Welcome to the Redevelopment Commission meeting for the City of Bloomington for August 17th, 2026. We'll
start the meeting with the roll call, please. Lori McRobie, present. Steve Scambalern, here.
Brandi Cassidy, present. John West, present. Deborah Meyerson, here. We will start the, and the staff
present, please. Anna Killian Hansen, present. Christian Levenlin, hand department. Emma Caswell, present.
Jane Coopersmith, economic and sustainable development.
Okay, first item on the agenda is the minutes from the executive session from August 3, 2026 and the
regular meeting minutes from August 3, 2026. I'll take a motion for both of those unless anybody requests
to separate them. Move approval of both sets of nets, executive committee and regular RDC meeting. Second.
John. We've got a first and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed?
passes unanimously. Next item in the agenda is the claims register for July 31, 2026. Any questions
or comments from commissioners on the claims register? I have a couple questions. Would you mind starting
with the page so I can follow? Page three of seven. Page three of seven, and I know it's CVDG, the 2403 account.
Line 3464, the New Hope Shelter. That's our grant that we gave for the solar. The only question I have,
were they able to incorporate any of the solar panels that the city has? Which project? This is for
New Hope's solar project. I will have to ask our program manager and get back to you on that.
I doubt it. I don't think they did. They did receive seal.
funding, which is our solar energy efficiency and lighting grant program that supports nonprofits. But
I think they have new panels, but we can find them. OK, I'll just verify, because there were still some
additional panels that we had left a while back. A lot. Oh, so, yes. Yes, that's why I'm asking, because
if they could be utilized in something, it'd be great. Next one, and this is just specifically me and
a little bugaboos, we get to it at some point on Evergreen Village.
That's for lawn care maintenance of the lots that we own in there, which they've done a great job. I'd
just at some point like to see that moved forward to the homeowners. Thank you. We have attempted multiple
homeowners actually sold following our attempt. So we'll continue that attempt. OK, thank you. And actually
that mowing is specific to the retention pond. So it's just a drainage area.
Which, keeping it mode is very good, given the amount of rain, as you well know, we've all had near
reason. So thank you. Page five of five, or page 13 in the packet, depending on how you go at it. Marshall
security for security patrols at Hopewell. I'm not questioning the expense itself, but I'm wondering
if you could just give us a 60 second update on what we're experiencing with security challenges at Hopewell.
We are continuing to receive a number of security incidents at the Hopewell properties. Specifically,
the garage has been targeted. We did have an encampment in the garage, which we recently cleaned up.
But the patrols and reports range from the garage all the way over to the 714 site. They're doing their
job, though, and discouraging a lot
Folks for being there in the evening hours as well, but those are the two big areas of concern the existing
buildings So hopefully as activity Increases we'll start to see less activity, but at this time we are
still receiving With as much security as we have there. How does anybody have time to set up an encampment?
That doesn't happen overnight. Our security patrols are 12 hours and they vary in timing. They're not
the same 12-hour shifts every day. That's intentional to try and catch whatever activities happening
at varied hours. It's surprising, but it did occur. It wasn't a large encampment, but there was an awful
lot of trash and debris. I think there was a full truckload that was pulled from the garage.
There's a specific part of the garage, too, where there's a lot of overgrowth and shrubbery that they
were hiding underneath and behind. So we've posted it. They've been removed. It's been cleaned up. And
actually, Marshall did the cleanup for a very insignificant amount of money. I think it was $800 total.
So it was money well spent. To your point on the...
It would be the east side of that parking garage that has substantial growth. Is that something from
as an ownership standpoint, we should look at clearing that back so that they can actually visually
see it from Roger Street. We've cleaned that up a couple different times. I'm talking removes the vegetation.
Yes. So that we get back to the structure so you can actually visually see that garage and if there's
any activity. We've cleaned it up a couple of different times. One of the other things right at that
spot is that there's a fence that is wrapped around and they keep pulling the fencing away. We've tried
to secure it numerous times. Part of the cleanup that was done, they drove an auger down into the ground
and used a nice big two by four to try and secure that fence even more so that they couldn't gain any
more access.
But yes. That's an issue. So one last question on the claims. Page 307 on the Fund 2234, unsafe building
on the appraisal for Shamrock Point. Is that based upon we've got an unsafe building? That was part
of the settlement agreement.
And I'm not sure how much more information I can go into other than that's part of a settlement agreement.
Yes, it is an unsafe building. And we required the appraisal and then listing at the appraised price.
OK. Thank you. Any other questions from commissioners? If not, I'll take a motion for the claims register
of July 31. We have approval for the claims register for July 31, 2026. Second.
