- Well, let's call the meeting of the Utility Services Board for the City of Bloomington for January 29th,
- 2026 to order. And our mission at the City of Bloomington Utilities is to enhance the quality of life
- in our community by providing safe, sustainable, and high quality drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater
- services in a cost-effective manner, promoting public health,
- economic vitality and environmental stewardship. And our vision is to be the leading municipal water
- utility organization in Indiana. And just a reminder for board members, if you have any personal financial
- conflicts or any issues with individuals on the agenda, then please be sure to recuse yourself from
- voting during those portions of the meeting. Okay, our first item of business this evening is
- Any petitions and communications from the public or anyone else? Okay, next then is approval of minutes
- of the previous meeting, January 12th, 2026. It's been moved, do I hear a second? Any discussion? I
- just had a question why there was a,
- Page two of the minutes where the concrete ball was highlighted, was there something? That was the one
- thing I didn't know. Not sure, okay, all right. It looks right, it may have been a correction or something.
- Okay, perfect, no problem. Okay, then call for the question. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed?
- All right, the minutes are approved. Next is the approval of
- claims or payable invoices. And let's see. Does anyone have any questions about these invoices? We've
- got a couple of sets here. One's a pay date. One's dated 1229, the pay date of January 30th. And then
- the next set is pay date of
- like the 26th of January I hear a motion to approve the table invoices your second discussion all in
- favor say aye aye opposed they are approved standard invoices are next well that was
- It looks like we did that, didn't we? Or am I? Okay, then next is utility claims. Utilities claim list
- of January 22nd. Totaling, let's see. Well, there's several totals there. You see on your printout. 21,000.
- $321.93. Will you approve the utilities claims? You're second? Second. Any discussion? All in favor
- say aye. Aye. Okay, utility bills are approved. Next are wire transfers for February in the amount of
- $515,390.70.
- Do we accept the wire transfers? Second? Second. All right. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye.
- Aye. Wire transfers are approved. Next are accounts. Let's see. These are customer refunds for January
- 30th with a total of $3,489.30.
- We accept the customer refunds. I hear a second. Second. All right, moved and second. Any discussion
- on refunds? All right, all in favor say aye. Aye. All right, their refunds are approved. Next is,
- let's see, on the agenda, do we have?
- Do we have credit cards? There's a special check run. Well, let's see. Oh, the accounts payable,
- there it is. That's the special check run. Okay, special check run then, the date range, December 23rd
- through December 23rd.
- Catching up here, putting the amount of $3,166.31. Moved to accept the accounts payable. Second. Been
- moved and seconded. Any discussion? Okay, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? All right. Check run is
- approved. And next on the agenda is approval of the consent agenda. Good evening, I'm Matt Heavey, assistant
- director for finance.
- Please present the consent agenda to you this evening. It has one agreement totaling $0 for nonchemical
- contracts, which consists of the following item at LANDCO for $26.45 per gallon to supply the defoamer
- to our Dillman plant. Would any board member like to pull this item from the consent agenda and discuss
- it individually?
- Hear or none, if there is no objection that the consent agenda will be approved as presented.
- Hear or none, the consent agenda is approved. Thanks. Okay, the consent agenda is approved. So our next
- item up is the approval of amendment number one to Clark Dietz, Incorporated. And it looks like,
- you know, Phil,
- I think I saw that Caden Swanson has gone on to bigger and better things. That's what I get for reading
- Facebook, I guess, or LinkedIn someplace. So he's left us, huh? Yes, he departed his position just before
- Christmas. So we miss him already. I'll bet you do. Well, glad you're here tonight then.
- So, yeah, that's why I'm here. This Clark Needs contract, they're a consultant that's helped us with
- our stormwater reviews and some other stormwater design and elements of our stormwater program, but
- it initially started this contract when part of the scope is just to assist with plan review as design
- projects come in. And so, since Kayden is no longer there, we need some assistance with that.
