- >> All right. We're going to go ahead and get this meeting started. Today is Tuesday,
- March 25th, 2025. We're coming to you from the NatU Hill meeting room and Teams Connection.
- I will note for the record that we have Councilmember Wilz, Councilmember Henry, Councilmember Pfeidl,
- Councilmember Decker, and Councilmember Iverson in the room. I want to express our sincere
- well-wishes to Councilmember Crossley, who is at home with sickness. So, yes?
- >> It appears that Councilor Hock is virtual. >> Okay. Welcome, Councilmember Hock, online.
- And again, I just want to make sure that your video is working for voting purposes. Let's
- start today with a Pledge of Allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United
- States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible,
- with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you, Council. Today's agenda can
- be found on the events calendar, and I'll ask Council if you have any changes to today's
- agenda or updates. Councilmember Wilz? >> I was wondering if perhaps we could pull
- item B from the consent agenda out to be its own item just so that we could discuss it.
- If we can discuss it anyway and it doesn't make any difference, then I'm fine with that.
- I just, you know, I'm interested in hearing a little bit more either from the liaison
- or if the surveyors here. It just, it seemed more interesting than a consent agenda item
- to me. >> Sure. Okay.
- >> Remind me which one you're talking about. >> B, it's from the surveyors office, so it's
- 6B. >> Because there's several Bs here.
- >> 6B. >> 6B. Now I know which one it is.
- >> Councilmember Wilz, are you comfortable when we get to the consent agenda items and
- we open it up for the conversation that we discussed it?
- >> That's perfect. >> Excellent.
- >> Thank you. >> Are there any other changes to today's
- agenda? Seeing none, we will go ahead and adopt that with, we need to do a roll call
- vote, right? >> There's no changes to the agenda.
- >> We can adopt it as is. >> You can just voice vote the adoption of
- the agenda. >> All those in favor, please say aye.
- >> Aye. >> All those opposed? The ayes have it unanimously.
- >> All right. Let's move on to public comments. If you would like to make public comments
- for an item not on the agenda, please come up to the podium or raise your hand on Teams
- and we will recognize you for your public comment. And as always, there will be a brief time
- limit on your comments, and we'll go ahead and start here in the NatU Hill Room. Welcome.
- >> All right. Good afternoon, evening. My name is Jen Pearl. I'm president of the Bloomington
- Economic Development Corporation. We're a nonprofit that serves all of Monroe County
- in attracting and growing quality jobs and wages for the community. I am here because
- we are trying to spread the word about the many opportunities that are available in Monroe
- County right now. We recently did a snapshot among a number of our largest employers, and
- there are literally hundreds of jobs that are open in Monroe County. We know that graduation
- season is coming up on us, and others might be in job transitions, so we wanted everyone
- to be aware of what's out there. Folks can find the article that we published in the
- Herald Times. It's also available through the LinkedIn page for the Bloomington Economic
- Development Corporation. And just briefly, our driving industries that have opportunities
- include healthcare and life sciences, education are really leading the way on job openings.
- We also have opportunities in advanced manufacturing, tech, and there are always opportunities in
- small business growth as well as defense. The article that we have talks about ways
- that you can find these listings and find the employers that are in our community. And
- we would also ask that folks visit our LinkedIn page, find that article, and share it with
- others as well, because we want to make sure that we're really retaining and promoting
- great talent for our community. Also, this is a special thank you to the County Council
- because many of the employers that are listed in here are employers that you've supported
- in recent years as they've worked to expand, such as Syntra, such as Phoenix, and others
- across the community. Everyone in the room, you all have copies of this in front of you,
- but I can also share the links for you to share as well. So thank you and tell your
- friends to come work in Monroe County. Thank you, Ms. Pearl. Thank you, Jen. Are there
- any other public comments? Again, looking to the podium here in that you Hill or people
- raising their hands on teams? Seeing none, let's move on to department updates. Are there
- department heads here in the net you Hill room or online that wish to offer a department
- update? Seeing none, we will move on with our agenda for item number six. This is where
- I go, right? That is correct. Perfect. This is my first time at this. Bear with me. Council,
- I move to approve the following consent agenda items for March 25th at the February 25th
- meeting summary minutes, the February 27th joint meeting of the Monroe County Board of
- Commissioners and County Council and the March 11th executive session of the County Council
- and the surveyors request in the fund 1202-0000 surveyors corner perpetuation fund to create
- account line 38002 ATLP higher ed and longevity. Second. All right. We have a motion and a
- second. Thank you so much for reading that. Councilmember pilot do a great job. Does council
- have any comments or questions? Yes. I would just like to know a little bit more about
- the item B and the program that that he the surveyor is utilizing and I don't know if
- the surveyors even here since this was put on consent agenda. Oh, yeah. John, are you
- there? All right, Mr. and right Randolph, we see your hand raised. Mr. President, is
- that taking this point of order? Are we taking a motion to divide the question out of consent
- agenda and then move it to discuss it? Or how would you like to proceed? At this point,
- I think I'm comfortable with having a conversation about this this agenda item. And if we need
- to take more concerted action, then I'll entertain a motion to separate it. Yes. Is there a way
- you could please promote? I might be live. There you are. Yeah. And my Internet said
- I had poor connectivity. So the reason to create this line is to kind of track the dollars
- going into it that will be coming from the corner perpetuation line. We had a training
- line in the corner perpetuation budget. But I think this is kind of a little outside of
- it. So this will be a good tool to kind of track that. I actually intended to come and
- give a presentation about the program itself. And I could kind of go into that. I actually
- even put a presentation together. Since I am not at the office, I don't have access
- to that document, that PowerPoint. But I would be more than happy to come back and give you
- kind of a not just a presentation on the program, but also how that relates to our perpetuation
- efforts. And, you know, I could kind of keep it tight around, you know, five to six minutes.
- But I think it's a great way to show you what we're up to. And I'd be more than happy to
- do this. This was just kind of something that was recommended to do to kind of set some
- best practices. And, you know, unfortunately, I just kind of was trying to move this along
- since we have the program in place, but I'm more than happy to come back and give you
- a full presentation. If you want to approve it today or hold off, I'd leave that to your
- discretion. But in a nutshell, it's investing in our employees for further education, and
- it's a great opportunity. Marion County had established the program originally, and so
- I'm kind of following off of their template, and it allows our survey technician to get
- further education that eventually could go into getting their license, which really helps
- our office with, you know, kind of streamlining our workflow, maximizing our time. Regardless,
- if we had to do the research or not, we would have to take that time. So all that time spent
- doing that research actually can be an incentive to our employees. So I think it just has a
- great outcome. All right, thank you so much. Councilmember Wilts.
- Thank you for that explanation. I think it's great from, you know, by all accounts, looking
- at the description, I'm totally in support of anything that can help the folks who work
- for the county pursue their education. It looks like it's an associate's degree in surveying
- technology and the help program supports this. Where is that housed? What is it? Where's
- the degree coming from? Well, there's an outline. Let me grab my folder. I'm not completely
- unprepared. I just don't have access to the end drive with the PowerPoint. So there's
- a reimbursement agreement. So basically, after they complete everything, they agree to stay
- with the county for two years. And then there's a sliding scale of that reimbursement program.
- So basically, after the completion of their last class, they stay with the county for
- two years. If they don't complete it, then they have to go through the reimbursement.
- That was put together by me and legal Mr. Schilling. And then there's an outline of
- the program itself. And this is focused on Vinson's University. It's a hybrid virtual
- program. And since the survey technician already has a degree, a lot of it was able to transfer
- over. In the state of Indiana, there's a big need for professional surveyors. So another
- couple benefits is that they're going to learn the profession. And if there's the opportunity
- for them to practice, they're going to really know how the surveying was conducted in Monroe
- County and how that relates to our perpetuation efforts. They're not completely different
- from county to county, but there is somewhat of a way to identify when they're working
- in that local area, which would be a multi-county jurisdiction, if you will. They practice surveying
- a bit different in other areas. Okay. Thank you. All right. We have a motion
- and a second. Are there any other council comments or questions on today's consent agenda
- items? Seeing none, we'll go to the public. If you have any questions or comments on the
- consent agenda items, raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. Seeing none, we'll
- take a roll call vote because we have a member on zoom or teams.
- Councillor Wilz. Yes. Councillor Decker. Yes. Councillor Iverson. Yes. Councillor Hawke.
- You're muted. I'm going to go ahead with Councillor Henry. Yes. Councillor Feidl. Yes. And we'll
- go back to Councillor Hawke. Yes. My answer is no. It sounded me like we're putting in
- place an additional person there in the surveyor's office and and I'm just going to try my best
- not to agree to any additional appropriations. Can we clarify that before we. Councillor Hawke,
- this is not the addition. I know it isn't it but is it not approving the person placed
- within the budget? No. But we have a record of the vote. It's fine. Just put me down as
- a no and move forward. Thank you. All right. Motion passes by majority five to one. Excellent.
- All right. We will move on to agenda item number seven. And I don't think Ms. Feidl has anything
- to read here. So I'm going to recognize members of the Monroe County Civil Air Patrol, particularly
- Second Lieutenant Brad Thompson to introduce the group. And I think we've got some materials
- here on our desk. It looks like we've got a slide deck ready to go for our enjoyment.
- So Second Lieutenant Brad Thompson, the next 15 minutes are all yours. Thank you. I'm just
- going to turn it over to our cadets. Thank you, sir.
- Good evening, counsel. My name is Cadet Captain Mara Keeta Thompson. I am the deputy commander.
- Excuse me. Can you pull your mic a little bit closer? Yeah. Thank you.
- I am Cadet Captain Mara Keeta Thompson. I am the deputy commander of operations. And
- I'm here with Cadet Second Lieutenant Lydia Parker. I am the cadet commander.
- I am Cadet Senior Master Sergeant Zachariah Schmidt. I am the cadet first sergeant.
- And here today we are with our squadron, the Monroe County Composite Squadron. And we are
- a composite squadron. So we are made of both senior members and cadet members. And cadet
- members are students anywhere from 12 years old to 21 years old. If you join before you
- are 18, you can stay at cadet until you are 21. But if you join after 18, you have to
- join as a senior member. With that being said, we have 30 cadets and 30 senior members in
- our squadron. Who we are, Civil Air Patrol is two organizations in one. We are a congressionally
- chartered non-profit all of the time and an auxiliary of the Air Force some of the time.
