County Council - Regular Meeting

I want to call the uh February 4th, 20126 Hamilton County Council meeting to order. Mr. Otter, can we have a roll call? Ken Alexander, present. Brad Beaver here. Tim Griffin here. Mark Hall here. Sum Mackey present. Amy Moslamy present. Steve Nation here. Mr. President, you have a quorum. Okay. Tonight I'm going to give the invitation and we'll have a pledge of allegiance. Just bow your head and pray in your own way and remember all the men and women in our armed services who are on duty this evening.

Amen. I pledge algiance 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.

I need a motion to approve the minutes of January 7th. So moved. Second. All in favor?

Opposed? That passes. Here's a portion for public comments. Anybody have anything to say that's not on our agenda? Now's the time. Seeing none, we'll move forward. We're going to have committee and Yeah, we have our tech person right here. Awesome. I'm not that person.

Oh, yeah. Okay, you're right. I was like, hi I didn't consider that one.

Do these things do anything? Um, yeah, I'm supposed to, right? Are they Is yours on? You

see it?

Thank you. I appreciate you brought uh annual reports that uh you guys can have you like. Sure.

So, uh my name is Brian. I am uh a lieutenant with Hammond County Sheriff's Office. Been there 22 years. Uh and uh in October of 2024, Sheriff Quake and Bush asked me to take over uh the new real time center uh for Hamilton County. And I'm here to present on that right now. Uh there's about 400 real time centers uh in the United States. Uh you might hear me say Arctic, which is just the acronym for for real time center. Uh they were formed in response to school shootings in the very beginning. In other words, the officers realized that the the SRO, school resource officer, couldn't be camped behind a computer when there's an act of violence going on, and they needed people off site to monitor those cameras so that they could respond to the threat accordingly. And since then, the the Arctics have expanded uh to include all different kinds of technology and throughout the United States as well. Uh the Hamilton County Arctic is uh is very cutting edge. And what I mean by that is we're the only one in the nation, we were the very first one in the nation to have a task force mindset. uh we're the only ones to have a collaborative uh enforcement effort uh from all the agencies in the county. Um even if it's not through active participation, we still respond to those uh jurisdictions that are not participating. So we're the only one in the United States that does that. Um and what's really cool about Hamilton County right now is in comparison to say Miami and Miami Dade County, uh they have separate Arctics that don't talk to each other. in Hamilton County, we all talk to each other. We're all on the same report management system, all on the same CAD, which is computer AED dispatch, same, you know, report management, same dispatch center, same GIS, same everything. Uh same radios, the whole shebang. So, uh it's it's really formative and a lot of the not a lot, almost all of the the real time

centers in the nation are looking on Hamilton County as being that forefront in the regional mindset of real time centers. So, it's an excellent time for us. We're currently staffed Monday through Friday, 8 am to 6 pm. Uh our officers are either sworn police officers or civilian analysts. This is the way the the traditional order of events happens uh before the real time center happened. Uh so the 911 call would come in. Uh the dispatcher would have a set of questions. They'd ask that uh caller based off of the call type. uh they would type all that stuff in computerated dispatch and then they'd kick that call over uh to a different dispatcher to dispatch that call uh out to patrol officers or fire or whatever it may be. As you can tell, that's an incredibly inefficient way to operate. Uh I think we can all agree on that. What we do is we take that 911 call and we pipe that 911 call directly into the real time center. And so the the operators down there are listening to those 911 calls as they're actively happening. They don't engage with them. They don't uh talk to them directly, but they're getting all that information prior to any fire unit, medic, or police officer. And by doing that, they're able to gather all that intel, whether that be on the suspect, whether that be on the fire, whether that be on an unconscious male, missing uh child, whatever it may be. They're able to gather all that intel before it ever makes it into the CAD and then pass on that information to responding units. So, it's much much quicker and much much more efficient. We've also expanded uh with our contract through Motorola and our radio system into Rave Alerting. Uh prior to this, we were having to send out hundreds of emails for mass uh response units. Uh with rave alerting, we're able to push button uh alert mass mass amounts of people. So, uh we can alert an entire police department if we choose to or whatever it may be. Uh this came to came to be when the Westfield had that pursuit followed by the shooting and we

