WEBVTT 00:00:04.738 --> 00:00:11.299 - Hello and welcome to Cats Week. I'm Annaliese Poorman. The Monroe County Capital Improvement Board met 00:00:11.299 --> 00:00:17.860 - on July 15th and unanimously selected Dora Hospitality as the developer for the Convention Center Host 00:00:17.860 --> 00:00:24.357 - Hotel. This allows the CIB to start negotiations with Dora to build a roughly 200-room hotel south of 00:00:24.357 --> 00:00:25.822 - the Convention Center. 00:00:26.050 --> 00:00:32.572 - The decision comes despite appeals from Local Advocacy Group, Bloomington Homes for All, who are urging 00:00:32.572 --> 00:00:38.843 - the Board to pump the brakes and consider a land swap with the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission 00:00:38.843 --> 00:00:45.615 - to preserve Seminary Point's affordable housing. CIB President John Wykart explained why the Board selected 00:00:45.615 --> 00:00:47.998 - Dora Hospitality as its Hotel de Air. 00:00:48.130 --> 00:00:54.700 - The Dora hospitality proposal not only met expectations for 200 guest rooms, restaurant and bar, fitness 00:00:54.700 --> 00:01:01.082 - center and meeting space, but it exceeded expectations, including a plan for 200 parking spaces. Dora 00:01:01.082 --> 00:01:07.463 - proposed an architectural design that is not only aesthetically and uniquely created for Bloomington, 00:01:07.463 --> 00:01:13.470 - but one that allows us to vision a host hotel on South College that has the potential to anchor 00:01:13.986 --> 00:01:21.446 - transformational southward development of our community. Board member Doug Bruce explained why the board 00:01:21.446 --> 00:01:28.622 - declined to wait for a land swap, saying Dora identified the South parcels as its preferred location 00:01:28.622 --> 00:01:36.011 - for the hotel. Time is of the essence, so the CIB reissued a second RFP as President Weickart mentioned 00:01:36.011 --> 00:01:42.974 - back in April for the parcels that the CIB actually owns and selected again the same hotelier and 00:01:43.330 --> 00:01:51.246 - this hotel here, if they started today, this hotel as a host hotel would not be open until sometime 00:01:51.246 --> 00:01:59.637 - in 2029. The hotel here that we selected has spent a great deal of time and money in their RFP submittals 00:01:59.637 --> 00:02:08.028 - and now have stated in our interviews that the South parcels are there and after there, I'll say increase 00:02:08.028 --> 00:02:12.382 - scrutiny because they've had two RFPs to look at this. 00:02:13.442 --> 00:02:19.587 - is a better and preferred location for their hotel. CIB member Jay Baer says despite encouragement for 00:02:19.587 --> 00:02:25.552 - the land swap, he does not believe it's the board's duty to tackle affordable housing. I personally 00:02:25.552 --> 00:02:31.697 - understand and appreciate the enthusiasm of members of this community to preserve or attain affordable 00:02:31.697 --> 00:02:37.663 - housing in this community. We all live in this community. That's why we're on this board. There's a 00:02:37.663 --> 00:02:39.870 - sign in the room right now that says 00:02:40.002 --> 00:02:45.763 - Homes, not hotels, but I think that's a false equivalency. Our role is not to solve affordable housing 00:02:45.763 --> 00:02:51.413 - for Bloomington or Monroe County. We certainly believe that affordable housing is a massive priority 00:02:51.413 --> 00:02:57.118 - in this community, but there are many other places and frankly, more appropriate bodies to solve that 00:02:57.118 --> 00:03:02.879 - problem than the CIB. And just speaking personally, I certainly hope that those issues and initiatives 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:03.774 - are undertaken. 00:03:04.194 --> 00:03:10.135 - Developer Russ Lauterbach said Dora Hospitality is ready to move forward and remains confident that 00:03:10.135 --> 00:03:16.254 - the South parcels are the right location for the project. We are going to build a sustainable project. 