Posey grants abatements, adds personnel with growth

By Dave Pearce

Posey County is on the grow. If you don’t believe it, just ask those who carry the workload in the Posey County Area Plan office.

With subdivisions being built on both ends of the county, more families will have options for residences in Posey County while they work here. Members of the Posey County Council met in regular session at the Hovey House on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, at 9 a.m. and gave confirmatory approval for an abatement for a large Consolidated Grain and Barge project. Later in the meeting, a preliminary approval was granted for a building project for Superior Property Holdings and NIX Companies in Poseyville.

Matthew Nix was on hand to represent the companies and addressed the Council regarding a new abatement application.

Nix stated that the application concerns a project at the company’s Poseyville headquarters and will include a new office space that will allow all NIX Administrators to be housed together and have 12,600 square feet of manufacturing space on Frontage Road next door to a current portion of the company. Nix stated the building will be built directly west of the current buildings and will accommodate 20 new employees.

Members of the council gave preliminary approval for the abatement with 40 percent of the company’s employees currently residing in Posey County. Members of the Council approved the preliminary real property abatement resolution for ten years and the personal property abatement resolution for seven years.

Jason Shaw with Consolidated Grain and Barge addressed the Council regarding the company’s abatement application. The preliminary abatement request was heard and approved in last month’s meeting and members of the Council approved the confirmatory resolution for a real property abatement for ten years and a personal property abatement for seven years in this week’s meeting.

As the county continues to attract new housing and company investments, Council Attorney Josh Clayborn addressed the Council with a suggestion that the County impose an abatement application fee. He stated that many other counties impose a fee to help cover additional legal costs. Clayborn also stated that the Council should consider updating the scoring sheet regarding abatements to reflect the importance of retaining existing business and attracting new businesses in the county.

In other business:

* The Council voted to approve a new $45000-per-year maintenance position for the county. Posey Commission President Bill Collins explained the job would be a 35-hour, Monday-through-Friday employee who would report to the Commissioners but be under the guidance of the Sheriff’s Office, since much of the work performed would be at the jail but could float to the highway garage and Coroners building as needed. Collins stated that this person could be called in for emergencies and would be eligible for comp time.

*Posey County Auditor Maegen Greenwell’s request to turn a part-time position into a full-time position in the Auditor’s office was approved. Greenwell stated that, as with all the offices and departments seeing increased workloads, her office is also affected by the increases. The addition would do away with the part-time position and add six hours weekly to make it permanently full time. The starting pay for this position will be $50,360, comparable to the Third deputy in the Treasurer’s and Clerk’s offices.

*Kari Mobley, with Visit Posey County, requested an additional appropriation in the amount of $18,500 into the Contractual Service line of the Convention, Visitors and Tourism Fund. After some discussion, the appropriation was approved.

*Dustin Seitz was on hand to represent the Posey County Sheriff’s office and gave the following inmate housing report. As of the meeting date, the jail was housing 13 inmates from the Indiana Department of Corrections along with eight Vanderburgh County inmates and 98 from Posey County for a total of 117.

*Posey County Dispatch Director Jamie Bradford addressed the Council regarding the ongoing radio issues. Bradford stated that she has met with several Council members and Commissioners, along with J&K (radio provider), regarding the current radio system and the options to improve it. Bradford stated that they looked at all options. Decision-makers had discussed the pros and cons of an 800 MHz system, including cost, and the addition of designated public safety channels.

With the improvement and additional responsibilities, Bradford requested the services of two additional dispatchers. She explained that this would help with designating one dispatcher per shift to a public safety channel.

Council members discussed adding new dispatchers either now or once the radio situation had been resolved. Members of the Council asked Bradford to attend the April meeting to discuss it further.

The Council will meet again on Tuesday, April 14 at 9 a.m. at the Hovey House in Mount Vernon.