OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Port Authority of Evansville Regular Meeting – June 8, 2026

City CouncilMonday, June 8, 2026
BodyEvansville, Indiana
SessionCity Council
DateMonday, June 8, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 23:08
Transcript — Verbatim
2:42

Okay, it's officially twelve oh five, twelve oh four uh PM.

2:48

Um, want to start the call to order the Port Authority of Evansville regular meeting for May, excuse me, for Monday, June the eighth, twenty twenty-six, please.

2:59

Uh, the first of agenda item is our meeting uh memorandum.

3:05

I'd like to ask for a motion to approve the meeting memorandum for April the sixth, twenty twenty-six.

3:12

Uh, unfortunately, uh, we had no quorum on May eighteenth, twenty twenty six for our meeting.

3:17

So moved.

3:20

Second.

3:20

All those in favor, please signify with the I sign.

3:23

I think those opposed.

3:25

Motion carry to accept the meeting memorandum.

3:28

Next, we have O Business, and um, Mr.

3:32

Gunnar, I'd like to ask if you'd be so kind to uh just give us uh a uh follow-up uh update of uh what has taken place in regards to your last discussion with um with uh our commission as well as Markle and your thoughts about moving forward with the board.

3:51

Right.

3:52

We're talking about the uh the uh barge there at Marina Point.

3:58

We're paying almost five thousand dollars a month in rent uh to have it more there.

4:03

So I originally thought we would use the city uses this site called Gov Deals, where we auction off surplus vehicles, equipment, um, and things like that, where it's open to pretty much anyone who wants to register.

4:19

But it's it's really geared toward uh police cars, fire trucks, and you know, things like that.

4:26

So I did some looking and I found a couple sites that actually deal with barges, so I'm thought about if the board's okay to reach out to them to see if they would be willing to look at this barge and see if it would be something they could auction on their side.

4:45

So that's kind of where I stand and I uh, uh, didn't know if the board would be okay to do something like that, or go with our original option of just putting it on the up deals.

4:58

Do you need a motion for us to it would help to have a motion?

4:59

And what we can do is have it have someone look at it and give us an assessed value, maybe, and that we can set a reserve.

5:11

So if we don't get the reserve, then we don't sell it.

5:13

So I will make the motion to give the city the ability to investigate the specific board or barge site and get some estimates.

5:24

Okay, we have a second.

5:25

Before we do that, I have a friend that um his family owned Evansville Barge Marine Services, and he runs a site now, it's called Waterway Exchange.

5:38

Okay.

5:38

I've talked to him, you can just put that in your search engine, it'll pull up his.

5:44

And he's interested in helping.

5:46

Okay.

5:46

He just recently moved to Nashville, so he doesn't live here anymore.

5:50

But he's very knowledgeable about what's down there.

5:54

I talked to him last week about it.

5:56

So I'll get in touch with him as well and okay.

6:00

Thanks, Dave.

6:00

Find out how he would handle it, or maybe I need to find out how we would handle it as far because he'd kind of be the middleman.

6:08

And essentially he would broker the deal or whatever with, but he already said a few people came to mind that would be interested.

6:19

So and that's what we would need is get it publicized so that those who are in that business would know that we're doing this, and if I put it on dove deals, that's not gonna happen.

6:30

So I'll get with Paul and see if we can take it to the next step with him.

6:36

But if the board's okay with that uh that approach, okay.

6:41

There's a motion on the table.

6:43

I still I still would wonder if we should talk to local entities like legal top or other portal owner, Fleagle Top.

6:52

He owns the just down there, um what's it called?

6:56

Now I can't remember the name of the and a marina?

6:59

Not Molser, they have an actual name for the their port that's down here, but those entities.

7:07

Is it all about the gravel?

7:09

Is it on a mansion of gravel?

7:11

Let me all I uh I can look it up real quick.

7:14

But if there's any other local entities that might be interested to.

7:22

Maybe we can get the news reporter, the newspaper to do a story on it and drum up some publicity on it.

7:30

That's a good idea.

7:32

Actually, um, I think the through the resources you're talking about, as well as you, Dave and your Andrew.

7:39

I think that you know, combined effort would give us the best outcome and and best uh return on our investment as well.

7:46

Now, as you talked about Dave, this gentleman, your friend, he brokers and he works as as a broker.

7:53

So I think he would have a lot of insight about this as well to help us.

7:57

Yeah, okay.

7:58

As long as his fees are not too uh, sorry.

8:00

As long as his fees are not too extreme.

8:03

Well, yeah, I don't know.

8:04

Just teasing.

