[1:00] Uh we're going to start with the pledge
of allegiance.
[1:05] » Pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[1:11] republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[1:17] justice for all.
[1:22] All right, we'll now All right, we'll
now have a moment of silence.
[1:32] Okay, starting at the 8:30 um public
hearing. Uh the first item we have up is
[1:38] 2027 budget for Hancock County.
I'm going to open the uh public hearing.
[1:47] Does anybody in the audience have any
comment about the most important part of
[1:51] our job, which is the budget?
[1:57] » All right. Does anybody on the council
have any comments about the 2021 budget?
[2:01] » Uh, just to comment, if you uh use the
uh summary sheet, it was changed just a
[2:07] little bit from the last one that you
got, but it didn't change it
[2:11] significantly. So, I move we approve.
There's there's no vote today on the
[2:18] It's next month.
>> This is just a public hearing.
[2:20] » Just a public hearing.
>> All right. If that's all the comments,
[2:23] then I'll close the public hearing and
I'll move on to the next public hearing
[2:27] item.
>> Thank you.
[2:29] » Uh next public hearing item is the
Hancock County Solid Waste Management
[2:33] District. I open the public meeting.
[clears throat]
[2:36] Does anyone have any comments about the
budget for the Solid Waste Management
[2:40] District?
[2:43] Anyone on the council have any comments?
All right, I closed the solid waste
[2:48] management district budget meeting and
we'll have a vote next month on it.
[2:53] Uh, the last one for the budget is the
Hancock County Public Library. I open
[3:01] the public hearing for any comments from
the audience about the budget for the
[3:05] Hancock County Public Library.
[3:11] Anyone from the council have any
comments?
[3:15] All right, I will close the public
hearing for the public library budget
[3:19] and we will vote on that I believe next
month.
[3:22] All right, the next ones do have uh we
will be voting on which is the public
[3:26] hearing additional appropriations. The
first one which we've discussed before
[3:29] is fund 7201 food and beverage to
appropriate $150,000.
[3:34] I'll open the public hearing for any
comments from the audience or anybody in
[3:37] the public.
[3:40] Anybody from the council have any
comments?
[3:44] Not hearing any, I'll close the public
hearing and entertain a motion.
[3:47] » I'll entertain the mo or I'll make the
motion for fund 7201 food and beverage
[3:53] for $150,000.
>> So moved. Second.
[3:57] » I have a motion, a second. Any comments?
All those in favor say I. I. Any oppose?
[4:01] Same sign. Motion carries.
>> All right. The final item for the public
[4:06] hearing is fund 8892 title 4E foster
care in the amount of $6,400. I open the
[4:12] public hearing
for any comments.
[4:17] Anything from the council?
Not hearing any, I close the public
[4:21] hearing and we'll entertain a motion.
>> Motion to approve the public defender
[4:27] juvenile poverty expense for $6,400.
>> Second.
[4:32] » I have a motion and a second. All those
in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Same
[4:35] sign. Motion carries. That concludes our
public hearing items for 8:30.
[4:40] » [clears throat]
>> Next up, 8:45, we have Fortville Area
[4:45] Resource Mission Farm Update. Kelly
Griffy,
[4:50] hope I said that. Come on forward.
[5:00] » Yeah,
can
[5:12] Thank you.
[5:19] » Thank you.
[5:29] [snorts]
[5:38] Thank you.
[5:54] » Hi.
[5:59] » Ready to go. Okay. Hi. My name is Kelly
Griffy. I'm the board president of the
[6:03] Fortville Area Resource Mission
[clears throat] and this is Aaron Flick.
[6:06] She's on the board and she's also our
daytime pantry coordinator. Um we're
[6:10] here today just to um to talk to you
guys about what impact farm is having on
[6:15] our community and what our future plans
are. So our mission is simple. It's to
[6:19] enrich our community physically,
mentally, and spiritually. We want to
[6:22] help the um community build a future of
hope, dignity, and nourishment.
[6:28] So we exist to ensure that families in
Hanokai County, [cough] Engles and
[6:32] Pendleton have reliable access to
nutritious food, compassionate support,
[6:36] and the love of Christ. We believe that
addressing hunger is only the beginning.
[6:41] We want to uh do more than just hand out
a bag of food. We want to provide that
[6:45] physical support by giving the food but
also emotional support um by having
[6:50] various support groups like mental
health support groups, grief support and
[6:54] help with that resource navigation,
helping them um get in contact with
[6:58] other organizations that can help them
with other needs that they have. And
[7:01] then spiritual support. We want to make
sure that we're showing the love of
[7:04] Christ in everything that we do through
the prayer and just that connection that
[7:08] we have with our guests that come in.
And uh we al during our social hour we
[7:12] have um um people that come in and give
testimonials or devotions, that kind of
[7:16] thing. And then we have Bible studies
that people can join.
[7:21] So where we've been, we've come
[clears throat] a long way in I guess
[7:24] now it's six years. Um we were started
by um Flory May, our Vernon Township
[7:29] trustee, and five area churches got
together to form a joint food pantry.
[7:34] And um during COVID we uh were outside
at Fortville Christian Church providing
[7:39] lots of food there. And then along the
way we um had our board we got our board
[7:43] together. We um hired executive
director. We uh got all of our policies
[7:48] and procedures into place. Uh developed
a leadership team, started uh hosting
[7:52] treats on Maine in Fortville. Um you
know, lots of different things that
[7:56] we've done all the through the years.
And then last year we had our first
[7:59] annual farm banquet. And then at the
beginning of the year, we became our own
[8:03] 501 um 3C nonprofit organization. We
were a DBA under Fortville Christian
[8:08] Church, but now we're our own
organization. And then our executive
[8:12] director um decided she wanted to work
more in a voluntary position. So then I
[8:16] stepped in to take on her
responsibilities.
[8:19] [clears throat]
Um some farm facts. As we were talking
[8:23] to people, a lot of people like, "We
didn't know you did that or what? We
[8:26] don't know what you do." So we just put
some things together. We are a free
[8:29] choice food pantry, so folks can come in
and pick what they want. We have a meal
[8:32] before each distribution, which is
Tuesday lunch and then Thursday dinner.
[8:37] And we provide that social interaction
and uh presentations from other
[8:41] nonprofits during that social hour. We
help with the resource navigation. Uh we
[8:46] provide and deliver uh prepack bags to
local campground. Um and then elderly or
[8:51] other folks that can't get out, we
deliver food to them. Uh we provide
[8:55] weekend food bags to Mount Vernon uh
school corporations to students in need.
[9:00] Uh right now I think we're doing 61 bags
a week um that we're giving out. Uh we
[9:04] host various volunteer groups for
service projects, Girl Scout troops, um
[9:09] school groups, you know, that kind of
thing. And then we receive a lot of
[9:12] fresh produce from Fortville Community
Garden and local farmers. That's been
[9:15] really great lately. And then again, we
host Treats on Maine, downtown
[9:18] Fortville.
[9:22] And we're by no means doing this alone.
We have a lot of commu community support
[9:26] which is great. Now we have nine partner
churches that help um and they provide
[9:31] volunteers. They provide uh monetary and
inindations.
[9:36] Uh we have a lot of great community
partners that we work with. Uh gleaners,
[9:40] Midwest Food Bank, Town of Fortville,
Vernon Township Trustees, and the
[9:44] Community Foundation of Hancock County
has really um you know played an very
[9:49] important role in what we've been able
to do. And then we have a lot of
[9:52] nonprofit collaboration. We have n n n n
n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n
[9:54] n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n
nonprofits that come in and talk during
[9:56] social hour and then we refer folks to
the to them throughout uh Hancock
[10:00] County. And then we have our oversight.
We have our board of directors and then
[10:03] we have a capital campaign campaign team
that I'll talk to you about.
[10:11] All right. So I'm going to share with
you kind of the impact of this
[10:15] partnership with so many community
partners. And um Kelly, I did want to
[10:20] say feel free to ask us questions. Um
and this this slide is probably one
[10:24] where you might have some questions. So
um yeah, don't worry about interrupting.
[10:28] We're happy to answer anything. So um
we've been tracking data since 2021.
[10:35] Like Kelly said, in 2020, we became kind
of like a COVID relief site and then
[10:40] realized like, oh, we need to be, you
know, tracking who's coming and going
[10:44] and especially for grants and that kind
of thing, knowing um numbers. So, we had
[10:49] a full year of data for 2021. So, that's
where this starts. And um you can see in
[10:56] 2025 alone here on the this side we
impacted over 7,000 children, 3,400
[11:04] seniors and over a thousand veterans
that we were able to reach. So excuse
[11:09] me, our numbers are really really
growing. Our total number of individuals
[11:14] served um in 2025 was 19,262.
So that that's a lot of people that we
[11:22] were able to touch and most of those
just right here in Hancock County. Um as
[11:27] you look through our chart of you know
across the years how many people we've
[11:31] impacted you'll see in 2024 we
definitely had a dip in numbers and what
[11:36] we realized is we needed to set some
limits on who could come and visit our
[11:41] pantry. um where we sit, we're very
close to the Madison County line and um
[11:48] we had been just, you know, if if a
person came, we served them, but we
[11:54] realized like we want to focus mainly on
Hancock County. So, we put in our
[11:59] service restrictions of Hancock County
and then they can also come to us if
[12:03] they live in Engles and Pendleton
because that's very close to where we
[12:07] are. Um, so once we put in that service
area, our numbers did dip. Um, but we
[12:14] were we were okay with that because we
feel like that's more the people were
[12:18] wanting to impact and wanting to serve.
And then in 2025, um, so we operate
[12:24] currently out of Fortville Christian
Church and they had let us use their
[12:29] worship s their worship center for food
distribution. Um and we you know we
[12:35] distribute on Tuesdays and Thursdays
that was becoming a lot. So they were
[12:39] very generous and said well you can have
our fellowship hall. So then we moved
[12:44] back to fellowship hall at the end of
2024 and you can see in 2025 that was a
[12:49] smaller space. And so we also can see
some numbers dip because we're just a
[12:54] little more crowded and um we have long
lines. People like coming to us. They
[12:59] like the food that we give out. But um
sometimes standing in those lines are
[13:03] hard. So that's um the explanation of
why some of those numbers are a little
[13:07] lower, but we know with um eventually a
bigger space uh we will have capacity to
[13:13] serve quite a bit. Um but we have noted
the amount the value of the groceries
[13:20] each household is getting has gone up
significantly each year. Um, and and
[13:26] really honestly, so 2025 was 155 a week
is kind of what we estimate.
[13:31] We're giving fresh meat, fresh produce,
milk, eggs. I think this year it's
[13:37] probably almost even close to $200 a
week worth of food that they're getting.
[13:41] Um, and our guests are allowed to come
once a week. So, uh, that's impactful.
[13:47] Um, our inind donations have gone up
significantly as we've added partners.
[13:53] We have more volunteers, more partner
churches. Um, now we partner with
[13:58] gleaners in Midwest, so we're able to
get a lot more um free items. So last
[14:05] year we had over a half million dollars
of inind donations of um food, hygiene,
[14:12] cleaning products, that kind of thing.
And then our number of volunteers has
[14:16] gone up significantly, too. So, but
these aren't just numbers. their
[14:21] families that were, you know, that are
trying to make ends meet. Children who
[14:25] need consistent meals, seniors choosing
between food and medication, and every
[14:31] week we have the opportunity to step
inside those stories. Our programs are
[14:36] continuing to to expand as we meet those
needs. Um, we'll talk a little more. We
[14:42] serve a meal before every distribution
so they can come and have fellowship
[14:46] time. Here are our speakers during
fellowship time and have that meal. And
[14:51] um like Kelly said, we partner with
local schools. We're providing we call
[14:55] them backpack sacks. Um the food bags
that go over the weekend home with the
[15:00] kids. So farm is becoming more than a
food pantry. It's becoming a central hub
[15:05] of support and connection.
[15:11] So, here are just some kind of fun fun
pictures. Um, this uh the first picture
[15:18] there with like the wooden backdrop.
That is where we do our fellowship hour.
[15:23] Again, that's um in the multi-purpose
room at Fortville Christian Church.
[15:28] They've given us that space, but we can
have up to I I mean 80 maybe even 100
[15:33] people if we really squeeze in there.
Um, and so I think this picture was a we
[15:38] do a Christmas in July. Um, and so
that's what was happening in that. And
[15:42] then just some of our guests. Um, we
also have pictured some volunteers. We
[15:48] have Girl Scout groups, a lot of local
church groups, all sorts of people that
[15:53] come. Um, the Mount Vernon Honor
Society, they are often their kids are
[15:59] coming and helping us with things. So,
and then again just some guests and
[16:04] volunteers.
Um, so a lot of a lot of fun things
[16:09] happen. And I'm just going to read to
you a couple quotes. We uh asked um some
[16:14] guests and volunteers just, hey, what do
you think of farm? And I have two guest
[16:19] quotes. Uh, female says, "Farm helps me
with food for my family, but being here
[16:25] with other people, my friends, and
feeling closer to God is what means the
[16:30] most. I'm in such a better place here.
I've learned so much with the guest
[16:35] speakers and Bible studies."
And then one of our male guests says,
[16:41] "It's supplemented my groceries and
helped me out so much. The people here
[16:46] are very friendly and that has
ultimately kept me coming back. This is
[16:50] above and beyond a food pantry with
social hour food and devotionals. So
[16:56] that that's what means the most to us is
that you know people are coming they're
[17:01] lonely they need social interaction and
they're coming and they're finding that
[17:05] here.
[17:09] So we know the demand is rising. I'm
sure you have heard that too. Um, pantry
[17:14] visits have increased over the years,
but also so is our community support.
[17:19] Um, so the numbers are are telling this
story of incredible community support
[17:25] and trust in farm. Since 2021, our inind
donations have increased um,
[17:33] drastically. Our volunteer base has
tripled. And this growth isn't just
[17:38] data. It represents thousands of bags of
food of groceries, hundreds of prayers,
[17:44] and a community that really says we
care.
[17:51] But we know there's a growing need. We
work very closely with the Vernon
[17:55] Township trustee um that she that's
currently Flory May. Um and so Vernon
[18:01] Township is McCordsville and Fortville.
and um they've identified that they have
[18:10] 1,870
people that rely on SNAP just in Vernon
[18:15] Township and these were 2025 numbers. So
I imagine that went up. Um the Mount
[18:21] Vernon schools, we work closely with
their counselors too and they're telling
[18:26] us so many families in need. Um and so
just the need is rising and then you
[18:33] know food costs are rising, housing
costs are rising, cost of medication is
[18:37] rising, all of that and um it's really
making it hard for people to to make
[18:43] ends meet. So the Vernon Township
Trustees reported that in 2025
[18:48] they helped with like household
assistance or they helped assistance
[18:53] with 70 households in Fortville and 88
in McCordsville. And that was really
[18:58] interesting. They're seeing their
McCordsville need increase greatly.
[19:03] Um so food insecurity leads to all sorts
of other problems. They're feeling, you
[19:08] know, alone. Um isolation, anxiety, but
farm is there along with other
[19:15] nonprofits that partner with us and just
providing a really comprehensive safety
[19:19] net to meet that need.
[19:24] So, we want to be able to address the
increase and be there and have that
[19:28] capacity. So, we know we have a
bottleneck. So, our current space, um,
[19:32] you know, it's the Fortville Christian
Church has been very generous, but we've
[19:35] outgrown that space. So, it limits how
much food we can safely receive, unpack,
[19:39] sort, and [cough] distribute. Um, we
have a lot of older uh, volunteers, and
[19:44] it's really hard for them to, you know,
get everything where it needs to be. Um,
[19:47] it limits our service area. We would
like to not have to have any limits. uh
[19:51] creates long wait times in crowded
areas. We have a lot of folks that'll
[19:54] wait outside because they can't be in a
crowded area or maybe not even come. Um
[20:00] and we lack that private space for, you
know, like any confidential kind of uh
[20:04] conversations and that prayer in the um
quiet areas. And then it limits space
[20:09] for other nonprofits to come and provide
their services on a routine basis.
[20:14] [clears throat] And just recently um we
had a community needs assessment done.
[20:18] Um, we had a college student reach out
that they needed to do a project and um,
[20:23] so she did this for us and it was really
awesome. Um, she did two things. One
[20:26] thing was just looked at all the zip
codes of all of our guests and kind of
[20:29] analyzed uh, who was coming. So we
served Fortville, McCordsville,
[20:33] Pendleton and uh, Greenfield are the the
biggest, you know, areas where people
[20:38] come and then she um, asked all her
guests that came um three questions. We
[20:42] had a survey one, what are some positive
ways farm um the farm pantry serves you
[20:48] that should be um that would be
important to include in the new building
[20:51] and then what are some areas we could
improve on and then just anything in you
[20:55] know in general. So what the guests
value most where mo a lot of them just
[20:59] said you're doing a great job don't need
to change things. Um some like our
[21:03] volunteers are very uh friendly and
welcoming. Um ability to choose their
[21:08] own food had a lot of gratitude and
appreciation. Uh they like the guest
[21:12] speakers and the testimonials and the
social hour. Some areas for improvement.
