Commissioners approve 4-H building contract, discuss Community Crossings paving
- Nathaniel Smith | Editor-in-Chief
- 19 minutes ago
- 8 min read
The Washington County Board of Commissioners conducted an evening meeting once again last week, and it was well attended by the public. The commissioners tackled topics such as the approval of both the design of the new 4-H building at the fairgrounds and a contract with engineer John McCoy to finalize plans. The commissioners also received a partial punch list on the highway garage project and discussed several other issues.
Commissioner Todd Ewen called the meeting to order in the absence of President Phillip Marshall, as he was still recovering from his stroke at the time.
Commissioner Ewen moved to amend the agenda by switching the order of two items related to the 4-H building and striking a proposed new contract with HWC Engineering. He noted the county already has a contract with HWC that was signed last year. Cardwell seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.
The meeting then pivoted to the public comments section. Lucy Brenton was first, and she began by first praising the Purdue Extension office staff for, “making a lot with a little” in their current office space and suggested they could continue to do their work without a new building. She was concerned with the construction timeline.
“Even with the best intentions, they’re going to be subject to the weather,” Brenton said. “When I looked at the timeline that was shared at the previous meeting, it just didn’t seem like that was possible.”
She then suggested including financial penalties or incentives in the construction contract to help keep the project on schedule so the county fair is not disrupted.
Brenton then began to talk about an ambulance board meeting held earlier that day that discussed Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Life Support (ALS) services. She stated basic services can be lifesaving when advanced services are delayed.
“You could literally bleed out and die, but you could have somebody basic there that knows how to do a tourniquet, stop your bleeding, stabilize you, and drive you to a hospital in maybe less than 40 minutes total, and you could live with basic services,” she said. “Sometimes good enough is good enough.”
Then, Jennifer Bowers approached the podium to utilize her time. She inquired about outstanding public records requests she previously made.
She said she still had not received the two appraisals of airport property transferred as part of the highway garage BOT agreement. Commissioner Ewen told her to provide Auditor Kyra Stephenson a personal email address so the documents could be sent. He also stated that one is roughly 63 pages and the other nearly 50.
Bowers also requested the current memorandum of understanding with the Washington County Farmers & Merchants Fair. Ewen stated he had that document available. On the $2 million BOT financing documents, Stephenson said the bank loan information is posted on the county website under the BOT tab.
Bowers also inquired about the fair board’s meeting schedule. She stated she plans to post the next meeting time on her Facebook page once she learns when it will be.
After Bowers returned to her seat, Commissioner Ewen raised a concern regarding previous meeting minutes that had gone unapproved during Commissioner Marshall’s absence. Commissioner Tony Cardwell has not been agreeing to approve the minutes because he claims they are inaccurate. The meetings in question are from July 21 and August 4.
Attorney April Geltmaker explained that Indiana law requires local governing bodies to keep a written memorandum that includes the date, time, and place of the meeting, members present or absent, the general substance of matters proposed, discussed, or decided, and a record of all votes. Formal approved minutes are not required by statute.
“The failure of the minutes to be approved does not mean that the underlying meeting record disappears or that the actions of the commissioners are invalid,” she said.
She also stated that neither state statute nor any local ordinance she could find requires a second before a motion can be voted on. In the event of a 1-1 vote, the item must be moved to the next meeting.
Ewen moved to approve the prior minutes. The vote was 1-1, with Ewen in favor and Cardwell opposed. The item was moved to the September 1 meeting.
Regarding the topic of the 4-H building, Angie Williams approached to request the approval of the design of the building.
She also presented a proposed contract with John McCoy of JLM Engineering. McCoy has been assisting with the building design and would now be formally retained to do a number of things like finalize construction plans and specifications, prepare the bid package, obtain necessary permits, answer bidder questions, review submittals and pay applications, and provide site visits or inspections as requested during construction.
Clarifying the different roles both engineering firms will be playing, she said McCoy is responsible for the design and detailed specifications. HWC Engineering, already under contract, will handle the public bidding process, evaluate bids for responsiveness and responsibility, and make a recommendation to the commissioners.
Even though it is not required for a standard public-works project, Williams said a technical review committee is being formed to review HWC’s recommendation. The committee will comprise council members, fair board members, community members, and Commissioner Ewen.
Commissioner Cardwell asked whether a scoping committee should have played a larger role earlier in the process.
“In a council or commissioners meeting the last time it was mentioned, a scoping committee, did you find out about that?” he asked.
Williams replied that officials had discussed forming a committee, but only as a voluntary step for transparency after bids arrive and not as a design-scoping body.
“It is not a requirement per state code, given that it’s a public-works project, but just out of goodwill and faith, we want to have a committee that reviews… HWC’s expert recommendation,” she said. “We are going to ask for members of the council… members of the community, members of the fair board… There will roughly be seven to nine people.”
