WEBVTT 00:00:07.394 --> 00:00:14.029 - Hello and welcome to Cats Week. I'm Annalise Poorman. The Bloomington Redevelopment Commission met on 00:00:14.029 --> 00:00:21.119 - September 2nd. City Engineering Director Roy Ayton asked for funding to pay a disposal fee for lead-impacted 00:00:21.119 --> 00:00:28.080 - soil taken from the future site of the Bee Line Multi-Use Trail. Ayton explained that parts of the project 00:00:28.080 --> 00:00:34.910 - were already approved by the Redevelopment Commission. However, they had not anticipated a disposal fee. 00:00:35.042 --> 00:00:43.059 - We have already approved to the RDC the resolution to have them do the actual contracting work of picking 00:00:43.059 --> 00:00:51.076 - it up. What we did not have though was, because we did not know the quantities of soil until now, there's 00:00:51.076 --> 00:00:57.278 - a disposal fee that is from waste management to take the soil up at twin bridges. 00:00:57.474 --> 00:01:05.472 - They have invoiced us now. We've added that to our agreement with Caramida. So this addendum number 00:01:05.472 --> 00:01:13.631 - two to their resolution is in the amount of $11,666 and is the disposal fees from Twin Bridges. Board 00:01:13.631 --> 00:01:16.030 - members approved the request. 00:01:16.738 --> 00:01:23.199 - Later in the meeting, City Attorney Dana Kerr introduced a request to allow Weddle Brothers Construction 00:01:23.199 --> 00:01:29.537 - to temporarily store materials in the Convention Center parking lot, which is co-owned by the City and 00:01:29.537 --> 00:01:36.059 - the Redevelopment Commission. The storage would be for the duration of construction of the new Convention 00:01:36.059 --> 00:01:42.212 - Center expansion. Board member Randy Cassidy inquired about how the change might affect parking for 00:01:42.212 --> 00:01:46.704 - the Convention Center. Kerr responded that they had not negotiated those 00:01:46.704 --> 00:01:55.568 - terms. How's that going to affect parking? You mean current parking for the current park convention 00:01:55.568 --> 00:02:04.521 - center? Yeah, current parking. Yeah, I was going to ask that same question. That's my concern as far 00:02:04.521 --> 00:02:08.510 - as we're... I didn't negotiate that, do you? 00:02:09.666 --> 00:02:17.166 - Board Vice President Sue Scambaluri asked if the Convention Center was aware of the request. Board Director 00:02:17.166 --> 00:02:24.389 - Anna Killian Hanson then asked for more information about the deal. I wasn't even consulted about this. 00:02:24.389 --> 00:02:26.750 - I don't know anything about this. 00:02:27.042 --> 00:02:34.938 - Sounds like we have some additional questions before. Yeah, who negotiated this to begin with? Corporation 00:02:34.938 --> 00:02:42.464 - Council member Margie Rice explained that the Convention Center is aware of the request and that they 00:02:42.464 --> 00:02:49.843 - are in support of it. I did hear Dana just say that the Convention Center is aware of this. They're 00:02:49.843 --> 00:02:51.614 - super excited about the 00:02:51.970 --> 00:02:58.137 - convention center construction. They've been communicating on a regular basis with the CIB and their 00:02:58.137 --> 00:03:04.548 - representatives. And they brought this to our attention to bring to you guys through your consideration. 00:03:04.548 --> 00:03:10.899 - And so that's what we're doing tonight, granted to your consideration. There's been no concerns at all. 00:03:10.899 --> 00:03:17.310 - Talisha was on the original email when Little Brother said, hey, we're gonna need some area for staging. 00:03:18.018 --> 00:03:25.276 - And so they ask what area was available. And so Dana put this together for your guys' consideration. 