- and welcome to Cats Week. I'm Annalise Poorman. Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thompson hosted a press conference
- following a shooting on Kirkwood Avenue in the early hours of Sunday morning that left five people injured.
- This comes during Little 500 weekend which draws thousands of visitors to Bloomington. The incident
- sparked concerns about public safety during one of the largest events of the year. Mayor Thompson condemned
- the violence on Kirkwood.
- It is, of course, an incredibly sad day any time there's violence in our community, and any time especially
- there are victims of gun violence. We condemn gun violence unequivocally, in any form, and my thoughts
- are with those that were injured last night
- Police Chief Mike Decoff clarified that five people were injured in the shooting, fewer than the nine
- people initially reported. Decoff said all of the victims are in stable condition. Last night,
- at approximately 12.25 a.m., police department officers were stationed in the 400 block of Mason Kirkwood,
- monitoring a large crowd that had gathered in the street. Officers heard what they believed to be multiple
- gunshots, and the crowd began scattering. Officers immediately converged on the area and located
- It was originally believed that up to nine people had been injured as a result of gunfire, but now we
- believe that there were five people that were actually injured by gunfire and fragments from bullets.
- The individuals currently known to have suffered injuries were a 20-year-old female, an 18-year-old
- female, 22-year-old female, a 17-year-old female, and a 21-year-old female. All were treated and released
- except one.
- Decoff said that a fight broke out between two women outside five guys on Kirkwood. According to security
- camera and cell phone footage obtained by the Bloomington Police Department, two males involved in the
- fight both drew handguns and fired their weapons.
- The incident prompted concerns about public safety during large events. Decoff said that the crowds
- were estimated to be made up of two to 3,000 people. Mayor Thompson said while police maintained a presence
- on Kirkwood, the city's ability to prevent gun violence proves limited under state law. After every
- large gathering or violent incident, the city does a review. We will be doing that in the coming days
- again, and we're committed
- to update policies and procedures as needed to increase safety at public events. It has been suggested
- that we forbid guns from public gatherings in the future in Bloomington. Unfortunately, Indiana gun
- laws prohibit such action. And if the gun laws remain as they are, anyone can hope and carry.
- We encourage people not to bring guns to gatherings. And we encourage you to speak up to those who can
- change our gun laws. When violence happens in our community, our entire community is impacted. Chief
- DeKoff said police were active on the scene. However, the large crowd made it difficult to take control
- of the situation. The crowd was much larger.
- on Friday night and so it would have become a resource issue and our belief was if we tried to move
- the crowd that that problem would have caused more problems. There wasn't really any reason for us to
- move the crowd because everybody was pretty jovial and happy until the
- The Monroe County Council met on April 28th. Health Administrator Lori Kelly presented the results of
- efforts to remediate homes that were identified as former methamphetamine houses. The Health Department
- Environmental Health Services, we address testing and remediation for 12 properties that were identified
- as former methamphetamine lab sites by the Indiana State Police.
- So properties that were identified go back as far as 2009 with only one of those being vacant. So through
- the support of Health First Indiana funding in the amount of $50,000 and through approval with our local
- authorities, we were able to hire a contractor to complete this work. Through those efforts, 11 of the
- 12 properties were successfully addressed with those $50,000 in Health First Indiana funding.
- And so we really just hope that these efforts demonstrate a dedication to mitigating environmental health
- hazards, protecting residents and maintaining compliance with state regulations. Next, the council discussed
- funding the jail. Council member Peter Iverson asked where the council reached the $135 million estimate.
- The last estimate that we got, we were sitting in this room and the last architectural rendering that
- we got was a quarter of a billion dollars.
- That was for a co-located facility. It was both phases together. I have not seen an analysis that shows
- that 135 million dollars is phase one. Council President Jennifer Crosley continued that they have asked
- for those estimates and not received them. I know you've asked during a few different times
- during conversations that we've had joined earlier this year about
- like cost estimates for that. And as of air on Tuesday, April 28th, we still haven't received it. Council
- member Marty Hawk emphasized a location for the jail has not been selected and the county still needs
- to move the inmates while a facility would be built. I mean, I'm not afraid of ACLU, but you know, some
- people are shaking, uh, but that we would, we would be forced to, uh,
- move a certain population, which we've always agreed to from the beginning of the agreement, off to
- another facility. And that it might be as much as $1 million a year. Well, but if we do this,
- it is $6,750,000 while we are determining and putting together a known fact so the public knows where
- we're going and what we're spending.
