PORTER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
REGULAR MEETING
APRIL 1, 2003


The regular meeting of the Porter County Board of Commissioners convened at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 1, 2003 in the Commissioners' Chambers of the Administration Center.

Those present were Com. David Burrus, Com. John Evans and Com. Larry Sheets and Attorney Gwenn Rinkenberger.

President David Burrus called the meeting to order with the Pledge of Allegiance.


APPROVAL OF PAYROLL

Com. Sheets moved to approve the payroll of March 10, 2003 and March 24, 2003, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.


APPROVAL OF CLAIMS

Com. Sheets moved to approve the claims for April 1, 2003, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.


APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Com. Sheets moved to approve the minutes from February 18, 2003 and March 4, 2003, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.


DUNN'S BRIDGE AWARD-
Rich Hudson, Park Board

Mr. Hudson, "I won't take up too much of your time. On March 8, down in Indianapolis at the Westin Hotel, I attended the 15th Annual Engineering Excellence Award Banquet for what was originally known as Consulting Engineers of Indiana. They are now called the American Council of Engineering Companies in Indiana, known as ACEC. I was invited by the consultant who prepared the plans, coordinated the reconstruction and the improvements made to Dunn's Bridge. I want to read a couple things. The Engineering Excellence Awards Competition recognizes projects of engineering achievements by Indiana consulting engineering firms. Entries are judged on the basis of engineering excellence, the degree to which the client's needs are met, and the benefits to the public welfare and private practice of engineering. Our award for Dunn's Bridge fell under the Honors Awards. They are presented for projects that deserve special recognition for engineering excellence that meet the needs of the client and the benefit of the public welfare. Winning projects are also eligible for entry into the ACEC National Competition. So our project, which was the restoration of Dunn's Bridge over the Kankakee River, just a little note they wrote in the program, the restoration of the one of the county's most recognizable landmarks, Dunn's Bridge, the source of the original design and the metal arches remains a mystery. The bridge built in 1904 by Lane of Chicago is the only one of its kind in Indiana and legend has it that the arches may have been part of the world's first ferris wheel. Another has it that the arches were salvaged from the trusses of the Indiana building of the 1905 World's Fair. So on behalf of the Park Department, I accepted this and there is a whole list of people that need to be recognized and I couldn't begin to even name one of them right now, but we will have a dedication which will have all those people present or as many of those recognized for all the efforts. This is the 2003 Engineering Excellence Award Competition Honor's Award presented to Porter County. The project was the restoration of Dunn's Bridge over the Kankakee River in Porter County. The engineer was Butler Fairman and Seufert. I would like to present this to the Commissioners if I could."

Com. Burrus, "I would like to thank you, Rich, on behalf of the Commissioners for being on hand to receive that award and also the comment you made about the number of players involved. I look forward to the opportunity when they can all be recognized as well."

COOPERATIVE FUNDING AND DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS
Attorney David Hollenbeck

Atty. Hollenbeck, "As I indicated to you in my earlier correspondence, the Visitor's Commission, out of the innkeeper's tax has committed a total of $89,100.00 towards support of the four county venues that traditionally receive innkeepers' tax support. That this year is being divided between the Park Department, who will be receiving $35,640.00 and then the three that are under your jurisdiction, the Expo Center, Memorial Opera House, each will receive $22,275.00 and the Jail Museum will receive $8,910.00 for the total of $89,100.00. The agreements have been approved by the Visitor's Commission. I believe I provided you with copies of the them. Candidly, in verbiage, they are identical to previous years'. The only thing changed is the dollar amount and I present them to you today for your approval and I can answer any questions you may have."

Com. Sheets, "I really appreciate the efforts that the Tourist Bureau has taken for help for those three venues. I am not sure the public knows that we don't allocate funds for the museum although it is our building and we do pay for heat and lights. The same for the Opera House. They pay all the salaries from funds they receive from ticket sales, and again we pay for the heating and lights. The Memorial Opera House, there seems to be some people in the community who do not understand that the Memorial Opera House is a war memorial, same as the Viet Nam Memorial, and we have other memorials around. That was established by state law specifically to Porter County about 105 years ago. We are obligated by state law to maintain that building. The money that has been spent in that structure is a little over half a million dollars. Most of which, maybe all, came from Build Indiana Funds, not from local property taxes. If that building were to be closed, it is my opinion, that we would still have to maintain heat and lights. If you do not do that, an older building like that will crumble much faster. I just wanted to make that statement because I hear people say to sell it. We do not fund, to my knowledge, the employees there. That comes from the ticket sales and their foundation and other means. I appreciate what the tourism has done to help out."

Com. Evans, "I would like to echo your remarks, Larry. And I think that effort is pretty much Dave's doing and we have gone from a pretty hefty weight on the general fund to next to nothing for those venues. Most of it is from our president's willingness to work with them and the willingness of them to work with us and the Porter County Recreation Bureau to do that. I want to thank them for their support and for Dave's effort."

Com. Burrus, "Thank you, John, but I think the real effort goes to the department heads. I want to say that with the help of the tourism board, it is anticipated that both venues, the Opera House and the Expo Center, should be at a very good point at the end of this budget year. We are looking forward to the 2004 budget of being self sufficient. Again, we thank you."

Tom Beck, "I am from Chesterton. How much does the heat and power cost there for a year?"

Com. Burrus, "I don't know off the top of my head, but I have those numbers if you want to see them. That is why we are talking about those two places being totally self sufficient."

Atty. Hollenbeck, "The Opera House does not generate enough dollars from ticket sales to run without subsidy from the Visitor's Bureau, without any additional support from the general fund."

Com. Sheets moved to approve the contracts with the Tourism Board, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.


EMPLOYEE HEALTH INSURANCE RENEWAL
Mike Anton, Bob Bryant, Sheri Jamison, Stewart Miller

Com. Burrus, "For the benefit of the audience, the items we are going to be talking about today are the fixed costs portion of our health insurance."

Mr. Anton, "Correct. You will get a report as to the previous calendar year of the plan performance. I have my crew with me here today, Bob Bryant from my office and Stewart Miller from Stewart Miller & Associates, and Sheri Jamieson, our account representative. I am going to give you that report and Sheri will expound upon it."