8:05

But no, it'd be good to have his expertise as well.

8:09

Yeah, I know.

8:10

That was teasing.

8:11

I was teasing, you know.

8:12

Yeah.

8:12

I mean, he said to me there would be people that would be willing just to take it, donate whatever it takes to them to get it out, and it'd be gone out of their hands.

8:25

Okay.

8:26

But yeah, I I think that's what we're trying to do is find out what it's worth.

8:31

We're we agree it's it's costing us uh, you know, quite a bit of money to have it board there, but we also want to make sure we if it's worth something, there's someone willing to buy it for an amount that we you know try to get it.

8:47

That makes sense.

8:48

So to that end, um, possibly we maybe should consider finding if there's an organization, whether it be through your friend or someone that actually does an assessment of the the barge to find out really its worth before we even go to these next steps because if we're looking at the barge and saying, okay, we we know what the investment is, but uh to find out really the worth before we start to move forward, I would think that would be a good next step.

9:17

And if there are some agencies or organizations we may be able to go out and at least get an assessment from so they could come back and bring us some numbers and say this is the range or this is what we feel is really worth would probably be advantageous for us.

9:31

Yeah, Marco shared some of that information.

9:34

I think that's what when it was done.

9:29

2021, uh they had a value at uh between one to 1.6 million.

9:44

So that was 2021.

9:47

So maybe it's time for us to go back and it's like a car, yes.

9:51

Okay, because you know the values with cars that they use cars are higher than you were five years ago.

9:57

And uh, and the same with homes.

10:00

So I mean, you know, maybe it's time for us to get an assessment for 2026.

10:04

That would give us something more accurate.

10:06

Sure, yeah, so okay, great.

10:08

So maybe a good next step.

10:09

If you if you look on Paul's website, he's got multiple barges that are just like the one this work deck barge that he's got for sale right now.

10:19

So request a quote so the price isn't on there, but he can tell me right away what it's worth on the open market.

10:28

Just to sell it.

10:29

Okay, we'd be interested in knowing it'd be great to know, great information.

10:33

Okay, thank you.

10:34

So we need to go ahead and make a motion still to move forward.

10:39

Okay, we're good.

10:40

Okay, and you second it.

10:41

Okay, so uh we'll just take that vote then.

10:44

All those in favor, please signify with the I sign.

10:46

I aye, okay.

10:48

Motion carry.

10:49

Motion move forward.

10:51

Thank you.

10:53

All right.

10:54

Next, uh Mr.

10:54

Gunnar, you're up again.

10:56

Okay, thank you.

10:58

I've passed out um May 31st financial statements.

11:04

Um, as you can see they're comparing this to the prior year.

11:10

Uh revenues, the interest is down, the rates are down a little bit, just a little bit, but the cash balances are down, so we're gonna have less less and interesting time.

11:22

Uh the other receipts, that's a transfer that we get from the parks department or the parks fund to make up the shortfall that the fund sees every year.

11:36

As far as expenditures, uh they're almost identical until you get to the electrical service.

11:42

So almost a 36% increase.

11:46

The other item there that's uh that's noticeable is the rental of 24,008.

11:54

Of course, it's for the barge that's that's moored at Marina Inland.

11:59

And I don't know if the board knows that that's been that that's been sold, and that uh it's a new uh landlord.

12:10

So we're working with Marco to get all that squared away as far as a W9 and all, but it's it's related somehow to Moyd concrete out of Henderson.

12:21

So, as uh at the bottom there we have uh expenses over revenue of 26,000 eight seventy-three.

12:37

We ended the month with 108,036, and I had 70,000 70,616 in encumbrances.

12:48

So I'll be glad to answer any questions that you have.

12:56

Not a question but a comment.

12:59

Center point is killing us.

13:02

I mean, you have a 12,000 dollar increase in a month practically, and there's nothing new that's taking place probably in regards to the amount of usage, but the dollar increase.

13:18

That's that last increase that we took.

13:20

In fact, that's yeah, it's killing the city's actually pursuing solar projects to mitigate some of this, and some of the return on it on that investment could be we could see a return in less than 10 years.

13:35

Some of them less than seven.

13:37

So we're very excited about installing some solar.

13:40

Okay, yeah.

13:42

Yeah, because it doesn't seem like Center Point's gonna get any uh any more reasonable for us.

13:47

Okay, thank you, Mr.

13:48

Gunner, for the report.

13:50

Um, like to make a motion to accept the financial report.

13:53

That's one question.

13:54

Yes, I'm sorry.