- As a part of the total force of the Air Force, Civil Air Patrol can be activated for missions
- that meet the operations' call abilities. The total force consists of the Air Force,
- the Air National Guard, the Air Force Reserve, and the Civil Air Patrol. Auxiliary missions
- of the defense support for civil authorities typically include search and rescue, joint
- readiness training, preservation of life and property, and humanitarian relief. Going into
- our history, Civil Air Patrol was established in December 1st, 1941 after the United States
- was thrust into World War II. Civil Air Patrol was a part of the civilian effort and an all-volunteer
- force using privately-owned aircraft in a variety of roles that include patrolling the
- Atlantic coast from Maine to Mexico to monitoring and harassing German U-boats and shipping
- lanes, searching for survivors of ships that succumb to torpedo attacks or weather, and
- training pilots for the military. Franklin Roosevelt, Franklin, President Franklin Roosevelt
- transferred Civil Air Patrol from the Office of Civilian Defense to the Department of War,
- which later became the Department of Defense. In 1943, Truman established Civil Air Patrol
- as the Air Force Civilian Auxiliary on May 26th, 1948. On August 28th, 2015, General
- Mark A. Welsh III Civil Air Force Chief of Staff officially announced Civil Air Patrol
- as a member of the U.S. Air Force Total Force, joining the Regular Guard and Reserve Force
- as American Airmen. And as you can see, we are actually older than the Air Force itself.
- I've got my papers mixed up here. Civil Air Patrol is the nation's premier volunteer-driven
- aviation-based nonprofit, which can be summed up in our mission statement, which is Volunteers
- Serving America's Communities, Saving Lives and Shaping Futures. We have around 70,000
- volunteers that are all volunteers, with 36,000 being adults and 32,000 being youth cadets.
- Aviation-based, we operate the world's largest American fleet of 555 single-engine aircraft,
- operating more than 2,200 drones and operating high-tech aerial imaging capabilities used
- for damage assessment. And we are tasked with three missions from the Air Force, which are
- Aerospace Education, Youth Program, and Emergency Services, which these two will go into more.
- So our first mission, which is Aerospace Education, we provide aerospace education to both cadets
- and the community. We can provide classrooms with support and free STEM kits to teachers
- and other educators. And of course, aligning to national academic standards, AE offers
- more than 40 educational products consisting of hundreds of lesson plans that span through
- pre-K through grade 12. AE also offers 21 different STEM kits for ages 4 and up, textbooks,
- and activity books for the youngest learners. We also have with Civil Air Patrol Aerospace
- Education members or AEMs. AEMs can be teachers, homeschoolers, scout leaders, anyone that
- teaches STEM. They can join for $35 a year flat rate. AEMs can get free STEM kits for
- use in their classrooms as well as free TOP or teacher orientation flight program flights,
- a ride in a Civil Air Patrol aircraft in which they can take control of the aircraft and
- fly it themselves. So if you know an educator, let them know about our program. Pictured
- on the slide is a science teacher and robotics leader at Bloomington High School North who
- had just completed her teacher orientation flight last year. With Aerospace Education,
- our cadets learn about weather, physics, mechanics, aerodynamics, other STEM items related to
- aviation including building model rockets, getting to fly drones and fly aircraft on
- orientation flights, which as part of Aerospace Education, cadets receive five powered orientation
- flights in a Civil Air Patrol aircraft, getting to have their hands on the controls flying
- the airplane themselves. Turn it over to Lieutenant Parker.
- Our second mission is the cadet program. There are many ways youth can choose to spend their
- free time such as sports, band, scouts, video games, etc. CAP is unlike any other service
- organization out there. CAP is based on a military type organization so we achieve rank
- by taking specific tests such as physical training tests, knowledge tests and aerospace
- tests and also participating actively in our program. The aviation component in the cadet
- program, every cadet gets up to five orientation rides before they turn 18. CAP can help with
- college and military academy placement. About 10% of military academy cadets are CAP cadets.
- It also allows cadets to enter the military with a higher rank but we are not a recruiter.
- Cadets have no obligation to join any branch of military. We provide an opportunity to
- serve alongside family for a shared experience and can help bring families together. Cadets
- can also participate in emergency services and be involved with search and rescue, ground
- teams, communications and air crews. Other things that cadets can take advantage of are
- our summer camps. This is the first summer camp that cadets must attend to be eligible
- to go to. I don't want to say more impressive but sometimes are more fun camps. It is kind
- of like basic training for kids but it's also a lot of fun. It is called encampment. This
- was at Camp Atterbury. It has since moved but the one pictured here was at Camp Atterbury
- where cadets built and launched model rockets, went flying and rappelling, learned drill
- and participated in physical training. Also available to cadets are unique special activities
- called NCSAs or National Cadet Special Activities such as mountain rescue in Colorado, honor
- guard, flight training all over the states, civil leadership academy and computer networking,
- cyber security taught by the Air Force and others. Pictured on this slide is us, so next
- slide. So pictured here is us helping with Rees Across America because a big part of
- Civil Air Patrol is the volunteer service. Every year we help place Rees and post the
- colors. And next slide. This is us helping at the 279 Food Pantry a couple years ago
- near Thanksgiving. And then the next one is us helping Kiwanis Club with the Balloon Fest.
- We helped launch and recover the balloons and helped with parking and other jobs. And
- then this is me receiving my Mitchell Award from the mayor. The Mitchell Award is the
- second milestone in the program. It is also the biggest milestone. It is the pivot point
- from NCO to officer and not only do we get to have all the opportunities to come to officers,
- we also if we want to enter the Air Force we would join as an E3 which is a higher pay
- and higher rank. Also available to us are aerospace education scholarships.
- With the picture on the right that you've seen previously, I was on our nation's capital
- about ready to talk to our two senators about our budget request and just kind of letting
- them know what Civil Air Patrol is getting our name out there and being able to meet
- with our federal government. Later on that week I was actually able to speak with my
- congresswoman and have a meeting with her giving her our budget request for the year and that
- was just an amazing opportunity. I actually was able to go up there for free being able
- to tour the capital, different monuments and things like that and just being able to see
- how the government worked. It was absolutely amazing, such an amazing program. Our final
- and third program of Civil Air Patrol Emergency Services, it's arguably the most important
- program of Civil Air Patrol. Civil Air Patrol is who performs 90% of search and rescue missions
- in the U.S. Many searches are conducted using proprietary cell phone forensics and radar
- analysis. Advanced search capabilities make CAP an invaluable resource to facilitate searches
- for downed aircraft, missing persons, stranded motorists, injured hikers, drift boaters and
- much more. Before cell phone forensics and radar analysis searches took hours, days,
- even weeks to complete and today in a matter of minutes Civil Air Patrol can help reduce
- probable search area with our cell phone location software so rescues and resources are much
- quicker even after dark and in bad weather, thereby dramatically increasing survival rate.
- Our E.S. teams also respond to a variety of requests from local and state and even federal
- agencies post disasters like floods, wildfires, hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis. Support
- may include search and rescue, point of distribution, aerial imaging for rapid damage assessment,
- personal and supply transport, communications networking and much more. We even have our
- own communications network funded and operated by the Air Force by their equipment and frequencies.
- It is secure so we are able to communicate locally or nationally securely. And Civil
- Air Patrol was the only non-military aircraft that were allowed to fly after the attacks
- on September 11th. Civil Air Patrol is who took most of the pictures of the Twin Towers
- disaster site for federal agencies such as DHS or FEMA that were doing damage assessment.
- Last year this aircraft was retired and is now on display at the National Museum of the
- United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. As a total force partner of the Air Force the
- Auxiliary plays an integral role in joint readiness training for the military. You can
- read more about these missions in the packet that you have.
- One interesting program is RPP, the Rated Preparatory Program. It's a joint training
- initiative that relies on Civil Air Patrol aircraft and personnel with flight instructors
- to help Air Force Airmen on their journey to become rated aircrew. The Air Force funded
- program provides training for active duty non-flying Air Force personnel with skills
- to improve their Airman's pilot candidate selection method score. The RPP candidates
- receive more than 40 hours of training with support, discussion, simulator time, and air
- and ground training. There are two locations of this training, one in Texas and one just
- over in Columbus, Indiana. Some of the senior members from our squadron here in Monroe County
- as well as the entirety of Indiana wing help with this program.
- CAP is heavily involved in most national disasters such as the California wildfires, the fires
- in Hawaii, hurricanes in Florida, flooding across Kentucky and the Carolinas. On the
- next slide we have pictured cadets after participating and during participation in the Red Cross
- exercise
- Operation Safe Harbor in October of 2023. Cadets learned how to use a survey app on
- their phone to do damage assessment for emergency management agencies and coordinating resources.
- Most recently in last July our squadron here was called to help set up a point of distribution
- for water after the heavy storms on June 30th. Local emergency management agencies like the
- Monroe County Emergency Management can call the Indiana Department of Homeland Security
- and request our help. This help can be volunteers, search and rescue teams, point of distribution
- support, damage assessment, airborne photography and emergency communications. The Air Force
- purchases and maintains equipment such as the Cessna 182, one of which we have at the
- Monroe County Airport. The Air Force trains and coordinates Civil Air Patrol to be a service
- to you and other communities. We are an all-volunteer organization. The assets of CAP are all free
- to call upon except for our aircraft, but aircraft time is only about $160 an hour as
- compared to a National Guard helicopter, which can be upwards of $4,000 per hour. So as you
- can see, we are quite a bargain. This aircraft and air crews can be useful in events like
- Like the storms last June, tornadoes in Steinsville a few years ago, and much other situations.
- And lastly we'll talk about the impact by the numbers nationally.
- Every year is different, but on average we save over 100 lives.
- There are 555 plus aircraft, 1000 plus vehicles, 1400 plus locations, 100,000 plus hours flown,
- 500,000 plus students impacted, and 200 million dollars value of time volunteered.
- We have a three to one return of investment for every dollar spent in the service of others.
- We can also assist in other events, not just emergencies.
- During the eclipse last year we had all of our aircraft in the air and updated traffic
- information to the Indiana Department of Homeland Security to support the Indiana State Police,
- the Indiana Wing, 34 squadrons around the state with 470 adult volunteers, 904 cadets
- ages 12 to 21, 62 air crews, and 777 emergency responders.
- The assets that could be put into use are 8 aircraft and 18 vehicles consisting of cars,
- trucks, and multi-passenger vans.
- 60 communication systems that include 16 VHF/FM repeaters, 221 VHF/FM stations, and 31 FM stations.
