- Good morning. I'm going to call to order this meeting of the Monroe County Board of Commissioners.
- It is Thursday, April 3rd and I will note for the record that all three commissioners are here and
- present in the Na'i Hill Room and we will begin with our public statement read by Commissioner
- Jones.
- We, the Monroe County Board of Commissioners, renew our commitment to welcome and protect
- the rights of all people regardless of age, race, color, creed, disability, sexual orientation,
- gender, gender identity, marital status, economic status, and national origin.
- And we affirm the right of every person to live peacefully and without fear and we will fight and
- resist at every step discrimination and harmful policies whatever their source.
- We believe in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. We also stand in support of
- our county public school systems both RBB and MCCSC. Thank you so much.
- Next we will move on to our department updates. Do we have somebody here from
- the health department? We do. Ms. Kelly, NTSD, can you put the captioning up on our screen
- for us? Thank you. Ms. Kelly, good morning. Good morning commissioners. Just a few updates.
- As of April 1st, emergency visits for COVID-like illness has decreased. The wastewater
- concentrations
- are trending up across Indiana. Flu activity is now low as of March 31st. And as a reminder,
- the health department is offering free infant safe sleep training and resources. Individuals
- can call 812-349-2075 for more information or for an appointment. Great. Thank you so much.
- Comments or questions? Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. Commissioner Madera? Just that I'm really
- glad that we finally turned the corner on these rising numbers of flu cases. And so thank you
- very much. That's good news. All right. Thank you so much. Is any other department here to provide
- an update? I had a quick conversation on text with Ms. Neville and she's got another meeting,
- so I don't know that she could make it today. But we just want everybody to be weather aware
- this weekend. And if you haven't yet, please go to co.monroe.in.us, click on the megaphone and sign
- up
- for the resident alert system, because despite the bits of sunshine today, we are expecting a
- lot of rain over the next several days. All right. Now we will-- any other departments have an
- update?
- Okay. Now we'll move on to public comment. This is dedicated time for items not on our agenda,
- where we invite the public to offer commentary. Each commenter is limited to three minutes,
- and we ask that you state your name and your county of residence. May raise your hand on
- teams or come to the podium. All right. Seeing none, we will move on to our next agenda item.
- Move approval of the minutes for March 27th, 2025. We have a motion. I second that motion.
- We have a motion. We have a second. Any comments, corrections, or edits?
- Okay. All those in favor of approving the minutes for March 27th, 2025, signify by saying aye.
- Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Next item, please.
- Move approval of the claims stock at accounts payable April 3rd, 2025, and payroll April 4th,
- 2025. I second that motion. We have a motion. We have a second. We have Auditor Gregory joining
- us. Good morning. Good morning, commissioners. The accounts payable claims docket for April 3rd,
- 2025 totals $2,653,994.18. This includes all emergency claims and adjustments.
- Additionally, the payroll docket for April 4th, 2025 includes $1,584,974.97. Indirect costs in the
- remaining $677,298.10 were for indirect costs for a grand total of $2,262,273.07.
- Excellent. Thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner Madeira? I have none.
- Commissioner
- Jones? No, I don't. I don't either. Let's see if there's any public comments on this. Raise your
- hand on teams or podium. See none. All those in favor of approving the claim stock and accounts
- payable April 3rd, 2025 and payroll April 4th, 2025 signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries
- 3-0. We will now move on to new business please. Move approval of resolution 2025-16. Sheriff,
- highway and commissioner's surplus property. We have a motion. I will second that motion.
- All right. We have a motion and we have a second. Mr. Kreider. Good morning. Good morning,
- commissioners. Richard Kreider, building fleet manager. This request is to accept the declaration
- of items for surplus from the sheriff's department, highway department and commissioner's office.
- From the sheriff's department, 10 file cabinets that have reached into service life or are no
- longer usable for intended purpose. The cabinets will be sold as scrap metal. Highway department,
- three dump trucks that have reached the end of their service life and will be sold at auction.
- And from the commissioner's office, a patrol truck that has reached the end of service life
- and will be listed at auction for a minimum of $1,500. If it does not sell at auction,
- it will be used as trade-in. Excellent. Thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner
- Jones.
