- All right, we are gonna go ahead and get started because who do we think we are? We are the Monroe County
- Council. All right, so today is Tuesday, July 14th. The time is 5.02. And this is the Monroe County
- Council. We will call this meeting to order. Present and then historic, Nattie Hill Rome. We have counselors
- Hawk, Henry Decker,
- Wilt and Fiddle and we do not have Councilmember Iverson. Oh okay so everything we do today,
- thanks Peter, will be a roll call vote since we have a member participate in virtually. So with that
- being said we will get to the Pledge of Allegiance so all those that are able to stand please stand.
- like a vacuum from up here, but it is very warm in here, and some of us are feeling the challenges of
- life and heat at the same time, so we will go ahead and get started. All right. And I've had sugar,
- so y'all are welcome. All right, so we will move to the adoption of the agenda. Is there anybody that
- would wish to make amendments to tonight's agenda? Yes.
- So the auditor's office has requested that items H and I, ARPA appropriations and deappropriations be
- pulled from the agenda as the commissioners approve the ARPA amendments as presented at their July 9th
- meeting. Council, I move to table indefinitely the auditors item H and I. Second.
- All right, we got a motion and a second to table items H and I. Are there any questions or comments
- from council? All right, seeing none, are there any other amendments to tonight's agenda? Okay, and
- seeing none, may we please have a roll call vote? Councilor Crossley? Yes. Councilor Hawk?
- she say? Yeah, we're we're mimicking. Okay. Yes. Councilor Henry. Yes. Councilor Wilts. Yes. Councilor
- Deckard. Yes. Councilor Iverson. And we need to see Councilor Iverson on the screen, please. Thank you.
- Motion passes.
- Unanimous, okay. All right. So we have adopted tonight's agenda as amendment as amended All right. Next
- up is our public comment So if there's public comment on items that are not on the agenda You can come
- forward to the lectern here in the room or you can raise your hand via teams Looks like everybody coming
- in. So again, you'll sign your name or state your name for the record and you'll have up to three minutes
- My name is Jamie Ford, and I'm a Monroe County resident. First, I attended yesterday's jail subcommittee
- meeting, and I agree with the two choices that were selected. One is a remodel of the current jail with
- an expansion of the Curry Building, and the second is a building of a new jail on the Thompson property
- as a backup. However, given the predicament the county is now in, I believe that the best way forward
- is to work on them both simultaneously. Contract actual experts to conduct the necessary analyses and
- studies in addition to updating the PUDs for each respective location concurrently. Do the work on both
- until one or the other is no longer viable or needed.
- Should it be determined that a remodel of the current facilities is in fact not feasible, work will
- already be in progress on the Thompson property, thus preventing more delays. Plus, that work will at
- least be something to present in court.
- If the remodel is doable, then the work on Thompson will give the answers the county lacks and will
- be valuable if the county wants to do something with the property or sell it. Second, I believe that
- discussions about the jail need to continue. The current jail facility is the biggest issue, but according
- to the new lawsuit documents and the criminal justice studies, it is not the only issue. For example,
- inefficiencies in the court system leading
- Sorry, I can't read my handwriting, is leading to longer jail stays need to be addressed. Additionally,
- I remember seeing the before and after photos of Sheriff Marte's efforts in cleaning up the jail. Policies
- and procedures need to be put in place to ensure conditions never get that bad in the future. I appreciate
- the proactive work and collaboration that this council has done. And I've come to you first because
- I trust you guys more than I do the current board of commissioners. So I hope that the collaboration
- continues in the future. Thank you. Thank you.
- If you can't read my handwriting, let me know, I can rewrite it. Okay, thank you. All right, is there
- any other public commenters that would like to make public comment on items not on tonight's agenda?
- You can raise your hand via Teams or you can come again to the podium here in the room. We will move
- forward. Thank you again for your comment. All right, next up we will have department updates and these
- are usually set for 10 minutes for each department that would like to make
- an update and these are for items that are not on tonight's agenda. So I see some department heads here
- in the room. You are probably here for other things, but in case anybody has any updates, you can do
- that at this time or you can raise your hand via Teams.
- I want to note for the record, Jordan Miller is not here tonight, but I did forward your second quarter
- commissary report to the entire council. Thank you very much, Michelle. Welcome. Hello, counselors.
- everyone else who's here. My name is Amy Swain. I'm the Monroe County Recorder. I appreciate this time
- because I wanted to let everyone know once again about the property monitoring system called Property
- Watch that is offered free to property owners in Monroe County. It does not cost
- the county anything or the property owners. It's done through our business partner, DocsPop. You can
- go to the recorders page to visit that link. It's the first box that comes up underneath our hours of
- operation. Again, it's called Property Watch. The reason I think this is so important is because I myself had
- property transfer to me following my brother's death in another county. And I received the same letter
- that one of our property owners in Monroe County called in a couple of weeks ago, wanting to charge
- $285 for a similar property monitoring system. And I think it's important that people know that we offer
- that service for free.
- While I have the floor, I also wanted to let people know there are companies out there wanting to charge
- more than $100 to get a copy of your deed. We have those in the recorder's office, and according to
- state law, we charge $1 per image or page. Most deeds are three pages or less, so you can either pay
- $1, $2, or $3 or you can pay more than $100 to an outside company.
- There's one final thing that I wanted to talk about, and that's companies that are targeting our veterans.
- They're wanting to charge, again, more than $100 to expedite the processing of getting their DD-214
- or their military discharge papers. Those are available from the recorder's office at no charge to the veteran
- or their immediate family. A lot of times the immediate family will need that documentation for scholarships
- and other things, and as long as they show the proper ID, we will provide those. We will also record
- their DD-214s
- at no charge. We work together very well with the veteran service office here in the county, and we
- always encourage people who go to you can go to either office to get your DD 214. If they come to our
- office, we always encourage them to go and visit with their veteran service officer because they can
- learn about updates like the new
- property tax credit. So thank you for giving me this time so that I could let people know about these
- important issues. Thank you very much. Real quick, does anybody have any questions? Yeah, thank you
- very much for that. That was really helpful. All right. Any other department updates? Seeing none.
- And again, thank you so much for that. We will move on to consent agenda items.
- I move to approve the following consent agenda items for July 14th. The health department's request
- and fund 8112-9626 STD strengthening prevention grant for a category transfer of $956.65 from the supplies
- category to the services category. And the approval of the summary minutes as presented for June 11th, 2026,
- joint special session of the County Council and City Council. Second. All right, we got a motion and
- a second. Yes, Councilor Hawke. Yes, I'd like to split this vote because I have questions on the first
- one with Health Department. So is that your motion Councilor Hawke? Second.
- Okay. Okay. Do you want me to ask questions now? I'd be happy to. Yes. Go ahead. Since we... Okay. Well,
- my concern is when you look at the fund cash balance, it shows they're in the negative $51,805.97. Remaining
- cash, remaining balance available is in the negative of $52,612.47. Okay.
- I mean, why are we considering moving money around when we're already in the negative? I mean, has everybody
- looked at that? They say they're in the process of receiving grant amendments for additional funding.
