REGULAR MEETING OF THEJASPER COUNTYI BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS  OCTOBER 07,2024  PAGE485  The) Jasper County Commissioners: met this date at 8:30A.M. C.S.Tat910S. Sparling, Rensselaer, Indiana with the following members present: Rein Bontreger, James Walstra and Jeffrey DeYoung. Also present were. Deputy Auditor, Diana Boersma, Deputy Auditor, Treasure Gilbert and] Eric Beaver, the Attorney that represents the Commissioners. Those present stood and recited thel Pledge of Allegiance led by Mr. Bontreger. There wasabriefmoment ofs silence following the MINUTES: Mr. Walstra moved to approve the minutes from August 19,2024, as presented, Mr. Mr. DeYoung made a motion to approve the minutes from September 3,2024, as presented, Mr. Mr. Walstra made a motion to approve the minutes from September 16,2024, as presented, Mr. CLAIMS: Mr. DeYoung moved to approve the claims, as presented, Mr. Walstra seconded and PAYROLLCLAIMS: Mr. Walstra made al motion to approve1 thej payroll claims with checks dated September 13,2024 and September 30,2024, Mr. DeYoung seconded and the motion carried. BURIED CABLES: Mr. Haberlin said there was one buried cable permit from Comcast for a simple borei inl Keener Township. He said everything looked good. Mr. Walstra made ai motion to approve the buried cable permit, Mr. DeYoung seconded and the motion carried. PUBLICI DEFENDER COMPREHENSIVE PLAN: Attorney Todd Sammons said every county int the State of Indianai isi required toj provide attorneys toi indigent offenders that havel been charged with crimes. He said back in April, he and Mr. Mason, from the Indiana Public Defender Commission, explained the struggles that are being faced by many counties at the joint meeting. Hes said what al lot of counties are going towards is establishing aj public defender's office witha a full orj part-time public defender that would be an employee thati manages the system. He said this would take some workload off of the Courts and Auditor's Office. He said Judge Potter got this Attorney Sammons said hel had aj proposed comprehensive: plan. He: said a draft plan was sent from thel Indiana. Publicl Defender Commission andt they tweaked! it. He said Attorney Beaver hasl looked it over andj proposed some edits, which he was ini favor of, as well as the Public Defender Board. He said along with this, was a required proposed budget. He said the Public Defender Board met threet times oni its so far. Hes said they sent their proposed budget to the. Jasper County Council and they will adopt almost everything thatt they asked for. He said a lot ofit has to do with keeping it inl line witht the Prosecutor's Office. He said the Chief Public Defender's salary is based upon the Prosecutor's salary. Mr. Bontreger said that part-time is 66% of the Prosecutor and full-time is equal tot the Prosecutor. He also said one oft the edits Attorney Beaver made was to makei itai four- yeart term and ift there is actual cause, that person could bei removed from that position. Mr. Bontreger said Council President, Mr.. Jordan, said they adjusted the full-time administrator to part-time tos start with and then, they will evaluate ifiti needs tol be full-time. Attorney Sammons said he is referring to the Administrative Assistant to the Chief Public Defender. He said their Mr. Bontreger askedi ift they needed to approve the comprehensive plan. Attorney Beaver said the statute doesn't require the Commissioners to approve it but, the Indiana Commission on Court Appointed. Attorneys will. He said the Commissioners' concerns are the change in the way that this willl bel handled because, they willl have contract public defenders, and they'll have aj person whoi isa County employee thati is appointed as the ChiefPublic Defender with an office, but then, under that office will still be the part-time public defenders who will have law practices and will havea a contract with the county. He saidt the Council is on board with providing health insurance  Pledge.  DeYoung seconded and the motioned carried. Walstra seconded andt ther motion carried. DeYoung seconded andt the motion carried.  the motion carried.  rolling several months ago and! has been talking about iti for years.  Board was concerned about this and they plan to speak to the Council abouti it.    