I want to welcome each and every one of you to the August 12th during Board
meeting. If you would please stand and we'll pledge to the flag
to the flag United States of America to the republic for it stands. One nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
» Thank you. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Whitehead,
» here. >> Mr. Hamilton,
» present. >> Commissioner,
» present. >> Mr. Christie,
» present. >> Mr. Bustel,
» here. >> Mr.
» Here. >> Mr. Brooks.
» Orchers. >> Oh, here.
» Approval of the July 8th minutes. Any additions or corrections?
Motion to approve the minutes. >> Second.
» Have a motion before us properly. Second. Roll call, please.
» Mr. Whitehead. >> Yes.
» Mr. Hamilton. >> Yes.
» Mr. Rood. >> Yes.
» Mr. Christie. >> Yes.
» Mr. B. >> Yes. Table of business. Pavement
McConnell. Reconstruction. >> Yeah. I think where we left it last
month was Mr. Hamilton was going to to talk to the prominent land owners and
see where they're wanting to go with the three options that we came up. the
engineer came up with. >> I did talk to two of the land owners on
the original petition. Dr. Hazlet is here. Dr. Hazlet, is there anything that
you would like to say? >> If you would please.
» No problem at all.
» Good morning. Gary Hazellet, 221 West County Road, 400 South. Uh, yes, I'm not
in favor of this particular drain project. I do have several reasons for
that. uh one is that we have had this project
reconstructed in some manner several what 15 years ago or thereabouts. It was
unsuccessful. We spent a fair amount of money and I'm not convinced that that
will happen again properly. two is that uh our end and major owners including u
Cirrus and Lon Wright who I thought might be here this morning uh really
don't have a problem in terms of any drainage in that area. The tenant for my
ground also brings up a point that when we disturb the ground like we will would
need to do for this that puts the ground in a much less productive state for a
number of years and that's not very valuable in my mind if we do something
like that and of course thirdly of all as a major land owner I'm going to have
to take a chunk of money on this and I don't really want to do that either. So
I it appears to me that most of the drainage issues appear to be south and
east of Waynewood, which is where some of the major concerns seem to be. There
are a few people involved with that area back in there. So I think
this is a a
project that not as beneficial down the line as it would be for a group of
people near the eastern end of that drain. Now, granted, after five and a
half inches of rain at my house this morning, it does look a little
different, but uh it won't for very long because it'll pass on down the to the
creek until the creek gets too full. So, I I myself am not in favor of this of
any of those repairs. Uh it's too expensive for the money and the benefit
and uh just seems to be weighted toward one
end. So, I I uh guess that's all I can say. Any questions for me? item.
» Any questions? >> Thank you.
» Thank you, [clears throat] doctor. All right.
» Appreciate you. >> I spoke to Mr. Wright and his comments
were similar. Um, it I I estimated that it would cost $122 per acre per year for
5 years to install alternative 1, which is the upsizing of the 24-in tile from
Kalen Road to Noame Creek from 24 in to 30 and 36 in. Um I believe that this
would be beneficial or even required if there is um pattern tiling done on any
of those fields from Kowan Road to No Name Creek, but um until that is done um
the the benefit may not um may not be outweighed by the cost. Um,
so my recommendation for this is to um put the design for the 36 and 30inch
upsizing um to put that on the shelf and save
that for a time when that there is additional drainage planned for this
watershed. The surface water solution that um
Banning proposed could be implemented at a time that there is development in this
watershed but is probably not um not worth the cost at this time to the
agricultural land owners. And then the repair of the previous um regulated
drains from 1890 and 1973. That solution that Banning proposed um could be
implemented at any time to reduce some of the reoccurring claims in this
wershed to repairs to those still functioning but um old regulated drains
are in poor condition.
Any other comments from the board? >> I just let to let you guys know I went
back [clears throat] and read everything from the 1973 or 78
I don't remember 76. There's two or three of them where they tried it
earlier in the 70s and then again in the later 70s which follows similar to the
uh it actually goes different than the 1890 because it kind of went right
through the middle but they did not vacate any of that drain when they redid
it in 2009 and and rerouted it a little different way. So we still do have a
ride of way along where the 197070s reconstruction went. So, we do have the
option to go in there and uh repair that if needed or bust up some of the
the old clay that we keep on repairing that doesn't need to be there. You know,
it'd be something that we'd have to dig this after the crops are off and kind of
assess where it's at. So, we do have the ride ofway there to do necessary
changes. I was just hoping that they didn't vacate it when they redid it in
2009 and they did. So, >> would you look more into that proposed
um 15-inch repair solution that Banning um designed? Yeah.
» And once once the crops are off of Mr. Wright's field, um could you report back
to the board on on an implementation plan for that solution?
» Yeah, we can I can do that. Um, and another issue that we have when they
when they lay the tile next to the old tile, which is something you guys know I
don't like. There's a lot of times we'll lay the new tile with a a field plow and
it'll be a foot, sometimes two foot taller than the old clay tile, and
sometimes it's hard to get that to line up and drain right on
on a deal. So once we get out there, punch some holes, kind of figure out how
we want to lay that out within our ride of way, it'll be a pretty cost effective
uh addition or to the already 2009 uh reconstruction. So I can get that
together once crops are off. You live out there, some other people, if you see
the crops are off, give me a call and we can get a contractor out there to punch
some holes and kind of lay out what we've got and what's good and what's
not. The other two issues that we had with
this previous reconstruction was recording the actual path of the 2009
installation. Um could you make sure that that was properly recorded in 2009
and if not take the steps to record the location of the current installation?
» Absolutely. If it's if it's not and this is the same thing I was going to bring
up with the uh the ditch that we took in on 700
East. I was I'm going to contact a land surveyor to go ahead and record the the
legal description of that so I can get it in into the cards, get it on the
rules, and make sure all our rideways are good for that. So now that we'll
have two, it'll be easier for them to do.
» And the last issue was the um separating the watershed accounts of the A
McConnell wershed from the rest of the county. Um I believe that banning will
provide a um a GPS coordinates of the outline of this watershed. Um Mr.
Surveyor, what what steps would be required to separate this watershed
account from the rest of the county?
if if he gives the roles with each uh property on there and their uh property
ID and what acreages are on there, then we can separate that out.
