- This January meeting of the Bloomington Board of Park commissioners and we'll start with the roll call,
- please Kim Here Ellen Rodkey Jim Whitlatch here and Israel is absent today. Okay, but we do have a quorum
- So we have our as always section a with the usual items Claims submitted minutes from the December meeting
- and a few smaller items
- Sort of addendums and service agreements and do we have a motion to approve? Yeah, go ahead move to
- approve the consent calendar Second, okay and a roll call vote of all those in favor. No, no at a roll
- call. Oh Okay, great. All right. So all those in favor aye Okay consent calendar is approved and then
- in section B
- We have the Bravo award Scott Emory, which as usual Emily Boock will tell us about Good evening everybody
- Emily Boock community relations coordinator and we would like to recognize Scott Emory with the January
- Bravo award I would like to recognize Scott with the January Bravo award in recognition of the extensive
- time and effort he puts in at Rose Hill and white oak cemeteries and
- Scott volunteers to help repair and restore old monuments at both of these city-owned cemeteries. He
- applies for new headstones for veterans who are buried there who either need new headstones or who have
- never had one. In this same vein, he helps organize the Reeds Across America volunteer effort that lays
- wreaths on every veteran's grave every December.
- He also teaches others about restoration methods at the Monroe County History Center workshops so that
- others can learn about how to preserve and honor our local history. Scott has been volunteering so long
- that his efforts predate Amy, myself, and Jacqueline, which I think is the true mark of a dedicated
- volunteer. We are very grateful for Scott's efforts to help honor those who have come before us.
- All right. Great. Well, thank you, Scott. He's not here this evening? No.
- Okay. Okay. Well, we'll say thank you Scott. Thank you. Yes, especially for that expertise of restoring
- the graves Okay, all right and then into Section C the other business first up since it's January we
- have the election of 2026 officers And I guess we need someone to present our slate of I Can do that? Yes. Okay
- I wrote him down. Yeah, okay. So I would move Kim clap as secretary Me Kathleen Mills as president Ellen
- Rodke as the plan Commission representative and Jim Whitledge as the liaison to the Parks Foundation
- That Yeah, is that everybody okay
- Okay, and all those in favor aye All right Motion is carried. So we have the officers for the new year
- and then in c2 We have resolution 26-01 the non-reverting budget which Tim will tell us about
- Good evening commissioners Tim Street director of Bloomington Parks and Recreation nice to be here with
- you and happy new year Our first resolution of the few that we do in a year is 2601 to appropriate the
- non reverting fund We do this every January with you. The non reverting fund is funded from all of our
- various enterprise activities lessons rentals things like that across our facilities and
- And this year we presented it to you in September There have been just a couple changes since we presented
- it to you You can see in the staff report what our 2025 budgeted and actual levels were I'm actually
- going to talk a little bit more about our budget performance in section D when we do our 2025 financial
- report But we did have a very good year and non-reverting last year despite the fact we we do typically
- start with a deficit budget and
- and and are able to outperform that every year by Being good about our spending and often bringing in
- more revenue than is projected with conservative revenue projections So last year we did finish with
- a positive despite the fact that we also obligated funding for the mobile stage order about 150 grand
- to that and still finished with about 50k in total savings in the non-reverting account so this year
- We are asking for expenses two point three one five million dollars in the non-reverting account There
- is a breakdown at the back of the staff report of what that looks like by different fund And I am happy
- to answer any questions about the non-reverting budget or or what this is going towards Okay, any questions
- for Tim about this appropriation No, okay
- Commission to approve resolution 26-01 Appropriating the parks non-reverting expenditures for the 2026
- fiscal year Second okay, and all those in favor aye. All right motions carried And then in c3 Tim will
- also tell us about the agreement with a and a quick pump for the seminary portalette services Yes staff
- recommend approving a contract with a and a quick pump
- for the service and cleaning of the seminary park portalettes. Over the course of the year, this will
- not exceed $39,960, though that is a max amount, and as we are able to reduce days or find savings throughout
- the year, we will work to do that. $24,960 is from parks funding, our general fund, which was budgeted
- and approved by City Council last year.