- But the process when it comes to getting grants is not a guarantee. You might be in the process of asking for it.
- I mean, I don't want to put my name just saying, yes, we're going to let you go ahead and move around
- and start spending when it's in the negative. I didn't pull up those budgets. I just am believing what
- was put on there. Perhaps the auditor has some advice for us. Gregory? Yes, this is a reimbursable grant
- fund. So it's typically in the red until reimbursements come through, making it whole to zero it out.
- However, when they say it's in the process, have they approved, have they indicated or certain that
- we are going to get a grant? They tell you what the grant's going to be, then you spend it, then they
- send you the money. Yes. Correct? That's true. My team has been working closely with the health department,
- though, and they are comfortable.
- told me that the process has been completed. However, I don't have that documentation in front of me,
- but there's communication back and forth establishing that this is okay to proceed. No documents.
- Conversation. No, no, no. I stated my team has the documentation. I do understand that many of these
- you have, you had to spend the money and then you get it.
- Once you spin it, you get it reimbursed to you. But that's what the grant says you're going to do. But
- if we don't have grant documents, this verifies that at this point. The verification necessary was approval
- from the granting agency to spend it a different way. So you see that they're moving categories, and
- that approval has been established. And we do have the documentation, however. I do not have it available
- to provide to you right this second, but my team can forward that on.
- So I guess, in essence, what you're saying is you feel comfortable with this because, in essence, it's
- red right now until we get that reimbursement back. That's exactly right. So every agenda, the general
- ledger and grant manager goes through in detail, asks these questions to the departments to ensure that
- we are following our internal policy and procedure and best practice.
- So the funding, the funder is the Indiana Department of Health, and the email in our packet from Darren
- Foltz, budget and contracts manager, saying you can move the funds accordingly, is the documentation.
- That is thank you. I wasn't aware it got into the packet. Thank you, Michelle. You're welcome. I didn't
- see it, but thank you.
- Councillor Henry. Thank you. I would just say I did speak or communicate with Ms. Kelly about this particular
- item and the second piece being the health department coming back to us with the appropriation in August
- is the second turn of the key that I didn't flag this myself. So I was fine with knowing that we have
- the proceeds are coming in our next meeting.
- And I just, there was a lot of crosstalk when this, we're kind of going back and forth here. You say
- that you got the documentation your office needs. And your office has, you know, been notoriously detailed
- about this, maybe more than any of your predecessors, which I'm sure a few department heads out there
- could back me on that, right?
- I think we ruffled a few feathers, but we're trying to be, to always err on the side of caution, always
- have that documentation necessary to ensure we're following best practice. So yes, thank you.
- And on this one, you got it. You're good. Yes. All right. Madam President, I want to make sure, because
- there is, in the world of this county, there's a lot of talk out there, particularly on social media,
- about trust and mistrust.
- And I want to make sure that people watching understand that this is nothing extraordinary is going
- on here. This meets the standards of this auditor, who's been extremely stringent on that, which has
- made for easier days sometimes, and not as easy days on others. But this is meeting her thumbs up approval,
- at least to be before us, as something for consideration. It's important right now that we kind of make
- sure that trust is there. That's all I'm going to say.
- questions on this item. Seeing none. Are we voting on the whole thing or the split? It's the split.
- On the category transfer for the Health Department. Councilor Crossley? Yes. Councilor Iverson?
- Yes. Councillor Fiddle. Yes. Councillor Hawke. No. Councillor Wilts. Yes. Councillor Henry. Yes. Councillor
- Decker. Yes. Motion passes six to one. Thank you. And next up we have item B which
- is the summary of the approval of the summary minutes for the June 11th, 2026 meeting. Is there any
- questions or comments on this item? Maybe please have a roll call vote. Councillor Iverson? Yes. Councillor Feidl?
- Councillor Hawk? Yes. Councillor Wilts? Yes. Councillor Henry? Yes. Councillor Decker? Yes. Councillor
- Crossley? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. Thank you. Next up we have the hire and freeze review items
- and first up is from the Highway Department.
- I move to open for discussion and possible approval of the Highway Department's request to be exempt
- from the hiring freeze and be allowed to hire and fund 1176-0000 Motor Vehicle Highway at 80% and fund
- 1173-0000 Motor Vehicle Highway restricted at 20%, one full-time traffic control technician slash laborer
- position. Second.
- We got a motion and a second. We are joined here by Ms Lisa Ridge. Welcome. Good evening. So we had
- a traffic control tech provide us his notice at the end of June to go to work for a Bedford utility
- company. So we're just here to request to be able to open that position up and fill that vacancy. Any
- questions or comments for Ms Ridge on this item?
- Oh, I'm sorry. Councillor Williams. Yes. The position is split between the two accounts, right? 1173
- is a sub account of 1176. So you are, you are, and so much of your fund, half of our funding is split
- between the restricted and the 1176, 1173. And then you can spend a percentage of those expenses out to show
- where you're using those funds at. Thank you. I didn't even get to ask the question. You answered it.
- Thank you. Yes. Can you tell us where the insurance is paid from? Will it be paid from in this fund
- or? It's paid from 1176. And have you heard any more about when we might get that
- money back. The state is promising, and they're saying some people are saying, well, might not get till
- next year. Do we know? Well, I, um, when I think it was the last time I was here, the governor had put
- out that day and a timeline. I believe the state comptroller has also put out a news release. Um, their
- specific dates mentioned in there in July and then that the local entities would be reimbursed those
- funds from the gas tax by November 1st.
- And I have not seen any changes since that. But I'm counting on you because this funding is set aside
- from the other funding. And if something should happen that you're going to have to pull back on something
- you're doing, we know you will do that. Correct. We do have a cash balance that we know we don't want
- to touch. But we do have that in case we need to
- to come back to the council for an additional to move funds around, or get additional and appropriation
- to keep all of our resources going, all of our employees, and keep business as usual until we reimburse
- those funds. See any other questions or comments for Ms. Ridge on this item, so we'll move on to public
- comment. If there's public comment on this item, you can come forward to the lectern here in the room
- or raise your hand via Teams.
- Okay, please have a roll call vote. Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Pytel? Yes. Councilor Hawke? Yes.
- Councilor Wilts? Yes. Councilor Henry? Yes. Councilor Decker? Yes. Councilor Crossley? Yes. Motion passes
- unanimous. Thank you.
- I just put up the email from the state Comptroller's office for the period of April 8th through May
- 31 That gas tax amount will be presented to the State Board of Finance on July 21 for approval following
- approval it will reach Government units five to seven business days after Okay, so August Up is from
- the planning department
- until I move to open for discussion and possible approval of the Planning Department's request to be
- exempt from the hiring freeze and be allowed to hire and fund 1000-0079 County General Planning, one
- full-time planner to position. Second. All right, we got a motion and a second, and we are joined by
- Ellen virtually. Welcome. Hi. Can you hear me okay?