- We've extended, the contract still had funding, so we've just extended that expiration date. So,
- you know, it might be several months from now that we come back to the board, but for the time being,
- this contract will help us out. So it's just an amendment that extends the expiration date to December
- 31st to 27th? Correct. Okay. All right. Any questions for Phil? I move we
- I approve the request for the First Amendment of Professional Engineering. All right. Second. It's been
- moved and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? All right. Motion carries then.
- Thank you. Thank you, Phil. Next is the approval of Amendment Number 2 to the STANTEC Consulting Services Agreement
- Matt Havy. So Stantec, again, is the people doing our rate design. The first change was due to some
- data issues a while back. And so they had to redo some work with better and more accurate data. So that
- was the first change. The second change is the discovery part of the process is coming in with a little
- more work than they expected. So they just wanted to throw some more money out there. They said they
- don't think it's going to be the whole extra 49, but they
- just wanted to cover themselves going forward. So that's the work for them to design our rate. So Matt,
- they charge on an hourly basis. All right. Any questions for Matt on this amendment? Okay. I move that
- we approve the second amendment to the agreement for consulting services with
- Stante Consulting Services, Inc. Second. Okay, it's moved and seconded. Any further discussion?
- All right, all in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? All right. That Stantec agreement is approved. Next
- is a request approval for on-call agreement, Bland's LLC and Jose is here, Jose Puentes is here to talk
- to us about that. Good afternoon. How are you doing today?
- Good. This is just for an on-call service with Bland LLC, the record service and towing service that
- we could possibly need in the future. Okay, you're not Jose though. He's back there. No, that's Jose.
- That's right. All right. That's Jose. I'm confused. That's Hector. Hector, yes. Pardon me. Well, sometimes
- we need pictures with the flowcharts, you know. Thank you.
- Hector, I appreciate that. So we understand then this extends the agreement with Bland's, right? It's
- a new on-call contract with them. Okay. And move we approve the request for an on-call service agreement
- with Bland's LLC. Second. Okay, then moved and seconded to approve this on-call agreement with Bland's.
- All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed. All right. That is approved. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Next
- item is the approval of the service agreement with Swift Compley U.S. OPCO incorporated. Kelsey is here.
- She just joined online. She's online. Okay.
- here is Kelsey. So this is for installation and service of database management software for our fats
- oil and greases program looks like.
- It's a $36,253 contract. We'll stand by her and see if we can get her technically connected.
- Okay. On cue, stage left. Thank you. I couldn't unmute, but thank you for, I just saw that you could
- unmute me now. Kelsey Latonia, assistant director for environmental. Sorry I'm late. So this contract
- with Swift comply is a software we've been using for many years for our pretreatment program. It's where
- we track all of our fog users,
- We've had great experience with it, and the users like it as well, so we'd like to renew with the company.
- So this would be for, let's see, 2026, 27, and 28? We've got pricing for three years. Three years. We
- get a better deal the more you plan out, so. OK. Any other questions for Kelsey?
- I request approval move for approval our agreement for services was with comply u.s. Opco Inc Moved
- and seconded any other discussion Okay, all in favor say aye aye opposed, okay, then motion carries
- Extend that contract. Okay. Next is request approval of
- of service agreement with Ratio Architects LLC. And you're back. I'm back. So this agreement is with
- Ratio Architects. This is a really interesting story that I'm excited to share with you. So Ratio is
- the original designer of Miller Showers Park 20 years ago. And they approached us wanting to do a study
- basically to demonstrate how Miller Showers is functioning 20 years later after it was built.
- They actually had a talk accepted at a national green space conference in Austin this year. So they're
- wanting permission to basically come on the site, do some sampling. We're kind of partnering with them
- on it. We'd like to fund the sampling part of it because we want the data as well. They're going to
- write up a presentation, present it, and this contract is basically just
- our formality here to be able to say that they can come onto our property, do this work that is not
- typical of someone coming onto the park's property to do, and we're going to provide them with funding
- for the sampling. So I'm excited for this and I'm happy to answer any questions. So Kelsey, if we get
- the the sampling done, what do you anticipate are being able to use it for in the future?
