WEBVTT 00:00:07.650 --> 00:00:14.425 - Welcome to Cats Week. I'm Annaliese Poorman. The Bloomington City Council met on December 3rd and discussed 00:00:14.425 --> 00:00:20.823 - amending Title 10 of the Bloomington Municipal Code, a change that would raise septic hauler rates by 00:00:20.823 --> 00:00:27.597 - nearly 300 percent. The adjustment is intended to align rates more closely with the actual cost of treating 00:00:27.597 --> 00:00:28.350 - wastewater. 00:00:28.546 --> 00:00:36.171 - Utilities Service Pre-Treatment Program Coordinator Stephen Stanford noted that Bloomington's comparatively 00:00:36.171 --> 00:00:43.443 - low wastewater treatment rates attract haulers from as far away as Indianapolis and Ohio, and that the 00:00:43.443 --> 00:00:50.715 - rates have not been updated in more than 25 years. Now what is the, what does the effect look like for 00:00:50.715 --> 00:00:53.822 - a typical customer who has a septic system? 00:00:54.594 --> 00:01:02.063 - The EPA tells us that a system like that should be inspected every three years and that the tank should 00:01:02.063 --> 00:01:09.317 - be pumped every three to five years. If I own a thousand gallon tank and I pump it every three years 00:01:09.317 --> 00:01:16.570 - because I wanna keep it working well, CBU's charge to the waste hauler is gonna increase from $20.60 00:01:16.570 --> 00:01:24.542 - all the way up to $80. That's the large percent increase that I've seen in print. On an annual basis, however, 00:01:25.186 --> 00:01:32.993 - As the septic system owner, I'm only paying $19 and 80 cents more a year So it's a large percentage 00:01:32.993 --> 00:01:40.254 - increase for CBU that really in the end doesn't add up to much for a typical septic customer 00:01:40.546 --> 00:01:46.710 - Councilmember Dave Rollo questioned why out-of-county rates would not be set higher, noting that the 00:01:46.710 --> 00:01:52.935 - relatively low cost could continue to incentivize haulers from outside the county to bring wastewater 00:01:52.935 --> 00:01:59.038 - to Bloomington. Zager responded that Lake Monroe, which supplies water for Bloomington's wastewater 00:01:59.038 --> 00:02:05.141 - treatment plant, is located partly outside the county. She said Bloomington Utilities does not want 00:02:05.141 --> 00:02:10.512 - to raise rates so high that it discourages residents within the watershed from properly 00:02:10.512 --> 00:02:18.706 - maintaining and pumping their septic systems. Well one of the things that our proposed rate change would 00:02:18.706 --> 00:02:26.823 - do was to would discourage haulers from coming so far away. So eight cents a gallon would be relatively 00:02:26.823 --> 00:02:34.861 - competitive in the region and so may discourage folks from taking a very long drive to come dump their 00:02:34.861 --> 00:02:36.734 - septic waste at Dilman. 00:02:37.282 --> 00:02:44.287 - During public comment, Courtney Medley from Medley Septic Service highlighted that out-of-county haulers 00:02:44.287 --> 00:02:51.225 - are often in-county haulers bringing waste from surrounding counties. She says Bloomington is the local 00:02:51.225 --> 00:02:58.096 - dump site. But I think it kind of got made to be more of a haulers are coming from so far away to dump 00:02:58.096 --> 00:02:59.230 - more so as it is 00:02:59.426 --> 00:03:06.505 - Yes you are the city of Bloomington but we are also Monroe County and servicing those surrounding counties. 00:03:06.505 --> 00:03:13.388 - So I just kind of wanted to clarify that for you as far as the amendment goes that it's not just haulers 00:03:13.388 --> 00:03:20.074 - coming out it is still your local haulers that are bringing in from the surrounding counties. Council 00:03:20.074 --> 00:03:24.990 - member Andy rough says the motion is implementing too high of an increase. 