Uh as of right now, it would be the same uh ditch assessment unless that changes,
but we could separate it out. Yes. If he gives if he gives me the all the partial
numbers and acreage uh we can separate all that out if we
separate it out before anyways. But if we're not going to do a reconstruction
then why is that? >> What Banning had suggested was to
separate this out so in the event of a future implementation of alternative one
or two the surface water or the 30 and 36 in we would be ready to um to
separate those from the rest of the county. The other issue is is this
15-inch repair work that Banning had proposed. I believe it is alternative
three. Um that would be advertised over 20 years and um that would be assessed
to only this watershed. Although the cost is small um I believe that this
would be an opportunity for us to um to figure out the necessary steps to
separate watersheds um to separate watersheds account accounts.
» Do them all. No, we're not going to do them all. Not right yet.
» Just one at a time. >> One at a time, please.
» Now, what was the 20 year? >> The the 15-year re the 15-inch tile
replacement can be advertised over 20 years because it's a repair of an
existing repair. >> If it was a reconstruction, it would be
advertised over five years. >> Yeah. Those years is what I I worry
about. [clears throat] Reconstruction should be over 20 instead
of five. But anyhow, any other comments? >> So, if it's just a repair, could we we
couldn't just pay for it out of our maintenance account?
» We could we could, but I think this is an
opportunity to separate the wershed to the wersheds. So, that someone across
the county is not paying for repair in Monroe Township.
» And Mr. Mayor, >> yes, sir.
» In past history, there is those split out somewhere along the line,
isn't it? >> Yeah, I believe a McConnell was actually
the last time they split out. Last time they reconstructed it. So, we just take
the parcels, split them up the way that uh engineer says, and if there's a they
have to pay an extra assessment, then we assess
» that watershed. >> Yep.
» Thank you. Any other questions, comments?
» Are we expecting I mean, are we done with banning? Have they done all their
work? I I think other than the um the roles with property ID and the acreage
that the surveyors ask for um I don't believe there is anything else that is
outstanding from banning. I believe they have completed everything that we've
asked them to do
a motion >> since it is tabled business. Um
I think we should I motion to remove this from the table and close the issue.
Second. I >> have a motion before us properly.
Second. Roll call. >> Mr. Redhead.
» Yes. Mr. Hamilton. >> Yes. Commissioner.
» Yes. >> Mr. Christie.
» Yes. Mr. >> Yes.
» Bruce somebody Moravis jurisdiction open ditch, please.
» Uh, yeah. He he approached about us taking this
open ditch in as a regulated drain because the town of Selma doesn't have
enough money to or funds. I don't know really what he said to maintain this
ditch. Uh I I last month if you can remember right I didn't know what the
proper procedure was because we haven't received a
any any type of uh document that is asking us to take this in as a regulated
drain. So, I asked uh Stribble to look into that and do would we did we figure
anything out on that? >> So, we've been working on this and I
have a couple of things I want to go over with you on um some mapping so that
I can clarify >> which I which of the two things I need
to do. Okay. >> Um because when I what I thought I was
working on, Selma was questioning um some of the area to the north of it.
Okay. So, I want to go over the exact details of the mapping and then I've
already started working on letters for the town to reach out to the land
owners. Um, so the town's working on their side of it as well, so we can kind
of track this together and then they'll get a formal proposal that we're putting
together to present to you guys. Um, we just didn't have time to get it all done
within the last month. So, we are actively working on it and then Bruce
will come up and present that to you guys as soon as we're we've got our
heads around everything and got the consents from all the land owners
because it seemed like that was something that this board would want to
have in consideration when looking at the requests. So,
so I believe we just leave that table.
Moving on. Recctor drain reconstruction. >> If you guys remember last month, I
presented a report on the recctor drain that we've had a couple people file
petition to reconstruct. And uh my biggest issue was is 80% of
it's through wetlands. So, I wanted to get with the DNR to make sure that the
mitigation costs wouldn't put us over the threshold
for uh you know, profitable reconstruction for the the farmers and
the other land owners involved. DNR did get back to me. Uh they do not require
per permits for working on tiles, and this is a the whole drain is a tile
drain. There's no open ditch to it. Uh so they wouldn't require any
mitigation or any any permits for us to go in there and reconstruct it. Uh they
have a special process for surveyors to get permits to the DNR and that only
applies to open drains. He tagged uh the the guy the gentleman from DNR
uh CCD the IDM and asked them if they would have an issue with it. Please get
back with me. they have not got back with me on it. So, uh, as of now, as far
as the DNR is concerned, and I assume the IDM, they're not very good at
getting back sometimes, uh, I don't see that they have a problem
with us exploring reconstruction on this on the recctor drain tile.
» Any questions? Do we have a properly signed petition for reconstruction on
this? >> Yes.
Um, I I did talk to Mr. Cox about this reconstruction. I believe he was on the
petition and he may not have understood the uh what the reconstruction entails.
» Okay. >> Um I I would like to go over this with
Mr. Cox. He was waiting to hear back from the DNR. Um I I do not know that
he's continues to support this reconstruction.
» Okay. Well, uh just let us know and we'll go from there. I
» I believe this should remain on the table for another month because I I
believe if Mr. Cox removes himself from the petition. I don't know if we have
the proper amount of land. I agree. So, >> okay. It'll stay t This is a time we
have set [clears throat] forth for public comment. Anyone wishing to speak,
please come forth. State your name, address, and your concerns.
» Yeah. Skyler Southern, 613 Northwood. Uh you guys been working on a regulated
drain out there and I've got part of that drain that runs right through my
property. It is not shedding water enough and I've got three properties
that are flooded. Um we're trying to renovate them. We renovated them, put
about 50 grand in each one of them and uh this morning I've got about 6 in of
water through all three of them. I'm just looking for direction on if I can
handle this personally or did the county do it, the surveyor. I'm just not quite
sure. >> Mr. surveyor.
» Yeah. What we have it's what' you say 616
» 613 >> 613
» north north. >> We have a tile that runs north of all of
the properties. The tiles in flowing condition. I walked out there. I believe
I had a lady call about a month ago.