[21:17] Um the sound system, we can work on
that. Um we have long wait times, live
[21:21] improvements, uh more space. They would
like some additional items like pet
[21:25] food. We don't get that very often, so
we're working on ways to maybe get some
[21:29] pet food in in there. Um accessibility,
we do have some folks that are in
[21:33] wheelchairs and it's really hard for
them to get around. um and more
[21:37] specialty items like for diabetics and
glutenfree kind of things. So, we're
[21:41] trying to figure out where we can get
those kind of things. Um so, it's really
[21:45] good that this this aligns what we were
feeling as the volunteers and uh staff,
[21:50] but then also we see that our our guests
are filling it too. So, you know, our
[21:55] needs align there. Um so, this this was
just a really good exercise for us to to
[22:00] make sure we are meeting the community
needs.
[22:04] So we have a vision, a new home for
farm. Uh Fortville Christian Church has
[22:08] graciously given us the land and we um
envision this new new building. Um we'll
[22:15] have expanded storage. We'll have
refrigeration and freezer capacity will
[22:20] increase and as well as other storage.
Um dignity first design. We want it to
[22:25] have easy navigation. We want to make
sure it has includes those um warm
[22:28] gathering spaces, you know, that that
fosters that connection and community.
[22:32] And it's more than a it's going to be
more than a warehouse. It's going to be
[22:35] a community hub. We want to have space
for other nonprofits to come and provide
[22:40] their services. You know, it's sometimes
hard for people in Fortville,
[22:43] Mccorsville to get all the way to
Greenfield, and that's where most of the
[22:46] nonprofits are. Um so we they'll come to
us. So we already have uh seven letter
[22:51] of intents that if they have the space,
they will bring their services to the
[22:55] building. So, um, and just recently,
like actually right before the floods
[22:59] happened, we were working with Hancock
County Co- to figure out what we can do
[23:04] when there's an emergency. Fortunately,
we were a little bit late because we had
[23:08] a meeting like right before the floods
like so, we didn't really have a good
[23:11] plan, but we were able to um provide
donations to Anderson and then to our
[23:16] surrounding um trustees. But we want to
have a better plan. We want to have a
[23:20] plan for now how we can serve the
community and then how this building
[23:24] could be of use when there's a when
there's an emergency like that or some
[23:27] you know some other emergencies. So
we're working on that.
[23:33] So where we're going um in 2026 we've
started our capital campaign and we've
[23:38] hired an architect. We're working with
them right now. Our our plans are
[23:41] actually pretty pretty final and we're
going to be start looking at builders
[23:45] and hopefully decide decide on a builder
this year and then in 2027 we'll
[23:50] continue our capital campaign and then
we'd like to break ground sometime next
[23:53] year.
[23:59] Okay. So, in order to make this new
building happen, um we are in the
[24:04] process of raising $2.5 million. And
we're really excited about that. that
[24:09] this building that you know you saw the
picture I don't know just looking at
[24:13] that we were fearful it would be a whole
lot more but two and a half million is
[24:18] is reasonable and we can do that. So um
to build this future we've already
[24:24] launched our campaign and um just kind
of the breakdown of where this money is
[24:30] going 2 million is the construction
cost. So, um that is, you know, the
[24:37] entire building. Then we've um been
working with the Hancock County
[24:44] Community Foundation and they've they
suggested we build in operating cost
[24:50] into our capital campaign, which is
really nice. Right now, um Fortville
[24:56] Christian Church hasn't really charged
us much as far they don't charge us
[25:01] rent. we help with some electric cost
and that kind of thing. Um, but we
[25:06] realized like, oh, well, it's probably
is going to be a a big chunk that
[25:10] operating cost. So, we appreciated um
that advice and we've put that into our
[25:15] campaign. And then 250,000 is for
additional equipment. All the equipment
[25:21] we currently have will move into the new
building, but we would like a walk-in
[25:25] freezer. We're going to need, you know,
different forklifts, just all all sorts
[25:29] of things. Um the the [clears throat]
kitchen there will look different. We
[25:33] have plans to make that a spot where we
can do cooking classes and people can
[25:38] come in and learn canning or or
whatever. So um you know just it'll
[25:43] cause a lot more equipment. And our goal
is to do all of this totally debtree. Um
[25:49] we believe that's biblical and um you
know we don't want to be paying interest
[25:54] on a loan. So we're waiting as the money
comes in. you know, we're not going to
[26:00] build until we know we have this funded.
[26:08] So, um, in closing, um, you know, we
just want to reiterate that farm is
[26:12] serving, um, you know, families in
Hancock County. We're working we're um
[26:16] already collecting and distributing the
hundreds of thousands of pounds of food
[26:19] every every year and working with uh
businesses and organizations, you know,
[26:24] stepping in and helping families with
unexpected hardships. Um and then like I
[26:29] said, the recent flooding really
reminded us that needs aren't always
[26:33] predictable and we need to be ready.
When a disaster happens, people can't
[26:36] wait. They need help. And so we want to
build that capacity and be able to step
[26:41] in and help. So, we are asking the
Hancock County Council to partner with
[26:45] us and invest in this project. And it
it's not just a investment in a
[26:49] building. It's an investment in Hancock
County, you know, and Hancock County
[26:53] families. Um, our request to the Hancock
County Council is $250,000.
[26:59] We recognize that this is a significant
investment, but we believe it reflects a
[27:03] significant role this facility can play
in serving Hancock County um and you
[27:08] know help respond to um these um
unexpected hardships and also community
[27:13] emergencies. We would you know welcome
the um opportunity to work with the
[27:17] council on how that investment could be
structured, but we would be really
[27:21] honored to have Hancock County stand
alongside farm um as a partner in making
[27:25] that happen. So, we really thank you
today for taking the time to listen to
[27:29] us and considering this investment in
the people of Hancock County. If you
[27:32] have any questions, we would welcome
those. And then also in your packet, we
[27:36] um attached a letter of support from the
commissioners and uh town of Fortville
[27:41] and Flory May the Vernon Township.
>> I do have a question and it may have
[27:45] been in here a lot of information. I
just
[27:47] » It's a lot. Sorry.
>> Where is [clears throat] the location of
[27:49] the land?
>> Um Fortville Christian Church which is
[27:53] um on 200,
>> right? Yeah.
[27:55] » So, right behind there's two parsonages
there. The back one's going to be torn
[27:59] down soon. So, it'll be right there.
>> So, it'll be in Fortville.
[28:02] » Yeah, it's Fortville.
>> That's very close to Mount Vernon
[28:06] schools.
>> Yeah, just down the road.
[28:07] » I know.
>> How much have you raised so far? And
[28:10] then how much has given been given by
Fortville Town, McCory'sville Town in
[28:14] Vernon Township?
>> Okay. So, um, so far we're at $400,000
[28:19] and that is mostly um from the board and
volunteers and we had some um anonymous
[28:25] donors that gave um currently we are
working with Fortville um to look into
[28:31] the okra um funds that are available.
They they said they would sponsor us in
[28:36] that. So, right now they have not
actually given us any money for it, but
[28:40] working with them on that.
>> What about Mordsville? [clears throat]
[28:44] » Township in McCordsville. Yeah. Yeah. Um
so the township trustees, McCords, the
[28:50] town of McCordsville, we've met with
them, but um
[28:54] don't have um any financial, you know,
um
[28:58] » anything pledged. Um and the way the
township trustees work, we have a
[29:03] contract with Vernon Township Trustees
where then they can give us contracted
[29:10] funds for food, but not towards the
capital campaign. What?
[29:14] » Um, and we're also been working with
Thomas Lopez um from Center Township
[29:20] here in Greenfield. Similar um we go out
to Mohawk Campgrounds. There are people
[29:26] living there
>> and we deliver there every week and
[29:29] that's in Center Township and so Thomas
Lopez was very interested in helping
[29:36] support us. But again, that would be
like a contract for food,
[29:39] » right? Right. It has to be.
>> Well, go ahead. I'm assuming that you
[29:44] said you um have a lot of the uh Mount
Vernon school children that you're
[29:50] servicing that live in McCordsville.
Um so you're not getting any
[29:56] participation from McCordsville in the
project?
[29:59] » Not yet.
>> Yeah.
[30:01] » Not not yet. They've been really good to
try to connect us to some of the new
[30:05] businesses going in. Um and that's
really nice. there's, you know, rumored
[30:10] of some new grocery stores going in and
that kind of thing and they're getting
[30:14] us connected with um that. We also have
Meyer and IU Health and and Ninstar and
[30:22] I mean so I see Nin Star is probably
already participating,
[30:26] » but yeah, you're you're probably going
to have to tap [clears throat] the the
[30:30] really big um ones that are I know I use
new there and uh
[30:38] » contact there that we've been trying to
get with someone. Mhm. If any of you
[30:42] know like, hey, talk to this person at
IU Health, we'd be happy to have that
[30:46] contact.
>> You can ask Walmart, too.
[30:48] » Yeah. Yeah. [laughter]
>> Yes. There's a Walmart going in. Um,
[30:52] it's I think it's kind of slow going,
but it's actually in Engle.
[30:56] » There is a Walmart going service area.
>> Absolutely.
[30:59] » Yeah.
>> Have you talked to any township trustees
[31:03] over the county line? I saw you serve
zip codes that go outside Hancock
[31:06] County. Have they been supportive?
>> Yeah. Um, so Greg Valentine is the
[31:10] township trustee for Green Township in
Madison County, which is Engles and a
[31:16] portion of Pendleton. And we serve a lot
of his people. And um, we share data
[31:21] with him, but um, as far as like a
contract, we haven't done that with him.
[31:28] Um, he knows to reach out to us when he
has people in need. So, but yeah,
[31:32] they're definitely aware.
Do do the senior services uh service
[31:38] quite a number of the PE I notice you've
got them down as a a supporting um or a
[31:45] participating uh
>> yeah we we um you know we will refer
[31:50] people to them
>> and I think we have some folks in in
[31:53] Fortville that use their transportation
system
[31:56] » but um is that what you mean or
>> Well we we finance that for the county
[32:02] and Um, most of the people that use it
now are in Greenfield, but some are
[32:09] outside. I just wonder if you if we if
you do this, is that going to increase
[32:14] the amount of uh service that the senior
services will be? Yeah, they're
[32:20] » will be coming back to us to finance.
Um, we've talked to them and I think
[32:27] Kelly can speak to that, but um, we've
even said, you know, hey, we could be a
[32:32] hub in this new building. They could
park cars out there because, um, it's my
[32:37] understanding that some of their
volunteers like live out, say,
[32:41] Fortville, and McCordsville, but then
have to drive all the way into
[32:44] Greenfield to pick up the the vans and
that kind of thing. And so we've said,
[32:49] well,
>> they'd be welcome to keep them, you
[32:51] know, there and that would be a shorter
drive for their volunteers.
[32:55] » Would probably end up expanding
[clears throat]
[32:57] senior services probably.
>> Um, their their comment just maybe a
[33:02] reminder to us and to the public is that
uh uh I know you have an ask of 250, but
[33:07] uh to let you know that we did help in
the past the food pantry here for
[33:12] 100,000. So that's kind of our I think
the max we've ever gone. So, just to put
[33:16] it in perspective, so you know, 250 is
pretty high up there for us to do. And I
[33:21] understand that's how you [laughter]
ask. That's how you ask. That's how we
[33:23] do as politicians. We ask for a larger
number than you get. So, I I get it.
[33:26] » Yeah. [laughter] We we share notes quite
a bit with the Hancock County Food
[33:31] Pantry. Um I mean, it really all the
food pantries in Hancock County are
[33:36] good. Um we do a food rescue provider
call um every other month with all of
[33:40] them. And um I I did kind of mean to
point out and I know Kelly noted, but we
[33:45] are also a free choice pantry, which is
something that so many of our guests say
[33:50] they appreciate and that that's
different than many of the other food
[33:54] pantries is they can come and do their
own grocery shopping basically, not a
[33:59] preack bag, you know, um they get that
free choice. So that's important.
[34:03] » Is it income restricted?
>> Nope.
[34:06] » Okay. You don't. The thing is Hankai
County Pendleton our only restriction.
[34:11] » Oh, okay. For residency, correct? Pan
County,
[34:14] » but no income. They don't have to verify
income at all.
[34:18] » And then if someone comes that's outside
of our um service area, we'll let them
[34:21] go through once and then we give them
information about other pantries in
[34:24] their area.
Oh, the forville has its own RDC
[34:29] redevelopment commission and u the
restrictions on redevelopment commission
[34:35] tiff money um has to be in using it in
the area to support the area of the tiff
[34:43] and I would assume that that the tiff
money for Fortville is
[34:49] um capable of providing capital funding
for something like this too. So, if you
[34:55] haven't haven't went to the
redevelopment commission in Fortville
[34:59] yet, our ours is too far away probably
to to um um
[35:06] » justify
>> justify to make that jump for for the
[35:10] local government [clears throat]
finance, but Fortville's probably is
[35:12] not.
>> Okay. Okay. We'll check into that. Thank
[35:15] you. Yeah, because that's where any of
the new factories or any of the
[35:20] commercial stuff that's going in up
there around there. Um that's where
[35:25] their tax revenue gets held up
>> and and that's something we would talk
[35:28] to the town of Fort Phillip.
>> Um the there's a redevelopment
[35:31] commission. They have their own tiff
district. So
[35:33] » their own meetings.
>> They have their own meetings or
[35:35] everything. So yeah, you would you would
approach them. But if if you see a new
[35:39] warehouse go up somewhere, that's where
that tax revenue goes into that fund.
[35:43] » Okay. And then um
>> your location would be in or serving
[35:47] that tiff district,
>> right? And you're right, close. We've
[35:50] had to turn down volunteer fire
departments that were east side of c
[35:54] county because they weren't, you know,
close enough to say that they were
[35:58] priority for for that. I mean, because
it's Mount Comfort is where and Maxwell
[36:03] is where our tiff districts are. And so
it has to has to prove that it's serving
[36:08] to that. But capital funds are one of
the big things that they can use money
[36:12] for, not operational stuff.
>> Okay. Awesome. Thank you.
[36:15] » Does your tiff cover mohawk?
>> The the budget the the money derived
[36:19] from uh the commerce within
[clears throat] the tiff district. That
[36:23] budget is managed by the redevelopment
commission, not the town council, you
[36:27] know, at this point. So that's a
separate that's going to be a separate
[36:30] they probably appoint someone, but they
don't control that budget.
[36:33] » Okay. Awesome.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Were you seeking another um
[36:37] letter of recommendation or did the
commissioner's letter suffice for the
[36:41] county or were you uh requesting another
letter of recommendation?
[36:46] » Um another one would be great.
[laughter] Um but I don't know I don't I
[36:50] guess I don't know for sure if that
commissioners one would cover that or is
[36:53] two separate entities or how that works.
But
[36:56] » us money versus
they were wanting another letter.
[37:02] I mean, if you guys think it would be
helpful,
[37:03] » well, I mean, I think the only time a
letter would be helpful would be is if
[37:06] we want to do a letter, if we want to
make an offer in the future, we don't
[37:08] have to decide today, but to say that
we'll match up to a certain amount
[37:12] whatever Fortville Town gives and
Mccordsville Town gives.
[37:17] » Up to a certain amount.
>> Yeah,
[37:19] » we could do something like that to to
try to push them to to donate,
[37:23] » right? because we have a we have an
issue where we provide a lot of services
[37:27] for the whole county and we're not
getting any of these support like from
[37:30] 911 or from anything else from the towns
or the cities and so that's a um
[37:37] » animal control
>> animal control that's a tough deal for
[37:40] us
>> senior services
[37:41] » yeah because pays nothing for animal
control they don't pay anything for 911
[37:44] they don't pay anything and county picks
all that up and uh we've we've struggled
[37:49] to get the cordsville them to
participate And senior services is the
[37:54] big one right now. It's costing us
hundreds of thousands a year to provide
[37:58] that transportation service for the
whole county. And the unincorporated
[38:02] areas that we get our money from, it's
only a small portion of what they do.
