 AGENDA Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners on August 8, 2023
 AGENDA Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners on August 8, 2023 – 3:00 p.m.in Room 301, Civic Center Complex
- Engineer
- Notice to Bidders: VC23-08-01 “Concrete Street Repairsâ€
- Burdette Park Tennis and Pickleball Courts Contract Modification: Empire Contractors,Inc.
- Willow Crossing Subdivision Street Plans
- Green River Road Trail and Paving Update
- Health Department
- Leah M. Brown, LLC Agreement – Dare to Lead Leadership Training
- Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) Grant Agreement Contract #74534 – Ryan WhitePart B Rebates
- Computer Services
1. Advanced Network & Computer Services, Inc. Amendment No. 2 to Master Agreement and Statement of Work – Adding Sheriff’s Office
- Sheriff’s Office
- Memorandum of Understanding: University of Southern Indiana
- Vehicle Installment Purchase Agreement
- City Purchasing Department
1. Waste Removal Services Agreement: Republic Services, Inc.
F. Applications for Abutting Property Owners to Purchase County-Owned Properties
1. The North Greens Phase 7 Lot 8A – Parcel ID 82-04-32-002-742.001-019: Deborah K.Scott
- 2935LLP
- 1312
- 1121
- 3310
- 1507
- 2556
- 2560
- 1105
- 1123
Broadway Avenue – Parcel ID 82-05-35-018-069.002-025: Do it Right Investments,
Read Street – Parcel ID 82-06-19-027-024.023-029: Zirkelbach Enterprises, LLC Harriet Street – Parcel ID 08-06-19-027-020.001-029: Gary Wayne Causey Austin Avenue – Parcel ID 82-05-26-018-099.033-025: Karen McCormick Adams Avenue – Parcel ID 82-06-33-011-059.037-027: William R. Bruce
N Fares Avenue – Parcel ID 82-06-16-011-107.025-027: Melissa Ray
N Fares Avenue – Parcel ID 82-06-16-011-107.026-027: Melissa Ray
Keller Street – Parcel ID 82-06-18-028-084.011-029: Danny Paddock, LLC
Fountain Avenue – Parcel ID 82-06-19-028-003.037-029: Georgia Investments, LLC
- Ordinance No. CO.08-23-17– Ninth Amendment to ARPA Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund Utilization Plan
- Ordinance No. CO.06-23-011 – An Ordinance Amending Title 17 of the Vanderburgh County Code Concerning Land Use and Zoning to Create an Airport Overlay Zone
- Ordinance No. CO.05-23-009 – An Ordinance Amending Title 17 of the Vanderburgh County Code Concerning Land Use and Zoning for Accessory Dwelling Units
- Department Head Reports
- New Business
A. Ordinance No. CO.08-23-018 – Title 17.36.020 Improvement Location Permits Drainage Board Immediately Following
B. Group Term Life Insurance Quotes
- Old Business
- Airport Overlay Zone Meeting – CANCELLED Tuesday, August 8, 2023 at 5:00 p.m.
- REMINDER: Commissioners’ Online Property Auction
Bidding Open August 7 – August 22, 2023 Through Curran Miller Auction/Realtyhttps://www.curranmiller.com/auction/absolute-auction-55–properties—evansville- vanderburgh-county-in-68283/details#
- Consent Items
- Approval of July 25th Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes
- Employment Changes
- Auditor
1. Claims Voucher Reports
- July 24, 2023 – July 28, 2023
- July 31, 2023 – August 4, 2023
D. Treasurer
1. June 2023 Innkeepers Tax Report
E. Engineer
1. Report & Claims
- 2024 County Department Budget Requests
- Area Plan Commission
- County Engineer & Highway (Amended)
- Computer Services 2024 Proposed Budget
- Vanderburgh County Aid to Impacted Industries Agreement: Big Brothers Big Sisters ofSouthwestern Indiana
- Hillcrest Washington Youth Home, Inc. Financial Report
- Airport Overlay Zone
- Response to Vanderburgh County Law Department’s Request for Additional Information from Area Plan Commission, Area Plan Commission’s Counsel, and Airport Authority
- Letters of Support
- Martin Blake, Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) Office of AviationManager, and Michael Buening, PE, INDOT Office of Aviation Chief AirportEngineer
- Kyle Lewis, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Great Lakes RegionalManager
- Shadi Wadi-Ramahi, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Member &Airport Support Network Volunteer
- Jason Wuertz
- Susan Glisson
- Letters of Concern/Opposition
i. Craig Stenz
a. Letter from APC in Response to Opposition Letter from Craig Stenz ii. Jeffrey Anderson
- Letter from Nathaniel Hahn, EVV Executive Director
- List of Properties in Proposed Airport Overlay Zone
9. Public Comment 10. Adjournment
Drainage Board Immediately Following
Mike Pence turns the key
Mike Pence turns the key
People so often misread Mike Pence.