- This is part of a nationwide communication system.
- Conclusion.
- This is a great program for young people to learn leadership, character development, learn
- new skills, work on STEM activities, and participate in physical training.
- This organization is also a great opportunity for adults to volunteer in their community
- and use their skills or learn new ones.
- Adults can be active with the cadets or participate in the ground or air crew's emergency services
- and communications.
- We believe that the Civil Air Patrol is one of the best-kept secrets of a local community.
- We can support educators, emergency management agencies, and support young people's growth.
- We meet every Thursday evening from 645 to 915 p.m. at the Trinity Reform Church on End
- Right Road.
- You are all welcome to drop by and learn about us.
- For more information, please go to our website, gocivilairpatrol.com, and we thank you for
- your time.
- Does anyone have any questions?
- Thank you so much, Commander Thompson, Sergeant Schmidt, and Lieutenant Parker.
- What a great presentation.
- I'll now turn to Councilor here on my right for any questions or comments.
- Thank you, Mr. President.
- Thank you for your presentation tonight.
- I do have one question for you each.
- What's been your most memorable mission or experience that you've had in the Civil Air
- Patrol?
- And that's for all of you.
- Wow.
- Yeah.
- So for me personally, I think it was probably encampment.
- This past year, I got to staff encampment, which means I was the one getting to yell
- at all the basics and get them learning.
- So that was a lot of fun.
- It also was kind of a kick in the pants to get me going in the right direction.
- So I believe encampment has probably been my favorite.
- For me, it was what I spoke about previously where I got to go on the nation's capital
- and speak to my congresswoman, and that really influenced me in what I want to do, because
- I do want to go into political science or law and work on the capital.
- And I actually got to—I forgot what they're called.
- When I was speaking to two of the congresspeople, they offered me an internship—that's what
- it's called.
- Yeah.
- They offered me an internship there for when I'm old enough, because I'm only a junior
- in high school, and if they are still in their term, I'm able to go back and take them up
- on that internship.
- I'm going to have to agree with Lieutenant Parker.
- My favorite experiences also have to have been in encampment.
- I've been to two as well, once as a basic student and once as an advanced student.
- And next week, I will actually be—next two weekends, first two in April, I will be staffing
- and encampment up in Illinois Wing.
- So get at a third one.
- Thank you for that.
- I will just comment that you leave me hopeful.
- It's another example—Civil Air Patrol—another example of how federal resources come the
- whole way down from Washington to our community and how essential they are for everything
- that you've described in your presentation.
- I'm also hopeful, apparently from the internship offer, that our two senators remember their
- Navy and Marine Corps oaths, as you have for what you've already done in service to our
- country and community.
- So thank you for that.
- Councilmember Hawke.
- Yes, Justin, I'm so sorry to you folks that I'm not there to meet with you this evening.
- I bet my very best friend is watching tonight.
- Helen is somebody that I graduated from high school with and been lifelong friends, and
- this is her family there that's involved, the Thompsons.
- So I know how proud she is of them, and I'm excited for them too.
- And they are really, that whole group is doing so much more than most anybody here would
- know about if they hadn't come to talk with us about it.
- It sounds like an exciting opportunity for so many people.
- Thank you, ma'am.
- Mr. Deckard.
- Thank you so much for spending some time with us this evening and for telling us this important
- information.
- In a community like this, we can sometimes take for granted the riches and the good things
- that we have.
- And I think you have reminded us, not only here on this council, but you've reminded
- the public of the wondrous things that you all do and the impact that you're having in
- so many different ways.
- I love that you have spent some time on Capitol Hill as well.
- I love that you're going to go back to Capitol Hill.
- Maybe one of these days, I'll get a chance to vote for you and send you to Capitol Hill.
- But it's remarkable to think of these things and the experience and the leadership you're
- getting is robust.
- One thing that I love about our folks that are in the service and are serving as you
- are is whenever we see you, we get to see all the badges that you have.
- All throughout these presentations, I go down and I look at that and it tells me that you
- don't get that just walking into a convenience store and saying, "I'd like that one.
- That one's cool."
- You got that from a lot of work that you've done for this community and for others.
- I love that that walks around with you in this role.
- I know that for folks like myself and others, that is a reassuring moment in a flood, in
- a tough time, at a food pantry.
- And I love that that message comes to us tonight, goes out on cats.
- This will be recorded that hopefully more people see this and hear that message.
- And what a blessing that is for all of us.
- So thank you so much for taking time to educate us on a night when you could have been doing
- other things, but yet again, here you are serving.
- So thank you.
- Thank you, Mr. Decker.
- Councilmember Wilts.
- I would just like to say thanks for thinking of us.
- Thanks for coming out to our meeting.
- I've learned a lot.
- I read in the packet and so and I was like, oh, yeah, okay, that's very cool.
- But hearing you all speak about it is extra special.
- And I learned even more from that.
- I'm curious how each of you got involved.
- So how did you find out about the program at first?
- Yes, ma'am.
- So funny enough, it all started when I was watching a TV show with my family and one
- of the characters got into the Air Force Academy and I decided that I wanted to do that.
- So I did a lot of research and I found Civil Air Patrol through the Air Force Academy website
- and I did even more research into that and decided, you know what, this is something
- I want to look into.
- So I told my parents and funny enough, they'd already heard about it.
- So they were like, yeah, we know.
- And then I have been here ever since.
- I was at an air show here in the state, I don't exactly remember where, but they had
- a booth set up and a whole mascot.
- They had one of our Cessna 182s out there and I was able to tour the plane, look at
- all the different things and one of the cadets, I think she might have been 15 or 16, told
- me that she had flown that before and that was really special to me and I found out that
- there was a squadron in my town.
- So I went and visited it and I've been in here for five years now.
- Yeah, for me, I really just was so interested in the Air Force and really wanted to get
- into the Air Force Academy and just wanted to do something for it and obviously because
- I was 14 at the time, I couldn't.
- And then I did a lot of searching around on the Air Force's website and I saw auxiliary
- there and I'd never heard of it, so I looked into it and saw this looks really interesting,
- I saw some of the things that cadets get to do, saw that there was a squadron here in
- Bloomington and I was really scared to join the first day, but been in almost two years
- and I love it every day.
- Okay, I think I'm on.
- So I think that I am impressed that you're here and willing to come and talk to us like
- the others have said and all that you've done, but I'm interested to know when you have,
- is it your weekly meetings, right, like about how many come and then also how do you go around
- and sort of promote who you are in the area for young folks to find out about this, right?
- Where do you put your, do you maybe even make a recording and leave it on cats where people
- can find out about it?
- I don't know what you do, I'd like to know how you promote yourselves.
- So in our system we have 35 cats, I believe, and active around 20.
- Every meeting we get that showing, putting our name out there, I'm not entirely sure
- my dad is actually the recruiter for us.
- But I know in my school, because I do go to Bloomington North, we have posters around,
- we also go to air shows and we have booths try to promote that, send out flyers or whenever
- we're volunteering anywhere, we try to talk to people, get our name out there and we also
- have a booth at the fair whenever that takes place.
- Very nice.
- Thank you.
- Thank you, ma'am.
- Let me turn my mic on.
- Let me conclude with this number $5,406,970.
- That is the value of your volunteer hours in the Indiana Wing.
- That is phenomenal.
- That is such a great investment in what you're doing.
- Of course, I think Councilmember Decker and I have been fortunate enough to come out and
- visit you out at the airport and we're just so thankful for all you do.
- Your presentation was phenomenal.
- Thank you for that.
- Also, for those watching, that presentation starts on page 26 of today's packet.
- If you heard something you liked and want to reference that again, go ahead and head
- over to today's agenda and you can see it on page 26.
- Thank you for your time and again, you're welcome here anytime.
- So have a good night and thank you very much.
- Thank you, Council.
- All right.
- Let's move on to item number eight.
- I think that's me again.
- I think it is.
- Okay.
- Items A and B are combined.
- Council, I move to the Emergency Management Department's request and fund 8188-9624 EMPG
- salary fund to create account lines, approve additional appropriations of $55,000 in the
- personnel category and simultaneously amend the 2025 salary ordinance to add account lines
- 13701, Deputy Director, 40 hours, PATB, non-exempt and account line 15115, Director, 40 hours,
- PATD, exempt.
- Second.
- We have a motion and a second.
- Mr. Justin Baker is here with us from the Emergency Management Department.
- Tell us about these agenda items.
- Yes.
- Good evening.
- My name is Justin Baker.
- I'm the Director of Emergency Management for the county.
- This is our annual grant that we get each year that we inverses the county up to $55,000
- for our salary and benefits.
- So that's what this is.
- It's the Emergency Management Performance Grant, and it's to make sure we're compliant
- with the state and the federal, like we got to submit our timesheets, we got to have an
- exercise each year, and we have to have a good program going on.
- All right.
- Well, thank you for that.
- And may I just remark before we go to council questions how appropriate it is that you are
- following the Civil Air Patrol in your presentation.
- That was quite nice.
- All right.
- I went to my right last time, so I'll go to my left.
- Any comments or questions for Mr. Baker?
- Council Member Wilts?
- Yeah.
- Well, first, congratulations on a grant because we can't get enough of that.
- I mean, that's amazing.
- Bringing in money from outside to help fund things that we have to do.
- And appreciate that and the work that it takes to maintain that.
- As I was looking through the paperwork that you submitted in the packet, it was a little
- unclear to me about the reimbursement component and the timeline.
- Is it reimbursing costs for 2024?
- Yes.
- Okay.
- 2024.
- Yes.
- Thank you.
- Yep.
- No problem.
- Any other comments or questions?
- Mr. Deckard.
- I always appreciate when you all come before us because my observation over the years has
- been that the role of what you all do and what you experience only expands over time.
- And every season we learn something or think of something or somebody very fiercely tells
- us something that informs our next year of service.
- I know that we're starting to get into that season where we're leading towards either
- June storms or heavy showers or other things.
- Anything you want to share with us while you're here before us and have a camera that's recording
- this that maybe folks should think about or just kind of be wary of as we head into this
- season that we've had pretty steadily here for a number of years?
- Yeah.
- So always keep track of the forecast.
- Make sure you know when bad storms are going to be coming.
- Follow our Facebook page.
- Sign up for the county and work system as it doesn't cost nothing for any all residents.
- Have many ways to get a word.
- Don't just solely focus on one thing.
