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PORTER COUNTY COUNCIL
Members present were Michael Bucko, William Carmichael, Karen Conover, Dan Whitten, and President Bob Poparad. Also present was Auditor James Kopp, Attorney Dave Hollenbeck, Lindy Wilson and Jan Noll. Mr. Poparad called the meeting to order with the Pledge of Allegiance. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Poparad, Approval of January 7th and January 10th minutes? Mr. Whitten moved to approve the minutes of January 7, 2008 and January 10, 2008 as received. Mr. Carmichael seconded, motion carried on a unanimous voice vote. FIRST READING At this time, Mr. Kopp read the Notice to Taxpayers.
CEDIT PROJECT #22 Mr. Poparad, Are the Commissioners here? We have CEDIT Project #22. Com. John Evans, Before we begin, I’ve got to tell you this is a much better looking body with Karen sitting here. Mrs. Conover, Thank you. It’s great to be back. Com. Evans, The first thing, the 350,000 for CEDIT, this is something we talked about last year, and you wanted a better handle on the numbers, and Bob’s got those for you.
Bob Thompson, As Com. Evans said, excuse me, we were instructed to go out and actually look for consultants on this, and go through the process and come back with what we have found. I guess to explain this, we sent out a request for qualifications shortly after the Council instructed us to do this. We had ten qualifications sent to us, of statements for qualifications sent to us. A number of consultants were teaming up on this. From this, the Plan Commission interviewed all ten firms, and we were going to narrow it down to three. We did it by points of evaluation. There was a tie, so we ended up taking four firms in on this. Mr. Poparad, Hold on, she can’t catch it on the recorder. Mr. Thompson, I’m sorry. She said she’s… Ms. Noll, Thanks, Bob.
Mr. Thompson, And then with the construction standards, again, it was talking about health and safety, the traveling public, and engineering standards for the County’s infrastructure for the acceptance of these developments. From this, I sent out this 16-page proposal to these four firms, and they came back. Again, the Plan Commission interviewed all four of these firms. From this they came up with a recommendation to the County Commissioners to accept the proposal from DLZ for the development of the construction standards, and ratio architects out of Indianapolis for the development of the corridor study. Mr. Whitten moved to grant the request for additional appropriations submitted by CEDIT Project #22, the amount of $350,000 to 0001 Project 22. Mr. Bucko seconded. Mr. Poparad, Any questions, Bill? Mr. Carmichael, Yes, I have a question. The corridor study, does that include Route 12? Mr. Thompson, No, it does not. I was very… Mr. Carmichael, Route 20? Mr. Thompson, No, it does not. Mr. Carmichael, What does it include? Mr. Thompson, US 6, the 49 by-pass, I had it listed all in here, 149, 130, State Road 8, State Road 2, all of the state roads excluding, and US federal roads, excluding US 20 and US 12. They were not part of it, because NIRPC did the corridor study up there with those two. I included Meridian Road, between Valparaiso and Chesterton, because I felt that was a major thoroughfare there that also needed to be looked at. That was probably the only local road that I included in at that time, but here again, I’ve left it within the RFP that the Commissioners can negotiate additional… Mr. Carmichael, Did you say Route 30? Mr. Thompson, Route 30 is included in on that, yes. Mr. Carmichael, Do you realize how much Valparaiso owns of Route 30? Mr. Thompson, A considerable amount, but there’s also a considerable amount in the unincorporated areas, and that’s why we also talked about it’s very important to have intergovernmental cooperation on this program. Mr. Carmichael, Where’s NIRPC in on this whole scenario? Mr. Thompson, NIRPC will probably be one of the entities that we will have coming in and the steering committee to sit down and talk with us concerning this situation. Mr. Carmichael, Well we’re already paying NIRPC to do our planning for us, our metropolitan planning. We give them well over $100,000 already. Mr. Whitten, That’s true. Mr. Carmichael, How much money have they got in this plan? Mr. Thompson, They don’t have anything. This is strictly County driven. Mr. Carmichael, Well, I think you, when you finish the plan and get it all printed out, you can probably take it into the restroom there and put it to better use. Mr. Thompson, I guess I disagree with you on this, because when we went through the hospital rezoning, on this particular issue, a number of people were very concerned about what is going to be coming in as far as land uses next to the hospital. They felt that it was going to be opening up, and I disagree in a sense, that I don’t think NIRPC actually looks at land use, because land use decisions are here done at the local level.
Mr. Carmichael, What hospital? Are you talking about the one at 6 and 49? Mr. Carmichael, Have you ever looked at the property? Mr. Thompson, I walked that property. Mr. Carmichael, Yeah. I used to hunt that property. Mr. Thompson, Uh huh. Mr. Carmichael, It’s a swamp. How are you, what are you going to do, have Damon Run… Mr. Thompson, I am just, simply the fact that they did, a number of the citizens were very concerned about what uses are going to be coming in next to this area. Mr. Carmichael, Well Chesterton is going to annex all the way down there anyway. Mr. Thompson, Then they have an opportunity to sit in and talk with us on this. Mr. Carmichael, Because they’re providing with sewer, they already offered them sewer. Mr. Bucko, Could I? Mr. Carmichael, Hang on, Mike. Mr. Bucko, Okay. Mr. Carmichael, So they’re going to go all the way down to Route 6. Portage is already there in the subdivision with their sewers, just to the west… Mr. Thompson, Correct. Portage does… Mr. Carmichael, Right? Mr. Thompson, Portage does have a sewer line there, but that sewer line from 149 on into the subdivision is privately owned through a conservancy district. Mr. Carmichael, Don’t they come in to Liberty Township? Mr. Thompson, The conservancy district that connects into Portage does come into Liberty Township. Mr. Carmichael, Well sure. Mr. Thompson, Correct. But that is the conservancy’s district sewer lines, and not the City of Portage. It does go to the City of Portage for treatment, yes. Mr. Carmichael, Most certainly. Com. Evans, Chesterton has offered to bring the sewer out to them, but not to annex them if they don’t want annexation. They’re pretty much leaving it up to them. Mr. Carmichael, I think Chesterton’s rules right now, if you can get sewer and water, you’re annexed. Com. Evans, Well they… Mr. Carmichael, You’re going to have to change the rules. Com. Evans, They’re willing to do that is what they said. They’re willing to accept the… Mr. Carmichael, The sewer department is willing to do that? Com. Evans, Yes.
Mr. Carmichael, It’s not the town board. I read the paper, the article. Mr. Carmichael, Right? Com. Evans, The other thing is, DLZ or someone will do an overview of the land use to make sure that that, it drains, that it’s not going to be… Mr. Carmichael, Well, with the way we’re heading for a recession in this country, I think we should be saving our money instead of spending it on something like this. Com. Evans, Well you remember when we sold the hospital we committed to a new hospital being built, and that’s part of our commitment to them. I mean they, we can’t tell them where to build it if that’s the place they chose to build it. Mr. Carmichael, Oh yeah, I agree with that. That’s their responsibility, not ours. Com. Evans, And they, I think, more looked at population demographics than anything. Mr. Poparad, Mike, you had a question. Mr. Bucko, You said that this is more or less a land use type of thing. Mr. Thompson, Land use, and it will get into engineering, in the sense that if there is a dangerous intersection or situation along one of these state roads and everything, they can come up with a recommendation for us to go to INDOT for a possible correction on this, then this will help supply us a report for engineering and safety for traffic. Mr. Bucko, Does that then fall onto NIRPC to do that work with… Mr. Thompson, It would give us something to take to INDOT that requests it, and then if it’s using for federal funds, then we can go to NIRPC and try to get it up on the schedule of items to do, yes. Mr. Bucko, Alright, thank you. Mr. Poparad, Anybody else? Call the roll, please. Motion failed on the following roll call vote:
Bucko - Yes Carmichael - No Mr. Kopp, Motion carries, three to two. Mr. Whitten, No, no, no it don’t. Mr. Hollenbeck, You need four affirmative votes. Mr. Kopp, Oh I need four, you’re right. Okay, so this motion dies. Mr. Poparad, Okay, put it on the agenda for next month. Mr. Thompson, Alright. Mr. Whitten, I’ve got a few more questions. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Whitten, I guess I’d like to, I share Bill’s concerns about the NIRPC involvement. I guess I’d like to, you’re saying that NIRPC doesn’t really get involved in land use issues, but they certainly don’t have a problem getting involved in land issues if it involves rail. So I guess I’d like to know what their involvement is. I’ve got some questions about what their involvement is going to be in this really. So if we can get copies of those things, and maybe a clearer picture of what exactly NIRPC is going to do, and why they’re not funding any of this. I guess I’d like to see it before the next meeting. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Thompson, Fine.
