- I'm going to call to order this meeting in Monroe County Board of Commissioners. It is Thursday, October
- 9th and joined here by Commissioner Madeira. I'm Commissioner Thomas and we're waiting to see if Commissioner
- Jones will join us via Teams. And we'll begin with our public statement.
- 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 also stand in support of our public school systems, both RBB and MCCSC. And we will now move on to
- our department updates. Ms. Kelly. Good morning, commissioners.
- According to the Indiana Department of Health dashboard, emergency department visits for COVID-like
- illness have decreased and wastewater concentrations are decreasing as well. Flu activity across the
- state is minimal. The CDC recommends an annual flu vaccine for all people six months and older. And
- the community health clinic at 333 East Miller Drive has vaccines available.
- You can call 812-353-3244 for more information or for an appointment. All right. Thank you so much.
- Comments or questions, Commissioner Madeira? I have none. Thank you so much for the update. Thank you.
- Okay. Any other departments have an update for us?
- Having done, we'll move on to our next agenda item, which is public comment. This is for general public
- comment for items not on our agenda. Commenters are asked to provide your name and county of residence
- and to limit your commentary to three minutes. Does anybody wish to offer public comment?
- raise your hand on teams or come to the podium please come to the podium. My name is Molly Radecki.
- I just wanted to publicly thank Commissioner Medeiros for helping me with my stormwater issue and sewage
- issue. We've come to agreement with South Central Sewage District in Binyam Fanyam. We have the
- the tools that will work now, which is a backflow device and a backflow valve that will keep me from
- flooding. With that said, Steinsville has a unique infrastructure and needs help. And so I have reached
- out to the Center for Rural Engagement. I did put in a grant, it's not a grant application,
- but an application for partnership for the sustainable Hoosier communities. I don't know what
- if we'll get it or not, but it's a step in the right direction. They also have tremendous resources,
- and one of the resources they recently gave me was the Regional Development Authority, and I will be
- writing them
- a letter of inquiry for a development plan. And the person we really need to get involved in this is
- Bruce Payton, who works for Hanson Professional Services. It's a civil engineering service. And I just
- want to put that name in your head, Bruce Payton. He was born in Steinsville. He remembers when there
- was a train coming through. And he can give us the right plan for Steinsville. Also, with that said,
- if you haven't been out to Steinsville, it's the Hilly 100 on Saturday. And the mercantile is a great
- that's a great place to watch the hilly 100. Thank you. I'm glad things worked out. I know we did it.
- Some ARPA funding related to the to the sewage issue, septic issue, and I know it is unique. Thank you.
- Thank you. Anyone else have any public comment to offer?
- You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. We have been joined by commissioner Jones. Welcome.
- Yay. Oh, nice to be here. Great to see you as always. Um, we are now on to the next agenda item, please.
- I would like to move approval of the minutes for October 2nd, 2025. I will second that. Any comments,
- corrections, edits? No, I already sent them in. Great. Thank you so much. Mr. Cockrell, will you please
- call the roll on approval of the minutes for October 2nd, 2025? Commissioner Thomas? Yes. Commissioner
- Jones? Abstain. Commissioner Madeira? Yes. Motion is approved to
- to zero with one abstention. Thank you so much. Next item please. I would like to move approval of the
- claims docket for accounts payable for October 9th 2025. I will second that. Good morning. Good morning
- commissioners. The accounts payable claims docket for October 9th 2025 totals one million
- $534,735.75. This includes all emergency claims and adjustments. Thank you so much. Comments or questions?
- Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. Commissioner Rivera? No, I have none. Thank you. Thank you so much.
- Let's see if there's, I don't either, so 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 NATU Hill Room. Seeing none, Mr. Cockrell, will you please call the
- roll on the approval of claim stock and accounts payable October 9th, 2025. Commissioner Thomas. Yes.
- Commissioner Jones. Yes. Commissioner Madeira. Yes. Motion is approved three to zero. Thank you so much.
- Uh, we did not receive reports, uh, this week. Um, but we will now move on to, um, new business, please.
- I would like to move approval for Taylor concrete service incorporated to repair a damaged sidewalk
- at the health building. Fund name 2021. Geo bond fund number 48 14 in the amount of $7,500. I will second
- that Mr. Crider.
- Good morning, commissioners, Richard Crider, Monroe County Building and Fleet. This request is to accept
- the proposal submitted by Taylor Concrete Services, Inc. in the amount of $7,500 to remove and replace
- the damaged sidewalk and curbs leading to the northeast accessible entrance at the health building.