Ms. Jamison, "I would like to go over the annual 2002 Annual Claims Report for the county. On the first page, you will see that for the 12 month period ending December 31, 2002, the county had paid $3,126,991.93 in claims and that does include claims for drugs. You had an average monthly participation of 533 employees which comes to an average monthly claim cost per employee of $488.90. In 2002, our office received a total of 11,918 claims which represented $5.3 million in charges. As you will recall, in May, 2002, the county split to offer three plans to their employees. The plan averages of employees that enrolled in Plan A is 467, Plan B has 46 employees, and Plan C had an average of 15 employees. The second page is a graph that illustrates the average cost for employees per month from 1999 to 2002. As you can see, the county experienced about a $97.00 per employee per month claim cost from 2000 and 2001. While 2001 to 2002 increased only $18.00. That is a 4% annual increase. Large claims for the policy year April 1, 2002 through the end of 2002, are the diagnosis with the amount paid through the end of the year. The county does have a specific deductible of $80,000.00 so once the claim reaches $40,000.00 we are required to submit that to a stop loss carrier for notification. Once it exceeds $80,000.00, the claim is submitted again to the carrier and reimbursed to the county. Page 3 is average cost per employee by benefit area for 1999 through 2002. As you can see, inpatient hospitalization has the greatest increase of $26.00. That can be attributed to the large claims. The prescription drug cost for the county actually experienced the 5% decrease. Express Scripts is the prescription benefit manager for the county and they estimate an increase of 16%, so the county did very well on prescriptions this year. The fourth page is again, claims paid by benefit area as a total dollar amount. Page 5 are the claims paid by benefit area. The two greatest claim expenditures for the county came at inpatient hospitalization as well as prescription drug benefits. Page 6 shows you the average hospital paid per day. The county accesses the CCN network so we have broken it down to in network, out of network, and total admissions. The in network experienced a higher average hospital pay per day and that is related to large claims. Page 7, the overall average length of stay for 68 admissions for Porter County participants was 4.57 days. Of the 68 admissions, 6 were out of network. The charge shows you where the common diagnosis for the in patient admissions experience, the county had 12 admits for heart and heart complications, 11 for pregnancy, 4 for cancer related, and 4 for mental, nervous and substance abuse. Page 8 breaks down the in network in patient providers by the total number of admissions. Porter Memorial had 49, the amount paid to them was $217,000.00. Total claims paid to all providers was $3,110,000.00. Page 9 breaks out the providers that were paid the highest amount of money for 2002. Express Scripts is number 1, again Porter Memorial is second. The eight providers listed represent 55% of all the Plan's payments to providers. The final page is a graph which breaks out the claims paid by family member. Employees had a smaller amount from 2001 to 2002 in the total claims paid, whereas spouses and dependants slightly increased. The bottom graph is the number of claims submitted again by employee, spouse and dependants. Are there any questions?"

Mr. Anton, "Just a comment here. The stop loss report, that 4% increase is absolutely outstanding last year. When you take into consideration medical inflation is running from 12 to 15% for us to have a 4% increase would indicate a couple things. It indicates the Commissioners' decision to call for consumer's choice of plans to the employees and the awareness that you created by your actions for the utilization of the plan certainly has perfected the dividends to the county."

Com. Burrus, "One other thing is that the cooperation of our employees has been a great benefit to this success we can see here today. We knew throughout the year that our claims history was looking good but at the same time you never know until the year is completed. I agree with your comments about the small percentage of increase we have seen is extraordinarily good. My fear is it is not duplicatable. As we look forward to the current year, I am hoping we have at least a part of this success that we have seen here. Thank you."

Ms. Jamison, "The next item is the stop loss renewal. The renewal quotes that our office received are in the back of the annual report. As I mentioned, the county has an $80,000.00 specific deductible. The first page is quotes we received for that $80,000.00 specific deductible. We also asked the carriers to give us quotes for $90,000.00 specific as well as $100,000.00. The county is currently with ULLICO, they are offering a paid contract. The current rates are listed as well as the renewal rates and any other carriers that decided to give us quotes. One thing I would like to point out is that ULLICO is asking for 11% increase and that is very good in today's stop loss market. That is both from the $80,000.00 and $90,000.00. Many of the carriers that provided quotes are asking that we ___________ an individual at $250 specific which means the county will be responsible for the first $250,000.00. So you are assuming more risk by accepting that quote. ULLICO is not going to provide that ____________."

Com. Burrus, "We are looking at a specific deductible of $80,000.00. What about an aggregate, is that in there too?"

Ms. Jamison, "The top portion is the specific premium and then you go into the aggregate premium and then the aggregate factors, the attachment point."

Com. Burrus, "What I wanted to point out for the audience is that even though the county is self insured for their health insurance program, for each individual, if it reaches a point of $80,000.00, then the conditional insurance program will kick in. Similarly, if the entire plan which reaches a level of 4.9, then the entire sum total of all our claims which is $4.9 million, then we have an umbrella insurance policy that kicks in after that. This is very typical of self insured programs, but I wanted to point out that what we are talking about is referred to as catastrophic coverages, both at the individual level and at the overall aggregate level."

Mr. Anton, "Just to put that perspective in dollars, if we don't have a complete handle on the numbers, the percentages sometimes don't mean anything, but if you look at that total attachment for the total exposure projected toward the upcoming plan year, versus actual cost of plan last year, you are talking about $1.5 million or $1.6 million separation. That also demonstrates where you were at last year."

Ms. Jamison, "Today is your renewal date so I will need a decision."

Mr. Anton, "My recommendation is that you accept the renewal proposal from ULLICO as stated in column two, and our recommendation also is that you stay with the $80,000.00 spec deductible and the basis of that is there are a number of issues taking place that would become too speculative if we tried to determine where they are going to head this coming year so we think economically, it is wise to stay with that level."

Com. Evans, "I think it should be stated that besides the ULLICO, there were five other bidding companies, is that correct? Or five total? It looks like you really did your homework and according to these numbers that appears to be the lowest bidder."

Com. Burrus, "That is a real good point I want to stress. There has been criticism in the past that we have not bid our health insurance and the underlying fact is we are self insured, that part is where we are saving money on because there are no insurance companies involved. Then, these umbrella coverages are in fact bid and we have a total of five quotes presented here today. We are looking at the most cost effective one."

