MIAMI COUNTY BOARD OF
COMMISSIONERS
25 NORTH BROADWAY
PERU, INDIANA 46970
January 28, 2008
Commissioner Hawley opened the meeting.
DRAINAGE ISSUE
Dale Welsh, Old Stone Road, told the Board that he brought this problem to the
Board in November of 2003. He stated that they promised a culvert for drainage.
The Board said they would bring this to Sam Waltz attention.
AMERICAN HEART MONTH
Rachel Christner asked the Board if she would be allowed to put an 8-foot sign
on the Court House lawn for American Heart Month. A motion to allow was made by
Commissioner Deeds and 2nd by Commissioner Boyer. The motion passed 3-0.
SMOKING ORDINANCE
Mr. Wilson stopped by to check on the Public hearing to be scheduled.
Commissioner Hawley said he is waiting on a return call. Mr. Wilson said Smoke
Free would pay for the building at the 4-H Fair Grounds. Commissioner Deeds
thanked him for his offer but said the Commissioners will pay any expenses
necessary.
EMA
Mike Peconga told the Commissioners that the Emergency Management Advisory Board
met and they are going to change the meeting date and time. A motion to approve
the change was made by Commissioner Deeds. The motion was 2nd by Commissioner
Boyer and passed 3-0.
MINUTES
A motion to approve the minutes was made by Commissioner Deeds. The motion was
2nd by Commissioner Boyer and passed 3-0.
BOARD OF HEALTH DOCUMENT
Ken Scott brought an Ordinance to raise the cost of inspection of a new septic
system from $50 to $100. It is noted that this money would go into Fund 215 to
support the budget. A motion was made by Commissioner Deeds to approve the new
fee schedule. The motion was 2nd by Commissioner Hawley. Commissioner Boyer said
he couldn’t support too many increases at this time. The motion passed 2-1 with
Commissioner Boyer voting against.
RAILS TO TRAILS
Mike Keupper wrote a letter to the Board thanking them for hearing his concerns
and to notify them that the sign that caused the issue has now been removed.
IDEM
The Board received an IDEM notice for a confined feeding operation owned by
Steven & Lori Herrell.
POLLING PLACE/CLERK OF THE COURTS
The Board received a request to allow the Clerk to designate the Court House as
a polling place for prescient 6. A motion was made by Commissioner Boyer to
allow Commissioner Hawley sign the document allowing the Court House to be used
as a polling place. The motion was 2nd by Commissioner Deeds and passed 3-0.
PUBLIC DEFENDER REQUEST
Commissioner Hawley said he had a request from the Public Defender’s Office to
add security for the two secretaries. There have been occasions where defendants
and/or relatives have been abusive and aggressive towards the secretaries. At
this time there is no barrier and they would like a window put into the door so
they could see and deal with people without them coming into the area around
their desk.
Commissioner Boyer moved that the Board look for other bids and proceed with
this project to provide more safety for employees of the Public Defender’s
Office staff. The motion was 2nd by Commissioner Deeds and passed 3-0.
HISTORICAL RECOGNITION OF THE COURT HOUSE
Jeff Price reported on the Court House tour to be held on October 12, 2008. He
reported that Tom Gustin will be providing the musical entertainment and Dave
Vitek will help with the parking and security issues. Nancy Masten will be
handling with the historical information. Alex Blong will be helping with the
art displays.
Commissioner Boyer said he feels Cumulative Court House should be used to pay
for this. He also said he would like to see the clocks repaired before this
celebration.
JOHN POWELL/GIS UPDATE
Mr. Powell told the Board that the new GIS System would be live by the end of
the month. He stated that there is still missing data from Manatron. He also
said the city addressing will be 85% accurate when live. He explained that there
is an auto FTP system to update the information from the system nightly. They
are also going to display the information from the sales disclosure forms.
Mr. Powell reported that the camera system on the 2nd floor of the Annex
building would be finished by the first week of February.
Mr. Powell also said after reading the minutes on line of the Commissioners
meetings he wants to make sure the Board understands that if he is not present
when someone is using his name in support of an issue, they should assume he
knows nothing about what the person is requesting them to do.
Mr. Powell also said he has been speaking with the new Peru City IT person and
the question has been asked if the County can do some things to help them. They
would like to use our back up system. No decision was made.
Mr. Powell also discussed the radio situations within all the law enforcement
departments. No decisions were made.
JUDGE SPAHR
Judge Spahr wanted to let the Board know that John Powell and his assistant had
done a wonderful job getting his staff acclimated to the new computer system and
their offices. He appreciates all he has done.
Judge Spahr also said he wanted to let the Board know that the Historical
Society will not be holding their Heritage Days at the Fair Grounds. He asked
permission to hold it using the Court House and Grounds on August 30th and 31st.
Commissioner Hawley said he would like to have some of this display coordinated
with the celebration of the Court House in October. Judge Spahr said he would be
involved in that as well but the period Heritage Days is between 1830 and 1837.
This was a time of explosive growth in the County.
He also would like to ask permission to allow a painting in his office be loaned
to the Museum for display in June for the Cole Porter Festival. The Board has no
problem with any of his requests. Permission granted.
US 31 COALITION
Commissioner Deeds told that there is a Legislative day on Feb. 13, 2008. He
feels that the County needs to be represented, but not all of the Board needs to
go. No decision was made.
SHERIFF ROLAND
The Sheriff told the Board that Bona Vista would be coming to shred on February
1, 2008. The cost is 12 cents a pound to shred and several offices are going to
use the service.
Sheriff Roland also gave the Board his weekly jail report.
JAIL PROJECT
The Board discussed the drainage at the new Jail site. No decisions needed nor
made.
CELL PHONES
Commissioner Hawley explained the plan offered by T Mobile and said he is trying
to get as much in writing as he can. He knows this will only be an estimate.
After some discussion Commissioners Boyer and Deeds said they are for the change
if Commissioner Hawley feels it is a good deal. They also discussed how the
departments could possibly pay into a fund and one check be cut to pay the bill.
This type of a fund would need some research by the Auditor before it would be
implemented.
Commissioner Hawley will have T Mobile to send out the contract for them to
review.
RQAW sent a Rule 5 Notice of Intent. A motion was made to allow Commissioner
Hawley to sign the document. The motion was 2nd by Commissioner Boyer and passed
3-0.
HEALTH COORIDINATOR ISSUE
Dr Farag asked the Board about the status of the State Contract. Commissioner
Boyer made a motion to allow Commissioner Hawley to sign the State agreement (if
approved by David Grund) for the position. The motion was 2nd by Commissioner
Deeds and passed 3-0.
HIGHWAY ENGINEER
Ken Einselen gave the Board a draft copy of the Bridge Inspection Phase 2-2007.
Mr. Einselen said he and Sam Waltz will review and prioritize the bridges and
send the list back to USI Consultants.
No action needed, nor taken.
A motion to adjourn was made by Commissioner Deeds. The motion was 2nd by
Commissioner Boyer and passed 3-0.
Adjourned
THE MIAMI COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
________________________________, CHAIRMAN
GARY D. HAWLEY
________________________________, VICE CHAIRMAN
GREGORY DEEDS
________________________________, MEMBER
C. CRAIG BOYER
Attest: _________________________, Auditor
Brenda Weaver
