 |
PORTER COUNTY COUNCIL
Members present were Jim Burge, Michael Bucko, William Carmichael, Matthew Murphy, Robert Poparad, Rita Stevenson, and Dan Whitten. Also present was Attorney David Hollenbeck, Auditor James Kopp, Lindy Wilson, and Jan Noll. The meeting was called to order with the Pledge of Allegiance. ELECTION OF OFFICERS Mr. Whitten, Election of Officers, let’s pick ourselves a new president. Who wants to be president? Boy, that’s kind of sad. Mrs. Stevenson moved to nominate Bob Poparad as President. Mr. Carmichael seconded. Mr. Whitten, Okay, we have a nomination and a second for Mr. Poparad for president. Any other nominations? Mr. Carmichael moved to close nominations. Mr. Bucko seconded; motion to elect Bob Poparad as President of the Porter County Council for 2008 carried on a unanimous voice vote. Mr. Whitten, Mr. Chairman, you have the count. Mr. Poparad, Do I move down there? Mr. Whitten, Yes, you do. Mr. Bucko, Make is so, huh. Mr. Whitten, Let me clean up your desk, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Poparad, Yeah. Mr. Murphy, This is his home. Mr. Poparad, Okay, thank you. We need a vice president. Anybody got any thoughts? Mr. Whitten moved to nominate Bill Carmichael as Vice President. Mrs. Stevenson seconded. Mr. Poparad, Any more nominations? They’re closed. All in favor, say aye. Motion to elect Bill Carmichael as Vice President of the Porter County Council for 2008 carried on a unanimous voice vote. Mr. Poparad, Mr. Carmichael is the vice president. Mr. Whitten, Congratulations, Bill. Mr. Carmichael, Thank you.
Mr. Poparad, Attorney Contract, I think we all got a copy of… Mr. Whitten, I nominate Dan Whitten. Mr. Hollenbeck, I second that. Mr. Whitten, Wow, that speaks volume. Mr. Poparad, I think we all got this earlier this week. Anybody want to do anything? Mr. Bucko, What difference is this from last year? Any? Mr. Hollenbeck, It is identical, well, it is identical to last year, and it captures your decision during the budget process regarding the fixed-fee portion, and Jan help me. Is that the same as last year? Ms. Noll, 20,000, no, 12… Mr. Hollenbeck, 12,000. Ms. Noll, Yes. Mr. Hollenbeck, So that stays the same at $12,000. The only change is, I’ve proposed that the hourly rate on the non-fixed fee portion go up to $120 from $115 per hour. Mr. Whitten, What are we getting for that extra five-bucks. Mr. Hollenbeck, One more year of knowledge and expertise. Mr. Whitten, Okay, good enough. Mr. Bucko, So then let’s make us smart enough to say no. Mr. Carmichael, Can we give him a 30 day appointment. Mr. Whitten, A trial run. Mr. Bucko, Yeah. Mr. Carmichael moved to accept the Legal Services Agreement submitted by David Hollenbeck. Mr. Burge seconded, motion carried on a unanimous voice vote. Mr. Poparad, We have retained Mr. Hollenbeck. Mr. Hollenbeck, Thank you.
LEVEL II SCHOOL Mr. Poparad, Approval of the November 26th minutes and December 3rd? Mrs. Stevenson, Okay… Mr. Poparad, Rita has a correction. Mrs. Stevenson, We need to correct something for, the motion that we had made for Lindy and Bev in the Auditor’s office to go to school. I don’t know how we need to change, revise the minutes, because, I don’t know if now would be the time to make the motion to do something. Dave, which… Mr. Hollenbeck, If you are inclined to want to change that decision, then yes… Mrs. Stevenson, Now would be the time? Mr. Hollenbeck, If you want to make a motion to change that, sure. Mrs. Stevenson, Okay, I’d like to make a, I would move that we rescind our previous motion made at the December 3rd, 2007 meeting allowing Lindy Wilson and Beverly Bechinski to attend the Assessor School in January of 2008. Mrs. Stevenson moved to rescind the previous motion made at the December 3rd, 2007 meeting allowing Lindy Wilson and Beverly Bechinski to attend the Assessor School in January of 2008. Mr. Whitten, Where are your minutes at? Mr. Poparad, Is there a second? Mr. Whitten, I’ll second it for discussion. Mr. Whitten seconded. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Whitten, This is not a correction of the minutes. Mr. Hollenbeck, No. Mr. Poparad, No, this is a… Mr. Hollenbeck, It amounts to… Mr. Poparad, Yes, I think she wants to make another motion. She just wants to change the motion we made last meeting. Mr. Hollenbeck, Rescind the motion that you made at the last meeting. Mr. Poparad, Yes. Mrs. Stevenson, Because I just, I do not feel that the assessor, that the auditor’s office has any business having people going to assessor school. I didn’t feel it was right when I voted for it; I voted for it, and I was not comfortable, and I would like to rescind it. The assessors go to school; the auditor’s take care of their own learning in their own department, and instead of farming stuff out, and everything else they’ve been doing. Mr. Poparad, Okay, anybody else? Mr. Whitten, Well I guess I need a little clarification as to why, what benefit this will be. Can you give me something, Jim, because I’m, I didn’t really expect this. Mr. Kopp, Well, these two ladies have spent a ton of time getting a Level II license, they have to have 45 hours of continuing education every year to maintain it, every two years, rather. And we are getting stuff constantly from the township assessors to review the changed stuff, and we catch mistakes that are made. And them being knowledgeable about the process is very beneficial to the whole county. They catch the mistakes before we’ve got to go back and correct them, and refund money, basically. Or before we under bill. Mr. Whitten, Anybody have some other thoughts on this? Mr. Burge, I think I was the only vote against it the last time. Mr. Whitten, So you’re okay with it. Mr. Burge, Yes, it would be okay with me. Mr. Poparad, I guess one of the concerns I had after the meeting, and all that, is that the time we’re trying to do final settlement, Jim? Mr. Kopp, Pardon? Mr. Poparad, Is that about the time we’re trying to do final settlement? Mr. Kopp, No, final settlement will not be until February probably. Mr. Poparad, Well does that throw you back a week by Lindy being gone? Mr. Kopp, No. Mr. Poparad, So Lindy is not doing final settlement then? Mr. Kopp, Lindy will be doing final settlement, but the Treasurer’s office probably won’t be ready until the week after that to do it. I’m guessing it’s going to take them two weeks to get straightened out. Jan said, Janna said three weeks. Mr. Whitten, Well I guess from my perspective, I like the cross training, if I may, Mr. Chairman. I like the idea of cross training within the departments. I guess I’m a little concerned that I’m hearing that we’re already looking to be behind on tax bills and this disaster this year or last year, we’re looking at a disaster coming this year. I guess I have some concerns after seeing that stuff. Mr. Poparad, What would happen, Lindy, if you didn’t go? What’s the ramifications of not going? Mrs. Wilson, If I don’t maintain my certification, then if I ever wanted to do anything associated with appeals or anything else, I would have to get recertified. Mr. Poparad, Do you do that now? Mrs. Wilson, Not if you maintain your certification. Mr. Poparad, No, I mean do you have, are you involved in tax appeals and whatever right now? Mrs. Wilson, Sometimes the township assessors ask me questions. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Bucko, It’s a $2,000 difference in salary. I guess… Mr. Kopp, They did not get the $1,000 per person from the Council. There’s no salary involved. This is just to go to class. Mrs. Stevenson, It’s just us paying for schooling for it. Mr. Kopp, To pay the overnight and the wages for that day. Mr. Whitten, I’m just concerned with the workload. I mean I’m concerned with what’s, we just have a tremendous workload, and I guess I have concerns about that. I call the question, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Poparad, Call the roll, please. Now this is to stop her from going to school. Motion to rescind the previous motion made at the December 3, 2007 meeting carried on the following roll call vote:
Burge - Yes Carmichael - No Murphy - No Poparad - Yes Stevenson - Yes Whitten - Yes Mr. Kopp, Motion carries, five to two. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Poparad, We still need approval on the minutes from the 26th and the 3rd. Mr. Whitten moved to approve the minutes of November 26, 2007 and December 3, 2007, as submitted. Mr. Carmichael seconded, motion carried on a unanimous voice vote.