[38:07] You know, they get mostly out of the
towns. And so
[38:12] » would I if the county council did um
ponder this and decide to pledge uh any
[38:20] amount
since they have a lot of fundraising
[38:23] left to do. Would we retain the funds in
house up to the point that they had
[38:29] their other funding secure?
>> You can do you can set it however we
[38:32] want. That's why I say we don't have to
decide today. We can think about it
[38:36] » because it just got presented all this
information today. Yeah, I'll probably
[38:40] need to digest
[38:43] » answer more questions
>> and I can help you all. Last week was
[38:46] the Indiana Hunger Summit and Rachel
Brandenburgg from ISDA is the food
[38:50] distribution leader. So, she can
probably help connect with others that
[38:54] have done what you're doing or trying to
do to get some best practices. Um, and
[38:59] then Okra, I'm on the ISDA Department of
A is on the same floor as okra. So,
[39:04] » I can certainly walk across the floor
and help connect there. So, uh, but I
[39:08] think Rachel would be really good just
not only with what she knows about other
[39:13] food banks, but being very involved with
the Indiana Hunger Summit that was just
[39:16] last week that there may be some people
that know a lot more about this than I
[39:20] do, but that I can help connect you with
and she can to help get this to gain
[39:26] some steam because I I just know a lot
of people struggling to raise money. I
[39:30] mean, just looking at that growth of the
ink kind donation, that shows that
[39:33] you've got something going here and
there's obviously a need and so I want
[39:37] to be able to help out where I can.
>> So, do you have clerk's information?
[39:41] » No. Yeah. [laughter]
>> I I've got your I can reach out to you
[39:44] or if you have a card,
>> but uh yeah, I have one in my my back
[39:48] there. I can get to that.
>> I just want to commend you. This is a
[39:50] wonderful program and it's the basic
feeding people. You can't get any better
[39:54] than that. So, you know, you you all
have done a great job. Very impressed.
[39:59] Yes, you have.
>> All right. Thank you for coming and make
[40:03] sure you get your information to Clark
so he can help you out.
[40:05] » Yeah, I'll go get that real quick.
>> Thank you.
[40:07] » You're welcome.
>> All right. Next up for the 9:00 a.m.
[40:10] time slot was request for additional
appropriations. John Chakantis
[40:17] and he's not wearing a tie.
>> No.
[40:19] » You let me down, John.
>> Tie. [laughter]
[40:22] » Don't let that fool you.
>> He's got to be asking for six figures to
[40:26] put the tie on. [laughter] We just ask
you for
[40:28] » I mean it is it actually is. So
>> we have some shortages that are coming
[40:34] up before the end of the year and so I
have five line items uh from fund 1235
[40:41] which is our 911 lit which is very
healthy um to ask for the approval to
[40:49] advertise for the additional
appropriations.
[40:53] is 1235 the fund where we raise the
basis points. So it will be Yeah. Yeah.
[41:00] There's plenty. It's Well, that was part
of that's actually three of the line
[41:04] items were because we moved a position
from 1222 to protect it into 1235. We've
[41:10] been bouncing back and forth between
those two in order to protect 1222.
[41:16] And and is your uh group insurance
request of 138,000 in addition to the
[41:22] 650?
>> No, no, no, no. That's what it gets up
[41:26] to. Um
>> what's it 650 now?
[41:29] » It [clears throat] was 500,000. We we
left the original amount in for the 2025
[41:33] budget for some reason.
>> But I mean, you're asking this for the
[41:37] 27 budget, right?
>> No, this is for this year. Otherwise,
[41:40] I'm not going to get
>> right now. Right now that your budget
[41:43] 650 for medical.
>> Yeah.
[41:49] » For 12.
>> That's a 27.
[41:51] » For 27.
>> No. No. This is for now.
[41:54] » He's saying 26.
>> Yeah. 2026. There's only 500,000.
[41:58] » 26
to make it through 26.
[42:02] » Yes.
>> Correct.
[42:03] » Yeah. These are all for 2026 to get
through.
[42:05] » And we knew he would probably come up
short.
[42:07] » What's that?
>> I said we knew you would probably come
[42:10] up short. I we knew this from after the
budget was approved, but I wanted to
[42:13] wait.
>> I wanted to wait to ask for the
[42:16] additional because of the fact we did
close the gap by about
[42:19] » $40,000 because of we're still have two
open spots. So that we haven't been able
[42:25] to fill unfortunately for
seven eight months now. So
[42:30] » um
you're looking for a thumbs up to
[42:33] advertise.
>> Do we have a thumbs up to advertise for
[42:37] the appropriations? All right. Um,
before you leave, I have a question. I
[42:42] know you're going to come to RDC
tomorrow.
[42:44] » Yes, I am.
>> If everybody remembers, we talked about
[42:49] funding um
eventually funding a person out of the
[42:55] RDC for 911 because we had these
vacancies. You had to move people around
[43:00] and stuff like that and
>> Right.
[43:02] » and uh can you update us on that because
we'll be make hope hopefully we'll be
[43:07] making a decision. And I know the the
commissioners have already heard it, I
[43:10] think, and and everything and we make a
decision tomorrow on that. I want
[43:14] everybody to be comfortable with it.
>> This one this one is actually for the
[43:17] new position, the the program or public
safety program manager. Um we
[43:25] like I said, we that's and that's the
only position we're asking for out of
[43:29] RDC. So, um, but I know Gary had
programmed in about 110,000,
[43:37] I think, into the RDC budget and it
fits. We have a little bit of a
[43:43] shortfall with the group insurance that
will make up on the 12 out of the 1235
[43:48] fund. So,
>> is um what else is the RDC funding 911
[43:53] on? Anything?
>> Nothing.
[43:56] » Okay. Yeah. Cuz
>> you want if you want to give me more
[43:59] money.
>> No, no, no. I'm just always cognizant of
[44:02] the percentages and everything that
>> that um we have to live under uh and
[44:07] all. So um
>> and we checked this out with Lisa if it
[44:11] was
>> Yeah. Yeah.
[44:12] » Yep. We were able to do that.
>> Yeah. I think the way the job
[44:15] description was written, it fits within
the uh within the RDC budget. So,
[44:19] » and then we still have the one person
that's on medical leave, but we're also
[44:24] going to have uh three others on
long-term leaves here shortly. So,
[44:30] » well,
>> my overtime is going to go from here to
[44:34] » there.
>> So, but we're good there. [snorts]
[44:39] » Anything else?
>> Thank [clears throat] you.
[44:41] » All right. Thank you. Thank you. All
right. the 9:15 which is magistrate Kums
[44:46] he is on the bench till 9:45 so we will
uh interrupt at 9:45 and if once he gets
[44:51] here to have him come on because he's on
the bench from 8:30 to noon today so
[44:55] he's going to take a break to come here
for that so we'll skip to the 9:30
[44:59] environmental pollution policy Brian
Breeze come on up
[45:12] » morning everyone Morning.
>> Um,
[45:16] like to discuss
a uh environmental policy for the
[45:21] county. I've presented it to the
commissioners and they gave a favorable
[45:27] 300 vote to go ahead and come to the
council and in the packet um
[45:35] what the proposal is for, we move to a
self-insured retention program on the
[45:40] county's insurance. And so we're we just
got high deductibles and there was
[45:45] limited pollution in the last one. Um
when I ran a search on the county for
[45:51] underground storage tanks, it showed
zero. um through the research of putting
[45:56] this together. There is one that was
newly installed at the and that's the ID
[46:01] IDM IDM uh database, but we have one
it's a water oil separator at the
[46:07] highway and then we have one for diesel
tank at the um new uh the old jail, the
[46:15] um community correction building now on
over here. But um and then we were in
[46:21] the process of purchasing
Jack and Son's property and with that
[46:28] that just brought up some more flags. We
do have through the solid waste
[46:32] management district the collection
events and although we've required all
[46:36] of the vendors to provide insurance
which includes pollution coverage. I
[46:41] just thought the county overall we
should just go ahead and put in a most
[46:48] most policies exclude pollution so it's
always going to be a standalone and what
[46:52] you have in front of you is what they
call site pollution uh proposal and at
[46:58] the time of the last meeting that I
proposed um I didn't have all the county
[47:06] u data as far as how much ground and so
what you see is a proposal for the
[47:11] locations that we [snorts] have. Um the
very bottom one where it says not
[47:16] offered, that's the vacant farmhouse on
40 uh by the um gun range or across from
[47:23] the sheriff's department. And so that
one because it's a vacant building and
[47:27] not utilized there there's no coverage
for that right now. the um there is a
[47:33] lead exclusion for the gun range on the
policy and that's just due to obviously
[47:38] the ammunition that's fired there. But
on the [clears throat] on the proposal
[47:43] and what the commissioners approved it
was for 5 million. The carrier offers
[47:49] two types of payment structure. If you
do it annually, uh the pricing was a
[47:53] little higher at um 38,478.
Whereas if we um do a three-year policy,
[48:03] it's um 67,57415.
[48:07] That's what they favored um in the and
voted for in the meeting. And kind of
[48:13] the reason behind that was uh the cost
per year is lower. And the only caveat
[48:20] in going with the three-year policy is
that if there is an event first year,
[48:26] um that would lower that 5 million and
if it were totally exhausted, we would
[48:31] have to buy a new policy. But the annual
you would be reloading even if there
[48:36] wasn't an event 38478 38 478 38478.
So there's quite a bit of savings with
[48:43] the three-year proposal. On another
note, um when you talk about claims, a
[48:50] lot of times your defense costs, your
attorney fees are inside the the uh
[48:55] limit. Uh these are actually outside. So
there's a 1.25 million of coverage that
[49:01] is outside of the policy. So really,
you're getting 6.25 million of coverage
[49:07] including uh defense costs. the um
underwriter and I went through um you
[49:14] know kind of all the county angles and I
brought up we own a lot of parcels which
[49:20] are just like strips of ground in front
of different property right away right
[49:24] away sections and the auditor's office
was able to help me and they gave me 630
[49:30] acres is the total amount I didn't have
that at the time of presenting this and
[49:37] giving um the presentation to the
commissioners. So, I did get that number
[49:42] back and we can add all of that
additional ground. It would go up to
[49:47] 86,139
for the three-year uh 5 million limit,
[49:52] but um I just haven't been able to get
back in front of them and present. When
[49:56] I presented this to them, they said,
"Did you talk to the council first?" I
[49:59] said, "Well, no. I thought I needed to
come here first." So, kind of in that
[50:04] mindset, I'm going to let you know what
I'm presenting today. They said, "Well,
[50:10] this is would be outside of our normal
budget, so if you can present to the
[50:14] council, um Jim, I know you're familiar
with the uh Jack and Suns because the
[50:20] Jackson oil is next to it." And I hit
that hard because I said, "All right, if
[50:26] that's not included on here yet because
number one, we don't own it. But if we
[50:30] do buy it, they want to see the phase
one and if there's a phase two, I'm not
[50:34] sure which of those are if there's just
a phase one. It's easier to add if
[50:37] there's a phase two. And then I even
showed the lady um through street view
[50:42] and aerial views the Jackson oil because
those are above ground storage tanks.
[50:46] There's less there's less worry on that
property having leaks because they would
[50:51] be if they're leaking above ground,
they're going to be caught quicker. So
[50:55] if they were all underground storage
tanks, there might be some worry about
[50:58] bleed off of on that. But we could add
those once we or any property for that
[51:04] matter if we had one that we were trying
to add at a later date that had any kind
[51:08] of pollution issue as long as it was
cleaned up. And so um the policy again
[51:14] is a site pollution. Um with Dee, I've
worked with her a lot lately on the uh
[51:20] collection events. This policy would
also include so if we have one at the
[51:24] church or if we have one at the junior
high um it'll give us it'll extend
[51:28] coverage for the county there uh in
transportation so as the vendors leave
[51:33] and haul it away if there was an
accident or something and it was our
[51:38] event that was involved it would provide
protection for the county there and then
[51:42] also at the end use or end location we
would have coverage for that as well and
[51:48] um uh with the pricing the carrier I
worked worked with shop multiple
[51:52] companies and this one came back most
favorable um on all the above and um
[51:58] I've even included the two underground
storage tanks in this with the highway
[52:03] department and the jail. So those are
factored in. Um
[52:07] and then the property
um on Jack and Sons whenever that's
[52:14] added they just have to review the phase
one data and FA if there is a phase two
[52:19] they have to review that. But um does
anyone have any questions for me on
[52:26] » Well, Brian, now [clears throat]
the way I understand it is this is just
[52:31] insurance for uh pollution.
>> Yeah. [clears throat]
[52:35] » Like you talked about um transportation.
It it wouldn't cover anything but the
[52:41] pollution caused by
>> auto accident would not be covered like
[52:45] the vehicle uh damage. But if there was
pollution per se, we the county has um
[52:53] risk transfer practices in place where
any vendor we use um should have 1099.
[52:59] If they file a 1099, they should have a
COI on file with us. And I've worked
[53:03] with DD to make sure every vendor,
whether it's the tire person, the
[53:07] household hazardous waste, uh the paint,
we we make sure we have all their
[53:11] certificates on file. And we do require
pollution for those vendors as well as
[53:16] automobile, general liability, uh
workers comp.
[53:21] [clears throat]
>> Um and did our old insurance
[53:26] » it was limited coverage and with the
county because the solid waste
[53:31] management district is so small like if
you look at across the county our budget
[53:35] for the size of the county and the and
the she she's really more of a educator.
[53:41] She goes out and teaches. She does 128
uh presentations a year to schools.
[53:47] » So, um but we don't have a landfill. We
we really outside of again outside of
[53:54] the couple of underground storage tanks
and then the collection events, we don't
[53:58] have a lot of exposure. But if we ever
had somebody
[54:03] dump on a on a property, that's where I
just felt the adding the 630 acres, we
[54:10] have a complete coverage. And um and
then the other thing I like about this
[54:15] company is that any property can be
added. Even though I had concerns about
[54:19] Jacks um bringing it on, what's what's
there? It's been a junkyard as long as I
[54:26] can remember. So Salvageard. So, um, I
just thought if we're bringing that on
[54:32] and as the county [clears throat] grows,
Dee's mentioned Republic working with
[54:35] them on adding a collection site where
people can drive through and drop stuff
[54:40] off. So, I just felt we really need to
expand on this. And we did make changes.
[54:46] We we monitor a lot of risk within the
county and uh this is just an area we
[54:51] really need to um bring up to speed and
with the growth um and the additional
[54:56] things that we're doing. I think it's
just time that we um put this in place.
[55:04] » Well, I think we need coverage.
>> Well, [clears throat] I I think we need
[55:08] some coverage. I'm not sure if it makes
sense to cover rideaways and stuff that
[55:16] in order for us to get a claim from a
rideway, we would have had to dump our
[55:21] own material on the rideway. If there's
a traffic accident and fuel or oil or
[55:28] anything has spilled into that rideway,
then the people involved in the traffic
[55:33] accident have to pay for that. Okay? IDM
goes specifically after those people. Um
[55:39] I'm I was personally involved in a oil
spill at a rideway and then I was
[55:45] responsible for for that not the county
or the city or anybody else.
[55:50] » And there's [clears throat] hundreds of
acres she's saying of right away
[55:55] and things like that. So and then like
the there's a lot of things on here that
[55:59] may not make sense and I know they
charge by the acre or they they you know
[56:04] environmental uh insurance is not is not
cheap. I've had to have some of it
[56:08] myself in the past. Um, if if there's at
the at the shooting range, if lead
[56:16] is not uh uh if lead contamination to an
adjacent property is not covered under
[56:22] the insurance, then why would you have
insurance at all at the shooting?
[56:25] Because they're not doing anything else
out there but shooting. You know,
[56:28] there's not vehicles on that property.
There's not anything that would cause
[56:32] cause you to have a a claim. Um, and
then if Jackson Suns is not in this,
[56:38] that's going to be a scenario of its
own. It's not going to probably pass a
[56:42] phase one or phase two after you say
they're done and then they would review
[56:46] it. It's not it's probably not ever
going to happen. Um, so that's kind of a
[56:52] mute point to this, but that's on in
addition to this. So, I I may I may
[56:57] think it's just too comprehensive for
every single little bitty thing that the
[57:02] county has to have um environmental
insurance on. Um [clears throat]
[57:09] I've just seen as drug in other uh
cases, not not pollution, that the
[57:16] county uh has big pockets and we tend to
get drugged into
[57:22] uh lawsuits. No, I don't.
>> It just hasn't happened since I've been
[57:26] here. That's maybe or I I don't I'm not
familiar with
[57:30] » cases like that. Um
>> the the waste management district um
[57:36] stuff
I I don't think you can blanket all of
[57:40] their issues or all of their stuff on
through this. I I don't think then they
[57:45] would have a blanket coverage. I I mean
that almost has to be sight specific to
[57:52] through to through our solid waste
management district and even if we have
[57:56] to increase funding to them to handle
all the coverages cuz because that's
[58:01] going to be a moving target. They do not
have a thing set up with Republic. Okay.
