WEBVTT 00:00:04.738 --> 00:00:10.758 - Hello and welcome to Cats Week. I'm Annalise Poorman. The Bloomington City Council met on September 00:00:10.758 --> 00:00:16.959 - 16th and deliberated on the appointment of Zach Amerman to the Bloomington Transit Board of Directors. 00:00:16.959 --> 00:00:23.039 - BT board member Kent McDaniel resigned from his position after nearly 40 years on the job, which led 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:25.086 - to an open position on the board. 00:00:25.346 --> 00:00:32.886 - Councilmember Kate Rosenberger was part of an interview committee to find a new transit board member. 00:00:32.886 --> 00:00:40.574 - Rosenberger recommended Amerman for the open seat because of his background and his use of BT services. 00:00:40.574 --> 00:00:48.113 - Today, one board member, Kent McDaniel, announced his resignation from the board. And I also actually 00:00:48.113 --> 00:00:53.214 - want to first start by just saying a big thank you to Kent McDaniel. 00:00:53.794 --> 00:01:01.377 - He served on the board for 36 years. He studied public transit in college. He drove IU campus bus when 00:01:01.377 --> 00:01:08.887 - he was in college. And he was the director of IU transportation services. So he has really shepherded 00:01:08.887 --> 00:01:16.396 - Bloomington Transit to where it is today. And I have great appreciation for him. So thank you to him. 00:01:16.396 --> 00:01:21.918 - And then I wanted to recommend Zach Ammerman because the board, as I think 00:01:22.498 --> 00:01:30.332 - council knows is five members and what it is missing right now is someone who consistently rides transit. 00:01:30.332 --> 00:01:37.796 - And Zach is a person who consistently uses public transit as his primary mode of transportation. And 00:01:37.796 --> 00:01:45.186 - then he also has a background in data mapping and diving into numbers. And so in the interview with 00:01:45.186 --> 00:01:49.694 - him, it was really neat to see him synthesize pretty quickly 00:01:50.402 --> 00:01:57.567 - over the years, patterns and ideas of change. And so I think that skill set would be a really good addition 00:01:57.567 --> 00:02:04.467 - to the board. Rosenbarger also said that she would like to see a seven person transit board rather than 00:02:04.467 --> 00:02:11.101 - a five person board. Council member Hopi Stasberg agreed and expressed her support for Amerman as a 00:02:11.101 --> 00:02:12.030 - board member. 00:02:12.258 --> 00:02:19.143 - I also want to say in terms of the five versus seven board members, I did bring that up in the CCP meeting 00:02:19.143 --> 00:02:25.900 - and I followed up in a couple other areas and there's actually an email thread right now and BT actually 00:02:25.900 --> 00:02:32.335 - in their meeting last night, they discussed that as well. So I think that maybe our discussing that 00:02:32.335 --> 00:02:39.284 - during our interview committee was something that led to a wider discussion about that. So that's certainly 00:02:39.284 --> 00:02:41.086 - in motion and I'm glad that 00:02:41.218 --> 00:02:47.544 - getting brought up tonight just so that we can make sure that this appointment can get made because 00:02:47.544 --> 00:02:53.932 - this board is quite small. The council voted unanimously to support Amerman's appointment. Next, the 00:02:53.932 --> 00:03:00.574 - council discussed the removal of Reynard Cross from the city's Historic Preservation Commission. Council 00:03:00.574 --> 00:03:07.279 - member Isabel Piedmont-Smith asked to hear the basis for having this on the city council agenda. Attorney 00:03:07.279 --> 00:03:08.734 - Larry Allen responded. 00:03:08.962 --> 00:03:15.096 - Basis for whites on the agendas because it was considered last time and it was specifically moved to 00:03:15.096 --> 00:03:21.473 - be heard At this meeting if you mean the general basis as terms of the allegations Those were the report 00:03:21.473 --> 00:03:27.486 - of conduct came in. I think the the clerk had observed some of the meetings and written a memo and 00:03:27.586 --> 00:03:33.542 - to council leadership after a discussion with me, we agreed that the council staff would send out a 00:03:33.542 --> 00:03:39.558 - letter to notify of the opportunity to be heard. And so that council could take formal action on it. 00:03:39.558 --> 00:03:45.633 - And that's why it was placed on the agenda originally last meeting. And then it was continued to this 00:03:45.633 --> 00:03:51.828 - meeting. Deputy Clerk Jennifer Crossley said that the city council needs to weigh its options carefully 00:03:51.828 --> 00:03:56.414 - when discussing the removal of someone who serves on boards and commissions. 