- And so yes, it could be more later to build, just like people's salaries are more as we go along.
- I get that. It's always more every year to operate county government. But I wanted to keep that in mind,
- that when somebody says, oh, it might cost us a million dollars to move some of these folks someplace
- else, that shouldn't be
- the deciding moment, figuring out what we're going to do. The council moved on to discuss appropriations
- of $30,000 to hire a lawyer in case of further litigation. Crossley said it could be beneficial to protect
- the county council. But what I'm just saying is, this is just our way of saying, should we get to this
- level? Again, I really hope to the higher powers that be, we don't. But should we? Maybe that's something
- that we could enact.
- But if we need to have a consultation or anything like that, again, that's up to this body to have that
- conversation. Crossley further explained that seeking outside legal counsel is not a criticism of Monroe
- County Attorney Molly Turner King. It is to have separate counsel from the county commissioners. What
- I'm just saying simply is it is just us seeking outside advice
- of what we should do should we get to next level mayhem. Because again, as I'm being honest, I've not
- heard anything that would suggest that we could potentially agree on the train to North Park right now.
- I don't. But again, I'm willing to work with our city counterparts, but again, it is what?
- This is April 28th. Again, as I said, we have a meeting. They have a meeting on the 30th. This is coming
- to them. We have a meeting on the 12th that is coming to us. That is all of the moving pieces before
- the time bomb clicks at zero. Again, it's just if we prepare and we, again, find that we're
- Councilor Iverson's words sometimes, if we sing kumbaya and we're all in together on this and we are
- one, then we don't have to go down this route. I wish to God that we don't have to go down this route.
- But should we do?
- That is my intent of just trying to prepare ourselves for what is coming. Council member David Henry
- moved to approve the appropriation and give power to Crossley as the council president to seek legal
- advice. The council approved the appropriation with council member Trent Deckard as the only opposing
- vote. The next county council meeting will take place on May 12th.
- The Monroe County Commissioners met on April 30th and reviewed an $11.4 million purchase agreement for
- the North Park property to build a new jail. County Attorney Justin Rody said the purchase agreement
- resembles a contract brought to the Commissioners last year. He also stated the new terms of the contract
- allow them to build only a jail, although it's their intention to eventually build a full justice complex.
- Commissioner Julie Thomas maintained that the current facility does not meet constitutional standards
- and she does not believe it can be renovated. The current facility is unconstitutional and no it cannot
- be renovated yet. Somehow all of these things have come back to light again and that's mystifying and
- talks stalled on questions of multi-floor, single-floor, etc.
- The council then passed a resolution, I don't remember the date, but it was a resolution that set April
- 7th as their own internal deadline to complete site selection and identify funding. Well, in a sense,
- that resolution itself identified funding because it shows existing revenue captured plus future revenue
- will exceed $170 million, which is more than we think ballpark wise, a new jail only facility will cost.
- Thomas said the county council asked ACLU representative Ken Falk for an extension on the lawsuit, which
- he granted. They asked for 30 days and he agreed. So now we're looking at the end of May as the new
- deadline from the ACLU. So the private settlement agreement is in a sense,
- putting on hold the lawsuit again, the lawsuit from 2009. And that lawsuit was filed against the board
- of commissioners and the sheriff of Monroe County, not against the council. So we were, the council
- had already missed their April 7th deadline, and we were on the verge of as a county, missing the April
- 15th deadline. And I, for one, and I think my colleagues would probably agree, I'm grateful
- And I feel like we're lucky and fortunate that Mr. Falk agreed to extend the deadline. Commissioner
- Jody Madeira said moving forward with the purchase agreement does not mean that they are tied to the
- North Park property if other opportunities present themselves. Just because we move forward with this
- purchase agreement, by the way, does not mean that if a better option presents itself, we don't have
- to go down this road. If we,
- have a better option that presents itself tomorrow, we can go with that option. But this is the option
- that is before us on the table today. So to all of those who say the commissioners love North Park,
- this is not so much a vote for North Park as it is a vote against this lawsuit. And it is not, I think,
- a site that even the commissioners wanted, any of them, even when they
- looked at this the first time. It is the only viable site they saw when they looked at the accumulation
- of properties that they considered. So I think that that's where we find ourselves today. Thank you.