And you can see these are all the properties talking about you're
renovating. It look like it looked like most of them were all
» and if you look just just north of where the last one
is, we have a tile that runs through there. It's a small 8 in tile that
drains that. But the the issue is is it doesn't drain any of this stuff.
That water run straight down right down the road.
Thank you. Thank you. Now, there is there is a
say like a a bridge that crosses Northwood.
» South of his location right here. >> So, what county road? Where where we at?
» Oh, my fault. Let me let me zap out. You're just north of 32,
» east of Selma. >> Yes.
» East of the 700 East project you're working on. That's part of the same
brown ditch. This is uh >> 32.
» This is 32. This is Selma. And then this is Northwood right here. It's a It's a
little T- road to the north.
And as you can see right here, we have a tile that runs north of his north
property. And that's that's flowing. Where I think
the issue is, and I've talked to the county highway,
is there's a bridge right here or a large culvert, excuse me, where it's 34
of the way full. I think I've asked them to remove
the the dirt underneath that. I don't know
if they've done it yet. I don't think they have. Have you know stand? Okay.
But I guess the the issue that I have is yes, we have a tile that runs north of
all that, but I don't have, you know, the tiles flowing. I don't really have a
a way to tie in tie them in.
Yeah. Just to try to try to relieve some of the water that actually got to the
tile. with it. The issue is a lot of it's
a lot of it's coming down the road and and from the back side of the property,
not really from our area.
» I think I got about seven, eight acres right there that go behind those. I was
going to parcel those off and try to sell them to a farmer farmer, but you
know, at this point, I can dig a retention pond or something to to just
shed that water away from that low spot. >> Now, if you dug a retention pond, I
think the board would be okay with you tying the outfall of that retention pond
into that tile, and that'd give you someplace to go, at least with the the
outfall. But it's just a low it's a low area, and
there's really no good good place to take the water. That's that's the issue.
Yeah, it all pools right on a pump station. Um,
» perceptic,
» but they're I mean, all three properties are pretty much worthless. Can't do
anything with them. Can't occupy them. Can't do anything until until I fix this
problem.
» Tom, what kind of shape's that 8 in in? Is it pretty good?
» I like I said, we sunk another breather in there about three or four years ago.
It was in the plastic and it was flowing fine. And I went out there a month like
a month ago, but it was empty. So I, you know, I assume it's flowing. It wasn't
backed up. Now I haven't really been to where daylights and maybe through this
woods when it comes where it comes through this woods. Maybe that's
something we can clear out of there on top of it and make sure that it's
flowing at at its proper, you know, volume. But like I said, the
the biggest issue is the I can bring on the it's kind of hard to
see up here, but the biggest issue is this water pools the pools back here and
there's really no way to get it to there that I can do. You know, I can make sure
that that tiles in and you can point it out
» and it's like an L shape right now. So all that water is sitting right here and
right through here. But uh I mean I'm I'm going to go strip all this out. Try
to any sort of water movement, but it all
right right there.
» Oh, Mr. Mayor, you will look at that 8 in on down the line.
» Yeah, like I said, it was last time I was out there, it was flowing.
I think there needs to be some work on his part on the on the private ground
for a way to get water to it, whether it's a retention pond to hold that water
for a while. I mean, obviously the last couple days it's extreme situation, but
we still don't want water on the houses, >> right?
» So, I I can meet you out there at some point or
however you want to do it, but we need to get a way to get hold that water for
a little bit. Like I said, a retention pond would be a ve a very nice addition
to that, but I know they're also expensive and uh
you know, I don't know if that 8 in will handle all that water at once. There's a
lot of area that drains right right down there where he's talking about. And it's
it's it's bad on both sides of the road out there. It's just not it's just not
this uh west side. The east side gets a lot of water, too. Especially down here
south [snorts] down in this area.
It's a it's just a low area. >> Where's that 8 inch out outlet at?
» Uh it ties into here and then it it ties into the brown ditch right here. 700. It
ties into that tile that here's a here's that ditch that we took in and where we
had the one reconstruction. All this ties into that. That's why when we had
the engineers put together the list of
affected properties, as you can see, all these properties, all these properties
are involved in that reconstruction.
All right. if you'll get with this gentleman and
see if we can come to some conclusion, Mr. Syer.
» Yes, absolutely. >> Hopefully, we can work something out.
» Sounds good. I appreciate >> Thank you.
» Yep. Thanks. >> Anyone else wishing to speak? Come
forth.
New business, Mr. Surveyor. >> Yes. Uh, let me put this in real quick.
So, this is the new bond permit application that we will be seeing now
on. Yeah, like I said, I've signed off on a couple that didn't have a regulated
drain near it. Just kind of there's been two other ones that have came through
since we've done it, and I've signed off on two of them. There wasn't a regulated
drain near it. It wasn't really a drainage issue, and so I went ahead and
signed off on that. Now, this one, uh,
I've got the right here's a copy of what, uh, Mr. Snider
gave me and I was out there. This is a very wet area. So, he's going to try to
put that pond right in here. And so, he's seeking a reduction of ride of way
to 20 ft next to this ditch. It's this isn't the ditch here. It's right in the
middle if you can see it. So, the pond will go right around in here. [snorts]
And he 20 feet where we can get down obviously both sides of that ditch. And
then he would like to tie the outfall into the ditch. So he needs a reduction
of rideway to 20 feet just in a couple sections right here. And then also an
approval to tie into the Stewart ditch. If you look
at his neighbors,
there's a bunch of them that have ponds right just like that all along here. Uh,
I don't really see an issue with it. Like I said, this is a very wet area.
Even Beacon lays the lays it in like it's around that area.
So, I don't I don't see an issue with it. I think it'll slow some of the water
movement into the ditch, which is always nice. Uh, the only issue I'd have is
reducing that down to 20 ft. the ditch bank would be our
responsibility, but if something happens to the pond bank, if it collapses or if
it fails at some point and we can't get equipment down there, which granted we
can get on the other side, but I would like to have some kind of stipulation
that we can go in there and fix it at the cost of the landowner. We've done
that before in the past.
