Hello and welcome to Cats Week. I'm Annalise Poorman. The Ellitsville Town Council met on April 13th
and awarded a community crossing matching grant to milestone contractors to repave streets.
Street Commissioner Kip Hetty said the low bid was just under $148,000. I could add that the streets
that will be paved this year will be Jessica Street from Benjamin to Hayden Court, Meadowlands Drive,
from Paddington Way to Daisy, Clover Drive from Meadowlands to Daisy and Wildflower Drive from Meadowlands
to Daisy. The council approved the contract unanimously.
Next, Fire Chief Kevin Patton provided an update on the repair of an aerial fire truck. A routine check
found an issue with a ladder that will require nearly $250,000 in repairs. Councilmember Scott Oldham
said that it is in the town's best interest to fix the truck rather than buy a new one. I don't see
it to be practical for us to not fix this. The size of the township, the size of
Things that may be headed our way in the future. I don't see where we Quite frankly have the option
to not fix it because redundancy is the is the keystone for public safety And this would only make the
third one even if we keep us a spare in the county, correct be the fourth I think if when it comes back
online, it would be the fourth. Yeah, so that's not a whole lot for a county with a
the population we have and particularly some of the bigger apartment complexes that are not righteously
ours currently for Ellitsville, but through mutual aid and frankly with the proximity of the airport
and everything else, I just don't think it's good fiscal policy not to fix this one. Patent said the
repair will require a new ladder to be built, which takes around six months. However, the truck will
only be out of commission for about a month while the new ladder is installed. The council will discuss
funding the repair at its next meeting.
During supervisor comments, Town Manager Mike Farmer discussed the Town of Ellitsville and Richland
Township reorganization plan. We'll get it sent out in the media, put it online, put it on our website,
as soon as possible. And everybody ought to be interested in it, and they should come to the meetings
and be here for the hearings.
two meetings at which the resolution to approve the plan is read out loud and then there's a final public
hearing. The finalized draft was completed by the reorganization committee on April 8th. The town council
and township board will finalize a schedule for deliberation meetings and public hearings to share with
the impacted residents.
The Bloomington Board of Public Safety met on April 16th. First, Deputy Police Chief Scott Oldham said
that there has been a decrease in crimes with weapons. Crime involving weapons continue to be lower
than what we've seen in the past. Next, Assistant Fire Chief Tanya Daffron said Bloomington saw fewer
service calls in the last year. However, overall, the last few years combined have seen an increase.
So our year to date, 1608,
calls for service for this month, it was 558 of that. So roughly about 500 a month is standard.
Of our 558, 220 were medical in nature. We are down from a year ago, which was 150 calls from 2025.
However, we're up.
roughly 10% from five years ago. And that seems more consistent that we're generally up. Daffron said
the station's mobile integrated healthcare numbers rose in March. And then MIH, we had 11 car seats
installed for the month. Six of those were new car seats for families. So not quite half in one month
from the year to date, as you can see.
Average visits per client, 11.1. 27 different services engaged for clients this month. That is the most
this year for a single month, 27 different ones. And then agencies engaged and where the referrals.
So again, March was a very busy month.
after the fire and police department presentations. Board member Tim Brinson said he was disappointed
in Bloomington for amending the flock camera system contract. I feel that flock camera system is a very
good program and I don't see how it's violating anyone's civil rights or privacy. It's not being kept
forever. It's 30 days and it's only a license plate number and as far as I'm concerned,
The government wants to know how many times I go to the upstairs pub. Well, look at the flock camera
system down there, because I personally don't care. But some people feel that it's an invasion of their
privacy. And I would say that out of the people that say that, 99% of them are on Facebook. And 85%
of them don't have it locked down. And when you don't have it locked down, you have welcomed me into
your life with open arms.
Now I can see where you like to go eat. I can see where you live. I can see the inside of your house,
your family, when you're going on vacation, how long you're going to be gone. What kind of pets do you
have? So I don't understand this invasion of privacy with the flock camera system at all. So me, personally,
I'm very disappointed in the city. And I fully supported the flock camera system.
Princeton explained that he did not think that it was an invasion of people's privacy and that it could
help with crimes. The board acknowledged his thoughts and adjourned the meeting.
The Bloomington Commission on Sustainability met on April 14th and discussed a resolution against the
use of glyphosate in Bloomington's public spaces. Experts answered questions about the common herbicide
used in weed control. Mary Wells, the natural resources manager with Bloomington Parks and Recreation,
explained how the city uses the herbicide. We are using glyphosate specifically for non-selective control.
It's a broad spectrum herbicide that's systemic.
which is one of the reasons why it's such an important tool. It doesn't just top kill, it gets down
into the roots and then kind of ends its action as it finds the soil particles and starts going through
its half-life. So we are using it, a lot of our use, over half of our use going back just the last few
years is for cut stump applications on woody vegetation.
Well said, the city also uses the herbicide on resistant invasive species, such as bush honeysuckle.