[58:06] They may never get a thing set up with
Republic uh for an ongoing thing. We've
[58:11] been trying that something like that for
years. [cough] and [clears throat] their
[58:15] locations that they have their stuff
changes also uh by who allows them to
[58:19] have places there. But um I I'm not
throwing cold water on everything,
[58:25] Brian. I just want us to realize the and
this is ongoing. This is like hiring
[58:32] another person. Okay. Once you start
this, you never quit. So
[58:36] » you're suggesting it might be money
better spent to focus more intricately
[58:40] on the things that are are of higher
risk rather than blanket something
[58:46] » the rather than blank any piece of well
there is high-risk scenarios. There is
[58:52] uh the county highway building um and
things like that that need to be covered
[58:56] and and the old jail and stuff like that
probably. But I don't know, as I said,
[59:01] if we pull in every little bitty
piece because I'm sure they're charging
[59:06] us for all those other things that that
may not ever have a and haven't had in
[59:13] the past uh a scenario.
Um
[59:17] » so will the price be cheaper then if we
limit what what we cover to the
[59:22] high-risisk areas?
>> There is a a locationbased rate. Um, I
[59:26] would have to get, you know, a revised
total, but just to kind of counter a
[59:31] little bit of what you said, Kent, what
about if you, you said if you were able
[59:34] to identify who dumped it, what about if
it's somebody that just pulls up, dumps
[59:38] in the middle of the night, and takes
off and there is no um accident report
[59:43] to move it or if that person if that
company or individual that has a loss,
[59:48] say it's a farmer with Anhydrris and
they have a serious accident and that
[59:53] their pollution limit either they didn't
have it or it was exceeded and then the
[59:57] county is kind of stuck there. We'll be
brought in on it with that um because
[1:00:02] it's our property. Um a majority would
fall on the land owner, I'm sure, in
[1:00:06] those areas, but we're still going to
have our piece. So, that's the only
[1:00:10] thing I disagree respectfully with you
on on the on the on coveraging covering
[1:00:15] everything. And then the difference
between the solid waste management
[1:00:18] district and this DED has a office
that's technically rented for at the
[1:00:24] Purdue. So, she's more of a contractor
uh pollution type risk where she's out
[1:00:30] and on the move. So, the solid waste
district doesn't have the amount of
[1:00:34] property or land that the county does.
And that's where we're talking two
[1:00:38] different coverages. This is a site uh
pollution policy. And then the where Dee
[1:00:44] is involved, that's more of a
contractor's pollution type policy
[1:00:47] because she has her office space. And
then other than that, she's whether
[1:00:53] she's at Republic, whether she's at the
schools, whether she's at the collection
[1:00:58] event itself. And she does two big ones,
April and September, and then she has a
[1:01:03] couple of smaller ones that uh bounce
between New Pal, Fortville,
[1:01:07] McCordsville. So there's there's other
locations there that she's at as well.
[1:01:11] But um what I put together was just you
could go a million if you wanted. What I
[1:01:19] would recommend instead of backing off
locations would go down in um go from a
[1:01:25] five million down to a three or one
million policy or whatever number. But
[1:01:30] that's where you could shave premium but
still have the comprehensive piece.
[1:01:34] There's also coverages within it does
exclude POS which are
[1:01:40] you have shoes that are waterproof. They
have spray on them that's a POS. So,
[1:01:44] there's so many things that are POS
type, but um mold or bacteria, things
[1:01:49] like that. There's things like that that
could be in the buildings that would
[1:01:52] that could potentially be picked up with
this as well. So, it's not just the dump
[1:01:56] of gas or antifreeze or something like
that. It's um covering the buildings in
[1:02:02] um in those areas as well for pollution.
Well, I it's going to be
[1:02:10] it it's with the things that aren't
included in it that we're going to have
[1:02:14] to add to it. You're talking about
um it's not 67. It's going to be 80 some
[1:02:20] thousand. If we eventually add um jacks
to it, we're talking $100,000 every
[1:02:26] three years. Um
>> I don't think it would be that much
[1:02:30] because the the 630 acres was the 20.
That was a big 630 acres is a big number
[1:02:37] over just the buildings and the and the
property they sit on. So, um
[1:02:42] » that covers all of the the Hancock
County farm, right? Both sides.
[1:02:47] » Well, and we have the new park um off
100 South between 40 and 100 South. Um
[1:02:53] the Ninstar Park. We have Yeah. the the
farm. When I talked to the assessor's
[1:02:58] office, I said, "I need all of the
ground that's owned by the county." and
[1:03:03] they gave me 630 acres,
>> right? And
[1:03:08] the 100 acres that's not been utilized
right now is we've, as far as I know,
[1:03:12] we've never had environmental insurance
on the farm ground.
[1:03:16] And
>> well, the county's owned it and had it
[1:03:19] farmed for hundred some years,
>> almost 200 years or 1850.
[1:03:26] » So are what are we asking of Brian? Are
we asking him to show us premium prices
[1:03:32] for one and threeyear? Are we asking him
to
[1:03:35] » mean one or three million
>> or I'm sorry 1 in 3 million or are we
[1:03:39] asking him to change the
>> right now it's 5 million right that's
[1:03:44] the
>> quote presented and that's what again
[1:03:46] I'm presenting what was favorably I gave
the commissioners the one and five and
[1:03:51] they voted 30 with a favorable
recommendation to come to you guys with
[1:03:55] that so they were
>> three is not an option
[1:03:58] » they were wanting the 5 million in that
meet from that
[1:04:03] I can tell you one other thing that's a
quick example. You just had water come
[1:04:07] in over here and there was silica
exposure that um um happened right out
[1:04:12] here in front of the building. And
that's just on a simple um back u from
[1:04:17] excavating. So, there's another type of
coverage where another time where you're
[1:04:22] lucky that the contractor stepped up and
paid it, but that could have gotten into
[1:04:27] where we would have had a $65,000
uh bill. So, that you know, it's not
[1:04:33] » we have a deductible of 50,000 though.
>> We do.
[1:04:36] » Okay.
>> But, um I'm just giving another quick
[1:04:39] example of where it comes into areas you
just don't think of. Um it can happen in
[1:04:44] areas where we don't think of. And with
the new policy, the self-insured, I just
[1:04:49] felt the pollution piece, we we were
limited before and kind of like you're
[1:04:54] saying in the in the in the mindset, it
I kind of saw it the same way like,
[1:04:59] well, we don't have a landfill, we don't
have all these different things. We're
[1:05:01] getting the certificates of insurance,
but looking into it, and I talked to
[1:05:06] many people um I've talked to many
people on this in different departments
[1:05:11] to get a picture in my head of what all
do we have. So that's why I presented
[1:05:15] this and I presented the 1 million in
the meeting, but they felt the five was
[1:05:21] the premium. If you look at it, I know
you're you're you're saying, "Oh, it's
[1:05:25] going to be 20 more if we go with the
other one." It's really divided by three
[1:05:29] years. So we're talking about 22 23,000
a year. Uh 67 69 be 23,000 a year. So
[1:05:37] current the current proposal and then if
you go to the 86 it's still under 30,000
[1:05:44] a year and that would encompass again as
of today all the property that we own.
[1:05:50] If we add jacks it's not going to be a
significant amount. It just um it's not
[1:05:55] going to be another 30,000.
>> Well they they wouldn't pick it up
[1:05:58] unless it was clean probably.
>> It's kind of like bringing a wreck car.
[1:06:02] I use this example in the commissioner
meeting. you bring a wreck car to
[1:06:04] somebody and say, "Hey, give me full
coverage on it." Well,
[1:06:06] » so the county will phase phase one,
phase two, whatever on that property and
[1:06:11] then whatever's located, then the county
will be responsible for cleaning that up
[1:06:15] prior to the insurance company taking it
over. So, you're right. It may not be
[1:06:20] that big of an addition, but we're going
to have initial outlay of of of stuff to
[1:06:25] get it to the point. But [snorts] um
>> I thought there was an initial
[1:06:29] assessment that led us to believe that
the property was not
[1:06:34] of significant concern regarding
contaminants.
[1:06:37] » I can't Gary could speak on that but I
can't speak.
[1:06:39] » You also have funds from the groundfield
act that's up to 400,000 for that
[1:06:43] location. Okay.
>> Um that the city I think was awarded but
[1:06:46] in the purchase was going to be shared
towards that and that included the phase
[1:06:50] one phase two. I reached out to our
district 5
[1:06:55] IDM rep and didn't get a call back, but
I just was going to inquire on that a
[1:06:59] little more, but um the there are that's
outside of county funds. Am I Gary? Am I
[1:07:06] misspeaking on that with the brownfield
act?
[1:07:09] » Is it brownfield money?
>> Brownfield grant.
[1:07:11] » Are [clears throat] we capable of
getting any of that grant money?
[1:07:13] » We got grant money and we removed a a
leaky underground storage tank from the
[1:07:18] park by me. So, we had the state pay for
that. And we have a grant through
[1:07:21] Greenfield to clean up
>> um jacks. We also have anhydra spills
[1:07:26] every year. We clean them up.
>> Um or the farmer cleans them up. Um
[1:07:32] that's kind of common in farming. Um
that's so yeah, the feds I apply for
[1:07:38] grants to get those brown field stuff
and we've been we get them. Um,
[1:07:43] » so you wouldn't have on the on the hand
andhydrris spills though you're talking
[1:07:47] about. Would we ever use the insurance?
We have a $50,000 deductible.
[1:07:51] » Well, generally the farmer cleans them
up. If we do them, usually case takes a
[1:07:54] couple thousand dollars of a spill kit.
>> We've been doing them.
[1:07:59] » Well, I I mean I I'm just then I need to
know where the money is going to come
[1:08:04] from, too. You know what I mean? This
outside the purview of everything we've
[1:08:07] got. Um
>> but to answer your question, yes, we get
[1:08:11] the grants from the feds for large stuff
and then local stuff is not it does cost
[1:08:16] money if we have something to come up is
not.
[1:08:18] » But you're thinking that um Jax is not
going to be a uh you're not going to
[1:08:22] come to us say we need a half a million
dollars out of food and beverage to fix
[1:08:26] JS.
>> I don't believe so.
[1:08:27] » Okay.
>> I'm asking other people for that money.
[1:08:30] [laughter]
[1:08:34] Uh Brian, was there um an option of a a
greater um uh greater than $50,000
[1:08:43] deductible? That made sense.
>> Yeah. Um that was what they um I didn't
[1:08:50] get any number on that. Again, that's
just where they said the
[1:08:54] » typically the policies are for county
municipalities are at 50. So I was
[1:08:59] trying what I was trying to do is we
have a 300,000. I was trying and I was
[1:09:03] trying to keep it down to where if we
did have an event, we're not getting hit
[1:09:07] with the 300. We've we've done really
well um with claims being lower after we
[1:09:13] went to that program. And so we're
trying to keep that money in that
[1:09:16] [clears throat] coffer. So part of it
was in thought of if we did have any
[1:09:21] kind of event um have a lower lower out
of pocket but
[1:09:28] and [clears throat] as far as paying for
it if we do the three-year I think we
[1:09:33] just take it from food and beverage and
I mean it's a it would become a in the
[1:09:39] long term would become part of general
fund expenditure but
[1:09:45] » yeah I know that's what I'm saying
where's where's this is like um once you
[1:09:50] start you never you never stop it there
is something in the back of my mind
[1:09:55] saying we've owned three 200 or 150
acres out there for 200 years and never
[1:10:01] had it on it and um I don't see in the
change for us to to to cover that much
[1:10:09] ground for for a reason but um that's
why I was trying to figure out how to
[1:10:15] make this less
punitive to us. You know, when you're
[1:10:19] talking 80 $90,000 over three years, you
know, is there a way we could
[1:10:26] take the deductible up because I there
is a chance somebody could dump
[1:10:31] something and do it. It's never
happened.
[1:10:34] Okay. It's never happened. So, but there
is a chance. There's a chance of a lot
[1:10:38] of things, I suppose. But,
[clears throat] so is there a way that
[1:10:41] the deductible can increase it, bring
the premium down? there's a way that we
[1:10:45] could go to 3 million instead of 5
million um and bring the premium down. I
[1:10:49] I I I don't I think common sense tells
us we're not going to have a $5 million
[1:10:57] thing we've never never had before.
>> Well, that's what I could ask him is,
[1:11:00] you know, what's the typical claim in
this area? What's the average claim
[1:11:04] amount
>> or paid paid amount, I should say, not
[1:11:09] just claim,
>> I guess. I mean, it takes one. I don't
[1:11:14] have data on the average claim for
pollution, but I mean there are cases
[1:11:20] that can be laser claims too. I mean for
um I I just would have to go back and
[1:11:27] get that number for you. But um you know
the limits we carry on our liability. Um
[1:11:35] I I think regardless if it's 5 million
or less, the countyy's in a we're
[1:11:41] growing to a point we need it and um
as the solid waste management district
[1:11:48] goes on its own and kind of grows from
there. Um they'll have their coverage
[1:11:54] for for their events, but that protects
that individual governmental unit at
[1:12:00] that point. we can we can put
them on as an additional named insured
[1:12:06] right now uh because they're still part
of the county. So, I'm going to have
[1:12:09] them as an additional insured on this
policy through they're getting their own
[1:12:12] legs and walking on their own. But,
um again, that's a different type of
[1:12:18] risk because it's a contractor risk
point versus the site pollution. So,
[1:12:25] um, I thought the premium was reasonable
because 630 acres is a lot of ground to
[1:12:30] expand coverage across all of it. And
it's in my mind, I just don't want to be
[1:12:36] the one that pinpoints and says, "Well,
we're probably not going to have
[1:12:38] anything here, here, here." Um, the
difference between 200 200 acres and the
[1:12:44] additional 630, it was 76,000 for 200
acres. And to get up to the 630, it
[1:12:51] added 86,000. Uh it went up to 86139. So
it was less than $10,000 to add that
[1:12:58] many acres. I know you say Ken that hey
it's going to continue to add add. I
[1:13:03] don't think it's going to be that bad.
This is we're we're moving it a long way
[1:13:08] down the road to cover everything now.
the incidental things that we bring on
[1:13:13] whether it's a salvage art or you know
whatever they have pro they have the
[1:13:17] right to say no if you bring on a
property that they don't feel because
[1:13:21] they're going to review the reports and
make sure they meet underwriting
[1:13:24] criteria but um I still um with the
limit and the you know the county does
[1:13:32] 90 over 90 million in
revenue I mean we're we're a big county
[1:13:38] so I felt like the pricing is favorable.
>> Uh, you know, I'm not against generally
[1:13:45] speaking ensuring against pollutants. My
biggest concern is that someday
[1:13:49] something we have something in Hancock
County that we feel the county needs to
[1:13:54] address that is not necessarily specific
to our
[1:13:59] owned parcels.
And you know, with what's provided here,
[1:14:04] I I don't
I can't say I have a really um clear
[1:14:10] view on what we are and aren't covering.
I don't know. For the sake of today,
[1:14:17] do you guys want to ask Brian to produce
some of these things? You're asking
[1:14:19] about some of these variations, higher
deductibles, different properties. Do we
[1:14:24] want to take this under advisement and
move it to the next agenda? Yeah, I was
[1:14:28] thinking of we can I I mean unless
there's a deadline, we can move it to
[1:14:32] the September 29th joint meeting.
>> And that gives everyone time to inquire
[1:14:36] on variations.
>> Yeah. I don't know if I don't know if
[1:14:38] any of you out I know I talked to Brian
for quite a while about it, but I didn't
[1:14:42] know if any of the rest of you had. So,
>> one thing I'd like to see and the food
[1:14:47] and beverage is fine maybe for the first
payment, but I would like for it to be
[1:14:50] in its own fund so that those that come
after us will be able to um track it.
[1:14:57] That's that's the importance of it being
in a fund. You can track, you know, that
[1:15:01] it hasn't gone way up and and none of us
are here. And um
[1:15:06] » well, it seems to me
>> people don't realize I
[1:15:08] » I do think if solid waste management is
its own entity and the risk is different
[1:15:13] with contract versus county that maybe
you are talking about two separate
[1:15:18] policies. I don't know if that's a cost
concern. And then ultimately, it sounds
[1:15:23] like it belongs in the commissioner's
budget to me because the commissioners
[1:15:27] want the coverage. Commissioners have a
budget, a substantial budget, and I
[1:15:31] believe that's where it lives, which is
funded through the general fund.
