Subdivision deal sours county commissioners meeting
The chill outside was nothing compared to the drop in temperature at the county commissioners meeting this morning.
The permafrost set in with an admonition from Commissioner Larry Vollmer (D) that he couldn’t support Commissioner Doug Uebelhor’s (R) nomination of Randy Fleck (D) as president of the commission.
Vollmer stated he couldn’t support Fleck for the position due to his involvement in the paving of a private subdivision east of Huntingburg.
According to Vollmer, Fleck pushed for the road to be paved at the county’s expense. The cost was allegedly $26,000.
Fleck stated the decision was approved by the commission and presented several documents that he claimed supported that fact. Those documents outlined a series of meetings around the establishment and paving of the quarter-mile road in the Deer Trail Estates that occurred over several years. The documents presented did not disclose the commission approving the $26,000 to pave the road by the County Highway Department.
Vollmer attests that the commission never voted on the road being paved before the developer, Pristine Development LLC, of Jasper, paid for the road. According to the county ordinance, the developer is responsible for the cost to bring the road up to county specs and has to pay the county before work begins.
Fred Brockman, the president of Pristine, never paid for the work although the work was done by the county and Pristine filed for bankruptcy —discharged in January of 2013 according to Fleck’s documents.
Vollmer stated that Fleck pushed for the completion of the project due to pressure from the home owners in the subdivision, which is located in his voting district.
Fleck denies the allegation and contends it was agreed upon by the commission and a contract was drawn up with Brockman.
The commission appoints a president and vice-president by consensus annually. Last year, Vollmer abstained from voting when Uebelhor and Fleck each voted for themselves for the presidency. He stated today that he couldn’t support Fleck last year due to his knowledge of Fleck’s involvement in the Subdivision deal.
Fleck was appointed president of the commission by a two to one vote with Vollmer voting nay.
Brockman also owns the road the county is currently in negotiations to use as the emergency entrance to the Dubois County Park and 4H Fair Grounds.
This story will be updated as more information is gathered by the Dubois County Free Press.