REGULAR! MEETING OF THE. JASPER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS  OCTOBER 07,2024  PAGE486  PUBLICI DEFENDER COMPREHENSIVE: PLAN CONTINUED: and other county benefits but, it does not includei retirement because, retirement is not reimbursable from the State and the other expenses can be reimbursed. He said the Commissioners were also concerned with how to pay them and they will probably putt them onj payroll. He saidt the Commissioners havet the authority to determine al location fort thej public defender office. Hes saidi ifthey arei int the courthouse, they could get reimbursed from the State for a portion of the courthouse, utility bills, maintenance and stuff like that. He said an oralr resolution of support would bei fine and that'st taking into account that the Commissioners will be assuming responsibilities of providing County benefits and a physical Mr. Bontreger askedi ifthe Chief Public Defender position would be filled andi ready to go the first oft the year. Attorney Sammons saidi ift the amended comprehensive plan is adopted and approved byt the State, after the Commissioners' oral resolution, they will get ai notice out right away to take applications for the position and have if filled before the first of the year. Mr. Bontreger said he would like for one oft the Commissioners tor move on approving the amended comprehensive plan fore emergent defense services in. Jasper County, which would establish the ChiefPublicl Defender andt that office. Mr. DeYoung madet the motion to approve, Mr. Walstra supported and the motion 2025 COMMISSIONERS MEETING SCHEDULE: Mr. Bontreger said the: first meeting of the year needs to be Tuesday, January 7th instead of Monday because, the Board of Financel has to meet after the first Monday of January. He said they will have the Commissioners' meeting following the Board of Finance. Mr. Bontreger read off the proposed 2025 Commissioner's  location fort the office to function.  carried.  meeting schedule: Tuesday, January? 7 Monday, February3 Monday, March3 Monday, April7 Monday, May5 Monday, June2 2 Monday, July7 Tuesday, July 15 (Joint Session) Monday, August 4 Tuesday, September2 Monday, October6 Monday, November3 3 Tuesday, November 18 (Joint Session) Monday, December1 1 Monday, December? 22 ****2026**** Tuesday, January6  Mr. Walstra made a motion to approve the 2025 meeting schedule, as presented, Mr. DeYoung 2025 HOLIDAYSCHEUDIE: Mr. Bontreger read the proposed 20251 holiday schedule:  seconded andt the motion carried.  JANUARYI JANUARY20 FEBRUARY17 APRIL 18 MAY26 JUNE20 JULY4 SEPTEMBERI OCTOBER 13 NOVEMBERI 11 NOVEMBER: 27 NOVEMBER: 28 DECEMBER24 DECEMBER25 DECEMBER26  WEDNESDAY MONDAY MONDAY FRIDAY MONDAY FRIDAY FRIDAY MONDAY MONDAY TUESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY  NEW YEAR'SDAY MARTINLUTHERI KINGDAY PRESIDENT'S! DAY GOODI FRIDAY MEMORIALI DAY JUNETEENTH OBSERVATION INDEPENDENCE) DAY LABORI DAY COLUMBUSDAY VETERAN'SDAY THANKSGIVINGDAY THANKSGIVINGI DAYA AFTER CHRISTMASEVE CHRISTMAS CHRISTMASDAY/ AFTER    REGULARI MEETING OF THE. JASPER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS  OCTOBER 07,2024  PAGE4 487  2025 HOLIDAY SCHEUDLE CONTINUED: Mr. Walstra made a motion to approve the 2025 holiday schedule, as presented, Mr. DeYoung seconded and the motion carried. REZONE/ WALKER TOWNSHIP, A1 CONSERVATION AG DISTRICT TO A2 GENERAL AG DISTRICT: There was a rezone in Walker Township from Al conservation ag district to. A2 general ag district, which was a favorable recommendation from the Plan Commission. Ms. Scheurich joined via Zoom ands said the applicant requested to rezone. She said iti is 83 acres and they wouldl liket to do al large lot subdivision. Mr. DeYoungi madea ar motion to approve, Mr. Walstra ANIMAL SHELTER SHED /SIGN: Mr. Bontreger asked ift the Commissioners had a chance to get any furtheri information ont the storage shed. Mr. DeYoung said no. Mr. Bontreger said he will be donating a sign to the. Animal Shelter and! he will be putting it in later today. He said it will be back closer to thel building. Hes said maybe they cani follow up on the shed for the next meeting. KAITLYN BOOMSMA. /F REQUEST TOI REPLACE EMPLOYEE: Ms. Boomsma requested to replace a Correctional Officer. Shes said they still have applicants from thel last time and the notice iss still posted ont the County website. Mr. Bontreger asked for an update ont their kitchen and asked ifit was fully functional. Ms. Boomsma saidt they are waiting on Ziese's to come. hook up the gas liness sot they can hook up their stove. Shes said they have been ont their list for two months but, they are still waiting. Mr. Bontreger asked if once it is in place, ift they will drop the