COMMISSIONERS 01.30 Mr. Poparad, Alright, Commissioners. Do you just want to go ahead and stay, John. You’ve got an additional for 26,000 to Contractual, and a transfer of $173 and change from Power to Auto, Truck & Equipment. Mr. Carmichael moved to grant the request for additional appropriations, the amount of $26,000 to 3950 Contractual Services, and that the request for transfer of funds, the amount of $173.74, submitted by Commissioners 01.30. Mr. Whitten seconded, motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Com. Evans, Thank you. Mr. Poparad, Thank you, John.
SHERIFF CIVIL FEE FUND 311.05 Mr. Poparad, Sheriff Civil Bureau Fees. We’ve got a 144 and an additional. Mr. Whitten, Do you want to take the together, Bob? Mr. Poparad, Whatever everybody wants to do here. This is the two process servers that you want to pay out of the process fee fund? Sheriff Dave Lain, Yes. Mr. Poparad, And that would free up two bodies to be merit. Sheriff Lain, For police officers, yes. Mr. Poparad, Yes. Did you hire the merit yet? Sheriff Lain, I’m sorry? Mr. Poparad, Have you hired the two guys? Sheriff Lain, Yes, we have conditional offers of employment, yes. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Whitten moved to grant the request for additional appropriations, the amounts of, $68,918 to 1110 Salaries, $4,307.38 to 1230 PERF, $5,272.22 to 1210 FICA and $27,923.76 to 1220 Medical/Life Insurance, and amend the 144 Form, Process Servers, two at $34,459 each, as submitted by Sheriff Civil Fee 311.05. Mr. Poparad, Okay, we’ve got a motion. Is there a second? Mr. Carmichael, I have a question. Mr. Poparad, Do you want to second the motion?
Mr. Carmichael, No. Mrs. Conover seconded. Mr. Poparad, We’ve got a second for discussion. Go ahead, Bill. Mr. Carmichael, What’s the balance in the fund? Is it coming out of 217 or 233? Sheriff Lain, Neither one. This is the fees for the process, I’m sorry, for the sheriff’s sales. Mr. Carmichael, You have 117,000. Is that what you had in that the last time? Sheriff Lain, It was in the neighborhood, and I’m sorry, Kathy Nichols was still on vacation on today. I didn’t get the last balance, but it was in the neighborhood of… Mr. Carmichael, Do we have a balance? Mrs. Wilson, This computer is not working. Sheriff Lain, We figured this last year… Mr. Whitten, We’re in trouble. Sheriff Lain, We’re in the, we’re right in that neighborhood. I mean it’s, it is one of those fees that is not defined. It depends on just how much civil process there is, but. Mr. Bucko, I don’t know if this pertains to this or not, but you say you hired the two officers for this. The two people. Sheriff Lain, We have, yes, it was, because it was my understanding that the Council had approved that, and this was in order to move the process servers. This was the other end of that process. Mr. Bucko, I think I understand. I just, this probably doesn’t apply but I’m just trying to look at officers, and I’m also trying to look at merit officers, and the fact that we have downsized the number of prisoners in the jail. Do we have any other jail officers that are merit officers working in the jail today? Sheriff Lain, We still have a merit officer working in the jail. Mr. Bucko, Would it be beneficial for that merit officer or possible that merit officer should not be working in the jail to… Sheriff Lain, The downsize, that’s a good question. Actually, the reduction in population, prisoner-wise, has not reduced the requirement of the number of officers that are working in the jail. It has eased the overcrowding that was the issue. The jail, the jail population now is more in line for what those two pods were designed to hold. So we have not, because we’ve got fewer, we are just less overcrowded than we were with the state inmates. Mr. Bucko, Refresh my memory. How many jailers do you have? Sheriff Lain, We have 49 jail officers. Mr. Bucko, 49, so roughly speaking, I guess if you took it to 40, say 48 for round numbers, you could break it into three different groups. You’ve got approximately what, 18 then. Is that right? No, my math is off. Mr. Poparad, 16. Mr. Whitten, You’re close. Mr. Bucko, 15. Mr. Poparad, 16, Mike.
Mr. Bucko, Okay, this thing ain’t working. Mr. Bucko, Okay. No, I’m just trying to figure out, and I hate to go back, but I’ve got to go back to when, because I was in the very beginning process of this jail, and maybe my mind is not fully aware of any changes or anything else that took place. But I had thought at one time or another there was, I don’t think there was ever supposed to be that large of people handling the jail because it was going to be done in a supervisory level. Now, maybe I’m wrong; maybe I’m not. But I just can’t see, if we’re short personnel on the street, there ought to be, it seems to me there ought to be a way to put a merit officer on the street rather than putting them in the jail doing jail work. That’s me. Sheriff Lain, I wish that were the case, Mr. Bucko. The fact remains is that, even if you look at prisoner and staff ratios, we’re still, we are still above what the recommended prisoner staffing ratio is. Even with the quote, unquote, reduced population. Mr. Bucko, Does Mr. Donahue dictate that or is that something that comes from the State? Sheriff Lain, Well it’s not, these, this comes, typically, what the experts considered in the field are the National Institute of Corrections out of Largemont, Colorado. Mr. Bucko, My God, my God. I heard them at one time before. I guess I’ve got one other question too, and this goes back to, and we’re not on this topic. Unless we don’t want to do this, I guess we could probably throw the question out later, it doesn’t matter. I don’t want to take up the Council’s time. I just hate to… Sheriff Lain, I’d be happy, Mike, I’d always be happy to talk to you about it. Mr. Bucko, You always are, David. You always are. Matter of fact, we talked last week more by email and voice mail than anything else. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Carmichael, The question I would ask is what happens when the fund runs out, if it does? Sheriff Lain, Well, then, Mr. Carmichael, we are, we’ll have to face that, we’ll have to face that situation. This was not an ideal situation by any means, but I think I pled the case that we absolutely need more police officers, and this county is growing, good, bad or indifferent, it is growing. The police department has not grown. And I came to this Council asking for additional personnel, and you responded, if we find a way to fund that, then you would approve that, you would consider that. And this was the mechanism that we found in order to accomplish that. Mr. Carmichael, You haven’t answered my question. What happens when you run out of funds? Sheriff Lain, Well that’s a good question. Mr. Carmichael, Yes, but I told you before… Sheriff Lain, I, listen, I don’t like, I don’t like particularly doing this, this way. I feel that bodies should come out of the general fund, but you told me to find the money; I found the money. Mr. Carmichael, Okay. Mr. Poparad, Anybody else? Any questions? Call the roll, and we’re doing both at the same time, the additional and the 144. Correct? Mr. Whitten, That was my motion. Mr. Poparad, Call the roll. Motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Kopp, Motion carries, five, zero. Mr. Poparad, Thanks, Sheriff. Sheriff Lain, Thank you. Mr. Bucko, We’ll match up somewhere. Sheriff Lain, That’s fine.
SUPERIOR COURT 6 - 01.39 Mr. Poparad, Judge, do we have a judge out here somewhere. Mr. Whitten moved to grant the request for additional appropriations, the amount of $2,000 to 3131 Interpreters, and amend the 144 Form, Secretary from $0 to $26,250, submitted by Superior Court 6 -01.39. Mr. Carmichael seconded. Mr. Poparad, Okay, we’ve got a motion and a second. We left the Interpreter out, and you’ve been one short for how many years, in terms of bodies? Yeah, too long. Judge Jeffrey Thode, Well, something like that. I sent you a letter, I don’t know if you had a chance… Mr. Poparad, Yes. Judge Thode, It was real short. Mr. Poparad, Yes. Judge Thode, I’d be happy to follow up with whatever you would… Mr. Carmichael, After five minutes we vote against everything. Judge Thode, Okay. Mr. Poparad, Anybody got any questions? No questions? Mr. Bucko, No. Mr. Carmichael, No questions. Mr. Poparad, Call the roll, both at the same time. Motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Carmichael, Let the record show the Judge was speechless. Mr. Kopp, Motion carries, five, zero. Judge Thode, Thank you very much. It shall so reflect as I said. Have a good evening, everyone. Mr. Bucko, Thank you, Judge.
