Commissioners receive print in honor of Pat Busching
Humane Society asks for funds

Cathy May, Contributing Writer

At the Ripley County Commissioners third meeting in July, Alvin Busching brought a print of all 92 courthouses in Indiana and gave it to the county in memory of his wife, former Auditor Pat Busching. The commissioners accepted the picture and it will hang in the courthouse outside the Auditor’s Office
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As the meeting got underway, Gene Swing, DeeDee Holiday and Donna Huffmaster appeared before the commissioners regarding the Ripley County Humane Society. They reported that last year they facilitated the placement of 658 animals at a cost of $176 per animal or $116,000. Already this year they have managed nearly 300 animals.

In their report to commissioners they said, “The Society has one full time and four part time workers to manage the animals. If there was no Ripley County Humane Society, these animals would become the responsibility of the animal control officer in Ripley County. The cost of euthanizing these animals would be roughly $15,000.”

“The Humane Society has operated bimonthly spay/neuter clinics for the past two years offering low cost/no cost spay/neuter to Ripley County residents in an attempt to lower the number of unwanted litters. In two years we have assisted with roughly 1200 surgeries...This has resulted in a significant drop call in volume asking us to take unwanted litters.”

The Ripley County Humane Society has obtained several grants to put up a new building. They have received $50,000 from the Rising Sun Regional Foundation and $50,000 from the Reynolds Foundation. With $10,000 of their own money they will be able to put up the bare bones of the building and the floor. It will cost another $164,000 to finish the building: heating and cooling, caging, etc. The society asked the commissioners for a one time gift of $150,000 to help them finish the building.

The commissioners said they were certainly supportive of their efforts and advised them to attend the Ripley County Council meeting to ask for the funds.

In other business:

Kelly Vollet, technology coordinator, reported the new digital recording system will be installed in Judge Carl Taul’s Circuit Courtroom on Wednesday, (August 1). The system had broken down and couldn’t be fixed. Vollet also requested she be given permission to try for a grant from the Rising Sun Regional Foundation to also replace the systems in Superior Court and in the commissioners meeting room. Both need to be replaced and by doing all three systems, they can get a discount. Commissioners gave Vollet their consent to proceed.

Larry Volz, owner of Delaware Campground, appeared to ask if the county would move a directional sign they put up to another location which would be better for his campers. Volz said the sign belonged to the county and he couldn’t move it. The commissioners consulted with County Attorney Neil Comer and he didn’t see a problem with moving the sign as long as it was in the county right of way.

Brad Buening and Ed Armbrecht appeared representing the Ripley County Economic Development Corporation and gave the commissioners an update on their activities and a proposed budget for 2008.
The commissioners signed contracts with Heart House for $5,000; Family Connections for $5,000; the Ripley County Historical Society for $5,000; Historic Hoosier Hills RC&D for $2,500; and LifeTime Resources for $28,000. These contracts were for 2007 and already budgeted.

All three commissioners were present at the July 30 meeting: Robert Reiners, Chuck Folz and Lawrence Nickell. Also, present to advise the board was Attorney Neil Comer. The next meeting of the Ripley County Commissioners will be on August 13 at 8:00 a.m. at the commissioner’s room in the Ripley County Courthouse Annex in Versailles.

CATHY MAY PHOTO Pictured from left: Commissioners Chuck Folz, Lawrence Nickell and Robert Reiners, accept a print of all 92 courthouses in Indiana from Alvin Busching, in memory of his wife, former Auditor Pat Busching. The picture will hang in the courthouse outside the Auditor's Office.