Nate adams - Reporter

Since they do not have their books, and won't until they make some preliminary decisions, the council has decided to cancel the Thursday Aug 12th meeting. This will enable the Auditor's office to compile the records requests the council has made regarding the salaries and wages of county employees.

The discussion at tonight's meeting proposed to raise all of the county employees to salary/wage levels at the median of counties surveyed for the 2020 salary report (based on 2019 data). Back-of-the-envelope calculations estimate this to cost around $305,000 plus PERF & FICA contributions. An across the board percentage increase will then be applied to all employees. The percentage increase will be decided at the next meeting on Wednesday, Aug 18th at 6pm.

TO HEAR THE DISCUSSION OF COUNTY EMPLOYEE WAGES AND SALARIES, SKIP TO 8:10 in our recording:

Additionally, councilmember Kyle Nix is quite concerned about oversight of Riverboat Funds. At his request, the council is requesting the budgets and expenditures of all township trustees offices and school districts. He is concerned that some recipients may be hoarding the funds "as they did in Elizabeth." Councilwoman Castetter expressed concerns that some trustees may have paid themselves or family members inappropriately or inappropriately charged expenses to the office.
(Reporters Note: Usually the oversight of a township trustee's office is handled by the township's Advisory Board.)

Also discussed was potentially bringing an end to the property tax debt reduction payments made to the schools. The council is concerned that they may need to raise property taxes in order to continue the payments in their current form and it may be more fair to all taxpayers if the payments were made to the taxpayers directly rather than to the schools on their behalf. Several members also expressed concern that the debt reduction payments have only encouraged the schools to accumulate more debt.

Fire districts were also discussed and the council is looking to provide them with $300,000 to be spent at the discretion of the chiefs. Several members expressed concern that the current method of payments just made a passthrough for individual volunteers to receive riverboat funds.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE MEETING VIDEO

Last night the council heard multiple presentations from government organizations regarding 2022 budget requests. Time markers in meeting video for the following departments:

April Breeden, Harrison County Animal Control - 37:00

Kevin Russel, Harrison County Highway Department - 38:30

Larry Shickles, Harrison County Parks Department - 41:00

Judge John Evans, Harrison County Circuit Court - 1:09:36

Kevin Russel, Harrison County Highway Department - 1:16:10

Harrison County resident Deborah Davenport also spoke to the council, advocating for increased funding for Harrison County Animal Control. Her presentation is a thorough description of the challenges this department is currently facing and the emotional strength of the HCAC employees.

She highlights how low HCAC salaries are in comparison to neighboring communities and has interviewed multiple HCAC employees about their experience.

If you are invested in this ongoing issue, we highly recommend watching her presentation:

To watch this exchange, click here and skip to 22:11 in the meeting video

At the Commissioners meeting Monday morning, county engineer Kevin Russel provided the latest updates from the Highway Department. Commissioner Jim Heitkemper shared thoughts about the recent $900,000 request that went to the Council in order "to pave these roads so we don't get behind the curve of keeping up the roads". He asked Mr. Russel to take out Doolittle HIll to reduce the overall cost before going back to the Council.

Heitkemper later relayed a comment he'd made at the "farm store" the other day saying:

"We need to move forward and start taking care of our roads... If nobody plays politics, we can get the job done by the end of the year."

Mr. Russel responded..."My best advice would be.... the way that's set up, council and commissioners have to work together to sort out what you're going to do.... your best bet is probably to reach out and talk to each one of those individually and see what you can do to make the case with them between now and next Monday."

Mr. Heitkemper responded, "I will do that, and I will continue to do that... sad thing is I only got 2 Council members that are really ready to go and call me back to talk to them..."

Today’s Harrison County Board of Health meeting included an update on the spread of COVID-19 in Harrison County and current vaccination status.

skip to 10:25 in THE recording to hear details from Carrie Herthel, director of the HC Health Department:

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After the first day of school for students, the South Harrison school board met to discuss industrial arts internships, covid-19 updates, and various policies.