meal plan. Ms. Boomsmas said yes; they already havet their menus inj place and they are just waiting. Mr. DeYoung said he would try to reach out to Ziese's. Mr. Walstra made a motion to approve replacing the SHERIFF WILLIAMSON / PRICE INCREASE FOR TIGGS CANTEEN SERVICES / QUALITY CORRECTIONAL CARE/ / CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURE FORM: Sheriff Williamson said there's been a 4%i increase in their meals with Tiggs Canteen Services. Hes said they are going from $2.50t to $2.61 per meali ifthey have 76-90i inmates. He saidt the prices are good for one year. He also said their medical provider in thej jail, Quality Correctional Care, willl begin charging for bill scrubbing. He said it will no longer be free and they will charge 12% on whatever they save them. He saidt this will bel billed on the 15th and 30th each month. He said Sheriff Williamson said he had a conflict ofi interest for Mark Ceglarek and their endeavor to get theirs squad cars repaired. Hes said they wouldl liket to gett the cars fixed quickly and! hei isj just another option they have. He said they use al lot of different companies to: repair or do body work but, it's amatter of who can gett tot them the quickest. Mr. Bontreger said asl long as they continue to retain their other vendors. Attorney Beaver said that was his biggest concern: sot therei isn'ti favoritism for the County employee compared to other members of the community that provide the same services. Mr. Bontreger said in his conversation with Mr. Ceglarek, he asked for al bid to fix the box truck because, some of the other body shops were quite expensive and were: not going to be able to get to it. Mr. Bontreger said they have the conflict of interest disclosure statement concerning Mark Ceglarek and his Blue Line Auto Body Repair and Restoration company and asked if one of the Commissioners wanted to move to approve the reception of the conflict of interest disclosure statement. Mr. Walstra moved to approve, Mr. DeYoung seconded and the Mr. Bontreger said he wanted to remind the citizens tol be careful as there's a lot of equipment on the roads asl harvesti is getting into full swing. Sheriff Williamson said there'sa also a goodt threat of fire and people should watch where they throw their cigarette butts and things of that nature. Mr. Bontreger said he talked tol Fire Chief Kenny Haun and he said they'd like them to reinstitute a burn ban starting this week. He said they would like tol have another week of people not burning  seconded and ther motion carried.  Correctional Officer, Mr. DeYoung seconded and the motion carried.  thisi is so they canl keep up witht thei increasing costs.  motion carried.  things, ifp possible.    REGULAR: MEETING OF THE. JASPER COUNTYBOARD OF COMMISSIONERS  OCTOBER 07,2024  PAGE 488  NIPSCOCOST. ANDINFORMATION: SHARING AGREEMENT: Mr. Bontreger saidi ini regards to the Nipsco cost and information sharing agreement, Nipsco has agreed to pay for a financial analysis from] Baker7 Tilly. Hes saidt they will evaluate anda analyze the affects ofaj possible economic development agreement withl Nipsco for their peaker generation project. He said Nipsco agreed to supply them with the data needed to send to Baker Tilly to evaluate the impact of what the tax rates would be, depending on what kind of abatement they would agree to. He said Nipsco has agreed toj pay fort this upfront, whether the County makes a deal witht them or not. Hes said Attorney Beaver has been working out the agreement back and forth with their legal team. He said it is specifically focused on the analysis oft thep potential project andi nothing else with County finances. Attorney Beaver said three weeks agot the Commissioners approved the agreement before hearing back from Nipsco but, they had sent them a draft agreement. He said they heard back but, their representative was on vacation and not available. He said he had asked Ms. Gilbert to putt this on the: agenda thinking he wouldl be gettinga a calll back but, hel hasn't. He said they are stilli in al holding pattern, as far as signing anything. Hes saidi ifthey end up with an agreement, inj principle, they've already gott the authorization oft the Commissioners approving it SO, it could be signed. BURN BAN: Mr. Bontreger said he talked tol Fire Chief] Kenny Haun and he would like them to reinstitute the burn ban. Mr. DeYoung made a motion to support reinstating the burn ban for a ED CAIN: Mr. Bontreger asked for any Highway updates and how paving