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PORTER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS The regular meeting of the Porter County Board of Commissioners convened at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 18, 2007 in the Commissioners’ Chambers of the Administration Center. Those present were: Commissioners Robert Harper and Carole Knoblock; County Attorney Gwenn Rinkenberger; Administrative Assistant Melissa Hartig; and Recording Secretary Vi Wagner. CALL TO ORDER/PLEDGE President Harper called the meeting to order with the Pledge of Allegiance. APPROVAL OF PAYROLL Com. Knoblock moved to approve the payroll of September 17, 2007, Com. Harper seconded, motion carried. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Com Knoblock moved to approve the minutes of August 21, 2007, Com. Harper seconded, motion carried. APPROVAL OF CLAIMS Com. Knoblock moved to approve the claims of September 11 and September 18, 2007, Com. Harper seconded, motion carried.
Com. Harper, “We have a vacancy on the Board of Health due to the death of Gregory Frye who worked on that board for many, many years. Do I have a motion for a replacement for Gregory Frye?” Com. Knoblock moved to appoint Marylyn Johns to the Board of Health, Com. Harper seconded, motion carried.
BUILDING EVALUATION AT EXPO CENTER Com. Harper, “Are you ready to talk about that?” Mr. Kromkowski, “I would be happy to, yes.” Com. Harper, “Why don’t you come forward? We’ve got it in our book. Just have a seat. This is a proposal, we have a committee that is working on the Expo Center, and why don’t you tell us a little bit about what the proposal is for.” Mr. Kromkowski, “I am Steven Kromkowski with DLZ. The proposal basically outlines the condition report of the two facilities at the fair grounds there. It would be code issues that we would be looking at in terms of ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessibility standards, but we would also be looking at the condition of the structural system, the mechanical, the electrical, and then also the level of conditions as well. This would really be a planning tool for future capital improvements for other improvements that could occur at the facility, but if there are issues or major components that need to be addressed, any of the sorts of minor issues could be compromised if any of those major issues are not addressed. We have not done the condition report, so I do not know if there are any major issues, but this would give you a document that would identify that.” Com. Harper, “This committee has been discussing what they are going to do with that building and where they go, and they first need to know what kind of shape it is in.” Mr. Kromkowski, “That is correct.”
Com. Harper, “The roof, the units inside, this will cover everything, correct?” Com. Harper, “Gwenn, have you looked this over?” Atty. Rinkenberger, “I am sorry, I was looking at . . . Are we talking now about the . . . have you jumped from the Expo Center to the DLZ?” Com. Harper, “We are at the DLZ proposal to do the evaluation of the Expo Center.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “No, I have not seen that until now.” Com. Harper, “I have looked it over, and I think we should approve it and get that settled.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “Give me one second to read a couple of pages. The cost is $9,750?” Mr. Kromkowski, “Nine thousand seven hundred fifty, yes.” Com. Knoblock moved to approve the proposal, Com. Harper seconded, motion carried. Com. Harper, “Do you have something else on the agenda for later?” Mr. Kromkowski, “We have the mechanical concepts for the North Annex facility.” Com. Harper, “Okay, and Johnson Controls is here on that also. Why don’t we just do that right now while you are up here. Under what tab is that?” Atty. Rinkenberger, “I have all the originals, I guess, which I was not aware of until this moment. This is a standard form of agreement between the owner and the contractor. We already have awarded this bid to Mechanical Concepts for the HVAC system at the Annex and that is for a cost of $145,194.” Mr. Kromkowski, “The work would be completed within 90 days, and I believe that this has already been acted upon as an award. This is the contract just to execute that and to have the project move forward with ordering materials and subsequent installation of that. In addition to this, Johnson Controls also has another separate component to that, which is really integrated to this project, but it is not part of the mechanical concepts. I believe that was already acted upon.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “We already approved that contract.” Mr. Kromkowski, “Yes.” Com. Harper, “That chiller has worked very well. It has been just like a different building; sometimes a little too cold, but it is better than what they were dealing with.” Mr. Kromkowski, “Phase two will take care of that being too cold beyond their control.” Com. Harper, “Do you recommend approving this?” Com. Knoblock moved to approve the agreement between the owner and the contractor, Com. Harper seconded, motion carried. Atty. Rinkenberger, “Do we give you an original?” Mr. Kromkowski, “I probably need two originals. I will take at least one so I can return it back to Mechanical Concepts.” Com. Harper, “You are working on a proposal because we have had these reports of the roofs leaking and everything, so you are working on a proposal on the other place to do an evaluation.” Mr. Kromkowski, “Correct. In fact, it is similar to what we will be doing at the Expo Center. We will be looking at other facilities as well.” Com. Harper, “And you will bring that back to us for us to look at?” Mr. Kromkowski, “Yes.” Com. Harper, “Try to get that to us before our meeting , whenever it is on the meeting. Thank you.”