» Any questions? How much how much distance is sufficient of right away to
maintain that ditch on the same side? >> 20 feet is as low as I'll go. Usually
it's 35 uh 20 ft in some kind of in a very uh
urban setting where they've built the house basically on the ditch already and
they're looking to remodel the house. We've went down to 20 ft. you know,
that's typically big enough to get a excavator, a pickup truck, or any kind
of equipment through there. But, as I said in the past, I've seen
where they've built a pond next to a ditch like that. The ditch moves or the
pond breaks down and sometimes that 20 ft becomes 10 ft real fast.
Mr. Bosel, you're out there. any observation?
» I think it'll be okay. Um, it's back where the old Cunningham Park was, isn't
it? >> Or Cummins Park. And there was a pond
back in there at one time. >> That entire
» Sir, would you please, we need to get it recorded. Thank you.
» It helps my secretary. >> I'm sorry. That entire valley you see
there used to be a reservoir dam lake. It was 4 and a half to 5 acres. And the
Cumins family when the old man was put in a nursing home got worried about
liability, somebody going in there and drowning. So they had the dam removed.
So our our choice was to not replace the dam, but rather just dig down from the
existing level so that we don't change water level on anyone else's property.
The cabin that you see in the picture is at an elevation of 935 ft above sea
level and the valley floor where we want to put the pond is right at 900 above
sea level. So there's a 35 ft drop. It's difficult to appreciate that in this
picture, but the topographical me there you go. That's quite a steep hillside
that goes down to that valley. The entire north shoreline of Steuart
Ditch in the east will always be accessible to work from. And I'm not
concerned about the county if they come in and dredge it and and tear up the
dirt in my dam along the pond. I'm not concerned about that. I've got a
backhoe. I'll fix it. I got 70 acres worth of dirt to fix it.
» Thank you. >> Thank you, sir.
» Thank you. Any other questions or concerns here?
» So, Mr. Surveyor, what what is your recommendation for the ultra right
ofway? Should it be 20 ft, 25 ft, 35 ft or unchanged?
» Well, I I think where this where this pond's going to sit and
looking at other ponds that have been constructed years ago, the same 20 ft. I
I I think 20 ft would just be fine with me, you know. Uh, I think that'll give
us proper to get in there, but we also can always get in there on the north
side, too. So,
» and what legal agreement will we put in place? Um, if we reduce this right away,
» we'll have a I think Jennifer's got one to sign. It's a reduction of rideway and
then he'll take that to the recorder's offices and get it signed. So if you try
to build something or someone builds something on there that they know that
the ride ofways reduced down from 75 ft to 20 ft. And then also
because you're going to outfall into that you're going to outfall into the
ditch. Correct. So then we just need a to put in the minutes a motion that he
can tie into the Steuart ditch from the outfall to the newly built pond.
» I had one more comment. >> Yes. where I concerned
» that area is half private land and the other half is classified forest
wildlands property. Nothing can be built there. So, it's going to remain a a
natural wildlife area for all future generations for as long as I'm alive.
Whoever buys the property after me has to continue that classified program or
pay the back taxes to the tune of 14 to $20,000 just to get started.
» Thank you. >> What's the pleasure?
» I motion to reduce the right of way to 20 ft in this area
as requested. >> I'll second it.
Have a motion before us and properly second. Roll call, please.
» Mr. >> Yes.
» Yes. >> Mr. Rick,
» yes. >> Mr. Christie,
» yes. Mr. >> Yes.
» Thank you, Mr. Snder. >> Thank you.
» Are you also going to do a motion to tie into the ditch?
» Yeah. I I motion to to approve the requested overflow into the regulated
drain.
» Second. >> I have a motion before properly second.
Roll call. >> Mr. Whitehead?
» Yes. >> Mr. Hamilton?
» Yes. >> Mr. Reagan?
» Yes. >> Mr. Christie?
» Yes. >> Mr. B?
» Yes. Old business. Mr. Ser. >> Yeah. Mr. Snder. We'll have a a paper in
our office probably tomorrow at some point, but we'll have it in there. You
just You'll need to take it down to the recorder's office and get that recorded.
» Mr. Swear. >> Mr. Swear.
» Yeah. >> Your able's assistant has I think.
» I mean, at some point we'll have it, right?
» I have it right here. Okay. >> They just have to sign it. Do we need to
get a copy of it for our office or not? >> Um,
» yeah. So, probably tomorrow at the earliest, but uh
it's ready. >> Sure, 100%.
» Yes, I do. [clears throat] >> Thank you. Thank you.
» Yes, you can leave. [laughter] >> Old business.
» Uh yeah, the first thing is is the the our journey's maintenance interest. Uh
do you want to speak on this? I think we may have folks that will speak on us.
» Okay. >> In the back.
» In the back perhaps. >> Name. Tanya. Brad.
» Sorry.
» Hi. Tanya Dunmore, Chief Deputy Auditor. >> I'm Brad P, County Treasurer.
Um, I talked to John on the phone and I just kind of went over with him on some
details of what we did with DCCC and he understood all of it, but he said, you
know, he's just one of the board members, so he just wanted it to be
presented to the rest of the board members so that everybody understood. I
don't know if he spoke to any of you about what we talked about on the phone.
Um, but basically you guys just need to come up with the amount that you are
willing to invest. Um, and then Brad, he takes care of the actual investment. He
his office takes care of all the banking where we're the funds. So we would um we
can show the amount that you choose to invest from your um such fund whatever
fund number it is and we can show that on a separate line so that you can see
oh yeah that's our invested amount. This is what we're still working with kind of
thing as far as like cash flow. Um and then we would also create a revenue fund
number in order for the interest to go into. However, his office, they do the
interest. They would take care of receiving that interest. They would take
care of quite in that interest on a monthly basis. Um and they track
everything. They can supply you with statement of course in order to show um
your earnings and such, but they would take care of everything on a monthly
basis. As far as um lucrative, I guess you'd say, as far as getting your hands
on the money um at all times, you can within a day because it's like a EFT
transfer. But what I also explained that wouldn't be something that the treasur's
office would want to have to do constantly for you. So, you would want
to pick an investment amount that you can kind of invest and not really have
to use um on a constant basis, I guess, just for convenience-wise for his office
cuz that would be a lot on them to constantly have to move that back and
forth between where he takes it from in order to where he puts it to. So the
place that he was going to invest into is called Trust Indiana and that is a
pool um within Indiana. It was created at the state level um by the treasur
few years back quite a few years back. I forget what year it was and it's a pool
investment of all the counties in Indiana. Whoever wants to invest into
that they can and therefore it pays at a higher interest. Um and he has that
interest rate as far as what it's paying right now. [clears throat]
» So right now currently um we just got our statement. They're paying 3.6193%.