CLERK 01.01 Mr. Poparad, Clerk. Pam, are you out there?
Pam Fish, Yes. Ms. Fish, One bookkeeper, one record. Mr. Poparad, We had talked, well yes. We had talked about some overtime so you can get the backlog caught up. Ms. Fish, Yes. Mr. Poparad, Without having to hire full-timers. You guys got a letter from her? Mrs. Conover, Yes. Mr. Poparad, I think everybody got a letter. Mr. Carmichael, Is this Mrs. Bass. Ms. Fish, Yes. Mr. Carmichael, Okay. Yes, I read the letter. Mr. Poparad, Any questions? Mr. Whitten, Was this asked at, I mean at budget time did we discuss additional personnel? I mean did Dale bring this up at budget time? Mr. Poparad, No, Dale didn’t do anything. Ms. Fish, No, she did not. Mr. Whitten, Can you tell me why she didn’t? Do you have any idea? Did she think that there was going to be ample manpower or? Ms. Fish, No, she did warn me that the office was severely understaffed. Mr. Whitten, So she didn’t feel the need to tell us? Ms. Fish, I can’t answer that, I’m sorry. Mr. Whitten, I mean is it, is that what I understand. She clued you in but not us. Ms. Fish, All I can tell you is for the last eight weeks I have observed my staff, and I have met with various department heads in the County, in addition to members of the private sector who regularly do business in my office. And it’s been a general consensus amongst all of them that we are severely understaffed. We are not completing the work that we need to complete in a timely fashion. The work is not of the quality that it should be, and in many cases the people in Porter County are suffering. I know in our bookkeeping department, we are very behind. We are issuing child supports checks late. I don’t anticipate that changing unless we get additional help. I don’t know what else to say. Mrs. Conover, I would like to add, just, when we lost Bethlehem and then the other mill, and we were making severe cuts in county government, there were five people in the Clerk’s department that lost a job. Ms. Fish, Yes. Mrs. Conover, And we never reinstated any of those people. Ms. Fish, You never, no, you never did. Mrs. Conover, And you’re asking for two people this evening, plus the additional in the Overtime. Ms. Fish, Yes, I am.
Mrs. Conover, It’s been a long time. Ms. Fish, Yes. Mr. Whitten, Budgeting and planning for the future year, and I just don’t want to see us get into a routine now where we’re going to start adding personnel, adding personnel after we’ve been so militant, and so diligent, about keeping within our budgets. Ms. Fish, I understand. Mrs. Conover, And, you know, in all fairness to Pam, she just took the office over January 1st. Mr. Whitten, I don’t doubt that. I know, I talked to you the first night you came in. Mrs. Conover, And she didn’t have an opportunity to go through the budget process. Mr. Poparad, You guys done? The only comment I had, you said something that bothers me. Ms. Fish, What’s that? Mr. Poparad, The quality of the work. That… Ms. Fish, Well… Mr. Poparad, That, no. Ms. Fish, Okay, go ahead. Mr. Poparad, That bothers me and the fact, now we’re not talking about quantity, we’re talking about quality, that’s a management issue with the employee. Now, if they can’t get the work done, that’s fine. But the work they get done should be quality work, I would think. Ms. Fish, Well… Mr. Poparad, That’s my opinion. Ms. Fish, I understand what you are saying, and I’ll answer that really quick. Mr. Poparad, That’s alright, it’s alright, but don’t play this, don’t play we can’t get it done and all that. Ms. Fish, No, no, no.
Mr. Poparad, But what they can get done should be good work. Mr. Poparad, Shouldn’t it? Ms. Fish, Yes, but let me answer your, or let me make a comment regarding your comment. In our records department we have part-timers to fulfill all the jobs. As soon as those part-timers have an opportunity to get a full-time job, they are gone. We are constantly training people over and over and over again. I was just informed today, one of our part-timers is leaving in May for a full-time job. When you train new people over and over and over again, you will not get the quality of work that you would if somebody was there for a substantial amount of time. Mr. Poparad, Well I… Ms. Fish, And it is suffering because of that.
Mr. Poparad, I agree with that to a point. Mike, go ahead. Mr. Fish, A little over that. Mr. Bucko, Okay, of the 40 people that are in there, there’s only 25 of them that are, have ever worked comp-time, so I don’t know the reason why. But when I went back and did the comp-time things, there’s only 40 people, I mean 25 out of 40 working comp-time. Mr. Whitten, Bob. I’d like to make a motion, Bob, because we’ve been doing some discussion here, if I could. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Whitten moved to grant the request for additional appropriations, the amount of $25,000 to 1130 Overtime, and amend the 144 Form, Deputy Assistant Bookkeeper from $0 to 30,509, and Deputy Clerk Records from $0 to $26,347, submitted by Clerk 01.01. Mr. Bucko seconded. Mr. Poparad, Okay, now, I’m sorry, I’ve been remiss here. Voter Registration wants to do a transfer under you. Ms. Fish, Yes, $3,000. Mr. Poparad, $3,000 from Salaries, of the person that’s not there, into Overtime so they can keep up with the work. That person has not been replaced. Ms. Fish, And I will say the office has been inundated with new registrations, transfers, corrections… Mr. Poparad, Right. This was a last minute thing, and I didn’t bring it up. I’m sorry. Is the motion okay with that? Mr. Whitten, I didn’t hear you? Mr. Poparad, Kathy wants a, or Pam wants a transfer of $3,000 in Voter Registration to Overtime from the salary of the person that’s not there. That position is not filled, and they can’t keep up with the new registrations. Mr. Whitten, I’ll amend my motion. Mr. Whitten moved to amend his motion to grant the request for transfer of funds for Voters Registration 01.22, the amount of $3,000 from 1110 Salaries to 1130 Overtime; and the request for additional appropriations, the amount of $25,000 to 1130 Overtime, and amend the 144 Form, Deputy Assistant Bookkeeper from $0 to 30,509, and Deputy Clerk Records from $0 to $26,347, in the Clerk 01.01 budget. Mr. Bucko seconded. Mr. Poparad, I should have brought that up right at the beginning, but we got sidetracked by Pam. Anymore comments or questions? Mr. Carmichael, What’s all included in this now, Bob? Mr. Poparad, Two people, and $25,000 in Overtime.
Ms. Fish, And 3,000 for… Motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Poparad, Will this get your backlog picked up? Ms. Fish, I’m hoping. Thank you for your consideration. Mr. Hollenbeck, Mr. Chairman, I think we need, just so we all understand, and you’ve heard this from me before. Additional appropriations from the general fund will not be approved by the DLGF until the ’08 tax rates are established. So these people need to realize that if you’re getting approvals tonight to be hiring people with additional appropriations, we won’t get State approval to do that until they’ve completed the ’08 tax process. Ms. Fish, Can I ask a quick question? Is that okay, can I do that? Mr. Poparad, Yes. Ms. Fish, If we have monies from other funds that we are not using, or I shouldn’t say we’re not using them, we are using them, we have not used them up. Can we hire these additional people under those funds, and when and if, that is approved by the State, to transfer those individuals into those designated job descriptions? Is that legal? Can I do that? Mr. Hollenbeck, I’m not sure what funds you are talking about, but I’m… Ms. Fish, We have a record perpetuation fund.