00:03:16.254 --> 00:03:22.255 - We're gonna, we're using Weddle Brothers. We're gonna be at least 70% union. We care very much about 00:03:22.255 --> 00:03:28.255 - the local community. All of us are part of this local community as part of this development team. So 00:03:28.255 --> 00:03:31.582 - we're gonna do our very best, provide you the very best 00:03:31.714 --> 00:03:37.786 - host hotel that we can. And we do like this site very much. And thank you very much for voting for us. 00:03:37.786 --> 00:03:43.741 - On the other hand, Bloomington Homes for All organizer Bryce Green said despite the CIB pursuing the 00:03:43.741 --> 00:03:49.695 - project, he still believes the land swap is worthwhile. We still believe that the land swap is still 00:03:49.695 --> 00:03:56.062 - something worth pursuing just because it is one of the only ways that we can see that we'll be able to save 00:03:56.258 --> 00:04:04.061 - the Seminary Point housing from being demolished. And as has been made public, the value of the properties 00:04:04.061 --> 00:04:11.353 - is not as big of an issue. The relative value of the properties is not as big of an issue as it was 00:04:11.353 --> 00:04:14.270 - earlier. And the immense public support 00:04:14.402 --> 00:04:20.765 - for preserving Seminary Point, while it is not the role of this body, I think it is still something 00:04:20.765 --> 00:04:27.255 - that this body has the ability to act on and has, you know, it's my hope that this body will. Habitat 00:04:27.255 --> 00:04:33.872 - for Humanity Housing Solutions Director, Sarah Wolford, urged the board to reconsider negotiations with 00:04:33.872 --> 00:04:40.617 - the city's redevelopment commission to preserve affordable housing in the city. The housing crisis cannot 00:04:40.617 --> 00:04:42.462 - afford the loss of 29 units. 00:04:42.626 --> 00:04:51.830 - Inaction and silence are individual choices that have real world consequences. The idea that a conversation 00:04:51.830 --> 00:04:54.046 - would delay constructible 00:04:54.754 --> 00:05:01.225 - The idea that a conversation would delay construction is laughable to anyone in the business. You still 00:05:01.225 --> 00:05:07.572 - have to complete phase two environmentals, go through IDEM approval and bid out the project. You have 00:05:07.572 --> 00:05:13.980 - the opportunity to be a savior of affordable housing while also serving the purpose the CIB was called 00:05:13.980 --> 00:05:20.389 - to do. Having a community space near the convention center is a mutually beneficial situation. I would 00:05:20.389 --> 00:05:21.758 - be interested in what 00:05:21.858 --> 00:05:28.470 - CIB plans for the hotel or for the land that the hotel is not taking up. The Capital Improvement Board 00:05:28.470 --> 00:05:35.146 - voted six to zero in support of selecting Dora Hospitality as the Convention Center host hotel, opening 00:05:35.146 --> 00:05:41.694 - the door for negotiations on the final development agreement. The CIB will meet again on August 19th. 00:05:42.914 --> 00:05:49.638 - The Collaborative Justice Project Working Subcommittee voted Monday to recommend renovating the current 00:05:49.638 --> 00:05:56.232 - jail facility and expanding into the nearby Curry Building for the new jail project. The subcommittee 00:05:56.232 --> 00:06:02.956 - also selected the Thompson property as a backup recommendation. This vote comes as the county now faces 00:06:02.956 --> 00:06:07.934 - a new federal lawsuit over constitutional standards at the current facility. 00:06:08.450 --> 00:06:16.126 - Bloomington Mayor Carrie Thompson said that she believes the Curry site offers the best path forward. 00:06:16.126 --> 00:06:23.652 - It just appears to me to be the best case scenario and most efficient to move forward is this site, 00:06:23.652 --> 00:06:27.038 - especially given the challenges at Thompson. 