COUNCIL CASINO 234 Mr. Poparad, Okay, we’re going to shuffle things right now. Mr. Prosecutor, you have a prior commitment, you want to come up now. We’re going to do this additional right now for the Undercover out of the Casino. I think we’ve hashed this thing out at length. Any questions, comments? I see he’s got a little scorecard. Mr. Whitten, Thank you. Mr. Poparad, We can keep score now. Brian Gensel, Yeah, something like that. No, what I did hand out, I think everybody has a copy, it’s just, there have been some discussions over the course of the last several months about, okay, you’re going to give me the money. So what’s the accountability, and I think I’ve addressed that both in the letter, which will indicate how we will kind of keep score as to how effective the use of the money is, as well as, I’ve put together a, sort of a rough draft, well it may not be a rough draft, it’s sort of an MOU, so that everyone is on the same page. At this time, Mr. Whitten left the meeting. Mr. Carmichael moved to grant the request for additional appropriations submitted by Council Casino 234, the amount of $250,000 to 2251 Undercover Expenses. Mr. Burge seconded. Mr. Poparad, Is Dan coming back or is he… Mr. Hollenbeck, He didn’t seem mad. Mr. Gensel, My God, I didn’t, I don’t think I offended him. Mr. Poparad, Okay, well your attorney thing’s going on here. Let’s wait on Mr. Whitten before we call the roll. Mr. Burge, As we stated before--while we’re waiting on Dan--overall, I think this is an excellent program if we are going to seriously address drugs in this county we have to have a beefed up task force, and put more teeth into it, and I think this helps to accomplish that. I think we have a reasonable system of checks and balances here to make sure that the investment that we are making proves some solid returns, and something we can measure against, and give us some time to find a permanent funding source if it is to continue from 2009 and beyond. Mr. Poparad, We just don’t want to lose sight of the budget to get this out of the Casino. Mr. Burge, Absolutely, that’s what I meant. Mr. Poparad, Because the legislators are going to do something with that this year. Let’s call the roll, please. Motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote, with Mr. Whitten absent. Mr. Gensel, Thank you. Mr. Poparad, First reading, please. FIRST READING At this time, Mr. Kopp read the Notice to Taxpayers, and Mr. Whitten returned to the meeting.
PARKS OPERATING 127 Mr. Poparad, Parks Operating, we have an additional. This is your tourism money again, Ed. Ed Melendez, Yes, it is. Mr. Poparad, Okay, we have $2,970 to Advertising, and $3,000 to Advertising. Mr. Melendez, The $3,000 is donations that we received from sponsors. Mr. Poparad, Okay, any questions? Mr. Bucko moved to grant the request for additional appropriations submitted by Parks Operating 127, the amounts of, $2,970 to 3340 Advertising and $3,000 to 3340 Advertising. Mr. Carmichael seconded, motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Poparad, Thank you, Ed.
CEDIT PROJECT #2 - 251.30 Mr. Poparad, CEDIT Project #2. Mr. Whitten moved to grant the request for additional appropriations submitted by CEDIT Project 2 - 251.30, the amount of $204,000 to 0001 CEDIT Project #2. Mr. Poparad, Well I didn’t know if anybody had any questions. We’ve got a motion on CEDIT Project #2, $204,000. I need a second for discussion. Mrs. Stevenson, Second for discussion. Mrs. Stevenson seconded. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Carmichael, What’s the 2,000 or 204,000 for? What’s Project 2? Com. Bob Harper, Project 2 is capital improvements, which we had put in a certain amount. Com. John Evans, Each district has its own portion of that for capital improvements. Com. Harper, And we put in a certain amount, and they only, they didn’t advertise it all when we came to you. Com. Evans, It wasn’t advertised to the fullest in your budget at the last one. Mr. Carmichael, What was it? Com. Evans, Traditionally, I’ve used my portion for sidewalks in South Haven. Other commissioners have used it for improvements at the Expo Center, Museum and… Com. Harper, Roofs. Com. Evans, Roofs throughout the county. Com. Harper, We’ve got a lot of bad roofs. Mr. Poparad, Anything else? Call the roll, please. Motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Kopp, Motion carries, seven, zero.
CEDIT PROJECT #21 - 329.30 Mr. Poparad, CEDIT Project 21, $620,444 to CEDIT Project #21, which is NIRPC dues for the rest of this century or? Mr. Whitten moved to grant the request for additional appropriations submitted by CEDIT Project #21 - 329.30, the amount of $620,444. Com. Harper, Here’s what happened, okay? Mr. Poparad, There’s a story behind this, so. Com. Harper, When we, when this CEDIT was first started, back in the first month or so when it was started, the NICTD, I think, we had come and asked for money for studies. So there was $150,000 a year put in there for studies. However, it was a $3,000,000 study. However, NICTD only used 150. I think there was some thought at that time that they might want more, and they don’t want anymore. They’ve got their 3,000,000 all together. So what we did is to get NIRPC paid, just transfer that fund over and year after year it can go for NIRPC dues. Because the Council wanted us to pick up the NIRPC dues. Mr. Carmichael, How many dollars will it take for this year? Com. Harper, I have 150, is that what it is? Com. Evans, 150, yes, I think it’s 210… Mr. Hollenbeck, No, no, no, the NIRPC fee is $.70 per capital. Ms. Noll, Lindy, do you have that figure? Mrs. Wilson, Jan gave me a figure this morning of 102,759. Mr. Bucko, Each half year? Mr. Hollenbeck, No, that’s for… Mr. Bucko, For the full year. Mr. Hollenbeck, It’s about $100,000. Mr. Carmichael, I think we should appropriate out of that one year at a time. Com. Harper, Well the EDIT plan calls for a minimum of a two-year plan. That’s what the statute calls for. The statute calls it. It used to call for a minimum of a three-year plan. But it calls for a minimum of a two-year plan. Is that correct? Mr. Hollenbeck, Yes. Mr. Carmichael, We’ll adopt this under Home Rule. Com. Harper, Is that statute though; the Home Rule statute. Mr. Carmichael, Yeah. Com. Harper, Well we ask that it at least be two years, approved. You know, I… Mr. Hollenbeck, And the NIRPC fee is whatever it is, you’re not going to pay more than that. Com. Harper, Right. Mr. Hollenbeck, It’s about $102,000. Com. Harper, I was told it was 150, but. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Burge, So for two years, he’s proposing, the rest of the money just sits in the old fund. Com. Harper, It just sits in the old fund, but the NIRPC plan calls for a two-year plan, minimum. That’s state law. Mr. Burge, So it either sits in the fund or it sits in one that goes to NIRPC. Com. Evans, It either sits in A or it sits in B. Mr. Carmichael, If we were paying this out of the general fund, then we could only appropriate it one year at a time. Is that what you’re saying? Com. Harper, Absolute, well, absolutely. Mr. Carmichael, That’s what’s collected. Mr. Poparad, Well that number is based on population actually, isn’t it? Mr. Hollenbeck, Yes. Mr. Poparad, So I mean; you trying to say something, Mike? Mr. Bucko, Well yes. I’m just trying to, is this the one with 620,000 in it?
Mr. Poparad, Yes. Com. Harper, Well we can appropriate two years. I mean that’s fine. Mr. Bucko, Well if we took it out for two years, you’d be at 204,000 roughly, 205,000. Com. Harper, I think you should check. I mean I was told it was around 150. Mr. Bucko, Then 250… Mr. Hollenbeck, I’m almost certain, because I remember working on this, it’s barely over 100,000. Com. Harper, Alright. Mr. Bucko, Fine, if you want to leave it at that amount, 250 to be a round number, and… Com. Evans, The balance would go to unappropriated CEDIT. Mr. Bucko, The balance goes back in for discretionary or to some other fund. Com. Harper, It would go to unappropriated, and we’d have to come back here for it to be reappropriated. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Does the motion want to change his motion? Mr. Whitten, Sure, that’s fine. Mr. Poparad, Do you want to go 250,000 for two years? Mr. Whitten, That’s fine, I’ll amend my motion. Mr. Whitten moved to amend his motion for CEDIT Project #21 - 329.30, to the amount of $250,000. Mr. Bucko seconded. Com. Evans, The only thing that scares me, like Bob, the number I that I received from them, was 150, and I don’t know if there are other dues and subscriptions that go with that as well. Mr. Hollenbeck, That might be what was still owed from this year, because we haven’t paid this year’s, I’m sorry, ’07. But ’07 is still coming out of the taxes because that was part of the ’07 tax rate. This is for ’08, and I’m almost certain it’s a little over $100,000. Mr. Poparad, We should be okay. Everybody okay? Call the roll, please. Motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Kopp, Motion carries seven, zero. Mr. Poparad, Are we clear on the 250, because if it’s 70 cents a person at 160,000, that’s $112,000 a year, so I think the 102 is probably… Mr. Hollenbeck, I think 102 is about right. Mr. Poparad, Okay.
