JOINT SESSION OF THE JASPER COUNTY COUNCIL AND BOARD OF  COMMISSIONERS JULY16,2024  PAGE 459  The. Jasper County Council and Board of Commissioners: met this date at 5:00 P.M. C.S.Tat 910 S.S Sparling, Rensselaer, Indiana withi thei following Commissioners; present: Rein) Bontreger,. James Walstra and. Jeffrey DeYoung. Council members present were: Stephen Jordan, Gary Fritts, Jason Armold, Brian) Moore, Paull Norwine and. Jacobl Misch. Ericl Kidwellj joined via Zoom. Also] present were Auditor, Donya Jordan, Deputy Auditor, Treasure Gilbert and] Eric Beaver, the. Attorney that represents the Commissioners. Those present stood and: recited the Pledge of Allegiance led by VALLEYOAKSCEO: Valley Oaks Chief Executive Officer, Dan Arens, provided handouts with the Jasper County report from the last fiscal school year and the services they provide. He said theys served roughly 650j peoplei int the county last year. Hes said Valley Oaksi is aj mental health and substance abuse provider. He said they are located behind Wal Mart and they serve Jasper and Newton County. He said they recently started providing a local crisis unit, inj partnership with Phoenix Paramed, whichisa24/7 service. He saidt they are looking at adding primary care tos some Mr. Bontreger said that the local Director, Kim Denton, does a nice jobi interacting with the local lawe enforcement and othera agencies. Ms. Denton said shev wantedt to add that they have aboutt thirty employees and a case manageri in every school corperation in. Jasper County. She said some have moret than one case manager and they eachl havel 15-251 kids ont their caseload. Shes said they provide thel kids with daily living skills. She saidt they help thel kids who are disruptive ini the classroom sO thatt the teachers can continue teaching. She said they have had several success rates and the past school year they hadt twelve students graduate that were otherwise failing. She said they alsol have ac child advocacy team, which is unique to the Rensselaer branch. She said they provide forensic CORONER BUILDING DISCUSSION: Coroner, Andy Boersma, handed out a memorandum from Tecton. He said they came in at 3.5 to 4.2 million dollars for a new building. He said they need to sit down and decide what they want to do. He said in the 1865 years as a County, theyl have built three jails, the Health Department has moved twice and the Courthouse was built and remodeled countless times. He said theyl have used tax dollars to fund fire stations and emergency services. He also saidt they have worked at thel Highway garage and they have done everythingi in the County except givet them some type of forensic center to examine bodies and store bodies. Mr.) Boersma saidl he agrees that 4.21 million: is al lot of money but, he thinks they need to continue with their committee. He: saidt they need to consider aj place thati isl large enough. He said after 186 years, they need tol look at doing something to provide better services to the community. He said he wants tol know what their feelings are and how they move forward without going overboard. Mr. DeYoung saidi itisal lot of money but, ift they wait it willl be al lot more money. He also asked ift they have a fund set up for homeless people to help them out. Mr. Boersma said that under Indiana Code, ifthey are ai resident oft the community, they can go tot the Township Trustee. BAKER TILLY FINANCIAL ANALYSIS: Mr. Bontreger said they met with Baker Tilly for a financial analysis. He said they can also inquire for additional project analysis. Hes saidi its around $30,000.00 for the initial fund analysis and an additional $20,000.00: for the forecasting. He said het thinks when they are dealing with millions of dollars in taxpayer money, it's a good idea. Mr. Bontreger asked if they can follow through with this and sign an engagement letter to get the process going. Mr. Jordan asked if this was going to come out of the Commissioners' budget. COURTHOUSES SIDEWALKS: Mr. Bontreger said theyl have a1 tentative commitment tot take care oft the east and north sidewalks att the Courthouse. He said they! have been working ont the west and south. He said the east sidewalk is a tripping hazard. Auditor Jordan said it is horrible. Mr. Bontreger saidi it was initially between $300,000-5400,000. He said this would bei their part ofthe  Mr. Bontreger.  oft theirl locations.  interviews for children of sexual abuse, physical abuse or witnessed a crime.  Auditor. Jordan said it will come out oft the LIT Economic Development: fund.    JOINT SESSION OF THE JASPER COUNTY COUNCIL AND BOARD OF  COMMISSIONERS JULY16,2024  PAGE 460  COURTHOUSE: SIDEWALKS CONTINUED: downtown renovations. He said hej just wanted to bring this up since an additional appropriation will be coming. He said this will include the PUBLICDEFENDER OFFICE: Mr. Bontreger said there's an effort to geta a budget puti together from the Public Defender Commission. He said they willl have to talk to the Clerk about moving the voting machines because, they would like to use that office space for the Public Defender Office. Mr. Jordan said they arel looking at $700,000.00: for their 2025 budget. Mr. Bontreger said they get 40% reimbursement from the State. There were discussions on if the Chief Public Mr. Jordan askedi ifthe Commissioners have discussed al benefit package for the Public Defenders. Mr. Bontreger