John Krull, publisher, TheStatehouseFile.com
They see the former vice president’s bland, open face, his stilted high-school-speech-star gestures upon the stage and his awkward emulations of former President Ronald Reagan and consider him as little more than a mannequin.
Because so many see him as a lightweight, even a blank slate, they feel free to project their fears and hopes onto him. That is why so many progressives have viewed him as the great theocratic threat to personal liberty and so many social conservatives as the untiring champion of their values.
He is neither.
Mike Pence always has been a politician, one with an insatiable ambition for advancement and an impeccable instinct for self-preservation.
He is, first and foremost, a survivor, a man who will find a way forward even when all paths seem closed to him. He will pull himself back onto his feet after he’s been knocked down, endure defeat after defeat as he staggers ahead in pursuit of his goal, never losing sight of what he wants.
He has the patience and the guile of the long-distance traveler.
The more rabid partisans of former President Donald Trump now are in an uproar over what they see as Pence’s betrayal of the man who “saved†the former Indiana governor’s career.
They fail to understand the situation in at least two critical ways.
The first is that Pence had no choice but to testify truthfully to what he saw and heard under oath once he had been legally compelled to do so. To do otherwise—to commit perjury—would have put Pence in at least as much trouble as Trump is in.
That’s not something Pence’s unswerving survivor’s instinct would allow him to do.
The second key way Trump supporters misunderstand the Trump-Pence relationship involves the question of obligation—of what the two men owe each other.
It is true that Trump spared Pence what likely would have been a humbling defeat in the 2016 Indiana governor’s race by placing Pence on the national ticket. Pence’s embrace of the misnamed Religious Freedom Restoration Act had soured Hoosier business leaders on his re-election campaign, many of whom either planned to sit the race out or even support his challenger, conservative Democrat John Gregg.
But the same thing that made Pence toxic to the business community in Indiana made him the darling of social conservatives nationwide—the very constituency in the Republican Party that Trump was struggling to attract. Pence delivered the religious right for Trump, which made a difference.
If Trump saved Pence from defeat in the Indiana governor’s race, Pence saved Trump from defeat in the 2016 presidential race.
They owed each other.
Only one of them, though, honored the obligation.
Pence spent four years rendering faithful and often personally degrading service to Trump, balking only when the former president leaned hard on him to break the law and risk imprisonment in a lost and lawless cause. That’s when Pence took the copious notes that now threaten Trump with imprisonment.
Trump honored his debt to the vice president who had helped put him in the White House by sending a mob to the U.S. Capitol screaming “Hang Mike Penceâ€â€”without even giving Pence a warning to clear his wife and family from the building.
In that complicated political relationship, it’s clear who betrayed whom.
It wasn’t Mike Pence.
In retrospect, it seems clear Pence sensed early on that his disastrous parting with Trump would be a possibility, even a likelihood.
Long before he took the notes that now imperil Trump, it is clear Pence was taking steps to protect himself.
In a Trump Oval Office that seemed to have as much traffic through it as a convenience store at a busy intersection, people wandering in and out as they pleased, frustrating and enraging one chief of staff after another, the vice president never seemed to be in the room when the most damaging, self-destructive presidential discussions and meetings took place.
The Pence instinct for self-preservation told the vice president to be elsewhere.