00:03:25.276 --> 00:03:32.750 - But for sure, the convention center is aware of this request. And I think they're on board because they 00:03:32.750 --> 00:03:40.080 - want to do whatever they can to facilitate the construction of the convention center. Rice went on to 00:03:40.080 --> 00:03:45.182 - further explain the process of approval in an effort to clear the air. 00:03:45.474 --> 00:03:53.278 - As you can imagine, a lot of things that come to you guys have gone through a lot of different conversations 00:03:53.278 --> 00:04:00.438 - with staff before it lands in a public meeting. And so this is just an example of that. I think the 00:04:00.438 --> 00:04:07.597 - different boxes have been checked before it came to you guys for consideration. Secretary John West 00:04:07.597 --> 00:04:13.182 - explained that the issue could have been clarified better to avoid confusion. 00:04:13.538 --> 00:04:21.115 - Well, I think that this probably would have gone smoother if the resolution had maybe indicated that 00:04:21.115 --> 00:04:28.617 - the convention center operators were involved in this and approved it because the way we got it, it 00:04:28.617 --> 00:04:36.344 - was kind of a dead end topic. And as Randy said, it looked to me like we were just taking away parking 00:04:36.344 --> 00:04:42.046 - spaces that the convention center might likely need. So that was the issue. 00:04:42.626 --> 00:04:51.058 - The board ultimately voted on the matter and the request was passed unanimously. Next, Redevelopment 00:04:51.058 --> 00:04:59.824 - Commission member John West introduced a proposed agreement regarding Merrill Lynch's lease termination. 00:04:59.824 --> 00:05:08.339 - Okay, so we negotiated with Merrill Lynch their termination of their lease at Showers West. What they 00:05:08.339 --> 00:05:09.758 - requested was to 00:05:09.954 --> 00:05:18.883 - be able to stay until March 31, and they'd like to not have to remove their equipment and furniture. 00:05:18.883 --> 00:05:27.988 - They want to just walk away. And in return for that, the city would not need to reimburse them for any 00:05:27.988 --> 00:05:36.916 - moving expenses or anything under the lease agreement. So we considered it a win-win because the RDC 00:05:36.916 --> 00:05:39.038 - is not paying anything. 00:05:39.170 --> 00:05:49.227 - And they will be out. And we still got some tenants that we're working with. And so we feel that this 00:05:49.227 --> 00:05:59.186 - is a good way to go. And if others wanted to do the same thing, stay till March 31st. And we already 00:05:59.186 --> 00:06:08.158 - see not have to pay any moving expenses. Then they could step forward and do that as well. 00:06:08.578 --> 00:06:17.823 - Margie Rice stepped in to share her personal experience with Meryl Lynch and add her opinion on the 00:06:17.823 --> 00:06:27.161 - matter. Yeah, and I can jump in here. Meryl Lynch reached out to CBRE, which is a company that works 00:06:27.161 --> 00:06:37.054 - in multiple states. I've been working with one of their transactions personnel at Cleveland, and he's been 00:06:37.186 --> 00:06:44.776 - He's been interacting with Merrill Lynch in New York. And so the local team, I had originally reached 00:06:44.776 --> 00:06:51.548 - out to the local team, Eric Sewer and met with him, and then was quickly directed to these 00:06:51.548 --> 00:06:59.361 - other professionals to work with. And I think this is a great deal for the city of Bloomington. Frankly, 00:06:59.361 --> 00:07:06.654 - it's probably the nicest office space in Showers West. They had not long ago updated that office. 00:07:07.170 --> 00:07:14.928 - And so the fact that they want to leave their furniture And then I don't know exactly if they're going 00:07:14.928 --> 00:07:22.610 - to take any of the furniture with them But what they don't want the leave and their fixtures will not 00:07:22.610 --> 00:07:30.744 - be a problem for us To the city's advantage to walk away and they've been very professional they understand 00:07:30.744 --> 00:07:36.318 - the terms of the lease I think from a kind of more global perspective and 00:07:36.834 --> 00:07:43.759 - They have been very good to work with, and I would highly recommend that we take this offer. 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:51.801 - The Redevelopment Commission approved the motion. John West then went on to introduce a similar proposition 00:07:51.801 --> 00:07:59.769 - in regard to the termination of the Bloomington Health Foundation's lease at Showers West. This resolution 00:07:59.769 --> 00:08:05.726 - is similar to the Merrill Lynch, but this is the Bloomington Health Foundation. 