She said Parks and Recreation reports glyphosate usage on its online pesticide notice interface. Monroe
County Identify and Reduced Invasive Species Group president, Ellen Jaycart, said only allowing the
herbicide to be used on invasive species would cause problems with keeping sidewalks cleared of weeds.
Some communities in Florida have
attempted to ban glyphosate. And one of the things that they saw was a great increase in lawsuits, largely
because glyphosate was used to keep sidewalk cracks clean. They had no other way to do that effectively.
And there were a lot of slip and fall lawsuits. Jaycart and Wells both said their organizations use
a dye and signage to show where glyphosate has been applied. Jaycart also said glyphosate is safer than
other herbicides on the market.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of other studies. There are incredible studies that have been
done. Glyphosate is by far the most studied herbicide in the world compared to any other out there,
Triclopyr, Mesopyr, Pliclorum. Glyphosate is the one they focus on because it has been such a workhorse
of an herbicide, and it's so greatly used.
I think you have to carefully evaluate the author's potential for conflict of interest. But from what
I have seen from all of the work that's been done, thus far there have been no good studies that have
shown significant harm to humans and applicators and used according to label directions.
compared to all the other possible herbicides out there, it's the safest we've got. Jaycart said using
glyphosate helps clear invasive species and promotes native plant growth, which is beneficial for the
environment. Wells added that invasive species change the soil, so it's best to remove them with the
herbicide. The commission postponed voting on the resolution until its May meeting so commissioners
can gather more information and think about possible amendments.
The Monroe County Capital Improvement Board met on April 15th. First, the board heard updates from Weddle
Brothers Construction on the Bloomington Convention Center expansion. Senior Superintendent Logan Turner
said they have made significant progress. We have 52,000 pounds of supplemental steel that's in the
exhibit hall. And what that means is that's for all the partition walls. There's a lot of coordination
that goes into that and getting that in place so we can frame walls around it.
drywall paint, but there's a lot of steel that goes in before we can do that. So on sequence seven,
as you can tell, the detailing is going on and the decking has started as of today. So that's moving
that all get closed in. So that's a huge milestone for us. We'll go ahead to the next. Next, the board
considered the acceptance of land transfers from the city and county board president, John Weikart explained
the transfers. Uh, since our last meeting, uh, the redevelopment commission, uh, by resolution approved the
transfer of parcels to the Capital Improvement Board that include, by way of description, the south
overflow parking lot, as well as the parking lot that is behind the courtyard by Marriott, so west of
the courtyard by Marriott, south of this building. So the Redevelopment Commission has approved the
transfer to us of those two parcels. I think it's more than two, but those parcels of land.
In addition, last night, the County Council completed the approval process started by the County
Commissioners. The County Commissioners by resolution approved the transfer to the CIB of the West parking
lot, as well as those parcels that I will simply describe as south of Smith Avenue,
to 2nd Street, with the exception of a privately owned building that's on that property. So the county
commissioners approved that by resolution. Last night, the county council also approved that resolution.
So both the city and the county have advised us that they are transferring or are wanting to transfer
those parcels to us. The board voted unanimously to accept the conveyance of the properties.
Then the board discussed related real estate. Weichart maintained that their mission is to expand the
convention center, renovate the current building and select a hotelier and a site for the host hotel.
He explained that the college square site is the best option. We're obviously well underway with the
expansion and plans for renovation and the transfer from the RDC and the county of parking lots secures
that into the future.
There is now an opportunity presented by the transfer of the further south properties by the county
to identify what land we own for hotel development. We've all recognized for two years now that it is
a north site, the College Square site that is the best fit for the hotel site. Negotiations between
the hotel developer, we selected in the city ended in December 2025 after 14 months of discussion. But
now with the transfer of land from the county,
the CIB is for the first time in a position to make its own offer on the College Square site.
In May of 2024, in response to the CIB's request to the City to identify property available for the
Convention Center project, Margie Rice Corporation Council wrote about the site to the North, and I
quote from her letter, negotiations will be required for the purchase or acquisition of the RDC-owned
parcels to the North
If those parcels are determined to be integral to the project, the city will expect to be paid or reimbursed
in some amount for the real property to the north of the existing convention center. Weichart made a
motion to negotiate with the president of the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission, Deborah Meyerson,
for the acquisition of the College Square location. The motion passed unanimously.
During public comment, city council member Sydney Zulek said she supports negotiations with the city
on the College Square property. I just want to take the time to thank you all for all the hard work
that you've done on this and say that it is not necessarily up to me, but I am very supportive of your
efforts to enter into negotiations with the city for the College Square property. And I just wanted
to come on record and say that. So thank you very much for all of your work. And I look forward to continuing
to work with you in the future.
The Monroe County CIB will meet again on May 20th. The Monroe County Public Library Board of Trustees
met on April 15th. Library Director Greer Carson presented the monthly report to the board. Carson said
the library hosted 217 programs, which saw over 3,200 attendees. He said that there has been an increase
in engagement for children's programming.
We saw a huge increase in the use of Loat for Kids, which is our newest children's ebook platform, with
a total of 238 stories viewed. That's a remarkable monthly statistic, given that the total number of
stories viewed for all of last year was 258. We introduced this resource in January of this year, and
it was the eLibrary resource of the month in March, so it's likely that the web highlight was the driver
for such a sharp increase in use, and that's often the case.
