All right, good morning.

Welcome to the Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners meeting for June 30th, 2026.

Madeline, please call the order.

Commissioner Gable.

Commissioner Canterbury.

Here, President Elpers.

Here.

Welcome.

We're gonna do something a little bit different here this morning as you notice.

Uh what's that?

Yeah, we're gonna get to that in a second.

Uh the room is decorated nicely.

Uh we got an important weekend coming up.

And uh Laura, thank you for decorating the room.

Amy, thank you for the final touches as well.

So, um Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners has put forward a resolution, and we're gonna read through that and then uh say the Pledge of Allegiance after that.

So here we have a resolution of the Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners recognizing and celebrating the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States of America, whereas on June, or I'm sorry, whereas on July 4th, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming that all men are created equal and endowed with an inalienable rights, thereby establishing the United States of America as a free and sovereign nation, and whereas July 4, 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the semi-quincentennial of the founding of the United States of America, a milestone of extraordinary historical and national significance.

Whereas for two and a half centuries, the United States has stood as a beacon of liberty, democracy, and opportunity, shaped by the courage of its founders and sacrifice of its veterans and the enduring spirit of its people.

Whereas Vanderburg County and the city of Evansville have proudly contributed to the heritage of the nation in times of war and peace, including during World War II, when Evansville's plants built P 47 Thunderbird Thunderbolt Fighter Aircraft and served as a key munitions manufacturer and when the Evansville Shipyard, the largest inland producer of ocean going ships in the country, built LST landing ships that carried troops and armor onto enemy beaches, with Evansville built vessels putting men ashore at great at the great invasion of Europe, including Normandy, and whereas citizens of Vanderburgh County, along with communities across the nation, will join together to commemorate this historic milestone with patriotic celebration, reflection, and renewed civic pride, whereas the city, whereas the 250th anniversary of American independence provides an opportunity to honor those who came before us to celebrate the progress and achievements of our nation and to renew our collective commitment to the principles of freedom, justice, and equality upon which this country was founded.

Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Vanderborough County Board of Commissioners at Section 1.

The Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners hereby recognizes and celebrates the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States of America, the semiquincentrical commemorated on July 4th, 2026.

The board extends its deepest gratitude and honor to all men and women, past and present, who have served in the United States Armed Forces and whose sacrifice and dedication have preserved the freedoms and liberties that all Americans enjoy.

The board encourages all residents of Vanderburgh County to participate in local and national semi-quincentennial celebrations to reflect the rich history of our nation and to renew their commitment to the enduring values of liberty, democracy, equal justice.

The board calls upon all citizens to display the American flag with pride on July 4, 2026, and throughout the semi-quincentennial celebration in honor of the 250-year legacy of the United States of America.

This resolution shall be entered into the official records of Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners, and a copy shall be made available to the public.

Sure.

Adopted this 30th day of June 2026 by the Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners.

Thank you, Commissioners.

Is there any uh people who have served in our armed forces?

Will you please stand?

I would appreciate if you could lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance today.

Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you for doing that.

I saw uh Mr.

Riney.

Appreciate your service and cliff.

Appreciate your service.

Thank you for doing that.

All right.

Action items.

Do you want to discuss anything else on the 250th?

Go ahead, Commissioner.

Okay.

Sorry.

I just want to make comment about uh local uh involvement with the 250th uh anniversary and what it means to all of us here in Vanderburgh County.

Obviously, the declaration broke us and made us into a free country.

The uh signing of the Constitution in September of 1787, built about our government and rule of laws, and as Mr.

Lincoln eloquently put it back in uh 1863 with the Gettysburg Address of for and by the people, and uh the great contributions our community has made it abounds.

Take a look around LST 325, the old uh soldiers of Saylor Coliseum, the World War II or the memorial uh building out by the airport, and just the contributions throughout Republic Aviation during the war.

Uh James Bethel Gresham, Barn, or served from this country, born I think in Henderson, but considered the first American to die on foreign soil, it's buried right here at Locust Hill.

Um, the number of presidents, and I want to congratulate the Evansville courier for bringing out some great stories.

John Webb wrote about the instrumental uh contributions that Evansville and Vanderburgh County have made throughout our history, and also uh Mr.

McCabe came through with some photos of not just Evansville history but all of the presidents who have made it to our community to be recognized and to recognize this group.

Uh, particularly uh in my mind when President Roosevelt came to Republic Aviation, the old whirlpool back in the 1940s because of the building of the P 47s, and all of the contributions this uh community swelled as far as population goes during the war, and we helped win that war, or our forefathers did, and thank you all for that.

It's truly uh a great time right now to celebrate 250 years.

Thank you.

I don't think I could top the uh his history teacher here, but well, very well said, and and yes, I think we should be very, very proud, and thank you to those who have served, and um really the legacy that Evansville does leave is quite amazing.

So I'm very appreciative of our community and actually being able to serve here.

Very well said, Commissioners, and uh, you know, we got our uh American flag there at my residence uh shining and waving or it's erected, it's been there for a couple years now, but it's uh every time I leave the house, I always look up at that and very thankful that uh I live in the country that I do.

So uh that's a good segue into we need a vote on this resolution.

So uh we got resolution number CO.r.

hyphen 06, hyphen 26, hyphen 017 recognizing and celebrating the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States of America.

I move for approval.

Commissioner Gable?

Yes, Commissioner Canterbury, yes, President Overse.

Yes, all right.

Moving on uh to Commissioner Business Letter B.

Selection of Selection of County Emergency Medical Services Provider.

