The Decatur County Commissioners met in a special session on November 22, 2024, at 9 am.
The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Chris Ramey.
The meeting began with a discussion about the Area Plan Director position. The individual that the commissioners were going to vote on hiring had reached out to Mark Koors and let him know that he was accepting another position with a larger salary. The commissioners said that they would go back to the drawing board and begin interviewing again.
Larry Hager spoke up during the meeting to ask the commissioners what gives them the commissioners the legal right to fire the Area Plan Director as the Area Plan Commission should have the authority to hire and terminate. The commissioners explained that the current Area Plan Commission has more than 7 members which classifies them as an Advisory Commission and not a Governance Commission. Mark Koors let Larry know that the Commissioner Attorney was in court at the time of this meeting but that he could explain it better. Larry said that he was questioning the commissioners’ ulterior motives as the person they were going to vote on had experience working on wind and solar Comprehensive Plans. Larry stated that it was “highly suspect” and referred to he doesn’t believe in constant “coincidences”. The commissioners continued to explain the situation.
Roger Finley asked the commissioners why the previous Area Plan Director was terminated. The commissioners explained that this is a personnel matter and that they are not disclosing any specifics. Mr. Finley asked, did she embezzle money or what? So, you are just going to keep the citizens in the dark? The commissioners continue to state that this is a matter they will not discuss in an open meeting. Mark Koors said that there was an Executive Session that was held, and this is what was decided. Mark also said that in that meeting they had representatives from the Area Plan Commission in attendance. That is when Larry Hager spoke up and said that Area Plan Commission did not want her terminated. Mark stated that this is not correct, and the commissioners moved to other subjects.
The commissioners discussed the pool and a proposed project to replace the pool area. The commissioners agreed that at this time the county is not in a situation where they can move forward with a pool. “I do not see with the projects the county has on the table and the needs of the county that we as a county will have the funding for 10+ years for a pool.” Stated Tony Blodgett. Jeremy Pasel stated that the pool that was presented by Ernie Gauck sounded more reasonably priced than the pool presented earlier this year. However, due not having the READI and other grant funding that was in place, the “Ernie Pool” would cost more than the original plan for a much smaller pool. The commissioners spoke about a project that has been proposed to replace the current pool area with Pickleball Courts and Tennis Courts. That project will be going to the ARPA committee for a request for funding. The commissioners voted to demolish the current pool site and either provide the $150,000 or get the demolition of the pool and create a site that would be ready for a project if approved to move forward. Jeremy Pasel said that alternate spots for the building of a pool would be North Park or Rebekah Park.
It was talked about the funding requests for the Turf Project and the Pickleball Courts this could take the remainder of the ARPA funding. However, the $150,000 commitment from the Commissioners will help settle these concerns. Tony became concerned after the Council voted not to allow the Parks Department to transfer the funds needed for their portion to another budget line. It was also stated that Tony Blodgett has been doing a “deep dive” into the finances of the Parks Department and he is not seeing how they are going to put up the $200,000 that the Parks Department has recently stated that they had to put towards the Turf Project. Janet Chadwell, Auditor, spoke up and said that Reuben (Financial Advisor) had warned them that the Parks Department would be running in the red after this year. Janet said that she explained this back in June to the Parks Board President Victor Dance. Mark Koors added, “I am disappointed that the board assumed that they had $200,000 and now they don’t.” Rob Dehoff said, “I apologize on my end. I crunched the numbers with the Park Board President and the Director.”
Tony Blodgett said that the ARPA committee has representatives of the READI 2.0 project that includes the fairgrounds on their agenda for their Monday meeting. They will be asking for $250,000 and if they fund this it may reduce what they can fund with the Turf and the Pickleball Courts. So, he would like to know the direction that the commissioners would like to take on these projects so that those statements can be shared with the ARPA committee. The commissioners stated that they would like the Turf Project and the Pickleball Courts to be considered before the funding request for the READI 2.0 Fairground Project. The commissioners also committed to putting $100,000 towards the turf project since they are already under contract.
The commissioners voted to notify the City of Greensburg to move forward with their project without the Rebekah Park project being included. The commissioners all agree that the plans that were proposed contain several items that are not needed and even take up necessary parking spaces. The commissioners said they would like to take on creating the project and developing a plan that doesn’t include the extras. They acknowledged that they would have to go to the City of Greensburg and ask for variances for any plans that take away the landscaping, curbs, and bump outs.
The commissioners discussed vehicle logos and stated that they have reached out to a few area businesses and have not heard back. They all agreed that they would reach out to Green Signs to have the work completed. Mark Koors said that he would also ask the Highway Department where they have their logos created and installed.
Jeremy Pasel stated that at this time he has seen the preliminary report that has been created by Baker Tilly for the county review. He is hoping that they will have the finalized copy to him soon. Jeremy said he has asked Baker Tilly to come to the Commissioners’ meeting hopefully in December to present their findings. Jeremy added, “It’s informative”.
The meeting was adjourned.
