WEBVTT 00:00:00.450 --> 00:00:07.871 - all right uh welcome every oops let's make sure okay we got the mics on great welcome everyone i want 00:00:07.871 --> 00:00:15.146 - to call tonight's meeting of the monroe county council to order tonight is another perfect night in 00:00:15.146 --> 00:00:20.894 - monroe county it is tuesday october the 27th and i want to note for the record 00:00:21.058 --> 00:00:27.492 - that we have Councilmembers David Henry, Councilmember Liz Fiddle, Councilmember Trent Deckard, and 00:00:27.492 --> 00:00:33.990 - Councilmember Iverson. We do have a quorum tonight and we are just sending all of our well wishes to 00:00:33.990 --> 00:00:40.424 - those of our colleagues that could not join us this evening. So that leads us to the second item on 00:00:40.424 --> 00:00:47.179 - the agenda. I would ask that you join us in the Pledge of Allegiance and stand as you are able. I pledge 00:00:47.179 --> 00:00:50.718 - allegiance to the flag of the United States of America 00:00:51.074 --> 00:01:02.735 - and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice 00:01:02.735 --> 00:01:06.430 - for all. Thank you all so much. 00:01:06.754 --> 00:01:13.881 - That brings us to item number three on our agenda. And this is as good as time as any to remind everyone 00:01:13.881 --> 00:01:21.008 - that copies of what we are looking at are available on the county's website, IN.gov slash counties slash 00:01:21.008 --> 00:01:27.932 - Monroe. Council, does anyone wish to amend tonight's agenda? All right, seeing none, may we or we can 00:01:27.932 --> 00:01:34.788 - do a voice vote, can't we? All those in favor of adopting this evening's agenda, please say aye. All 00:01:34.788 --> 00:01:35.806 - those opposed? 00:01:36.226 --> 00:01:43.494 - The eyes have it unanimously. Excellent. That brings us to item number four on this evening's agenda, 00:01:43.494 --> 00:01:50.763 - which is public comment. This is public comment for items not on our lengthy agenda. So there will be 00:01:50.763 --> 00:01:58.031 - a time limit of three minutes per speaker. You'll see the timer on the screens. And do we have a bell 00:01:58.031 --> 00:02:03.518 - tonight? Hold on. Mr. MG, there's your bell. That's your 30 second reminder. 00:02:03.714 --> 00:02:10.092 - We already have someone coming up forward in the Natu Hill room. If you'd like to raise your hand on 00:02:10.092 --> 00:02:16.407 - teams, please do so. Please state your name for the record. Thank you, Council. This is Christopher 00:02:16.407 --> 00:02:22.342 - Emgy from the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, a Monroe County resident. The chamber, 00:02:22.342 --> 00:02:28.783 - as you know, has 925-ish members. 80% of those are small business and nonprofits. And together, we're 00:02:28.783 --> 00:02:32.446 - all facing, as Monroe County, some tough decisions ahead. 00:02:32.962 --> 00:02:37.967 - a lot of that will land on the table that I'm looking at right now. The Justice Center, the 00:02:37.967 --> 00:02:43.624 - Health Department, how we handle growth. All of that has big financial weight. Last week, I was on this 00:02:43.624 --> 00:02:49.118 - podium talking to commissioners about the problems of the Health Department. Essential services have 00:02:49.118 --> 00:02:54.830 - been disrupted and residents deserve better. I want to thank council member David Henry for his comments 00:02:54.830 --> 00:02:58.366 - on department structure and protecting those frontline services. 00:02:59.810 --> 00:03:04.803 - He made the point worth repeating, supporting the people who deliver those services doesn't mean we 00:03:04.803 --> 00:03:10.145 - can't ask how the department is managed. That's an important question to ask. We know what that department 00:03:10.145 --> 00:03:15.138 - can do. It wasn't that long ago. We shouldn't lower our expectations. We should expect more. I also 00:03:15.138 --> 00:03:20.630 - want to take the time to thank Council Member Trent Deckard for what he said at Thursday's planned commission 00:03:20.630 --> 00:03:25.673 - hearing on the county development ordinance. What he did is brought back something we can all pretty 00:03:25.673 --> 00:03:29.118 - much understand. Families, schools, and the future of our community. 00:03:29.922 --> 00:03:38.284 - the city. Declining MCC SC enrollment isn't just a school issue. It's a matter of anyone who cares about 00:03:38.284 --> 00:03:46.248 - the county's long term finances. We have about 16,000 people commuting into Monroe County every day 00:03:46.248 --> 00:03:54.451 - to work. Just imagine if we could capture 5000 of those that could live and work here. What would that 00:03:54.451 --> 00:03:55.486 - mean? To the 00:03:55.650 --> 00:04:01.424 - CDO is more than just a planning document. Those are choices that shape where families live, whether 00:04:01.424 --> 00:04:07.312 - employers can find the workers, and how much growth adds to that county revenue. But approving housing 00:04:07.312 --> 00:04:13.372 - on paper isn't enough. We need some investment. Sewer access, infrastructure costs, development standards 00:04:13.372 --> 00:04:19.546 - decide where the homes actually get built, but those investments ultimately matter. As we take up tonight's 00:04:19.546 --> 00:04:24.062 - GoBond and other financial decisions, I hope you keep the big picture in mind. 00:04:24.994 --> 00:04:31.326 - The county has big obligations. New justice center changes and Indiana property tax that will add pressure 00:04:31.326 --> 00:04:37.599 - to future revenue. None of these decisions stand alone. I'm going to repeat that. None of these decisions 00:04:37.599 --> 00:04:43.753 - stand alone. What we spend today shapes what we can afford tomorrow. The chamber believes Monroe County 00:04:43.753 --> 00:04:47.422 - has the resources and the potential to meet those challenges. 00:04:48.386 --> 00:04:54.295 - It comes down to setting priorities, questioning assumptions, and following through. It's protecting 00:04:54.295 --> 00:05:00.321 - those essential services, making room for responsible growth and investment, respecting the taxpayers, 00:05:00.321 --> 00:05:06.230 - and ultimately delivering the results. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. M.G. and the Chamber 00:05:06.230 --> 00:05:12.197 - for your public comment. Are there any additional public comments here in the historic NatU Hill Room 00:05:12.197 --> 00:05:12.958 - or on Teams? 00:05:15.618 --> 00:05:22.350 - Seeing none, that brings us to item number five, departmental updates. This would be a time of 10 minutes 00:05:22.350 --> 00:05:29.018 - per department. I want to acknowledge the record that we did receive the third quarter commissary report 00:05:29.018 --> 00:05:35.432 - from the Correctional Center. Is there anyone here in the NatU Hill Room or on Teams that would like 00:05:35.432 --> 00:05:42.163 - to give a departmental update? All right. Seeing none, that moves us to item number six on this evening's 00:05:42.163 --> 00:05:44.894 - agenda, which is our consent agenda items. 00:05:45.826 --> 00:05:54.019 - Council, I move to approve following agenda items for October 27th. The summary council minutes as presented 00:05:54.019 --> 00:06:01.686 - for August 11th, 2026 council meeting and August 25th, 2026 council meeting. Second. We have a motion 00:06:01.686 --> 00:06:09.278 - and a second. Council, do we have any questions about these summary minutes? Hearing none, all those 00:06:09.278 --> 00:06:14.014 - in favor of adopting the consent agenda items, please say aye. 00:06:14.402 --> 00:06:21.933 - Aye. All those opposed? The ayes have it unanimously. That brings us to item number seven on our agenda. 00:06:21.933 --> 00:06:29.535 - These are our hiring freeze reviews and we'll start with letter A. Council, I move to open for discussion 00:06:29.535 --> 00:06:36.850 - and possible approval of the building department's request to be exempt from the hiring freeze and be 00:06:36.850 --> 00:06:44.094 - allowed to hire and fund 1000-0312 County General Building, one full-time commercial office manager. 00:06:44.610 --> 00:06:53.483 - second. All right. And to tell us what's going on here, we have Bobby LaRue, who is head of the department. 00:06:53.483 --> 00:07:01.781 - So the floor is yours, sir. Awesome. Good evening. The commercial office manager had actually wanted 00:07:01.781 --> 00:07:10.160 - to retire at the end of the year and was gracious enough to stay on until the end of January in hopes 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:13.118 - that we can hire a replacement with 00:07:13.314 --> 00:07:23.040 - training opportunity. We rely very heavily on the front end of the office to do scheduling, properly 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:33.152 - process permits, make sure all the documents are in order. They also schedule inspections, talk to folks 00:07:33.152 --> 00:07:42.878 - about what inspection entails, make sure that people are getting the service that they need from us. 00:07:43.682 --> 00:07:52.718 - really critical that they know how to do that efficiently and it keeps the inspectors in the department 00:07:52.718 --> 00:08:01.668 - also running efficiently with duties outside of the office. So that's the hope is that we can fill the 00:08:01.668 --> 00:08:10.530 - position sometime around December 14th so that everything falls in the 27 budget and that would allow 00:08:10.530 --> 00:08:11.486 - for end of 00:08:11.778 --> 00:08:19.363 - months, end of year finances, start of end of year reports, kind of it's the best time of the year to 00:08:19.363 --> 00:08:26.948 - learn everything at least once. So that's the hope and that's what I'm asking for. Absolutely. May we 00:08:26.948 --> 00:08:34.830 - all aspire to learn everything at least once. Yeah. All right. Council, any questions? All right. Hearing 00:08:34.830 --> 00:08:38.846 - none, I think, could we please have a roll call vote? 00:08:39.426 --> 00:08:47.372 - Thank you so much, Council. Is there any public comment on this important matter from the building 00:08:47.372 --> 00:08:55.399 - department? Seeing none, now may we please have a roll call vote. Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor 00:08:55.399 --> 00:09:02.864 - Feidl? Yes. Councilor Henry? Yes. Councilor Decker? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. Thank you. 00:09:02.864 --> 00:09:07.198 - You're welcome. Now let's move on to letter number B. 00:09:08.354 --> 00:09:14.969 - Council I move to open for discussion and possible approval of the legal department's request to be 00:09:14.969 --> 00:09:21.782 - exempt from the hiring freeze and be allowed to hire and fund 1000-0277 County General Legal, one full 00:09:21.782 --> 00:09:28.397 - time administrative attorney. Second. And we have Mr. Jeff Cockrell here from our legal department. 00:09:28.397 --> 00:09:35.277 - Mr. Cockrell, what's going on? Our fearless leader, David Schilling is retiring at the end of the year. 00:09:35.277 --> 00:09:36.798 - We really need to have 00:09:37.122 --> 00:09:43.270 - a couple things. One is we need to have a department head, which would be the administrative attorney. 00:09:43.270 --> 00:09:49.359 - And we also would like to have the fourth attorney back in so we can continue to provide the services 00:09:49.359 --> 00:09:55.447 - that we do. So the request is to allow us to do that. All right. Thank you very much. Counsel, do you 00:09:55.447 --> 00:10:01.774 - have any questions for our legal department? Mr. Deckard. Just a quick one. When you say fourth attorney, 00:10:01.774 --> 00:10:06.430 - fill the head attorney, but also have that role of the attorney as the fourth 00:10:06.658 --> 00:10:12.279 - member of the team. I think what I'm thinking is it would make more sense to hire the it may make more 00:10:12.279 --> 00:10:17.791 - sense to hire the administrative attorney from who is currently working there, whether that's Justin 00:10:17.791 --> 00:10:23.249 - Molly or myself, leave it open to whether the fourth attorney. I think we do need a department head 00:10:23.249 --> 00:10:28.761 - under either circumstances to deal with claims, deal with budgets, deal with all that. But also that 00:10:28.761 --> 00:10:30.398 - fourth attorney to handle the 00:10:30.498 --> 00:10:36.904 - the legal work as well. And if that fourth attorney happens to be the administrative attorney, 00:10:36.904 --> 00:10:44.052 - so be it. But I think there's really two aspects to the request. And this would just open it up generally 00:10:44.052 --> 00:10:51.470 - with those, the permission to begin. Correct. Okay. Councilmember Henry. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. 00:10:51.470 --> 00:10:58.078 - So Mr. Cockrell, so is the intent to begin interviews prior to the end of Mr. Schilling's tenure? 00:10:58.658 --> 00:11:05.127 - I think that would be the intent is to get the to get the notices out. I think end of the year, beginning 00:11:05.127 --> 00:11:11.290 - of the year is one of the more difficult times to hire. And I think the last couple hires that we've 00:11:11.290 --> 00:11:17.576 - had have given, you know, up to a month of notice to their current employers so that we don't. And the 00:11:17.576 --> 00:11:23.251 - last two we hired were also internal hires to the county. So we really don't want to disrupt 00:11:23.251 --> 00:11:26.302 - other departments as well with this kind of move. 00:11:26.562 --> 00:11:33.249 - Well, I would just say publicly and maybe I don't know how much anyone on the dais here wants to opine 00:11:33.249 --> 00:11:39.871 - on this, but it strikes me that since the board of commissioners would be hiring the position in what 00:11:39.871 --> 00:11:46.817 - will basically amount to a lame duck session of the board of commissioners with one commissioner outgoing, 00:11:46.817 --> 00:11:53.309 - that the decision of the next administrative attorney would be made prior to January 1st, possibly. 00:11:53.309 --> 00:11:55.646 - I think it certainly could be, yes. 00:11:58.082 --> 00:12:05.122 - But I would also say that the election is next week. We should know who would be that third commissioner, 00:12:05.122 --> 00:12:12.029 - and we would certainly consult with them. We would also, I mean, I guess when we hired Ms. Turner-King, 00:12:12.029 --> 00:12:18.737 - the council was involved in that hiring, and if you guys wanna sit through some of the interviews as 00:12:18.737 --> 00:12:25.445 - well, that kind of final round, I don't think we're opposed to any of that, I think. I'm just trying 00:12:25.445 --> 00:12:27.902 - to gauge the challenges that I think 00:12:28.258 --> 00:12:33.266 - for votes in quorum have been on the board of commissioners lately, what that would look like. Maybe 00:12:33.266 --> 00:12:38.323 - it goes smoothly. Maybe it's just something that waits till January 1. Of course, I know I can see my 00:12:38.323 --> 00:12:43.430 - colleague chuckling because I'm talking about my colleague here about you will be in the driver's seat 00:12:43.430 --> 00:12:48.587 - at some point over there, or at least A seat. It just strikes me that this particular department, given 00:12:48.587 --> 00:12:53.892 - that who is doing the hiring decision here, unlike something a little downwind from a appointed department 00:12:53.892 --> 00:12:58.206 - head or some of the other hiring freeze challenges we have, strikes me as interesting. 