00:06:27.266 --> 00:06:35.292 - in terms of timing. So when it came down to a vote for me, that is why this got my top vote. I'm not 00:06:35.292 --> 00:06:43.636 - sold on the Justice building needing to be downtown. Mayor Thompson said that the Thompson Road property 00:06:43.636 --> 00:06:51.582 - remains a strong option. However, relocating power lines could halt construction. Thompson also was 00:06:51.582 --> 00:06:56.350 - my number two choice. I think if for some reason there is a 00:06:56.546 --> 00:07:06.409 - for gone conclusion, which is not my understanding that it is a must to have everything on one floor, 00:07:06.409 --> 00:07:16.755 - Thompson would be my top choice. That's obviously not possible at Curry, which was my top choice. Thompson 00:07:16.755 --> 00:07:22.750 - has, you know, it's already stoning adjacent to what we need. 00:07:22.850 --> 00:07:33.495 - And so the ask is a minimal ask, same process, acknowledging that. And I think even with an accelerated 00:07:33.495 --> 00:07:43.834 - time frame, you're two years out from finishing this for sure, and probably beyond that. So starting 00:07:43.834 --> 00:07:49.054 - to move with the power lines now would be prudent. 00:07:49.186 --> 00:07:55.473 - making that property marketable in the future for the county is going to necessitate moving those power 00:07:55.473 --> 00:08:01.820 - lines anyway. So my recommendation would be get those power lines taken care of. Deputy Prosecutor April 00:08:01.820 --> 00:08:07.865 - Wilson said that she's concerned that the Curry site would not have enough room for both a jail and 00:08:07.865 --> 00:08:13.971 - future justice center offices. One of the concerns that I have is it feels a little like we might be 00:08:13.971 --> 00:08:17.598 - repeating the same conversation that happened 40 years ago. 00:08:19.106 --> 00:08:26.527 - And we've kind of boxed everyone in in that building. It's not just that the jail is overcrowded. It's 00:08:26.527 --> 00:08:33.877 - that the county offices below don't have enough space as well. And it seems like if an alternative or 00:08:33.877 --> 00:08:41.442 - an option for Curry is, well, there's other places we can move us, in some ways, it's also acknowledging 00:08:41.442 --> 00:08:46.558 - the concern that maybe it's really not enough space to be able to have 00:08:48.130 --> 00:08:54.302 - all the justice partners by each other. And that's where I think I'm a little concerned or very concerned 00:08:54.302 --> 00:09:00.300 - is I think it will cost a lot more than anyone expects. I think by nature of doing the project the way 00:09:00.300 --> 00:09:06.122 - that we're doing it, you're going to have to do more of it than you intend in phasing. If you build 00:09:06.122 --> 00:09:11.945 - a jail annex, you're going to have to move all the employees out of Curry Fiscus. And then when you 00:09:11.945 --> 00:09:16.254 - put the jail annex, you're going to have to put all those employees back. 00:09:16.834 --> 00:09:24.330 - unless you choose to put them someplace else. And then that means the site wasn't originally big enough. 00:09:24.330 --> 00:09:31.470 - Wilson expressed urgency with the project, citing the latest federal lawsuit and saying that county 00:09:31.470 --> 00:09:38.966 - officials need to move quickly to find a solution. These allegations are what is alleged to be happening 00:09:38.966 --> 00:09:43.678 - now. And when we talk about delay, we're also talking about cost. 00:09:43.906 --> 00:09:49.485 - And it's not just financial cost, it's human cost. If we choose to build in the city, we are choosing 00:09:49.485 --> 00:09:55.064 - for there to be inflation and construction costs. We're choosing for reinvestment and redesign, costs 00:09:55.064 --> 00:10:00.698 - and new site evaluations and preparation, litigation and fees or attorney fees. The longer the lawsuit 00:10:00.698 --> 00:10:06.387 - continues, at some point it's going to be an impact to the community. There's also transportation costs 00:10:06.387 --> 00:10:07.262 - and case delay. 