00:03:26.498 --> 00:03:34.477 - You know, we've we've built an expectation maybe inadvertently But by not by allowed by have charging 00:03:34.477 --> 00:03:42.612 - two cents or have a long span for so long We've sort of built a reasonable expectation amongst property 00:03:42.612 --> 00:03:51.059 - and business owners that this is what the cost is and They're making business decisions and home investment 00:03:51.059 --> 00:03:54.110 - decisions based on the assumption that 00:03:54.850 --> 00:04:01.602 - You know, it may go up some. Yeah, sure, things go up. Things cost more. But nobody could have reasonably, 00:04:01.602 --> 00:04:07.913 - I don't think, expected this. The council decided the motion needs more work to distinguish between 00:04:07.913 --> 00:04:14.286 - the different services and the motion failed. The next Bloomington City Council meeting will be held 00:04:14.286 --> 00:04:15.422 - on December 17th. 00:04:16.386 --> 00:04:22.697 - The Bloomington Board of Public Works met on December 2nd. During the meeting, Public Works Director 00:04:22.697 --> 00:04:29.320 - Adam Wason introduced a 2026 contract with Zephyr, a payment portal for monthly parking garage customers. 00:04:29.320 --> 00:04:36.067 - He said the startup fee would be $4,000, which would cover monthly subscription and credit card transaction 00:04:36.067 --> 00:04:42.503 - fees. Wason said that there would be no changes to the card readers in the garages, and system updates 00:04:42.503 --> 00:04:44.190 - should not cause problems. 00:04:44.482 --> 00:04:50.095 - Yes, we've been doing this more manually lately with the square type payment processing. This will be 00:04:50.095 --> 00:04:55.597 - a little bit more automated, something that we can be a little more efficient with. It was probably 00:04:55.597 --> 00:05:01.265 - a year or so we had to make a go. We had to make a switch over to the square for some I can't remember 00:05:01.265 --> 00:05:07.207 - the exact reason that they had at that time. But so this will be something that replaces that. The contract 00:05:07.207 --> 00:05:08.638 - was approved unanimously. 00:05:08.962 --> 00:05:15.376 - Next, Wason introduced multiple contracts for paving streets in Bloomington and additionally asked for 00:05:15.376 --> 00:05:22.101 - approval to repair parts of the brick sidewalks on Kirkwood Avenue. He explained that the board is planning 00:05:22.101 --> 00:05:28.391 - to replace the original bricks in the sections of the sidewalks that have eroded from tree roots and 00:05:28.391 --> 00:05:34.867 - usage. Wason said some areas won't be replaced because they are in good shape and the work will be done 00:05:34.867 --> 00:05:37.918 - with respect to pedestrians and property owners. 00:05:38.146 --> 00:05:44.258 - They're definitely gonna stage and work with the property owners on timing and things like that But 00:05:44.258 --> 00:05:50.370 - it's not necessarily that they're gonna do a whole like There are some areas that they're not gonna 00:05:50.370 --> 00:05:56.543 - really do much any work at all. There's no hazards. It's in good shape What we've really what we did 00:05:56.543 --> 00:06:02.777 - was go block by block and identify areas that Excuse me new needed a trip hazard removed. So it's not 00:06:02.777 --> 00:06:07.422 - necessarily that they'll be doing big sections on each side of the road and 00:06:07.554 --> 00:06:13.275 - The other thing we would make sure is that any time they're working on the south side of the street 00:06:13.275 --> 00:06:19.110 - in a block that they're not working on the north side of the street for pedestrian access. So if they 00:06:19.110 --> 00:06:25.002 - have to close a section we're going to need to detour them somewhere. So we'll be coordination on this 00:06:25.002 --> 00:06:30.780 - one will be quite quite busy and we'll make sure we work with all those property owners. Wilson said 00:06:30.780 --> 00:06:36.958 - the board's original plan changed after realizing the importance of the brick sidewalks on Kirkwood Avenue. 00:06:37.378 --> 00:06:44.180 - We were gonna move to more of a stamped concrete look with a herringbone design brick, like make it 00:06:44.180 --> 00:06:50.982 - look like real brick. But then as we even thought about it more, those bricks are pretty iconic and 00:06:50.982 --> 00:06:58.124 - what people think about with Kirkwood a lot. So this is a good project to maintain and continue forward, 00:06:58.124 --> 00:07:05.470 - remove the trip hazards and then over time with the community really decide what we wanna do with Kirkwood. 00:07:05.794 --> 00:07:11.870 - The board approved the request. The Bloomington Board of Public Works will meet again on December 16th. 00:07:12.866 --> 00:07:19.153 - Bloomington Mayor Carrie Thompson hosted a traveling town hall on December 1st at the Monroe County 00:07:19.153 --> 00:07:25.440 - History Center. At the town hall, she answered residents' questions about housing priorities in the 00:07:25.440 --> 00:07:32.105 - Hopewell neighborhood. City Council Member Sydney Zulek and Planning Transportation Director David Hittle 00:07:32.105 --> 00:07:36.254 - joined Thompson on the main stage to address residents' concerns. 