The idea of the Riverboat reducing funds had one council member at the November 19 Ripley County Council meeting saying that EMS in Ripley County could be affected should this happen.
Donald Dunbar, council member, spoke on the Riverboat Wagering and the reduction of funds over the past years. He said he had concerns about the EMS department continuing if the monies keep going down.
Commissioner Robert Reiners addressed the issue by saying that the county has entered an agreement with Margaret Mary Community Hospital to do inter-facility transfers for them. He said revenue generated from this would offset the reductions from Riverboat funding.
The council passed an ordinance that requires the Ripley County Council to approve all transfers within the budget beginning January 1, 2013. This was met with unanimous approval with county Attorney John Ertel presenting the ordinance. The council also voted on Ordinance 2012-08 which would require a two-thirds majority to approve additional appropriations. This was passed with five voting for the ordinance and Bill Warren voting against it.
Council members signed the 2013 Salary Ordinance, which was presented to them and approved at the October meeting.
In other business, the county addressed an old business issue from the previous month. This was a request from the sheriff for a reduction in accounts including inmate medical, meals for prisoners, and utilities that totaled $67,500 with an additional appropriation from the Garage and Motors fund for the same amount by the sheriff's department. This was removed from the table by a motion from Dunbar, with six members in favor.
After the issue was discussed, Dunbar moved to approve $40,000 (concerning the above request) with a second from council member Juanita Kaiser. This had a six favorable vote.
A total of $95,302.00 was approved unanimously by the council to pay for an increase in insurance premiums for 2012 in a number of offices. They include: election board, auditor, treasurer, recorder, surveyor, extension, assessor, courthouse, jail, child support, court, clerk superior, technology, cum bridge, cum cap, health, riverboat gaming, adult probation and juvenile probation.
Council members voted unanimously for the following tranfers:
• $50,000 from County General to Contractual to pay for contractual services balance for 2012.
• $15,198.72 from Cinders to Bituminous (shift of funds for the highway department).
• $500.00 from Sales Disclosures Equipment to Office Supplies for purchase of office supplies for the assessor's office.
• $541.48 from Pauper Transcript to Salaries for funds for benefits for retiring employee in the superior court.
• $6,000 for Sheriff Sales to pay claims for SRI.
There were several transfers made that the council does not need to approve including: clerk, $2,933.81 for funds to pay for retiring employee benefits; health dept. $4,938.38 for retiring employee benefits and TB testing; parks dept. $1,000 for repairs and winterizing; EMS $3,286 to cover additional health insurance costs; highway, $2,000 to cover balance of year for electric; $12,849.03 for bituminous; $846.65 for telephone and $1,749 for stone.
Council member Kaiser was appointed to remain as the county's representative to the Southeastern Indiana Regional Planning Commission.
Council members transferred $99,858.00 to a Rainy Day Fund with all voting unanimously to do so. They also agreed to continue to have their meetings on the third Monday of each month beginning at 7:00 p.m.
Council members present at the November meeting include: Dephane Smith, president; Ed Armbrecht, Bill Dramann, Bill Warren, Donald Dunbar, and Juanita Kaiser. Bill McDonald was not present for the meeting. Attorney John Ertel was there to advise the council with Ripley County Auditor Bill Wagner taking minutes.
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