[1:15:37] » That's [clears throat] probably where it
would go, wouldn't it, Mary? If we did
[1:15:40] its own fund, it'd go in the
commissioners.
[1:15:42] » Yes.
>> And and
[1:15:43] » I'd like to see the the cost of
$100,000.
[1:15:47] » I would definitely take a higher
deductible.
[1:15:49] » Higher deductible. Get a set.
>> And is 3 million capable or is it just
[1:15:53] they don't do that? They don't do that
much.
[1:15:55] » You can do 1 2 3 4 5 million.
>> Huh?
[1:16:00] » And and you and then yours
>> uh my insurance goes up about 15% a
[1:16:07] year. [laughter]
>> U maybe because I'm just a a a dweeb in
[1:16:13] this scenario. But so this is
>> is this insurance going up like
[1:16:18] everything else every year to the the
point too cuz um this locks us in. We
[1:16:23] don't have increases.
>> We're locked in for three years.
[1:16:26] » Three years. And but you you do have to
realize that could be 30% more.
[1:16:30] » Yeah.
>> I mean if we're going to do something
[1:16:32] I'm favorable to the three-year
commitment based on these numbers. It
[1:16:35] looks like the discount that provided
for three versus one [clears throat] is
[1:16:39] worth
>> I agree. If you're going to if you're
[1:16:41] going to do it, you do it for the three
years. But I would definitely take a
[1:16:43] higher deductible. I would leave the 5
million and put us on the hook for a six
[1:16:48] figure number. So it's just cat
catastrophe mitigation.
[1:16:53] » Jim likes to spend food and beverage cuz
he's going to be gone.
[1:16:56] » Yeah, we are trying.
>> Whenever restaurants are still going to
[1:16:58] be here, he's going to be gone. So we
could care less what happens, you know?
[1:17:02] So [laughter] it's like that's not
sustainable.
[1:17:04] » It will always be big. You'll always
have enough.
[1:17:08] » No, you're not.
>> People just keep eating. And
[1:17:10] » you're all kid every day, aren't you?
>> [laughter]
[1:17:13] [snorts]
>> The only thing I'll say on the
[1:17:16] three-year that I want to make sure
everybody's clear on, it's a three-year
[1:17:19] locked premium, but the bene the uh uh
liability limit of 5 million, if we have
[1:17:25] an event and it spends down on any of
that, including the um 1.25 on the
[1:17:31] defense cost, whatever spent down on
those, we would have the remainder for
[1:17:36] the time being. So we could get hit
right at right at the time the policy
[1:17:40] issued a few months in and we have a
major loss. Then we would have to buy a
[1:17:45] new policy at that point because the
renewal where the policies renew on the
[1:17:50] annual not the three-year. You're paying
that higher amount every year for that
[1:17:54] full 5 million. And so there could be a
diff there could be a caveat like I said
[1:17:59] where we have an event and there's any
money paid out then that amount carries
[1:18:04] forward the remaining period of that
first three year.
[1:18:07] » Well what was the per incident limit?
>> Well we have 5 million is the limit with
[1:18:12] a 50,000 deductible. But say we had an
event that was million and a half that
[1:18:17] would go down at whatever point that is
and then through the remaining.
[1:18:21] » So it's 5 million total for three years.
>> Yeah. And if you do annual, it's not 5
[1:18:26] million a year.
>> It's renewing at 5 million every year.
[1:18:29] » But if but if year two you spend the
five million, okay, you spent 60 70
[1:18:34] grand, you cashed in on 4 million of
coverage, you have to go buy another
[1:18:39] policy,
>> right? Yeah.
[1:18:40] » Right.
>> And I mean, I know you guys are thinking
[1:18:42] back some of our um exposure could be in
the transportation side where um we have
[1:18:50] an event uh or end use. I mean, I just
think it's time to get something in
[1:18:56] place and then as we go forward because
we're going to continue the collection
[1:18:58] events from talking to DD, that area is
going to expand and whether it's
[1:19:03] standalone or not, the county will still
be tied to that because it's a county uh
[1:19:07] collection process. So, um and then
along with the growth of
[1:19:13] just the county in general, uh we're
going to add buildings and things like
[1:19:17] that. those things would come on in
time. But
[1:19:18] » September 20th
>> um to add 200 or yeah to add 430 acres
[1:19:24] it was less than 10,000. So I don't
think it's going to be a Halloween's
[1:19:29] number if we add Jack
>> the savings [clears throat] are going to
[1:19:32] come if we add the if we increase the
deductible or
[1:19:35] » yeah I've got a note here for the 100k
uh
[1:19:38] » maybe to 3 million and see and
>> and the 3 mil. Okay.
[1:19:41] » Yeah. And see what that is and then
we'll compare to what the expense is. So
[1:19:45] the commissioners have a meeting next
week. I can have that and present to
[1:19:50] them. Do I need to go and get that? Like
what should my process be? So
[1:19:54] » well you you the the meeting you're
talking about, Scott, is joint, right?
[1:19:57] So
>> joint September 29th.
[1:19:58] » Yeah, on the 29th.
>> That'd be the right time to do that.
[1:20:01] » Yeah, it would. That way we can get
>> that we don't have to go twice.
[1:20:03] » And then the only other thing
my question I guess would be then say I
[1:20:07] come back with whatever that is at the
29th. Do you guys approve it at that
[1:20:11] time or is it still
>> they can
[1:20:14] » we can
>> it could be approved at
[1:20:16] » Yeah.
>> And Keela, you mentioned something about
[1:20:19] the exact coverages. I'll get a list of
that for you for
[1:20:23] everybody. And what's the best way to
get that to you? Just go to Amber or
[1:20:28] » if you send it to the auditor's office
and request it be distributed. They'll
[1:20:32] send it to everybody.
>> Okay. And then um
[1:20:35] » the only other question I have would be
the collection events. the 26th. We did
[1:20:41] a standalone policy for it before. Um,
and I don't know if I need to talk to
[1:20:47] the commissioners on this or not or you
guys, but that's the 26th. And if this
[1:20:51] meeting is the 29th, it's going to over
it'll be over after we talk.
[1:20:58] » Right. So, you need to do another
standalone for that one.
[1:21:01] » Okay.
>> Yeah.
[1:21:02] » Okay.
>> And just same as the last time it would
[1:21:04] go through the solid waste management.
>> Yep. because we added the county to that
[1:21:08] policy and it [snorts] covered uh
covered them through that.
[1:21:12] » Okay.
>> Thanks, Brian.
[1:21:14] » Thank you guys. Appreciate your time.
>> Thanks.
[1:21:17] » Thank
>> All right.
[1:21:18] » That went that went a little longer than
I anticipated. So,
[1:21:20] » sorry about that.
>> Well, hey, you know.
[1:21:23] » So, I'm going to uh next up, I got to go
back to Magistrate Kums because he's off
[1:21:26] the bench and he's here right now. So,
I'll have him come on up and talk about
[1:21:29] the magistrate administrative assistant.
>> Thank you. Thanks for uh um changing my
[1:21:36] time for court. We have a very busy
court morning this morning. Um we have a
[1:21:40] simple request. We got the magistrate
assistant position that uh when we set
[1:21:43] it up, we set it up as a split position
between the clerk's office and the
[1:21:46] court. Um when we set the position up,
we told the council, we'd let the
[1:21:50] council know when the position needed to
be moved over to the court if we became
[1:21:53] that busy. And we're at that spot where
we need to move the position out of the
[1:21:57] clerk's office and entirely under the uh
the court's umbrella. So, we're just
[1:22:01] looking to reappropriate. I believe the
uh the budget uh is the position is
[1:22:06] funded through the clerk's office. We
just want to move that over to circuit
[1:22:09] court spirit 2 or spear one um to cover
that position. We are overhauling how
[1:22:14] the courthouse works for next year. We
need to create additional docket space
[1:22:18] and in order to do that we need to run
four courtrooms at a time. And so that
[1:22:22] magistrate assistant position which we
it took a few months to get that filled
[1:22:27] because it is a really hard position and
the way it is currently set up it is a
[1:22:31] very boring position and it it's one
that we actually for a couple weeks gave
[1:22:34] up on filling because we couldn't find
anybody to fill it. We have been able to
[1:22:38] fill it but we need to modify how it
works. The assistant position is going
[1:22:42] to be a reporter position and that
assistant is going to follow the
[1:22:46] magistrate wherever the magistrate goes
and the magistrate will run the
[1:22:49] magistrate's own docket for a couple
days out of the week. So we'll have four
[1:22:53] judges taking a court taking the bench
at a time in order to uh make the courts
[1:22:57] more efficient. But that's not going to
work if we have an assistant that's only
[1:23:01] 50% of the time with the courts um and
can't follow that magistrate assistant
[1:23:05] around and we don't have enough
reporters with the other courts in order
[1:23:08] to make that system work. So, it's kind
of a this is really the the move we've
[1:23:13] got to make in order to get the
courthouse more efficient. Um,
[1:23:15] » so you're wanting to amend the budget
for next year.
[1:23:19] » Yeah.
>> Yeah. I'll refer that to Mary. I've got
[1:23:23] multiple
>> advertised. We can't do that till the 1
[1:23:26] of
>> January. But if we're done,
[1:23:28] » yeah, the budget,
>> does the salary ordinance specify that
[1:23:32] position uh as being under the under the
clerk? And so the salary ordinance will
[1:23:37] need amended to move it under a
different department.
[1:23:40] » You're talking current and then moving
forward for next year.
[1:23:43] » Well, just next year, we'll keep it in
the clerk's office.
[1:23:47] » So, currently it's in county general and
the clerk's office. next year.
[1:23:51] » Which court do you want it? Do you want
it?
[1:23:53] » It doesn't matter. We've been talking
about circuit, but I don't think it
[1:23:55] matters which one.
>> We would prefer it be in one court just
[1:23:59] to make it easier for payroll purposes.
>> Yeah, let's just throw it in circuit if
[1:24:02] that's okay.
>> Okay. As long as Judge Cirk's good with
[1:24:05] that, that's fine.
>> He's okay.
[1:24:06] » That's fine.
>> Yeah. And Miss Manship and Judge Cirk
[1:24:09] are all on board on this and they in
they're insistent we need it to work. We
[1:24:13] need this to happen in order to make the
courthouse function, right?
[1:24:16] I I'm glad you're asking for the other
half of a person you already have and
[1:24:20] not a whole new person. [laughter] So
tell me where
[1:24:22] » trying to make this easy for y'all.
Somebody's losing
[1:24:25] » I think
[laughter]
[1:24:28] that they
>> What is the clerk's office going to say
[1:24:30] about losing half a person?
>> Uh Lisa is also insistent she she wants
[1:24:35] the position moved. [laughter]
>> Losing that employee's
[1:24:39] problem next year, so we'll worry about
that later. Are shaking his head? Yes. I
[1:24:43] don't I think she's at a conference
today, I believe. Otherwise, she'd be
[1:24:46] here adamantly arguing on behalf of this
request. She knows she wants it down.
[1:24:51] » I think the auditor, Pro Tim, [laughter]
until tonight has um um an issue that
[1:24:59] she needs.
>> No, actually, that is not going to be
[1:25:01] that difficult of a problem because it's
already in county general.
[1:25:05] » We're just going to be changing from one
department to another.
[1:25:09] » Okay.
>> I actually don't see that as being an
[1:25:11] issue. We're not increasing the budget,
>> right?
[1:25:14] » It's staying the same. It's just going
to change from one location.
[1:25:18] » Do you need it formalized in a motion or
is this banter sufficient?
[1:25:22] » I would like a motion, please.
>> I'll make a motion uh that beginning in
[1:25:27] January 2027, the position shared uh
between the clerk and courts be moved
[1:25:34] into the circuit court budget.
>> Second.
[1:25:38] » All right. I have a motion and a second
on the table. Is there any discussion on
[1:25:41] this?
>> Just as long as the clerk agrees.
[1:25:45] » Okay,
>> we got a thumbs up back there.
[1:25:48] » All those in favor say I.
>> I. Any oppose? Same sign. Motion carries
[1:25:52] unanimously.
>> Thank you all. Thanks. Really
[1:25:54] » welcome.
>> Thank you.
[1:25:56] » All right. Next up from 9:45
>> request for additional appropriations.
[1:26:01] Gary P. Come on up.
>> Dusty is a new
[1:26:04] we had a gas tax reduction this year
which you might be aware of. Okay.
[1:26:07] » The state has sent money to the county
from the excess from the state surplus.
[1:26:14] Um, of course, that went into a
different fund. So, I can't use it to
[1:26:17] replace that gas tax money that was.
>> So, I'm asking for from the fund
[1:26:22] $371,000 to be appropriated to line
23,000 to be used for road materials.
[1:26:29] » All right. Thumbs up to
>> advertised
[1:26:31] » 371,000.
>> All right. It'll be advertised and then
[1:26:34] we'll vote next time.
>> Thank you. Thanks, Gary.
[1:26:37] » Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[1:26:39] » Uh yeah, we're almost Yeah. Resolutions
for non-compliance. Nicole Berley.
[1:26:51] » Good morning. Um actually, I'm going to
kind of collaborate with Scott. So last
[1:26:55] month we had two CF1s that were denied
for 26 pay 27. Well, there needs to be a
[1:27:03] resolution to terminate those in the way
that you want them terminated. So, Scott
[1:27:09] drew up a a resolution for termination
of abatement. If you could review to see
[1:27:15] if this is something that you would like
to use um and then we can send to the
[1:27:19] two non-compliant
abatements.
[1:27:27] Uh just I'm no attorney but the verbiage
here says the council decided the
[1:27:32] abatement will be denied for the year
2026 but the extor could return in 2027
[1:27:36] and reapply.
I mean is reapply the I thought we said
[1:27:41] that they're not going to apply for a
new abatement right they can come file
[1:27:45] another
>> CF1 and try to have it reinstated is
[1:27:50] reapply appropriate verbiage
>> we can we can work with that a little
[1:27:55] bit. um exit uh I've been in contact
with and I think they wanted to speak
[1:28:00] during the public comment
uh period today and I don't is Matt Kein
[1:28:07] is here who's the attorney for know
that'll
[1:28:10] » yeah that's not that's not the proper
time to right
[1:28:13] » the public comment's about Walmart it's
not about extor now is this something
[1:28:17] we're have to bring back and have a
resolution
[1:28:19] » we're going to yeah we're going to have
to we're [clears throat] going to have
[1:28:21] to reo this and have the appropriate
procedure procedures implement. It's
[1:28:26] first time to do it.
>> Okay. [clears throat] So then we could
[1:28:29] have him speak before we vote on that.
Correct. And he can always
[1:28:33] » I will say on that what they are looking
at is maybe providing you some more
[1:28:39] proof that there's going to be a tenant
there such as potentially an executed
[1:28:43] lease or something like that.
>> And there supposed to be are there two
[1:28:46] of these or is this just do we had two?
is really this is one that would be used
[1:28:51] for exit but there it's kind of a sample
of what we would do going forward if we
[1:28:57] have to do these we also you know have
to send a letter preparatory to this
[1:29:02] that has by statute some other
requirements so we we're work Nicole and
[1:29:08] I are working together to to make sure
that that process is done the right way
[1:29:12] » right
>> but this is just a this this is an
[1:29:15] example but it was drafted for exit but
we're going to have to go back.
[1:29:22] Um, but they did I'm just giving you the
information. They did approach me.
[1:29:27] Matt's here today. Um, about getting
reconsideration of that. So, I'm just
[1:29:33] letting you know that we don't have to
do today,
[1:29:35] » right?
>> Um, and I agree it's not that's not the
[1:29:38] time we normally entertain those things.
>> And he can he can send an email and and
[1:29:42] and or contact each of us uh
individually. Um, I mean, he just like
[1:29:47] the public can. I mean, he has that
right to do that and and and meet with
[1:29:51] any of us if you wanted to, if any of us
willing to meet with them. Um,
[1:29:54] » all true. Right.
>> So,
[1:29:57] » you're just here to notify us that there
will be further action necessary. Yes.
[1:30:02] You're notifying us. This is a sample.
We're not voting on anything today.
[1:30:06] » Not today.
>> Well, we're going to this is way that
[1:30:09] all that'll happen going forward. We'll
actually execute a resolution on the day
[1:30:14] that you make that kind of
>> Yeah, I think that's an excellent idea.
[1:30:19] » I have to do it.
>> I say I would like to be put on next
[1:30:22] month's agenda. So, I would like to try
to get this wrapped up and get letters
[1:30:25] and information sent out to these two
businesses.