To hear the superintendent’s report, skip to 18:00 in our audio recording:

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Parks superintendent Larry Shickles provided the Parks Board with an update on pickleball courts. After much discussion, the board voted to move forward with repairs to the existing courts at Rhoads Pool. These repairs will be funded via a grant from the Harrison County Community Foundation.

In addition to repairing the courts at Rhoads, the board voted to move forward with putting courts at the bottom of Hayswood Hill. This project is obviously in the very begininng stages and the first step is to create conceptual renderings and designs, which will cost an estimated $2500 and serve as phase one of the project.

Skip to 33:25 in our audio to recording to hear the discussion.

Skip to 53:30 to hear Shickles provide a possible timeline for courts at Hayswood.

Graylin Porter - Reporter

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CLICK HERE AND SKIP TO 1:46:55 to watch Voelker’s presentation and the council’s vote

Last night the Harrison County Council voted 7-0 to provide the Harrison County Economic Development Corporation (HCEDC) with a refundable deposit of over one million dollars . To watch Darrell Voelker’s original presentation for this request, click here.

This money will fund an extension of a natural gas pipeline from Grange Hall Rd to the business park at the Lanesville interchange. An unknown developer and company is interested in building a 250,000 sq ft distribution center at the Lanesville Business Park, but will not consider it unless natural gas is available. Indiana Utilities Corporation will have up to six years to repay the deposit to the HCEDC, with no guarantee it will be paid in full.

At this time Voelker is unable to provide the council or the public with more information on the developer or the company. He states that they have promised 300 jobs and over $20 million in investment. However, there is no specific timeline for either of those promises at this time.

Notably the only question asked by the council was when the money would be required. The council did not ask any questions about the gas line project, specifics about the company and its business, or return/risk tradeoffs for the investment.

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Friday’s South Harrison school board meeting featured presentations from prinicipals at each school. To hear from the secondary administrators on the status of their school and plans for the upcoming school year, listen to our audio recording.

Speakers with time markers:

Dr. Mark Black at South Central speaks first, starting just 15 seconds in. Keith Marshall at CCHS starts speaking at the 15:50 mark, followed by CCJHS prinicpal Jason Toler at the 33:19 mark:

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Graylin Porter - Reporter

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South Harrison Community School Corporation has amended their originally approved covid guidelines for the 2021-2022 school year.

The full meeting recording is up now on the site, skip to the 5:50 mark to hear the full discussion on the updated covid guidelines:

The major amendment to guidelines is that quarantines for unvaccinated staff and students will be required after close contact and/or exposure. Unvaccinated educators and staff are no longer considered essential and there are no extensions of federal days off. Skip to the 12:00 mark in our audio recording of today's meeting to hear Carolyn Wallace explain this.

As of right now, masks remain optional, but superintendent Mark Eastridge said that "could change."

Board members Karen Lopp and Diana Sailor vocalized their concerns. Lopp says she is "angry at the government, cause they are darn determined that everyone is going to get that vaccination." Sailor expressed her concerns about the safety of the vaccine for children and that "it's not fair to the kids."

This meeting also included reports from elementary administrators.

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Over one hundred people attended tonight's Lanesville School Board meeting and many parents voiced their thoughts on a presentation on the legal status of transgender students by the corporation's attorney, Sunnye Bush- Sawtelle.

Sawtelle outlined the details of recent case law regarding the legal status of transgender students.

Skip to the 27:40 mark in our audio recording of the meeting to hear her presentation and the subsequent comments by community members

To hear details on Lanesville’s covid re-opening protocol and procedures, skip to the 18:00 mark.

NATE ADAMS - Reporter

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If you are interested in learning more about the Harrison County Sherrif’s Department, we recommend listening to our recording of last night’s merit board meeting.

