Hello and welcome to Cats Week. I'm Annalise Poorman. The Richland Township Board of Trustees and Ellitsville
Town Council met for a joint meeting on June 22nd. They hosted the final hearing for the proposed
Ellitsville-Richland Township reorganization. During public comment, Clark Greiner, interim CEO for
Bloomington Economic Development Corporation, voiced support for putting the reorganization on the November ballot.
The BEDC highly respects the forward-thinking leadership both entities have shown in shaping the prosperous
future of generations to come. Therefore, we strongly encourage a favorable vote tonight to place the
reorganization measure on the ballot and grant your residents the voice and opportunity they deserve
to decide this issue coming in November. Andrew Henry, who was involved in the reorganization planning
process, also supported presenting the resolution to voters.
I have heard many interesting questions, positions, and arguments for and against. One view I have not
heard a single time, not once, is I would like to not have the opportunity to vote on this. Every single
person I've spoken to, whether they were indifferent initially, whether they were in favor or opposed,
every single person expressed the desire to have the opportunity to cast their vote and not have this
be taken away from them as a ballot initiative.
The combined boards voted five to one to put the reorganization on the ballot in November. Ellisville
Town Council President Scott Oldham urged residents to do research and ask questions before the vote.
Don't just believe everything that's floating around because there's a lot of misinformation both pro
and con out there. This shapes this town's future. This shapes this township's future. So let's all
try and get it
as absolutely right as we can and not disbelieve a rumor of a rumor of a rumor of a rumor. Come and
ask one of the two boards, come and ask the committee who put these things together. Don't just go on
third, fourth hand information. This is a very significant vote. Residents can vote on the proposed
Ellitsville Richland Township reorganization in November.
The Monroe County Council met on June 23rd and heard a request from the sheriff's office for additional
funds to hire outside council to prepare for an ACLU lawsuit. Sheriff Ruben Marte asserted the need
to move quickly. We're moving at a very fast pace that we don't have the luxury to wait. And again,
to be fair to the council, that's one reason why I said it. Taking your lead, following your lead,
That's the reason why we're coming to you right now, because it was moving at us really quick. Much
of the discussion centered on whether the county's insurance would cover litigation and whether the
sheriff should reallocate existing funds before seeking a new appropriation. Councilmember Kate Wilts
questioned the request. You already have a line for this and you have money for these purposes.
I'm just, I guess,
unsure as to why you need an extra appropriation before a lawsuit has been started. The council approved
the sheriff's request for an additional $30,000 by a vote of six to one with council member Marty Hawk
casting the lone dissenting vote.
Next, the council heard from Cientia, a software cybersecurity company seeking a property tax abatement
to support a major expansion. Company president Doug McDaniel said the company offers high-wage local
jobs and long-term careers. We currently have 39 employees. Our average salary is just a little north
of $105,000 a year.
90% of our employees are in Indiana. 74% of those are here in Monroe County. The average longevity of
our folks is right at five and a half years. And we've got quite a few young folks as well. Counselors
largely praised the company's local economic impact while asking about workforce longevity, benefits,
and whether any environmental regulations apply to its operations.
The council voted to advance the Ciencia tax abatement request to public notice. Later, the County Council
approved Resolution 2026-25 restructuring the Collaborative Justice Project Working Subcommittee after
its first meeting failed for lack of quorum. County Attorney Molly Turner King explained the narrowed
scope of the subcommittee. The Collaborative Justice Project Working Subcommittee's focus shall be on
location only at this time.
The subcommittee is expected to return a recommended jail site in roughly one month. The Monroe County
Collaborative Justice Project Working Subcommittee held its first meeting on June 24th. The expected
first meeting lacked a quorum, so the Monroe County Council reduced voting membership from eight to
six members. Currently, the subcommittee has five members because the Monroe County Commissioners have
yet to appoint a representative.
The subcommittee's goal is to evaluate potential properties within Bloomington city limits and recommend
one location to the city county collaborative group. Deputy Prosecutor April Wilson proposed a process
for the task. With the truncated schedule, I think one of the things we should do is create a site evaluation
metrics, identify properties, apply the site evaluation metrics to the identified properties, discuss
our findings and make recommendations. I recognize we only have three weeks.
That's why you have a calendar which is included as well. Wilson said the council gave the subcommittee
one month to find a location. This is the calendar. That's why I picked July 14th as our deadline and
trying to reach that deadline with this process.