Com. Sheets moved to accept the recommendation to stay with ULLICO and having the $80,000.00 stop-loss, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

Stewart C. Miller, administrator

Mr. Miller, "It is my pleasure to be here and my pleasure to be your benefit administrator. We enjoy very much working with the county. This seems to be a period of time at which we have been faced with a lot of new challenges and it comes right at our renewal time so this discussion is the request for renewal and the challenges come in the area of HIPAA. As you know, that is the Health Insurance Portability Privacy Act, came to three areas. The first area was portability which we installed about three or four years ago. The second area is privacy which we are due to have completed this month and we are on schedule for that. The most challenging area comes with electronic data interchange and as you know, on the second page here, there are a couple deadlines coming up. April 16, we are required by federal law to have the testing electronic data from providers, that is doctors and hospitals, as it comes into our office, we are required to start testing it. As the data comes in electronically, it is encrypted, so we have to have hardware and software that not only decodes and re-codes it, but we have to build interfaces internally and also with our PPO networks. It involves challenging efforts on our part. We have completed all the testing. We are in the process of testing right now and we are on track to meet the final deadline of October 16, 2003. On the next page we have the details from the Department of Health and Human Services, the requirements that are involved for HIPAA and electronic data interchange and what those federal mandates are. I won't take the time to go through them; it is quite involved. On the next page we have the increases of the areas in the electronic data interchange hardware, software areas where our costs have been increased to handle each one of these individual pieces of criteria. We have one time charges, set up testing and paralleling, we have implementation of just getting the equipment installed, we have training with our employees on the new system and we have peripheral software that will add on to help complete the task. I am not quite sure where the cost is going to be but we have to do some kind of a PPO interface, it doesn't make sense for us to go paperless and then have to go back to paper with the PPO's so we need to create a bridge there so we can get the electronic data to the PPO network and back to us and also cover that cost. We have ongoing monthly charges of software license fees, hardware leases, support service and a new internal job called an EEI Coordinator. This is a person that is required to take the data, scrub it, make sure it is correct, make sure we have a historical record of each transaction according to federal mandate and also post each one of these transactions into a file. We have a chart that is called the data repository. In that we will have a historical record of all of the claims so that not only hospitals and doctors can call in to check the status of the claim on the website, your employees will also be able to call in and check the status on the website. This involves a lot of privacy and pin numbers to access this kind of data. Back to the first page, we are looking at a renewal of a three year contract and the cost we anticipate is $1.75 per employee per month and a 3% cost of living increase on each of the renewal years for three years. If you have any questions, I will be more than happy to discuss them with you."

Com. Burrus, "I want to make one comment for the benefit of the audience and the press. Stewart Miller provides a service to us on the administration of the health insurance program. They are the people who receive all the claims and they pay the claims and scrutinize and contest and otherwise act on behalf of the county to try to keep these claims within a reasonable limit. His report today was focused on an increase that is another one of the unfunded federal mandates. We talked about those in the past months, but this is a case now where our fee to pay their firm for services is going to rise from approximately $12.89 per employee per month will increase by $1.75 based on this unfunded federal mandate. Some of you are probably shaking your heads at this, but in order for us to do business and submit claims that are paid by a federal agency like Medicare and Medicaid, this will have to be done. That is background of what we are talking about. Is there any further discussion on the part of the Board?"

Com. Evans, "Let me take just a little more background. This is the administration civil ______ provisions that you provided for us? They are done by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 so I think we should all stand up and applaud Bill and Hilary Clinton for this. This is intended to reduce the cost but actually it increases the cost."

Mr. Miller, "A little bit of an oxymoron."

Com. Sheets, "Every year when we had our other Third Party Administrators come before us, they were looking for 5, 10 and 15% increases and we just didn't have the money. They would drain from our fund. As soon as I picked this up and saw 3%, I thought it is about time we weren't pushing those higher numbers. I appreciate that. I would like to say as a person who has taken advantage of our health care in a tremendous way, the work that Sandy Vuko and her office has done in handling the paperwork, I appreciate it. It is orderly and easy to understand. You have done a good job."

Com. Burrus, "I, too, have been very pleased with the service and the numbers we have heard today."

Tom. Beck, "What is the increase for the service of $1.75?"

Mr. Anton, "It is $1.75 per month per employee."

Mr. Miller, "I would also like to say this is the end of a three year contract where we had no increases during the three year period."

Mr. Anton, "One comment. A year ago, we complicated the adjudication process when we went from one plan to three plans which causes them to be significantly more diligent in their adjudication process as to which plan they are adjudicating."

Com. Burrus, "We are okay for the current budget year. Beyond that we don't have any idea what the Council has budgeted."

Com. Sheets, "I think we ought to go a step further. In the unfortunate position the county has been put in and having to meet with the employees and making several changes. One is that their insurance has been reduced because of deductibles and changes we made. The other thing is the employees are paying more out of their paycheck and that is happening across the country. I think the employees have an awareness they never had before and they are utilizing their insurance when they need to and sometimes, and I mean people all across the country, use the emergency room and go to doctors when it isn't really necessary. So it is there for them to use and I think based on these numbers, they have been very responsible and I congratulate them. It helps their plan."

Com. Evans, "The only thing I would like to add to that is at the meeting in Chesterton last night I heard comments to the effect that people from Bethlehem were losing their insurance benefits and that therefore the county people probably weren't and shouldn't be entitled to it. I really take exception to that. I think we have very dedicated people that work for this county and I think they are entitled to that protection. I think there is also a very great misstatement made in reference to our plan there last night. One of the representatives of the town council totally misstated our plan. I think it is time those misstatements are corrected. There are no part time people on our insurance. There are absolutely none, zero. Is that correct, Mike?"

Mr. Anton, "That is correct. The plan document says the eligible employees are full time employees and elected officials."

Com. Evans, "Then the councilman further went on to misstate our deductibles and the benefits. Could you correct that?"

Mr. Anton, "If I heard correctly, I think the comment was made that our contribution level was at $150.00 for a $60.00 deductible plan. As has been pointed out here, the county offers a consumer choice for the plans. Plan 1 has the medical deductible of $300.00 per person, two per family or $600.00. Plan 2 has a $500.00 deductible per person, two per family or $1,000.00. Plan 3 has a $750.00 deductible, three per family or $2,250.00. I can't speak for how that individual came up with the $60.00, but we do have a $50.00 deductible in Plan 1 and 2 for dental."

Com. Evans, "I think you covered the whole gambit and I would like to thank you and we can put this issue to rest."

Com. Sheets moved to approve the health insurance renewal, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

Mr. Bryant, "One more thing here. The individualized care management and your large case
managers, that is up also. It was $2.00 per month per employee last year so now it is $2.06 per month per employee. There is a $.06 increase per month."

Com. Burrus, "Just for clarification, I will try and explain that cost. When any one individuals' total of claims exceeds $40,000.00 then there is a manager assigned to monitor that claim to see that it is dealt with as fairly, honestly and economically as it can be with respect to the county. It is a mentor to monitor this claim to conclusion, looking out for the county's and the patient's benefit. Again, that bears a fee and that is the $2.06 per employee per month."