- Have many ways to get a word about severe letters or any kind of events.
- Right.
- Any other comments or questions to my left?
- Seeing none.
- I'll go to my right.
- Mr. Deckard.
- Good Lord.
- I'm so sorry.
- I'm from the East Coast Deckards.
- Thank you, Mr. President, David Henry, for the record.
- Justin, thanks for coming in.
- I just want to maybe toot the horn of this program a little bit.
- By the way, I'll be over on Friday in the building, so I'll say hi again.
- The Emergency Management Performance Grant Program, do you know how many years we've
- been getting that in the county at all?
- I know it's like a trick question.
- I didn't prep this, sorry.
- It's been a while.
- The program has been around since 1988 nationally, and just to understand for everybody just
- how important this program is, it helps undergird all the work we do locally for threat hazard
- identification assessment, for meeting the national preparedness goal, to show we're
- doing our part as a whole here from a county up to the state, and that is a FEMA-funded
- program.
- It helps us to integrate with all the standards, all the technology, all the things we need
- to do to be a good federal and state partner, and as FEMA has been maligned in the media
- and attacked from up in DC, it's really important for folks to understand just how much we rely
- on that resource not only to keep our community safe, but also to do all the work that Councilman
- Decker and you mentioned on preparing for our season and getting ready for when the
- next disaster happens, how to assess it, and how to continue to get, as Councilor Wills
- mentioned, more federal resources to our community in times of crisis.
- It is an incredibly important program.
- I hope we continue to see that support year in and year out.
- Happy to support it.
- Thank you, Mr. President.
- Mr. David Henry, thank you for your wisdom.
- That was very helpful.
- Council Member Hawke.
- Yes.
- Just to show you how far the county has come, this used to be half time for this service
- and the other half of the person's time was spent with Veterans Affairs.
- So as we grow, we need to have more emphasis placed on different issues.
- And I'm so grateful that you were able to continue to get this grant to cover those
- salaries and your expenses.
- So thank you so much for everything you do.
- And boy, you know, it was just last year when trees were down everywhere and you were like
- doing everything you could to try to make sure that people got the news and got the
- service and the protection that they needed.
- So much appreciated.
- Thank you, Councilmember Hawke.
- Mr. Baker, I'll just ask that you share our congratulations and support with your team.
- As you can hear, we're all very happy that you got this.
- All right.
- I'm going to ask for any public comments on these agenda items.
- So I'm looking, asking for folks to come to the podium here in the NatU Hill Room or raise
- your hand on teams for this grant from the Emergency Management Department.
- Seeing none, may we have a roll call vote?
- Councilor Wilts?
- Yes.
- Councilor Hawke?
- Yes.
- Councilor Decker?
- Yes.
- Councilor Henry?
- Yes.
- Councilor Iverson?
- Yes.
- Councilor Feidl?
- Yes.
- That passes unanimously.
- Thank you, Council.
- Thank you very much.
- That brings us to item number nine, the Employee Services Department.
- Council, I move to approve the Employee Services Department's request and fund 1,000-0309 General
- Fund Employee Services for an additional appropriation of $120,334 in the personnel category.
- Second.
- We have a motion and a second, Denise Ensgenstein, here to tell us what is going on.
- Sure.
- Good evening, Council.
- This is a housekeeping item related to the classification changes that you approved for
- our office in the fall of last year, plus the addition of a new position.
- Last year, I was able to move some funds around in our lines to account for those classification
- changes but do not have all of the money to be able to do so for that new position and
- the classification changes with what we budgeted for this year, so that is the reason for this
- request.
- All right.
- Thank you very much for that update.
- I'll go to my right to begin this time.
- Mr. Henry.
- All right.
- Ms. Hawk, do you have anything to say or comments or questions?
- Yes, I'd like very much to have the commissioners find this dollar amount someplace in their
- budget.
- They wanted so much to have this done and we know we're trying to watch every dollar
- and this was not an addition that I supported during budget hearing, so I'm not going to
- support this move, but I certainly think that the commissioners could get into their budget
- and try to find the dollars to support this.
- Thank you.
- I'm going to look to my left for comments or questions.
- Yes.
- Council Member Woods.
- Yeah, so I don't know that it would make a big difference where the money came from in
- terms of whose budget, but, you know, we committed to supporting the position.
- It's been created and I think it's a no-brainer to pay our bills and support the position
- that's been put in place.
- Any other comments or questions from my left here?
- Seeing none.
- Let's look to see if there's any public comments on this item, whether it's here in the Not
- U Hill Room or online, seeing none, could we have a roll call vote?
- Councilor Iverson.
- Yes.
- Councilor Henry.
- Yes.
- Councilor Hawk.
- No.
- Councilor Wilts.
- Yes.
- Councilor Feidl.
- Yes.
- Councilor Decker.
- Yes.
- Motion passes majority five to one.
- You're welcome.
- All right.
- That brings us to item number 10, the prosecutor's office.
- Council, I move to approve the prosecutor's request and fund four one zero two dash zero
- zero zero zero donations hyphen APS unit 10, the creation of account line three eight one
- one zero services and charges and simultaneously an additional appropriation of one thousand
- five hundred sixty nine dollars and seventy eight cents in the services category.
- Second.
- We have a motion and a second and Beth Hamlin with us tonight.
- What is going on with this agenda item?
- Good evening, counselors.
- This is a fund that we have maintained for as long as I've been here, 18 years.
- We have not ever previously had to have this appropriated because it was a donation fund
- that was specific for APS.
- I believe there's a new rule that requires us to have this appropriated.
- We are only asking to appropriate the balance that's in the fund, which is the fifteen sixty
- nine seventy eight.
- All right.
- Short and sweet.
- Looking to my left.
- For any comments.
- Can I make one clarification?
- Of course you can.
- For counselor Hawk specifically.
- These funds are from donations.
- These are not county general funds.
- Okay.
- And as your mind reader.
- All right.
- Going to the left.
- Right.
- And then we have the first concern.
- Well.
- Yeah.
- Obviously the action seems like a no brainer.
- You're just doing what what the auditor's office has asked you to do, which is great.
- But reading about funding and adult protective services brings to mind some of the uncertainty
- around the future of of that funding.
- Do you have an update?
- I haven't been keeping up like, you know, week to week or anything, but I am aware that
- there might be some threats to APS funding.
- That's correct.
- The state did not recontract with prosecutors offices as they have for decades.
- They opened an RFP and received some proposals to provide the service of protecting endangered
- adults.
- The prosecuting attorneys council did, on behalf of prosecutors offices, submit a proposal
- that was fully funded.
- That was the reason for the breakdown originally was that a program just has not been funded
- adequately for a very long time.
- We still have no answer from the state, which is concerning because our contract, our current
- contract ends on June 30th, and to my understanding, there's no decision that's been made, which
- is extremely concerning.
- We've already lost one of our investigators because obviously, you know, there's such
- uncertainty, you know, they need to take care of their families.
- So yeah, I wish I had an update for you, but I do not.
- Mr. Deckard, thank you.
- Thank you very much, Beth, for being here, and I don't have any comment on this line
- other than the information that Counselor Wiltz has kind of asked and that you were
- very candid to supply.
- I, you know, I entered into our meeting today in a better place than I've started recent
- meetings and you've had to be here and listen to a couple of my editorials and my blood
- pressure, I think if you took it earlier before your last comment was probably in better shape.
- But now my soapbox is going to come out just for about 12 seconds.
- You go, girl.
- I thank you.
- I have to be frank, there are sometimes I read the news, I watch things and I'm a calm entity,
- but this is a regression in society.
- So for folks back home, here's what I mean.
- We're moving backwards in time and not in a good nostalgic backwards.
- We're moving to bad nostalgia.
- And I get memories from being in undergrad criminology classes, it was one of my majors.
- By the way, they tell you in criminal justice criminology majors to never tell anybody that
- that's your major, particularly if you get pulled over because no one will be impressed.
- And they said, you'll make it worse, but I can remember vividly talking, this is 1996/7/8,
- talking about how communities moving to adult protective services is the new wave of where
- we're going.
- And this is, we got to do this because elder abuse and other things that are unmentionable
- but happen when you have older populations and all these things, they occur.
- And so we were bright-eyed students there and thinking, well, this will just be one
- of those things that never goes away.
- Now we hear this, and I have to say for our state and our future, I keep hearing about
- all these things that we're going to do this better.
- This is what cutting looks like, and these are people's families, and a lot of times
- they're families that are not going to have folks that can take care of them or they're
- not going to have folks that are taking care of them in the right way.
- And occasionally the state's got to jump in there because nobody else is.
- So I hear this, and I'll say what I've said in recent meetings.
- I'm sorry for going on so long, but folks, this will be one of those when we'll look
- back and remember when kind of moments.
- For our legislators and others of any way that are doing the people's business, this
- is one, you don't want to screw this one up.
- So make your calls to your agency heads, make your calls to those who are budgeting, and
- say is this really where we're heading?
- Is this really, really, really where we're heading?
- And I hope that the answer is no, this is just one of those mistakes, oversights.
- But folks moving back like this, this isn't nostalgia, this is how cruel things happen
- in bad societies.
- It'd be different if we were not a place that had the means and the efforts and the abilities
- to figure it out.
- Good Lord, we put a man on the moon in 1969, we can't look out for our seniors in the year
- of 2025?
- Come on now.
- So thank you, Beth, and I apologize for my soapbox, but sometimes people in my job that
- took an oath to the state and the federal constitution have to get a soapbox out or
- two and remind folks of their oaths they took as well.
- Mr. President.
- All right.
- After those 12 seconds, is there any other comments or questions?
- All right.
- I see Councilmember Hawke with her hand raised.
- Right.
- I would object to Trent's long dialogue there, except that he was awfully good to help me
- get home the other day when I couldn't make it on my own.
- So maybe I'm one of those endangered species there.
- I just want to say to Beth, because that's what we were talking about to begin with,
- that, of course, I understand that this is money that you've held back, not had to come
- and ask for an appropriation on it.
- But thank you for sharing that information with us.
- And indeed, if you can see a way or if you will let me know what people you've been speaking
- with at the state level, I'll do what I can to see where we are on that.
- Just shoot me a message and let me know.
- All right.
- Thanks.
- No other comments?
- To my right, I will just say as someone who is a caretaker for a vulnerable adult and
- as someone who is married to someone who used to work for APS, it feels really good to be
- able to support you in this moment.