It seems like we would have to have multiple meetings. I just put some meetings on a calendar. Obviously,
I haven't checked with anyone's schedule, so I understand that they might have to be moved. Wilson said
she hopes the process and pacing will allow the subcommittee to meet its deadlines.
Her plan also provided six metrics to judge each property. The subcommittee agreed to review the proposed
metrics before the next meeting. Thompson suggested the subcommittee members submit additions before
June 26th. I would suggest that members of the committee submit suggested additions by email ahead of
time so that we get to a near final
at least something that we can all look at and the public can look at before our next meeting.
The subcommittee approved scheduling six meetings through July 13th to finalize its recommendation.
It voted to accept public comment during the June 29th and July 6th meetings while also establishing
a process for written public input. The committee moved on to hear County Attorney Larry Allen present
a history of the jail property search.
The first round was when we had Sheriff Swain and Sheriff Swain had a request that we look close to
the I-69 corridor so that they could transport inmates to the medical facilities in Indianapolis if
there was an event that was needed. I think you guys all received some material about this and it's
in the packet. We basically looked at and we called one property north, which is a property off Vernal
Pike, which
was in round two and then we looked at Fullerton Pike and we looked at a property further south the
one further south they can get a lot of traction because it's so far south but there was a lot of back
and forth at least the initial meeting between the Fullerton Pike site and the Vernal Pike site we reached
out to the owner of Vernal Pike and they weren't interested in selling at that time so that kind of
eliminated that. So that's how we got to Fullerton. We went through the city council process, city council
rejected it. Allen also explained the history behind the Thompson Hopewell power lines and North Park
sites. The North Park site was denied by the county council in May. County attorney Molly Turner King
moved on to the properties that design company DLZ identified downtown and on the outskirts of Bloomington.
Within your packet, there are six properties, including a property south of the post office, the Bloomington
Transit garage, a tap road south, a tap road north, the H.T. building and the fell iron bender lumber
property. Turner King said the properties were considered for their size, location within floodplains
and whether they are for sale.
She said none of the six properties met the stated criteria. The subcommittee decided to add the Thompson
property, the Curry property, and the Powerlines property to the list of sites under current consideration.
The subcommittee will meet again on June 29th.
The Ellisville Town Council met on June 22nd. During public comment, community member and business owner,
Jason Barrett disputed a fine that he received. Barrett alleged the fine was enforced for personal reasons
and that there was a lack of communication from the town. Long story short, we were on a great path
and then had some challenges with being able to expand my business, try to get
A project internally in the business approved. It took many, many months. Got the DNR involved in another
project, and then we got a fine because we didn't follow the rules that were set aside by the town.
And really, it came down to after we've sat down with the town that
It really took longer than anybody wanted to, expected to, or should have, but then we were fined because
the DNR forced the town to. Anyway, there's still this little bit of a fine that's standing out there,
and I've been trying to have somebody listen to just our story, and we're trying to grow our business.
Really, what we're trying to do is add onto the building that's there, and that's just to grow our business.
Part of it's gonna be warehouse, part of it's hopefully
road frontage for another business. And I guess the whole reason I'm here is just to ask for
some cooperation. Town attorney Darla Brown urged Barrett to go to the Board of Zoning Appeals. I would
also note that any fine levy by the planning director is something that can be appealed to the Board
of Zoning Appeals because that's their job. One of their jobs is to consider appeals from
the zoning director's decision, and that time limit has passed. It's 30 days after she renders her decision.
Following the discussion, town manager Mike Farmer thanked first responders for their assistance with
recent storms, and street commissioner Kip Hetty made an announcement about 4th of July fireworks and
the town's annual blood drive. Two quick things to remind everyone, this year's fireworks are on July
4th, up around the high school, junior high area.
There will be food trucks and they'll be out by the junior high parking lot and then our annual blood
drive is July the 18th at the fire station and you can sign up for that and get additional information
on the fire department Facebook page or you can call the station and I'll get you in contact with Chris
Klaus. The Ellitsville Town Council will meet next on July 13th.
