Commissioners threatened by lawsuit, approved fairgrounds sewage project
- Nathaniel Smith | Editor-in-Chief
- 4 days ago
- 9 min read
The June 2 commissioners meeting took place hot on the heels of the previous day’s county council meeting which saw the council approving a $37,500 request to investigate the Highway Garage Project BOT. The project, which has been largely overseen by the commissioners, has recently fallen under additional scrutiny following an audit from the Indiana State Board of Accounts.
The meeting began with Commissioner Todd Ewen amending the agenda to include bid considerations for the fairgrounds sewer line project. For those unaware, the fairgrounds is experiencing sewage issues resulting in sewage coming out of various drains, most notably in the kitchen area. Following this, Jennifer Bowers approached to utilize her speaking time. Once again, Bowers signed up for multiple topics, allowing her extra time to speak.
“I came about a month ago and asked about the county boards that were missing from the paper,” Bowers said. “Some of those are on the paper and then there are still some things missing. I'd like to know who from this body sits on those boards to know [if they are] coming to these meetings to tell people what's going on? Or are we supposed to call them ourselves to ask?”
She then listed Our Southern Indiana RDA, River Hills, Economic Growth Partnership and the Planning Commission as groups that she claims are misrepresented on a list of Washington County appointments, which can be found here:
She also inquired about who the Fair Board reports to, and who sits on the Fair Board. She specified by asking if the Fair Board is funded and contracted by the commissioners.
“All boards are set. As far as reporting to someone, basically they don't unless they come with a need of something back to us,” said Commissioner Phillip Marshall. “But at this point, as far as reporting per se, as you are asking, do they come in every meeting and report on what they've done at that meeting? No.”
Bowers replied, “They don't come at all. Like Our Southern Indiana RDA and River Hills. I've been in here and asked questions about things that flow through them. If those people were coming here, then I wouldn't have to ask the questions.”
Then, Commissioner Ewen joined the discussion to provide an answer.
“The RDA representative is Chris Fordyce. River Hills, I believe, is Bubba [Mark Abbott] and Preston [Shell]. I thought you knew that. But anyway, the Growth Partnership is Tony [Cardwell] and Preston [Shell]... Planning Commission, do you want elected officials or–”
“I'm just asking who from this body represents us on the Salem Planning Commission?” asked Bowers.
Commissioner Ewen replied, “We appoint someone to the Salem Planning Commission… We don't sit on that Salem Planning Commission. We do appoint someone… I think it’s Greg Zink, but I’m not sure about that.”
“I'm just trying to understand what the purpose of someone representing this entity on that board is if they don't report back to this body,” said Bowers.
Rhonda Greene then provided some explanation from the gallery.
“Salem has the two mile fringe, and they’re not represented by elected officials. That’s why we have, or are supposed to have, a representative from the Salem Zoning Board to our county’s zoning board and vice versa, so that the communities are actually represented. If they don’t have that representation, the two mile fringe can't vote on the officials that actually man the board. They can’t elect anyone in town. By having those two representatives, which I’ve not seen the representative from Salem, but by having the representatives, they can maintain the two mile fringe with actual representation. That’s why it’s a state statute.”
Bowers then again questioned why some names are not included in the document above from the Washington County website. She also asked why the Fair Board does not present reports in commissioners meetings.
“And I still have questions about how the Fair Board operates. I'm a trustee. I have a volunteer fire department. They are their own entity. They are a 501(c)(3). I contract with them. That's my understanding of how the Fair Board works. This body contracts to the Fair Board. I contract to a volunteer fire department, and that department reports to the township on a quarterly basis. Actually, right now they're reporting on a monthly basis. That's part of why I don't understand why we don't hear from these people.”
Commissioner Ewen explained that that situation is on an as-needed basis, also stating that the people on the Fair Board volunteer their time.
Bowers again asked if the commissioners contract the Fair Board, to which Ewen replied that they do and have been for, “50-60 years. We provide a contract for them to put on a fair every year and to maintain the Fairgrounds.”
Pivoting back to the appointment list, Bowers again asked why the individual the commissioners appointed to the Salem Planning Commission is not listed on the Washington County appointments list. Ewen replied by stating the City of Salem has their own list, and that Washington County does not list that commission on their website because it is a city entity completely separate from county business.
After further circular conversation regarding the topic, Bowers began her next topic of discussion revolving around the property transfer in association with the Highway Garage BOT.
“There was a meeting on April the 7th, 2025, that was a joint meeting between this body and the county council. Dave Umpleby was present. He explained the process for how a land swap should happen. He says that there were two appraisals for that piece of property. Where does someone obtain those? I'm assuming they're subject to public records requests, so who maintains them? He also says that in order to swap the land, there is supposed to be an amendment to the BOT. I'd like to know if that was done. And he says there should be a public hearing. To my knowledge, there was not a public hearing.”
“There was an amendment,” replied Ewen. “It's in the BOT contract. It was signed, sealed. It's done. To the original question, the copies of the appraisals are sitting back in that office. If you'd like to see them, you can see them. One of them was $380,000. The second one was $420,000… Dave Umpleby misspoke. He came back and spoke with the council attorney, and a public hearing is not required by law for a property transfer. And I believe that was stated in the June meeting the following month.”
She then asked if the property tax class will change on the swapped land, to which Ewen stated it should, “kick in in 2027.”
Bowers continued, “Now I have questions about the audit. The audit talks about the BOT process. Does this body approve the change orders? If so, were all the change orders approved? How were payments made for things that were included in the contract, but they were made outside of the contract?”
Ewen replied, “Yes, yes and yes.” The two then had a brief disagreement regarding what has been considered a change order and what has not.
