Beth Rumsey, Staff Writer

Kim Pierce and Sherry Jones of Family Connections spoke to the commissioners concerning an issue with Franklin Township Trustee Garry Sapp, at the commissioners’ meeting held Monday, October 6. According to these representatives, clients in need that have been referred to Sapp for assistance have been unable to contact him. “It’s very frustrating,” said Jones.

“This has been a big problem,” said Pierce, who noted that Sapp does not answer the phone and doesn’t have an answering machine. Jones told the commissioners that this has been an ongoing issue for several years. Both Pierce and Jones assured the commissioners that Family Connections is able to contact the other township trustees concerning clients in need in their area.

Olivia Wehmeyer, Milan, told how she was unable to reach Sapp by phone, and went to his home to ask for assistance to pay her electric bill. She said she was denied assistance and advised by Sapp to contact Family Connections.

When questioned who has authority over the trustees, Pierce and Jones were told, “the voters.” Attorney Neil Comer stated that there is a Township Advisory Board, and advised Pierce and Jones to contact another township trustee for information regarding the board. Also, they were advised to contact Sapp by certified letter explaining their inability to contact him, and request a current phone number and the best time to call.

Commissioner Chuck Folz stated that he would like to hear Sapp’s side of the story, and that he would be interested in knowing the balance of the poor relief fund for Franklin Township. “There’s two sides to every story,” said Folz.

The commissioners investigated the issue of a voice mail account charged to the probation department and the Internet service charged to the sheriff’s department after an audit was performed by Prentha Cochran of PC Recovery Systems. It was found that the voice mail account was opened online by someone with no connection to the probation department. The commissioners feel that a mistake was made when the account was set up.

Sheriff Tom Grills told the commissioners that he has talked to his employee concerning the Internet account, and feels that Verizon is responsible for entering in the wrong billing number. According to Grills, the employee has phone and Internet service bundled into one bill, and has paid the bill each month without realizing that the Internet service was not itemized on the bill.

The commissioners will continue to look into this matter by contacting Verizon for more information and perhaps requesting more information from the sheriff’s department employee.

In other business:

• According to Technology Director Kelly Vollet, the grant from the Rising Sun Regional Foundation for the second phase GIS parcel layer has been received. “Without RSRF, we wouldn’t have been able to do this,” she said. “It would have taken us years.”

• The student assistant invoice, paid by Purdue University, for a high school assistant in the child development classes at the Ripley County Extension was unanimously approved.

• The commissioners unanimously approved to install an exhaust fan in the server room of the technology department. Also included in the quote by QPH was a window air conditioner for the room above to help circulate cool air into the server room during the summer months.

All of the commissioners were in attendance, along with Auditor Mary Ann McCoy to take the minutes and Attorney Neil Comer to advise. The next meeting will be held on Monday, October 20 beginning at 7 a.m. at the Ripley County Highway Garage, and reconvening at 8 a.m. at the commissioners’ room in the courthouse annex.