00:10:07.490 --> 00:10:14.742 - City Council member Sydney Zulik critiqued what she sees as years of inaction that led to the county's 00:10:14.742 --> 00:10:21.923 - current situation. The settlement agreement has been in place since 2008. I was six in 2008. Somebody 00:10:21.923 --> 00:10:29.105 - could have had a child in 2008. That child would be eligible to vote this year. The county has failed 00:10:29.105 --> 00:10:32.062 - to build a new jail. There are fabricated 00:10:32.258 --> 00:10:38.856 - There are fabricated false choices that we are currently experiencing because elected officials failed 00:10:38.856 --> 00:10:45.455 - to do their due diligence. I'm talking about the Thompson property. I'm talking about renovations that 00:10:45.455 --> 00:10:51.925 - could have been made to the current location. This notion that now we have to rush after 18 years of 00:10:51.925 --> 00:10:58.779 - pretty much stalemate is infuriating. And to all the young people who are listening, I hope our generation 00:10:58.779 --> 00:11:01.598 - does a better job at serving our community. 00:11:01.890 --> 00:11:11.640 - The mayor maintained that the county-owned Curry site gives officials more flexibility moving forward. 00:11:11.640 --> 00:11:21.200 - It is true that there is some assumption that because you own the property, it is more affordable to 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:31.518 - develop it. It's not always true. It's frequently not true. But site control does pave the way frequently to 00:11:31.938 --> 00:11:38.760 - quicker development. And so in the model of time is money, having site control, which you by nature 00:11:38.760 --> 00:11:46.059 - have if you own the property, is something that I have considered in my selections. The committee approved 00:11:46.059 --> 00:11:53.017 - Curry as its first recommendation by a vote of three to two before unanimously selecting the Thompson 00:11:53.017 --> 00:11:55.678 - property as its backup recommendation. 00:11:55.938 --> 00:12:02.243 - These recommendations will now make their way to the full collaborative Justice Project Committee, which 00:12:02.243 --> 00:12:05.726 - includes county council members and county commissioners. 00:12:06.946 --> 00:12:14.839 - The Monroe County Council met on July 14th and covered several grant related appropriations along with 00:12:14.839 --> 00:12:22.809 - updates on this jail subcommittee and community events. Council member Marty Hawk asked that the health 00:12:22.809 --> 00:12:30.549 - department's request to transfer $956.65 of strengthening prevention grant funds be removed from the 00:12:30.549 --> 00:12:35.454 - consent agenda. Why are we considering moving money around when 00:12:36.514 --> 00:12:43.940 - property in the negative. I mean, has everybody looked at that? They say they're in the process of receiving 00:12:43.940 --> 00:12:51.366 - grant amendments for additional funding, but the process when it comes to getting grants is not a guarantee. 00:12:51.366 --> 00:12:58.451 - You might be in the process of asking for it. I mean, I don't want to put my name to saying, yes, we're 00:12:58.451 --> 00:13:04.446 - going to let you go ahead and move around and start spending when it's in the negative. 00:13:05.922 --> 00:13:13.484 - And I didn't pull out those budgets, I just am believing what was put on there. Perhaps the auditor 00:13:13.484 --> 00:13:21.198 - has some advice for us. Gregory? Yes, this is a reimbursable grant fund, so it's typically in the red 00:13:21.198 --> 00:13:27.550 - until reimbursements come through. The transfer passed 6 to 1 with Hawk dissenting. 