KANKAKEE VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY PLANNING GRANT Mr. Murphy, “My name is Bob Murphy, and I am a Grant Administrator, and tonight’s meeting was advertised as a public hearing so that the County could receive the input from the community concerning being an applicant on behalf of the Kankakee Valley Historical Society for a Planning Grant. The Planning Grant would be for the Collier Lodge, and the reason we are asking the County to be the applicant is this is HUD Community Development Bought Grant (CDBG) money. It can only go to cities, towns, or counties, so the Historical Society would be the sub-recipient. This application is for planning for the Collier Lodge. This Historical Society advertised and selected B.A. Martin of Plymouth to carry out the planning once funds are granted. Planning will: (1) analyze the existing Collier Lodge; (2) provide a detailed cost estimate for renovating the lodge; (3) hold meetings in the County seeking public input concerning all potential usage for the building once renovated; (4) provide a five-year performance for the building once renovated; (5) provide an analysis of other Historical Societies operating buildings and how they generate operating funds; (6) provide recommendations concerning how the Society can fund continuing operations. We do not just want to remodel the building and then have a building we cannot maintain and operate. The plan is to take all that into consideration. We are asking the State to give us grant in the amount of $11, 760. The Historical Society then will put up $2,000 toward the will to match. The Historical Society provide a letter to the County certifying that those funds are available, and I will ask the Auditor to certify to the State that, according to Historic Society, the funds are available.” Com. Knoblock, “This is on Baum’s Bridge Road, correct?”
Mr. Murphy, “Yes.” Ms. (???), “For. My name is Diane (????), I live here in Valparaiso, 805 Grandview. My family has been around Kouts for a very long time. The building is still in great shape. I can see it being used as meeting rooms and museums and Boy Scout meeting rooms and stuff like that, and I just think that we should do it; we should not let it go.” Ms. Hodson, “Mary Hodson, Kankakee Valley Historical Society Secretary. I am in favor of restoring the lodge and, again, we see the building as a real positive for the community as it will be open for public use as the last vestige of the Kankakee River Basin lodge, so you will be able to see that once restored. It will be open to the public for meeting spaces again, much like Diane said, and much more. Certainly, I could go on about the history, and it should not be destroyed.” Ms. Miller, “Sarah Miller. I live just north of Collier Lodge, about a mile north. I have lived there practically all of my life, and it has been part of my life. It has been the store that we went into besides being a lodge. It was there when I was small. And I remember this was the first time I ever tasted grape soda because they gave me one free.” Com. Harper, “Thank you. Anyone else? Alright, we will close for public comment. Do you have anything else that you want to add?” Mr. Murphy, “No, other than I need the Commissioners to adopt a resolution authorizing an application, and a resolution also which declares that property blight. Under HUD designation, we can apply for HUD funds for slum and for blight. Otherwise we would have to document the income levels countywide. So the resolution I prepared is very specific, it is spot blight, and it identifies that building only.” Com. Harper, “Would there be a problem if we consider that, now that we have had your public hearing so we have met those requirements, if we consider this resolution at our next meeting two weeks from tonight to give the County Attorney a chance to review all of this paperwork?” Mr. Murphy, “That would be fine.” Com. Knoblock, “We have to have a second hearing anyway, don’t we?” Mr. Murphy, “No. For a planning grant, you do the second hearing after the plan is completed.” Com. Harper, “When is our next meeting?” Ms. Hartig, “October 2nd.” Com. Harper, “So if you would come back, you do not have to publish again because we have done the public hearing, so if you would come back on October 2nd, and if you would leave a copy of what you are asking us to pass.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “I have it here.” Com. Harper, “And give her a chance, and then we will come back in two weeks.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “Do I see here in one of the resolutions where the County is committing to $1,200 in local funds to match? Are you asking for that?” Mr. Murphy, “The County is committing to funds being provided by the Historical Society.”
Atty. Rinkenberger, “So it is not our money, we are doing it on your behalf.” Ms. Hodson, “Actually, there is absolutely no cost to the County.” Mr. Murphy, “I have a sign-up sheet that I will be passing around. I would appreciate it — it just shows you were in attendance.” Com. Harper, “Where is Larwill, Indiana?” Mr. Murphy, “Over by Columbia City and Warsaw on U.S. 30.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “I have reviewed the documentation and really, when the County signs off on a grant like this, we certify that you will follow all of the requirements of the grant because we are just like an intermediary, so we have to trust that you will do what you . . .” Mr. Murphy, “That is correct. I am a Certified Grant Administrator. I have been writing grants since 1976. I make my entire living writing grants, so I want to make sure everything is right because I do not want to lose my certification.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “The only thing that I would think is controversial, because I have reviewed this, is the designated slum/blight area. Is that by State Statute, or is that something that . . . Where did we come up with this State Code to have us designate this one parcel as blight?” Mr. Murphy, “HUD requires it to be blight, and so we use the State Code in order to declare it spot blight, and it is just the ground that the building sits on.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “So you are certain that the legal description is just for that lodge area?” Mr. Murphy, “Or maybe it’s John’s house, too.” (Laughter). Ms. Hodson, “We can attest to that. We have had all of this done properly so that that description is just that building, and that building because we deeded it to the lodge, so that is what had done when we had it surveyed.” Mr. Murphy, “We do have one additional piece of business that everybody is aware, the National Register, we are asking for a letter of support.” Ms. Hartig, “If you would like to explain it a little bit so that everyone knows.” Mr. Murphy, “I was contacted by the archaeologist we are working with, Dr. Mark Schurr, that he has begun the process of listing the property that we have been doing our digs at that is next to the lodge. He works at the National Register for Archaeology, and by October 15th, he needs letters of support from — of course, we would like elected officials, that is why I am here asking you — that the significance of it personally and for the community to be awarded this recognition.” Com. Harper, “I think we will support that project.” Ms. Hodson, “I have prepared a letter.” Ms. Hartig, “I just got it before the meeting, but I will take it up so that you can review it before the next meeting.” Com. Harper, “We will do it in two weeks, then we will have it ready. That is well before October 15th, right? So Melissa will get it ready, and she will have it on our agenda for that time, too. Is that alright?”