00:08:05.986 --> 00:08:17.464 - And the key terms that were negotiated with them was that the RDC would waive the lease payments for 00:08:17.464 --> 00:08:29.283 - August, September, and up to October 15, that they would leave the property by October 15 of this year. 00:08:29.283 --> 00:08:33.374 - And for their moving expenses, they 00:08:33.538 --> 00:08:44.885 - would they are asking for the sum of $19,542.50. Again, with the other potentials, Margie had mentioned 00:08:44.885 --> 00:08:56.124 - with litigation and things like that. The fact that they're going to be out earlier and be able to get 00:08:56.124 --> 00:09:01.470 - moved to a new location, I believe this would be 00:09:01.634 --> 00:09:08.647 - benefit to the RDC and the community. The motion on the Health Foundation passed unanimously. The next 00:09:08.647 --> 00:09:14.366 - meeting of the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission will be held on September 15th. 00:09:15.490 --> 00:09:21.991 - The Monroe County Commissioners met on September 4th and approved the schematic design for the Monroe 00:09:21.991 --> 00:09:28.556 - County Justice Center. DLZ project manager Scott Carnegie explained the process, saying the schematics 00:09:28.556 --> 00:09:35.312 - must be approved before moving on to the design development phase. Commissioner Jody Madeira says despite 00:09:35.312 --> 00:09:39.774 - roadblocks put in place by the state, the project should keep moving. 00:09:40.322 --> 00:09:46.060 - we know that it's important to move ahead and we know that there is a legislature that's looking at 00:09:46.060 --> 00:09:51.797 - us to move ahead. And so we need to send a very clear message that we are moving ahead. And I think 00:09:51.797 --> 00:09:57.707 - this is the clearest way to send this message. So. Commissioner Julie Thomas asked about the timeframe 00:09:57.707 --> 00:10:03.731 - for the project. Carnegie said that they have a tentative plan in place if the schematics and additional 00:10:03.731 --> 00:10:09.182 - approvals move forward in a timely manner. And then if we receive design development approval, 00:10:09.506 --> 00:10:19.250 - Then we have construction document presentation to the county and for approval on June 23rd, 2026. Receive 00:10:19.250 --> 00:10:29.086 - bids August 2026. Begin construction in October 2026 with construction substantially complete in June 2029. 00:10:29.794 --> 00:10:36.607 - The commissioners approved the schematic design, allowing DLZ to continue onto the next step in the 00:10:36.607 --> 00:10:43.420 - design process. Also during the meeting, Rural Transit Director Chris Myers reported that ridership 00:10:43.420 --> 00:10:49.892 - rates have remained similar to last year. He also explained that the program recently replaced 00:10:49.892 --> 00:10:57.182 - two 16-passenger vans. Going into next year, Myers said the insurance for the vehicles will be increasing. 00:10:57.698 --> 00:11:06.065 - Public transit is one of those high-risk areas just by the nature of being on the road the way we are, 00:11:06.065 --> 00:11:11.102 - unfortunately. We're at the whims of insurance and I hate it. 00:11:11.586 --> 00:11:19.325 - Also during the meeting, the commissioners ratified the renewal for the High Tech Crimes Unit Memorandum 00:11:19.325 --> 00:11:27.063 - of Agreement, totaling $285,000 annually for the next two years. The agreement covers the administration 00:11:27.063 --> 00:11:34.728 - and maintenance of the unit. The High Tech Crimes Unit serves multiple surrounding counties in addition 00:11:34.728 --> 00:11:38.782 - to Monroe, including Owen, Marion, Morgan, and Orange. 