County Commissioners - Regular Meeting

County Board of Commissioners, the order to date is September 1st of 2026. This meeting is being recorded and streamed for public viewing. By participating, you acknowledge that your image, voice and comments may be captured and made publicly available. This meeting has been properly noticed in accordance with Indiana Code 5-14-1.5. Let the record show that a quorum of commissioners are present. The commissioners are open for business. We will now proceed with the agenda. At this time, I invite all in attendance to stand and recite the pledge.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic

indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you.

Make a motion to approve the minutes for 8-18-2026 commissioners meeting. Second.

There's motion and second on the floor to approve the meeting minutes for 8-18-2026. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries. At this time, I'll take a motion to recess the meeting.

I make a motion that we recess the meeting so we contend to the drainage board.

Second. Motion and second on the floor to recess the meeting. All in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries.

You're ready. I will open the September 1 drainage board meeting. First thing would be approve minutes from the August meeting.

I make a motion that we approve the August drainage board minutes as received.

Second. It's been moved and seconded that we approve the August drainage board meeting. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Chad? Good morning. Or you want to talk about the claims?

Well, let's go to some things here first of people in the room and things we can handle here first. So let's start with Brown. So number three in your list, or I'm sorry, with number three, Kendra, minor sub. So this is 600 east, about 350 south. You can see up on the board there, it backs up to Nameless Creek. They're coming for a variance to daylight. So the house they're looking to is going to be on this parcel that is right here, and it's going to go back towards the creek. There's a big drop off here in the back for the ground. They own this entire parcel here as this goes back. So it's the parents are giving to the kids for what they need to do. And so what they are looking to do is, if you're drawing there, they're cutting a flipper out there, put a house and things on, and then you give them an easement spot. Daylight down over the hill back towards nameless Creek and there's a good bit of fall back there for that to get away As it goes back down through there there is a I don't know if you would call it a natural ravine or a small swale-ish type of thing that is back there. I don't think it quite meets the intent of the waterway for that to tie into, but it does get that, and it takes it over to the blue. It's a big blue back there, or to the creek back there. It's a famous creek as it gets back through there. So they're looking for a variance to daylight off of their drainage for their... for their minor sub. No issues, UC? What's that? No, no issues. $450 fee.

And there's a fee?

Yeah, there's a fee, $450.

I move that we approve the variance of daylight for the Kendra minor subdivision at the normal county fee.

Second. I move and second that we approve the Kendra daylight with the normal county fees. Any other discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion passes.

Let's go to the next one on your list. This is Zion Estates lot 15. So Zion Estates is a subdivision. It is just off of 300 South. north of 300 south and west of 600 west, across the street from the school there, the church and the school. Lot 15 here, they are looking to build, it is, look at the aerial here, it is, it has a cul-de-sac that comes into it, dead ends, the street ends up this way, so it's kind of a T-road that's out looking to put on here. Backs up to the pond in the back. But the issue on this side of the east side, there is a 100-foot power easement that runs through there, and then there is a 30-foot, on your plans it shows a 70, and that's not correct. It's a 30-foot drainage easement there where there is a 24-inch RCP pipe running through there that takes water from the street back towards the pond. The house that they would like to build there, the way they would like to situate it, because of the street coming in and where it's at, the driveway then would come off of the side here and go through the easement and over top of the 24-inch top. So I think Mr. Smith is here, the builder. I'd like to say a few things. He's there. So when it originally came through planning for where it was at, it was assumed that the driveway would be here off to the side. Because of this street coming in off of the north here, coming in, they would like to turn the house so that the headlights that are coming down there are not going straight into their house. And by doing that, they would like to be able to run their driveway, if they could, this way. The issue is it goes over top of that 24-inch tile, that it goes that way. And so at some point, that tile is going to need to be worked on. Obviously, there would be a hold harmless sign for that driveway to go over top of that. But, you know, hold harmless is... We have found, and we are still looking at this and researching this. Those of you who went to drainage school last week, both Gary and Janine were there, and I appreciate you guys being there. And I know Steve was online watching it as well. There was a presentation on encroachments over and things like that and the things that can cause through their tat. And one of the things that was brought up was how those agreements are recorded. So they maintain to be with the property. We are at current, we do, and for perpetuity here, we have recorded those encroachments. I'm not sure they've ever been tied to the actual property. So they go into a file upstairs. So if somebody goes to buy that house down the way, it never shows up in the title research. Okay. And so that kind of throws a problem for people who buy that house two or three down the road, then that tile breaks down and we come in and say, hey, we need to fix that and we're going to tear up your driveway and you're responsible for that. And they say, I knew nothing about that when I bought that house. So we are looking at our processes for that. We are going to try to make sure that any encroachments that we have that come from this board are now tied through those lots. tied to that property so it automatically comes up there with that. There was also some wording in the agreement that they had compared to the agreement that we have. I think that's good wording. I gave it to Steve to kind of look at that in the future then if something were to happen or things like that. for the cost of the things that go to there. So that is what's before you at this time. So of whether to allow them to put their driveway on that standpoint. I know we are going to try to do everything we can if it is to be passed to allow that to be tied to that piece of property. So that way every landowner that comes in after that fact would understand that That driveway is there and over that, and if that tile needs to be fixed, then it would be their responsibility to put it back and do that. The county would not be held liable of that or anything that is done with that. The encroachment, or the encroachment to cross, I guess it would be crossing more than it is an encroachment, but the crossing of that drain is before you to decide whether you would allow that or not. The builder is here, so if you have any questions, you are more than welcome to ask about that from that standpoint. This is a new subdivision. This subdivision was built four years ago. Around four years ago, it was recorded about four years ago. So even the pipes that are in there right now are still under the performance bond that is there. And I think next year or the year after the performance bonds run up on that. And then, so you have a, you know, the life of a tile or where you're at. So you won't have an issue, hopefully you won't have an issue there for 20 or so years, but What kind of tile is it? It is RCP, so it is reinforced concrete pipe. It's a 24-inch. So it's a bigger tile, so you need a bigger piece of equipment to get in there. So that's one side of the caveat. The other side is it's a bigger, better tile, so it's going to last longer. So it's not N12 or any other kind of plastic. So those are the information going forward. I'm sitting in the middle of this one.

I mean, the appearance of this house is, they're going to be looking at the side of a house? Surely there's a window on that side.

Keep going. Let's talk about that side. You've got to come up here and let us know who you are, so that way we can get you into the record here.

I am Tim Smith with Integrated Construction. We're the builder for this particular property. And like Dan said, we rotated the house 20 degree on the lot to avoid the other street coming straight into it. And the tile that he's talking about there, I know he talked about a whole harmless, but I met with my customers on it and we would be willing, or they would, be willing to amend the deed to actually have that in the deed itself instead of just a separation waiver per se.

I'm thinking that the subdivision itself would have an issue with this. House sitting sideways, I mean.

No, so this whole area right here is on a radius. So a lot of the homes in there right now won't sit parallel with the streets, per se. I've done eight homes in here so far, and lot 21 is the only one that I've done that's set parallel with a street. Other ones, we rotate them. for the best view of the property. And they wanted to rotate this one, two reasons. Again, you got a street coming straight into it and then rotating it 20 degrees, you get a better view of the woods that's behind it and the retention pond and stuff like that. And because the developer originally removed some topsoil and stuff out of there, which caused us a little bit more problem on this one, we had to have soil borings redone. So the septic in the front, And Mike, you can tell me, it's really not usable. So we're having to go in the back, which is going to create a mound system. So rotating it a little bit keeps them from looking directly in the hill of that mound as well.

So my concern is, and you can put it upside down, I don't care, but that corner of that house is 30 feet from the tile, right on the corner of it. So a 24-inch pipe and we have to come in there with an excavator.

That corner of the house will be 15 feet. So it'll be right at that. So the corner of that house from the drawing is right at the easement line. So you are, that's a 30-foot easement. So you are, it's not a 70-foot easement, it's a 30-foot easement. So from the center of that tile, that house is going to be 15 feet from that tile, correct?

Here's the can being kicked down the road. We've already done it. So, I mean, as long as the county holds harmless and we've got to tear out the concrete, I'm more worried about the house that they're going to swing into. But we've already done that.

But if we're held harmless from it?

Not from the house. It's out of the easements. Because we lowered the easement to 30 feet.

It's a planted subdivision. That's how it comes through. So whenever they do that, we didn't reduce the easement through here. So this is when they create these easements in subdivisions per our code, if it's a 24 or larger tile, it has to be a 30 foot easement.

But I'm right. I mean, they're out of the easement. The house is out of the easement if we hit it.

Correct. The house is out of the easement. We're paying for it. Correct. Which is no matter, you know, I mean, they have the right to be out of the easement, and that's... I know. Yeah. So the person who would be working the excavator, they would have to be careful.

But like you said, it's reinforced concrete, so hopefully it never happens. So you don't have a problem with it?

I sit in the middle of the street, so you know what I mean? I understand. I don't want to push the can down the road to other surveyors from that standpoint, but I also understand the homeowners and the thing for using their property for where they're at, and there is a hold harmless.

And I'm sure you've looked at all other avenues to make the best use of this land. Yes.

Yes, we have. Unless we abandon that septic up front, which creates another... Because this was one of the first subdivisions around that were, which I think is an excellent idea, is all the primary and secondary septic fields are determined and recorded and created as an easement to that property. So it becomes a lot simpler to get the systems in there.

I don't know if it's possible, but I'd have your concrete people come out and strike those joints, control joints, on either side of that so it's an easier pull out of those slabs if you ever have to come and pull that thing out.

And we would saw cut those areas as well.

So it's going to be a saw cut driveway and you're not going to just put control joints in it?

The saw cuts will act as control joints.

I like the idea of us figuring out a way to make it go with the property in the future so somebody 100 years from now or whenever...

Absolutely. And that's the thing that we've run into at different points. And so that's the discussion we're having right now to make sure that those, when they are recorded, they are recorded with the deed.

Steve, what do we have to do to make that happen legally?

It does anyways. It should. There's language in there that's assigned successors. The trouble is when somebody comes and does a title search, the way it's being recorded, I understand upstairs is like in a miscellaneous index, but may not show up on a title search. So we are, I think there's a surveyor in Wells County. They've got a process where really the individual that is the I guess in this case, who's the applicant that's asking for this? Is it the builder? Is it the homeowner? Who is it that's your... Well, it has to go with the land, so I would say... No, no, this is your builder. Who's that? Is it the homeowner? Do we have an owner? We own the property. You own the property. They own the property. So they can sign the whole harmless. And then the trouble is when it goes to chain of title, that's where they sell it. We've got to make sure that the title company finds such and such a builder.

And this is another subject, I guess, but... from right now, but I think it should be done.

It has been. We've been recording them. It's just getting it to show up on the title work so that it's binding upon folks down the road.

And I think there's a process. Maybe we didn't know what the process was or maybe we need to talk to a recorder to find out what the correct process is to allow that to be you want to say, cross-referenced with that deed.