ASSOCIATION OF INDIANA COUNTIES Mr. Dossett, “I am Jeff Dossett, the Montgomery County Auditor and President of the Association of Indiana Counties for at least another 30 days anyway. One of the things we like to do is stop by different counties and drop off some information about the Association of Indiana Counties, see if you have any questions or anything. We have done quite a few counties so far and, or course, Porter County, we do not want to leave you folks out because you are really important to us. I have prepared a packet for you. It has some information such as the information on the Local Option Income Tax, the House Enrolled Act 1478 that I am sure you have heard of at this time. In there is the information about what counties have adopted and what part of the Local Option Income Tax they have adopted as well as some figures that were put together by the legislature services of the legislature, some information about some potential costs and benefits from going with the Local Option Income Tax. Also, I have prepared on the left-hand side information on the National Association of Counties prescription drug discount program. In that program, we have several counties in Indiana. Right now we have 53 counties that are members of the National Association of Counties, and besides the benefits that you receive from the Association of Indiana Counties — working with the legislature, handling and compiling information that you will need and studies that you would like to look at that concern issues concerning your county constituents — the National Association of Counties deals with that on a national level, dealing with the Congress on different types of congressional bills that concern county government. Of course, we are the government that is the closest to the people, and we need a national presence to work with us in the Congress and the United States Senate. NACO also then can provide information, not only for the way we look at an Indiana basis, but if you are having an issue or something, you can talk to NACO as far as study on something that may be nationwide. You can find out some information from other counties throughout the United States that may be having issues that you have, how they have solved them, how they looked at and handled and corrected issues such as that, that you can provide services. Plus on that, The National Association of Counties has some affiliate programs. They are cost-saving programs for county government. As you know, we use property tax dollars, so wherever we can find a way to save some money, we do. The National Association of Counties has come up with some programs through the Office Depot. They can get you office supplies and so forth. What they do is, they take the larger counties and allow you to receive the bulk rates that larger counties would have for office supplies, so you have the same benefit that a county such as Cook County over here would have by purchasing things ***(cough in audience) smaller counties will have that opportunity, too. “The other program they have they just started a few years ago after doing some venting on this was the NACO Prescription Drug Discount Card program. As you can see, there are several counties in Indiana that are using this program. It is a benefit with your membership to NACO. The program does not cost anything to the participants. There is no benefit back to NACO or the Association or any county for this. What this does is provide a discount drug card, prescription drug card, to your citizens who do not currently have any kind of prescription drug program. In the information I have given, I showed you some data as far as the counties in Indiana, how many participants there are and how much they have saved. On average, they will save about 20 percent off of their prescription costs for drugs. I like this program. One of the reasons I like this is because there is, unlike the Medicare program and unlike the state program where there are qualifiers before you can utilize some kind of a direct discount, with NACO the county realizes that every citizen who needs prescription drugs and do no have any kind of discount program currently through insurance, this is a way to provide them those needed prescriptions without having to be such a bite out of their cost of living, their ability to live. Everybody knows that one of the most important things you have is your health. Some of our folks that are struggling, whether it be a single-parent family or a senior citizen without any kind of program, and this could be a really big help for those individuals. Obviously, as you look through there, there are several people that are helping with that. They checked on this, NACO really studied this as they did not want a program to be in place for prescription cards that was going to go by the wayside or not fulfill its needs to the citizens because, obviously, we are the closest to these folks, we want to make sure they get the best thing. They actually looked at two different types of direct-discount programs. They actually tested one out in Cook County. One was for the Care Mark, and I am not sure what the other one was — I was not on the Board of Directors when they were doing that. Looking at both programs, they found that the Care Mark was the best program, and they were able to get greater savings, plus Care Mark has a large national medical program, so they were able to give the best value back to the citizens. This is a really nice program that comes with the NACO membership. I checked on that just before I came in here with David Botteroff at the AIC, and I believe your dues for a year would be just about $3,000 a year for Porter County to be a member of that. “The other thing I have added in here, I thought you would be interested in the Association of Indiana Counties, we will be holding our annual conference in Indianapolis at the Hyatt Regency starting around the first of October and lasting until the following Thursday. I have put in there some concurrent workshops just so that you would have those ahead of everybody else to see what would be the different workshops that are going to be held during that conference. I am hopeful that you will be able to attend at least for a day if not for the conference. I think you are going to find a lot of interesting information, a way to talk to your peers to see what issues are going on, and to bring some ideas back to Porter County.” Com Harper, “I think at the next meeting I will appoint a committee to take a look at this prescription drug plan and probably have someone contact you about that.” Mr. Dossett, “Great. Do you have any questions for me other than that?” Atty. Rinkenberger, “Is your contact information in this packet?” Mr. Dossett, “There is on the inside. I do not believe I have a phone number, but I am sure you can . . .” Atty. Rinkenberger, “Why don’t you give it to us?” Mr. Dossett, “I do not have it with me right now.” Com. Harper, “I was not going to say this, but I have to say this, I see you brought us some information on ten counties that passed this new Local Option Income Tax. I assume there is a reason you brought that to us. If you want to carry a message back from me, let me say this, that I am disappointed in your association. The State Legislature