We have a first and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Passes unanimously. Next on the
agenda is the payroll register from August 7th, 2026. Any questions or comments from commissioners on
this item? Move for approval. Second. We've got a first and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye.
Any opposed? Passes unanimously. Next we'll have reports please. Do we have a director's report?
I would like to report that on Friday we hosted the Incremental Development Alliance developer, small
developer training at the mill. It was wonderful. We had some industry experts that came and it was
fascinating, wonderful. I gave a short presentation and there's a lot of excitement related to HopeWild
and we're glad to have that piece over with.
But the next step is we will be offering a boot camp, which is virtually offered starting, I believe,
in October. But let me circle back to you on the exact dates. It'll be once a week for a period of time.
And it is a prerequisite that you attended the small developer training that we hosted. That training
is also offered online if somebody needed to catch up and was not able to be present in person. I also
do just want to give a shout out to the mill. When we were there, it was such a great atmosphere.
I mean, they're doing really, really good things. It's the great combination between being practical
and productive. And every need that we had,
was there on Thursday of this week. The mill is opening back up that event space. So there is an event
you guys should have received an email about that. It looks great. So they've maximized the space and
encourage you to go check it out. But they're doing really great things there. How many books were registered
for the? I think it ended up being 32. Awesome.
And we had more people trying to attend, but we reached capacity. OK. Great. And for folks that weren't
able to attend, since that's a requirement for them to attend the boot camp, is there any option to
do some alternate versions so they can attend the boot camp? Yes. So it's offered virtually through
Incremental Developments website. So they'll do a catch-up session, and they offer it periodically,
I think, once every few weeks. How does someone find Incremental Developments website?
I'd be happy to post it to our website, but it is just incrementaldevelopmentalliance.org. Great,
thank you. Okay, well thank you. Do we have a legal report? Yes, I'd just like to give you an update
on the Hopewell Residential Tiff and also where we're amending the consolidated Tiff to remove
the residential properties. August 10th, where's the Planning Commission regular meeting.
And it both did receive approvals there. Next, it moves on to Common Council, which right now is scheduled
for September 2nd. And it would go there for approval. Upon approval, it would come back to the RDC
for a public hearing on September 21st and a confirmatory resolution. Again, this would be for
the Hopewell residential TIF, the creation of that, and also we're removing the residential properties
from the consolidated TIF. We are following, just so everybody knows, whenever you create a TIF like
Hopewell, if you are modifying by removing these properties, you have to follow the exact same process.
So that's why we're doing them at this exact same time,
They follow this exact same process. So just when everybody knows we are following the exact legal process
that you need to do to remove these properties from the consolidated TIFs. So things are moving forward,
and we'll keep you up to date. Thank you. Do we have a Treasurer's Report? I don't see Jeff here. He
is not here this evening. There was no Treasurer's Report.
Budget hearings are starting at council this evening, so he needs to be there. I have the pleasure of
going last this evening as well. Well, we'll try and make sure we end in time for you to not have any
conflicts. You had to go pretty late. That's true. I sounded so optimistic at that end of the table.
Well, we are next up for a business adult update.
No update. Other than I would like to formally introduce Paige Sharp, who's our new Assistant Director
for the Arts. We're really excited to have her on our team. And she comes to us from the state and has
been just doing an awesome job. Welcome, Paige. You did a phenomenal job. Welcome, Paige. Welcome, Paige.
Thank you. Glad to have you. Good to be here.
Okay, we are on to new business. The first item on our agenda is Resolution 2655, which is an amendment
of Resolution 2589 regarding a partnership agreement with BCT Management and Authorization for Recipients.
Would you like to speak to that? I'll take this one and then I'll pass to our guests this evening. So
I did just introduce Paige and then I'll also introduce Steve Versa, who's the Executive Director of
BCT Management.
which is the company that manages the BCT, the nonprofit that manages the BCT. The BCT is a parks asset
and is supported by multiple departments at the city. So I included a memo in the packet just to kind
of give some of the history. But in a nutshell, the RDC approved an agreement in 2025 to fund $74,000
annually for upgrades
and really supporting new assets at the BCT. The park supports repair and maintenance. And so these
funds are really to go toward assets, I think is how I understand that. And so the resolution requires
that ESD staff approve those requests and bring them to the RDC. So we do approve what they are requesting.