- No, I don't. Commissioner Medeira. Nope. I just wish that the public knew more about how we
- responsibly use materials that are at the end of their life. I think that they just think we
- throw things away and we're actually extraordinarily conservative and we try to get every extra
- penny of value out. Thank you. Absolutely. Yeah. And it's always great to
- create scrap metal runs like that and keep things out of the landfill if you can't sell it.
- Excellent. All right. Let's see if there's any public comment on this item. You raise your hand
- on teams or come to the podium.
- Seeing none. All those in favor of approving resolution 2025-16, signify by saying aye.
- Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Next item, please. Move approval of automated doors and access
- ink, matrix integration, and BTEC fire and security service agreements to relocate exterior door
- hardware at Showers North. Fund name, election fund, fund number 1215 in the amount of $6,699.
- We have a motion. I second that. And we have a second. Mr. Crider. Okay. This is part of a
- project that we're doing to remove what we can from the former election operations site and relocate
- those to other areas that make sense. This is a three-vendor project. This request is to approve
- the proposal submitted by three companies to remove door hardware from the former election
- operations early voting site and reinstall on the east entrance at Showers North.
- Automated doors and access ink is responsible for door openers, pedestal and activation switch in
- the amount of $1,884. Matrix integration will route network cable from the IT room to the entrance
- in the amount of $2,090. BTEC fire and security will remove all access control hardware and other
- security related items from the building to be used at Showers North in the amount of $2,725
- for a combined total project cost of $6,699. Thank you so much. Comments or questions?
- Commissioner Madeira? I have none. Commissioner Jones? I don't. I don't either. This makes lots
- of sense. We talked about what possible things we need to take from that building and it's getting
- to be that time. When is the demolition supposed to begin? June 1st-ish. Okay. All right. So we
- don't want to be there on May 31st. No, actually we almost have everything that's Monroe County
- out of there. Okay. Excellent work. Thanks for following up on that. I know it's not always easy.
- Thank you. Let's see if there's any public comment on this item. You can raise your hand on Teams
- or come to the podium in NET-U Hill.
- Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Automated Doors and Access, Inc. Matrix Integration
- and BTEC Fire and Security Service Agreements to relocate exterior door hardware at Showers North
- signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero. Thank you. Thank you. Next item please.
- Move approval of Limelight Recovery LLC Service Agreement. Fund name, local public health,
- fund number 1161 in the amount of $27,000. Second. We have a motion. We have a second. Ms. Kelly,
- tell us all about this please. Yes, so this is an agreement for mental health and substance use
- treatment services with Limelight Recovery. They are operating out of the Indiana Recovery Alliance.
- We did start a program with them last year. We provided $5,000 for services from May 2024 to
- January of this year and that served 39 clients, a total of 336 sessions provided to individuals
- in Monroe County. So we just saw how successful the program was and wanted to be able to
- provide this for a full year and also increase funding to provide both group therapy sessions
- and individual therapy. Excellent. Thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner Jones?
- Yeah, I'm just very pleased to see that this is being taken on. I actually do have one question.
- I particularly like the fact that they do not require complete abstinence. I often
- ask people who are talking about that if they've ever gone on a diet and never cheated.
- It's just, I don't think it's as easy as that. My question is that I know the probation department
- does require complete abstinence, I believe, because of a state or law covering it.
- And it is mentioned that they would be working with the probation department. I was wondering
- if this is going to cause any kind of problems or anything? Sure, that's a really great question.
