WEBVTT 00:00:00.930 --> 00:00:27.838 - good afternoon slash early evening everyone today is Tuesday August 26 2025 the time is 401 and this I am calling to order the Monroe County Council a special meet or a special session um here present in the Natt U Hill Room are counselors Liz Fido, Kate Wiltz, Trent Deckard, Peter Iverson and counselor David Henry not present 00:00:28.386 --> 00:00:54.910 - is Councilor Hock and I'm not certain if I see her online. But nonetheless, we have quorum and we have a busy agenda after this. So first up, we will get started. Next up on the agenda, we have the adoption of the agenda. So council members, is there anything that you would like to amend on this agenda for this meeting? 00:00:56.802 --> 00:01:21.278 - All right. Madam Chair, I move adoption. Okay. Second. All right, we got a motion and a second to adopt the agenda as presented. So since we have a quorum here, nobody participating online. All those in favor of adopting today's agenda as presented signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, same sign. All right, motion carries. 00:01:21.378 --> 00:01:50.590 - Next up, we will have the request for approval of resolution 2025-35, the approval of a tax abatement for Simtra US LLC. And with us is Jeff Cockrell. Welcome. Thank you. And thank you for having this meeting. I appreciate you guys working this into your guys' busy schedule this time of year. What we have in front of you is a tax abatement resolution. And the tax abatement resolution covers 00:01:51.138 --> 00:02:20.030 - The property is located at the old GE site. I think it's the corner profile parkway in Curry Pike. That area has already been declared an ERA. It was done so in 2017. I believe it began January 1, 2018 when the previous owner purchased the property and we're going to go through an expansion project. So that part is not typically when we do a tax evasion, we have a two meeting 00:02:20.162 --> 00:02:40.798 - requirement because we have to declare an ERA, which is a two meeting process. We don't have that today. So what we are looking at is a granting of a tax abatement for that property, for both real and personal property, and the company is going to make a presentation on all those things. 00:02:41.346 --> 00:03:08.382 - I just wanna go through, cause we also have an MOU associated with that. And I think that's where the differences between our typical tax abatement and this one is. The property we've had, this will be the third tax abatement that we have considered or that the council has considered and the first two were approved. However, neither of the first two did exactly what we were hoping for. And that it's still a vacant building and it's still, 00:03:08.578 --> 00:03:37.054 - is in the heart of our TIF areas on the west side. And so what the MOU does is really a couple different things. The first thing is in our 2024, the council approved a resolution for a tax abatement at the Central USA LLC, formerly Baxter Pharmaceuticals Property, just to the south of this on Curry Pike, 927 Curry Pike. 00:03:37.218 --> 00:03:58.526 - they have not completed that project yet. And so part of the request is to give that project an augmented abatement schedule. And I'll get into that in a little bit of what we mean when we say augmented abatement schedule. And then also do a similar augmented abatement schedule for the renovation of the 00:03:59.394 --> 00:04:27.966 - the building on GE, or the old GE building on Curry Profile corner, and then also the first production line that they put into that building. And what that augmented abatement schedule, and it's a little variable because we have benchmarks we want them to hit, but essentially it would give a 100% abatement for the first three years, and then a 90% abatement for the next three years, and then a, 00:04:28.450 --> 00:04:57.438 - and then hopefully a 90% abatement for the last four years, but that's dependent on them adding not just one, but two more lines to that facility. The first line would have to be in place by 2030, and the second line would be in place, I believe, by 2033. So in order to get that augmented to nine years and 90, they have to, and when we talk about a production line, 00:04:57.794 --> 00:05:23.166 - at least current value, probably $100 million plus at least 90 employees working on each line. So it's a significant investment from the company and it's also a significant number of employees. They are expecting the salaries to be at least $70,000 per year. 00:05:23.426 --> 00:05:53.054 - for each of those, and that includes bonuses and, you know, the total employment value to the employee. So that's kind of the expectation and what is written in the MOU as far as what the abatement means and things like that. I will point out that we did do some differences in some of the, you know, we defined substantial compliance a little tighter in this document. We said it's substantial compliance. We understand if there are, 00:05:53.602 --> 00:06:19.486 - physical damage caused by weather. If the tornado tore down the building, that's a justification for not having the employment. And if there is a war, that is a justification for not having the employment. Anything else, they've got to come to you guys and determine whether that is a factor beyond their control when looking at whether they made that substantial appliance. 