00:12:58.722 --> 00:13:05.330 - Maybe it's just the timing. OK. Thank you, Mr. President. Councilmember Feidl. So I guess now that I 00:13:05.330 --> 00:13:11.937 - really think about this a little more, where it says plans to retire at the end of 2026, so is there 00:13:11.937 --> 00:13:18.479 - a chance that that won't happen? Well, I don't want to speak for Mr. Schilling. Exactly. But I also 00:13:18.479 --> 00:13:25.283 - think he put this together for this request. I think he's pretty solid in his decision. And if for some 00:13:25.283 --> 00:13:26.526 - reason he does not 00:13:27.266 --> 00:13:35.538 - that's a given right yes okay because I didn't see that spelled out very well we would not hire that 00:13:35.538 --> 00:13:38.814 - position if we didn't have a thank you. 00:13:40.162 --> 00:13:46.513 - And let me just add a brief comment that I know it's not the time to discuss Mr Schilling's tenure here 00:13:46.513 --> 00:13:52.619 - at the county, but it does start to give us a little pause for reflection that you're going to have 00:13:52.619 --> 00:13:58.725 - someone else from your department presenting your budget in the near future and potentially. And we 00:13:58.725 --> 00:14:04.893 - certainly are going to miss his presentation of your department's budgets once a year. Oh, he's been 00:14:04.893 --> 00:14:08.862 - an extremely valuable resource for the whole county. Absolutely. 00:14:09.890 --> 00:14:23.264 - I couldn't agree with you more. Is there any public comment on this timely hiring freeze request? 00:14:23.264 --> 00:14:37.456 - Seeing none, may we please have a roll call vote. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Councilor Henry? Yes. Councilor 00:14:37.456 --> 00:14:39.230 - Decker? Yes. 00:14:40.514 --> 00:14:48.182 - Councillor Iverson. Yes. Councillor Henry, you passed. Yes. Okay. So the motion does not pass. I know 00:14:48.182 --> 00:14:55.850 - that I passed on my vote. I'm taking my vote now. So that's what I was going to. So yeah, I'll change 00:14:55.850 --> 00:15:03.443 - my vote to yes. Thank you. Yes. Okay. Motion passes unanimous four to zero. Thank you very much, Mr. 00:15:03.443 --> 00:15:05.022 - Cockrell. Thank you. 00:15:05.186 --> 00:15:12.614 - That concludes item number seven on our agenda, which are the hiring freeze requests. We are now going 00:15:12.614 --> 00:15:20.402 - to move into council business, which is number eight on our agenda. And we'll start with letter A. Council, 00:15:20.402 --> 00:15:27.614 - I move to approve the Jail Correctional Center's request and fund 1233-0000 lit correctional for an 00:15:27.614 --> 00:15:32.734 - additional appropriation of $140,000 in the services category. Second. 00:15:33.058 --> 00:15:40.051 - We have a motion and a second. We have Jordan Miller, our GL financial manager, and Kyle Gibbons, our 00:15:40.051 --> 00:15:47.593 - GL commander. Welcome, and tell us what we need to know. Good afternoon, Council. An additional appropriation 00:15:47.593 --> 00:15:54.518 - of $140,000 is requested for medical services due to expenditures consistently exceeding the monthly 00:15:54.518 --> 00:16:01.580 - budget allocation of $12,500. Given the variability of monthly overages, an estimated $20,000 was used 00:16:01.580 --> 00:16:02.334 - in consult 00:16:02.818 --> 00:16:09.640 - consultation with Kim shell. Thank you Kim Resulting in a projected need of approximately one hundred 00:16:09.640 --> 00:16:16.396 - thirty three thousand six hundred ninety six dollars and fifty four cents This amount was rounded up 00:16:16.396 --> 00:16:23.352 - to one hundred forty thousand dollars to ensure sufficient funding for the remainder of the fiscal year 00:16:23.352 --> 00:16:30.108 - Many events anything. All right council. Do you have any questions for our Correctional Center? Yes, 00:16:30.108 --> 00:16:31.646 - mr. Henry what was our 00:16:31.970 --> 00:16:39.342 - FY 27 budget for this account line. Just thinking ahead, if we're doing additional approves now, I mean, 00:16:39.342 --> 00:16:46.574 - have we budgeted sufficiently for next fiscal for this medical line? We've had to come back. We've had 00:16:46.574 --> 00:16:54.086 - to request additional appropriation for, I believe, almost every year during my capacity in this position. 00:16:54.086 --> 00:17:01.950 - I believe I mentioned during the budget session, as well as with our liaisons, that I don't really see that the 00:17:02.690 --> 00:17:08.686 - overages amount is a sufficient cost again that's twelve thousand five hundred dollars it's a total 00:17:08.686 --> 00:17:14.743 - of one hundred fifty thousand dollars for the year for twelve months of course and as you can see in 00:17:14.743 --> 00:17:21.099 - this request we've had overages you know as much as twenty eight thousand one hundred twenty five dollars 00:17:21.099 --> 00:17:22.718 - and sixteen cents in March 00:17:22.818 --> 00:17:30.005 - $26,464 and 83 cents in October. I mean, so it's really, it's really challenging to determine that amount, 00:17:30.005 --> 00:17:37.192 - but I certainly do not believe that $150,000 is a sufficient amount. Of course, we were. And Councilmember 00:17:37.192 --> 00:17:44.043 - Henry, one of the issues that we have in forecasting those expenses is you never know what's going to 00:17:44.043 --> 00:17:50.558 - come through the door in some of well, a majority of those costs over just that exceed the pool. 00:17:50.722 --> 00:17:57.229 - are things that we did not, you cannot account for. So that's kind of what he's trying to explain. I 00:17:57.229 --> 00:18:04.058 - appreciate that, because I think this is a case where I'd say maybe we've, we're gonna burn it out faster 00:18:04.058 --> 00:18:10.887 - than we've anticipated. Again, maybe Michelle, you can give us the numbers there, because I would imagine 00:18:10.887 --> 00:18:17.523 - we're gonna be seeing you very soon again in the next fiscal, but thank you. Yes, for 2026, the amount 00:18:17.523 --> 00:18:19.262 - of 1,675,277 was budgeted. 00:18:19.906 --> 00:18:27.530 - For 2027, it was $1,751,541. So they did increase the amount. I would like to add that that is specific 00:18:27.530 --> 00:18:35.082 - to the contract increase. That's not specific to the $150,000 for the pool cap overages, the cost pool 00:18:35.082 --> 00:18:42.560 - overages. So unfortunately, you will likely see us again in future years if we don't maybe reconsider 00:18:42.560 --> 00:18:47.838 - that amount. Future months, it sounds like the burn is faster than what 00:18:48.130 --> 00:18:54.689 - Okay, yes, it's just something I think about, I appreciate it. Are there any other council comments 00:18:54.689 --> 00:19:01.774 - or questions? Yes, Mr. Deckard. Will you do the contract here? Will you write? Yes, sir. In the discussions 00:19:01.774 --> 00:19:08.595 - on the, when we're dealing with the cost, I guess my question, I may be saying this wrong, so feel free 00:19:08.595 --> 00:19:14.302 - to get back to me later or now, just tell me you don't know what you're talking about. 00:19:14.594 --> 00:19:20.671 - Is there any way we can continue to work or bargain with them around what it's costing so that we get 00:19:20.671 --> 00:19:26.688 - the service, but maybe we're more accurately hitting the targets? Am I even saying that right? Yeah, 00:19:26.688 --> 00:19:33.062 - I see what you're trying to say. So part of any medical contract in any facility across the state, they've 00:19:33.062 --> 00:19:38.782 - taken the consideration surrounding services. So if the hospital is making X amount of dollars, 00:19:38.782 --> 00:19:42.654 - our nurses, our LPNs, they're going to make X amount of dollars. 00:19:42.946 --> 00:19:50.034 - obviously you guys understand being the fiscal body that you have to be competitive with other agencies, 00:19:50.034 --> 00:19:57.122 - really their income. So I will say this about three C's and President Blake Wiseman, he's been extremely 00:19:57.122 --> 00:20:03.940 - good about working with us. He has that the first contract we signed, he took a hit so that we could 00:20:03.940 --> 00:20:10.826 - move from ACH to three C's without costing the county a lot of money. He's worked with us on a lot of 00:20:10.826 --> 00:20:12.446 - things. And to be fair, 00:20:12.898 --> 00:20:19.551 - We we provide a lot more medical services than surrounding counties do. So our costs for that contract 00:20:19.551 --> 00:20:26.140 - are still competitive without other counties because he keeps that kind of low for us. So he is doing 00:20:26.140 --> 00:20:32.728 - everything he can for us. It sounds like we're we just like everybody else. We hit market forces that 00:20:32.728 --> 00:20:39.381 - are beyond our our old school kind of grid. OK, thank you. And even at this cost, our current contract 00:20:39.381 --> 00:20:40.350 - for this year, 00:20:40.866 --> 00:20:48.448 - is well below our former ACH contract of three years ago. Now, almost well, I guess, just almost three 00:20:48.448 --> 00:20:56.178 - years ago, still below what that would have been at that time. Councilmember Feidl? No, I'm sorry. Okay. 00:20:56.178 --> 00:21:03.834 - I will simply make a comment that if we zoom out, this is one more data point that healthcare continues 00:21:03.834 --> 00:21:08.030 - to be an increased percentage of the taxpayer's dollars. 00:21:08.450 --> 00:21:15.400 - It is something that is a reality that we need to be aware of. And this is not surprising at all that 00:21:15.400 --> 00:21:22.282 - you're here. So thank you for being mindful with the expenditures and keeping them as low as you can 00:21:22.282 --> 00:21:29.164 - be while still providing the exemplary service to folks that is part of our constitution. All right. 00:21:29.164 --> 00:21:36.318 - Is there any public comment on this health care topic? Seeing none, may we please have a roll call vote? 00:21:38.242 --> 00:21:47.359 - Councillor Henry? Yes. Councillor Deckard? Yes. Councillor Iverson? Yes. Councillor Feidl? Yes. Motion 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:56.387 - passes unanimous. Excellent. And I'll move on to letter B. Council, I move to open for discussion and 00:21:56.387 --> 00:22:05.150 - possible approval of the Jail Correctional Center's request and fund 1000-0380 County General Jail 00:22:05.410 --> 00:22:14.126 - for an in-house transfer of $50,000 into account line 17101 overtime from account line shift pay per 00:22:14.126 --> 00:22:23.273 - resolution 2025-41A. Second. All right, what do we need to know about overtime? We're requesting approval 00:22:23.273 --> 00:22:32.766 - to transfer funds from shift pay account to the overtime account to cover remaining 2026 payroll obligations. 00:22:32.866 --> 00:22:40.582 - I do want to add that to simplify the transfer process, funding will be drawn solely from shift pay 00:22:40.582 --> 00:22:48.299 - as I reflected. Initially, I had intentions of maybe pulling it from multiple accounts, but it just 00:22:48.299 --> 00:22:56.247 - felt easier to do it from just shift pay. As of the October 16th check date, 3,797 overtime hours have 00:22:56.247 --> 00:22:59.102 - been utilized. Overtime expenditures 00:22:59.234 --> 00:23:09.003 - Total $159,300.71, leaving an unexpended balance of $15,699.29, or approximately 8.97% of our budget. 00:23:09.003 --> 00:23:18.580 - Overtime is authorized to maintain adequate staffing and ensure operational and safety requirements 00:23:18.580 --> 00:23:27.678 - are met. An additional $50,000 is estimated to cover overtime costs for the remainder of 2026, 00:23:28.226 --> 00:23:35.273 - overtime averages approximately $8,000 per pay period may increase toward year end due to staffing needs, 00:23:35.273 --> 00:23:42.120 - leave, holidays, and other operational demands. This request is intended to provide sufficient funding 00:23:42.120 --> 00:23:48.968 - and avoid a subsequent transfer. And just for the record, corrections staff do not accrue compensatory 00:23:48.968 --> 00:23:56.015 - time. All qualifying additional hours are paid as overtime. All right, Council, do you have any questions 00:23:56.015 --> 00:23:58.142 - or comments about this overtime 00:23:58.338 --> 00:24:08.008 - Topic. Interesting. I guess I'll just make a comment. This is something again that is taking up a lot 00:24:08.008 --> 00:24:13.886 - of the taxpayer dollar as a percentage of budget is staffing. 00:24:14.306 --> 00:24:21.133 - We need to have folks doing the jobs that are is the public service that we do and and we need them 00:24:21.133 --> 00:24:28.028 - in there and at the same time as the fiscal body it is sometimes difficult to look at these overtime 00:24:28.028 --> 00:24:34.854 - dollar amounts and And be able to to vote on these but it is part of the job. So thank you for your 00:24:34.854 --> 00:24:41.886 - numerated Narrative, that's helpful. My pleasure Is there any public comment on this overtime topic? I 00:24:43.458 --> 00:24:52.509 - Seeing none, may we please have a roll call vote? Councillor Decker. Yes, Councillor Henry. Yes, Councillor 00:24:52.509 --> 00:25:00.974 - Iverson. Yes, Councillor Fiddle. Yes, motion passes unanimous. Thank you. Thank you, gentlemen. That 00:25:00.974 --> 00:25:09.354 - brings us to letter C. Will I move to approve the prosecutor's request and fund 19 or excuse me and 00:25:09.354 --> 00:25:12.958 - fund 91599626 high tech crimes unit grant. 00:25:13.186 --> 00:25:20.128 - for an additional appropriation of $1,300.98 in the services category. Second. We have a motion and 00:25:20.128 --> 00:25:27.070 - a second, and the one and only Beth Hamlin, executive assistant for the prosecutor's department. So 00:25:27.070 --> 00:25:34.081 - what do we need to know? Well, this is some additional funding that came from the state. Some of the 00:25:34.081 --> 00:25:40.190 - other units within the state did not spend all the dollars that they were appropriated. 00:25:40.578 --> 00:25:49.101 - from the state level, so they distributed that between the 10, or actually it might have been administrative 00:25:49.101 --> 00:25:57.702 - dollars that weren't spent. So we are getting $1,300.98 that we anticipate, we're allocating it or requesting 00:25:57.702 --> 00:26:05.600 - to appropriate it into the technical services line because we really need additional digital storage 00:26:05.600 --> 00:26:10.526 - for evidence. If you're wondering what's driving data centers. 00:26:12.162 --> 00:26:20.468 - on that happy note. Council, do you have any comments? Mr. Deckard. I want to get clarification on that. 00:26:20.468 --> 00:26:28.457 - We're not buying a data center. Everybody remain calm. There's just so much storage required for the 00:26:28.457 --> 00:26:36.447 - evidence. It's the only subject that's more unpopular than politicians or data centers themselves. I 00:26:36.447 --> 00:26:42.142 - should not have even touched that. But is that, I guess my question is, 00:26:43.810 --> 00:26:51.302 - are those causing costs to go up for the storage? What, data centers? Yeah. We don't have any. I don't 00:26:51.302 --> 00:26:58.721 - have any connection to data centers. This is for just individual. I don't know. They're called RAS or 00:26:58.721 --> 00:27:06.505 - RAID servers. All right. I was like, are we getting hit with a helicopter? It's just terabytes of storage. 00:27:06.505 --> 00:27:13.342 - But there is a lot of digital evidence anymore. Any other comments or questions from council? 00:27:13.730 --> 00:27:19.942 - I would just like it to be made known that if other counties are not going to use their dollars, we 00:27:19.942 --> 00:27:26.154 - are more than happy to put them to good use. Exactly. Yeah. Let this keep happening. Yes. Auditor's 00:27:26.154 --> 00:27:32.491 - office. Just so you guys know, we have already received this money, so it's sitting there ready to be 00:27:32.491 --> 00:27:38.268 - used. Thank you, Ms. Moe. All right. Is there any public comment on this data storage topic? 