SHERIFF 01.05 Mr. Poparad, Sheriff. Mr. Whitten, Sheriff, how are you? Sheriff Dave Lain, So far so good. Mr. Whitten, Alright, let’s see if he is. Sheriff Lain, Evening. Mr. Poparad, Hi. Sheriff Lain, Okay, as you requested the last time we discussed police officers, you requested that we come back in January, and discuss the possibility. I think I’ve outlined a plan that will work an actual net savings to the general fund. Mr. Whitten, I have a question, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Poparad, Go ahead. Mr. Whitten, When this came up, originally, there was some discussion, and this is probably more of a legal question that this would negatively impact the general fund, or that there would be an issue with doing this. What was that issue? Do you know? Because I, originally, the idea was that they would be paying for these officers out of this fund, and hopefully, the foreclosures will continue to go--I’m talking like a bankruptcy lawyer, by the way. But there was some idea that that might not be a good thing for the general fund, rolling this into the general fund. Mr. Poparad, It reduces the levy. Mr. Hollenbeck, Yes, it artificially, in a sense, reduces the levy. But again, they’re talking about paying this out of a fund that comes from what? Sheriff Lain, The sheriff sales. Mr. Hollenbeck, The sheriff sales. And these are new positions? Sheriff Lain, Yes. Mr. Whitten, I don’t think they’re actually talking about paying the salaries. I think we’re talking about saving, your idea is to roll this into the general fund? Sheriff Lain, Well the, no, actually, what this is designed to do, they, that fund is authorized to be spent for operations within the civil bureau. So I proposed that the two process servers, the two full-time process servers, from who, from the general fund are being paid currently, pay those two individuals from this sheriff’s sale fund--if you will. Mr. Hollenbeck, So move them out of the general fund into that fund. Sheriff Lain, Move them out of the general fund to pay from Fund 311, and then, the additional probationary police officers… Mr. Hollenbeck, Okay, let me, in terms of comparing the two salaries, how does what you’re taking out compare to what you’d be adding? Sheriff Lain, Okay, well the two process servers, by the way, the benefits are approximations, but the salaries and the benefits for two process servers, $91,661. For two new police officers, it would be $88,464 for the officers. Mr. Hollenbeck, The only negative aspect that I can see, and it’s already been alluded to, if at sometime Fund 311 is insufficient to pay for these two people, I would assume you wouldn’t be getting rid of them. You’d be back here asking that they revert back to the general fund. Sheriff Lain, Most certainly. Mr. Whitten, But, David, the process serving is down because the foreclosures are down. Would you still need the two individuals, not the police officers, but the other ones? Sheriff Lain, I understand. Yes, because process serving is only a portion, or I’m sorry, the, those sheriff sales is only a portion of the civil process. So the civil bureau is not going to be scratching for work. Mr. Bucko, But they might be scratching for the money to pay for the officers to continue to work. Is that what I hear, somebody is alluding to? Sheriff Lain, Well there’s, I think it’s a fair question on what happens if. We had this discussion with any number of funds that are from outside the general fund, and there’s always that potential risk. I don’t, in the foreseeable future see sheriff sales diminishing. If anything, from the forecast that I’m aware of, you know, that sort of thing is going to be increasing in the foreseeable future. Mr. Hollenbeck, Dave, the fund currently generates about how much a year? Sheriff Lain, About, rough numbers, about $100,000 a year. That’s about what it will work out to for ’07. Mr. Hollenbeck, And what are we doing with that money now? Sheriff Lain, Well right now it’s currently not earmarked. Mr. Whitten, It’s doing nothing. Mr. Hollenbeck, How long has the fund been around? Sheriff Lain, It began early in 2007. Mr. Whitten, Okay, alright. Can you tell me what’s in that fund right now? Mr. Chairman, I’m sorry, can I ask what’s in the fund right now. Mr. Poparad, Sure, might as well go for a little while longer. Mr. Bucko, I think it was 78,000 or something like that at budget hearings. Com. Harper, While you’re talking about this, I just want to see, the Council asked us to also transfer that 233 and 217 into the general fund, we had the meetings with them, and what happened, I called a couple council members, and I want to report back to you, that we were told by the attorneys, I think both your attorney and our attorney that that would effect the levy if we did that. Mr. Poparad, Right. Com. Harper, It would adversely effect it.
Mr. Hollenbeck, Right, that was now, thank you, Bob, that goes back to the levy issue. What that would simply do is artificially reduce the levy, because it would increase miscellaneous revenue. Mr. Hollenbeck, Right, that’s where the levy issue came up. Mr. Poparad, What is the balance, Jim? Mr. Kopp, We’ve got… Mr. Hollenbeck, But if we leave that fund separate, and transfer people to be paid out of that fund… Mr. Bucko, Then it’s a lesser impact on the general fund. Mr. Hollenbeck, Right.
Mr. Bucko, And we can afford the people. Mr. Poparad, What’s the balance, Jim? Mr. Kopp, The computer is… Mrs. Wilson, Still waiting. Mr. Kopp, Trying to revive here. Mr. Burge, But what you’re saying, negative impact on the levy, it would actually equate to saving money for the taxpayers. Mr. Hollenbeck, Well the negative impact on the levy, and I’m thankful Com. Harper was here because he refreshed our recollection, that was in response to your comment that we dump this money into the general fund. That would produce a raise in miscellaneous revenue, and lower the levy. And it would be an artificially lower levy, because it really was the result simply of combining funds. So I think Bob’s right, both Gwenn and I recommend that we not do that. Mr. Poparad, Okay, Jim. Mr. Kopp, Mr. Poparad, We looked at this a couple of weeks ago, there was about 102,000 in it, like the week before Christmas. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Kopp, The computer is still trying to come up. Mr. Whitten, So there was over 100,000 the week before Christmas, and it wasn’t even the entire year. Mr. Bucko, Yes. Mr. Whitten, Okay. Mr. Poparad, So you want to fund the process servers out of 311. Sheriff Lain, Yes. Mr. Poparad, The patrol officers, obviously, appears to start at lower salary than a process server does. Sheriff Lain, Correct. Mr. Poparad, Their benefits… Mr. Bucko, At what time do they cross. Mr. Poparad, Yes, that’s the question, how long are they going to stay at that lower rate? Sheriff Lain, Well, and the next year they would, when they become, when they get off probation, they will make, well, at that time, the second year, the total will be for two officers and benefits will be approximately 98,600. Mr. Poparad, So now we’ve gone the other way. Sheriff Lain, Correct. Still within the window of Fund 311. Mr. Poparad, Well the process servers are going to stay. They’re not going to change. Their cost isn’t going to change much. The 91,000 that we’re going to pay out of 311, theoretically, is going to be a pretty fixed number. Mr. Whitten, Mr. Chairman, I moved to approve the 144 Form and the additional. Mr. Whitten moved to approve the 144 Form submitted by Sheriff 01.05, Probationary Patrol Officer, two at $28,914 each, and the additional appropriation of $4,081.45 to 1130 Overtime. Mr. Bucko seconded. Mr. Poparad, Discussion? Mr. Whitten, I know we’re tight, but you know what, this is funds that don’t come out of the general fund. I think public safety should, and is always a concern in our county, and that is one thing that we cannot stand to forego on when times get tough. I think that we have to maintain a good solid public safety in our county. Mr. Poparad, Okay. You’re doing the overtime at the same time? The 144 and the additional. Mr. Whitten, Sure. Well, let’s do the 144. I amend my motion for the 144. Mr. Whitten moved to amend his motion, and approve the 144 Form submitted by Sheriff 01.05, Probationary Patrol Officer, two at $28,914 each. Mr. Poparad, Is the second okay with that? Mr. Bucko, Yes. Mr. Bucko seconded. Mr. Poparad, You guys catch that amendment? Mr. Kopp, Yes. Mr. Poparad, We’re just doing the 144. Mr. Kopp, Yes. Mr. Poparad, Any other? I guess my question to the Sheriff, if the 311 fund goes dry, when are the process servers going home? Sheriff Lain, Well I think that would be a very tough decision, because if, I would have to say that the likelihood of civil process being reduced by that amount, I mean that would be indicative of less work for the civil bureau. Mr. Whitten, Less law work. Sheriff Lain, I’m sorry. Mr. Whitten, There would be less legal work out there. Sheriff Lain, Right. Mr. Poparad, Well I guess I’m going to… Sheriff Lain, So to answer your question, I would entertain that depending on exactly what the, you know, just how much work there is available. If I don’t have enough work to keep the process servers busy, then yes. Mr. Poparad, Well I’ve got to draw the parallel between this type of funding, which I’m not adverse to in the Plan Commission; when their building permits go dry, some people are going home. I have a feeling in, you know, 2 ½ years, heaven forbid, this fund goes dry, you’re going to be in here pleading and gnashing of teeth to get one of the process servers back in the general fund. Let’s calls the question, please. Motion carried on the following roll call vote:
Whitten - Yes Bucko - Yes Mr. Kopp, Motion carries, five to two. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Whitten moved to grant the request for additional appropriations submitted by Sheriff 01.05, the amount of $4,081.45 to 1130 Overtime. Mr. Murphy seconded. Mr. Poparad, Any discussion? Questions? Call the roll, please. Mrs. Stevenson, Bob, wait. Mr. Poparad, Go ahead. Mrs. Stevenson, For the additional, what is this additional for, for Overtime? Sheriff Lain, This is because we’ve got officers assigned to the DEA. A DEA federal drug task force, and this is because they have put in a tremendous amount of work over the last couple of weeks. Mrs. Stevenson, So this has just accumulated just within the last couple of weeks or? Sheriff Lain, Bud, you’ve got that. Sgt. Bud Gootee, It’s the last quarter of ’07 that they paid us back. Chief Deputy Doug Snider, It’s actually, I don’t know the way that reads there, Rita, but it’s a reimbursement for overtime. It’s money coming to us, from the DEA to us. Mr. Poparad, That raises an interesting question, and I hate to cut you off. Are we pulling this guy to give it to Mr. Gensel or is this… Chief Deputy Snider, No. Mr. Poparad, Guy going to stay here, whoever this is? Sheriff Lain, Well now wait a minute. Mr. Poparad, Well we’ve got to… Sheriff Lain, Oh no, no. Mr. Poparad, We just give… Sheriff Lain, No, I’m not reducing our commitment to the DEA. We’re going to maintain our commitment both to the federal drug taskforce, and the local drug taskforce. Mr. Poparad, So you’re going to commit X to Brian’s little unit? Sheriff Lain, Yes. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Call the roll, please.
Motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Poparad, Thank you. Sheriff Lain, Thank you.
PORTAGE TOWNSHIP 01.11 Mr. Poparad, Portage Township. Maureen Wendrickx, I’m not asking for anything. Mr. Poparad, We have a 144, it appears you want to take the deputies up one level or $600 or whatever the word is. Go ahead. Ms. Wendrickx, I’m just asking, I’m not asking for anymore, I’m just asking that the salaries be distributed a little bit more equally as far as the deputies have the years on the job. We had a 2nd deputy retire, and normally we would have a move up, and the 4th deputy would have went into the same salary as the 2nd, the 3rd deputy. Anyway, to make a long story short, I wanted $1,368 distributed between the 1st deputy, which is the chief deputy; the 2nd deputy and the 5th deputy, just so every level has a little bit different… Mr. Murphy, I make a motion. Mr. Murphy moved to approve the 144 Form submitted by Portage Township 01.11. Mr. Whitten seconded. Mr. Poparad, Okay, Matt made the motion; Mr. Whitten seconded it. Mrs. Stevenson, Maureen, thank you for working this out. Mr. Poparad, Yes. Same dollars, shuffle the pie. Mr. Bucko, Yes, and I do understand that entirely. I just wonder what that does with other people… Mr. Poparad, Turn your page. Mrs. Stevenson, Yes. Mr. Murphy, You guys will have to throw me under the bus. Mr. Stevenson, Does that answer your question? Mr. Bucko, Yes, it does. Thank you. Mr. Poparad, Call the roll, please. Motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Poparad, Thank you, Maureen. Ms. Wendrickx, Thank you. Mr. Whitten, Have a good day.
MEMORIAL OPERA HOUSE 158 Mr. Poparad, Memorial Opera House, we’ve got a 144. He wants to change the part-time from $11.50 to 17. Brian Schafer, Good evening. Mr. Poparad Hi. Did we miss this at budget? Did we pass over it? Mr. Schafer, No, we, I didn’t present it during budget. I, this is kind of a last- minute change that I was making. I’ve been, since I’ve been appointed in August of ’06 to the position, we eliminated some of the positions there at the Opera House. This is simply, I’ve been paying certain people out of an, or under a contract, and I’m simply wanting to bring them in under part-time so I can get them added to the payroll system instead of invoicing each month for these people. So basically I’m not adding, per se, I’m just readjusting some numbers. Mr. Carmichael moved to approve the 144 Form submitted by Memorial Opera House 158, Part-time Hourly from $11.50 to $17 per hour. Mr. Bucko seconded, motion carried on the following roll call vote:
Carmichael - Yes Murphy - Yes Mr. Kopp, Motion’s six to one. Mr. Schafer, Thank you. Mr. Poparad, We already did the Undercover, let’s go to appointments. CITIZEN APPOINTMENTS Burns Harbor EDC Mr. Poparad What do we have, Burns Harbor EDC. Did we get a letter for Jim McGee? Ms. Noll, Yes, we did. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Whitten moved to reappoint James McGee to the Burns Harbor EDC for a period of one year. Mrs. Stevenson seconded, motion carried on a unanimous voice vote. Portage EDC Mr. Poparad, Portage EDC, it appears Michael Scott, Jan? Ms. Noll, We didn’t receive anything from them, Bob. So I don’t know if it needs to be done. I can send them a letter. Mr. Poparad, Then we’ll reappoint him in spite of them not being. Mr. Bucko moved to reappoint Michael Scott to the Portage EDC for a period of two years. Mr. Murphy seconded, motion carried on a unanimous voice vote. Alcoholic Beverage Commission Mr. Poparad, We have the Alcohol Beverage Commission. Mr. Whitten, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Poparad, Yes. Mr. Whitten, I received a letter from Mr. John Tavaras asking to be reappointed to this board. I didn’t bring it, but I would move to reappoint him. Mr. Poparad, Okay, is that a motion? Mr. Whitten moved to reappoint John Tavaras to the Alcoholic Beverage Commission for the year 2008. Mr. Bucko seconded. Mr. Poparad, What’s his name again? Mr. Whitten, John Tavaras, he’s our current appointment. Mr. Poparad, Okay. All in favor, say aye. Motion carried on a unanimous voice vote. Board of Zoning Appeals Mr. Poparad, Board of Zoning Appeals. It appears Mr. Simms resigned today. Do we have any letters? Ms. Noll, Luther Williams. Mr. Burge, Yes, I would like to nominate Luther Williams. Mr. Burge moved to nominate Luther Williams as the Council’s appointment to the Porter County Board of Zoning Appeals. Mr. Murphy seconded. Mr. Whitten, Do we have any history on Mr. Williams? Mr. Poparad, I don’t know. Mr. Burge, Luther is a Union Township resident, long-term businessman, lived in the county 40-some years, has expressed interest, sent in a letter. Mr. Carmichael, Second. Mr. Poparad, We’ve got another second. Mr. Bucko, Does it matter on balance as far as parties are concerned? Mr. Poparad, No, that got bounced. Mr. Hollenbeck, We’ve reviewed the statute, and there’s no reference to political affiliation. Mr. Poparad, Good. Mr. Whitten, I don’t see why. Mr. Poparad, I mean I didn’t know about this until noon that Simms resigned. Mr. Whitten, Did we advertise? I mean he just resigned today. Did we advertise this position? Ms. Noll, You guys made a public announcement at the last meeting. Mr. Poparad, Yes. Mr. Whitten, But did we advertise that? I mean he hadn’t resigned. Simms hadn’t resigned yet. I guess I’d like to, this is kind of an important one to me. Not that I wouldn’t vote for Mr. Williams. I guess I’d like to have an opportunity to talk with him. Mr. Carmichael, Why don’t you make it conditional? Mr. Whitten, I guess I don’t care. Mr. Poparad, Conditional on what? Mr. Whitten, I’m just a member. Mr. Burge, You did receive Greg’s resignation. Earlier it was said that you had asked for it in December, and he never… Mr. Whitten, Actually, I asked for it in November. Mr. Burge, November, and he never coughed it up. Mr. Carmichael, Dave. Mr. Hollenbeck, Yes. Mr. Carmichael, Is this position lucrative? Mr. Burge, Yes. It is. Mr. Carmichael, Both positions? Mr. Hollenbeck, Which other position?
