Good morning. I'm going to call to order this meeting of Monroe County Board of Commissioners. It is
Thursday and unbelievably it's October 1st. And I will note for the record that Commissioner Madeira
and myself are here and present in the NatU Hill Room.
I will 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 believe in diversity, equity,
inclusion, and belonging, and we stand in support of our county public school systems, both RBB and
MCCSC. And with that, we will move on to our department updates.
the health department have an update? Good morning. Um, just wanted to let you know that influenza levels
are up somewhat in the wastewater, so we're strongly recommending everyone get their updated clue and
COVID vaccines for the season. Great Thank you so much. Could you
I'm Amy, I'm the Director of Preparedness for the Health Department. I appreciate that. Thank you so
much. And I know flu vaccines are widely available. Any update from Soil and Water? Ms. Miller.
Good morning, Martha Miller, Monroe County Soil and Water Conservation District District Manager. Man,
that's a mouthful, isn't it? I want to give you guys just a quick update and really say thank you.
than an update. A year ago today we came looking for a place to be and it was kind of interesting that
it fell on today and I thought well that's appropriate. So last October we were looking for a spot to
have an office while the federal government decided what they were going to do and that the 1st of November
commissioners made an offer to the board
to move us permanently into county offices, and it has been, from an employee's perspective, the best
thing that's ever happened. So Erica couldn't be with me today, but we both wanted to extend our thank
yous and appreciation. It's opened up a lot of opportunities for us to partner with county in bigger
ways, better ways. We worked with the Parks Department, executing the Master Naturalist Program.
which I hope to come back and bring you more information about because we had a lot of county employees
actually participate this time, which was really cool. We also got to help with the new nature preserve
and give them some guidance on how to get some additional funding with some federal programs and some
of our other partners, and that was a fun experience. We have been able to access and collaborate more
with Stormwater because they're down the hall, and we've been able to go to them with sites
They've also been able to come with us and we've been able to cross that discussion on how do you handle
this situation or what do we do with this one? You know, that's been amazing. The Surveyor's Office
has created a GIS map for us that we're gonna hopefully start being able to utilize in the next few
months. They also created a watershed map for us that's active on our website. So you can go to it
pulls up direct addresses and tells you where you're at, which watershed you're in, and what opportunities
are there. TSD has been amazing. They've supported us. They continue to support us any time there's
an issue, all of the monitoring of the meetings and things. We also have had a big uptake and request
for educational outreach. And because of that, the Soil and Water Board
applied for a Clean Water Indiana grant. And we'll know around the end of this month if we're gonna
get it. And then if we do, we will hire a part-time contracted education person who will actually be
going out and doing more education, hopefully building a program to train teachers on environmental,
agricultural, and just in general, educational outreach. And then there's the watershed work.
We continue to partner with both Friends of Lake Monroe and Lake Monroe Water Fund. We also continue
to partner with the other Solemn Water Districts that are around us. We just received notification that
we did get a 319 grant for Indian Creek. Monroe County is the headwaters of that watershed. It's a very
small one down in the southwest corner. But we share that with Lawrence, Greene, and Martin Counties.
So that'll be a neat one. It's never had a plan before.
Because of the plan, we actually were guaranteed implementation funds, which is unusual with IDEM, but
they don't normally do a TMDL, and there'd never been one done on this watershed. So they have almost
completed their TMDL study, so then we'll move into planning and then into implementation. We also just
submitted for implementation funding for Bean Blossom as well. So if we get that, that'll happen.
I'm meeting tomorrow with emergency management to talk about another couple grants we might be able
to get to help with like log jams and things like that in some of these really heavily impacted areas.
So thank you. Thank you for believing in us. Thank you for giving us the opportunity and for helping
us expand on the things that are kind of not talked about a lot, but they are happening out there. So
that's all I wanted.
Great. Thank you so much, Ms. Miller. We certainly appreciate seeing you today. We appreciate the gratitude,
and we're thankful for the work that you and your staff are doing, and that you have supported our county
agencies and departments. And that's a huge help. So I'm really glad it worked out.
that you could join us in the North Showers building. Really a good thing, so thank you. Did you have
anything you wanted to add? No, I just had that I echo everything Commissioner Thomas says and I look
forward in particular to the teacher training program because I think there's so much promise there
for education and we need to get on that fast because I think that's an area that's quickly and rapidly
disappearing from curriculum. Yeah, for sure.
you. Thank you so much for being here today. I look forward to hearing about the grants. Hopefully the
Indian Creek Grant will work out. I know that would be good. Any other department updates you can raise
your hand on teams or come to the podium.