00:03:56.514 --> 00:04:02.896 - However, she said she did observe violations of the code of conduct implemented by the City Council. 00:04:02.896 --> 00:04:09.277 - The meetings that I have observed and the meeting that I actually went to, there are some violations 00:04:09.277 --> 00:04:16.101 - that are in there. There was one meeting that business was held up for 45 minutes, and there was a petition 00:04:16.101 --> 00:04:21.598 - that was supposed to be heard, but, unfortunately, that was a little bit delayed until 00:04:22.786 --> 00:04:29.579 - The dust settled and things were able to proceed So again, I don't think that I take this very seriously 00:04:29.579 --> 00:04:36.179 - and I am not of the mindset of Let's just get ready and we don't like something. Let's just remove we 00:04:36.179 --> 00:04:42.778 - see that in our federal government and our state government That is not the role that city government 00:04:42.778 --> 00:04:49.054 - should play. However This is where we are right now and based upon what you all have implemented 00:04:49.762 --> 00:04:57.154 - that would, under my recommendations, that that's what I see. Councilmember Stasberg recommended that 00:04:57.154 --> 00:05:04.835 - the council take action on the item during this meeting rather than delay it further. I have had a chance 00:05:04.835 --> 00:05:12.082 - to review those three meetings. I've watched those and I agree with Clerk Crosley's conclusion that 00:05:12.082 --> 00:05:15.198 - the code of conduct was in violation and I 00:05:15.298 --> 00:05:23.093 - Didn't want to just punt this again tonight. So I was like I need to come in with a plan and so my my 00:05:23.093 --> 00:05:30.736 - thought is Depending on what y'all think and and whether you all have been able to review those and 00:05:30.736 --> 00:05:36.926 - or and or feel comfortable and just taking the recommendations to either Vote or 00:05:37.314 --> 00:05:43.749 - a motion around finding mr. Cross and violation of the code of conduct and removal or Potentially referring 00:05:43.749 --> 00:05:49.827 - this to a committee and I was thinking referring it back to the interview committee that is in charge 00:05:49.827 --> 00:05:55.845 - of the this board's appointment because you know, we generally take recommendations for appointments 00:05:55.845 --> 00:05:58.526 - from interview committees and so in terms of 00:05:58.754 --> 00:06:04.789 - process. I agree, like, the committee for council process maybe needs to figure out, like, let's nail 00:06:04.789 --> 00:06:10.883 - down a process for how we actually do this and assess it. But unless we all feel comfortable, I think, 00:06:10.883 --> 00:06:16.858 - taking a vote on the actual removal tonight, I would think that moving it to the interview committee 00:06:16.858 --> 00:06:22.893 - might be an appropriate place for it. On the other hand, Piedmont-Smith disagreed, saying she did not 00:06:22.893 --> 00:06:26.206 - feel comfortable making a vote on the removal of Cross. 00:06:26.434 --> 00:06:35.349 - I don't feel comfortable voting on this tonight. The code of conduct was also violated by other members 00:06:35.349 --> 00:06:43.921 - of this commission because they did not follow Robert's Rules of Order. So I mean, where do we draw 00:06:43.921 --> 00:06:53.007 - the line? Do they have to violate more than one of these things in the code of conduct? Or is one enough? 00:06:53.007 --> 00:06:56.350 - Is the degree of violation considered? 00:06:57.730 --> 00:07:09.999 - I just think there we need to we need to act very deliberatively here because It's I Think there were 00:07:09.999 --> 00:07:22.148 - legitimate concerns raised by mr. Cross as to what occurred at the June 25th meeting I did watch the 00:07:22.148 --> 00:07:26.238 - meetings on cats and So before we 00:07:26.882 --> 00:07:34.884 - remove anybody. I think we need to consider process and how we determine whether somebody will be removed. 