Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Yeah, call the Brown County Board of Commissioners meeting to start the Pledge of Allegiance.

Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay, additions to the agenda or changes, I've got a couple. The comments after the legal part, public comments on We'll hear from Bob Melvin on the Richardson Road petition. Kevin, we got the emails on that, so I got a little familiar with the requirement. The other thing that came in late, I would have added to the agenda, but I really didn't have time, is a presentation that we're going to get next month from Jeff Stant of the Indiana Forest Alliance. And I wanted to at least introduce that at this meeting, and then he'll have a presentation for us on our July 1D And the presentation, he's requesting a letter of support for federal legislation to expand the Charles Dean Wilderness and create the Benjamin Harrison National Recreation Area. He's also asking that we abandon the unmaintained Combs Road and turn it over to the U.S. Forest Service. Combs Road would continue to be managed as a non-wilderness corridor for hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, and primitive camping in this legislation. The legislation is sponsored by Aaron Housins in the House, and the identical legislation was submitted by then-Senator Mike Braun. The legislation is not only supported by the Governor, but by our state representatives, Eric Cook and Dave Hall. Local supporters also include the Mayor of Columbus, Bloomington County Council Mayor The National Town Council and approximately 10 hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, camping, and conservation organizations also endorse the legislation. So Jeff's going to be with us July 1 and he'll give a presentation on the history of the legislation and the intent for that wilderness area. So stay tuned. It looks like it's pretty interesting. Guys, I sent you the email that I'll have the supporting information. So I printed it out in a binder if you don't want to do it. It's on my desk and you know, read through. I mean, it looks pretty good. Combs Road, if you recall, we extended the closure of that, wow, last year was probably one of the first things we did. And so we can readdress that one, so that's familiar. Okay, and then I want to change the agenda and put the appointments up front. So that will be the, starting off with the introduction of, is it Ogie or Augie?

Augie.

Augie, okay. You want to come to the podium and state your name and tell us about yourself. Yeah, of course. Oh, go ahead. I'm sorry. I know I jumped ahead, so go ahead.

Oh, okay. It's okay. Okay.

Yeah, go ahead.

Good evening, Commissioners. My name is Audie. I'm O-D-Y. and I am with Purdue Extension. I am, my new position is called Regional Operations Leader. I used to be an educator actually in Bloomington, in Windrere County, but I'm serving Purdue Extension in a new capacity, so I receive now Brown County. So I'm gonna be a familiar face in the area, so I just wanted to come and introduce myself. Also gonna thank you guys for continuing support of Purdue Extension. We're able to provide our services and programming in health, agriculture, community development, and our young 4-H'ers. All of it is through county support. So just wanted to thank you guys again for your support. But I wanted to introduce myself, and if you have any questions about Purdue Extension or anything, please feel free to let us know. But again, just wanted to say hi, introduce myself, and let us know if you are new or anything. We're happy to help and support. Great. I will.

Can we... get together and get information before you leave so that I have your email and everything. Yes, ma'am, you can get that done. Thank you.

So that was the other thing, too, because I don't know that a lot of people know this, and I've just recently learned that Purdue Extension is reorganizing themselves as far as looking at more of a regional approach, I think, is what I saw. I don't know that I have a great deal of details, and I think I make the same request, and I don't know if my counterpart's here, but I'd like to, once you have a better idea of what that structure looks like and what the plan is, I'd like to see that because, again, it goes to facilities that we provide. Again, I mean, it's a metal barn or a metal building, so it's not like it's a magnificent facility. I'd like to understand the inputs, outputs, and make sure that we're addressing your needs or at least concerns and that kind of stuff.

Absolutely. Are there any questions I can answer now? Would you like a paper copy of the restructuring or just like a one-on-one meeting? How would you like that?

I think I'd like to actually have you come in in one of our admin meetings. We typically have an operations meeting on Tuesdays at 1 o'clock. Is that every Tuesday, sir? It is every Tuesday. Okay, at 1 o'clock. Okay. Okay, so if you want to take a look and say if one of those days better fits in your schedule. I know, again, like I said, it's in the shift here. and I'd like to understand that.

Absolutely. We're still reworking, so I think in the next couple weeks, like maybe two weeks or so, I can maybe call Amber again and then schedule a meeting and come to and tell you guys about it.

Actually, you'll want to reach out to Teresa.

Absolutely. Awesome. Yes, I can definitely do that. I love to play dead more. So we're still figuring things out, but I think it will serve Brown County just as well if not better. So I think it will be a good change.