Mr. Hollenbeck, Okay, well the monies in that fund still have to be appropriated by the County Council. They would not require DLGF approval. Mr. Hollenbeck, Because they’re not general fund tax dollars, but you’d still have to come here, and ask for that appropriation from that fund. Ms. Fish, I wouldn’t need the appropriation from that fund, because I would hire a person to be doing that specific work, and then once that fund was approved, you know, literally, re-interview, and… Mr. Hollenbeck, I’m not sure exactly what you mean. You and I will talk, and we’ll get that straightened out. Ms. Fish, Okay. Mr. Poparad, Okay, you done? We all on the same page? Mr. Bucko, Yes. Mr. Poparad, Alright. Mr. Bucko, Does she understand about where she might, where… Mr. Hollenbeck, Mike, yes, I’ll talk to her.
CENTER TOWNSHIP 01.10 Mr. Poparad, Center Township. We have a transfer of $5,000 from Hourly to Contractual, and 10,000 to Overtime. Am I reading that right? What are we transferring it from? Susan Larson, The transferring was from… Mr. Poparad, From Hourly. Ms. Larson, From Hourly to my Contractual. I have doubled the amount of permits for my contractual, commercial construction. This year I have over 69 permits. I usually have about 30, and I contract that out, and I have made the guy take money off the last two years for my commercial. He does an excellent job, and I need him to do the new stuff, and have it ready to be put in. So I have the money, I believe, that I can transfer it over and not run short. And that’s what I want. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Any questions?
Mr. Carmichael, You can readily see what’s happening in Valparaiso, the way that the town is growing, all the new buildings and businesses. It’ unbelievable. Mr. Carmichael, They’re doing a good job. Ms. Larson, Businesses really surprised me. I didn’t realize that we were doing that well. Mr. Carmichael moved to grant the request for transfer of funds, $5,000 from 1120 Hourly to 3950 Contractual Services, and the request for additional appropriations, $10,000 to 1130 Overtime, submitted by Center Township 01.10. Mr. Whitten seconded, motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote.
PLANNING/BUILDING DEPARTMENT 239 Mr. Poparad, Bill needs to get by the microphone. We can’t hear you. Mr. Carmichael, You can’t hear me? Mr. Poparad, You can’t hear us so what the hell’s the difference. Mr. Hollenbeck, I can hear him fine. Mr. Poparad, Planning & Building. You want 40,000 for Consultants; 85,000 for Data; and 6,000 for more equipment. Mr. Thompson, The 40,000 for the Consultant is for the stormwater review that we have with an independent engineer, prior to any development plan or subdivision type approval. That was a mistake on my part. I simply forgot to come in at budget time and ask for that. We were doing that last year, it’s ordinance, and the independent engineer that we have doing this work is DLZ. Mr. Poparad, Are we reimbursed by the developer? Mr. Thompson, We are reimbursed on this, so. Mr. Poparad, So this is just ministerial thing that we just got our money through. Mr. Thompson, Correct. Correct. Mr. Poparad, And the 85,000 is for a computer. Mr. Thompson, Yes. With me here is the Building Commissioner Mike Haller. Mike has been researching software for us to do permitting, zoning code, violation tracking, and it also generates reports from these items, such as, financial reports for us, our bookkeeping. It also offers where a builder can do an online service with the company to be able to submit permits and information to us online. There’s a number of items with this. Right now we do not have any software. It is in an Excel spreadsheet that we are working on with this. This will also set up inspections, and I’ll let Mike explain it here briefly, also. The last one is the, Data Processing has requested if software approved, and we get it, that they want us to purchase our own server for down in the ITS department. Mr. Poparad, You’ll be stand-alone then, this will be a stand-alone system? Sharon Lippens, Well it will be at the beginning, but hopefully, it can be integrated in with the GIS… Mr. Poparad, I see your letter. You’re obviously okay with this. Correct, Sharon? Ms. Lippens, Yes. Mr. Poparad, You got money in your budget? Mr. Thompson, Yes. Mr. Poparad, How is your fund running? Mr. Thompson, Good. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Any questions? Mr. Bucko moved to grant the request for additional appropriations, submitted by Planning/Building Department 239, the amounts of, $40,000 to 3120 Consultants, $85,000 to 4510 Data Processing Equipment and $6,000 to 4510 Data Processing Equipment. Mr. Whitten seconded, motion carried on the following roll call vote:
Bucko - Yes Carmichael - No Mr. Kopp, Motion carries, four to one. Mr. Poparad, Thank you. Mr. Thompson, Thank you.
PROSECUTOR 01.35 Mr. Poparad, Prosecutor. Okay, you’ve got… Brian Gensel, I’ve got a lot of stuff. Mr. Poparad, Yeah. Mr. Carmichael, And nothing to do with you, Mr. Prosecutor. Mr. Poparad, Do you want to start, let’s just do them one at a time, because we’ve got numerous issues here about the grant money. You want to go ahead. Mr. Gensel, Well my understanding, and Jim and Lindy can chime in if I get it wrong. But my understanding is that the State Board of Accounts has now mandated that we put all the salaries that were from the grants, we have to actually put them into the general fund’s salary, the 1110. So that’s, you know, we’re told we have to do that, so that’s why we’re doing it. That would be the 140 and the 153. Mr. Poparad, Yes, but the 144 for the Deputy Prosecutors, it looks like two raises were missed. Mr. Gensel, Actually, those were not, yes, they were missed. Kathy Minick… Mr. Poparad, The first 144 we missed the raise in the budget process. Mr. Gensel, Correct. Mr. Poparad, Okay, let’s do that first. Mr. Carmichael moved to amend the 144 Form for Prosecutor 01.35, Deputy Prosecutor Bernacki-Stafford from $40,302 to $41,052 and Deputy Prosecutor Crowe from 442,339 to $43,089. Mr. Bucko seconded, motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote.
PROSECUTOR VICTIM ASSISTANCE GRANT 140
Mr. Poparad, Okay, now the 140 and the 153, we have to move to the general fund because the State Board of Accounts is upset with us. Mr. Gensel, Well, I think they’ve just changed the rules of the game a little bit. Mr. Poparad, Oh, you think. Mr. Whitten, It’s just some sort of pass through, right. Mr. Poparad, Yes, but they had the salaries in two different… Mr. Hollenbeck, So the grant monies have to be transferred into the general fund. Mr. Poparad, I’m glad you brought that up, that was my next question. Mr. Gensel, Well, I don’t, you know, I can’t answer that as far as how the technical bookkeeping works. I’m just told that, in essence, the State Board of Accounts, I think Jim… Mr. Poparad, Right, they want the salary… Mr. Gensel, They want everything that, salaries regardless of where it comes from has to pass through. Mr. Poparad, Right, they want it in the general fund, we understand that. But does grant money get transferred into the general fund. Mr. Kopp, No, it stays separate. Everything will stay separate as far as their grant, it’ll have salaries, and it’ll have PERF, and it’ll have taxes, and health insurance, but it’s got to be broken out, and that’s what we have pay. Mr. Poparad, I understand that, but does the grant money get transferred in the general fund? Mr. Kopp, No. Mr. Poparad, Well then we can’t, basically what you’re saying is, the general fund is absorbing all these people, and the grant money is going to hang out there. Mr. Kopp, No, the grant money will pay for it, but it’s paid for under the fund, not in the general fund. Mr. Poparad, Well you just told me they wanted the salaries in the general fund. Mr. Kopp, Well it doesn’t transfer to the general fund. It stays where it is, but it has to be appropriated. Mr. Poparad, That’s what I’m saying, okay, we’ve got to come back and appropriate the grant money. Mr. Whitten, Well he’s saying no. Mr. Poparad, Yes, that’s what I’m saying, we… Mr. Kopp, They have to appropriate the grant money. Mr. Gensel, Which I think that’s all part in parcel what I’m doing tonight, isn’t it? Mr. Poparad, No. Mr. Hollenbeck, No, what you’re doing tonight is you’re establishing… Mr. Poparad, You’re freeing up grant money. Mr. Hollenbeck, In the general fund. Mr. Poparad, Yes, you’re moving all these salaries to the general fund. Mr. Bucko, Yes. Mr. Gensel, Well those salaries have already been, they were appropriated in the initial budget process. Mr. Poparad, Right, in the grant fund. Mr. Hollenbeck, So the question is, the money needs to follow the position. Mr. Poparad, Exactly. Mr. Hollenbeck, And I’m confused by what the Auditor is saying. Mr. Poparad, Yes, he’s saying no. Mr. Hollenbeck, I don’t see how that’s happening. Mr. Kopp, They’ve got a fund, and it’s just a general fund that they’ve paid everything out of. The State wants that broken down to salaries, to employment taxes, and insurance, and PERF or whatever. At this time, there was a conversation between Mr. Poparad and Ms. Noll. Mr. Hollenbeck, That can happen in the confines of the grant fund. Mr. Kopp, That’s where it’s going to happen. Mr. Poparad, Okay, wait a minute, stop, stop, stop. Mr. Hollenbeck, I’m sorry. Mr. Poparad, The problem is, he is talking about the general grant fund. We’re talking about our general fund. Mr. Bucko, Gotcha. Mr. Poparad, All he is doing is putting everything in the grant fund. Mr. Kopp, Yes, it’s the grant fund. Mr. Poparad, It’s not in the general fund. Mr. Kopp, Right. Mr. Poparad, What he’s calling the general grant fund is the grant fund. Mr. Bucko, Right, and you’re going to break out how much goes to these… Mr. Poparad, Yes, they want it broken apart. Mr. Kopp, They want it broken up. Mr. Bucko, Right, gotcha. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Hollenbeck, Thank you for that clarification. Mr. Poparad, Okay, do you want to do the first one. We have a 144, and an additional. Mr. Whitten moved to approve the 144 Form, Victim Advocate Rohrich to $27,625, Victim Advocate Miller to $25,525 and Victim Advocate Ramirez to $25,525, and grant the request for additional appropriations, the amount of, $78,675 to 1110 Salaries, submitted by Prosecutor 140. Mrs. Conover seconded, motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Whitten moved to approve the 144 Form, Domestic Violence Prosecutor to $31,243 and grant the request for additional appropriations, the amount of $31,243 to 1110 Salaries, submitted by Prosecutor 531. Mr. Carmichael and Mrs. Conover seconded, motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote.