00:06:19.618 --> 00:06:39.198 - They are not in substantial compliance, and we define that as 90% of what they promised, and their abatement value will be reduced by whatever deficiency there is. So I think that's different. The other difference is there's a trigger point that says, hey, if you commit to putting a third line in, then 00:06:40.354 --> 00:07:08.702 - And that third line would not be constructed until a few years later. If that third line's not constructed, there's an automatic callback where they have to pay the difference between the value of the abatement that they had been paying and what it would have been if that commitment hadn't been made. And so that's kind of going to the 70, 50, no, 70, 60, 50, 50, 50 numbers. So we've got that as kind of clear cut, hey, here's the expectations, here's the values. 00:07:10.178 --> 00:07:35.262 - The other thing I'd like to say is this is in the Curry Profile TIF District. And so I discussed this with the Redevelopment Commission at their last meeting. And what we discussed was, you know, this really is fitting the whole purpose for the creation of that TIF District, which was to get this building back into use and back into productivity for the County. And because it's in the TIF District, 00:07:35.362 --> 00:08:01.726 - If you guys choose to approve this tonight, it will still go to the county commissioners on Thursday because they are required to approve a statement of benefits for tax payments within a TIF district. If you have any questions for me, I'm more than happy to answer them. If not, I will get my screen share going and put up the company presentation and let them come in and let you know what they're doing. 00:08:02.082 --> 00:08:29.662 - Does anybody have any questions on the council? Just real quick, did you say the average salary is $70,000 or $70,000? Correct. Okay, okay. Yes, Councilor Wilt. You, I've had a very busy day, so I'm just making sure, when was the latest copy of the MOU shared with us? 00:08:30.530 --> 00:08:59.742 - Is there a new copy today? I think what Councilwoman Wilts is referring to, she sent me a copy, a draft that had a few typos in it that I corrected. And I'm not sure if I distributed it to the council as a whole, but they weren't substantive changes. It's substantively the same as then what I'd seen. Correct. And I added the resolution number to that MOU as well. Okay. Thank you. Anybody else on this side have any other questions? 00:09:00.866 --> 00:09:28.606 - Okay, looking over here, Councilor Henry. Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, Jeff, for putting together the document and working with Cintra to get us to a place today. This is exciting. I'm very much looking forward to supporting the overall abatement. I do have a question about the MOU, because there are some novel things that are new to Monroe County that I think need to be at least publicly brought out and discussed a little bit. I want to draw our attention to section two fee for deduction, which is the piece under code that 00:09:29.122 --> 00:09:57.278 - I've read a few times, I'm trying to understand the process of a fee paid to the county that shall be sent to a particular entity. The word shall has my attention. And to kind of walk through what this is as a piece of the MOU. It seems like precedent setting. It seems like if we, so I guess I have some questions. Have we done this before? And where does that put us in terms of future abatements where we might see things like this in it? 00:09:57.762 --> 00:10:21.662 - Well, I guess there is a provision in there, and I would start off by saying that the BEDC had no involvement in discussions with this. There's a state co-provision that says when a county council approves a abatement, they can, if the company agrees, charge a fee for that. Now, that fee has to be then forwarded to a 00:10:22.562 --> 00:10:44.894 - And the language, exact language escapes me, but basically it has to be forwarded to a not-for-profit who is helping with economic development. And then the community, I think there are a couple others, maybe municipalities, if they have that kind of department, I think that could also be used. But this specifically says that it would be utilized to the BEDC. 00:10:45.058 --> 00:10:57.054 - but only in the event that the BADC is still in existence, still not for profit, and still doing the economic development of the community. If they're not, then it would go to how the county council directs it. 00:10:57.506 --> 00:11:27.472 - Okay, I guess my follow-up comment or questions for others so I can fully understand what we're doing here is, again, the word shall, right? So when the council does decide to provide resources to community partners that deliver services for the county, we evaluate that yearly, right? What's the annual report? What have you done for the community? The word shall infers we get a fee and we pass it through and it really isn't a discussion at that point. Am I reading that wrong or is there some language? 