WEBVTT 00:00:04.738 --> 00:00:10.947 - Hello and welcome to Cats Week. I'm Annalise Poorman. The Ellitsville Town Council met on March 23rd 00:00:10.947 --> 00:00:17.218 - and discussed a mass gathering permit for the Ellitsville Youth Sports League season kickoff jamboree 00:00:17.218 --> 00:00:23.550 - on April 11th. Councilmember Scott Oldham ran through the considerations for the event. Questions from 00:00:23.550 --> 00:00:29.883 - council on this. This is a yearly thing that they do. Police and fire, public works all satisfied with 00:00:29.883 --> 00:00:31.358 - the plans are in place. 00:00:33.666 --> 00:00:40.286 - we good on parking? Because that's always a problem. Town manager Mike Farmer said that the permit fee 00:00:40.286 --> 00:00:47.098 - was waived since the Ellitsville Youth Sports League is a nonprofit. The permit was approved unanimously. 00:00:47.098 --> 00:00:53.911 - The council moved on to discuss the septic dumping rates increase, which was set to be tabled for another 00:00:53.911 --> 00:01:00.402 - week. Farmer said that the increase affects four vendors. He said the new gates and security are not 00:01:00.402 --> 00:01:03.358 - installed yet. Everything is in place, gates, 00:01:03.714 --> 00:01:10.796 - key pads were waiting on the key pads and the new dumping station is not built yet, so. Farmer said 00:01:10.796 --> 00:01:17.879 - that there is also a new security at the wastewater treatment plant. The rate increase was approved 00:01:17.879 --> 00:01:25.457 - five to zero. During supervisor comments, Fire Chief Kevin Patton said that a fire truck is being repaired 00:01:25.457 --> 00:01:31.902 - following issues found during routine aerial testing. The next aerial is supposed to be in 00:01:32.130 --> 00:01:39.701 - middle end of next year it's not really a replacement it's an addition to with the size of the response 00:01:39.701 --> 00:01:47.053 - area very true so right now it's it will be a replacement the hopes is we can get this one fixed and 00:01:47.053 --> 00:01:52.222 - it'll still be in service he said that he is still waiting for a quote 00:01:52.866 --> 00:01:59.905 - Next Street Commissioner Kip Heddy said that the town is planning to replace its street sweeper at an 00:01:59.905 --> 00:02:07.013 - estimated cost of $383,000. The purchase would be funded through a trade-in of the current sweeper and 00:02:07.013 --> 00:02:09.566 - the use of stormwater utility funds. 00:02:10.658 --> 00:02:17.065 - On March 25th, the Monroe County Public Library Board of Trustees met and received a department update 00:02:17.065 --> 00:02:23.844 - from the Teen Services Program. Teen Services Manager Sam Ott shared program highlights, including expanding 00:02:23.844 --> 00:02:30.251 - collections, upgrades, and a new arcade game. We have expanded our collections again. Manga has proven 00:02:30.251 --> 00:02:37.342 - to be just incredibly popular with our teens, and we were able to work with Martha Odier up on the third floor to 00:02:37.666 --> 00:02:42.158 - condense our graphic novels down and add a whole extra bay of manga, and that's already full, and we 00:02:42.158 --> 00:02:46.829 - already could try to add more. And we've even condensed our collection so that we provide just the first 00:02:46.829 --> 00:02:51.321 - five or 10 volumes of a lot of series, so we can provide more different series options and have less 00:02:51.321 --> 00:02:56.169 - depth. But then that also encourages the kids to go up to the second floor, where the whole manga collection 00:02:56.169 --> 00:03:00.661 - is, so hopefully they can make that connection, because a lot of them have no idea that there's more 00:03:00.661 --> 00:03:04.798 - up there. And I think, Grier, do we have 8,000 manga, something like that in the collection? 