00:11:39.522 --> 00:11:45.780 - Um, so our high tech crimes unit is a hidden gem. Literally it is hidden back there, uh, in Ellisville 00:11:45.780 --> 00:11:52.038 - and it is something that we should all be very, very proud of. It enables us to do a lot of good work, 00:11:52.038 --> 00:11:58.236 - um, for a lot of counties. And, um, I'm personally very, very proud of it and honored that we have it 00:11:58.236 --> 00:12:04.190 - within our borders. The next Monroe County commissioner's meeting will be held on September 11th. 00:12:05.218 --> 00:12:11.555 - At the Bloomington City Council meeting on September 3rd, council members heard a resolution that would 00:12:11.555 --> 00:12:17.343 - designate the city as a certified Bee City. Chair of the Bloomington Environmental Commission, 00:12:17.343 --> 00:12:19.902 - Kerry Albright, presented the resolution. 00:12:20.322 --> 00:12:26.948 - I appreciate getting a moment just to talk a little bit about the Bee City USA program just so you understand 00:12:26.948 --> 00:12:33.092 - I'm happy to take your questions if you have them after but basically we are hoping for your approval 00:12:33.092 --> 00:12:37.790 - of a resolution that we would then submit to be a certified Bee City so as is 00:12:38.114 --> 00:12:44.390 - Common knowledge at this point, climate change and human practices are endangering pollinators. 00:12:44.390 --> 00:12:50.927 - Right now, I believe 35% of native bee species, for example, are at risk. And what we would like to 00:12:50.927 --> 00:12:57.725 - do is participate in a program that shows that Bloomington is taking steps and has taken a lot of steps 00:12:57.725 --> 00:12:59.294 - to protect pollinators. 00:13:00.194 --> 00:13:05.926 - So there are different reasons why pollinators are struggling, and a lot of those things are elements 00:13:05.926 --> 00:13:11.771 - that we can do something to address. Some examples are habitat loss and degradation, use of pesticides, 00:13:11.771 --> 00:13:17.785 - certainly diseases and pathogens, and a larger scope of the climate crisis impacting pollinators. Albright 00:13:17.785 --> 00:13:23.573 - went on to describe the rationale behind why the Environmental Commission believes that it's important 00:13:23.573 --> 00:13:26.046 - to cultivate a pollinator-friendly habitat. 00:13:26.210 --> 00:13:32.008 - And I'll just go ahead and read these are that it helps ensure the survival of vital species crucial 00:13:32.008 --> 00:13:36.830 - to our planet's functioning ecosystems the certification through Bee City USA which 00:13:36.962 --> 00:13:42.690 - Basically provides a framework for how municipalities can implement pollinator habitat improvement programs 00:13:42.690 --> 00:13:47.994 - It recognizes and it celebrates our city's ongoing work on cultivating pollinator friendly habitats 00:13:47.994 --> 00:13:53.350 - and removing invasive species And it joins Bloomington's other existing certifications. We're a bird 00:13:53.350 --> 00:13:58.972 - town. We're a tree city I believe we're a gold level bike friendly city So there's a lot that Bloomington 00:13:58.972 --> 00:14:04.276 - has to feel proud of and we'd love to incorporate this certification as well as well as some of the 00:14:04.276 --> 00:14:06.928 - different partnerships that we've participated in 00:14:06.928 --> 00:14:13.710 - project wingspan MC Iris Obviously the work that we've done the habitat connectivity map and then recently 00:14:13.710 --> 00:14:20.174 - IU was certified as a B campus So we worked with them as well on getting steps forward in the earlier 00:14:20.174 --> 00:14:26.576 - months of the year So we would be one of the first cities in Indiana. That would be the city We were 00:14:26.576 --> 00:14:31.646 - beaten out by Columbus and Avon, but we'd be very proud to be the third one and 00:14:32.034 --> 00:14:39.669 - City Council member Isak Asari said that he is supportive of the resolution, but he wondered how much 00:14:39.669 --> 00:14:47.754 - of the Bee City certification is symbolic and how the city could actually ensure success of the initiative. 