Com. Sheets moved to approve, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

Mr. Miller, "Thank you. We look forward to working with you again. Hopefully 2003 and
2004 performance level will be as good as 2003."

RECEIVE BIDS FOR BITUMINOUS FOR HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT
Jack Jarnecke, Highway Superintendent

Com. Sheets, "I have three bids; one from Koch, one from Seneca, one from BitMat Products."

Mr. Jarnecke, "This is for liquid asphalt we use in our chip sealer."

Com. Burrus, "We have various grades of this material and we have various quantities we are talking about. The quantities would be anywhere from 4,000 to 6,000 gallons delivered, and then we would have quantities less than 4,000 gallons delivered. We would also have a price picked up at their facility in this case at BitMat. A representative price designated as EA-90, their price is $.6767 dollars per gallon and that is for all quantities delivered. $.65 per gallon for pick up at the plant. These are available for your review. The next bid is from Seneca. Their price is $.68.5 per gallon delivered in quantities of excess of 4,000 gallons. Koch materials delivered price is $.60.3 per gallon and $.60 FOB their facility in Warsaw, Indiana. That concludes the bids."

Mr. Jarnecke, "I will take them under advisement until the afternoon session."

Com. Sheets moved to take the bids under advisement until the afternoon session, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.


OFFICE HOLDERS/DEPARTMENT HEADS
Sharon Lippens, Data Processing

Ms. Lippens, "This is an enhanced access agreement that has been drawn up. We have been using this agreement for quite some time and it is to follow the public access guidelines set forth in the Indiana Code for allowing outside companies what is entitled enhanced access to public records. They come in through a computer and access county records and we are allowed to charge a subscription rate for that. Each time that person wants to do that, there has to be a written agreement in place. Most of the people that we deal with are title or mortgage companies. They utilize the information for research on title work ownership. This happens to be our first attorney firm who will be using it to mostly track their cases and information in the court system."

Com. Burrus, "This agreement is typical then of what we have had on file to generate revenue for the county and this is with the law firm of Harper & Rogers."

Ms. Lippens, "That is correct. The money is receipted into an enhanced access fund which is used to pay for the additional equipment that is necessary in order to provide this to them. And this contract is voidable by either party with a thirty day notice. If the person signs up and feels they are not getting enough information for the money they are paying, they can just cancel. There is no long term commitment."

Com. Evans moved to accept, Com Sheets seconded, motion carried.



Westchester Assessor contract, Candace Crone

Ms. Crone, "This is a contract for a company to do our commercial data collection for 2003 and 2004. It's a company we worked with in the past and they did our data collection for the reassessment for our commercial properties."

Com. Sheets, "You have used them in the past and you are well satisfied, and you pay them out of your assessment funds?"

Ms. Crone, "Yes, I transferred money already into contractual."

Com. Sheets, "Okay, just a side comment. You have been in your new building now for quite a while, is everything okay?"

Ms. Crone, "Yes, we really like the location."

Com. Sheets moved to approve, Com Evans seconded, motion carried.


Extension Office Educator-Corinne Powell

Ms. Powell, "You have in front of you Amendment One, the Extension Contractual Service Agreement between Purdue University and Porter County. This is an amendment to the agreement for the period of January 1st, 2002 to December 31, 2002. The change in this would be that the contractual services would be for January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2003."

Com. Burrus, "Will you explain to the audience what this is?"

Ms. Powell, "Porter County is buying the services of the Extension Educators in Porter County, including myself and Eric."

Com. Burrus, "This has a very extensive history to it. I know this is an issue that will probably become more controversial as time goes on. For the current budget year, we do have this amount."

Com. Evans, "You do a very good job."

Ms. Powell, "Thank you."

Com. Sheets moved to approve the contract, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

Hazmat contract-Russ Shirley, director

Mr. Shirley, "We have a renewal with our contractual agreement with the Toll Road to respond in the event of an incident between the Lake and LaPorte county lines."

Com. Burrus, "So for the portion of the Toll Road that passes through Porter County this is the contract to respond to hazardous material spills?"

Mr. Shirley, "Correct. If the spiller is unable to pay, then the Toll Road has agreed to make payment. The agreement is the same as the one we had last year. It would be if there was an event of a spill and we cannot recoup our expenses from the spiller, then the Toll Road agrees to pay Porter County $2,600.00 for the first 6 hours and $1,300.00 for each additional 3 hour period."

Com. Evans, "Who makes the determination on the ability of the spiller to pay?"

Mr. Shirley, "Typically, we bill the spiller and if we don't receive response from the spiller, we run it through the county attorney and at some point the determination will have to be made. Probably by us that the spiller isn't paying."

Atty. Rinkenberger, "We have form letters we send out. If they are going to pay, then we don't have to litigate."

Mr. Shirley, "Historically, we have had a pretty good record on it."

Com. Evans moved to approve the mutual aid agreement, Com. Sheets seconded, motion carried.

Contract with IAS and TMA and Porter County Assessor
Shirley LaFever, County Assessor

Ms. LaFever, "Lets do Indiana Assessment Service first. This contract is for a vendor to come
into Porter County and do information studies. These are two more procedures we have to finish for the reassessment before tax bills will be sent out. I had two quotes come in, one was $102,000.00 and IAS is $74,500.00. So I come before you today to ask you to approve the contact. This money will be coming out of my reassessment fund. I do have to go before the County Council next month to get the additional appropriation. I do have the money in the reassessment fund to pay for this service."

Com. Evans, "You have to ask for an additional appropriation? But you already have the money there though, right?"

Ms. LaFever, "I have enough money in my reassessment fund, but I have to go to the Council to put it in the line item. I do not have it in the right line item so it will be an additional. In the total reassessment fund there is "X" amount of dollars, but in my budget this year I do not have in there for $75,000.00 so I do have to go back and ask for an additional to go in my reassessment budget to pay for this. It comes out of reassessment fund."

Com. Evans, "Other than that, is this similar to the one we just did for Candy Crone?"