00:11:27.472 --> 00:11:51.582 - up to the rest of the council because I don't fully grasp how this provision got in here. It's not about the entity mentioned, it's about the process that we're establishing that I have questions about. I think the shell is there because the statute has a shell in it, right? So it is a mechanism that the state legislature gave to the county to maybe utilize some of these abatement 00:11:52.002 --> 00:12:21.918 - as a way to help support kind of the companies who help support the businesses. I mean, particularly, I think as we go through tax abatement, our local history has been that the BDC has done a tremendous amount of legwork and it does a tremendous amount of facilitating when we're dealing with these types of activities. All right, Councilor Decker. I had a quick question. I know we're really pressed for time, and I want to hear from our friends in the back, 00:12:22.146 --> 00:12:48.510 - We don't talk enough about TIFs, and I wish we talked more about TIFs. My question for you is, the original goal with TIFs was, and I'm gonna try to say this in layman's terms, and you tell me if I've got it right, was to take an area such as this on Profile Parkway and to juice that towards growth, development, jobs, more growth, development, jobs. That's why one TIF's got, 00:12:48.674 --> 00:13:16.702 - Stem dollars that go to our bbc is our bbc se am I saying this right? I think I think from a local perspective. You're absolutely correct I think there are other mechanisms that you could focus on other items such as investment amounts and things like that But locally we've always focused on the creation of wages and jobs All right. Thank you Without any further questions Mr. Cockerill you can proceed 00:13:18.114 --> 00:13:24.766 - I will proceed by inviting the companies to come up and figuring out how to put this, how to share this. 00:16:32.226 --> 00:16:54.814 - Are you ready to proceed? Yes. All right. Go ahead. You all can introduce yourselves and you can proceed. Yes. Good evening. My name is Pat Adams. I'm the site head or general manager of the Bloomington-Simtra facility. Thank you for having us. Hello, everybody. I'm Michael Eikhoff. I'm a principal at Grant Thornton. We're advisors to Simtra. It's nice. Thank you for your time today. 00:17:20.866 --> 00:17:44.190 - and scene. Very good. Okay, just a point of note. Well, you heard about two different expansions we have going on. We'll refer to the new GE site as Project Park, and then the other expansion that currently exists and is underway is Building H throughout this. So if you'd like to advance. 00:17:45.858 --> 00:18:15.806 - So just a little bit about SEMTRA. I know we're pressed for time. I won't belabor this, but those that don't know, we're a CDMO, a contract development manufacturing organization, focusing on parenteral or sterile injectable products. SEMTRA as a whole has two sites, of course, one here in Bloomington in Monroe County, another one in Halle, Germany. And we operate from clinical development, formulation development, all the way through commercial manufacturing. 00:18:16.578 --> 00:18:45.406 - The two sites as a whole consist of about 2,200 employees. We have this number here of 1,259 I think is into July. We're at about 1,300 here in Monroe County. 684 of those which reside in Monroe County equating to about $50 million in payroll yet so far in 2025. We've invested about $87 million in 00:18:45.602 --> 00:19:14.974 - the year 2024, and we have another, or not another, we have 298 CapEx dollars committed with the expansions we have going on. And we are the, we believe the third largest private sector business in Monroe County. Okay, so what, you know, Jeff went through kind of the incentive ask in detail, 00:19:15.170 --> 00:19:44.510 - We're looking for an enhanced incentive here just with some of the economic volatility that we're seeing both globally and here in Monroe County. So rapid shifts in US economic conditions. We are seeing growing demand in our business and our at or near at capacity at our current facility. And we are out of space, of course, to expand as we have walked through with some of you all. 00:19:44.610 --> 00:20:14.334 - And then there's pretty significant increase in cost of capital that we're dealing with in the equipment that we use. And just as a comparator, there were other considerations for location for this expansion, some