Commissioner Meeting Notes, April 22, 2024, Road and Bridges, Stellar. (This meeting was moved from April 17, 2024, to accommodate Interim Commissioner Wolpert’s work schedule.)

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Agenda – 04.22.24 Agenda Commissioner Meeting

Audio of the Meeting

Roads. The county received a 1.5 million community crossing grant, and the Highway Department has the 500K matching funds. Four paving bids were received, and Milestone was selected as the lowest bidder.

The roads to be paved include:  Gatesville Road (full length) = 6.448 miles, Bear Creek Road (from State Road 45 to 200 feet north of Bridge #3) = 2.288 miles, Branstetter Road = 0.584 miles, Beech Tree Road = 1.720 miles, Sprunica Road (Sprunica Ridge Road to Upper Salt Creek Road) = 0.878 miles, Total proposed = 11.918 miles (Source Highway Department website).

Bridge 122 – Mt Liberty Road. Milestone was also the lowest bidder on this project.  Work is expected to start within 45 days. This work was generated from an emergency work order requested by Mike Magnor and approved by the Commissioners.

Clerk – Digitization of Records. The cost of converting manual records to digital is estimated at 300K. Records will be converted as time and money allows.  A mandated timeline was not identified.

Washington Township Board Appointment. Richard Hall who also serves on the Brown County RSD Board, was selected to fill the position.

Stellar 2024. At the joint commission and council meeting on April 16, 2024 which was also attended by the Nashville town manager and Alice Susmichel of the Community Foundation,  there was acceptance and agreement for delaying the application for Stellar. This would allow the county and town the needed time to develop a vision and plan for the county.  It would also allow time for projects to be identified and prioritized and allow time to get community buy-in and support. This approach would contribute to building trust and confidence in elected and community leadership. The grant may require matching funds, but it is undetermined at this time as to the amount and source. Melissa Stinson’s suggestion to ask the Stellar Committee for an exception to policy “if” there was unanimous agreement by the council and only 2 of 3 commissioners, was unanimously rejected. 

Re-Vote.  Despite the support for this decision at the joint meeting for a more deliberate and collaborative planning process, interim commissioner Wolpert asked for another vote to apply for Stellar via a letter of intent by the May 1 deadline.

Wolpert misrepresented my position with the likely intent that it may cost me some votes in the election. Once again, Wolpert and Pittman votes Yes, Ron Sander No.  Sanders also explained that his vote was also based on conversations with those involved with one or more of the projects, which indicated that there was no unanimous agreement on the scope of one or more of the projects. The Town manager and individuals from the town of Nashville voiced their support for submitting the application. The Town of Nashville can apply for a Stellar Grant on their own but choose not to.

It was “speculated” that a Stellar Grant may not be available in 2026, so we “must” apply this year.  No detail was presented regarding what projects were considered priorities and their respective sponsors. No detail was presented on the steps in the application timeline to provide assurance that would allow sufficient time to get community buy-in and support. And, no assurance that if there was not an agreement as to projects, the application would be canceled.

I support the position of Ron Sanders and the agreement reached at the joint commissioner and council meeting. We need to take the time to identify a vision and plan for the county that  will lead to community buy-in and support for needed projects.  The practice in the county on major projects has been for the few to determine what is best for the community and push it through as fast as possible before there can be any organized opposition. This is a destructive practice. Quality leadership involves taking action that will produce results where everyone benefits. This can be supported through collaborative decision-making processes. An outline of a process is available at BrownCountyLeadernetwork.com