department of Traffic prioritization schedule.

      • Project is estimated to bring an estimated excess of $40M into the county in an infrastructure project from INDOT

• One point of contention coming from the council seems to be that much more than 5% of budget is being allocated to this newly acquired 33miles of road that accounts for approx. 4% of the total county road mileage

• Another point of contention is budgetary concerns for further increases in allocations to highway department because, as councilman Kyle Nix states “at some point were got to start having these very real conversations about what were committed to funding and how we are going to get there because were out of money, and were into the endowment, and so what are we going to do as a community...about money.” (1:03:00)

• Highway department rep. rebutted by pointing to the approx. $132M in the community endowment fund, which he stated is described as a “rainy day fund” and if 2020 wasn’t a rainy day then he isn’t sure what would be.

  • Donnie Hussung clarified that only 5% of the market value of that fund is available for use.

• Highway Department wants to pursue these projects because they want to maximize money through federal and state fund matching programs - i.e. not spending the $400k now loses out on $1M in funds matching

  • Also explained that while this project might be unpopular with some people, it will be very popular with other people. Feels that this project would greatly benefit the communities good - gives very specific examples of how (1:09:00)

• $50,000 additional request from the overtime budget, had a lot of overtime due to snow storms

  • Ran 12 hour shifts for over a week for snow storms, many trees down on roads that needed to be removed

  • Budgeted $50,000 for entire year of overtime, but this has been exhausted already - account is currently “in the red” and needs $550 transfer to simply bring out of the red

    • Additional $50k request is to replenish fund for the rest of year

• $60k additional request for motor vehicle highway truck and tractor repairs

  • Down to less than $70 in the truck and tractor repair account due to repairs made to several trucks and tractors

Additional Appropriations Advertised:

• Prosecutor requesting an anticipated $15k for expenses relating to murder trial 

  • Passed 7-0

• $35k to Replenish contract services courthouse account

  • This was based on an agreement to reimburse expenses for generator repair paid out of this account

  • Passed 7 -0 

• Another $50K  related expense for generator repair

  • Passed 7 - 0

• $50k for building repairs at government center

  • Passed 7 - 0

• $323,993 request byHarrison County Sherrif for additional officers

  • Cappelle brought up that it should be noted that if decisions need to be made due to budget concerns this is an area that should be considered (this is a call back to council’s comments over concerns regarding additional funding for highway department projects)

  • Apparently county needs more officers because it is growing

  • Passed 7 - 0