So if it is, have they gone through and defined any of the region stuff right now? Is Brown County set, is it definitive of what those regions look like, or do you know?

Yes, so we're currently in every county, in the whole state, and so they've just, well I guess internally they've just remapped us. So Brown County is part of, we're called the South the south central region, and that's around some of the surrounding counties, So then we'll have allocated certain health and human science educators, there will be a 4-H educator in every county, and we'll have agriculture educators, also community development educators, that will just be servicing the whole region. So that's the approach that they're leaning. And then I, as a supervisor, there'll be somebody else who will be helping to oversee, make sure educators are getting their, you know, they have all their resources and service they need, the support they need, if there's anything else we need to do. We'll be in charge of presenting the county budgets, so you will see my face again. closer to budget time and any other questions you all may have as like an official capacity, I would be the one to help answer those questions. So that's kind of the structure that we're leaning more towards.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you. And my counterpart here jumped again. He didn't get me.

Thanks very much. Any other questions, guys? I'm good. Okay. Thank you. Looking forward to seeing you at the admin meeting.

Thank you so much. I appreciate it, Commissioner. Thank you.

Yeah, I kind of skipped a couple things. Approval of minutes and claims?

So I went through the minutes. Amber already updated what I found. It was only one small thing. The claims themselves, while they're not as many, their dollar value is much more significant, like Ron's pointed out. But there's been a lot of things going on, especially around the county where paving and all that's been done. So my understanding, all the paving that we had planned last year was accomplished here for Grandview, the two roads connecting to Grandview and Grandma Barnes, which I don't know if anybody's ever been on Grandma Barnes. It was like trying to drive over tank traps. So anyway, I would make a motion to approve the minutes and the claims. Okay, I'll go ahead and second. Alright, roll call.

Ron, how do you vote?

Yes.

Tim?

Yes.

Kevin? Yes.

I'm going to skip ahead on the agenda again and the reappointment of Laura Young for the Brown County Board of Center Zone. Hi, Laura.

Hello again. We were just here, but we were not necessarily on top of everything. This is a routine reappointment to the board for myself for a three-year term beginning July 1st to 2029. I can answer any questions you have. This is part of a new law. That's why we kind of missed it. It was effective July 1st, three years ago, 2023. And I was appointed at that time for my first term by the commissioners.

So, Laura, I do have a question because, again, like it's familiar because I'm like, okay, I don't know what happened here. There's a criteria I saw on there where there was the appointment that we typically make has to be impact or I guess an experience of something of that nature, requirement, not...

I don't know exactly what you're asking.

Well, so there is something to where they've been impacted either through... How do I put this? There was a demonstration or having experienced or exercised using resources here in the county for mental... Oh, you're asking if we... Yeah, the criteria.

I think it's one of the criteria. That is a transition that's coming in because of a federal requirement for CCBHC. We are not yet... I mean, we're working on that, but we're not yet there. Okay. But it is indeed a wonderful idea. Okay. All right.

I didn't know what that was part of.

No, this is, I don't know what they were thinking three years ago. You'll have to talk to the legislature.

Okay. Well, that was the only question that I had.

Okay.

Laura, thank you. I noticed in the claims it was like $64,000, I believe, to Centerstone. Do you have a total on how much we actually give Centerstone?

I do not. $128,000? $128,000.

That's $64,000 for the first six months of this year. We've got some money coming.

Thank you very much. We appreciate the support we get, and not just the money. We get a lot of local support for our employees, for our staff, and for the people who are needing our services. We really appreciate it.

Yeah, I did notice that you've actually had some engagements with the sheriff's office and the actual corrections office as well. We work very closely. Glad to see that. Yeah, me too. All right, well, any other questions? No, I'm good. Motion? I'll make a motion that we reappoint Laura Young as the board member from the commissioners to Centerstone. I'll second that. Roll.

Tim, how do you vote?

Yes.

Kevin, how do you vote?

Yes.

Ron, how do you vote?

Yes. Okay. And then we'll get one more appointment out of the way for the music. Thanks, Laura. Thank you. For the Music Center Management Board. We kind of could discuss the changes. Ron, do you want to bring that up, or Kevin?

