Notes -- February 2016 Boone County Council Meeting

NOTES – FEBRUARY 2016 BOONE COUNTY COUNCIL MEETING

All members present (including newly-elected via precinct committee chair caucus Kevin Van Horn); Secretaries Carla Newcomer and Chelsea Young.

Meeting was called to order just after 8:30 a.m. by President Steve Jacob and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Council approved the minutes from its January meeting with minimal amendment.

RE-APPROPRIATIONS:

Clerk (Jessica Fouts):

Requested transfer $291 from Election Deputy to Clerk Deputies. This falls within the 3% discretionary pay increase which Ms. Fouts distributed among her employees, but because the Election Deputy fund is separate from the Clerk Deputies fund, it needs council approval to make the transfer. Approved.

ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS:

Highway (Craig Parks):
Mr. Parks requested $800,000 from the MVH fund to pay for final environmental & design studies for Boone County’s portion of the Ronald Reagan Parkway in partnership with Hendricks County. An interlocal agreement with Hendricks will connect our portion to Hendricks County’s, which they are ready to move toward completion. Parks hopes this partnership will increase both counties’ chances of receiving federal funding support through the Metropolitan Planning Organization. Councilor Marcia Wilhoite questioned the propriety of spending MVH money on this project rather than funds from a TIF bond, as had been done for some previous environmental studies on the Ronald Reagan. Other discussion included the opportunity to time our design studies with the state’s recently-announced call for proposals for re-working the I-65/267 interchange. Approved 6-1.

Health (Greg Inman):

Requested transfer of roughly $2400 in grant money into the Sharps program line. This money was unspent grant money from 2015. Approved.

EMA (Rachel Hanson):

Requested $1300 from OT line to Admin. Assistant. This was approved during last summer’s budget hearing, but did not make into the new budget and ordinance. Approved.

Circuit Court (Jeff Edens):

Requested nearly $4700 into Interpreter. This is grant money from 2015 that was unused, and needs to be re-applied to the interpreter line. Approved.

Soil & Water (Kathy Clawson):

Requested transfer of $2100 of state grant money for Board Members for their monthly pay. Approved.

Auditor (Deanna Willhoite):

Requested $2400 to Umbaugh Contract (to be renamed TIF Neutralization) to cover a late invoice from 2015 as well as anticipated services for 2016. Approved.

NEW BUSINESS:

Clerk Jessica Fouts presented an idea for building an Elections App for the county, similar to one used by the state. Fouts noted that the cost for development would be $20,000, plus $5,000 per year thereafter. Fouts also noted that the addition last year of a bond administration fee through the clerk’s office has raised $35,000 in the past six months, which would help offset this cost. Discussion of the App’s utility in advising voters of their voting location, as well as the wait times at various locations on election day. Several council members expressed support for the idea, though concerns for the cost. Consensus from the council was that Ms. Fouts should move forward.

Cindy Murphy of the County Health Department, presented the council with information regarding efforts across multiple departments and agencies to address mental health and substance abuse issues in the county. Multiple efforts are underway under her coordination, including efforts to connect clients in the county health department’s clinics to counselling, treatment and financial support resources.

Councilor Tom Santelli presented an overview of options for upgrading the recording system in the Council and Commissioners meeting room, working with the county’s IT department and an IT contractor.

The council made appointments to the boards and commissioners listed below:

Alcoholic Beverage Commission – Aaron Smith, Lebanon

Area Plan Commission – Jay Schaumberg, Thorntown

Lebanon Public Library – Michelle Fry

Property Tax Board of Appeals (2) – Carol Nist & Richard Ewing

No appointments were made to the Thorntown Public Library Board or the Redevelopment Commission. No interest has been expressed for the Thorntown position, so the council will continue to seek residents willing to serve. Councilor John Hume had served on the RDC, but with his new job he is unable to continue. The RDC meets regularly on the last Friday of each month at 2:00 pm. The council would prefer an appointee representing the western portion of the county. Anyone willing to serve should contact the council.

OLD BUSINESS:

Council President Steve Jacob noted that the representative from Waggoner, Irwin & Schelle to discuss a wage study was scheduled to attend today’s meeting, but that representative is out of the country. He will be in attendance in March. I expressed concern that the length of the study will be pushing its final report against the council’s deadline for setting 2017 budgets. Mr. Jacob stated that he has expressed that concern, and received assurance that at least some information for select job classifications will be available in time for those budget hearings.

PUBLIC COMMENT:

President Jacob reminded everyone that the council’s next meeting will be an evening meeting, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Meeting adjourned at approximately 10:00a.m.

Next regularly scheduled meeting will be Tuesday, March 8^th, at 6:30 p.m.