- So I really appreciate that and I'll put an additional addendum on to what Councilmember
- Deckard was saying, is that if folks have not read Senate Bill 2 yet, they should do
- so because the current iteration of that bill is an all out war against the folks that APS
- is serving.
- So I do appreciate everything you're doing here.
- All right.
- Let's...
- Mr. President, could I add on to that?
- We're going to look for public comment because I think we're done here with Council comments.
- I don't...
- If you have any public comments in the NatU Hill Room or online, please raise your hand.
- Seeing none, let's have a roll call vote.
- Councilor Hawke, yes. Councilor Decker, yes. Councilor Feidl, yes. Councilor Wilts, yes.
- Councilor Henry, yes. Councilor Iverson, yes. Motion passes unanimous. Thank you all very
- much.
- Thank you.
- All right.
- That brings us to item number 11, Board of Commissioners.
- So, Council, I move to approve the Board of Commissioners request and fund 1000-0068 County
- General Commissioners of an additional appropriation in the amount of $10,000 in the services
- category.
- Second.
- All right. We have a motion and a second, and we have Angie Purdy here with us from
- the Commissioner's office. Tell us what's going on here.
- Well, actually, I'm hoping that Mr. Cockrell could be promoted to Panelist as he has had
- firsthand connections with this particular item.
- All right. We do see that Mr. Cockrell is online.
- Good evening.
- All right. The floor is yours, sir.
- Yes. What we have here is a request for a $10,000 appropriation, and I'll give a little
- bit of the background of it. I think it's pretty spelled out in the agenda cover sheet.
- But last fall, the Bean Blossom Trustee was looking to add Bean Blossom Township to the
- Monroe Fire Protection District, and as part of the Commissioner's kind of standard routine
- is they set some rules. One of those rules was that if 50 people filed an objection,
- then the commissioners would have a public hearing, and the commissioners had that public
- hearing at the Steinsville Elementary School. At that hearing, what we heard from the public
- was essentially a lack of information and a lack of understanding of what all the options
- are, what problems they were going to address with changing the fire protection district,
- and a lot of concern with essentially lack of information. So the Commissioner Thomas
- and I have met with the Ellitsville Fire Chief, the Monroe Fire Protection District Chief,
- and the Township Trustee, and at the last meeting there also was Representative Mike
- Farmer from the town of Ellitsville, as well as the Bean Blossom Steinsville Volunteer
- Chief was at the meetings, and what we're trying to do is put together an information
- sheet that explains what the problem is, and what the Ellitsville's offer has been to provide
- the fire protection in that area, what the Monroe Fire Protection District's plan would
- be, and then also a financial analysis so that people can see what the cost differential
- is for those levels of service. This $10,000, we have a quote from Baker Tilley to kind
- of do run that financial analysis for that to include in that program, and so that's
- what this $10,000 additional appropriations for.
- Thank you very much. Anything else to add? All right. I'm going to start to my right
- here, Council Member Henry. All right. Looking online. All right. I'll look over to my left.
- All right. We have no comments. This is a good thing, I think, for fire protection,
- so we'll look to the public to see if they want to say anything about this item. If you
- would come up to the podium in that room or raise your hand on teams. Seeing none, could
- we have a roll call vote?
- Councilor Feidl?
- Yes.
- Councilor Iverson?
- Yes.
- Councilor Henry?
- Yes.
- Councilor Decker?
- Yes.
- Councilor Wilts?
- Yes.
- Councilor Hock?
- No.
- Motion passes, majority five to one.
- All right. Thank you very much. That brings us to letter B.
- Council, I move to approve the Board of Commissioners request and fund 1000-0106 County General
- TSD or in fund 1186-0000 Rainy Day, the creation of account line 30006, contractual and
- simultaneously
- approve an additional appropriation of $200,000 in the services category.
- Second.
- We have a motion and a second on this unusual motion. Ms. Purdy, what do we need to know
- about this?
- What you need to know is that we, the commissioners currently have the option of entering into
- a contract in which we make lease payments or, and when we do lease payments, then there's
- an interest that's assessed. And in this particular case, it's over five years and I believe it's
- $68,000. This was the information I found back in December when I was first looking
- at this. And so what we wanted to do was to provide you with the opportunity to decide
- if you wanted to incur the interest expenses or if you wanted to pay for it upfront in
- its full amount.
- I was able to locate $300,000 to go toward this expense, our older bonds. And that bond,
- as you may or may not know, had some furniture and redesign for offices in the Justice Building.
- I know that, for instance, the prosecutor's office, due to the fact that we've actually
- started moving forward on the provision of our jail and justice center, they elected
- to just get chairs because they thought it was going to be 10 years down the road. And
- so that's how that happened. So we've actually moved those funds into another line for Justice
- Building expenses. Also, I think included in that bond, I believe that's how that played.
- But we also have another line for the clerk's office. And so we purpose that line into the
- software line.
- All right. Thank you for that explanation. I went to my right last time. So let's go
- to my left for counsel. Do you have any comments or questions? I'm going to call on Councilmember
- Wilts because it looks like you've got a question formulating. However, if it's not quite
- formulated
- yet, I can go on.
- It's not quite formulated. Thank you. Sorry, my face was...
- No, no, it's good. It's good. All right. Go to my right. Any comments or questions? Yes,
- Mr. Henry.
- Thank you, Mr. President. So Ms. Purdy, if you could maybe walk me through the bond piece
- a little more. As I recall, I think the last time I was exposed to some conversation about
- this particular item that we were looking at the bond for repurposing and not recommending
- that we pull the funds out of the options here in the proposal. So are we not using
- that resource? Am I missing something here in what I'm looking at?
- I'm not sure I understand the question. We are using the bond.
- We have an or option here for rainy day fund use. We have an or option for county general
- fund, but is the bond a third vehicle or can you clarify that for me so I can understand
- it?
- The total cost of the software is over $500,000. So I was able to locate 300 and now I'm asking
- council and giving you the option of which particular fund you would want to use if that
- was your decision to pay in full.
- So just so I'm clear then, so the 300 is accounted for and the balance, the 200 to apply to the
- 500 is what we're talking about this evening. So I guess that wasn't clear in the notes
- I had in front of me, but thank you for that.
- All right. Councilmember Hawke, I see your hand raised.
- Yes. Can you tell me if it's allowed to pay for this out of that QM fund?
- Yes, that's where we pay for all of our software right now out of QM.
- That's what I'm saying. Just you've got, what's your balance in your QM fund? Just pay for
- it out of the QM fund. I mean, all these additionals, and I saw a lot of others coming from the
- commissioners coming up in the next meeting or so, and either we're going to watch these
- budgets and watch these dollars, but to come up with additionals when we're sitting at
- the beginning of the year is, I mean, I just think you ought to go into your present dollars
- and present budgets and find a way to cover this.
- Want me to answer?
- And going to Rainy Day to cover it is actually the same thing as doing a total additional
- in general fund, because we can move that Rainy Day back over into general.
- If you want to know, we have a budget of 3.8 million in our cumulative capital. We currently
- have a million dollar software line.
- I know, I want to know what is your balance in the CUMCAP cash balance?
- 1.9 million.
- What?
- 1.9 million.
- 9.9 million.
- No, we're not going to be able to do that.
- No, 1.9 million.
- 1.9 million. And you'll be getting in June, you'll be getting more dollars coming into
- that.
- Correct, because we have a 3.8 million dollar budget.
- Sometimes you have to make choices.
- All right, Councilmember Wilts, looks like that question came up.
- You were starting to explain about the budget that you have, and I guess I felt like you
- weren't finished, or at least I wanted to hear more, so you said that you had a software
- line.
- Yes, there is a software line already in that particular bond, and because of that, the
- bond works, you get the money to complete these projects.
- Some projects are more, some are less, and some projects don't get done if other ones
- become more expensive, so we would be able to transfer that into ... because we put it
- in lines for the projects in the bonds, we could move it into the software line, and
- we're still meeting the intent of that bond.
- Sure, so to Councilor Hawke's point about your existing budget, is there a line in your
- budget that you could use to fund this?
- I haven't looked at your budget in a few months, so I don't remember what your options might
- be, just to be fair to Councilor Hawke's point.
- Sure, we have a million dollars appropriated in a software line that's in our cumulative
- capital fund, and that million dollars is spoken for, so this particular project is
- actually more than $500,000, and so I think it's like 50, and I don't remember off the
- top of my head, and we will take that from that particular line, and hoping that we're
- able to make things work, because we generally do make this fund work, but we don't have
- the capability of doing the full $500,000, so that's why we came to ask.
- Your choice.
- You remind me then when this will come back around to us, so will your budget for next
- year be in the software line $1.5 million?
- No, this is five years.
- So doing a $200,000 appropriation right now covers this need for five years.
- Correct.
- And if we, okay, so no matter where we take it from, the other part is coming from an
- old bond, and you mentioned that it was coming from rearranging from some things, and one
- of the things you mentioned was the clerk's office, and I'm curious as to, is that a project
- that then is no longer happening, and is the clerk aware of that?
- Clerk has not responded to any communications.
- Okay, but the clerk has been made aware via email or some other communication.
- I have not communicated this particular option.
- The commissioners, I don't know if they have contacted her regarding that, so no.
- So this could come as a surprise to the clerk that this project isn't going to happen?
- I don't think so.
- Okay.
- And again, like I said, the projects are not promised from the very beginning.
- They're recommended.
- They're the ideal, right, if we can get them all done.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Yeah, I just would hate to be less than transparent, yeah.
- Okay, so presumably you're asking for $200,000.
- Whether or not you're getting the rest of it from somewhere else is probably a relatively
- moot point on this particular request.
- So that brings me to my just putting forward that if we are going to do this, it looks
- as though the remit, the fund information for county general that you've provided, Michelle.
- Not accurate, the $17 million, I looked at it today and I provided it to Michelle, it's
- like 19.
- Do you have an update?
- Yes.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Yeah, so as of today, we have $19,842,646 as a cash balance.
- Okay, I was saying, I'm looking at your face, general fund, yes.
- Okay, it was in parentheses, which implied to me that it was negative and that was freaking
- me out.
- That's what you're saying, yeah.
- That might have just been our agenda, you know.
- Right, probably at that moment, and that, yeah, so that's why I read about it, yeah.
- Perfect, okay.
- Thank you.
- I have a moment.
- I want to remind council that rainy day is to be for emergency expenses only.
- So this would be above what we've already appropriated with regards to emergency expenses.