PROSECUTOR PRETRIAL DIVERSION 38.08 - REQUESTS DENIED Mr. Poparad, Prosecutor 38.08. Mr. Bucko, I have something here on the 01.35, Prosecutor’s IV-D 01.35. Did we talk about that additional? Mr. Gensel, That was the very first thing we did. Mr. Poparad, Yes, we did that. Mr. Bucko, Sorry, excuse me. Mr. Poparad, We’re on the 38.08. Did we miss a raise in this one too? Mr. Gensel, No, we are told that we have to take, and again, Jan, you can help us out here. I think it’s the same thing, except it is one of the discretionary funds. This is the Pretrial Diversion fund. Mr. Poparad, The same thing, we’re getting them all underneath the same hat. Mr. Gensel, Yes. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Whitten, But are we giving someone a raise here? Mr. Gensel, No, it’s just the same thing with the other ones, to my understanding. Mr. Whitten, It looks like a raise to me. I’m missing something, I need help here, 48,440 to 49,320. Mr. Gensel, That’s, I don’t believe that is a raise. I believe it’s the same concept as before. Mr. Poparad, But it’s going to be under the same fund, Dan, the 38.08. Mr. Whitten, It doesn’t look the same as before. Ms. Noll, Dan, look at the second page. I think part of grant fund was cut so they shifted… Mr. Gensel, That’s it. That’s it. Ms. Noll, Part of the salary over. Mr. Gensel, Yes, the grant was cut so we had to take more money out of the 38.08 to maintain Kerri. Mr. Bucko, I see what Dan is saying because when we did the 01.35 fund, we had a raise because we missed it.
Mr. Gensel, Correct. Mr. Gensel, It’s not. It’s a decrease in the grant, so we had to take more money out of the 38.08 to pay it. I think that’s how it works. Mr. Poparad, Okay, that’s clear as mud. Mr. Bucko, Yeah it is, it’s mud. Mr. Poparad, Did you make a motion, Dan? Mr. Whitten, I did not. Mrs. Conover, I will. Mrs. Conover moved to approve the 144 Form, Domestic Violence Prosecutor Eggers from $48,440 to $49,320 and Domestic Violence Prosecutor Spence-Bonczyk from $4,320 to $14,757, and grant the request for additional appropriations, the amount of $11,317 to 1110 Salaries, submitted by Prosecutor Pretrial Diversion 38.08. Mr. Bucko seconded. Mr. Bucko, We’ve got to figure out why… Mrs. Conover, Why’s the… Mr. Bucko, There’s that 800-some-odd dollars or whatever it is? Ms. Noll, Is it 750? This may have been one that also had a, needed a correction. I don’t have a calculator in front of me. Part of the salary was shifted from one. We had, I think there were like three people that needed the 750. Mrs. Conover, 880. Ms. Noll, Okay, then it was because part of the grant was cut, so they shifted it. They’re shifting people around because the grant monies aren’t like they used to be. He’s got lots of funds, and I couldn’t honestly tell you which one it is. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Bucko, It just doesn’t make sense to me. Mr. Poparad, No. Mr. Gensel, That’s the 153 fund, I can tell you that much. The Grant 153 grant. Mr. Poparad, See, I understand the grant part for the second one. I don’t understand the first one. Ms. Noll, Bob. Mr. Poparad, Yes. Ms. Noll, If you look at the 153 Grant… Mr. Poparad, That’s what I was looking at. Ms. Noll, And if you look at this one, the 38.08, the partial salaries… Mr. Poparad, Right. Ms. Noll, Are coming out, he’s shifting bodies from one fund to the other, because the grant funds were cut. Mr. Poparad, If you look on the one sheet, the salary is the same Dan, the 49,320. Mr. Whitten, On what sheet? Mr. Poparad, On the budget orders, if you catch the name, I mean that’s what we approved, this is not a raise. Mr. Whitten, Where you at; it seems to me like he’s amending it, I don’t know. Ms. Noll, The additional is less than the total of the 144. Mr. Poparad, What’s your pleasure here? Did we get a second yet? Did somebody second it? Mr. Whitten, I think you did Ms. Noll, Yes, Mike did. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Whitten, Let’s call the question. Mr. Poparad, Call the roll. Motion incomplete on the following roll call vote:
Whitten - No Bucko - No Mrs. Conover, Until we have some more clarification, these numbers are different. I’m totally confused with this. Mr. Bucko, Here, here. Motion to approve failed on the following roll call vote:
Mr. Poparad, Would you… Mr. Gensel, We’ll figure it out. Mr. Poparad, You bring Kathy back and… Mrs. Wilson, I have some information about this. Kathy talked to me today, and she said this really is part of the 153 Grant. They have cut the total amount that they are allowing them for that grant, so she’s taking money out of other discretionary funds that Brian has to make up the difference. Mr. Poparad, Correct. Mr. Whitten, Can you bring us something? Then it should be equal. Mr. Poparad, Nobody, wait, we’re done here. Nobody has any problems with whatever he’s doing, it’s the fact that this person’s salary appears to be going up $880. Okay, next item. Bring it back next month.
PROSECUTOR IV-D 182 Mr. Poparad, Prosecutor IV-D 182, we have an additional 2,000 for Training; 1,000 for Law Book and $100 to Maintenance. Mr. Whitten moved to grant the request for additional appropriations, submitted by Prosecutor IV-D 182, the amounts of, $2,000 to 3130 Training & Education, $1,000 to 2430 Law Books and $100 to 3610 Maintenance Agreements. Mrs. Conover seconded, motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Kopp, Motion carries, five to zero.
PROSECUTOR CHECK DEFERRAL 281 Mr. Poparad, Okay, we’ve got Prosecutor Check Deferral, an additional 5,000 to Office Supplies; 5,000 to Data; 5,000 to Law Books; 500 to Dues; and 5,000 to Data Processing. Mr. Whitten moved to grant the request for additional appropriations, submitted by Prosecutor Check Deferral 281, the amounts of, $5,000 to 2110 Office Supplies, $5,000 to 4510 Data Processing Equipment, $5,000 to 2430 Law Books, $500 to 3930 Dues & Subscriptions, and $5,000 to 4510 Data Processing Equipment. Mrs. Conover seconded, motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Kopp, Motion carries, five to zero. Mr. Gensel, Okay, we’ll clarify that at our next meeting. Mr. Poparad, Have Kathy send us a nice letter. Mr. Gensel, I will. Thank you.