So since the uh the city of Evansville made their decision uh public to move in a different direction, uh this commission has been uh on alert and doing our homework and what is the best path forward.

Uh this was not um uh decision that we took lightly.

Uh we turned over every stone, we asked a lot of questions.

Uh we pulled in a lot of people uh to get to this uh final decision that what we're gonna make today.

Um we talked to county council leadership, uh, for example.

Uh we pulled in the uh trustees from the three areas that would be affected by this change.

And then we also had a public meeting and uh accepted proposals.

So it was a uh it was definitely a process.

Uh commissioners, do you have anything else you'd like to add?

Well, I just want to thank the community for that reaching out.

I think we we because we really did take this into uh a lot of advisement and the due diligence we've had that the outreach of of our trustees, as you said, and our uh uh township fire departments and and also I want to say thank you to AMR for the partnership that we've had.

Uh I think it's been uh I really want to thank Lee.

Oh, he's one of the one of the first doors I knocked on running for office with a gun on his hip coming come from church, I think.

So anyway, it's just been uh again it's an arduous uh process and yet we do have to consider what is best for our constituents and uh for safety and and to be physically responsible.

So uh I just want to thank you all.

Uh I'd say Commissioner Elpers, you've put a lot a lot of lot of work into this, and and and also Ryan and Craig.

Uh you guys are um we I just appreciate your hard work.

Commissioner Gable, any comments?

Well, I can't go into much more detail or bring out any other enlightenment, but I too want to thank AMR.

You've been here for a long time and you've served this community.

You're part of our history, but it uh it's obviously soon going to be time to move on.

Vanderburgh County Fire Department.

Uh we do appreciate where you are, what you're doing as far as ambulance service, and uh we we certainly recognize the expertise that you are bringing to the table and for the Vanderburg or for the Evansville City Fire Department for offering uh the ambulance service and uh definitely the input of the township trustees who are here today to make his final decision or push uh this final decision.

I think the main thing is we want to provide safety and help uh through ambulance service for the residents of Vanderburgh County, and that's a difficult task, and we uh must continue to work together.

So with that in mind, we try to we want to try to make the best for all of us.

So thank you.

So I'd like to uh make a motion again.

My conclusion was based on the staffing, the equipment, the infrastructure, and the cost.

Uh, I'd like to make a motion that uh the Vanderburg County Commissioners move forward recommendation with the Evansville Fire Department for EMS service.

Second.

Madam.

Commissioner Gable?

Yes.

Commissioner Canterbury, yes, President Elpers.

Yes.

Next thing, uh Engineer, yeah.

Yeah.

So after that, uh there will there will be more details to follow it uh possible in future commissioner meetings.

So all right, John, action items, letter C.

Um, notice to bidders, VC26, hyphen zero eight, hyphen zero one, concrete street repairs, sealed bids will receive with the office of the board of commissioners until 9 30 room 305 of the Civic Center on July 28th.

Anything else here, John?

This will cover work on um Oglety Drive, the Strawberry Hill neighborhood, and Copper Field subdivision.

Fantastic.

Okay, motion to approve.

Second.

Commissioner Gable.

Yes, Commissioner Canterbury, yes, President Elpers.

Yes.

Uh number two for the engineer sidewalk waiver request, the nest subdivision on Red Bank Road.

Uh, the Area Plan Commission recommended denial of this waiver request by a vote of five to two.

I believe last meeting, John, uh the petitioner was not here.

Uh is the petitioner here for that.

Um Storm.

Come on up.

Storm from Lot Mueller Group is here.

He's the design engineer on the project.

Okay.

Morning.

Good morning.

Morning.

Apologies for the mix up at the last meeting.

No worries.

Yeah, we just had to push it back.

So glad you're here.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Um, I need to introduce myself or anything.

Of course, yeah.

Name, yeah.

Uh Storm Colak with Lock Miller Group.

Okay.

Got some pictures for us.

Yeah.

Oh, I'm off some roof member schedules.

I didn't go through a exercise of actually a sidewalk, but I've marked up what I thought.

So I certainly sympathize with the need for sidewalks.

Um, the remonstrators at the last meeting made a lot of good points.

Um, but the only two options that I'm seeing that we could do would be to run right along the street or kind of back up the hill.

Um, I'm sure you're all familiar with Red Bank where our site is just north of that, we start to really drop off.

So, to put a sidewalk in along the street, I'm going to be kind of dumping people back into the street to get to my sidewalk.

Or get to our side, say my sidewalk.

Um is that a safety concern, you think, Storm?

I would argue so.

Okay.

Um there's really nowhere to go.

Uh, and if I lay our sidewalk up kind of up the bank, then I'm putting people into the adjacent property owners' property.

Right.

So they either have to climb up the hill once they get to our site and over, or it has to be along the street, which would involve moving the slight little ditch that's on that side of the street, probably poles, street poles.

I I would just argue that there's a safety concern with being particularly along the street.

And on red bank now, there is no existing sidewalks.

Correct.

Correct.

Yeah.

Commissioner Canterbury.

So, yeah, so I mean I I guess I'm I want to make sure that this is covering inside this apartment complex, which is where we're talking about these sidewalks, correct?

Because I have heard concerns in the past about issues on red bank, but that's not what this is about.

It's about inside this particular complex.

How many um units will there be?

Uh we have 92.

Okay.

And so uh I'm very familiar with this part of town and actually lived at Lakewood West in my first apartment.

Um, so knowing that um where they at this point, is are you is there any intent to have buses and drop-offs coming into the or do we know that yet?