00:07:34.884 --> 00:07:42.511 - Stasberg moved for the decision to be sent to an interview committee for a recommendation to the full 00:07:42.511 --> 00:07:50.214 - council regular session on October 14th. The council voted unanimously to approve referring the matter 00:07:50.214 --> 00:07:52.158 - to interview committee C. 00:07:53.282 --> 00:07:59.957 - The Ellisville Town Council met on September 14th. The council voted on four resolutions regarding funds 00:07:59.957 --> 00:08:06.886 - for legal fees, equipment for the fire and police departments, and infrastructure for the street department. 00:08:06.886 --> 00:08:13.752 - Funds appropriated for the street department are for a sand and salt barn, according to street commissioner 00:08:13.752 --> 00:08:17.566 - Kip Hetty. Our salt and sand barn was probably built in the 00:08:17.666 --> 00:08:25.629 - late 70s, early 80s, somewhere around there. And we have already outgrown that building. And with the 00:08:25.629 --> 00:08:33.436 - proposed reorganization coming up, we are working at rebuilding a new salt sand barn behind the DPW 00:08:33.436 --> 00:08:41.399 - building. So far, we've been doing good with appropriating funds within the budget to do a lot of the 00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:44.990 - concrete work. And I am needing an additional 00:08:45.346 --> 00:08:52.266 - roughly $40,000 to do the concrete walls in that new building behind the DPW building for salt sand 00:08:52.266 --> 00:08:59.325 - barn. Council President Scott Oldham asked where the funds would come from and noted that he believes 00:08:59.325 --> 00:09:06.384 - the barn is essential. That will be coming from the CCD. Irrespective of whether the consolidation is 00:09:06.384 --> 00:09:12.958 - approved or not, we still need that. If you all remember back in January we had that big snow. 00:09:13.090 --> 00:09:20.113 - and I almost depleted our salt inventory in that one snow. So I'm having a hard time maintaining the 00:09:20.113 --> 00:09:27.275 - salt amount in the building for the snow. It would be ideal that if I could actually have what we need 00:09:27.275 --> 00:09:34.229 - for the whole season and not worry about trying to get more salt. I actually had to try to get salt 00:09:34.229 --> 00:09:41.182 - another route because of salt shortages that was going on in the state of Indiana. And there's also 00:09:42.306 --> 00:09:49.625 - possibility of salt shortages again for this winter. So we need to be able to try to get more salt on 00:09:49.625 --> 00:09:57.160 - storage on hand. The motion to approve the additional funds for the barn was approved. Next, the council 00:09:57.160 --> 00:10:04.694 - heard second readings of two ordinances. Attorney Darla Brown gave an explanation for ordinance 2026-14, 00:10:04.694 --> 00:10:09.502 - which prohibits the use of public records for commercial purposes. 00:10:10.178 --> 00:10:17.893 - second reading on this ordinance and the purpose of this ordinance is to limit the number of requests 00:10:17.893 --> 00:10:25.609 - that the town gets for public records that appear to be earmarked toward getting information that the 00:10:25.609 --> 00:10:33.551 - requester can use for commercial purposes to sell things to town citizens or to town employees. So under 00:10:33.551 --> 00:10:39.678 - the Indiana code, the town has the right to pass an ordinance that would require 00:10:39.970 --> 00:10:47.190 - the requester to sign a document certifying that they will not use any information solicited for commercial 00:10:47.190 --> 00:10:53.876 - purposes. And if they refuse to certify that, we do not have to give them the records. Oldham asked 00:10:53.876 --> 00:11:00.695 - what happens if someone signs the document, but then uses the records for commercial purposes anyway. 00:11:00.695 --> 00:11:06.846 - We can refuse them the second time if they ask again. Ordinance 2026-14 passed unanimously. 00:11:07.650 --> 00:11:14.418 - The second reading for Ordinance 2026-15 regarding the use of utility task vehicles on town roads was 00:11:14.418 --> 00:11:21.320 - next. Attorney Brown again explained the ordinance and answered questions from the council. A few weeks 00:11:21.320 --> 00:11:28.088 - ago, the town council asked me to put together an ordinance that would allow utility task vehicles on 00:11:28.088 --> 00:11:33.662 - town roads. And this is the second reading on this ordinance that would allow that. 00:11:34.242 --> 00:11:44.151 - individuals who violate the ordinance can be fined. And this does not mean that ATVs and golf carts 00:11:44.151 --> 00:11:54.654 - will be allowed on the roads. It's