Compare that to what some of our other accounts we have here locally. Um
they're in the 1.75 to 2 and a half range. So it's quite a bit over. So more
than a percent over what is the going rate I guess.
because there's power with, you know, with there's the the investment power
with a lot of money uh throughout the state so they can get better rates.
» Thank you. Any questions? >> Mr. Surveyor, in this account, we have
[snorts] two deposits a year for the collected ditch assessments.
» Yeah, we have two draws a year on it. Correct.
» And then we have 12 um withdrawals for the claims that we approve every month.
Is that correct? >> Correct. Are there any other withdrawals
that we would expect from this account? >> I don't I don't believe so. It's just
the our maintenance. Yeah. So, it would just be 12 or 12 We take Yep. 12 a year.
» Is that acceptable to the treasur's office if we have two deposits and 12
withdrawals a year in this account? >> Um,
yeah. Because I mean with the deposits I mean we could you know basically to get
initially set up we'd won a number um I think when we met with the board of
finance and they approved um this um I think there was about a million dollars
total. Now, if you don't want to invest all that, I mean, with I don't invest
all the county count's money in trust Indiana because they want to have the
commissioner's council, they want to have access to it like very quickly. Um,
which we can get it if it's on a a weekday, we can get it the next day. I
mean, that's the thing. That's the nice thing with Trust Indiana. It it is very
liquid, so we can get our hands on it. Um but yeah, it shouldn't be any problem
of getting that the two deposits and then um just a monthly withdrawal
on that. >> Did the did the board of finance give
you an estimate of what they would suggest?
» They did not. I don't think they they you know it would be up to whatever they
whatever this board is comfortable with asking.
Um, just to kind of give you an idea, if you look at say 500,000 at the current
rate, it's about $18,000 a year. Um, if you invested a million dollars is you're
doubling that 36 about 36,000 per year.
» So, countywide, how do you break it up as far as what you invest and what you
keep? So locally we have to keep at least 50%
um in our in in local banks and so that's kind of where we're at. We have
some in Trust Indiana. We have some in United Fidelity which is out of
Evansville. They're paying four over 4%. So they're at like 4.34. So
we've got a large sum in there. So we just kind of look at honestly what what
we're getting the best rates on. with with keeping in within that 50%
uh local 50% outside of outside of local you know what we look at
in trust Indiana it's about right now I've got about 10% of
the county's money in trust Indiana and it's probably look at with the rates
look at maybe moving that to maybe 15% so I I mean it's all liquid. I mean
that's that's the nice thing with trust Indiana is we get the next day.
» Right now in the in the maintenance fund we have almost $1.2 million. But my
suggestion would be to at least leave out let's say like $200,000
and that way we always have enough in there to pay the next month's claims.
things happen, computers go down, and I'd hate to hold up payment to
contractors and distributors if we don't get the money transferred over in time
or something happens. I mean, that's what my suggestion would be, at least to
leave a month's worth of uh money in there to to pay out our uh account
payables. >> And Danielle, we wouldn't have to have a
board meeting to change it or how we
what do you mean? Well, if he's just suggesting in case we would need more
to use. >> The commissioners had to approve this
entire process. >> Yeah, the commissioners have already
approved the interest account. Do you are you asking like if you wanted to
change the amount you invested as this board?
» Right.
» Yes. I Yeah. So my recommendation is make sure you leave out enough that you
don't have right. >> If I may add to that as well um since I
am in the auditor's office and we do deal with the claims and such and I know
um what the his um deputy has to do in order to process those. I would have to
agree with him that that is a wise idea because you have to put in for your PO
process that has to be approved before that person can even do a claim. Well,
they can't get their PO approved unless there's money there um for the auditors
to say yes, that fund has availability. So, if we're waiting on uh the treasurer
in order to get the money, in order to get a quota to stand in, I mean, it kind
of jams you up in the pay process. I mean, you know, I I don't know how much
he he can suggest the amount. I'm just saying the process of it. There is a
kind of like a timely process of it to get it all [clears throat] finalized. So
then the next time we got a draw, we would have to have maybe a little
discussion as to how much of that draw went into which to which account,
whether we wanted to invest it or not invest it.
» Yeah. Would it automatically come into the 2700 account? And then once that's
in there, I would let the board know because it's not always it's always not
always the same date every year. Um, and then once once it's the fall taxes is
the next one coming up. And when that gets in there, I say, "Hey, listen. We
got and it's usually, you know, a fifth of what the spring
taxes are for our board. It's not 50/50 like a lot of other ones." I would let
you guys know, hey, this is what we got in there. It's $10,000. Do you want to
leave that in the maintenance of fund to pay out or do you want to invest it and
we can go from there? Uh, how would probably be the easiest way.
» [snorts] >> The auditor's office by law have to have
the settlement distri distributed to all the units by the 31st of June andor
December. >> Right.
» His most chunk of his money comes in the spring.
» Yeah. Because like I said, it's a $10 for most people's $10 and they just pay
that in the spring instead of splitting it up five and five.
So Tom, if we put 700,000 in the Trust Indiana account and then the rest
outside of it, >> I mean, that's what I would do. You
know, I always feel better with money in the bank that we can pay something comes
up, you know. >> Does that seem reasonable to you folks?
» Um, I I would think so. I don't do your do your budget but [laughter]
» well I mean it push >> but you got over a million dollars. So
yeah I think that leaves what you say that leaves you $500,000 basically if
you got 1.2. So I mean I I I don't know your um expenses I guess. Um, but
» typically once or twice a year we'll have like this month we'll have one over
100,000 but for the most part they're usually 40 to 60,000 every month
[snorts] >> with with our this month's claims being
$100,000. Um, I'm inclined to to make a motion would be to put a million in
Trust Indiana. That would leave us with $200,000 in our account. That would pay
for this month's claims and give us cushion for the next month. and then
every subsequent month as we approve claims pull those out of the trust
Indiana account. Does that seem feasible?