Is that too early to tell?

I can't answer that.

I'm not sure okay, because I just know what the the other two do not have uh down the down the hill, do not have sidewalks inside.

Okay, thank you.

Commissioner Gable.

John, did you have any comment on this?

I know Area Plan is not represented.

Like Storm said, um this one's difficult because along this frontage, ideally you would have sidewalks, but they don't connect anything.

We need sidewalks all along Red Bank, given the fact that you can see pedestrian paths have been worn into the grass out there.

There's limited rideway, the um road falls off pretty abruptly off the edges of the pavement.

Some locations, so adding sidewalks along the entire road is not an easy task.

And while I'd like to see sidewalks here, whenever this went to sub-review, I recommended uh to approve the waiver simply because there was no place to connect them to, just like Storm was saying.

If there was anywhere for the sidewalks to be connected, I would have certainly been against the waiver.

If and when Red Bank gets a sidewalk, because the apartment's down in the valley on the north end, there's quite a bit of foot traffic, and that's pretty much a safety issue.

Then would it we come back and then put sidewalk in from this project or if it's built it's too late?

If they were waived today, then the county would end up having to put in the sidewalks with any kind of reconstruction project that might be done in the future.

There wouldn't be any way to require the apartments to come back later date than I know of.

But we wouldn't go on private property to do that.

We would just there is some ride of way that's being provided through this development, whether or not you'd have to go back and get additional rideway at a later date, that'd have to uh be evaluated at the time somebody actually came up with plan for the road, but to connect and make your ramps and so on across the driveway or the entry and exit and so on.

Okay, thank you.

All right, um, we also have uh Lieutenant Chad Ferguson is in the audience.

Would like to come up and speak on this matter, good morning.

Good morning.

I'm uh Lieutenant Chad Ferguson with the sheriff's office.

Um here on behalf of uh Sheriff Robinson who apologizes.

He wishes he could be here to address this topic, but he had some training this morning.

So um to be clear, um, we're not opposing this particular uh project.

Um we haven't had a chance to review it, but it's it's fairly well known that Sheriff Robinson and the sheriff's office um opposes uh sidewalk waivers.

Um the federal uh highway uh administration has found that roadways without sidewalks are more than twice as likely to experience um pedestrian crashes.

Uh walkways separated from traffic uh can prevent up to eighty-eight percent of what they call walking along roadway crashes.

Uh this is the exact hazard that subdivisions uh were missing sidewalk forces uh residents onto the uh roadway.

Um in addition to the federal highway uh administration studies uh the sheriff's office findings from our very own streets uh tell us the same story.

Uh review we reviewed 57 pedestrian-related crashes outside of the city limits from 2016 to the beginning of this year, and the pattern was consistent.

Um where sidewalks existed, no one died.

Um 51 people were injured in these types of crashes, and another four people were killed.

Uh, total of 49 were struck where no sidewalk was present.

Uh for all these reasons, we request the commissioners uh treat complete pedestrian infrastructure as a baseline requirement uh rather than a discretionary amenity.

Thank you.

Sheriff, question for you.

Um we're talking in uh overall subdivisions, and this is really an apartment complex.

So based on that, those some of those stats, would you have any idea how many of those incidents were in a an apartment complex versus a housing subdivision?

Uh no, I don't, but we if if need be I can go back and and try and review those.

Just I'm curious out of that because I do understand your and again safety is very important.

So don't okay, just and and again, I just want to make clear that uh the Sheriff Robinson nor I have reviewed this particular project, so I can't I can't speak to yep, there's an engineering, sounds like there might be an engineering issue.

Um, but it's this is a general opposition to sidewalk waivers.

Thank you.

Thank you, Lieutenant.

Thank you.

Any other public or any comment from the public?

I think that was it on that one.

Um commissioners, any other comments?

I would like I'll just say that you know, um, if there was existing sidewalks already on Red Bank Road, I would see you know the likelihood of moving forward with having sidewalks within this complex.

But since there's no sidewalks on Red Bank, I think it's a sidewalk to nowhere.

Um, you know, if the if the county would come back later and and uh approve a project for a red bank, there likely would be uh sidewalks there, and then uh this apartment complex could utilize those those sidewalks.

So uh with that said, um, no other comments from commissioners.

I was gonna comment when I voted.

Okay, gotcha.

Um I want to make a motion to uh approve the waiver sidewalk request for the nest subdivision.

Second, Commissioner Gable.

I this is a tough one, and with uh John stating with without the existing sidewalk infrastructure right now, but I know it's our goal, and it's been a real uh issue as far as helping out the residents who live below and connect with uh red bank, and if we have to come back later and build a sidewalk because that would happen, then uh I'm gonna go along with the area plan commission recommendation and vote no to the waiver.

Commissioner Canterbury, yes, President Elfers.

Yes.

Okay, thank you.

Number three, change order.

Number one, Oak Hill Road reconstruction.

This is to provide a 22-day extension due to design plan revisions required for the drainage structures.

There is no cost related to this change order.

That's a good thing, right, John?

Yes, it just extends the completion date by 22 days.

There were some issues associated with the design elevations on the drainage structures, so those those had to be re-evaluated and redone, and there's been a delay in getting those elevations, which then led to a delay in the structures being able to be ordered.

So that's where it uh the twenty-two days comes in.

Thank you.

Motion to approve.

Thanks, John.

Commissioner Gable?

Yes.

Commissioner Canterbury, yes.

Yes.

Number four, pipe fee acceptance for Power Square Section 4.

This is just a $2 per foot fee for all the pipes located outside the rideway in section four of Poet Square.