Seeing none, we will now move on to public comment. Does anybody have any commentary they'd like to
offer for items that are not on our agenda? You can raise your hand on Teams or come to the podium.
Seeing none, we will move on to item five, please. Yes, I'd like to move approval of the minutes for
September 24th, 2026. Second. Any comments, corrections, or edits? None.
All right. I don't either. All those in favor of approving the minutes for September 24th, 2026 signify
by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 2-0. Next item, please. I would like to move approval of the claim
socket for accounts payable for October 1st, 2026 and for payroll for October 2nd, 2026. All right.
I will second that. Ms. Gallardo.
good morning good morning the accounts payable claims docket for october 1st 2026 totals one million
forty four thousand five hundred thirty seven dollars this includes all emergency claims and adjustments
the payroll docket for october 2nd 2026 includes
$1,614,406.39 indirect cost, and the remaining $678,721.71 were for indirect cost for a grand total
of $2,293,128.10. All right, thank you so much. Comments or questions? None, thank you.
All right. I don't either. Let's see if there's any public comment on the claims docket. You can raise
your hand on teams or you can come to the podium. None. All those in favor of approving the claims docket,
accounts payable October 1st, 2026 and payroll October 2nd, 2026 signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion
carries 2-0.
Thank you. Next item, please. Yes, I would like to move approval for the MOU between the Monroe County
Circuit Court and the Purdue Extension Fund name
JDAI programming fund number 9123 in the amount of $1,500. I will second that. And we have Ms. McAfee
joining us in person. We're so honored. Yes, you do. Hello. Good morning. Last time I was here, I had
some technical issues. So I will be here live and in person. Helps with my blood pressure. Does it?
OK. So what you guys have in front of you today is another example of our community's
great response to our reach out efforts. These are JD-AI funds for Purdue Extension to provide programming
for parents and young people to help address some of the family conflict situations that we see increasing.
This is a unique program in that it's both kids and parents who work collaboratively. They break out
a little bit and then they get back together and kind of practice a little bit about what they've learned.
So this is the MOU at Purdue University.
Great. Thank you so much. And so the child care is what this is really? Yes, there is child care included.
And then there might be some ancillary kinds of costs if they are needed. The facilitators do extension
employees. So that piece is covered. But sometimes there are things like mileage, child care, obviously.
There might be some food or those kinds of things. So kind of the tangibles of the curriculum. Sure.
Yeah. Thank you so much.
Any comments or questions, Commissioner Medeo? No, this is just another one of those great programs.
And again, I think it's excellent to help do things on this side before we get to that side.
That is our goal. Thank you. Proactive. All right. Thank you so much. Let's see if there's any public
comment on this item. You can raise your hand on Teams or come to the podium.
Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the MOU between Monroe Circuit Court and Purdue Extension,
signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries, two zero, thank you. Perfect, thank you so much. Happy October.
Yes, you too, yeah. The microphones are, I just keep pushing it further away to the point where no one's
gonna hear me. Okay. It's a public comment. It is, it is.
squat box all right uh next item please yes i'd like to move approval for the medical reserve corp contract
uh number one zero one three two zero fund name to be determined fund number to be determined in the
amount of ten thousand dollars i will second that uh it appears we have um both mr goss and ms emmy
i hope i'm pronouncing that right am i emmy
joining me. Amy. Amy, thank you. Sorry, I apologize. Good morning. We're looking to seek approval on
the $10,000 Medical Reserve Corps award that we have received to build capacity and sustainability.
This will be supported by our preparedness division.
I drew a blank all of a sudden. I brought Linnea with me to answer any questions you may have on the
Medical Reserve Corps. And that's it. Great. Thank you so much. Great. Ms. Amy, would you like to tell
us a little bit more about it? Because I'm sure there are folks in the community who don't know about it.
Sure, yeah. Our Medical Reserve Corps is our medical and non-medical volunteers who support the county
in emergency preparedness and response. You may remember back in 2022, I think, the commissioners declared
a Medical Reserve Corps Appreciation Day for our volunteer service in the acute COVID response and ongoing
support for the county.