- I can't say that I have that answer, but I will check with Allison about that and get that
- information for you. Thank you. Commissioner Medeiro, comments or questions? Yes, to follow
- up on Commissioner Jones' question, I was wondering if they, because people should not be expected
- to
- adhere to complete abstinence in an evidence-based framework of care, is there an integration with
- medication assisted treatment? Can individuals that receive therapy actually get hooked up with
- doctors that will prescribe suboxone or buprenorphine or other drugs? Sure. I will clarify
- with Allison about that too, because I wouldn't want to speak inappropriately about how she
- integrates that into this service. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right, let's see if there's
- any public comment on this item. You can raise your hand on Teams or come to the podium here in
- the NETU Hill Room. Being none, all those in favor of approving the service agreement with
- Limelight Recovery LLC, signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Next item please. Move
- approval of Baker-Tilley Advisory Group LP agreement regarding financial options for
- bean blossom fire. I second that. We have a motion. We have a second. Mr. Cockrell. Yes,
- last fall, last summer and last fall, we had began a process where bean blossom would be added to
- the
- Monroe Pire Protection District. Part of that process had us have a public hearing out at the
- Steinsville Elementary School. At that hearing, the residents of Bean Blossom Township indicated
- that they did not feel they had enough information to make an educated choice on the future of
- the fire in that area. They also were a little hesitant because they didn't know that there was
- a problem, the residents as well. We're working with the fire protection chief and the Eltsville
- fire chief and the township trustee to gather that information as to what the current problems
- is and what are potential solutions for that. This is a contract that would analyze both the
- proposal from the mineral fire protection district as well as the Eltsville fire town of Eltsville's
- proposal for fire service in that in that area to kind of put that whole thing in a package so that
- the residents can understand hey here's the problem and here's potential solutions to those
- problems so that they can make an educated decision on their fire protection. We'd like to have
- that
- decision done this year if possible. All right any comments or questions commissioner Madeira?
- No I just applaud the county for their commitment to transparency and for taking the time to really
- get this decision resolved in a correct and correct manner in which all residents are informed and
- I
- think that's what good government looks like. Commissioner Jones comments or questions?
- No but I very much agree with what commissioner Madeira said.
- So one of the other components that we need information on will be if we did nothing what
- would happen. So I you know Jeff and I had a email conversation about this and hopefully that will
- come from the the township board regarding their funding and what happens if and we're also going
- to have to send out letters as well. Yes I think the the the result of this contract will be
- two-thirds of the of the information and I think working with I would say not only the township
- trustee but also the fire chief for the current volunteer fire department in the area who has also
- been at the last couple meetings kind of to put that all in some kind of letter or mail or that
- then would go out to the to the individual landowners in the area. And then we'll hold
- some meetings hopefully out there at maybe Steinsville school again to hear from residents and
- get their feedback once they have the information they need. So great. Excellent thank you for
- following through on this. All right see if there's any public comment on this item you
- raise your hand on teams or come to the podium isn't that you hill.
- Seeing none all those in favor of approving the Baker-Tilley advisory group LP agreement
- regarding financial options for beam blossom of fire signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries
- three zero. Next item please. Move approval of ordinance 2025-10 to amend Monroe county code
- chapter 430 the building code. I second that motion. We have a motion. We have a second.
- Mr. Schilling and Mr. Leroux are here. Good morning. Good morning. We are presenting for
- your consideration some some updates to the building code. Nothing earth shattering just
- sort of some housekeeping to clarify the jurisdiction. Previously it was for the
- unincorporated area so we've changed that to unincorporated area plus any area that
- we serve through an interlocal. We've clarified some of the fees. We used to collect the pass
- through fee for the city under the old interlocal and now we don't do that we just collect the city
- fees that the city establishes and pass those through. We've when we incorporate state code or
- administrative code materials into our ordinances we're required to keep two copies of those
- in the auditor's office by state statute so we we've retained that and then we've added links to
- electronic copies as well and then we've in a couple places we simply just changed the language
- from the passive voice to the active so that kind of stuff. Very good. If you have any specific
- questions about the building code Bobby's here to speak on that. Thank you. Let's see if there's
- any comments or questions. Commissioner Jones. I'm just pleased that this has been done. I think it's
- a good idea to do this with all of our ordinances every once in a while. Times do change and
- it's important to keep up with that. Commissioner Madeira. I think that again just to verify what
- Commissioner Jones said and to agree I think LRW instructors everywhere would be proud
- about the change from passive to active voice. But just for efficiency's sake these changes
- really streamline the ordinances as well. Thank you. I think everything we can do to make our
- information and our ordinances more comprehensible to the public is going to be useful. This is
- what
- we do with the CDO and it's something we need to do with everything in our code. So thank you for
- working on this. I appreciate it. Thank you. All right let's see if there's any public comment
- on this item. Raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
- Seeing none all those in favor approving ordinance 2025-10 signify by saying aye.