of which did not have property tax at all, some states which did not. So this would allow us to, of course, keep operating costs and remain competitive and allow those funds to go into our expansion 00:20:14.434 --> 00:20:32.062 - and move at a rapid pace, I would say. Of course, redevelops a vacant facility, benefiting the community. And then it positions us for, with the size of the facility for significant, I'll say future advancement or expansion as well, so. 00:20:37.954 --> 00:21:06.462 - So just some details again, Jeff went through this in pretty significant detail, but this is the property at 301 North Curry or the former GE site or project park, as I said, we referred to it. And it will take some significant renovations to prepare it for our type of manufacturing. So this is broken down into the three, I'll say, categories that Jeff walked through there. The first commitment, or I'll say, 00:21:07.266 --> 00:21:34.974 - request, and then subsequent commitment would be one additional line of manufacturing. For those of you that toured the facility, we talked about we intend to introduce highly potent manufacturing with this expansion, which brings a new type of manufacturing to Monroe County, as well as a new client base, really specializing in oncology or cancer therapies, more targeted therapies. 00:21:35.138 --> 00:22:04.830 - But that would be to the tune of $241 million and that would be renovating the site, preparing the site to receive a manufacturing line and then of course installing the line and that's committed to have in service by the end of 2029. That comes with 100 jobs being committed and then that's what Jeff pointed out with the years one through three, 100% of the abatement and then years four and beyond at 90%. 00:22:05.986 --> 00:22:31.262 - Then each three years, there's the commitment to add another line and another 90 jobs to operate those lines with the average wage at at least $70,000 each. And then just at the bottom, I'm sorry, Molly, part of the request is to amend the existing or the building H. 00:22:31.554 --> 00:22:57.822 - And then, of course, there's commitments or callbacks associated with us meeting those commitments for both jobs and investment. And then just a visual of the site. So you are looking kind of south to north here. So Curry Pike would run down the right side of these images. So today on the top, the red area represents some of the older 00:22:58.082 --> 00:23:27.422 - portions of that building that would be intended to be demolished. The remaining is in the area of 300 to 400,000 square feet. For those that did tour the site, that's the area that Cook had begun to put some renovations into. And then to the left there or to the west is a utility building, the CUB building as it's referred to. And then on the bottom left of that image is a separate 00:23:27.618 --> 00:23:53.854 - roughly 100,000 square foot warehouse that would intend to stay as well. So this gives you a rendering of what the site would eventually look like from the, looking from the South and that's Curry Pike running down the right side. So what does this mean for both of us? You know, obviously we talked about redeveloping a vacant facility, you know, for those of us 00:23:54.114 --> 00:24:18.206 - In Monroe County, that site's been sitting in that state for quite some time. It's exciting to look at that rendering. I know that excites myself and a lot of people to site. It really positions Monroe County and continues to strengthen the life science sector that we have here and really strengthens, I'll say, CEMTRA's position in that as well, but for the community as well. 00:24:18.754 --> 00:24:43.518 - And then, as I said, the site really allows us to continue to grow and expand in Monroe County, potentially even beyond what's in here in years to come. And then for us, it really strengthens our North American footprint. As I said, it introduces highly potent manufacturing, which is something that does not exist commercially in North America. 00:24:43.938 --> 00:25:01.790 - business and how it does support this type of manufacturing. And we know we have client interest in having a North American provider for this type of manufacturing. So positions as well there. Of course, it creates high quality jobs in the life science industry in the community. 00:25:01.986 --> 00:25:31.774 - And then what this does is allow us to move at a more rapid pace and take advantage of the interest that we see from our clients. These decisions to add lines are multi-year commitments. And so fast in our world is not necessarily fast to everyone else. So a decision today means operating in two to three years, but this allows us to take advantage of this opportunity that exists right now in a more rapid pace and commit that capital quicker. 