just UTVs. Questions from councilor discussion. If somebody habitually 00:11:54.654 --> 00:12:00.798 - violates this, can they have the UTV impounded based on this? 00:12:03.554 --> 00:12:11.789 - Under the Indiana code, yes, they can. Ordinance 2026-15 passed unanimously. During supervisor comments, 00:12:11.789 --> 00:12:19.788 - Town Manager Michael Farmer thanked the volunteers who helped with the recent Fall Festival. I'd just 00:12:19.788 --> 00:12:27.630 - like to thank all the volunteers that helped put together the Fall Festival. It is a huge endeavor, 00:12:27.630 --> 00:12:32.414 - a lot of hours spent planning and then implementing. And so, 00:12:33.026 --> 00:12:42.418 - just a huge shout out to all the volunteers because anything that actually helps with making our town 00:12:42.418 --> 00:12:51.810 - feel like a community, that social interaction and the entertainment it brings to the kids and adults 00:12:51.810 --> 00:12:56.414 - alike, it's a big deal. And so the Fall Festivals 00:12:56.642 --> 00:13:04.000 - ingrained in me, I can't remember when we didn't have one all the way back into the sixties. And so 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:11.579 - it's a big shout out to everybody that has anything to do with it. I'd really like to thank the police 00:13:11.579 --> 00:13:19.232 - and the fire and the DPW and everybody that actually had to work to help put it together. I don't think 00:13:19.232 --> 00:13:26.590 - we could do it without the police firing the DPW. So thanks to them, even though they had to do it. 00:13:26.690 --> 00:13:35.710 - They always seem to do it with a smile on their face. And then, of course, Shannon had mentioned it. 00:13:35.710 --> 00:13:43.837 - I'd like to shout out to Jeff Farmer for doing such a good job of driving the pylon truck. 00:13:43.837 --> 00:13:53.214 - So thank you, everyone, that made the Fall Festival great. Our grandkids have more candy than Halloween. 00:13:53.698 --> 00:14:00.461 - hometown marshal Jimmy Durnall gave an update on the police department staffing and grant funds for 00:14:00.461 --> 00:14:07.426 - school resource officers. I want to notify you. First of all, we've had an SRO that has indicated he's 00:14:07.426 --> 00:14:14.324 - going to resign from the department in the middle of October and we'd like to have permission to open 00:14:14.324 --> 00:14:21.290 - that that spot up if we could like to do that tomorrow for all possible. We're OK with that. You guys. 00:14:21.290 --> 00:14:23.454 - Do we need a formal vote Darla? 00:14:24.514 --> 00:14:31.659 - I think so, yep. Also I want to bring to your attention the annual grant that the school receives for 00:14:31.659 --> 00:14:38.734 - the SROs was short $12,000 this year. So I'd like to present that we meet them halfway and do $6,000 00:14:38.734 --> 00:14:45.739 - Noel and Baker Telly tells me that I have enough in the budget for next year to do that. I wouldn't 00:14:45.739 --> 00:14:53.374 - see that being a problem. I mean, I think it's in our best interest to have those officers where they're at. 00:14:54.114 --> 00:14:59.982 - Yeah, they, they pay for three quarters of the salaries anyway, so. Even if they didn't, I still think 00:14:59.982 --> 00:15:05.906 - it's in our best interest to have the officers there. Right, we gotta have somebody there, yeah. That's 00:15:05.906 --> 00:15:11.888 - probably gonna take a vote though, so does anybody wanna weigh in on that? I just have a question, first 00:15:11.888 --> 00:15:17.756 - of all. Any idea why it was short? Has the grant funding shrunk or? They thought the funding was gonna 00:15:17.756 --> 00:15:19.294 - go down after a few years. 00:15:19.970 --> 00:15:26.176 - Oh, okay, so there's nothing we did wrong. Action on funding the school resource officers will come 00:15:26.176 --> 00:15:32.505 - at a later date. Durnall then read a letter from community member Beth Staggs, who received help from 00:15:32.505 --> 00:15:38.773 - Officer Sam Miller. About a Wednesday, the half ago, we had a bad storm went through town. It did do 00:15:38.773 --> 00:15:45.103 - a lot of damage, but where it did do damage, it really put people in jeopardy. Is Beth Staggs here by 00:15:45.103 --> 00:15:48.702 - chance? She couldn't make it. She couldn't make it, okay. 00:15:49.570 --> 00:15:56.765 - This is from Beth Staggs. She said, I am writing to inform you of Officer Sam Miller, who