Ms LaFever, "Candy's is only for new construction. This is for ratio to determine neighborhood factors and equalization when we get done with the ratio to determine equalization throughout the whole county. I gave you about five pages here, if you have time, to read about a very boring subject of what a ratio study is and what an equalization study is. This is the two more procedures that we have never ever done in the past. Hopefully, with the next reassessment we will be trained to do this ourselves. This is a brand new procedure with this reassessment which is part of that lawsuit we have to do now. Once the equalization study is finished then that is sent to Indianapolis and they have to approve it or deny it. Then our tax rate can be set. Hopefully he says it will take about four months to do this ratio equalization study. I am hoping that by the time he gets finished, the townships will be finished at the same time putting the information in the computer system. We are shooting for a target date for the township assessors by working together, by September 30 to be sent down state. That is going to be iffy since a lot of situations come up between now and our Plexis software."

Com. Burrus, "Is this a step necessary to make the shift from the previous assessed evaluation format?"

Ms. LaFever, "Yes, it is. The ratio sets the neighborhood factors to apply to the property then the equalization equalizes the entire county. The procedures are part of the new reassessment manual."

Com. Evans, "Will there ever be a program that you will be able to plug into the computer that will be able to decide the coefficient of this version between new home residential at 10.0 or less?"

Ms. LaFever, "Our new Plexis system is going to have that in their software program. When we get to that point, we will be able to use this for the next reassessments."

Com. Evans, "I am glad you understand this stuff."

Ms. LaFever, "I don't understand all of it, John, it is very new to us throughout every county assessors in the whole state of Indiana is having a problem learning the new procedure. The ratios to set the neighborhood factors is done at the township level. Each township assessor is supposed to do the ratios and then the county assessor equalizes. The township assessors do not have the expertise or the time to do the ratio study because they are busy plugging away at the computers. Hopefully the next reassessment in 2004, I hope that gets delayed, then hopefully the township assessors can do this process themselves. At this time we cannot. This has to be done for this reassessment, then we have to maintain information for the next future reassessment. It is an on going process."

Com. Sheets moved to approve contingent upon the County Council's approval of the appropriation, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

Ms. LaFever, "The next contract we did this back in 2000. This is TMA, it is an outside firm
comes in and does all the personal property, all the contingency fee. The supreme court ruled that now TMA can contract in the state of Indiana but it has to be done on per base fee per audit. The supreme court did rule that the county assessors employ someone to do this. Last time we hired TMA we had 178 audits at that time had no discovery. They did discover more money people owed. 60 taxpayers did pay the additional money, the county got 199,989.69. TMA's part the last time was $107,685.01. My job is to make sure all taxpayers of Porter County are treated fairly and equally and make sure everyone is paying their fair share. They did this one time service and we collected that much money but now in the future, the people will be paying that extra $199,000.00 because they now see where their mistakes are. We still have quite a few personal property forms that need to be audit. And the fee structure is different. TMA does not get paid until we have collected the money. Last time it was 35%, that's when the lawsuit said TMA could not work that way so they had to go back to the supreme court and now its charged class A which is a $50,000.00 return of the 399 return. Those charges are a straight fee of $700.00 for that audit. We get the money first before they get paid. It is a win win situation for Porter County cause we do need the money and to make sure all the tax payers are being treated fairly and paying their fair share. This is why we need these audits. We put it on hold. Now we've got the new contract under the new law that we can proceed with this procedure again. Data processing did a report and you got a copy of it a few weeks ago. It showed back in 2001 the personal property that was due for Porter County was $504,034.89. We are short in Porter County $8 million that tax bills were sent out to taxpayers that did not pay it. I understand there is a law that the county treasurer can go after this money. I think it would be good to investigate. That is money we could recoup if we want to take the effort. This is one reason why TMA is a good company that since it was discovered, people did pay. We did almost recoup $200,000.00 for Porter County which we would not have had in the past."

Com. Sheets, "These companies auditing the people, now when you sign this contract, is this going back to the same people or go after additional people?"

Ms. LaFever, "Additional people."

Com. Evans, "How do we determine who gets audited?"

Ms. LaFever, "The county assessor and the township assessors determine who to audit. We pull the properties. Sometimes we have 260 audits, 178 of those the people was perfect. There was no problem. They only discover 82 personal property forms that needed to be corrected. Sometimes it is the tax payer did not know for sure what to put in the personal property. They might be reporting some items on real estate and personal and there just were not aware of that. They assist them; they are here to help you in assisting in filling out the personal property forms correctly. Once they show them their mistake, then the next year they fill it properly. It is a learning procedure, too."

Com. Burrus, "I would like to talk with you when you have some free time."

Ms. LaFever, "No problem. Data Processing did a report so you should include Sharon in on it."

Com. Evans, "This kind of goes under privacy rights. As the county assessor, you have the ability and the authority to audit somebody. When we approve a contract for somebody like this, I don't know as a private citizen that I would really appreciate somebody coming in and saying I have been hired by the county to audit you. Given that the right goes to the assessor."

Ms. LaFever, "They have the same confidentiality that we do, John. That is in the contract. Gwenn can explain it to you. They have the same procedure confidentially wise as the township assessor does."

Com. Evans. "I understand but I think that was kind of the basis for the whole lawsuit, right?"

Ms. LaFever, "Yes."

Atty. Rinkenberger, "Before you sign this, I am going to modify paragraph 14 because the last time we did this I struck out and wrote it in my own handwriting regarding the language about the invoice payment time and penalties so I struck that. Also, the last time we did this we had a faux pas on payments so we are going to prepare an ordinance creating a special fund for the money collected by Tax Management Associates to be deposited in, which monies to be spent out of that or be subject to the entities until we pay them their fee and then the auditor can distribute the proceeds. That way we won't be caught in a situation where we spent the money."

Com. Evans moved to accept the contract based on the amendment of paragraph 14 concerning the late fees, time of payment, and having a separate fund being created, Com. Sheets seconded, motion carried.

Federal grant applications
Phil Griffith, Emergency Management

Mr. Griffith, "These are two federal grants that we are eligible for. I met with Commissioner Burrus and went over things with him. What we need to do for the state's benefit is to establish two accounts for these monies to go into. One is the community response grant and the other one is the planning grant. These monies will allow us to train citizens in emergency preparedness and the money from the other one is $2,798.60. The way it has worked is they took the money they were granted from the federal government and divided it by the 92 counties. As it stands there are only 13 counties going to participate. The excess money from those non participating counties will be divided among those 13 counties. It stands to increase about $13,000.00. That money can be used for the development or one of the response teams in the communities, conducting workshops, or other training for the general public or other teams."

Com. Burrus, "Has this come about because of the Homeland Security Act?"