- I'm gonna share my screen really quickly. Okay, thanks for hearing our request this evening. As I mentioned,
- this is for a vacancy of the plan or two position in our office. Just some quick information. We did
- have another vacancy late last year
- for the same position. Both people that are leaving this position had received offers from the city,
- and they have taken those positions for a lateral position move that's paying $18,000 more. But this
- position that we are trying to fill is a Patsy classification that is 40 hours a week. We're requesting
- the minimum salary, so the
- Financial impact summary that was in the packet is showing a savings of about $8,500 in total. We do
- have job duties based in the state statute. We deal with several different types of petitions. Those
- include but are not limited to read zones, variances, conditional uses, etc.
- And there's also been a lot of state law changes recently, including some requirements for our office
- to approve permits in a certain number of days. So on average, our Plan R2s in our office receive or
- respond to 510 calls or emails every year.
- And in one instance in 2024, we looked at the case management of one of our plan or two's and they reviewed
- and approved 28 cases in a year. These cases can include evening meetings. They include reports oftentimes,
- reviewing technical drawings and surveys and communication back and forth with oftentimes an applicant
- and their design professional.
- We also, the reason that we cannot fill this position with a part-time position is because we're often
- synthesizing complicated information. We take about six months of training to really get someone off
- and running on their own. We do get questions from the public that require quick turnaround times, such
- as I'm closing on this property in two hours.
- Do you think I can use it as a tourist home? And we do try to respond to those questions as quickly
- as possible. And then we're also helping people with their building permits and their locations for
- their sheds, garages, even their homes, things like that. As I mentioned, there are some state statute
- changes that you need to be aware of. I think that there were some email correspondence as well.
- one of the statute changes does limit our ability to charge a certain amount for residential construction.
- However, we believe our fees are in line with that state code change and we're making even more changes
- to be aligned. But these bills are requiring us to have faster timelines. They're limiting what we can
- and can't do.
- And they're also requiring, for instance, House Bill 1037, remove the ability for our stormwater team
- to review things such as some grading and logging projects and brought that back to planning for us
- to take that on. And our plan or two is helpful in that regard. And then we just have some sample agendas.
- These are the types of cases that our plan or twos are taking. They split amongst
- three different planner twos, and then we have a senior planner as well. But one planner two could take
- up to three, maybe four cases in one evening on a long agenda. I've just highlighted one case just to
- give you some insight on the depth of review that we have to do for certain cases. So this was a case
- with several variances. And so we go out to the property,
- We do aerial review comparisons. We also review surveys, as I mentioned, against the code. So the planner
- too has to see what on the engineered survey or on the certified plot plan is different than what the
- code requires and then apply those variances. So in this instance, for instance, a side setback was
- required because there's only one foot of distance between the property line
- in the building. So they would have to present to the public, to the applicant, and to the board of
- zoning appeals what the person is asking for and present findings of fact to either support or recommend
- denial for that. And then we have updated our fee schedule as of December 1st of 2025.
- We did a quick calculation just to July 1st and we're seeing fees increased. We see an increase of $24,169.20
- from last year and the CDO was adopted before that. So we're seeing as a good comparison just the difference
- and we hadn't changed our fees in a very long time. So this was warranted and
- The way that we assess our fees was to look at a labor analysis of the number of hours that we're reviewing
- each case. So we did this with the plan commission's assistance and we believe the fees are much more
- fair. And we haven't really heard any negative feedback from the public on this. So we do believe that
- it was time and we can do so again under that state law. We're gonna review it again one more time this year.
- before we aren't allowed to change it for, I think it was five years. So just a rehash of vacancy for
- our department, what that means, it can mean slower response times for our office. We would not wanna
- not meet statutory timelines, but that's something that we consider when having multiple vacancies in
- our office. The burnout of our remaining staff, so we only have eight people total
- four planners, one of which is a senior planner position. So we do have a lot to do with a few people.
- And we just want to have a good rapport with the public, keep up with the response in a timely fashion,
- give people accurate and timely information, and also enough detail that they can make big decisions.
- So with that, I'm happy to take any questions.
- Thank you very much, Ms. Jelen, for that. Any questions for her colleagues? Yes, Councilmember Henry.
- Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, Director Jelen, for your presentation.
- For those of us up here that don't get to hear from you often, you're always so thorough, and I appreciate
- the work you bring in. This is what the Planning Commission looks like twice a month with the staff
- doing the hard work. I think it's important to point out two things which the Director had mentioned.
- First is, Director Jellin, correct me if I'm wrong, when was the last time we raised the fees in the
- county prior to the Planning Commission doing that earlier this year?
- It was, I believe it was 2011 or 2012. It was some time ago. And while some folks might look at that
- and say, wow, the fees doubled, it had been the first time in 15 years we had touched the fee structure,
- which has generated revenue to cover some of this cost here that the department is back into the fund.
- So that's important. And thank you on that.
- And then secondly, to your point that, yeah, the delays that add to the cost of construction in the
- county, anything we can do to eliminate that through having a well-staffed department that doesn't require
- things to go to appeals because we had things we had to do, like issuing a permit without the time to
- investigate or the variances that are required, this is just one of those important positions. It might
- not sound it on paper, but it really is. So I'm happy to support it. Thank you, Madam President.
- Yes. This, along with the building department, these two departments have to be fully staffed if we
- are going to encourage new growth in housing. Because if they have to mess around here to get an answer,
- these developers, the contractors, they're going to take it, oh, where did they take it just recently?
- Out of county. A big subdivision going in.
- out of county, and we don't want to be a part of sending the people away from this county to in order
- to have. So I think that we do have to watch this very carefully. However, because if the merger happens
- with Ellisville, then they're going to need more planners and we are going to need less because that's a big
- You know, Richland Township is a big growth area. So those are just things that we'll look for in the
- future. But right now, we don't know. Right now, we just don't know. So I want to do whatever we can
- to encourage growth for people to have housing here in Monroe County. Anybody else? Any questions or comments?
- Seeing none, we'll move on to public comment. If there's public comment on this item, you can come forward
- to the lectern here in the room. Or raise your hand via teams. And seeing none, may we please have a
- roll call vote. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Councilor Hawk? Yes. Councilor Wilts? Yes. Councilor Henry? Yes.
- Councilor Decker? Yes. Councilor Crusley? Yes. Councilor Iverson?
- Yes. Motion passes unanimous. Thank you, Mr. Allen. All right. Next up is item eight, which is county
- council business. Council, I moved to approve resolution 2026 dash 23 B part two approval of tax abatement
- for. I'm not sure how to pronounce it. Is it Cynthia? Cynthia is is my understanding, but they. OK.
- public hearing. We got a motion and a second and we'll have Mr Cockrell person. Yes and this meeting
- has been noticed for a public hearing. So when it gets public comment if we could open that public hearing
- and close it, that would be great. The presentation was pretty
- Essentially, what we're looking at is the company that currently has 40 employees making $4.2 million
- is looking to expand and add another 30 employees to make approximately $2.315 million. This is to expand
- their capacity. They're expanding their building. So this is only a real estate tax abatement request.