00:25:36.642 --> 00:26:05.758 - Just some takeaways. I think we've had a couple of abatements in the last handful of years. We've generally exceeded the commitments that have been part of those, specifically with jobs. I think we're just over one and a half jobs for the jobs we've committed in our previous abatements. The tax savings, like I said, this will go back into the investment, the facility at our site so that we can create those jobs faster. And of course it will support 00:26:05.890 --> 00:26:32.542 - both short and long-term growth in the county. So additional capital, I mentioned that new job creation, you know, and we have a, we're pretty passionate and really need to be about investing in scaling and upscaling our employees, you know, to really staff the size of an operation, we're gonna have to invest heavily in that. So that's something we're also committed to and intend to continue to strengthen. 00:26:32.738 --> 00:26:59.806 - And then of course, you know, we're pretty active in the community and tend to continue to do so and even become more so in other areas, so. That concludes our presentation. All right, thank you very much. And for the record, Councilor Hawk has joined the rest of us here. So all seven council members are present. All right. 00:26:59.906 --> 00:27:28.542 - I'm gonna see if anybody has any questions. I'll look over here to my left to see if we have any, oh, I'm looking over to my left, but this is my right. I know which direction I'm looking at. Anybody over here to my right have any questions on the presentation? Yep, Councilor Hawk. No, I've been studying this. I don't know whether it's an opportunity for a comment, but since this is in the district that I represent, 00:27:28.706 --> 00:27:57.438 - we're really looking forward to seeing jobs created there. We need that, and this community supports jobs, and it's very important to me that you've met your commitments in the past with the number of jobs you've committed to. So I'll wait to see what the other comments are, but I just wanted to make sure I shared that with you. Okay, Councilor Everson. 00:27:57.602 --> 00:28:27.568 - Thank you all for being here. We really appreciate your time and coming out and joining us this evening. I was one of the fortunate few that got to be on site and take a tour. This presentation doesn't even do justice to the amount of space and just the potential this site has to do a lot of what you all are planning on doing. And that's just really exciting to just be out there. And I'm also really excited to hear the talk about branching out into the oncology 00:28:27.568 --> 00:28:57.520 - As I think we mentioned when I was out there, the IU Assignment Center up in Indianapolis is Indiana's only NIH cancer center. And so the research that's coming out of Indianapolis, the work that could be done down here, the synergies that could exist, there's just so much to be excited about. In addition to everything that Counselor Hawk mentioned, that people are going to be having higher than median jobs in terms of wages, as well as being able to hopefully find houses 00:28:57.520 --> 00:29:26.526 - uh in my district so we appreciate it. Looking over here to my actual what? Anybody over here got any questions? Councilor Decker. I'm going to join the chorus of folks that have had comments but not questions. I appreciate very much uh the exchange between uh SEMTRA and and various county entities to work towards what we see before us. There's some about three things I really love about this. I love the notion that 00:29:26.690 --> 00:29:38.846 - What was once a GE plant, the community kind of valiantly fought to try to do something, keep something, and I got to watch a little bit of that, that that will now have life. 00:29:39.074 --> 00:30:03.262 - into it. I love that. I love the fact that the past work that we have done together turned into an excellent ribbon cutting, which I got to come out there and hang out with you all and see some of the awesome things back when I was in Counselor Crossley's role. And it was awesome. The third thing I love about this, this life coming out there is when you said oncology, cancer and the scourge that it is, 00:30:03.362 --> 00:30:17.310 - goes out those doors, it doesn't know DR or anything else, and it is where eyeballs are at. And I would love to see the notion that much like this was the community that did some of the first color TVs and 00:30:17.410 --> 00:30:44.094 - Colgate and all those good things with wonderful things. I'd like to see one of our companies take that baseball bat and drive that ball against cancer all the way home and pull a big one down. So if you all could be a part of that, I'd love to vote for that today. So I just, this excites me and I appreciate very much kind of seeing this and vision of what'll come. 00:30:48.450 --> 00:31:10.430 - Thank you. I don't have a lot of questions right now. I appreciate the fact that you have spent the past couple of weeks working on some of these terms. I realize that this is a little bit different, at least from our