00:03:05.666 --> 00:03:10.790 - Yeah, there's a lot. There's way more than we have down there. Again, space upgrades for the arcade 00:03:10.790 --> 00:03:16.119 - cabinet. Greer worked with me to get new seats for the video game area because the seats had been there 00:03:16.119 --> 00:03:21.500 - for 10 years and were very much showing a lot of love is probably the best way to say that. After school 00:03:21.500 --> 00:03:26.778 - snacks have still proven to be very popular and we've been able to work with Lorraine because she runs 00:03:26.778 --> 00:03:32.158 - the Sam's Club membership there. So we've been able to get a bunch of stuff shipped in. I probably spend 00:03:32.354 --> 00:03:37.515 - a quarter of my monthly budget on snacks because they're so popular every day and it's just amazing 00:03:37.515 --> 00:03:42.830 - to be able to provide that but it's something we're committed to and been really happy to see the kids 00:03:42.830 --> 00:03:48.198 - utilize every day. We refill all of them like three times in an afternoon because it's just so popular. 00:03:48.198 --> 00:03:53.565 - The department staff work towards creating book lists that would be helpful for teens such as budgeting 00:03:53.565 --> 00:03:58.932 - and car maintenance. Ott further highlighted how the library's young adult book list has reached a wide 00:03:58.932 --> 00:04:01.822 - audience. Staff fix book list, you might have seen this 00:04:02.594 --> 00:04:07.841 - I think in October of last year, but Fern did an analysis of all of our book lists and found that if 00:04:07.841 --> 00:04:13.141 - you type in YA followed by like National Native American Heritage Month or some of our other cultural 00:04:13.141 --> 00:04:18.544 - lists, we are the top one through three results in Google search for those lists. And some of our lists 00:04:18.544 --> 00:04:21.246 - like YA novels and verse have actually had close to 00:04:21.346 --> 00:04:26.481 - 6,000 hits in one year, which is great. So we're really excited that our lists are that popular and 00:04:26.481 --> 00:04:31.667 - are reaching so many people. But it also shows that the curation that we do, we worked with Paula to 00:04:31.667 --> 00:04:36.905 - figure out why, and she said one reason might be that because we consistently update them, like every 00:04:36.905 --> 00:04:42.194 - year to two years, the secret Google metric realizes that it's actually being worked on and isn't just 00:04:42.194 --> 00:04:47.586 - stagnant. But we're really excited that it's reaching so many people. Last year, the library distributed 00:04:47.586 --> 00:04:50.718 - 665 teen summer reading guides, the most in library history. 00:04:51.394 --> 00:04:58.526 - The program will continue with initiatives such as Circus Week and plushy making events. Teen Services 00:04:58.526 --> 00:05:03.166 - also participates in helping hands where they create dignity kits. 00:05:03.362 --> 00:05:08.634 - This year we were able to partner with the Children's Department and Adult Services Department on helping 00:05:08.634 --> 00:05:13.607 - hands, which is where we assembled dignity kits to give to Beacon in town. We made over 200 as part 00:05:13.607 --> 00:05:18.729 - of that event, which was great, particularly because we were able to really expand the amount of stuff 00:05:18.729 --> 00:05:24.051 - that was offered in every kit. So it also included like thermal blankets, sanitary supplies and everything 00:05:24.051 --> 00:05:29.173 - else like that, which was great. Teen Services will continue to expand on their community partnerships 00:05:29.173 --> 00:05:31.262 - with school visits and outreach programs. 00:05:32.354 --> 00:05:38.866 - The Richland Township and Town of Ellitsville Reorganization Committee met on March 25th. During the 00:05:38.866 --> 00:05:45.959 - meeting, committee members discussed the composition proposals for the government board if the reorganization 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:52.472 - passes. Committee member Andrew Henry said the governance subcommittee presented two options. Option 00:05:52.472 --> 00:05:58.919 - one begins with the seven member structure on January 1st, 2027, and keeps that structure in place. 00:05:58.919 --> 00:06:01.950 - Option two uses a nine member transition board 00:06:02.242 --> 00:06:09.939 - during 2027 only then moves to the same seven member structure on January 1st, 2028. So the question 00:06:09.939 --> 00:06:17.636 - is whether or not we want to create two single year temporary seats to make sure that representation 00:06:17.636 --> 00:06:22.590 - is as broadly spread out across the considered area as possible. 