- Aye. Motion carries three zero. Thank you. Thank you. Next item please. Move approval of ratification
- of ordinance 2025-09 revision of Monroe County code chapter 270 adding section 270-81.
- Second that. We have a motion we have a second. Ms. Turner King. Good morning. Good morning.
- This was discussed at the work session on 3/13/20 of this year. I don't know why I almost told you
- the year. But this adds the county council donation fund which will receive the funds
- that were donated in Cheryl Munson's honor and that will be used for Sophia Travis.
- Excellent. Comments or questions. Commissioner Jones. I just I think this is a good idea.
- We could be seeing more of these kinds of donations and it's nice to know exactly what to do with
- them.
- Commissioner Medeira. I just love that we can again celebrate the legacy of dedicated public
- servants such as Councillor Munson and again allow that to pay dividends forward for the community.
- Yeah it is it was really a great idea to do this and I appreciate the council's willingness to do
- this and it is a good way to honor her memory because this was certainly one of her projects
- that she dedicated a great deal of time to and we appreciate her for that and remember her for that.
- All right let's see if there's any public comment on this item.
- You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
- Seeing none all those in favor of ratifying ordinance 2025-09 signify by saying aye.
- Aye. Motion carries three zero. Next item please.
- Resolution 2025-13 clerk's office surplus property.
- I move approval. I second that motion.
- We have motion and we have a second did you find it. Ms. Turner King.
- This is player a scan pro 220 scanner that's used by the clerk's office as surplus.
- This is the scanner that clerk Brown was here about last meeting that they've you approved
- a purchase of a new scanner so this is to remove the old one from the inventory and I believe
- Mr. Cron from TSD indicated to me that this is going to be recycled with our next surplus run.
- Thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner Madera.
- No just kind of a silly comment I especially liked you know the ability to see the offensive
- firewire scanner and it's kind of like we see the photos and it's like aha finally I meet you
- you know and so it was enlightening but again we do our business very carefully and we are very
- you know precise about what we do with the equipment nothing's wasted.
- Comments or questions? Commissioner Jones. No I don't. Yeah it was almost like a mug shot.
- All right any public comment on this item raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
- Seeing none all those in favor approving resolution 2025-13 signify by saying aye.
- Aye. Motion carries three zero. Next item please. Thank you. Move approval to award
- milestone contractors LP bid for community crossing matching grant paving projects.
- Fund name county general fund number 1000 in the amount of two million eight hundred twenty three
- dollars eight hundred twenty three thousand dollars sorry. I second. We have a motion and
- we have a second regarding a lot of money. Ms. Ridge. Good morning. So we uh open sealed bids
- um on march 27th at 1 p.m. and we've received two bids for the projects uh enb paving and milestone
- milestone was the lowest most responsible and responsive bidder so we would recommend awarding
- the paving projects to milestone um and this is again part of the community crossings matching
- grant program. Excellent thank you so much uh comments or questions commissioner jones.
- Yes just congratulations on once again uh acquiring the money from the state to be
- able to do all of these projects. Absolutely a very important project and again looking
- forward to getting this underway. Yeah um appreciate all the hard work that goes into this.
- It's not um not easy and we've got the next item related to this um but I do do appreciate that
- uh consistently year after year um you've been able to secure this money and really
- greatly appreciate it not sure what's going to happen in the future with it though because I
- keep seeing the legislation change and it's not good.
- All right uh with that um any public comment on this item you could raise your hand on teams
- or come to the podium. Seeing none um all those in favor of of awarding Milestone Contractors LP
- the bid for Community Crossing Matching Grant Paving Project signified by saying aye. Aye.
- Motion carries three zero item please. Move approval to award EMB paving bid for Community
- Crossing Matching Grant Paving Projects fund name Motor Vehicle Highway fund number 1173
- in the amount of 419 414 dollars. I second. We have a motion and we have a second Ms. Ridge.
