Notes May 2010 Council Meeting

Note: These are my personal notes from the council meeting. They are NOT the official minutes, nor should they be construed as an official record of any kind.

Boone County Council
5/11/2010
Present: All Council Members. Auditor Melody Price, counsel Bob Clutter.

Approved minutes from April meeting with a slight amendment to the final paragraph regarding researching transfer of the surplus dog funds. Attorney Clutter will again be present today to clarify his research.

RE-APPROPRIATIONS:
Prosecutor (Todd Meyer):
Requested to move roughly $50,000 from five different funds into five new funds in order to allow the balances to earn interest and leverage state money from child support. The change involved shifting a deputy prosecutor position. Because the transfers will be between different funds rather than just different lines in the same fund, the request must be resubmitted and advertised as an additional appropriation next month. Withdrawn.

Area Plan Commission (Ken Hedge):
Asked to move $4700 from the Planner line to the Director line. Interim Director Rachel Whittington has been approved by the APC as the new Director. As discussed last fall, now that a Director has been hired, a transfer of additional funds to fill the salary of the director, which had been empty. The planner position will remain unfilled at least for the remainder of the year. Approved.

ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS:
Auditor (Melody Price):
Auditor Price and deputy Cindy Poore returned to request $3300 for purchase of software for updating the ditch maintenance records. Surveyor Ken Hedge also spoke to the uses of the program and the possibility of purchasing an additional program at a bundling discount for his office. Hedge said he believed the programs would reduce errors and allow for more accurate and timely updates, and would save significant labor time in entering date. Representatives from GUTS were also present to explain how the programs work and what their advantages would be. An older version of the program has been in use in Jasper county for the past four years. The current request is for the Auditor’s office portion of the program; if the surveyor’s office purchases the additional program, that will bring the total cost up to $5000. Hedge said he believed the funds for both programs should go through the auditor’s office, as the benefit is really for them, though the Surveyor’s office initiates all the data entry. How and when the second program will be purchased has yet to be decided, though it is expected that it will be requested as well. The council asked several questions about the money savings the purchase would generate. Approved.

EMA (Rachel Hanson ):
Requested $57 to be transferred from the general fund to reimburse from a mistake with renewing plates through the BMV. The county received the check, which now needs to go back to EMA. Approved.

Reassessment (Lisa Garaffolo):
Requested $2420 of reimbursement of a “credit” for Income Works from the previous budget cycle from starting the reassessment early.
Also requested $79.90 for Loopnet software charges, to cover increase cost which was not known at budget hearings last summer. Both approved.

Economic Development (Tom Kouns):
Kouns was present to ask for $30,000 from the ED fund to cover medical dust control as discussed at last month’s . Because of the lower number of requests, Kouns reduced the request to $25,000. Some discussion of the possibility for funding these requests from the health department in future determined that such discussion would be better saved for next year’s budget cycle. Approved for $25,000.


NEW BUSINESS:
Attorney Bob Clutter was present to discuss further the Surplus Dog Fund. After extensive discussion, the council moved to transfer the funds (roughly $6900) to the county general fund, with the understanding that any group, including the Humane Society for Boone County, could come to the council and request the money. A resolution prepared by Mr. Clutter for that transfer was approved (without my support).
Attorney Clutter also clarified the status of the Dog Leash fund, which was created by the Commissioners in 2007, and is still an active fund, but with no apparent use for those funds. Unless the commissioners change that, the fund will stay where it is.

Prosecutor Todd Meyer presented information on his proposal for a Special Victims Unit – Community Response Team. Legislation in 2007 required the county prosecutor to create a community response team, which currently includes the prosecutor’s office, Boone County police agencies, the County Department of Child Services, Witham Hospital, Mental Health Boone County, Family Services victims advocacy, and a forensic interviewer with the Susie’s Place Child Advocacy Center in Avon. Meyer gave background on the goal of the team approach and his goal of building support throughout the county, including funding contributions from various government entities (Lebanon, Zionsville, Whitestown, Boone County). Meyer is seeking a total of roughly $57,000 from these groups for rental of space and hiring of a part-time child advocate, an opportunity which has presented itself which he believes needs to be acted upon quickly. Meyer has been approached by a certified child advocate & deputy prosecutor working in Marion County who lives in Zionsville and is interested in working in Boone County. The individual also uses a facility dog, trained to work with children of abuse.
Meyer appeared today to lay the groundwork for a request he plans to make at budget time for $20,000 to support the plan. The plan would include lease of space in the Key Bank building, a space larger than this program would need, but which would accommodate other members of the prosecutor’s office, which has been seeking additional space for some time. Meyer answered several questions about the availability of other space, the suitability of the new space, the possible overlap with the Division of Family Services, the use of the facility dog, the move of the prosecutor’s office’s child support division into the Key Bank building as well, how much use the new CAC would receive from surrounding counties, the number of incidents in Boone County which would use this facility/program, how many are currently being sent to other counties, state and federal reimbursements, and several others. The CAC could eventually become a self-sufficient 501(c)3 organization. Meyer was asked to return before the budget hearings in August to update the council on his interactions with the community.