pretty much 00:15:56.765 --> 00:16:03.959 - saved my life after the storm on Wednesday night. I had a tree fall on my house and buried my car. He 00:16:03.959 --> 00:16:11.154 - happened to drive by right after it happened and stopped to see if everyone was OK. My dog and I were 00:16:11.154 --> 00:16:17.502 - shaken, but fine. My neighbor had told him that I had dialysis the next morning at 6 a.m. 00:16:17.890 --> 00:16:25.476 - Officer Miller said he would come back after going on a few calls and get my car out. And he did. It 00:16:25.476 --> 00:16:33.063 - had to be chainsawed out. It was buried. I cannot express my gratitude enough. What he did to me was 00:16:33.063 --> 00:16:40.724 - whether it matters, life or death. Literally, I don't go to dialysis, I die. I am hoping that you can 00:16:40.724 --> 00:16:47.710 - do some type of recognition for officers for outstanding service. He definitely deserves it. 00:16:48.130 --> 00:16:54.900 - The way I look at it, he saved my life. If you have any questions of this time, anything to recognize 00:16:54.900 --> 00:17:02.135 - Officer Miller for his outstanding service to the community, please let me know. I will forever be grateful. 00:17:02.135 --> 00:17:09.236 - Thank you, Beth Staggs. Deputy Chief Bunker also spoke highly of Miller. His control of the other officers 00:17:09.236 --> 00:17:14.878 - and anybody that was in town that night knew that it was straight chaos. He stopped. 00:17:15.234 --> 00:17:21.079 - made sure she was OK, and then promised her that he would come back later with a chainsaw and help get 00:17:21.079 --> 00:17:26.924 - her out, which he did. So we're very, very grateful and thankful for that. On a side note, this is our 00:17:26.924 --> 00:17:32.769 - SRO that's resigning, so I don't know if he should really get this or not. It seems like when we asked 00:17:32.769 --> 00:17:38.501 - him to step in and fill in the SRO spot when I vacated it, he jumped on it. But he's got too good of 00:17:38.501 --> 00:17:44.062 - an opportunity to pass up. So he is going to stay on with us part time and help us with training. 00:17:44.546 --> 00:17:50.151 - all festival for the July stuff like that. So we appreciate you staying on. The job well done. We're 00:17:50.151 --> 00:17:55.701 - in Michigan, but you've always got a home in your council, police department. Thank you. Thank you. 00:17:55.701 --> 00:18:00.862 - The next meeting of the Ellisville Town Council is scheduled for September 28th at 6.30 p.m. 00:18:01.986 --> 00:18:08.768 - The Monroe County Public Library Board of Trustees heard a director's report highlighting a full year 00:18:08.768 --> 00:18:15.550 - of record-setting circulation and a new platform for local writers during its September 16th meeting. 00:18:15.550 --> 00:18:22.331 - Director Greer Carson shared a staff story about the impact of MCPL's programming. A staff member was 00:18:22.331 --> 00:18:29.246 - at a local gas station and happened to be wearing an MCPL t-shirt, the much coveted MCPL shirts, right? 00:18:29.410 --> 00:18:35.644 - And the cashier there shared that they were never much of a reader until they were incarcerated in the 00:18:35.644 --> 00:18:41.939 - Monroe County Correctional Center and discovered our jail library collection and its services. And that 00:18:41.939 --> 00:18:47.326 - turned them into a reader. And since they were released, they're still an active reader. 00:18:47.490 --> 00:18:53.898 - So the staff member shared that with our outreach services manager, Chris Jackson, who decided to submit 00:18:53.898 --> 00:19:00.062 - it to the director's report. And that wouldn't really suck out because I think it's kind of a unique 00:19:00.062 --> 00:19:06.470 - example of the feedback we hear from the community on the impact that our collections and services have. 00:19:06.470 --> 00:19:13.000 - The board then received an update from Carson on bids and funding to fully modernize three aging elevators 00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:14.526 - at the downtown library. 