00:07:36.642 --> 00:07:45.535 - I think one of the most exciting things about Hopewell is that we really believe we really are targeting 00:07:45.535 --> 00:07:54.173 - trying to get these homes to be attainable for our young professionals, which we're trying to keep in 00:07:54.173 --> 00:07:59.678 - town. And that is, you know, both Councilmember Zulek and I have 00:08:00.098 --> 00:08:08.720 - focus on economic development that we really have a missing segment of our population. And those are 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:15.294 - the young professionals who they'll stay maybe for a couple years after they 00:08:15.426 --> 00:08:22.629 - get out of IU, but then if we haven't kept them then, we can only hope to get them as bloomerangs usually 00:08:22.629 --> 00:08:29.560 - after they've raised a family. And so what we really want is to keep them and to make sure that there 00:08:29.560 --> 00:08:36.558 - is opportunity and potential here for them not only to be housed, there's a place that they can afford 00:08:36.558 --> 00:08:43.489 - to live and a place, hopefully, that is a neighborhood that really calls them into belonging and it's 00:08:43.489 --> 00:08:45.392 - a cool place to be right on 00:08:45.392 --> 00:08:53.426 - the beeline and walking distance to all of the downtown things and an asset like a grocery store right 00:08:53.426 --> 00:09:01.382 - across the trail, but also just really cultivate a culture of belonging there. And so Hopewall is not 00:09:01.382 --> 00:09:09.182 - exclusively for young professionals. We just want to make sure it's attainable for them. And on the 00:09:09.182 --> 00:09:15.344 - other side of that, we're working on jobs and how to grow our economic picture 00:09:15.344 --> 00:09:22.449 - so that our wages also grow in Bloomington. Because of course, there are two sides of affordability. 00:09:22.449 --> 00:09:29.553 - One is how much your housing costs, right? And the other is how much do you make in order to be able 00:09:29.553 --> 00:09:36.939 - to afford that? And so we're really working on both ends of that. During the question and answer portion 00:09:36.939 --> 00:09:44.255 - of the town hall, local resident Liz Peck asked the mayor about her concerns surrounding senior housing 00:09:44.255 --> 00:09:45.310 - affordability. 00:09:47.138 --> 00:09:59.291 - Can everybody hear me? My name is Liz Peck and I have lived in Bloomington for 25 years. I believe there's 00:09:59.291 --> 00:10:10.762 - also another group of people in Bloomington that are struggling for housing and that is the group of 00:10:10.762 --> 00:10:15.646 - retirees that will never be able to afford 00:10:16.066 --> 00:10:26.554 - to live at Meadow Wood and really won't qualify for public housing. So what they're doing mostly now 00:10:26.554 --> 00:10:36.939 - is living in apartments that nobody can afford here. And it's really taking a toll, even for people 00:10:36.939 --> 00:10:45.662 - that have had houses and have sold them. And that money can dwindle really quickly. 00:10:46.306 --> 00:10:56.434 - when you're paying a couple thousand dollars a month for rent. So hope well, my hope for hope well, 00:10:56.434 --> 00:11:07.170 - that it will be an intentional community, which it is, that will have people at all income levels, people 00:11:07.170 --> 00:11:16.286 - at all ages and professions. My ideal is to have one community after the other like that. 00:11:16.418 --> 00:11:25.308 - in a city where you can get everything you need within a walking distance of maybe a mile and have your 00:11:25.308 --> 00:11:34.027 - people that you're close with in the community. So I hope that happens at Hopewell and possibly other 00:11:34.027 --> 00:11:42.831 - places. But I'd also like to know, are there any plans? I know you're doing very ambitious things, but 00:11:42.831 --> 00:11:45.310 - are there any plans for nice 00:11:45.794 --> 00:11:55.749 - livable, affordable housing for seniors. Thompson addressed senior housing needs within the Hopewell 00:11:55.749 --> 