I don't know. I'll give my view of it, and then Kevin can have at it. With the, which has passed, A resolution or what was it that you passed to do a negotiation? Okay. That's kind of, if both of us are in the room, if I got it right, the attorney can speak up if he wants to. My understanding, if I'm sitting on that board, I'm the one that's supposed to be doing the talking. If another commissioner comes in and starts communicating with the board, especially on terms or finances or something, That could be a problem. So in the essence of that, I believe I will step down from the Music Center Management Board and turn it over to Kevin so he can go ahead and handle that. Does that make sense, attorney?

I mean, it makes sense. I can't speak to necessarily the requirements of your board membership, but that does make sense.

Okay.

You got anything to add, Kevin? No, I missed a site on that, so we should have taken that into consideration when we went through that whole thing. Do I? We should have caught that when we were talking about that and didn't think anything about it. Good catch.

Then I make a motion that Kevin takes over the board seat at the Music Center Management. Okay.

I'll second. And roll call.

Kevin, how do you vote?

Yes.

Ron, how do you vote?

Yes.

Tim, how do you vote?

Yes. Okay. Next item. Approval and contract on the roof via Soho Park Office.

The only thing I've seen that it got redone and that they don't get paid until they show up with the material. My other concerns was there was a lot more per sheet than it was on one of the other ones. And if they do it on the weekend, if there is more decking put down, that needs to be approved. I believe there was up to five sheets. So either Dan or you said you would see. You don't have to schedule for a weekend, but when these guys come in, they're going to be moving fast. They're going to be ripping shingles off, going to be going to the ground. It's probably not a good idea to have the people there. On the weekend, if you have to have that deck approval, somebody has to approve that.

Right. So I did go through the exercise. I think Dan actually did have a conversation with Mark and Andy, and Andy was more preferable for him to do weekend because that's a lot of noise when he's doing veteran interviews for disability and all that stuff.

They're going to try to do it in one day probably.

Yeah.

That's the plan. They have it ripped off at noon. And by the time they get one side ripped off, they'll be putting it back down on the other.

So at this point in time in having that conversation with Dan, Dan said, yes, I will be there on the weekend to do that. If that gets scheduled and they identify that. And I told him that if that does not work, I would be more than willing to step in and do that myself. It just needs to be coordinated. Other than that, I'm good with it. So I'll make a motion that we go forth with the proposal presented by Artisan Roofing. for a total on this particular project of $22,558.87. Second. Okay, rule. Ron, how do you vote? Yes.

Tim, how do you vote? Yes. Kevin, how do you vote?

Yes. Next item is the Commissioner Resolution Helmsburg RSD. Commissioners support for a change of HRSD boundaries to include future customers they would be supporting. kyle just contacted me he won't be able to make it tonight so we won't be voting on this this resolution tonight but we have representatives from brown county rc you guys want to make comments on kind of where you're at quick question for council sure my name is richard hall i'm a member of the brown county regional sewer district and my question to council

to the board is, does the board have the right and legal authority to take territory away from Brown County Regional Sewer District and grant it to Helmsford Regional District? That sounds like a legal question. It is a legal question.

So, James, are you there? James, you're free to answer that.

Yeah, I'm going to have to... You don't have to answer that, James. Okay.

I appreciate before the board votes on the resolution that you provide some opinion on that question.

Okay.

Thank you.

I think that's reasonable.

Well, thank you.

All right. Come on. We'll hop up here.

Hello, Matt. Hello. Thank you for making the meeting.

The storm stayed away for now. Well... I'm kind of struggling with all this. You guys, not necessarily you, but Enza put, what, 25 years in the Bean Blossom Project and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars. You've done a study on running over two Helensburg, okay? It appears that that money has dried up somewhat, okay? You had $3.7 million You moved another million from that project over there, which gives you about 4.7 million. It's the most money you guys have ever had. You're thinking about Lake Lemon. That's sounding good. I don't know. I just, unless they got the funding to do it, it don't make sense for me, for Yens to turn it over, since you've done got so much invested. Now, I believe it was you that said you weren't worried so much about the financial side. You were just worried about the clean water. So I guess if Helmsburg could come up with financing, you know, it's all community, that would be a thought. But at this point, I don't think they've got that. Would you just have to turn it over before they could get money?

That's a good question. So I don't know exactly. So Adrian and I have met. Actually, Councilman Burke was there with us just to be as a third party. Pardon? Councilman Burke was there with us just to be as a third party. So they actually had a really good conversation. One of the things that I had told them was, because they were obviously eager for their goals, they said, well, we think we can get the funding. And one of the action items I had in that meeting is, okay, I want to see your, how can you get to that funding level? Because I know for now we've, projected what our funding was going to be. We weren't going to meet what we thought we needed, so we paused it. But we're going to start up again to go find more funding. And so that was one of the things. If you have the money now, that's fantastic. I mean, that's wonderful. So that was the action item that we left, and we haven't met since then. I actually sent out an email earlier today of when are we meeting next.