00:19:14.722 --> 00:19:21.217 - This was going to be a building improvement project that we often use capital outlay funds for If you 00:19:21.217 --> 00:19:27.839 - look at the beginning of the finance report, you'll see that we're in a very very good position heading 00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:34.207 - into the back half of the year with respect to likely surplus and Particularly our local income tax 00:19:34.207 --> 00:19:40.638 - revenue checks are strong enough and I want to say it's 22,000 a month for the rest of the year that 00:19:40.962 --> 00:19:46.693 - that combined with our existing surplus will allow us to use operating funds to fund that particular 00:19:46.693 --> 00:19:52.367 - project. So it's a little early to say for sure that's how we're going to do it, but that's what we 00:19:52.367 --> 00:19:58.438 - would prefer is to use our own operating funds. The trustees then approved a resolution to surplus several 00:19:58.438 --> 00:20:04.339 - large items no longer suited to the downtown building, including teen area ping pong tables and lockers 00:20:04.339 --> 00:20:05.758 - stored in egress routes. 00:20:06.306 --> 00:20:13.986 - The director emphasized both safety and the practice of offering usable items to local groups before 00:20:13.986 --> 00:20:21.894 - disposable. Children's Services Manager Angelica Candelaria then reported on a record year for children 00:20:21.894 --> 00:20:29.726 - and tween participation in the summer reading program. This year we did have an all-time high of 3,200 00:20:30.306 --> 00:20:37.175 - Signups for all of the branches system-wide and then here is the breakdown. We are pretty close to what 00:20:37.175 --> 00:20:44.044 - we were last year for completion We're just slightly under but that is due to that. We had more signups 00:20:44.044 --> 00:20:46.686 - and more completions overall We did see 00:20:47.746 --> 00:20:53.785 - an increase for tween. As you can see here when we did start doing it, it was a slow climb, but this 00:20:53.785 --> 00:20:59.763 - year I think they really did like the dinosaur theme and they got used to having their own board so 00:20:59.763 --> 00:21:04.606 - more kids came, especially in that tween area. So we are seeing a progression of 00:21:04.738 --> 00:21:11.494 - an increase, which is really good after the pandemic. To close the meeting, Southwest branch manager 00:21:11.494 --> 00:21:18.184 - Kathy Riley gave the trustees a choose your own adventure tour of that branch's year from a new bus 00:21:18.184 --> 00:21:23.134 - stop out front to expanded STEM projects, gardening and cooking programs. 00:21:23.586 --> 00:21:30.223 - She described how increased transit access, a grant for robots, and a themed seed library are drawing 00:21:30.223 --> 00:21:37.120 - in families and teens who then stay to craft, game, and cook together. But the real reason that I brought 00:21:37.120 --> 00:21:43.822 - this out is because the creativity that the staff brings to the programming is incredible. Often we're 00:21:43.822 --> 00:21:50.459 - talking about, what's your passion? What do you really like doing? Can we partner it up with the need 00:21:50.459 --> 00:21:52.606 - we're seeing from the community? 00:21:53.026 --> 00:22:00.279 - How can we use recyclables? How can we get really effective with how we're using our budget? How can 00:22:00.279 --> 00:22:07.675 - we bring people together to create and create a sense of community? The next meeting of the MCPO Board 00:22:07.675 --> 00:22:09.758 - of Trustees is October 21st. 00:22:10.914 --> 00:22:17.377 - The Monroe County Board of Commissioners met on September 17th and passed a resolution asking the town 00:22:17.377 --> 00:22:23.652 - of Steinsville to suspend an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The agreement 00:22:23.652 --> 00:22:29.864 - allows participating police officers to perform certain federal immigration enforcement functions. 00:22:29.864 --> 00:22:36.389 - Commissioner Julie Thomas argued that the Steinsville town council should have the authority to approve 00:22:36.389 --> 00:22:39.966 - the agreement and not the Steinsville Police Department. 00:22:40.162 --> 00:22:48.002 - The party to these agreements is the governmental entity, not the officer who signs it. The task force 00:22:48.002 --> 00:22:55.614 - model at issue here is the most expansive of the three authorizing street level enforcement outside 00:22:55.614 --> 00:23:03.454 - any jail setting. These agreements are governed by Indiana's Interlocal Cooperation Statute IC-36-1-7, 00:23:03.554 --> 00:23:09.547 - and must be approved by the legislative body, the political subdivision through an ordinance or resolution 00:23:09.547 --> 00:23:15.204 - submitted to the attorney general recorded with the county recorded before it takes effect and filed 00:23:15.204 --> 00:23:20.860 - with the state board of accounts within 60 days later. Uh, under Indiana law, the town councils, the 00:23:20.860 --> 00:23:26.629 - town's legislative body and the town marshal locally titled chief of police is appointed by and serves 00:23:26.629 --> 00:23:32.790 - at the council's direction. A marshal acting alone has no authority to bind the town to an inner governmental 00:23:32.790 --> 00:23:33.406 - agreement. 