00:14:47.754 --> 00:14:51.646 - Thank you so much and I'm super supportive of this. 00:14:52.706 --> 00:15:00.326 - amuse me with my line of questioning. Trying to understand a little bit between the balance between 00:15:00.326 --> 00:15:07.946 - what we're doing that's symbolic and what we're doing that would actually have specific outcomes to 00:15:07.946 --> 00:15:15.871 - our practices. Specifically within the packet, we outline annual requirements such as hosting an event, 00:15:15.871 --> 00:15:18.462 - submitting reports to Xerces, but 00:15:18.658 --> 00:15:25.358 - We haven't talked about like local evaluation. And so like beyond the required report, how will we measure 00:15:25.358 --> 00:15:31.933 - success in Bloomington? Like what do we want to see happen here? Urban green space manager for the city, 00:15:31.933 --> 00:15:38.320 - Joanna Sparks responded that the city is already following some of the guidelines outlined by the Bee 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:44.582 - City certification. Albright agreed and said that the certification would give the city recognition 00:15:44.582 --> 00:15:46.398 - for work it's already doing. 00:15:46.658 --> 00:15:53.896 - and I will say for I answer your question that we're already doing lots of the things and it's It's 00:15:53.896 --> 00:16:01.568 - really exciting to have potential to be acknowledged and to have sort of an a license if this is approved 00:16:01.568 --> 00:16:09.239 - to Collaborate more deeply with the community on what we're doing because that's where our biggest impact 00:16:09.239 --> 00:16:15.102 - will be For the community as if we can can broaden our outreach aspect and as an 00:16:15.362 --> 00:16:16.990 - As an additional note, 00:16:17.346 --> 00:16:22.408 - Obviously, we will be following up on this with the EC's annual report. So it may be that there are 00:16:22.408 --> 00:16:27.622 - things that trickle through through collaborative events that we host or different outreach activities 00:16:27.622 --> 00:16:32.683 - that we participate in, but that would be something that informally we would be sharing. But as far 00:16:32.683 --> 00:16:37.998 - as an official report or evaluation of if it's worth it or if we're finding value just as a local group, 00:16:37.998 --> 00:16:43.161 - I think that as Joanna said, we have a lot of initiatives that are already in place at this point. So 00:16:43.161 --> 00:16:47.312 - it really is just kind of being able to be recognized for something that the city 00:16:47.312 --> 00:16:52.013 - already invested so much time and interest in. And I think that really clarifies it, like the work that 00:16:52.013 --> 00:16:56.668 - we're already doing, do you feel like there's going to be additional work with the certification, like 00:16:56.668 --> 00:17:01.460 - outside of some of the required, you know, alignment with some things that Xerces is doing? But it sounds 00:17:01.460 --> 00:17:05.980 - like, yeah, I mean, maybe not, let me not answer the question for you, but is there additional work 00:17:05.980 --> 00:17:06.974 - associated with this? 00:17:07.842 --> 00:17:14.408 - Certainly a little bit there and we will form a committee of composed of different members from the 00:17:14.408 --> 00:17:21.237 - throughout the community We already have commitments from be campus and I you be campus some the Monroe 00:17:21.237 --> 00:17:24.126 - County identify and reduce invasive species 00:17:24.290 --> 00:17:31.267 - sycamore land trust and of course the environmental Commission Carrie and Matt are gonna gonna help 00:17:31.267 --> 00:17:38.384 - us I'm get the I'm sorry Carrie Carrie and Shane and will actually yeah be be actually helping us get 00:17:38.384 --> 00:17:45.571 - our committee started and we We have requests out to to several other organizations just to help build 00:17:45.571 --> 00:17:53.246 - bridges and expand the work that all of us are doing individually and into a more of a collective effort, but 00:17:53.762 --> 00:18:00.966 - As the committee liaison for the city, I will be responsible for submitting an annual report where we 00:18:00.966 --> 00:18:08.523 - will, the Parks Department loves data and we love metrics and we love reports. So we will have information 00:18:08.523 --> 00:18:15.585 - to share