The Bloomington Transportation Commission met on June 22nd. Project engineer Kendall Kenoki presented
the goal of an infrastructure project for Patterson Drive, Grimes Lane, and Rogers Street. Kenoki walked
through the plan for Rogers between 2nd and 3rd streets. This was an area where we were proposing to
remove some on-street parking. But if you talk to someone who lives in the area, they will tell you
we are actually removing a left turn lane.
from northbound Rogers onto westbound Howell. It's actually not a left turn lane. There's street parking
on the east side and then kind of a taper for traffic to go around, but it essentially functioned as
a left turn lane. So the proposal was to, this is what was shown before, but to eliminate that parking,
provide pedestrian refuge islands and then taper the road over and maintain the street parking with
bump outs.
After doing outreach, the updated design is essentially the same thing. So there's no changes tonight
in terms of Title 15 or anything. Kanoki said the third and final location is Grimes Lane where the
BTC proposes an implementation of safety improvements. We are now showing the extension of an existing
multi-use path on the north side of Patterson along Grimes.
from Morton to the Switchyard Park entrance, and then adding a raised crosswalk adjacent to the Switchyard
Park entrance. So this was prioritized by planning for pedestrian safety and traffic calming. The motion
passed unanimously. Next, Ryan Roebling proposed updates for the bylaws for BTC members, which would
seek to reduce confusion in policymaking. Our rules had no formal
Method for them to bring forward anything which obviously they are allowed to amend title 15 but title
2 Requires that this body review any title 15 amendment first and so it led to this confusing handoff
where no one was really sure how to move that to from council to this body and so thankfully Commissioner
of Olan is on top of it, but this will alleviate that now
staff can reach out to council members and have that handoff happen smoother. Robling explained the
powers that the BTC has with the city engineer. We became aware that there was an issue where the body
might never agree with the findings and might want to for all intents and purposes adopt a negative
finding while still allowing the city engineer to move forward with a project since the transportation
commission doesn't really have the ability to
cancel a project. So this fix will do that. The motion to update bylaws passed unanimously. The next
Bloomington Transportation Commission meeting will be held on July 27th. The Bloomington Historic
Preservation Commission met on June 25th. Board members first discussed staff reviews on two certificates
of appropriateness ranging from fence installation to solar panels on a garage roof.
Hand program manager Noah Sandweiss walked through specifics of the first COA on North Jackson Street.
That was proven to be inaccurate. The 907 North Jackson Street is a limestone faced, pure middle-roofed
cottage with a front corner porch and a later rear addition corner porch slash carport. There's a 1950s
garage at the rear of the property. This request, as I received it,
The proposed project consists of the installation of a new decorative black metal fence along the property
line. The board members agreed to move forward with the project. Next, the board discussed a demolition
delay request for a property on 424 South College Avenue. Sandoy said that he thinks there should be
a delay. This actually generally refers to buildings that are located in a historic district.
Demolition delay, for the most part, is handled under the Unified Development Ordinance. When demolition
delay comes up, the things that the commission is allowed to consider are about the significance of
the existing buildings, but not the future use of the site.
No. OK. Any other? Well, I'm a bit puzzled. Puzzled is probably the wrong word. Could you explain why
it is? On what basis did you include this in your submission?
If the delay is posted, Sarah Wolford, a member of local advocacy group Homes for All, said the organization
has an alternative plan for the property.
In reference to some of the deferred maintenance, deferred maintenance isn't necessarily a reason that
something deserves to be torn down. There are plenty of buildings and I can think of many that the cooks,
for example, have poured a lot of money into that I think the majority of people would agree had a lot
of deferred maintenance and that it probably would have been
more cost-effective to go ahead and tear them down. But just like it's not necessarily relevant what's
happening with the buildings in the future, that deferred maintenance is not necessarily a reason for
them to go ahead and be demolished. And they are currently housing people. Next, board members discussed
a COA for the Fleener Building at 112 East 3rd Street.
The proposal requested brick repairs in areas damaged by a vehicle accident. Bricks would only be replaced
where necessary. Sandweiss discussed whether to move forward with brick repairs since it is a unique
building type from the 1920s. Even though the proposal is for brick replacement now is because that
shows where repairs are going to have to be made, which, you know, we additionally have this picture
here of the damaged storefront, but
This is sort of at an angle, so yeah. Okay, so the window stays. Yes, the window is going to be blended
instead of having limestone put in. Yes, my understanding that's going to be a combination of salvaged
brick and the smooth red brick. The Fleener Building brick replacement plan was approved by the Commission.
The next meeting of the Bloomington Historic Preservation Commission will be on July 9th. And that is
all for Cats Week. Thank you for joining us. For Cats and WFHB, I'm Annaliese Poorman.
you