County, Helmsburg sewer boards pledge cooperation
The Brown County Regional Sewer District and Helmsburg Regional Sewer District boards have passed resolutions promising to work together to “combine some of their resources and manpower in an effort to secure funds” for wastewater projects.
The BCRSD and HRSD both signed similar resolutions in May.
This is a big step for the two boards, who, throughout their history and up until about six months ago, had trouble communicating effectively about what their goals were for the future and how they might help each other. Forming an official partnership was a step they hadn’t been able to reach until now.
Two of the three HRSD board members stepped down in January and the county commissioners replaced them with new members.
The resolution that the BCRSD unanimously approved on May 11 says that “Whereas, BCRSD is actively pursuing wastewater infrastructure projects to provide community sewer services to residents and businesses in Brown County, Indiana and specifically, along the SR 135N and SR 45W corridors in Jackson township;
“Whereas, the Helmsburg Regional Sewer District is interested in expanding its wastewater treatment capability;
“Whereas, BCRSD and HRSD have agreed to combine some of their resources and manpower in an effort to secure funds for preliminary engineering studies, environmental assessments, system design, property acquisition and related matters (collectively the “preliminary actions”);
“Be it resolved, BCRSD hereby approves a joint initiative with HRSD to seek funding for the preliminary actions and specifically authorizes Clint Studabaker, vice president of BCRSD, to represent BCRSD in such matters and to sign any documents or agreements necessary to pursue and secure funding to conduct the preliminary actions.”
Studabaker reported at the June 8 BCRSD meeting that he was learning about at least four possible sources of funding for sewer extension projects but didn’t have enough information yet to know what they could apply for, how much, when, or other details, as there’s a lot of federal and state money coming through programs like the American Rescue Plan and others.
Studabaker also didn’t give specific answers to questions from two members of the public attending the virtual meeting about whether or not a sewer plant is still planned to be built on land that had been proposed for it along State Road 135 North in Bean Blossom, or if another plan would be executed.
“All options are on the table,” Studabaker repeated.
Lake Lemon homeowners also are working with the BCRSD on forming a plan to get sewer service to their homes.
County’s COVID level rises to yellow once again
Brown County went back up to yellow status on the COVID spread map on the Indiana State Department of Health’s website when it was updated on June 9. Yellow is the second of four levels; we had been at blue on June 2 when the level was last reassessed.
Color codes are based on positive tests and new cases from the previous Wednesday to Sunday. Since June 2, Brown County had picked up seven new COVID cases and one new death, taking our totals to 1,039 cases, 43 deaths, 4,532 residents tested and 6,232 residents at least partially vaccinated (about 41 percent).
This county color change does not come with any new restrictions.
Free vaccinations for ages 12 and older and COVID-19 testing for all ages are still being offered at the Brown County Music Center in Nashville through the end of the month.
See more virus and vaccination information at coronavirus.in.gov.
Backup power supply needed at jail building
Between $15,000 and $20,000 will be needed to replace a backup power supply at the Brown County Law Enforcement Center.
The uninterruptable power supply at the jail overheated and failed on June 1, IT Assistant Laura Minett reported at the June 2 commissioners meeting.
It powers the entire building in the event that power goes out — which it did again, for many hours, on June 3. The power supply keeps dispatch computers uninterrupted so there is no lag between the power going out and the generator kicking on.
When power went out around noon June 3, the jail was able to keep going with a generator.
Minett said the IT department was looking into replacing the uninterrupable power supply and keeping it under $20,000. She said that those types of power supplies last for about 10 years and that this one was around 16.
Diana Biddle said the commissioners’ maintenance budget had $100,000 in it that could cover the cost.
“I know all of this is expensive and to the taxpayers out there we don’t want to spend any more money, but we have to keep certain things going. It’s not an extravagance. With one-second interruption you might as well be down for the day with the damage it can cause,” commissioners President Jerry Pittman said.
The law enforcement center is close to being paid off. Biddle said that it might be a good time to talk to the county council about considering a cumulative jail fund, which could accumulate and be used to cover future costly repairs.
The locking system and the hot water heater have been replaced within the last couple of years.
“Things are 20-something, 25 years old in that building, so we’re going to start seeing some higher costs repairs looking forward,” Biddle said.
If the county council wanted to pursue establishing a cumulative jail fund, the process would have to start at the beginning of next year and must be done by April 30 to take effect by 2023.
Commissioners establish fund for COVID relief money
The Brown County Commissioners have established a fund to receive another round of COVID-19 relief funding and continue to learn about how it can be spent.