- And so they did the preliminary approval
- two weeks ago, and this would be the final approval for the council to make on this. If you have any
- questions, I'm more than happy to answer them, otherwise. Thank you very much. Any questions or comments
- from council? Council member Henry. Thank you. Easy vote today. Last time I think we discussed this,
- I abstained because I had to do some homework as a federal contractor to make sure
- I've never met you before or had a relationship with this company, but I have no fiscal relationship
- with the company or ownership interest and happy to support you in our county. So thank you for that.
- I'm excited about the expansion. Is there anything that y'all wanted to add to anything before we move
- on? You don't have to. I don't mean to put you on the spot. Just wondering if you wanted to add anything
- since you're here.
- I just wanted to thank you again for considering our request and I really appreciate the support that
- you've provided us thus far. This will help make a viable project out of this and we've got all our
- fingers and toes crossed that we will be able to achieve the growth that we're looking at. A lot of
- that depends on how our government, it's the funding that we need to be able to do that but we are very
- grateful for the opportunity here and
- We're going to stay in Monroe County. Give us a lesson again on how to pronounce it. I want to get it
- right. Well, the Latin pronunciation is actually Shencha. Oh. Only two syllables. But we figured in
- southern Indiana, we couldn't probably get by with that. So we pronounce it Skientia. Thank you. Is this the?
- I'm happy they're on the west side. Thank you. Yeah, I do. Thank you. All right. And, um, yeah, sounds
- like colleagues are.
- Very much excited about that, but we gotta get to the vote first. And before we do, I appreciate that
- you are expanding. I wish that we can also expand in the county as which we talked about with affordable
- housing to go along with that. Just the same so we can keep those dollars here in Monroe County too.
- Again, like I always try to plug, I want to mention the BDC. Clark Griner is here and their partner
- with us on all these things, on answering all the tough questions that we have, on answering all the
- tough questions I'm sure that Scantia had as well, but also in keeping that look out there so that we
- can say to our constituents that we are doing everything we can to bring as many jobs here as possible
- that will do well by them.
- And that's not always been the case in this community that we've had those, but we need those. So thank
- you so much and make lots of jobs and success and we'll grow with you. No other comments. I don't see
- council member ever since hand raise. Um, so we'll move on to public comment. If you'd like to make
- public comment on this item, you can come forward to the lectern here in the room or raise your hand
- via teams.
- Would it would it be possible for me to make a public comment from here. My name is Clark Greiner. I
- am the interim CEO for the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation. First of all thank you for
- taking a close look at this organization. I wanted to point out as you know Doug is an upstanding citizen.
- of Monroe County. His employees go through a rigorous background check because of the security that
- they're involved in and the organization as far as what they do for us on a broader national security
- basis is very critical to our troops abroad. And so we hope that there is a favorable support of this
- on the tax abatement request. So thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you very much for that.
- Is there any other public comment on this item? See any more here in the room or hands raised? The public
- comment is closed on that item. And next up, we will go to a roll call vote, please. Councilor Hawk?
- Yes. Councilor Wilts? Yes. Councilor Decker?
- Yes. Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. Thank you very much.
- Thank you. And is it Shinsha? Did I say that right? Scantia. Put the Latin first. Shinsha. Okay.
- All right. We've got some practice in it. Thank you very much. All right. Next up is item eight.
- public hearing, does she not have to announce the public hearing as they're closed? She did say the
- public comment section of the hearing is closed. I don't know if she used the actual term hearing, but
- I think the case law indicates as long as you provide the public with an opportunity to comment and
- you announce when it's closed that that is sufficient. Remember what we used to be told. It had to officially
- be closed. All right. Next up is item B from the recorder's office.
- Council, I move to open for discussion and possible approval of the recorder's request to be exempt
- from the hiring freeze and be allowed to hire and fund 1000-0004 County General Recorder, one full-time
- recorder deputy position. Second. All right, we got a motion and a second. We are still joined by Recorder
- Swain. Welcome.
- Thank you, President Crosley. As you know, the recorder's office is a small office. So all of our positions
- are kind of essential to daily operations. We stagger lunch hours so that we don't have to close during
- that time when a lot of people can get off work to come over and to our office. Plus, we have to cover
- vacation, illness, meetings,
- It responds to assistance from people via email, electronic recordings, in-person, over-the-counter,
- and mail. With it vacant.
- We have been somewhat understaffed at some times. Just today, we had both counter computers working.
- Another person came in that I was helping at one of the public computers. We had a phone call come in.
- We had another person come in the door. We had a title searcher in the office. And that's not unusual.
- So we have been busy. We are one of the few revenue producing
- departments in the county, and I don't want anything to get in the way of serving the people who use
- our office. I also wanted to make you aware that the most significant federal housing package in nearly
- 20 years became law last week. It was the bipartisan 21st Century Road to Housing Act. It includes nearly
- 50 individual housing measures that are designed to remove barriers, increase supply,
- expand home ownership access, improve access to capital, and support veterans. And so I expect us to
- be even busier, which is good for us, good for the county, good for the people of Monroe County. So
- I would ask that you go ahead and allow us to fill that vacancy. The money is already appropriated and
- it will actually be less because there will
- be a new person. The previous person would have reached their one-year step increase. So with that,
- I'm open for any questions. For that, any questions? I'll come back to you, Councilor Hawke,
- here in a second. Councilor Wilks? How many deputy recorders do you have? We have four.
- So this is one position out of those four. Got it. And also, on the fiscal impact statement, it says
- fund cash balance $24,691. Is that right? It's probably the remainder of the year. Correct me if I'm
- wrong, Auditor Gregory.
- You're looking at the recorder's records perpetuation? No, this would be county general. Oh, apologies.
- Okay, so the current cash balance as of today is $23,659,566. That's just a typo, or is it
- not the information that I'm thinking it's supposed to be? I'm thinking that's a typo. Because the numbers
- are kind of similar. Okay, but way off by order. By a decimal point. Okay, that's all cool.
- Can I ask one more? Thank you. So it says that you'd like to allow for some overlap in the positions
- so that there can be some onboarding. It looked like it was going to vacate later than you would hope
- to have someone in. Is that correct? That would be an ideal for us to have time before the previous
- person leaves if we know they're leaving. In this case, we did not. Oh, OK.
- that. Okay, never mind. I misread it, I think. No, but if the council is ever open to that. We don't
- usually do that. Thank you. Yeah. Councilor Hawke. Yes. First of all, I'd like to say that when I go
- in and out of the different departments, yours is the department. I know you're always there. You are
- there at work.
- They're not expecting to be gone all the time. You are here and carrying the load as a person actually
- working there. And that is something that we really need to expect from all department heads, because
- when they come in and say, we're short staff, then I'm going, well, where were you when you go in there?
- And I'm not just making this up, nor do I mean it to be.
- Because always before, you know, elected officials, they don't have, they're not on a time card. They
- really aren't. So I'm just saying kudos for you that you're doing that and you're carrying your own
- fair share of the load of your department. And that's what I expect out of you because that's what you've
- always given. And that's what I'd like to expect out of all department heads. Thank you, Councillor Hawke.