- And 15,000 of that is available from the economic and sustainable development department's business
- safety security and cleanliness funds and I'll talk a little bit more about that So, you know, I know
- we've had a lot of conversations with board members. We put this portal led in last year Obviously,
- there's no promise that a given park has a restroom in it But we do have many parks that do have restrooms
- And it was determined that we wanted to try putting this in. So in spring of 2025, we did install this
- in the northwest corner of Seminary Park with the fence screening. We had Duke come in and add another
- head to the light pole there to illuminate that area. And of course we have to put it on the perimeter
- of the park because the pump truck has to be able to come up and access it. So at first we were cleaning
- this ourselves and it proved to be very burdensome on our custodial staff who already deal with
- an awful lot around town and We made the determination and it was funded by the office of the mayor
- to try Funding this with an outside contractor towards the end of the year So there aren't a lot of
- choices for contractors that do portal lets in town Our first one that we often use and you all approve
- contracts with is Izzy's they did not bid basically on doing this and we found this company a and a
- quick pump to do it so
- I do recognize this is a significant expense. However, we have heard a lot of positive things. Not all
- positive, of course, but positive things from reduced human waste in the park. At least it's going in
- the port-a-lette. And particularly from other businesses in the area, we've heard really positive feedback.
- And because of that is why we're getting the funding from the ESD Business Safety, Security, and Cleanliness
- funds. It's a park
- Amenity it is serving people in the park, but it is also serving a much broader area of the south side
- of downtown by being present there So I don't you know, I'm not convinced. This is our long long-term
- solution And I'm happy to continue to revisit this as we talk about this, especially as we look at 2027
- budgeting in the spring late spring and summer this year
- Happy to have conversations with the board about that and where we think this should go Brian Giffin
- the city's homelessness response coordinator is also here this evening and he can speak to the broader
- issue as well if there are questions about that but tonight we are asking for approval of this contract
- and Happy to have discussion as needed Okay, any questions or comments for Tim? I've got a couple questions
- and comments, I guess
- And I certainly think that restroom facilities, where we need them is important, and there's not other
- restroom facilities around there. I have talked to some of the neighboring businesses, and they feel
- that this is extremely important to what they're, that it's made a difference for their businesses.
- I guess my question, and you said you'd get into it more,
- What are the ESD funds? So, yeah, I talked to Jane Kupersmith, who is the department head for economic
- and sustainable development. They have a fund that is specifically earmarked to help mitigate the effects
- of homelessness on businesses around town. And so, making a commitment from that fund to recognize that,
- yes, this is serving the park, and it lessens the impact in the park,
- but it's also serving businesses in that area, as we've heard. I talked to her and was able to get that
- commitment of funds so that it doesn't fall completely on the parks budget to maintain this this year.
- Okay. And I think that's helpful and important because it seems to me that this isn't just the parks.
- Really, it's a service that we're providing to that whole community area down there and it's really not
- just for the park, so I think having the funding come from somewhere else is important. I do think,
- and this is not... I'm sure that the company is earning every penny of doing this. I certainly wouldn't
- want to do it, but it's a lot of money to dedicate to one porta potty in one location, and I guess my...
- Concern is spending that much money for one portal at in one location for us. So I'd like to Figure
- out if there's some other way to do this If there's some way to protect that, you know, I talked You
- know, it's my understanding that there was signage up previously and that that didn't that was ripped down and
- destroyed pretty quickly, and I know that that's not going to do anything. I guess I have a couple of
- things I'd like to suggest and maybe have us look at or consider. One is the possibility of a camera
- in the location, maybe on top of that light pole, and I don't want to invade anybody's privacy, obviously,
- but it seems to me that a camera
- might have some effect on individuals. Probably not, but it also would be something that we could see
- if we could determine if it's a group or the same individual regularly doing this. I don't get the whole
- concept of why you destroy the bathrooms anyway, but it seems to be a common problem. So I would suggest
- we look into the idea of a camera. The other thing I would suggest is that we
- that we revisit this question, committing to this for a year at $40,000, which I'm fine in approving,
- but I'd like to revisit it periodically during the year and see if we can, if anything makes a difference
- on it, do we have any other ideas, and if at some point we can save some money on doing this. And the
- agreement,
- basically says that we can terminate it or suspend it at any time. And so I guess I'd like to maybe
- sometime after spring has sprung in April or May that we revisit it again when it's gonna start getting
- more use and also determine how much we had. I know it's five days now and then it goes to seven days.