13:55

Um the dredging, I think we talked about it coming up next year potentially.

14:01

Right.

14:02

We may want to contract with something about the dredging.

14:09

Right.

13:59

Who do we contract that takes the sonar?

13:59

Yeah, they are out of the Henderson area.

14:14

I cannot think of the name.

14:15

I have all the information though.

14:18

Morally.

14:19

Yeah, yeah.

14:19

Morley did the um I'll const contact that.

14:24

That might be something we need to at least budget for.

14:27

Right.

14:27

We should.

14:28

We should.

14:30

Last uh round we had three contractors that submitted bids.

14:35

And um is uh the Henderson area, I cannot think of their and their name.

14:40

There's another one out of Kentucky, and there was a there was three.

14:43

So yeah, I'll get the names, I'll bring them back for our next meeting.

14:46

So I think that was around was it 120 or we still have it on there?

14:52

108,000.

14:54

180.

14:55

Right.

14:55

Where how does that I mean as far as our encumbrances this year versus what we budget for next year?

15:02

Do we does that funnel from the city to the port budget that ought to?

15:07

That'll have to come from uh hopefully we'll get a if we sell that barge, right?

15:14

Surplus, but yeah, the last time it was done, it looks like it was done in uh 2022.

15:23

I think that I think we had talked about that and maybe coming up here in 27 or need to be done in 27.

15:30

The other question I add about the surplus then think just thinking of budgeting for the next few years.

15:36

If we do end up getting, let's say we get 1.5 million, um is that ours to then can we put money like that into a money market and let it accrue?

15:48

Okay.

15:49

Yes.

15:50

We will we keep it segregated from we wouldn't put it in the general fund or the water and sewer.

15:57

We each fund has the ability to invest it.

16:00

So I think we would do that.

16:02

All right.

16:02

Yeah, Andrea, traditionally we have had either whether it be money market or CDs, we've had some area where we've been able to build some momentum financially off of what we have, so we want to continue that for sure.

16:16

Okay, great.

16:17

Any other questions or concerns?

16:20

If not, I'd like to make a motion to accept the uh Port Authority um financial report from Mr.

16:26

Gunner is read.

16:27

May I have a motion, please?

16:30

I mean, never say, okay, thank you.

16:33

All those in favor, please signify with the I sign.

16:36

Aye.

16:36

Okay.

16:37

Next uh motion carry.

16:39

Next, I want to go back to old business.

16:41

Um I want to just uh follow up.

16:43

We amongst uh our commissioners have to discuss the uh uh potential change in and I'm just gonna make sure with this is public knowledge for our port authority uh board meeting to be held on the second Monday of each month versus the first, and it will be held at the same time of 12 o'clock here in this room.

17:08

So I want to make sure that uh we officially do discuss this amongst ourselves in a public forum so that everyone will be aware in the agreement.

17:17

So I'd like to ask for a motion to accept the change in regard to the date uh for our meeting on a monthly basis to the second Monday of each month moving forward at 12 o'clock here in room 307.

17:32

So moved.

17:34

May have a second, please.

17:35

Second.

17:36

All those in favor, please signify with the aye sign.

17:39

Aye.

17:40

Motion carried.

17:42

We now will be scheduling our meetings the second Monday of each month at 12 o'clock.

17:48

Thank you.

17:50

Uh next on the agenda will be the acceptance of the accounts payable voucher register.

17:55

Today we have uh bear with me a few uh a few registered accounts that we will go through.

18:03

Uh the first uh I'll start off going back to the month of April.

18:08

Um, actually, the month of March.

18:10

We have the Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company.

18:13

The invoice date is uh April the 27th, 2026.

18:18

The invoice amount is $150 dollars.

18:21

The invoice description is for the uh electric for the LST uh eight forty at $840 drive.

18:29

Excuse me, electric at $840 for the LST.

18:35

For the LST drive.

18:29

Excuse me.

18:29

And the amount again is $150.

18:41

The next entry again is the Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company.

18:45

The invoice date is April the 6th, 2026.

18:50

The invoice amount is $6,355.

18:54

The invoice description is again the electric service for 610 Northwest Riverside Drive.

19:02

Next, we have for Inland Marina.

19:06

The invoice date is April 27th, 2026.

19:11

The invoice amount is $4,978.33.

19:17

The invoice description.

19:18

This is for our May lease payment for the Port Authority for course the barge.

19:27

Next, we have Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company.

19:33

This invoice date is April the 29th, 2026.

19:38

The invoice amount is 141.70 cents.

19:42

That invoice description is the electric for 840 LST Drive.