» Now on that I mean with I mean we're you know we we have a lot of different
accounts that we really would rather not every month be pulling money out of
there and having to maintain it. um you know quarterly maybe doing something
like that because that otherwise it puts a lot of burden on my back office the
bookkeepers uh in my office too you know because there's now another uh
department that also we're we're having trust Indiana funds on and so with you
know doing the regular job this is kind of in it in addition to and so um I
would recommend maybe having enough for three months
um and doing maybe a quarterly withdrawal on the, you know, on that if
we if you needed to. Obviously, if you're looking at a million dollar,
you're looking at probably about $3,000, you know, $3,500 a year a month in
interest, that would be going back into that account. So, that kind of offsets
the 40. But um yeah, I would say probably doing having enough in there
for to cover at least three months and maybe even a fourth month just in case.
Um so it's roughly what about a4 million. So um you know, wherever that
leaves you with what your balance is, you know, 1.2 and if you had four months
of it, um you know, you're looking probably 200,000. So yeah, I I would
think with a million you should be okay. Maybe 900,000,
but that's totally up to the board. >> I think typically that one
» we'll invest whatever you guys tell us to.
» That 1.2 is a little higher than normal investment. [laughter] I mean it seemed
to me mean like a lot of months it's 800 to a million.
» Correct. We last last year we saved saved about 300 400,000 back into the
debt maintenance account. So we're a little bit higher than normal. But also
right now we've basically used the majority of our spring money already. So
I you know I'm not sure what we're going to get in the fall, but we're not going
to have you know I we're going to be lower than
what we started the year with obviously because we did a lot of we've done a lot
of work and a lot of good things. But Mr. P suggested, I I'd rather have
I'd rather have more money in our maintenance account to pay out than
having to worry about it every month between
» uh Jennifer, Tanya, and everybody, you know, and then when when she puts in the
the claims, there's not enough money there. And then we have to wait a couple
days. And it's we don't get our invoices usually until late Thursday, early
Friday. We have to have all those entered then approved
uh by Wednesday morning. That only leaves us a couple days to do all that
paperwork. And it's uh I would like to have enough money in there that we don't
have to worry about pulling it pulling money out of Trust Indiana to cover this
month's uh payables uh in two days, three days basically
Friday to Wednesday. So, you know, you guys do what you want, but I'd rather
have extra money in there just to cover it in
case we have a big month, something happens or,
you know, Trust Indiana goes down or anything like that. There's nothing
worse than being a contractor or someone expecting you only get paid once a month
and then you're going to have to wait an extra month because of a clerical error
on our fault or someone else's fault. What if we did 800,000 now and then
watch and see where we're at? Then if we see we're carrying okay, we can always
add to it, can't we? >> That that would give us $400,000,
» correct? >> Of cash.
» We could even do if we did 900, that gives us 300,000. I
» I think 300,000 would be sufficient. I mean, this month is $100,000 worth of
claims, which is the highest that we've ever had,
» right? >> But Joe, we've been doing 800 to 1.2 two
million just sitting there and >> most people didn't say word.
» You were right. You were right. But yeah,
so Wayne did >> 300,000 should get us through shipment.
That gives a pretty good buffer. >> That would be three months worth at the
at the at the minimum. >> Yeah.
» Okay. I I make a motion to move $900,000 trust.
» I'll second that. I have a motion before properly. Second.
Roll call. >> Mr. W.
» Yes. >> Yes.
» Commissioner. >> Yes.
» Mr. Christy. >> No.
» Mr. >> Yes.
» All right. Thank you. >> Approval of maintenance claims. Any
questions, concerns here on maintenance?
A motion to approve the maintenance claims.
» I'll second it. Have a motion before. Proper second. Roll call.
» Yes. >> Yes.
» Mr. >> Yes.
» Mr. B. >> Yes.
Board comments.
So, do we need to make a motion if we want to split that
out for the m a McConnell or what do we need to do there? If we
want to do that, >> I I think the surveyor was investigating
what um what steps are required to split that out and I will talk to Banning
about the few things that he asked for and we will we will leave this on the
agenda for the next month. Okay. And as far as splitting them out now, it,
you know, they won't know the difference until
you send them out letters and say, "Hey, we're going to raise the maintenance fee
for the a McConnell." So, right now, it's going to be the same as the rest of
the county. We'll just know that instead of break broken down into the four ones,
there's going to be a fifth one that we'll have broke down. So, as far as
actual land owners out there right now, they won't see a difference in it. it
would maybe show up on the bill as a McConnell instead of Northwest, you
know, whatever they're in. But that uh until you guys make action
raise the maintenance fee for that particular one, it'll be normal for all
the land owners. So, >> and once we get that information
together, we'll do that to update.
» Any other comments from the board? Yeah, I got a couple three things. Um
Tom, we had a contractor that uh was low bidder on a couple of projects and did
that fellow kind of indicated that he was not going to do them. He told me
that all his employees are hurt and all his equipment's broken and the earliest
he could get to any of it was the end of this month. So, I sent an email out to
the board members because one of the one of the projects he had,
the one through country village, needs to be done. It needs to get done this
time of year. Uh I like to do that between June and July 15th. So, that's
that job is for the most part done right now. Everybody's happy out there. Uh
there's another one that I took away from him because I, you know, there's no
sense of waiting on him now. I'm going to add a section to it and we'll just re
quote that out for next year. It's on the list. It's one over by Ball State.
There's another section I want to add on it. So, yeah, he just basically said
that his equipment was broke and so was his employees and he didn't know when he
could get to it. >> So, so the country village job was
reassigned to >> correct. And it's done.
» And the other job will be within the next round of loops for debrushing.
» Right. There was a third one on there too that I missed when I was
» and that will be within the next round of votes for
» There's Yeah, there's a second one that is on the other side of Country Village
that I awarded to Mr. What's I'm sorry, what was his name? Jackson.