There's detailed information in the packet about the equipment that they would
like to request, and then this updated resolution also does acknowledge that the previous resolution
said the funding had to be requested in that year. I'm not sure why that didn't happen last year. The
resolution was approved, but then staff didn't return with a funding request. So we would like to amend
the resolution to allow the BCT to access that $74,000 from 2025. The only other thing I might say
before bringing Steve up to the table is just that the BCT has done a really incredible job managing
this facility. They're extremely careful with all the materials, the carpeting, all of the assets of
the building, the curtains, and they have managed it in such a way that most of the building's assets
have gone well beyond what their functional life should have been. And so the request today, you can come up,
The request today is really to replace some of those key critical equipment needs, and they remain with
the building. So if the operation were to fold, it's not like BCT management would take the audio console
with them and sell it. So the main requests are audio console, lighting console, and lighting updates.
This is part of a five-year plan to kind of get the infrastructure
of the theater and the theatrical needs as well as safety issues taken care of. But the most firmly
needed things in this first year or two is actual theatrical equipment. Three reasons. The soundboard
that the city purchased in 2012 has already gone away. The BCT management before my time found a donor
to give another used model
And we've been pushing that for now seven years almost, you know? So it's at the end of life. Lighting
console just went down. We knew it would. Now, BCT has found another creative way, as all of us in the
theater world and the venue world, we found a creative way to find a lighting console to use in the
interim. But we're at this breaking point. And it's much past its use. And finally, probably the biggest
is within the last
We've all known that incandescent bulbs for theatrical lighting, they're gone. So smartly, we have stocked
up. We only have incandescent bulbs for theatrical lighting. We only have those units. And it's time
to transfer to LED for sustainability.
but also to actually be able to turn some lights on on the stage, because we're getting down to the
end of that. So these are just normal, everyday items that a theater would need to run, whether BCT
management is doing it, whether anybody else walks into that building, but for it to be a useful building
for its purposes and to give the public some place, the community some place, to come for 150 to 180
events a year that we put on
These are much needed dynoms. So just to say it outright, the request today is for two years then of
that $74,000 amount. So it's for a total of $148,000. This is probably in the detail. Do you anticipate
that $148,000 is enough to take care of the needs that you just outlined? Yes. So with Bolivar, it's
right there at the cusp, and we'll minimize
a little bit for this to get down to the 148 from about a 10K difference. OK. And you went through a
bidding process and included those numbers in the packet as well. Yeah. You anticipate coming back next
year, though, as well? This would be 25 and 26, with the hopes that 27 we could pull our final year
in the contract, with updated new.
I have a new idea for the standing. OK. OK. Well, thank you for that presentation. I'll open up for
questions from commissioners. Excellent idea. It's time. I mean, you guys have been operating it for
20 plus years and doing a phenomenal job with that. With this, you didn't spend the money last year
is essentially what we're coming down to. We just didn't spend it. As opposed to doing it partially,
you now have the ability, by combining these two, to get a complete project that will bring it
into the area you need. And you should be able to save some money on electricity. Absolutely. Which
should make it helpful in your overall operating cost. So I appreciate everything you're doing, keeping
the theater going. The first theater I saw was Mickey Mouse at five. So having it has a little bit of
a special intent to it. So I appreciate it. Thank you. Can I just share one other BCT item?
We have a great kind of cross-functional project where ESD is working with parks and the theater. We
received a grant for $508,000 through the Indiana Department of Energy. And so BCT is getting a new
HVAC upgrade and battery energy storage system out of it, which will allow the theater to become a climate
resilience hub. So in periods of extreme heat, they'll have a really great cooling system and the ability
to run it even in
if there's a power outage. So they'll be able to welcome community members in a safe space. So we're
really excited. And I think we'll get that installed in January. February, yeah. February.
So we're all? Fingers crossed. Yeah, doing the same. So there's a lot going on. It's time. I've been
here for three years, and I won't go on too long. But the stewardship before my time was immaculate.
I haven't seen a theater like this around the world. This old, this clean kept up with so much grace
and determination. So I'm really looking forward to moving us into the next era and continuing that
for the community. Thank you. Appreciate it. Anything else from commissioners? If not, I will entertain
a motion for Resolution 2655. I'll make a motion to approve Resolution 2655 as presented. Second.
We've got a first and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Sorry. I'm late to the game.
Your aye. I'm not posing. I'm aye. I'm aye for it. OK. So no opposed. A motion passes unanimously. Thank
you so much for all you do. Thank you all. Really appreciate it.