- Whether we could have some savings there and maybe not have to do it What happens if we back off for
- a little bit and my question on that is is the contracts not very clear on? What kind of credit we would
- get if we don't use it it basically it's a flat Thirty nine thousand dollars or what it's not it's forty
- nine thousand dollars for the year and I guess my question is
- What have oh no it's 39,000 for the year my question is what? If we if we go to three days a week if
- we don't do it for a period of time And this is a little bit of the minutiae that that I'm sure staff
- can figure out But it seems to me we ought to go to the vendor and figure out are they doing is there
- a per diem rate or something? Because that's not spelled out On that and Amy what is it? It's
- 120 so it's okay. It's not anywhere in the contract is where I was okay. It isn't that's that they provided
- us though So you've read my mind and we've talked about that a little bit where we're able to you know
- If we're doing it this much and you're right a big question will be We're doing pretty well right now,
- but as spring comes as the temperatures warm as we see more people returning to the park What will we
- see the impact be but I I agree with you. This is a lot of money to spend on
- on one restroom, I've grappled with that a little bit of the we're providing a positive service. What
- else could we be doing with those funds? Are we protecting the experience of people in that park and
- Hopewell Commons and the whole area there? But no, certainly I think the camera is an interesting idea.
- There actually is a camera. There's one camera in seminary right now. I'll have to check with BPD. I
- don't know what kind of view that has. Certainly not from a privacy perspective, but just what
- What they're using that for I can check with them on that And that's an interesting idea, but no in
- terms of the savings I I have the same thing in mind, and I've talked with Amy about that. Let's Let's
- do the minimum viable amount and kind of the same that same theme we go from five days to seven days
- But then we don't go back to five days in the fall
- We do have that option with them though. Certainly. Yeah, because I'm just thinking we may want to think
- about when can we go back to five days when it starts getting colder and there's fewer people or whatever
- the case or maybe even four days or just every other day. Yeah, yeah, certainly things we want to keep
- in mind and explore and then my My final thing of it is that and I don't have an answer to this but
- that's not my favorite place for it to be located it's just
- it seems like it's just in the middle of a main drag and things like that. And I just wonder if there's
- some... I get the logistics of it and I don't know that it would be any better if we moved it down on
- Walnut because then you've got it coming from the other way and it's not easy to get to there. So I'm
- not saying there is another place. I just say if there is another place, let's think about that. But
- those are my
- Questions and comments, but I would like to revisit before the end, you know probably in three to five
- months Ideal timing to talk about it some more because we'll be seeing what's happening in the spring
- and with the city's response efforts overall As well as entering into our budget discussions for 2027
- and and seeing where you know, our balance is landing and
- and whether we have these funds available or whether they truly need to go to another need will be a
- question we have to explore. But at least for right now, I do feel comfortable knowing we've got the
- ARPA support for our security still this year and for things like that. We have room to continue this
- trial run, at least get it through a full year, and then continue to have conversations with you all.
- And Brian, do you have anything you want to add from it? No pressure, but is there anything you wanted
- to add on Jim's questions or anything, or did we cover it?