realized we don't have any way to do this and rave alerting has allowed us to uh literally have push button alerts to the police departments that are responding. Jonas first responder or DFR uh right now Carmel and Noblesville uh both have active DFR programs. Uh their pilots uh sit down in the real time center which is located in the basement of the sheriff's office. They fly their drones out of the basement of the sheriff's office, but the drones are actually located either on top of their PD in Noblesville's case or Caramel has three different drones that covers almost all of Clay Township. Those are on the fire departments and on top of the PD as well. So, uh there's a a drastic amount of technology uh happening uh in the in the drone space uh for realtime centers. They have about a three mile flight radius. So the one from Noblesville will fly down to about 146 and 37 and fly up about to Riverwood west to about Hazel and east to um Stony Creek roughly. So good amount of coverage. With that uh the sheriff's office has uh made a deal with with Flock, who is our uh our software people. Um and we're going to be the beta testers for a fixed wing drone. Um most likely two. Uh the fixedwing drone is a very large drone. Um, but it's a quadcopter setup, so it quadcopters up into the air and then it shoots off wherever it's going. Um, it's got about three hours of flight time. It flies it at over 100 mile an hour. Uh, it's AI enabled, meaning that if there's a a missing three-year-old wearing a red shirt and blue jeans, we can say, "Hey, go look in this area for a t a three-year-old wearing a red t-shirt and blue jeans," and it'll fly a grid looking for that and alert us when it finds it. All that to say, it's going to greatly enhance public safety uh as it gets here. And and what I mean by that is, you know, if police are involved in vehicle pursuit and we can get a uh drone overhead to keep eye on that suspect vehicle, lives are going to get

saved. Every single pursuit that we get in, it typically doesn't end well for somebody. So, um this this has the chance to to drastically change and alter the way that that police do business as well as fire. We'll have docking spa stations throughout the county. Uh we have expanded uh radar technology. It's one of the most quickly advancing technologies right now in the real-time space. Uh so we expect that by the time uh the the fixed wing gets here that the antennas will work in such a way that we'll have a good radius around Hamilton County, be able to cover most of the surrounding counties as well, just in case those calls or those pursuits are we can render assistance to neighboring counties. big initiative for me uh starting in May of last year was a safe school program. Uh up until then uh we had no hub or information hub for schools. Uh meaning that there were uh uh floor plans and and different school outlets uh in the county but no real hub. Uh with what we've done downstairs, we've been able to uh put all of our school plans, public school plans onto our software. So that's click of a button. we have uh what the school the school floor plan is. So if there's an active situation in room 312 at Westfield High School, we know exactly where room 312 is. We know the nearest points of ingress and egress and how to direct responding units there as well as uh staff and students. With that, uh we're able to integrate the school videos, uh the different uh technology platforms that schools have. We're able to integrate that into our software as well. So there's active mapping. So if there is an active situation, we can pull up those cameras and see what's actually happening before units get there and then give them the proper direction uh and be a lot more efficient in that way. The other side of of the technology side is the intelligence gathering. Uh there's a whole lot of different softwares out there. I'm not going to

bore you with all of them, but there's a lot of different softwares out there we utilize, whether that be on fire or a police run. and that and for fire runs for instance if a medic responds to like an unconscious male we don't know who it is we don't know who next to ken is we don't know who to notify we can use f fac facial recognition software to uh identify that person let them know next to kin do all that research through our different softwares that we employ past five years has shown tremendous growth in the real- time space uh we can only assume that the next 5 to 10 years are going to be exponential in growth as Uh my hope is that Hamilton County continues to to lead the way, be the cutting edge of of this technology and this space. Uh it is truly a force magnifier and really makes public safety a lot more efficient when we're able to provide them with information before they ever get to a call. As staffing increases, the hours of operation will increase as well. And uh we'll have a working space for both staff, DFR, and technology. Now, the the nuts and bolts, the costs. Uh, right now, uh, the national average, uh, just on a a straw poll, uh, the national average about 12 to $18 per citizen. If you expand that into what ours is, uh, with 380,000 people, uh, we spend about a$1.25 per citizen. So, uh, we're a little bit behind as far as our expenditures per citizen, but keep in mind that we're not exactly comparing apples to apples simply because we are a, uh, joint task force, meaning we cover the entire county. Most of the centers that out there in existence are covering a municipality or a county alone by themselves. So, uh, it's not exactly exactly an applesto apples comparison. U, so, but it is a it is a comparison nonetheless.