Thank you so much. I think this is much needed. I happen to be one of the non-medical volunteers who
I haven't, I don't think I've done anything since COVID, but I appreciate it, I know. Anytime, just
tell me what you need, I'm there. I think that might be a good thing though. It's a really good thing
not to be needed, it really is. But I think that's a great idea, so I'm excited about it. Any comments
or questions? Yeah, just for the edification of the community, what do they do?
All right, say that again. What does the Medical Reserve Corps do? So the Medical Reserve Corps provides
staff for things like our emergency call center and hotline. They might put together hygiene kits after
a storm or pass out bottled water, things like that. During the large-scale vaccination clinics, they
were the lovely greeters who welcomed people, showed them where to sit, and helped people get registered,
things like that. Very, very important. Thank you so much.
So probably the most important part of it is the medical part, which I can just watch with adoration
and admiration. So yeah, it's a good way to be involved in the community. And it's certainly not something,
it's something where if the demand is there, please, but it's not a particularly time consuming thing
yet. So, and that is a good thing. You're right.
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. Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the medical reserve core contract,
101, three, two, zero, signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries, two, zero. Thank you, thanks for
being here. All right, next item, please.
Yes, I'd like to move approval to award paving projects to ENB Paving. Fund name Motorvegal Highway,
local road and street. Fund number 1173 and 1169. I will second that. Ms. Ridge. Good morning. So we've
requested some quotes from three contractors.
to include Liberty Hollow Road, Bowman Road, and Brown Road into this year's paving program. This is
an area that was hit hard back in the spring from the tornadoes. So they have had a lot of damage to
the roads with the truck traffic and the storm. So we looked at our budgets and were able to throw these
roads in to finish out our paving season. We actually quoted these out also with a different option
to where that
We'll work in unison with the awarded contractor, which we are expecting to be EMB paving. They were
the lowest, most responsive, responsible bidder quota. But we would help provide trucking to the projects,
our material cost, and then also provide traffic control for this. In looking at the numbers, we can
bring the price down, saving anywhere from six to $10,000. And if you know how tight our budgets are,
that makes all the difference in the world.
So this is a new route for us to try. We have a good working relationship with the local contractors.
So we're confident that this will go well. So yeah, we hope to, I think, believe we put it in the quotes
that these roads had to be done by the middle of November. I believe they're going to be scheduled to
be done. I want to say possibly if awarded in the next two weeks. Thank you so much. Listen to you being
all punny. This is the new route. I love it. Thank you.
Oh, I didn't even catch that. We're paving the way. Paving projects, yes. Do you have anything you want
to add? Nope, this is great. I love to hear about saving money, or paving money, as the case may be.
So, excellent. Yes, I really appreciate this approach. I don't think we were awarded any money from
FEMA for this tornado.
I was going to say, because otherwise it might be possible to even put this in there. We always turn
in our hours, our time, materials to our emergency management to where they can turn and see if they
can meet that threshold. Right. And I know there were a lot of hours already spent on this, but it's
great to get this road done. Really, really smart. Good move. 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.
All those in favor of awarding the paving projects to E&B Paving signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion
carries to zero. Next item, please. I would like to move approval for Locke Mule Group Incorporated
Construction Inspection Service Agreement for the Fairfax Road Safety Grant. Fund name, local road and
street. Fund number 1169 in the amount of $52,400. I will second that. Ms. Ridge.
So this is a Highway Safety Improvement Program project that's ran through our MPO. The construction
of it is provided 90% funds from the MPO for these locations that we're going to put down high friction
surface treatment in 4 locations along Fairfax Road. The letting is in February of 2020.
seven. And so this is for the construction inspection services to oversee that project when it's done
in that construction season. Thank you so much. Comments or questions? No, that will not cause friction
here. Excellent. I always think that helps so much. So glad that we can do that.
Yeah. And we know the crash reports on Fairfax. Oh, absolutely. Are calling for this. It's too bad it's
not going to be in place for this winter, but it's better late than never. 100%. This will make a huge
difference. Yeah. Sorry. So any public comment on this item? You can raise your hand on Teams or come
to the podium.