- Okay, so for those online, Brian just said he's heard a lot of positives and thinks it's critical to
- the overall response right now, but I do know as part of the greater homelessness conversations too,
- there are ongoing questions about downtown and restrooms and things like that that are continuing to
- be explored. That may provide another option in the future as well. That brings up another comment that
- may be for Brian is that I
- I know that the problem if it is but it I'm right by the 4th Street parking garage and I'd say 90% of
- the time those bathrooms are not open and I know because they've been vandalized and they've been open
- a lot more recently than they used to be but and I I understand it's the same problem we're having here
- but that's yeah I don't know what the solution is well and unfortunately one of the challenges of having
- a more permanent plumbed
- Restroom facility is that it's actually much more susceptible to Vandalism that can take it out of commission
- for a long time versus a portalette. So Cleaning five to seven days. I mean, I know cleaning a portalette
- depends a lot on the location and the weather and the use But like in some of our other portalettes,
- would it be more like they'd get cleaned out once a week? Would that be a more typical?
- Like the one that's on woodland. Sometimes the Griffey one gets busy, we have to do a couple cleanings
- and pumps a week. So typically that service is a pumping and a basic cleaning. What's ending up happening
- at this one is there's other things in it that have to be pulled out before it can be pumped, or needles,
- or you name it, other messes, graffiti, things like that.
- You know we were we were leaning on our custodial staff on that at first They have such a breadth that
- they need to cover that having that concentrated heat there and the severity of the need was really
- hard on them so I view this as an investment in our staff as well and Right, you know protecting their
- time and what they're having to deal with Okay All right any other questions or comments for Tim or Brian I
- Okay. All right. So do we have a motion on the C three agreement with a and a quick pump for the seminary
- portal that services? Sure. I'll move to approve the agreement with a and a quick pump. Second.
- All right. And all those in favor. I motions carried. All right. Thanks, Tim. Um, and then C four Amy
- lame back will tell us about the agreement with center stone for the 2026 partnership services.
- Good evening, Amy Lionback, operations coordinator. I am here to recommend that you approve the agreement
- with Centerstone of Indiana. The total of the agreement is $538,000. That is $381,000 for public works
- and $147,000 for parks and rec. And that parks and rec is split between a crew that goes to different
- parks on a rotation and then a switch yard staff
- support at the restroom building at switch yard There are different Coverage and hours depending on
- the time of year so we kind of ramp up and then go down In our need but this has been a really helpful
- addition to our staff and what they're able to do This crew has really helped us extend our reach and
- be able to cover
- more ground and have more boots on the ground daily, so it's made a big difference. And I'm not sure,
- it probably doesn't say, because I'm sure it would vary, but how many people typically would be involved
- in a program? So I think that, let's see, I did have it here. There is a three-person crew on the rotational
- group, and then at Switchyard it is one to two, depending on the timeline.
- Is there any need for, I mean if we had, I'm not sure how to ask this, but is there a possibility that
- we could use additional services from them or from somebody else that would do the same type of work?
- I know money is a factor, but are we having a hard time keeping them busy or could we keep 10 more people busy?
- It's a good use right now. Part of it is just finding reliable people that will come and do this job.
- They have lots of candidates, but not necessarily people that will show up and do a consistent job.
- So they've been able to maintain this number well. So I think that that would be a concern is just not
- being able to find enough people that are gonna show up and do a good job every day.
- definitely have lots of work. I don't think that's an issue, so there's always something for them to
- do and help out with, so yeah. Yeah, so I guess if there's plenty of work, my other question would be,
- are there any other types of agencies or organizations out there that could supply people that could
- do some of this in some fashion? I think this program is
- Considered a pilot program that they are trying to really develop and then hopefully other places will
- employ the center stone employees, I know they want to Expand and have other you know clients like the
- city is their client So they're looking to partner with other employers in the area so that they can
- add more jobs I don't know if there are other groups that have the workers that want to do the supported
- employment, but it's definitely a working partnership model that is
- Having lots of success and we're hoping that that will expand on both sides Thank you Okay, all right
- any other questions for Amy Okay Make a motion to approve the agreement for with Centerstone for 2026
- partnership services All those in favor. All right. All right. That motion is carried. I
- And then c5 Amy will also tell us about the renewal with MSI for the new year security services Yes,
- so this is a renewal of our contract that
- Expired in 2025 we had a great experience with MSI. It's a good working partnership We've been meeting
- with them quarterly to talk about any issues and clarify things and just strengthen our communication
- with them So we're really happy with what the service that they're providing and we would like to we
- built it into the original contract that we could renew it Several times so we are wanting to renew
- for one year the contract as it was So that's
- an hourly rate of 2869, holiday rate of 4304. We generally have one officer, seven to nine p.m., and
- then nine p.m. to two a.m., there's two officers, and then there's an officer at Switchard Park only
- from five p.m. to four a.m. That's year round. There are four holidays that they do not work. So, yeah,
- happy to answer any questions about this one.