- Any other questions or comments from Ms. Blaine on this item? Seeing none, we'll move on to public comment.
- If there's public comment on this item, you can come forward to the lectern here in the room or raise
- your hand via Teams. Seeing none, may we please have a roll call vote? Councilor Wilts? Yes. Councilor
- Henry? Yes. Councilor Decker? Yes. Councilor Crossley?
- Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Councilor Hawk? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. Thank you.
- Next up is item C, also from the recorder's office. Council, I'd like to move to approve the recorder's
- request and fund 1189-0000 Recorder's Perpetuation Fund for a category transfer of $35,000
- from the supplies category to the services category. Second. All right, we got a motion and a second.
- Ms. Swain. So I'm coming to you again for phase two of our digital scanning project. We talked last
- year about doing this. We still have about 300 books in
- physically in the recorder's office with the rest being over in our archives. The fire suppression system
- in the archives, just to remind you, is a dry system. The one in the recorder's office is water-based.
- So even with a false alarm, should the sprinklers go off, the books would be affected. So we want to
- make sure and get all of those documents scanned, at least, and have them accessible in a digital format
- in a worst-case scenario.
- The I want to. I'm sorry. I wanted to add. Um, I included the, uh, commissioner's packet so you could
- see a, um, copy of the contract, which they did approve at a meeting earlier this month for that. Yes.
- Councilmember Decker and two questions. Those records are going back 200 years, right? We have records
- back to the beginning of the county in the 18 hundreds.
- And then the second question, on this fund, and tell me if I got this wrong, this fund, what you do
- in that, the recorder's, I never can say it. Perpetuation. Perpetuation fund. When we vote on that,
- that's a courtesy, but really that, the recorder's got discretion.
- You're being kind and coming to us. Yes, and it is a category transfer. The Council of Spoys requested
- a proposed budget line item-wise so you can see how money is being spent. But the stated purpose of
- that fund is to preserve those documents in perpetuity and also to increase public access, which digitizing
- the records absolutely will do.
- It meets both criterias. And so this is the perfect use of those funds. I always just like to say I
- appreciate very much the ability, one lunch hour myself, I went into the recorder's office to get, like
- most people, to get my grandfather's DD-214 because I needed it for joining something or doing something.
- It's probably the VFW auxiliary at that time.
- and out they come, they have this process, you go get that, there's other people getting those things,
- but those records are precious to families at a time when they need them, and it's always pretty precise
- when they do, recording the deeds for property, all sorts of things that come in there, so thank you
- very much. Yes, we take our part in that process very seriously. Yes, Council Member Woods. Regarding the
- hard copies themselves. You have room in that archived area. I think it's in the showers building, is
- that right? It is. Do you have room for the remaining books to be kept there? It's not only used by
- the recorder's office, it's also used by other departments within the counties. And one of the things
- that is still on my to do list is to reorganize that.
- And to, because there were some shelving units, there was a deep freeze, chest type freezer for a mold
- mitigation project that had passed. So that is now out of there using the proper procedure. And so I'm
- trying to find as much room as possible so that we can continue for historical records, the way things have gone
- In recent years, even more so accelerated by COVID-19 is everything is now being entered digitally.
- And so with the records retention guidelines by the Indiana Archives and Records Administration, if
- the documents were born digital, they can remain digital. And we do have all of our even digital records
- backed up as well.
- So we're fast running out of room there, but maybe if we can reshuffle some things, the remaining records
- that we do have in paper form for all of the departments can be accommodated a little bit easier. And
- I'm welcome to have any of the counselors who would like come over and look at the archives at your
- convenience.
- the Jim Fielder room? It is. That's what I thought. It's the Jim Fielder archives. Seeing no other further
- questions or comments on this item, we'll move on to public comment. You can raise your hand via Teams
- or you can come here in the room and make your public comment. And seeing none, may we please have a
- roll call vote?
- Councillor Decker? Yes. Councillor Crossley? Yes. Councillor Iverson? Yes. Councillor Feidl? Yes. Councillor
- Hawke? Yes. Councillor Willis? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. And we still have one more item for the
- recorder's item or the recorder's office, which is item D. Council, I move to approve the recorder's
- request and fund 1,000
- for an additional appropriation of $400 in the personnel category. Second. All right. We got a motion
- in a second. Miss Wayne, what would you like to add to this item? Just the fact that this budget, this
- line item was under budgeted for 2026. I don't know if I didn't tab off of the cell that it was in.
- I overlooked it. I don't have a good explanation, but I hope that the council will be
- um, agreeable to making sure that this employee gets their longevity pay. Great. Any questions or comments
- on this item? Yes, council. Is that for the whole year, the 400 for the whole year? It's just the balance
- of what wasn't there. So yes, it's a one time payment. Okay. On their anniversary date. Thank you. Council
- member. You have a heavy cash balance in that.
- perpetuation fund. Could you, can you legally cover longevity out of there for, we used to have personnel
- in there. We currently have three salaries in there of the eight in our office. Two part timers, I have
- kept them in the budget in the hopes that
- we're going to be able to do that. Um improvements in our software will allow access to the records
- which we don't have remotely right now. So we have the two part timers. They're working on back files
- as well as one full time deputy recorder in there. Everything else. For our.
- including six-digit contracts, one of which you just approved. All of our software, all of our office
- supplies, all of our printing, everything else comes out of perpetuation. I appreciate that. I'm just
- thinking $400 if we could take it out of there, since you do have some personnel there. I don't think
- we would be against regulation. I wasn't sure.
- If you listen in at future meetings, you're going to see, we're not going to have to watch for every
- $100 and every $400 we can find. And I don't think it would hurt your operations to do that. I wouldn't
- want to take it in the general fund because you made it there in the general, but the remaining balance
- of $1.4 million that we have not
- appropriate, except this last $35,000. And that will continue to grow. I'm spending about $178,000 on
- this scanning project, and that's just for phase two. Just as an example. Plus, I cannot spend beyond
- the sworn statement of the total amount budgeted
- for things other than the purpose of the fund by law. Other questions or comments on the item for Ms.
- Wayne? Seeing none, we'll move on to public comment on this item. If there's public comment, you can
- come forward to the lectern here in the room or raise your hand via Teams.
- May we please have a roll call vote? Councilor Decker? Yes. Councilor Crosby? Yes. Councilor Iverson?
- Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Councilor Hawke? Yes. I think we should take congratulations. I'm sorry,
- I didn't hear you with everything going on. It's my fault. Councilor Hawke, what was your vote?
- I said no. Thank you.
- I already had the conversation why, so. Councilor Wilts? Yes. Councilor Henry? Yes. Motion passes, majority
- 6-1. Thank you, Councilors. Thank you very much. All right. Next up, we have item E from the courts.
- Council, I move to approve the court's department's request and fund
- Court interpreters for an additional appropriation of $7,000 in the services category. Second. All right.
- We got a motion and a second. We're joined by Ms. Chandler. Welcome. Hi. Hello. I just wanted to let
- you know that the courts received a $7,000 reimbursable grant to help offset the cost of our interpreter
- services needed for our court hearings. And we're just asking for those funds to be appropriated. Self-explanatory.