There are many, many miscellaneous indexes upstairs. Things have been placed in them.

There should be a way that it can be put with that deed so that it comes up in a deed research so it comes there.

Mike, did you do this original subdivision? Did you develop this original subdivision?

His company. I took over.

So was this lot always dedicated for a house or was it just a vacant area with this big easement?

That's a good question because with all the easements and stuff that's in that area right there,

That's why I was curious if you were trying to put a house in there after it had come in differently.

Like I said before, when we looked at it, when Susan was here, we looked at it for a standpoint of when it came through and we assumed that the driveway was going to be coming off of the other side of the house because the lot next to it is kind of the same for where it was at because of that easement that was there.

Which makes that a little bit harder there because for a side load garage, we like to give the customer at least 35 feet because... Majority of people has SUVs anymore, so that gives them enough room to turn in and out.

Absolutely. I'm not debating the fact. I just know that's where it was at in the planning process. So that's why we are where we're at here today.

We would be willing to prepare a whole new deed for it if that would make sure it got picked up down the road. I mean, I'm sure that's something you can do, right? Well, an attorney will, but you could...

I mean, we could do that for this one, and then for the next ones after that, make sure we get the process in place. But, I mean, we want to make sure it gets with the property. I think that's for all of us that are involved. We want to make sure that...

But if we made this happen, the whole recording, what the hold harmless and all that goes to the property... That's something the recorder would have to do for us, right? So that process would be retroactive and it would be taken care of. It's not, you don't have to amend the deed. If you buy property and there's a contract on, you know, you have first right of refusal, that contract's recorded with the deed.

Correct. The issue is whether or not that information shows up to a buyer when they go to buy it so they have full knowledge. But if it's recorded with the deed.

It's actually going to be recorded in our meeting minutes. We're going to have the whole harmless in the drainage board. The trouble that we've run into is exactly what Chad said. Three or four buyers down the road. Giving them notice when a title search comes in here and just...

doesn't pick it up.

So we've got to, it's technically binding on, once you approve it, it's in our meeting minutes. We've just got to get it in as many places in the public record as possible. So we've been recording it, we're fine. If there was ever an enforcement issue, we're fine. It's just from your perspective, the issue of fairness for the people that are buying it,

That's my main concern is making sure that they, I mean, because. Because no offense, you're going to build this and be gone.

And so it's going to be somebody, an owner's problem when the tile fails down the road, if that makes sense.

And we've never had, to my knowledge, I've never had a title person come into my office and say, hey, I'd like to see the minutes on this building because we're going to go stuffed. Right. Right. You know what I mean? And so we want to be able to make that accessible to them so that way it pops up for them. Now, in my standpoint, if I was doing a title research and I saw there was an easement there and a driveway through there, if they're doing it, it would almost in my mind. But that's you. Something's coming through there. That's not a homeowner. Right. Right. I'm not saying that doesn't happen, but I've never seen that from that standpoint. I think we're trying to make our processes cleaner for the people that we serve to make sure that they're protected down the road, but also you're covered for where you're at. We're just trying to make sure that we don't come back and have to deal with down the road a misunderstanding of communication that should have taken place at the beginning.

I'm wondering, and this is probably a silly question, and you guys can tell me if it is, but is there any way that we can attach notes to Beacon? You know, if I'm a homeowner and I'm looking to buy a home, I'm going to go on Beacon. We can.

We can put things on there to say, hey, this was approved at Drainage Board, that there is a thing with that. But that still doesn't, you know, that doesn't absolve from the standpoint if somebody goes to buy a house that, They don't always look on Beacon, right? You know what I mean? We have to get it attached. They might look on whatever they're going to do, and they trust their real estate agent who trusts the people who are doing the title research, and there you go. It's all there.

Is that a regulated drain?

It will be a regulated drain.

It doesn't even show up on Beacon yet.

It will not. So we don't put them on regulated drains until the performance bonds are done, or maintenance bonds are done, and then they come in and apply for that. So whenever they finish with their... maintenance bond, then they apply for it to be regulated drain because it's still under the control of the developer until they meet the standpoint of the steps that we have to make sure that it's all working before they turn it over to us.

I imagine that'll be when this whole subdivision...

Yes, it will be. This subdivision I imagine will be regulated drain as it comes through there. So that's absolutely.

But this house may be done and sold well before...

It will definitely, yes. Well, it'll probably be next year before any of that happens. So I would imagine that Mr. Smith would like to have this house built by next year. So with the hunts who are looking to buy it. So yeah, absolutely. So it's, yeah, absolutely.

I think there's only three or four lots left in here.

Yes. Yeah. Yeah, it's close.

But in any event for today, if we do the whole harmless and that's it, if everybody's happy with that, then It doesn't look real good with only 15 feet or whatever.

That's what we can do about it now.

No, and if it's a concrete pipe, that's good. I think that'll hold up a long time, but

I would like to see the result of how it's going to be attached.

Okay, sure, absolutely. We can do that once we get done. Hopefully, you know, by next meeting. If it's not by next meeting, the following meeting, you know, whenever that all gets finalized and recorded up, we can bring that back to you and show you how that happened and what steps we took to make that work.

I just wanted to pop up when a person looks at that house, I mean, because I'm... They deal with the same thing on HOA rules and guidelines and all that. Well, I never saw those. So I just wanted to make sure that it's attached in a way that it pops out at them.

Yep, I agree. We'll work with the recorder on that to make sure that happens.

I move we approve the driveway crossing on a 24-inch tile on the Cary Hunt Zion estate.

Second.

With a standard county hold harmless and the county fee.

Second.

I move and second that we approve The driveway over the 24-inch county tile on the Cary Hunt Zion Estates, Melissa and Cary Hunt, with the standard hold harmless and county fees. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Motion passes. Thank you for your time. Thank you, sir.

Let's go back up to claims. So don't hurt your eyes for all the claims that we've had. If you've noticed in the last month or the last two weeks... You didn't do any work last month, eh? Our contractors don't work for us specifically. So there are things happening in other counties where they are having a lot more issues, where a lot of our guys are helping and doing different things to alleviate issues. And so we were very blessed, as we talked about last time, with the amount of the way the infrastructure is. God keeping rain away from different spots. And everything for us held up pretty well. And I wanted to use this time to also let the board know, and I think the commissioners are going to talk about this here in a little bit, that the state did an emergency thing for FEMA. I have not, our office has not received one phone call for a claim of anything for flooding from all that rain that came through. So that's... Pretty remarkable for where it's at. And so that is, I think, a testament to some of the things the board is doing, protecting the easements and some of the things that our offices and contractors are doing, the highways doing. There's a lot of things that are working together to help us in the flooding issues that are there. And so I think that's a good thing. Now, I do know next month there will be a number more of claims as they start coming back, as there are a number of repairs that are out. And I talked to a couple of farmers, and here in the next couple of weeks, there are some beans that are going to start coming out. so uh which i thought was a little early but they planted early and they're about ready so um once that happens we will get more as it comes along as well so um but right now the only two sets are um you know the well new south the brush and dredge uh steinmeier crossing uh for a broken end section and then the charles breyer to put some things down to alleviate some erosion.

I'll make a motion that we approve claims for 1926 for $8,605 and for 9-2 for the amount of $248.08 as presented. Second. We move and second that we approve the claims

Presented for 819 and 92 in the amount of $8,605 on the 19th and $248.08 on the second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes.

Let's do number six, which the agenda that I have is the old agenda. But number six is Kyle Engelking brought in, is requested to help trap Beaver for us. Right now, Rusty Fields is the only trapper that we have. We used to have a trapper up in Anderson, and he ran into some health issues. So Kyle, this is his insurance. and his wild animal control permit or nuisance license that he has, he would be charging $150 a beaver to do that, which is right in line with what we do now.

Yeah, tell me about it.

And if any of you want them relocated to your property, he will do that for free. But that is the proposal there to accept Engelking Outdoor Adventures LLC. And he did not catch the lion, just so you know. Do we need a motion for that?

I make a motion that we approve Kyle Engelking for beaver trapping, noting that he does have his certificate of insurance and everything else is.

Second. I move and second that we approve the beaver trapping for Kyle Engelking. Any other discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion passes.

We may want to get with Kyle. I noticed here that his wildlife license expires on 12-31-26 just to make sure we get the updated one at that time. A nuisance. Animal Control Permit.

I suppose that's the whole deal. You can't just... It is, because I used to have one.

That's a year ago. That's what I'd go get a new one.

Just automatically? Well, it won't be automatic yet.

It's ridiculous, some of the stuff.

Let's take... Let's take number five on your list. So there's a telecommunications company that is coming in, and instead of putting the entire plans in your packet, which was three minutes, they are going from 800 west to 400 west along 200 south, and then from 400 west from 200 south to 100 south. they are going six miles putting in a telecommunications line on through through the right-of-way of the road so they are staying within the right-of-way but as they cross through that right-of-way and see on the aerial here we got oakwood They cross Briar Creek. There's pipe crossings in Nolting Estates. There's pipe over at Briarwood. They cross Doe Creek. They get over across where Centennial comes across. Comes down through there and across the north end of that ditch as well. And then that's where they go through. So their area total, as we looked at them from them, There are a total of three, six, seven, eight crossings where they are crossing as they're going through there.

What utility are they putting?

There is a telecommunications line.

Is this a subcontractor for them? Or I never heard of these people before.

I do not know. So all I know is the people that brought it to us and signed the paper. So U.S. Signal, I think, is the people who are doing it. Is the name of the main company from Grand Rapids, Michigan? Doing the work for them are the company that is They are power communication out of, Ohio a Signal out of Grand Rapids, Michigan, so is that kind of odd I

I guess. Because, I mean, you would think if that was Nine Stars territory, that's who would be doing it.

Well, it all...

I don't know how it works.

That's not Nine Stars territory, I don't think. I think that's... I'm not sure. I don't... Well, I'm not saying that.

I'm using that as an example. I don't know. Because we don't know who these people are, really.

Technically, no. I don't know eventually who the end people are who are doing this. I imagine it's their power of communication.

What is your plan for crossing this as far as quality control, they don't go through the pipe, crack the pipe?

So we changed our application here at the beginning of this year. to make sure. We learned some things with the gas line that was coming in from the north. And so on our application, if there is a for them. So there's their application. There's their harmless at the bottom here. Hey, we have our things of separation for where they need to be. For what needs to be put in for backfill and different cases. We are requiring now as bill drawings of each location. So that way they are where they're at. There is also a point in here where. They are supposed to notify us when they are starting work so we can come out and verify where they're at and what they're doing. Show us existing elevations, where they're at, their topos they're running through there. Because we know that not everything they're going to run into is going to... CIS isn't perfect.

I think they're boring, right?