- All right. Thank you so much. Comments or questions, Commissioner Madeira? No, this sounds absolutely
- critical. I know that we're doing a lot of work on the health building and this will no doubt help us
- round out that project.
- Commissioner Jones? Yeah, this stands needed. I know it is needed. I absolutely agree. Thank you for
- working on this. Any public comment on this item?
- Seeing none, Mr. Cockrell, will you please call the roll on the Taylor Concrete Service Inc. agreement
- to repair a damaged sidewalk at the health building? Commissioner Thomas? Yes. Commissioner Jones? Yes.
- Commissioner Madeira? Yes. Motion is approved, three to zero. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right,
- next item, please.
- I would like to move approval for Eagle View Master Services Agreement for reassessment. I'm sorry,
- fund name reassessment. Fund number 1224 in the amount of $450,000 and six cents over six years. I will
- second that. Assessor Sharp, good morning. Good morning, commissioners. Thank you very much.
- letting us come up tonight or today. This is our pictometry product, the Eagle View. If you've all been
- on GIS in the last, Lisa and I were just talking, we can't really remember when we started this project,
- probably a good 20 years ago. And it's the background, it's the background for everything that we do
- in my office and a lot of other offices. I'm sure if John was here with the GIS, he would be saying,
- it's great.
- I'm so excited about this contract because Dave Askins just asked me, I don't think he believed when
- he read the contract that we're going to one inch pixels. We're going to go down to one inch. When we
- first started this, I'm pretty sure they were three inches when we first started. You know, you could
- hardly see anything. It was out there. Then I think we went to two inches and now with the cost of this
- kind of stuff, you know,
- all of this you know the old Apple computer probably you know would fit in this room and it was a million
- dollars and now look what you get them on your phone this happens to everything and this has happened
- to this this product so we're going to go to the one inch pixel with your approval and it'll start they'll
- start flying over
- next spring before the trees come up and come out. So that's the whole contract, and it did raise a
- little bit. Of course, now we're going to the one-inch pixels. The last contract that we signed, it
- was at $63,519 a year, and now we're going up to $75,000, which for what we're going to be getting here,
- I think it is well worth it, or I wouldn't have agreed to this. I've seen it.
- It's been demonstrated, other people already have it. Lisa reminded me when we first got into this,
- it's been a while, the city had their own, they were part of us, but they had a one-inch, was it one-inch
- pixel for one year? And we only had the three because we're the county. But what's happened, and since
- we started this, you know what's happened in this county as well as I do. Look at the development.
- And this this pictometry is another tool and our toolbox and everybody else's that works in the county
- And the public they use this tool like you cannot believe every appeal I have They've used the tools
- that we have which is fine. That's why we do this But I think this one inch is going to be so exciting
- when it finally comes in I said something to Dave and he thought it was kind of creepy but when
- When we first started this, we always told people, don't go outside if you don't want your picture taken.
- But some of the things that we've seen over the years, there was somebody playing tennis in some place.
- And when they went over, they got the shot. And you saw the tennis ball. And there's been fun things
- like that. So it's going to be one inch. So you're going to be seeing a lot more stuff. So stay in the house.
- If you don't want to be seen, I'll try to tell people when it happens that they're going to fly over.
- But I'm excited about this. I'm asking, I'm asking for your approval on this. And I know you probably
- have questions. Thank you so much. Uh, comments or questions, commissioner Jones. Yeah, this sounds
- very exciting. Uh, I know it'll make a big difference for a whole lot of people. Commissioner Madure.
- Um, I was just curious in general, um,
- You know, what does the flyovers help to accomplish for the assessor's office? Well, that's the whole
- background of what we do. When you pull up a parcel, you can see everything. And this is part of our
- GIS. This goes into the GIS. So this development, we're out in the field. I have people in the field
- all the time. We're out in the field.
- with development and not everybody gets permits maybe. And so when we're analyzing everything and we
- do this continuously, we can completely go around the house and around the property. And you can see
- so much in appeals where it really helps is, you're talking to the customer, the taxpayer, and we're
- talking about everything in the yard
- barns and all of this kind of stuff. It just makes it so much easier for everybody to see it. But just
- as I was leaving, one of my field people were talking, was telling us that we just had a fire in a barn.