- It seems like this has worked really well, but I know there is the continuing concern about the money.
- I mean, this is ARPA funds now, but in 2027, I mean, it's not going to be the case. So this is another
- thing we'll have to keep an eye on, the expense.
- As the has the rate have you seen the rate go up or anything is this where we only in a person to last
- year I'm only because of the city's living wage ordinance Increase they they slightly adjusted for that,
- but otherwise it was it's it's generally the same and By restroom closures. That means those folks are
- doing the restroom closures at those facilities. Yes in the summer
- So yeah, they go around and they open the restroom buildings and make sure that there's no one inside
- and then they lock it up for us for the night. So that's really great because we wanna make sure that
- those buildings that people aren't trying to sleep in those overnight and that would happen if we weren't
- clearing them out. Okay. All right. I'll make a motion to approve the renewal with MSI for 2026 security. Second.
- All right, and all those in favor I all right motions carried. Thank you, Amy and Since e6 Kevin Terrell
- will tell us about the agreement with B&L sheet metal for the Banneker roof repairs Thank you all Kevin
- Terrell the program and facility coordinator for the Banneker Community Center here This is for a contract
- with B&L sheet metal
- to work on the Vaneker roof. This contract is to help solve water infiltration and drainage issues at
- the Vaneker Center gymnasium and the lower level at large. Vaneker struggled for several years, really
- going back decades, with water infiltration inside the gymnasium and on the exterior walls and the lower
- levels, which results in a lot of hours of dealing with water leakage.
- after really any moderate or heavy rain or thunderstorms. This is gonna be funded partially by a grant
- from the Black Heritage Program that we applied for for $20,000, with the remainder coming from non-reverting
- funds. And I'm happy to answer any questions if you have some. Okay, any questions for Kevin? I was
- just curious how did we, like, sort of getting
- Our our grant person Jonas works very hard to find different grants that we could apply for since he
- took that job he's been a big asset I think to parks and wreck in general and he Found this grant was
- available for historic buildings with black heritage
- And we went through a application process with them They came and inspected the building looked at the
- building We worked some with some local historians and and different people of different natures We
- also were able to use a study from the Ball State That we got from Ball State started we worked on at
- the end of 2024 They finally finished their report in the spring of 2025. I think you have it. I'm not sure but
- They've made a lot of recommendations about what we could do to preserve the building in the most efficient
- way So that helped us get the grant And then that helped us also identify how to write the request for
- proposal that we put out on open gov back in the summer about You know as we looked for different ways
- to kind of solve this problem We got three different companies that ended up applying for it. We graded
- them looked at them the committee chose being now and
- To do the work Yeah, that's great ever since that any I guess I've probably been involved with the Parks
- Foundation and then here at the board for maybe close to ten years now and I always see that vinegar
- is Continuously gotten these amazing grants and it's just really great to see so kudos to you guys and
- I think this is a great partnership and really neat to see I
- I'll be happy to take all the credit for it, but really it wasn't me at all It was it was Tim and it
- was it was all the people at staff and particularly but Jonas who put that together Yeah, well congrats
- and I assume that they've like reviewed I see this note that the you know that the roof will look
- Like it should for a historic building and they've approved the renderings for that. Yes, there's not
- a lot of cosmetic Changes or really we're not turning the design of it. We're just trying to keep the
- water from coming in one of the worst things that happens is on a Friday night when we have a storm
- and I have rentals on Saturday morning, and I'm sitting there hearing the rain at my house and going
- Yes, I'll be up at five in the morning to go to Banneker and so it's nice to not
- Hopefully eventually not have to have that problem. Yeah, that's done Great. Yeah, I hope that for you,
- too All right, I'll make a motion to approve the agreement of being all sheet metal for the Banneker
- roof repair All right, all those in favor aye Motion is carried. Thank you, Kevin. Thank you Shout out
- to Kevin and Sean and who've been working on this grant a lot. It's a lot of detail a lot of
- So between this one and the other grant that we got last year for the Banneker Steps, Kevin's been working
- a lot on getting that project off the ground, and the Banneker Steps are gonna get replaced starting,
- well, hopefully... Oh, okay, new is Monday. So, and a lot of this came through just relationship,
- I think, with Ball State, and we hired a consultant a few years ago to work on Cascades, who's an historic
- architecture professor,
- at Ball State, he came back to us that he had a master's student that could do a project for us. She
- looked at Banneker, gave some recommendations. One of her mentors also works for this DHPA. So it's
- all about just building this relationship and helping people understand the need, and a lot of good
- comes from that. So very excited to see the implementation at Banneker. Excellent. All right. Thank
- you for the background.
