Hello and welcome to Cats Week. I'm Annaliese Poorman. The Monroe County Capital Improvement Board met
on July 15th and unanimously selected Dora Hospitality as the developer for the Convention Center Host
Hotel. This allows the CIB to start negotiations with Dora to build a roughly 200-room hotel south of
the Convention Center.
The decision comes despite appeals from Local Advocacy Group, Bloomington Homes for All, who are urging
the Board to pump the brakes and consider a land swap with the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission
to preserve Seminary Point's affordable housing. CIB President John Wykart explained why the Board selected
Dora Hospitality as its Hotel de Air.
The Dora hospitality proposal not only met expectations for 200 guest rooms, restaurant and bar, fitness
center and meeting space, but it exceeded expectations, including a plan for 200 parking spaces. Dora
proposed an architectural design that is not only aesthetically and uniquely created for Bloomington,
but one that allows us to vision a host hotel on South College that has the potential to anchor
transformational southward development of our community. Board member Doug Bruce explained why the board
declined to wait for a land swap, saying Dora identified the South parcels as its preferred location
for the hotel. Time is of the essence, so the CIB reissued a second RFP as President Weickart mentioned
back in April for the parcels that the CIB actually owns and selected again the same hotelier and
this hotel here, if they started today, this hotel as a host hotel would not be open until sometime
in 2029. The hotel here that we selected has spent a great deal of time and money in their RFP submittals
and now have stated in our interviews that the South parcels are there and after there, I'll say increase
scrutiny because they've had two RFPs to look at this.
is a better and preferred location for their hotel. CIB member Jay Baer says despite encouragement for
the land swap, he does not believe it's the board's duty to tackle affordable housing. I personally
understand and appreciate the enthusiasm of members of this community to preserve or attain affordable
housing in this community. We all live in this community. That's why we're on this board. There's a
sign in the room right now that says
Homes, not hotels, but I think that's a false equivalency. Our role is not to solve affordable housing
for Bloomington or Monroe County. We certainly believe that affordable housing is a massive priority
in this community, but there are many other places and frankly, more appropriate bodies to solve that
problem than the CIB. And just speaking personally, I certainly hope that those issues and initiatives
are undertaken.
Developer Russ Lauterbach said Dora Hospitality is ready to move forward and remains confident that
the South parcels are the right location for the project. We are going to build a sustainable project.
We're gonna, we're using Weddle Brothers. We're gonna be at least 70% union. We care very much about
the local community. All of us are part of this local community as part of this development team. So
we're gonna do our very best, provide you the very best
host hotel that we can. And we do like this site very much. And thank you very much for voting for us.
On the other hand, Bloomington Homes for All organizer Bryce Green said despite the CIB pursuing the
project, he still believes the land swap is worthwhile. We still believe that the land swap is still
something worth pursuing just because it is one of the only ways that we can see that we'll be able to save
the Seminary Point housing from being demolished. And as has been made public, the value of the properties
is not as big of an issue. The relative value of the properties is not as big of an issue as it was
earlier. And the immense public support
for preserving Seminary Point, while it is not the role of this body, I think it is still something
that this body has the ability to act on and has, you know, it's my hope that this body will. Habitat
for Humanity Housing Solutions Director, Sarah Wolford, urged the board to reconsider negotiations with
the city's redevelopment commission to preserve affordable housing in the city. The housing crisis cannot
afford the loss of 29 units.
Inaction and silence are individual choices that have real world consequences. The idea that a conversation
would delay constructible
The idea that a conversation would delay construction is laughable to anyone in the business. You still
have to complete phase two environmentals, go through IDEM approval and bid out the project. You have
the opportunity to be a savior of affordable housing while also serving the purpose the CIB was called
to do. Having a community space near the convention center is a mutually beneficial situation. I would
be interested in what
CIB plans for the hotel or for the land that the hotel is not taking up. The Capital Improvement Board
voted six to zero in support of selecting Dora Hospitality as the Convention Center host hotel, opening
the door for negotiations on the final development agreement. The CIB will meet again on August 19th.
