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