The meeting was quite brief. They adopted the previous minutes, reported their finances.
The Sheriff also updated the board on the radio communications project that they've been working on for over four years. It will be going to bid before the end of the year. Currently there are a number of dead spots in the county where their communications don't work. They are trying to get as close to 100% as possible. At the Sheriff's request they accepted both candidates for hire whom they had interviewed in executive session.

The next public meeting will be August 11th at 7:30pm with an executive session prior.

Graylin Porter - Reporter

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To watch Darrell Voelker’s presentation in full, CLICK HERE & skip to 45 minutes into the meeting video

At July 12th's county council meeting Darrell Voelker, executive director of Harrison County Economic Development Corporation, requested a refundable deposit of $1,012,000 from the county to extend a natural gas pipeline at the Lanesville interchange/business park.

At this point in time, Voelker is unable to provide the name of the company or developer. The company is in distribution and promises at least 300 jobs and over 20 million dollars in investment. The money provided by the county would be on a six year contract with no guarantees it will be refunded in full.

We highly recommend watching Voelker’s presentation to fully understand this request.

Last night a concerned resident voiced her concern about the lack of funding available to Harrison County Animal Control, Corydon Indiana. Her presentation is a succinct, passionate overview of the challenges this department faces:

If you agree that more funding should be given to HCAC, please contact the Harrison County Council.

CLICK HERE FOR CONTACT INFO FOR YOUR COUNCIL MEMBER

Graylin Porter - Reporter

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To watch this exchange, skip to 59 minutes, 45 seconds into the meeting video.

After presenting a draft of her proposed budget for 2022 at Monday’s commissioner’s meeting, April Breeden, director of the Harrison County Animal Control, will return to the county council to request pay raises for employees.

Breeden originally requested this pay increase last month and it was denied by the council— read more about that and watch her presentation right here.

The commissioners were unanimously supportive of Breeden and her work at HCAC. They expressed their concern and disapproval of the recent decision to further devalue the department and the council’s reluctance to visit the facility. Commissioner Charlie Crawford stated that he doesn’t “know how, with the restrrictions that you’ve got there now, that you manage to make everything happen, but thank you for it.”

Commissioner Jim Heitkemper reiterated those thoughts insisting that,

“We appreciate what you’ve been able to do and we have your back.”

If you appreciate the job that Harrison County Animal Control employees are doing and feel like they should be compensated, we encourage to show up and advocate for them.

Please consider attending the Harrison County Council meeting on Monday July 12th at 7:00 pm Harrison County Government Center 245 Atwood Street in Corydon.

Graylin Porter - Reporter

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Click here to watch this commissioner’s meeting, skip to 9 minutes in to see READI presentation

Last week the Harrison County Economic Development Corp. Board of Directors approved the idea of joining with the Southwest Indiana Development Council (SWIDC), a Non-Profit Regional Organization, in order to apply for some of the $500 million State of Indiana READI grant money.  At the Tuesday morning's Commissioners meeting, Darrell Voelker, Executive Director of the Harrison County Economic Development Corp., made the Commissioners aware that the Harrison County Economic Development Corp. is planning to join the SWIDC to apply for the READI grant money. Mr. Voelker will present the opportunity to the Harrison County Council at next Monday's Council meeting.

The Regional Economic Acceleration & Development Initiative (READI) is a $500 million grant program approved by the Indiana legislature and signed by Governor Holcomb to help the Regions of Indiana propel investment in Indiana’s quality of place, quality of life and quality of opportunity as described on the Indiana Economic Development Corporation website: https://www.iedc.in.gov/program/indiana-readi/home

This issue was discussed at the June 7th county council meeting with councilmember Jennie Capelle in favor. To watch the original discussion, click here.