said they would create a classt to allow them top participate in the County health plan. Attorney Beaver provided information regarding the current costs of employee benefits. Mr. Bontreger said on the topic of insurance, they had talked with the broker and to date, they are running about 11% under budget. He said they did an analysis and looking at next year, they're looking at about al 13%i increase inj premiums, which would be: about 2.83 million. He also said the prescription benefits savings are starting to work as it was projected to do. He said they should ENTTESAPLYINGFOR FUNDING: Mr. Bontreger saidi his understanding ist that they would like to come up with a form for entities applying for funding. Mr. Armold said they are dealing with taxpayer dollars sO, there should be some sort of formalized application for funding. Mr. Jordan said they should look at it on a yearly basis. Mr. Bontreger said to get them a sketch of SIDEWALKSALONG114FOR COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS: Mr. Bontreger said this is an early stage conversation he has had with the mayor. He said this is partly because they have Community Corrections workers walking along 114 andi itj poses a potential liability with all ofthe semi traffic they have. He said he wants toj partner with the City of Rensselaer as they look for grants. Mr. Norwine askedi ifthis wouldj just be al letter ofs support ori iftherei is going tol be an extra cost. Mr. Bontreger said there would probably be ai financial commitment down the line but, they would) have better chances to get a grant ift they have multiple units coming together. Mr. Norwine talked about peoples' concerns with using the ARPA funding for the utility extension in) Rensselaer and EMS: funding. Mr. Bontreger said the area that they are sending the utilities to is actually County jurisdiction sO, this would) hopefully open the door for development that would benefit the County, as well asl Rensselaer. He said] he considers this area blighted andt they wouldn't havet tot take: farmland to develop. Hes saidi itl hasl been al mess for years and willi never change unless theyi initiate this. Hes saidt the Commissioners: are committed to1 making suret they engage the various communities so that when they have EDA money, they can help to benefit those areas. He said they want tol look at the County as a whole and makei investment where it makes sense. He said they included the utility extension project in their READI 2.0 application sO, if they get some funding, that will: free up some of these funds to use for something else. He said down the line, EMS FUNDING /LIT RATE: Mr. Bontreger said EMS is an important component of services they provide. He said every one of the services in the county are needing more funding. He said they are workingt tot tryt toj provide wagest that willl keep employees. He said the Council willl handle thet topic oft tryingt to adjustt the LITI rate: for EMS funding. EMSI Director, Mr. Cree, said things are on1 the uphill swing from where they started in 2023. He said things have changed and now they are doingt transports all the way tol Lafayette instead of Rensselaer. He said the other services have to transport to the bigger hospitals up north as well. He said this is putting more miles and wear  sidewalks and lighting.  Defender was goingt tol be ai full-time or part-time position.  receive ar reimbursement check for about $17,000.00 every quarter.  whatt they are thinking sO, they can have a discussion oni it.  exit 205 needs tol be revisited.  and tear ont the trucks, as well as downtime.    JOINT SESSION OF THE JASPER COUNTY COUNCIL AND BOARD OF  COMMISSIONERS JULY16,2024  PAGE 461  EMS FUNDING. /LIT RATE CONTINUED: Mr. Bontreger said they just filled out a State- mandated survey and the funding breakdown is 67% taxpayer funding and 33% collections. He said this was the average of all three services. He said he noted that 50-60 minutes could be the response time from any one point of the county depending on who might be tied up. Mr. Cree agreed and said that is with good weather. He alsos said they can't! buy al brand-new ambulance or anything closet toi it without itt takingt two years to get. Hes saidi ifthey need a new ambulance in two years, he would have to orderi it now. He said Keener and Wheatfield have at three-year rotation and they get more funding from their towns and township than they do. Mr. Cree said they cover more area even though they have less people but, they havel less avenues to get more funds. Mr. Armold asked how much it would be for a more adequate EMS service, as far as funding, from ambulances toj personnel. Mr. Cree said County-wide they are looking at 2.5-3 million dollars. Mr. Bontreger saidt thel budget request they sent for this year was around 2 million, whichi is for Keener, Mr. Bontreger said they would usually save time for public comment but, they are cutting into the Council's time for their regular meeting sO, they will push the public comment to the end of the There being no further business, Mr. Moore motioned to adjourn the meeting, Mr. Norwine  Wheatfield and. Jasper County EMS. PUBLIC COMMENT Council's: meeting.  seconded and the motion carried.  RAc  Rein Bontreger, Commissioner President  spk Rd Stephen Jordan, Council-President  ATTEST:  Dat SGpaan Donya G.. Jordan, Auditor of. Jasper County