CONVENTION, RECREATION & VISITORS COMMISSION 93 Mr. Poparad, Okay, Porter County Visitors, tourism and recreation. Lorelei Weimer, Good evening. Mr. Poparad, You have a 144: Director of Finance & Administration from 34,073 to 45,000, Marketing Director from 37,628 to 42,000, Partnership Director from 34,495 to 37,000, and a PR person from 34,189 to 37,000, this is the 144. You have additionals for all of the above. You wanna talk? You guys got questions? Ms. Weimer, And I did send you a letter outlining not only the 144 request, but in addition to that, we have a request for $100,000 to Contractual Services for some really critical projects that we think for the County. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Carmichael, What’s your balance in your savings account? Ms. Weimer, We’re at, we have two different funds. We have one, a rainy day fund, which is over 100,000, which is about 10% of our budget. Then we have another fund that we put aside, not knowing what the additional cost to the visitors center was going to be. So we have about 200,000 in our rainy day fund. Mr. Carmichael, None of this is anticipated. This is in the bank. Ms. Weimer, This is in the bank. That’s correct. Mr. Carmichael, Not in the 2008 budget. Ms. Weimer, No, no, it’s actual monies in our account. Mr. Whitten, Do you have a copy of her letter? I don’t have one here. I saw it, but. Ms. Weimer, I have a copy if you want it. Mr. Whitten, Yes, could I have a copy. Mr. Carmichael, Where are these jobs advertised? Ms. Weimer, These are jobs that we currently have. These are positions that we currently have, and the one person, the Director of Finance is actually classified as Administrative Assistant, and we want her to actually be equivalent to Assistant Director. She oversees the entire operations of the visitors center. She does our human resources. She does all of our accounting. So she’s been doing all these positions at the salary of an administrative assistant, which she hasn’t been that for years. Mr. Whitten, So I mean, I guess my question is, if I could, Mr. Chairman. We’re just taking these four positions, and we’re saying we think they do a lot more than we’re paying for, so we want to give them increases. Is that the long and short of it? Mr. Poparad, I think that’s it in a nutshell. Mrs. Conover, Is there a reason that you didn’t request these pay increases during the budget? Ms. Weimer, I did. Mr. Poparad, She did. Mrs. Conover, Okay. Mr. Poparad, It didn’t fly. Mrs. Conover, So the Council voted no during budget request time. Ms. Weimer, That is correct. Mrs. Conover, And that’s why you’ve come back up this evening? Ms. Weimer, Yes. Mr. Poparad, Did you lose your marketing, who did you lose? You lost somebody. Ms. Weimer, The ones that we keep turning over… Mr. Bucko, You lost two. Ms. Weimer, The ones that we keep turning over is Partnership Development and PR, and what we have found over the years is that less people are even applying for the positions, because what we’re doing is just advertising the salary, because we know we don’t have that as a negotiation. The resumes are just getting less and less. Our Marketing Director is doing the equivalent of two positions that is normally in the CVB. You have a person who does specifically the internet, and the website, and technology. Then you have the other person do the advertising, and we have one person doing both of those. Mr. Carmichael, What’s your turnover rate out there? Ms. Weimer, Within, I’ve been there as Director for seven years, and we have turned over every position, with the exception of mine. Then the Public Relations and Partnership Development Director, we’ve done that two or three times. So that’s the challenge that we’re facing. Then continually having to train people, we keep them on an average for about a year, then they exit because a lot of our positions are also in the private sector, so it’s easy to get stolen, and because they can pay a lot more. Mr. Bucko, It’s a situation where you end up being, I guess, you can say the nursery for somebody getting experience. You just lose that employee, and then you’re back to the very beginning. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, but I promised Dan I will say it quicker. Mr. Whitten, Yeah. Mr. Bucko, But it’s just--I’ve got to quit laughing. Mr. Carmichael, Speak up. Mr. Bucko, I can hear me perfectly. You have some people that are just more marketable than others. That hasn’t got anything to do with what their job is, and how they do it, nothing at all. If you’re more marketable that means you’re more competitive in the market place, and people steal you. It’s just that simple. If you want to choose to keep the people, and enhance the overall services over a longer period of time, you simply have to maintain the payroll to keep those individuals or they’ll leave, and that’s just the choice of this County. We did that in a couple areas, and I believe it was the right thing, and I believed it was the right thing at budget time, and I would support it again. Ms. Weimer, And one of the challenges that we have is the Director of Finance is we’re elevating that person to second-in-command, and yet, on the current budget they make the least out of the five full-time staff members. Mrs. Conover, I can see that, but we’re looking at a $10,000 raise from, you know, a form of tax money here for that one position; 7,000 for the Marketing Director; 2,000 in the other two. And maybe the Director of Finance & Administration, because they are the second-in-command, and that’s their duty and their right on the bottom, you know, with the Public Relations Director, it’s a more detailed job. But still, it’s a big chunk of money to be just jumping up to. I sat with interest and read the newspapers, and a lot of county employees were denied raises that probably were more conducive to why they do, last year. I guess I just, that’s a huge jump in salary with taxpayers’ money. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Anybody else? Mr. Whitten, I guess I would echo what Karen said. Quite frankly, almost everybody came to us and said they had employees that deserve more, and I think they were right on every single one of them, but we had to tighten up. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Anybody else? Are we going to do the 144 first? Call the roll, please. Mr. Whitten, Do we have a motion? Mr. Poparad, Oh, I’m sorry. Mr. Whitten, Was there a motion? Mr. Bucko moved to approve the 144 Form, submitted by Convention, Recreation & Visitors Commission 93. Mr. Poparad, Do we have a second? Okay, motion dies for the lack of a second. Anybody want to throw something out on the table or are we going to discuss it or kill it? Mr. Whitten moved to deny the 144 Form, submitted by Convention, Recreation & Visitors Commission 93. Mr. Whitten, Or we can stay here all night. Mr. Poparad, Anyone want to second that motion? Mrs. Conover seconded.
Mr. Poparad, Discussion? You want to kill the whole thing, Dan. That’s your motion? Mr. Poparad, Anybody got anything? This is on the 144. Mr. Carmichael, Bob, I think there should be some sort of a compromise here where she gets a portion of what she’s requesting. There needs to be some stability up there. You need to get some family people in. A man with a family can’t raise his family on that 34. So I would, you know, for what it’s worth, I would split the difference with her on these various requests. Mr. Bucko, 60/40? Mr. Poparad, Wait a minute. Mr. Carmichael, But you’ve got a motion… Mr. Poparad, We’ve got a motion to deny the request. Call the roll, please, on the 144. Mr. Carmichael, What’s a no vote mean? Mr. Poparad, That we’re going to deny this request. Mr. Carmichael, A no vote? Mr. Poparad, A… Mr. Whitten, A yes vote. Mr. Poparad, A yes means no. Mr. Carmichael, A yes vote says no. Mr. Poparad, Correct. Motion to deny carried on the following roll call vote:
Conover - Yes Poparad - Yes Mr. Kopp, Three to two. Mr. Poparad, Okay, do you want to come back next month? Ms. Weimer, That’s fine. Mr. Poparad, That means the additionals are off the table. Do you want to resubmit another proposal? Ms. Weimer, For the salaries? Mr. Poparad, Yes. Ms. Weimer, Okay. Mr. Poparad, Bring back your 100,000 for Contractual too. We’ll just table the whole thing. All of its gone. Ms. Weimer, Could we actually reconsider the 100,000 for Contractual, only from the standpoint, we’ve got some contracts on hold to start the projects.