00:27:38.268 --> 00:27:41.374 - Seeing none, may we please have a roll call vote? 00:27:44.354 --> 00:27:54.409 - Councilor Feidl? Yes. Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Henry? Yes. Councilor Decker? Yes. Motion passes 00:27:54.409 --> 00:28:04.177 - unanimous. All right, that brings us to letter D. Council, I move to approve the prosecutor's request 00:28:04.177 --> 00:28:12.126 - and fund 8121-9628 VOCA, B-O-C-A grant for an additional appropriation of $144,000 00:28:12.674 --> 00:28:22.225 - and $144,994.17 in the personnel category. Second. We have a motion and a second. What do we need to 00:28:22.225 --> 00:28:32.059 - know about this? This is a request to appropriate our newly awarded VOCA grant funding. This will cover 00:28:32.059 --> 00:28:40.286 - 10-1 of 2026 through 9-30 of 2028. So it's a two-year grant in the amount of $144,944. 00:28:40.386 --> 00:28:50.018 - dollars and 17 cents. Excuse me, it was $994. Mine says $944. Oh, I have $994. OK. Let me look at your. 00:28:50.018 --> 00:28:59.650 - No, it says that it's a typo. In the grant agreement on page one. It says it on the appropriation page, 00:28:59.650 --> 00:29:01.502 - but in the summary. 00:29:03.650 --> 00:29:13.302 - Let's just make sure we got it right here. In the grant agreement on page one, it is $144,994.17. Okay. 00:29:13.302 --> 00:29:22.768 - Okay. Okay. Sorry about that. That's fine. This does require a match in the amount of $36,242.52. And 00:29:22.768 --> 00:29:32.606 - we meet that with the balance of the salaries for the victim assistance that are paid through this grant. 00:29:33.154 --> 00:29:43.595 - out of County General. All right, Council, is there, do you have any questions about the Victims of 00:29:43.595 --> 00:29:54.244 - Crime grant? Seeing none. Is there any public comment on this Victims of Crime Act grant? I see none, 00:29:54.244 --> 00:30:00.926 - so may we please have a roll call vote? Councilor Deckard? Yes. 00:30:01.794 --> 00:30:11.527 - Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Councilor Henry? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. Thanks, 00:30:11.527 --> 00:30:21.453 - everyone. All right, that brings us to letter E. Council, I move to approve the recorder's request and 00:30:21.453 --> 00:30:25.982 - fund 1189-0000, recorder's record perpetuation 00:30:26.338 --> 00:30:35.937 - for a category transfer of $2,000 from the supplies category to the services category. Second. We have 00:30:35.937 --> 00:30:45.256 - a motion and a second. And I do not see the department head on teams nor in the room. So council, I 00:30:45.256 --> 00:30:51.966 - would entertain a motion or Michelle, do you feel like you can present? 00:30:52.834 --> 00:31:00.470 - I think it's pretty self-explanatory. It's a category transfer in order. Her department has been attending 00:31:00.470 --> 00:31:07.607 - training, and she pays for her travel and training out of the perpetuation fund, out of her, and so 00:31:07.607 --> 00:31:14.886 - this is just to ensure that the remainder of the year ends in a positive balance. All right. Council, 00:31:14.886 --> 00:31:19.454 - do you have any questions on this first recorder's office item? 00:31:22.242 --> 00:31:32.118 - Seeing none, is there any public comment on this record records perpetuation item? Seeing none, may 00:31:32.118 --> 00:31:42.192 - we please have a roll call vote? Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Henry? Yes. Councilor Decker? Yes. 00:31:42.192 --> 00:31:50.686 - Councilor Feidl? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. All right, that brings us to letter F. 00:31:51.362 --> 00:32:01.843 - I move to approve the recorder's request in fund one two one seven dash zero zero zero zero County elected 00:32:01.843 --> 00:32:12.030 - officials training for an additional appropriation of four thousand dollars in the services fund second 00:32:12.030 --> 00:32:20.062 - Michelle This is for training for elected officials and their chief deputies this 00:32:21.282 --> 00:32:29.259 - We've, per her narrative, she's seen an intake or an uptake of county officials, elected officials attending. 00:32:29.259 --> 00:32:36.802 - And so this is just to make sure that the fund ends at a positive balance at the end of the year. Okay. 00:32:36.802 --> 00:32:44.126 - Council, do you have any questions or comments about training and travel line? Mr. Henry. Thank you, 00:32:44.126 --> 00:32:45.214 - Mr. President. 00:32:45.506 --> 00:32:51.390 - Recorder's not here, I do recall from our budget conversations. This is just one of those nice things 00:32:51.390 --> 00:32:57.620 - in the recorder's purview that she shares with the county so we can send our people, our elected officials, 00:32:57.620 --> 00:33:03.562 - to training. It's not a drain on the general fund, it's her space. It's great that Amy is able to make 00:33:03.562 --> 00:33:09.446 - that work for everybody. She goes back and watches the replay as all elected officials do. Thank you, 00:33:09.446 --> 00:33:12.734 - and we'll continue on with it. Thank you, Mr. President. 00:33:13.346 --> 00:33:22.754 - I just want to say we are certainly thankful for our relationship with the Association of Indiana Counties. 00:33:22.754 --> 00:33:32.163 - And we, as always, encourage staff to take advantage of those trainings and those networking opportunities. 00:33:32.163 --> 00:33:40.961 - Is there any public comment? Seeing none, may we please have a roll call vote? Councilor Feidl? Yes. 00:33:40.961 --> 00:33:42.878 - Councilor Henry? Yes. 00:33:43.490 --> 00:33:51.907 - Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Deckard? Yes. Motion passes unanimous 4-0. All right. Thank you, Michelle, 00:33:51.907 --> 00:33:59.860 - for carrying those two agenda items. No problem. Next, we are on letter G. Council, I move to open for 00:33:59.860 --> 00:34:07.891 - discussion and possible approval of the Health Department's request to be exempt from the hiring freeze 00:34:07.891 --> 00:34:11.134 - and be allowed to hire and fund 8111-9623 00:34:11.266 --> 00:34:18.632 - crisis coag workforce grant one full-time public health emergency preparedness coordinator. We have 00:34:18.632 --> 00:34:26.292 - a motion and a second and we are graced with presence of Linnea Emig and Eric Gause. Did I get the last 00:34:26.292 --> 00:34:33.878 - name correct? Amy. I'm so sorry. Just pretend it's spelled A-M-Y. I'm so sorry. That's the second time 00:34:33.878 --> 00:34:39.550 - I will be better. All right. Please tell us what is going on with this item. 00:34:41.218 --> 00:34:47.758 - So our preparedness coordinator accepted a position with a neighboring county. And so we would like 00:34:47.758 --> 00:34:54.298 - to post and fill that position. The public health emergency preparedness coordinator is responsible 00:34:54.298 --> 00:35:00.838 - for maintaining the department's emergency and continuity of operations plans and regularly testing 00:35:00.838 --> 00:35:07.966 - their capabilities, representing the health department at an emergency operations center during an incident. 00:35:08.354 --> 00:35:15.002 - providing preparedness education to the public, providing training for staff on the department's roles 00:35:15.002 --> 00:35:21.909 - in emergency response, participating in local and district coalitions for emergency preparedness, managing 00:35:21.909 --> 00:35:28.686 - our department's emergency inventory, and also ensuring that our grant deliverables, pardon me, ensuring 00:35:28.686 --> 00:35:34.366 - our grant deliverables and reporting are complete and up to date. Anything else to add? 00:35:35.234 --> 00:35:40.561 - All right. Council, are there any questions? I'm going to start with council member Deckard, then we'll 00:35:40.561 --> 00:35:45.733 - go to council Henry. I have less questions on this, but I just wanted to, I was looking at the press 00:35:45.733 --> 00:35:51.162 - release that came out yesterday. I think everybody in the county is looking at that. They probably should 00:35:51.162 --> 00:35:56.335 - be looking at this job as well, but just to confirm you all are back open all services available. Am 00:35:56.335 --> 00:36:01.918 - I right on that? Yep. Okay. I don't want to make sure we got that out there. Thank you very much. Mr. Henry. 00:36:02.050 --> 00:36:08.081 - Thank you, Mr. President, and I'm glad the doors are open. This is my very old job. But we didn't have 00:36:08.081 --> 00:36:13.994 - a director back then. This is a one and only. So every time this pops up, I get warm fuzzies because 00:36:13.994 --> 00:36:20.142 - I used to do this stuff. And boy, do we need it in the community. So I mean, this is an essential piece. 00:36:20.142 --> 00:36:26.406 - I'll just pick up a little bit on what Counselor Deckard was indicating here with being open for business, 00:36:26.406 --> 00:36:30.622 - but also in reading press coverage, thankful for the work that was done 00:36:31.234 --> 00:36:36.742 - meningitis case out south. And that's part of what this preparedness work is. When we have something 00:36:36.742 --> 00:36:42.250 - like this happen in the community, and that's the output of protecting our public, but also figuring 00:36:42.250 --> 00:36:47.976 - out what happened and learning through the after action report, the process improvement. It's the little 00:36:47.976 --> 00:36:53.539 - things that go a long way. I preach to the choir here. But of course, we're going to work to get this 00:36:53.539 --> 00:36:58.174 - filled. It's an essential position. And you don't know you need it until it happens. 00:36:58.338 --> 00:37:05.355 - it seems nowadays with outbreaks, they're happening with some frequency that this position's doing a 00:37:05.355 --> 00:37:12.858 - lot more work than when I used to be in the spot. So yeah, absolutely. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. 00:37:12.858 --> 00:37:19.806 - Madam, Mr. President. Ms. Amy, you would be the supervisor of this position, right? That's correct. 00:37:19.806 --> 00:37:26.822 - And then is the current assistant in that division, is that full? No. OK. So you really do need this 00:37:26.822 --> 00:37:27.934 - other position. 00:37:28.258 --> 00:37:35.987 - It would be nice. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Excellent. I have no further questions. All right. Is there 00:37:35.987 --> 00:37:44.251 - any public comment on this health department item? Seeing none, may please have a roll call vote. Councilor 00:37:44.251 --> 00:37:52.363 - Henry? Yes. Councilor Decker? Yes. Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. 00:37:52.363 --> 00:37:55.806 - All right. Great. That leads us to letter H. 00:37:56.738 --> 00:38:04.980 - Council I move to approve the Health Department's request to fund 8153-9625 Harm Reduction Grant for 00:38:04.980 --> 00:38:13.303 - an additional appropriation of $27,167 in the personnel category. Second. All right, we have a motion 00:38:13.303 --> 00:38:18.526 - and a second. Ms. Amy, Mr. Gauss, what do we need to know here? 00:38:18.978 --> 00:38:25.976 - So the health department's requesting approval of additional appropriation for an amendment of the additional 00:38:25.976 --> 00:38:32.719 - funding for the HIV prevention grant for twenty seven thousand one sixty seven. These funds will continue 00:38:32.719 --> 00:38:39.145 - to support the personnel cost for harm reduction specialist position. This position provides HIV and 00:38:39.145 --> 00:38:46.270 - hepatitis C testing and referrals to care and treatment and partners with the Indiana Recovery Alliance through 00:38:46.434 --> 00:38:53.820 - The month of September for twenty twenty six. We have performed one hundred and four HIV tests and sixty 00:38:53.820 --> 00:39:01.346 - hepatitis C tests. Other services include the Knox alone training and distribution to community residents, 00:39:01.346 --> 00:39:09.014 - organizations and emergency responders, including local fire and police departments. And we have distributed 00:39:09.014 --> 00:39:14.430 - one thousand five hundred and seven of the Knox alone. That's it. Fantastic. 00:39:14.754 --> 00:39:20.858 - I have any questions about this harm reduction item? Yes, Mr. Henry. Only to say thank you for the data, 00:39:20.858 --> 00:39:26.787 - because I was going to ask what the numbers were lately. And I know that that briefing is often given 00:39:26.787 --> 00:39:32.659 - at the Board of Commissioners. We don't get the numbers in this room very often of what's behind the 00:39:32.659 --> 00:39:38.647 - ledger here and the work. So thank you for sharing the work of this position and the work of this part 00:39:38.647 --> 00:39:40.158 - of the Health Department. 00:39:41.410 --> 00:39:48.987 - I will just say one of the questions that I think all of us get all the time is, wait, what exactly 00:39:48.987 --> 00:39:56.715 - do you do? And based on what you're presenting here today and your work, a legitimate answer could be 00:39:56.715 --> 00:40:04.367 - is that we save lives. The availability of naloxone has increased so rapidly. And as we track deaths 00:40:04.367 --> 00:40:11.262 - due to substance use disorder, we've seen a stark decline. And one of the reasons has been 00:40:11.362 --> 00:40:17.930 - the availability of the lock zone. So the health department is playing a key role here. And I just, 00:40:17.930 --> 00:40:24.499 - from the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you, thank you for including Hep C. I mean, it's just 00:40:24.499 --> 00:40:30.935 - so important in this community. So all right, enough of my soapbox. Is there public comment here? 00:40:30.935 --> 00:40:38.029 - Seeing none, may we please have a roll call vote? Councilor Deckard? Yes. Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor 00:40:38.029 --> 00:40:39.934 - Henry? Yes. Councilor Feidl? 00:40:40.098 --> 00:40:48.730 - Yes. Motion passes unanimous. Thank you. Thank you both for your work. That brings us to letter I. Council 00:40:48.730 --> 00:40:54.942 - I move to approve the planning department's request and fund 1000 dash 0079. 00:40:55.042 --> 00:41:03.187 - county general planning to approve the creation of a new position job description senior zoning inspector 00:41:03.187 --> 00:41:11.102 - and Simultaneously approve the amended job descriptions of the Plan Commission assistant director Plan 00:41:11.102 --> 00:41:18.863 - Commission director planner to senior planner and zoning inspector as recommended by our third party 00:41:18.863 --> 00:41:22.014 - administrator Wagnon Erwin Shealy second 00:41:22.274 --> 00:41:28.297 - We have a motion and a second, and we have a whole bunch of folks from our planning department. Ms. 00:41:28.297 --> 00:41:34.562 - John, would you introduce everyone that you brought with you today? Yes, thank you very much. So Jackie 00:41:34.562 --> 00:41:41.007 - Jellon, I'm the director of the planning department. I have with me Tammy Beerman, our assistant director, 00:41:41.007 --> 00:41:47.332 - Rachel Henry, our zoning inspector, and then also Scott Ferris, the president of the planning commission 00:41:47.332 --> 00:41:51.006 - and executive committee. Colonel, I would feel better if you 00:41:51.714 --> 00:41:59.606 - I'm gonna scoot it up a little bit. There's room at the table. All right, what do we need to know, Ms. 00:41:59.606 --> 00:42:04.126 - John? Okay, so the first item on the agenda as introduced. 