00:13:27.682 --> 00:13:34.623 - Later, in discussions regarding the current state of the county jail, Councilor Hawk raised concerns 00:13:34.623 --> 00:13:41.564 - about a recent state review, saying that the report described conditions differently than those that 00:13:41.564 --> 00:13:48.436 - have been presented to the council, and asking that the report be recent to all council members and 00:13:48.436 --> 00:13:55.377 - to the press. They came back with glowing reports just a couple of months ago. If you go through it, 00:13:55.377 --> 00:13:56.958 - you're going to think, 00:13:58.018 --> 00:14:07.090 - Were they someplace else other than here? We didn't see anything coming back from the sheriff or anybody 00:14:07.090 --> 00:14:15.816 - saying we disagree with this report. This report was a report from the state after they had reviewed 00:14:15.816 --> 00:14:24.628 - and gone through our jail. And they sent the report out, as they're required to do. And I didn't hear 00:14:24.628 --> 00:14:27.998 - anything from the commissioner saying, 00:14:28.258 --> 00:14:35.710 - Well, this report's all wrong. No one said the report's wrong. But clearly, it says something very different 00:14:35.710 --> 00:14:42.683 - from what's being presented as though the council knew something different. The Monroe County Council 00:14:42.683 --> 00:14:44.734 - will meet again on July 28th. 00:14:45.698 --> 00:14:53.800 - The Monroe County Commissioners met on July 16th and considered several jail-related resolutions, a 00:14:53.800 --> 00:15:02.307 - tax abatement for ciencia and legal representation in the county's jail lawsuit. The commissioners moved 00:15:02.307 --> 00:15:10.815 - to ratify a resolution acknowledging that the Monroe County Jail is overcrowded. Under the now therefore 00:15:10.815 --> 00:15:12.030 - section, we've 00:15:12.258 --> 00:15:23.079 - I think we need to change this to be more general because it's not. We're not the experts in. Determining 00:15:23.079 --> 00:15:34.001 - functional capacity bed counts all of that. That's that's not our business. What we are saying is. Instead 00:15:34.001 --> 00:15:40.126 - of what's in point to the board. Acknowledges the sheriff's 00:15:40.642 --> 00:15:48.627 - exceeds its functional capacity. I am forwarding this to Ms. DeLotter Myers once we approve it. The 00:15:48.627 --> 00:15:56.851 - commissioners referred members of the public to their July 9th work session for further discussion and 00:15:56.851 --> 00:16:05.235 - Commissioner Jody Medeira clarified the function of the resolution. Just wanted to say that it's largely 00:16:05.235 --> 00:16:07.710 - a technical and rather general 00:16:07.874 --> 00:16:14.056 - vote of confidence in our sheriff. It's not really necessary as we understand it, and it's scarcely 00:16:14.056 --> 00:16:19.681 - controversial to say the jail is overcrowded. So what we intend to say is that we know the 00:16:19.681 --> 00:16:25.863 - jail is overcrowded. We support that principle, and we know this is going on to others who will vet 00:16:25.863 --> 00:16:32.231 - it more closely, like the board of judges and the council. But it is not our job to vet it, and we are 00:16:32.231 --> 00:16:35.198 - not the experts in vetting it in that capacity. 00:16:35.586 --> 00:16:43.189 - County Attorney Jeff Cockerill also presented a letter of representation for Clark Johnson and Knight 00:16:43.189 --> 00:16:50.866 - limited to represent both the Monroe County Commissioners and Sheriff's Office in a case that the ACLU 00:16:50.866 --> 00:16:58.319 - brought against officials for quote unconstitutional conditions unquote at Monroe County Jail. This 00:16:58.319 --> 00:17:02.046 - morning we received a letter from the law firm of 00:17:02.146 --> 00:17:10.530 - Clark Johnson and Knight. This is the same firm, I believe, the commissioner has approved last week 00:17:10.530 --> 00:17:18.999 - for representation in the ACLU lawsuit. This letter is for the same work, for the same price, but it 00:17:18.999 --> 00:17:27.802 - also adds the sheriff as someone that she will represent in this case. The bulk of this letter discusses 00:17:27.802 --> 00:17:29.982 - the conflict of interest. 