for sure. Thank you so much. The resolution was approved unanimously. The Bloomington City 00:18:15.585 --> 00:18:18.622 - Council will meet again on September 10th. 00:18:19.682 --> 00:18:25.903 - Monroe County Election Board met on September 4th. ADA coordinator with the City of Bloomington Michael 00:18:25.903 --> 00:18:31.944 - Shermas gave a presentation on accessible polling sites. So many people around the county would know 00:18:31.944 --> 00:18:37.925 - me as directing the Bloomington Monroe County Human Rights Commission, but the other half of my job 00:18:37.925 --> 00:18:43.966 - is to be the liaison to the Council for Community Accessibility and the ADA coordinator at the city. 00:18:44.098 --> 00:18:52.039 - and we train volunteer surveyors on how to do accessibility surveys of businesses, generally restaurants 00:18:52.039 --> 00:18:59.678 - and retail kind of locations. But we have been asked in the past to do things like the Monroe County 00:18:59.678 --> 00:19:07.393 - Community School Corporation and the county itself asked us to do several of their facilities as well 00:19:07.393 --> 00:19:10.494 - as to work with the election board about 00:19:10.690 --> 00:19:18.163 - years ago or so to do all of the polling sites and we greatly enjoyed that. It increased the interest 00:19:18.163 --> 00:19:25.489 - of our volunteer surveyors getting to do something that was really about civic engagement and so we 00:19:25.489 --> 00:19:28.126 - appreciated that opportunity and we 00:19:28.354 --> 00:19:35.025 - worked out several things to help us make the polling sites more accessible and feel good about that 00:19:35.025 --> 00:19:41.697 - contribution. Shermas went on to make election board members aware of a new software that would make 00:19:41.697 --> 00:19:48.566 - polling more accessible. Since that time in the last year, we have purchased a software to help us with 00:19:48.566 --> 00:19:55.237 - that. And I'd like to say the difference is almost night and day because the surveys that we've done 00:19:55.237 --> 00:19:56.030 - in the past 00:19:56.482 --> 00:20:04.828 - I would have to say it lacked professional look to it and didn't really show it well in terms of what 00:20:04.828 --> 00:20:13.093 - we know and what we can do. This software, which is called Blue Dag, is a software that allows us to 00:20:13.093 --> 00:20:21.275 - do this on an iPad or a tablet or a smartphone, and a volunteer surveyor can be quickly trained. We 00:20:21.275 --> 00:20:26.430 - could train them within one hour, and then they can go out and 00:20:26.626 --> 00:20:34.140 - sites fairly easily. We've been working with it for a year and have learned how to customize it to the 00:20:34.140 --> 00:20:36.766 - purposes that we are interested in. 00:20:36.898 --> 00:20:44.446 - which is, yes, ADA compliance, but it's more about a functional accessibility. So how can people who 00:20:44.446 --> 00:20:52.068 - are blind and people who use wheelchairs get into places that they need to get into? And what kind of 00:20:52.068 --> 00:20:59.840 - barriers might they run into if they're not been addressed? So this software is fantastic at being able 00:20:59.840 --> 00:21:06.864 - to do that. You don't show anything that's fine. You don't worry about that. What you say is, 00:21:06.864 --> 00:21:14.330 - see if you see a barrier as you take a photo of the barrier. So say something is like paper towels are 00:21:14.330 --> 00:21:21.578 - 54 inches high. You'll put them tape measure and you'll take a photo of it showing that this is too 00:21:21.578 --> 00:21:25.854 - high. And then when you compile a report, it comes up with 00:21:26.114 --> 00:21:33.163 - This is exactly why it's too high. You can see the photo and here's the diagram of what it's supposed 00:21:33.163 --> 00:21:40.557 - to be. So it offers the ADA rule and a diagram and an explanation of what it is. Included are like Indiana 00:21:40.557 --> 00:21:47.468 - building codes and whatever other kind of regulations and laws are relevant to this. He suggested a 00:21:47.468 --> 00:21:53.342 - similar software for the county to use for polling sites. Now the difference between 00:21:53.634 --> 00:22:03.529 - The software that we have and the software that I would suggest that the county might consider purchasing 00:22:03.529 --> 00:22:13.144 - is that that software is more customized for voting centers slash polling sites and takes into account 00:22:13.144 --> 00:22:17.438 - HAVA as well. It will also offer mitigations. 