00:42:04.290 --> 00:42:10.863 - We are in agreement and in alignment with approval of the job descriptions, as recommended also by WIS. 00:42:10.863 --> 00:42:17.246 - So we haven't taken a look at the position descriptions in some time, so I just wanted to state just 00:42:17.246 --> 00:42:23.692 - for the record, some of the things that were being removed from some of the job descriptions, just to 00:42:23.692 --> 00:42:30.139 - be clear for the public, it included removing administration of the subdivision control ordinance and 00:42:30.139 --> 00:42:32.414 - zoning ordinance, and then we added 00:42:32.514 --> 00:42:38.551 - administering the county development ordinance that's the same thing it's just that the name changed 00:42:38.551 --> 00:42:44.647 - so we just want to be clear that we didn't take away a huge job duty so it's a net we're seeing a net 00:42:44.647 --> 00:42:50.743 - increase in position duties in our office so just wanted to make the record clear on that and we feel 00:42:50.743 --> 00:42:55.166 - really good about just making sure that these are updated in due time and 00:42:55.266 --> 00:43:02.041 - I think everyone should be coming back with some edits over time because things do change. So I'm glad 00:43:02.041 --> 00:43:08.881 - that this is something that we can be aligned with and get this updated. The second part of the request 00:43:08.881 --> 00:43:15.721 - is we haven't. They haven't made a motion for the second part, so this is just for the job descriptions 00:43:15.721 --> 00:43:22.496 - part. You want me to talk about the senior zoning? Yeah, you can talk about just that position and the 00:43:22.496 --> 00:43:23.614 - job description. 00:43:23.938 --> 00:43:31.935 - Yes, okay. So the part of the first request, the senior zoning inspector, we're hoping that that would 00:43:31.935 --> 00:43:39.854 - be something that we could go ahead and approve as we recommended. We do think that it's important to 00:43:39.854 --> 00:43:46.686 - make the position a senior position and not just a duplicate zoning inspector position. 00:43:47.074 --> 00:43:54.166 - we would like to see that position description with a classification of Pat D though that might be part 00:43:54.166 --> 00:44:01.053 - of the next request. I do have a letter that our current zoning inspector has written about the role 00:44:01.053 --> 00:44:07.940 - of the zoning inspector position and its necessity for adding a senior zoning inspector position. If 00:44:07.940 --> 00:44:13.054 - it is appropriate, I'd like her to go ahead and read that into the record. 00:44:16.066 --> 00:44:21.792 - It's hard to argue against the idea that there needs to be another zoning inspector for the Monroe County 00:44:21.792 --> 00:44:27.517 - Planning Department. I know that you as county counselors hear about it from your constituents regularly. 00:44:27.517 --> 00:44:33.081 - I have been working tirelessly to process residential planning permits and tackle planning enforcement 00:44:33.081 --> 00:44:38.482 - cases for the entire unincorporated area of Monroe County plus Steinsville, but one person can only 00:44:38.482 --> 00:44:44.478 - do so much. With new state legislation, our review times for residential applications has been drastically cut 00:44:44.578 --> 00:44:51.780 - and permitting has taken priority. This year alone, I have processed over 500 pre-designs and over 350 00:44:51.780 --> 00:44:58.981 - ILP applications. This is on top of managing incoming property complaints, 40 plus ongoing enforcement 00:44:58.981 --> 00:45:06.253 - cases, closing out 19 old enforcement cases and opening 16 new cases. The need for an additional person 00:45:06.253 --> 00:45:10.238 - is critical just to maintain status quo without burnout. 00:45:10.658 --> 00:45:17.102 - What I am here to speak on today, though, is why I think a senior zoning inspector is needed as opposed 00:45:17.102 --> 00:45:23.670 - to just an additional zoning inspector. The reason we need a senior zoning inspector is for the outliers, 00:45:23.670 --> 00:45:29.866 - the difficult enforcement cases that combine in extenuating circumstances such as living in chaotic 00:45:29.866 --> 00:45:36.186 - drug use, mental health disorders, social inequalities, health and wellbeing concerns, and on and on. 00:45:36.186 --> 00:45:39.966 - Many of these cases have been dragging on for several years. 00:45:40.482 --> 00:45:46.710 - When a county resident is living day to day and is not having their basic needs met, a letter from the 00:45:46.710 --> 00:45:52.757 - planning department about cars in their yard or living in an RV isn't even registering as something 00:45:52.757 --> 00:45:58.985 - important. A senior zoning inspector would have the time to work with property owners to determine the 00:45:58.985 --> 00:46:05.273 - barriers they are experiencing that are keeping them from bringing their property into compliance. They 00:46:05.273 --> 00:46:07.934 - would have the knowledge and connections to 00:46:08.130 --> 00:46:14.267 - They would have the knowledge and connections in our community to connect residents to others that can 00:46:14.267 --> 00:46:20.284 - help them beyond what we can do for them. Other organizations that can offer real, meaningful change 00:46:20.284 --> 00:46:26.302 - for the problems they face. A senior zoning inspector could help coordinate more effectively between 00:46:26.302 --> 00:46:32.319 - county departments, lessening the impact of the deluge of multiple letters from multiple departments 00:46:32.319 --> 00:46:35.358 - with multiple action items and multiple deadlines. 00:46:36.162 --> 00:46:42.317 - These kinds of letters are ignored by by in cases like this. These kind of letters are ignored because 00:46:42.317 --> 00:46:48.413 - people just can't process them. We also need a senior zoning inspector for the complicated permitting 00:46:48.413 --> 00:46:54.449 - cases that county residents feel lost in building a home in Monroe County can be very easy or it can 00:46:54.449 --> 00:47:00.784 - require the combined efforts of five plus county departments. Multiple permits being issued and approvals 00:47:00.784 --> 00:47:04.190 - from multiple boards granting variances to county codes. 00:47:04.962 --> 00:47:10.417 - Most of the time it's somewhere in between, but county residents are faced with managing this process 00:47:10.417 --> 00:47:15.818 - mostly on their own. A senior zoning inspector could spend extra time on these complicated builds to 00:47:15.818 --> 00:47:19.134 - make sure the process moves along as efficiently as possible. 00:47:19.874 --> 00:47:25.301 - Having the time to coordinate between county departments to make sure critical information is being 00:47:25.301 --> 00:47:30.892 - shared and all codes are being met, and offering clear communication through additional processes like 00:47:30.892 --> 00:47:36.428 - variances to make sure applicants know what their next steps are and when they can be taken are small 00:47:36.428 --> 00:47:42.398 - things, but things that require extra time and extensive knowledge on the process to successfully accomplish. 00:47:43.586 --> 00:47:49.719 - Splitting the current responsibilities between two zoning inspectors would definitely alleviate the 00:47:49.719 --> 00:47:55.975 - pressure, but only enough to just come up for air. If we want to really be able to dig deep and spend 00:47:55.975 --> 00:48:02.414 - the necessary time and energy on the long-term complicated enforcement and permitting cases and actually 00:48:02.414 --> 00:48:08.670 - make a difference for our county residents, a senior zoning inspector position is key. Thank you. Ms. 00:48:08.670 --> 00:48:10.142 - John, do you have more? 00:48:11.042 --> 00:48:17.665 - I can't beat that. For the first request, I think that is a summary. We'd like to see the position 00:48:17.665 --> 00:48:24.556 - descriptions approved, and we would like a senior zoning inspector position at Pat D. All right. Let's 00:48:24.556 --> 00:48:31.380 - go to council for comments. Mr. Deckard. I appreciate that letter very much. That was one of the most 00:48:31.380 --> 00:48:38.270 - in-depth letters I've ever heard anyone from any department ever read into a microphone on a case like 00:48:38.270 --> 00:48:40.478 - this. And not saying that people 00:48:40.642 --> 00:48:46.952 - didn't do that in the past or couldn't have done in the past, but it helped me to see a lot of things 00:48:46.952 --> 00:48:53.570 - in the position and some of the, what I sometimes say with students, the flexing that you're doing between 00:48:53.570 --> 00:49:00.127 - multiple audiences, audiences out in the yard, audiences in here, audiences that don't care about either, 00:49:00.127 --> 00:49:06.746 - but really have a complaint. And I know that when I send something over to this department, it's generally 00:49:06.746 --> 00:49:09.406 - within an hour, hour and a half that I get 00:49:09.858 --> 00:49:17.893 - pretty complex response back on kind of things going in it. I'm probably added to the flexing that the 00:49:17.893 --> 00:49:25.693 - entire department has to do. And I'm sure that's not easy. I think my general just comment would be 00:49:25.693 --> 00:49:33.494 - is that I am extremely interested in anything that makes the jobs in that department easier to flex 00:49:33.494 --> 00:49:38.174 - to all these people and less corrosive around that flexing. 00:49:38.658 --> 00:49:46.436 - It is hard to face yards and questions and things that get. It's even harder to come in here, I think, 00:49:46.436 --> 00:49:53.987 - and read boards and commissions and various entities and their temperaments. And I think we all can 00:49:53.987 --> 00:50:01.538 - think about that, not with this department, just this department, but every department. What are we 00:50:01.538 --> 00:50:04.030 - doing to make life as manageable 00:50:04.130 --> 00:50:10.141 - as possible across that counter, whether that counters in a yard or otherwise. So I just, I wanted to 00:50:10.141 --> 00:50:16.093 - offer that comment. I was inspired by it, but I really appreciate that letter because it really gave 00:50:16.093 --> 00:50:22.222 - me a sense of some of the things that I think sometimes we get lost on when we're just seeing the place 00:50:22.222 --> 00:50:28.174 - where enforcement is needed. And I know that proactiveness of assisting people was something that is 00:50:28.174 --> 00:50:31.710 - a one off or a two off or a, I don't remember the last off, 00:50:31.970 --> 00:50:37.954 - I know that probably the drain on that as well. So I'll stop there. Thank you. Mr. Henry. Thank you, 00:50:37.954 --> 00:50:43.878 - Mr. President. Thank you for this. I mean, I know where we started off with getting this to WIS and 00:50:43.878 --> 00:50:49.802 - getting things evaluated and where we are now are kind of interesting. Yeah, I mean, this is one of 00:50:49.802 --> 00:50:55.786 - those heart and head moments, right? I mean, I appreciate the letter. But there are some things that 00:50:55.786 --> 00:50:59.518 - I heard that I guess give me some pause when I think about how 00:50:59.618 --> 00:51:06.259 - we have asked or we see other positions in the county that take on added duties, right? But what WIS 00:51:06.259 --> 00:51:12.899 - is telling us in their assessment here is the compliance issues of state code, the qualifications to 00:51:12.899 --> 00:51:19.605 - do the zoning work, mentioning things like the American Institute of Certified Planners and the like, 00:51:19.605 --> 00:51:26.180 - that's one part of it, right? What was described here is in the neighborhood of social work, right? 00:51:26.180 --> 00:51:28.350 - There's this social work element 00:51:28.578 --> 00:51:34.544 - what you described as to what a more complex case would be. I think about how we've sat in this room 00:51:34.544 --> 00:51:40.805 - over the past year and heard, and this isn't you all, but other departments that bring us cross-training. 00:51:40.805 --> 00:51:46.830 - We'll hear a lot about cross-training and having the agility to do a lot of things in the job, except 00:51:46.830 --> 00:51:52.855 - they are sometimes outside of the job. If what you're saying is we experience situations where social 00:51:52.855 --> 00:51:57.758 - work, background, interest, technique, training is also part of zoning inspection, 00:51:57.986 --> 00:52:03.927 - I got to ask I mean is that maybe this probably is my ignorance I mean is there something in planning 00:52:03.927 --> 00:52:09.867 - education about this this aspect of having to work through social and economic issues when working on 00:52:09.867 --> 00:52:15.924 - planning issues because I only raise it to say I don't understand why that's a senior planning position 00:52:15.924 --> 00:52:16.798 - as opposed to. 00:52:16.994 --> 00:52:22.421 - having a social worker go with you all to a location to work through those things. I mean, I think about 00:52:22.421 --> 00:52:27.848 - our Sheriff's Department, when I've been on rides and they've been doing similar social work well visits 00:52:27.848 --> 00:52:33.068 - with shut-ins and rural spaces, that's above and beyond. Does this make sense? Because I'm concerned 00:52:33.068 --> 00:52:38.340 - that we might be trying to mush too much into this as opposed to maybe a different position that does 00:52:38.340 --> 00:52:43.870 - social work along with you. Does that make sense? I mean, I'm just trying to get some understanding of it. 00:52:44.162 --> 00:52:50.877 - I can speak to some of that. So two of our recent cases that we still have open as enforcement, Rachel 00:52:50.877 --> 00:52:57.722 - has gone out, talked with them on site, and has done a collaborative visit with Waste Reduction District 00:52:57.722 --> 00:53:04.437 - and the Health Department. And at the end of the day, we are hearing stories that unless Rachel, which 00:53:04.437 --> 00:53:11.217 - she does, reaches out to IU Health, mobile clinic, or Stride, those people don't have cell phones, they 00:53:11.217 --> 00:53:11.934 - don't have 00:53:12.066 --> 00:53:17.744 - driver's license vehicles. So she's emailing and saying, hey, can you literally go to this property 00:53:17.744 --> 00:53:23.421 - at this address and ask for this person? They want help, but they don't have a way to ask for it or 00:53:23.421 --> 00:53:29.099 - get to it. And so, yes, we could ask them in advance, hey, can you partner with us to come to every 00:53:29.099 --> 00:53:35.004 - site visit? But they're stretched thin too, so. Don't know until you're at the door what you're dealing 00:53:35.004 --> 00:53:41.022 - with. So it sounds like there's some triaging going on where you're not trying to solve all the problems. 00:53:41.154 --> 00:53:47.952 - That's what I'm hearing is I hope you're not trying to solve all the problems we have. But it sounds 00:53:47.952 --> 00:53:54.750 - like at some point you're triaging as, okay, a person that's been in the role can see that this is a 00:53:54.750 --> 00:54:01.683 - complex case. It's not trying to solve all of the issues through the planning department. It is trying 00:54:01.683 --> 00:54:08.414 - to connect and bring our community in on that. Okay. Yeah. Okay. And yet what we have back from WIS 00:54:08.414 --> 00:54:10.366 - is that, Michelle, you might 00:54:10.498 --> 00:54:18.073 - Correct me if I'm wrong here. I mean, their assessment on this is that it's basically another zoning 00:54:18.073 --> 00:54:25.649 - position at a pat C and it's not, they did not come back identifying these nuances as what makes for 00:54:25.649 --> 00:54:33.374 - a senior zoning inspector. It would be another zoning inspector at a pat B, a pat B. The senior zoning 00:54:33.374 --> 00:54:38.174 - is that the department is requesting would be a pat C, I guess. 