passed a two percent property tax cap to protect homeowners, and your association taking our county, too, just fought that. And you fought it to the extent that you got it ripped apart by exempting the School General Fund budget, which is about 50 percent of our taxes creating a board for other local county governments and cities and towns could appeal to made up of people like yourself who were against this two percent to start with in the first place, the school superintendents. I think it is rather ironic that now that you and your association and the superintendents of the schools and other government associations have managed to tear that up that these tax bills are hitting that are tearing up taxpayers, and now you want to come along with a solution. And what I think is even more amazing is that you would bring us information on ten counties of Indiana, and you pound more and more income taxes, and talk about in most of the counties in Indiana have passed income taxes in the past several years, and most of that money has been used for additional spending — a great majority of is has. I think that for your association to in any way pretend that you protect the taxpayers of Indiana is ludicrous, and I wish you would carry that message back for me.” Mr. Dossett, “I will be happy to. I would like to just say that I understand what you are saying about the school funding. I just want to point out that we were not in favor of taking the School General out of that two percent.” Com. Harper, “I e-mailed you a couple years ago. You people, the government was going to crumble if this two percent stayed in effect. That was that stand you took, and I think it is ludicrous for you people to go around and make any sort of . . . because I think you are another bureaucracy. I am just telling you how I feel about it, and I would not have mentioned it except you brought us this tax information. For your association in any way to pretend that you have the interests of the real estate . . . You have the interest of more money for government, and that has always been your interest. I am not talking about you; I am talking about the Association of Indiana Counties. So I wish you would carry that message back for me because it upsets me.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “For the record, when you called and asked for this presentation, nothing was said about Local Option Income Tax information. It was just for introduction purposes and NACO prescriptions. That was a surprise to me, as well.” OFFICE HOLDERS / DEPARTMENT HEADS
PERSONAL PROPERTY DATA CAPTURE AGREEMENT Com. Harper, “Gwenn has gone over this.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “Yes, I have.” Mr. Scott, “The reason we have come before you is because the State, in all their wisdom, has decided that they need electronic analysis of the 2003 Pay 2004 and the 2004 Pay 2005. I am one that likes to go forward, but apparently they feel that they need that information. They had all the information by hand but not an electronic set. My Chief Deputy, when she was the County Assessor back in that time, had bought a system and had proposed it to the Township Assessors and Trustee/Assessors, and I was one of those at that particular time. We were halfway through our assessing of the personal property, and we were doing everything by hand up to that period of time, but she did offer it to us because the State said that we needed to have it, but we did not take it as one of the townships. Now we are going to pay the penalty because they want it that bad. I do not know how they can take the information and how it can be so valuable to them, but apparently it is, and they are making it a rule. They are saying we have to have it done by October 15th. The person that we have the contract with — with your signature, of course — said he will have it done by the 12th. If we try to get this to all the Township Assessors, who are already up to their ankles in alligators trying to get the trending and everything so that the County can go ahead and do the equalization, they would not be able to get it done. It just would be impossible.” Com. Harper, “I do not think we have any choice; I think we have to sign this, and continue this work, and get it done or we are going to suffer a big penalty.” Mr. Scott, “Yes, because they will not okay the 2008 taxes at all.” Com. Harper, “So they have got a gun to our head; there is nothing else we can do.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “We have ‘not to exceed sums of’ for 2003 Pay 2004 $21,500, and then ‘not to exceed’ for 2004 Pay 2005 another $21,500.” Com. Harper, “And that would come out of the reassessment fund, right?” Mr. Scott, “Yes, that is the one.” Com. Knoblock moved to approve the contract, Com. Harper seconded, motion carried.
ADMINISTRATION CENTER REWIRING PROJECT BID AWARD Com. Harper, “Tell us a little bit about these bids and where you are with your recommendation.” Ms. Lippens, “This building has IBM type of wiring that has a limited speed, which comes into play especially with GIS (Graphic Information Systems) and a lot of the new technologies that are coming in. We need to upgrade the wiring in this building for the computers — not the electrical, but the computers. We met with quite a few vendors to discuss what the current standards were in the industry, and with that information, we developed the RFP (Request For Proposal) and released that out. We had two vendors respond. I tried to create criteria to evaluate each of the bids that we received. The one that received was vague, and they were not qualified to provide us with the warranty that we were requesting. Being a government building or a commercial building, we were asking for a performance warranty, and the one vendor that responded was not able to provide that, so that really only left us with one vendor. That was who I made the recommendation for.” Com. Harper, “Why wouldn’t they give us a performance warranty?” Ms. Lippens, “The only way they can give us a performance warranty is if they are a certified installer by the company, which is Leviton that makes the wires and the jacks and all of that. If they are not a certified installer, then the company is actually giving the warranty based on the installer that they have certified is going to be installing it to their specifications.” Com. Harper, “So what is the amount of the contract?” Ms. Lippens, “The amount of the contract is $124,448.” Com. Harper, “Do you have the funds available to do that?” Ms. Lippens, “Yes, in the CCD 4510 there is $125,000-something, which is what we have earmarked for this project.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “I sat down and discussed this with Sharon, and we went over the different items that she had documented on the second page, and definitely we are on strong legal grounds to accept the NCI bid for $124,448 because the lower bid was not responsive in many of the areas, and we are legally entitled to give it to the lowest responsive responsible bidder, and that appears to be NCI. I would recommend Sharon’s recommendation.” Com. Harper, “Which is the contract with NCI (Northwest Communications, Inc.).” Com. Knoblock moved to accept the recommendation of the contract with NCI, Com. Harper seconded, motion carried.