Yes. Well, in most places they are boring. Some places they are going to open cut. The first time I got the plans, they were going to be four feet deep, which for all of us, if you understand drainage, that's about the depth most tiles run at. So we had a conversation with them about that. So when they brought their plans along, They are now, they need to make sure that when they cross the pipe they have on their plans that they are going to expose the utilities or directional bore and plow underneath of them. And then they are keeping with our hold harmless that we have, where if it is a tile, they are to be two feet below. where they're going to be. If it's the open ditch, they're going to be seven feet below the bottom of the paint from where it's at. Originally, the plans were 10 feet from the bottom of the bridge, and we're just going to run four feet through. The other thing that I also put on here, they have to Show a note and how they are going to connect any private drains that they run into as they run through there. And, you know, if they're only running four feet, they're going to hit a number of private drains, even if it's in the right of way as they come through there. We want to make sure that we're protecting the landowners. I know as a drainage board, we really don't have a say over those private drains that are there. But if those plans are coming through, I want to make sure that they understand if they're going to hit drainage tiles, that they're going to fix it. as they come through that. So the big thing there for the as-builts will be really interesting for them to get that done. And they have to come out and verify each spot that they have for the drains and to get rid of that. So that's the quality control we're looking to put in for that.

Do we need a motion for every crossing, or can we do it in lump sum?

As long as Corey is able to record it, if you approve them as presented.

And a fee for each crossing. There's a $500 fee for each crossing.

Make sure that's clear in your motion.

I move that we approve several utility crossings by Thayer Power and Communications at 400 West to 800 West along 200 South with a standard county hold harmless for each crossing and a standard county fee for each crossing.

Second. Second.

It's been moved and seconded that we approve the request from Thayer Power Communications to cross, what'd you say, seven, eight? Several. Eight crossings. Crossings from 400 west to 800 west along 200 south with the standard county hold harmless and $500 fee for each crossing. Any other discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. And you're going to be, they're going to notify you each time they cross one.

And then you and your staff will monitor and make sure they're in compliance with this. Absolutely. Absolutely.

Okay. Number seven on your list here, this is the Atchison's, this is 4805 West, Jamestown Trace, this is Centennial North, This is 500 west, just north of 200 south, so just north of what we were talking about. So a newer subdivision here on the top. Here on the regulated drain, this line is not there. There is no line that is right here. So that is an error in GIS that we are getting fixed. There is a pipe that is coming out over here on the side for what's happening. They are looking, and you have in your packet, They approached our office about being on drainage board to put a fence around their property. So they would like to go from the back of their house to their property line and back out. There is a 20-foot drainage easement on the back of their property. And they would like to be able to put the fence all the way around and in there now. From that standpoint, there are two issues. So one, the first issue is we have no pipe in that area for where that's at. Now, that is where the pond comes up. So that drainage easement is there is for the maintenance of the pond. We don't maintain the pond. That is the homeowner association that will maintain that pond for where they go from that. So there's... Part of that for that standpoint, that pipe that goes there. Now the pipe that runs out through here, you are a good 20 feet away from their corner of their property for where that pipe is or that easement is. So they're outside that. It's still in this drainage easement that's here. So it is a, it's going to be a regular four foot fence. So chain link with cemented posts that will go in the ground that is there. So from my standpoint, it's kind of one of two, right? We should never be in there unless the county ever takes over the ponds in that subdivision. I know I will fight that as long as I am the surveyor. I do not think we should be taking care of the ponds and subdivisions. There are surveyors who have done that, taken that over in subdivisions, but I think the ponds themselves should be the issue of the homeowner association and the communities, but that's a conversation for a different day. The drainage easement that is there is for the maintenance and the ability to work on that pond and to do those things.

How much room do they have behind the fence to the pond?

It's a drop-off there. So it's a normal pool. You have about 15 feet, 18 feet, somewhere in that neighborhood.

Outside the fence.

But that's going to be on a hillside, right? So the issue is, from a homeowner association, if you're going to dredge that pond or clean that pond, just access to get in and around. Now the trail, there's a little trail that comes in here on the side is where they may access it. They could access it through here to get in there to dredge that pond because at some point that pond will need to be dredged.

So are we willing to do it for all the homes there? What's that? Are we willing to do it for all the homes there?

We're not dredging their pond.

No, no, no, no, no. I'm talking about allow all the homeowners to take up that easement.

That's up to the HOA. We're just worried about our pipe to the right. That's it. What's the HOA's stance on that? Are they going to allow potential fence in there? I feel like we ought to.

I can reach out to them from that standpoint, absolutely.

It seems like homeowners ought to take care of this.

The cart's kind of before the horse here. Yeah. I mean, I just, and I think, you know,

That would be a caveat. I imagine the Homeowners Association wouldn't allow them to do it. If they told them they weren't allowed to do it, they wouldn't be allowed to do it anyway. So I think they were looking at, if we got the county approval, then we could go to the Homeowners Association and ask them whether they wanted to do it.

The local authority is the HOA first. I mean, if you follow the chain of...

The easement is hard.

It is, but they're controlled by an HOA, and then you move your steps up... I just almost feel like they're kind of trying to do an end run around their HOA by coming to the county and saying, hey, we got approval. Let us do that.

I would say we table this until after we hear, let them deal with our HOA first.

Yeah, they need to come back to us with approval from their homeowners before we consider it. Does that sound right? Yeah.

I'm trying to think if that has a HOA yet or not.

I'm sure it does.

All those houses are brand new, so it might still be under the developer.

The developer more or less runs that HOA.

Right, right. That would be, yeah, that would be.

If I make a motion, we table this.

Second. That is perfectly fine. I move and second that we table the encroachment. for drainage easement fence for Hannah Atchison Jamestown Trace Centennial North. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes.

I have one more that didn't get into your packet. It was brought to me and this slugged my mind. So this is a subdivision Thousand North this is the Kirby minor subdivision our thousand North and It's a near 50 West Thousand North and 50 West So there's a dividing line right here. No drainage per se for the county standpoint that goes through there. They do have in this field to the east, there is a six inch, existing six inch field tile that runs through here. And they are looking to build a house here and put a septic on it. And it would like to have a variance to run a six-inch tile, run a six-inch tile to the six-inch tile. From there, would you be running a six, Mike, or would you run a four from your septic? I would say a six-inch from the perimeter drain. So a four-inch perimeter drain and then a six-inch from here to tie it to. This is a 6-inch field tile that is here, and if I remember correctly, that land is all owned by the same person.

Okay.

So they would be getting an easement from the same person who has that tile that is in that field.

Is there a good working tile?

There is a good working tile there, yes. That's a 6-inch tile.

Field tile. Well, you can dig up plenty of them that are half full of dirt, too.

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. It's a working six-inch tile. The people who are selling the ground for the house are the people whose tile they would be tying into.

Okay.

It's not like it's an adjacent landowner who doesn't care. They understand the responsibility of tying it into their own system. There's a request for a variance for that, so there's a...

I move that we approve the variance from 8-inch to 6-inch for the Kirby Miner Sub on 1,000 knots with the standard county fee.

Second. I move and second that we approve the variance from 8 to 6. Oh, you just took it away.

Kirby Miner Sub. Yeah, Kirby Miner Sub.

Kirby Miner Sub. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes.

Again, I would like to thank those who went to the drainage school at Indiana Farm Bureau. I think there were some good things on there. I think some things were... Where they were, there were some things for lawyers and some people for other things, but there were some good things on there for the drainage board as well. I talked about encroachments, talked about some right-of-way, talked about some different things that are there I thought were very good. Talked about dealing with drainage and issues that are there.

And our Farm Bureau archives those, too, so you can go back and take a look.

Yes, you can go back and watch those. And they're good discussions. And they give you a glimpse of what's happening throughout the state, but also what's happening at the statehouse, what's happening in drainage and other places, and ways to understand it and be able to make it work a little bit better.

I did enjoy the one speaker, the one from Illinois, the professor. You could tell he was enthused about what he was talking about.

He loves phosphorus, doesn't he? He loves phosphorus. My goodness.

Absolutely. When you think of a college professor, he's probably not the person you think of. Your mind thinks of a professor. He's a young, energetic man. Yeah, very enthused about that. I think that was a very good discussion on right away and the use of right away and what you can do in right away and what you can't do in right away. I thought it was very good, especially for drainage standpoints.

And they're not always a right-of-way.

No, they're always a right-of-way. That's right. And just because we have a right-of-way doesn't mean that we can put anything we want in there. So Atlanta is still owned by the people. Other than that, I think October 6th is our next drainage board for where we're at. I think that is all I have.

Chad, thank you so much for helping me with that project out on 1,000.

Marsha's got a drainage question, I believe, or a recorder question she can answer for us. Oh, there we go.

Well, we heard, Wend, some conversation about our documents and whether or not they could come up on a search. Mr. Ellsbury is correct. They are a miscellaneous document. However, because all of our documents from 1969 forward have been computerized, digitized, and in the record, a title searcher should be able to bring up any kind of encroachment. Those are tied, providing the proper legal description is provided, they are tied to that property, that real property. So A good title searcher should find it. If not, that's on their title insurance. So I just wanted to kind of clarify some of that conversation about whether the encroachments and those type of documents could be found. They can be found in the record.

Okay, so... They will automatically know that that encroachment is there. So, I mean, how good is it?

It's up to the title company.

How long is that insurance good for, I mean, as far as a homeowner is concerned?

I was going to say title insurance companies vary, and it does vary on how they search. A good searcher. does their due diligence and searches by legal description. Of course that does depend on the legal description being accurate on the document and so forth. So, you know, but yeah, we, they should have cross references like to the plats, for instance, things like that. Surveys are cross referenced, so they should be able to capture it as far as how long the insurance goes. I, I have no idea, but I know that generally speaking, unless they're doing like an old school bond or something like that, searchers don't typically go longer than a 50-year search, but they could. I mean, there's some searchers that go back to patent deeds.

So is it legal description or parcel number?

Legal, we do not index by parcel. Parcel numbers can change. They have changed in this county.

So what if it's a property that is split and it was on the original parent tract, does it also get moved over to the piece that was split off of that?

With a document like that, when you're splitting, a survey has to be recorded, and that survey then has to have a reference to the deed, like where it came from. So they would find it in something like a deed search then.

Thank you, Marcia. That just means I'm old because I remember going back and searching through that miscellaneous index book online. Yes. To answer your question, all we can do is once, and back me up, once we put it into the public record, that is the end of our involvement. We're doing everything we can. It's everything we can do. It's up to, as Marcia said, the title search and the home buyer. You can back me up, but once we put it in the public record, that's our actual notice that we've put it out there. You're forewarned.

And I did a quick search before we came down, and your documents that Corey brings up to us, they all have legal description, so they all have something tied to it.

Okay. Do we need to go back and revisit that today, or do you want to leave it at all?

Well, I can go back to the next meeting and just say, guess what, they all are doing the same thing.

Then do that. We don't need to go back and revisit it. probably going to modify our language just a little bit just to clean up a few of the old verbiage that we had used so it's crystal clear that it's upon successors assigns sort of like the HOA on your requirement hey I bought this I certify I saw these and then you tell I never saw that well yeah it's in the record you know that's all we can do so yeah motion to adjourn

I move and second that we adjourn the September 1 Greenwich Board meeting.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Thank you, Chad. Hey, Dusty, can you have...