Martha Catt of Zionsville Library and Karen Niemeyer of Thorntown Library were present to ask for council support for their plan to offer extended public library services for residents in six Boone County townships who are currently paying for public library services through income and excise taxes but not receiving those services. The libraries will be seeking contracts (for $2 annually) with each of the townships to comply with DLGF guidelines. Once in place, residents of the six unserved townships will be able to purchase library cards for $35 (the rate may vary from year to year based on library costs, but will remain based on the percentage of funding received from property taxes vs. COIT/excise taxes). Townships would also have the option of paying the fee for residents as Clinton Township now does at the current non-resident rate of $114 annually. There are some exceptions to who can receive the cards at this rate, primarily set by state laws which already cover various groups (i.e., students who attend Lebanon or Thorntown libraries). The agreements will be reviewed and updated annually. Lebanon library is not participating in the agreement, nor will they be accepting the Evergreen cards issued from these two libraries through this program, though county taxpayers from the entire county will be providing roughly 60% of their funding through COIT and excise taxes. The council voted unanimously to endorse the letter of support from the commissioners. The council also commended Ms. Catt, who is retiring at the end of this week after twenty years, for her service to the community.

Jackie Ramsey of RA-COMM, which provides radio equipment to our highway departments, presented with Tom Kouns regarding a requirement from the FCC which will force us to go to narrow banding beginning January 1, 2013. Today’s presentation was to serve as notification of the upcoming change in order to begin planning to budget for the new equipment. She presented a proposal for upgrading the department’s radios at a cost of roughly $75,000. Council members asked questions regarding communicating with sheriff’s department radio system, as well as how the radios are used as opposed to cell phones. Ramsey also advised the county that the current radio tower is deteriorated beyond reasonable repair and will need to be replaced soon at considerable cost. Kouns will explore budgeting the upgrade costs over two years, or even working the contract as a lease over five years. Additional questions were asked about using Sprint/Nextel phones rather than radios, and about using the current tower serving the sheriff’s department radios rather than erecting an additional tower. Kouns and Ramsey will do additional research before budget time this summer.

OLD BUSINESS:
President Jacob distributed copies of a proposed contract from Umbaugh for financial planning services. Total cost for all options would be in the range of $50,000, but the contract is set up to allow for options to be left off. The council discussed what options would be most helpful. I will coordinate clarification of those options and go before the commissioners for approval of the contract next month. An additional appropriation of $40,000 will be advertised for next month’s council meeting, at which time Umbaugh will be present and the council will decide which options and what expenditures to engage.

PUBLIC COMMENT:
Council member Wilhoite suggested that the council schedule a meeting in June and invite all county department heads to attend to discuss adjustments to personnel for the upcoming budget year to assist in the preparation for the upcoming budget requests. The council agreed to have Auditor Price coordinating the invitation and planning to add those discussions to New Business for next month’s regularly scheduled meeting.

Council member Thompson raised the issue of altering the process for distributing the county park fund dollars. A consideration of changing the park fund will be on the agenda for next month’s meeting.

President Jacob also raised the issue of finishing up the fund research the auditor’s office has been conducting.

Meeting adjourned at 11:15.

May 2010 Council Agenda

BOONE COUNTY COUNCIL
BUSINESS AGENDA FOR MAY 11, 2010
LOCATION: CONNIE LAMAR MEETING ROOM, ROOM 105
116 W Washington St
Lebanon, IN 46052


Call meeting to order – 8:30 a.m.

Approval of April 2010 minutes

Re-Appropriation Requests:
Prosecutor, Area Plan

Additional Requests:
Auditor, EMA, Re-Assessment, Economic Development

New Business:
Bob Clutter, County Attorney – Dog Fund Resolution
Karen Niemeyer, Thorntown Public Library and Martha Catt, Hussey Mayfield Library – Letter of Endorsement
Jackie Ramsey, RA Comm – Highway Radio Upgrade

Old Business:
Steve Jacob, Council President – Umbaugh Consulting

Public Comment:

Document Signing:
Re-Appropriations, Additionals, April 2010 Council Minutes

Adjournment

This agenda is subject to change.