00:12:05.604 - plan. There will be no discrimination at Hopewell for who can buy those and on the rental units who 00:12:05.604 --> 00:12:13.982 - can rent them. And really, I mean, I think that we have a great mix there. There are 00:12:14.146 --> 00:12:25.047 - There are some multi-unit buildings that probably will be condos, not $2 million condos, more like $150,000 00:12:25.047 --> 00:12:35.645 - condos. And that's a ballpark. It depends on the trim and things like that. The anticipated construction 00:12:35.645 --> 00:12:43.518 - cost on the smallest owner-occupied home, which is a very modest-sized house, 00:12:43.618 --> 00:12:49.822 - The anticipated construction cost, last I heard, and David can correct me, is $125,000. 00:12:50.018 --> 00:12:57.645 - and that's a studio. It's a 600 square foot studio, but you could buy it. And so this would be a good 00:12:57.645 --> 00:13:05.645 - option. It's all on one floor. It's a good option for a senior, but it's also a great option for a younger 00:13:05.645 --> 00:13:13.122 - person who wants to enter the ownership market but can't possibly afford to save for a down payment 00:13:13.122 --> 00:13:17.534 - for a $250,000 house, right? And so as David said earlier, 00:13:17.634 --> 00:13:24.828 - What we know about who actually lives in houses is that most of them are one and two person households. 00:13:24.828 --> 00:13:32.023 - But we really don't have anything on the market that is speaking to that size household. And while many 00:13:32.023 --> 00:13:35.966 - people love to have a guest room or something like that, 00:13:36.226 --> 00:13:43.862 - Most people really, ultimately, want to live close to work. And they want to live close to the resources. 00:13:43.862 --> 00:13:51.209 - And so building a more modest sized home that people can actually get into and stay in is more of our 00:13:51.209 --> 00:13:58.556 - goal. So that's been the target at Hopewell. I think we probably will attract a lot of seniors there. 00:13:58.556 --> 00:14:06.192 - I hope we also attract a lot of young professionals. And that it's a place that everybody in between gets 00:14:06.192 --> 00:14:14.400 - to live to. One local resident asked about the time frame for the opening of the Bloomington Convention 00:14:14.400 --> 00:14:22.844 - Center. Zulick said that the expansion should open that stores in June of 2027. So the time frame question 00:14:22.844 --> 00:14:25.054 - is I believe we should have 00:14:25.186 --> 00:14:33.884 - doors open in June of 2027. So at that point there will be a 60,000 square foot expansion across the 00:14:33.884 --> 00:14:39.998 - street where the former early voting site used to be and then a 40,000 00:14:40.098 --> 00:14:45.443 - square foot, which is where the current convention center currently sits. And that will the remaining 00:14:45.443 --> 00:14:50.841 - money will go towards repairs that are needed in that building. Mayor Thompson said that she's looking 00:14:50.841 --> 00:14:56.186 - forward to the end result of the project, saying the city is currently losing tourism income now that 00:14:56.186 --> 00:14:57.758 - the construction is underway. 00:14:58.082 --> 00:15:06.131 - I'm really excited about the convention center because we have been turning down a lot of convention 00:15:06.131 --> 00:15:14.260 - business. And many of the organizations here in town have actually outgrown the convention center for 00:15:14.260 --> 00:15:23.027 - their own events. And so it's something that we both need here in town for our own organizations, nonprofits, 00:15:23.027 --> 00:15:28.048 - and businesses alike that are holding meetings or fundraisers. 00:15:28.048 --> 00:15:35.605 - are really losing some tourist income. And we're the number two choice in the state of Indiana 00:15:35.605 --> 00:15:44.036 - for conventions. So people come into Indianapolis. They have a huge convention center. You want something 00:15:44.036 --> 00:15:50.718 - very different from that experience than you would Bloomington. But Bloomington has 00:15:51.042 --> 00:15:58.882 - so many reasons to come visit. And that's really attractive for conventions. And so we think of ourselves 00:15:58.882 --> 00:16:06.574 - as many different things. But I think sometimes those of us who live here forget that we are a favorite 00:16:06.574 --> 00:16:14.487 - place to visit for many people in Indiana. And people love to have a reason to come here and spend several 00:16:14.487 --> 00:16:20.478 - days. So we want to capture their imaginations and invite them to hang out here. 00:16:21.026 --> 00:16:27.975 - To view the full Town Hall, you can visit catstv.net. The next traveling Town Hall will take place next 00:16:27.975 --> 00:16:34.857 - year. The Bloomington Redevelopment Commission met on December 1st and discussed the Convention Centre 00:16:34.857 --> 00:16:41.806 - Host Hotel. The selected developer, Dora Hospitality, says they cannot build the required hotel without 00:16:41.806 --> 00:16:42.942 - City incentives. 