00:17:30.114 --> 00:17:36.480 - assessment that was done by the the law firm and they came to the conclusion that they could represent 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:42.784 - both the sheriff and commissioners and not have a ethical violation or a conflict violation as as you 00:17:42.784 --> 00:17:49.026 - guys are aware and i told you a while ago if this didn't become part of a litigation that our office 00:17:49.026 --> 00:17:55.207 - would be conflicted out and that we represent the entire county and we have three different members 00:17:55.207 --> 00:17:59.966 - of the county who have been named in this lawsuit and we don't think we were 00:18:00.098 --> 00:18:07.227 - positive we couldn't ethically represent each party to their satisfaction or basically without creating 00:18:07.227 --> 00:18:14.219 - a conflict between the without with us between those two parties so we we are unable to handle it for 00:18:14.219 --> 00:18:21.142 - anyone and we do not believe that this is conflict is a waivable one but it is one where we are just 00:18:21.142 --> 00:18:24.638 - we have this we have to step out so this letter is 00:18:24.962 --> 00:18:33.020 - of continuing the thought that they would represent the county commissioners but it also adds the sheriff 00:18:33.020 --> 00:18:40.773 - and the bulk of this letter it's a four-page letter and pages two and two and half of page three talk 00:18:40.773 --> 00:18:45.790 - about that conflict analysis that they had done and so same price 00:18:46.018 --> 00:18:53.689 - same representation, it's still hold. The commissioners also heard a resolution approving a tax abatement 00:18:53.689 --> 00:19:00.925 - for the company CNChia as they expand their building and employment on the county's west side. What 00:19:00.925 --> 00:19:08.451 - we have is we have a local company who is currently in a TIF district, the west side TIF district, they 00:19:08.451 --> 00:19:10.622 - want to expand their building 00:19:10.722 --> 00:19:19.741 - but basically make it twice as big. So add another 6,000 square feet. They want to increase their employment 00:19:19.741 --> 00:19:28.098 - in that building from 40 full-time employees making about $4.2 million to add 30 more employees that 00:19:28.098 --> 00:19:34.718 - would make about $2.3 million. The total tax evasion savings is about $100,000. 00:19:35.202 --> 00:19:41.327 - which is about 10,000 a year. This has been approved by the council. This comes to you because it is 00:19:41.327 --> 00:19:47.451 - in the TIF district, so you have an obligation to review the statement of benefits. For that, we did 00:19:47.451 --> 00:19:53.637 - have a redevelopment commission meeting last night where we discussed it, and they were made aware of 00:19:53.637 --> 00:19:59.762 - it, and they did not indicate that it would affect any of their abilities to pay for anything in the 00:19:59.762 --> 00:20:03.582 - future. So all in all, I think, particularly with the shift of 00:20:04.194 --> 00:20:11.045 - from property tax to income tax, that the wages being paid here are significantly higher than our average 00:20:11.045 --> 00:20:17.638 - wage in the county. And this group indicated that they have about 75% of their current employees live 00:20:17.638 --> 00:20:24.102 - in Monroe County. Typically when we look at a tax abatement, it's a 50-50. Half of them live in the 00:20:24.102 --> 00:20:31.083 - county, half are out. So that's a little bit higher for this group as well. The Monroe County commissioners 00:20:31.083 --> 00:20:33.022 - will meet again on July 23rd. 00:20:34.274 --> 00:20:41.444 - The Ellisville Town Council met on July 14th, where they began work on a wholesale water rate tracker, 00:20:41.444 --> 00:20:48.476 - which officials said is the only reason water bills will increase. Utilities Director, Mike Kornman, 00:20:48.476 --> 00:20:55.437 - warned that without the adjustment, the utility could quickly begin operating at a deficit. We just 00:20:55.437 --> 00:21:02.399 - want to maintain the rates that we established in 2024 so we can do the work that was projected and 00:21:02.399 --> 00:21:03.582 - maintain our O&M 00:21:03.938 --> 00:21:12.421 - expenses and without providing us this tracker, we could lose $25,000-$30,000 a month. During public 00:21:12.421 --> 00:21:21.324 - comment, residents urged the council to adopt an ordinance allowing off-road vehicles that mirrors Monroe 00:21:21.324 --> 00:21:29.723 - County's UTV regulations. Supporter Tom Orman spoke in favor of the proposal. 