Mr. Poparad, So you contracted stuff, and not had the money? Mr. Poparad, Does that, I’ve got to ask… Mr. Whitten, Can she do that? Mr. Hollenbeck, Pardon me? Mr. Whitten, Can she do that? Mr. Poparad, I want to ask this question. The money that Bill asked you about in your savings account--your 200,000--will this 100,000 take away from that number? Ms. Weimer, No, we have another 100,000 waiting for these projects. Mr. Poparad, Okay, if the Board, do you want to consider the $100,000 additional on its own? Mr. Carmichael moved to grant request for additional appropriations, submitted by Convention, Recreation & Visitors Commission 93, the amount of $100,000 to 3950 Contractual Services. Mr. Bucko seconded, motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Poparad, I’ve got to ask a question. Dave. Mr. Hollenbeck, Yes. Mr. Poparad, Is their budget subject to the State with the tax rates? Mr. Hollenbeck, No. I’m sorry, you mean not spending it until… Mr. Poparad, No, the additional we just approved. Mr. Hollenbeck, It is not. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Hollenbeck, The only thing that’s subject to that rule is general fund from state property taxes. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Alright. Thank you. Ms. Weimer, Okay, thank you.
COUNCIL 01.25 Mr. Poparad, Okay, we have an additional from the Council for $2,500 to Overtime since we eliminated comp-time. Mr. Carmichael moved to grant the request for additional appropriations, submitted by Council 01.25. Mr. Whitten seconded, motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote.
AUDITOR 01.02 Mr. Poparad, Auditor. We have an additional $260.36 to Dues; 2,200 to Consultants; and 20,000 to Overtime twice. Mr. Kopp, That’s for two different things. The 206,000 for Dues & Subscriptions… Mr. Poparad, 260,000? Mr. Kopp, Is the Auditor dues for the State. Mr. Poparad, $260. Mr. Bucko, $260. Mr. Kopp, $260, what did I say? Mr. Poparad, Thousand. Mr. Kopp, I’m sorry, that would be good. Mr. Bucko, Good try, though. Mr. Kopp, Yeah, alright, we’ll take $260. The 2,200 for Consultants is the software to do the homestead tax refunds. Valpo has paid half of it for what they got in their refund, and our share is 2,200. The 22,000 for Overtime, or 20,000 for Overtime, I had 13,000 roughly of overtime last year, which I’m asking to reinstate for this year, plus we figured with the GIS system that we’re putting in that there’s going to be some overtime involved in that. So we’re asking for $20,000 to cover that. Then the other 20,000, we had last year $25,000 for the Hamer Software to get it started. We used actually $572, $524, and we’re to the point that my office has been putting time in on this already this year, and the Treasurer’s office will be, and we need to pay the people for the work they’re doing. So that’s the three things we’re asking for. Mr. Poparad, Okay Mr. Kopp, Or four things. Mr. Bucko, That’s really not too bad, because he had about 20, about 32,000…
Mr. Poparad, Well I, you know… Mr. Poparad, Yes, we eliminated the comp, and obviously we’re going to overtime. But I’ve got to be honest, I have a problem with handing out $40,000 of overtime in the second month of the year. Because if we hand you 40,000, and I’m not saying you won’t spend 40,000, but you’ll be damn close in spending 40,000. Mr. Kopp, If you want to give us part of it, we can start there and come back. Mr. Poparad, Well I think that’s what, I think that’s some of the tactics we were looking at, just because, I mean, obviously, there will be some overtime, but. Mr. Bucko, He just had about 12-5. Mr. Poparad, Well I mean it doesn’t matter what the number is. If we give him $15,000, by the end of the year it’ll be gone. That’s just reality, so. Mr. Bucko, Well, yes, I understand exactly what you’re saying. That’s kind of why I figured… Mr. Poparad, I mean if we give him half… Mr. Bucko, That’s why I figured the matrix the way is was. Mr. Poparad, Yes, well, you know, overtime has a way of being used, so I mean if we give him half and he has to watch it, then maybe they’ll prioritize or whatever. Mr. Bucko, There’s nothing wrong with that philosophy. I mean, you know, he won’t use it all up in a month. Mr. Poparad, Right. Exactly, I mean none of this is set in stone anyway. Do we want, I’m just throwing that out for suggestions, and I’m looking for a motion on this. Mrs. Conover moved to grant the request for additional appropriations, submitted by Auditor 01.02, the amounts of, $260.36 to 3930 Dues & Subscriptions, $2,200 to 3120 Consultants, and amend the two $20,000 requests to $10,000 to 1130 Overtime. Mr. Whitten seconded. Mr. Poparad, You seconded that Dan. Mr. Whitten, I second that emotion. Mrs. Conover, Emotion. Mr. Poparad, Emotion? Any questions? Comments? Call the roll. Motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Kopp, Motion carries, five to zero.
ATTORNEY’S REPORT
RESOLUTION NO. 08-2-26
A RESOLUTION OF THE PORTER COUNTY COUNCIL
WHEREAS, the Porter County Council has as in the past, pursuant to I.C. 6-1.1-12.1-1, established economic revitalization areas within certain portions of unincorporated Westchester, Washington, Center and Morgan Township within Porter County, Indiana; and,
Mr. Hollenbeck, Mr. Chairman, if I can take the next two items. For the first time in a number of years Porter County received a tax abatement request from Surtec in this case. That triggered going back in our records, which is this file here, in determining exactly the status. In order to get tax abatement, the property must be located within an economic revitalization area. Statutorily, in the wisdom of the general assembly, those ERA designations are windows of opportunity. They have a beginning date and an ending date. Mr. Poparad, Okay, everybody heard the attorney. I’m sure you all got these letters. I guess our first question is, do we want to reopen the ERA zone? Mrs. Conover, Yes. Mrs. Conover moved to extend the Economic Revitalizations Areas retroactively from December 31, 2005 to December 31, 2011. Mr. Bucko, Sure. Mr. Poparad, Okay, that means we’ve got a motion. You want to make the second? Mr. Bucko seconded. Mr. Poparad, Okay, any questions? Mr. Hollenbeck, Let me pass out the resolution. It will be Resolution 08-2-26, and what it does is, under the enabling statute, it reopens the opportunity to ask for a tax abatement by effectively, retroactively, reestablishing the five areas that you did between 1983 and 1985. They are in Washington, Center, Westchester and Morgan Townships economic revitalization areas. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Mr. Whitten moved to adopt Resolution 08-2-26 as submitted. Mrs. Conover seconded. Mr. Bucko, Are we renewing the one on Route 8, the small one, or is that part of that? Mr. Hollenbeck, You’re doing all of them. There are five of them, I recite them in the Resolution. Mr. Carmichael, What township is that, Boone? Mr. Hollenbeck, This request? Mr. Carmichael, The one he’s talking about is in Boone, isn’t it? Mr. Hollenbeck, Oh, I don’t know. Mr. Carmichael, The elevator. Mr. Bucko, That’s not in there. Mr. Hollenbeck, The only ones I could find were Resolutions 83-3 through Resolutions 85-6. If there’s another one I’ll look for it. Mr. Bucko, There was one more on 40 acres across from Mike Aylesworth. Mr. Hollenbeck, Jan is shaking her head yes. Okay. Mr. Bucko, Yes. Mr. Hollenbeck, Well, my thought would be to go ahead and do this if you’re inclined to do it. I’ll revisit that issue when we have to do it for another one we’ll do it. The Surtec request is not in the Boone one. Mr. Poparad, Okay, you made the motion to adopt the Resolution. Mr. Whitten, By title only. Mr. Poparad, Karen seconded it. Call the roll, please. Motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Hollenbeck, I’m going to send down three copies of this, if you could start signing them, and we’ll then work on that extra ERA area. The next step, I would encourage you, Jan, have we provided them with that matrix test? Ms. Noll, Yes, it’s in their packet. Mr. Hollenbeck, Take out the Surtec application, work your way through that matrix, and then at next month’s meeting or the next meeting, we can see what we come out with. Is anyone from Surtec here tonight? Okay. Do you understand where we are with the process? Have you been provided with the matrix. Michael White, This here? Is that what you’re referring to? Mr. Hollenbeck, There’s a bunch of questions you have to answer. Okay. And you filled that out? Mr. White, We have, and you should have it. Mr. Hollenbeck, Okay. Alright, then that will help us as well as we look at it. We’re just not in a position tonight, I don’t think, to decide that. We had to go through these steps of reestablishing the ability to look at it. End of my report, Mr. Chairman. VALPARAISO EDC APPOINTMENT Mr. Poparad, Okay, Valpo EDC Appointment. Is that the one, did we get a letter on that, Jan? Ms. Noll, I’m sorry, what? Mr. Poparad, The Valpo EDC appointment. Ms. Noll, We sent the letter out; Lori Good called and said she would send a letter, and I haven’t gotten it yet. Mr. Poparad, So do we reappoint Mr. Baird? Ms. Noll, That’s what she said. Mr. Whitten, Who is it? Mr. Poparad, Michael Baird for the Valpo EDC. Mr. Hollenbeck, You have one appointment to that. Mr. Poparad, Yes, Michael Baird. His term expired, but I think if we don’t get another one, we just put him back on, don’t we. Mrs. Conover, Yes. I didn’t know he was up for reappointment. Mr. Carmichael, You want to hold it off? Mr. Bucko, Does it come as a recommendation? Mr. Poparad, Yes. Does he want back on? Mr. Hollenbeck, Put it on next month’s meeting, and we’ll make sure we get a letter. Mrs. Conover, Yes. SECOND READING Mr. Whitten moved to approve Second Reading. Mr. Carmichael seconded, motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. CONVENTION, RECREATION & VISITORS COMMISSION RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the PCCRVC is the official agency for destination marketing, planning and development and is a key economic driver of sustainable tourism growth
Porter County Council Mr. Poparad, We have a resolution for the Porter County Council, the Visitors Bureau requested us to pass a resolution in support of the Tourism Board not playing with Lake County. I can read it or we can just enter it into the record if you so desire. Mr. Bucko, I got it in my packet, and I read it. Mr. Poparad, Well, do you want to make a motion to support it? Mr. Bucko moved to approve the Resolution of the Porter County Council supporting the Porter County Convention, Recreation & Visitors Commission, as submitted. Mrs. Conover seconded. Mr. Carmichael, Bob, I think we can stay independent, and still cooperate where we want to cooperate. Mr. Poparad, You and Speros need to have lunch somewhere, and just work it all out. All in favor of adopting the Resolution, say aye. Motion carried on the following voice vote:
Bucko - Yes Carmichael - Yes Mr. Poparad, We adopted the Resolution. It will be entered in to the record, Lori.