- So you would have to make sure, consider that, you know, that rainy day is for emergencies.
- All right.
- We've got some more hands raised here.
- Councilmember Henry, I saw yours next.
- Thanks, and maybe we already got at it.
- So the Councillor Hock brought up the CUME cap.
- What's the cash fund balance on CUME cap right now?
- I can tell you.
- The auditors got it.
- I'll just, that's okay, Angie.
- Cash balance as of today is $1,957,908.78.
- Further?
- No, I'm all right.
- All right.
- Councilmember Feidl.
- So I guess I have what I might call a fundamental question here.
- And so I hear you talk about this other $300,000, and so we're asking for this $200,000 now.
- So I guess I'm wondering what you can do with that $300,000 of the $500,000 you need.
- What would you be able to do with just $300,000 of it rather than the full $500,000?
- Would you be able to satisfy any of the things you're talking about, what the request is
- for with $300,000 that you've already made arrangements?
- It seems like you said you had money for $300,000 to apply to something, is that right?
- The bond in which there were different projects, and one of those projects isn't going to happen,
- and it's not going to happen because we're actually going to be moving into a new facility
- sooner than later.
- Originally it was going to be, everybody thought it was going to be like 10 years from now,
- but we are moving forward on our justice complex, and so to expend those dollars at this point
- in time would actually be by the county.
- And so instead of using it for a redo of an old office, those funds will go into a software
- line that was already in that bond and has already been expended to cover this other
- part of this cost.
- Does that make sense?
- It does, but it seems to me like if I could do the math, and I don't pretend to know everything
- about all those, how this works at this point in my political career, but I think that there's
- a $500,000 amount here total, is that right?
- You've got $300,000 from somewhere else in $200,000 now, is that not right?
- Correct.
- Okay, so what will the $300,000 be able to do for you for this type of project, or am
- I not understanding?
- It costs over $500,000.
- Right.
- $500,000, right?
- Yeah.
- Okay, so what will you get for the $300,000, I guess is my question.
- We will still pay interest on whatever is left.
- I don't...
- Okay.
- The way it was proposed to us is a five-year lease agreement or all up front, so I don't.
- I think I'm beginning to get it.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
- Okay, I'm going to go to Council Member Henry, and then I think our legal department has a
- comment.
- I'll pass in favor of legal department.
- All right, and then I'll go to Council Member Deckard, who had his hands raised previously.
- I'll yield to legal.
- Okay.
- All right, here we go.
- I just wanted to clarify, I wanted to clarify what the rainy day fund could be used for.
- According to Monroe County Code 27038, it's a little bit more expansive than just emergencies,
- because it's stated in there for any other use or purpose determined by the council.
- However, the money, if the money is an additional appropriation outside of the annual budget,
- it must be supported by a super majority, so two-thirds vote.
- So it's not just emergencies, it's a little bit more.
- Okay.
- I do have one question, I guess.
- So in terms of the options presented today, I guess, I know we've spent a little time
- talking about CUME-CAP.
- How did we arrive at these two choices as presented as options?
- What was the decision tree that got us to this point where we were looking at these
- two funds tonight specifically?
- Out to the board of commissioners and to you, the council, regarding this issue, and you
- all had an executive session to talk about this item, and I came back from my medical
- leave and reached out to see what the next steps were, and there had been no decision
- really come to about how to move forward.
- So I thought the best way to do that is to put it on your agenda.
- Yeah, I don't mean to shoot the messenger, so I'll take it that way.
- My question was specific to the two funds that were presented or proposed, but yeah,
- I get that you're in the chair and messaging for Mr. Crown, who's on leave on some of the
- particulars.
- So thank you.
- All right.
- Mr. Decker.
- I kind of want to pick up, and thanks for answering this and walking us through it again.
- I kind of want to pick up where Councilor Feidl left off and maybe go in a direction
- that she was either heading toward or could head to, but it provokes the question in me.
- We have sort of two options to fund the amount that is a remainder from what you've done
- to reconfigure with that existing bond money, and by the way, I want to say that any time
- we can look at any existing bond money and determine where that best goes first, I think
- it's a really powerful thing to do on behalf of the taxpayers, and I know that that's been
- something we've talked about a number of years.
- My question is, is there an additional possibility, because I believe the project, as I understand
- it, needs to move along, and it's due to move along.
- Is there a third potential option that 300,000 for services now and finance 200,000 later
- or revisit that they get to eat a bunch of apples versus a whole bunch of apples, and
- as a result, we kind of move down into additional time and can use dollars now for this?
- I don't know if that's something they could be asked, have been asked, or if I'm out of
- my mind.
- The provider offered two options, and that's where we have been from.
- I got reticent to wait, because they do know that this is before you today, but they're
- not going to be going with the full payment.
- The other option over five years is you do 100, so right now, out of that existing bond,
- we could do the 100, pay interest, do another 100 next year, pay interest, and on down the
- road we go.
- Of course, the risk to that always is, A, paying interest, and what have you.
- Okay, I'll stop my meandering question.
- It is a good question, though, and I was with you, counselor, if I can tell.
- All right.
- Any other questions to my left at this moment?
- I would like us to discuss which one we're doing.
- I mean, are we all considering an up-down vote on the general fund?
- It's just an odd motion, so I just need some clarity.
- I think you actually should vote on whether or not you want to pay in full.
- That makes sense.
- And let's go over to my right, Mr. Henry, and then I'll defer to my colleague, counselor
- Hawk online.
- All right.
- Thank you, Mr. Henry.
- Councilmember Hawk.
- Yes, I'm just wondering if we've all looked at the additional requests that commissioners
- have turned in recently and to look at that total and put this in with that entire total
- so that we can make a choice of what we can do about all these additionals that's coming
- in from the commissioner's office.
- I sent a message back earlier saying, do we have a total on what those are?
- Is there any reason why we have to make this decision tonight?
- Can we not look at the big picture to look at all the other requests that's coming in
- at our next meeting and then see what we can do?
- Thank you, Councilmember Hawk, offering us an alternative here.
- Any other questions or comments from council?
- Councilmember Henry, yes.
- Thank you, Mr. President.
- If I'm hearing the councilor right online, I would also entertain a motion to table until
- we can get clarity on either the additional possibility of the CUME cap as a source or
- just as you indicated there, I think waiting two more weeks on the project after potentially
- nine months of waiting would probably not harm us, so we can get a better answer on
- that.
- But I would support a motion to table if that's what I'm hearing online.
- Councilmember Wilts.
- I'm not opposed to tabling if that comes up.
- But I would like to know, is there any reason we shouldn't, couldn't, wouldn't consider
- CUME cap?
- And I'm asking people at this table.
- So just looking at the, I mean we currently have $3.8 million appropriation, $1.9 million
- fund balance.
- So I mean it's already relying on funding coming in.
- I mean we could watch the fund balance and we could always de-appropriate and appropriate
- elsewhere.
- There's always ways to go about it just depends on what actually gets expended.
- We always have reversions as we know.
- Right.
- Thanks.
- Council Member Deckard.
- I agree with Councilor Henry and I think the sentiment we picked up a little bit from Councilor
- Hawk.
- I think this is a classic scenario I said to one of our staff earlier today where council
- kind of sits around staring at each other like it's a strange wedding and I think probably
- a table is in order.
- So with that in mind, Council, I would move to table this to our next meeting.
- Second.
- Do we need to withdraw the motion that was originally made?
- Okay.
- Thank you.
- If you're wanting to consider CUME-CAP, it won't be advertised for the next meeting.
- The earliest meeting I could get it would be for the April 22nd.
- Right.
- So I don't know if you'd want to table it to the April 22nd meeting so that you could
- also include a discussion with regards to using CUME-CAP.
- Mr. Deckard, would you like to update your motion with this new information?
- Here's the way I'm going to state this.
- I would like to move to table indefinitely for the following reason.
- If there is a reason we need to revisit the existing motion at the next meeting, we could.
- If there's a reason that the CUME-CAP advertisement needs to be done by the 22nd, either way then
- that is covered by that, and I think the council leadership at their discretion and consultation
- with staff and legal can help figure that out.
- I'll second the friendly amendment.
- All right.
- We have a motion with rationale and a second.
- Is there any other comments or questions with council on this motion?
- Seeing none, I will look to the public.
- Comments or questions come to Net-U-Hill or raise your hand on Teams.
- Seeing none, can we have a roll call vote on the motion?
- Councilor Feidl?
- Yes.
- Councilor Hawk?
- Yes.
- Councilor Henry?
- Yes.
- Councilor Deckard?
- Yes.
- Councilor Iverson?
- Yes.
- Councilor Wilts?
- Yes.
- Motion passes unanimous for table.
- Thank you.
- Thank you for being here.
- We look forward to working with you.
- I didn't mean it that way.
- I know you didn't.
- I knew you were agreeing with me.
- All right.
- Let's move on to item number 12 from the council office.
- All right, council, as a reminder, due to a no vote at the March 11th meeting, this is
- the second reading for this request.
- I move to approve the public defender's request to approve the request of a knowledge skills
- and abilities KSA three-year level status, and to simultaneously amend the 2025 salary
- ordinance and fund 1200 dash 0000 supplemental PD services as outlined on the agenda.
- Second.
- We have a motion and a second and chief public defender Michael Hunt is with us here today
- with his staff.
- So would you like to kick us off?
- Yes.
- Thank you.
- Good evening.
- Can you hear me?
- Yes.
- With me tonight, I have Miss Amy Payne, who's a senior attorney in my office, and Heather
- Stufel, my administrative assistant.
- I would apologize for not being here last time when this first came up.
- I was out of the country.
- So if I misstate something, I won't feel bad if you correct me.
- It's my understanding this is the second hearing, and it's also my belief that for a change,
- we are not asking for more money.
- We're merely asking you to approve a potential employee being classified on a three-step level,
- which as I understand it, the counsel administrator and the personnel administrator has already
- determined that candidate does qualify.
- That was already budgeted for this year because the prior person was already at that level.
- In trying to explain that and talking about our lack of ability to hire attorneys, I was
- discussing that in the office, and Ms. Payne, who despite her youth is a senior attorney
- there and does the serious cases, asked if she could address the counsel with some of
- her concerns.
- With the counsel chairman's permission, I would ask that she be allowed to do that.
- I gladly would like to hear from the wise and Ms. Payne.
- Thank you.
- Okay.
- Yes.
- I'm a deputy public defender.