- So part of it is really just a presentation for the public to be aware of how it's functioning and the
- benefit of just the investment for that whole stormwater feature. It'll inform future design decisions
- as well. So if you want to do similar type technologies in other parts of the city, we can be able to
- say that it is this efficient or we are targeting such pollutants here. So it's really informing just
- how useful the structure is, I guess.
- And I think it's a unique opportunity because there aren't many installations like that that are 20
- years old. So a lot of green infrastructure is newer nowadays than the past 10 or so years, so. Yeah.
- So that facility up there really drains a significant part of the north side of town to that area. It
- drains about 300 acres, yeah.
- So I guess what we'd be able to determine is what kind of general storm drainage pollutants that in
- that 300 acres are being captured there because we just dredged it. We did, yes. And I'm glad that we
- did because now we can
- get the full understanding of how it's supposed to be functioning. It may not have been functioning
- as well before we did that maintenance. Yeah. So we would have some idea about the kinds of,
- we have kind of, this would be a good sampling about the kinds of general stormwater pollutants we have
- throughout the city. Yes. It's a standard sampling. We're going to do your basic, um, sediments, suspended
- solids, nutrients, um, E. Coli, um,
- as well as some additional sampling for oils in Greece. I think they're also partnering with the LAVA
- IU to do some free sampling. They're going to run on PFAS, which I don't know we're going to get for
- that. But we're trying to get a well-rounded selection of pollutants we're sampling for. So it'll tell
- a good story, I think. Well, we look forward to that. Great. All right. Any other discussion or questions?
- Yeah. Kelsey, the contract expires on March 31st. So do they anticipate having all the data collected
- in three months? Yes. So we're going to do over, we're going to get just a few different type of flow
- events. And that's really all we're trying to do. So it's going to be a snapshot. It's not going to
- be long-term sampling. But if you want to continue it, we might be able to do a summer internship or
- something where we can continue just collecting samples for professional analysis.
- Well, I'm sure the 15 inches of snow that we received will be. Don't remind me. It's a little hard to
- say. Yeah. If you need an extension, I'll be sure to let you know, but it should be wrapped up this
- spring. Plenty of salt and beet juice. Right? Yeah. And we'll have a probe to do connectivity measurements
- and things to capture the salt in the system.
- Okay, thank you. Ready? Can I move? We approve a services agreement with Arport Environmental LLC. Well,
- this one's ratio. I'm sorry, that's the next one. Yeah. Sorry, let me again move approval for the service
- agreement with Ratio Architects LLC. Second. All right, we've been moving to second. Any other discussion?
- All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay. So we have the service agreement approved with racial
- architects. Thank you. Okay. Next on our agenda is requesting approval and agreement with Arkwood
- Environmental LLC. Hi, good evening. My name is Isabel Quiroz. I am the hazardous materials coordinator.
- I'm presenting a contract for a bi-annual
- hazardous waste pick up at CBU locations with our environmental for 47,274 with 10 cents. Okay. So this
- is what kind of hazardous waste do we pick up? I know we have labs and that sort of thing, but yeah,
- we generate, um, hazardous wastes at the lab. And then, um, some of the chemicals that we have at the plant,
- Not all of them, but some of them do end up as hazardous waste. So in regular maintenance operations,
- sometimes they get generated. So it would be for those. Do you know where it goes once they pick it
- up? Well, yes. Yes, they have to tell us. That's why we have to be very specific with the type of contractor, because
- There's a cradle to grave chain of custody of this type of waste. So it depends on the profile of the
- waste. Then they select how it's going to be disposed of. Sometimes it can be incinerated. Sometimes
- it has to go to specific landfill. Most of times it goes, well, it depends on the contractor.
- But in the past, a lot of our waste ended up in Texas.
- but they let you know what the disposal is. Yes, absolutely. Any other discussion or questions?