Now, as Donald Trump runs for president in a desperate attempt to avoid going to prison, it is Mike Pence who seems to hold a key to his jail cell.
So many people so often misread Mike Pence.
Donald Trump is one of them.
FOOTNOTE: John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students. The views expressed are those of the author only and should not be attributed to Franklin College.
The City-County OBSERVER posted this article without bias, opinion, or editing.
What Is Mayoral Candidate Michael Daugherty’s Stance On Public Safety Issues In Evansville?
What Is Mayoral Candidate Michael Daugherty’s Stance On Public Safety Issues In Evansville?
by Jenna Johnson
AUGUST 7, 2023
QUESTION
Where does Evansville rate against other cities in Indiana when it comes to crime statistics?
Out of 97 cities in Indiana, Evansville ranks 91st safest with a crime rate of 6.35 per 1000 residents. You compare that to a national average of 4.69, Evansville is among the most violent cities in the USA  (Policearrests.com).
Public Safety in Evansville is a major issue. With improved public safety, we can attract families and businesses to Evansville. The Police Department has been underfunded for many years. What is extremely disappointing is the Evansville Police Department has close to 30 open positions. Evansville is the 3rd largest city in the state of Indiana, and EPD is ranked 34th among municipalities for starting pay, excluding sheriff’s departments across the state of Indiana.  If elected Mayor of Evansville, I am going to bring the EPD salaries to the current level of the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Department.
It is important to point out, the local FOP held a “Vote of No Confidence†concerning our current Police Chief, Billy Bolin. Approximately 84% of officers voted that they have “No Confidence†in Chief Billy Bolin’s leadership.
How do we prevent Evansville Police Officers from leaving and going to other jurisdictions?  The answer is to provide the EPD rank and file with better pay, improved benefits, and new leadership.  “I was shocked to hear that the  Evansville Police Chief Billy Bolin received a 20.33% raise this year by increasing his salary to $128,514.00. Assistant Police Chief Phillip Smith received a substantial salary increase this year of 18.76% taking his salary up to $117,717.00. The rank-and-file employees of the EPD only received a 3% salary increase this year.
“If I’m fortunate to be elected as Evansville’s next mayor, I pledge to reenergize law enforcement in order that they can begin to reduce crime and drugs in Evansvilleâ€, said Michael.  We are told by reliable sources that Mayor Winnecke is thinking about giving the hard-working city employees a 1% pay raise for this coming year and proposing increasing the Mayor’s salary by $30,000.00. “It makes business sense that the decision for the mayor’s  proposed salary increase of $30,000 should be deferred until next year for the new city council to vote onâ€
Former FOP President D J Thompson stated “The lack of manpower has resulted in slower response times and decreased safety of our citizens. Officers often cannot proactively patrol our neighborhoods because there are too few of them to do anything other than respond to calls.â€Â Michael responded: “If I am fortunate enough to be the next mayor of Evansville, you can expect me to make good public policy decisions and eliminate the practice of nepotism and political patronage.â€
BIOGRAPHY OF MICHAEL DAUGHERTY MAYORAL LIBERTARIAN CANDIDATE FOR MAYOR OF EVANSVILLEÂ
Michael Daugherty was born and raised in Evansville, Michael is no stranger to Evansville’s rich history. He graduated North High School with Academic Honors while playing multiple sports including four years of soccer and golf. Michael attended Purdue University where he received his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering.
After graduation, he taught at Ivy Tech for several years.  When he left Ivy Tech he started an Information Technology Consulting Firm, Abstract Technology Group. Michael passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) to become a Licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Indiana. Michael returned to Purdue University receiving his Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) while working full-time. As CEO, Michael created a talented staff to support businesses all across the world. With family health issues, he returned to Evansville in 2020 to assist his family. Selling his thriving IT business, he retired and purchased a 47-acre horse farm to ensure his mother could retire with her passion, horses.
Upon his return to his roots, he noticed Evansville was not the same. He began to investigate what had happened to his hometown. Increased crime, drugs, crumbling roads, decrepit parks, political patronage, and fiscal irresponsibility pushed Michael to stand up and do something about his beloved hometown.
