COUNCIL MINUTES BOONE COUNTY, INDIANA March 11th, 2025 Council Member: You are hereby notified that there will be a regular meeting ofthe Boone County Council at the Boone County Office Building, 116 W. Washington St., in the Connie Lamar Meeting Room, Room 105, in the City ofl Lebanon, on Tuesday, March 11"h, 2 2025, at 8:30am. Councilwoman Hostetter called the meeting to order. The council members in attendance were Shari Richey, Kevin VanHorn, Aaron Williams, Dan Lamar (via Zoom), Dustin Plunkett, and John Riner. AMENDMENT OF THE AGENDA Councilman Williams made a motion to amend the agenda to add the Commissioners in-house legal counsel to old business. Councilman Riner seconded the motion. He wanted it to at least be on the agenda to discuss in hopes to save the county money. He mentioned eminent domain cases that are pending. Councilwoman Hostetter stated those cases aren' 't pending yet. The Council's attorney, Chou-il Lee, noted that since Councilman Lamar was online and not in person, there would have to be a roll call for every vote in this meeting. Only Councilmen Williams and Riner voted yes, the motion failed, 2-5. This agenda item will not be discussed further in this meeting under old business. IN THE MATTER OF MINUTES Councilwoman Hostetter asked for a motion to approve the February llth, 2025 council minutes. Councilman Lamar made a motion to amend the February council minutes noting that he only motioned in the February meeting to table the Commissioner's in-house legal counsel in general. He did not say specifically to table until the March meeting. Councilwoman Richey seconded the motion to amend the minutes. The motion carried, 7-0. The February meeting minutes will be amended. Councilwoman Richey made a motion to approve the amended minutes. Councilman Plunkett seconded the motion. After the second motion, Councilman Williams asked if there was something different about the minutes for February. Auditor Crum stated that they were amended before the council meeting by Councilwoman Richey. She stated that after the draft was sent to herself and Councilwoman Hostetter two weeks prior to the meeting, that she didn't feel the minutes sent to them by the Auditor's office were properly reflective of the discussions in the meeting. Council attorney Lee stated that generally, the Auditor's office is the Secretary for the Council and is responsible for recording and preparing the minutes. If there are changes to what the Secretary is indicating the minutes are, it would be changed in an open setting. He didn'tknow what this body had done in the past, which is a draft agenda sent by the Auditor's office to the President and Vice President. Councilman Williams stated that his concern is that one member of the council had the ability to change the minutes before any other members got to see the original minutes before Councilwoman Richey added her own vernacular to the minutes. She stated that she wanted the minutes to be more robust on what transpired in each meeting. Councilman Williams thinks that it is fine, but those amendments should be madeina a public meeting. Attorney 1 Lee stated that ultimately the minutes that are sent in the packet to the council should be what the Secretary believes is an accurate reflection of the meeting. Auditor Crum stated that the February minutes being voted on are not what the Auditor's office prepared. Attorney Lee also stated that each Secretary for a body do minutes differently. Some of that is based on the time available that the Secretary has available to put into the minutes. Councilwoman Richey asked Auditor Crum if she could have a meeting about how much information goes into the minutes going forward. Councilman Williams and Auditor Crum suggested using AI tools to assist in doing minutes in the future. Councilman Williams said he would have to vote no on these minutes as presented. Councilwoman Richey amended her previous motion to defer approval of the February minutes until the April meeting. Councilman Riner seconded the motion. The motion carried, 7-0. NEW BUSINESS Councilwoman Hostetter stated she received a letter from the APC Attorney regarding the comprehensive plan and thoroughfare plan updates. The comprehensive plan, an important land use guide for future development for the County, was last updated in 2009. The thoroughfare plan was last updated in 2017. Councilman Plunkett who also serves on the APC board, stated that the board had it narrowed down to three applicants ranging between $275,000-5425,000 and have interviews before the end of March. There is already $100,000 budgeted in the APC budget for this, and they may be coming back to the Council for an additional. There is no vote required for this meeting. ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS SheriffTony Harris presented an additional appropriation in the County Corrections Fund (4926) in the Safekeeping line for $25,000. The original request was for $45,000 but the juvenile was put on house arrest, and it is about to turn 18 years old soon. He only anticipates needing $25,000 to cover charges for that persons holding. Councilman Williams made a motion to approve the request for $25,000. Councilwoman Richey seconded the motion. The motion carried, 7-0. Nick Parr with the Highway department presented an additional appropriation in the Local Road & Bridge grant fund (9194). He stated they received grant money into the fund and needed to move that money into lines within the fund. They are as follows: $48,862.35 for HMA overlay preventative maintenance, $194,388.73 for HMA overlay minor structural, and $724,278.88 for HMA overlay structural. Councilwoman Richey made a motion to approve the requests. Councilman Williams seconded the motion. The motion carried, 7-0. SALARY ORDINANCE AMENDMENT Michael Nance with Community Corrections is requesting a salary ordinance amendment to reflect an increase in salary for the Residential Staff in Jail LIT fund (1233). The maximum salary is currently $45,548 each for four people. The request is to make the maximum amount $50,669. Councilman Williams made a motion to approve the request. Councilman Plunkett seconded the motion. The motion carried, 7-0. Mr. Nance also has an amendment for the salary ordinance in the Community Corrections grant fund (9989) to update a title from Case Manager to A/D Program Director with a maximum salary 2 of $72,000 and adding a Field Coordinator with a maximum salary of $75,000 which was previously paid out ofa another fund. Councilman Plunkett made a motion to approve both requests. Councilman Riner seconded the motion. The motion carried, 7-0. Councilwoman Hostetter presented a title change for the Commissioners Admin Assistant/Secretary to Executive Administrator as that is what the job description and salary study was based on for this position. Commissioner Lawson spoke and verified this is the request. Auditor Crum noted there needs to be a payroll change form sent to the Auditor's office for title changes. Councilman Williams made a motion to approve the request. Councilman Plunkett seconded the motion. The motion carried, 7-0. PUBLIC COMMENT Debbie Ottinger wanted to give her thoughts on the minutes conversation as she used to be the City ofLebanon Clerk/Treasurer and had to prepare the minutes. She stated that when you are the one preparing the minutes it can be difficult. She did basic minutes because with our technology now, people can listen to the meeting online to hear verbatim details. As long as the motions are correct, that is what is important. Commissioner Beyer via Loom asked why the decision was made to not hear the County Attorney position request. He said he did research and found that from 2022-2024 the compensation to the former County Attorney was almost $1.1 million for the same scope of services that Beth Copeland would provide as an in-house employee. That is a savings of over $150,000 per year. He doesn't understand why this item, being that it would save the county money to have her as an employee, isn't on the agenda. He wants the Council to remember they received two notices from The People and they need to look at them again. One was called Notice of fiduciary capacity of public trustee as an agent of The People and the other called Notice and point of clarity regarding The People's supreme power and right to lawfully instruct government servants. His two-minute time limit was then up before he could finish what he was saying. Councilwoman Richey wanted to ask that each of the Council members do better with public decorum as one had said in the past that the prior county attorney was a liar. Although people get passionate, she thinks the entire Council needs to be careful of defamation and/or libel and do better. Councilman Williams asked Attorney Lee ifa Council member has a restriction of two minutes when wanting to address something that is not on the agenda. Mr. Lee stated that Council members shouldn't have to adhere to the two minutes and suggested that a Council comment section be added to the agenda. Councilwoman Hostetter said she would be happy to add that to the agenda. Councilman Williams wanted to address a few items with a PowerPoint presentation. He highlighted the items that were removed from the agenda regarding the new position for the Commissioners' legal counsel and the two HR positions. He was questioning as to exactly what documents the Council President needed to add this back onto the agenda. She responded saying that she changed the draft agenda that was sent to her ahead of the meeting. She also noted that she didn't get the information from Ms. Copeland about the cost savings until after the agenda had 3 already been posted. She wants all agenda requests to be given toi the Council the Monday, a week prior to the council meeting starting in April. Councilman Riner made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Councilman Plunkett seconded the motion. The motion carried, 7-0. Minutes prepared by Caryn Strode, Deputy Auditor. gonnikgn A Houglettn /9125 Jennifer Hostetter Date Boone County Council President ChL KLAL - Debbie M. Morton-Crum 4las Date Boone County Auditor 4