00:22:17.570 --> 00:22:24.561 - People frequently like, what does that mean exactly? My quick response would be something like, so let's 00:22:24.561 --> 00:22:31.552 - say that a bathroom has the soap dispenser that is too high. It's too many inches. It's above 44 inches, 00:22:31.552 --> 00:22:38.210 - so it's too high. A mitigation for that, there can be several possibilities. One is just to place a 00:22:38.210 --> 00:22:41.406 - soap squeezy thing that's there on the counter. 00:22:41.666 --> 00:22:47.994 - That's a mitigation. There are several other mitigations involving parking, path of travel, bathrooms, 00:22:47.994 --> 00:22:54.199 - the common areas where people might be signage. There are things that they can offer and say, here's 00:22:54.199 --> 00:22:57.086 - the suggestions if you can't fix this barrier. 00:22:57.218 --> 00:23:03.666 - And the idea is that we potentially do these surveys in the next couple months, and then you can prepare 00:23:03.666 --> 00:23:09.990 - all of those locations by the time that they would need to be addressed for the next election. Shermas 00:23:09.990 --> 00:23:16.192 - then said that the software Blue Dag could give the county a discount for services of around $12,000 00:23:16.192 --> 00:23:22.579 - per year. He recommended that the county election board implement the software. Republican board member 00:23:22.579 --> 00:23:27.184 - Danny Shields asked about the length of the contract and how long it would 00:23:27.184 --> 00:23:34.602 - be needed, Shermus responded. So is it required that this would be a long-term deal if we sign with 00:23:34.602 --> 00:23:42.020 - them? One year. Okay. And so then you... Because it's, you know, like, once you get it fixed, if we 00:23:42.020 --> 00:23:49.957 - don't change polling places, it wouldn't need to be fixed again. I would hesitate to say that just because 00:23:49.957 --> 00:23:54.334 - people frequently remodel, change things up, and remember, 00:23:54.594 --> 00:24:02.142 - I'm assuming, and you can correct me if I'm wrong in this assumption, that when you set up a site, you're 00:24:02.142 --> 00:24:09.761 - customizing that site. You're putting up cones, you're doing different things, and some things can change. 00:24:09.761 --> 00:24:16.953 - So I would say it would probably be smart to do it every couple of years to make sure that it stayed 00:24:16.953 --> 00:24:20.798 - accessible. But once would be better than not at all. 00:24:21.122 --> 00:24:27.442 - Election Supervisor Kylie Morland said she thinks the county could use the software once every four 00:24:27.442 --> 00:24:31.550 - years to ensure that they remain ADA compliant at polling sites. 00:24:32.258 --> 00:24:38.286 - I would say even doing it once every four years like in the non-election years when we're able to have 00:24:38.286 --> 00:24:44.373 - time to look at the polling locations the election board see if they're planning on using the same ones 00:24:44.373 --> 00:24:50.343 - and then the ones that we're not using update those with the ADA compliance with the software. I also 00:24:50.343 --> 00:24:56.371 - want to say thank you for giving us the survey on the parking lot at North Showers. That's where early 00:24:56.371 --> 00:25:02.224 - voting will be next year so seeing that and seeing the things that need to be updated beforehand is 00:25:02.224 --> 00:25:08.549 - This is great. Thank you. We need showers worked on before what? It would be, how soon, early voting? 