- We opened bids um for these projects on March 27th at 1 p.m. We had received three bids for
- the paving projects. The paving projects are for the remainder of Stipp Road after the stormwater
- project is completed this summer. A portion of Union Valley Road and then Park Square Drive.
- EMB paving was the lowest most responsible responsive bidder so we would recommend
- awarding him to EMB paving. Get that all right let's see if my colleagues have any questions.
- Commissioner Madeira. No just again thank you for getting these important projects done.
- Commissioner Jones. No I don't. I don't have any questions either. Appreciate the work.
- Let's see if there's any public comment on this item. You raise your hand on teams
- or come to the podium in that you will.
- All right seeing none all those in favor of awarding EMB paving bid for community crossing
- matching grant paving project signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero. Next item
- please. Move approval of endowed agreement for right of way engineering services for baby creek
- road bridge number 629 replacement. Fund name baby creek road bridge number 629. Fund number
- 8167 in the amount of seventeen thousand eight hundred ninety-two dollars. I second. We have a
- motion and we have a second. Ms. Ridge. So this is the agreement to enter to right of way
- engineering
- services for the replacement of baby creek road bridge number 629. Any comments or questions
- commissioner jones. No and again other than just it says again if you're referencing the packet
- the agreement is to provide eighty percent reimbursement from the state for the services
- by the consultant. So again I think this is just the public has no idea just how much of a
- partnership is involved in these projects and so that's one thing that I think is really remarkable
- about them. I appreciate the work that goes into coordinating all of this it's not as simple as it
- looks you make it look simple when it's not. All right let's see if there's any public comment on
- this item you raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. Done all those in favor of approving
- the end agreement for right-of-way engineering services for baby creek road bridge 629 by saying
- aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero. All right we do have an appointment today did you want to make
- a motion? Yes I want to appoint Eve Yarrow to the Women's Commission. Second. We have a motion and
- we have a second we appreciate everyone that applied and all those in favor of approving
- Eve Yarrow signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero. We'll have to get the term
- time established. I do not have that info. All right excellent and that's a good time to remind
- everybody to apply to serve on our boards and commissions you can go to co.monroe.in.us to
- fill out an application and to learn more about all of the boards and commissions in Monroe County.
- While you're there please click on the megaphone on the home page and sign up for the resident
- alert system. This will keep you informed about weather incidents any emergencies in the county.
- You will be alerted you can choose text phone and or email alerts and we do continue to hold office
- hours via teams each month if you wish to speak with us to offer us any proposals comments ideas
- suggestions please go to the calendar at co.monroe.in.us and there are six different
- virtual office hours to choose from all of these take place via teams and we look forward to
- speaking
- with you. The next blood drive at Ivy Tech in conjunction with the Red Cross will be Wednesday
- April 9th 10 15 a.m. to 3 p.m. and that's at Shreve Hall and Thursday April 10th 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
- and that's at c 130 a and b at Ivy Tech so we encourage folks to to attend please make
- an appointment at redcross.org all right is there anything else for the good of the order
- we do have a work session I take it down good
- Mr. Cockroach can we take an item oh you could amend your agenda to include the item so yeah
- oh this is the bond yeah I'm gonna go ahead and make a motion to amend our agenda
- to hear the item on the clerk's bond second all right
- all those in favor of amending the agenda signify by saying aye
- aye all right so we now have an item on the clerk's bond tell us all about it okay so as I think
- indicated before you have the responsibility of approving certain elected officials bonds
- and this particular bond is the clerk's and it does require your approval and as per
- approval on the front of this document so I'll give this to you and then we'll get it recorded
- our auditor excellent um any comments no no something we would take public comment on it
- seems odd but I guess we could take public comment on this item if anybody wishes to
- make public comment on this item you may raise your hand on teams or come to the podium
- all right see none all those in favor of approving the clerk's bond signify by saying aye
- aye motion carries two three zero and um we will go ahead we go ahead and sign that all
- right anything else for the good of the order all right uh with that um our next meeting is
- thursday april 10th uh 10 a.m right here in the net u hill room um until then we are adjourned
- everybody stay safe
- (orchestral music)