NOTES – MARCH 2015 BOONE COUNTY COUNCIL MEETING
All council members present except Marcia Wilhoite;
Secretaries Crystal Raub and Chelsea Young.
Meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. (yes, an evening
meeting!) and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Council approved the meeting minutes from its February meeting
without amendments. (As I was not in attendance, I did not vote on the motion.)
RE-APPROPRIATIONS: Approved.
Clerk (Jessica Fouts):
Requested $750 from Holiday Overtime and $2500 from
Supplies to Printing Ballots in order to pay MicroVote (which provides our
voting machines) to build our machine ballots. Ms. Fouts as First Deputy under
the previous Auditor had built the ballots, but is finding she does not have
the time to do so in her current duties and would like not to have her current
staff take up the duty and instead use their time for other purposes.
JDAI/Probation (Judge Jeffrey Edens/Heather Shumaker):
Judge Edens gave an overview of the JDAI program to
juvenile offenders and its successful implementation in Boone County. Ms.
Shumaker has been serving as the part-time coordinator of the program in Boone
County. Ms. Shumaker has been paid through the state JDAI grant program, but
new regulations require her salary to be paid through county employee lines.
She requested transfer of just over $30,000 into three salary-related lines
from the Salary Reimbursement line.
ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS:
JDAI/Probation (Heather Shumaker):
In addition to the re-appropriations explained above, Ms.
Shumaker requested creation of some new lines and distribution of grant funding
monies totaling nearly $45,000 into those new lines (OASI & Retirement
Contribution) and three others related to the expansion of the program. Approved.
Highway (Commissioner Marc Applegate):
Commissioner Applegate presented a request for $40,000
from the Local Road & Street Fund into Engineering Services for purchase of
a road maintenance evaluation program to assist in guiding decisions for
allocation of funds in road repairs and paving. Several council members made
comments regarding the state of the county’s roads, as well as the validity of
expanding the proposed study to include evaluating both gravel and paved roads.
Eventually, the motion was withdrawn with the understanding that when a new
Highway Superintendent was hired that person could weigh in on the advisability
of the study, and defer the request until the 2016 budget hearings or withdraw
it altogether. Withdrawn.
Another “additional” was presented involving no funds at
this time, but for the creation of a new budget line entitled Road Materials,
which had been discussed at the council’s January meeting. Approved.
Prosecutor (Lori Schein):
Requested an increase in the salary ordinance for monies
from the pre-trial diversion fund to the on-call reimbursement line for
prosecutors, raising that stipend from $11/day to $15/day. Approved 5-1.
COIT/IT (Sean Horan):
Requested just over $2200 for Hardware Maintenance to
repair and replace computer hardware, as well as cover warranty agreements.
This line had been neglected in the budget hearing process due to confusion
over which area of the budget to which it belonged. Approved.
Soil & Water (Kathy Clawson):
Requested transfer of $2100 in grant money from the
county’s general fund to Soil & Water to reimburse board members their
$35/month meeting stipend. Approved.
Clerk (Jessica Fouts):
Requested creation of a new line for Election Board
Campaign Finance Enforcement to receive funds in the event of fines being collected
for delinquent report filings. Approved.
NEW BUSINESS:
Judge Jeff Edens addressed the council to introduce a new
program being created -- to work as a companion to the JDAI program discussed
above -- called Boone County Youth Assistance Program. Andrew Manna, Zionsville attorney, presented
the program’s history and goals. It is currently launching in Zionsville with
plans to expand it to the rest of the county. Heather Shumaker, director of the
JDAI program, will be coordinator for the Youth Assistance Program as well. The
YAP would identify at-risk youth (ages 3-17) through referrals through the
schools or other entities and reach out to families to coordinate services such
as mentoring, tutoring, housing assistance, counseling, etc., designed to
strengthen the child and family unit. The goal of the YAP is to address
children’s needs before they enter the court system and perhaps avoid the
juvenile justice system altogether. Boone County would currently be the only county
in the state with both the Youth Assistance Program and the JDAI program.
Council members asked several questions, including the cost to the county. At
this time, the county has no cost, and the intent is to receive state funding,
with a total cost estimated to be in the $50,000 range.
OLD BUSINESS:
Gary Hayes, president of the Boone County Extension Board,
presented an overview of the program in Boone County, which receives financial
support from the council through salaries of Extension employees. Extension
Educator and Extension Director Curt Emanuel introduced Silver Master Gardener
Rita Boje. Ms. Boje discussed the role of the volunteer Master Gardener program
in Boone County, including maintaining the Community Gardens in Lebanon and
Thorntown, including at the Caring Center, and the annual Gardenfest, which
will be held April 11 at the 4-H Fairgrounds. Health & Human Sciences
Educator Lisa Cangany introduced board member Sharon Walker, who discussed
extension’s involvement in a variety of programs throughout the county. Youth
Development Educator introduced Taylor Hoftieser, president of the 4-H Jr.
Leaders, who spoke on the importance of the program’s Four H’s: Head, Heart,
Hands and Health. Mr. Hayes thanked the council for their ongoing support of
extension.
Sheriff Mike Nielsen presented several informational
items regarding the department’s activities, including a report on the receipts
and disbursements of the sheriff’s commissary fund. Sheriff Nielsen also
presented the updated county Sheriff’s Retirement Plan and restatement for
approval and signature as required by the IRS.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Council Member Tom Santelli presented a draft resolution
regarding assessment of agricultural land, which has been an issue of concern
to many Boone County residents, particularly in the southeast quadrant of the
county. Mr. Santelli’s resolution would urge adoption of legislation specific
to reclassification of agricultural land for property tax purposes. Several members expressed sympathy for the
issue and support of the bill currently making its way through the General
Assembly, but questioned the propriety of the council delving into such an
issue as well as the appropriate action to be taken as a body. In the end, the
council took no action, but did not rule out addressing the issue at its next
meeting, while monitoring the status of the proposed legislation.
Cindy Murphy of the Health Department invited the council
to attend the 2015 Boone County Health Summit on May 6. Ms. Murphy also
addressed questions about the county’s success dealing with the recent flu
season and the increasing use of IV drugs across the county. Ms. Murphy also discussed the recent measles
outbreak and the county’s efforts to update vaccinations for a variety of
preventable diseases.
Commissioner Jeff Wolfe spoke to note that the issues
regarding assessments are state law issues, and that local assessors simply
follow those laws to the best of their ability. Wolfe also noted that grading
of gravel roads could only be done when roads were dry.
Former County Commissioner Bob Guernsey addressed the
issue of gravel roads, noting that much of the current issue with county gravel
roads relates to drainage and maintenance of ditches and berm.
Steve Lingle of Mechanicsburg spoke regarding his
frustrations with the state of the county’s gravel roads and that he was
encouraged by the discussion of the roads issue throughout the meeting.
Aaron Smith of Lebanon spoke regarding the increase in
the county’s highway funding due to changes in the state funding formula.
Meeting adjourned at approximately 8:35.
Next regularly scheduled meeting will be Tuesday, April
14, at 8:30 a.m.