Okay.

Motion to approve.

Second.

Commissioner Gable?

Yes.

Commissioner Canterbury, yes.

President Elpers, yes.

Number five, temporary speed limit reduction on Clover Drive between Elmridge Drive and Burgdolt Road.

Excuse me, the Sheriff's Office has received numerous speeding complaints on Clover Drive due to the traffic detouring around the Oak Hill Road project.

So this is a request to reduce the speed limit on clover to 15 miles per hour.

Per code, the temporary reduction is in effect for 30 days, so extensions may need to be approved at later meetings as construction continues.

So got some speeding issues because we're diverting traffic from Oak Hill to these other side streets, right?

Correct.

And the signs uh we thought they were gonna be posted last week.

They have not been posted yet.

I talked to uh Chris Job, uh the project engineer earlier today, and he said they're still waiting for insight to mark the location of their lines once those last utilities are located, then the signs will be posted.

So hopefully it'll be in the next couple of days.

Okay, thank you.

Appreciate Chris's uh, he's got a built a social media page for uh for updates.

Um people can't comment on it, but he just puts updates on there for the residents that live along Oak Hill, which I think is very helpful.

So appreciate Chris doing that.

So side note on that.

That's great.

Yep.

So motion to approve.

So moved.

Commissioner Gable?

Yes.

Commissioner Canterbury, yes, President Elfers.

Yes, thank you, John.

Thanks.

John, do you have a second?

I know that this is not on the agenda, but with the uh heavy, heavy rains we had, I imagine your office has been flooded.

Uh no intended with uh issues with the water damage and water re backup, but I is there any comment you'd like to make about the efforts from the engineer and from the highway county the uh county highway.

We've gotten some complaints and so is the surveyor's office.

I'm not sure about the highway department.

I haven't talked to them about anything specific, but um part of the problem is when you get that much rain that fast, especially with the older drainage systems, they weren't designed to handle it.

It's questionable whether or not the ones that would be designed by the current ordinance would handle it either.

But some of the areas we've gotten complaints on have had recurring problems for ages.

And when the ground's already saturated like it was from Thursday's storms when it all started, it just makes it worse.

So it's a difficult thing to deal with.

Well, we appreciate you.

And thank you for I'm sure the calls you had to take and and obviously again when it's so much so fast, there's not a lot that can be done in most situations.

So I know we all had puddles probably in our yards and and whatnot that we had to kind of work through.

And those if it's standing water to backyard, that's one thing.

If it's getting in people's garages and sheds and houses, that's an entirely different issue that's much more significant, obviously.

So very true.

But we've gotten plenty of the complaints about just standing water in certain areas, but if it's draining out and it's not getting into anybody's house, it's probably functioning about as good as it's ever going to.

Yeah, they weren't built to handle eight inches of rain, were they?

Nope.

Okay, well, thanks for all your work.

Thanks.

Okay.

Moving on.

Letter D Old National Events Plaza, First Amendment to wind down agreement with ASN Global.

I have no comments on this one.

Okay.

Motion to approve.

Second.

Commissioner Gable.

Yes.

Commissioner Canterbury.

Yes.

President Elpers.

Yes.

Letter E.

Settlement Agreement.

Ryan, you want to give a few details about this, please.

Yeah, so this settlement agreement resolves a dispute regarding the contractual beating process.

Um at community corrections.

Okay.

Any comments from commissioners?

No.

Okay.

Motion to approve.

Second.

Commissioner Gable.

Yes.

Commissioner Canterbury.

Yes.

President El Price.

Yes.

Letter F, final reading of resolution number CO.r.

06, 26, 016.

Adopting a stormwater drainage control ordinance as chapter 13.04.

This is the final reading.

You know, with this whole process, uh we've brought in all the all the stakeholders.

Um Ryan and Craig have done a tremendous amount of work on this on this document.

And not only are the stakeholders included, but also we had input from our own county departments with the surveyor's office and the county engineers office, and I appreciate everyone's efforts.

Um, you know, two part, we had to clean up some parts of the ordinance, and um I think we did that here, but also we had to um uh change some things with the engineer certification form 803.

We've done that as well and added some more uh more detail to that.

Again, we're not taking away um or relaxing any of the requirements of drainage or uh anything like that.

We're just shifting that responsibility and holding that responsibility uh holding the that group accountable.

So commissioners, you got anything else?

I'd say thank you again, Commissioner Elfers, for for your work in this and the majority of the time that you've taken, and again, I would also thank Ryan and Craig for for your time.

I think it may it just talks uh it speaks this speaks to collaboration and bringing the folks together who need to be in at the table and not just making that decision cold.

So great work.

I agree, and this has been uh on the table for quite a while and numerous meetings with the stakeholders, and uh I truly like thank Ryan and Craig and Commissioner President helpers for your leadership, but this is not going to be uh a provision that everyone is totally happy with, but it's gonna be a win-win, I think, in the end with the different departments.

So it's the best we can do, and I think we can go forward.

Thank you.

Okay, I'll make a motion to approve.

Second.

Commissioner Gable.

Before that, Madeline, I do notice uh any public comment on this.

Sorry.

I've just got a couple of questions.

Sure.

Mike Ward, Chief Deputy County Surveyor.

Um, still never really got resolved.

When is this effective?

I mean, as far as an effective date.

Is it just for projects going forward?

Is it for projects that are currently going on that can be included in the form 803 or how are we supposed to handle that?

I think it for me it's any project that is current or going forward.

Both.

So yeah.