- I've been doing this for 14 years now, almost 15, and I work every day for the people of
- Monroe County, just like the people at the fire department, just like the people at the
- sheriff's department.
- I work on behalf of the citizens of Monroe County every single day.
- When I was here two weeks ago, I was not familiar with the process, and that's my own fault,
- and that's something I obviously am going to work on becoming more familiar, and I didn't
- realize that if it wasn't a unanimous vote that we would not be able to move forward,
- and that's my own fault.
- But because I didn't realize that, I didn't speak up, and I really kicked myself for the
- last couple weeks because I didn't, so I wanted to come back and make sure that I did speak
- up about what this actually means.
- So my clients, your all's constituents, they are not getting what they deserve right now
- from me, every single day they're not getting it.
- And that's because the Constitution guarantees them adequate representation, and I don't
- believe because I have to pick up the cases when we don't have enough attorneys working
- in our office, my clients are not getting what they deserve of me, they're not.
- Every attorney in our office has to pick up the slack when we don't have enough attorneys
- and when we can't hire attorneys and when we can't hire a person at a level that they
- deserve to be paid at.
- And so the last two weeks, there has been a harm every single day of the last two weeks
- waiting.
- And so by Councilwoman Hawk voting no on the KSA request, there has been every day a tangible
- harm, especially when there's no fiscal impact to the county.
- This is not asking for a raise, we are not asking for more money, and it's doing a disservice
- to the people that we all serve.
- So I don't anticipate that Councilwoman Hawkins is going to change her vote tonight, I just
- want to make sure that it's clear that that vote has caused me, my coworkers, and my clients
- more strife than is necessary with no benefit to the county whatsoever.
- Thank you.
- I will take questions if you have any.
- All right.
- Thank you both for speaking, we appreciate hearing from you.
- Look to my left.
- Any questions or comments?
- Councilmember Deckard, and we'll go down the line.
- Just a point of information to clarify for all of us and the folks at home tonight, simple
- majority gets us this resolved and on down we go.
- Is that correct?
- All right.
- Thank you.
- Councilmember Wilts.
- I wanted to make that point as well and to thank you for speaking because I know that's
- not an easy thing to do and I hear you and I appreciate not just that you've said it
- but what you said.
- All right, Councilmember Hawk, you're muted.
- Almost there.
- Okay.
- Got it.
- I just want to make the point and I'm sorry it caused anybody any hardship but there's
- a lot of hardship going on here in county government and it's going to be for some time.
- I didn't make that $3.8 million mistake but I think each of us need to see where we can
- possibly try to live within what has to be a reduced budget because of reduced revenue
- in my opinion and so it was not particularly this department.
- I just think we should stop the KSA thing altogether until we see where we're going
- to be on this budget and revenue coming in but clearly it's only the first go.
- I can say no but what it does it just delays everything.
- So I can either like go along and just say yes to everything or I can say look we've
- got to start looking at our dollars and I regret that a department thinks that it doesn't
- matter if they've already got something else budgeted high they can just use that money
- anyway.
- If they didn't use that money that money would go back into county general to help us all
- get through.
- That used to be understood by all and it appears that's not no longer understood but I wish
- you well I really when I looked at the applicant I thought if we're going to do KSA well of
- course that person is qualified but in my opinion I think we should stop it.
- So there we go sorry you had a tough time we've all had a tough time.
- Right any other comments from council yes Mr. Henry.
- Thank you Mr. President I just want to thank you for your comments clearly decisions in
- this room have real world impact and I can't imagine how many clients of the county's public
- defenders office had to meander through a few weeks here.
- So I take your words to heart these are real world situations we're talking about they're
- not abstractions on a line and when we are not surgical about our approach it creates
- problems but I just wanted to say thank you for sharing thank you Mr. President.
- Right I also thank you all for coming as someone who also ruminates over things said and unsaid
- I appreciate the candor and coming forward and speaking thank you alright at this point
- I will ask for any public comments if you have any public comment please come to the
- podium or raise your hand on teams seeing none may we have a roll call vote.
- Councilor Fiddle yes Councilor Henry yes Councilor Wilts yes Councilor Hawk no Councilor Iverson
- yes Councilor Deckard yes motion passes majority five to one thank you very much you're welcome
- thank you what you do.
- All right we reached that point in the agenda where it's time for county councilors to update
- the public on their liaison ships and or any other comments they would like to make I'm
- going to start with on the far left here Councilor Fiddle.
- I'm ready with my color coded notes oh my goodness that seems to be drawing a lot of
- attention these days all right let's see it so first of all I don't have a specific liaison
- assignment with visit Bloomington however they made a presentation at a DBI meeting which
- is my purview and I thought I wanted to share publicly some of these things that they shared
- from their annual report which I found very interesting that the public may want to know
- about.
- For instance so this is titled what had the most impact in 2024 IU football was 60 million
- dollars in estimated football economic impact the solar eclipse 90 percent lodging occupancy
- Sunday through Monday during that event Airbnb short-term rental bookings grew by 27 percent
- in 2024 visitors spend over a hundred and fifty million on food in Monroe County every
- year and then in each of these categories it goes up the the numbers go up so from 2020
- through 2023 the amount the visitors spent ranged from 309 million to 509 million in
- a four-year or four-year period wages generated same time period 114 million to 191 million
- job supported ranged from 4,700 to 20 or excuse me to 7,800 the tax receipts generated both
- state and local went from 54 million to 90 million and then going on to economic and
- impact of tourism for every hundred dollars spent by visitor in Monroe County over a third
- of all food and beverage revenue in Monroe County is generated by visitors the 20 percent
- of lodging rooms purchased in Monroe County in 2024 were short-term rentals a couple more
- things here so this this topic is the sports travel marketing 17% of our visitors here
- are here to watch or participate in sports and then they just wanted to feature also
- the cars farm park investment and that begins in 2025 and visit Bloomington is already partnering
- with Monroe County Parks and Rec on that effort so that's all from visit Bloomington which
- I know you can find on there well for their that report for 2024 tourism report now on
- to my other service with liaison assignments I met with the Youth Services Bureau learned
- a lot there the ages they serve 10 to 17 at no cost they have a safe place program 24/7
- and that operates for people or young folks between 8 and 22 they have Bloomington after
- school network youth youth worker cafes building a thriving and compassionate community and
- then leadership opportunities for young folks there's Monroe County Youth Council plus the
- Youth Advisory Board and they also have programs that are community based for counseling and
- community based programming then the City Economic Development Commission meeting I attended as
- a council rep we made a recommendation for two resolutions that will come up at the City
- Council regarding Gene B Glick's purchase of and they'll be rehabbing the projects both
- at Cambridge Square on North Pete Ellis Drive which is 153 units as well as Henderson Court
- 150 units which is on Winslow Court and then both of the rehab projects the developer will
- apply for low income housing tax credits so that seems like some good low income housing
- news my assignment is not with the highway engineer however I I met with the highway
- engineer Lisa ridge because I hadn't met her yet in my capacity and I wanted to see the
- facility and speak with her she was very generous in her time and I learned that they have 59
- employees 80% are male 20% are female 42 or highway employees five or bridge 12 stormwater
- and I got to see this special new system that they use for brining when they put down that
- to apply to help with the roads before any sort of inclement weather with no they can
- apply about 260 miles worth of brine in about two days before and the one of the last thing
- last couple of things I did was the Monroe County Women's Commission meeting they are
- developing a policy equity rubric which is almost complete and and so they're working
- on getting some more professional feedback on that and it'll be shared with county and
- local governments businesses community organizations they're also doing outreach to elevate the
- profile of the Women's Commission plus for each meeting coming up in 2025 there'll be
- a different topic it could be anything ranging from wages to health care to a variety of
- others the downtown Bloomington group they are doing a downtown strategies group session
- there'll be a market visit workshop in July of this year a strategic plan presentation
- in October of this year and then with the result of a five-year strategic action plan
- with which will come up with 20 to 30 strategies and recommendations and that's all councilmember
- vital would you hold up your notebook to the camera just just so that your constituents
- know they are getting what they voted for all right at a request we're going to go to
- mr. Deckard next my gosh don't ask me to hold up my notes that is I'm so glad that we have
- our new counselors on here to join us in this effort they strengthen us I've got just three
- quick ones that I will announce and I appreciate these reports us going back to it I kind of
- wish that I had had us doing this last year this is awesome but I spent a little time
- also with county highway along with counselor hawk we spent some time last Friday morning
- with Lisa Ridge and Toby Turner talking about some of the realities that they are facing
- out there and hearing about the good work that they do one thing that highway does exceedingly
- well as they figure out how to bring dollars into this county and they have the hot hand
- at it and if you go up to Indianapolis and say Lisa Ridge in the halls of the state house
- you get smiles and I'm not sure all of us get smiles when we go up there so awesome
- work that they do I also spent this morning with the Elstville Chamber of Commerce it's
- not technically a liaison ship but they invited me to come out and to meet with their policy
- committee and counselors I expect that others of you and other county elected officials
- will be having similar invitations and we talked a lot about mostly about what they
- wanted to talk about current events related to issues facing our community in our county
- and Elstville continues to be a community that is seeing tremendous growth and they're
- seeing a lot of change and we also at a county have a lot of change that we are going to
- be facing down ourselves we talked about recent population discussions the impact that that
- has on us and how as elected officials and other concerned business leaders and community
- members we need to be thinking about it the last thing that I just by the way also last
- night I spent some time I get a lot of these I don't know if other counselors do but I
- had a visit with the grand view scout we below I'm a grand view tiger myself it was good
- to meet these new tigers and particularly to hear about their activities and I have
- to tell you they had as many hard questions for me as they also chambered it this morning
- and that didn't diminish either group so they asked good questions and much like the folks
- that we saw at the beginning of our meeting is always awesome to see folks that are doing
- something serving something when they could be doing anything else but to give giving
- back finally I'll mention this not to steal anything from our liaisons that work with
- the clerk and the election board but council had reminded earlier that there is a vote
- center plan hearing on April 3rd at 1 30 p.m. I assume that's here in the Natu Hill room
- correct correct so for folks that either want to learn about both centers or weigh in on
- both centers because you have strong thoughts I know a lot of us have different thoughts
- on that this would be a chance to weigh in on a proposed draft plan and I am anxious
- to see that myself I don't know if a advance copy gets out but I would love to see that
- as you all may recall from my time at the state I was co-director of the state election
- vision when both centers were first legally authorized and I'd love to see what this plan
- looks like for the community and county and figure out what's best for us and the draft
- plan is available on the election website this is going to be the first of two public hearings
- so at this public hearing they'll receive the draft plan and there'll be a presentation