00:06:22.978 --> 00:06:29.455 - in that first transition year. Committee member Kevin Farris expressed concern that a seven 00:06:29.455 --> 00:06:36.778 - member composition would risk a reduced representation for the township. Governance subcommittee member 00:06:36.778 --> 00:06:43.959 - Tom Spencer explained how the plans were created. There was no direct answer to get equal or close to 00:06:43.959 --> 00:06:50.366 - equal representation from the township and the town board without completely starting from 00:06:50.786 --> 00:06:58.206 - scratch for election or something else that we were told just legally wasn't really possible or fiscally 00:06:58.206 --> 00:07:05.485 - wasn't possible. So I wanted to add that color for anyone else as well. That was mostly what we talked 00:07:05.485 --> 00:07:12.693 - about is how could the township get representation and get it faster. Unfortunately, there's no magic 00:07:12.693 --> 00:07:20.254 - bullet or magic pill that does that quickly without running into a bunch of other confusing mechanisms and 00:07:20.930 --> 00:07:28.690 - The committee debated the merits of each plan, eventually deciding on the nine-member temporary board. 00:07:28.690 --> 00:07:36.751 - Committee member Scott Reynolds said a larger board would also be useful while the reorganization settles. 00:07:36.751 --> 00:07:44.360 - In that first year of a reorganized entity, there's going to be a lot of decisions that are going to 00:07:44.360 --> 00:07:50.462 - be made that are going to set the tone and the framework to implement this plan. 00:07:51.010 --> 00:07:57.479 - And I think that actually raises the need to ensure that there's a geographically broad set 00:07:57.479 --> 00:08:04.580 - of representation. It makes sense. So that it doesn't feel as though that first year's decisions are 00:08:04.580 --> 00:08:11.752 - all being set, whether in reality or just from people's perception by the town, the existing town, as 00:08:11.752 --> 00:08:18.854 - opposed to the township. The Vinyl Plan for the Reorganization Committee is expected to be completed 00:08:18.854 --> 00:08:19.838 - by April 1st. 00:08:20.866 --> 00:08:28.100 - On March 25th, the Richland Beam Blossom School Board met and discussed campus safety measures. Sergeant 00:08:28.100 --> 00:08:35.127 - and School Resource Officer Alec Leggio explained the Navigate 360 contract, which has the ability to 00:08:35.127 --> 00:08:42.499 - digitally map the school. We currently already contract with Navigate 360 for our ALICE program throughout 00:08:42.499 --> 00:08:43.326 - the school. 00:08:43.650 --> 00:08:52.418 - and we're missing a bunch of missing pieces for our safety across the campus and Navigate has a solution 00:08:52.418 --> 00:09:01.604 - for all of those. Legio said the digital map will include the locations of defibrillators, fire extinguishers 00:09:01.604 --> 00:09:03.358 - and other equipment. 00:09:03.586 --> 00:09:11.381 - the startup fee for the program would be approximately $31,880. This includes the cost of emergency, 00:09:11.381 --> 00:09:17.246 - visitor and volunteer management, implementation and most of the equipment. 00:09:17.986 --> 00:09:25.921 - There will also be an annual recurring cost for this program of over $15,000. The second quote addressed 00:09:25.921 --> 00:09:33.553 - the tip line and storing the behavioral threat assessments. This startup fee is over $11,000 with an 00:09:33.553 --> 00:09:38.238 - annual cost of nearly $10,000. The motion passed unanimously. 