ENGINEERING/SURVEYING SERVICE FOR NORTH COUNTY HIGHWAY GARAGE — AWARD BID Mr. Thompson, “Al and I reviewed the bids. There is quite a range of proposals that came in; Davies-Resenberger Surveying was at $7,000, Great Lakes Engineering was at $9,800, McMahon was at $22,500, and Bonar was at $28,400. Davies-Resenberger Surveying was, without a doubt, the lowest bidder. They addressed everything that was in the RFP (Request For Proposal). The only thing is that since I wrote out the RFP for everybody to submit bids on, DLZ told me that they do not want to design the drainage work, which originally I was telling said that in the RFP. With that, I went back to Davies-Resenberger and asked them, ‘If you had to design the drainage system, how much more would it be?’ They added about $5,000 additional cost onto this, which is not off base. And since checking with McMahon and Bonar, they did add that as optional cost because I did talk to them back then, and those two were coming in at $5,000 to $6,000 to do this additional drainage work.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “The lowest responsive responsible bidder is . . .” Mr. Thompson, “Based on my RFP was Davies-Resenberger Surveying at $7,000. But to be able to do the additional work for drainage, we are looking at $12,000.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “Does that still make them the lowest responsive responsible bidder?” Mr. Thompson, “I apologize, I did not have time to go back to Great Lakes Engineering yet to see if they can add a quote on it.” Com. Harper, “So let’s do that in two weeks.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “Is it a problem for them to quote it?” Mr. Thompson, “The only thing is since the farmer does have crop rights out there, nobody can get out there and do anything until the crop is out.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “Okay, why don’t you take the time to look at them closer before you make your recommendation, or if we are not . . .?” Com. Harper, “I don’t know if the numbers will change.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “Go back over the numbers again.” Mr. Thompson, “The prices based on the RPFs sent out were $7,000 from Davies-Resenberger Surveying, $9,800 from Great Lakes Engineering, $22,500 from McMahon, and $28,400 from Bonar.” Com. Harper, “What he is saying is that one of the higher bids — maybe two of them — as an alternate added a possible extra of the drainage study, right?” Mr. Thompson, “What I gave you, though, with McMahon and Bonar was their base fee. I did not give you the optional cost on that.” Com. Harper, “So they would have been about $5,000 higher because they had an optional cost on that, isn’t that right?” Mr. Thompson, “Correct.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “So we are down to Davies and Great Lakes.” Mr. Thompson, “Correct.” Com. Thompson, “What he is saying is he knows probably if he goes asks Great Lakes, it is going to be around $5,000 because that is what the additional was in all the other three. I would feel better if we waited two weeks and had that information for sure.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “Is that what you want to do?” Com. Harper, “Because what if we leave here tonight, and they call Bob the next day and say we could have done it all for the same price, we could have even done the drainage design?” Mr. Thompson, “I can check with Great Lakes and give them the opportunity. The other two are, no matter what, way out.” Mr. Hoagland, “It is very hard to get a concrete answer.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “And I do not like it when this starts happening because you start getting into verbal communication that . . . I would go back and ask Great Lakes the same question you asked Davies, and then if the two being equal, we will take the lowest responsive responsible bidder. If Great Lakes adds $5,000 to their price and Davies adds $5,000 theirs, we take Davies.” Com. Knoblock moved to continue the bid award until the next meeting, Com. Harper seconded, motion carried. Mr. Hoagland, “Like Bob said, they have got their crops in there, I have talked to the farmer.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “I made a verbal representation at the closing that we would not touch those crops.” Com. Knoblock, “It might be longer than two weeks.” Mr. Hoagland, “That is what he said; he would move us up to the top of the schedule and we will get there when we get there. It is not the biggest disappointment I have had in my life.”
INMATE SERVICES AGREEMENT — SECURUS TECHNOLOGIES Mr. Gootee, “My boss has apologized for not being able to come tonight, and he is sending in the pinch hitter, so bear with me. We decided after having looked at four different companies, and we had a man from each give us a real good presentation. First of all, let me give you a little history. This is what drives our public data, our public safety data technical fund, that is our 161 fund.” Com. Harper, “Which goes to the Auditor’s office.” Mr. Gootee, “They see it, but we can use it because we do, and we pay all of our grant money that we have to match comes from this, any of our MDTs (Mobile Data Terminals) in the cars, the upkeep on those and all the wireless service that runs them, this all comes from there.” Com. Harper, “I also had a question. This runs through the Auditor’s office?” Mr. Gootee, “It does run through the Auditor’s office. I get checks from Securus — if they are our provider now — and I take it and put in it the 161 fund, which is a Commissioners fund, too. Somehow the fund has been set up where you guys . . .” Atty. Rinkenberger, “We probably wanted, I think at one point in time, we were getting a portion of the inmate telephone, too.” Mr. Gootee, “I did not want to start (inaudible).. it’s you guys . . .” Com. Harper, “But the Auditor . . . the money runs through and then so forth so the Auditor sees the checks and who they go to and all this type of thing.” Mr. Gootee, “Yes, that is correct. I have to cut the checks through the Auditor’s office. Anyway, we would look at four different providers. They were on par with each other, a couple were not quite as good as the others, but for the most part, there is all kinds of new and exciting stuff out there now.