- So we're going to take it off the rows. We go out and we look at this, but now we won't be able to see
- it today, but we can see the barn that they're talking about. And we'll just take that off. And then
- the next time we're in the field, then when I say we, it's me.
- two of my staff, and we'll go out and make sure that it is destroyed. And that was a barn. Ungodly,
- it's a house, but no one was hurt in the barn. But we do that for everything. So you can really pinpoint,
- because when you're out in the field, things aren't marked real well sometimes. And so we look in, and
- then we have everything on our phones, just like everybody else does. So we're out in the field, we
- can pull up stuff, and we do it all the time.
- This is the background and the basis for everything that we do. The tool in our toolbox is so important.
- Yep. Yep. I thought it might be really important for the public just to know how critical it is. It's
- really the backbone of the system. And it plays an important safety role, too, so that you guys know
- what to expect when you go out in the field. Hopefully. Yeah. But it's the public uses it. Yes. I think
- everybody in Monroe County and out of Monroe County uses this. And it's free.
- And that was the commitment we made to the public when we started this, that we wouldn't charge. And
- some counties charge. Wow. Well, it's money. And as things get tight, but the public paid for this.
- So we shouldn't be ever thinking that. Exactly. If Askin's involved, it's not going to be Eagle View,
- though. It's going to be Hawk View.
- Please note, I'm having enough trouble. I'm having enough trouble remembering eagle views sometimes.
- But yeah, eagle view. I think I was most impressed with the penny a year additional, the 0.06, the six
- cents over six years. That's kind of funny. No, just for clarification,
- on our sheet, the third flight is spring of 2030. It says flight two, flight two, but it's flight three
- is 2030. Every two years? Yeah. Yeah, they do it. That's the third flight. Now, the reason we're paid
- per year, even though they don't fly every year, is because they house the data. Yes, and even though
- they're not flying every year, it's completely, I don't know how to explain this,
- So much new stuff is happening all the time, so they're having to go in and change things just like
- we do. So it's an ongoing thing. I was talking to one of the counties, and it had to be a very rich
- county. I don't know who that is in the state of Indiana, but it was someone that was, I think it was
- Hamilton, that was, I think they're having to re-look at that because they're in the same crisis everybody else is.
- they were gonna go to every year flyover. Because it's the development that's happening. And they have
- tons of development up there, if you've ever been up there. We're doing the same thing here, and that's
- why we went to more flights. It's the development out there. And I'm not gonna go, who knows, maybe
- we'll get rich again, the state of Indiana, the world. It's not gonna ever be.
- While I'm here, I don't think we can ever go. And we don't need it. The two years is working beautifully
- for us. And so right now, let's just go to two. It's never going to get, I wouldn't think it's going
- to get closer to one inch. Who knows? Technology changes.
- I think the one thing that we're missing, and it's not your department, but I think the one thing we're
- still missing are accurate property lines on the GIS and that it drives us nuts on the planning commission
- as commissioners for the residents. It's really terrible because people don't know and they rely on
- it. And I don't know if there's anything that could be done about that, but we're going to have to get
- rich to fix that. Okay. It's cost. We've talked about this from day one.
- And there is a thing down at the bottom when you're looking at this, and I'm not even going to say what
- I really wanted to say down there, but people don't pay attention. And then they come in and yell at
- us in hearings, well, look at this property line. And I'm like, guys, this is just for you to look at.
- This is not a legal document, period.
- People wanted to act like a survey. I would love for it to act like a survey. When you guys come up
- with that kind of money, then tell me about it, and I'll be the first to have my lines fixed on my house.
- We have houses that aren't even on a way out there. It was the people that started our GIS, 39 Degrees
- North. One of the owners, his house,
- was way down here, two lots over, not in his lot. Those lines were so off. And we talked about and talked
- about, there was no way of fixing it without major money, so much money. So that's why the taxpayers,
- the customers out there need to understand this is a phenomenal tool, but it's
- It's not perfect. It's not a, it is not a survey. It's not a survey and you and somebody that's on the
- planning commission and all of that kind of stuff really understands that. Yeah. Yeah. Excellent. Wow.
- Thank you. It's good to have that edification for the public. All right. Let's see if there are any
- members of the public who wish to comment on this item. You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
- Seeing none, Mr. Cockrell, will you please call the role in the Eagle View Master Service Agreement?