19:48

Next, we have the invoice date.

19:51

It is Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company again.

19:54

The invoice date is May the 5th, 2026.

19:58

The invoice amount is $4,212.51.

20:02

The invoice description again is the electric service for $610 Northwest Riverside Drive.

20:12

Our next entry will be BFI Waste Services of Indiana.

20:18

The invoice date is May the 20th, 2026.

20:21

The invoice amount is $409.51.

20:26

The invoice description is for our waste removal at $600 Northwest Riverside Drive.

20:34

The next entry will be the City of Evansville.

20:37

The first date is April 1st, 2026.

20:42

The invoice amount is $500.

20:45

And the invoice description is for the second quarter of 2026 legal fees for the Port Authority.

20:53

Next entry is also the City of Evansville.

20:56

The date is April 1st, 2026.

21:00

The invoice amount is $20,180.

21:05

The invoice description is for our second quarter of 2026 for our liability for our liability insurance.

21:13

Our next entry is also the City of Evansville.

21:16

The invoice date is April the 30th, 2026.

21:20

The invoice amount is $2.06.

21:23

And that invoice description is for April 2026 postage.

21:29

Our next entry will be Evansville Waterworks 161.

21:34

The invoice date is April the 7th, 2026.

21:38

The invoice amount is $169.50.

21:42

The invoice description is for the water electric for $610 Northwest Riverside Drive.

21:52

Excuse me, that's waterworks.

21:54

It says water 610 Northwest Riverside Drive.

21:57

So that is the payment for the water expense for that month.

22:04

The next entry will be the Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company.

22:08

The invoice date is May the 28th, 2026.

22:12

The invoice amount is 133.84 cents.

22:16

The invoice description is again the electric service for 840 LST Drive.

22:22

These are our entries for our accounts payable voucher.

22:27

I like to ask for a motion to approve, please.

22:35

Second.

22:37

Those in favor, please signify with the aye sign.

22:39

Aye.

22:40

Okay.

22:40

All those the motions carried to move forward and accept the payment voucher as um as read.

22:47

Thank you.

22:48

Next on the agenda, we have um a motion.

22:51

May I have a motion to adjourn?

22:54

So I have a second.

22:57

Second.

22:57

Okay.

22:58

Thank you.

22:59

We are officially adjourned as it rains hard outside.

23:02

So everybody be safe getting back to your perspective of offices.

23:05

I did walk to my car.

23:06

It's driving over here this time.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Fiscal Sustainability█████████████████████████████████████████████61%
Procedural████████████████████████32%
Environmental Protection█████7%
Summary of Proceedings

Port Authority of Evansville Regular Meeting – June 8, 2026

The Port Authority of Evansville held its regular meeting on Monday, June 8, 2026, at 12:05 PM in Room 307. The board approved the April 6, 2026 meeting memorandum (the May 18, 2026 meeting lacked quorum), discussed the sale of a barge moored at Marina Point, reviewed financial statements for May 31, 2026, voted to change future meeting dates to the second Monday of each month, and approved the accounts payable voucher register.

Approval of Minutes

  • The board approved the meeting memorandum for April 6, 2026. The May 18, 2026 meeting was canceled due to lack of quorum.

Old Business: Barge Disposition

  • Mr. Gunnar reported that the Port Authority is paying approximately $5,000 per month in rent to moor a barge at Marina Point. Initially considered using GovDeals (a city surplus auction site) but noted it is geared toward vehicles and equipment, not barges.
  • Several alternatives were discussed: specialized barge auction sites (e.g., Waterway Exchange, recommended by board member Dave), contacting local entities like Legal Top and Fleagle Top, and publicizing through local media.
  • Dave noted his friend runs Waterway Exchange and is knowledgeable; the friend indicated some people might take the barge for free just to remove it.
  • The board agreed that an up-to-date assessment of the barge's value is needed. A 2021 assessment valued the barge between $1 million and $1.6 million, but values may have changed.
  • Motion: To authorize the city to investigate specialized barge auction sites and obtain estimates. The motion passed unanimously.

Financial Report (May 31, 2026)

  • Mr. Gunnar presented financial statements comparing May 2026 to the prior year. Revenues are down due to lower interest rates and lower cash balances. A transfer from the parks fund covers the annual shortfall.
  • Expenditures: Electrical service increased nearly 36%. The rental line item of $24,008 is for the barge moored at Marina Inland (the barge's landlord recently changed to an entity related to Moyd Concrete out of Henderson).
  • Month-end figures: Expenses over revenue of $26,873; ending cash balance $108,036; encumbrances $70,616.
  • Discussion of future dredging: The board noted it may need to budget for dredging in FY 2027. Previous bids were around $180,000. Mr. Gunnar will bring contractor names to the next meeting.
  • If the barge sells for a significant amount (e.g., $1.5 million), the funds can be invested in a money market or CDs, separate from general funds.
  • Motion to accept the financial report passed unanimously.