So we're not going to vote on it, obviously, tonight. So you guys just keep communicating is what I would say. And if they can answer that question, then you and Mike want to think about signing off on it. If they can produce financing. That's a lot of money. It is a lot. Yeah. I mean, probably more money than they've ever seen. So I just don't know where it's going to come from. And from what you're saying, you're not very sure of it either.

But if they have a source, that's going to be fantastic for the county. I'm hopeful that they do have those sources, and we're starting again next year or later this year to do exactly the same thing.

Well, communication. Cooperation. You guys got anything?

No, I don't. No. Thank you, Matt.

I'll just clarify the resolution. Our intent is not to... Our intent was to support Helmsburg's request to expand the sewer boundaries to cover the customers they're going to support. That's the intent. The step in that, you guys changed boundaries before when Helmsburg wanted to expand their territory. It went from the two boards and then IDEM approved it. So we don't have a decision-making authority on that territory. It's between the two boards and IDEM. And that's what's the intent of the resolution.

resolution. I'll let these guys continue the conversation. They made good progress and don't force the issue. Let them do their thing. We're not forcing anything. The resolution is bringing us to meetings.

Okay. We'll bring it up next month and then we'll have the other conversation and see where we're at. I guess I'll go ahead and just make a motion to table it for tonight.

Do we need to do that? I don't know. It was tabled the last time around. There's no reason to re-table it.

All right, next one. The Bryan County scoping period selection for the prosecutor's office. Eric, if you could bring that up. Can you make that bigger? I don't know that I can.

Wait a minute. I can see that side. I'll leave this so you can see it.

Let me do the comparisons, just give you an overview of the different processes. On the left, I've got design. We've got design, bid, build. And the way that works, that's the traditional approach, the way we've always done it. When you look at the final cost, that's a variable cost. The risk is on the owner. Point two, on value engineering, both processes look at ways of saving money as this thing is being built. If somebody comes up with an innovation or whatever, that's value engineering. That could reduce costs. Typically what you'd do is you'd do an RFP, request for proposal for an architect, and then of course we'd identify what the selection criteria is, we'd interview them, and then we'd rack and stack the numbers and select an architect. Then you'd do an RFP for a general contractor, same process, identify your criteria, interview the contractors, you could do that, or you just approve the lower bid. The general contractors, once they get the bid, they negotiate the subcontract bids. We never see that. That's between them. When you get subcontractor bids, it's going to vary, just like we see. It's going to be high, low, there's going to be average. The general contractor can work that in, and if he wants to take a lower bid than what he may have estimated, that money stays in his pocket to cover his risk or add to his profits. On the contract, there's project management piece 5.0. What you can do on that one is you can have an architect do the project management of that. They take a percent, and then they manage that project. The other option is have an owner's technical rep, which is what we do. The council required that as part of the bonding, and we have Dan Cartwright as our owner's technical rep. On the project team, on the design bid bill option, it's customers, it's the contractors, it's your office, your owner's technical rep. Seven, change orders are routine and expected. Something's missed in the requirement. We didn't identify the requirements up front. You cover that in a change order, and that adds to the cost as well. And there could be several dozens more, depends on the size of the project. But that's on the number of change orders. And sometimes, you know, the architect may eat that. If they missed a requirement, it may be on the owner. So that's part of that process. And then the county also, when you have a project, not only do you get the funding for the project, but you build in a contingency, and that could be 10%. And that's just additional funds. So if a project cost a million dollars, we add 10% as a contingency just to cover the unknowns. If scope changes, something was disclosed or discovered during the process, you know, we're covered. And so that's the design-bid-build process. On the build-operate-transfer, that's a little different. Instead of a variable risk, We have a guaranteed maximum price not to exceed. And anything over that, the risk is on the developers. So if there's that 10% contingency or unknowns or the scope change or whatever, that's on the developers, not on the county. So we have a guaranteed maximum price not to exceed. And again, the risk is on the developer. Value engineering still applies. If we find improvements there, that reduces cost. And the RFP is to the developer, not to the architect, not to the general contractor. We do an RFP for developers. We had about 13 questions. We interviewed, we had two responses. We had 90 minute interviews with both. We went through our questions, had our criteria, made a selection. And then, so that's that point. And the next part is arrange for a scoping agreement where they identify, come up with an estimate of what that cost is gonna be. They have schematics. What else would be in there, Kevin?