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This evening the South Harrison Community School board of trustees outlined the covid protocols and procedures for the upcoming school year. To hear this discussion, skip to 11 minutes into our audio recording:

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Graylin Porter - Reporter

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Last night’s Harrison Township Advisory Board meeting featured a couple funding requests from the Town of Corydon and the Harrison Township Fire Department. To hear an update on skatepark plans from Corydon Town Council president Les Rhoads, skip to 1hr 22mins into the audio recording.

Listen to the meeting’s audio full here:

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NOAH WOODS - REPORTER

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CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS COUNTY COUNCIL MEETING IN FULL

Jeremy McKim - Harrison County Coroner

• Asking for additional money for autopsies

  • The original 2021 budget request was for $75,000, which was cut to $35,000

  • Initial $35k is almost depleted with about $1,000 left in the account

• Requesting $40,000 additional funding to bring total amount up to the initial budget request amount of $75,000

  • About 18 cases behind compared to caseload this time last year, approx. 2 autopsies behind. Autopsy cost is roughly $2,000

It is important to note that McKim stated the following:

“In 2021, the overdose and suicides number is 15 out of 49 cases (performed autopsies). That’s a 30 percent rate on suicides and overdoses, which I have problems with…”

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This meeting also included presentations from Woda-Cooper Companies regarding the housing development planned for Poolside Dr and Hwy 337 and Otto Schalk requesting a transfer of funds that will allow his office to increase salaries for deputy prosectuors.

Additionals Advertised:

• Highway Dept.

  • $5,219.20 additional for truck and tractor repairs

  • 6-0 passed

• Infrastructure sharing money

  • $13,672.58

  • 6-0 passed

• Revenue sharing money

  • $351,580.53

  • 6-0 passed

• Parks Dept.

  • $7,000 for a purchase of a lawnmower

  • 6-0 passed

• Auditor

  • $1767 for equipment

  • 6-0 passed

• Assessor Office

  • Motion to Deny a request for an additional $678,856.73

  • Carried 6-0

Graylin Porter - Reporter

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FYI for all Harrison County residents:

We've recently heard the experiences of two locals who were contacted for a "grandparent scam."

In both instances, an older person received a panicked phone call from someone impersonating their grandchild. They say they're in trouble out of state and need bail money. Their "lawyer" then calls and instructs the grandparent to send a large cash payment to post bail for their grandchild.

Locals have followed through with the scam to varying degrees. While it may seem far-fetched, the scam artists are professionals who know just what to say to frighten and alienate grandparents enough to comply without telling other family members. It's estimated that these scams cost seniors $40+ million a year. They seem to target a region, then move on, and potentially re-target the region again after some time has passed.

If you or a loved one have been contacted or victimized by the scam, please notify the police.

We also want to hear from you. If you are up for sharing your experience:

CLICK HERE TO TELL US YOUR STORY

We hope to raise awareness so fewer community members are victimized.

Your submissions will remain anonymous.

Graylin Porter - Reporter

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Listen to the meeting’s audio full here:

On Wednesday, local pickleball players attended the Harrison County Parks Board meeting in support of a designated pickleball venue. Representatives from the group also attended last month's meeting to get approval from the board on a project, fully funded by the Harrison County Community Foundation, to repair their courts located at Rhoads Pool.

The board voted to approve the project at May's board meeting, full audio of that meeting found here.

However, on Wednesday Shickles outlined his vision for a much larger venue for pickleball at the bottom of Hayswood Hill (lower end where the basketball courts now are...end point of the Indian Creek Trail). He wants to "aggressively" develop this area into a "low-impact adult sports complex" including permanent cornhole games, bocce ball, pour and place rubber areas covered by sail cloth that can be used for activities such as yoga.

Shickles insists that this facility will open up the community to out-of-town pickleball players in the form of tournaments, ultimately bringing in more revenue. During his presentation, Shickles said that

"you're going to ask me 'how are we going to pay for it?' I don't know."

He then proposed to the board that he spend the next 30 days doing initial research to construct a plan with hard numbers for the project. The board unanimously approved the initiative.