- Congratulations on that. All right, any questions from Council on this item? Yes, Councilmember Decker.
- I just always like to take the opportunity to thank departments for looking for outside grant dollars.
- Those are dollars elsewhere that come home to help us do something, do a service. Probably not easy
- to always go after, but I'm glad for them. We are not, if we have to replace them or if we lose them, we're not
- always able to do all that. And that's a whole discussion on its own. But thank you for the courts for
- going after this and being a model on how to do all those things. We appreciate it much. And congratulations
- to you in your new role. It's good to have you here. Thank you. Council Member Henry. Thank you again.
- Thank you. I echo Councilor Decker's sentiments there. So because the fund balance is in the negative
- now, the 7,000 less, does that put us at
- like roughly $4,600. Yes. Is there another increment or opportunity between now and the end of the year
- that would come in, or is that? So we can pay that also from our special services line. Yeah. But anytime
- we can get a claim turned in to the state and get those funds reimbursed, we're going to do that 100%.
- Expect any more from the rest of the year, or is this? Oh, yes. In terms of the state? Oh, funding from
- the state. They actually have contacted us, and they said they're willing to work with us on any emergency
- funding that we might need. Great. Thank you.
- we're excited about that. Well, you're required to have court interpreters. So if you got $7,000 to
- help pay for it, I'm ready to say yes. Thank you. Besides, it's just hot in here. Yes, it is. Well,
- before we say yes, we want to make sure that any other comments from council members are warranted or
- necessary. And I don't see any, so then we'll
- Also go to public comment. If there's public comment on this item, you can come forward to the lectern
- here in the room or raise your hand via Teams. And now we will go to public or no, we already did that.
- We will go to that roll call vote. Councilor Crossley? Yes. Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Feidl?
- Yes. Councilor Hawk? Yes. Councilor Wilts? Yes.
- Councillor Henry? Yes. Councillor Decker? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. Thank you. Thank you. Next up
- is item F from the Board of Commissioners. Council, I move to approve the Board of Commissioners request
- and fund 1186-0000 rainy day for an additional appropriation of $1,605,464.84
- in the capital category. Second. All right. We got a motion and a second. And I believe Ms. Purdy online.
- Other is going to present. You can go ahead and do so.
- I'm not sure this is terribly difficult to explain. I'm reading the summary. It looks like the insurance
- has reimbursed us or fronted us $1,605,464.84 for expenses dealing with tornado damages that we're having.
- And so this appropriation is to, or this request is to appropriate that amount so that it can be spent.
- And then clearly the funds from that check will go into this fund.
- Okay. All right. And that's something that we talked about a while ago and doing that, but I have to
- go through commissioners first as the good old checks and balances the county government goes. Okay.
- Any questions or comments from council on this item?
- Yes, Councilmember Henry. Thank you. And I agree. It's been a few months since that happened. It's remarkable
- that February wasn't that long ago when we had that happen. I just wanted to check in with the auditor
- that this arrangement still matches what we all discussed back in February in terms of how we're moving
- this money around. It does. It matches perfectly. They're following the procedure we put together. And
- I think this is a really good process, a nice way to deal with emergency events that are bound to happen.
- Thank you. Appreciate it. And thank you for that work, again,
- her staff and county attorneys in the auditor's office and the airport. And I think the partridge in
- a pear tree, we had everybody involved to get this tidy. So thank you for that effort. And I would just
- note that Commissioner Administrator Purdy is online. She is having trouble on muting, which is why
- I'm stepping in. That's what happens when. All right. So thank you, Mr. Cockrell, for that.
- any other questions or comments on this item? Seeing none, we'll move to public comment. If there's
- public comment on this item, you can come to the lectern here in the room or raise your hand via Teams.
- And seeing none, may we please have a roll call vote? Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes.
- Councillor Wilkes? Yes. Councillor Henry? Yes. Councillor Decker? Yes. Councillor Crossley? Yes. Motion
- passes unanimous. Thank you. And on the Board of Commissioners train, we have item G. Council, I move
- to approve the Board of Commissioners request and fund 8106-0000 world transit for an additional
- appropriation of $1,706,000.
- $1,814 in services category. Second. We got a motion and a second. And I see Ms. Purdy is, our video
- is working. So are you able to talk to us? I think so. We can hear you. Yay. Wonderful. Wonderful. And
- thank you, Jeff, for handling that first one. I was just like, I can't make anything work. I apologize for that.
- This particular request is specific to the rural transit grant and it's just allowing us, if you approve
- the appropriation, allows for the expenditure to be made when what happens is rural transit submits
- a claim, they submit it to INDOT and then when INDOT receives that claim, they send us the funds.
- And without the appropriation, we're unable to provide the funds to rural transit. Okay. Thank you very
- much for that. Any questions from council on this? Councillor Hock. I mean, this is the way we've done
- it for years with rural transit. And I'm always happy to see what we can do to support
- transit for the rural areas. And this again is for a year, right? Am I? Yeah, this is, so it's going
- to get a little bit difficult or confusing, but this is for the 2026 grant.
- Is this a conversation that we'll have to revisit here in the next couple of months for budget to figure
- out? Okay. Okay. I just wanted to make sure. Okay. All right. Sounds good. Well, we appreciate this.
- All right. If there's no other further questions or comments from council on this item, we'll move on
- to public comment. If there's public comment, hi pups. You can come forward to the lectern here in the room.
- nice to see little furry animals on teams. Oh, can you see him? Yeah, I have to hold him because otherwise
- he will talk. All right, so we will move on to a roll call vote, please. Councillor Fiddle. Yes. Councillor
- Hawk. Yes. Councillor Wilts. Yes. Councillor Henry. Yes. Councillor Deckard. Yes. Councillor Crossley.
- for Iverson yes motion passes unanimous thank you thank you very much for that all right as we recall
- items H and I were tabled and so we will move on to item J council from a recommendation from the auditor
- I move to ratify the approval of additional appropriations for the waste reduction district that was
- approved at the June 23rd
- 2026 council meeting in fund 1215, cumulative capital, account line 44220, building improvements for
- $45,199 and fund 8210, general operating account line 40450, machinery and equipment purchase for $69,000.
- This is due to changes in the Department of Local Government Finance advertisement requirements for
- binding units.
- second all right we got a motion in a second miss Gregory what would you like to add yes this should
- be very familiar to you you've recently approved this however due to
- a glitch essentially with advertisement. We're asking you to re-approve, we re-advertise just to ensure
- and to err on the side of caution that everything is done correctly. So as you noted as you were reviewing
- this, the new advertisements go through Gateway and there's different
- different areas for different units of government. So rather than being under the county umbrella, they
- have the waste reduction district has their own area. So we have, there's probably a workaround that
- the DLGF could assist with. However, they're consumed with other things at this time. So we're just
- proceeding this route. Thank you very much for that. Any questions or comments from council? Yes. I
- just wanted to kind of
- Let everyone know that Mr. McGlassen offered to be here this evening, but since this was more of a auditing
- kind of issue, I suggested that that was not necessary. Great. Any other questions or comments on this
- item? Seeing none, I will move on to public comment. If there's public comment on this item, you can
- come forward to the lectern here in the room or raise your hand via team.