- Thomas rebutted she does not believe alternatives are viable and she sees North Park as the best option.
- And I'm going to offer
- my own opinion on if something else comes up. I don't think there's any possibility that anything else
- can come up and be ready for a bond, a bond initiation in July because you would have to have everything
- else done. I just don't see that that's even possible. I mean, we should work. It's just not, we've
- kind of as a county, we've backed ourselves into this corner and the time is now.
- make the right decision, make the hard decision. One of the things we can do is we could sell Thompson.
- That could put that property back into the tax rolls for the city. It could become housing. We could
- use part of it maybe for substance use mental health treatment. I don't know, but you know, and then
- once we get everyone hopefully to North Park in the co-located facility, that's a healthy building,
- we can sell that building. And that again becomes another
- part of the tax base for the city of Bloomington and it could be offices. Lord help me if it's more
- student housing because I will just scream. Thomas asserted the council has continued pushing off the
- deadline despite possible legal measures. We're at the bottom line. This has gone on long enough. If
- Monroe County fails to meet the provisions of the settlement agreement, we're going to look at the council
- and ask why.
- Failure to abide by this deadline. I've heard it. Well, I'm shaking in my boots about the ACLU. Oh,
- you should. We don't know what a judge is going to order. Why would you give that? Why would you abdicate
- your responsibility and decision making to a judge? The commissioners approved the purchase agreement
- three to zero. The item now advances to the county council on May 12th.
- On April 27th, the Ellitsville Town Council met and considered vehicle equipment purchases for the Department
- of Public Works. Street Commissioner Kip Hetty said the first purchase would be a new street sweeper.
- So what it is is that if you remember, I come to you a couple months ago letting you know that we'd
- be looking for a new street sweeper. That's the first item. We've got a global sweeper that's going from
- a vacuum type sweeper to mechanical sweeper. We like this setup a lot better. It will be replacing our
- 2005, which is over 20 years old street sweeper. I tried to entertain a trade-in from the company and
- the trade-in was way, way, way below what I wanted to get for it. So, depending on what happens,
- In November, we might keep it around a little longer to have an extra sweeper. We'll put a little money
- into it to get us going in the first of the next year. Following the sweeper, Hetty explained that the
- Public Works Department would budget for a snow plow. The second one is a 2026 Kenworth single axle
- dump truck complete with the snow plow and spreader. I originally reached out to Kenworth
- to spec for a 2026 cabin chassis and then get all the outfits. And while I was on the phone with them,
- they told me they actually had one there set up in stock. The price that I have here, prices I have
- here are exact prices. And that price there of $213,002 is roughly 20,000 cheaper if I were to wait
- and order it versus getting one that's already on the lot.
- That will replace also a dump truck that's at least 18 years old. And again, I will probably not surplus
- that until we'll see how the fall goes. Heady said the department can use the current equipment for
- a little while longer, though it's nearly 20 years old. He said funding is available within its budget.
- Clerk Treasurer Noelle Conyers explained that a newer funding plan called the Master Lease Agreement
- is available.
- So the master lease agreement can be used for equipment. It essentially is a loan, but we're just putting
- it under one umbrella to keep it all legal. The motion was postponed until the next Ellisville town
- council meeting on May 11th. And that is all for Cats Week. Thank you for joining us. For Cats and WFHB,
- I'm Annalise Poorman.
- hurting families in Monroe County. A contribution to children who are vulnerable and in need of an advocate.
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- of remarkable people who are dealing with difficult situations. So many young people that are in need
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- be able to help the village as well.
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