Mr. Griffith, "Yes. There is a real big push. This was developed in the 1980's for the wild land fires and the earthquakes in California. FEMA has since found that for all the states, there is trained 600,000 people trained nationwide. There is a mandate where they are going to give us the money to do it. The number 2 grant application is for the planning grant. I met with the state and under operation Liberty Shield, due to the war in Iraq, they want a re-evaluation of our vulnerable assets and businesses within the county. There is a grant of $19,990.00 that will allow us to revisit our current operations plan and revise it including mutual aid contracts, terrorism element, and revisiting our critical infrastructure, doing more and more exercises where we make sure our plans between the communities and the county are workable and making sure our communication is working in case of a state of emergency."

Com. Burrus, "The current county emergency plan is only about 6 months old, and it has been exercised mutually with other emergency responders in Northwest Indiana as well as the state. One of the things I feel strongly about is being part of this board of commissioners is that in our proximity to Chicago and the fact we are a major transportation and a coordination point on Lake Michigan where a lot of traffic goes through here, we could be very vulnerable from either fall out from Chicago or from another target. All of our plans are fairly hollow unless we do take the time to exercise them and unfortunately that does cost money, its not excessive, but this should be a step in the right direction. So conducting exercises and making sure we do have the ability and communication and the knowledge to respond. I think this is very worthwhile."

Mr. Griffith, "Any money not spent by December 16 will go back to the state, however, this will be re-issued next year."

Com. Evans, "Do you maintain a website, Phil?"

Mr. Griffith, "We have a link on your site."

Com. Evans, "I would like to see your email go through that site."

Mr. Griffith, "The problem I have is I am not on the county's system because of my location. There is no cable going out to there."

Atty. Rinkenberger, "I saw the memo about having an ordinance to accept the grant money. We accept a lot of grants and we have never been required to pass an ordinance to create a special fund so I would like to work that out with the auditor's office to their satisfaction. Whatever they think is appropriate. I don't mind doing ordinances, but I hate to start passing them for every grant."

Com. Sheets moved to approve contingent upon find a place to deposit the money, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

CORRESPONDENCE

Weights and Measures monthly report for March 2003 is on file.
Treasurer's monthly report for February 2003 is on file.
Court Security activity report for February 2003 is on file.
Building Department's monthly report for February 2003 is on file.
Advisory Council for Emergency Management Agency for January and February 2003
is on file.
Veteran's Service Officer's monthly report for March 2003 is on file.

Request to use State Road 130 for Derby Race

Com. Burrus, "This is a request for the temporary use of State Road 130 for Derby Race on June 28, 2003. Apparently the state of Indiana is requiring signatures of county and city officials before they will grant their permission."

Com. Sheets, "This isn't in the county but it is required for signature?"

Com. Evans, "How can we give permission for something that is not for us to give?"

Com. Sheets, "I think we should make the recommendation to forward this to the city of Valparaiso for their review. We have no jurisdiction over this."

Ms. Walker, "The state said they require signatures."

Com. Sheets moved to acknowledge the closing of State Road 130, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce request to use parking garage for Rooftop Rendezvous

Com. Burrus, "This is a request from the Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce to hold their Rooftop Rendezvous in our parking garage on Friday, August 1, 2003 from 7:00 until 11:00 p.m. It occurred for the first time last year and I think they actually had possession from about noon until midnight. We also had a fairly strict set of requirements that had to do with insurance. They had to have proof of liquor license from the caterer, liability insurance, etc."

Com. Evans, "In their letter they indicated they have met all the requirements we imposed upon them last year. I simply would like to add that we charge a fee of $2,500.00."

Com. Sheets, "I think before we approve it, we ought to have a discussion with them."

Com. Evans, "I think they should show up here and present their request in person."

Com. Burrus, "We can approve this with that contingency or put this on hold until we talk to them a little more."

Com. Sheets, "I would feel more comfortable if we had a conversation with them first."

Com. Sheets moved to continue until a conversation could take place with the Chamber of Commerce, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

Visiting Nurse's Association request to erect a tent on courthouse grounds during performance
at Memorial Opera House

Com. Burrus, "The Visiting Nurse Association would like to erect a tent on the grounds of the courthouse for the purpose of serving a light supper prior to the performance of a play called Wit at the Opera House on May 23, 2003. The tent would be erected on the morning of the 23rd and removed later that evening."

Com. Sheets, "I have no problem with that but it is always contingent upon checking with Charlotte in maintenance and make sure they meet all the necessary requirements."

Com. Burrus, "One of the things we do require is that there is sufficient clean up done so that it is as clean as it was before. Now the question I have is how do we distinguish between this request and the previous request?"

Com. Evans, "They are a non profit organization."

Com. Sheets moved to approve the request contingent upon them meeting with Charlotte Miller of the maintenance department, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

Request to move two polling places

Com. Burrus, "The first request to move is Portage Township Precinct 8 to move from Days' Inn on Highway 20 to the Hampton Inn on Highway 20. The second one is Precinct 17 to move from Camelot Estates to Meyers School."

Com. Evans, "How come they are moving Portage 17, that was always so convenient to those residents."

Helen Dame, "We combined the portions of precincts and the ____________ other location. We are moving them back to make them more accessible. The Days' Inn is obvious, they closed down."

Com. Sheets moved to approve the moving of two polling places in Portage Township, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

National Garden Week, June 2-8, 2003

Com. Burrus, "We have a request from the South Haven Boy's & Girl's Club to proclaim June 2 through 8, 2003 as National Garden Week. This proclamation will be on display a the South Haven Public Library."

PROCLAMATION
PORTER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
WHEREAS, gardeners of this country produce a multitude of foods for Americans as well as enable us to export foods to other countries; and
WHEREAS, gardening instills in our people, young and old alike, a greater appreciation for nature which leads to a greater respect for our environment; and
WHEREAS, gardening furnishes a pleasant and productive full or part-time activity; and
WHEREAS, our gardeners also yield flowers of great variety and breathtaking beauty; and
NOW THEREFORE, the Porter County Board of Commissioners does hereby proclaim June 2 through June 8, 2003 as
NATIONAL GARDEN WEEK
in Porter County, Indiana and urges all the citizens of Porter County to observe the year with educational activities and projects that stress the benefits of gardening.

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PORTER COUNTY, INDIANA

S/David L. Burrus
S/John A. Evans
S/Larry D. Sheets
Attest: s/Sandra K. Vuko, auditor

Com. Sheets moved to approve the proclamation, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

Proposals to farm 16.4 acre parcel in south Porter County

Com. Burrus, "These are two quotations to farm a 16.4 acre vacant parcel of farm land adjacent to our south county highway garage in south Porter County. This has been made available to farmers in the area for cash/rent purposes. We have two responders, Rick Nichols, who has submitted a quote of $120.00 per acre and Richard Casbon who submitted a proposal of $81.22 per acre."