- Seeing none, maybe please have a roll call vote. Councilor Henry? Yes. Councilor Decker? Yes. Councilor
- Crossley? Yes. Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Councilor Hawk? Yes. Councilor Wilts? Yes.
- Motion passes unanimous. Thank you for that. We have no presentations and so, wow.
- We will move on towards the end of our agenda. I do want to note for the record that Council Member
- Hawke has given her resignation for the Long-Term Finance Committee. We appreciate her service and efforts
- on that committee and Mr. Henry is going to be filling in and taking over the spot for the rest of the year.
- So that is noted. And again, Council Member Hawke, we thank you for your service on that. And we look
- forward to seeing Council Member Henry serve on the Long-Term Finance Committee. All right. And with
- that being said, I'm going to go ahead and start off with Council liaison updates and comments to my
- right, starting with Council Member Hawke. All right.
- Recently, and I've sent out this message to some of you, and perhaps you've all remember receiving the
- state review of our jail. They came back with glowing reports just a couple of months ago. If you go
- through it, you're going to think
- Were they someplace else other than here? We didn't see anything coming back from the sheriff or anybody
- saying we disagree with this report. This report was a report from the state after they had reviewed
- and gone through our jail. And they sent the report out as they're required to do.
- I didn't hear anything from the commissioners saying, well, this report's all wrong. No one said the
- report's wrong. But clearly, it says something very different from what's being presented as though
- the council knew something different. I'm saying that simply because when you receive a report, they
- send it to you. Many of us rely on what that report says. And I was really pretty proud.
- So I think that's something, if you haven't looked at it, I would ask the auditor to please resend it
- to everyone. Send it to the press so they can see it. Because it is time for us to look at what we were
- told. And we need to do it now. And I know everybody says wait until you go to court. But no,
- I think we, this is legal information.
- public information that we received from the state. I think his name was Mr. Groh, G-R-O-H, with the,
- with that Department of Corrections, and it's required by the state to do this. So either regulations
- changed drastically in the two or three months, that they say, okay,
- Things changed as of July 1. Okay, send us proof of how it changed. But some of the other things, we've
- all seen what the report said. So that is the report that is the official report that we should be relying
- on. Or we need to ask the state why they made such an egregious error in sending us something like that.
- Since we didn't hear that from anybody else, I think it perhaps was accepted as being truthful. There's
- a lot more I could say about that, but I think that's something we all need to review. Okay, how do
- I follow up? Thank you, Madam President.
- I'd echo Councilor Hawke's sentiments on that. I think we're probably going to be talking more about
- that in the weeks to come in terms of what constitutes an emergency and the state's view on that between
- May and July, but thank you for your insight. I wanted to thank, and I'm sure we'll all do this eventually
- this evening, Councilor Feidl for your leadership of the subcommittee and our community to evaluate
- some different opportunities to keep the jail and city limits.
- And all the members of that subcommittee, I don't think I've ever seen a group of people work harder,
- faster to have that many public meetings in a five-week span and actually produce a result. And that's
- not, that's uncommon. So we really need to celebrate that. Thank you for shepherding that through. I
- look forward to when the council president here calls us all back together to talk about it. Again,
- I'm sure we're going to be talking about that quite a bit, but thank you again for leading that up.
- Councilmember Decker. I'm going to list of things here and I'll try to be pretty quick. Number one,
- I want to congratulate the Monroe County Fair Board for running another successful, if not sweltering,
- fair. I want to congratulate also the volunteers that were out there doing wondrous things, including
- Kayden Smith back there being a judge for 4-H extension entries and including all those
- different people in the community that submitted things into the fair to be judged. I had a kid do that
- as well that's heading to the state fair. And I know that's an exciting time. So congratulations to
- everybody involved. It was another great production during a holiday week. And with that, I want to
- add congratulations to
- the city for a tremendous Bloomington Fourth of July parade. Looks like the numbers were down a little
- bit based on the weather, but that is just an awesome thing in our family. It was awesome also to be
- with everybody at that. Earlier today, I had a chance to spend a little bit of time out at Cars Farm
- Park as there was an official ribbon cutting on some of the new field area and lighting.
- that was able to be put out there due to the county's use of ARPA dollars towards that project. As many
- counselors that were here during that will recall, that was a use that was made possible due to ARPA
- dollars and probably would not have been possible in that way without ARPA dollars. And already the
- youth out there playing enthusiastic cutters
- and the folks from downtown Bloomington or visit Bloomington pardon me that we're talking about things
- that are booked there bringing again people doing business here interacting here enjoying our amenities
- on the west side, east side, you name it, right? That's a good thing. And so congratulations to Kelly
- Whitmer and all the folks at the Parks Board for getting that done and the cutters for already being
- out there sweltering and practicing today. I also want to say that we had a dedication here at the courthouse
- on Saturday, alongside some of the counselors were there, some commissioners were there in honor of
- our Revolutionary War.
- that are buried in the community. The Daughters of the American Revolution led that kind of
- plaque dedication. You can all see it downstairs, including those buried in the county. But more than
- that, over at the History Center, one block off, they had a real celebration of free press. And they
- had a celebration of civil liberties.
- And the one thing I've noticed about our history center, I want to really compliment them on this.
- You know, for years they've had tremendous displays, but in tremendous contributions of folks in the
- community. But I've noticed more and more increasingly, their displays are telling the story of the
- community as it was, not as we often sometimes put with some rosier glasses.
- they tell the story of our community really well. So a big shout out to them. Please go check out some
- of their displays and support history center because as I said on Saturday, if we close the door to
- our history, we will keep repeating the same mistakes over and over and over. I do want to say kind
- of my last item here and a lot of a lot of different things going on. I want to commend counselor Fidel
- as well and every person
- including our county folks, the city folks, every person contributing to that, I called the subcommittee,
- and that's not its name. That's what I called it. You called the subcommittee? It was a lot shorter.
- And they did move, Councilor Henry. They moved at a rapid pace. It reminded me a lot of the CIB, to
- be honest with you, in having a goal and moving towards that. And here's the thing I love about it,
- they're still
- Lots of messiness. And I appreciate Ms. Ford's comments earlier that were strong advice. I appreciate
- also that she's shown up to that and all the community members that keep showing up to things to say,
- we're not letting this off the hook. Here are things to remember. Here's what I appreciate. You have
- non-traditional folks sitting at some of these non-traditional desks collaborating towards the better
- public good.
- And I spent a long time talking about collaboration. Nobody wants to hear any more about that. But friends,
- we're going to have to hear more on that, because it's the only way it's going to work in a community
- with this many overlapping jurisdictions, this many problems and headaches. We'll be back talking about
- the Street to Stability Program, which is going to require, it is going to require literally that the
- city, the county, and everybody else and their sister hold hands towards goals.