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “Who were they?” Mr. Gootee, “Digital Solutions was one, IC Solutions was another, PCS was another, and then Securus. Each company gave us really good presentations; they had some type of something they put up on the screen to show us how they work their computers and such. The real key to this is that technology is changing. They are going voiceover IT, and the platform now and what we will be getting from this is going from kind of an analog to a digital system, plus rather than be a PC base, it will be one base. And it will keep all the data for us and back it up for us, and the real good part is, what is going to be good for the investigative side of this is, if a police officer has a interest in something they want to listen to, we can actually send it to him, they can revert them, they can hit their cell phone, they can listen on a (inaudible) instantaneously. It is just that kind of stuff now that is available. It is all really, really good from an investigative standpoint. They all pretty much had that availability. What set these guys a little bit apart was, one of them, is that they are going to provide us with kiosks. We presently have kiosks in our booking area and our lobby, and they have not really been up to par; they have been provided by our commissary provider, and they just have not performed as well as I expected. We accepted them as a beta test and they just never really made it. These guys are willing to come in and replace them. Beyond that, the real exciting part of this, and I think it is going to be a cost saver for all of us, is a thing they call AIS (Automated Information Services). What that does is it interfaces with our Tiburon system, that is our regular booking system, our direction expansion system, and it will allow for and somehow be an automated voice menu that we can then allow for the total questions we get everyday from most every inmate and their relatives is, ‘When can he get out? How much is his bond? When is his next court date?’ and all those things that most people want to know. This automated system interfaces with our system, and we do not even have to have an officer get involved. They are telling me in the field now that it is saving about 450 man-hours.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “Are these representations in here somewhere that they are going to do those things?” Mr. Gootee, “Yes, ma’am. They are part of this. Do you want me to point them out for you? I think they call it ‘Page 4 of 8, Automated Information Systems (Services).’ We are also getting voicemail capability for inmates and instant mail; of course, it really involves an officer having to do it.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “I thought that we were getting voicemail and instant mail, but I do not know what (inaudible) interface.” Mr. Gootee, “This is the thing that I have been alluding to.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “It is on page 5?” Mr. Gootee, “It is on 4 of 8 that I have in my handout — I hope you have the same copy — 5 carries it on, there is some at the top, ‘Court Appearance Dates.’” Atty. Rinkenberger, “Automated Information Services?” Mr. Gootee, “Right, and it goes on to 5, speaks of things that are available that it does.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “‘For your use of the Automated Information Services, you would pay a one time set up fee of $4,000 and a monthly fee of $2,250 payable . . .’” Mr. Gootee, “That is correct, but let me tell you what happened with that. It started at $20,000, and we got them down to $4,000. And we were also going to pay more for the monthly fee. They wanted $3,000; we got them down to $2,250.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “Will this be coming out of 161?” Mr. Gootee, “No. What happens is they give us $20,000 over five years, which will help offset those costs.” Com. Harper, “Where do they come from?” Mr. Gootee, “It is a part of their user fee to have the system in there. They are also going to give us $8,681 a month, so . . .” Atty. Rinkenberger, “Right; I went through it about all these fees, and it says for compensation, ‘We will pay you commission in the amount of the applicable Collect Commission Percentage,’ so you guys are getting paid a commission fee?” Mr. Gootee, “Yes.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “Alright, then it says, ‘Within thirty (30) days after the installation’ they are going to deposit $25,000 into a technology fund?” Mr. Gootee, “Right.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “Is that fund 161?” Mr. Gootee, “It is a part of it” Com. Harper, “What do you mean it is a part of it? It is either 161 or it is not 161.” Mr. Gootee, “I guess I can work out those details with them, but we are going to get the money. It is over five years, so they are going to give it to us right away is what they are saying, and we can use it how we want.” Com. Harper, “That is what the Council is concerned about. This money is going in and coming out, so you are going to have to pay them so much money. Is that money coming out of the 161 that you have to pay them?” Atty. Rinkenberger, “And then there is more.” Mr. Gootee, “We will have to pay some fees to them, yes.” Com. Harper, “Okay, will it come out of 161?” Mr. Gootee, “I think, from what I understood, it is going to come out of one big fund and they are going to give us a cost and say here is how much you rent.” Com. Harper, “Do you mind if we put this off two weeks until we figure out what fund it is going in and what fund it is coming out? It is important.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “Somebody is going to have to tell us. Then there is a monthly fee of $8,681; does that go into 161?” Ms. Hartig, “Or is the Auditor’s office going to create a fund just for that money?” Mr. Gootee, “I do not think it is necessary. I think it is going to be an accounting feature that will come with what they give us net per month. So whatever these costs are, they will give you a list, because they charge for the actual every time someone makes a phone call, too.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “Alright, then it is compensation; for Secure Instant Mail it is a $1.00 transaction fee per instant mail, then $1.50 for Voice Mail, so you have all these fees and all this . . . I am just confused.” Mr. Gootee, “I figure what they are calling a fee it what we are going to get. I figure what we are going to see is an accounting on a monthly basis this is how much it cost, this is how much it cost to the inmates, and this is how much you net.”
Com. Harper, “I want to do this in two weeks and give Gwenn a chance to talk to you and the Auditor and figure out how this (coughing in audience). Is that alright?” Com. Harper, “When we pass this, we know where it is going and where it is coming from. Is that alright with you?” Atty. Rinkenberger, “If Securus does this for other counties, they should have an example of a monthly sheet that shows what is normal, what we are looking at.”