00:54:38.850 --> 00:54:46.701 - the WSIS recommendations. They said both. So in the comparisons we did against other jurisdictions, 00:54:46.701 --> 00:54:54.081 - City of Bloomington, are those planners at that level conducting that kind of triage as well? 00:54:54.081 --> 00:55:00.990 - Do we know that? Are there senior planners in other jurisdictions that are dealing with 00:55:01.378 --> 00:55:07.369 - That's what the role is in those other jurisdictions. If this person left us and applied to be a senior 00:55:07.369 --> 00:55:13.130 - planner in another jurisdiction, they know they're signing up for complexity. Does that make sense? 00:55:13.130 --> 00:55:19.236 - I'm trying to rank it to understand what this role is on the market. That was like five questions, sorry, 00:55:19.236 --> 00:55:24.996 - but that's how I do it. When we did the fiscal impact analysis to other counties, we only evaluated 00:55:24.996 --> 00:55:25.918 - it based on the 00:55:26.146 --> 00:55:33.830 - the jobs that we're asking for the regrid for. I did not evaluate it based on a senior zoning inspector. 00:55:33.830 --> 00:55:41.367 - I know that, for instance, the city has a similar kind of hierarchy, if you will, for their permitting 00:55:41.367 --> 00:55:48.685 - and enforcement, but I didn't evaluate it for each county because it wasn't a position yet created. 00:55:48.685 --> 00:55:54.174 - Thank you for that. Thank you. All right. Any other questions or comments? 00:55:55.106 --> 00:56:03.690 - I have two questions. I'm going to follow up on page 159 in today's packet, is the WISS's reaction to 00:56:03.690 --> 00:56:12.526 - including this heating zoning inspector. And I'm curious to know what your reaction is to their argument 00:56:12.526 --> 00:56:21.110 - that as impassioned as the letter that we heard is, and as much as that defines reality, why don't we 00:56:21.110 --> 00:56:23.550 - just have another inspector? 00:56:23.906 --> 00:56:30.533 - Why just have, I mean, that's with his argument. What's your response? Yeah, so I would say that one 00:56:30.533 --> 00:56:37.095 - of the things that is kind of problematic with having a duplicate zoning inspector is we're hoping, 00:56:37.095 --> 00:56:43.657 - as the senior zoning inspector position description is described, there would be a requirement that 00:56:43.657 --> 00:56:51.006 - they would have some experience, years experience administering ordinances. So you'd already have somebody that 00:56:51.170 --> 00:56:57.405 - maybe would be training the other person. But beyond that, if we just split the duties directly in half, 00:56:57.405 --> 00:57:01.502 - hey, you take half of the permits, you take half of the enforcement, 00:57:01.602 --> 00:57:07.764 - And this is just something true for every department that a director has to work out but let's say someone 00:57:07.764 --> 00:57:13.696 - does something slightly different than the way the other person does it they both come to the director 00:57:13.696 --> 00:57:19.455 - in that case and say hey this person I think is doing something this way I'd rather them do it this 00:57:19.455 --> 00:57:22.910 - way and so I would hope that there wouldn't be any kind of. 00:57:24.130 --> 00:57:31.396 - difference in how they administer and and do their job you know and and record-keeping that's a big 00:57:31.396 --> 00:57:38.881 - thing is like some people are really good at keeping digital records other people are not but we would 00:57:38.881 --> 00:57:46.365 - be kind of trying to prioritize consistency in that role can constantly having it be kind of hierarchy 00:57:46.365 --> 00:57:52.542 - allows it to be more informative of back and forth and also those harder cases so if 00:57:52.674 --> 00:57:58.215 - You know, one person gets a really hard case and the other person gets three easy permits. I don't want 00:57:58.215 --> 00:58:03.596 - there to be a disparity in like, hey, my job feels harder than their job, but we're exactly the same 00:58:03.596 --> 00:58:09.137 - pay because this week I had a lot of hard permits. It's just how the cookie's going to crumble. There's 00:58:09.137 --> 00:58:14.465 - gonna be some permits that are gonna be easy, some permits that are not. And the way the software's 00:58:14.465 --> 00:58:16.862 - set up for our permitting, it's round robin. 00:58:17.026 --> 00:58:23.929 - It can't take into account. Oh this one's in this area. So then it's going to go to this person So then 00:58:23.929 --> 00:58:30.898 - you have a lot of management on our side to say, okay I've assessed all these applications I think these 00:58:30.898 --> 00:58:37.602 - should go to this person and these should go to this person in your hand assigning those off to make 00:58:37.602 --> 00:58:44.638 - sure it's constantly fair so I do think it would work better to have a little bit of hierarchy there, but 00:58:46.018 --> 00:58:53.397 - That I know that was did give kind of two recommendations recommending it as a Pat C is different than 00:58:53.397 --> 00:59:00.634 - what it is currently Pat B. So I don't know if that gets into the third request, but it kind of felt 00:59:00.634 --> 00:59:07.870 - like they were alluding to a duplicate position, but maybe a higher pay and a salary issue. I wasn't 00:59:07.870 --> 00:59:12.670 - quite clear exactly on their overall recommendation, to be honest. 00:59:12.802 --> 00:59:19.839 - And it's challenging, I think, the way that things are structured now that because PAC isn't meeting, 00:59:19.839 --> 00:59:26.737 - there's no way for you to answer WIS's lengthy letters except here. So I really do want to give you 00:59:26.737 --> 00:59:33.774 - all an opportunity to to rebut what WIS is saying, because we're in this situation now where you have 00:59:33.774 --> 00:59:41.086 - to bring all of this straight to council and our packets are full of job descriptions. So I thank you for 00:59:41.346 --> 00:59:49.890 - for those arguments. My second question is that of timing. The legislature is going back into its biannual 00:59:49.890 --> 00:59:58.114 - budget session in January. This last session was not kind to your department or departments across the 00:59:58.114 --> 01:00:06.179 - state. Is there any hope that there's going to be changes or reversions to the ways that they dumped 01:00:06.179 --> 01:00:08.894 - a lot of work on you? I will say, 01:00:09.026 --> 01:00:15.642 - And maybe Bobby Leroux, he's still here as well. His department is feeling the similar timeline and 01:00:15.642 --> 01:00:22.325 - crunch on this. I don't think that they're receptive to our complaints on the timeline. If anything, 01:00:22.325 --> 01:00:28.941 - some of the house enrolled acts one thousand one that we just had a hearing on last week, there's a 01:00:28.941 --> 01:00:33.374 - direct question in there. How are you going to streamline parallel 01:00:33.474 --> 01:00:41.792 - permitting processes, shorten your timelines. Like they're just asking us, what can you do to make things 01:00:41.792 --> 01:00:49.953 - even faster and concurrent? So I think that they will only come at it to see that we do more concurrent 01:00:49.953 --> 01:00:57.879 - permitting and they will probably just try to make us move even quicker, to be honest. Lovely. Okay. 01:00:57.879 --> 01:00:59.998 - Yes, council member Pytel. 01:01:00.226 --> 01:01:08.188 - So I guess I'm wondering if staff or legal might have a better interpretation on what was recommended 01:01:08.188 --> 01:01:15.993 - here. I mean, I certainly don't have it. I haven't been working with these kinds of things all that 01:01:15.993 --> 01:01:23.877 - long. OK, so what happened was the department requested a new job of senior zoning inspector. Right. 01:01:23.877 --> 01:01:28.638 - So that was what was created. But after their review of what 01:01:28.994 --> 01:01:36.136 - The information that was submitted because the department has to fill out a questionnaires and all of 01:01:36.136 --> 01:01:43.348 - this They felt that they didn't really possibly need a senior Position what it looked like to on their 01:01:43.348 --> 01:01:50.351 - end with the information that they received Maybe all they needed was a zoning inspector. So that's 01:01:50.351 --> 01:01:54.622 - why there was the two posit You know their recommendation is 01:01:55.138 --> 01:02:01.899 - Yes, you asked for this senior position, but it looks like you could actually get by with just another 01:02:01.899 --> 01:02:08.464 - body of a zoning. So the request was made for a senior, so they classified that. But it's up to the 01:02:08.464 --> 01:02:15.159 - council if you want to move forward with the senior position that the department has requested, or do 01:02:15.159 --> 01:02:22.052 - you want to move forward with just adding another body for them of a zoning inspector? So that was their 01:02:22.052 --> 01:02:23.102 - recommendation. 01:02:24.866 --> 01:02:31.211 - So how would that play out in the department? Well, I would just say just realistically with the request 01:02:31.211 --> 01:02:37.314 - in front of you, the position description for zoning inspector was changed to adopt to senior zoning 01:02:37.314 --> 01:02:43.356 - inspector. So if there is no senior zoning inspector and there's two duplicate zoning inspectors, I 01:02:43.356 --> 01:02:48.734 - would ask that we would need to redo the job descriptions again to remove that language. 01:02:48.866 --> 01:02:55.284 - But how would that work in our department was a thing because yeah So if there was a duplicate zoning 01:02:55.284 --> 01:03:01.829 - inspector again, it would just be trying to be as fair as possible with splitting the duties I wouldn't 01:03:01.829 --> 01:03:08.373 - we've talked about this multiple times giving one person enforcement and giving one person Permits will 01:03:08.373 --> 01:03:15.358 - lead to that enforcement person getting absolutely burnt out and not having high morale So I would not do that 01:03:15.458 --> 01:03:22.802 - I would like to have some permitting because there you can actually say yes and you can have wins getting 01:03:22.802 --> 01:03:29.869 - people through the system. People say thank you constantly to us. Enforcement is more challenging for 01:03:29.869 --> 01:03:36.382 - sure and you're dealing with a lot of different people coming at you with different requests. 01:03:36.930 --> 01:03:43.175 - if there was a senior position again, it could be a little bit more where there's more difficult cases, 01:03:43.175 --> 01:03:49.541 - it would go to that senior person. And also, just the reality of it is there's always gonna be one person 01:03:49.541 --> 01:03:55.666 - that's been there longer, not to say that the person that's there longer automatically moves into the 01:03:55.666 --> 01:04:02.032 - senior zoning inspector position, but I don't want it to feel like the current zoning inspector is always 01:04:02.032 --> 01:04:04.254 - training the other zoning inspector. 01:04:04.354 --> 01:04:11.747 - having that hierarchy there in the department would maybe lead to better retention and maybe a little 01:04:11.747 --> 01:04:19.213 - bit more clear guidance on how to handle some of the cases. But certainly, if there were two duplicate 01:04:19.213 --> 01:04:26.678 - zoning inspectors, we do need another body and we have that, I think, approved as of the September 8th 01:04:26.678 --> 01:04:33.854 - meeting that, yes, we need a new person. And it's up to you all on whether that's a senior or not. 01:04:35.906 --> 01:04:42.299 - I'm sorry, I was going to ask you a question. Sure. You said you would have to send the job description 01:04:42.299 --> 01:04:48.446 - back. The zoning inspector, let's just say council moves forward with two positions. Are you saying 01:04:48.446 --> 01:04:50.782 - you would have to send that one back? 01:04:51.522 --> 01:04:58.927 - I mean, if we could just come to this body and amend the job description, the zoning inspector position 01:04:58.927 --> 01:05:06.190 - that they're approving tonight says reports to senior zoning inspector all over. Yes. And OK, so that 01:05:06.190 --> 01:05:13.453 - would be just a reporting structure. Correct. Yeah. I just want to make sure you weren't like sending 01:05:13.453 --> 01:05:20.574 - it back to WIS. I was just going to add that with my experience in the department, almost 14 years, 01:05:20.738 --> 01:05:27.257 - Jackie is a powerhouse. She does so much in the department in so many different realms and capacities 01:05:27.257 --> 01:05:33.712 - and to I would agree have that hierarchy of the senior zoning inspector for her to maybe more report 01:05:33.712 --> 01:05:40.742 - directly to just that one person rather than have another person to manage. I could see that being beneficial 01:05:40.742 --> 01:05:46.174 - for the county at large on so many different projects. So just adding that in there. 01:05:51.330 --> 01:05:59.774 - So do you have any other questions or comments for the planning team on these job descriptions? So maybe 01:05:59.774 --> 01:06:08.458 - one more thing. So do we know if Wes has had any experience in other counties evaluating similar positions? 01:06:08.458 --> 01:06:16.661 - Would other counties be under the same kind of structure that we are here? Maybe that's the question. 01:06:16.661 --> 01:06:18.430 - I mean, they have 16. 01:06:18.754 --> 01:06:27.316 - different counties, so that question was not posed, so I can't answer that. I hear you. Please, Mr. 01:06:27.316 --> 01:06:36.221 - Deckard. My experience with with sometimes that sometimes we're on the edge of things and change things 01:06:36.221 --> 01:06:42.814 - and do things in a way that we bark like a different type of dog altogether. 01:06:43.234 --> 01:06:49.918 - and then you get two to three years down the road and everybody's gonna be barking like that or more 01:06:49.918 --> 01:06:56.536 - people barking. I know that sounds like the strangest metaphor in the world but I've watched this a 01:06:56.536 --> 01:07:03.221 - few times. A good example is the election director. That has changed from a position where they were 01:07:03.221 --> 01:07:09.971 - at the kind of mercy of the clerk to now they're literally supposed to be directing that election and 01:07:09.971 --> 01:07:13.214 - probably most jurisdictions in this time and age 01:07:13.378 --> 01:07:21.449 - wouldn't have it any other way or we'll be moving quickly to it. And so I sometimes note that WIS will 01:07:21.449 --> 01:07:29.441 - show you the kind of average of what's out there, but sometimes the average gives you the average and 01:07:29.441 --> 01:07:37.512 - it doesn't give you maybe what you're looking to do. And so that's where I think in moments like this, 01:07:37.512 --> 01:07:40.254 - it becomes sort of like duly noted 01:07:40.386 --> 01:07:47.535 - and move forward. There was one other example where we had this with them. I can't remember. The election 01:07:47.535 --> 01:07:54.280 - one always stands out because that was my domain of professionally what I used to do. And it's just 01:07:54.280 --> 01:08:01.159 - when things change or sometimes state code, federal, whatever going on, certain things get out on the 01:08:01.159 --> 01:08:06.622 - edge a little bit more. And this might be one of those with the senior position. 01:08:07.938 --> 01:08:16.531 - And as a reminder, this is a recommendation from WIS. The department has presented what they wish to 01:08:16.531 --> 01:08:25.124 - see there structured as. So WIS gave you two options. So basically, you just need to decide. Are you 01:08:25.124 --> 01:08:34.398 - going to go with the senior position, or do you want to go with the other? I had a point of inquiry, please. 01:08:34.722 --> 01:08:42.049 - Motion is read by Councilor final is adopting what the department's asking for, right? Correct, which 01:08:42.049 --> 01:08:49.807 - was which is the senior zoning inspector at a Patsy. And all and all of the job description classifications 01:08:49.807 --> 01:08:56.560 - are at the WIS recommendation station. We have not got into the other part where we're at the 01:08:56.560 --> 01:09:04.318 - reclassification, but what you would be approving is what WIS is recommending. Here's the job descriptions. 