“The State Board of Accounts audit literally notates three payments that were paid outside of the contract,” said Bowers. “So, here's what my ultimate question is: how much are we in for right now on that garage? Because according to the contract, it was $4.8 million. The State Board of Accounts says that we paid for stone in the amount of $181,486. We paid for an HVAC system in the amount of $113,238. We paid $312,968 for fuel tanks. Then last month, there was a change order for $277,500.72. You've already swapped out the land, which Mr. Umpleby in that meeting says was worth $409,000. So, we're now at $6,094,192.72.”
Ewen then disputed this claim, stating that the total amount for the project is $4.8 million plus $277,500.72 for the stone (total: $5,077,500). He stated the three items Bowers referenced are included in the $4.8 million.
After more back and forth regarding the project cost, Ewen said, “I'm going to say this for the fifth time. $4.8 million plus $277,500 for the stone. It's the total project cost for the highway department facility. Period. End of story. I have nothing more to say.”
“What you read in the State Board of Accounts is that they had a disagreement,” added Commissioner Marshall. “We were using ARP money to pay for some of it. And when we used the money to do it, we didn't run it through our books, and we didn't run it through Temple & Temple's books. They didn't want to be charged taxes on something they're not going to make a profit on. We used ARP money to spend the money to get onto the building of actually making up the $5.3 million, which is where it should have been. I don't know where they came up with $4.8 million. I understand the council has approved an audit, so we're going to spend $37,000 [$37,500] to figure out that nothing's wrong. And that's what you're going to hear. I've got a call with the state today. I'm waiting on a call, but I don't have it yet. But we're going to wait until this audit comes out of the $37,000 [$37,500] that you're going to spend on doing this audit, and that's where it's at. As far as all the discrepancies that you're talking about, like we're making underneath the table, is not true. All of that spending that we are supposedly doing, we have not done, and you will find this out. But basically, I need time before you get to find out what we're talking about.”
More discussion saw the commissioners answering, “Yes” to Bowers’ question, “The $5,077,500 will take into account the three things identified in the audit before you make the final disbursement?”
Commissioner Ewen stated that the only items left before the completion of the Highway Garage Project include installing fencing and completing a survey. Following this discussion, Lucy Brenton approached to utilize her time.
Brenton first questioned Auditor Kyra Stephenson regarding the status of her FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request made on February 18. Stephenson refused to acknowledge Brenton and remained silent.
Brenton then turned to Attorney April Geltmaker and asked about her information request. Geltmaker stated that the IT department is currently collecting the requested emails, and that everything else Brenton has requested has been provided. The two then engaged in a brief discussion regarding whether public officials are allowed to lie to the public. After some back and forth, Geltmaker said, “At this point, you've asked me the same question multiple times… I provided you with a common sense answer that people are not supposed to lie. And they're also criminally not allowed to lie. Nothing else to add. I don't know what else you want from me.”
Brenton said, “I want the truth,” to which Ewen said, “She just told you the truth, Lucy. Are you deaf?”
Brenton then moved on to her second public comment topic. After asking Commissioner Ewen if a family member of his owns Loy & Fordyce Insurance, which he stated is the case, she then said she plans to file a lawsuit against the commissioners and against Commissioner Todd Ewen personally.
“I'm here to let you know and put you on notice that I intend to file a civil suit against the county, against the commissioners, against you personally, and a class action in your personal capacity. I'm putting you on notice to preserve all communications in both official and private channels. I urge you and caution you not to destroy any evidence. I intend, along with the audit and the other paperwork, to show that any ill-gotten gains must be returned to county taxpayers… Tony [Cardwell], what can we do as a community to make sure that final payment is not made to Temple & Temple when we were shortchanged?”
“Hopefully, with what the council is doing, they will bring out everything in the open and maybe decide at that point if any adjustments or whatnot need to be made,” Cardwell replied.
After some further discussion, the meeting then moved on to the approval of the previous meeting minutes and approval of claims and payroll. Both passed.
The next item on the agenda was the approval of a POW/MIA Chair of Honor. This story can be found in its own article here:
Keith Nance from West Washington School Corporation was next on the agenda, and he expressed concern with a new education requirement. Students, in order to complete a certain pathway, are now required to shadow or intern at a place of business for a set number of hours. Nance explained that this is often difficult due to the lack of business choice surrounding West Washington. He requested assistance from the commissioners in order to place his students in various county government departments.
Commissioner Cardwell stated that he has already completed a good amount of legwork for this process. Cardwell has so far secured student placement at the Highway Department, Solid Waste Department, with Tony Maranto, the Health Department, and others.
The commissioners made and passed a motion to, “start the process” on student placement within government departments. This is set to begin in the fall semester.
Assistant Jail Commander David Lock then approached to ask the commissioners for grant approval.
“We were approved for a $3,000 grant from the Community Foundation to outfit our gym,” said Lock. “It's a no matching funds grant, so it won't cost the taxpayers anything. We just wanted to seek permission to accept the grant.”
Commissioner Cardwell made a motion to accept the grant. The motion was passed unanimously.
It was then announced that the next meeting, which was scheduled as an evening meeting, needs to be moved back to the regular 9:00 am start time. Instead, the July 21 meeting will be held in the evening at 6:30 pm.
The commissioners then moved on to the bids pertaining to the Fairgrounds Sewer Project. Two bids were received. One from Temple & Temple, and the other from Cottongim Enterprises, Inc. Cottongim placed their bid at $23,750, and Temple & Temple asked for $20,815, making Temple & Temple the lower bidder. The commissioners unanimously accepted Temple & Temple for the project.
After a brief update from Highway Superintendent Rick Voyles regarding the finished cleanup from previous storm damage, the meeting came to a close and adjourned.
