County Council declines to invest in studies for I-67

On Feb 27 the County Council voted against providing the I-67 group with funds for the feasibility studies that must be done before moving forward with any plans for the highway connection.

The vote was 4 to 2 against with Council President Greg Kendall withholding a vote in case of a tie. County Democrats Bonnie Luebbehusen, Martha Wehr, Mark Brescher, and Barbara Mathies voted against allocating the funding after Republican Shane Lindauer made a motion to fund the study with $25,000 from the County. Republican Jerry Hunefeld joined Lindauer in voting for the funds.

President and CEO of OFS Brands Hank Menke advised the council that the highway is critically important to the continued economical growth for the county. Menke has advocated for the I-67 route since late last year after the improvements on U.S. 231 through the county were canned by the state.

The non-profit group, I-67 Development Corporation, was announced in January and the elected officers include Menke as President, Eric Schue as Treasurer, and Travis McQueen as Secretary.

Council Member Mark Brescher reiterated his point from the December and January meeting that money has already been spent on initial environmental studies for 231 and there is no reason why they cannot be used along with the proposed east side passage around Jasper and Huntingburg to perform the project.

Wehr and Luebbehusen both stated that tax money from the county had been used through the money the Dubois County Area Development Corporation allotted to the project.

Mathies stated she had been called by about a dozen people from her district advising her to vote against it and stated she feels that she needed to represent her constituents. Additionally she asked if the council could retroactively support the studies with funding if they led to a positive outcome. She was advised by Kendall that the council could not operate in that manner.

Menke stated he has received about $185,000 of the $250,000 he is attempting to raise for the initial studies. The funds are coming from Kentucky as well as Indiana cities and counties. Recently Huntingburg approved $25,000 for the studies.

Kendall appeared to support the initiative but the nays carried the motion as each of the four announced their resignation towards spending more tax money on a new study.

Kendall and the rest of the council as well as County Commissioner Larry Vollmer stated they would provide letters of recommendation or support for the groups efforts on the I-67 project.

Also at the meeting Dubois County Sheriff Donny Lampert received $120,000 for four new Deputy Cruisers outfitted with the necessary police gear.

Dubois County 911 Director Janice Love was successful in getting the council to approve an appropriation of $6,100 for 3 new Computer Aided Dispatch PCs.

Finally, the council heard from Soil and Water Conservation District director Judy Brown about a tillable crop project with VUJC. Brown requested an allocation of $3,500 to hire an intern for the summer to help administer the project. The council approved the change in appropriation.

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