They can go as far as, like in this particular instance, we may consider having Max do some research on floodplain, floodway, if we're in those kinds of situations where the prosecutor's office is being considered for that. The other thing is, I think Ron mentioned it earlier on, or at one point sitting there saying, well, there is concerns with regards to fill where that location is at the jail because I don't believe the dirt that is there is the original dirt that was originally part of the original ground because of the jail being built in proximity.

There was a baseball diamond there for decades. Yeah.

So that's part of it. Again, it's just it's left to us to kind of define that. But typically the schematics and then they're going to go through the extra size of providing a schedule or proposal with financing in this particular situation of what it would be. And then there would be obviously a discussion on build period and defining who the team would be as far as their side of it along with ours.

And that's all on their dime. It's not going to cost us. I think we've built in not to exceed a dollar on this particular part. So they do put a lot of time, money, and effort into this scoping agreement to bring it back to us and we approve it or not. They're at risk at that point. And so if we approve that, they covered it all, they give us that price, then we have a public hearing. And that's when people have a chance to comment on the package. What's different here is when it comes to negotiating the subcontractor bids, that's transparent. Our owner's technical rep will be involved in that process. So if they have, and they give as many of these bids as practical or as appropriate, and then they do the negotiation. If it's high, if it's low, maybe they missed something, maybe they can make an adjustment. And so any kind of savings that come from that process, that's really passed on to the owners. And so it's a good thing. So we know. And so that's very transparent on the subcontractors and the different costs. And the developer is the program manager. So instead of project management that we deal with the architect or the general contractors, we develop with one guy, the developer project manager. And then our owner technical rep is our representative. There'd be on the teams, the project team would be the customers, the developer, PM, and the owner's technical rep, which would be Dan. on change orders, only on scope changes, and that's very unlikely. So when you look at the schedule that we're expecting to receive, there'll be plenty of meetings to refine what those requirements are to make sure that we take as many as much ambiguity or uncertainty on what exactly we want out of the process. So it minimizes their risk. So the more they can put that design in up front, less risk, less change. And again, any changes that you may have missed as going through this process, that extra cost is on them, not on the county. We've already got our guaranteed price And so it's on them. So it behooves them to take the time they need to make sure they identify all the requirements that they possibly can up front. So that's plenty of meetings to understand that the customers understand what they're getting, we understand what they're getting, and there's no unknowns.

Let me clarify on that, Tim, as far as the scope changes. When we say scope changes, we're not talking about the paint color. We're not talking about windows. We're not talking about carpeting. We're not talking about tile. We're not talking about wood frame or any of that. We're talking about square footage increases. We're talking about an actual significant change to the actual facility itself. So again, a lot of the things that we just talked about that I mentioned there, those things are all covered under that change.

And finally, on their contingency, it's built into the guaranteed maximum price. So less risk. more of a defined outcome on the bill of operating transfers. So that's the option we chose on the prosecutor's office. Okay.

Okay. Kevin, do you have anything to add? No, it was just a clarification on, like I said, the scoping side of things. Okay.

So the next part of the other meeting will be on the scoping agreement, to hammer out the scoping agreement.

Alright, so I would basically say what I wanted to make sure, again this is a little different with regards to us because we like to try and make sure it's boring, is there are two organizations that we did have the interviews with was Envoy and the other one was GM Development. Again, each of us have our own take on that. My preference in this point and what I would like to basically propose as a motion is to move forward with GM development in the scoping period. Okay?

But you two already decided to go with the company, right?

We've had our discussions about what the scoring is for it and our good concerns about it. Yeah, we went through our notes, Ron, and... looked at the criteria, looked at the questions. Again, we had 90-minute interviews with both vendors. And then Dan had his score. Kevin and I both had our individual scores. You'd already told us you were in favor of the other envoy. I said I was going to go with him.