All those in favor of approving the lock dealer group in construction inspection service agreement for
Fairfax Road Safety Grant signified by saying aye. Motion carries to zero. Next item, please. Yes, I
would like to move approval for task order number one with SJCA for Russell Road Project. Fund name,
local road and street, fund number 1169 in the amount of $60,118. I will second that. Ms. Ridge.
So our staff came across a location when on their weekly inspections that has an uneven pavement and
it's also on the slope of an embankment. So this is a little bit more
research on what the best fix for this is. We have an on-call hourly with SJCA, so we would like to
provide them with this task, which will probably have to take some geotech samples, some core samples
to figure out what's going on, what's gonna be the best solution. There's a property owner at the bottom
of the hill that has a driveway there. We've already discussed the project with them. They understand,
they see what the issues are, and it has to do with the trees on the side of the embankment that have either
they're gone was kind of holding that area up a little bit. So we're taking those steps to see what
the issue is so we can try and fix those issues before it becomes a bigger problem. Yeah. Yeah,
this is it. This is it. As a denizen of this road, I understand absolutely what you're talking about.
So this subsidence that's happening on the hillsides is happening
everywhere on that road. You can drive the road and you can fill the sag in the road. And that is exactly
how our superintendent found it, was driving the road. And then did a little bit more research into
it. Back when we had our part-time engineer, he started to look at it. And it's something that's gonna,
it's just not an easy fix. And we wanna make sure that it's gonna be a fix that lasts.
and be able to budget for it. Hopefully we can get this all. I believe we have a six month window for
the engineering to come up with the scope. So hopefully that'll give us a 27 construction of repairing
embankment. It's a huge deal. And the highway's proximity to and continuous work with stormwater is
going to be key here.
because that's clearly what this is about, is erosion. Did you have any comments or questions? No. I'm
curious about what you guys are going to find. I'm scared about what they might find, actually. Yes.
I hate to come across these issues, but it's better to come across those issues before they come. A
serious problem where you would have to close a road or something. So the roads will stay open during
the Sioux Park?
Open or like we don't have any solutions at this time. So yeah, it's fine to say birth birth being proactive.
Yes. Yeah, there's there's a one. It looks like a one one or two day road closure in here, but there's
two entrances. That's what I thought. So it's not so they might have to do a little road closure for
the geotech.
Yes, just to be able to get out there and do the course. That's what it looked like. It didn't look
like anything until we figure out more. That's just to do the testing. Yep, gotcha, gotcha. It's very
short. And there are two entrances, so you know. And anyone in there? No. Yeah, that'll be good. OK,
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 task order one with SGCA for the Russell Road project,
signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries to zero. We do not have any appointments today. Do you have
any announcements you'd like to share? No, just that we've got some exciting things going on outside
the courthouse this weekend. We do. It's...
It is, I got the right weekend this time. If you hear beeping in the background, it's the equipment
set up and they're putting up the big tent and all that. So everybody have a safe and wonderful time
at Lotus this weekend. I would like to remind folks that we are taking applications for boards
and commissions. Please go to our website.
and check it out. And we were at the Steinsville Parade on Saturday, which was fun. And we do want to
remind folks that while you're on our website, it's a good idea to sign up for our Resident Alert System.
And that's at our main website, in.gov slash county slash Monroe. And we also have
six hours of office hours each month. Just go to the calendar on that home page to check out the dates
and times. These are via Teams. And we have some upcoming blood drives including, thank you Aubrey for
writing this down for me, today until 2 p.m. the 8th of October,
1 PM to 6 PM, and the 9th of October, 10 AM to 3 PM. This is at Ivy Tech, room C130A and B. And if you'd
like to make an appointment that's encouraged, please go to redcross.org. Anything else for the good
of the order? No, I just can't not believe it. I know. Our next meeting is October 8th.
Um, right here in the net, you have room at 10 a.m. Um, anything else, staff? Anything? I just wanted
to say, uh, to Dorada, thank you to Lisa, um, just for being in the highway employees for being proactive
and noticing like that. Uh, Russell Road and taking the time and initiative to bring those up. We have
that routinely happens, I think, in the county, and I think that really matters. So as I was going through
the packet last night, that, that really made an impression. Yeah, for sure.
Thank you. All right, with that we are adjourned. Be well everyone.