00:16:43.042 --> 00:16:50.498 - Sustainable Development Director Jane Cooper-Smith says the host hotel is necessary because it is aligned 00:16:50.498 --> 00:16:57.531 - with Bloomington's redevelopment plan. The staff and ultimately redevelopment commissioners are not 00:16:57.531 --> 00:17:01.822 - entertaining this project simply because a hotelier asked us 00:17:02.306 --> 00:17:08.428 - to use this property for a hotel. It's because the convention center is a pillar of our community's 00:17:08.428 --> 00:17:14.611 - economic development. It will drive our economic development, much of it going forward, and a proper 00:17:14.611 --> 00:17:20.855 - host hotel is critical to the success of that convention center. It was understood from the beginning 00:17:20.855 --> 00:17:25.630 - that the convention center was, or the host hotel would be needed and that it 00:17:26.146 --> 00:17:31.483 - would have to happen separately from the development of the Convention Center proper. But this is very 00:17:31.483 --> 00:17:36.820 - much aligned with everything that we're doing in our downtown core from Switchyard Park through Trades 00:17:36.820 --> 00:17:39.774 - District up to the area surrounding Miller Showers Park. 00:17:40.546 --> 00:17:47.554 - In October, the Capital Improvement Board said that there is a large funding gap in the project. To 00:17:47.554 --> 00:17:54.702 - help with the funding, the Redevelopment Commission considered supporting a resolution to provide the 00:17:54.702 --> 00:18:02.061 - hotel land at lower than market value. Commissioner Dana Kerr explained that the resolution could ensure 00:18:02.061 --> 00:18:08.158 - desired hotel quality. Because of the gap in the quality of what is wanted by the CIB, 00:18:08.290 --> 00:18:17.945 - And the community for the Host Hotel, I would say, is you're not going to get that quality unless there 00:18:17.945 --> 00:18:27.692 - is some incentives available. Because the developer can't make up that kind of expenditure in the amount 00:18:27.692 --> 00:18:33.726 - of time that they'd be running in red for a long period of time. 00:18:35.714 --> 00:18:42.566 - then you're not going to find a hotel your network's run into, right? Executive Director Anna Killian 00:18:42.566 --> 00:18:48.948 - Hansen explained that unlike Posh or the Trades District Hotel, the Host Hotel must be larger, 00:18:48.948 --> 00:18:56.135 - more regulated, and less profitable because it is designed to support the Convention Center. This presents 00:18:56.135 --> 00:19:03.054 - a financial gap that the private market cannot cover on its own. There is still a substantial gap that 00:19:03.054 --> 00:19:04.062 - we can't fill. 00:19:04.322 --> 00:19:10.767 - We have looked to other partners to see if anything else is on the table. We have explored every option 00:19:10.767 --> 00:19:17.212 - possible and we're hitting dead ends. So would you be able to maybe just briefly illustrate if possible 00:19:17.212 --> 00:19:23.905 - and this might be for Director Cooper-Smith as well in terms of there are other hotels that are in progress 00:19:23.905 --> 00:19:30.846 - in the community and you know just from a general public point of view what's the differences between let's say 00:19:31.042 --> 00:19:37.703 - hotel or the trades district hotel and what's needed for the convention center hotel that in terms of 00:19:37.703 --> 00:19:44.299 - what the market can support and where subsidies needed just might help illustrate the difference and 00:19:44.299 --> 00:19:50.830 - I'm trying not to get into really you know granular numbers but just the real estate picture of why 00:19:50.830 --> 00:19:57.360 - this gap exists and why subsidy is needed. Well construction