00:25:08.549 --> 00:25:14.999 - Early voting will begin in April. Okay, January. Yeah. Okay, that's why we thought, oh, we'll give them 00:25:14.999 --> 00:25:21.696 - this so they know right off where they need to start. And this, the survey would be even more comprehensive 00:25:21.696 --> 00:25:27.898 - than this, but this is a start for you to be able to see quickly what kind of problems that need to 00:25:27.898 --> 00:25:28.766 - be addressed. 00:25:29.474 --> 00:25:36.321 - Democratic board member Penny Githens expressed concern about accessibility at the North Showers building. 00:25:36.321 --> 00:25:42.976 - Sherma said that he has received complaints about the parking lot in the past. Shields then asked about 00:25:42.976 --> 00:25:49.567 - ownership of the parking lot. North Showers is used for a lot of other things besides early voting and 00:25:49.567 --> 00:25:53.214 - I would think that the county would want that to be ADA. 00:25:53.378 --> 00:25:58.994 - Absolutely. I've had other complaints about that parking lot. Because I'm the ADA coordinator at the 00:25:58.994 --> 00:26:04.555 - city, everybody thinks that my powers extend far beyond that, and so I get complaints all the time. 00:26:04.555 --> 00:26:10.116 - And I've had complaints about that parking lot before, and it's never been kind of clear, like, why 00:26:10.116 --> 00:26:15.454 - it's not being addressed. But there are many issues with that parking lot. So who owns showers? 00:26:15.970 --> 00:26:21.626 - Well, the county has responsibility for that parking lot. I did talk to the building department and 00:26:21.626 --> 00:26:27.394 - our public works person. It was the city. Okay, city, you're on it. No, it's the county in this case. 00:26:27.394 --> 00:26:33.106 - Yeah. But I think there were plans, too, for repaving that particular parking lot, but I'm not sure. 00:26:33.106 --> 00:26:38.875 - Yeah, repaving and restriping are minimum. I mean, there's some things that wouldn't be too difficult 00:26:38.875 --> 00:26:43.230 - to deal with, the signage, but that's the issue, is repaving and restriping. 00:26:43.650 --> 00:26:51.533 - County Clerk Nicole Brown reiterated that the North Shower's location needs to be in compliance before 00:26:51.533 --> 00:26:59.493 - the start of early voting, saying the county has 12 violations concerning accessibility. Let me be sure 00:26:59.493 --> 00:27:07.223 - that I understand, because I appreciate the citations. The citations are, this is what it should be. 00:27:07.223 --> 00:27:12.734 - And then your finding is this is not, it is not compliant at this time. 00:27:12.898 --> 00:27:20.268 - If I read this correctly, Monroe County government has 12 violations not being in compliance 00:27:20.268 --> 00:27:28.589 - with accessibility issues so that if we are going to use it for early voting, we have at least 12 things 00:27:28.589 --> 00:27:36.752 - that need to be mitigated or brought as much as possible to put us closer to compliance. Yeah, I would 00:27:36.752 --> 00:27:38.654 - use the word mitigated. 00:27:38.786 --> 00:27:45.470 - heighten that word because in some particular cases some of those barriers we could negotiate. So for 00:27:45.470 --> 00:27:52.153 - example there's a stairwell that you get up to the second floor which I assume many of the people who 00:27:52.153 --> 00:27:58.902 - are going to the second floor to do polling work would go up there. It's supposed to have a continuous 00:27:58.902 --> 00:28:04.734 - rail and there is a section that's not continuous. That is a minor violation and doesn't 00:28:04.898 --> 00:28:11.402 - really affect most things because people can use the elevator. There's other things around. So for example, 00:28:11.402 --> 00:28:17.906 - that might be something that you could consider way down lower. And that's a further down the line barrier. 00:28:17.906 --> 00:28:24.049 - But some of the other things are definitely, yeah, you should get those fixed before you do this kind 00:28:24.049 --> 00:28:30.372 - of thing. The County Election Board will meet again on October 2nd. And that is all for Cats Week. Thank 00:28:30.372 --> 00:28:34.046 - you for joining us. For Cats and WFHB, I'm Annalise Poorman. 00:28:34.562 --> 00:28:35.070 - you