Meeting Date Change

  • The board discussed and voted to change the monthly meeting date from the first Monday to the second Monday of each month, effective immediately. The time remains 12:00 PM in Room 307. Motion passed unanimously.

Accounts Payable Voucher Register

  • The board reviewed and approved the following invoices (summarized):
    • Southern Indiana Gas and Electric: four invoices for electric service at 840 LST Drive and 610 Northwest Riverside Drive (amounts: $150, $6,355, $141.70, $4,212.51)
    • Inland Marina: $4,978.33 for May lease payment for barge mooring
    • BFI Waste Services: $409.51 for waste removal at 600 Northwest Riverside Drive
    • City of Evansville: $500 for Q2 2026 legal fees; $20,180 for Q2 liability insurance; $2.06 for April postage
    • Evansville Waterworks: $169.50 for water service at 610 Northwest Riverside Drive
  • Motion to approve the voucher register passed unanimously.

Adjournment

  • The meeting adjourned. Members were cautioned about heavy rain outside.

Meeting Transcript

Okay, it's officially twelve oh five, twelve oh four uh PM. Um, want to start the call to order the Port Authority of Evansville regular meeting for May, excuse me, for Monday, June the eighth, twenty twenty-six, please. Uh, the first of agenda item is our meeting uh memorandum. I'd like to ask for a motion to approve the meeting memorandum for April the sixth, twenty twenty-six. Uh, unfortunately, uh, we had no quorum on May eighteenth, twenty twenty six for our meeting. So moved. Second. All those in favor, please signify with the I sign. I think those opposed. Motion carry to accept the meeting memorandum. Next, we have O Business, and um, Mr. Gunnar, I'd like to ask if you'd be so kind to uh just give us uh a uh follow-up uh update of uh what has taken place in regards to your last discussion with um with uh our commission as well as Markle and your thoughts about moving forward with the board. Right. We're talking about the uh the uh barge there at Marina Point. We're paying almost five thousand dollars a month in rent uh to have it more there. So I originally thought we would use the city uses this site called Gov Deals, where we auction off surplus vehicles, equipment, um, and things like that, where it's open to pretty much anyone who wants to register. But it's it's really geared toward uh police cars, fire trucks, and you know, things like that. So I did some looking and I found a couple sites that actually deal with barges, so I'm thought about if the board's okay to reach out to them to see if they would be willing to look at this barge and see if it would be something they could auction on their side. So that's kind of where I stand and I uh, uh, didn't know if the board would be okay to do something like that, or go with our original option of just putting it on the up deals. Do you need a motion for us to it would help to have a motion? And what we can do is have it have someone look at it and give us an assessed value, maybe, and that we can set a reserve. So if we don't get the reserve, then we don't sell it. So I will make the motion to give the city the ability to investigate the specific board or barge site and get some estimates. Okay, we have a second. Before we do that, I have a friend that um his family owned Evansville Barge Marine Services, and he runs a site now, it's called Waterway Exchange. Okay. I've talked to him, you can just put that in your search engine, it'll pull up his. And he's interested in helping. Okay. He just recently moved to Nashville, so he doesn't live here anymore. But he's very knowledgeable about what's down there. I talked to him last week about it. So I'll get in touch with him as well and okay. Thanks, Dave. Find out how he would handle it, or maybe I need to find out how we would handle it as far because he'd kind of be the middleman. And essentially he would broker the deal or whatever with, but he already said a few people came to mind that would be interested. So and that's what we would need is get it publicized so that those who are in that business would know that we're doing this, and if I put it on dove deals, that's not gonna happen. So I'll get with Paul and see if we can take it to the next step with him. But if the board's okay with that uh that approach, okay. There's a motion on the table. I still I still would wonder if we should talk to local entities like legal top or other portal owner, Fleagle Top. He owns the just down there, um what's it called? Now I can't remember the name of the and a marina? Not Molser, they have an actual name for the their port that's down here, but those entities. Is it all about the gravel? Is it on a mansion of gravel? Let me all I uh I can look it up real quick. But if there's any other local entities that might be interested to. Maybe we can get the news reporter, the newspaper to do a story on it and drum up some publicity on it. That's a good idea.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com