The fund ordinance approved May 19 outlined the purpose of the American Rescue Plan as set forth by the United States Department of Treasury.
Those purposes are: To respond to the public health emergency with respect to COVID or its negative economic impacts, including assistance to households, small businesses and nonprofits, or to aid impacted industries like tourism and hospitality; to provide more pay to essential workers who worked during the public health emergency; to provide government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue in county government due to COVID; to make necessary investments in water, sewer or broadband infrastructure; and any other use that may be approved by the U.S. Department of Treasury.
Money will be appropriated by the county’s fiscal body before use, with all expenditures being approved by the commissioners and claims being paid from the ARPA fund. The commissioners will also establish a plan and rules for how the money will be requested and used, according to the ordinance.
Unused money will be returned to the treasury and no ARPA money can be deposited into pension funds, per the ordinance.
The county is set to receive another $2.9 million in ARPA funding.
At the May 19 and June 2 commissioners meetings, commissioner Diana Biddle said they needed to meet with members of the county council and other stakeholders to come up with a “philosophy” for how the county wants to spend the money. The commissioners were to attend a funding seminar on ARPA hosted by the Indiana Association of County Commissioners on June 10 to learn more about the purposes of the ARPA.
“I don’t want to fritter it away. I want meaningful investments. We have an opportunity to meaningfully impact several areas that we’ve kind of been poking along,” Biddle said.
At the June 2 commissioners meeting, Auditor Julie Reeves reported that there had been problems with applying for the ARPA money. There are over 100 pages of rules along with pages of guidance from other entities, like the National Association of Counties, that the commissioners were working through.
“Some of the things they want you to do with it, we really don’t have those kinds of expenses, so the bottom line is it’s going to be some kind of infrastructure, which we need to sit down with some people on county council and come up with some kind of philosophy, not really rules, or even a plan, but philosophy of what we want to do with the money,” Biddle said.
She noted at the June 2 meeting that she had received a funding request from the Brown County Regional Sewer District and some information from the member-owned Brown County Water Utility on a project they were working on. Biddle said she was also aware of a project the Helmsburg Regional Sewer District was working on.
“About the only group I have not heard from is Gnaw Bone Regional Sewer District,” Biddle said.
Biddle said she is not opposed to helping utilities, which may result in more homes being built, but that the ARPA money may also be used to leverage more funding from bigger pots of money which organizations like the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs may have.
“I think it’s something we need to sit down and kind of brainstorm, throw all kinds of ideas up against the wall and see what sticks,” she said.
County government getting new website
Residents will soon notice a change when they go to visit Brown County government’s web page at browncounty-in.gov, as the Brown County Commissioners have approved using a new website design.
The cost approved for a one year with web development company CivicPlus is $24,373 and an annual reoccurring service fee will be $4,725.
Redesigning the county’s website was brought up once COVID-19 hit, said IT Assistant Laura Minett. “We realized we really don’t have any kind of web presence whatsoever as far as accessibility for the general public,” she said.
“We have come to the conclusion that ours is so outdated that we need to have a whole new website.”
CivicPlus will also optimize the web page to put what residents are looking for more front and center, Minett said.
“If they see someone coming to the website and searching for the sheriff’s department, they put that more front and center on the website, or like septic permits. They will keep track of analytics and make sure that is easier to find,” Minett said.
The website will also allow boards and committees to post interactive agendas, where documents are clickable and embedded in the agenda.
“These are some great features included with this and training is also included, so not one person is solely responsible for all of the content on the website,” Minett said.
“It will be a lot more inclusive for the public and I think it will help transparency and accessibility all around.”
Data from the county’s current site, like meeting minutes, will be moved to the new one, which will take time, Minett said. “It will be a while, but the new one is coming,” she said.
Human resources coordinator Melissa Stinson also said the website will allow for employee onboarding, including filling out applications for jobs online.
Three-year health insurance agreement OK’d
The Brown County Commissioners have decided to stick with SIHO Insurance Services as the county’s third-party administrator for their health insurance plan for another three years.
Bill Sylvester with Apex Benefits presented a cost comparison of Anthem, UnitedHealthcare and SIHO at the June 2 commissioners meeting. After comparing total claims and administration costs, SIHO came in $138,360 below Anthem and $66,530 below UnitedHealthcare.
Human resources coordinator Melissa Stinson said that the longer the county stays with a third-party administrator like SIHO the more bids they will get from companies for their reinsurance.
