Notes -- March 2013 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
3/12/2013
Present:  All Council members present, Secretary Crystal Raub.

The council reviewed and approved meeting minutes from February with slight amendment. 

RE-APPROPRIATIONS:

None

ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS:

Sherriff (Ken Campbell):
Requested transfer of roughly $1200 into various lines (part-time, medical, postage, inmate supplies, office supplies, extradition) for reimbursement tracking.  Approved.

Statewide 911 (Maj. Mike Nielsen):

Major Nielsen, Councilor Thompson & Councilor Wilhoite presented a variety of options for funding the 911 InterACT project which has been discussed extensively at previous meetings.  The council and commissioners have approved moving forward with the project.  These three, along with auditor Deanna Willhoite, have met repeatedly to explore funding possibilities.  The budget has had some funding in place for the ongoing AT&T lease, and the recommended option from this point is to purchase some of the equipment needed for the upgrade and to finance the remainder over a 7-year period.  This option is expected to save from $250-375,000 over the option of leasing the equipment.  After extensive discussion and several questions, the council voted to budget $371,500 out of the general fund into a newly-created line entitled “Communications Center” to purchase equipment and to move an additional $40,000 into the Statewide 911 line (to supplement the current $110,000 budget) to pay the annual AT & T lease. Approved.

Jail Maintenance (Ken Campbell):

Requested transfer of $141 for reimbursement for clock repairs and $36 for sale of kitchen grease.  Approved.

Prosecutor (Lori Schein):

Requested $200/hr increase into IV-D Child Support line in the salary ordinance to hire part-time help to assist in child support cases and to give a raise to a current employee.  Many, many questions were raised, primarily about the wording of the requests.  The request was tabled for more information and Ms. Schein asked to return next month.

BCSSI/Food & Beverage (Sue Ritz):

Ms. Ritz, along with representatives Christy ?? from CIRTA and Kevin ?? from Gander Mountain, requested $20,000 as a local match for a grant.  Questions were asked about the potential for ridership each direction.  Mr. ?? answered questions about why public dollars should be used to assist private employers in acquiring workers.  Gander Mountain alone is looking to add 40-60 employees in the next six months beyond their current needs, which they are already having difficulty filling.  Extensive discussion and questions followed from various council members, as well as comments from some other elected officials. Eventually, my motion to approve $10,000 failed on a 3-4 vote.

Courthouse Maintenance (Mike Miller):

Requested $124,000 for repairs to the new Washington Street Building purchased last summer.  The council actually approved $350,000 last year as an additional to purchase and improve the building, but not all of it was spent by the end of the year and contracts were not in place to allow encumbrance of those funds.  This number is what was left at the end of the year in that approved account.  Approved.

Requested $7,000 into a Maintenance Supervisor line, $3600 to part-time and $6500 to Health Insurance to replace a retiring full-time employee and move one part-time employee to full-time.  The council tabled these requests for further clarification next month.

Requested $750 for utilities to transfer a rebate payment from Vectren.  Some discussion followed on the propriety of transferring rebates and other refunds through additional appropriations rather than budgeting a higher amount in the annual budget and allowing these reimbursements to stay in the general fund.  Approved.

Auditor (Deanna Willhoite):

Requested total of $12,900 from three different funds for various aspects of Plat Book Maintenance, which is collected from user fees.  Several questions followed about the funding of a part-time employee for additional hours vs. Overtime for current full-time employees. This would merely be additional hours for current part-time and would not approach the full-time hours threshold.  Approved.

IT (Sean Horan):

Requested $9000 for Copier Maintenance.  This grew out of conversations last month and during budget hearings last month which revealed a misunderstanding about whose budget was responsible for covering these costs.  We believe the issue has now been straightened out. Approved.

Highway (Rick Carney):

Requested $132,000 for Highway 400 South extension to pay right-of-way claims.  Several questions arose about whether the payments had already been made. Auditor Willhoite and Commissioner Jeff Wolfe attempted to address concerns and, along with Mr. Carney, explain changes in INDOT procedures.  Eventually, Approved.

NEW BUSINESS:

County Attorney Bob Clutter presented a resolution for approval allowing the sale of the Camp Street office building.  Approved. 

While Mr. Clutter held the floor, Councilor Brent Wheat asked Mr. Clutter to address the issue of public comment at appropriate times within the monthly meeting.  Resident Aaron Smith, Lebanon, raised questions about the opportunity to comment on each additional appropriation request, as they had apparently been advertised as a public hearing rather than a public meeting.

OLD BUSINESS:

Highway Superintendent Rick Carney presented an update on four specific pieces of equipment he wishes to purchase this year.  The council asked questions about prioritizing purchases for this year and deciding what could be deferred until budget hearings in August.

PUBLIC COMMENT:

DOCUMENT SIGNING:

The meeting had not adjourned when I had to leave at 10:50.

Next regularly-scheduled council meeting will be Tuesday, April 9, at 8:30 a.m.

Special note:  The Council’s May meeting will be Tuesday EVENING, May 12, at 6:30 p.m.