Carson shared that there was an uptick in interest for another program titled Mango Languages.
increase in use last month, nearly doubling the numbers that we saw in March of 2025. We believe this
was due at least in part to the temporary loss of Rosetta Stone. So Rosetta Stone, which is a very popular
language tool, has been a part of the Indiana State Library's Inspire suite of resources for some time.
It was dropped in July of last year during the State Library's renewal with EBSCO, which is the provider.
and partly due to the cost-saving measures they took associated with the discontinuation of the IMLS
funding. Once that funding was restored, Rosetta Stone was added back to the Inspire collection in February
of this year. And it is very popular, so it's quite possible that Mango Languages sort of took the place
for Rosetta Stone for a little while. Carson added that the library has introduced Blu-ray discs to
additional branches following success at the downtown location.
We introduced blu-ray discs to our branches in March. The popularity of our downtown blu-ray collection
has grown over the two years that we've offered this, and now we're starting to order branch copies
of some blu-ray titles so that Ellisville and Southwest both have browsing blu-ray collections.
For some context, we often pilot a new physical collection at the downtown library before expanding
it to the branches. This allows us to gauge demand for browsing collection before investing and expanding
its holdings across the system, which, of course, can be quite expensive. While we pilot a collection,
we watch the patron holds queues for downtown materials to see how many branch patrons request the title
to be sent to the branch for pickup.
And this gives us a sense for when it's appropriate to go ahead and invest in expanding a physical collection
to the branches. The next meeting of the MCPL Board of Trustees will be on May 20th. The Monroe County
Council met on April 14th. During public comment, a resident addressed the recently revived issue of
the proposed North Park jail location.
I'm going to implore you to please, even under these pressure tactics, to remain true to your convictions
and to remain true to the desires of your constituents. The public does not want a jail at North Park.
Your colleagues at the city do not want a jail at North Park. I know two of our city council members
put out a press release to that very sentiment yesterday. Your business community does not want a jail
at North Park.
Social service providers, the folks in the trenches doing the work, as you just heard, do not want a
jail at North Park. And you yourselves in October stated in no unclear terms that you do not want a
jail in North Park. Building a jail at North Park would be a tremendous harm to our community. And I
hope that when the time comes, and it seems like it's coming, that you will once again vote no on a
purchase order for that land. Thank you.
Chief Deputy Phil Parker from the Monroe County Sheriff's Department then provided an update on ongoing
hiring challenges. In 2025, we ran two merit processes. In each one of those processes, we had 38 applicants.
In that first process, we netted zero hires out of that process. We took six people to background in
polygraphs.
And they all failed, every one of them. Six failed the polygraph examination, which as we know is a
test of veracity and what you've done in your past life that may or may not affect you. So what can
we derive from that? And unfortunately, that's a quality of applicant issue that we're struggling with
right now.
The clerk's office represented by new chief deputy Tanner Brawnham requested approval for overtime pay
to support election related work. So we have several employees in the clerk's office who assist with
elections during election season. That includes a lot of it is training, training, you know, we have
a lot of a lot of poll workers, election day poll workers who work full time jobs and they can't make
our normal training days. And so we have individuals who assist with training
after hours and on weekends and that's primarily what this line is for. Following tornado damage airport
director Carlos Laverde requested funds to cover repair costs at the county airport while awaiting insurance
reimbursement. I'm thinking two million dollars worth of capital damage out there and it's fluctuated
between two and four right now
we're looking at approximately $3 million in damage. The council then deliberated a property transfer
to the Capital Improvement Board for the Convention Center expansion. CIB President John Weichart stated
his intent to pursue a land swap for the former Bunger and Robertson lot to the north. But it would
be my hope
that if we were to receive these parcels in transfer, that we would engage the city and the redevelopment
commission into a discussion about a land exchange. Can we exchange those south parcels to second street
for the former Bunger Robertson lot? Can we achieve two goals? Can the CIB then move forward to develop
a hotel on that north property, which is the best fit for the city?
see some advantage to having the South South parcels for their own. initiatives for their own priorities
for their own development, whatever that whatever that may be. I can't I can't predict what will happen
if we were to make that offer, I can tell you that that in private conversations. i've had with the
mayor she's not indicated support for a land exchange.
A local resident identified only as Barry expressed support for a land swap that would preserve affordable
housing at Seminary Point. It makes no sense to ruin people's lives in the interim, but it makes perfect
sense to transfer this property to the city with assurance from the city that they intend to transfer
it to a land trust and actually use their affordable housing fund to keep Seminary Point permanently
affordable. I spoke to an elderly woman who lives at Seminary Point one week ago. I asked her if she
wants to leave. She said,
No! The Council approved the Motion 6-0 with Councilmember Jennifer Crossley abstaining. The next meeting
of the Monroe County Council will be on April 28th. And that is all for Cats Week. Thank you for joining
us. For Cats and WFHB, I'm Annaliese Poorman.