Mr. Burge, So technically Simms would have had to been gone the moment he was elected. Mr. Poparad, Yes. Mr. Whitten, Let’s just take him, we’ve got to fill this spot. Nobody ever wants this; we beg people to take it; Simms was the only one that was foolish enough to take it, so… At this time, the Councilmembers burst out in laughter. Mr. Whitten, And then he went for higher ground, which is probably even more foolish. Mr. Bucko, Is that testimony or what. Mr. Whitten, No, I don’t want the BZA. Mr. Poparad, We’ve got the name Luther Williams submitted and a second. Anybody else? Call the roll. Motion to appoint Luther Williams to the Porter County Board of Zoning Appeals to fill Gregg Simms unexpired term until December 31, 2008 carried on a unanimous voice vote. Mr. Kopp, Motion carries, seven, zero. Convention, Recreation & Visitors Commission Mr. Poparad, Convention, Tourism Bureau, I got a letter from Mr. Perkins? Mr. Carmichael, No. Park Board. Mr. Poparad, No, we’re not there yet. Mr. Bucko, We’re not there yet, the next one. Mr. Burge moved to nominate Matthew Murphy as the Council’s appointment to the Convention, Recreation & Visitors Commission Board for a period of two years, term ending 12-31-09. Mr. Carmichael seconded. Mr. Poparad, We’ve got Matt Murphy whose going to take the Council’s appointment to the Tourism Board. Anybody else? Mr. Whitten, We’ve received some letters, Mr. Chairman, if I may, but I guess I’d like to see how Mr. Murphy does before we move on. I don’t want to embarrass anybody here. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Call the roll, please. Motion to appoint Matthew Murphy to the Convention, Recreation & Visitors Commission Board carried on the following roll call vote:
Poparad - No Stevenson - No Mr. Kopp, Motion carries, four to two, with one abstention. PARK BOARD Mr. Poparad, Okay, We have the Park Board. I’ve got a Mr. James Perkins. Mr. Carmichael, Yes, I’ve got a letter from Mr. Perkins, and it’s in your packet. I would recommend that he be appointed to the Park Board. Mr. Whitten, I’ll make that motion. Mr. Carmichael, I’ll put that in the form of a motion. Mr. Carmichael moved to appoint James Perkins to serve as the Council’s appointment to the Porter County Park Board for a period of four years, term ending December 31, 2011. Mr. Whitten seconded. Mr. Poparad, Okay, Bill made the motion, Dan seconded it. Anybody else? Mr. Burge, Was there anybody, I thought we had another one that was submitted, wasn’t it, that came through email? Because there was somebody that said they wanted to replace Harold. Did you get one? Jan, didn’t you send one out? Ms. Noll, I’m sorry, what? Mr. Burge, Did you send out an email out that somebody else that wanted to be on the Park Board? Ms. Noll, Dick Maxey. Mr. Burge, That was it. Mr. Poparad, Okay, well, we’ll do Mr. Perkins first, and if he doesn’t make it… Mr. Whitten, Who was it? Mr. Poparad, Dick Maxey. Ms. Noll, Dick Maxey. Mrs. Stevenson, The gentleman right here. Mr. Hollenbeck, Dick is here. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Hollenbeck, Dick was on the Park Board. Mr. Bucko, Oh, okay. Mr. Poparad, Okay, let’s do Mr. Perkins first. Call the roll, please. Motion to appoint James Perkins to the Park Board carried on the following roll call vote:
Stevenson - No Whitten - Yes Mr. Kopp, Motion carries, five to two. Mr. Poparad, Okay, Mr. Perkins is our pick. PTABOA Mr. Poparad, PTABOA Board, we got any names? Ms. Noll, Shirley, uhm, I’m sorry, John sent an email with Jim Looft and Barbara Wiggins. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Whitten, Are they currently our appointments, Mr. Chairman? Mr. Poparad, I think they are. They going for reappointment, Jan? Ms. Noll, Yes, they are. Mr. Poparad, They are. Yep. Mr. Whitten moved to reappoint James Looft and Barbara Wiggins as the Council’s appointment to the PTABOA Board for the year 2008. Mr. Bucko seconded, motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. COUNCIL BOARD APPOINTMENTS NIRPC Mr. Poparad, Northern Indiana Regional Plan… Mr. Whitten, Mr. Chairman, I’d like to be considered for that. Mr. Poparad, Okay, we need a motion for that. Mrs. Stevenson, For what? Mr. Poparad, NIRPC. Mrs. Stevenson, Second. Mr. Whitten, Well I didn’t actually make the motion. Mr. Poparad, No, you can make the motion. Mr. Whitten, Would you move for me? Mrs. Stevenson, Yes. Mrs. Stevenson moved to nominate Dan Whitten to be the Council’s appointment to NIRPC. Mr. Poparad, We’ve got a motion for Dan. Mr. Burge moved to nominate Mike Bucko to be the Council’s appointment to NIRPC. Mr. Poparad, Alright, we’ve got two. Anybody want to second either one? Okay, no seconds. Call the roll, and the person will have to answer who they want.
Motion to appoint Dan Whitten to NIRPC for calendar year 2008 carried on the following vote: Mr. Kopp, Four to two. NICTD Mr. Poparad, Alright, Northern Indiana Commuter District. Mrs. Stevenson moved to appoint Bill Carmichael as the Council’s appointment to NICTD for 2008. Mr. Murphy seconded. Mr. Poparad, Anybody else want to play with the trains; all in favor of Mr. Carmichael, say aye. Motion carried on a unanimous voice vote. Mr. Poparad, Mr. Carmichael is our pick. Plan Commission Mr. Poparad, Plan Commission, I know Rita expressed an interest. Mr. Whitten moved to nominate Rita Stevenson to serve as the Council’s appointment to the Plan Commission for calendar year 2008. Mr. Poparad, Anybody else? Mr. Bucko, No. Mr. Whitten, No. Mr. Poparad, All in favor, say aye. Motion to appoint Rita Stevenson carried on a unanimous voice vote. Mr. Whitten, Condolences, Rita. Recycling & Waste Reduction District Mr. Poparad, Solid Waste, Mike weren’t you guys on Solid Waste? Somebody? Mr. Murphy, I was on Solid Waste, so you’ll have to appoint somebody else. Mr. Poparad, We could make your replacement our appointment. Mr. Murphy, I’ll take it. I’ll make the motion. Mr. Murphy moved to appoint his replacement as the Council’s appointment to the Recycling & Waste Reduction District for calendar year 2008. Mr. Poparad, Sounds like a winner to me. All in favor of Matt’s replacement being our appointment to Solid Waste, say aye. Motion carried on a unanimous voice vote. Emergency Management Agency Mr. Poparad, Emergency Management, it appears there are two of us. Everybody? Nobody is jumping up and down. I think… Mr. Bucko, I was on it the last time. Mr. Burge, With my new position I could be selling to some of these departments, so I’d rather not do that. Mr. Poparad, Okay, a conflict. Mr. Bucko, I’ll stay on it. Mr. Poparad, Michael volunteered, and we need one more, it appears. I’ll do it with Mike. Alright. Porter County Services Mr. Poparad, Porter County Services. Bill, that was you, wasn’t it? Anybody else besides Bill? Okay, Bill will do Porter County Services. OTHER APPOINTMENTS & LIAISON APPOINTMENTS Mr. Poparad, We have an appointment to the Historical Society, Early Intervention, Substance Abuse, Family Court and Safety Committee. Why don’t we just, or do you want to hash it out now, and we’ll just move on. Turn your name into Jan. That’s what I’d like to propose for the liaisons. She has a blank list, just fill your name in where it goes, and we’ll publish the list, instead of going through all these, and nobody wanting to be, you know, like to the Coroner. Nothing against the Coroner, but you know, we’ll just go past that. Vicki, Deppe, You’re all going to fight for that one I know. Mr. Poparad, Oh yeah, uh huh, same thing with the court system, and all that, so. 2008 POLICY MEMORANDUM Mr. Poparad, We’re down to our Policy Memorandum, which we’re going to sit on for a little while.