“Who scoped all this?” asked Cardwell.
“John McCoy, our engineer,” Williams said.
“But, I mean, that should’ve been within the scoping committee’s realm,” Cardwell said.
Williams stated that building plans must come from a licensed engineer, and that the planned committee is meant only to review bids, not write specifications.
“We had never stated that we were doing a scoping committee,” she said. “We had stated that we were putting together a technical review committee… We are not doing a design-build, we are doing a public-works contract. And so no committee is actually required by law for a public-works contract.”
“That’s not what I understood,” said Cardwell. “I believe it was implied and agreed upon that we have a scoping committee on the actual designs… when this all first come about.”
Williams said she did not recall any commitment to a committee that would write bid specs.
“I have never implied that there’s going to be any sort of committee that is going to write out bid specs,” she said. “I don’t even honestly… know how a committee can write out full bid specs. That has to come from our engineer.”
Cardwell argued a committee could still offer design input so the final product reflected more than one person’s opinion. Williams replied that approaching the project that way “would have been very hard to have even sought this grant opportunity to begin with.”
Cardwell also said he had only seen the basic floor plan, not the full technical drawings. Williams said the additional sheets detail electrical, plumbing, and other specifications and offered to provide them.
Attorney April Geltmaker then explained the legal framework:
“The commissioners are required to have the plans prepared by a licensed engineer,” she said. “That is required by the public works statute… The commissioner’s job today is to… hire the architect and engineer that will have those plans and specs available for the bid package.”
She outlined the following steps: the bid package will be published, bids will remain sealed until opened publicly, HWC will review them for responsiveness and responsibility, and the formal contract must be awarded within 60 days of the bid opening.
After discussion, the commissioners unanimously approved the contract with John McCoy and JLM Engineering. They then unanimously approved the overall design of the building for inclusion in the notice to bidders.
Moving on to the highway garage, Highway Department Superintendent Rick Voyles approached the podium to go through a partial punch list of some of the remaining work to be done.
He said that after the County Council appropriated funds and directed an inspection, a committee contacted him. He and engineer Brad Isaacs have been performing the work under an existing on-call services agreement the highway department already held with Isaacs’ firm. Voyles estimated the inspection is roughly 60 percent complete, but progress has been slowed due to delays in receiving construction drawings and other documentation from the contractor.
Voyles distributed a partial punch list with photographs highlighting three main categories of issues: Incorrect or Incomplete, Drainage & Grade Issues and ADA & Safety Concerns. We received a copy of this packet from a records request through the Washington County Auditor’s Office.
Incorrect or Incomplete
Voyles showed that the end bays were reduced in width by interior toe walls, leaving openings of approximately 11 feet 6 inches and 10 feet 2 inches, which are too narrow for snowplows.
Voyles then pointed to an unfinished interior finished in dark plywood rather than the specified white metal, a water heater installed in the wrong location, a sizable crack between the floor and wall in the lean-to building, a damaged gas line at the sign shed, rear bays that lack concrete and electrical service, and a rear equipment area that was supposed to be completely stone but remains dirt and grass.
Drainage & Grade Issues
Photographs showed standing water in multiple locations, including the northeast corner near the separate bays, areas behind the office and truck shed, and behind the gas house. Voyles noted unmaintainable ditches with erosion problems and an overgrown retention pond that cannot be properly mowed.
ADA & Safety Concerns
Voyles presented photos of the main office entrance, where a handicap ramp leads to an approximately eight-inch step that is not ADA compliant. He also showed rear handicap parking that forces a longer route through an employee-only area. Additionally, a men’s restroom is missing the required grab bars, and multiple downspouts and gutter leaks are discharging directly onto fueling pads, sidewalks and steps, which causes a significant ice concern during the winter.
Voyles emphasized the list is incomplete and that additional items remain. The commissioners asked him to continue working on corrections. Formal action on a separate inspection contract was tabled.
Switching gears to Community Crossings grants, Voyles reported that 2026 Community Crossings paving work is underway. He presented the financial commitment letter for the 2027 application, and proposed roads include remaining work on Walnut Ridge and sections of Vincennes Trail, Mount Carmel, Big Springs, and Mann Road. The engineer’s estimate totals $1,770,178, with a projected county match of $770,178. Voyles noted that actual bids often come in lower than the engineer’s estimate and that the final match percentage can vary. Applications may be submitted beginning September 1. Logistics for obtaining Commissioner Marshall’s signature while he recovers were discussed briefly, but Ewen assured Voyles that Marshall would be available to provide his signature.
With no further business to discuss, Cardwell moved to adjourn, seconded by Ewen.
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