Commissioners appoint Baettinger for additional duties

By Lois Mittino Gray

Someone needs to keep an eye on deteriorating structures and unsafe living conditions in our local area and Posey County Building Commissioner Ed Batteiger is the man charged with this task. He travels daily scanning the landscape and meeting with homeowners about conditions before notifying the County Commissioners about unhandled concerns.

Commissioner President Bill Collins informed his fellow team members at their May 20, meeting that the town of Poseyville presented a signed ordinance that would allow Batteiger to provide building commission services to the town of Poseyville, too. “I believe this would be beneficial for the growth of this area, but I would like more time to discuss it with my fellow Commissioners and Poseyville town officials,” replied Commissioner Greg Newman. Several new housing units are going up in Poseyville at this time.

The issue was tabled until the second meeting in June to allow time for County Attorney Joe Harrison, and Poseyville officials to draft an interlocal agreement.

Building Commissioner Batteiger updated the Commissioners on the ongoing nuisance complaint at 3921 Davis Road as part of his job. He stated that progress has been made and that one area of concern still needs to be addressed. Homeowner Gary Lindsey was present at the meeting and addressed the Commissioners regarding the progress made to date. “Between the weather and my health issues, I am slowly making progress,” he assured them. Commissioner Newman made a motion to table this complaint until the second meeting in June to allow for further progress to be made and the motion carried with a vote of 3-0.

Kyle Jones, Posey County Health Department Director, addressed the Commissioners with a request to acquire one of the recently surplused ambulances. He stated that the department intends to use the ambulance as a mobile health clinic, offering services such as vaccines and routine health monitoring in underserved areas of our Community. He plans to publicize these programs via Facebook, newsprint, and church bulletins to get the word out. Commissioner Newman made a motion to transfer the surplus ambulance to the Health Department and the motion carried with a vote of 3-0.

Jones also brought up the need to update the current Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Posey County Soil and Water. This MOU allows the Health Department to provide Soil and Water with 10 monthly well-water testing kits. “This is a widely used service and we would like to continue providing this support,” he encouraged. Jones was asked to present an updated MOU at the next meeting.

President Collins opened the bid for a county reassessment contract from Tyler Technologies for $301,650.00 for five-years. Posey County Assessor Nancy Hoehn reviewed the bid and found it acceptable, so it was approved 3-0.

Angela Wiley, Posey County Highway Garage, provided the Commissioners with the 2025 Highway annual report, as required by Indiana Code, and it was unanimously accepted.

Posey County Chief Deputy Sheriff Jeremy Fortune addressed the Commissioners regarding two proposals to update the body camera contract and add additional dash cameras to all vehicles. The Commissioners heard from a representative of Axon, the current body camera vendor. Chief Deputy Fortune stated that the difference between the two quotes is the number of dash cameras. Quote One is for all of the current body cameras, plus 12 dash cameras for $350,214.53. The second quote is for all of the current body cameras, plus 23 dash cameras at a cost of $458,599.73. Commissioner Newman asked if 23 dash cameras would cover the entire fleet. “Yes, and most of the reserve fleet/backup vehicles, too,” he responded.

The quoted numbers include service and installation, and this would include updated body camera equipment at the end of the contract and updated dash cameras as that technology advances. Commissioner Eric Koester made a motion to send a recommendation to the Posey County Council for approval of the second option which provides for 23 additional dash cameras at a cost of $458,599.73. The motion carried with a vote of 3-0.

Commissioner Koester stated that he had been contacted by a resident regarding the condition of Levon Road. “While researching these issues, I was informed that this road is not county-maintained,” he announced. He made a motion to allow the County Attorney to draft a letter to the homeowner about the situation and it passed 3-0.

In Department Updates, Posey County Chief Deputy Sheriff Jeremy Fortune provided the following housing report: 15 Department of Corrections, 27 Vanderburgh County, and 99 Posey County inmates for a total of 141 incarcerations. $23,520 in revenue was received from Vanderburgh County for per diem this month.

Carrie Thompson, Posey County Emergency Management Agency Director, updated the Commissioners regarding ongoing issues with the Wadesville siren. She said that J&K is still working on trying to find solutions for the Wadesville siren concerns. Thompson stated that she has applied for two different grants to allow generators to be placed at several siren sites and for automated siren transmission equipment and will update the Commissioners as she learns more about results.