- All right. I move approval of a services agreement with Harcourt Environmental LLC for the pickup of
- hazardous waste. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Any further discussion? All in favor say aye.
- Aye. Opposed? All right.
- It's been approved, thank you. Motion carries, all right. Now we're up to, where is Chris Wheeler? Things
- are running a little slower right now with the way the roads are. Should we try to do the other items too?
- Yeah, we can do that. See if that buys him a little bit of time. Is there any old business for the board?
- I just have a question. If there's any update on Jeff's replacement on the board, have we heard? I haven't
- heard anything. Haven't heard anything? OK. I know that's not something that we can, you know, that
- CPU controls, but I was just
- curious if there had been any movements on that because it's his was his position a council appointed
- or was it I don't remember if his was mayoral he was a council appointment oh there it is okay thank
- you yeah well we're waiting for them working through their process of selection huh yeah all right any
- new business
- Okay. Subcommittee reports. We haven't had those today. Staff reports. Anything for you, ma'am? Staff
- report today. Good. Hi, Chris. Perfect timing.
- We were just working through a few things. We're all right. Looks like you've got some amendments to
- section 24.2 of our rules and regulations. And we've been supplied with three different 24.2s.
- Yeah, one of them shows what its current reading would be. That's probably the first one, right? I would
- imagine it shows what it would look like if we made changes. So it's got language crossed out that we
- want to do away with and language that's underlined, which would be new. And then the third iteration
- would be what that proposed language is without those red lines in it. So I think that one's
- The first one is all with the proposals. The second one is the old version. And the third one shows
- is the markup of what they actually changed. I don't know what order you received. Yeah. That's with
- markup. So the first one we got was the way it will be. Correct. And then the third one is with the
- markups we have.
- the corrections. Yeah. So there's a state statute that discusses a process by which a municipality can
- extend service under an agreement that would allow for the parties to have the property received service
- and instead of being annexed in and be part of the city and pay its taxes according to the city's tax
- rates, et cetera, et cetera.
- it would make an annual payment to the city as though it's making a tax payment. So it's like an in
- lieu of, so that it's sort of acting like it's in the city, even though it's not in the city and receiving
- all the benefits of the city services. But it would receive, it would be an opportunity for the city
- to extend services and have them become part of the paying, the rate paying customer base.
- It's an effort to try and create some flexibility in a situation where we don't have any flexibility
- right now. That's what we're trying to do here. And so the first paragraph I noticed it what it used
- to say was have submitted a valid petition. Right. So the reason why I want to change that. Thank you
- for bringing that up there. That is another thing that's being edited is
- Having gone through a, we did go through a voluntary annexation and having gone through it and seeing
- the practice of how it works, the old language only suggested that a petition get put in, put to be
- filed. So I didn't want the utilities department to act merely on the petition being filed. I'd rather
- the utility act on the fact that annexation was successful. So now what we're reading is,
- with these proposed changes is that we will provide the service when you become annexed. So the Brightline
- rule is we provide service to properties that are in the city. If you voluntarily annex in, you're in
- the city. We'll provide service. Versus you simply file the petition, because you could withdraw your
- petition. This would be a fast one. That could create problems. I can't think that anybody would want
- to be that mischievous,
- I'd rather just not have that opportunity because people like to get misjudged. So that's what that's
- of things happen. That's what that edit is just to try to clean up the rule so that it's clear. We want
- properties that are annexed in so they're part of the city. But this other the other amendments to the
- section are that flexibility with that statute that allows us to do these types of services. It's basically
- we'll still want the waiver.
- Right? Because they're still outside of the city. We'd like for them to have a waiver so they wouldn't
- challenge annexation, but they are making a payment that sort of mimics what it would be to pay for
- the taxes as if they were part of the city. Right. So just for maybe folks watching at home, I'll read
- the new paragraph. Sure.
- The director may grant a request for extension of sanitary sewer service to parcels located outside
- of the city's municipal boundaries through agreement and council ratification under Indiana code 36-4-3-21.
