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
10/9/2012
Present: All Council Members. Secretary Crystal Raub.
Boone County Council
10/9/2012
Present: All Council Members. Secretary Crystal Raub.
RE-APPROPRIATIONS:
Circuit
Court (Judge Jeff Edens):
Requested
$2000 from Med/Psych to library. Judge
Edens also had an additional request (see below) which the council handled at
them same time. Approved.
Clerk
(No one present):
Requested
$200 from Supplies to Absentee Ballots & $890 from supplies to Janitors for
election expenses. See note below in Additional Appropriation for explanation. Approved
ADDITIONAL
APPROPRIATIONS:
Circuit
Court (Judge Jeff Edens):
Requested
$15,000 to cover shortfall in Pauper Attorney Fees. Approved.
Sheriff
(Brittany Hicks):
Requested
just under $900 in reimbursements to various accounts such as inmate medical,
postage, supplies, etc. Approved.
Sheriff/Jail
Maintenance (Mike Vaughan):
Requested
$35,000 for utilities. The summer heat
wave cost far more than had been budgeted.
The 2013 budget includes an increase to this line. Approved.
Area
Plan (Rachel Cardis):
Requested
$654 for repairs to a 2005 truck which is now being used by the Coroner’s
office. This action had been discussed
repeatedly in previous months. The
original request had been for a much higher cost, based on an estimate from a
dealership. The county highway
department made the repairs at a significant savings. Thanks to both the APC and the Highway Dept
for their cooperation in making this work at as little cost to taxpayers as
possible. Approved.
Requested
$6500 for purchase of a new truck, as discussed at previous meetings. The council had previously approved some
funding for the purchase, but not enough to cover the entire cost, and asked
Ms. Cardis to evaluate the department’s needs and options further before coming
back with this request. Approved.
Highway
(Rick Carney):
Requested
for $150,000 for Gas & Oil. The department was able to do considerably more
work this summer in both overlay paving and chip & seal than had originally
been budgeted. This comes from the
highway department’s budget, not the county general fund. Approved.
EMA
(Rachel Hansen):
Requested
$3616 as a reimbursement from a grant fund for new equipment. Approved.
Surveyor
(Kathy Clawson):
Requested
$500 for Repairs. A 2006 truck used by
the department is in need of electrical repairs. This request would cover those repairs and
leave some funds in the line to carry through to the end of the year.
Auditor
(Melody Price):
Requested
$13,300 for the county’s contractual tax sale.
This should be reimbursed from the sale’s proceeds. Approved.
Commissioners
(Charles Eaton):
The
commissioners submitted a request for $500,000 to re-fund the Bridge #220 (Ford
Rd Bridge) project. Mr. Eaton read from
prepared notes to review the potential risks of not restoring funding to this
project. Following those remarks,
Council Member Gene Thompson made comments regarding his understanding of those
potential risks. Several other questions
were asked of both Commissioner Eaton and Highway Superintendent Carney by Mr.
Thompson and Council Member Marcia Wilhoite.
Commissioner Jeff Wolfe stated that he felt it would be irresponsible
simply to repair the current bridge and push the final decision down the
road. Council Member Brent Wheat made a
motion to approve, seconded by Butch Smith.
With a 3-2 roll call vote and Marcia Wilhoite abstaining, the motion
failed to carry. (Steve Jacob, as president, did not vote, as the motion would
have fallen short of the required five votes needed for approval regardless of
his position.)
Clerk
(Penny Bogan):
Ms.
Bogan requested $36,100 to pay for fall elections. (The original request had been advertised at
$65,000.) This money had originally been budgeted from the federal HAVA fund
for federal elections. A new
interpretation from the Secretary of State of the allowable uses for that fund
indicates that poll worker expenses are not included. Approved.
NEW
BUSINESS:
Treasurer
Deanna Willhoite requested and received approval of a Resolution outlining an
investment policy.
The
council was asked by Major Nielsen of the Sheriff’s Department, who is leading
an effort to examine the security of county buildings, to appoint a
representative to a committee investigating those issues. Council Member Butch Smith has been asked
unofficially and has volunteered to serve.
Some discussion of the make-up of the committee currently including only
law enforcement members ensued. (Mr.
Smith is a retired officer.) The council
discussed the possibility of making more than one appointment, including a
member of the public at-large. As Major
Nielsen was not present, and no official request had been submitted, no appointment
was made. The issue will be re-visited
next month.
The
council was asked to appoint representatives to a committee investigating best use
of the newly-acquired building on West Washington Street. Council Member Brent Wheat and Debbie
Ottinger (who is running unopposed for Boone County Treasurer) agreed to serve.
Cindy
Murphy of the County Health Department addressed the council regarding a recent
full-time vacancy and asking the council to approve filling that position at
the same salary. The council voted to
approve, with the understanding that the new hire would come in at the
increased salary set to be approved for 2013.
OLD
BUSINESS:
Laurie
Gross of the Lebanon Parks Board addressed the council again, requesting that
the council not eliminate the county park tax.
This opened a great deal of discussion from council members on both the
issue of a county park levy itself and the process by which the council arrived
at this point in its deliberations. Both
Lebanon Mayor Huck Lewis and former Clerk-Treasurer Debbie Ottinger addressed
the council as well. Lebanon residents
Kathy Flanary and Aaron Smith also addressed the council, with Ms. Flanary
supporting continuation of the county levy and Mr. Smith opposing.
PUBLIC
COMMENT:
None
beyond the earlier discussion of the park levy.
Regular
meeting adjourned just past 10:30.
Following a short break, the council re-convened to address adoption of
budgets in a separate meeting. I will
attempt to post a separate summary for those discussions later.
Next
regularly-scheduled council meeting will be Tuesday, November 13, at 8:30 a.m.