01:09:04.546 --> 01:09:12.728 - Here's the classifications, which includes the senior zoning inspector. But as the department wants 01:09:12.728 --> 01:09:21.565 - it. Correct. Well, the job description, the job description. Later, we deal with the rest of that. Correct. 01:09:21.565 --> 01:09:30.238 - Okay. I will just my, my, I don't know, heartburn here is that your request is not happening in a vacuum. 01:09:30.978 --> 01:09:38.472 - that there are multiple department heads in this room and multiple department heads watching on the 01:09:38.472 --> 01:09:46.042 - screen right now. And that's a reality that this council must take into account. And I know you know 01:09:46.042 --> 01:09:53.611 - that. I know that you appreciate that and the complexity that we're dealing with. And so that's part 01:09:53.611 --> 01:09:58.782 - of my current, I guess, Harper is the best way to put it. All right. 01:10:03.458 --> 01:10:22.420 - Nothing more from council. Is there any public comment? Seeing no public comments, may we please have 01:10:22.420 --> 01:10:28.926 - April call vote. Councillor Henry. 01:10:29.282 --> 01:10:36.180 - So again, just to reiterate Councilor Deckard's question, there's two parts to this motion. 01:10:36.180 --> 01:10:43.902 - Is that correct? You are voting to approve the job descriptions with the WIS recommendations. But that 01:10:43.902 --> 01:10:51.474 - includes the new position of... That includes the new position of the senior zoning inspector. Yeah. 01:10:51.474 --> 01:10:57.022 - So we're a little late in getting an amendment before we took the motion. 01:10:57.282 --> 01:11:05.022 - I mean, we can, I can call it back as president and we can do... Would the president consider an amendment, 01:11:05.022 --> 01:11:12.261 - entertaining an amendment before we go to a full vote? I would. All right, Mr. President, I offer an 01:11:12.261 --> 01:11:19.428 - amendment. I'd like to amend the position of senior zoning inspector to zoning inspector and at the 01:11:19.428 --> 01:11:25.950 - category of Pat B, which would have the effect of offering two zoning inspector positions. 01:11:26.114 --> 01:11:38.579 - and instead of the hierarchical that we've discussed. Council, we have a motion. Is there a second? 01:11:38.579 --> 01:11:51.294 - Was that Pat D or Pat B? Pat B. Boy, thank you. Motion dies to lack of a second. That's where we are. 01:11:52.642 --> 01:11:58.862 - So I just want to reiterate and get clarification on what it is the department really wants here, right? 01:11:58.862 --> 01:12:04.844 - Because I think they've made their case. And so as I look down this list of things, and I don't know 01:12:04.844 --> 01:12:11.064 - if you have what we're looking at here on the from and to list. Do you have all of that? We're not there 01:12:11.064 --> 01:12:17.343 - yet. Oh. We're not there yet. We're just approving the job descriptions. OK. And what do they want there? 01:12:17.343 --> 01:12:21.726 - Do you want? They want the senior zoning inspector. All right. Thank you. 01:12:23.458 --> 01:12:32.273 - All right. So it's clear to me. Thank you. So council member Henry's amendment to take it from senior 01:12:32.273 --> 01:12:41.433 - zoning inspector justice zoning inspector failed for lack of a second. Are there any other council member 01:12:41.433 --> 01:12:50.247 - comments before we go to a roll call vote going once going twice? Michelle, may we please have a roll 01:12:50.247 --> 01:12:51.198 - call vote? 01:12:55.554 --> 01:13:06.321 - Councillor Decker. Yes. Councillor Iverson. Yes. Councillor Henry. Yes. Councillor Feidl. Yes. Motion 01:13:06.321 --> 01:13:17.616 - passes unanimous. All right, that brings us to item J. Council, I move to open for discussion and possible 01:13:17.616 --> 01:13:23.422 - approval of the Planning Department's request and fund 01:13:23.554 --> 01:13:32.465 - dash 0079 to amend the 2027 salary ordinance to add account line 14011, senior zoning inspector and 01:13:32.465 --> 01:13:41.465 - to simultaneously reclassify all the positions outlined on the agenda above the WISC recommendation. 01:13:41.465 --> 01:13:50.376 - Second. All right, we have a motion and a second. Ms. Jelen, walk us through the fiscal side. Okay. 01:13:50.376 --> 01:13:53.406 - And thank you for your last vote. 01:13:53.538 --> 01:14:02.419 - I do appreciate that. So our other request is to amend the 2027 salary ordinance so this would be something 01:14:02.419 --> 01:14:07.518 - that is effective January one 2027 with the salary ordinance. 01:14:07.586 --> 01:14:15.307 - and it is to reclassify the positions to align fiscally with comparable counties and city positions. 01:14:15.307 --> 01:14:23.333 - So in the packet, we did include exhibits A and B, which were also visible at the September 8th meeting. 01:14:23.333 --> 01:14:31.513 - This is where we did our fiscal impact with other comparable counties and also a letter from our executive 01:14:31.513 --> 01:14:37.552 - committee noting the loss of two planners within our department due to a large 01:14:37.552 --> 01:14:46.089 - that we had a large salary gap between what the county is able to pay planners and what the city was 01:14:46.089 --> 01:14:54.711 - paying. So this magnitude of the fiscal impact showed that we are off by several thousands of dollars 01:14:54.711 --> 01:15:03.248 - for each. Position so the reasoning that we're asking to reclassify our positions is. One of six out 01:15:03.248 --> 01:15:06.206 - of eight current staff members are 01:15:06.338 --> 01:15:13.128 - In addition, we do have certifications, as Councilmember Henry noted, the American Planning Association, 01:15:13.128 --> 01:15:19.724 - AICP. One of the major things of this certification is that there's a code of ethics that we all must 01:15:19.724 --> 01:15:26.707 - follow and that any member of the public may actually turn anyone in, even for what's called the appearance 01:15:26.707 --> 01:15:30.846 - of conflict of interest. So that's something that keeps us very 01:15:31.042 --> 01:15:37.594 - straight and narrow in our jobs and we always have to consider that and it's one of the most important 01:15:37.594 --> 01:15:44.209 - things that we uphold because oftentimes we have so many different constituent questions or people that 01:15:44.209 --> 01:15:50.951 - we report to and sometimes we have to say things that people don't want to hear but it's the right answer 01:15:50.951 --> 01:15:52.414 - whether it's the code. 01:15:52.514 --> 01:15:59.322 - that we're upholding, or it's the fact of the matter of the property that we're dealing with. Sometimes 01:15:59.322 --> 01:16:05.868 - people just want to get told that it's yes, it's going to be easy, but oftentimes our department is 01:16:05.868 --> 01:16:12.415 - required to point out that no, it's not easy, there's floodplain, or no, it's not a developable lot 01:16:12.415 --> 01:16:19.550 - that you just purchased from somebody that told you it was. So that ethics component is extremely important. 01:16:19.650 --> 01:16:27.963 - we're also a revenue generating department. So as of October 21st, I recalculated our revenue to date 01:16:27.963 --> 01:16:36.602 - is $154,755. So we're going to be continuing to review our fees, including next week before the deadline. 01:16:36.602 --> 01:16:44.752 - And then we're not allowed to change it by state code for five years, but we want to make sure it's 01:16:44.752 --> 01:16:48.990 - competitive and just covering basic salary costs of 01:16:49.218 --> 01:16:57.251 - the cost of labor to do the work that we do. So we do permitting and we also do petition reviews for 01:16:57.251 --> 01:17:05.443 - people that can't receive permits right away. I'm touched based on the fiscal impact in exhibit B, but 01:17:05.443 --> 01:17:13.555 - also the disparities that we have right now. It's resulting in a loss of qualified staff and it makes 01:17:13.555 --> 01:17:17.214 - it hard to attract new talent. I do say that, 01:17:17.442 --> 01:17:25.124 - But also we are lucky to be fully staffed right now and we do appreciate your exemption from past hiring 01:17:25.124 --> 01:17:33.246 - freezes. We are just hopeful all the time that we're able to retain that staff as soon as we get them trained. 01:17:33.474 --> 01:17:39.875 - They're really marketable, especially with those certifications. So we just want to make sure that they 01:17:39.875 --> 01:17:46.030 - stay with the department. And one of the ways you can do that is compensate them fairly. If they're 01:17:46.030 --> 01:17:52.616 - able to leave so easily, it just tells us, it screams at us, honestly, that there are better opportunities 01:17:52.616 --> 01:17:58.833 - nearby. And it just makes it hard for us to not encourage them, be happy for them to get that salary 01:17:58.833 --> 01:18:03.326 - increase when it means they can finally move out of their parents' house 01:18:03.426 --> 01:18:11.406 - or that they can afford the car that they need to have to transport to work, or that honestly they can 01:18:11.406 --> 01:18:19.230 - pay off their student loans for having a master's degree as required. So with that, I think that the 01:18:19.230 --> 01:18:27.055 - WIS memo does state in there that there is a salary issue at play. They don't necessarily describe a 01:18:27.055 --> 01:18:31.006 - solution to that, but I'm hoping that this re-grid 01:18:31.202 --> 01:18:38.018 - is considered because I think that is a solution. But I do think that with the position updates with 01:18:38.018 --> 01:18:45.238 - the state code changes, more duties coming. We can't honestly ask our employees to keep doing more without 01:18:45.238 --> 01:18:52.189 - higher pay. I know the state can do that, but I really hope that the council doesn't also do that. But 01:18:52.189 --> 01:18:54.078 - understanding you have many 01:18:54.306 --> 01:19:00.857 - many different departments coming and asking you the same question, and I know this is a very difficult 01:19:00.857 --> 01:19:07.220 - decision, so I appreciate your time and your attention, and I'm happy to answer any questions. Okay, 01:19:07.220 --> 01:19:13.393 - shots fired. Council, do you have any comments or questions? Mr. Henry. Thank you, Mr. President, 01:19:13.393 --> 01:19:19.881 - and again, I'm this council's liaison to the Planning Commission. I'm on the Executive Committee. This 01:19:19.881 --> 01:19:22.590 - has been before us for a few months now on 01:19:22.786 --> 01:19:30.681 - in different rooms. I recall when we brought this here, I am in support of doing something here. What 01:19:30.681 --> 01:19:37.182 - was hindering for me was really WIS and how we lean on that group to keep us in our 01:19:37.634 --> 01:19:43.802 - classification spaces, right? And what we got back from my read of the letter is sort of half a thing, 01:19:43.802 --> 01:19:49.791 - which is yes, we acknowledge salary's a problem according to WIS, but then the classification piece 01:19:49.791 --> 01:19:55.840 - is what they don't want to disturb, and yet that puts us in a place where we have our classification 01:19:55.840 --> 01:20:02.008 - bands, and then what, right? So I guess for my clarity, and maybe because we haven't done this in this 01:20:02.008 --> 01:20:05.182 - space in a while, of course I know Councilor Iverson 01:20:05.314 --> 01:20:10.842 - You mentioned bringing back PAC and the tools we have to sort these things out before we get to this 01:20:10.842 --> 01:20:16.316 - room. If we were to do salary adjustments inside the current classification, like let's say we took 01:20:16.316 --> 01:20:22.117 - Wiss's letter and said, okay, fine, we hear you. Don't touch the classifications, but there's some salary 01:20:22.117 --> 01:20:27.591 - adjustment. What does that do to what we've set up as a class and comp system? And I really do lean 01:20:27.591 --> 01:20:33.502 - to the PAC president to maybe help me understand this a little bit. I know Michelle maybe wants to jump in. 01:20:33.986 --> 01:20:41.390 - One of the things that we've been talking about in long-term finance with FSG is to do a salary study. 01:20:41.390 --> 01:20:48.795 - Because we know that inflation doesn't just hit us at the grocery store, it doesn't just hit us at the 01:20:48.795 --> 01:20:56.199 - gas pump, but it also hits us when it's time to move out of mom and dad's basement or it's time to pay 01:20:56.199 --> 01:21:02.238 - off those student loans. So there is room to do a salary study. I would much prefer 01:21:02.466 --> 01:21:09.114 - And I'm opining, this is me talking as one individual, to do a salary study across the entire system, 01:21:09.114 --> 01:21:16.088 - the entire salary grid, than to do it one department at a time. And so I think that's needed. And clearly, 01:21:16.088 --> 01:21:22.737 - I think when Colonel Ferris was here last time, he made this point that we haven't updated the salary 01:21:22.737 --> 01:21:29.385 - grid in how many years? Five years. And there's been a lot that's been happening to the economy since 01:21:29.385 --> 01:21:32.318 - then. So yeah, I'm just trying to figure out 01:21:32.450 --> 01:21:38.056 - What moves make what moves make sense cleanest cut because in this case, and as I said when you presented 01:21:38.056 --> 01:21:43.502 - this a month ago, this is a department that well plans I mean they have produced a comprehensive brief 01:21:43.502 --> 01:21:48.949 - on on the condition and so it's not like this was a request for someone comes in just says I want more 01:21:48.949 --> 01:21:50.430 - money and we've been given. 01:21:50.562 --> 01:21:55.883 - you know, an incredible amount of information to work with. And now we have sort of, like I said, half 01:21:55.883 --> 01:22:01.204 - a thing back from WIS on this. So if, and I think I'm kind of sorry, I don't mean to have the dialogue 01:22:01.204 --> 01:22:06.473 - up here, but I need to understand it from this PAC perspective. You know, one option would be to just 01:22:06.473 --> 01:22:11.794 - go forth and change classification and just that fits our system and that moves everything up. It does 01:22:11.794 --> 01:22:17.063 - mean other departments will look at that and say, well, you know, it does mean we are doing piecemeal 01:22:17.063 --> 01:22:18.974 - one at a time. I don't particularly, 01:22:19.330 --> 01:22:25.293 - I'm not particularly warm and fuzzy about waiting any longer with this department to say, well, we're 01:22:25.293 --> 01:22:31.198 - going to do the whole salary study of the whole county, and then please come back to us in 18 months 01:22:31.198 --> 01:22:37.161 - or however long that might take to understand that. So I feel like there are exceptions to the rules. 01:22:37.161 --> 01:22:43.358 - I don't want to be boxed into that space. But where I'm at right now is it seems like the cleanest cut is 01:22:43.906 --> 01:22:50.146 - go forth with the classification change that brings the salary adjustment, rather than trying to fit 01:22:50.146 --> 01:22:56.448 - a salary adjustment inside the classification bands, or to start doing salary, like a salary study on 01:22:56.448 --> 01:23:02.627 - a fly here. But I offer that back. I don't know if you have comment on it, but I'm trying to find a 01:23:02.627 --> 01:23:08.990 - way to make it happen without blowing up the whole classification system of the county in the process. 