This is why Libertarian Michael Daugherty entered the race for Mayor. “I’m proud to announce my campaign slogan, PEOPLE OVER POLITICS!â€Â
For more information, please visit www.PeopleOverPolitics.vote
FOOTNOTE:  The City-County Observer published this letter without opinion, bias, or editing. The City-County Observer will publish any letter from canidates  for Mayor of Evnsville or City Council canidates without opinion, bias or editing.
THE NEW-HARMONY GAZETTE. PUBLISHER SET THE RECOED STRAIGHT
THE NEW-HARMONY GAZETTE. SPECIAL
By- Dan Barton, Publisher. Sunday, August 6, 2023
Recently, I did a column on a critical analysis of my “letter ofinquiry†to Posey County Prosecutor Thomas Clowers regarding some missing information in a Probable Cause Affidavit that I had received from his office some months back.
The affidavit was written by Indiana State Police Detective WestonKuykendall, a very experienced Detective whose affidavits are almost always picture perfect, on the arrest of New Harmony resident Mist Justice. In this case, I didn’t think the affidavit was so perfect! So, I took issue with it.
It not only involved the arrest of New Harmony resident Misti Justice in December 2022, but also the search of her apartment in New Harmony and the eventual confiscation by Indiana State Police of a shotgun located on her premises.
As I was scrutinizing Det. Kuykendall’s Probable Cause Affidavit, I noticed that some pertinent information seemed to be missing.
- There was a wrong address pertaining to where Misti Justice resided. 2) There was no address listed regarding where the search took place and confiscation of a shotgun was located, 3) There was no address of the location where she was arrested in New Harmony.
These are items that Kuykendall does not usually overlook in his reports. For example in the Probable Cause Affidavit on the arrest in November 2021, of Murder Suspect Austin Kusturin, all of these items were included regarding his arrest – and all correct. Even Kusturin’s mother’s address was included, along with the address where police found a rifle allegedly taken from the murder scene that was stored in the Kusturin family storage unit #10.
The same went for Robert McCarty’s arrest in January 2022, and where a successful search was conducted for drugs and a .45 caliber rifle, that got McCarty arrested on weapons and drug charges. Even McCarty’s mother’s address was listed in the affidavit.
Normally I probably would have overlooked all of the “coincidences†just like you. But since the Probable Cause Affidavit on Misti Justice written by the same Detective as the other two I had to inquire. Since Kuykendall had made it a point to list correctly all of the data on the McCarty and Kusturin arrests, my intellectual curiosity got the better of me, and I pursued the matter.
I first went to Detective Kuykendall, because he authored all three Affidavits, and he would not go further on the Justice affidavit than what the affidavit said. He advised me to check with Posey County Sheriff Latham, whom he said should have the arrest informationthat would include the missing data I was seeking. That was February 2023.
Latham had said in February that he would send me the information “soonâ€. Four and a half months later I had not gotten an answer from Sheriff Latham. I contacted him again in July 2023, and things had changed. Now he said that he did not have any such report or record.
Something that seemed easy was now looking very impossible. Andat the same time, “Strange!†I proceeded to request the data from Posey County Prosecutor Thomas Clowers in August 2023, and he couldn’t or wouldn’t release the missing information.
This was obviously upsetting. I hastily prepared a Public NewsSpecial Release describing my dilemma, one copy going toProsecutor Clowers. In my News Letter, I asked several questions tothe Public and to Clowers. Clowers was not happy. He sent me a scorching reply which, among other things said that I was baselesslyattacking local law enforcement. That, is because I asked the question about why there was what seemed to be a conspiracy to keep information on this criminal case away from the public. And also that by doing so it would protect alleged racketeers in the county.
Now, after looking at my language, in hindsight, I can understand Prosecutor Clowers anger, and believe I may have been a little too forceful in my language. It was designed to draw the public’s attention to the issue and create discussion, as it is a double murder we’re talking about and the worst crime to take place since the1980s in Posey County.
