The Decatur County Council held its monthly meeting on 1/21/25 at 10 am.
The council members approved the December meeting minutes.
Sheriff Bill Meyerrose distributed the Commissary Report for the second half of 2024 to the council.
Sheriff Bill Meyerrose addressed the Decatur County Commissioners regarding a $5 million Lilly Endowment grant awarded through the Decatur County Community Foundation. Sheriff Meyerrose explained that the funding would support a collaborative effort among all county and city first responders to ensure proper responses to mental health crises. The grant will sustain the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) program for 5-6 years. He commended Mike Eggleston for his exceptional work in leading the program, noting that 35%-45% of calls are related to mental health issues. Sheriff Meyerrose emphasized the importance of the program in directing individuals to appropriate resources, such as inpatient or outpatient services, referrals, or the Detention Center, and reducing the stigma surrounding mental health.
Brad Speer, EMA Director received approval to raise the part time rate for his Deputy Director to $18.00 per hour.
Minde Myers, Animal Control Director provided an update stating that she had two grants come in: 2024 Best Friends Animal Society $60,000 and Greater Good $1,000. Council approved these for appropriations.
Sean Durbin, Health Department Executive Director received approval to move a part time position to a full-time position retroactively to the first payroll of 2025. This position is grant funded. The council approved the request. Also, Sean received approval to increase his petty cash from $50 to $100 due to having change for Birth Certificates and Death Certificates.
Michelle Guidice provided a year end update for Catch-A-Ride. Michelle said that during 2024 they operated in 6 counties. In Decatur County they provided 7,854 1-way trips to 133 different individuals. She said that a majority of those trips are tied to their relationship with Decatur Industries. Michelle stated that they have installed internal and external cameras in the vehicles that are helping reduce accidents and also provide a way to follow up on customer complaints. She thanked the county for their continued support of Catch-A-Ride.
A REMC representative came to the meeting and thanked the county for the ARPA appropriation towards broadband expansion. REMC stated that they have a new division that is named Power Stream Fiber. The representative stated that they were requesting a letter of support to apply for Broadband Equity Access Deployment. This would be fiber made available to those that are currently not able to access it. Power Stream Fiber would follow their electrical grid by being on electrical towers or buried. The council did agree to write a letter of support for the project.
Bryan Robbins, Economic Development Director, stated that he attended a site selectors event recently. He said that there was a lot of talk about energy, and also trending projects such as cold storage and data centers. He reminded the commissioners about the February 26. 2025 Opportunity Expo at the Greensburg Fieldhouse. If you would like more information, please call 812-222-2520.
Dawn Lowe, Greensburg Decatur County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director stated that they have several events coming soon including a lunch and learn, Legislative Update that will be held on February 14, 2025, from 11:30a-1p which is a free opportunity and open to the public. However, food will be provided, and she asked that you register on the chamber’s website.
The council approved an appropriation for the Decatur County Soil & Water.
The council introduced the new Area Plan Director Doug Westerfeld.