ATTORNEY REPORT Mr. Poparad, Attorney Report. Mr. Hollenbeck, Two matters quickly that are regular things. Annually we enter into a contract with the County Sheriff where he foregoes a number of statutory options of pay, and accepts a fixed-fee amount that we establish in our budget, which we did for 2008. I would ask you to approve that same methodology again this year, and then I will take it, it actually has to go to the county commissioners, because it’s a contract under state statute. But what you’ve done is, in the past you’ve agreed that he would forego a number of rather obtuse income options, like left over food in the commissary fund, things the statute provides, and you would simply set a statutory amount, which you did during the budget process. So I would ask, Mr. Chairman, for you to entertain a motion to continue that procedure and authorize me to take that to the county commissioners for their approval. Mr. Poparad, I need a motion. Mr. Whitten moved to accept the Porter County Sheriff’s Agreement as submitted. Mrs. Stevenson seconded, motion carried on a unanimous voice vote. Mr. Hollenbeck, The, statutorily, the position of County Surveyor is not a full-time position. What we’ve done for a number of years is pay the county surveyor at a level at which he has been willing in the past, the last two surveyors, as well as the current one, to forego any outside employment, and to give his full-time commitment to the county surveying position. Again, that was the basis and the thrust of your budgeting for 2008, and again, I’ve got a basic contract like we’ve done every year for that as well, and I would ask that you approve that arrangement, as we have done in all the others. Mr. Bucko, So it would just be the salary he’s got plus whatever the legal, or the increase was for any of the employees. Mr. Hollenbeck, Yes. You set it. It was $61,185 is what you set during your budget hearings for the county surveyor. And again, that is not, he does not have to have that as a full-time job but that’s a condition of getting that salary. Mr. Poparad, We have a motion and a second. Did we have that clause taken care of? Mr. Murphy, 61,000. Mr. Poparad, All in favor of the Surveyor, say aye. Motion carried on a unanimous voice vote. Mr. Poparad, Thank you. Mr. Hollenbeck, That’s all I have Mr. Chairman. JANUARY COUNCIL MEETING Mr. Poparad, January Council Meeting, we’re not having. That’s per tradition. LIAISON REPORTS Mr. Poparad, Liaison Reports. Anything? Okay, Second Reading, please. SECOND READING Mr. Bucko moved to approve Second Reading. Mr. Whitten seconded, motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote.
AUDITOR 01.02 - NO ACTION TAKEN Mr. Kopp, And I have one other thing. We asked you guys last year for $25,000 to get the computer system running. We only used about $475 of it last year, but we’re getting to point now that as soon as we get the TIF, we’re going to be really counting on our computer system, so we’d like to have access to that money again this year to make the computer system work on overtime basis. That will be the auditor, treasurer and assessor. Mr. Hollenbeck, I’m sorry, Jim, I didn’t understand it. This is money that was in the ’07 budget. Mr. Kopp, It’s money in the ’07 budget, we were given $25,000 to make the computer system work and… Mr. Hollenbeck, And where was that money put? Overtime? Mr. Kopp, It was put into Overtime, and we used the Treasurer’s overtime account to actually process it. We only spent $476, and so we would like access to that money again. Mr. Hollenbeck, But absence the encumbering of that, that budget, those funds… Mr. Kopp, It’s gone. We need to get… Mr. Poparad, Then we need to start with an additional. Mr. Hollenbeck, We need to start with an additional. Mr. Poparad, Yep. Mr. Kopp, Start over, okay. ANY OTHER MATTER Mr. Poparad, Anything else? I think Rita has something. Mrs. Stevenson, Yes, through the liaisons, through talking with the different departments I have, I have heard a lot of grumbling and complaints from the different departments. Mrs. Stevenson moved that it is the Auditor’s responsibility to provide us with checks and balances, therefore, effective January 8, 2008, work previously done by the Auditor’s which has been delegated to the county departments, that being, the processing of purchase requisitions and payroll be taken back to and by the Auditor’s office. Mrs. Stevenson, That’s my motion. Mr. Whitten, Dave, is that, can I ask you a question? Mr. Chairman, if I may? Mr. Poparad, Yes, go ahead. Mr. Whitten, Is that something that the Council would do? Delegate assignments to the others, I didn’t think we could do that. Mr. Hollenbeck, Only as it would relate to where the money is coming from. Unable to transcribe, too many conversations going on between the Council Members. Mr. Whitten, I don’t think we have the authority to make that motion work. Mrs. Stevenson, Well it’s funny how all the other auditors, in all the other years, has kept that responsibility. Now all of a sudden, they delegate it out to all the different departments, and it’s short-changing all the other departments. Mr. Whitten, I don’t disagree with that. Mr. Poparad, Are you going to second this? Mr. Whitten, I’ll second for discussion. Mr. Whitten seconded. Mr. Poparad, Alright, let’s get into discussion. Mr. Whitten, I don’t disagree with that, if I may, Mr. Chairman. I don’t disagree with that, Rita, at all. I just think that’s something, as I’m sitting here thinking about this, that we may want to deal with it at budget time. I just don’t know what effect that motion would have, because he doesn’t have to listen to us. Mr. Poparad, Do we want to ask the Auditor for some input here or what… Mr. Whitten, I agree with you though, by the way. Mr. Poparad, The thought process was or? Anything? Mr. Kopp, When all this was jobbed out, the people were manually creating paperwork, and sending it to us to put in the computer. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Kopp, Now they are putting it into the computer, and we’re not doing it twice, the whole reason that you automate the thing to make it work. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Kopp, And that’s why we got computers, the stuff wasn’t turned on before, we’ve turned it on, and we’re using it. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Whitten, Mr. Chairman, if I could? Mr. Poparad, Yes, go ahead. Mr. Whitten, This seems like maybe a topic that would be well suited for a meeting that involves all of these different departments so we can just cull through all of this. I want to get… Mrs. Stevenson, Exactly. Mr. Whitten, Because I’ve also heard some grumblings, but I don’t want to make a judgment until we hear from the folks here. Can we do something like that? Get them here, and find out just what’s going on here? Mr. Burge, I have a question along that line too. I would assume this process was, the Auditor asked some of these other elected officials if some of their staff could help, and they said, yes. I mean… Mrs. Stevenson, They didn’t have a choice. Mr. Burge, You don’t have any authority, he doesn’t have any authority to tell people in other departments to do that work, so I’m assuming there was some give and take. I’m just guessing. Mrs. Stevenson, No. Mr. Burge, There wasn’t? Mrs. Stevenson, No. Mr. Kopp, I turned the computer system on to be able to process invoices, and to do payroll by giving the people that are doing the work by hand the ability to put in the machine so that they are not doing it by hand, and then giving it to us, and we’re putting it into the computer. So we’ve eliminated one operation by the employees, and the individual departments putting the stuff in the computer. That’s why you automate, so you don’t handle it twice. If you want to go back to 1900, that’s fine. Mr. Poparad, Well, Jim, not to be adversarial, but I guess from what I’ve heard from the department heads and some of the elected officials is that you just said, here, this is yours to do, where traditionally, the auditor’s office has done it. That’s what I’m saying. So from what we’re hearing, I’m just saying, they said, well, he always did it, now why do we have to do it, which takes up our people’s time. Mr. Kopp, Bob, they were doing it anyhow by hand. Mr. Poparad, Well… Mr. Whitten, See, that’s, I guess, Mr. Chairman, that’s why I would suggest a meeting where we invite all these officials, and just kind of cull through it all. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Whitten, And see what’s going on. Mr. Bucko, I think it goes a lot deeper than just that. That’s the very surface of the whole thing. Mr. Poparad, Do you want to withdraw your motion? Mrs. Stevenson withdrew her motion. Mr. Poparad, Okay, I’m going to appoint Rita and Dan to a committee to get with the Auditor, and whoever else they see fit. See if you guys can hash something out that’s acceptable to everybody, and stop all the grumbling or slow down the grumblings in the building. Is the second fine with that? Mr. Whitten, The second is fine with that. Mr. Whitten withdrew his second. Mr. Poparad, Alright, anything else? Mr. Bucko, I would just simply say, that perhaps, here again, that’s going to impact job classifications and work. I mean that has a lot to do with it, it is not just, I don’t want to do the work, I never had to do it before, now I’ve got to do it. You know, it goes deeper. Mr. Burge, Yes, and I think the most important part that I’ve heard--we probably talked to the same people--was the checks and balances perspective, ensuring accuracy. That seems to be the most troubling. Under new business or additional items, it’s just for the League of Councils. We originally, the last meeting, we were going to meet on February 7th. That subsequently was changed to the 4th due to a scheduling conflict with this room. Since then though we’ve been talking to the state legislators, it was the will of that group, at that next meeting we have some of the state senators and state reps there to inform us what’s going on downstate, and for them to get input directly from, from throughout the county. In order for that to happen, we probably have to have it on February 9th, which is a Saturday. I’ve asked Jan to go ahead, if it’s the will of this group, she’s already temporarily reserved the room. Then if it’s okay with everybody else, we’ll forge ahead. I have a letter here that I will give to each of you, and it gives us a tentative agenda, and if anybody wants to add or detract, please do so, and we’ll get this sent out to everyone. Mr. Poparad, What time you think? Mr. Burge, 9:00 a.m., Saturday morning, February 9th in this room. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mike, you have anything else?