- Commissioner Thomas. Yes. Commissioner Jones. Yes. Commissioner Madeira. Yes. Motion is approved, three
- to zero. Thank you so much, commissioners. Thank you. All right, next item, please. I'd like to move
- to approve the Cars Farm Park easements to Duke Energy. Second. Ms. Whitmer.
- Hello. Duke Energy is requiring two easements on Carr's Farm parks so we can have electricity at our
- new athletic complex lighting system. County legal has reviewed this and these easements will produce,
- will be no problem for us. And oh yes, I need to have a, if you approve it, I need to have it assigned
- as fast as possible because they will not schedule the work until they get their payment and they get
- their easement.
- We know how the utility companies are. I'm very, very happy to oblige. Okay. Let's see if there are
- any comments or questions. Commissioner Madeira? No, they're very sparky. Commissioner Jones, comments
- or questions? No, I don't. I don't either.
- And let's see what we can do about getting this signed ASAP. Any public comment on this? You can raise
- your hand on Teams or come to the podium. So exciting getting close to the final days here. All right.
- Seeing none, Mr. Cockrell, will you please call the roll on the Carson farm park easements to Duke energy?
- Mr. Thomas. Yes. Commissioner Jones.
- Yes. Commissioner Madeira. Yes. Motion is approved three to zero. Thank you. Thank you. All right next
- item please. I would like to move to approve ordinance 2025-28 amend Monroe county code chapter 341
- retail food establishment sanitation requirements. I will second that. Mr. Kazemka good morning.
- Good morning, commissioners. In April, the Foods Indiana Administrative Code 410 IAC 7-26 was adopted.
- We've been working with County Legal to update the retail food establishment ordinance. The major change
- is the way we cite violations. It's no longer critical. Non-critical is now a core violation that regards
- to general sanitation, and then a priority foundation, possible result of food safety, and then also
- a priority violation directly linked to a food board illness. And also, we included language in there
- to include
- We're no longer pin-on-paper inspections. We're now digital. Fancy. All right. Comments or questions?
- Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. Commissioner Madeira? Sounds like this will be much more efficient.
- Really good. All right. I don't have any questions either. Let's see if there's any public comment on
- this item. Raise your hand on Teams or come to the podium.
- Seeing none, Mr. Cockerell, will you please call the roll on ordinance 2025-28? Mr. Thomas? Yes. Commissioner
- Jones? Yes. Commissioner Madeira? Yes. Motion is approved, three to zero. Thank you. Thank you. Have
- a good morning. You too. Next item, please. I would like to move to approve resolution 2025-43,
- commissioner's authority to sign approved documents. Second.
- Mr. Cockrell. Yes, from time to time. And I think the easement we just approved is one of those. We
- have documents that are signed by one commissioner, but they reflect a decision by the entire board.
- I know at least some of the, I think, NDOT in particular likes to have this documentation for when they
- get their grant agreements. And so this is just saying that if something was approved at a public meeting
- of the board of commissioners at a public vote, that any of the commissioners can sign the document
- to demonstrate authority that it was approved. Right. Thank you. All right. Uh, comments or questions,
- uh, commissioner Majira. No, this seems very efficient. We've already approved. Yeah. So it's been approved.
- Absolutely. Yes. Commissioner Jones comments or questions. Yeah, this makes sense. It doesn't.
- Let's see if there's any public comments on this item. You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
- Seeing none, Mr. Copper, will you please call the roll on resolution 2025-43? Mr. Thomas? Yes. Commissioner
- Jones? Yes. Commissioner Madeira? Yes. Motion is approved, 3-0.
- Thank you. Next item, please. I would like to move approval for the MOU with the Indiana Cave Survey
- Incorporated. I will second that. Ms. Ridge. Good morning. So this was presented to the Stormwater Board
- on October 1st and was approved. It's basically a database sharing with the Indiana Cave Survey. They're
- going to be collecting, compiling, and
- data for information concerning CAVE and CARS features in the state of Indiana. So it'll be up to our
- staff when they come across the CARS feature, they'll have limited access to be able to add this to
- that database. There's no cost. Excellent. All right. Comments or questions? Commissioner Jones? Yeah,
- this is definitely a good thing. The more we know about CARS, the better.
- Commissioner Majira, comments or questions? Nope, just critical for both, I think, bodies in protecting
- these valuable resources. Yeah. And we did hear this at the stormwater meeting as well, and it was approved
- there by unanimous vote. Let's see if there's any public comment on this item.