perspective, from what we've done in the past. 00:31:12.834 --> 00:31:40.414 - When it first came to us a couple of weeks ago, I had several other things in my suggestions, my dream of what might be in terms of the MOU. I think this is a relatively good attempt at meeting part way. I'm excited to see 00:31:40.642 --> 00:32:09.854 - Monroe County developing in this direction with the biopharma and the biotechnology because it's, I remember 25 years ago when I had to look up what biotechnology meant because I was being pulled into a project in grad school or something and you know promoting biotechnology and it was brand new and just to kind of see that it's what's driving so much of 00:32:10.050 --> 00:32:34.814 - you know, our quality of life, it makes me excited. So I don't have any specific questions, although I'll reserve the right to circle back. Thank you. Councilor Fein? Okay, all right. So now it's the time to circle back and look at since everybody is diplomatic right now. 00:32:36.354 --> 00:33:00.830 - I'm gonna look over here to the right. And I know Councilor Hawke, you said you wanted to circle back. So now is your time to do so. Right, I'm just, with the information we received yesterday, I believe it was, it's saying an average of the nine new jobs will be over 70,000 per year. 00:33:01.186 --> 00:33:30.590 - And yet I received something that said something other than that. So was this including like benefits or some kind of bonuses or something? That should be average salary. It's bonus and salary. It's not all fringe. I think the difference is, if I may, it's median versus average. And the average is 70. The median was a different number. 00:33:31.458 --> 00:33:57.086 - I just remember seeing something. I wasn't real sure. We've had a lot of things to study lately. It's hard to keep them all separate. So thank you for that answer. Okay. Anybody else on the side? Okay. So then I'm gonna circle back over here for any final comments. So is this the last call? Yes. Okay. 00:33:57.410 --> 00:34:26.846 - So I think I'd like to delve into, I've been at the bargaining table a time or two. So I'd like to delve into the proposal that I think Councilor Wilts was referring to that she had made. And I don't know, quite honestly, if you had even seen that. I presume you had. Is that not true? I think what I put together was more of an informal. Internal? Yeah, it was more of a list of here's what I would like to see. And I think handed it to Mr. Cocker. 00:34:28.002 --> 00:34:56.446 - Okay, was that shared? Or discussed? It didn't have to be shared or discussed? I didn't share the actual email, but we did discuss everything in that email. Okay, so I'd like to know more of your thoughts about, you know, like I said, I've been at the table before, and so you have one side here, one side here, and the goal is to kind of meet somewhere in the middle, and I'm not sure I find this the middle. So I'd like to hear more about the company's 00:34:57.026 --> 00:35:18.014 - take on what it was that you didn't think you might be able to accept in that sort of first proposal. Does that make any sense? I don't know that I saw the full proposal. I might need to. I think the major item that isn't in this agreement that was in the 00:35:21.698 --> 00:35:45.406 - was the trail and the construction of the trail was the major item that I think did not make it into this. And then there was some differences as I remember in the percentage of abatement each year, is that not true? The table is different than the one that I sent you. It's different than what? 00:35:45.666 --> 00:36:11.486 - Councilor Wilts had originally suggested or put out there. Okay, and I can kind of explain how the back and forth went with the table. I think what we had originally said was with the back and forth with the table only included the addition of two different lines, right? So line one had a trigger and line two had a trigger. Working with the company, they were, what if we did a line three 00:36:11.970 --> 00:36:34.334 - and had a commitment for that, and that added an additional trigger. So I would think the company might think that might be sweetening the deal somewhat, right? Or not? I think it's sweetening the deal on both sides. I just wanted to know where everybody was coming from. How I felt about it. I think, from my perspective, getting that third line in 00:36:35.234 --> 00:37:00.990 - was a way in entering the facility, I think particularly is that, you know, that third line almost makes it so they have to use both floors. In my mind, I don't know if that's true or not, but that's kind of where my mind was headed. And I think, you know, at a hundred thousand a line getting the total investment north of $350 million was, 00:37:01.922 --> 00:37:31.614 - was about as hard as I think was reasonable for me to push. I'm glad you explained that. I appreciate the backstory on how we got to this version. I'll put it that