Mr. Poparad, Anything else that anybody wants to talk about? Kevin Cornett, I’ve got something. Mr. Chairman, my name is Kevin Cornett, and I live here in Valparaiso. Mr. Poparad, You’re going to have to come up to the mic so we can hear. Mr. Bucko, So Mike can hear you. Mr. Poparad, Yes, so he can hear you too. Mr. Cornett, Yes, Mr. Chairman, my name is Kevin Cornett, and I live here in Valparaiso. I came here this evening to discuss the Council’s position on the RDA funding. As I’ve sat here this evening, I listened to Mr. Carmichael point out that we’re heading into a recession. I see our Porter County Sheriff sitting here, coming with his hat in his hand looking for extra funding for a much needed position for our sheriff’s department. We have people wanting wage increases, and a lot of other funding that needs to be, basically, tended to, and I’m just wondering if this ten-year commitment that you’ve all agreed to is a wise idea at this time. Mr. Bucko, I don’t know that I’ve agreed to a ten-year commitment. Mr. Carmichael, Yes, what’s the ten year commitment? Mr. Cornett, The ten-year commitment in House Bill 1220. Mr. Poparad, Well that being said, Kevin, I don’t know if it’s a little premature to have this discussion until we figure out where all the dust settles. Mr. Whitten, We haven’t agreed to a ten-year commitment, and I voted no to begin with. Mr. Cornett, Okay, but the House Bill is under, it’s not quite dead yet. Mr. Poparad, Right. Mr. Cornett, So if, but if does pass, are we committed to that? Mr. Whitten, It would seem so. Mr. Bucko, I don’t know. I don’t know the context other than somebody says it’s a ten-year commitment. When and if it passes, and it comes our way, I think we can find out what we need to find out about it. But it’s the State Legislators bill, of course, and I don’t know what we could talk about right now, anyway. Mr. Cornett, Well I guess that’s what I need to know. I guess maybe I’m confused on this. From what I see, and from what I understand, House Bill 1220 has included from the Porter County Council a commitment to a ten-year agreement at 3.5 million dollars a year for ten years with kind of a clause in it stating that three-quarters of the other board members have to approve us getting out of this agreement. So that makes it kind of a; nobody knows what I’m talking about? Mr. Carmichael, Wait a minute. I think… Mr. Hollenbeck, If I can clarify. That is certainly the version that came out of the House. Mr. Cornett, Okay. Mr. Hollenbeck, The Senate Finance Committee voted to gut that entire provision, and send the entire matter to a summer study commission. Mr. Cornett, Okay, so that issue’s not… Mr. Hollenbeck, At this point, the Senate, obviously, it has to pass both Houses, and be signed by the Governor. At this point, the Senate Finance Committee report to the Senate floor is to gut that bill, and send the matter to a summer study commission. That’s where we are right now. And what’s going to happen between now and March 15th is anyone’s speculation at this point, as to what will come out of it. Mr. Cornett, Well if this thing comes up, and it does pass, the Governor signs it, then what. I mean is that the… Mr. Hollenbeck, I can’t, to be that, at this point, that’s speculation upon speculation. Nobody knows. It’s hard to react to something when you don’t have a clue as to what, if anything, may come out of it. So I don’t know what we could do or say at this point. Mr. Cornett, Well I guess I just wondered where this agreement or potential commitment came from. You know, what that a… Mr. Hollenbeck, I don’t think it came from these people. Mr. Bucko, It didn’t come from this people. Mr. Poparad, No. Mr. Bucko, This board. Mr. Whitten, On a four to three vote, we voted ourselves into the RDA. Mr. Cornett, Okay. Mr. Whitten, And Chet Dobis has proposed something downstate in the House that would prevent us from getting out for ten years. You’re absolutely right to have reservations and concerns. You may have read in the paper I have the same concerns you do. But at this point, it seems to not be something that’s going to be voted on, unless they change their mind, it’s going to be investigation in the summer committee. But you’re right, that would prevent us from getting out for ten years. Mr. Cornett, Okay, so this is a Chet Dobis fired deal? Mr. Bucko, Yes. Mr. Cornett, Okay. Mr. Carmichael, Are you the same Kevin that writes the articles in the newspaper? Mr. Cornett, I am. Mr. Carmichael, Okay. Do you see any benefit to the South Shore coming to Valparaiso? Mr. Cornett, I, you know what, I don’t have a problem with the program itself. I have a problem with our entire tax system right now. The State of Indiana is in a huge property tax upheaval, as I’m sure the Porter County Council understands. To step off into a funding, when we really don’t know how we’re going to fund, how we’re going to fund to fix all these potholes in the road, to commit to any type of financing something, it just seems like we’re getting the cart ahead of the horse. And if we can bring a rail system in here it needs to be, I think it needs to be on a referendum. I think everybody needs to have a chance to look at this plan. Mr. Poparad, Okay, we’re not going to have a South Shore debate. Is there anybody else? Mr. Cornett, Well he asked me a question, Bob. Mr. Poparad, Yes. Mr. Carmichael, Okay, thanks. Mr. Poparad, Anybody else want to say anything? Mr. Whitten, I’d like to move to adjourn, Mr. Chairman. I’ve got to get out of here. Mr. Poparad, Alan, if you want to speak.
Alan Hewitt, Alan Hewitt, Liberty Township. I’d like to address the Council about the RDA. First up, just let me, I’d like to say I’d like to see Porter County get out of the RDA. I don’t feel that RDA is representing a majority of taxpayers. Of course, this goes to the South Shore, but that’s what the RDA has been pushing, and proposing to fund. There was a Times poll that showed 71% of the people that responded, there was almost a thousand people that responded for against the South Shore expansion. The RDA is not representing the majority of the people in this area. Mr. Poparad, Okay. Thanks, Alan. Mr. Carmichael, Thanks, Alan. Mrs. Conover, Move to adjourn.
Mr. Bucko, Second.
PORTER COUNTY COUNCIL Attest: James Kopp, Auditor |
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February 26, 2008