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Good morning. First item I have on my agenda to get you guys caught up. I have the SMIC 369 for pavement markings. We did a bunch of pavement markings up in the Buck Creek area. Ms. Scheidler has inspected them. We find them acceptable for acceptance. They're pretty squirrely. We had to adjust some of them, but we made all the adjustments. We had some very tight lanes out there, but that all got corrected.

Do we need a motion on this?

A motion to approve.

I'll make a motion that we approve the SMIC number 639 from the Indiana Department of Transportation on contract T-46017 for striping on roads. Second.

We have a motion and a second on the floor to approve the Indiana Department of Transportation report on contract final inspection and recommendation for acceptance. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries.

FYI, as you're signing that, Delina will deliver the check. I believe you guys are cutting checks tomorrow. We'll deliver the check to Ms. Dorsey after Delina gets it for the Jack & Sons property so that she'll receive her payment. And then you can let Heather know the property transfer should be arriving to her at some point. So, as always, the auditor team is good. Welcome new members. Thank you. Same members, different spots, right? I look forward to you guys keeping me out of trouble for years to come.

It will depend if I get fired or not. Colbert installation is about 50% complete.

We got $886,000 in billing remaining. We did submit for the FEMA. We were able to get help with the emergency management and we submitted through NDOT as well. I don't know if we had enough damage to qualify for anything, but we're going to submit and we're going to try. We didn't have any roads closed or damaged, so I'm grateful for that. So all that money you've given me over those years for hardening things has paid off.

Did we get reimbursed for hours worked for our guys being out?

We have that in there as well, clearing the debris and stuff. I inspected a bunch of bridges. I put all that in there to try to get reimbursed. They had like a $300-some-thousand-dollar mend floor. Oh, okay. We couldn't quite get there.

Okay.

Which is good, we didn't have that much damage, but bad, we're not going to get reimbursed. Yeah. But we don't lie, so I can't just add something. That's right. I went on a field trip on the 26th over to Columbus, Ohio. I've sent you information on that, so if you ever want to ask me about that, hit me up on it.

Check out some of the things. Mark Elder is the FEMA disaster, and I misspelled that.

Ask in, as I was talking about with Ian. Grant applications, we have one bridge. It's two south over Sugar Creek. You've got three north from four west to three west in there for grant applications. You'll be seeing these soon. I'm just giving you a heads up. If you have any ideas for grants, let me know. I tried to do them, but I think these are our most competitive ones. Roundabout at 300 south and 200 west. I've got that one in as well versus some other smaller grants throughout the area. We're always trying to chase different intersections and stuff.

Next item. We have a 600 north fatality. A young gentleman from Indianapolis was driving.

It's a run-off road right, which is one that concerns me the most, which is why we've increased our painting so much. The gentleman just got a little bit excessive in his speed, it appears, and hit a tree when he got off the road. It's very tragic. We're analyzing everything out there. Like all our roads, widening roads cost money, and we have a limited budget. So we'll investigate that, check against all other runoff road rights to see if there's anything. The road's fine. The road meets all its criteria, but obviously the wider the road, the safer it is. It's just a matter of money. So we're not going to have a fatality for a year, unfortunately. Maybe next year. Next month. We'll do RFP for microtransit services. I can RFP it, then we might not be able to do it. I know that project, they're working on it. I can still RFP it and you don't have to accept anything in the RFP. So, should I RFP the microtransit services so people can at least ask, so at least you have the option at the end of the year? Or do you want me not to bother? You don't have to accept an RFP. You don't have to do anything with it. I can put it out there and you don't accept any of it.

Throw it out and see what happens.

I can put it out and then at least you have the option. If you don't want to do it, if it's just not going to work out, we can not do it. But if we don't put it out, then you've decided right now you're not going to do it. So it'll give you more time to make a decision, which I'd always recommend delay tactical patience. If you don't have to make the decision now, put it off if you don't have to. So I'll put that RFP out.

I did talk with Thomas with Greenfield Council about the senior services. And it's where it is. They've got it. I think they'll approve it, but still wait and see.

Okay. I do think it's a decent program, but if we can't manage it, then we just can't manage it. That doesn't mean we can't bring it back to life later. Yeah. Okay. Microsurface and chip surface, we've got about one more month left. Just so you know, all the microsurfaces and neighborhoods, we do have street sweeping lined up in the fall. We're going to let some of the raveling come off first. We don't want to street sweep it like four times. We'll let it all come off and then sweep it up. So if you make calls and ask about that, we've got a plan. It'll come in the fall and get it picked up. Um, we're exploring a contract for specific maintenance on six West. So we have a lot of our guests come through the County there and businesses come through the County. And I know we're a county highway department, so like I always say, we're not really into aesthetics because we're short on money. We receive the least amount of money over, you know, the towns and cities are above us and then the state's above that. I am debating setting up, it's a $20,000 or $30,000 contract to be paid through RDC just to maintain 600 West to keep the weeds, things picked up a little bit more than what we're doing. We go out there and we get a chance, but we're chip sealing and paving and doing all the stuff. Keeping the potholes away is our primary objective. So you might see that come through. It's not a huge contract, but it'll be small. It'll be paid through RDC, just FYI. I like the contract where we met. I thought the guy's pretty good. So I'm leaning towards contracting that in September with permission from the RDC. Thank you. the site property on us 40. So there is an obstruction. If you look at the other side, we've done all the investigation. We had all the state guys out there and all the County guys out there. And yes, it's a private tile and yes, it's in state right away. So I'm bending all the rules, but we're not breaking any rules. Um, we've got the site identified. I'm going to work with the state and see if they're willing. It's a private tile. So it's not one they built. Um, I'm going to see if I have enough charisma to get them to dig it up and fix it. If they say they won't, then I'm going to ask you guys if you're okay with me contracting it. I think we've got it down to the section. It's right here behind this. The thing is, it's between this house and this guardrail. It's in a tight spot. I really don't want my guys working in there. But I think if we remove that obstruction, that the drainage there will work markedly better.

WELL, YOU KNOW, EVERY TIME I WELL, YOU KNOW, EVERY TIME I DRIVE BY THERE AFTER SOMETIMES DRIVE BY THERE AFTER SOMETIMES EVEN A MINIMAL RAIN, YOU EVEN A MINIMAL RAIN, YOU KNOW, THEIR WHOLE LOT IS KNOW, THEIR WHOLE LOT IS FLOODED. FLOODED. AND THEN THE BIG RAINS UP TO

Well, I'm a civil engineer, so the health and well-being of the public is above all other considerations. So even these rules and stuff about jurisdiction and stuff, if I think it's going to get onto the road or cause a public hazard, I have no problem authorizing that work. But I do have to let you know that I'm authorizing work outside my jurisdiction if I'm going to do that. But I only do that if I honestly think it could harm someone in their home or harm someone on the road. I don't do that lightly. This might be one of those situations. We'll see if the state goes into that. but I would like to dry that area up. It is us 40. So getting those, uh, Northern lanes flooded would be dangerous. And certainly I don't want people flooded in their homes as best as best we can help. Now it's not our responsibility to drain yards, but we'll try to help if we can. Um, especially yards along us 40. It's not our road. Um, I need two of the three commissioners to tell me what you'd like me to do at some point. Bill's told me what he'd like done on the ditch on 2 South, 6 East. I need the other two to tell me what you want me to do.

Do it out, do rip-rap.

Got it? All right, I got it. I'll instruct my guys to do that when we get free from our current work, and we will circle back around, and we're going to go back to what it originally was. But it's okay. It's been fun exercise.

When you do, will you reach out to her and let her know that you guys are coming out to do that? Yes.

Yes, I just need to get the okay. I need to get the direction. I do work for you.

I think it's an honorable thing to do.

Well, it's where we started. We tried all this other stuff, and I'm like, yeah, where we started is where we should have been.

Sometimes you just have to do your job, and that's it.

I would just make a motion. No, it's fine. We allow Gary and his crew to go out to Ms. Wilber's house at 600 East and 200 South and install a riprap ditch. Install a riprap ditch. Second.

Motion to second on the floor to install riprap, dig the ditch out, and install riprap out 200 south and 600 east. All in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries. I have direction from the commissioners. It'll be done.

That is all I have for this morning, barring any questions.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. And thank your people for taking care of us during all the rain.

We'll do. They're getting all thinner. It's so hot. I pay for the employees by the pound. They're all getting thinner on me. It is hot out there. So we have rolled back production a little bit. You know me. I'm kind of a tyrant about getting so much work done. But I've backed off a little bit in the recent weeks. It's been hot. It has been. We have enough here. We can slow down. I don't want to get hurt.

No, no. Thank you. Corey Taylor. And just where you guys know, I did ask Corey to find a contractor to go ahead and pull the carpet out of the offices in community corrections and get those offices ready for occupation.

Okay.

So we've still got like 600 in the 2021 bond specifically for community corrections. So, okay.

With that too, Gary, one thing that I thought of after speaking with you is we may want to include John Jocanis on that just to ensure any door controls can be retrofitted to what we have existing. What do you have? First thing I've got for you is an estimate from Signorama. This estimate is number 24352. This is to install signage at Community Corrections for Morgan Walker's review of the proposal. This is what she would like to have. The other thing that needed to be done was an apostrophe on the S at the prosecutor's office. So they're gonna throw that in there for free. Proposal is to add a sign in the grass area in front of 123 East Main, Hancock County Community Corrections to install that sign, install an address and permanent letters up on the building. And to fix that apostrophe on the prosecutor's sign, the total amount for this bid is $4,771.41. My suggestion is the 2021 GEO bond. Yep. I make a motion that we approve in the amount of $4,471 payable out of the 2021 GEO bond. 4,771. Yes.

771. I apologize. That's okay. Second.

We've got a motion and a second on the floor to approve estimate 24352 for community corrections in the prosecutor's office in the amount of $4,771.41. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries. Do you need me to sign this one? I'm sorry. Do I need to sign that? Yes, sir.

Oh, there is one back there. I'm sorry.

No problem. Good.

The next proposal I have is from Klamath Construction. This is for community corrections to install carpet that we will provide. We still have plenty of material in the basement, brand new stuff. This is to provide carpet through the hallway to get back to the conference room for a total cost of $4,675.

And where do we want to take that? Is that from?

Also the 2021. Yeah. Okay.

I make a motion that we approve the claim of construction carpet installation in the amount of $4,675 payable from the 2021 GO bond.

Second.

We have a motion and a second to approve the carpet installation and community corrections payable from the 2021 GO bond.

As presented all those favor say aye aye motion carries The next thing I've got for you is the RFP for cleaning I've learned a lot through walking through with contractors There with speaking to them and with what we're looking for and what we need to happen is there could be a substantial increase. I did let Commissioner McDaniel know. I think I did let you guys know. We may need to go back and ask for additional appropriations after we open these up. I don't know what it's gonna be. I've kind of discussed what we currently are receiving. So just so you guys are aware.

