Housing Rehab Grant Passes on 2nd Try

COUNCILMAN SIZEMORE CALLS FOR A SECOND VOTE

    Several months ago, council voted to reject a grant offered by the Southeastern Indiana Regional Planning Commission which would have provided funds to hire local contractors to re-hab homes owned by low income elderly and disabled county residents. The grant would have required a match of $21,821 from the county to qualify for over $350,000 in funds.  At this month's meeting, Councilman Joe Sizemore said that he had changed his mind about the grant and asked for second vote, though he did not give the reasoning behind his change of heart. He noted that grant applicants had already been lined up. Councilman Keith Hall spoke against the grant, noting that it sets a precedent for requests down the road. Councilman Leffingwell did not like the fact that $70,000 of the grant money will be spent on administering the grant. In the end, council voted 4-3 to take the $21,821 out of their contingency fund to qualify for the matching grant. Voting for the project were council members Joe Sizemore, Becky Oglesby, Dean McQueen and Jeff Koch. Voting against were council members Keith Hall, Daryl Kramer, and Aaron Leffingwell.

COUNCIL CALLS FOR SPECIAL MEETING JULY 12 TO MEET ROAD FUNDING DEADLINE

   County Engineer Ted Cooley approached council with a list of county road projects totalling 2 million dollars. The list had been drawn up as one of the requirements for the county to qualify for 1 million dollars in matching road funding as a result of Indiana Senate Bill 67. Mr. Cooley said the requisite road assessment had been performed though some documents were still out. What he needed now was the signature of all council members on a letter of financial commitment to the state.

   The list of projects included 29 road projects and 7 bridge projects. Several council members balked at signing the letter because the funding for the county's portion of some of the projects was unclear. Council President Becky Oglesby said, "For next meeting, you guys need to know what bridge is coming out of which fund." Commissioner Tom Linkel, who was present along with the other commissioners, worried that unless council signed the letter soon, the county would miss the deadline of July 31 and lose the entire matching grant of a million dollars. Councilman Jeff Koch agreed, saying, "I don't want to put this money in jeopardy. Let's get this ball rolling. Again, we're going to be one of the counties that doesn't get the money." Mr. Leffingwell suggested a special meeting to be held solely for the purpose of looking over the project list, checking the funding, and seeing the documents currently missing from the study. Mr. Hall also suggested that the commissioners simplify the letter and present it to council to sign. All agreed on the  date of July 12 at 7:00 for the meeting.

ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES ADDED TO HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT 

    Commissioner Linkel said that the county highway department's only mechanic was leaving his post on July 15.  He asked  permission to hire a new mechanic, possibly someone currently working as a county truck driver, and then to fill the resulting vacant truck driver position. Council was amenable to his suggestion. Mr. Linkel also then requested that he be allowed to advertise for a second mechanic to work at the county garage. Mr. Hall asked if a second mechanic was necessary, since the pay plus benefits for the position would cost $60,000. Mr. Linkel said he thought there should be two people working in the garage at all times as a safety precaution. He said, "It's not a matter of savings. It's a matter of safety and getting the work done." After some discussion on the pay rate for a second mechanic, council voted unanimously to fund the position.

NEW VOTING MACHINES A POSSIBILITY

    Clerk of Courts Karla Bauman approached council not with a request but with a warning about possible future expenditures. She said that the Indiana legislature had recently passed a law which changes straight ticket voting. In the future, no votes for county council-at-large candidates will be recorded if a voter votes a straight ticket ballot. She said that the county's voting machines were not equipped to handle the change and that probably, the state board of elections would soon be moving to de-certify the type of voting machine the county currently uses. Such a move would necessitate the purchase of new voting machines at considerable expense. She promised to keep council aware of any new developments. She also mentioned that she would like a council representative to sit on a committee to discuss a future move away from voting precinct locations and towards a smaller number of county voting centers.

REQUESTS FOR PUBLIC SAFETY TAX REVENUE

    The list of local fire departments requesting revenue from the newly enacted public safety tax include the West College Corner Volunteer Fire Department, the New Trenton Volunteer Fire Department, and the Blooming Grove Volunteer Fire Department. The Blooming Grove VFD requested $10,000 to help establish a satellite fire station on the east side of Causeway Road for when the Causeway Road Bridge is closed for repairs.

    The next council meeting, which will be held to address only the topic of the county-state cost-sharing in a program to repair roads and bridges, will be on July 12 at 7:00. The next regular council meeting will be held on July 28 at 7:00.