00:09:38.754 --> 00:09:45.749 - The board also discussed how to improve traffic flow at the elementary school. Technology director Rick 00:09:45.749 --> 00:09:52.945 - Routen presented the board with a study addressing alternative means for traffic circulation. He explained 00:09:52.945 --> 00:09:59.739 - why it is crucial for the school to develop a traffic solution or alternative. This is a combination 00:09:59.739 --> 00:10:03.774 - with Dr. Sanders and myself and we have brought in Andy and 00:10:04.002 --> 00:10:10.607 - Matt to talk about the traffic flow issues at the elementary schools. Has anybody been around at early 00:10:10.607 --> 00:10:17.149 - in the morning or trying to get to school in the afternoon? It's near impossible. I have actually sat 00:10:17.149 --> 00:10:23.818 - in line for a good while to get down to EECC when it was under construction and it's like, oh, I forgot 00:10:23.818 --> 00:10:30.744 - I should have left about a half hour earlier to get through this. So we're looking at hiring an engineering 00:10:30.744 --> 00:10:33.694 - company to come in and help us do a study and 00:10:33.794 --> 00:10:40.457 - give us some preliminary information to move forward with a better solution in traffic flow, parking, 00:10:40.457 --> 00:10:47.316 - and pick up. Something that we need to do down there because we're growing and we need to get the people 00:10:47.316 --> 00:10:54.044 - off of Reeves Road as much as we can to keep that open, not only for ourselves, but for public safety. 00:10:54.044 --> 00:11:00.773 - That road gets blocked and it's really tight. Routon further explained the agreement and what services 00:11:00.773 --> 00:11:02.014 - would be provided. 00:11:02.306 --> 00:11:08.160 - The company we went with is a company that does a lot of civil engineering work. They've done other 00:11:08.160 --> 00:11:14.073 - big projects and someone I've known for over the years. And he understands our problems and has seen 00:11:14.073 --> 00:11:20.162 - other schools and is excited to work with us. This is just a small piece. We have talked about a bigger 00:11:20.162 --> 00:11:26.192 - piece for the whole entire campus, but we're only concentrating on just the elementary schools because 00:11:26.192 --> 00:11:29.470 - we really need to improve that traffic flow down there. 00:11:30.050 --> 00:11:37.077 - and he'll look at utilities, he'll look at the easements and anything we can do to shape our traffic 00:11:37.077 --> 00:11:44.312 - pattern. The contract with GIA consultants will cost just under $37,000. The motion passed unanimously. 00:11:44.312 --> 00:11:51.617 - The Monroe County Community School Corporation Board of Trustees met on March 24th and voted unanimously 00:11:51.617 --> 00:11:58.575 - to sell the former Herald-Times building. Board members said the cost of renovations is too high to 00:11:58.575 --> 00:11:59.966 - justify keeping it. 00:12:00.514 --> 00:12:07.224 - School Board President Erin Cooperman said she was initially excited about the idea of using the space. 00:12:07.224 --> 00:12:13.740 - However, she says the financial situation of the school corporation has changed since purchasing the 00:12:13.740 --> 00:12:20.644 - property in 2022. I think that this is sort of a, for me, a sad symbol of how much our financial situation 00:12:20.644 --> 00:12:23.870 - has changed since we decided to buy the property. 00:12:24.226 --> 00:12:30.462 - Chief Financial Officer Matt Irwin said the cost to renovate the building would be too high and limit 00:12:30.462 --> 00:12:36.698 - their ability to make other improvements across the school system. The initial estimates that I think 00:12:36.698 --> 00:12:42.812 - we had were around 34, 35 million. So it would eat up a significant portion of the debt capacity we 00:12:42.812 --> 00:12:48.925 - would have over the next few years as we continue to stay within the confines of what it is, is the 00:12:48.925 --> 00:12:53.694 - ask of the community as it relates to supporting our property tax levy funds. 00:12:53.986 --> 00:13:00.765 - And so we're just continuing to be mindful of those things. So yeah, it would limit our ability to make 00:13:00.765 --> 00:13:07.349 - other necessary improvements that are wanted and needed at some of our other facilities. The process 00:13:07.349 --> 00:13:14.323 - of selling the building is underway. The Bloomington Board of Public Works met on March 24th and discussed 00:13:14.323 --> 00:13:18.430 - removing trees along Pete Ellis Drive on the city's east side. 00:13:18.562 --> 00:13:25.577 - Fewer trees will be removed than previously planned following an agreement with the Indiana Department 00:13:25.577 --> 00:13:32.456 - of Transportation. The number was reduced from 15 to 7. Senior project engineer Neil Copper says the 00:13:32.456 --> 00:13:36.542 - issue has drawn increased public attention in recent weeks. 