Mr. Gootee, “Like a statement.” Mr. Gootee, “You want a statement or an invoice that would show . . .” Com. Harper, “And have Gwenn talk to the Auditor and figure out how this is going to be.” Com. Knoblock moved to continue the Inmate Services Agreement on October 2nd, Com. Harper seconded, motion carried. COMMISSIONERS’ REPORTS Center District 1. Rainford Subdivision Road Agreement, located on the northeast corner of CR 650 West and CR 450 North. Offer to contribute $750.00/lot for a total of $1,500.00. Owner and subdivider is Shirley A. Rainford Revocable Living Trust. Com. Harper moved to approve, Com. Knoblock seconded, motion carried. South District 1. Yellowstone Subdivision, Phase D, Letter of Credit #579 from DeMotte State Bank in the amount of $24,000.00. New expiration date is August 31, 2008. 2. Contract for the rehabilitation of Porter County #58 on CR 50 West over the Kankakee River between Porter County and Indiana Department of Transportation. Com. Harper, “Do we need approval on that contract, or is it just a matter of information?” Mr. Hoagland, “It is a matter of information.” Com. Harper, “So we do not need to take any action?” Atty. Rinkenberger, “If is says ‘contract for rehabilitation,’ then . . . Are we being asked to approve a contract for rehabilitation?” Mr. Hoagland, “Let me see what you’ve got. This is between the State of Indiana and Porter County.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “Okay, that is what I thought.” Com. Harper, “Why don’t you put that on the agenda for next time? Get somebody from the Highway Department to explain to us why this is done like this. Is there any problem doing these two weeks from tonight since Gwenn has not had a chance to look at these? Okay, we will just do these two weeks from tonight.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “Usually we have Dave Schelling, who was our Engineer, give these to me, talk about it, and present them at the meeting, and he would say ‘I am recommending the Commissioners approve this contract.’ I do not know if we have somebody in Dave Schelling’s spot.” Com. Harper, “We have an acting. So we will do it two weeks from tonight. Is that alright, Al?”
Mr. Hoagland, “We thought we were on board. We did not realize that the bid was not going to be accepted by the State.”
Treasurer’s monthly report for August 2007 is on file. Com. Harper, “Do we have anything else before we go on to Plan Commission?” FUEL RETAIL PURCHASING PROGRAM DISCUSSION Atty. Rinkenberger, “Only that I think at the County Council budget hearings they wanted the fleet retail fuel purchasing. They wanted everybody on credit cards for fuel, so I sat down with the Auditor, Jim Kopp; we have our notice of receiving proposals for that that we are going to notice, and on our November 6th meeting hopefully have bids returned that we can review and get this one done — Fuel Retail Purchasing Program.” Ms. Hartig, “Bob, we also have Joe from our Maintenance Department.”
UPDATE OF ROOF REPAIRS TO COUNTY BUILDINGS Mr. Lain, “Everybody should have the proposals in front of them. We talked to three different vendors. Literally, the first one I do not think needs to be done. This building is good now. It had many leaks; some flashing was put on the rooftop units on both the east and west ends, and since then there has not been any problems with leaks, so I think right now that is good. The Courthouse — the major problem is with Alexa’s jury room. I don’t think it’s a roof issue, or any of the contractors, I believe, it is internal, it is below the roof in the drain system, so I am going to have to get up there at some point and get to the chase and see what the clean out looks like. I can easily fit through a pipe, in the long drainpipes. North County is not an issue. That thing was tuned up a few years back, and they have not complained about any other leaks. The major thorn right now inside is the Sheriff’s Garage, which is in bad need of repair, JDC, the Museum, and the Animal Shelter. I can just throw the numbers at you real quick. I had three separate vendors come out and look. The Museum — there was some hail damage and some shingles had blown off. There is a lot of expensive and valuable stuff in there than cannot be replaced that is to be addressed. The numbers I do not think are high for all of them. Babilla was $1,489, and we are talking about just a bundle of shingles, not a square, which is only about 24 sheets. Babilla came in at $1,489, Cullom Corporation at $2,880, and Culver at $900. That is something that I can do myself as long as I get the materials for it, I can do that in three or four hours for not much; I do not know where they are pulling these number out of. Right now I would table the Museum, as far as that goes, for taking outside bids. The Animal Shelter, the problem there is the ridge vent. Those are like, when ridge vents first came out, that is like the original ridge vent, and you have got a really strong wind that is blowing in through the vent. A lot of vents are pulling up, the water is coming in through the vent and running down the plywood into the building. We are talking replacing just a minimum, maybe three square, of shingle on the east side in the entrance way and all the ridge vents need to be replaced. Babilla came in at $1,067, Cullom at $2,725, and Culver at $2,475. JDC — that is a tricky roof. It is cement tile, so it is not your regular roof. I talked to Gerometta & Kinel, they were the actual architects for that project. I am not sure if you have the proposal from them, but I really think that it is money well spent for $2,000 — not to exceed $2,000 — consultation fee. They will be out there with whatever contractors are awarded this and be with them step by step to show them potential problems and how to install things.” Com. Harper, “Am I right, Babilla is saying they can do the job for $2,000?” Mr. Lain, “No, not for JDC.” Com Harper, “Well, why did they put in miscellaneous for repairs for the rubber roof system at the Juvenile Center?” Mr. Lain, “That is just the rubber roof. There is a section, Mr. Harper, that is just all rubber roof, it is about four . . .” Com. Harper, “Then they have ‘replace broken tile,’ etc. So the total bid is about $11,000.” Mr. Lain, “Yes. The thing is — I do not know if you want my recommendations or not — I feel more comfortable with Culver because they have a man there that worked for Mittal Engineering out of South Bend for years; now he works for Culver, and they