- on it it will be the start of a 30 at least a 30-day public comment period where the public
- can provide written comment and details on how the election board will receive that written
- public comment will be determined at that first public hearing and then after the 30-day public
- comment period closes there'll be a second public hearing so really because vote center
- law in the state allows that plan to tell you how it's going to be to put it no blunder
- than that if you wonder how it's going to be for members of the public this would be
- a good chance to see this and this is a powerful and can be really good device but this is
- your chance to see that hopefully maybe ask some questions and then we all can weigh in
- so that's all the reporting I have thank you so much mr. Henry thank you mr. president
- and thank you counselor Deckard for covering that for me so I could talk about other stuff
- but I will also say that is the it's a busy week in the board of elections as the public
- hearing will happen and it's the regular meeting that week on a Thursday I think that's not
- the first Thursday are we gonna miss it how what's the sequence there Molly public hearing
- is scheduled during the regular meeting of the election so it is my impression that the
- public hearing will take place I don't know if they have regular agenda items for that
- day or not well then I stand corrected and yeah there you go that's why Trent covered
- it today all right I have some other things I like to chat about in terms of my liaison
- stuff first I want to offer a bit of accommodation to our Board of Health as well as Commissioner
- Madeira and some members of the public that alerted us to an issue in our health department
- late last Friday of a family was seeking a gender change on a birth certificate and at
- our public health department which is under was under a court order to do so there was
- some confusion based on the governor's executive orders on whether or not our locality could
- actually execute on those changes but as Commissioner Madeira had made it clear in local media that
- we will follow court orders in this county whether or not they go to Indianapolis and
- they're handled correctly will be up to litigation but I'm very proud that our Board of Health
- got together quickly I made it clear that for our transgender community we're not turning
- folks away at our public health department even if the state does so thank you for that
- good work and swift work in our community to represent our values secondly is I wanted
- to also share with the surveyors office while I was aware of mr. and right Randolph's proposal
- this evening which is a no-cost solution to provide a training in the county for surveyors
- who'll obviously tell us more about that next time we see him here I also did get a look
- at the dashboard that GIS specialist dr. Baten is working on for the auditor in terms of
- what the dashboarding of our budget looks like it is going to be wonderful to play with
- I don't want to give away any data previews on it but I was I walked away understanding
- that our criminal justice budget the slice of the pie is actually larger than the the
- talking point I usually say a 50% it's more like 62.5 but it's in there and it's a it's
- a really cool gadget so I look forward to seeing that now when we get that live that
- I got a preview so anyway there's that second comment I wanted to raise to the council's
- attention some work that was done on the plan commission this past week to vote on a split
- vote positive recommendation for the down zoning of parcels that have been long designated
- as high higher density parcels within the islands and the city of Bloomington their
- county property that was a 62 vote which I would just indicate that myself and the other
- elected official trying to write Randolph that were on the plan commission voted in
- the negative to make a recommendation to commissioners their meeting is on Thursday on that I will
- just say for the record that when we remove opportunities to restore and revitalize our
- community and especially in economically depressed areas we lose housing choices we lose the
- property rights of parcel owners that live there and how they can use their property
- that they purchased and ultimately lose the abilities of county to improve our ability
- to raise revenue off of parcels to help and share the tax burden in the community so this
- is not a settled issue or a partisan issue in the county where one party thinks this
- is appropriate and the other does not it is definitely a contentious issue for our body
- on how we approach zoning in the urbanized area and the fringe but I've said my piece
- about it tonight lastly I want to thank the jail commander for the opportunity to tour
- the jail last week and get my look in there I've been in there since Sheriff Kennedy was
- in office when I worked for the county 18 years ago and I just want to commend the sheriff
- Marte and the staff for the cleanup in there and the paint and the good work they do to
- maintain the facility we have while we try to figure out next steps and just want to
- share with Councillor Wills I did match your full shift with the deputy this week as well
- and got to ride with Sergeant Molden who is a chatterbox like myself and so we had a very
- fast eight hours driving around the county talking about all sorts of things I do want
- to say one more thing with the time I have we did talk about adult protective service
- tonight as one of our items I wasn't intending to talk about this but on one of our runs
- we did do a visit to a household out in Harrodsburg where there's an individual that needs checking
- on and it turns out when we don't have good APS our sheriff's deputies are the ones that
- are doing it and it's something to keep in mind when we think about the totality of how
- we're using our services here and what we fund and how we fund it so that's a lot Mr.
- President but there you go thank you very much.
- All right thank you Mr. Henry. Council Member Hawk would you like to share any updates?
- Yes I certainly would. Today in the Tax and Fiscal Committee the House Bill 1080 was discussed
- and torn apart and put back together and in a lot of different methods. You'll want to
- check Amendment 13 and to check the entire bill because it is changed dramatically but
- it was clear that they made it clear and because the County Commissioners are unwilling to
- work with Ellitsville in order to assist getting transportation for the most needy, the aged,
- the people with disabilities to be able to get to their appointments. It appears this
- is not going to go through as we had hoped it would. When I say we I'm not saying the
- majority of the council but certainly when we're talking about our senior citizens, whether
- or not they're covered, whether or not we care what happens to them, then we should
- be caring also if we're doing what we can do to assist getting them from point A to
- point B. And so I'm disappointed that the County Commissioners are not willing to work
- with our other communities and community partners to be able to see what we can do to address
- that. So that's very worrisome. The other thing that we have to look at is we know that
- many changes are going to be made, many. And so we're not in a position to be able to make
- long-range plans until we know what's happening at the state. And the taxpayers have made
- it clear they want an adjustment to their taxes. So we just have to have to be as prepared
- as we can be. Now, we know that we were we are looking toward changing what's going on
- in the health department. But it appears that indeed that budget, it looks like as if that
- for the state now that to be able to send to everyone is going to be cut. It looked
- like 50 million over a two-year period of time. And the state's revenue is way reduced
- as well, or at least they think it will be. They won't know until they've got their estimate
- of revenue before they can really make this decision. But we know that Senate Bill 1 had
- a lot of changes. And we also know that Representative Thompson is working on that 1402 to get
- those
- numbers to them and change the way the whole system is supposed to be working. And we just
- have to leave our minds open. And right now, I'd like for us to be able to tread water
- and just get by until we hear what is going to happen. And remember, every time we think
- it's less money for the county, it might just be that it makes more money for those people
- that we represent, the taxpayers. So thank you.
- >> All right. Let's go to Councillor Wilts. >> Thank you. And thank you for skipping me
- and coming back. I was super intimidated by the color-coded sheet to my left and I didn't
- know what to do with myself. In terms of updates from my liaison ships, I -- is that a word
- or liaison ship? >> It sure is.
- >> Sounds so weird. I'm liaison to the auditor's office and I don't know if you all have noticed
- the past couple of weeks there have been a flurry of emails from our internal auditor
- about assets and handling of assets. And I just want to commend them on really looking
- carefully and closely at how the real -- or the assets are handled within the county.
- You know, it's not something that is maybe the most sexy topic for everyone to be following
- along with, but it's a lot of work. And really making sure that we're following the law and
- doing what we need to do with those sorts of things is important. So I wanted to send
- out some kudos to the auditor's office on that. In addition, the waste reduction district
- is doing some really cool planning around the potential for -- and super early stages
- - but the potential for solar out at the old landfill. So we're getting some free technical
- assistance right now on the planning stages of what that could look like and how -- who
- we could partner with to make that happen. So that's pretty exciting. One other thing
- I wanted to just say, and then I promise we can end the meeting, but several times in
- this meeting the concept of caring for one another came up. And I think it's important
- for us to really pause and remember that that's an essential function of why we're here. It's
- an essential function of government. And as we go forth, and even as members of the public,
- caring for each other is fundamental. And if we don't hang on to that, especially in
- these times, I think we run the risk of really falling apart individually and collectively.
- And so I would encourage folks to just really think on that concept. I was in a meeting
- last week, walked out of this building, and on the corner there were folks demonstrating
- about the fact that the Medicaid waiver funding is under threat and people don't typically
- really understand how Medicaid waiver works. I don't fully, but it's not just about money
- for people who don't have resources. The waiver funding is what undergirds supports for people
- with disabilities, and it provides services for a huge proportion of our population who
- need services just to get through day-to-day activities. I'm reminded that that's under
- threat by our state. Adult protective services funding has been revoked apparently and doesn't
- have something in place yet. These are threats to how we care for each other in government,
- and I know we're facing an uncertain future. Councilor Hawk pointed out we've got a lot
- coming down at us from the state, and I think that we're taking measures to address those
- anticipated difficulties, those anticipated harms even, but not all harms are equal. And
- I don't think it's appropriate to justify our actions by drawing false equivalencies,
- and when someone is in our presence and expresses that harm has been done, it is not our place
- to put a value on their harm. It's our place as council to plan for and account for real
- and anticipated challenges, and I think that's why we have halted considerations of new positions
- that have monetary impact, but as we move forward this year we're going to face a lot
- of decisions around funding and not funding, and wherever we land I just hope that we can
- acknowledge any harms and mitigate those whenever possible. That's all I got.
- Thank you very much. Before we conclude, I would like to remind all of you that Women's
- History Month is today and every day for the month of March. It is quickly coming to a
- close and I am deeply honored to share this dais with some very strong and passionate
- women who take leadership very seriously, as you just heard, as well as those in council
- office staff, and we're just so thankful that we are able to do the work in this community
- thanks to strong women. I had the opportunity to be in Guatemala recently and was able to
- talk with some women leaders, an organization called Upavim. They made the tie that I'm
- wearing today. They are working diligently to train other women, to show leadership to
- other women throughout the country of Guatemala, indeed the world through their wares, to not
- only showcase that women can and are able to provide economically for their families
- even some of the most challenging situations, but also that when women come together we
- see some of the community's ills decrease, domestic violence and other forms of violence
- against women. So I wear this tie today in solidarity with not only the women in my life,
- but Todos Upavima and all the women around the world and I just want to express my gratitude
- to those folks and I want to end this meeting with a little bit of that celebration. This
- has been a pretty high stress meeting and some things have been said and I think it's important
- to recognize that we are surrounded by really strong women who are doing really great things
- for your community. We're adjourned.
- (orchestral music)