Council balks at funding project manager

Jan. 13—The Boone County Council approved a new position of project manager for the Boone County Justice Center but balked when asked to fund the position.

The council approved for a pay rate of $96,000 per year, plus benefits, to begin this year and to be paid from a local income tax established to fund the project.

The council is the fiscal arm of the county and is responsible for eliminating or creating positions and funding them.

Boone County Commissioners are the administrative arm of the county, and they, plus office holders and department heads, are responsible for hiring with the help of the county's human resources director, Megan Smith.

Commissioner Jeff Wolfe told the council Jan. 10 that commissioners hired former Sheriff Mike Nielsen as the project manager, effective Jan. 5, and asked them to fund the position. He will also have a take-home car to use during the project. The private sector pays $130-,000 to $170,000 for similar positions, Wolfe said.

Objection

Councilman Aaron Williams objected to Nielsen filling the position and said his hire "reeks of cronyism."

Wolfe said commissioners advertised the position for four weeks and received only two resumes, including Nielsen's. Nielsen has project management experience. The other applicant lacked security clearance law enforcement experience, required to work in a jail environment.

"What makes a jail unique, when you're working on it, is the level of security clearance needed for this person to pass through the facility," Wolfe said. "You have to hire someone who can pass all of the security situations that would arise and would have full access to the building."

Williams questioned a job description that garnered only two applicants and wanted to know who wrote it. Smith said she wrote it based on job descriptions for like positions and had it checked by a recruitment firm the county uses.

"Of the 60,000 plus residents that live in Boone County, you mean to tell me there was not one other individual that could have been able to take on the job because their tax dollars are paying for it," Williams asked Wolfe. "It doesn't pass the sniff test."

No other council members raised objections. Kevin Van Horn thanked Nielsen for his previous work for the county and voiced support for him in his new role.

Scope

"This is an incredibly complicated project," Bob Clutter, attorney for the commissioners, said Thursday. The current jail will be renovated, administrative offices, Boone County Communications Center, kitchen and sally port renovated and moved.

The $60 million project will add administrative space, inmate beds, and space for inmate classes and mental health services, among other areas that need expansion in the current Boone County Jail on Indianapolis Avenue in Lebanon.

The new complex will also house Boone County Community Corrections and Probation and the Boone County Coroner's Office.

"We cannot in any way during construction impair or impede the operations of the sheriff's office, including the 911 call center and custody of inmates," Clutter said. "We realized early on the scope of this project is just enormous when you consider all the operations.

"Mike has a degree in engineering and an MBA," Clutter added. "And on top of that, nobody knows the jail better than he does and the operations out there, and I can't think of anyone more qualified to do this."

Construction companies typically supply an owner's representative under their contracts, and the representatives focus on inspections and construction quality.

But counties also typically hire their own project manager for like jail projects, Councilwoman Jennifer Hostetter said.

"A manager hired by the developer has the potential for conflicts," Clutter said. "They're being paid by the developer or contractor and not by the county."

"It's important in a project like this that someone with the county's best interests at heart is working directly for the county, making sure attention is paid to the important and ongoing operations of the jail," Clutter said.

Nielsen will also track expenditures, money owed to vendors and day-today costs to keep the project on budget, Wolfe said.

Tabled

Still, the council is being asked only to fund the budget line for a position they approved and the commissioners filled, and not for approval of the candidate chosen.

And they were set to vote on the funding when Auditor Debbie Crum raised questions about using the LIT money for Nielsen's pay. Crum had outstanding questions about the legality of using the fund and wanted written confirmation from the State Board of Accounts on how to proceed.

Clutter said he expects to have a written SBA answer by the council's February meeting, and the council tabled a decision until then.