But, as I am not thrilled with being depicted by the top lawenforcement officer in the county as being “absurd,†and “out of line,†and most especially attacking our local law enforcement in my question of why this information has not been forthcoming to The New Harmony Gazette from any of the public officials that I have reached out to; I am willing to rephrase my observation and the language of what’s taking place.
I retract my original language in which I said, “Why are they conspiring to keep the information on this criminal case away from the public and so protect these alleged racketeers?†and replace it with the following: “Why are local-ranking law enforcement and Circuit Court officials seemingly withholding information on the Probable Cause Affidavit in the Misti Justice arrest that The New Harmony Gazette has called for to date?†“Does it seem like the criminal element in Posey County might not look at this denial of cooperation with the press as a victory for their side?â€
I hope that this sincere question/statement will assuage the rancor that has developed between Prosecutor Thomas Clowers and his view of The New Harmony Gazette.
Best of luck to all Posey County law enforcement in the future!
Dan Barton, Publisher
The New Harmony Gazette
Footnote: Â This letter was published by the City-County Observer without opinon,bias or editing.
Consumer Alert: Products Recalled in JulyÂ
Attorney General Todd Rokita is alerting Hoosiers of important consumer protection concerns for products recalled in July. This is the time to take advantage of opportunities available for those who purchased these recalled items.Â
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the following consumer products were recalled in July:
Sky Wheels from Soft Play
Long ball guides Otters to sweep of Boomers
Josh Broughton, Austin Bost, and Kona Quiggle all hit solo home runs to propel the Otters past the Boomers, while Evansville pitching held Schaumburg to just three hits.
Starter Braden Scott mowed down the Boomers to earn his second win of the season. He allowed just three hits with four strikeouts over six innings.
Scott worked four in-order innings. He allowed just one baserunner after Schaumburg’s two-run second inning.
Evansville trailed 2-0 entering the fourth inning. Broughton launched a ball to left, cutting the Schaumburg lead in half on the solo homer.
Bost tied the game in the fifth with another solo home run over the left field wall for his second home run in his first week as a professional.
Quiggle then put the Otters in front with a towering blast to right to leadoff of the sixth inning.
The Otters scored for a fourth straight inning on a Dakota Phillips RBI hit in the seventh to cap the scoring.
Kevin Davis and Leoni De La Cruz eached pitched a scoreless inning out of the bullpen.
Jake Polancic worked his 11th save of the season to close out the victory in the ninth inning. He leads the Frontier League West in saves.
Bryan Rosario stole his 41st base of the season and advanced his on-base streak to 20 games. The Otters earned their fourth sweep of the season and became the first team to sweep the Boomers in a three-game series this year.
Evansville will enjoy a Monday off-day before making a quick three game road trip to Chicago to face the Windy City ThunderBolts. First pitch on Tuesday is slated for 6:35 PM CT from Ozinga Field in Crestwood, Illinois.
All home and road Otters games this season are televised on FloSports with audio-only coverage available for free on the Evansville Otters YouTube page.
The Evansville Otters are the 2006 and 2016 Frontier League champions.
A Severe Weather Alert has been issued in our area
Weather Alert
Special Weather Statement issued August 07 at 12:39 AM EDT by NWS Paducah
…A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of northeastern White, southwestern Wabash, southeastern Edwards, northwestern Vanderburgh, southern Gibson and northern Posey Counties through 1230 AM CDT… At 1138 PM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near Crossville, or 11 miles south of Albion, moving east at 40 mph. HAZARD…Wind gusts of 50 to 55 mph. SOURCE…Radar indicated. IMPACT…Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around unsecured objects. This strong thunderstorm will be near… New Harmony around 1150 PM CDT.
Other locations in the path of this storm include Poseyville, Cynthiana, Blairsville, Haubstadt, Kasson, Darmstadt, and Evansville. This includes the following highways… Interstate 69 in Indiana between Mile Markers 23 and 28. Interstate 64 in Indiana between Mile Markers 1 and 29. Interstate 64 in Illinois between Mile Markers 125 and 130. MAX HAIL SIZE…0.00 IN MAX WIND GUST…55 MPH