- can raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. Seeing none, Mr. Cockrell, will you please call
- the roll on the Memorandum of Understanding with the Indiana Caves Survey Inc. Mr. Thomas. Yes. Commissioner
- Jones. Yes. Commissioner Madeira. Yes. Motion is approved three to zero. Thank you.
- Next item, like to move to approve loose own tree for tree removal for eagles and bridge 922 replacement
- fund name cumulative bridge fund number 1135 in the amount of $15,300. I will second that this rich.
- Um, so we reached out to, um, three tree removal services. We received a quote from bluestone tree service.
- Um, the work is actually going to be performed tomorrow during IU fall break and the letting for this
- bridge project, uh, goes to letting January 14th. Thank you so much. Um, comments or questions, commissioner
- Madera. Nope. This sounds like an essential project done at an essential time. Commissioner Jones.
- No, I don't. All right. I don't have any questions either. Any public comment on this item? You raise
- your hand on Teams or come to the podium. All right. Seeing none, Mr. Cockrell, will you please call
- the roll on the Bluestone Tree contract for the Eagleton Bridge 922 replacement?
- Commissioner Thomas? Yes. Commissioner Jones? Yes. Commissioner Madeira? Yes. Motion is approved, three
- to zero. Thank you. Next item. I'd like to move approval for HNTB assignment number two, post-construction
- attention basin maintenance assessment, fund name Stormwater, fund number 1197, in an amount not to
- exceed $28,500. I will second that. Ms. Ridge?
- So this was also taken to the stormwater board on October 1st, and it was approved. Basically, it's
- coming up with a plan for maintenance for these two detention basins, which are located on county property.
- We want to make sure that those are brought up to county standards, just as we have other property owners
- do. Sounds good. Comments or questions? Commissioner Jones? Yeah, this certainly makes sense. Thank you.
- Commissioner Redira. No, I remember discussing this at the stormwater management board. And again, it
- made perfect sense. Thank you. Appreciate you bringing this forward. It's a good idea to have this done.
- It does not involve any work or construction. It is just an assessment. Yes. 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, Mr. Cockrell, will you please call the roll on the HNTB assignment number two, post-construction
- detention base and maintenance assessment? Commissioner Thomas? Yes. Commissioner Jones? Yes. Commissioner
- Madero? Yes. Motion is approved, three to zero. All right. Thank you so much. We don't have any appointments today.
- I do want to make note that our next meeting is going to be on Thursday, October 23rd, so we are not
- meeting next week. I am wearing my Hoosier Hills Hunger Action Month shirt because
- The book sale is coming up and it's before we meet again. So at Monroe County Fairgrounds beginning
- October 16th, over a hundred thousand items for sale, which is awesome. And it runs through Tuesday,
- October 21st. So lots of folks in the community have donated
- books and DVDs and collectibles and all kinds of cool things. And all of the proceeds will benefit the
- Hoosier Hills Food Bank. And I'll just note that the first day of the event, which is always a hot commodity,
- admission is $10. And the first day starts at 9 AM. But veterans will get in for free, which is nice.
- Yeah. Awesome. So it'll be a great event.
- probably will be there helping out. And really excited for Hoosier Hills Food Bank. This is a really
- good time for the community to support the food bank. They really, really need it. So just a reminder
- to residents, they can sign up for the resident alert system to be notified of health, weather, other
- emergencies.
- And this is available on our homepage, at our new homepage, at in.gov slash county slash Monroe. We
- are also accepting applications for all boards and commissions. Go to that homepage and run a search
- and you can find out more information. The boards and commission member list and expirations are not
- quite updated yet.
- They're in progress. So if you see a board or commission that interests you, you should just apply.
- And if we don't have an opening for that, maybe there's something else we can suggest. We also host
- office hours, six hours each month. Just go to the calendar on that home page. And a note as well that
- we continue to support
- co-sponsor the blood drive at IV Tech. Thanks IV Tech for all of your help on this. Today from 1 to
- 6, Friday October 10th from 10 a.m. to 3 and that is at IV Tech room C130 130 A and B. You can go to RedCross.org
- to make an appointment. If you just show up I'm sure they will find a way to help you out.
- to help out our community. So it's a great thing. Any other announcements for good of the order? Commissioner
- Jones, nothing? Okay. We do have a work session item. It is 1040. I wonder if we could come back at
- 11 for that. If that's okay with everyone. Okay. All right. So our regular session is adjourned. Thanks, everyone.