Commissioners seeking new member for RDC
The Brown County Commissioners need to appoint another person to the Brown County Redevelopment Commission after receiving a resignation.
Tina Bedey stepped down from volunteer service earlier this month due to personal reasons. She had served for about a year and had just been reappointed in January alongside two brand-new members.
The redevelopment commission works with county elected officials to chart the course of economic development in Brown County.
Anyone wishing to serve on the commission has until 4 p.m. Friday, March 2 to get a letter of interest to the commissioners at the County Office Building. Include contact information. Send letters to P.O. Box 151, Nashville, IN 47448 or email to [email protected].
Courthouse needs paint, safety assessment
The Brown County Commissioners are trying to figure out what would be the most cost-effective way to fix the peeling paint courthouse belltower, considering the historic building restrictions it may have.
Commissioner Diana Biddle, who’s also the county historian, said the belltower was painted in 2012 for about $3,800 and the work was supposed to have a 20-warranty. However, the fine print of that agreement said that the warranty does not cover general weathering, and when she called the parent company to see if they would honor the warranty, she found that they wouldn’t because the company that actually did the painting is no longer in business, she said.
The county commissioners talked at their Feb. 7 meeting about installing some type of siding on the tower instead of repainting it, but they weren’t sure what would be allowed on a building which is on the National Register of Historic Places. Biddle said that generally, any replacements have to be done with a like material.
County council President Keith Baker and Auditor Beth Mulry suggested waiting to “do it right” and budgeting for it instead of spending a few thousand dollars to touch up paint now.
Biddle said she’d contact Indiana Landmarks and see what type of work would be allowed. She also wasn’t sure at the time if it was a safety problem or just a cosmetic issue. Using a drone to get images of the belltower was mentioned.
Parks and rec asks for salary changes
The Brown County Council has made changes to the county’s salary ordinance again to allow the parks and rec department to pay some part-time employees less than $9 if needed. But it has held off on making a decision about paying maintenance people more than $10.
Under ordinance language that was approved in December, part-time employees who have not been classified into a pay grade would receive $9 an hour. The exceptions were for general maintenance parks and rec employees who would get $10 an hour, a supervisory maintenance worker at $13 an hour and a program assistant at $11.55 an hour.
At the Jan. 22 council meeting, Brown County Parks and Recreation Director Mark Shields asked the council to change the ordinance again to allow him to pay seasonal part-time employees, like concession stand workers or summer day camp counselors, less than $9 an hour.
“Especially with our concession staff, we’ve, in the past, paid minimum wage for that. If that’s something we have to go up to $9 for each concession worker, we’re kind of losing out on whatever revenue we’re hoping to generate through the concession stand,” Shields said.
Shields said he was looking at revamping some of his department’s job descriptions and asked if the council could give him flexibility to offer experienced maintenance people more than $10 to help keep them around — up to $11 or $12 an hour.
“Essentially, what they’ve told me is they can’t afford to come back for $10 an hour,” he said.
The parks and rec budget is funded 60 percent by the county’s general fund and 40 percent by the department’s funds. The general fund pays for mowing and maintenance until the end of May, and the other fund picks up the tab until November, Shields said.
Critser asked Shields if it would be possible to pay one experienced person more out of the parks department’s funds and the rest using general fund money.
“We keep raising all of your people’s salaries out there over the years. You keep saying you’re hoping to keep people — same thing you’re coming back with now. Everybody was at $9, then all at once we’re at $13, $11.55, $10.”
Auditor Beth Mulry cautioned the council against giving departments the discretion to pay employees varying amounts.
“It’s one thing to say you can pay somebody minimum wage, but when we start giving a department the ability to flex and give people more money that’s, to me, we’re maybe opening Pandora’s box,” she said.
Mulry said she asked the Indiana State Board of Accounts if the parks and rec board would have the autonomy to change what they pay certain employees. She advised the council to wait on making any changes until she has an answer.