» Brian Jackson. >> And he's going to start on that when the
corn is off. He was a second bidder on that. So, as soon as corn comes off on
over there by uh LJ Stone, he'll start on that ditch. the third one that's over
by Ball State. We're going to rec quote that out on our
next package of quotes. Uh the reason I did that, it's one that's be better to
do uh in the winter. It's easier to see and it there's a lot
of traffic down those roads. Uh a lot of people that like trees and it's easier
to do that sometimes in the winter when it's not so obtrusive.
So then to kind of continue on that, um, and I think we've touched on it in the
past a little bit, these contractors that take these jobs on and then they
either don't do them or they don't do them correctly,
do we have recourse?
» I mean, potentially. I guess each situation is going to depend on what the
circumstances are. I mean, do we need for them going into this to sign or some
way to make sure that they understand that if they take these jobs on, they
have to do them and they have to do them correctly?
» John, are you suggesting that we add something like a 10% penalty for a
contractor who's not performing on a uh on an awarded job?
» I I don't know. I just think we need to I mean we've had a couple of these where
you know they they got off the hook scotfree.
Uh I think you as a board have to decide how serious you want to be about
pursuing those options, right? I mean it's is it is the juice worth the
squeeze? So what are your damages? Is it worth pursuing? That's and that's why I
say it's going to be each situation you're going to have to look at
individually on what did the lack of performance or the quality of the work
what damages did it cause the drainage board is that worth something pursuing
from the scope of work that they were engaged to do. So,
I guess that's about as lawyers and answers you're going to get is
potentially. But >> I I would just think if they stopped
getting the telephone calls, Tom, that that would be enough warning that their
work wasn't >> It doesn't It doesn't always help. The
one on the racer ditch I called what three or four times a week would not
answer, you know. >> You're not using him anymore, though.
» Well, he No, no, I'm not. So initially when after we award these
jobs to the con to the low bidder is it basically just a handshake deal?
» He signs the specs and on the specs and I can change the language and we can
clean up the language but the specs that I have them sign in return with their
quote says you know the drainage board is
uh you're not doing a good job. I can't remember how I ever worded now that
you're there allowed to pull this job from you at any time. Uh if you know I
can't remember how I put it off the top of my head and I can
» we can look at >> Yeah, we can get maybe clean that up a
little bit. >> Could we put in there like at our
discretion we possibly could pursue legal?
» I mean it should it should say that anyway. But yeah, we we'll clean up the
language. He can get those to me. We can take a look.
» Okay. I mean that's just my thoughts. I don't know what anyone else
» I mean I would suggest not >> but finding them because our our office
doesn't take any money in and that would be kind of a I mean you can you could
find them by what you pay out. you can take a percentage off what you pay them
out. But as far as like ahead for every day that you don't finish this job, you
pay us $250, which I've seen in other contracts. I think that'd be hard for
our office to do because we have no we're not set up to take any type of
payment right now or h or have never been set up to take any payment. I don't
know why that is. We just are.
One more thing, at the last storm water meeting, there was some discussion about
a rate cost of service study or something. Uh, but in watching the
meetings, there was discussion about drainage board could be affected in some
way. Recall that.
Could anyone elaborate on that? >> You want elaboration? Steven Brandell or
county commissioner's office. You want uh elaboration on which part? That
there's a cost of service study being performed or how it could potentially
impact the drainage board? >> Yes,
» both. So, there is a cost of service study going to be performed so that we
understand the affordability index which is uh basically a requirement
[clears throat] and then it could impact the drainage board as Mr. Borcher
brought up during the storm water board meeting because sometimes they're
overlapping um responsibilities. I guess maybe is maybe that's not the right word
to say. Mr. Borcher, would you say that's the right word?
» That's correct. >> So the cost of service study could
impact uh where there's a uh responsibility by the drainage board uh
and there's overlapping responsibilities between storm water and drainage. It's
it's very rare when it is because if it's a regulated drain, it's our
responsibility. But there's situations where it's either
vague or not drawn. You know, 1890 didn't say what was what. So, there will
be some overlapping responsibility and I don't know if the cost of study will
point that out, but it may be. So, when we get the study back, I can report back
to the drainage board on anything that I feel is uh pertinent to the drainage
board. >> Yeah. I think to Mr. Borcher's point, I
don't believe the cost of service study will uh provide clarity on
responsibility between the drainage board and the storm water board. What
the cost of service study does is it goes out and it looks at your current
rate uh versus your um historical expense expenditures plus any projects
that you have planned. So that's where the drainage board would also come into
play. So we'll have to put out from the storm water board's perspective, these
are the projects we have planned. Drainage board, these are the projects
we have planned. And then it looks at the affordability index. What what can
the taxpayers afford? And then we'll have a recommendation back from uh the
municipal advisor. Let's make that up. Say it's Baker Tilly. Uh they'll come
back and say based on your projects, based on your historical expenditures
and based on the affordability uh in your community, this is our recommended
rate uh that that they would recommend a rate and then the storm water board
would have to adopt new rates. >> Is there a fee for the study?
» Of course there is. That is our expectation that we will help pay that
fee. >> That hasn't been discussed, but I
appreciate you bringing that up. I'll put it in my notes. [laughter]
» No problem. >> Thanks, Mr. Christie.
» I think that's all. >> Any other comments?
» May I know there was a public comment section
already and I wasn't able to be here, but
» it's been marked off. >> Yeah,
» go right ahead. Commissioner. So, just for everybody's awareness, the county
has been put in a yellow status due to the flash flooding that we've had this
morning. We've had to close a couple of roads, specifically Albany Pike from
Rainer to 700 East. Uh, Black Mill Road from 67 to Old Granville and 300 South
Priest Ford around the river over by Yorktown. I think those are pretty
typical. Also, uh I think that we should take a look uh at the drain on the east
side of Cowan Road in front of Progress Rail. Uh prog the front yard in Progress
Rail is completely flooded this morning. I understand it's a flash flood event,
but that legal drain drains north to Buck Creek. And when you get to 23rd
Street there where Midwest Metal is, there's an inlet down in the ditch and
it's dry. There's no water running into that, but Progress Rail is completely
flooded. Having said that, Progress Rail just did some work out there. Uh they
put uh catch basins in their parking lot and they cut up our trail and they came
and they drained into that open ditch and they dipped the ditch out. Whether
they had permission to do any of that or not, I don't know. I'm just letting you
guys know they did do some work and we have the new housing project that's just
to the south of it where they just paved their parking lot. So you have all that
sheet drain. So they have all that roof, they have all that parking surface. So
all that impervious surface is now also hitting that drain. Uh I believe Mr.
