HOWARD
The Howard County Board of Commissioners met in
Regular Session on
The meeting was called to
order by Sheriff’s Deputy Craig Trott and conducted by President Paul Raver.
The minutes from the last regular meeting held on
IN THE MATTER OF HIGHWAY ISSUES:
Mr. Ted Cain, Howard County Highway Engineer/Superintendent presented the following issues for Commissioner information and approval:
1. Five bids for the Highway Department’s 2003 operating materials and
supplies were received and opened by Mr. Cain at the scheduled time
advertised of
Item #l Precast
and Prestressed Beams –
None
Item #2 Various Grades of Asphalt, Emulsion, and Tar –
Asphalt
Materials, Inc.
Mohr
Construction Co., Inc.
Item #3 Bituminous
Coated Aggregate, Asphaltic Concrete Binder and Top –
Mohr
Construction Co., Inc.
Item #4 Stone
–
Stone
Co., Inc.
Martin-Marietta
Materials
Item #5 Equipment
Rental –
Baker
& Schultz
Mohr Construction Co., Inc.
Mr. Cain advised there are a
lot of items (i.e. bituminous material and gasoline) that are not purchased in
large quantities; therefore, contractors can send quotes instead of going
through the bidding process.
Mr. Harbaugh made
a motion to take the
2. Joint
Presentation by Mr. Cain and Glen Boise, Executive Director of Kokomo/Howard
County Plan Commission regarding items stored in right of way – North
Washington Street: (See November 4,
2002 minutes, page 4, “In the Matter of Items Stored in Right-of-Way – North
Washington Street”, for related discussion.)
Mr. Boise
presented copies of the title search requested by the
It is assumed
that the State vacated the highway and gave the 50-foot right-of-way to
It was the
consensus of the Commissioners to accept the report from Mr. Boise and invite
the Barkos to a public hearing at the next meeting scheduled for
3. There was discussion at the
previous Drainage Board meeting about
the Water Company doing some work in the right-of-way easement along
IN THE MATTER OF PLAN
COMMISSION ISSUES:
Plan Commission Director Glen Boise presented the following issues for Commissioner information:
1. Unsafe Building Issues:
a. No new information was received on the Martin Myers property located at 3904 South 350 West (See November 4, 2002 minutes, page 2, “In the Matter of Plan Commission Issues”, Item 7 for related discussion) The Kokomo Municipal Airport had earlier made an offer to purchase the house. The offer was accepted but there was an arson fire before the closing date. Mr. Boise sent a letter to encourage moving the process forward.
b.
A property owner was contacted about cleaning up
property with an abandoned house on
c. The Commissioners requested Mr. Boise to check on an abandoned property at 5465 East 50 South, which has junk cars stored on it.
2. Flood Hazard Planning Issues: The response to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) comments on the flood mitigation plan were completed and distributed to certain people for their comments.
IN THE MATTER OF MAINTENANCE
DEPARTMENT ISSUES:
Maintenance Superintendent Thomas Harrison presented the following issues for Commissioner information and approval:
1.
The annual quotes were received from Certified
Chemicals for chemical treatment of the boilers in the
2. There is no heating available in the northwest corner on the first floor in the courthouse. The electrical setup is not sufficient to handle both the office electrical needs and portable electric heaters. A decision needs to be made on how to provide heat to the Adult Probation Office for at least six (6) weeks. Mr. Harrison suggested Huston Electric could run a couple of temporary electric lines to provide power for heaters. (See page 4, “In the Matter of Courthouse Renovations” for additional discussion)
.
Personnel Director Wanda McKillip reported that the
Health Insurance Committee met on
Effective January 1, 2003 all full-time employees
hired (including part-time employees promoted to full-time), will pay 40% of
their healthcare premium. The County
will pay the remaining 60%.
Those full-time employees hired prior to
Mr. Doug Heath from Miles & Finch Insurance
Agency reported that claim activity has increased approximately 45% from the
previous year. In the previous policy
period an extra $32,000.00 per month was going into the reserve account. Due to the increasing costs of prescription
and medical claims the reserve account is running at a loss of approximately
$20,000.00 per month.
Anthem will continue to monitor the claims and
expenses on a monthly basis. Anthem
wishes the County to be prepared to make a mid-term change if it becomes
necessary.
The county will be reducing some health care
benefits as well. Due to the economic
climate, it was stated that other business are being forced to make similar
adjustments. Mrs. McKillip commented,
even with the changes, the plan is still very attractive and a good plan. County employees will be informed of the
changes at the renewal meetings scheduled for Tuesday, December 3rd
and
Mrs. McKillip said many meetings were held on a
subcommittee level to closely examine health insurance renewal.