- So in c7 Clarence Boone will tell us about the food truck pricing update for the farmers market Facility
- and program coordinator for the farmers market Staff recommends approval of an increase to the weekly
- food truck fee structure for the 2026 Bloomington community farmers market vendors that can operate
- within a single standard or normal market space will continue to pay the existing
- $35 a weekly a week fee and vendors that require more than one market space to operate will be assessed
- a higher flat fee of $50 per week All revenue collector will be deposited into the designated account
- and in addition applications for food and beverage vendors will open by They have opened already, but
- we had set a deadline of the January 21st and they'll run through February the 20th
- Just a quick background, this is in response to concerns about ensuring a fair and equitable fee structure
- for food truck spaces. And following careful consideration and consultation with members of the Farmers
- Market Advisory Council and internal staff, this revised fee approach is intended to better align vendor
- fees with space usage. And along with space utilization, this action also took into account
- long-standing concerns such as generator noise and and ease of truck maneuverability within the market
- and again this proposed structure allows vendors that fit within a standard market space to continue
- paying the lower rate while vendors require an additional space Contribute proportionately through the
- higher flat fee And I'll be more than happy to answer any questions Okay, any questions for Clarence
- about this
- Food truck price increase. I was just curious. Can you remind me on the Advisory Council? I know we
- have spots for consumers farmers and food and beverage and does that include a food truck representative
- or And has this already been idea been surfaced with the food trucks notified that this would be a discussion point
- Discuss okay. Yeah, it's just curious. Thanks Sounds good sounds equitable. I'll make a motion to approve
- the food truck and increase at the farmers market Okay, all those in favor aye aye motion is carried.
- Thank you Clarence and then
- Rounding out section CC 8 Haskell Smith has the agreement with Davey resource group for tree assistance
- program related removals Good afternoon board of commissioners Haskell Smith urban forester See which
- one was this first one Davey staff recommends approval with Davey tree expert company for the tree assistance
- program removals and mitigation pruning this is
- In part of that 50 grand from economic and sustainability department to work on private property For
- hazardous trees over folks houses and garages Not to exceed thirty six thousand nine hundred and ten
- dollars Happy to answer any questions All right, any questions Haskell about this one No, say you have
- 15 folks that were selected for
- Remote tree help like assistance a tree removal. Yeah. Yes and remind me is it do they pay any portion
- or is this a hundred percent covered for the? Recipients it depended on what the quote came back as
- we paid up to twenty five hundred dollars. Okay So overall there were several that didn't have to pay
- any and there were a few that didn't have to pay some over I think the most was about 1800 and this
- is our first batch of yes
- This is the this is the pilot program. Okay. Yeah, great. I'm excited to hear how it goes But it could
- still be ongoing. So if someone's watching and they think I might have a dangerous tree There's another
- round coming up very soon. Okay. All right, great Okay, well I'll make a motion to approve the agreement
- with Davey resource group for the tree assistance program removals Okay, all those in favor aye
- Motion is carried and then Haskell has several other tree things C9 the agreement with canopy Bloomington
- for tree assistance program related plantings. Yeah, I was busy in December So as part of the tree assistance
- program we're gonna replant the trees that we removed On these on the I think it's 12 properties that
- are actually having full tree removals. So staff recommends the
- Agreement with canopy Bloomington for the planting up to 12 replacement trees as part of the tree assistance
- program funding is not to exceed $4,770 and it is also from that ESD funding source Okay, any questions
- about the canopy Bloomington agreement I guess is it that like so of the 15
- 12 are removed and they're replanting and then three or just have some other issue there Yeah, we're
- doing just mitigation pruning. So we'll go in and remove the dead dying broken hanging branches install
- a cable to prevent tree splitting or Very, you know various other like weight reductions. Yeah,
- okay neat. Yeah, I don't have any questions I'll make a motion to approve the agreement canopy blue
- Canopy Bloomington for the tree assistant program planting. I can't get my words out. All those in favor?