00:23:33.538 --> 00:23:39.515 - Commissioner Jodi Madeira said that the county became aware of the agreement through local media coverage, 00:23:39.515 --> 00:23:45.325 - and the public record did not show a formal vote by the Steinsville town council. The failure to follow 00:23:45.325 --> 00:23:50.967 - Indiana law and the failure to ensure transparency impacts county residents and their trust in local 00:23:50.967 --> 00:23:56.553 - government. The board of commissioners, therefore, has both an interest and responsibility to speak 00:23:56.553 --> 00:24:01.022 - under Indiana law. Therefore, I think we would like to execute this resolution. 00:24:01.122 --> 00:24:07.219 - The resolution asked the Steinsville Town Council to take several steps, like putting the agreement 00:24:07.219 --> 00:24:13.559 - on a public meeting agenda and allowing public comment. It also asked the town to suspend the agreement 00:24:13.559 --> 00:24:19.839 - while public discourse takes place. The Monroe County Board of Commissioners respectfully request that 00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:21.790 - the Steinsville Town Board one, 00:24:21.890 --> 00:24:29.104 - Place the 287G agreement on the agenda of a regular or special public meeting with advanced public notice 00:24:29.104 --> 00:24:36.114 - consistent with IC 5-14-1.5. Second, to make the agreements full text together with all correspondence 00:24:36.114 --> 00:24:43.327 - and records relating to its negotiation and execution available to the public in advance of that meeting. 00:24:43.327 --> 00:24:50.201 - County Attorney Jeff Cockrell said that he heard Steinsville planned to hold a public meeting on the 00:24:50.201 --> 00:24:51.358 - issue next week. 00:24:51.618 --> 00:24:57.315 - I think I received communication from Sinesville about they're having a meeting next week in order to 00:24:57.315 --> 00:25:02.900 - do this and look at this issue. So I think they are progressing towards it. I think when they were, 00:25:02.900 --> 00:25:08.708 - when the board found out about it was well after the execution of the agreement. And so I think they're 00:25:08.708 --> 00:25:14.014 - just looking to try to get their hands around it and figure out their proper course of action. 00:25:14.242 --> 00:25:19.665 - Madeira and Thomas said that they want to emphasize that the county's concern was not about assigning 00:25:19.665 --> 00:25:25.088 - blame to public officials, but rather whether the decision was made in the public eye. I just want to 00:25:25.088 --> 00:25:30.404 - be clear, too, that we aren't here as commissioners to assign blame to any individual. The question 00:25:30.404 --> 00:25:35.827 - isn't whether anyone acted in bad faith. It's just whether the town as a body ever made this decision 00:25:35.827 --> 00:25:39.070 - public. Right. Right. And that's our concern, because we do. 00:25:39.810 --> 00:25:48.146 - we live by the rule of transparency and we hope that everyone else does as well in our community. And 00:25:48.146 --> 00:25:56.481 - that's what our residents deserve. And this impacts every county resident when this kind of agreement 00:25:56.481 --> 00:26:04.735 - is set because it can mean that those officers can act outside of the town of Steinsville. And so it 00:26:04.735 --> 00:26:06.206 - does impact other 00:26:06.466 --> 00:26:13.127 - other county residents potentially as well, not just those who live in Steinsville. The commissioners 00:26:13.127 --> 00:26:19.918 - approved the resolution by a two to zero vote with Commissioner Lee Jones absent. The resolution itself 00:26:19.918 --> 00:26:26.645 - does not require Steinsville to take any particular action, and the commissioners say that it does not 00:26:26.645 --> 00:26:33.306 - supersede the town's authority. And that is all for Cats Week. Thank you for joining us. For Cats and 00:26:33.306 --> 00:26:35.134 - WFHB, I'm Annalise Poorman.