Mr. Bucko, I would like us to consider the fact that we are going into another year, 2008, and we will, and if we continue the way the we have been over the years, we will continue to pay people for 2008, any comp, Workmens comp, and we will pay them 2008 salaries for 2007 and previous year’s work. Mr. Hollenbeck, You have to pay him at the rate that he earned them at. Mr. Bucko, You can legally do that. And I don’t think we do that today. Mr. Hollenbeck, I don’t know, Mike. Mr. Poparad, Did we ever get a handle on where we are headed with that? Mr. Bucko, No, we, the last time that we talked about that, we were, there was concern about civil ramifications in relationship to labor law, and individuals, and that was not done. I can tell you that I looked over it over the year. The sheriff’s department actually at one time had everybody down to as little as 40 hours per week that had it. Okay? And that’s manageable, 40 hours of work time of comp-time, that’s darn good. But we still took out, you know, we compensated about 9,000 and we added 9,000, so we’re not going anywhere with it. So we’re still about 13,000 total in hours out there. Mr. Poparad, They didn’t burn any of it up since we… Mr. Bucko, Well, you generate it, and you burn it. Like the vacation time, and I’m using it strictly as an example, in Voters Registration, she took, she actually did take a big chunk of hours off, but I believe I was told that she’s regenerated almost that amount before the end of the year, because of election stuff, and that was Jane, and that’s a very reasonable thing for the election board, things to do, I guess. I’m not sure, the issue was, is, are some of those people legally supposed to be getting overtime, and we’ve never been able, we’ve not come to a conclusion with that. Com. Harper, I just have a question. Okay? I’ve always had a question about this. Why do we even have comp-time, instead of paying people? Mr. Bucko, Because it’s a cheap way of handling the need for overtime, and not have to have more people. Com. Harper, Because I got called about that voters registration, I think, did I put an email out to you guys about it? Mr. Bucko, Yes, you did. Com. Harper, Because it’s really your decision. But, it seems to me, to take the budgeting out of your hands, now that’s just my thought process on it. Okay? If people have overtime problems, you know, just like right now is good example, you’ve got somebody not in that office for like 12 weeks, I think, which is not entirely fair to one of the parties, in a way, of what’s going on. Okay? So, it just gets completely out of control. It would seem to me that if people have to pay overtime, they should pay the overtime, and if it’s necessary, they should come to you if they need the overtime money, it would seem to me. And it would seem to me, that the department heads shouldn’t have it at all. I mean department heads, I just don’t understand that. So I think maybe we should have the attorneys take a look at that, that’s my thought on it. Mr. Bucko, Well, I think it’s realistic to say that it is not a priority for a lot of department heads. Com. Harper, When did it start? The County didn’t always have comp-time, did it, Bill? Mr. Bucko, Yes, we had comp-time back in the 90’s, and it was just about as bad, and then in ’98 or ’99, something right in there we cleaned it up. Com. Harper, They always had comp-time? Mr. Hollenbeck, Well, as long as I can remember we’ve had comp-time, and it was chosen in lieu of paying people, the thought being that it was cheaper. Com. Harper, But if you don’t put some bounds on it, it’s gets completely out of bounds. Mr. Burge, A lot of companies in the private sector, they have the use it or lose it. Mr. Poparad, Right. Mr. Burge, Some type of clause, we should probably have that. Mr. Bucko, Be careful, you can’t do that. Mr. Hollenbeck, But, be careful. In the private sector, comp-time is not an option. In the private sector, you must pay people for overtime. But Bob Harper makes a good distinction, and that’s, we’ve never done a very good of distinguishing exempt from non-exempt, in terms of whose legally entitled to overtime, and who isn’t. And that’s only part of the question. Then there’s the policy decision, are you going to offer people comp-time who legally may not be entitled to it, but you deem it appropriate, and that’s the department head. Com. Harper, And here’s where you always end up. You always end up with somebody getting ready, and I can remember it every since I, you know, somebody getting ready to retire, and all of a sudden they have five weeks of vacation, and ten weeks of overtime… Mr. Poparad, Yeah. Com. Harper, And that’s how the job ends, and the department gets screwed. Mr. Hollenbeck, And I can tell you without doing any research that legally a department head is almost assuredly not going to be legally entitled to comp-time or overtime. Com. Harper, Yes, but they’ve got this in the book, and see, that’s why I think that the attorneys should… Mr. Hollenbeck, In your personnel policy manual. Com. Harper, Right, and I think the attorney for the council and the attorney for the commissioners should take a look at that book, and reign that in, with Council approval, okay? Should reign that in right now, because that is, and get it stopped. Mr. Hollenbeck, And Councilperson Bucko has raised this for a couple of years in an effort to try and get a handle on it. Mr. Bucko, Yes, a year before I was on. I’d be happy to go after it again. Mr. Poparad, Take the ball and run with it, Mike. Mr. Bucko, And I would say that, you know, I think our policy reflects what, pretty much what civil law says, about 440 hours of accumulated comp-time that is legal for patrol officers, and as much as 200…
Mr. Hollenbeck, But public safety people… Mr. Hollenbeck, Public safety is treated differently…
Mr. Bucko, Yes, it is. Mr. Bucko, Yes, it’s clearly different. I would… Mr. Poparad, Just dig it. Go ahead, Jim, you got one more thing. Mr. Burge, One more thing, Portage Adult Education, they had a meeting on December 27th. I attended that meeting. Just going to give you a little bit of an update of what was discussed. The basic gist was, there’s $110,000 shortfall, $85,000 of that is between the Gary school system and the Lake Station school system. They’re currently, they’ve made contact with Lake Station; Lake Station has agreed to take up the issue. In the past, they’ve only made a token $5,000 payment, and really didn’t look at the bill they received, and they are going to see if they can bump that up. They’re going to get back to Mike Berta, the superintendent of the Portage Schools. The Gary schools, we probably won’t see anything. Mr. Whitten, Is that Lake Station or River Forrest? Mr. Burge, They said Lake Station. Mr. Murphy, Isn’t that where you’re from. Mr. Whitten, I’m an attorney from Portage. Mr. Burge, In that meeting were some of our legislators. One of the legislators that was there at that meeting was Ed Soliday, our state representative, one of our state representatives, and he’s going to address it with some of the Lake County legislators to see if they can get a legislative solution during this current session. They will also be approaching the Lake County Council to see if there’s a partnership there that could be, so that we don’t have to bear the brunt of the full amount. It was also discussed that although their board has requested five years with the funding, you know, I think if we gave them one full year, a maximum of two, they’ll take it, to get them to a permanent solution. There were also two charities present at that meeting, and they both committed to trying to come up with a permanent funding solution. They thought they would need maybe a year’s worth of boost from us or from Lake County or however it comes from, then they should probably be able to get the monies through charitable means to carry that program through. That’s kind of what came out of that meeting. Mr. Bucko, I just want to go back to my mo, my request on freezing the comp-time at January 1. I don’t see what this has anything different to do. If we have a clear definition of how much comp-time we have on our books in our PC’s, or wherever the people keep it on the mainframe, then we know how much we have. And we can start 2008 at zero. We’re not going to, you know, I don’t know if they can do it, but it could be very