I didn't vote for the... Let me make a couple things clear. I don't have a problem building a new prosecutor's office. I didn't vote for the bot to begin with. And... Like I said, and I think that the company, I think either company could probably build it. It's just that I don't think it's clear enough. And there is a question. Got to be careful since it was an executive session. But James, something come up about them negotiating with their contractors and some money coming back. if there is any money coming back, what that money could be used for. And they said that it may be coming to the county or might be used for furniture. You don't have to answer this question right now. That needs to be clarified. My understanding is that it's kind of tricky with these bots. Certain amounts of money have to be spent in a certain amount of time. I believe that Bond's about two years old. There's probably some legal questions that need to be looked at. But if these guys are determined to go ahead and vote on that, that's up to them.

I think the question of the bond is independent of whether it's a bot or not. So I'm not sure that that's necessarily the key point here. Bond or not is a pure procedural thing. The bond does have a point where it needs to be, basically use it or you're paying for nothing, basically. Okay.

I think those are, is that a curing period, James? Is that what it's typically called or something like that? Yeah. And if I'm understanding, I think, and again, I haven't, but my understanding in... experience because it's a four-year bond i think the curing period is three years but i'm not sure that's why we'd have to actually check the ordinance that's right i can double check with our our bond attorneys to make sure that's right but that's the basics Okay, and then reference, go back to what Ron was referencing with regards to those funds and monies being there. It was called bid leveling, and that's exactly what Tim pointed out with regards to the actual, they're going through and sharing with us, in essence, the contractors, subcontractors work, and they're, in essence, going for and validating the numbers that they have on that. And then there is, in that process, when they projected that in, their actual guaranteed maximum price, but if that number was in a smaller number from once they've done that bid leveling aspect, those are funds or dollars that they would be willing or would come back and the agreement that they have in the past from both of them saying it has gone back to the customer. Because they're doing their due diligence to make sure that they're getting materials and labor and things of that nature at a market price that is reasonable.

Well, then having the savings is a nice problem to have. I think their issue was, they said in some owners, they may spend the savings in the furnishings for the particular building. But us, that's going to be governed by what we can spend it on from the bond. So that one, we can certainly resolve. But that's a nice problem to have when you have savings. and then let the bond terms tell us how we can best spend it. It's not like we don't have a portfolio of infrastructure projects we can use that bond money for. So anyway, that all comes out in the next phase, those details.

All right, so I made a motion to move forward with that. Okay.

I'll second. Roll call.

Tim, how do you vote? Yes. Kevin, how do you vote?

Yes.

Ron, how do you vote?

No. Next item on the agenda, received from, our attorneys had a good recommendation on this, on the update to the comprehensive plan. They suggested a memorandum of agreement and sent me a draft of what that could look like. So I'm in the process of going through that draft and making the tweaks we need to make and I'll pass it on to the APC to see if they're supportive of that particular agreement. So it looks like it's a pretty good process to do. There will be a commissioner representative on that you know, going forward. There wasn't last time. And then we've identified the kind of process to lead to the changes that we want, which is really having those interviews at the four different townships to get input community-wide. So it's pretty, looks like a pretty good agreement. I'll make the changes and probably get that to you guys in about a week or so. Let me know what you think. Yeah, James, yeah. Great. Good. You're on the same schedule. That's always good to hear. I'll tell you, it's always good to hear. Amendment, now we go back, yeah, that's that one. Kevin, update on that amendment, Music Center Admin Agreement, any...

So I basically had a conversation with the CBC. I then went to the, I had a conversation with the Music Center Board, which was in their last meeting. I actually went to the CBC Board, had a conversation there, and the consensus I'm seeing forming here is, well, we'd like to wouldn't mind having that conversation, but do it in a public session with all groups. I don't know that that's going to happen because I have not talked with the building board. So that's left. My comment would be is that if we can't make that arrangement, then request that each one of those organizations come forth with a letter saying we'd like to have that agreement stand as it is, and then we'll see what will go from there. So that's where we're at. Okay, thank you.

The Indian Hill crossing, railroad crossing and funding. Going back and forth with the engineers on a scope of this support. What we wanna do is see if we can open it up to pedestrians only to start and then transition and open up for vehicles. So it's kind of a two-phase process. We're trying to communicate and see what we can do. I mean, if we can open up to pedestrians, by every other month I'm getting inquiries from hiking groups runners, the biker groups, just general people on when we're going to, when they can access Cupsey Road, when they can access that crossing. So we're working, we're getting closer, but we're just looking at the scope of that service agreement with the engineers. Those are, that's the same company that helped us put in for the grants, and we continue to put in for grants when they become available. So we just want to hit, do everything we can to move this thing forward. That's the update on that one. Policy is a work in process. All these new things pop up that we've got to resolve before we get to some of these things. Let me go to Commissioner.