- In instances where the development has been identified by the city of Bloomington Department of Economic
- Development,
- as a strategic economic development site that will contribute to job creation and wage growth. Yeah,
- so we're trying to keep this fairly narrow so that we're looking at large projects that have a substantial impact on
- the area. So we're not just looking at the city. We're looking at the county and its benefits through
- economic development. So we're not talking about standalone single housing, right? You may not even
- be talking about residential. We're talking more corporate development. So are there any examples that
- you could think of for? I can, I, I'm not, I can think of two for the, that the, the economic development
- department has designated.
- No, I don't know necessarily they've designated but I I do believe that this would assist the church
- That I don't know that it was if they if if the church were to petition To be annexed into the city
- if the church had property that was eligible to be annexed into the city and
- and could then voluntarily annex into the city, we would be able to provide service. Yes. And you have
- to have, there's a, there's a continuity issue with voluntary annexation properties located outside
- of the city must share at least one eighth of its entire property boundary with a city boundary. So
- unless you're already,
- If you're not on an island, yeah. If you're way outside city limits and you're not sharing any similar
- boundaries, you're not going to be eligible for annexation. You can build a bridge. If you could get
- other properties between you and the city to agree and you all join up and it makes contiguity work,
- you could build a bridge and get to you eventually, but you'd need other people's assistance. That makes
- sense. I think the other one we heard was the gas station.
- So again, that would be the similar situation. We're talking about much bigger projects. I think if
- economic development's getting involved and there's a substantial impact on job and economic well-being
- of the county, of the city, of the area, then if economic development's involved in saying that's an
- economic development site or whatever the wording is, I'm sorry. Yeah, it says, identified by the city
- of Bloomington, Department of Economic Development was a strategic economic development site.
- you know if like you know I'm not saying this is happening because it's not I'm just dreaming something
- up but let's say that Amazon decided they want to put a distribution center here in Monroe County but
- they want to put it on a piece of property that's not even close to city boundary so they wouldn't be
- able to annex in if economic develop sustainability and development decided that this was an act was
- a significant impact we could use that statute to enter into a contract with them that they would pay
- to the city as though they're an annexed property. And we would then be able to do an extension out
- to provide service. I guess the question is, I don't know the definition that the economic development
- department uses as a strategic economic development site. You have to know. There isn't a definition.
- It would just take a lot of factors to try and determine whether or not it's going to provide significant jobs and
- increase overall payroll or whatever, right? If they make those determinations, then we have the opportunity
- to decide whether we would want to extend service based upon that designation. So basically what we're
- saying here then is if the director of the Economic Development Department decides that it's a strategic
- site, then we would be inclined to agree to extend service. We would still have to look at whether we've
- got capacity. Yeah.
- We still have those considerations. We have engineering considerations as to whether it would even be
- feasible to run a line out to this property. And then we'd have to have a sewer main extension agreement
- put into place in addition to this other agreement that talks about paying in lieu of taxes. So there's
- quite a bit that would have to happen. This is really a good tool, though. It provides some flexibility.
- that we don't currently have. At least in my opinion, it's, it's a great tool. So question though about
- this. So I don't, I don't know if this is comparing the same thing or not, but are we not under a restriction
- of approving these additional
- extensions that are outside of annexation because of the lawsuit? We are not, we've consulted with outside
- council and this is exactly what outside council recommended. We do as a flexible tool. So in other
- words, outside council is the attorney that's representing us in those lawsuits. So the answer to your
- question is no, I just want to go on record to make sure that this is what's happening. And if I'm,
- if I'm wrong, tell me, I mean, it's okay.
- The city is willing to make an exception for a new business or a new development that's going to bring
- in. Yeah. Like a hospital, economic stability and growth and we can do a jail. We can, we can approve
- it. We can do this as long as it's new.