Okay.

All right.

That's my question.

Thank you.

Yeah, thank you, Mike.

Good question.

Anyone else?

Okay.

Madeline.

Commissioner Gable?

Yes.

Commissioner Canterbury.

Yes.

President Elpers.

Yes.

Moving on, letter G, the approval of the Engineer Certification Form 803.

And like I mentioned earlier, this was a two-parter.

This document is much more detailed.

Again, we're shifting the responsibility and again not taking away any of the major requirements, but we are making sure that we're holding the uh the uh the parties responsible, that's for sure.

So is there any other comments from commissioners on the 803 form?

Okay.

I'll move for approval.

Commissioner Gable?

Yes.

Commissioner Canterbury, yes, President Elfers.

Yes.

Letter H resolution number C O.r.

hyphen zero five hyphen 26-014 establishing administrative fees for code enforcement violations.

I think we might we want any comment here or uh yes, under the nuisance um ordinance that was passed, um uh nuisance and trash and uh weeds debris that was passed.

Uh recently, there was a provision in there that allows this board to set the administrative uh remedy cost because those uh change as uh those will change and evolve.

So periodically you'll have the opportunity to go in.

So this is uh setting that initial rate of um of what the uh hearing costs are for um the administrative fees for holding those hearings for bringing in violators.

Commissioners anything else?

No, motion to approve.

Commissioner Gable, yes, Commissioner Canterbury, yes, President Elbers.

Yes, moving on, department head reports, Emsul Vanderburg County Building Commission.

Uh, Holly here.

Good morning, Holly.

Good morning.

I'm Holly, the floodplain administrator for the city and county with the building commission.

Um, I just wanted to provide some information to our community uh regarding all of the storm and flooding that we've had.

Um so I just wanted uh I I provided a letter.

Um it just talks about um what kind of activities are allowable without a permit versus ones that are um and then that we also provide inspections for homes that have or businesses that have had flooding, which is beneficial for insurance claims.

Thank you.

We appreciate that.

So the general public should know that of your service, and I'm sure you've had an inundation of some calls too.

Not too many, no interesting.

So that's that's what this is hoping for.

Okay, just raise awareness, raise awareness.

Fantastic.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Holly, thank Holly.

Thanks for your efforts on the uh the code that we recently looked at on the floodplain stuff.

So thanks for your efforts on that.

Yeah, and and I'd just like to add one more thing.

Thank you.

Holly does a lot of work in trying to reduce the insurance costs for residents.

So she's constantly looking at ways that we can, as a community, and the county can do to reduce insurance costs for each resident.

So thank you for your work on that, Holly.

It's really important to our especially to those in the floodplain.

Um we have some a number of clients and um residents out there, so thank you for your work on that.

Okay.

Number six, new business.

The um the topic of uh data centers has been in the news uh quite a bit.

So um what we're uh currently doing is uh we're going to uh we're in discussions related to uh we're going to establish a data center research committee.

Uh that right now is in the hands of the area plan commission and that will come to the commissioners at a at a public meeting at a later date.

So uh just wanted to um just talk about that and that that currently is in the works.

So commissioners, anything else on that?

None?

No, thank you.

Okay.

Uh any old business commissioners.

Okay.

Consent items.

Any discussion there?

No, no, to approve.

Okay.

Commissioner Gable.

Yes.

Commissioner Canterbury?

Yes.

President Elpers.

Yes.

And finally public comment.

Anybody like to come up and address the commissioners going once?

Twice I see none.

Is there a motion to adjourn?

So moved.

Second.

Next up is drainage board.

Morning, Linda.

Linda, we're gonna pause the drainage just for a second here before we get started.

Okay.

Last time we'll go.

We should get it down to your own.

Are you going to that one?

I'm committed.

Um, I think that's what I'm going to do on that.

That's pretty cool.

Yes.

Oh, yes.

Thank you.

All right, let's do it's called the Vanderburgh County Drainage Board June 30, 2026 to order.

And we'll do our Pledge of Allegiance, and again in our grand celebration of our 250th.

We had a proclamation earlier, so our resolution.

So anyway, please join me.

Do we have any veterans in the audience?

Okay.

Someone we didn't know about earlier.

Might you, Mike, lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?

Pledge of allegiance.

To the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation under God and indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you.

Alrighty.

So first, we're going to call to I didn't really do a call to order, but attendance.

Let me do that.

Yeah, let's do a 10 minutes.

Commissioner Elbers.

Here.

Commissioner Gable.

Here.

President Canterbury.

Here.

Okay, do I have a motion to approve previous minutes?

Uh yes.

Motion to approve previous minutes.

Commissioner Elpers.

Yes.

Commissioner Gable?

President Canterbury.

Yes.

Okie doke.

First up is Greystone Estates.

We're asking for preliminary drainage plan approval with Cash Wagner.

This project will be vacating a portion of Cold Ditch regulated drain.

Since the developer is desiring the vacation, they will be notifying the affected property owners per Indiana Code 36.9.27.37.

This is what uh transpired when another portion of Cold Ditch was vacated and relocated for the developer of Ottoman estates in July of 1990.

The board needs to set a date for the public hearing, at least 30 days and no more than 40 days from the date of the notification or from today, okay.

Sorry, didn't have that on there.

Um so we're looking at July the 28th, which should be a day or well, that would be a day earlier, two days early, um, or August the 11th, which would just be right at the 40 days, I think.

So um well, if if it's got a minimum and a maximum, we've got to hit on 11th.

Is that correct?

Um Yeah, the statute requires us uh notice within that specific time period.