We've kind of been receiving the bare minimums, have we not?

Yeah.

Yeah, I get that.

So just be aware of that. I'm assuming that after we open those, we'll make that determination and I'll have to go to council.

Okay.

The other thing is I spoke with Commissioner McDaniel. The time capsule, we're going to work on getting that set up. I think it was the 29th, Saturday. 26th. Saturday.

But you're going to do it on the 25th because you don't have to have any overtime on that.

Correct. Which I'll come in on the day of, but I'm going to have contractors go ahead. I believe the city is going to help us out with a vac truck so we're not digging a big hole with an excavator or something up on the courthouse property. Have the vac truck dig a three to five foot hole and then have soil up there ready to go back into it, put a steel plate over it, and then that Saturday, once the capsule is placed, we'll fill the hole in, remove the steel plate, and we should be good to go. We can just take the plate back over it and you can do it Monday morning? That's what I would do. Yeah, yeah, the plate would be there temporary just to, and I'll cone it off just for precautionary purposes. Have you gotten hold of A1-1 yet? Who's that I'm sorry eight one one no no I need to get the I need to get in contact with the back the city with a vac truck To make sure that that is going to be an option. I need to make sure That they'll they'll be able to reach where we would like this placed Determine where we want to put it once we find that out.

I'll get on that first thing I'll Get all of you after the meeting, okay?

Other than that that's all I've got I think the elevator is Parts are still being built. I asked for an update on that. Unfortunately, it's just a slow process. Once that stuff is complete, they'll let me know, but we're still kind of in a holding pattern on the courthouse elevator. Have they started it? Is that what it is? They've started manufacturing. So the unfortunate thing with that is the controls for that system are so old that that had to be built. There's nothing off the shelf. It's custom made, custom designed. So once I receive that, I will let you guys know. All right. Thank you. As of right now, that's all I've got for an update on that. All right. All right. Thank you. Thank you.

Thanks, Corey.

Caleb Brooks.

Good morning. So this morning I have, let me introduce as well Laney Stump. She works, she's our consultant working with HWC and Civic Blueprint. They have completed our UDO. This is once again just a basic kind of adoption draft that merges together the subdivision control ordinance and zoning ordinance with no content changes at this point. This is finishing pretty ahead of schedule. So we are very pleased to be here today. We really didn't receive much or really any public comment except for notice of a typo or two, things like that. This does need to still go to the towns of Shirley and Spring Lake and have their town councils adopt it. following that and your adoption of this document, there will be a notice of adoption that will be published and then the document will be official. Do you have any questions for either me or Laney?

No.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I need an ordinance number, 2026- I make a motion that we approve ordinance number 2026-9A, an ordinance amending title 15 of the code of ordinances of Hancock County, Indiana to repeal chapters 155 and 156 and adopt a unified development ordinance.

Second.

And then suspend the rules on the day of introduction. Make a motion to suspend the rules. on the day of introduction.

Second. I think there's a motion and a second on the floor to suspend the rules on the day of adoption. All those in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Okay, thank you. Thank you. Okay.

We have a motion and a second on the floor for ordinance 2026-9A, an ordinance amending title 15 of the code of ordinances of Hancock County, Indiana to repeal chapters 155 and 156 and adopt a unified development ordinance. All those in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Motion carries.

Hey, before you go on to your next thing, I did notice in our packet we had an executive session minutes that we did not approve.

Thank you. So let's... Yeah, let's approve those.

I'll just go ahead and make a motion. We approve our executive session meeting minutes from our August 25th, 2026 meeting as presented. Second.

We have a motion second on the floor to approve our executive session minutes from August 25th. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries.

I'm just going to put this in your packet for Gary Poole.

And we have a meeting lit ordinance.

We'll move off on that until 9.30. Yep. Make a motion we approve claims and payroll as presented. Second.

Motion and a second on the floor to approve claims and payroll. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries. Auditor business? Oh, I'm sorry.

Okay, well I have several things. So I'm sure I can take up the rest of the time that we have. First item I have is a request to pay some amplify bills. In order to be consistent, we thought it might be a great idea to go ahead and do the same type of a cover sheet that we sent when the bills were going to Argent. So we've created a cover sheet that would be signed off on just so we can still continue to track and have our internal controls and process for that. So we just need to approve the current Amplify bills. We have one from Commercial Office Environments, COE, for $318,857.79. And then another invoice for Meyer Najam for $92,077.20. So I'm going to pass that down for... Okay, we don't have that in our... No. Okay. No. Very good. Okay. I make a motion that we...

Approve all requests Mention the dollar amounts again you can From there's a the second page is a cover page.

Okay, that has the total.

Oh very good Schedule a the commercial office environments three hundred and eighteen thousand eight hundred and fifty seven dollars and seventy nine cents and Meyer nation in the amount of of $92,077.20 with a total amount of $410,934.99. Second.

We have a motion and a second on the floor to allow the auditor to go ahead and pay these bills as presented. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries.

Okay, next item. The weed specialist is asking for a budget transfer, and since his budget is located within your budget, we wanted to get approval. Dean would like to transfer $1,000 from his supplies line into his payroll line, and then $1,000 from his chemical line into the payroll line. So that would be a total of $2,000. just due to all the rain and all the weeds that he's been handling. He's been working more hours. So if I could get approval for that budget transfer, that would be great.

I move that we approve $2,000. Second.

Motion and a second on the floor to approve the transfer of $2,000 for the weed control manager or head. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Motion carries.

Okay, next item. I have a payroll change form for the HR director. She had originally hired in at a probationary salary. And I believe that probationary period is long over. So I would like to get an approval to go ahead and put her at the full salary ordinance amount. That will change her biweekly. So I've got a form here that would need to be signed. But we also need to know an effective date for that.

Let's read that real quick here.

When was her, what was her 90 day, what was the 90 day?

Do you know that Andrea?

2023.

Can we back date it to then? We can.

I make a motion that we adopt the payroll change for our director of human resources and her salary.

You don't want to set it back to 323. That's when she hired in.

It's all be 523 No, or like 620 620 Okay, it's 23 Yeah, I make a motion that we accept the payroll change for HR director Andrea McLaughlin moving her pay rate to three thousand two hundred thirty eight dollars and fifty eight cents by weekly and Retrowing that back to June 23rd of 2026. Second.

There's a motion and a second on the floor to approve the new pay scale for, or new pay for our human resources person, backdated to July 23. June 23. June 23, as presented. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

I do have one more quick item. We have some invoices from MS consultants. They handle the county farm plan. Those invoices total $62,419.07. This is just a reminder that tomorrow at the budget meeting, we need to talk to council and ask them where they would like these to be paid from. So I will hold on to that and give you another reminder at tomorrow's meeting.

Thank you.

And that's all I have.

That was easy. You want to go ahead with the 930?

Yes, we will. So is anybody presenting on that? I don't have anybody on here.

Do we need to recess our meeting at all? I don't think you have to recess, but you want to open it. Open up a public meeting.

Public meeting.

Public hearing.

Then I will open up a public hearing for a lit ordinance. It was advertised for 9.30 a.m., and it is 9.34. There it is.

This ordinance is number 2026-8B. It is an ordinance modifying local income tax rates for Hancock County, Indiana. Be it ordained by the County Council of Hancock County, Indiana that a need now to exist to modify the local income tax rates imposed in the following way. Hancock County's existing taxing rates are as follows, pursuant to Indiana Code 6-3.6-2, the expenditure rate is the sum of the rates for the following allocations. And existing, this is for, existing LIT rate is 1% staying steady at 1%. Public safety, 0.26%. staying at 0.26%. Economic development, 0.13%, with an increase to 0.18%. Property tax relief remaining steady at 0.25%. Special purpose rate currently is 0.10%, dipping to 0.05%. The correctional and rehabilitation facility will remain steady at .20%, and the rest remain zero, existing zero proposed.

Is there anyone from the public want to speak on this?

Next segment would be property tax credit allocation categories. Existing percent of revenue, 100%. Proposed 100%. Residential property and qualifiers for residential property remain at 0%.

Nay.

Anything to do with proper taxes.

Then we have for counties directing a portion of public safety revenue to PSAP, The allocation for public safety in IC code six dash three point six dash six Existing at point two six percent remain steady at point six two percent two six percent and the local income tax type Existing PSAP rate at point zero six percent remaining steady at point zero six percent The maximum expenditure rate that a county may adopt is two point five percent of the for all counties except Marion County, which is capped at 2.75.

Is that a motion?

That is a motion.

Second. Okay. There is a motion and a second on the floor to approve ordinance number 2026-8B, an ordinance modifying local income tax rates in Hancock County as presented. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries.

was closed. I make a motion we close public hearing. Second.

Motion and second on the floor to close public hearing. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries.

To return to our regularly scheduled meeting. Miriam Rollins.

Okay.

Good morning.

They've donated the whole thing and putting it together and all that kind of stuff?

Yes, so I'm just gonna, I didn't put my computer up, but if anybody wants to see this, I'm happy to share it with the people that are here. I'm here to present an item that was a favorable, I can't speak. made a favorable motion at our Parks and Recreation Board on August 20th to accept this donation. So Nine Star has generously offered to donate this customizable gazebo to be placed at our Nine Star Park. And the example shown is not the exact model. Nine Star said they would help tailor and design and handle that installation. So the date is to be determined because we do have a $400,000 ITP grant that we will need to make sure we've got our post-approval meeting with them. And I don't want to get into the weeds with that, but I don't have a date to install this until we've, I've got to be mindful of that grant. to determine the date of it being installed so anyway on the original photo that I gave you that came from George Polinski who I've been working with on this and that one has a fire pit we're not going to do that but we would like to to make it really nice and have you guys seen the utility boxes around the wrapped like they're really painted decoratively and they're wrapped at different locations. Yes. I'm thinking that we could wrap this to save some cost and George is familiar with that procedure and everything so we can discuss that. But I'm just here to ask that if you would entertain and accept and approve a donation and authorize the gazebo to be placed on county property at Nine Star Park. This particular gazebo.

make a motion that we approve the gazebo for Nine Star Park at no cost to the county and the timeline for installation is to be determined.

Second.

There's motion second on the floor to accept the donation from Nine Star to be gazebo to be put at Sugar Creek our newest park at no cost to the taxpayers. All those in favor say aye.

carries thank you on that I'm also here requesting approval to attend the 2026 Indiana Parks and Recreation Association conference this event includes 60 educational sessions networking opportunities there's a keynote address and there's over a hundred exhibitors it's all for Parks and Recreation I've already applied for a grant for this today was the deadline, but I did it back on August 21st and I'm not really sure when they're going to let everybody know when they've, if they've been given the grant to go, um, that would cover the whole conference registration and one night of hotel accommodation. So, um, I just wanted to know if, first of all, I'm allowed to attend, and if I do get the grant, it would limit the cost. And then if it doesn't, if I don't get the grant, it could be as high as $1,000. In that case, I'd need a fund number. So will I need to come back after I've been approved, or would you guys entertain just allowing me to attend the conference?

