Money from the sale of timber on state-owned land in Brown County will be going to all six local volunteer fire departments, and possibly to make changes to polling places before the November election.
The Brown County Commissioners voted on June 20 to distribute $6,200.48 each to the Brown County (Nashville), Cordry-Sweetwater, Fruitdale, Hamblen, Jackson and Southern Brown fire departments.
The county received $74,405.76 from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources from timber sales in 2017. That’s 15 percent of the net proceeds.
Since 1984, counties have been required to distribute part of their share of timber money to local fire departments which have cooperative agreements with the Division of Forestry. A 2006 amendment requires counties to distribute half of what they get to fire departments, but no less than $1,000 per department. The other half is deposited into the county’s general fund, which will be around $37,000 this year.
Commissioner Diana Biddle said she found that the commissioners had not distributed the money for 2017 after being approached by a member of one of the fire departments. “We didn’t find it anywhere in the minutes,” she said.
“These things come in electronic transfers; they don’t actually bring us a check anymore.”
After the commissioners approved the fire department money, Brown County Election Board member Susanne Gaudin asked them about using part of the remaining 50 percent of timber money to pave handicap parking spots at two potential polling locations, to make them ADA-compliant.
The election board has been trying to move polling places out of the elementary schools for safety reasons. The proposed changes would be in Hamblen and Van Buren townships, moving polls out of Sprunica and Van Buren elementary schools.
The goal is to move those polls in time for the November general election.
Southern Brown Volunteer Fire Department supports moving the Van Buren Township polling location from across the street at the elementary school to their station, Gaudin said. But in order to meet requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act, the county would have to pave two handicap parking spots in the gravel parking lot for about $2,000, Gaudin said.
Gaudin said the election board has not been “successful in reaching any type of agreement” with the Hamblen Volunteer Fire Department about moving voting to that station.
The only other place that would work in that precinct is Sprunica Baptist Church, which is down the road from Sprunica Elementary School, Gaudin said. But that church would also need two ADA-compliant parking spaces.
“We would like to approach them by telling them not only do we want to use their facility, but we will help them with that paving because it’s very difficult to ask them. We’ve never asked a location to pay for that paving in the past,” she said.
Since the county owns the Southern Brown Fire station, there should be no problem with using county money to pave parking spots there. Attorney Lauren Box, who was sitting in for county attorney Jake German, was asked if using county money to pay for paving at a church would be a problem. Box did not answer the question, but Gaudin said it may be possible to get the money reimbursed by a grant.
She said work also needs to be done to the parking lot at Fruitdale Volunteer Fire Department, which is where Jackson 1 and 2 voters go. The pavement is starting to disintegrate. “We’ll probably need to do some patching or repair to that parking lot for the November election to make sure that it’s safe,” she said.
Gaudin said the election board is under a time constraint because Brown County Clerk Brenda Woods has to send notifications of polling location changes to voters.
She asked the commissioners to earmark $8,000 of the remaining timber sale money for paving and repairs, with the possibility of getting $2,000 of it reimbursed by grants.
Human Resources Manager Melissa Stinson told the commissioners they are responsible for polling locations. They have $10,000 in their ADA-compliant fund that could be used, but Stinson she would check with the state about using either the timber sale money or the ADA compliant fund money for paving parking spaces at a church.
Biddle said the election board also could ask the Brown County Council for additional money for this purpose.
Gaudin said it’s important to remind the state that Brown County is limited on places that can be used to vote. “In that particular precinct (Hamblen 1), we have two structures other than the school, and that’s the fire department and the church. That’s it,” she said.
“Let’s get our collective heads together to see if we can’t make a plan to figure out a way to make it work,” Biddle said.
“I am very concerned about the voting being in the schools.”