So August the 11th is when we need to have the public hearing, okay.

Do we need a motion for that hearing?

So not following the I'm not following this, Linda.

What's going on?

Oh, um the developer is developing a project at Covert and uh Seasons Ridge.

Right, which is just inside the county, uh adjacent to the city line, um, and they're wanting to for their project, they're wanting to vacate uh a por the portion of cold ditch that runs through there.

Right, and then in turn um change out the pipes.

They will no the pipes are the pipes that are there in the road.

Um they're gonna have a detention basin for their um development, and then they're sort of rerouting cold ditch, but we were gonna let them take care of that whole that area, rather than having the county uh our drainage board.

So it's just we had been in contact and generally speaking uh to vacate a public or to vacate a regulated drain, um, because it is a it's a public asset, um they have to notify everyone on the drain that's affected by it.

Um so that's what this notice is, and they don't they actually have to provide notice twice, is that right?

Or I think just this once for the public hearing, just this once so um so that's why the they don't want you to you know send it out and then set the hearing six months later or set it, you know, two days.

Okay.

So they've the statute requires that it be within this very specific time frame.

Um so to set the hearing in case anyone shows up to object to vacating got the hearing, we have to just set that date.

Uh and since we're working with the developer as opposed to incurring these costs uh surveyors.

Uh, well yeah, it's not a request of the surveyor's office, it's the been requested by the developer.

And like I said, in the 1990 situation where it was the same thing, the developer wanted to relocate the drain, um the developer uh took the costs of notifying and taking care of notification of the folks.

So, that makes sense.

So we are so we're setting the hearing, and then we're gonna let the developer know this is when the hearing is, so make sure your notice is and then you'll have to provide us with proof that you've complied with that uh at the time.

So we're uh it's kind of a couple moving pieces going in hopefully going in the same direction here.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

And they basically question wanted to make sure that we were that everything was gonna be okay with this because if not, then they weren't really they were they were gonna be losing lots, number you know, the number of lots were gonna be different, their whole plan would be different.

So this um was what everyone felt that would be the best um plan to move forward with this project.

Thank you.

Motion to approve the preliminary drainage plan.

Yes, and now this will comply with the new drainage.

Well, this is Indiana Code type things.

This is this is the Indiana code, not drainage, not the drainage ordinance.

Second, Commissioner Elpers?

Yes, Commissioner Gable.

President Canterbury.

Yes, okay, so we've got the uh public hearing set for August 11th.

Yes.

And then I just would like to add that the county engineer had review comments, none of which affect the request for the preliminary plan.

Um they can be addressed with the final drainage plan, and I've put that in a different color and italicized it because I didn't figure you really wanted me to read all that, but I would like that added to the record.

And um, did we do the motion for the preliminary plan approval because the setting of the hearing was one thing and then I need to make a motion to put that into the record?

Yes, let's put I'll make a motion to uh add these four paragraphs here into the record.

And to approve the preliminary drainage plan, we need to vote on that first.

Or at all for the I think the comments can be part of the preliminary plan acceptance, right?

Yes.

Okay, I'll make a motion to approve the final drainage plan for preliminary preliminary.

Sorry, motion to approve the preliminary final drainage plan for the nest at Red Bank apartment complex, preliminary approval to allow them to move forward and then set this hearing so that this is not nest.

We're on the graystone.

So we're still on the graystone.

Yeah, this is graystone.

We are approving the preliminary plan.

Sorry, and setting the date for August 11th.

Is that the motion?

That is the motion, yes.

Sorry, yeah.

Sorry, I had the picture.

I should have put the uh notation above that.

Okay, Commissioner Elbers.

Yes, Commissioner Gable.

Yes, President Canterbury.

Yes.

Thank you.

All right.

Number three.

All right.

Number three, the nest at Red Bank Apartment Complex.

This is a final drainage plan approval with Lock Mueller Group, and I have that it was a possible variance, and we will be needing a variance.

Uh Storm will come up to uh explain that, but I'll go through my part lock mo lockmiller group on behalf of their client.

The Star Group has submitted the final drainage plan for this project.

The preliminary drainage plan was approved on March 31st of 2026.

The Star Group is provoked proposing to develop three parcels located north of the Lowe's home improvement store in the expressway commercial subdivision, and it's west of the Red Bank Road.

Um the project is anticipated to be replatted to combine these parcels into a single parcel.

The proposed development includes four multi-story apartment buildings, a pool, recreation area, parking lots, internal drives, landscaping site utilities, and stormwater management facilities.

The approximately 4.73 acre project site formerly contained two homes, which have been since removed.

Due to the site's relatively steep topography, the grading design intends to utilize excess fill from higher elevations on the eastern portion of the site.

This material will be used to construct building pads, parking areas, and embankment fill around the proposed dry bottom detention basin to the west.

Um we have both the county surveyor and the county engineer agree the plan generally meets the code.

Um and then we do need um Storm to come up and explain what they're looking for on the variants.

Which is basically um that they're gonna have some under uh over the 10% undetained, but I'll let you know.

Yeah, welcome back, Storm.

Thank you.

Um and I'll I'll send over a formal letter to Linda explaining got a lot of numbers bouncing around my head but I think it was 87% detained and so we're like yes we're really close yeah but the reason I or what I would explain to her to her in this letter is that we've kind of got three outlets one to the west one kind of north northwest and then east into redback so we are reducing flows north and east and we're basing our outflow of the basin west on the ordinance so although we're over the 10% undetained I would argue that we are reducing flows in every direction.