Yeah. Where is it going to be held at? Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne. Okay. Isn't there some training money or something in your budget over there?

I am a board, not a department. So I don't have a budget yet, but you knew that.

Surely we've got money. In training. For training.

Yeah, continuing education, I think there's a line on that.

noting though that i will be coming back to ask to go back to uh bloomington next year in april but um i just wanted to make you noodle on that because it's i don't have a problem with it i would make a motion that we uh provide approval for uh miriam rolls uh on behalf of the hancock county parks and recreation board to attend the iprf conference uh scholarship application in Yes, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, November 4th through the 6th. She has applied for a grant. The total cost should not exceed $1,000, and we will pay for it. If the grant is not approved for Miriam, we will figure out a way to pay for that at the contingent time.

All right. Well, thank you very much. I appreciate it.

And you said you should hear or know we should know today.

No, today was the deadline to apply and I applied on the 21st. So I'm assuming, I could only assume that it would be in the next month.

An email or something confirming?

That they will let me know if I was a recipient of that grant. So I made a good...

Okay, second.

Okay.

The motion is second on the floor to approve Mary Morales' training on behalf of Parks and Recreation Board or... It's going to be a grant, or it should be a grant, but we don't know. But we're going to approve the training anyway, and we will find a way to pay for that if it doesn't get done. Thank you. So all those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carried.

All right. Thank you very much. I will follow up on the grant recipient information.

Have a great day.

You too.

Okay. Okay. We still got time here. Surveyor bond release. What I'm looking for here. Not yet.

We've got a Veritas one in there too.

Okay, here we go.

You got Veritas?

I got Veritas, yes.

Okay. We have a change order number 10, dated August 11, 2026. The total amount to be drawn from owner contingency is $221,509. And again, I think it's change order number 10. And that is Meyer Najum Construction provided change order 10 for Amplify Hancock, which is an increase to the GMP for materials and work associated with the scope as described below and in the attached change order. And there are monument signs, west sidewalk ramp modification, and bioswale infiltration and stabilization. And that's it.

Second.

I have a motion and a second on the floor to approve change order number 10 to be pulled from... Owner contingency in the amount of $221,509 as presented. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries.

Okay. We just have one place for you to...

Okay.

Right there.

Okay Bond Yep We have a performance bond deposit individuals or business name is mi homes and located at mailing address 8425 Woodfield Crossing Boulevard, Suite 100 West in Indianapolis, Indiana. The amount of the bond is $8,750, and the bond was posted on July 30th of 2026. The project is Rockport Section 2, and I believe this says Monumentation Board Bond. Second.

We have a motion second on the floor to approve the bond deposit in the amount of $8,750 for Monument Board Bond for MI Homes as presented. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries.

We have a bond deposit for a performance bond for John.

Ripping? Ripping?

Ripping Construction. The amount of the bond is $25,000. The bond was posted on August 11, 2026. The name of the project is Tyler Bash Homesite Drainage Repair and Replace Tile for the Homesite.

Second.

Motion second on the floor to approve the bond deposit in the amount of $25,000 as presented. All in favor say aye.

Aye. And just for the record, that was John Redding Construction, R-E-D-D-I-N-G. No bond releases.

No bond releases.

Motion carries.

I missed that. Andrea McLaughlin.

Good morning.

I'm just here to let you know that after we publicized the motor vehicle policy, it came to my attention that the Sheriff's Department and jail staff do not need to be a part of that policy because they already do a comprehensive check and that would just be a repetitive item. So I need to amend that policy to exclude those rolls out at the sheriff and the jail from that policy so that we're not spending money twice on reports that have already been ran.

I would make a motion that we approve our HR director to remove the sheriff's department and the jail officers from the motor vehicle records policy.

Second. Second.

Motion and second on the floor to approve the HR director to remove the sheriff's department from the background checks and all that kind of stuff for their driving policy. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Let's go ahead and get Mark up here.

Mark?

Mark.

Mark, can you sign these guys?

Oh. We do not.

Good morning. Good morning. I just want to ratify the local flood emergency declaration we did last week. As part of being able to file for public assistance, one of the things we have to do is file a declaration. As we know, we were very fortunate. We didn't fare near as bad as other counties around us, but we have to be We have to file a declaration to even qualify to file for it. So we did that, and this is just to ratify it since it was done outside of a normal meeting.

I'll make a motion that we ratify the declaration for emergency, what did you call that? Declaration. Declaration, yeah, declaration for emergency. Flood emergency. Flood emergency. There you go.

Second. Second.

The motion is second on the floor to approve the local emergency declaration for the rain, the flood. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries.

Did you want to... Yeah, let's do that.

We missed this. We are swearing in our emergency preparedness director, so...

I don't know. I got one on your phone.

There you go.

Raise your hand and repeat after me. I, Marky Elder. I, Marky Elder. Do solemnly swear and affirm. Do solemnly swear and affirm. That I will always, that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States. I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution of the State of Indiana against all enemies. The Constitution of the State of Indiana against all enemies. Foreign and domestic. Foreign and domestic. I will bear true faith. That I will bear true faith. And allegiance to the same. And allegiance to the same. That I will take obligation freely. Obligation freely.

Without any mental reservation or purpose.

Without any mental reservation.

And that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter.

About to enter. And I do. I do further swear or affirm that I do not advocate, nor am I a member of any political party or organization that advocates the overthrow of the government of the United States or this state by force or violence. And that during such time, I am a member of the County Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. I will not advocate nor become a member of any political party or organization that advocates To overthrow the government of the United States. To overthrow the government of the United States. Or of this state by violence or force. Or of this state by violence or force. Congratulations. Thank you.

Congrats, Mark.

You guys want to take a quick break and then we go into the solid waste meeting I Moved to recess Motion and second on the floor to recess for the solid waste meeting. All in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

August 25th meeting of the Hancock County Solid Waste Management District.

Today's September 1st, Bill.

Oh, excuse me. It says August. I'm looking at the meeting minutes. I apologize. September 1st. Can I get a motion for the approval of the minutes?

Make a motion to approve the minutes as presented.

Second. It's been moved and seconded. We approve the minutes as presented. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion passes. Second item up is the approval of David Spencer from the Greenfield City Council to take a seat on our solid waste board, the most popular board to be on in Hancock County. An honor.

I move that we accept David Spencer. Second.

Okay. Well, there's a motion and a second on the floor to accept David Spencer as our newest board member from the Greenfield City Council. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion passes.

Okay, so in your packets after the minutes is the invoices. And for the month of August, there was an invoice for the contract, fuel expenses, telephone expenses. I purchased some supplies for our upcoming collection events. So there was Amazon and Walmart purchases there. I signed up to attend the association or solid waste management district conference. So there's a conference fee and then with that, a hotel. And then I also renewed the membership to the NASFM, which is the Indiana Association for Stormwater Management. That's just a yearly membership fee for My regular budget total claims for the month of six thousand Yeah six thousand nine hundred and twenty dollars and fourteen cents and then for the event fund We did get a receipt from the greenfield parks department. It was their portion of the The trash and recycling bins that we purchased They paid a portion of that expense. So we did get that to come in for four thousand four hundred fifty eight dollars and thirty one cents and And then I have invoices from Rhonda Cook and Michael Frischkorn for legal services totaling $2,420 from the event fund.

Motion to approve the invoices as presented.

Second. It's been moved and seconded. We approve the invoices as presented. Any discussion? say aye. Aye. Motion passes.

Okay the next page in your packet is my time schedule for August. I'm gonna consolidate some of those columns or maybe rework it for next month because it's getting really tiny and it's hard to read so I'm gonna redo that for next month easier to read. So I apologize for that. Um, and then, um, I would like to take this time to introduce our Hancock County, um, board as well as our advisory board, um, advisory board members. If you could go ahead and stand up and I'm just going to go across the board. And if you could just, um, introduce yourself, the board members first and who you're affiliated with, and then I'll go through the advisory board and let them do the same as well. Libby, do you want to start? I'm Libby Wyatt.

I'm with the town of Fortville.

Guy Titus, Mayor of the City of Greenfield.

David Spencer, City Council, Greenfield. Bill Spaulding, Hancock County Commissioner.

Gary McDaniel, Commissioner.

Janine Gray, Hancock County Commissioner.

Robin Lauer, County Council.

Kennedy, do you want to go first?

Kennedy Lawson, Caldwells.

Chad Coconut, Hancock County Surveyor. Here at Beeson, Nine Star Connect.

Savannah Riley, City of Greenfield. Nylah Staples, Town of Palestine.

Town of Fortville.

Nice to meet you all. Yes, thank you all for coming. So I did compile in your packet, the next page, a listing of all those people, and there's a couple that weren't able to make it. And there are some statu- I can't say that, statu- statu- where? Statutory. Statutory, that's the word. requirements for the advisory board we are to have two joint meetings with the board and advisory board each year and there are some other requirements as well that we're going to review probably at the next board meeting I'm assuming for the advisory board and you know any of those any of the requirements today or do we hold off on that let's hold off on that

Basically, there are statutory requirements for who can be on the advisory board because the advisory board is there to advise you all. And so the General Assembly in its infinite wisdom decided to make requirements. And so we want to make sure we follow those. And we'll let you know next month where we are on that.

And I did forget to introduce Michael Frischkorn, Legal Advisor for the Solid Waste District. Okay. So our fall event, I did pass around postcards, but that's going to be coming up very quickly at the end of the month. Be September 26th from 9 to 1. We're going to be back at Greenfield Central Junior High. We're going to utilize their parking lot as well as the youth baseball field parking lot out behind the school. And I'm hoping we're going to kind of restructure it a little bit. So we're going to have our volunteers checking people in and then they're going to pull forward and then pay either cash or credit card. So we're gonna have multiple stations for people to drive through. So I'm hoping that kind of speeds up our process a little bit. But I am gonna be needing more volunteers because we're getting a lot more participation than we have in the past. So if anybody's willing to come out and spend a few hours with us, it's a fun event. You get to meet lots of the county residents. And so if any board member is willing to help us on that day, that would be great. I've already pushed out a request to the advisory board members and some other people that usually help So I am looking for volunteers. So if anybody's interested, you can let me know. We are also partnering with Greenfield Banking Company on that event. So they are providing the shredding services free of charge for residents. So it'll be really good. So the next on the agenda is the material management plan. So IDEM is offering a what they call Swiffer grant and that is actually a pass-through grant from the federal government to help improve recycling rates and so they have pushed out the grant applications and they are due I think it's September 14th. I have We started doing this process back in, I don't know, November or December. I think it was November. They had mentioned that they were going to have this grant coming through. I went ahead and proceeded to get quotes from consultants to provide that material management plan for us. and we did vote on a company to provide that service back in December, I think, or November, I don't remember which. Anyway, we did approve them, and then they never opened up the grant application process, so it just kind of went to the wayside. Well, they finally did open it up in August, and I contacted our consultant to find out, if they were willing to go ahead and honor their quote that they gave us, and they said that they would. And we did vote on it last month for me to go ahead and apply for this grant and find out later that this is a federal grant, so it's a lot more involved than my typical grant that I submit through IDEM. A lot more pages, a lot more in-depth questions. I did work on it and I think I pretty much have it completed, ready to submit. However, being that it is more of a federal grant, I've also found out that they are only going to be selecting 20 of these grants to give out. Typically, the IDEM grants, I don't know that they even have a cap on how many they give out. But this one is limited to 20 organizations, I'm assuming counties, to get this grant. So it's a little more competitive. So I was wanting to get your approval. Well, actually, let me back up. Originally, the Caramita is the company that we had chosen to do our material management plan. And originally, they had included a $3,000 optional grant support writing to get it submitted and I went through the grant I feel like it's pretty well written not to to brag or anything but I did have a little AI help on that but anyway I feel like it's it's it's pretty well written I was asking them if they could reduce that $3,000 expense because I mean I pretty much have it done I just want them to review it look over it make sure I didn't miss anything you know make sure I answered all the questions and covered all my bases and so they came back with a revised quote of $500 just to review the application look over it make sure you know I got all my I's dotted and T's crossed so I just wanted to know if I could get your approval to spend the $500 or it says up to Or no, it is actually $500. To get their eyes looking at this, to look over this, they are an environmental consulting firm. They've done this for many years. So they're very well qualified to do grant applications for environmental projects.