right now is expensive period and it's 00:19:57.360 --> 00:19:59.646 - only going up so let's just that's 00:20:00.002 --> 00:20:07.343 - just the market the way that it is. But I think one of the bigger differences between both of those 00:20:07.343 --> 00:20:15.050 - hotels has to do with no parking garage. So yeah, the trades district hotel is going in without subsidy, 00:20:15.050 --> 00:20:22.831 - but there'll be leasing spaces from the trades district garage where there is availability. And so that's 00:20:22.831 --> 00:20:28.190 - saving $20 million of investment. So it's not a direct subsidy, but it's 00:20:28.354 --> 00:20:34.867 - it's effectively supporting the project. During public comment, City Councilmember Isabel Piedmont-Smith 00:20:34.867 --> 00:20:41.442 - said that the council does not want any taxpayer money other than the food and beverage tax going towards 00:20:41.442 --> 00:20:48.638 - the hotel. Because there are many more important and urgent community needs than a hotel for the convention center. 00:20:48.994 --> 00:20:55.237 - That's eight out of nine council members. The commission voted to table the resolution to allow more 00:20:55.237 --> 00:20:59.934 - public transparency. It will be voted on the next meeting on December 15th. 00:21:01.058 --> 00:21:07.228 - The Monroe County Board of Commissioners met on December 4th. During the meeting, advocates for the 00:21:07.228 --> 00:21:13.645 - unhoused expressed outrage over the county's recent evictions of at least two encampments in the winter 00:21:13.645 --> 00:21:19.939 - cold. Local resident Shelby Porteroff criticized the county's decision to close encampments and urged 00:21:19.939 --> 00:21:23.518 - the commissioners to hold off evictions until the spring. 00:21:24.290 --> 00:21:29.753 - I'm here today to talk about the evictions that are happening at several of the unhoused encampments 00:21:29.753 --> 00:21:35.271 - around Bloomington set for Monday, December 8th, which is, as I'm sure you all are familiar, right in 00:21:35.271 --> 00:21:40.788 - the dead of winter. So I first wanted to just say that I really appreciated some of the lines in your 00:21:40.788 --> 00:21:46.305 - statement where you affirmed your commitment to protect all citizens and for all folks in Bloomington 00:21:46.305 --> 00:21:51.715 - and Monroe County to live peacefully and without fear. And so it's with those lines that I ask you, 00:21:51.715 --> 00:21:53.662 - although this is not on the agenda, 00:21:53.794 --> 00:21:59.671 - to use the Monroe County Code 2571 to consider staying these evictions until the spring. I understand 00:21:59.671 --> 00:22:05.433 - that this is a complicated and nuanced issue, and however, I encourage all of you who I'm sure have 00:22:05.433 --> 00:22:11.541 - been in Bloomington for a long time to recall what happened in 2020 when Mayor Hamilton's administration, 00:22:11.541 --> 00:22:17.706 - without any correspondence to communities outside of Bloomington Police Department and the mayor's office, 00:22:17.706 --> 00:22:20.990 - despite CDC encouragement to leave encampments in place, 00:22:21.122 --> 00:22:26.984 - Evicted the communities of seminary square and on Christmas Eve one of our long-term unhoused community 00:22:26.984 --> 00:22:33.016 - members froze to death the folks who are in these encampments have their materials in place and Solidified 00:22:33.016 --> 00:22:38.709 - in place for them to survive the winter right now We do not have enough volunteers for our emergency 00:22:38.709 --> 00:22:45.022 - shelters to open overnight and the few shelters that we have their year-round are completely full the folks who 00:22:45.282 --> 00:22:50.636 - are here today, go out to these community members regularly to support them and check in on them. And 00:22:50.636 --> 00:22:56.147 - if you have not been to an unhoused encampment in the woods on your own, it's not what you expect. Yeah, 00:22:56.147 --> 00:23:01.658 - there's trash. I'm not going to lie and pretend that there isn't. There are also not resources for these 00:23:01.658 --> 00:23:07.326 - folks to clean up their messes. Dumping is illegal. If they throw things in dumpsters, they get in trouble. 