[1:30:29] » Okay. So, do you need a motion or
anything to no to go forward? Oh, you
[1:30:32] just the approval that we're
>> This is just for information purposes.
[1:30:35] » Okay, that's fine. And then we'll set
you you get on the calendar for next
[1:30:38] month. And then when you do get on a
calendar, do set a time for them to
[1:30:42] speak.
>> Okay.
[1:30:44] » Before we do a vote, make sure they're
included.
[1:30:46] » Should I send a letter to Red Rock? I
have had no contact from Red Rock on
[1:30:51] » Is that one of the denials?
>> Yes, it was one of the denials.
[1:30:54] » Yes. Yes. Okay. Uh certified mail or
something of that sort.
[1:30:56] » Yeah, we have to follow the statute on
that, too. We can talk about that.
[1:30:59] » Okay. All right. Thank you.
>> I just want to thank you, Nicole. We've
[1:31:02] kept you busy the last couple months and
this is the least favorite part of my
[1:31:06] job is drafting these and getting
approval since I'm not a an attorney,
[1:31:09] but I have to send several of these out.
So, thanks for your patience, but thanks
[1:31:13] for all your work on this.
>> Thank you.
[1:31:16] » All right. At this time, I will uh take
a break and then we will wait and then
[1:31:23] uh we'll reconvene and do the public
comment and deal with Walmart. All
[1:31:26] right.
We're
[1:31:28] » journ for now. [snorts]
Break.
[1:47:05] All right, I'm going to call the meeting
back to order. Uh before we do the start
[1:47:10] the public comment, I'm going to have
Eric come up briefly here. Um I I wanted
[1:47:15] to ask him a question. Uh we had gotten
some emails. Obviously, we got a lot of
[1:47:18] emails on data centers, but we got I got
an email on Walmart, and I was going to
[1:47:22] want to ask you um cuz it was a good
question. We should have asked last
[1:47:25] week. Um how many of your uh associates
that work at the warehouse currently are
[1:47:31] on public assistance or get I don't have
a specific number, but I can tell you
[1:47:35] [clears throat] it's extremely rare in
the distribution centers in particular
[1:47:39] because of the hourly rate. Now, with
2.1 million associates in the United
[1:47:44] States and across the planet, um we do
have some rare circumstances
[1:47:52] where associates choose to manage their
hours based on their own specific needs
[1:47:58] for them, their family, the structure
that they have. A number of associates
[1:48:03] choose not to work additional hours that
they're provided specifically to not
[1:48:08] trigger some federal thresholds, but
those are personal decisions that they
[1:48:13] make on behalf of themselves and their
families. They are very rare
[1:48:17] circumstances with the 1.7 or so million
total associates we have in over 4,500
[1:48:23] facilities here in the United States.
>> Okay. Um, I I say if anybody else has
[1:48:28] any questions before I say that, we're
going to do the public uh when we do the
[1:48:31] public comment, then I'll bring Eric
back up if there's follow-up questions
[1:48:34] from what you've heard from the public,
unless somebody has another question.
[1:48:38] » I think there are some questions that
got sent over that just clarify before
[1:48:42] public comments so they knew what they
wanted to speak on. But like one is, you
[1:48:46] know, retail orders, what kind of just
quickly elaborate,
[1:48:51] will there be public retail orders or is
this all kind of fulfillment? So for for
[1:48:56] IND3 in particular, um the way that
system is set and it again we we invite
[1:49:02] anyone that wants to come in and see it.
Um council members, we we'd love to host
[1:49:06] you again. That facility runs retail
orders for the entire country. So
[1:49:14] those.com orders that you think of that
are placed whether they're here in
[1:49:18] Indianapolis, here in Indiana, as far as
away as Utah or West Virginia, where it
[1:49:23] may come from, that facility processes
retail orders. So in that document I
[1:49:28] shared with you last week about the
number of the total number that we
[1:49:33] collect and remit, for example, in sales
taxes here in Indiana because of the
[1:49:37] sales and use tax program that we've we
fought. one of the legislative
[1:49:41] accomplishments I had in Michigan and
Ohio and some of the other states on
[1:49:44] behalf of the corporation. Um, now all
of us engaged in those online sales
[1:49:49] collect and remit taxes to the
respective states that those sales are
[1:49:54] generated out of rather than when I
started at Walmart and it was just those
[1:49:59] of us that had a quote physical presence
in your state that collect and remitted
[1:50:04] those sales. So all of those are retail
sales, but we are not open to the public
[1:50:08] for retail sales. You can't just walk
into one of our distribution facilities
[1:50:12] and purchase, you know, the new whatever
Apple might be offering or whatever one
[1:50:17] of our online platforms might be
offering for you.
[1:50:20] » Uh another thing on the application was
part of the employees were technical and
[1:50:24] vendor roles. Just kind of explain
associates and technical vendor roles.
[1:50:28] » Trevor alluded to this last week um and
in part of his comments as our general
[1:50:33] manager. So, we've got kind of a
three-pronged approach going on
[1:50:36] currently. We have Indie1 that's coming
online over in Planefield that's going
[1:50:41] to transfer some of the existing
associates here in Hancock County back
[1:50:46] over to the facility that they started
from. The second wave is of course
[1:50:50] holiday season is upon us and we do ramp
up with temporary positions during the
[1:50:56] holiday season. So the application
before you does not include those
[1:51:01] temporary associates. It's specifically
for full-time associates that we expect
[1:51:06] to be as part of the expansion. So I
think that number list we have listed is
[1:51:12] at 400. Now, as we hire these temporary
associates here in the short term, we
[1:51:18] certainly hope that those individuals
want to stay with us, do well, exceed at
[1:51:24] their jobs, and are able to roll over
then into those full-time positions, but
[1:51:29] they are completely separate than what
we're doing right now. So, the
[1:51:32] application that you have before you is
for those full-time positions. Um, and
[1:51:38] then a few of those, of course, are
salaried, as Treasurer alluded to as
[1:51:42] well, in addition to the hourly rates
that we talked about.
[1:51:46] » I'm going to try to make these last two
into one question. Uh, but essentially
[1:51:51] part of the application process is
declaring it, working with us an
[1:51:55] economic revitalization area. So, just
comment on Walmart's thoughts of, you
[1:52:01] know, why this area? Why did you think
it was an economic revitalization area,
[1:52:05] somewhere to invest? And then also, you
know, previous a lot of I think of our
[1:52:11] last one that came before us, small
business, they were looking to get an
[1:52:15] abatement before they built. We all
thought it was a great addition to the
[1:52:19] community. You guys bought a building. I
I think that's probably why you didn't
[1:52:24] come before us to get the abatement and
then do all this. But I just want to
[1:52:29] make sure I want to get your thoughts on
that.
[1:52:30] » Yeah. And just from a historical context
again some of this was before my tenure
[1:52:34] enroll but um as my colleague as we came
online specifically for the second
[1:52:39] resolution that you have before you for
what we call IND6 that's the building
[1:52:44] that we have purchased. So in addition
to the half a billion dollar investment
[1:52:49] we're making in what we call IND3
[snorts] for the expansion and the jobs
[1:52:54] associated with that facility. We also
have Indie 6 coming online as well. And
[1:52:59] there's a separate resolution for them
for a similar abatement structure, the
[1:53:04] same 50% over fiveyear that we've talked
about. Um that abatement schedule for
[1:53:09] IND6 is for new associates that will be
hired into that facility itself. Um when
[1:53:15] I talked earlier about how Indy3 and
what we do there with our online and
[1:53:20] what that provides with retail sales and
how that program works, right? Um
[1:53:24] whether you've ordered in Utah or West
Virginia, how that works.
[1:53:29] The geography of where we're standing
is really really important to not only
[1:53:35] to us but to all of the corporations
that you see in this space operating
[1:53:40] here. Greater Indianapolis,
Columbus, Ohio, you know, this kind of
[1:53:46] center center Midwest region
provides us and don't quote me so
[1:53:52] forgive me. It's like 80% of the
population of the United States is
[1:53:58] within 8 hours of where we're physically
standing.
[1:54:00] » I think you're close there. I've heard
that.
[1:54:02] » It matters. It really matters to be
here. And of course, the opportunity to
[1:54:07] work in Hancock County. Um we wouldn't
be looking at a half a billion dollar
[1:54:12] expansion if we didn't have a great
working relationship with you all, with
[1:54:16] the county, and with with our
associates. And the I I said it before,
[1:54:21] the better the county does, the better
we do as a company, the better our
[1:54:24] associates do um because they live and
work here in your community. So, but we
[1:54:29] do appreciate you guys having us and
considering this today.
[1:54:32] » Thank you. Okay.
>> I have one point of clarification. In my
[1:54:35] packet, I have three versions of the
SB1. One is dated December, one's dated
[1:54:44] May, one's dated July. And while they
are very similar, there are small
[1:54:49] variations. So,
>> yeah. And and forgive me um
[1:54:52] [clears throat]
to to get back as I I mentioned this and
[1:54:56] I kind of I wandered down a small little
rabbit hole. Um and in coming in before
[1:55:00] my tenure, part of withholding after the
purchase, um you all in the state of
[1:55:06] Indiana was going through Senate Bill
one, right, which impacted communities
[1:55:12] property tax. So, as in the spirit of
working together with the county, we
[1:55:18] kind of held back on the initial wave on
um our initial application, particularly
[1:55:25] on the Indie 6 property and why we why
we had not come before you. So, that
[1:55:30] might be why you're seeing a couple of
different dates.
[1:55:33] » The one dated 731 [clears throat] is the
correct one. Correct.
[1:55:38] » We're asking is the last one filed the
correct one? It reflects salaries uh
[1:55:45] current current employees 1,805
salary 61,300
[1:55:52] number of additional employees 400 with
an asterisk of include seasonal
[1:55:58] technical and mechanical.
>> Yeah, there's exactly those seasonal
[1:56:00] coming on now and we're not we're not
counting the the jobs that are currently
[1:56:05] underway there with the act physical
construction installment of equipment
[1:56:09] and all that stuff that's
>> let me hold that right here for a
[1:56:11] second. So the document drafted the
resolution that should be signing it
[1:56:14] actually says plus 200 new employees on
that one
[1:56:18] » that that's for Indie 6. That's the new
per the new
[1:56:22] » that's I think that isn't this Indie 300
cuz it's 1,886
[1:56:27] existing employees plus 200 new
employees. I thought the resolution said
[1:56:31] 400 employees that there were two
separate resolution [clears throat]
[1:56:35] says
>> the other the other resolution says zero
[1:56:39] existing employees plus 300 new
employees
[1:56:44] » throw out the two
>> and that's and that's what I thought was
[1:56:46] six
>> that should be that if there's zero
[1:56:51] existing then that would be yes
so this is the one that Keley's been
[1:56:56] talking about which is building three it
currently has 1,886 existing plus 200
[1:57:01] new employees. And then she said that
there's two different S.
[1:57:06] » Yeah. What's what we have attached to
the resolution for consideration says
[1:57:10] you have 1,886 employees, 57,500
a year average salary with 200
[1:57:17] additionals. And then that
[clears throat] is dated May 6. And then
[1:57:23] there's two other SB1s with the same
address on uh West 500 North. One is all
[1:57:29] the way back in December of last year.
Um and that other than some other than a
[1:57:36] lower salary, it's looks substantially
similar, but the [clears throat] most
[1:57:40] recent one is July 31st
and it has higher salaries and higher
[1:57:46] employees.
>> That one should say 400.
[1:57:48] » It does. Right.
>> So it's your intention to use the most
[1:57:50] recent one? Yes.
>> 400 with the salary 61,300
[1:57:54] » for D3.
>> So then on page two, uh, Scott Banky,
[1:57:58] legal council, page two, we have that
changed to say plus 400 new employees
[1:58:03] on the resolution for that one.
>> It does.
[1:58:06] » My version says 200.
>> Yeah, this one.
[1:58:10] » See, our version says 200,
>> Randy.
[1:58:13] » Yeah,
>> absolutely support that amendment.
[1:58:16] » Okay.
>> Completely.
[1:58:17] » We can include that.
>> Say mine says
[1:58:20] a big deal. I just want to clarify since
we have more than one
[1:58:23] » 300. Yeah,
>> but it's 400.
[1:58:26] » Yours is red light.
>> Yeah, but hers does say four.
[1:58:30] » Yeah, her version says 400.
>> You just got two different
[1:58:32] » We have two different versions. We'll
make sure the one we signed says 400,
[1:58:35] » right? We'll pass the one says 400.
>> Thank you for the hopefully.
[1:58:39] » Oh, that's fine.
>> Is that what your original says then
[1:58:42] » 100 is would be perfect.
>> We don't have one that says 400.
[1:58:46] » Well, she does somehow.
>> That's interesting. How did you get
[1:58:49] that?
>> I just got yours from Randy, I believe.
[1:58:52] » Did you print it out?
>> They just Yeah, I printed it, but they
[1:58:55] sent it to me and I got
>> Oh, she printed it out. It's something
[1:58:58] they sent.
>> No, mine was in my packet.
[1:59:00] » It's in Mine's in my packet. It's in the
packet
[1:59:02] » yesterday.
>> Oh, Randy sent it up to her.
[1:59:06] » Okay.
>> So, she Okay. So, the one you sent out
[1:59:11] had the wrong version.
It's good for them to
[1:59:16] » one is dated 731
>> 26 and it says 400
[1:59:22] » these numbers
[1:59:27] to show 400
>> and it also has the wrong
[1:59:31] » it just has to have the right resolution
>> higher
[1:59:33] » yeah it doesn't have the correct salary
either on my page two
[1:59:37] » that's fine the latest SP1 should have
updated salaries and the correct number
[1:59:43] of 400 00 and then obviously yes we
would appro if there's an amendment that
[1:59:48] needs to be offered to make sure that
the resolution mirrors that 400 we
[1:59:53] certainly support your offer
>> SP1 says 400 too they both do
[1:59:57] » but the um so the so the resolution we
have in front of us I mean it's mostly
[2:00:01] right except
>> 400 employees not 200 is the intention
[2:00:06] » and then the money amount
>> the money amount is
[2:00:09] » and and it's 61,300
instead of 57,500
[2:00:16] » 61,300.
And so then that number
[2:00:21] that'd be times 2286 employees
[2:00:28] 286 or 2,286
employees
[2:00:33] is 140,131,800.
[2:00:39] Feel free to check my math. Someone
[2:00:46] And and to be clear, we we certainly
hope we exceed that number.
[2:00:51] » Mine says 200.
>> Yes. Comfortable with my package says
[2:00:55] 200.
>> Should this should this resolution
[2:00:58] specify 200
full-time and 200
[2:01:04] seasonal in contract? or you know he's
someday they're going to come back later
[2:01:08] right with their CF1 and we won't be all
the same people sitting here and I just
[2:01:13] want to make sure that we're
differentiating as much as necessary
[2:01:18] that all 400 are not permanent year-
round employees
[2:01:22] that's correct right 200
>> 200 are expected to be
[2:01:26] » we're we're comfortable with you doing
400
[2:01:29] » we're comfortable 400 saying that it's
going to be more when they
[2:01:33] » bring the seasonal in
>> it just picked have the wrong
[2:01:36] » Okay, we got it.
>> All right. Anything else on clarifying?
[2:01:39] » Sorry, but that's not keeping you back
on schedule.
[2:01:42] » That's okay. That's okay.
>> All right. I'll have you take a seat,
[2:01:46] Eric, and then um All right. Now, at
this time, we're going to open this up
[2:01:50] to public comment. Please understand
this public comment section is about the
[2:01:56] Walmart personal property. Although, we
will have another opportunity next month
[2:02:01] also talk about Walmart. But because
we're voting today, we wanted to give
[2:02:04] the public a chance to speak. So, this
is not the time. I know we've gotten a
[2:02:08] lot of emails and I believe all of us
are reading them pretty diligently uh
[2:02:12] about data centers. This is about the
Walmart uh
[2:02:17] property tax abatement for two
buildings. So, who wants to speak? Mr.
[2:02:22] Overhouser, you like to go first? Come
on up.
[2:02:28] Name is Paul Overhouser, correct?
>> Yes.
[2:02:31] [snorts] Thank you, council members. I
appreciate the opportunity to address
[2:02:34] you this morning. I think there are
several reasons why this council should
[2:02:39] not uh approve these applications for
abatement requests by uh Walmart. I have
[2:02:46] several reasons for them. The first two
I think are really the most important
[2:02:51] because I think these abatement requests
actually would violate the abatement
[2:02:57] statute that we have here in Indiana.
Now, I did get a copy of the draft
[2:03:03] resolution for both of these
uh abatement applications,
[2:03:09] and they have this sentence in them.