So particularly on red bank that's the would be the issue again we talked about earlier.

Okay.

Yeah.

Okay any questions motion to approve.

Well then Craig we can have a can we have a motion to approve the um final oh drainage plan is a motion to approve the final drainage plan with the variance allowing up to we'll say 15% okay because you're not quite sure of his numbers not quite up to and including 15% of the um it was undetained discharge yes I'll make a motion to approve the final drainage plan approval along with the variance that you said what?

Can be up to 15% allowing up to 15% of undetain detained discharge undetained discharge discharge.

Yes and then they'll get that to us we can bring it back to the next meeting for board signatures or can we is that something that once we pass it if we if we're okay with it John's okay with it we pass it.

And all that it details is uh that it goes up to and stays below that 15% then you can go ahead and we don't need follow-up approval okay just for uh memo or document stating that but if anything changes then we will have to come back we'll drop back okay we need a second okay the 15% has been entered is that correct I'll second.

Commissioner Elpers yes Commissioner Gable yes President Canterbury yes all right number four Saddle Creek estates.

Yes ma'am section four this is a final drain drainage plan approval with the variance as well for cash wagner a little background information Saddle Creek estates plans started with a preliminary drainage plan approval um on June the 7th of 2016 so this is um been a 10 year project uh section one was only two lots that was recorded in 2019 with drainage plans approved in 2018 uh you can see the notes there section two was recorded on October 6th of 21 with their drainage plans of February of 2019 section three was recorded on April 25th of 2022 with drainage plans approved on October the 12th of 2021 um the entire development consists of almost 76 acres the plan is based on preliminary a preliminary set plans from 2016 with modifications that have been made along the way for the different phases um so uh per the variance request which I have verbatim on behalf of the owner CWK investments McCutcheonville LLC we request a variance due to the existing topography to allow greater than 10 percent of the overall project area to run off undetained the majority of the undetained stormwater runoff is draining to Little Pigeon Creek that is located along the west property line of section four we are proposing to allow 22% of the total project area to run off undetained instead of 10% as stated in the current drainage ordinance in order to account for this additional undetained rainoff rain off runoff the outlet rate of the detention basin number one has been restricted to release uh 8.56 cubic feet per second instead of the allowed 70 point zero eight cubic feet per second.

Um and then this is a variance to the drainage code of 13.04.420 allowable release rate section D and the technical remember memorandum of undetained drainage areas, and I forgot to add the I asked the board for a motion to approve the variance and then a motion to approve the final drainage plan.

So this reduces the restricted release down to 8.56 from 70.08.

Yeah, but that's just that portion.

They are, I mean, overall, they're letting uh more go off 20 other side.

Yeah.

Okay.

So it's kind of a straight-off.

Trade-off, okay.

Kind of a mitigation type thing.

Madeline has that document for your approval.

Uh I'm unclear from your notes.

Is the 22% is that mostly going into Little Pigeon Creek or is that going everywhere?

Do we know?

Little Pigeon.

Yeah, okay.

Little Pigeon Creek.

Yeah.

Okay.

So it's mostly most of the additional.

Of uh undetained increase is going into a natural surface waterway.

Right.

Okay.

Not as a side ditch or somebody or somebody's yard or some dang it.

Okay.

We can't do that.

No.

I think it's important to note that where this extra water is going.

Yes, thank you.

I just was pulling straight off their variance request.

But yeah.

All right.

So I'll make a motion to approve the final drainage plan approval with the variants for Saddle Creek Estates.

Section 4.

Section 4.

Commissioner Alvers.

Yes.

Commissioner Gable.

President Canterbury.

Yes.

All right.

Then we have a couple of ditch claims.

Since the last drainage board meeting of June 16, 2026, there have been two claims submitted in the amount of 450.60 cents.

These claims are for work awarded in 2026.

I asked the board for a motion to approve the submitted claims retroactively, and there's your table down below with big amounts of money there.

This is the 15% retainage.

Do you have a motion?

Motion to approve ditch claims.

Commissioner Elpers.

Yes.

Commissioner Gable.

President Canterbury.

Yes.

Alright.

And then on the informational side, uh the Pigeon Creek Watershed Development Commission.

The next meeting will be held on Monday, July 27th at 10 a.m., right here in room 301.

Hopefully, we'll have a little more progress report on the USGS stream gauge.

We did get once we sent them the agreement that was signed by the commissioners for the bridge attachment.

They did state that it was a little more than what they're normally used to.

But so we'll see what comes up.

What do you mean by that, Linda?

I I I honestly what they sent us over as their standard um as their standard agreement.

We're overachievers.

Is that what you're saying?

Basically, had no terms, no conditions on it.

It basically just said you allow us to put this here and uh we'll take care of it.

So you put a little more language in it.

So we had to put a little more language in it to protect uh to protect the county.

Thank you, Greg.

Yeah.

So which has unfortunately delayed the project.

Yeah.

Commissioners, any other business?

We do have uh Jack Keenan here for public comment.

Hi, Jack.

If you can state your name and address.

Hello, everybody.

Thank you for having me here today.

Uh my name's Jack Keenan.

Uh and my I live at uh 213 Cherry Street.

Okay.

Um so uh I'm a resident at or I uh purchased 213 Cherry uh a little over a year ago.

Um and this house is one of the oldest houses in Evansville.

Uh this house was uh started construction in 1847.

Um, and it's on the National Register of Historic Places, but unfortunately it's about two blocks north of the uh Riverside or two houses north of the Riverside Historic District.

So I'm just like right outside of it.