way. Was there an issue with the trail? No, I don't think there's any issue with the trail. We're pretty early in the planning phase, as you can imagine. I think the request was to complete it out to Curry Pike. 00:37:32.258 --> 00:38:01.086 - to connect it to an existing trail that we have, which is just down, it's easy. I don't think we have any fundamental issue with that. We haven't planned that far yet with the property. Yeah, Councilor Decker. Just a quick follow-up. As you look at that site and that property, let's say beyond even what is talked about here, do you see opportunities to expand 00:38:01.890 --> 00:38:29.950 - maybe even beyond this around there, because I always want to encourage that while we have you here. Yeah, so the property and the space would allow that, depending on the configuration of equipment we put in. So when we toured, we talked syringe, fillers, take up footprint X. If it's all vile, like the highly potent would be, we have associated lyophilizers that are with that, takes up a much larger footprint. So the mix of 00:38:30.178 --> 00:38:58.270 - type of equipment, which will largely be driven by the client interests, could significantly impact that number. But three lines does not, I'll say, commit the entire square footage of that facility. So yeah. And then there would of course be green space that we could approach if need be, but. All right. And I'll just say, since I haven't really had a chance to weigh in yet, I appreciate 00:38:58.370 --> 00:39:23.710 - the discussion and I appreciate this process. And I know I was able to speak to Mr. Eickhoff and Jim Pearl from the BEDC regarding affordable housing, because I do appreciate the fact the jobs are coming in. But again, as I've mentioned to you, and I've said several times before, one of the biggest things that we have, which is an issue, is affordable housing. 00:39:23.842 --> 00:39:52.510 - And as we learn so many different times and a lot of things that we've talked about with our long-term finance, committee meetings and whatnot, we continue to hear that we have to help ourselves. And the way that we can help ourselves is a way to make some type of affordable housing. And I know that that's not really like, you're not solely responsible for that. And it's the elected and the powers that be and some commissions. And I really hope that those folks are watching these meetings. 00:39:52.642 --> 00:40:22.608 - and we'll watch on Thursday when this goes to the commissioners for final approval. But I really wish that the powers that be could understand that this opportunity that we have will create a lot of positions. And we want to be able to attain those positions and have those folks stay here and have that economic development continue to manifest in Bloomington and Monroe County. So as we continue on with this, 00:40:22.608 --> 00:40:52.560 - and I'm definitely in support of this, I want to be able to work with you all and other powers that be to really try to figure out how we can continue that development and that growth. Obviously, we know the city of Bloomington, that's a concern for them, but we have to help ourselves here in Monroe County, and I really wanna see how we can do that. So, would love to see how we can continue to work down that path. Even some land trusts that we had talked about before, 00:40:52.560 --> 00:41:18.270 - the county we've talked about that before and then we just kind of let that just kind of simmer a little bit but this i think is a really great opportunity for us to talk about that so i appreciate that all right without looks like that's it and looking around and see if there's anybody else that has any questions or comments yes counselor hawk um yes just wanted to mention that 00:41:18.562 --> 00:41:45.406 - Some of the neighbors for the neighborhood have mentioned that they hope that there's assistance when you're changing hours and people are leaving and there's going to be a lot of traffic back up and so forth. And they're just wanting to make sure that there's going to be somebody to assist with that traffic coming in and out of your plant during 00:41:45.570 --> 00:42:10.654 - you know, times when they exit. Have you thought about that? Are you referring to the new GE site or existing? The people, the GE site is the ones who had contacted me, but... Sure. ...which I don't know what you do at the other site when... It's like during shift change when the... When it's quitting time and people get to go home. Yeah, so at the other site, we've opened up so that we now have an 00:42:10.914 --> 00:42:26.686 - an entrance on the east side of the property off Liberty and an entrance off the west side off Curry Pike and for the size of that site that accommodates. So we're looking to not have traffic backed up on the road. It's a safety concern for us. So we were able to do that. 00:42:26.882 --> 00:42:52.894 - you know, at the new property at the GE facility, there already is a light at Curry Park where you can entrance. And then there's also an entrance off profile park as well. So we'll stagger where the visitor and the employee entrance is. Those are things that aren't fully developed, but we want to avoid the same thing. It's in our best interest and our team members' best interest to not have that as a safety concern, so. Thank you. Thank you, appreciate it. 00:42:56.258 --> 00:43:23.326 - Council, I move to approve resolution 2025-35, quote, approval of tax abatement for Simtra US LLC. Second. All right, we got a motion and a second. Is there any discussion, further discussion on this particular item? Madam President, I have a motion to amend. Okay. What would be your amendment? 