season. has been. Mr. Cains said Town and Country is about to wrap up. Hes said they willl be sending outh bids shortly that willl be awarded in. January. He asked what the due date would be tol have them in tot the Auditor's Office. He said they usually do the Friday before the meeting and that would be on January 3rd. Mr. Walstra made a motion to have thel bids due Friday, January 3,2025 at 3:45 P.M. C.S.T., Mr. Mr. Cain said he would like to do the contract snow] plow removal again. He said he wanted their permission sol he can gett thel bids out fort that. Mr. DeYoungr madea amotion to approve, Mr. Walstra PROSECUTOR JACOB TAULMAN / REQUEST TO REPLACE EMPLOYEE: Prosecutor Taulman, said his fourth deputy is leaving att the end oft the month so, he was asking to replace her. Hes said her previous jobi is offering her substantially more money. He said the Council approved more: for ap part-time Public Defender than they didi for her as a full-time prosecutor. He said this was concerning and unfortunate. He said hel has been on both sides as a prosecutor and defense attorney andi itt takes longer and is more technical ont the prosecutor'ss side than ont the defense side. He also said they are on call weekends and nights. He said he's going to talk to the Council. Prosecutor Taulman said the Indiana Prosecuting Attorney Council has been doing a study andi if you only give aj prosecutor the same caseload requirement as a public defender then, aj prosecutor would: need five full-time attorneys, including him. He said he did a calculation last year and he would need 5.2i ifthey gave the same weight as they do for the courts or judges. He said! he would actually need six full-time prosecutors in his office. He said he might be coming to the Commissioners: in the near future for an additional prosecutor to be added. He said right now he needs toi focus on1 the vacancy and get approval toi replace his fourth deputy. Mr. Walstra made a motion to approve, Mr. DeYoung seconded and the motion carried. Mr. Bontreger asked how many current deputies hel has. Prosecutor Taulman said three. He said his Chief Deputy is State paid and thet third and fourth deputy are County paid. Attorney Beaver asked ifthei fourth deputy's position is funded inj part! by) IV-D monies. Prosecutor Taulman said] hel has discretion and1 because ofhis concerns with thes salary, he has paid additional monies to the fourth deputy out ofIV-D or childs support money for doing the child support work. He saidi ifhe continued to do this, it would  OTHER BUSINESS  maximum ofs seven days, Mr. Walstra seconded andt the motion carried.  DeYoung seconded and the motion carried. seconded and ther motion carried.  still be considerably less than the public defender salaries.    REGULAR MEETING OF THE. JASPER COUNTYI BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS  OCTOBER 07,2024  PAGE489  CORONER ANDY BOERSMA: Mr. Boersma said they willl be going to the Council to ask for more: money for autopsies. He said they are three or four in the hole. He said it has been really crazy and September was really bad. Mr. Bontreger said he knows he's been busy and he VACATION EXTENSTION REQUEST: Mr. Bontreger said there was a request to extend some vacation time. He said shel has 34 hours andi her anniversary datei is November 17th. The employee saidt thati itisab bige election year andi its! hard for her tos schedulet time off. Shes saids she has a vacation planned for the end of Novemberbeginning: of December SO, she would like to use the hours she hasl left att that time. Mr. DeYoung made ai motion to approve the request, Mr. Walstra seconded MARYANN MAHLEN: Ms. Mahlen handed out information about wind turbines and the microplastics they give off. She said it] has destroyed farmland and they're very dangerous. She said there'sad document titled" "FERC approves NiSourcej plant tos selll Nipsco stake top private-equity firm Blackstone". She said 19.9% ofl Nipsco is owned by Blackstone and they are profit focused. Therel beingr noi further business, Mr. Walstrai made aj motion to continue the meeting until Tuesday, October 22, 2024 at 8:30 A.M. C.S.T., ifneeded, Mr. DeYoung seconded and the motion carried.  appreciated him keeping them up to speed.  and the motion carried. PUBLIC COMMENT  Shet talked about her concerns witht them coming after. Jasper County.  Toibe Rein Bontreger, President  Ganes a Mihlst James A. Walstra, Vice President  n Grass  Mergber  ATTEST:  B.Gphn Donya G.. Jordan, Auditor of. Jasper County