Um this house is unique.

Uh there's a lot of Evansville history to it.

Uh that was kind of lost to recent memory.

It used to have a plaque on it, it.

It was known as the tunnel house.

Um and there's a brick staircase that goes two uh stories below my basement, runs out towards um walnut, and then goes to the river and goes about seven miles uh or seven blocks north.

Um, and I have the newspaper articles here from Wilder Library when they found it in the nineteen twenties.

There was an empty lot uh just north of me, and then there's 217 Cherry Street, which are the next door neighbors uh to the north of me.

Uh at some point, one of the previous owners at the early 90s split the lot in half.

These are 25 foot lots, and so they did that so that 217 could build, use half of that to build a um a uh a garage, uh, whereas they retained you know the other half, which is only 12 and a half feet, it's like a little side yard, uh, presumably for drainage to keep water away from the house.

Um for whatever reason this wasn't sold with the house, even though it had common ownership at um has had common ownership uh for you know the last you know 30 years between that empty parcel and the um the house.

Uh so last year uh just prior to me buying it, uh the previous two owners ago still retained ownership of that parcel and sold it to the neighbors because the last um previous owner just wasn't interested in the house anymore and was trying to get out of it, so he unfortunately didn't buy it.

Now there is a drain in the center of this uh parcel that serves uh my house.

Um it has an overflow valve that goes into my basement.

Uh my house is completely dependent on this drain, which is in the center of this yard.

And so water, you know, when it rains, like as it did this weekend, uh water flows off the roof, you know, into the gutters, uh, you know, through the ground, it's collected in the yard and then funnels, you know, into the yard into the strain and then uh drains under the sidewalk and out to the street.

Um I uh they the neighbors ordered like that land remediation, so they had pulled all the grass off of it and they were supposed to put sod on.

Unfortunately, this time it didn't, but this illustrated the importance of this drain, because mud and hay from the ground being uncovered at this point completely covered the strain.

So it was obstructed.

Uh within 20 minutes, my yard completely filled up with water, and it all went into my basement.

And so unfortunately, do these neighbors now, and they've been trying to do this for the past uh two months, um, are trying to move their fence uh up to there's a sidewalk that runs along my house, and it'll go right to the sidewalk, giving me no grass, no access to the drain.

It would it's effectively would just be a barrier along the entire uh length of the house.

So water will flow off and it won't go anywhere but into my basement.

Uh there's no way to regrade it, there's no way to do anything like that.

Uh if they build that there, uh this house, which is um there for over 175 years, might not make it another five years.

Um, you know, as I mentioned, I think it used to have a plaque called the tunnel house on it, which has been lost to memory, but I think it's an important piece of Evansville history, and I was wondering, based off of you know your guys' expertise, um, you know, short of filing like a civil suit to try to claim an easement.

Is there anything that can be done on the administrative or city or countywide level to protect the strain?

I kind of lost track on the garage or the outbuilding built.

Is that been resolved or is that part of your parcel?

Uh so they split the parcel next door, which is a 25-foot one in the 1990s to give the neighbors room to build a garage.

That was resolved.

They've owned that.

I just retained that 12 and a half street.

It looks like my yard.

We've made you know mowed it.

We um it looks every bit like my yard.

Okay.

Uh this board has jurisdiction over um what are called legal or regulated drains.

Uh the private drain in between your uh the two houses as you described uh would not be subject to the jurisdiction of this board.

Um when we're talking about a legal drain, we're really talking about, you know, like ditches.

Um if you uh were you were here in the audience when we were talking about you know vacating a portion of Colt Ditch.

Um, you know, if you went down covert and looked at that, you would see that it's um, you know, about at that part it's just beginning, but you know, it's it's about the size of a small creek as opposed to you know a drain in uh in between two parcels.

Uh you might have um a private cause of action.

You'd have to hire an attorney uh or do the research uh yourself into the common enemy doctrine uh which is the prevailing rule in Indiana about um draining blocking or um walling off water or projecting it onto a neighbor's property.

Um so you'd have to look into that.

Um you'd also have to look into your purchase documents.

Um with uh if you had a residential sales disclosure, there could be some information in there about um whether you actually own or have any easements or uh anything that services your land uh that's on a different parcel.

Uh but that those are all beyond the the scope of the authority of this board.

If you uh after the meeting, if you have a moment we can we can talk to you.

Yeah, I I'd love some suggestions.

I I appreciate that.

Yeah, I'm just here looking for suggestions.

For guidance, yeah.

That's why we're here.

Appreciate your sorry we can't help you in this matter because it's out of our jurisdiction.

But like Ryan said, he'll stick around for a little bit here and give you some good recommendations, right?

Is that okay?

I greatly appreciate that.

Thank you so much.

Yeah, good luck, yes.

Thank you.

All right, any other business.

I I failed to say something at the last meeting, and I'm gonna go ahead and say it now anyway.

I thank Laura for the uh decoration for celebration 250.

And uh also tidbit.

I've been thinking about it's really gratifying, I think, to everyone in this country with the World Cup games going on.

Oh yes, and the great uh response for the people who are visiting and uh traveling through our country, uh how open they are and how happy they are to be here, and you know, even greater statement is how the Americans are very warm and receptive, and it's just been a really good, I think, uh, situation and uh a shot in the arm, a refreshing shot in the arm for our country right now.

So it's still a great place and it's good to other countries and other people's recognize that.

Thank you.

Gives us a lot of pride.

Okay, we have a motion to adjourn.

Motion to adjourn.

Second.

Okay.

Thanks, Linda.