00:13:36.898 --> 00:13:44.440 - An aspect of this project that has gotten a lot of public attention is the plan to remove 15 mature 00:13:44.440 --> 00:13:52.058 - oak trees on the south side of SR 45 on Pete Ellis. We've had significant coordination with NDOT and 00:13:52.058 --> 00:13:59.751 - we are going to be able to save eight of those 15 trees. This transfer agreement wouldn't normally be 00:13:59.751 --> 00:14:05.182 - required to approve the tree removal that has been discussed a lot, but 00:14:05.314 --> 00:14:10.884 - You know, we've been coordinating with our urban forester and typically that would be more of a staff 00:14:10.884 --> 00:14:16.400 - level approval. But given that it's wrapped up in our discussions with NDOT and there's been so much 00:14:16.400 --> 00:14:21.915 - attention on it, we did want to bring it in front of you specifically for just for that transparency 00:14:21.915 --> 00:14:27.540 - and just wanting you to be aware of it and that it is a part of this project. Board President Kyla Cox 00:14:27.540 --> 00:14:33.438 - Deckard asked whether NDOT plans to plant new trees that avoid right of way interference. Comper responded. 00:14:33.986 --> 00:14:41.567 - Regarding the trees, since that is an issue that has had a lot of attention and there's been a lot of 00:14:41.567 --> 00:14:49.147 - conversation and compromise in the way that the trees are handled. Is there a planting plan? Like, do 00:14:49.147 --> 00:14:56.579 - you know if NDOT is planning to plant new trees that don't interfere with the right of way? So NDOT 00:14:56.579 --> 00:15:02.302 - is planting a small number of trees. I don't know that there are any planned 00:15:02.754 --> 00:15:09.315 - replacements actually in these areas where the trees are being removed. But we have been working with 00:15:09.315 --> 00:15:15.748 - the Parks Department. One of the things that they have said is the most important thing to them was 00:15:15.748 --> 00:15:22.437 - protecting as many trees as we could. They had had a goal actually of protecting seven or eight of them 00:15:22.437 --> 00:15:27.326 - and we achieved eight. They also said replanting is what we would typically 00:15:27.458 --> 00:15:33.457 - require in a project and what we want. But what's most important is if we have a space where we can 00:15:33.457 --> 00:15:39.576 - replant, we don't mind as the city going back in and replanting some of those trees ourselves. That's 00:15:39.576 --> 00:15:45.575 - not a huge cost to replant them. Given that this will become city right away, again, we'll have the 00:15:45.575 --> 00:15:51.574 - authority to go in and replant some of those. The answer is there are some replacements, but not to 00:15:51.574 --> 00:15:52.894 - a scale that we want. 00:15:53.186 --> 00:16:00.163 - agreement at least hasn't been reached yet, but we do have the ability and the intention of replanting 00:16:00.163 --> 00:16:07.275 - some trees there. The tree removal is expected to be completed before April 1st. The Monroe County Storm 00:16:07.275 --> 00:16:13.507 - Water Management Board met on March 25th. Executive Director of the Lake Monroe Water Fund, 00:16:13.507 --> 00:16:20.349 - Michelle Cohen, gave a presentation and requested funding for lake monitoring. Tron Enright Randolph 00:16:20.349 --> 00:16:22.110 - responded to her request. 00:16:22.562 --> 00:16:29.129 - I support of this and also I'll kind of just leave it with what I say all the time when we look at this 00:16:29.129 --> 00:16:35.507 - as I think this is one way that we can do water monitoring is by creating these partnerships and not 00:16:35.507 --> 00:16:42.201 - necessarily taking on all that effort in house. So I appreciate the opportunity to support these efforts. 00:16:42.201 --> 00:16:44.222 - This motion passed unanimously. 