In view of the circumstances involved, County funding and concerns for the employees were carefully considered in making the best recommendation for the renewal.
In conjunction with the decision for renewal,
The way claims have transpired, Mr. Heath predicted
that by the end of the policy period on
Mr. Tom Harrison, Maintenance Superintendent and
City Councilman, cautioned that having groups with different healthcare
benefits could lead to future problems of distension and disgruntlement among
employees.
At the conclusion of the discussion, Mr. Bagwell made
a motion to increase the current employee contribution to 20%. In addition, employees hired on or after
Mrs. McKillip requested that the Commissioners and
County Council compose a letter to county employees explaining the healthcare
insurance situation. The letter will
notify employees that an additional increase is possible during the 2003 policy
period, contingent on what happens with the healthcare issue and the
economy.
Mrs. McKillip hopes to distribute the open
enrollment packets by Friday, November 22nd in time for the
enrollment meetings scheduled during the first week in December 2002.
IN THE MATTER OF COURTHOUSE RENOVATIONS:
Mr. William Bassett of William Bassett and
Associates presented the following issues for Commissioner information:
·
Progress is being made on several floors of the courthouse. On the second floor, carpet has been
installed in the clerk’s area and the file saver system was relocated from the
third floor.
·
Renovations to the inmate elevator were completed last week.
·
Paneling is being installed in the new courtroom.
·
The sprinkler system has been installed on the second floor. Walnut Street is being cut today for
installation of the new water line to service the sprinkler system.
·
The stained glass ceiling was cleaned.
A couple of glass panels were broken when the new skylight was installed
but the contractor will replace the glass at their expense.
Mr. Bassett
presented a Request For Proposals Tabulation (changes). The list contained twenty-one (21) items,
many of which are under review and do not need to be considered at this
particular time. Mr. Bassett requested
approval of the following items:
Item No. Description Amount
13 Repairs
to duct in south chase $
1,179.00
14 Three
circuits to the boilers $
1,104.00
18 Six
light fixtures & 3-way switches to file room, 2nd floor $ 1,950.00
Total $
4,233.00
Mr. Harbaugh made a motion to approve Items 13, 14
and 18 on the Request For Proposals listed above in the amount of $4,233.00 for
Courthouse renovations. Mr. Bagwell
seconded the motion and it carried.
·
Mr. Terry Tribby, Information Systems Manager, reported the phone
switch was moved from the second floor communications center down to the first
floor. Now that the phone switches are
located on the first floor, the servers on the second floor will soon be moved
out of the dusty environment and cleaned.
The network will temporarily be shut down during the move.
·
Moving the communications room is an important critical issue. The communication systems room needs to be
moved in order to proceed with tearing out some walls on the second floor. During the coordination meeting on November
6th, Mr. Bassett and Bob Hollingsworth from Teletec Communications – a division
of Huston Electric, walked through the rooms with Terry Tribby and John Templin from the Information Systems Department.
·
Walls are being torn out in the Voter Registration Office on the first
floor. The Drug and Alcohol Office will
be temporary moved while their area in the basement is being remodeled. (See
·
There is no heat available in the northwest corner on the first floor
in the courthouse where Adult Probation is located. There is not enough power to connect
temporary electric heaters when the office is operating. Mr. Bassett said he will check into getting
heat to the Adult Probation Office.
IN
THE MATTER OF
Director Beryl Geer said the County Council cut
$16,000.00 out of the original budget request for 2003. Mr. Geer said the $150,000.00 contract will
not cover the costs of the animal program in existence. It would cost $166,214.00 to implement the
current program in 2003. Mr. Geer met
with Major Larry Shipman of the Sheriff’s Department to discuss modifying
programs to scale back operating costs to stay within the $150,000.00
budget. The following three options were
presented:
1. Extended animal control hours of operation would be discontinued.
(
2. Discontinue animal control in its entirety for the last 18 days in the first period & the last 17 days in the second period.
3. Discontinue animal control in its entirety
for 3 days each month.
Mr. Geer recommended Option No. 1, eliminating the
afternoon shift and weekend coverage.
Mr. Geer said he will still have an employee during those hours but he
will not take any calls from the county.
The city will continue to have complete coverage because they funded the
full appropriation requested by the humane society. Emergency animal control will remain covered
but a complaint such as a barking dog is not considered an emergency.
The Commissioners were not convinced that
eliminating all afternoon and weekend service would be a good plan, especially
in the summer. As an alternative
solution, Mr. Bagwell suggested keeping afternoon and weekend service and eliminate
one day of each week when the humane society receives the fewest calls. Mr. Geer was receptive to this suggestion and
stated that Wednesdays have the least activity.