- All these projects will never get done unless we have that collaboration beyond our egos. And I truly
- mean that. And I say that with all respect. And again, no one wants to hear me do the math of the four
- in one body, two in the other. But that's the only way it gets done, at a table where people
- start collaborating. Because as I tell my students, and every other instructor tells her, you know the
- best idea in the world, if you can't get it done, that's great.
- That's just copy paper. And so I want to salute Councilor Feidl for her patience on that and taking
- all of our phone calls and the public phone calls and everybody's idea and moving the ball forward.
- And now I think it falls to the rest of us to pick the ball up. But it also falls to everyone coming
- to that table, whether or not that is the medicine that you want to give the community, you want to
- take. For instance, that's the only way it gets done. It's the only way.
- It's basic civics, it's basic how humanity operates, and I like the example that was set there. You
- saw folks doing that together, and that's what we need. All right, I'll stop. No, no, no, no, no. That
- was good. I appreciate that, because that is definitely something that is important and needed.
- Yeah, I had just a couple of things, but most of them have been hit on. So I'll be very brief on those
- topics. I was unable to attend the Karst Farm ribbon cutting today, and I was sorry to miss it. It's
- an important project, and I'm excited for new things to come at Karst and on that side of the county.
- Thank you to Liz for all the reasons already stated. And I was going to mention the street stability
- program that was recently announced about how our community can work to address street homelessness.
- And there have been so many great conversations and
- whether or not it's the heading home organization, whether it's the advisory group that I think is heading
- up that program. I've had conversations with other electeds as well as with faith-based community and
- some of their interests in helping out. And this really is a time where I think the more we can sit
- together and talk together, the more we will get done.
- I'm not always feeling that. Sometimes I feel like we sit together and talk at each other, but I've
- heard so much positive support and ideas and real practical thinking that I'm excited for what's to
- come. So I just encourage everybody who's been
- touched by these conversations to make sure you're reaching out beyond those normal channels to include
- others who may be interested, because that, to Councilor Deckard's point, is what's going to get us
- there. The last thing I wanted to say was a month or so ago, I heard from the
- campaign treasurer for Cheryl Munson's campaign, who wanted to know if the family could request that
- the remaining funds in her campaign account be donated to the Sophia Travis grant fund. And just as
- of a couple weeks ago, that was done. So there's a little boost from the
- close out of Cheryl Munson's campaign finances that you'll see in the Sophia Travis Fund. And I think
- that's a fitting way to have spent that last bit of money. And I wanted to publicly thank both Cheryl's
- family and her treasurer, Tina, for thinking of that and making that happen. So that's it.
- Yeah. Yeah. Whoa. Who's cutting on it? Counselor Feil. Well, on that kind of touching note, since I
- serve on that committee, it is really an honor to hope to try to fill some of her shoes in that capacity
- and other capacities. I thank you for your encouragement and support leading the subcommittee. I'm not
- going to the whole name.
- It just got long. So we had six sessions and we worked very well together and did our homework in between.
- That was just really rewarding and refreshing to work with folks who were committed to work together
- to produce what we needed to produce in the timeline that we had. So I was just very impressed with
- everyone who served on it and that we can come to terms
- building something somewhere that we recommended, you know, the current building, the Curry Fiscus site.
- I haven't heard from anyone who really doesn't want it there, ultimately. So I think that we're on a
- roll, and I look forward to making that happen. I did also meet with the new HR director, Melissa Waddell,
- I think is how you say her last name.
- And I'm looking forward to getting to know her a lot better. We clicked. It was just really cool. And
- so then the 4th of July parade, I was there. I got to be a judge. It was really a fantastic experience.
- It was just lovely. I did the Ellisville Chamber Picnic in the Park last Friday evening. Marty, counselor.
- was there with me, as well as former counselor and Commissioner Joyce Poling. We were all three there.
- We all sat together. It was just a really lovely time. And we all won something. So that was kind of
- cool in their drawing. I did also at the courthouse and went to the history center. That was just a
- really nice ceremony. There's a new plaque downstairs, updated plaque, I should say. And so you can
- see it all updated and everything. It was just a really lovely ceremony.
- So I'm thankful that we got our sixth committee meeting done, and I look forward to not having those
- for a little bit. Thank you all. Thank you. And I think some of the staff here does too. I
- think Councilmember Iverson said he didn't have anything. So he has his, yep, he's shaking his head.
- it does not have anything. So much has been said again, but I want to kind of reiterate because there's
- a lot going on and happening in our community. But to the subcommittee, I just thank you, Mayor Thompson,
- City Council Vice President Sydney Zulek, and of course, April Wilson, Karen Wernbrick as well, but
- definitely
- Councilmember Fiddle for doing the job. I think you were a little nervous at first on taking it on,
- but you did fantastic and it did not show. And thank you to the staff that also put in some hours as
- well. I know city council attorney, Mr. Leary Allen, also helped out Mr. King, Mr. Connor, all of you
- all for your help on that. And so while I continue to drop my notebooks here,
- you know, I've been thinking a lot about how things are going on and really kind of thinking about things
- that have been said. Um, and you know, in this meeting and other meetings, um, and you know, what, what
- have you, and I guess, you know, and thinking of the spirit of what, um, Councilmember Decker and Wilton,
- others have said is it definitely takes all of us to come together.
- and it would be really helpful for all of us to come into a room instead of speaking at a meeting at 10 a.m.
- or speaking at a meeting here during this meeting. We have to get, I agree with you, I think we have
- to get off of the way of talking at each other and talking to each other and talking with each other.
- and I can really imagine what would happen if we stopped going out into the community and talking to
- other groups, but really come in and that call and response and really do that together. Man, I think
- we could do some really good stuff. I really like, I watch South Park a lot. I'm a little ashamed to
- say that, but I think we have to get out of the mindset of the Cartman, respect my authority kind of approach.
- and really move beyond that because we all have checks and balances and what it is that we do. So while
- those that question, who do we think we are, I think we think that we are and we know that we are because
- the folks elected us to do that, is we have checks and balances in this county government. So as I continue
- to say and as our colleagues have said,
- We appreciate the conversations, but you know the marathon and the work continues. Obviously we saw
- what came to us as a Friday and the work does not stop.
- I know that we have a commissioner that is watching virtually right now, and I will still request, like
- I did back in May, to come to the table and to talk with us, because the public is asking that. We heard
- from Ms. Ford earlier, you know, people are looking forward to having those conversations together.
- It's always our group that continues to ask, can you please, can you please? And it's better for us
- not to just plead, but just to do. And so I think
- Yoder, somebody say that. So I'm full of quotes tonight. But I really wish that we can do that. So again,
- that extension for the conversation, that will happen. I'll work with staff to kind of reconvene and
- get the larger group together. But that invitation, Commissioner Thomas and anybody else that is watching
- is still open. And we invite you to join our table to talk with us, because that's what folks elected
- us to do, not just to talk, but just to do.
- That being said, I thank you all. Stay cool. Major shout out to the fire protection districts for keeping
- those cool. And there's one on our street that has also been utilized as well. So with that being said,
- we are adjourned. Thank you.