Floyd County bought the Chase Bank building in downtown New Albany to use for administrative offices.
FLOYD COUNTY — It has been a year full of changes in Floyd County, and officials expect a busy time ahead in 2025.
Al Knable, president of the Floyd County Commissioners, said 2024 was full of “unexpected challenges” that he feels leaders “met head-on,” and he expects the next year to be even busier.
The past year saw decisions ranging from a change in ambulance providers to the purchase of a new administrative building. Officials will have major decisions ahead, including the future of EMS service and the judicial center building project.
Knable looks forward to “pushing ahead with bigger and better things for the people of Floyd County,” he said.
“You can never predict the unpredictable, but we’re ready for whatever it throws at us,” he said.
Floyd County Council President Danny Short said he feels good about the county’s future.
“I feel like for the first time in a long time, we are being proactive instead of reactive,” he said. “We’re ahead of the curve a little bit. We have data that shows how Floyd County is growing, and we know we’re going to have to step up some services.”
The new year will usher in new leadership following the 2024 election. Former Floyd County Sheriff Frank Loop will take the place of Floyd County Commissioner John Schellenberger, and Jason Sharp kept his seat as commissioner.
While Dale Bagshaw will keep his seat on the Floyd County Council, Brad Striegel and Connie Moon were unseated as council members. Newly-elected members Matt Millies and Sam Sarkisian will join the council in January.
EMS SERVICE
Knable said the year was “tainted” by the criminal case of Jamey Noel, who is serving a prison sentence after pleading guilty to 27 felony counts. The former Clark County sheriff founded New Chapel EMS, Floyd County’s former ambulance provider.
The criminal case led to significant shifts in ambulance service for both Floyd and Clark counties.
“Like everybody else, I’m anxious to put that behind us, but we have to kind of reearn confidence and trust going forward,” Knable said.
The commissioner s rejected New Chapel’s bid for continued service, and in June, the county began contracts with AmeriPro Health and Highlander Fire Protection District for ambulance service.
“So we put together the best system that we could at the time with Highlander Fire Protection District taking over a secondary role for 2024 and AmeriPro taking a primary role in 2024,” Knable said.
More changes are ahead for EMS in 2025 as Highlander takes over primary coverage of Greenville and Lafayette townships. Ameri-Pro will serve as the primary provider for the rest of the county outside of the City of New Albany.
Those contracts run through 2026. In the new year, officials will consider long-term options for ambulance service, including a potential standalone, county-run EMS.
“It’s going to become incumbent on the commissioners to either institute county-based or coordinate fire-based or seek out RFPs for outsourcing,” Knable said.
The Floyd County Council approved a new public safety Local Income Tax this year, which will create a revenue source for EMS and other services.
Floyd County Commissioner Jason Sharp hopes to determine a pathway for EMS at the end of winter or the beginning of spring.
“My primary focus is always going to be public safety — making sure that the people of Floyd County have adequate police, fire and emergency medical protection,” he said.
A transition in EMS providers is not the only change the county has seen in emergency response this year. New Albany Township Fire formed its own department this year after terminating its contract with New Chapel Fire.
The fire district is currently exploring options with Georgetown Fire and Franklin Township for a potential fire territory.
ANIMAL SHELTER
Floyd County started the year with a new animal control provider after its agreement with the city ended for the joint operation of the New Albany shelter.
Tri- County Animal Control, formerly New Washington Animal Control, opened a shelter at 3005 Industrial Parkway in Jeffersonville to serve Floyd County outside the City of New Albany.
“We’ve had uniformly good feedback on that,” Knable said. “That contract goes through the end of [2025], and then we’re going to either re-up that or figure out how we’re going to be doing animal control in the county.”
Questions remain about the ownership of the New Albany Animal Shelter building, Knable said.
“I look at the first quarter of 2025 really making a push on trying to get a determination on who actually owns the building so that both the city and the county can move forward on that issue,” he said.
BUILDING PROJECTS
Debate over the future of the City-County Building has continued over the past year as officials consider options for the judicial center project.
“The first quarter of 2025, I think, is going to provide us with enough data to make a final decision on whether we tear down and rebuild at that same location or whether we acquire a new location, or if there’s no political will or financial resources to do either of those, then we hunker down where we are for the long-term slow remodeling as best we can,” Knable said.
The commissioners moved forward this year with the purchase of the Chase Bank at 120 W. Spring St. for future administrative offices. The county took control of the building in November, and remodeling will begin in 2025.
The county will move all taxing units except for the clerk’s office from the City-County Building to the Chase building. The goal is to move the offices beginning in mid-2025, Knable said.
INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS
Knable said the project to replace the Blackiston Mill Road bridge has continued “almost exactly on schedule.” Construction is slated to begin in 2025, and the county is finishing the acquisition of property for the project.
“We’ve acquired most of the property that we need for that rebuild,” he said. “We have a little residual property that we need to acquire. It looks like we might go through an eminent domain process on that, but that should be resolved in early 2025.”
The county is also planning an infrastructure project to repair Old Vincennes Road in areas around Captain Frank Road. Knable expects construction to begin this winter or spring with completion by November of 2025.
Sharp said he wants to make sure the county’s roads are “meeting the demands of our growing community.”
HEALTH DEPARTMENT
As of Friday morning, officials were finalizing negotiations to purchase a new building at 3317 Grant Line Road for the Floyd County Health Department, according to Short.
The health department’s lease with Baptist Health Floyd for its current location at 1917 Bono Road will expire in September 2026.
DEVELOPMENTS AND PARKS
It was a significant year for the Novaparke Innovation and Technology Campus in Edwardsville as the county celebrated the groundbreaking of a facility for its anchor tenant, Redwire. Officials continue to seek other tenants.
The project to build a new community center at a former Edwardsville elementary school also progressed in 2024. It was one of 21 projects approved by Our Southern Indiana Regional Development Authority to receive READI funding.
Pending final approval from the state, the community center project will receive $2.05 million.
The county recently opened the first portion of the new Robert “Bob” Lane, Jr. Regional Park in Georgetown. The 75-acre Melvin and Vickie Jensen Nature Preserve and Trails is now open at N. Tucker Road.
ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES
The county will see administrative changes in the new year with the retirement of Floyd County Director of Operations Don Lopp effective Jan. 3. He will continue in a consulting role, but Floyd County Director of Building & Development Nick Creevy will take on most of his dayto- day duties.
The county has also hired a third party to help with budgetary oversight.
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