00:43:23.554 --> 00:43:50.366 - I'd like to make an amendment to the MOU to strike section two fee for deduction and open it to discussion. Okay. Second on that one. There's no second, the motion dies. 00:43:51.330 --> 00:44:16.510 - All right, yes, Councilor Averson. My question is about the reference in the MOU to the resolution. And my understanding is that the MOU, if the resolution is passed, the MOU goes into effect. We don't have to vote separately on the two documents. No, the resolution approves the MOU, but it still requires a separate signature. Great. 00:44:18.786 --> 00:44:27.902 - OK, is there looking at the time we need to do something here? So any types of additional discussion on this? 00:44:47.682 --> 00:45:16.158 - Since usually we have a motion in a second, we can have public comment on this. But I would also preface the conversation of we literally have to stop, take a little bit of time to transition into our next budget season, or budget, or our first budget hearing. So if you do have public comment on this particular item, you can please come up to the lectern here in the NatU Hill Room, and you can have up to three minutes. 00:45:16.866 --> 00:45:45.534 - or raise your hand via Teams. All right. Hello. All right. Good afternoon. Thank you so much. My name is Jen Pearl. I'm president of the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation. We've been really pleased to work with the county as well as the company on the proposal on the table. Also wanted to thank council for all of the time that you've put into this, as well as to the SIMTRA and the whole SIMTRA team that actually showed up as well today. We're really excited about this expansion for a few, 00:45:45.634 --> 00:46:06.718 - reasons that I wanted to bring additional context to. Number one is positioning Monroe County in the life sciences industry. Indiana is actually number one in the country according to BioCrossroads in 2024 for pharmaceutical and life sciences exports. This really advances the company in that direction and our community. 00:46:07.106 --> 00:46:25.694 - On wage growth, the average of $70,000 a year is actually higher than Monroe County's median household income, which is at $58,970, and the Indiana median household income of just shy of $70,000. So that's very significant. 00:46:25.922 --> 00:46:54.814 - And then in terms of broader economic impact, according to BioCrossroads, pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing has the following multipliers in Monroe County. Roughly 2.4 jobs would be created for everyone at SIMTRA, and every dollar spent by SIMTRA would lead to $1.40 spent elsewhere in the region. Those are induced as well as direct, indirect, and other jobs that kind of are add-on as they make contract with others around the region. 00:46:55.010 --> 00:47:24.976 - And then finally, the significance of the redevelopment. I think you had sort of touched on this. The sheer magnitude of the site, bringing it back online, bringing new life into that for the community is incredibly significant. And your investments in other redevelopment sites that you've seen at Otis and elsewhere in the community, that pays dividends for decades to come. So we really greatly appreciate all of your time. And honestly, all of the conversation back and forth about what works for everybody. 00:47:24.976 --> 00:47:51.582 - because that's really what gets us to a better place as a community. So thank you for your time and for your consideration. Thank you. Very happy to hear the 2.4 job addition. Great. Are there any other people in the NET-U Hill Room that has any public comment or if you are on Teams, raise your hand. Right. And seeing none, 00:47:51.682 --> 00:48:18.206 - Since we have a motion on the floor, Michelle, can we please have a roll call vote? Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Deckard? Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Councilor Wilts? Yes. Councilor Henry? Yes. Councilor Hawk? Yes. Councilor Crossley? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. All right, thank you. Thank you very much. 00:48:23.970 --> 00:48:28.670 - the business of this special session. And so we are adjourned. Thank you.