00:16:45.186 --> 00:16:53.153 - Next, the Soil and Water District requested a memorandum of understanding and a grant partnership for 00:16:53.153 --> 00:17:01.042 - their projects. Board member Lee Jones commented on pollinator planting in the city. I will repeat a 00:17:01.042 --> 00:17:09.088 - comment that I made last Thursday at our meeting where a pollinator garden came up, which is hopefully 00:17:09.088 --> 00:17:15.102 - more people will be listening and will hear that we have a worldwide problem 00:17:16.066 --> 00:17:25.606 - in insects and this is this of course affects our food security but also before we're affected a lot 00:17:25.606 --> 00:17:35.053 - of other things are affected and the bird populations are falling because of this I'm sure the same 00:17:35.053 --> 00:17:39.870 - is true for many reptiles. Insects are kind of the 00:17:42.018 --> 00:17:53.297 - ground level for many, many species, eating chain or food chain and more pollinator gardens that people 00:17:53.297 --> 00:18:04.467 - can plant and hopefully teach, help teach people that insects are not scary, that insects don't really 00:18:04.467 --> 00:18:10.974 - chase people down to bite them. At least not in most cases. 00:18:11.330 --> 00:18:18.794 - And they really need all the help we can give them at this point. The board unanimously passed the motion. 00:18:18.794 --> 00:18:26.119 - On March 25th, the Bloomington City Council met and discussed the Hopewell South project, which is being 00:18:26.119 --> 00:18:33.513 - delayed for a second time. The Hopewell project is a city-led redevelopment of the old IU Health Hospital 00:18:33.513 --> 00:18:39.582 - site. Proponents of Hopewell say it will drive more affordable housing to Bloomington. 00:18:39.746 --> 00:18:47.192 - Mayor Carrie Thompson has made Hopewell a centerpiece on how she hopes the city will address housing 00:18:47.192 --> 00:18:54.785 - needs. I know that there are many possibilities of the impact that we can make when we create housing. 00:18:54.785 --> 00:19:02.452 - When we have a project like Hopewell, we are prone to see an opportunity to live into a kind of housing 00:19:02.452 --> 00:19:04.958 - utopia. Perfectly adorable units, 00:19:06.146 --> 00:19:14.438 - dwellings that are walkable to all of our resources, affordable to anyone, no matter your income level, 00:19:14.438 --> 00:19:22.571 - the best climate ratings, the biggest sidewalks, the widest lanes, but the fact of the matter is that 00:19:22.571 --> 00:19:30.863 - we can do exceedingly well at one or maybe two of those things. And the rest of that catalog of desires 00:19:30.863 --> 00:19:35.966 - that we have on any given project, we must choose to prioritize 00:19:36.130 --> 00:19:43.165 - where we want to have a clear impact, where we want to be best at something. Mayor Thompson said this 00:19:43.165 --> 00:19:50.130 - housing project has been discussed since 2017, emphasizing community involvement. In order to remain 00:19:50.130 --> 00:19:57.096 - affordable, construction would be led by local builders and the mortgages provided by local lenders. 00:19:57.096 --> 00:20:04.199 - The mayor further explained what this project would entail for the community. Hope All South is simply 00:20:04.199 --> 00:20:04.958 - phase one. 00:20:05.250 --> 00:20:13.944 - It is not Hopewell in its entirety, and we have picked two specific goals to focus on. Be affordable 00:20:13.944 --> 00:20:22.896 - at market rate to as many people as possible at the lowest income possible, and attainable to many more 00:20:22.896 --> 00:20:29.438 - of our residents. And be a neighborhood that makes the most of walkability. 00:20:30.210 --> 00:20:36.779 - It is an idyllic walking distance to all of the resources of family or individual needs. The design 00:20:36.779 --> 00:20:43.546 - presented to you tonight does an exceedingly good job of meeting those two goals. We also meet climate 00:20:43.546 --> 00:20:50.378 - goals and will commit to exceeding the base level in at least one other area. Council members discussed 00:20:50.378 --> 00:20:56.947 - legal concerns, reasonable conditions, and amendments for the planned unit development. Speaking on 00:20:56.947 --> 00:20:59.838 - topics such as affordability and utilities, 00:21:00.226 --> 00:21:06.749 - Councilmember Dave Rallo proposed to postpone further discussion on this ordinance. Other councilmembers 00:21:06.749 --> 00:21:13.147 - agreed, saying that they would have time to consult with legal counsel and research further questions. 