The next item on our agenda tonight is resolution 2656, which is the approval of the first amendment
to the agreement which HGCG Enterprises DBA Office Pride commercial cleaning services for services at
the trades district garage. Is that also? I didn't take this on as well. So Office Pride is the service
provider for, again, professional cleaning services at the trades district garage. We have a tenant
in that commercial space and as part of their lease,
the city provides commercial cleanings, janitorial services, and the tenant reimburses, sorry, they
pay an estimated monthly amount to cover those expenses, and then they settle up at the end of the year.
So the RDC gets fully reimbursed for these costs, but we need to have the expenditure approved so that
we can pay the service provider on a monthly basis. We were,
Well, I think we, I'm saying we, Dana, because we were both on the email, but we were excited to see
that Office Pride was willing to extend their 2024 service rate for three additional years from now.
So we feel like that's a really good deal. So we went ahead and tried to extend or have the time frame
extended for the full three years. I think that's it. They've been really happy with the service. OK,
thank you.
That said, I'll open it up to questions from commissioners. Does the contract have a cancellation clause
if for some reason the tenant doesn't stay and we don't need the service as presented? I'm just looking.
I assume so, but I... Yeah, I would assume so also. It's probably a mutual cancellation clause, but...
Traditionally, the city may terminate or suspend performance of this agreement at the city's prerogative
at any time upon written notice to contract it. Another question. Can you explain in the resolved number
two, just to clarify, what do you mean when
the amount won't exceed $50,000. There are times that additional work is requested. And attached to
the original contract is hourly rates. So sometimes there will be additional work that will be requested
of them. So at no time can the contract go over that total amount without it
Because if you add up all the months for the years, it would not be up to $50,000. But you could go
up to $50,000. That allows them just a little bit of extra should they need to ask for some additional
services. So the minimum contract is $16,000. And you're paying that monthly for whatever their general
cleaning is. And then there's $34,000.
No, $16,000 was the original contract for the first year. And so there's three more years that is going
in place. There's 48. So you've got just $2,000? Yeah, it's like one month of service in case something
happens. It's a minimal amount, but just in case something comes up that they need a little extra cleaning.
I didn't think it was written clearly, but as long as you get it, I guess. OK. Any other questions?
Yes? Quick question. This is nothing more than a pass-through, reimbursable expense that we're going
to recapture in our 2519 fund on a yearly basis. I don't know what fund it goes back into. It goes back
into 2519. I'm just verifying where it's coming out, where it's going to.
And then this is specifically for the office portion of our trades district that is there. We'll just
take one building. Well, I know. But I'm asking about the parking garage portion of it. Who cleans that?
That's the parking garage. That's why I want to verify. When we hit trades district garage, I just wanted
to have a clarification. Trades district garage commercial space. Thank you. OK. Just making sure. OK.
Thank you. There's no other questions or comments. I will ask for a motion of resolution 2656.
I'll move approval or resolution 2656. Second. Another first and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye.
Any opposed? Passes unanimously. Thank you. Next item in the agenda is resolution 2657, which is the
approval of Payment to Cone, Incorporated for their invoice. Would you like to speak to that? I just
noticed the last couple resolutions was no public comment requests. Oh, I beg your pardon. Yeah, that's
a courtesy that we usually mean to extend.
I will, yeah, apologize for that. Let's go ahead with this resolution, and then I will open for public
comment for any of the above. Resolutions. Yeah. There you go. Exactly. Thank you. OK, so we are now
opening up to hear about resolution 2657. Who wants to speak to that? I'd be happy to talk about this one.
There was work that was needed on the Showers West elevator. And so it was arranged to be taken care
of by our facilities director, Jay Duport. And so he arranged for it. This was started back in December.
controls that needed to be purchased and they were installed. Everything was completed towards the end
of March. Then there was an invoice that was sent for the work to be done. It was in excess of the amount
that could be paid for directly. So it needed to come to the RDC for approval. It is showing up in August,
which is as late
Um, the, um, it was, uh, lost in email and, uh, resurfaced. And so that's the reason for the delay,
but this is one of the, uh, things that Showers West again, it has issues and, and, uh, the passenger
elevator was needed to be repaired. And, and this is the invoice that was, uh,
And it was for $14,236.08 to repair the elevator. The invoice, you'll notice, was for a little more
than that because they were including tax. And the city and the RDC does not pay taxes. So the contractor
will need to deal with that on their own.
we did reduce the amount of tax because the RDC will not be paying that. Thanks for that clarification.
Let me also chime in and say that the repair, so that elevator's board, internal control board, is obsolete
at this point. So they had a lot of trouble trying to repair the elevator. It went on for quite a long
time before they were able to fix it. They had to pull out the board and make some repairs.