They say, "The equipment is to be
[2:03:14] installed in real property improvement
in an area previously declared to be an
[2:03:22] ERRA or economic redevelopment area."
previously
[2:03:27] » paragraph you're referring to and
>> uh it's the second whereas paragraph on
[2:03:32] the first page of the proposed
resolution.
[2:03:36] So the proposed resolution says that
this area was previously declared to be
[2:03:43] an erra.
>> It's it's the first paragraph Scott.
[2:03:47] » Yeah. I'm looking
>> Oh, okay. Okay. I just want you know
[2:03:50] » you Sorry about
>> I wanted him to clarify so everybody
[2:03:52] knows. Yeah. You go ahead, Paul. Uh but
the the abatement statute requires
[2:03:59] a finding by the council that the land
now has to be an economic redevelopment
[2:04:05] area. Specifically, I refer you to
Indiana Code 6-1.1-2.1-1.
[2:04:14] And that requires that the definition of
an economic redevelopment area be land
[2:04:20] that quote has become undesirable for or
impossible of normal development and
[2:04:27] occupancy because of a lack of
development, sessation of growth,
[2:04:32] deterioration of improvements or
character of occupancy. age,
[2:04:36] obsolescence
or substandard buildings.
[2:04:41] That does not describe either IND6 or
IND3. Both those properties have brand
[2:04:48] new warehouses on them. The one on
Indie3
[2:04:52] cost about $250 million. The one on
Indie 6 cost, I think, in excess of
[2:04:59] hund00 million. So these are not
economic revitalization areas that would
[2:05:06] allow you to grant an abatement for
them.
[2:05:10] Second reason by the statute that I
don't think these abatement applications
[2:05:14] can be be approved is because Walmart is
a retail business.
[2:05:22] And I direct you to Indiana code 6-1
6-1.1-12.1-2
[2:05:30] sub A and that part of the statute reads
and I quote however the deduction
[2:05:37] provided by this chapter that's an
abatement the deduction provided by this
[2:05:42] chapter for economic revitalization
areas not within a city or town shall
[2:05:49] not be available to retail businesses.
[2:05:54] Both these facilities are not in a town
or a city, they're in the county. And if
[2:06:01] there's ever been a definition of a
retail business, it's Walmart. And I
[2:06:06] think Mr. Angus testified just a few
minutes ago how from these facilities,
[2:06:12] Walmart in fact does now and will in the
future continue to fulfill retail
[2:06:17] orders. So under this statute, these
facilities are not eligible for an
[2:06:24] abatement
and I think there are other reasons why
[2:06:29] this abatement should not be approved
today.
[2:06:33] Uh as the questions about the number of
employees that are going to be there are
[2:06:40] are are insightful. This is the second
time for the IND3 application that uh
[2:06:46] Walmart has come in and asked for an
abatement on personal property. They
[2:06:52] found an application in 2025
and in that application they didn't
[2:06:57] identify any new employees that would be
hired as a result of the installation of
[2:07:02] this equipment.
And today they're coming back asking for
[2:07:07] an abatement on the same amount, $440
million worth of logistics equipment.
[2:07:13] And somehow this year they say they're
going to have 400 new people. But as I
[2:07:20] think has been pointed out and there's
some asterisks on this. They say that
[2:07:24] includes uh seasonal
uh seasonal hires
[2:07:31] uh and vendors technical mechanical
roles. So, I'm not It sounds to me like
[2:07:37] they're referring to uh technical or
mechanical roles that [clears throat]
[2:07:42] would be employees of whoever Walmart
may hire to maintain this robotics
[2:07:49] equipment that they want to install.
Well, those aren't employees of Walmart.
[2:07:54] I don't think they count. Uh and
moreover, there's no idea for any of
[2:07:58] these employees how many of them are
going to be located in Indiana. The real
[2:08:03] purpose of these abatement statutes is
to try to encourage the hiring of
[2:08:09] individuals in the county because if
they're hired, if they have jobs in the
[2:08:14] county, they pay local income taxes to
the county and that benefits the county.
[2:08:20] But even if they work at these Walmart
facilities, if they live in Marian
[2:08:24] County or somewhere else,
Hancock County doesn't get the benefit
[2:08:29] of that local income tax revenue.
Uh so even if there may be some more
[2:08:36] employees
what the statute weight baitman statute
[2:08:40] says you're supposed to consider is the
number of employees
[2:08:44] and this this is let me quote you the
statute again this one is 6-1.1-2.1-4.5
[2:08:52] sub A it says the abatement application
has to include an estimate of the number
[2:08:58] of people who will be retained by the
applicant
[2:09:02] as a result of the installation of the
new manufacturing equipment or logistics
[2:09:07] equipment.
>> Hey Paul, we Yeah,
[2:09:09] » I'm trying to limit about 5 minutes and
I because I want to hear other people
[2:09:12] speak too. Is there anything else to
wrap up real quick? Uh
[2:09:17] I will respect your time and uh
>> the only thing I had my comments the
[2:09:22] only thing I had for you was uh
>> to me when I was listening to the
[2:09:26] obviously being an attorney I understand
the statutes that Indie 6 is an empty
[2:09:30] warehouse and so that I mean it's been
empty for a while. That's that is a
[2:09:34] concern. It sounded like that was in the
statute where that would make it one
[2:09:39] that we could by statute give a tax
abatement. Well, the original Walmart
[2:09:43] building would have been deemed an ERRA
back before you or I were even here when
[2:09:48] the Walmart got their first abatement,
which is pre-exist, Scott, and Clark.
[2:09:53] Uh, so it's been an ERRA for a long
time. It doesn't it's not becoming one
[2:09:57] now.
>> Yeah. My understanding is that the
[2:10:02] statute requires that for you to give an
abatement, you have to find that it is
[2:10:06] now an ERRA. Not you don't have to find
whether it was an erra at some time in
[2:10:12] the past as is suggested by this draft
resolution is irrelevant. You have to
[2:10:17] find that it's an economic development
area redevelopment area today and it's
[2:10:23] not
>> okay I appreciate that.
[2:10:24] » Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[2:10:26] » Uh who else would like to speak? You
speak either in favor or against it. It
[2:10:30] doesn't matter. All right. Mr. Bolander,
come on up.
[2:10:33] Bill Bolander.
[snorts]
[2:10:36] » It's good to see you all after these
years. Um, I came to speak in favor of
[2:10:40] it. I think Walmart's the biggest
employer in Hancock County and the
[2:10:46] biggest employer in the state. Uh,
I would say a warehouse that you can't
[2:10:52] go get anything's not a retail store.
I'd throw that out for I mean, I'm not a
[2:10:55] lawyer, but just saying. But anyway, um
we'll make about I was looking at some
[2:11:02] of the figures. I think we will gain
about $27,000 or $27 million in taxes
[2:11:09] and they'll save 10 million. So that
seems like a pretty good deal because
[2:11:13] that'll go to the schools for the most
part the way I understand. So I just
[2:11:17] think they're a great business. I think
we want to show a positive uh a positive
[2:11:22] vibe towards business. We don't want to
wind up like uh Richmond and Newcastle
[2:11:27] and be empty main street. I mean, if you
look around here, things are booming and
[2:11:32] I'd like to see it stay that way. So, I
won't blow on. I'll just sit down.
[2:11:37] » Okay.
>> Thank you, Bill.
[2:11:39] » Any questions for him? All right.
Anybody else that would like to speak?
[2:11:44] Um Leah Letterman, come on up.
[2:11:52] Now do I'm I'm not I'm roughly doing
five minutes. So
[2:11:55] » this is quick. Um I want to start
[snorts] out by saying uh at the last
[2:12:00] meeting the gentleman used the term
community partner and I really
[2:12:04] appreciated that in terms of talking
about abatements with developers. Um
[2:12:09] because good neighbor is tired and
entirely inaccurate. Um and I appreciate
[2:12:15] Walmart sweetening the pot as they've
come back for this abatement. um being
[2:12:19] willing to work with the county and
these additional perks and additional
[2:12:23] benefits are nice. I do think they
should have been attached to previous
[2:12:27] abatements, but that's not up to
everyone here in front of me. So, just
[2:12:30] using that as an aside, but with these
perks and additional benefits, I hope we
[2:12:35] keep this in mind with incoming
projects, with larger corporations that
[2:12:40] can afford to provide Hancock County,
not just with the trickle down to
[2:12:46] schools and police, and I understand
that. That's great. but some immediately
[2:12:50] tangible benefits to the taxpayers. Um,
and excuse me, I'm always nervous.
[2:12:58] Um, I appreciate that the abatement
application has been approved. That's
[2:13:01] really great progress. Um, and here if
this abatement is approved, um, we have
[2:13:07] the opportunity to be proactive rather
than reactive. Um, and I'm talking here
[2:13:12] about the CF1s and the compliance issues
that we've seen. um we have an
[2:13:17] opportunity here to set a new precedent
in terms um of of enforcement and
[2:13:22] compliance with that. I know that
there's a hesitation to to punish
[2:13:26] Walmart per se because of what they
bring in. Um and and I get this
[2:13:30] logically, but with the optics there, I
feel like it has the potential to send
[2:13:36] the message that we're not community
partners, that we're kind of beholden to
[2:13:41] what the developers are willing to do.
And um I think that
[2:13:48] we excuse me
I don't want it to give the message that
[2:13:54] Hancock County tolerates sloppy or
disingenuous developers. I think there
[2:13:59] needs to be um warnings or consequences
in place already like hey if you if you
[2:14:06] don't do this or if this happens
we're going to have to you know whatever
[2:14:12] the consequence is you guys that's your
job but just that there has to be
[2:14:16] something in place because right now I
feel like we're always playing catchup
[2:14:20] and I'd like to see us being more
proactive
[2:14:25] and there's got to be a mural in there
somewhere.
[2:14:27] » A mural. Thank you. [laughter]
[2:14:32] » All right. Is there anybody else uh for
the public that wants to speak for it,
[2:14:36] against it, or neutral?
So, I see people out there that don't
[2:14:42] always come to our meetings, so that's
why I'm asking.
[2:14:46] » Yeah, I was wondering where you've been,
George. [laughter]
[2:14:50] Okay. If there's no one else, all right,
then I will then move it on to bringing
[2:14:55] Eric back up here so that he can answer
any of the public concerns or or if we
[2:15:00] have any additional questions for him
before we vote.
[2:15:06] » I I want to make sure that the uh
[clears throat] the resolution for the
[2:15:11] 5259
West 500 North, the second page is
[2:15:18] correct. Is that the Is that building
three? Is that ND3?
[2:15:23] » Yes.
>> I can't tell which is which.
[2:15:25] » And I think that should read uh
employment of approximately.
[2:15:35] I'm not sure.
[2:15:38] Uh the I guess the this shows 1886
existing but the SB1 shows 1805.
[2:15:49] So that should be changed I think to
1805 I guess.
[2:15:58] And so the employment approximately of
20
[2:16:04] uh 86 would be what? 1805 + 400,
[2:16:14] right?
Is that right? Yes, sir.
[2:16:18] » Okay. So that would be 205. Did we do
the math?
[2:16:23] » 2205.
[2:16:28] employees plus 400 not 200 new employees
with annual salaries approximately
[2:16:39] » you you did that
>> I had 140,131,800
[2:16:53] for that was on
That was on the 2086 though. But you're
[2:16:58] saying that that the other one was 1805.
So we need to alter that.
[2:17:03] » So 2205
is that what was on the 731?
[2:17:08] Yep. 2205*
61,300
[2:17:14] is [snorts]
135,166,500.
[2:17:24] Okay. And then that's [clears throat] uh
the 57500
[2:17:28] would be 61300,
right?
[2:17:31] » Yeah. That's what the July 31st SB1 has.
>> And the 2,86
[2:17:38] employees would be
>> 2205.
[2:17:43] » That's what mine says.
>> 2205. Yeah.
[2:17:48] » Are we able to print that?
>> We've got it. So for the record, you
[2:17:52] have the good one.
>> We're increasing the salary. We are
[2:17:55] increasing the number of employees and
we are increasing
[2:17:59] the total salaries paid.
>> Yeah.
[2:18:03] » Not not making it more in Walmart's
favor. It is more in the county's favor.
[2:18:08] » We had multiple drafts of
the
[2:18:15] » And then auditor's checking it right
now. Yeah, I was going to say I I've got
[2:18:19] that and mine came from the auditor.
>> Mine's not.
[2:18:22] » We received like three different
versions.
[2:18:25] » Okay. We'll get the right
>> We're going to get the right We're going
[2:18:27] to get it done correctly before we vote.
That's
[2:18:30] » But to your point, Keely, we're going
with all the higher numbers.
[2:18:33] » These are high the res the numbers.
>> Okay.
[2:18:37] » For the county.
>> Can Can I read what I've got then?
[2:18:41] » We're going to circulate the back.
Right. Oh, you know. Okay. So, you do
[2:18:46] have a typed up version that has all
that.
[2:18:48] » That's fine. Questions more. Good. Make
sure we don't sign the wrong one.
[2:18:52] » So, while they're while they're getting
that ready, I know Kent wants to speak.
[2:18:55] » Uh, well, no, I just want to clarify a
couple things that came up. Um,
[2:19:00] cuz I was involved in original Walmart
abatement. Um,
[2:19:07] and I know the question about retail is
has came up in in the scenario, but just
[2:19:11] because the company may have retail
outlets doesn't mean the company uh this
[2:19:18] specific uh yeah
>> warehouse is a retail outlet. It Okay, I
[2:19:23] know a lot of hospitals, big hospital
scenarios that do their own
[2:19:29] [clears throat] medical waste. Okay. But
just because they're a hospital doesn't
[2:19:34] mean they're a waste removal company.
>> Okay. So,
[2:19:36] » well, it doesn't mean a patient's
allowed to walk into the waste removal
[2:19:39] facility.
>> And so, because we intentionally
[2:19:42] [clears throat]
don't abate retail establishments,
[2:19:47] uh, strip malls, things things like
that. I mean, uh, that's that's kind of
[2:19:51] the
>> I mean, the reality is every one of
[2:19:54] those businesses in a warehouse is
possessing a product ends up in the hand
[2:19:58] of a consumer at some point. The reason
that they have to warehouse the product
[2:20:02] and move the product is because of a
retail somewhere that's that's providing
[2:20:07] it which we are happy that Walmart's
producing another retail store up north
[2:20:12] of Fortville
>> uh because it's well needed with
[2:20:16] expansion stuff like
>> be clear our store here does wonderfully
[2:20:20] » it's a great relationship with the town
and
[2:20:23] » we've been abandoned by all the other
national companies or all the other
[2:20:26] smaller we've been abandoned we have a a
food
[2:20:29] uh you know desert here and and uh it's
taking a long time for anybody to
[2:20:34] fulfill those things. So it would be a
tragedy if if that but I I do appreciate
[2:20:39] you helping us go through and staying
with us in the process here and not I
[2:20:45] don't want you to get a sour taste in
your mouth. We do we do believe that um
[2:20:49] the partnership for the next 10 20 years
30 years is going to be a great one
[2:20:54] between us and and you guys and it's
allowing us not to have to take on a lot
[2:21:01] of other uh large entities to try to uh
solve our SB1 problems and solve all the
[2:21:09] other things. you know, it without
Walmart then um we would be have to be
[2:21:15] much more aggressive in the other things
that uh that we have to put out there.
[2:21:20] And um
>> I do have a question not for Eric but
[2:21:23] for anyone including Scott. So over 25
years they'll pay about 76 million in
[2:21:29] taxes. So just roughly that's 3 million
a year.
[2:21:32] » Well, hold on. Stop there.
The full boatload of taxes over 20 year
[2:21:37] 25 years would be 77 million and change.
With this request, they would pay 66
[2:21:43] million in change.
>> So, you know, roughly 2 and 12 to $3
[2:21:46] million a year that they will pay since
this is in a tiff district. Help me
[2:21:51] understand, is that more money that will
come in that the RDC will capture?
[2:21:56] » Yes. or will this lower the tax rate for
the
[2:22:01] » the it's the latter that this money does
not go into the RDC. It goes directly to
[2:22:08] the taxing units and it will lower their
tax rate.
[2:22:12] » The personal
>> Yeah.
[2:22:14] » the school township.
>> Yeah. And and it makes the schools
[2:22:19] actually the they're probably going to
come along with the referendum. uh all
[2:22:25] four of them probably in the next two or
three years it'll lower the rates so
[2:22:31] that
>> their referendums will be more
[2:22:35] palatable.