00:23:07.490 --> 00:23:12.905 - They don't have cars. They don't have trash cans. They don't have municipal services to pick up their 00:23:12.905 --> 00:23:18.319 - waste. But what's also out there is an attempt to make a home. If you have ever been to an encampment 00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:24.158 - in the woods, what you will see is community spaces. You will see areas that are sequestered off specifically 00:23:24.158 --> 00:23:29.467 - for restroom use. And you won't find needles loosely scattered like you think that you will. Any of 00:23:29.467 --> 00:23:35.518 - those preconceived notions that you have are not the reality on the ground. They're humans too. They're not evil. 00:23:35.842 --> 00:23:41.606 - They're people who are having a really hard time. And as community members, it's our responsibility 00:23:41.606 --> 00:23:47.716 - to step up and care for those closest to us. Resident Ed Doss made an emotional plea to the commissioners 00:23:47.716 --> 00:23:53.538 - to pause evictions during the cold weather. The majority of us in this room see this for what it is. 00:23:53.538 --> 00:23:57.054 - If this policy passes, we see it as state-sanctioned murder. 00:23:57.506 --> 00:24:03.038 - What you are choosing to do is force people to uproot their livelihoods, leave whatever comfort that 00:24:03.038 --> 00:24:08.734 - they have been able to build for themselves, whatever warmth that they have been able to gather through 00:24:08.734 --> 00:24:14.430 - the most adverse conditions, and either reset up, which is going to cause people to die in the process, 00:24:14.430 --> 00:24:19.907 - as well as cause people to die when they get evicted over and over and over again through winter as 00:24:19.907 --> 00:24:25.822 - we see. So once again, we implore you to add this to the agenda and to put a stay on this until the spring. 00:24:27.010 --> 00:24:35.539 - Commissioner's administrator, Angela Purdy, explained the process behind these types of evictions. We 00:24:35.539 --> 00:24:44.319 - have a process in which once we are made noticed of an encampment, we reach out to the sheriff's office, 00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:52.263 - we reach out to Health Net, and we reach out to the, in this instance, as this is in the city, 00:24:52.263 --> 00:24:54.270 - the city SROs. And when 00:24:54.690 --> 00:25:01.747 - staff went out on December 1st to give notice of the requirement to leave. They were provided 00:25:01.747 --> 00:25:09.704 - with information. Health Net and the SROs have been going out daily and meeting with these people, trying 00:25:09.704 --> 00:25:17.437 - to get them into shelter. There is shelter available. We have confirmed that. Health Net has confirmed 00:25:17.437 --> 00:25:19.614 - that. They advised that they 00:25:19.778 --> 00:25:28.116 - don't want to take that particular option. So that's where we're at at this point in time. We give them, 00:25:28.116 --> 00:25:36.057 - we take personal belongings that are left when we do go for the cleanup and we hold on to those for 00:25:36.057 --> 00:25:44.077 - one week's time. And then they can come and make arrangements to pick those up. That information was 00:25:44.077 --> 00:25:48.286 - also provided to the people who are on the property. 00:25:49.314 --> 00:25:57.660 - Resident Maria Bull warned the commissioners that evicting people experiencing homelessness in the cold 00:25:57.660 --> 00:26:03.198 - weather only exacerbates the issue. I think that this council should 00:26:03.362 --> 00:26:10.392 - move the eviction date into the spring when it is warmer out, because it is the dead of winter. It is 00:26:10.392 --> 00:26:17.630 - very cold. Even I, as an IU student, am freezing out there. And these people that have less of resources 00:26:17.630 --> 00:26:24.591 - than I do and don't have an option to go into a warm building when they need it need help and should 00:26:24.591 --> 00:26:30.174 - be evicted in the spring. Honestly, I don't think they should be evicted at all. 00:26:30.466 --> 00:26:37.383 - We will compromise on that. Commissioner Julie Thomas thanked the public commenters for attending, but 00:26:37.383 --> 00:26:44.301 - added that this is a complex issue with many factors to consider. The next commissioner's meeting will 00:26:44.301 --> 00:26:51.352 - take place on December 11th. And that is all for Cats Week. Thank you for joining us. For Cats and WFHB, 00:26:51.352 --> 00:26:52.830 - I'm Annalise Poorman.