Way is paved for 210 homesites in Posey

By Lois Mittino Gray

The Posey County Commissioners paved the way for more new housing to come to the county at their March 17, meeting by approving a zoning change from Agriculture to Residential Single Family. The newly-zoned area will become a residential subdivision with 210 homesites developed by MJC Development on 113.03 acres at or near 6400 Caborn Road over a three- to four-year period.

Jerry Cottner, Posey County Area Plan Director, presented the Commissioners with the zoning request. He said the request was heard at the Area Plan meeting on March 12 and passed there with a vote of 6-0.

Posey County Commissioner President Bill Collins opened up a public hearing on the project at the meeting. Bob Goebel, 5930 Caborn Road, addressed the Commissioners regarding several concerns, including drainage and traffic patterns. Debbie Head, 5930 Caborn Road, addressed the Commissioners regarding traffic concerns with having one entrance and one exit, and the safety concerns involved.

After listening, Collins made a motion to approve this request and Eric Koester seconded. The motion carried with a vote of 2-0,as Commissioner Greg Newman was not present to cast his third vote.

The public hearing was a chance for eighth-grade students from Mount Vernon Junior High School to see citizens participate in public concerns on their field trip. Collins warmly welcomed field trip participants to the meeting.

Under Old Business, bids for two projects were awarded. Justin Hoffman,

Hoffman stated that American StructurePoint recommends that the bid from Ragle Inc., in the amount of $12,460,089.51, be considered the lowest, most responsive, and responsible bid. The commissioners awarded the bid to Ragle Inc. in the amount of $12,460,089.51.

The Commissioners also opened highway paving bids at the last meeting and took them under advisement. After review, Steve Schenk, Posey County Highway Superintendent, recommended for Section VII A: Chip and Seal: JH Rudolph; Section VII B: Patching Material: JH Rudolph; and Davis Enterprises and for Section VIII: Hot Mix Paving: David Enterprises for low bid and JH Rudolph for backup bid.

Cimmissioners approved Schenk’s recommendation..

Also under Unfinished Business, Posey County Building Commissioner, Ed Battieger, reported there has been progress on the Highway 69 South nuisance complaint.

Battieger also discussed the complaint at 4224 State Road 69. Landowner Matt Allyn addressed the Commissioners stating that although he owns the land, he does not own the trailer that is involved in this complaint. Allyn has been in contact with the owner of the trailer, who stated that the inside is now cleaned out. The owner plans to have the outside cleaned up in early spring.

Brittany Buttler with Posey County Community Corrections brought up an open Community Corrections Advisory Board position. She recommended that the Commissioners appoint Gary Snelling to the Community Correction Advisory Board for the remainder of the current term and it was approved.

Posey County Auditor Maegen Greenwell stated that the Sheriff currently has a deputy working on federal forfeiture cases. “It has come to light that the only federal forfeiture fund the County uses is now under the control of the County Prosecutor’s Office. To keep these funds separate, we are requesting the creation of a Sheriff’s Federal Forfeiture fund to be used solely by the Sheriff’s office,” she explained. President Collins made a motion to waive final reading and approve an ordinance to do this and the motion carried with a vote of 2-0.

Posey County Sheriff Tom Latham provided the Commissioners with a Commissary contract for consideration. Sheriff Latham stated that updates from the SEC required changes to the current contract; however, this will be a 48-month extension of the current contract with updated terms. Sheriff Latham stated that the inmate video visit contract is being updated and renewed for the same reasons. A motion carried with a vote of 2-0 to approve all contracts. Sheriff Tom Latham also provided the Commissioners with two proposals from Koorsen for the jail’s sprinkler system and they were unanimously approved.

Jamie Bradford, Posey County Dispatch Director, presented the Commissioners with a proposal from J&K for a service agreement for the Sheriff’s radios. The cost of the service agreement will be $5,705.18 per year. The Commissioners agreed to cover the cost for the first year, and in subsequent years, the Sheriff can include this in his budget.

The Commissioners received the following bids for a generator project at the E 911 Dispatch building: Capital Electric: $126,015; Deig Brothers: $114,500; MelKay: $171,059; and DeBra Kuempel: $189,950. The bids were tabled to allow time for review.

Collins told the Commissioners that the County recently hired a new animal control officer, Clay Clifford. Clifford was formerly the Animal Control Officer for Mount Vernon. The City of Mount Vernon has requested that the County now take over animal control duties in the city.

In Department Updates, Posey County Sheriff Tom Latham gave the following inmate housing update: Department of Corrections: 10; Vanderburgh County: 13; and Posey County: 92 for a total of 115 incarcerations. Vanderburgh County income from per diem is $14080 this month.

Posey County EMS Director, Paul Micheletti, gave the following report for February: 203 requests with 148 actual transfers taking in $83,198.69 revenue. He announced the new ambulance should be arriving prior to the sixth of April and that he has one full-time position available.

Posey County EMA Director, Carrie Thompson, addressed the Commissioners regarding the ongoing issues with the Wadesville storm siren. She stated that CenterPoint is currently looking for any interference that might be causing the issues. Mounts Electric is also working on a solution to this problem.

She is still looking into her options to switch the current emergency warning software, CodeRed, which is not performing at its best for the County at this time.