However, if the county brings in more revenue than anticipated, the
County Council invited the humane society to submit additional request for
appropriations in 2003.
The Commissioners recommended an evaluation to
determine if eliminating Wednesday coverage would be financially feasible. Mr. Geer and
IN THE MATTER OF PETITION TO VACATE:
David T Baird, Attorney for U.A.W. Legal Services,
came forward and explained the request was premature. One of the property owners that needs
notification is out of state. Attorney
Baird postponed the petition until
IN THE MATTER OF
A Poor Relief Hearing was
conducted on
IN THE MATTER OF CITY OF
Dwight Singer, President of the City of Firsts
Automotive Heritage Museum, Inc. Board, presented the following issues for
Commissioner information:
1. To accommodate term dates effective
IN THE MATTER OF CLAIMS AND REPORTS:
1.
Operating claims payable on
2.
Commissioners’ Salary Claims
for hourly, salary, and overtime payable for November 22nd and November
29th, payable on November 27th,
were approved on a motion made by Mr. Harbaugh.
Mr. Bagwell seconded the motion, which carried.
3.
The
4.
Resolution 2002-BCC-19, a request to transfer $8,000.00 from line item
4720 Equipment to line item 1125 Overtime in Account 145, Howard County 911
Enhancement Services Fund, was considered.
Mr. Harbaugh made a motion to approve the transfer as requested. Mr. Bagwell seconded the motion, which
carried.
5.
The 2003
County Holiday Schedule was presented
for Commissioners approval. Mr. Bagwell
made a motion approve the schedule with the addition of
6.
The following statements were
presented for Commissioner information only:
William
Bassett & Associates, Inc. $ 27,529.23
Specialty
Systems of
(Application
No. 4):
Terstep
Company, Inc. $
488,683.97
First
National Bank (Escrow) $ 54,298.23
7.
Maximus, Inc. came last week to review records in the Auditor’s Office to
make sure Title IVD figures are available.
The County will be paying their contract fee of $9,500.00.
8.
As a result of performing the clean-up in regard to the SBA Audit for 2001,
it was noted that the Howard Haven County Home records showed 5 or 6 accounts
with outstanding balances due. Some
of the residents left the county home owing money. The Auditor’s Office will send out letters
requesting payments. On the other hand,
any surplus money paid by former residents must be sent to the State Attorney
General’s Office.
9.
2003 EDIT Tax Anticipated Receipts and Expenditures: The County will receive $1,362,442 in
10. Auditor Martha Lake and some
staff members attended the Annual County Auditor’s State Conference on November 13 and 14, 2002
in
IN THE MATTER OF COUNTY ATTORNEY ISSUES:
Larry Murrell will be away from his County Attorney
Office in the afternoon on Tuesday, November 19th and Thursday
November 21st. He will also
be away from his law office on Wednesday, November 20th.
IN THE MATTER OF COMMISSIONER ISSUES:
1.
2.
The minutes from the
County City Ad hoc
Clerk
City Engineer Property
Systems
Voters’
Registration City
Developer
Department of Health
1 or 2 County Council Members
Other suggestions were to contract the
Sheriff’s Department to see if they would like to have a representative attend
in addition to someone from the Dispatch Office. (The Dispatch Office will need
to have only one officer attend.) The
Highway Department will be contracted again regarding sending a representative.
Also, those working in a consulting position with the County such as Schneider’s
Corporation may be invited, but would not be considered a member. The Board, by consensus, approved to formally
establish the committee. Mr. Raver will
attend on behalf of the Board and serve as group leader.
3.
An extra Commissioners’ meeting was set for
4.
Discussion ensued about contacting various Commissioner appointed committee
persons who have terms expiring on
Rob Whitaker was appointed
Interim Director of the Howard County Sold Waste District due to the sudden
death of Director Keith Fallon. In regard of choosing a replacement for
Keith Fallon on the Board of Health, it was decided that Mr. Whitaker would
fill the position, but he would relinquish the position if someone else is
chosen to be the permanent director.
There being no further business before the Board at this
time, Mr. Bagwell made a motion to adjourn.
Mr. Harbaugh seconded the motion and it carried. The meeting closed at
THE
HOWARD
___________________________________________
PAUL
J. RAVER, PRESIDENT
___________________________________________
BRADLEY
J. BAGWELL, VICE-PRESIDENT
___________________________________________
JOHN
B. HARBAUGH, MEMBER
ATTEST:
__________________________________
Commissioner Minutes,