Com. Evans moved to approve the proposal of Rick Nichols, Com. Sheets seconded,

Com. Burrus, "This is the first time we have generated revenue from this parcel and this is one more item the Commissioners are looking at every detail and generate what we can."

Motion carried.

Request to hold peace/anti-war rally on courthouse square

Com. Burrus, "This is a request by a gentleman named Quentin Calder to hold a peace/anti-war rally on the courthouse square on Monday, April 4, but that date does not correspond. April 4th is a Friday. This request is to have permission from noon until 6:00 p.m."

Com. Sheets, "First of all, we are required by the constitution to give equal treatment to all these people. It may be bothersome to one, two or all three of us up here because we have all served our country and we may have an opinion. But we are obligated to let them express their feelings. We have the same right to free speech as these people do. It bothers me that while our men and women are fighting a war, I think there is an appropriate time to speak with this action. I think the appropriate time in my personal opinion, is prior to the war and during the war we ought to 100% support those people over there and the job they are trying to do. Having said that, under constitutional law, we have to allow them to do this. If I am wrong, my attorney has to tell me. I don't want to put these people with others, but there are odorous moves we have to make, allowing people to use government property. An odorous move is allowing the KKK to march or use the front steps like we did one time. I am not saying this odorous is something in my mind that I have a problem with, but they have every right under the constitution, to free speech. I think we need to clarify the day and date."

Com. Evans, "I think it is odoriferous."

Dale Brewer, "If you don't mind, the clerk's office would like to purchase, out of their own pockets, the yellow ribbons to put around the trees at the courthouse."

Chief Lain, "In that proposal, is there any estimate on how many participants they expect? Certainly we will do all we can to provide protection for that sort of event as it is emotionally charged."

Com. Sheets, "Dave, I appreciate that comment and that will be part of my motion when we get that far. If it is not satisfactory, then please raise your hand."

Com. Burrus, "The correspondence we have here requesting this permission, makes no statement as to the projected numbers of people expected."

Com. Evans, "I think we need to find out the number of people and it seems to me that the time they are asking for is an awful long period of time. If we are going to charge the Chamber of Commerce for use of our parking structure, I don't know what the difference is, we are in a cash bind anyway, let's charge them for the use of our courthouse lawn."

Com. Sheets, "They are students from the university."

Com. Evans, "Maybe they could use the university's property."

Com. Sheets, "I would hate to get into a situation where we charge the Visiting Nurses and the farmers use it and people like that. We are setting a precedent. It would offend those people. I don't disagree with you, but it is ramifications that I personally would not want to get into that would affect other people."

Com. Burrus, "I think Larry's remarks are right on target. We have a responsibility in the constitution to make certain public spaces available and we don't necessarily have to agree with their objective. My personal history with the objectives of these groups goes back about thirty years. At this point in time, I will abstain from any vote."

Com. Sheets moved to approve the request of Quentin Calder contingent upon him contacting the sheriff's department and meeting the requirements of the sheriff's department as to potential numbers and security,

Atty. Rinkenberger, "Can you add to that they provide us with a special events policy or
liability insurance naming us as additional insured. That is what we require of everyone that uses our premises. That they have their own insurance coverage so that if something does happen, we are not also subject to liability claims for their peace rally."

Com. Sheets, "I want to make sure we are not . . . "

Atty. Rinkenberger, "I cannot see anybody challenging us for requesting a certificate of insurance."

Com. Sheets, "Then I want to add that to my motion."

Com. Burrus, "I have a motion, is there a second?"

Com. Evans, "No."

Com. Sheets, "I withdraw my motion."

Motion was withdrawn and dies for lack of a second.

COMMISSIONERS REPORTS

All districts:

1. LPA Claim #3 for $7,059.18, for Porter County Bridge Inspection, Phase I.

Com. Sheets moved to approve, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

Com. Burrus, "We did just this week receive our bi-annual bridge reports and they are on file."

Center District: Larry Sheets

1. Wood Duck Subdivision Road Agreement, located on the west side of CR 400 East
between CR 500 North and CR 600 North. Offer to contribute $750.00/lot, for a total of $2,250.00. Owner and subdivider is George Yagelski. Recommend approval.

Com. Sheets moved to approve, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

2. Washington Minor Subdivision #2635-C-1, located on the northeast corner of CR 450 East and CR 150 North. Offer to contribute $750.00/lot for a total of $3,000.00. Owners and subdividers are William and Marjorie Pierce. Recommend approval.

Com. Sheets moved to approve, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

3. CR 300 West right of way acquisition documents for parcel 4 owned by Neal S. and Rita D. Molengraft, Trustees. The documents that are to be signed are the (1) basis of just compensation, (2) market estimate.

Com. Sheets, "I am going to ask that we continue this until the next meeting. The amount of money we that we have in the bridge fund is being utilized by our approval to help the county with its cash flow program. I don't think there are monies available. We don't really have the money to do this, I don't think and I want to double check with our engineer."

Com. Sheets moved to approve, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

4. Washington Minor Subdivision #2232-A-1, located on the east side of CR 275 East between CR 300 North and Streamwood Drive. Offer to contribute $750.00/lot for a total of $3,000.00.

Com. Sheets moved to approve, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

5. LPA Claim voucher #5 to reimburse the County for $6,380.00 for right of way services for CR 300 West from US 30 to SR 130. Companion Claim #5 for $797.50 (half the local share). Recommend approval.

Com. Sheets moved to approve, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

6. Union Glen Subdivision Performance Guarantee, a cashier's check from Centier Bank in the amount of $10,000.00, will be held until all deficiencies are corrected. Recommend approval.

Com. Sheets moved to approve, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

7. Utility Agreement for NIPSCO to set pole on the north right of way on CR 100 North approximately 995' west of CR 600 West. Recommend approval.

Com. Sheets moved to approve, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

8. Union minor subdivision 0435-A-2, one lot, donating $750.00 per lot, last name is Morris.

Com. Sheets moved to approve, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

South District: David Burrus

1. Utility Agreement for REMC to set 11 poles on CR 650 South from CR 500 West to CR 400 West. Recommend approval.

Com. Burrus moved to approve, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

2. Utility Agreement for REMC to set 22 poles on CR 400 West from CR 650 South to CR 750 South. Recommend approval.

Com. Burrus moved to approve, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

3. Pleasant Minor Subdivision 1657-D-1 Road Agreement, located on the east side of Baums Bridge Road between CR 900 South and CR 950 South. Offer to contribute $750.00/lot, for a total of $750.00. Owners and subdividers are Douglas W. Baughman and Kathy L. Lynch. Recommend approval.