The Collaborative Justice Project Working Subcommittee voted Monday to recommend renovating the current
jail facility and expanding into the nearby Curry Building for the new jail project. The subcommittee
also selected the Thompson property as a backup recommendation. This vote comes as the county now faces
a new federal lawsuit over constitutional standards at the current facility.
Bloomington Mayor Carrie Thompson said that she believes the Curry site offers the best path forward.
It just appears to me to be the best case scenario and most efficient to move forward is this site,
especially given the challenges at Thompson.
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
sold on the Justice building needing to be downtown. Mayor Thompson said that the Thompson Road property
remains a strong option. However, relocating power lines could halt construction. Thompson also was
my number two choice. I think if for some reason there is a
for gone conclusion, which is not my understanding that it is a must to have everything on one floor,
Thompson would be my top choice. That's obviously not possible at Curry, which was my top choice. Thompson
has, you know, it's already stoning adjacent to what we need.
And so the ask is a minimal ask, same process, acknowledging that. And I think even with an accelerated
time frame, you're two years out from finishing this for sure, and probably beyond that. So starting
to move with the power lines now would be prudent.
making that property marketable in the future for the county is going to necessitate moving those power
lines anyway. So my recommendation would be get those power lines taken care of. Deputy Prosecutor April
Wilson said that she's concerned that the Curry site would not have enough room for both a jail and
future justice center offices. One of the concerns that I have is it feels a little like we might be
repeating the same conversation that happened 40 years ago.
And we've kind of boxed everyone in in that building. It's not just that the jail is overcrowded. It's
that the county offices below don't have enough space as well. And it seems like if an alternative or
an option for Curry is, well, there's other places we can move us, in some ways, it's also acknowledging
the concern that maybe it's really not enough space to be able to have
all the justice partners by each other. And that's where I think I'm a little concerned or very concerned
is I think it will cost a lot more than anyone expects. I think by nature of doing the project the way
that we're doing it, you're going to have to do more of it than you intend in phasing. If you build
a jail annex, you're going to have to move all the employees out of Curry Fiscus. And then when you
put the jail annex, you're going to have to put all those employees back.
unless you choose to put them someplace else. And then that means the site wasn't originally big enough.
Wilson expressed urgency with the project, citing the latest federal lawsuit and saying that county
officials need to move quickly to find a solution. These allegations are what is alleged to be happening
now. And when we talk about delay, we're also talking about cost.
And it's not just financial cost, it's human cost. If we choose to build in the city, we are choosing
for there to be inflation and construction costs. We're choosing for reinvestment and redesign, costs
and new site evaluations and preparation, litigation and fees or attorney fees. The longer the lawsuit
continues, at some point it's going to be an impact to the community. There's also transportation costs
and case delay.
City Council member Sydney Zulik critiqued what she sees as years of inaction that led to the county's
current situation. The settlement agreement has been in place since 2008. I was six in 2008. Somebody
could have had a child in 2008. That child would be eligible to vote this year. The county has failed
to build a new jail. There are fabricated
There are fabricated false choices that we are currently experiencing because elected officials failed
to do their due diligence. I'm talking about the Thompson property. I'm talking about renovations that
could have been made to the current location. This notion that now we have to rush after 18 years of
pretty much stalemate is infuriating. And to all the young people who are listening, I hope our generation
does a better job at serving our community.
The mayor maintained that the county-owned Curry site gives officials more flexibility moving forward.
It is true that there is some assumption that because you own the property, it is more affordable to
develop it. It's not always true. It's frequently not true. But site control does pave the way frequently to
quicker development. And so in the model of time is money, having site control, which you by nature
have if you own the property, is something that I have considered in my selections. The committee approved
Curry as its first recommendation by a vote of three to two before unanimously selecting the Thompson
property as its backup recommendation.