I'll make a motion that we approve the expenditure as presented.

Second.

There's a motion on the table. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed?

Thank you. And Bill, I will need to get your signature on that grant application somehow. I haven't figured out how to do that because it's an online application.

Does it come in probably an unprotected way where I can sign it and just send it back to you electronically?

I don't know, it's forms that you fill out electronically. PDF, is it PDF that you just go in and type in? It's not a PDF, it's on their website. So I don't know, I've emailed them, so I'll get with you on that.

Excuse me, what is the value of the grant? What can it be, is it an up to or is there a dollar amount?

So the grant is for $20,000. 20,000, I think you said. And our proposal for the project is 32,000. So we won't quite, if we get the grant, we won't quite have it covered.

And what is your competition? Is it the whole state or just our district? The whole state. Okay.

Yeah.

I make a motion that we allow President Bill Spalding to sign that.

Okay.

When it is available.

Second.

There's a motion and a second on the table. Any other discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Motion passes.

Okay. I'm now going to pass it over to Michael to give our legal update.

Okay. Well, this is the exciting part. The real issue, we've been kind of working on looking at the interlocal agreement between the county and the district. Mainly because that's kind of a foundational document. It really tells us what we're doing, who is in charge, and how these things work. And it hasn't been updated since it looks like 2008 or so. So we're due for an update because some things have changed since then. And to kind of lead that on, we need some direction from the board as to what do we want to do moving forward with the director's position, the original interlocal had the director being an employee of the Purdue Extension and they were just working here and then the program coordinator was a county employee and so that obviously has changed over the years and so how do we want the director position to be? I think currently DD is is an independent contractor with the district that comes with its own set of complications and so we're trying to figure out what what would you prefer to see what works best for the district as well as the county or whoever whatever other entities may be involved with with those inner locals uh the first they can and the reason i'm starting with the director is that that that is you know, kind of at the top. It's the only employee. It's probably the most complicated piece of it, figuring out how that works. So we gave you some options, whether, you know, she's a county employee, whether it's a district employee, or going to be a contractor with the district or a contractor with the county. Those are the options. If there are other options that you think of, because obviously we don't know everything, I'm happy to take other options if they work better based upon your experiences. So to a certain extent, open up for kind of discussion.

been kicking this can for quite some time and I think it just needs to come to some sort of settlement here so Dee Dee I mean it's not fair to her not knowing you know is she a contractor is she an employee so I think we just need to come to a decision and stand on that well what are your thoughts I mean this solid waste management district is not just accountable to the county

It's accountable to the whole, I mean, the county government in general. It's responsible for the whole county, so it responds to the city and municipalities. That's why we have independent people from other places on this board. It's not just all one. So at least I'm thinking probably not a county employee from that standpoint, but probably an employee in some way. I'm not sure what your thoughts are on contractual or full-time to the solid waste management. Probably makes the most sense.

Your suggestion is what contractor with the solid waste management district? Is that what you said?

She could be a contractor or she could be a full-time employee of the solid waste management district.

allow her benefits and things like vacation time?

I think I've heard just a suggestion from legal counsel that if we were to get her benefits out of the solid waste district itself it would be a lot more expensive because we're trying to just get benefits from one person to where if we approached the council with an interlocal agreement for benefits we could probably get a Greater deal than if she was trying to shop it on her own or we were try to shop it on her to get one per With those kind of benefits I don't believe the council would probably have any Issue with that as long as they knew they were gonna get reimbursed for the benefit package that How does this employee in other counties like rush County Shelby County Marion County Marion's probably too big to think about but you know I

They seem to be kind of split. So most, I would say probably majority are probably employed by the solid waste districts. There are some that are employed by the counties, but there are no independent contractors that I have found. Nobody has come forward saying that they're independent contractors.

What are your hopes?

I would like to be an employee. I feel like being an independent contractor opens up a lot of uncertainty and concerns and, you know, insurance issues. And I just feel like it would just be a lot less messy just to be an employee.

And she would become an employee of the board.

Right.

Of the department. So the board would give her direction and what she was to her daily duties and

So basically on our sheet number two, sounds like what we're thinking and what she's thinking, the employee of the solid waste management district.

But getting insurance or benefits from the county or what?

Right, going to them with an interlocal agreement that basically said, can you give the same benefit package that our county employees have to DD and the solid waste management district will reimburse you for the cost of those benefits.

Yeah.

That'd be good.

It seems reasonable. And the county will just take care of the whole bill then?

Well, they wouldn't have to take care of anything. No, and then they'll just be reimbursed. They just get reimbursed for the benefits. And they're reimbursed only from the county. Yeah, the solid waste district would.

Bill, if we have a district, then do we need to have a rate?

You know, I think that's another, it's another question to ask, like bring Greg Garitas into this and get a read on.

Yeah, because it seems to me like right now the county funds it, but then if it's going to be a solid waste management district, for her it seems like we might have to have a rate.

Might have to have a little more, right, going into that to be. So if I'm hearing this, it sounds like most of the board wants to make or would consider DD being an employee of the solid waste management district with benefits given by the county through an interlocal agreement and that we entertain our financial advisor to ask if we do this through the solid waste district, then we ask them about an actual tax rate that goes along with it. We need to motion that then. Have you go forward with that as far as putting this together?

I don't think we're done yet.

Okay.

So that's just one point. Okay. So the director position district, I'm going to refer to it as district because it's too long to say side of the waste management district every time. So the district will be a district employee with benefits from the county via interlocal agreement with reimbursement. We do need to do some research on that to determine what that costs. Because, you know, it's great to talk about it without the numbers attached. But if the number is too high, then that may change what you want us to do. But we can check into that, and that brings in Greg Geritas' expertise in determining what kind of funding is there if we actually use a tax rate as opposed to the current system of county funding.

Okay. I guess we would ask you too, which is the cleanest way to do it?

Yeah.

Is it the rate or county funding?

Yeah. So, okay, so that point. The next, we're kind of looking at interlocal, the interlocal agreement as a whole. Right now, the the district is insured through the county. I don't know if that is something that you want to keep doing or we need to look at separately, or if it's another situation where maybe there is a reimbursement. The nice thing about the interlocal agreement and the statutory authority that is there is that it appears that municipalities and the counties can can kind of help out the district where best suited. So we can say, hey, yes, I want to help here in this way. A local agreement, and it is what it is. So that's what we're trying to figure out, where are the best places for county government, et cetera, to help out the district and how that relationship works. So insurance has been a big topic about how that works.

Right. So our insurer, the county insurer, Brian Brees, sent me an email. I just sent it to you because I held off and sent it to legal counsel. that would look like because I really thought that well we have our director who is insured right now so we're covered by the county is she potentially going to get sued if anything happens sure everybody gets named in a lawsuit that's just the way it is but until we figure out kind of where we going can we say as a board hey we want you to get additional insurance or is what we have enough

I think that all plays into this and the direction we're going yeah, and I think it in from my perspective I'm looking at then you know I Think there are some difficulties with having an independent contractor, and that's why it's probably not the best option because unless you're a larger Especially with the things that that we kind of deal with in terms of hazardous waste and things like that now DD doesn't actually do anything with that stuff and But as we all know, when people start saying things like hazardous waste and things like that, people get all twitchy and go, wow, that's scary. So we want to make sure that DD is taken care of and independent. That's not maybe the best way of making sure that the employees are cared for. But that comes back to the interlocal agreement and how that works. So I think you're going to the direction you're going with making her an employee of the district. makes it easier to work with insurance and kind of moving forward in that way. So you know that's step one I think kind of for next the way what I'm hearing is we'll discuss interlocal there's a couple more things and then put together a draft for you all to look at another one and check with the county as well like with Scott and make sure that it's acceptable there because this is a you And then we can move that process forward hopefully quickly enough that we can get everything in a row in the right way and do it without having to come back over and over again to fix little mistakes. So one of the next things is keeping the controller as the auditor. Is that something that you would want to do? It seems to. That's the discussion point. Thoughts?

It will probably be the safest route to take.

There's internal controls and all kinds of things. It's already set.

I think so. And then on the insurance side, I think Brian could probably add a lot to this discussion, what we were just speaking about. Brian Reese, if you want to.

I think, though, we just hit on that, that right now while we're trying to work out whether she's going to be an employee of us or contractual, that's out there until we make sure that that's decided. Because Deedee is covered for her events through the county right now until we make her the solid waste district.

The county's covered.

Yes.

That's right. So I don't think, so do we have any events coming up?

Yes, at the end of the month.

At the end of the month. So one way of addressing that in the short term is, I think you've done this before, is getting on, so we have the vendors that you work with for those events and working with them to get you on there as additional insured I think would help. I think, you know, Again, this is the difficulty of having an independent contractor and not looking at documents for a really long time. And so making sure that we do it the right way. And so the county's covered, and then making sure that all the people that are handling things are covered with, through the other insurances, I think would, in the short term, be kind of a bandage, bandage, BAND-AID SOLUTION. IT'S NOT A GOOD LONG-TERM SOLUTION TO IT. BUT SINCE YOU DON'T ACTUALLY, SINCE YOU'RE IN THE ORGANIZATION OF THE EVENT AS OPPOSED TO, AS I KIND OF SAID EARLIER, HAULING AROUND BATTERIES AND DOING ALL THE STUFF, THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU DO, CORRECT?

CORRECT.