As you guys know, uh, dispatchcommunications and EMA is getting ready to, uh, move into a new building next year. Um, with that, I would like the, uh, opportunity to outfit the old dispatch center in the in the basement of the of the sheriff's office into the new realtime center. Um, we would expand from eight seats to 16 seats as well as uh six DFR pilot locations um for the drones uh as well as video walls, conference space, and office space uh as well as a building area for our cameras and equipment. So, it's a much needed upgrade from where we're at now. That's kind of the overhead picture of it. So, questions.

All right, I have a couple questions. one. You mentioned that our current expenditure per citizen is $1.25 and the national average is 12 to 18 although it's not exactly apples to apples. Do you anticipate what do you anticipate our need or your need for expenditure per citizen to rise to?

That's a good question. So right now we're spending about $474,000 out of our lit fund. Uh as we expand our video feeds that all comes with a cost. In other words, the safe school program and all the stuff that that entails, say there's 500 video feeds at a school, we need to um get that those video feeds into our technology. That costs money. So, every video feed that we do costs money. I estimate that to go from where we're at now to where we need to be or should be, that's about $3.6 million right now per year. Okay. And then another curious question, how big are these fixedwing drones?

Yes, they're uh it depends on which model, but generally speaking, uh 8 to 12 feet long. Uh which seems pretty big. Uh but keep in mind it's hovering and and flying in grid patterns. It's not like a typical drone quadcopter that you would see kind of just, you know, floating around. So there'll be the calls, Jazz. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yes. Uh, Lieutenant, I'm a private pilot. I don't want to run into your drone. Yeah. How high are you going? Yeah. So, we go up to 400 feet. Uh, right now we go up to 200 feet, but we'll go up to 400 feet. We've got technology that that shows us aircraft and other drones in the area so we can avoid those. Yeah. Okay. Because you need to do the avoiding.

Yes. My airplane, which is an antique and doesn't have radar or ABS, has the rightway. Yes, sir. Okay. We are we are highly aware of is your is your leadership group approved you to have $3.6 million? Not yet. Okay. That's a separate group than us. Correct. Okay. Um for the uh public schools, what about the private schools and things like that? Are you um are you looking to get those mapped as well? Yes, Ken. Thank you for asking. So, uh, most of the Catholic schools in Hamilton County I have mapped. Um, the other schools are my next round. So, yes,

I had that written down as a question. So, and quite honestly, I'm not limited to schools. Any floor plan of a major business, um, you know, you you name it. any any bigger size floor plan that would be intuitive for officers or or fire personnel to know where stuff exists. I'm interested in incorporating that into what we have. I know they moved all the homeland security now has all building records of all that stuff. So, I'm sure that some of that exists, but I'm not tell you it's probably not accurate, right? It's not like it's it's a different if it's a different scale than we're doing. Yep.

Anybody else? Would that also go to big events? You know, do you guys do that already or will that be something you're doing? Like will they send you plans from Caramel Fest or uh Liv when it comes? They'll send you those and you'll have that already absolutely active and going. So we for bigger events especially when requested we enact uh people to come in on a on a volunteer basis uh to come come down and work the center and to cover those events. We also have camera trailers that we deploy out there so we can keep an eye and that frees up officers so that they don't have to station an officer to keep an eye on an intersection or traffic and we can do it all remotely on a camera. Thank you. Thank you.