Bortra, isn't is that a legal drain? >> So here's the issue with that drain. And
uh when they were
building what whatever they're building out there now, I can't I think it's
maybe apartments, I don't remember. >> So that legal drain kind of went into
that area. And so I had a contractor because I couldn't find it by probing.
So I had a contractor go out there and he was out there for a day digging every
where we thought that that old tile was at. So what I think
happened is when they went from one road cuz it ran right up the road to four
lane and then my sanitary came in and ran a sanitary up there. I think at some
point they vacated that drain because I could not find it anywhere and like I
said he was out there for a day digging and probing and it it was not there
anymore. So I I don't know if that's something we need to get my sanitary
district because there's a sewer project that runs right there where that old
tile was, but I think at some point when they went from one lane to four lane,
that tile disappeared. >> Yeah, I I recall when that happened. And
if if I recall properly, I think Gradea A Excavating was the contractor at that
time that put that. And it's really deep.
» Yeah. >> I mean, it's it's super deep. So, I
don't remember if it was abandoned in service or not, but you bring up a very
good point. So, I think that still needs anyway, Progress Trails flooded uh up to
uh where they have that burn where they park their locomotives out front. I've
never seen it flood like that. Now, it's a flash. Maybe it's down by now, but
that was, you know, 6:00 this morning. Um earlier there was a question came up
about who would make the decision on how you changed what you had invested uh in
an account. uh the commissioners and the board of finance authorized this board
to make those decisions. So if you guys want to change those allocations, my
point is you don't have to come back to the commissioners or you don't have to
come back to the finance the board of finance. I believe that's your purview.
» Thank you. Thank you. >> Comments from the attorney.
» Thank you. Uh Mr. Borcher, you want to make any
comment on debrushing. Oh,
» I just these are the next round of debrushing I gave you guys. It's just
kind of a simple uh you know, just kind of shows you where we're at. There's
some areas I'm going to add uh on onto this, but I I haven't been able to walk
them all. We've had rain. We've had some other things getting on.
» This is your fall work. >> Yeah. What I'd like to do is quote this
out in October on our October meeting. Um,
if there's something that the board would like to add or take away,
hit me up in an email, call me, and I can work on that. I'm I'm not
100% on all these, but I I think this is the next round. We've got two or three
of them on here that we did last year, and we only have a couple more sections
to do, and they'll be completely cleared and free of debris, and we can uh
maintain them with a spray program. That's where I'm at on that. Also, I
forgot our next meeting. We're gonna either
have to postpone or move the date to I had to wrote down. I lost it.
» September. >> It's a Tuesday in the afternoon.
» Afternoon.
» That's the only date we're open because of budget hearings. This this room will
be filled with >> county council.
» Yes. >> And Monday's a holiday.
So Tuesday they they have the commissioner's meeting and those
meetings on Tuesday morning. So we could either have it Tuesday afternoon or we
could postpone it and just go to October. Those are basically our two
options with the streaming that we have to stream on
online. This the Indiana code. I leave that up to the board. I don't know if
that's something we have to decide right now later.
» So September 9th is the Wednesday, >> right? It would be that it would be that
Tuesday before that. >> It'll be the only time this room will be
open because counsel will start that next Wednesday.
» We don't know when they're going to resched.
» Oh, >> so we would we have a lot of claims
coming in in September that would need to be
would it push till October? Well, what I think what I've done in the past is
since the claims out, uh, you know, I don't know if this was the only COVID
rules, but when we couldn't meet for a reason, I they made an ordinance and I
can send the claims off to you guys. You guys can look them over and we can still
approve claims with the the majority of the board over an email or a phone call,
I believe, is what the ordinance said. And I don't know if that's still in
effect, but that's how we did it during CO. I don't know if we've missed a
meeting since that. Do you have a copy of that ordinance I could look at?
» I do not off the top of my head. >> I could go back and look, but I I
believe that we could they let us approve the claims with three of the
board members. So, I would get the claims to three of the board members or
more, you know, all of them. >> If you have an ordinance in effect for
that and it doesn't specify it was just during a co time, then that's totally
acceptable. If you know your claims are consistently
the same type of thing and you want to give him even if you make a motion now
to say he has authority to pay those claims next month and then you um come
back in in October and ratify that decision. Um he could send out
everything that was being paid and everyone can send kind of a verbal email
saying you know thank you looks good and you can ratify those decisions in
October if you wanted to also. Is everyone available? September 8th at
9:00 a.m.
» after. >> It's got to be that. It's not the 9th.
It's the what you what date? >> It's the 8th.
» 8th. That's the Tuesday after Labor Day. >> Yes.
» Okay. >> Is everyone available? September 8th at
2 p.m.
» Okay, that's fine. Do we need a motion to reschedu?
I make a motion to reschedule the September drainage board meeting to
September 8th at 2 p.m. in this room. >> Jennifer, will you make sure to let
» Yes. >> Second
» motion to force properly second. Roll call.
» Mr. Whitehead. >> Yes.
» Mr. Hamilton. >> Yes.
» Mr. Yes. >> Mr. Yes.
» Mr. B. >> Yes.
» Um, Mr. Do we have to publish that that we moved it?
» Yes. Yeah. >> into the paper or just around the
building to >> So you both and you don't have to
publish it. You just have to send it the notice. You know what I mean? You just
have to email the notice. It doesn't have to be republished.
» Email to who? >> The paper the email for the the one you
send the actual notice is to that email. You just email them, right?
» Yes. >> Yeah. So you just have to there's a
difference in publishing and sending the notice. Okay.
» It sounds the same to me. They put it in the paper.
you publish your yearly list for the beginning of the year. So then you only
have to send notice of a change of meeting.
» Okay. >> I wonder if he
» Okay. [clears throat]
» Any other further business? If not, motion to adjurnn, please. So moved.
» All in favor say I. >> I
thank you all.