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