Just a few things. We are currently in the thick of budgets, so that's top priority right now along with insurance renewal, which will be July 1st. Just a reminder to the citizens that county offices are closed Friday the 19th. And any questions on the American Legal Publishing for next week?

I haven't gone through that agreement. It's a very, very long agreement. It is a long one.

Can we put that back on the agenda for next time?

Yeah, it is.

I'm excited, though. I think it's going to be a good program for the citizens.

It's a hell of a routine. What we're trying to do on that publishing agreement is we're trying to get all our documentation online. Sometimes it's just a scavenger hunt to find something. And then once you find it, where are you gonna store it? And then does it disappear the next time you need it? So to put all this stuff online would be super. Avoiding all the hunts would be even better. And then to maintain that would be even better. So that's what we're working on. Anything from Highway?

She did not send an update. She apologized and she said that they're in the throes of budget also.

I will make one update that's probably critical in that. They are actually close to actually putting a bid package together for some additional payment that's going to happen. And the proposal is on Upper Salt Creek. Yes. In areas not the entire route goal point road from my understanding the exist the asphalt as it is today and Green Road is the proposal and the Hassel Hassel Hassel Haystown, whatever the heck that crossover section is And then I think if I'm not mistaken the other one with a short shoe you live on Haystown Haystown

Half the town, half the town.

And then a combination of that is the short chute, if I'm not mistaken. It ended up being 11 miles, 11 and a half miles, something like that, all together. Of course, I might be confusing it with what they're planning in 2028 or 2027, so I don't know. That's good. Yes, Mr. Parsons. Highway 45 is back open at Lake Creek. Oh, good. Thank you. That was quick. For somebody that lives in that area I know that they will go back out and make sure that there wasn't any damage to our detour. So benefits to having a software system that does our pacer readings for us. So just kind of go out and drive it and collect it. Well, that's the second bridge, not the first one. Okay. I know that there's another one that's supposed to be coming along. Okay.

Thank you. Thanks, Kevin. And Dwayne, thanks for your report. I take that as a negative report. The key was zero applicants. Just to get about Mr. Bell. Yeah, I have it. Next one is upgrade Pumpkin Ridge Road. Good news, public information meeting on that. It's going to be July 16th, the time from 530 to 7. It's going to be held at the A. Martin Lodge at the Brant County State Park. Doors open at 530. Don't know about the snacks yet. On the gate fee, fees will be waived if the attendee states to the gate attendant that they will be attending the Mount T State Forest Public Information Meeting. So the meeting will include a video presentation summarizing the project, history to date, a review of the alternative analysis, discussion of next steps, and notification of an open comment period. Additional meeting information will be published by NDOT via works.ndot.in.gov, Facebook, and acts prior to the meeting. and they hope to have a video out by around July 9th, and once we get that, we'll share that as soon as we get it. Okay, comments.

Bob Melvin. Yes. Number one, thanks for adding me to the agenda, so I do. I am Bob Melvin. I'm a resident at 7258 Richardson Road. I was not here at your last meeting, but I understood it was brought up. The possibility of me to pay the Richardson Drive. So I was told, draft a petition, make sure the neighbors had no objections to it. So I went ahead, first petition I've ever drafted, by the way, but used AI, so we'll see how Chad GBT did. Found some errors already. But I'll go ahead and just read through it so that you know what's here. Basically, to the Brown County Commissioners, The request for paving, long-term improvement of Richardson Drive. We, the undersigned residents and property owners of Richardson Drive in Brown County, Indiana, respectfully petition Brown County Board of Commissioners to evaluate and approve the paving of Richardson Drive. Richardson Drive currently is a single-lane gravel road approximately one-fourth mile in length. The road currently requires regular maintenance. I know in talking to the neighbors, I've only been there for six months now, but in hearing the neighbors, I've heard, as many as once a month, I've heard twice a year. So those are the two that I've heard gets excavated and gravel added. But obviously there's some issues with that. The dust affects property, residents, vehicles, overall quality of life. In addition, repeated gravel, grading and graveling, replacement represents continued maintenance requirements by the county. A properly paved roadway could significantly reduce these reoccurring maintenance needs and potentially lower the cost long term for the county. As a resident of Richardson Drive, I'm located at 7258. I would be willing to pay the entire cost of the paving project for Richardson Drive, provided the cost is reasonable and approved in advance. My request is not for county funding, but rather the county's consideration, approval, cooperation, and allowing the roadway to be improved through paving. It is requested upon completion of the paving project and acceptance by the county that Richardson Drive continue to be maintained by Brown County as well. The benefits of paving, I think probably most of these make sense, but reduction of dust, related impact on residents' property, improved year-round access for residents, visitors, delivery services, emergency vehicles, reduced need for annual grading and gravel replacement, potential reduction in county long-term cost, maintenance expense, improved road stability, driving condition, enhanced long-term value, and usability of the roadway. We request the Brown County Board of Commissioners to conduct an evaluation of the Richardson Drive for paving eligibility, provide information regarding the process, requirements, specification, permits, approval, estimated cost necessary to compete the paving project. We appreciate the consideration of this request And then I have the signatures of all the residents. There are four additional residents other than me that actually reside on Richardson Drive. So I have all four of their signatures and approval. There's actually one additional person that I went ahead and got their approval that they are on Robertson Road. Robertson is a paved road. But their address is 933 Robertson. But the pavement stops right before you get to their driveway. So... The continuation of that is why I added them, and their property actually runs adjacent. So I went ahead and got their approval as well.