These recommendations will now make their way to the full collaborative Justice Project Committee, which
includes county council members and county commissioners.
The Monroe County Council met on July 14th and covered several grant related appropriations along with
updates on this jail subcommittee and community events. Council member Marty Hawk asked that the health
department's request to transfer $956.65 of strengthening prevention grant funds be removed from the
consent agenda. Why are we considering moving money around when
property in the negative. I mean, has everybody looked at that? They say they're in the process of receiving
grant amendments for additional funding, but the process when it comes to getting grants is not a guarantee.
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
going to let you go ahead and move around and start spending when it's in the negative.
And I didn't pull out those budgets, I just am believing what was put on there. Perhaps the auditor
has some advice for us. Gregory? Yes, this is a reimbursable grant fund, so it's typically in the red
until reimbursements come through. The transfer passed 6 to 1 with Hawk dissenting.
Later, in discussions regarding the current state of the county jail, Councilor Hawk raised concerns
about a recent state review, saying that the report described conditions differently than those that
have been presented to the council, and asking that the report be recent to all council members and
to the press. They came back with glowing reports just a couple of months ago. If you go through it,
you're going to think,
Were they someplace else other than here? We didn't see anything coming back from the sheriff or anybody
saying we disagree with this report. This report was a report from the state after they had reviewed
and gone through our jail. And they sent the report out, as they're required to do. And I didn't hear
anything from the commissioner saying,
Well, this report's all wrong. No one said the report's wrong. But clearly, it says something very different
from what's being presented as though the council knew something different. The Monroe County Council
will meet again on July 28th.
The Monroe County Commissioners met on July 16th and considered several jail-related resolutions, a
tax abatement for ciencia and legal representation in the county's jail lawsuit. The commissioners moved
to ratify a resolution acknowledging that the Monroe County Jail is overcrowded. Under the now therefore
section, we've
I think we need to change this to be more general because it's not. We're not the experts in. Determining
functional capacity bed counts all of that. That's that's not our business. What we are saying is. Instead
of what's in point to the board. Acknowledges the sheriff's
exceeds its functional capacity. I am forwarding this to Ms. DeLotter Myers once we approve it. The
commissioners referred members of the public to their July 9th work session for further discussion and
Commissioner Jody Medeira clarified the function of the resolution. Just wanted to say that it's largely
a technical and rather general
vote of confidence in our sheriff. It's not really necessary as we understand it, and it's scarcely
controversial to say the jail is overcrowded. So what we intend to say is that we know the
jail is overcrowded. We support that principle, and we know this is going on to others who will vet
it more closely, like the board of judges and the council. But it is not our job to vet it, and we are
not the experts in vetting it in that capacity.
County Attorney Jeff Cockerill also presented a letter of representation for Clark Johnson and Knight
limited to represent both the Monroe County Commissioners and Sheriff's Office in a case that the ACLU
brought against officials for quote unconstitutional conditions unquote at Monroe County Jail. This
morning we received a letter from the law firm of
Clark Johnson and Knight. This is the same firm, I believe, the commissioner has approved last week
for representation in the ACLU lawsuit. This letter is for the same work, for the same price, but it
also adds the sheriff as someone that she will represent in this case. The bulk of this letter discusses
the conflict of interest.
assessment that was done by the the law firm and they came to the conclusion that they could represent
both the sheriff and commissioners and not have a ethical violation or a conflict violation as as you
guys are aware and i told you a while ago if this didn't become part of a litigation that our office
would be conflicted out and that we represent the entire county and we have three different members
of the county who have been named in this lawsuit and we don't think we were
positive we couldn't ethically represent each party to their satisfaction or basically without creating
a conflict between the without with us between those two parties so we we are unable to handle it for
anyone and we do not believe that this is conflict is a waivable one but it is one where we are just
we have this we have to step out so this letter is
of continuing the thought that they would represent the county commissioners but it also adds the sheriff
and the bulk of this letter it's a four-page letter and pages two and two and half of page three talk
about that conflict analysis that they had done and so same price
same representation, it's still hold. The commissioners also heard a resolution approving a tax abatement
for the company CNChia as they expand their building and employment on the county's west side. What
we have is we have a local company who is currently in a TIF district, the west side TIF district, they
want to expand their building
but basically make it twice as big. So add another 6,000 square feet. They want to increase their employment
in that building from 40 full-time employees making about $4.2 million to add 30 more employees that
would make about $2.3 million. The total tax evasion savings is about $100,000.