SO IT'S NOT GOING TO BE SELLING A VAT OF SOMETHING ON THE GROUND, HOPEFULLY. But that's the difficulty with the insurance piece right now is that there's this uncertainty about who is, well, I suppose there's not a whole lot of uncertainty at this point with the independent contractor. But that's why we need to get the local in place with the employee as opposed to a contractor. Right.

Is there, will that be in place before the event?

Well, the event is on the 26th. Yes. Is that right? I was, it would be difficult to do that before the 26th because we don't have another meeting, right? And I don't even have a draft yet, so.

Right, so it basically, it's not going to happen before the event.

So do we need to, So I guess the question on for the independent contractor piece, I mean, one option is I don't know what the cost of insurance is for any single event for DD. But that could be a response to first for that instance. That's a possibility as well since it is a short-term thing. I mean, but I'm not sure what the cost of that would be for a single event.

Can we have Brian come up? Okay.

Sure. Brian, do you want to come up and speak to the cost of an insurance policy for just to get us through this event potentially until we get an interlocal agreement?

Good morning all. Good morning. All right as an agent for the county I just I've studied this I've been watching this evolve whether I was at the meetings personally or online and it's kind of been like you see those shows where who's the father and we realized Hancock County's not the father of the district so to speak it's got to stand on its own so I as the county agent I I've set up all kinds of, we got a little motor running on all kinds of risk, loss control risk management. And one of the things is that bothered me on this was when I found out through that birth that the district stands on its own, Dee Dee's an independent contractor, 1099. We have our own insurance sets for any vendor that comes in, they give a W-9. they're supposed to give their cert and we don't have one on file. So I'm a little emotional on this because I've been working really hard on the backside and with her position as an independent, she's vulnerable. I've given her quotes for her to protect herself under Treasure Island, but I also have given Bill quotes for the county for the solid waste. incumbent with the county as an agent, but in the district, being a political board, you guys have the right to get quotes from other agents or whatever, but I've presented a full coverage that even though the main thing is the interlocal because who is DD? You haven't even talked about tax ID for the district. You haven't even, the employee structure. The interlocal is, in my opinion, the best way, and I'm not an attorney, but it simplifies things because then you can pass through, the district can pass through, well, the county can pass through for her work comps. Another thing, Mike, you didn't mention on here, she can get work comp, health insurance, her pay, all of that through that interlocal, and then it will, you can bill it back. It's billable to the district through that interlocal. In my understanding, as long as it's passed, what is it, SC 13-21, long as it meets all the state guidelines so but you know we're talking about the county bill you mentioned the county's covered but it doesn't encompass DD the way we're set we presented a site pollution she needs contractors pollution I've given her that quote the same is with the district It's kind of a contractor role because she occupies, I know it's up for debate, but she occupies a office at Purdue right now, that building. If that changes, she needs a contractor pollution by herself, and then the district needs that as well. So I have all that quoted. I have all three scenarios quoted. And then I think that really, along with the interlocal agreement, On just how I had to present this to underwriting, it's been difficult to get, you have a contractor for a municipality, carriers will write, if I got Hancock County, I go to carriers that write municipalities. If I got an individual, I go to carriers that write contractors staying alone. When you have one person, and that's the other thing I don't like about this, is that it's a one person, one off, without that interlocal, It's gonna be unaffordable for her to get health insurance. It's gonna be, I presented a work comp policy for her. That was like $2,100, that's not bad. The auto, we haven't even mentioned that. She's driving a sheriff's car. I don't know if we ran the MVR. I've helped, the county runs MVRs on drivers and things like that. She's an independent contractor and I don't believe there's a, we need an agreement on that. So there's a lot of pieces with the insurance along with the interlocal, that I think it can all be, it can be made real simple. But saying that we can't have coverage for the event, I can, I have policy for the county, I have a policy for her, and I have a policy for the district. So there's, I have all the event coverage that could be in place as of today. It's just I've been kind of given the impression that it needs to be voted on the board, that you may need to put out a RFQ, and that's fine. So I've had everything kind of ready here in the wings and have watched this develop over time. And I just feel bad for Deedee because I've seen her. Are you going to be an employee? Are you going to? As this onion was all being peeled out, and it's no disrespect to anybody, even myself, I was having a hard time trying to say, what is the district? When we're finally getting to the point we are today, what is the district? You know, you've got a 2002 interlocal agreement that was signed, 2008. It was signed by everybody but the board, and line nine in the... And the interlocal says for anything to be active, it has to be signed by the board. So do we have one that was ever signed? And then on the Purdue, it expired in 23. So we're kind of, as all this stuff has unfolded, you know, what are our guidelines? And I know that's where Rhonda and Mike have came in to help build one, but the insurance piece should be at the front of the cart, not behind, because I've got all the options, no matter what way, pick away today, I can say here's option A, B, C. So if you guys want me to say anything else, I'll answer questions. But as a risk manager for the county, I hate to sit back and have to hold all this in. Anyway, any questions?

Do any of the board have any questions?

Can you give us kind of a hint of which would be the most economical and which would be the best coverage? Because those can be two different things.

It's real simple. I gave the commissioners a presentation on pollution. It's 67,000 and some change. I had them add the 630 acres that the county owns, and that's going to be just under 80, I think, is the final. I have to verify that, but It did go up, but to get the whole county, all the acres, I wasn't sure how many acres the county had, 630. I checked that with the assessor. Her policy, if she stays independent, hers is around 10 grand, just under 10 grand for everything. The county or the district, insurance altogether, and this includes, if we added to the interlocal, added DD, her policy, her package of insurance, workers comp, all the stuff, auto, goes away. That's around 10 grand that would go away for her. It's 12,000, sorry, 12,000. That goes away for her, and it's 22-ish for the district, and that would give you, through Tokyo Marine, you would have GL, you would have, she does a lot of school work with kids, 128 presentations a year, you need abuse molestation. I hate to say that, but in the world we're in, we need to protect her for that. It gives her professional in the event that she talks to a business in town and they say, hey, I've got a 55-gallon antifreeze drum, what do I do with it? She can advise on stuff like that. It gives her the professional. It gives her auto coverage. It gives her workers' comp. Everything top to bottom I have for her. And... So really for 22 grand a year, I'll just say 25, the district's protected. If the interlocal goes through where she's an employee and she gets her worker's comp, her benefits, her payroll, all that directed through there, then that saves her having to do it on her own. Everything I've read on interlocals, that's a common practice to pass that through. You just, the county sends a bill to the district, here's what we paid her for her salary, here's what we paid her for work comp coverage, her benefits. The other thing that scares me to death is that the county, we moved to a self-insured retention program So while we're hanging in this limbo, if DeeDee had an auto accident, the vehicles are 50,000 is our deductible. We moved our liability deductible to 300,000. So the district's budget I saw just went to 179,000. If she had a serious accident, boom, we could wipe out $300,000, and that's twice her budget, basically. So the county's kind of in peril in this moment. And when I talked to Dee Dee, I said, here's everything. Let's see what the board says. I have a policy for her because she's scared to death in her role. And Janine mentioned it earlier, the can's been kicked down the road for a minute. I'm here to help in whatever way you want. Or I'll even, if you guys have another agent in mind, I'll share with what I have where they can give you a quote or whatever. I just want to get it from the county perspective. I've been hanging out here for a minute, and we just need to get something done on it. But sorry.

But she's covered by the county. She's just not covered personally.

The county's covered.

She's not covered.

And she's in violation of our contractor agreements we post on the internet for vendor requirements, unfortunately. I mean...

I think it would be better just to have her as an associate of an employee. And we get the benefits there because, I mean, for the short term.

But what he's talking about is what do we do in the short term? I think it we could have her right.

She's ready. She told me, Brian, after the meeting, I'm going to sign it because I need to get my coverage. And I told her you can go other agents, whatever. And she said, Brian, I want to use you because, you know, you heard I've talked a lot on it. And so today I can put it on the line where she's got coverage and then it may be a deal where she, if the interlocal goes through and then she gets, the interlocal goes through and she gets to come over as an employee for the district, which I think from a perspective of just how I have to explain to underwriting, you know, the other thing with the contractor, I think there's a law out there or something if she does that, but How much control do you have? Could she ever pull something else in? I forget the word on it, but I think for the district she would have to stay solely, but right now she could go entertain other, she could pick up other work if she wanted to. So, yeah, she's over, she controls the district. So I just think having her as an employee under the district makes the most sense. And then with the interlocal, it's no skin off the county. We're not robbing the county of any funds. It's going to be billed directly to the district. Her funding, like you said, would probably have to be adjusted just to the expense, but it needs to stand on its own and get its own two legs. I've got everything, like I said, with her. We'll have her set up today where she's compliant with the county. And then what you guys decide from there, I just felt it important that you know I have it either way. If it's standalone and you bring her on, fine. If you don't, we can do that. And the pollution policies, there needs to be three, one for the district, one for the county, and one for her as an independent. If she comes over to the district as director and an employee through the interlocal, then her policy on pollution could go through. But the important thing about the pollution is is that it's also onsite. So whether we go to Greenfield, Church, down the road, whatever, we have site coverage. If we go to, as they're hauling it, and Mike said earlier, well, we have our vendors, we can use a safety net. Well, if one of those has an accident, we're gonna get named anyway. We have the transportation and then we also have end use and the pollution policies I have. So we have, I have very comprehensive pollution policies that cover us on those bases or levels as well. So, but thank you for letting me speak because I just felt these are some important pieces that we need to dial in and you know the vehicle, I have a quote for her on that so she'll have that. The only thing we would need is you guys have to get an MOU of some sort or something that just says here's permission for Dee Dee to drive the vehicle. And some kind of agreement, a simple agreement of something that she's the director. You know, if we did have a loss, it would possibly be covered, but it would just, Somebody's going to go at us and question every piece that we have the way it is right now. So I'm just trying to get those pieces nice and neat where we have everything lined up. So anyway, sorry.

Take a breath. Thank you. You did good. You did great. Hey, Brian, are those policies, even though they run like let's say 10,000, they're billed at a monthly bill.

We can set them up, and I told DeeDee, because I don't want her, one of them is minimum earned with 25% minimum earned premium, so she'll have to have it for at least three months, and then the other ones we can cancel at any time, and I've had nothing but her best interest. She's been diehard for the county, and I respect that, and so I was just telling her openly, here's our options. This is going to be one You know, one thing that if they turn around next month and make a decision, you're gonna have that cost, but it's still minimal. The cost is really minimal for what we're doing. And when I talked to the pollution underwriters and people, they were surprised that a county this big and a district budget that small. But so our exposure is not, We don't have landfills or things like that. So as a county overall, our exposure is not great. And on our events, we're only doing around seven, eight grand at the most. Have you been over eight grand before? Like the big events are only bringing in $7,000 or whatever. So in bonds, we just got, we needed her to have volunteers bonded since they're collecting cash. And we just took care of that too. So, or it's being taken care of. So, okay.

So what are your thoughts, Board, on entertaining short-term policy for get this interlocal kind of ironed out?

I'd say it'd be the best thing, yeah.

Agree.