Okay. Our next item uh is the appointment of the uh our appointment to the Arcadia Economic Development Economic Development Board. Has anybody got that name? Don't we have a name? Kelly. It's Elizabeth Fouch. And has anybody asked Elizabeth if she wants to serve? Well, she applied. She applied. Who wants to make that motion? I'll second. All in favor? Opposed? She's appointed. Would you would you let her know? I sure would. The great joy of Thank you, Kelly.

Okay. Our next item is E resolution02-04-2026. Resolution of the Hammond County Council amended its procedural rules. Motion to approve. Second. It's been moved and second. Is there any discussion? All in favor say I. Opposed. That passes. Now, we're going to do additional appropriations. So, I'm going to open the public hearing concerning additional appropriations. Paid fund 1000. Court administration requesting a 144 amendment. So move. Second. All in favor?

I. Opposed. That passes. Prosecutor's office requesting 144 amendment. So moved. Second. All in favor? Opposed? That passes. Sheriff's Office requesting a 144 for promotion. Moved. Second. All in favor? I opposed. Sheriff's office requesting 144 amendments for reclassification. So moved. Second. All in favor? Opposed. That passes. Our next item is fund 1138.0201 0201 Cummap Development Bridge requesting a transfer of $880,000. Motion to approve.

Second. All in favor? Opposed? That passes. We're done with additional appropriations, announcements. Sheriff, do you have anything for us? You need to close the public hearing. Oh, I'm sorry. You're right. We now are closing the public hearing and going to announce. Uh there's a new statute that requires the sheriff to present or I'm sorry, it requires that the um pension fund be presented to the county council, like an overview of that. Just a question for the group of how you would like that done. Uh would finance committee be the best place to go with that? Um I don't have that actuary study back yet, but I anticipate getting it in the next month or two. The full council want to hear it. I would think either work session or the finance committee.

Yeah, I would agree. Work session or finance. We'll be back in touch with you. Sounds great. Uh, that's all I have. Okay. Thank you, county attorney. The group. Are you sure? Sure. Okay. No. No. You're not sure. You're not sure ordinance. One of your colleagues. Our ordinance. County attorney. The county attorney is moving in on your space.

I apologize. It was a late addition. So that is entirely on me. Um uh thank you council members. I have ordinance number CC0204 2026. A uh this is an update of a of two previous bond ordinances for the uh uh general obligation bond 2022 series B. Um more was originally going to be used for a domestic violence project. It was amended in uh December. Um, and there's just some technical lawyer language I want to be added. Um, the language that added is allows the funds to be used for the acquisition of a building that can be used for temporary offices for county purposes. Um, it also includes the uh language from last time which is for the building can be used for domestic violence purposes and health and human services purposes too simultaneously. Um, uh, so it's just a couple words uh that were added to it. Um, I worked with Councilman Nation uh today to to fine-tune it. Um, I believe it is uh to his satisfaction. Um, if if you guys are agreeable, I would appreciate this ordinance being adopted tonight. Um, and if you have questions about how that would actually work work from operational standpoint, I know Dan Stevens has all the answers. I'm sure at some point in the future he can kindly share with you, but that is not my lane.

Are you looking for a motion, Connor? Yes, Mr. President. So move motion to amend agenda to include or do we need to do we need to amend are you making a motion that's a good point I was making a motion to amend the agenda to include the ordinance as written and you're seconded all in favor that passes now motion real I don't know if I know you just updated your procedure rule procedure rule so I apologize but sometimes it might if you're going to adopt the ordinance on first reading may need to do a motion for that too and then adopt it. So there' be three motions technically, but we'll make a motion to adopt. I don't know if that's your procedural rules or not. Commissioners do have if you're going to adopt the ordinance on the first reading.

We might as well just do that. We'll just make a motion to technical lawyer thing. Thank you. Second. Okay. What What was the motion to adopt on the first reading? And we have a second. All in favor? Opposed? That passes now. Okay. Motion to amend. I need a second. Second. All in favor? I oppose. That passes. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Sorry for the late notes on that. Mr. Auditor, do you have anything for the group? I don't know if the attorney the attorney confused me. So I don't think so, but I might. So no, I do not. Are you sure? Check with

We need a fourth motion further change these two. No. No. Thank you, sir. We're journ