The next time this happens, we don't know exactly what's going to happen with the elevator because they
can't find a replacement part for that specific board. So just FYI, if you hear rumblings from any of
the tenants, it was down for a prolonged period of time while they were trying to make repairs because
they could not find parts for it. OK, thank you. OK, we're now opening this for public comment for resolution 2657.
Sorry, I'm trying not to get ahead of myself. Question, do we have maintenance contracts on this particular
elevator or any other than we have? There is a maintenance contract that Public Works has for all facilities
and in specialty things like this elevators, the RDC does not have a separate maintenance contract.
for that. So we go through the public works and then so it gets invoiced to public works and then it
gets sent over to the RDC to just get separated out. But it was under a formal contract that the work was done.
But the question I want to do we have a maintenance contract in this to and his point regards to obsolescence
in regards to this from an elevator standpoint where we would be with a DA in regards to our fire department
other individuals that we have in there at the present moment in order to be proactive and find out
what it will take at a future time.
Are you indicating you would like to pursue a replacement? I would like to at least see what the cost
to upgrade is. And on a basis of just finishing up on something that I'm involved in, a similar situation
came up and it was a $68,000 for a three-stop elevator. So if we think there's going to be future problems
due to obsolescence, it would be more prudent to identify what the cost is now as opposed to having
to be reactive and having it down with accessibility issues.
I would be happy to work with our facilities director to try and identify what that would look like.
OK. Thank you. Appreciate it. Any other questions from commissioners? If not, I will open this for public
comment, either online or in person. Seeing none, I will ask for a motion for resolution 2657. So moved.
Move approval of resolution 2657. Second.
We've got a first and a second. All in favor say aye, please. Aye. Any opposed? Passes unanimously.
Before we go on to our next resolution, I will make up for my oversight for the earlier two, which have
been adopted. But nonetheless, public comment is more than welcome. On either 2655, which was the partnership
agreement with BCT management and the authorization for lease of funds, or 2656.
which was for the office pride commercial cleaning services. So I'm just gonna invite anybody either
online or in person who would like to offer public comment, either of those is more than welcome. And
I do not see any takers on that. So again, apologies for my oversight, but I appreciate the patience
with compensating for that.
So our last resolution on new business is resolution 2658, which is the ratification of settlement and
litigation and lease termination agreements regarding Showers West. Would you like to speak to that?
Yes, I'll be speaking with that. There was a resolution by the RDC that would allow for 2642 that would allow for
Deborah Meyerson as RDC president or her designee, and Marjorie Rice or her designee to settle litigation
that was going on regarding two different tenants with Showers West. And so both those cases were settled.
The terms of the agreements are attached to the resolution.
Well, this is not necessary to be passed, this ratification, because it was under due authorization
for keeping things transparent and making sure that we have a complete record. We wanted to make sure
that it did come back before the full RDC so that you were all informed of the terms of the settlements.
couldn't be happy to answer any questions regarding them. But this did settle all claims between the
parties. And there were appeals filed with the city. The RDC filed appeals in both cases. The summary
judgments from the trial courts and both of those appeals have been dismissed.
And the stipulated releases were also filed in the trial court cases. So this buttons up all of the
litigation regarding Showers West. So this is a ratification, again, just to make sure that the full
RDC is totally informed of what occurred
And there is a record of that. Thank you. I'll put it up for questions or comments from commissioners.
I just want to quick thank Commissioner Cassidy for joining me to be part of the mediation process.
Dana, just to clarify everything, once this is passed, sorry, it's just a
ratification on it. If the case has been dismissed, or will they be dismissed? They've already been
dismissed. They've already been dismissed. We've already signed them. We've signed. It's just a ratification
accordingly. And at this point, the RDC, the city of Bloomington, no longer has an issue. We can do
what's necessary with the building. And we have no possibility of being in violation of our bond issue.
That is correct. The Bloomington Board of Realtors are going to remain in their space.
through June of next year, but they are not paying rent. So the RDC is not receiving any revenue. And
so that would have been the issue of receiving revenue. So they will be staying as they continue to
search for an appropriate location. And again, everything has been satisfied. Everything is over already.
This is just informed of purposes. And I always like to button things up with the ratification so that
you all can sign off that you know about it. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. Any other questions
or comments from commissioners? If not, I will open it for public comment. Seeing none, I will ask for
a motion for resolution 2658.
I'll make a motion to approve resolution 2658, ratification of settlement. Second. We've got a first
and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Passes unanimously. Thank you. And that brings
us to the conclusion of our meeting. We'll take a motion to adjourn. To move. Thank you.