- and as long as it's new and they are going through the process, they've received the approval on the
- annexation, the waiver. Yeah, that's a good point. You see where I'm going with this? But the city will
- not allow us
- to extend the sewer service to existing businesses. Yeah, I don't think that's what we're thinking about
- here who have requested. I didn't parse that out. That's a good point. I just I'm talking about existing,
- but I think we're talking new opportunities. Correct. Right. So again, I'm just saying for the record,
- the city is going to allow is going to allow looking at new opportunities for new business. Correct.
- But that's the intent here. That is the intent. But on the flip side,
- we are still at a place where our hands are tied to assist any existing businesses. We have, we have
- made a policy decision that we're not going to extend to existing businesses to properties outside the
- city that are not considered by the ESD. I just want to get that on, on record. That's that's accurate.
- Okay. Thank you. Yes.
- Does this apply to any other city services? No thinking about it does not weak. Yeah, it's just talking
- about came We're just talking about cloud. We are just talking about sewer service Yeah The city is
- not thinking about other services I Don't believe so. I certainly have not been asked to contemplate
- that I'm this is this is simply to allow us to
- to have flexibility to extend sewer service. Sanitary sewer only. Yeah, it doesn't list anything else.
- What's interesting, Chris, is the intent is new development, but this language doesn't limit it to new
- development. It doesn't, but our purpose would be for new development. So our policy would be, as we
- breathe life into this, is that we're looking at new business, new economic opportunities. Yeah. Okay.
- If you wish for me to tweak the language and bring it back to you in two weeks that shows that it's
- specifically designating new, I'm happy to do that as it's before you right now. Or you could say that
- you're happy to adopt this if it makes it clear in the language that it is for new economic development
- opportunities. I can change the language to reflect that right now. So I'm happy to do that as well.
- I wasn't asking for that.
- I think this language is spot on where we have talked about the kinds of things we need to be able to
- do. And I'm sorry I was late, but it takes longer to get from one side of town to the other when everybody's
- driving at a snail's pace with snow on the ground. And again, just for the record, I support this because
- again, it's important for us for our economic development.
- My point is just, we're still, and I will use the word punishing businesses, existing ones,
- that. Punishment's a hard word. I know, that's a really hard word. That's probably not the right word.
- The reality is that most municipalities in the state
- I feel comfortable saying that most municipalities are shifting to a policy of not providing service
- outside of the city limits, period. Okay. Because of the way annexation is being treated by the state.
- So it's not a punishment, it's a reaction to the state's
- treatment of annexation. It's a way to preserve the city's services without. That probably wasn't the
- right word, but you know, I definitely wasn't the right word, but you know what I mean? I just want
- to try to punish anybody. Yeah. It's just, it's just the reality of the, of the situation. I don't know
- that it's punishment. It just, to me, it just, it's not punishment. It seems to me a, um, Oh,
- I don't know. It just seems to me that sometimes we,
- We aren't able to do what we think is right in those particular situations, or may not be right according
- to the law, but just kind of make logical sense. And I can get off that topic. I'm good. I'm good. Any
- other questions for Chris? Your motion? Second.
- Any other discussion? Good. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Thank you. It approves. It is approved.
- Thank you, Chris. Thank you. That's a good move. It's something. It's progress, right? I hope. Okay.
- Let's see. Staff reports. Not tonight. All right.
- petitions and communications, anything else at the end of our meeting? Matt, if I'm not mistaken, or
- maybe someone can help us here, I think our utilities crews have been assisting with snow removal,
- particularly downtown, using our front loaders and dump trucks and our people and everything else to
- help the public works department in this unusual situation. Am I tracking right? I believe that is the
- case, yes.
- I thought I saw yellow trucks downtown. So I just want to say that is a great move. It's the kind of
- things we need to be doing to work together. It shows we've got great teamwork between departments,
- and that's spot on for us. So please send our thanks to those crews and to the leadership that made
- the decisions to help all everybody work together. So thank you there.
- All right, then I think we can stand adjourned. See you in about 15 hours.