Morgan County forced to outsource engineering ahead of road work season

Keith Rhoades
·5 min read

Since Morgan County's highway engineer resigned, the county has been forced to hire outside companies to do engineering work.

Most of Tuesday night's Morgan County Commissioners meeting involved approving contracts with several companies for engineering work. The county has advertised for the position but has not selected a person to fill it.

The commissioners approved an "on call agreement" with Beam, Longest, and Neff, LLC for professional engineering services.

Some of the 12 services the company will provide include:

  • Serve as the general consulting engineer for the county;

  • Make preliminary investigations, design studies, necessary surveys, preliminary general plans, and approximate estimates for costs for various projects;

  • Review subdivision plans and specifications for new developments;

  • Design services;

  • Surveying;

  • Permits;

  • Studies and reports.

The county will be billed at a hourly rate depending on the service provided and the contract will end when the company's work is no longer needed.

The commissioners approved an "on call agreement" with Banning Engineering Inc. to provide road condition reports. The state requires the county to have every road inspected every two years. That inspection leads to assigning a "rate" to each road. The rate is then used to determine which roads get repaved or chip sealed.

The cost for the work is $36,500.

The commissioners approved a contract with United Consulting to do a pavement assessment on Perry Road near I-69 and New Harmony Road. The assessment will include a review of the existing pavement conditions and an estimate for rehabilitation treatment for the road. The road is expected to be subject to heavy truck traffic in the future. The county may impose weight restrictions or speed limits on some sections of the road. The cost for the work is $17,500.

Finally, the commissioners approved a contract with Resolution Group, Inc. for engineering work on a section of Bottom Road. That section contains a very sharp and narrow 90 degree curve that, for years, has been the source of many problems. The county had to resort to court action to obtain land to fix it. The cost for the work is $69,225.

Attorney hired

The commissioners hired local attorney Michael A, Ksenak to represent the county in a lawsuit filed by the county plan commission against a property owner on Baker Road.

The plan commission's suit, filed in May of last year by the commission's attorney Mark Peden alleges the property owner, Amanda Lane, now Percifield, is committing a zoning violation by shining lights on her neighbor's home. The suit alleges the defendant is committing a "public nuisance" action as defined under the county's zoning ordinance.

The matter gets complicated because the alleged victims filed a lawsuit in May of last year against Lane and her now husband, Michael Percifield. The alleged victims are represented by the county's attorney, James Wisco. Also complicating the matter is the plan commission's attorney, Mark Peden, is a partner with Wisco. Normally, as county attorney, Wisco would be representing the county. The county's suit is filed in circuit court. Judge Matthew Hanson said to avoid any possible future problems, the county should find another attorney to represent it.

Ksenak will be paid $250 per hour for his service.

Recycling bins removed, mental health task force

Monrovia Council member Loren Moore told the commissioners the recycle bins that had been located on school property in Monrovia have been removed. He said the school requested they be removed citing an unspecified problem. Moore asked the commissioners to help find another location for the bins as they are needed. The commissioners said they would try to help but they said the county did not own any property around Monrovia they could use.

The commissioners signed a letter of support for the county's mental health task force to apply for a state grant from the state. There are more than 40 organizations comprising the task force, which is working on addressing mental health problems in the county. The money for the grant is coming from the opioid settlement funds the state received. The commissioners pledged $5,000 to help the group obtain the grant. The task force will be attending other meetings to ask for more help.

The commissioners approved a five-year agreement with WSI for recording services for the county dispatch center. The terms of the agreement will be up to the council. The county may choose a one-year payment of around $150,000 or stretch the payments out for five years. If they go for the five year pay, the cost will be more than $172,000.

Tort claims sent to the county insurance company

The commissioners voted to send two tort claims to the county's insurance carrier. One claim is from the Ken Nunn Law Office in Bloomington while the second is from Keller and Keller in Indianapolis.

Both claims involve vehicle accidents, one on county roads and another at an intersection of a state road and a county road.

Commissioner Don Adams asked the county's attorney James Wisco what would happen if the commissioners simply denied the claims and did not send them to the insurance company. He cited several tort claims had been filed that occurred on school property or on municipal streets where the county has no authority.

Wisco said he understood the county's frustration over those type of claims but their insurance company would want to see them to protect everyone's interests. If no response was filed, the tort attorney could file suit and, even if they lose, could cost both the county and the insurance company money.

The next scheduled commissioner meeting is Monday, March 6, at the county administration building.

This article originally appeared on The Reporter Times: Morgan County hires engineering firms, selects attorney for lawsuit