which is about 10,000 a year. This has been approved by the council. This comes to you because it is
in the TIF district, so you have an obligation to review the statement of benefits. For that, we did
have a redevelopment commission meeting last night where we discussed it, and they were made aware of
it, and they did not indicate that it would affect any of their abilities to pay for anything in the
future. So all in all, I think, particularly with the shift of
from property tax to income tax, that the wages being paid here are significantly higher than our average
wage in the county. And this group indicated that they have about 75% of their current employees live
in Monroe County. Typically when we look at a tax abatement, it's a 50-50. Half of them live in the
county, half are out. So that's a little bit higher for this group as well. The Monroe County commissioners
will meet again on July 23rd.
The Ellisville Town Council met on July 14th, where they began work on a wholesale water rate tracker,
which officials said is the only reason water bills will increase. Utilities Director, Mike Kornman,
warned that without the adjustment, the utility could quickly begin operating at a deficit. We just
want to maintain the rates that we established in 2024 so we can do the work that was projected and
maintain our O&M
expenses and without providing us this tracker, we could lose $25,000-$30,000 a month. During public
comment, residents urged the council to adopt an ordinance allowing off-road vehicles that mirrors Monroe
County's UTV regulations. Supporter Tom Orman spoke in favor of the proposal. 88 counties of the 92
in the state of Indiana have UTV ordinances.
They're safe. They've got roll cages. They've got seat belts. My particular unit, you can't drive over
15 miles an hour unless you have a seat belt or it's reduced speed. I understand Highway 46 is not the
place for these. During supervisor comments, town manager Mike Farmer presented a personnel policy change
allowing police officers to convert unused holiday hours into floating holidays. The council approved
the change unanimously.
The next Alexville Town Council meeting is scheduled for July 27th. The Bloomington Utilities Service
Board met on July 13th, where they approved a memorandum of understanding between City of Bloomington
Utilities and milestone contractors to settle a dispute over damage to utility infrastructure. City
Attorney Chris Wheeler went into greater detail. We should do well to run video down through our lines
to see the condition of our lines.
so that if any of our lines get damaged, we can point to those videos and say that our infrastructure
is in good shape. If you look at the MOU, you can see the gist of what we're looking at here is the
fact that that milestone didn't work. We've had a good relationship with milestone over the years, but
we thought it was more probable than not that milestone caused damage to our infrastructure.
The board approved the settlement agreement between CBU and Milestone. Assistant Director of Transmission
and Distribution, James Hall, also announced that new utility rates approved earlier this year will
take effect on August 1st. Board President Kirk White suggested including information with customer's
bills explaining how the additional revenue will be used. We can look at kind of overall like how much
money we think we're going to spend at the water plant, how much money we
to spend on water main replacement. Those are kind of big numbers from the CIP that we could easily
pull and put in the memo of the bill and fit in there. The board also heard an initial presentation
on the 2027 budget. Finance committee members said the biggest change will be the new water rates, resulting
in a slight increase to monthly water bills. The biggest change will be, as was just reported a while back,
the new water rates. We finally did get approval from the Indiana Regulatory, the State Regulatory
Commission, and everyone will see a slight increase in their monthly water bill. The Board will continue
to work on the 2027 budget as additional financial projections are completed. The next meeting of the
Bloomington Utilities Service Board will be on July 27th.
And that is all for Cats Week. Thank you for joining us. For Cats and WFHB, I'm Annalise Poorman.