Com. Burrus moved to approve, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

4. Stone Creek Subdivision, Phase A, Performance Letter of Credit # 3095400012 from First National Bank of Illinois in the amount of $264,000.00. Expiration date is May 13, 2005. Recommend approval.

Com. Burrus moved to approve, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.


Anti-war/peace rally on courthouse lawn revisited

Com. Evans, "Before we go any further, I have been advised by our counsel that we are probably going to receive a lawsuit if we don't permit the event we were talking about earlier with respect to the rally."

Atty. Rinkenberger, "The right to First Amendment speech is governed by our right to impose reasonable time, manner, and place restrictions so what we do when we look at a request like this is look at the reasonable time, manner and place restrictions. If six hours is unreasonable, we can grant them one hour on the square. If they requested it too late for the sheriff's department to feel that they can adequately provide us with adequate security because they haven't given us the proper numbers, we can deny it and request they give more information to the sheriff's department and give a date further out. We can request certificates of insurance to protect us from liability. We don't have any money to pay for lawsuits arising out of something like this. I would ask the board to consider reasonable time, manner, and place restrictions on a request like this and see what is reasonable."

Com. Burrus, "Chief, is it a reasonable amount of time to contact you and still meet on Friday?"

Chief Lain, "To the extent that we are not talking about a major event that we are expecting hundreds of people to march or demonstrate. If we are talking about a group of less than 100 people, I think that is adequate time to get enough security. Beyond that, I don't know. We have no numbers for an estimate so it is difficult to say."

Com. Burrus, "We should refer them to you for coordination purposes, both in terms of numbers and we could possibly approve this subject to your concurrences if this is going to be manageable."

Atty. Rinkenberger, "Again, referring to time restrictions. If noon to six is not considered a reasonable amount of time given the location and short notice, we can limit the time."

Com. Sheets, "A reasonable amount of time is what the sheriff can provide security for. I think it should be based on that. If I were to make the motion, then we could approve this contending on approval from the sheriff's department and the schedule to be available if they have to change it to meet with what's available and certificate of insurance to protect the county. That is where I would go with it unless the attorney wants to add something."

Com. Evans, "We can give them one hour."

Com. Burrus, "For them to have the opportunity to express their views, I would think one hour would be sufficient."

Atty. Rinkenberger, "What time frame would you like to approve, from 5:00 to 6:00?"

Com. Evans, "How about 12:00 to 1:00?"

Com. Burrus, "I would think 5 to 6 in the evening would be the best suggestion.."

Chief Lain, "Since that is prime time, for the rest of the public safety concerns, the later the time set, the busier our units are already. It would be easier from our standpoint to provide security at earlier times. I would be reluctant to give a thumbs up to something that would cross two different shifts. Our day shift runs until 3:00 p.m., so I would be more comfortable and be more able to supply manpower to an event that would end before 3:00 so I don't have two shifts involved. We don't have a lot of lead time on this and I don't think it is any secret we don't have a plethora of personnel. It would much easier to sit down with the organizers of this event if we didn't have to worry about conducting it this week."

Com. Sheets, "Why can't we have it in our motion to work it out with the sheriff's department so they can determine what is the best time and date?"

Atty. Rinkenberger, "I recommend this Board approve the request of April 4, from 2:00 to 3:00 in the afternoon subject to approval by the Porter County Sheriff's Department to provide security and subject to their providing us a certificate of insurance."

Com. Evans, "How about 1:00 to 2:00, would that be better?"

Chief Lain, "Actually, if we are talking about an hour's time frame, 12:00 to 1:00 or 2:00 to 3:00 would be preferable from a logistics standpoint for personnel coverage."

Com. Sheets moved to approve the request from Quentin Calder for a peace/anti-war rally on Friday, April 4, conditional upon it being from noon to 1:00 p.m. subject to approval by the sheriff's department to provide security and upon obtaining a certificate of insurance naming Porter County as an additional insured for a special event, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

Yellow ribbons for trees at courthouse
Dale Brewer, Clerk

Ms. Brewer, "The members of the clerk's office have approached me to approach you to obtain permission to put yellow ribbons around the trees at the courthouse and this building. It would be on our own time and out of our own pockets and we would maintain them."

Com. Sheets moved to approve, Com. Evans seconded, offering to contribute $20.00 to the cause, motion carried.


Commissioner Evans' comments on the tax issue

Com. Evans, "I just wanted to make a general comment in regard to what happened in Porter County with the tax and that is to express my gratitude to the Town Council of Chesterton and the Town Council of Kouts for taking on the difficult task of hearing the tax issue. That is all I want to say."

Com. Sheets moved to recess until 1:30 p.m., Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.



AFTERNOON SESSION-PLAN COMMISSION
Steven Nigro, Interim Plan Commission Director

Repeal ordinance on Glenbrooke Properties

Mr. Nigro, "What happened was the petitioner came before us and gave 7 out of the 19 addresses incorrectly for those due to receive certified notice of the hearing. This was not discovered until the property owners came forward for primary plat approval. Since they did not follow our procedure, we are asking this ordinance be repealed and they have to begin all over again."

Com. Burrus, "This changes the zoning from Rural Residential to R-1, is that correct. If we approve this today, it will revert back to rural residential?"

Mr. Nigro, "Yes."

Com. Evans, "This was done the 17th of December, that is when the original action was taken?"

Mr. Nigro, "Yes."

Com. Evans moved to repeal Ordinance 02-21, Com. Sheets seconded, motion carried.

Com. Evans moved to approve Ordinance No. 03-04, repealing Ordinance 02-21, Com. Sheets seconded, motion carried.

BITUMINOUS BIDS-HIGHWAY DEPT.
Jack Jarnecke, Highway Superintendent

Mr. Jarnecke, "There was a total of three bids. Koch Asphalt was the low bid by about 6 or 7 cents. We have dealt with them before."

Com. Evans, "They were the lowest across the board?"

Mr. Jarnecke, "Yes."

Com. Sheets moved to accept the recommendation of Koch Asphalt, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

Com. Sheets moved to recess the meeting, Com. Evans seconded, motion carried.

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PORTER COUNTY, INDIANA

David L. Burrus
John A. Evans
Larry D. Sheets

Attest: Sandra K. Vuko, Auditor