01:23:08.990 --> 01:23:12.574 - Michelle? So what I want to share right at this moment is 01:23:13.346 --> 01:23:22.687 - Council has deviated from the classification system. Can you zoom in, please? OK. And what I want to 01:23:22.687 --> 01:23:31.936 - show you is we have some positions. These are highlighted in red that they came in at. I'm going to 01:23:31.936 --> 01:23:40.722 - shrink this down just a little bit. It's helping me, sorry. It definitely 100% just helps you. 01:23:40.722 --> 01:23:42.942 - So for example, we have 01:23:43.554 --> 01:23:52.662 - One, two, three, four, five. There's been five departments that we have deviated with regards to job 01:23:52.662 --> 01:24:01.680 - descriptions and what WIS recommended. So what you can see right now is the assessor's office, they 01:24:01.680 --> 01:24:11.870 - had job descriptions come back as Comet and council moving them to Pat. And they moved one, two, three positions 01:24:12.354 --> 01:24:20.309 - within their department up a classification. Within the auditor's office, oh no, four, one, two, three, 01:24:20.309 --> 01:24:28.035 - four, four positions. Within the auditor's office, you did that again for two positions. It was done 01:24:28.035 --> 01:24:35.685 - in the clerk's office with the election supervisor that Councilor Deckard mentioned earlier. And we 01:24:35.685 --> 01:24:42.110 - also did it with a health department. There was a position in the health department 01:24:42.338 --> 01:24:55.444 - where you went above what was asked. We have the Public Health Preparedness Director, I believe. I have 01:24:55.444 --> 01:25:08.298 - it as a Pat B. It was moved as a Pat D. And then, let's see, I believe it was the GIS coordinator. So 01:25:08.298 --> 01:25:11.070 - you have, over since, 01:25:11.234 --> 01:25:20.458 - Since 2021, you have deviated from that classification with certain departments. It's totally a fiscal 01:25:20.458 --> 01:25:29.592 - decision. If you want to move forward with that tonight, please note that we did not budget that way. 01:25:29.592 --> 01:25:38.815 - If you do move forward with that, the department would have to come back for additional appropriations 01:25:38.815 --> 01:25:41.054 - in the next budget year. 01:25:41.410 --> 01:25:48.795 - but that is totally, it's a fiscal thing. Mr. Cockrell. Yeah, and then I just, I guess I heard the question 01:25:48.795 --> 01:25:55.770 - a little differently and so I want to make sure I answer it the way I heard it. I heard it is if the, 01:25:55.770 --> 01:26:02.745 - where you want to put the compensation doesn't fall nicely within our very formulaic grid system with 01:26:02.745 --> 01:26:07.326 - the EXE-2s or things like that, we've never really within an EXE-2 01:26:07.938 --> 01:26:14.644 - change said, this EXC2 makes this amount after so many years as opposed to, we haven't played within 01:26:14.644 --> 01:26:21.284 - that EX. Typically what we do is, and I think the last example of Mr. Bateman's position in the GIS 01:26:21.284 --> 01:26:28.322 - is we would make those special occupations, right? That's kind of how we've resolved those issues without 01:26:28.322 --> 01:26:32.638 - really foiling the entire formulaic aspect of our salary system. 01:26:33.218 --> 01:26:39.490 - Great, thank you. And I do want to kind of pull this back. This has gotten a little academic, which 01:26:39.490 --> 01:26:45.825 - I think is important to have, because it's a fiscal issue. But I was wondering, Ms. Jelen, there's a 01:26:45.825 --> 01:26:52.347 - memo dated August the 19th where the Monroe County Planning Commission Executive Committee went through 01:26:52.347 --> 01:26:58.933 - and made some proposals on what council could do. And I think that might be a good place for us to start 01:26:58.933 --> 01:27:01.630 - if you could walk us through that proposed 01:27:01.730 --> 01:27:09.462 - grid that the planned commission executive committee came up with. And Michelle, do you have that available 01:27:09.462 --> 01:27:16.622 - to share on the screen? Is that basically part of the packet? I can pull up the page number. Sorry. 01:27:16.622 --> 01:27:23.925 - One second. Yeah, that's it right there. 124. 124 in the packet. And so before we start talking about 01:27:23.925 --> 01:27:29.438 - permutations and different roads, let's talk about what we're talking about. 01:27:33.954 --> 01:27:42.924 - Do you want me to share my screen? You can or I can, it doesn't matter. If you can share it so your 01:27:42.924 --> 01:27:51.984 - own team. Okay, I'll do it. To be specific about the existing salaries and then the proposed grid, I 01:27:51.984 --> 01:28:00.955 - will note that the existing salaries are based on the date of this letter, so they're 2026 salaries 01:28:00.955 --> 01:28:03.646 - without the 2027 COLA account 01:28:03.778 --> 01:28:18.302 - accounted for. So on page 124 of the packet, the first item is planning director, existing salary here, $101,863. 01:28:18.402 --> 01:28:28.889 - Next to that is a proposed grid which would change it from an EXEB to a special occupation and in parentheses 01:28:28.889 --> 01:28:38.709 - the number that we would suggest was $114,026 and that asterisk at the bottom is regarding a match for 01:28:38.709 --> 01:28:41.950 - the highway director salary which 01:28:42.050 --> 01:28:51.172 - the executive committee agreed was kind of a comparable match for the department. And then on the right 01:28:51.172 --> 01:29:00.031 - hand side is the city of Bloomington salaries that were posted. So their director position was $133, 01:29:00.031 --> 01:29:09.854 - $284. So it goes along each row. So then assistant planning director EXEA, and that would be switching to EXEB. 01:29:10.050 --> 01:29:19.680 - we did note that because of the current assistant directors years of service it will be 14 years actually 01:29:19.680 --> 01:29:29.129 - next month so we are grateful for that tenure but that's why that number looks a little bit larger than 01:29:29.129 --> 01:29:34.398 - maybe a typical base pay EXEB and then again that's still 01:29:34.658 --> 01:29:41.301 - In line with what the city of Bloomington is paying their assistant director and then senior planner 01:29:41.301 --> 01:29:48.338 - I noted in the packet it just for clarity. It is currently a pat D as in dog And we are looking to propose 01:29:48.338 --> 01:29:55.243 - that one up which would be ex e a so that would be going from seventy three thousand eight hundred sixty 01:29:55.243 --> 01:30:01.886 - six dollars to eighty six thousand dollars ninety two cents and a comparable position at the city of 01:30:02.018 --> 01:30:11.387 - $98,257 so we're still well under what the city is paying for that similar position and then we have 01:30:11.387 --> 01:30:21.406 - three planner twos and they're currently at Pat C which is $64,780. We'd be asking that that move up to Pat 01:30:21.506 --> 01:30:31.635 - $60, which is $75,172. And looking at what the city is able to offer, $82,081. And again, this is 2026 01:30:31.635 --> 01:30:41.863 - numbers, not factoring in 2027 numbers. And then zoning inspector, currently a Pat B at $63,856. Moving 01:30:41.863 --> 01:30:50.910 - that to Pat C, which would be $66,810. Across the line, that's still lower than the city's. 01:30:51.042 --> 01:30:59.743 - And then senior zoning inspector proposed new position, which was just approved as a pat see in line 01:30:59.743 --> 01:31:08.444 - with this proposed grid. We were seeing that as a pat D position similar to planner to level of pay. 01:31:08.444 --> 01:31:10.942 - So that would be $75,172 and 01:31:11.042 --> 01:31:19.595 - the city's current senior zoning compliance managers at $90,169. And then we were making no change to 01:31:19.595 --> 01:31:28.064 - the office manager position, but I put that in there as a note of, you know, it's still a difference 01:31:28.064 --> 01:31:36.534 - there. So I also I worked with Jackie with regards to where these amounts would be for the 2027. And 01:31:36.534 --> 01:31:40.894 - then what I have on the screen is the fiscal impact 01:31:41.250 --> 01:31:50.933 - of showing where you just approved every all of the descriptions. So the WISC current classification, 01:31:50.933 --> 01:32:00.617 - which includes that senior zoning, this is at the twenty twenty seven amounts. And so you can see the 01:32:00.617 --> 01:32:10.110 - XCB, the SO and then the hourly difference at the end there on the screen. So. Thank you, Michelle. 01:32:10.658 --> 01:32:17.092 - Council, do you have any questions? Yes, Councilmember Pytel. So in looking at what was in the packet 01:32:17.092 --> 01:32:23.463 - where you're comparing the city of Bloomington salaries, you had mentioned some of these would be at 01:32:23.463 --> 01:32:29.897 - the county level would be based on longevity or whatever the step system is. And so I wondered if any 01:32:29.897 --> 01:32:35.070 - of those in the city comparable positions included that distinction, do you know? 01:32:35.938 --> 01:32:43.296 - Yeah, so I have the source there for the city Bloomington salaries and I actually did not utilize like 01:32:43.296 --> 01:32:50.869 - the personnel level of salaries. I actually went in to their grid and only use the three year comparison. 01:32:50.869 --> 01:32:56.798 - So those are at the three year level. And I'll say for our whole office, everyone, 01:32:56.898 --> 01:33:02.477 - is almost at the three-year level, except for the two, well, even the one new hire was a transfer. So 01:33:02.477 --> 01:33:08.056 - I think we're almost all at the three-year level, to be honest. Thank you. I just wanted to know what 01:33:08.056 --> 01:33:13.526 - that part compares to. Thank you. That's a good clarification. I'm sorry. Thank you, Mr. Henry. And 01:33:13.526 --> 01:33:19.050 - just for clarity for the public and everybody. So as I look at the two grids that Michelle, you just 01:33:19.050 --> 01:33:24.738 - put up and you added some numbers there. So the Delta, the difference between current class and request 01:33:24.738 --> 01:33:26.270 - classes, that's the 85,000. 01:33:26.562 --> 01:33:34.325 - 133. I mean, that's what we're really talking about, the difference among the... Yes. I just want to 01:33:34.325 --> 01:33:42.164 - air that. What we're talking about here is not, you know, hundreds of thousands, right? We're looking 01:33:42.164 --> 01:33:50.235 - at $85,000 Delta. For the whole year for all of those positions. That's what I'm asking to be very clear 01:33:50.235 --> 01:33:54.462 - about with that. Yes. This is for 2027. This is the... 01:33:54.658 --> 01:34:00.158 - This is the amount that it would cost to increase, which includes the FICA and the perf would be eight 01:34:00.158 --> 01:34:05.550 - five thousand one thirty three. But it would not include the two percent. Is that right? No, the two 01:34:05.550 --> 01:34:11.157 - percent is in there. OK, yes, because I'm using the twenty twenty seven salary grants. OK, great. Thanks 01:34:11.157 --> 01:34:16.656 - for clarifying. Well, we don't have any council member hands raised. I didn't want to cut you off. Did 01:34:16.656 --> 01:34:19.486 - you say everything that you needed to say, Ms. John? 01:34:20.322 --> 01:34:26.710 - I just wanted to say thank you to Kim Schell and Aubrey and others. They've been extremely helpful through 01:34:26.710 --> 01:34:32.800 - this process. So without PAC, I think Kim is doing great work, and I really appreciate her helping us 01:34:32.800 --> 01:34:39.129 - through. You see my concern is that a whole committee now rests on those shoulders. It is, yes. So that's 01:34:39.129 --> 01:34:45.278 - even more heartburn. I'm just full of heartburn tonight. Is there any other comments or questions from 01:34:45.278 --> 01:34:50.174 - council? I would just say it's four members here. It's basically PAC, but no one. 01:34:51.266 --> 01:34:58.566 - I do want to say something. We get lost sometimes in these numbers talking about inflation or and I 01:34:58.566 --> 01:35:06.157 - think I really appreciate Director Jelen bringing it back to people and the struggles that people have, 01:35:06.157 --> 01:35:13.968 - the real life struggles people have. And I don't want to lose the fact that this county is deeply grateful 01:35:13.968 --> 01:35:20.830 - to you for doing all the work that you do. We would not have the level of the quality of life 01:35:21.090 --> 01:35:28.417 - if it weren't for you. And I know that gets lost in whether or not we're gonna give you a raise or not. 01:35:28.417 --> 01:35:35.462 - So it's really important that that be said publicly. All right, council, nothing else on the fiscal 01:35:35.462 --> 01:35:42.507 - side? Mr. Deckert. I just have a point of information request. This might go to council on this. We 01:35:42.507 --> 01:35:50.398 - have not really talked about this much, but for our voting tonight, because we're down to the fat four up here, 01:35:50.818 --> 01:35:58.131 - The other three are gray. Fab four, is a majority vote three as or? I think with an ordinance, you have 01:35:58.131 --> 01:36:05.514 - to have a majority of the body. All right. I wanted to make sure of that because it's been a while since 01:36:05.514 --> 01:36:12.967 - we were down like at this level. So it's the four horsemen stick together or something comes back, right? 01:36:12.967 --> 01:36:20.350 - Or it comes back to your next meeting, right? Thank you. That's all. I'm not saying anything about this. 01:36:20.450 --> 01:36:30.006 - but we're well into the night. All right. Public comment time. If you have any public comment about 01:36:30.006 --> 01:36:39.658 - this impact of inflation on employee salaries, please come forward to the mic and raise your hand on 01:36:39.658 --> 01:36:49.406 - teams. Seeing none, may we please have a roll call vote? Councilor Henry? Yes. Councilor Decker? Yes. 01:36:50.498 --> 01:36:59.255 - Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. All right. Thank you, planning 01:36:59.255 --> 01:37:07.926 - department. Thank you for all the work you put into this. Thank you. All right. We are going to take 01:37:07.926 --> 01:37:16.254 - a 10 minutes break here, stretch our legs, and we'll be back at 6.51 PM. We are back from break. 01:37:17.186 --> 01:37:25.822 - Thank you all for joining us in this County Council. We're going to resume on our agenda, which you 01:37:25.822 --> 01:37:34.976 - can find on our websites with letter K. Council, I move to approve the court's request and fund 1000-0225 01:37:34.976 --> 01:37:44.044 - County General Courts for a category transfer of $131,036.69 from the personnel category to the services 01:37:44.044 --> 01:37:45.598 - category. Second. 01:37:45.730 --> 01:37:51.289 - We have a motion and a second with us as courts administrator, Jamie Chandler. What do we need to know? 01:37:51.289 --> 01:37:56.955 - So I just want to let everybody know that due to upcoming invoices that we're anticipating for our proper 01:37:56.955 --> 01:38:02.300 - council line, we've requested one hundred and thirty one thousand thirty six dollars and sixty nine 01:38:02.300 --> 01:38:07.912 - cents to be transferred there so we can cover those costs. All right. Council, do you have any questions 01:38:07.912 --> 01:38:13.150 - about this transfer? Seeing none, do we have any public comments on this transfer for the courts? 01:38:13.698 --> 01:38:20.979 - Seeing none, may we please have a roll call vote? This category transfer, you can do a voice call. All 01:38:20.979 --> 01:38:28.260 - those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed? The ayes have it unanimously. All right, let's 01:38:28.260 --> 01:38:35.682 - go on to letter L. Council, I move to approve the court's request in fund 1213-0000 GAL slash CASA grant 01:38:35.682 --> 01:38:41.054 - for an additional appropriation of $1,500 in the services category. Second. 