- Aye. All right. That C9 is carried. And then in C10 is the agreement with J.R. Ellington for 2026 hazard
- tree removal.
- Staff recommends approval of the service agreement with JR Ellington tree expert company for the removal
- of hazard trees pruning or hazard reduction pruning in an amount not to exceed $25,000 funding sources
- our general fund This is something we've done for a few years now. This is just we get these big storm
- events or I find a tree in a backyard I don't have the equipment to get to they can get to this in a
- timely fashion Ellington's been good to work with and the following
- Service agreement allows me to call both and they give me a number in a short amount of time and I can
- still Go with the lowest quote between the two at the least Okay All right All right
- C10 motion is carried and see 11 finally from Haskell's the agreement with bluestone tree for 2026 hazard
- tree removals Almost the same verbatim as last time just switch in bluestone Staff recommends approval
- of service agreement with bluestone tree LLC for the removal of hazard trees pruning or hazard reduction
- pruning in an amount not to exceed $25,000 the funding sources are general funding and Again, they've
- been great to work with
- Have pieces of equipment I dreamed to have I think last year they got a they cleaned a few out of creeks
- for us after a storm event Okay, all right great Agreement with bluestone tree for 2026 hazard tree
- All right, all those in favor aye motion carried. Thanks Haskell. Thank you. I
- Okay, that takes care of our section C and then section D reports Tim's gonna give us a parks end-of-year
- summary kind of snapshot of things Right Tim streets director of parks and recreation back with you
- to close out our meeting here I'll just let you know. There's only a couple slides if that's okay So
- I just wanted to give the board a picture of how the department has finished
- 2025 in both the general fund and non-reverting funds With an eye on Senate enrolled act one. We've
- been discussing the impacts of that It is ostensibly going back to the state legislature during this
- session for further review and possible amendments There's been a lot of feedback to the state legislature
- about it. We know that a lot hinges regarding our future property tax Distributions based on the results
- of Senate enrolled act one
- Essentially what we've experienced so far from 25 to 2026 with The act is that our property tax contributions
- have remained flat year over year Other communities might be experiencing more severe impacts than that.
- We've certainly heard about that and a lot revolves around the city's Determinations about a local income
- tax that will expire in 2027 as well What might be put back in place if anything is going to be put
- back in place for that that will have to do a lot with
- how the city's general fund raises funds. Parks and Rec, we finished 2025 very well thanks in part to
- our staff's diligence. I really appreciate our staff who represent different budget areas being diligent
- in one, exceeding revenue goals and setting revenue goals that are realistic but also conservative so
- we can live up to those and bypass those throughout the year while still stretching ourselves to do
- more and two,
- saving, you know, recognizing that there's a need to save throughout the year. There are always things
- throughout the year that, you know, we might plan on something and it's not possible to get done.
