Complaint filed against commissioners over appointment

A county employee has filed a formal complaint against the Brown County Commissioners for how they filled an open seat on the Helmsburg Regional Sewer District board earlier this year.

John Kennard, environmental health supervisor for the Brown County Health Department, handed copies of the complaint to the commissioners and County Attorney Jake German at the June 6 commissioners meeting.

Kennard had applied for an open spot on the Helmsburg Regional Sewer District board, but the commissioners appointed the other applicant, Jenny Austin. Austin resigned shortly after, and the commissioners appointed Denise Broussard to replace her. Broussard is the daughter of Virginia White, whose exit created the vacancy in the first place.

Broussard had not turned in her letter of interest on time, but in January, commissioner Diana Biddle said that Austin resigned so that the commissioners could appoint Broussard. The commissioners had letters from Broussard and other sewer district board members supporting her appointment, Biddle said in January.

Kennard said when he applied to be appointed, he was told it was a conflict of interest for him to serve on the sewer district board because of his job with the health department.

He attached emails from counties he surveyed, like Morgan County, whose health department employees also serve on sewer boards.

Dearborn County was the only county he surveyed which did not have health department staff members serving on a sewer board due to the county considering it to be a conflict of interest, he said.

He doesn’t believe it is, he said. And he still wants to be on the board.

Kennard said that the commissioners did not follow their procedure for appointments when they appointed Broussard because she didn’t get her letter of interest in on time.

“If something was done incorrectly, we’ll fix it,” German said. “If not, I’ll let you know the justification why.”

German said the issue may be that Kennard doesn’t live in the sewer territory.

“I don’t know the answer to the question, but I know some years ago I was asked to be on the Gnaw Bone Regional Sewer District Board because I own property and live within the district boundaries,” Commissioner Jerry Pittman said. “I was told at that time that was one of the requirements. I don’t know if it is.”

Resident Sherrie Mitchell asked if the commissioners had written policies and procedures for how they appoint people to boards and commissions. Commissioners President Dave Anderson said he was not sure if they did or not.

“A lot of the appointments happen by state statute and I don’t know if there’s actually a procedure,” Biddle said.

She said the commissioners advertise openings and what they are looking for in a candidate. The commissioners also accept letters or emails of interest.

Mitchell said the commissioners don’t always consider all the people who turn their letters in on time, mentioning the Brown County Redevelopment Commission appointment process in particular.

“This is continuing to be an issue for my county and these appointments, so if you could write a policy and procedure to maybe make it a little clearer for the rest of us so that we know how this is working through your heads and we understand it, but it does seem to come up over and over and over,” Mitchell said.

Biddle said she didn’t have a problem with writing a policy and procedure.

“We had an application (in 2016). We tried to formalize it. People didn’t like it. They threw a fit and we didn’t do it the next year. I’ll have to look and see if there is actually anything (in writing),” she said. “I don’t have a problem with writing something out formally. I just am not sure if there isn’t something already in place.”

Resident and Area Plan Commission member Paul Navarro said he doesn’t believe the commissioners follow procedure. Following a brief, heated exchange with Anderson about interruption, Navarro said there had been issues with appointments being handled via email, and that the commissioners had not interviewed all applicants for boards who had turned in their letters of interest on time.

“The last time you appointed somebody, you made the statement that everybody had been interviewed either by phone or in person. Someone was sitting right here in the audience who had their paperwork in who was never interviewed. My point is, if you have a policy, you’re not following it,” he said.

Resident Chris Ross also noted that the application process for the redevelopment commission was not republished as promised when there was an opening was on that board in 2017.

“I think we’ll take a look, too, internally, to see if there’s been anything written,” German said.

“If so, we’ll bring it forward, we can update it and talk about it.”

Road construction happening around county

Once Indiana Department of Transportation crews finish spot-patching on State Road 46 East, repaving will begin between Columbus and downtown Nashville. That work is expected to take until the middle of September, Brown County Highway Superintendent Mike Magner reported June 6 at the Brown County Commissioners meeting. Milestone Contractors will mill off an inch and a half of the current road before installing a new surface, he said.

State Road 46 West is also under construction near Mike’s Dance Barn and Bond Cemetery Road through August. Work was to begin last week to place a large box culvert under the road. A temporary traffic light is allowing traffic to flow one lane at a time.

The north end of Yellowwood Lake Road is also closed, as a crew elevates and rebuilds the gravel road and installs new drainage structures. This construction is part of phase two of the Yellowwood Road project. It also will include building a single-span bridge on Yellowwood Lake Road over Jackson Creek.

Commissioners, auditor sign document on trail funding

The Brown County Commissioners and Auditor Beth Mulry were asked to sign a document from the Indiana Department of Transportation guaranteeing funding for phase three of the Salt Creek Trail.

Brown County Highway Superintendent Mike Magner presented the document at the June 6 commissioners meeting. It increases funding that had been set aside for this phase of the trail several years ago by 1 percent. The phase will run from the Brown County YMCA to Parkview Road.

“What this document says is they will guarantee to hold that funding if we need it through June 30, 2023, instead of 2022,” Magner said.

The additional 1 percent amounts to an extra $20,752, bringing the total funding for this phase to $1,955,664.

“It’s nothing we’re committing to; it’s saying INDOT will hold that money for us if we want to spend it. If not, at that point, it rolls back into the system, but it requires signatures from the commissioners and auditor,” Magner said.