00:21:13.147 --> 00:21:19.546 - Sydney Zulek, however, was one of three councilmembers who opposed further postponement. She explained 00:21:19.546 --> 00:21:22.590 - the reality of the housing affordability crisis. 00:21:23.010 --> 00:21:30.622 - Earlier today, I heard someone say that we've been discussing Hopewell since 2017. So on January 1st 00:21:30.622 --> 00:21:38.460 - of 2017, I was 14 years old. Since then, I turned 16. I graduated high school. I turned 18. I graduated 00:21:38.460 --> 00:21:46.223 - college. I turned 21. I ran for office and won. Almost 10 years later, I'm 23. I'm this council's vice 00:21:46.223 --> 00:21:50.142 - president. And our city still has a housing crisis. 00:21:50.946 --> 00:21:56.726 - Out of the nine of us up here, I am the only one who does not own property. All of my eight colleagues 00:21:56.726 --> 00:22:02.563 - do, and my generation has no hope of following in their footsteps if we continue to let perfect prevent 00:22:02.563 --> 00:22:08.455 - good. So the people of this city deserve results, and that is why I will be voting against postponement. 00:22:08.455 --> 00:22:11.710 - The council voted six to three to postpone the ordinance. 00:22:12.898 --> 00:22:18.957 - The Monroe County Commissioners met on March 26 and heard from Women's Commission President Susan Hingle 00:22:18.957 --> 00:22:24.844 - about an incident involving the county's digital calendar. Hingle said that the Monroe County Women's 00:22:24.844 --> 00:22:30.845 - Commission gathered for their March 19th meeting at the county courthouse and found that the doors were 00:22:30.845 --> 00:22:36.905 - locked. Once they were eventually let inside, they were told that they could not remain in their regular 00:22:36.905 --> 00:22:41.406 - meeting space because their meeting was not on the county's digital calendar. 00:22:41.986 --> 00:22:48.681 - This was inconvenient and frustrating, but more importantly, it put us in a position where a public 00:22:48.681 --> 00:22:55.979 - body that had followed the law was effectively prevented from using public space to conduct public business. 00:22:55.979 --> 00:23:03.009 - We did what we were required and allowed to do. We had quorum and agenda and a lawfully noticed meeting, 00:23:03.009 --> 00:23:06.558 - so we met anyway outside on the Sophia Travis bench. 00:23:06.690 --> 00:23:12.364 - on county property. I want to be clear, I don't believe this was intentional, but I do think 00:23:12.364 --> 00:23:19.076 - it is symptomatic of a deeper issue, namely the fragility of the systems that support boards and commissions. 00:23:19.076 --> 00:23:25.238 - Next, Tia Arthur, executive director of Monroe County Court appointed special advocates, highlighted 00:23:25.238 --> 00:23:31.583 - several events the organization will host for Child Abuse Awareness Month. We're rolling out a training 00:23:31.583 --> 00:23:34.878 - in April called Stop It Now to help people understand 00:23:35.266 --> 00:23:42.852 - and learn about the signs to protect children from sexual abuse. Those are things that are very important 00:23:42.852 --> 00:23:50.080 - to us. And I just wanted to invite everyone here to please join us. We're doing a kickoff rally next 00:23:50.080 --> 00:23:57.022 - Wednesday at noon here on the south side of the courthouse lawn. I wanted to extend my gratitude 00:23:57.186 --> 00:24:04.085 - to Monroe County. They are supportive of the welfare of children. They're concerned about the welfare 00:24:04.085 --> 00:24:11.187 - of children as we are at CASA. And I want to thank Commissioner Thomas and Commissioner Madera for being 00:24:11.187 --> 00:24:17.951 - willing to speak on behalf of this issue at the kickoff rally. The Monroe County Commissioners will 00:24:17.951 --> 00:24:24.782 - meet again on April 2nd. And that is all for Cats Week. Thank you for joining us. For Cats and WFHB, 00:24:24.782 --> 00:24:26.270 - I'm Annalise Poorman. 00:24:27.266 --> 00:24:27.582 - you