- You know, of course, we budget at 100% for all of our staff, seasonal, full-time, everything throughout
- the year. And of course, every year, we never have 100% staffing every day of the year. So there's always
- some built-in savings there as well. But in our general fund, we actually finished with
- Excuse me. $208,952 of a budget surplus for 2025. That takes away the $377,000 of encumbrances that
- are rolling over from one year to the next. That might be various things that are ordered or in progress,
- projects in progress. That money has been obligated and we're
- We're carrying over to actually be paid in 2026 but still $200,000 Surplus is is really great performance
- for our budget and in the non-reverting already mentioned the encumbrance that you see there is $155,000
- that we're carrying over for the mobile stage that was approved late last year. I had speculated that
- would bring us down to basically zero or maybe slightly negative but in fact
- We outperformed that and still finished the year with about 60K in a budget surplus in the non-reverting.
- Kim, go to the next slide. If you're curious just for historic general fund budget numbers, we've had
- some really good net years in here. The past couple years we've really benefited also from ARPA funds
- and our staff's readiness and diligence in being ready at the very end of 2024
- To take advantage of unencumbered ARPA funds for the city I have projects ready that we could reimburse
- or obligate those ARPA funds to for eligible expenses and that is how We got our 2025 security and 2026
- security all encumbered at the end of 2024 Which of course is a massive savings for our general fund
- And has put us in a stronger position going into Senate enrolled act one knowing that we have healthy
- cash reserves which
- of course are there to help us cushion any blows. Any violent budget swings can be dealt with through
- having a cash reserve. We can go to the next one for the non-reverting Kim. Similar thing, you see a
- couple years of negative, 2021 was still COVID. The non-reverting was negative for a couple years there
- with COVID. It took a big hit from the lack of enterprise business funds coming in at places like TLRC,
- golf course pools, things like that.
- But since then, we've recovered quite a bit. 2024 included the 220K investment in new turf at Twin Lakes
- Rec Center. And 2025 included the mobile stage. 2026, a couple major things we're gonna do is contribute
- our portion for the Banneker step repair. About $38,000 for the front entrance there. Some restroom
- renovations at the Twin Lakes Rec Center, which are in desperate need of some investment.
- and taking care of a lot of other critical needs. So moving forward, we are working on our strategic
- part of our master plan right now. We just got our deliverables in terms of the community engagement
- that's been happening. We'll certainly be sharing those with the board. Our statistical survey did reach
- the number of samples that it needed, so we have a true random sample to go along with the other engagement
- we did. We are starting to digest that in the following
- two months. We're gonna be working on that a lot in terms of what are our priorities and the outcomes
- that we're looking for, and then importantly, by division, what are the actions or the goals we're gonna
- take to work towards that. So that is really gonna provide a framework for financial sustainability
- for us for the future, particularly as we look at a lot of things we have that need a lot of investment.
- Capital investment that just hasn't always happened over the years.
- That's not a problem that's unique to Bloomington. It's a national problem, just not putting enough
- in taking care of what we have. And so that remains our focus going into this next budget cycle with
- one eye on the property tax and state situation and another eye on where we need to invest and using
- the master plan as a framework to make good decisions for our community based on its needs.
- All right, any questions for Tim about the year-end report? I do appreciate the look back. That's helpful
- to see to get some context for the numbers. Yeah. So all right. And then if we have any public comment,
- I don't see any new faces out there. Anyone online, Kim?
- Hand icon Nope Okay. All right, then we will go back to Tim for any announcements of future events.
- I Don't have a lot tonight Go Hoosiers this weekend, of course and then next weekend is going to be
- the first freeze fest at switch yard park and
- There are events on Friday and on Saturday on Saturday in particular after the winter farmers market
- There's gonna be our winter Palooza event the ice sculptures are gonna be out I think the ice carving
- out there is gonna be really cool on Friday night, and I think a little bit on Saturday, too That's
- a partnership that you all approved with visit Bloomington and of course Look at their website for the
- full schedule, but I think it's gonna be really great. We're looking forward to that and
- Mentioned that we are engaging in strategic planning will be reporting some results to you soon and
- hope to have the actual final master plan to you this spring to approve for 2026 to 2030 and finally
- our next meeting will be Thursday February 19th right here at 5 p.m Okay. All right. Thank you. And
- thanks to all the staff who presented and with that I will adjourn the January meeting of the Bloomington
- Board of Park commissioners and