specialize in these types of roofs.” Com. Harper, “How much is their bid for the job?” Mr. Lain, “Culver’s is not to exceed $20,000; and Babilla is right around $11,262 including the roof, the rubber roof. It is totally up to you.” Com. Harper, “Do you have any other pricing on that Juvenile roof?” Mr. Lain, “No, just those two. The third party, they do not do slate tile, I’m sorry, the cement tile. But I can get another contractor out there. Actually, the original was Charles Gluth, but from everything I have heard, they were not happy when they installed it the first time, in the first place.” Com. Harper, “What else do we have to deal with? Right now, we are talking about the Animal Shelter, JDC, and the Sheriff’s Department.” Mr. Lain, “The Sheriff’s Garage, and Babilla came in at $24,131; Cullom came in at $24,980; and Culver at $32,677. Right now the decking does not have to be replaced, but if you wait more than a year or two, it is going to have to be replaced.” Com. Harper, “Does that bid include replacing the decking?” Mr. Lain, “No, what they are going to do is do a fluke fill. They are going to cover that decking, fill up the holes with insulation, double insulated, and they are going to put a rubber roof on there. Right now they can do that with the existing decking. The integrity of the deck is still solid enough where they can do that. But if you wait any longer, a year or two, you are going to have to replace the whole thing at probably three or four times the cost.” Com. Harper, “So you think what Babilla is proposing, they are the low bid on the Sheriff’s Department roof.” Mr. Lain, “Yes, yes.” Com. Harper, “And you think what they are proposing to do there, if they do it right now, the decking will not have to be replaced, is that what you are saying?” Mr. Lain, “I do not believe it will be.”
Com. Harper, “I cannot see going into studies of $2,000 on $11,000. Babilla is low bid on all three. I think we should just go with Babilla.” Mr. Lain, “This was on both ends, they were all coming from the rooftop units. I just had to put up additional flashing. It was actually, it was not coming from the curve, but from the very top roof; water was getting inside of the access to those, so I put extension flashing on to keep the water away from the doors, and ever since that has happened, we had a couple of pretty goods rains, and no (inaudible)..” Com. Harper, “I thank you for the work you have done on this.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “Do you recommend Babilla for all three?” Mr. Lain, “I recommend Babilla, actually I was leaning toward Culver for the simple fact of this guy that came from Mittal Engineering out of South Bend is now working for Culver and he specializes in that kind of thing.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “For the JDC?” Mr. Lain, “Yes, but Babilla was cheaper by about $8,000. But I still think no matter who is awarded the contract, I still think Geromatta & Kinel should be there for consultation.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “So they award the contracts to Babilla for all three and then Gerometta & Kinel for the JDC?” Com. Harper, “I do not want to do that. I do not want to start down that . . . We started that route when we did that addition to the Health Department downstairs. There is no sense to spending $2,000 for an $11,000 job.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “There is a Building Corp that is in effect somewhere where they board for the JDC, and I know in the time I have been here that that Building Corp has paid for some repairs out there, but I do not know who is on it, I do not know where they meet, the records on it, or anything, but it seems to me that, is it possible that the Building Corp for the JDC should pay for this?” Ms. Hartig, “I was just sitting here trying to figure out what account to take this from.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “I do not know. I just know that they exist, but they do not have their meetings here.” Com. Harper, “Let’s do this two weeks from tonight. We will do this two weeks from tonight.” Mr. Lain, “The damage at the Museum from those high winds we got two weeks ago there is a lot of hail damage up there on the roof, that should possibly go through the insurance company. I do not know if we should go through a contractor or what.” Com. Harper, “Melissa, why don’t you contact the insurance company. Let’s do this two weeks from tonight to give us a chance to check on that.” Com. Knoblock, “That was at the Museum? There was one other thing. What about the sealing and our windows?” Com. Harper, “No, he is not doing work on that. We would have to talk to Dave Schelling about that, and he has left; we are going to have to . . . If DLZ does the evaluation of the buildings, that will all be included in there.” Com. Knoblock, “We were supposed to have the windows washed about three times a year, and . . .” Com. Harper, “What are we doing about washing the windows on this building, do you know?” Mr. Lain, “Actually, I am not really sure. I think it was an issue with the coating that this is not really white concrete like it was supposed to be, it was regular and they died it or something.” Com. Knoblock, “Painted it, that is why the windows . . .” Ms. Hartig, “I had talked to Charlotte about that, and she said she did not want them to come back out and wash the windows again, because as soon as it rains, it will be right back.”
Com. Knoblock, “We keep putting this off. We need to get something done with it.” Atty. Rinkenberger, “One of the reasons it got waylaid is Dave Schelling was doing it and left, and no one else has taken his spot.” Com. Harper, “I will get something on that by next meeting.”
Mr. Thompson, “This is Plan Commission Resolution 07-13, Petitioner Mary Madeline Rhoda-Bush, requesting zoning amendment from R-1, Single Family Residential to IN, Institutional. This is the second reading, and the Plan Commission forwarded this to the Commissioners with the recommendation of approval by a 7-0 vote at their August 8th meeting. This is for the North County Garage.” Com. Harper, “The public meeting was closed for comments last time. Any questions? Is there an ordinance number?” Ms. Hartig, “07-16.”
Com. Knoblock moved to approve the rezoning, Com. Harper seconded, motion carried. Com. Knoblock moved to recess, Com. Harper seconded, motion carried.
Robert P. Harper
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September 18, 2007