So thank you for doing that. Okay. And appreciate that process part of it. This is all new for us because I know that there's petitions, so James is going to be involved with that. So we'll take that into consideration. We just, I don't, if you send it along, I haven't had a chance to review it. No problem. Just the thing about it is, is, Just caution you to understand from a cost perspective and as far as the gravel roads themselves, typically what ends up happening is what we call base, right? So we just had this whole scenario where we had one of our gravel roads completely destroyed because they were running heavy trucks, which again, that was an anomaly, but completely destroyed because they're running tandem axle dump trucks through the school and dropping fill dirt to the tune of 300 or 400 loads. So I'm not saying that you want to design a road that way, but the base of it, along with drainage, is always probably the most important. most important and the most costly as it gets that so just a heads up i don't know what that is we'll have to have we'll have to have our assistant superintendent and that look at it and we may actually look at engaging and i don't know if we need to to have someone else that's more familiar with actual requirements for that to say where's that at right so i i can't we'll get a number we'll look at it yeah that's what i ask

I will tell you, initially I didn't even know it was a county road, so I thought it was a private road. So I went ahead and had estimates drafted to go ahead and I was actually going to have concrete laid down, not asphalt. And I had that bid for that, and then I found out I was going to the neighbors to just ask, and they're like, I think it's a county road. If you can share that information with us, that would be greatly appreciated. Sure, sure. If you can send that along, that would be... Yeah, well, and it was kind of a combination because... The house that I bought has three drives that run off of it. So it's actually doubled. I have another quarter of an acre, or I'm sorry, quarter of a mile that has to be paved on my drive as well. So the combination of the two, the price range from $175,000 to $190,000, covering Richardson as well.

And I'm going to tell you that that doesn't take into consideration anything that I just spoke with. Because I've averaged about $150,000, $170,000 on a mile.

Yeah, I think... Couple of things. I mean, and you're right, especially if it's two lane road, but single lane road. And so it kind of cuts the square footage down, obviously in half. But the other issue, and I've heard this from the residents, is just recently, I think it was a week and a half ago, it just got graded again. And they're like, it's going to be a problem now. Whoever graded it this time wasn't the same person that graded it the last time. They covered up the cut-ins. that are on the side of the road for the drainage. So exactly what you're saying happened now with the gravel road. So it's like, they'll be back out here after the next big rain because they're gonna have to fix it.

So if you do run into that situation, I do encourage you to reach out to the highway department on that. Okay. And have them come out and, if that's a concern, address it. Typically, like I said, I think the last meeting, non-accused, we have... giving a hard time about a compliment to the highway department. It was just along the lines of they're very responsive these days. So if that's something that comes out of them.

I'm no road expert and I just heard it when I was going to get the signatures to be honest with you. Okay. All right. Well, thank you, Mr. Hill.

No problem. Thank you. Anything wrong I didn't know? No, I'm good too. We figured it out. Yeah. All right.

Hey, James, anything for you?

Nothing for me. Uh, Got a couple contracts I'm reviewing for you guys, but that's about it right now.

Okay. Well, James, I'm glad you had a low-intensity meeting, you did. You drew the lottery straw.

I think it's the first one.

I think so. So, no, 50 minutes, so. Thank you, James. All right. Let's take a motion to adjourn.