>> The thing that Hancock County is
[2:22:37] different in and it's RDC than all the
other counties in the state. I'm
[2:22:40] assuming all of them absolutely collect
personal property tax also into the RDC
[2:22:46] and we don't do that. Um, it's been
asked multiple times to do it and things
[2:22:52] and we've we've neglected it time after
time. 10 years ago, I I I sat in
[2:22:57] meetings neglecting to to let the RDC
capture the personal property tax
[2:23:02] because of the school. And so the the
personal property tax abatements go to
[2:23:08] the taxing units. It's not it's not
captured in the test.
[2:23:11] » Yeah. So, I just want to make it clear
just for my understanding and anyone
[2:23:15] who's kind of newer tuning in that there
will not fortunately there will not be
[2:23:20] more money going to like Buck Creek Fire
Department. I'd like to see that in the
[2:23:24] future, but this will directly help the
citizens of Buck Creek Township by
[2:23:30] reducing their tax rate.
Am I saying that correctly?
[2:23:36] » Okay.
>> Yes, that is my understanding. Correct.
[2:23:41] » All right. Thank you.
>> Yeah, I I'll just say for the record,
[2:23:45] you know, I was not in support of the
request last year. It was for um more
[2:23:52] savings than what would be paid. I had
my idea then of how big of a discount I
[2:23:59] thought was palatable
and [clears throat]
[2:24:02] this you know after further discussion
negotiation Walmart has come back and
[2:24:07] said we want to stay here and we want to
do it and we will ask less uh in terms
[2:24:12] of tax breaks and to what Clark was
pointing out uh they're asking to pay
[2:24:19] 66.3
million over 25 years instead of 77.4 4
[2:24:25] million over 25 years. I mean th those
are fair numbers that I can live with. U
[2:24:32] so I didn't support it last year. I do
support it in its current form and think
[2:24:36] it's very fair and makes a substantial
benefit to the taxpayers
[2:24:42] especially for the lack of burden it
creates for them to put equipment inside
[2:24:46] a building that's already standing
there.
[2:24:50] » Yeah. So, so the the from here we go to
a declaratory resolution
[2:24:56] » after if if it passes today. Yes.
>> If it passes today,
[2:24:59] » one or both. Yeah.
>> Right. So,
[2:25:01] » and that would be next month and there
would be
[2:25:03] » have a hearing and and everything next
month.
[2:25:05] » What is the uh ordinance or resolution
number?
[2:25:09] » Resolution number would be 2026-9-2.
[2:25:15] » And what's and that's on the building
three.
[2:25:20] Yes.
>> Okay. And what's the resolution number
[2:25:22] for the ND6?
>> That would be 2026-9-3.
[2:25:28] » Okay. Uh, did anybody else want to make
a comment before I asked for a motion?
[2:25:34] » Clark, I think you made
>> Well, I was going to more Whenever we
[2:25:38] voted, I assumed we'd do a roll call and
explain my
[2:25:40] » Well, I don't know if we're going to do
a roll call. Oh, I I mean my biggest
[2:25:44] thing is if you look at Walmart, they
have the size to eventually potentially
[2:25:50] disrupt the retail food industry.
If you look at what they did in Fort
[2:25:56] Wayne, I know that was 10 years ago with
a dairy plant, but they did another one
[2:25:59] in Texas a year ago.
Removing the middleman most often
[2:26:06] increases prices paid to farmers. If you
look just today, if a farmer takes a
[2:26:11] load of corn to poet an ethanol plant,
they can get $5.31
[2:26:18] without a basis. And the positive or
negative is just neutral. If they go to
[2:26:23] a local country elevator, most likely
they will only get paid $4.81 with a
[2:26:28] negative.50 basis. That's a dollar more
per bushel on a truckload of corn that's
[2:26:34] usually around a,000 bushels. That's a
thousand more dollars a load. you haul
[2:26:39] three loads, four loads a day depending
on the line. That's significant more
[2:26:44] dollars in the farmer's pocket. We do
want to stay an agricultural rich
[2:26:49] community. And if someday Walmart does
decide to upend the a industry again,
[2:26:55] not not the a industry, the retail food
industry, I would really like for us to
[2:27:00] be at the top of the list and look at
Hancock County. Whether it's a dairy
[2:27:04] plant, who knows? Probably not a beef
meat packing plant. And I don't think
[2:27:08] that would fit uh next to a neighborhood
um especially one that's doing 3 or 4
[2:27:13] thousand head a day. But Walmart's
pretty innovative at times or others
[2:27:18] they work with. There's any type of
innovation that can help cut out the
[2:27:22] middleman and get farmers products
directly to Walmart, directly to the
[2:27:26] consumer that will increase the value
for farmers. I sure would like them to
[2:27:31] look here first and call us first. So
because of that, that's why I'm pretty
[2:27:36] supportive of this because I want to be
at the top of the list if they do decide
[2:27:40] to do any other type of a type building.
And are you like, Clark, are you just
[2:27:47] thinking pie in the sky? No. Look at
Texas. They did a huge dairy plant there
[2:27:51] last year. Look at Hancock County next
time first, please.
[2:27:59] » Uh, does anybody else have something
they want to say? I mean, the only thing
[2:28:03] for me was uh uh Indie 6. I'm looking at
two different buildings. Indie 6, you
[2:28:08] know, I mean, it's a u empty warehouse.
I know the public have been very much
[2:28:12] against we we're getting tired of the
empty warehouses. So, the fact you're
[2:28:16] coming in buying it, bringing a
tremendous amount of jobs, uh you know,
[2:28:20] with with good pay. Um you know, a
different whole different thing when
[2:28:24] you're doing large like TVs and stuff
because I've gotten a tour so I know how
[2:28:28] it works. And so, I'm really excited
about that one. But for me, ND3, you
[2:28:32] know, I might be the only no vote up
here on ND3. But, uh, I think you're
[2:28:36] going to do it no matter what. And so,
that sometimes that's one of those
[2:28:39] things like if if an organization's
going to do it, then why would you give
[2:28:42] an abatement? That's how I stand on that
one. Just, you know, I mean, because I
[2:28:46] know you're already been working on it.
So, that's just, you know, it's kind of
[2:28:49] one of those things like we always want
this probably for the public more just
[2:28:53] Walmart. It's, you know, because I know
people watch this and want to come for
[2:28:55] abatements. It's, you know, don't start
doing something then come to us for an
[2:28:59] abatement. Come to us because the only
reason you're going to come to us is is
[2:29:03] because you need the abatement to make
it happen.
[2:29:07] [snorts]
>> So, let's let's look real quick at
[2:29:09] history. And that's that's what I keep
going back on. Um Walmart right now is
[2:29:14] going to be our largest supporter of of
our county for for an single entity. Um,
[2:29:21] I grew up where we had a pharmaceutical
company that was the largest supporter
[2:29:26] of our county. Um, the the county
council did or the county commissioners
[2:29:32] did not support that that pharmaceutical
company. They thought that they were
[2:29:35] going to be here no matter what and they
pulled out. Okay. Just like you said,
[2:29:41] Clark, the things that happen in the
future, that company is is a trillion
[2:29:47] dollar company today. They're four times
larger than they were at the time.
[2:29:52] They're create they've created new
products that require new facilities. If
[2:29:56] that company was still in Hancock
County, we we would be a totally
[2:30:01] different looking county than we we are
right now. And they had the property,
[2:30:05] they had everything all set up. And as
soon as the county uh fathers turned
[2:30:10] them down on on a expansion or anything,
they pulled out and and we lost
[2:30:17] um it's it's it's hilarious. We talk
three or4 million, but I'm talking 30
[2:30:22] years ago, they were paying 20 million,
okay, which is a hundred million today.
[2:30:28] And so, um, we are fortunate to get
another, uh, company back that wants to
[2:30:35] partner with our county and provide jobs
and provide taxes and and and it's a
[2:30:41] [music] clean partner. And so,
[clears throat] I it's very important in
[2:30:45] the future, too. Like Clark said, there
is things that come about that we don't
[2:30:49] know about that could sustain the county
for a hundred years.
[2:30:55] » All right. Anything else?
>> I'll move.
[2:30:56] » Not. Go ahead. Make a motion on
>> I'll move we
[2:30:59] » one at a time.
>> Yes.
[2:31:00] » Yeah. One at a time. Whichever.
>> Resolution 26 2026-9-2.
[2:31:08] » So moved. I'll take second.
>> Second on the approval of Okay.
[2:31:11] Resolution 2026-2-9.
So I have a motion, a second for
[2:31:15] approval of resolution number 2026-9-2.
This is for ND3 for those uh listening.
[2:31:23] Uh is there any discussion?
All those in favor say I.
[2:31:29] » I.
>> All those against I.
[2:31:32] » Motion carries 51.
All right. Next motion.
[2:31:37] » I move we approve resolution 2026-9-3.
[2:31:44] » Second.
>> All right. I have a motion and a second
[2:31:47] to approve resolution number 2026-9-3.
This is for those in the audience.
[2:31:53] Indy6.
Any discussion?
[2:31:57] All those in favor say I.
>> I.
[2:31:59] » Any oppose? Same sign. Motion carries
unanimously.
[2:32:04] » Thank you. Thank you.
>> We will be back next month for the
[2:32:06] declaration. Yes, Mr. Sorell.
>> There needs to be a a motion to set both
[2:32:11] of those for hearing and then set the
public hearing.
[2:32:14] » Right.
>> I'll I'll draft the notice.
[2:32:16] » When when do you need when's the public
hearing going to be?
[2:32:19] » October.
>> What do we have available? Uh, next
[2:32:22] council meeting is October 14th.
>> Uh, we can do 9:00 a.m.
[2:32:27] » I move we set the the hearing and
approve for the hearing and
[2:32:33] » second.
>> Second. Okay. All right. I have a
[2:32:37] motion, a second to uh set the the
hearing for October [clears throat] 14th
[2:32:41] at 9:00 a.m.
>> and for approval of them.
[2:32:44] » Uh, all those in favor say I.
>> Any oppose? Same sign. Motion carries.
[2:32:49] » Yeah, I'll get the notice.
>> Okay. doing it to you.
[2:32:52] » Thank you all very much for your time.
We appreciate it.
[2:32:54] » Thank you. You're welcome.
>> All right. Next up is the budget meeting
[2:32:58] update.
[2:33:03] » Well, uh [clears throat] we reviewed all
of the fund balances and found that they
[2:33:09] were very satisfactory.
[2:33:13] » Added needs uh for Scott Williams and
Jeremy Tepen.
[2:33:18] set hearing for the lit ordinance for uh
9:29 the joint meeting. So we really do
[2:33:26] need to have a um a quorum of us for
that meeting.
[2:33:31] » I I will be traveling that day. I will
not be present at my
[2:33:35] » What day was it you said Jim? I didn't
>> 29th.
[2:33:38] » 29th. Oh yeah. Okay.
>> I think that's a Tuesday.
[2:33:41] » It's a Tuesday evening at 5.
>> It's a Tuesday evening.
[2:33:44] » Okay.
>> We'll need joint meeting with committee.
[2:33:47] definitely need a quorum.
>> Four people.
[2:33:50] » Um,
great.
[2:33:53] » And we talked about the sheriff's
retirement plan funding
[2:33:57] uh changes and uh and we uh reviewed the
Mus Group meeting and that was it.
[2:34:03] Unless you got something
>> now, Key.
[2:34:07] » All right. Next action item, approve
minutes for August 12th, 2026.
[2:34:11] » Make a motion to approve the minutes as
written for August 12th, 2026. Second.
[2:34:16] » I have a motion and a second to approve
the minutes for August 12, 2026. All
[2:34:20] those in favor say I. I. Any oppose?
Same sign.
[2:34:24] » Motion carries.
>> Auditor business.
[2:34:27] » Okay. Auditor business. I have two
items. Uh, last week I brought you
[2:34:31] invoices from MS Consultants for the
county farm.
[2:34:37] We reviewed the minutes for the entire
year of 2026
[2:34:44] and we could not find any discussion on
where these invoices were going to be
[2:34:48] paid. So I'm not sure if that discussion
occurred at maybe one of the county farm
[2:34:53] visioning meetings possibly.
So I'm just coming back to find out
[2:34:58] where where you would like all their
invoices paid from. The commissioners
[2:35:02] would have authorized the contract and
we would have had to talk about the
[2:35:07] cost.
>> Yeah, we had to.
[2:35:10] » We couldn't find any records in
commissioner or council.
[2:35:13] » What's it?
>> I would think that would come from
[2:35:18] economic development.
[2:35:22] » Maybe
what what's the amount?
[2:35:26] » Uh the amount is totals there's several
invoices. They total 99,676
[2:35:33] and 111.
>> But by the time it's all said and done,
[2:35:36] I don't remember the final price, but I
think it's in excess of
[2:35:41] » I don't remember.
>> I mean, I think by the time it's all
[2:35:44] said and done, we were probably looking
closer to 200.
[2:35:47] » I thought it was a hundred, but
>> Oh, you did? may well that's what I
[2:35:51] thought but we wouldn't be paying in
advance
[2:35:54] » cuz there's like drainage you know like
they're studying topography and drainage
[2:35:58] and all that
>> definitely economic development
[2:36:02] » huh
>> said it's definitely economic
[2:36:04] » do we have uh funds appropriated in
>> we do not we have we only have $11,000
[2:36:10] appropriated in a miscellaneous line
>> do we have time to go through an
[2:36:13] appropriation and get that
>> we do we could actually hold a public
[2:36:17] hearing at the joint
Oh yeah.
[2:36:20] » To appropriate it.
>> Yeah. Do we want to do just the amount
[2:36:24] of the invoices or do we want to do some
excess so that if additional invoices
[2:36:30] come in they can be paid through
economic development or do you just want
[2:36:34] to do another appropriation?
[2:36:38] » Why don't we find out what the
commissioners um uh what that uh
[2:36:42] contract was for? I I
>> Okay, we can look up the contract. But
[2:36:46] you'll have to list the current invoices
for the appropriation. We'll have to
[2:36:50] have a dollar amount.
>> Put in the amount.
[2:36:52] » Why don't Why don't we thumbs up to
appropriate a 100,000 to deal with the
[2:36:56] current invoices and then Mary, can you
report back on what their contract with
[2:37:00] the commissioner said?
>> Absolutely. We can have that for the
[2:37:03] joint meeting.
>> And that's a thumbs up for an
[2:37:06] advertisement, right?
>> Yeah.
[2:37:10] » Okay.
Okay. Okay. And then one last thing. Um
[2:37:17] the public defender had came oh probably
a couple months ago now regarding the
[2:37:24] one-time bonus that the state
prosecutors were getting. That was
[2:37:28] approved. I just have a salary ordinance
amendment because we do need to add that
[2:37:33] in that that the public defender and the
chief deputy public defender are both
[2:37:38] going to receive a $2,500
bonus onetime bonus.
[2:37:44] » So moved.
>> So what's the or here number?
[2:37:48] » Yep.
>> There you go.
[2:37:50] » Got it. Second.
>> All right. So I need a motion. I need a
[2:37:54] motion uh to approve ordinance number
2026-9B
[2:37:58] uh regarding the public defenders
onetime bon uh bonus for the chief
[2:38:02] public defender chief deputy uh public
defender in amounts of $2,500 each
[2:38:07] » suspend the rules to sign it today
>> and suspend suspend the rules to sign
[2:38:11] today. I need a motion.
>> Well, he already said
[2:38:14] » motion motion for Mr. Shelby. Do I have
a second?
[2:38:18] » Second. All right. A second from Mr.
Smith. All those in favor of the
[2:38:22] ordinance say I.
>> I. Any oppose? Same sign. Motion
[2:38:25] carries.
>> I'll make a motion to I'm opposed.
[2:38:28] » Oh, opposed. Okay.
>> So, that carries. 1 2 3 4 51.
[2:38:34] » You need a motion to suspend the rules.
And
[2:38:38] » that was part of the original motion.
>> It was part of the original motion.
[2:38:42] » He referenced it once I brought it up.
Got
[2:38:47] my motion
there.
[2:38:51] Okay,
>> if it suffices for you.
[2:39:01] » Any more auditor business?
>> That was it.
[2:39:04] » Did anybody schedule individually any
additional public comment?
[2:39:08] » No. I believe the only one that I
received this morning was a gentleman
[2:39:13] from Exitor, but I believe Scott Binky.
>> Yeah, we we dealt with
[2:39:16] » has already talked with him, so we're
good.
[2:39:18] » Okay.
>> All right. And I will entertain a motion
[2:39:21] to adjurnn. I think you guys said that
one.
[2:39:24] » So moved. We got a second for
adjournment. Oh, second.
[2:39:28] » Motion a second to adjurnn. All those in
favor say I.
[2:39:30] » I. All those against.