88 counties of the 92 00:21:29.723 --> 00:21:33.502 - in the state of Indiana have UTV ordinances. 00:21:33.730 --> 00:21:40.223 - They're safe. They've got roll cages. They've got seat belts. My particular unit, you can't drive over 00:21:40.223 --> 00:21:46.716 - 15 miles an hour unless you have a seat belt or it's reduced speed. I understand Highway 46 is not the 00:21:46.716 --> 00:21:53.399 - place for these. During supervisor comments, town manager Mike Farmer presented a personnel policy change 00:21:53.399 --> 00:21:59.829 - allowing police officers to convert unused holiday hours into floating holidays. The council approved 00:21:59.829 --> 00:22:01.342 - the change unanimously. 00:22:02.082 --> 00:22:08.882 - The next Alexville Town Council meeting is scheduled for July 27th. The Bloomington Utilities Service 00:22:08.882 --> 00:22:15.683 - Board met on July 13th, where they approved a memorandum of understanding between City of Bloomington 00:22:15.683 --> 00:22:22.350 - Utilities and milestone contractors to settle a dispute over damage to utility infrastructure. City 00:22:22.350 --> 00:22:29.217 - Attorney Chris Wheeler went into greater detail. We should do well to run video down through our lines 00:22:29.217 --> 00:22:31.550 - to see the condition of our lines. 00:22:32.290 --> 00:22:38.817 - so that if any of our lines get damaged, we can point to those videos and say that our infrastructure 00:22:38.817 --> 00:22:45.216 - is in good shape. If you look at the MOU, you can see the gist of what we're looking at here is the 00:22:45.216 --> 00:22:51.807 - fact that that milestone didn't work. We've had a good relationship with milestone over the years, but 00:22:51.807 --> 00:22:57.758 - we thought it was more probable than not that milestone caused damage to our infrastructure. 00:22:57.986 --> 00:23:04.343 - The board approved the settlement agreement between CBU and Milestone. Assistant Director of Transmission 00:23:04.343 --> 00:23:10.339 - and Distribution, James Hall, also announced that new utility rates approved earlier this year will 00:23:10.339 --> 00:23:16.456 - take effect on August 1st. Board President Kirk White suggested including information with customer's 00:23:16.456 --> 00:23:22.632 - bills explaining how the additional revenue will be used. We can look at kind of overall like how much 00:23:22.632 --> 00:23:27.070 - money we think we're going to spend at the water plant, how much money we 00:23:27.202 --> 00:23:34.177 - to spend on water main replacement. Those are kind of big numbers from the CIP that we could easily 00:23:34.177 --> 00:23:41.151 - pull and put in the memo of the bill and fit in there. The board also heard an initial presentation 00:23:41.151 --> 00:23:48.753 - on the 2027 budget. Finance committee members said the biggest change will be the new water rates, resulting 00:23:48.753 --> 00:23:56.286 - in a slight increase to monthly water bills. The biggest change will be, as was just reported a while back, 00:23:56.386 --> 00:24:04.357 - the new water rates. We finally did get approval from the Indiana Regulatory, the State Regulatory 00:24:04.357 --> 00:24:12.811 - Commission, and everyone will see a slight increase in their monthly water bill. The Board will continue 00:24:12.811 --> 00:24:21.024 - to work on the 2027 budget as additional financial projections are completed. The next meeting of the 00:24:21.024 --> 00:24:25.694 - Bloomington Utilities Service Board will be on July 27th. 00:24:26.690 --> 00:24:32.798 - And that is all for Cats Week. Thank you for joining us. For Cats and WFHB, I'm Annalise Poorman.