tough. But we, otherwise, it’ll just roll over and roll into it, because I’ve already asked them in the past, can you tell me how much comp-time, and the date and the time that you issue it; and they said, they’d have to write a program, they don’t have anything like that. Okay? Because we can see… Mr. Hollenbeck, Mike, as I understand it, and correct, Commissioner Harper, the comp-time is contained in the personnel manual, and so we’re going to, we can’t unilaterally do this, because… Com. Harper, I think it came out of Council’s… Mr. Hollenbeck, It probably did. But I’m just saying we need, Mike, I don’t think we can unilaterally do this. We have to get with the Commissioners… Com. Harper, Well I don’t think you have a fight. I mean I think we’re looking for a solution to this thing. Mr. Hollenbeck, Sure. Com. Harper, And I think we’re looking for a solution that curtails it as much as possible. That’s what I think. Mr. Bucko, I guess my motion, in my mind, doesn’t have, doesn’t reach out into your jurisdictions in reference to the policy. My motion is simply… Mr. Poparad, Well let me throw this out. You guys are meeting tomorrow night, Bob? Com. Harper, Yes. Mr. Poparad, What if we make a motion in support of the Commissioners that all comp-time is frozen right now? Com. Harper, I don’t understand what you’re saying. Mr. Poparad, There will be no comp-time right now. Com. Harper, It is my understanding, when I think about comp-time, okay, here’s what’s going on if I understand it. Somebody working in this office, Voters Registration right now says, we, I worked 80 hours overtime, so I’m going to continue taking my salary for two weeks this year because I got 80 hours. So what are you freezing? I don’t understand. Mr. Poparad, That they can’t accumulate anymore comp-time. Whatever it was January 1st or whatever date, the end of the year, whatever they had built up. Com. Harper, We’re stopping comp-time? Mr. Poparad, Yes, and then let them work it off until we get that number down where we can control it, because 13,000 hours, it’s out of control. Com. Harper, Well here’s what I, I just… Mr. Poparad, Is that… Mr. Hollenbeck, Well let me, let’s listen to Bob. Com. Harper, So you’re going to have to, as long as the attorneys talk about that, and we can change it midstream, that’s fine with… Mr. Hollenbeck, What, what are you, so I understand, the motion is to freeze comp-time. Mr. Bucko, My motion wasn’t to freeze. Mr. Poparad, Well… Mr. Bucko, My motion was originally to say, look, get a count of total comp-time for all of the individuals effective, let’s say… Mr. Hollenbeck, Now let’s make sure we’re talking straight. When you say comp-time, a person works, quote, overtime, there’s two ways… Mr. Bucko, But we don’t have that definition in our policy manual. Everybody in the… Mr. Hollenbeck, Mike, let me finish. Mr. Bucko, Alright. Mr. Hollenbeck, Somebody works overtime, there’s two ways to respond to that. Pay them overtime or give them comp-time. Mr. Bucko, That is correct. Mr. Hollenbeck, Okay, that’s what we’re talking about. And what do you want to do then? Mr. Bucko, What I’m wanting to do is find out, and get a count of everybody’s comp-time as of December 31st , 2007, period. Okay? Get a hard copy of that so you can deal with it. Then if people come in and have to work comp-time beginning January 1, then they’ve got a zero as the amount of comp-time in their 2008 database… Mr. Hollenbeck, Now you’re saying comp-time. You’re again, differentiating between, you know, there’s… Mr. Bucko, I’m differentiating, but nobody in this county differentiates from it. Mr. Hollenbeck, Right, and that’s the important thing. If you’re saying, we don’t want anybody to work any overtime, I’m not, that’s not what I’m hearing you say. Mr. Bucko, I’m not saying that. But I’m saying people don’t differentiate from comp-time, which I look at comp-time being the four hours between having, what is it, four or three, whatever, anything that they work less than 40 hours, the money that they are getting is straight time up to 40 hours. But people come in here and work 48 hours, 52 hours, 54 hours, and that’s overtime, that’s time and a half, and that is that time at time and a half, and that’s what’s jacking it up. Mr. Kopp, And that’s what’s in the comp-time report. Mr. Bucko, Yes, and there is nothing that I believe that I could find in the Commissioners’ policy manual separating the two. Mr. Hollenbeck, Well we don’t pay overtime. We give people comp-time. Mr. Bucko, People don’t put it in that way. I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that if somebody comes in here, and works today, their office works 15 hours, each person does, over 40 this week, they’ll put it in as 15 hours, plus. What do they get, 37, 36, what is the normal, 37 hours, it’ll be 16 hours plus 37 for the week, and they’ll call it comp-time. There’s nothing that defines it differently. Mr. Hollenbeck, Well, that’s one of the issues. Mr. Bucko, That is the issue, you’re right. Mr. Poparad, You just made a statement, we don’t pay overtime. Mr. Hollenbeck, Well, as a matter of policy, in the… Mr. Poparad, Well he does in his office, doesn’t he? Mr. Hollenbeck, Well, if you give him a line item for it. As a matter of policy in the Commissioners’ personnel policy, we talk about, you take comp-time, you don’t get paid overtime. Mr. Bucko, Right, that’s, now, the question is, when you say comp-time, is it between 37 and 40, and that’s all. If you work over 40, that’s overtime. That’s a whole different thing, and if you’re doing that, without money in an overtime line item for your department, you’re breaking the rules. Correct? That’s what I see. Mr. Poparad, Jim? Mr. Kopp, The way it’s calculated now, it’s calculated as one hour per hour between 35 and 40. If somebody works 42 hours, that 40th and the 42 hours would be three hours of comp-time. So they did five plus three for working seven hours. Mrs. Stevenson, That’s why it’s getting jacked up so much. Mr. Kopp, That’s how it’s calculated now on the computer system, and that’s what’s loaded for comp-time. Mr. Bucko, So you can work much of 42, and not be over the 40-hour work week. Mr. Kopp, Anything over 40 hours is put on comp-time at time and a half. Mr. Hollenbeck, And I guess I understand, because I’ve worked with Mike on this. I understand the frustration on this. What I would ask is, let’s use Com. Harper’s idea. Let Gwenn and I get together, I guarantee you this will be on the top of our list of things to do, and we’ll get back to you with exactly where we are, as to what our policy is, and what the law is. Mr. Bucko, I would suggest then, please, looking at comp-time as a policy issue, and overtime as a policy issue, and clearly defining that one is not the same as the other. Mr. Hollenbeck, That was my point. Right, they are not. Mr. Bucko, Yes, exactly. Mr. Poparad, Okay. We beat that horse to death. Anything else? I want to take a moment to have Mr. Murphy stand up, we have a little going away present. Yeah, we got you something, it’s ticking, so watch it. Mr. Murphy, Thank you very much, appreciate it. Mr. Poparad, Good luck in the future. Mrs. Stevenson, He needs the box. Mr. Poparad, No, he don’t need, alright, you’re supposed to take the box. Anything else? At this time, there was a round of applause. Mr. Poparad, Alright, January 10th at 5:00, we’re having a meeting in here with the assessors, the treasurer, the auditor, commissioners, if possible, and the council, 5:00 in this building, and… Mr. Bucko, Do we have a… Mr. Poparad, Huh? I’m sorry? Mr. Bucko, Do we have an executive… Mr. Poparad, Yes, we have an executive session immediately following this with a little break. Mr. Burge, Bob, what was that date and time again? Mr. Kopp, You need a second… Mr. Poparad, Thursday the 5th at 5:00, I mean the 10th. Mr. Kopp, You need a second reading before you all leave. Mr. Poparad, Didn’t we do second reading? Mr. Bucko, No, we didn’t. Mr. Poparad, Alright, do second reading. SECOND READING Mr. Whitten moved to approve Second Reading. Mr. Bucko seconded, motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. There being no further business, meeting adjourned at 6:25 p.m. Following adjournment, the Council convened their executive session.
PORTER COUNTY COUNCIL Attest: James Kopp, Auditor |
 |
Please enter a search term to begin your search. |
January 7, 2008