01:38:41.314 --> 01:38:47.193 - We have a motion and a second. What do we need to know here, Ms. Chandler? This is just like when we 01:38:47.193 --> 01:38:53.072 - were here in June, CASA received another $1,500. It's a pass-through grant. So we just ask that that 01:38:53.072 --> 01:38:59.068 - be appropriated. And I believe the funds are already there. OK, great. The auditor said yes, the funds 01:38:59.068 --> 01:39:05.006 - are there. So council, do you have any questions about this? The council does not have any questions. 01:39:05.006 --> 01:39:09.022 - Is there any public comments here in the NatU Hill Room or on Teams? 01:39:10.082 --> 01:39:19.318 - All right, may we please have a roll call vote. Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Councilor 01:39:19.318 --> 01:39:28.288 - Henry? Yes. Councilor Decker? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. All right, and the last court's item, M. 01:39:28.288 --> 01:39:34.238 - Council, I move to approve the court's request and fund 4018-0000. 01:39:34.402 --> 01:39:40.751 - the court interpreters grant for an additional appropriation of $23,000 in the services category. Second. 01:39:40.751 --> 01:39:46.920 - We have a motion and a second. What do we need to know here? The court supplied for an emergency grant 01:39:46.920 --> 01:39:52.610 - and we received an additional funding in the amount of $23,000. So we're just asking that that 01:39:52.610 --> 01:39:58.360 - be appropriated as it's a reimbursable grant. Do you have any questions or comments about this? 01:39:58.360 --> 01:40:02.014 - Congratulations. Are there any public comments or questions? 01:40:02.402 --> 01:40:12.522 - seeing none may we please have a roll call vote councilor fiddle yes councilor henry yes councilor decker 01:40:12.522 --> 01:40:22.356 - yes councilor iverson yes motion passes unanimous thank you you're welcome have a good night thank you 01:40:22.356 --> 01:40:26.270 - all right let's move on to item letter n 01:40:26.370 --> 01:40:37.354 - Council. I will be combining items in and zero, not zero, and O into one motion. Sorry. I move to approve 01:40:37.354 --> 01:40:42.846 - the Highway Department's request and fund 8168-0000. 01:40:43.522 --> 01:40:50.768 - twenty twenty two twenty through twenty twenty five bridge inspection grant for a de appropriation of 01:40:50.768 --> 01:40:58.299 - thirty one thousand five hundred five dollars and eight cents in the services category and simultaneously 01:40:58.299 --> 01:41:05.545 - approve a fund to fund transfer. Of cash of sixteen thousand five hundred and eighty five dollars and 01:41:05.545 --> 01:41:12.862 - sixteen cents from fund eight one six eight dash zero zero zero zero. Twenty twenty two through twenty 01:41:13.122 --> 01:41:20.634 - 1135-0000, cumulative bridge. Second. We have a motion. We have a motion and a second with us, our highway 01:41:20.634 --> 01:41:27.795 - director, Lisa Ridge. What do we need to know here? Good evening. So I'm just trying to clean up some 01:41:27.795 --> 01:41:35.026 - grant work to be able to close these out. As you can see, that phase was 2022 to 2025. We've completed 01:41:35.026 --> 01:41:42.398 - that four-year cycle. So it's just bringing everything to a zero balance. All right. Thank you, counsel. 01:41:42.530 --> 01:41:51.878 - Any comments or questions on this housekeeping item? Seeing none, do we have any public comments on 01:41:51.878 --> 01:42:01.227 - this highway department item? All right, may we please have a roll call vote? Councilor Henry? Yes. 01:42:01.227 --> 01:42:10.014 - Councilor Decker? Yes. Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. 01:42:10.338 --> 01:42:22.147 - All right, that brings us to letter P. Council, I move to approve the Highway Department's request for 01:42:22.147 --> 01:42:33.726 - a fund-to-fund transfer of cash of $236,992.46 from Fund 1171-0000 County Major Branch to Fund 8169. 01:42:33.858 --> 01:42:40.009 - dash zero zero zero zero Fullerton Pike grant. Second. We have a motion and a second. Ms. Ridge, what 01:42:40.009 --> 01:42:46.100 - do we need to know here? Again, this is just trying to bring the grant to zero balance at this time. 01:42:46.100 --> 01:42:52.372 - In our recollection, when we were setting up these grants back in phase two, phase three, both of those 01:42:52.372 --> 01:42:58.463 - phases have a bridge over the 200 feet length of using county major bridge. So this is to carry over 01:42:58.463 --> 01:43:00.574 - the remainder of our county match. 01:43:01.410 --> 01:43:07.496 - All right, thank you very much. Council, do you have any comments or questions about this? All right, 01:43:07.496 --> 01:43:13.581 - seeing none, let's go to the public. Does the public have any comments or questions? Seeing none, may 01:43:13.581 --> 01:43:19.667 - we please have a roll call vote? Councilor Decker? Yes. Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. 01:43:19.667 --> 01:43:24.798 - Councilor Henry? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. All right, that brings us to letter Q. 01:43:25.378 --> 01:43:31.746 - council I move to approve the highway department's request for a fund to fund transfer of cash of two 01:43:31.746 --> 01:43:38.239 - thousand four hundred twenty one dollars and fifty four cents from fund one one six nine dash zero zero 01:43:38.239 --> 01:43:44.982 - zero zero local road and street to fund. Eight one seven three dash zero zero zero zero pedestrian crossing 01:43:44.982 --> 01:43:51.475 - improvement grant second we have a motion a second what we need to know here is rich. This is basically 01:43:51.475 --> 01:43:54.846 - the same thing I'm transferring I'm part of our match 01:43:54.946 --> 01:44:02.326 - from the Local Road and Street Fund into the pedestrian crossing improvement to get it out of a negative 01:44:02.326 --> 01:44:09.565 - balance. All right. Council, do you have any questions about pedestrian crossing? Seeing none, public. 01:44:09.565 --> 01:44:16.874 - Are there any comments here in the Natt U Hill room or on Teams about pedestrian crossing? Seeing none, 01:44:16.874 --> 01:44:24.254 - may we please have a roll call vote? Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Councilor Henry? Yes. 01:44:24.610 --> 01:44:32.599 - Councilor Decker? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. And the final highway department is letter R. Council 01:44:32.599 --> 01:44:40.588 - I move to approve the Highway Department's request and fund 8162-0000 sample road phase two grant for 01:44:40.588 --> 01:44:48.969 - a deappropriation of $67,885.85 in the services category. Second. All right we have a motion and a second. 01:44:48.969 --> 01:44:51.710 - Ms. Ridge what do we need to know? 01:44:51.906 --> 01:44:59.119 - and we are just de-appropriating this line due to that part of the project being complete. All right, 01:44:59.119 --> 01:45:06.262 - thank you very much. Council, do you have any comments or questions on this item? Seeing none, we'll 01:45:06.262 --> 01:45:13.617 - go to the public. If you have any comments or questions, please raise your hand to come forward in that 01:45:13.617 --> 01:45:20.830 - U Hill Room. Seeing none, may we please have a roll call vote? Councilor Feidl? Yes. Councilor Henry? 01:45:22.114 --> 01:45:30.656 - Councilor Deckard? Yes. Councilor Iverson? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. Thank you, Ms. Ridge. Have 01:45:30.656 --> 01:45:39.199 - a good night. All right, that brings us to the aviation department and letter S. Council, I move to 01:45:39.199 --> 01:45:47.826 - approve the aviation department's request and fund 4801-0000 aviation construction to create account 01:45:47.826 --> 01:45:48.766 - line 40016 01:45:48.898 --> 01:45:57.665 - to 1926 aviation storm repair, and simultaneously approve an additional appropriation of $25,000 in 01:45:57.665 --> 01:46:06.695 - the capital category. Second. We have a motion and a second, and we're joined by the airport director, 01:46:06.695 --> 01:46:15.637 - Carlos Laverty, who's on Teams. His role is being changed online, and Mr. Laverty, you should be able 01:46:15.637 --> 01:46:17.566 - to unmute. Greetings. 01:46:17.730 --> 01:46:23.861 - Greetings, you're coming through loud and clear. What do we need to know about aviation construction? 01:46:23.861 --> 01:46:29.872 - Okay, the department's requesting an appropriation of $25,000 from the construction fund to support 01:46:29.872 --> 01:46:36.304 - the construction of a new building to replace two of our outbuildings that were demolished by the February 01:46:36.304 --> 01:46:42.435 - 19th tornado. We expect insurance funds to support this construction. This $25,000 is to get the ball 01:46:42.435 --> 01:46:43.998 - rolling with engineering. 01:46:44.386 --> 01:46:51.833 - with with a we have a contractor who's ready to engineer this new building it'll be combining instead 01:46:51.833 --> 01:46:59.352 - of having two outbuildings it's going to be combining them into one newer building that will house all 01:46:59.352 --> 01:47:06.872 - of our our maintenance equipment sounds wonderful council do you have any comments about a maintenance 01:47:06.872 --> 01:47:08.478 - building all right we 01:47:08.834 --> 01:47:15.502 - Don't have any comments here, so let's go to the public. If you have any public comment, please raise 01:47:15.502 --> 01:47:22.301 - your hand on teams or come forward in the Natt U Hill room. Seeing none, may we please have a roll call 01:47:22.301 --> 01:47:29.100 - vote? Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Councilor Henry? Yes. Councilor Decker? Yes. Motion 01:47:29.100 --> 01:47:36.291 - passes unanimous. All right, that brings us to letter T. Council, I move to approve the aviation department's 01:47:36.291 --> 01:47:37.598 - request in fund 11. 01:47:37.730 --> 01:47:43.918 - zero seven dash zero zero zero zero aviation for a category transfer of twenty six thousand five hundred 01:47:43.918 --> 01:47:49.811 - dollars from the services category to the capital category second. All right we've got a motion and 01:47:49.811 --> 01:47:55.704 - a second Mr. Leverty tell us what's going on here. We're requesting the approval of the transfer of 01:47:55.704 --> 01:48:01.774 - twenty six thousand five hundred dollars with the airport's existing budget to purchase a forklift for 01:48:01.774 --> 01:48:03.070 - the maintenance shop. 01:48:03.490 --> 01:48:10.952 - Forklift will support maintenance operations in various ways. The airport has never owned a forklift. 01:48:10.952 --> 01:48:18.487 - We've always borrowed one from one of the FBOs on airport property. Their forklift has bitten the dust 01:48:18.487 --> 01:48:26.315 - and they don't intend to replace it themselves. And this will give us our own ability to unload deliveries 01:48:26.315 --> 01:48:32.094 - ourselves. Alright, does anybody have any questions about this uplifting item? 01:48:33.026 --> 01:48:41.793 - All right. No takers, Mr. Lavine. Let's go to the public. Any public comment? Please raise your hand 01:48:41.793 --> 01:48:50.734 - here in teams or come to the podium here in the NETU Hill Room. Seeing none, may we please have a roll 01:48:50.734 --> 01:48:59.588 - call vote. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Councilor Henry? Yes. Councilor Decker? Yes. Councilor Iverson? Yes. 01:48:59.588 --> 01:49:01.758 - Motion passes unanimous. 01:49:02.658 --> 01:49:11.638 - All right, there's quite a few aviation items and we're on to letter U. Council, I move to approve the 01:49:11.638 --> 01:49:20.356 - aviation department's request to fund 4802, excuse me, request in fund 4802-0000 aviation buildings 01:49:20.356 --> 01:49:29.075 - to create line 30006 contractual services and simultaneously approve an additional appropriation of 01:49:29.075 --> 01:49:32.126 - $150,000 in the services category. 01:49:32.738 --> 01:49:39.533 - second all right we've got a motion and a second mr. Laverde what do we know about contractual services 01:49:39.533 --> 01:49:46.263 - I believe we are pulling this item from the agenda are we not mr. Cockrell I believe when we discussed 01:49:46.263 --> 01:49:53.255 - it earlier that you had to ask the scene if this could be continued I didn't know if that got communicated 01:49:53.255 --> 01:49:57.502 - to the council staff or not okay should we move this to our next 01:49:57.922 --> 01:50:04.688 - meeting or to make the intent is to try to get this out of a different fund so they would have to be 01:50:04.688 --> 01:50:11.454 - re advertised either way. So I don't I think we can just pull it and just move on. All right. So I'd 01:50:11.454 --> 01:50:18.487 - like to withdraw my motion. All right. Sorry that didn't get that in time. No, it's okay. We are experts 01:50:18.487 --> 01:50:25.186 - in all things meetings. So we have withdrawn the motion and it's been consented. That means that we 01:50:25.186 --> 01:50:26.526 - are on to letter V. 01:50:27.778 --> 01:50:39.250 - and W. That's correct. Council, I would be combining items V and W into one motion. I move to approve 01:50:39.250 --> 01:50:50.497 - the aviation department's request of a fund to fund transfer of cash of $3,948 from fund 4820-0000. 01:50:50.497 --> 01:50:57.470 - 2025 GEO bond capital projects to fund 8960-0000. AIP project 01:50:57.730 --> 01:51:05.306 - number 40 number 047 grant and simultaneously and fund 8 9 6 0 dash 0 0 0 0 create account lines as 01:51:05.306 --> 01:51:13.337 - outlined on the agenda with an additional appropriation of one hundred fifty seven thousand eight hundred 01:51:13.337 --> 01:51:21.216 - ninety five dollars in the services category second all right we have a motion and a second mr. Laverty 01:51:21.216 --> 01:51:23.262 - tell us about tower design 01:51:24.610 --> 01:51:32.884 - The Monroe County Airport has been awarded an FAA grant of $150,000 for the Reconstruct FAA Contract 01:51:32.884 --> 01:51:41.077 - Power Design Phase II project. This grant requires matching contributions from both state and local 01:51:41.077 --> 01:51:49.351 - sources. With the breakdown as follows, FAA provides $150,000. The state contributes $3,947, and the 01:51:49.351 --> 01:51:54.430 - local match is $3,948, which will come from the 2025 GO Bond. 01:51:57.602 --> 01:52:07.358 - All right, and we combined items V and W. So could you also tell us about the AIP project, the new lines 01:52:07.358 --> 01:52:17.206 - there? You're on mute, I think, Carlos. Sorry about that. I don't know how that happened when I'm holding 01:52:17.206 --> 01:52:26.590 - a piece of paper in my hand, but yes. Yeah, that was strange. My hand was nowhere near the, anyways, 01:52:26.786 --> 01:52:37.849 - Line 3006 contractual services, that will be the new account line with 150,000 from the FAA. The 381 01:52:37.849 --> 01:52:49.132 - will be the county match line, $3,947. And 3,300, sorry, 82 will be where the state match will go into 01:52:49.132 --> 01:52:51.870 - for a total of $157,895. 01:52:53.378 --> 01:52:59.545 - Great, thank you so much, Mr. Laverty. Council, do you have any questions about this? Mr. Deckard. I 01:52:59.545 --> 01:53:05.835 - just want to compliment the Mr. Laverty and our friends at the airport and the airport board for going 01:53:05.835 --> 01:53:12.063 - after a federal grant, bringing that home. These are dollars that would otherwise not be here. And as 01:53:12.063 --> 01:53:17.681 - you look at that match ratio, both us and the state are getting a really good deal on that. 01:53:17.681 --> 01:53:21.406 - So thank you for, and they don't just fly out for no reason. 01:53:21.506 --> 01:53:28.993 - No pun intended. Thank you very much for all that work to bring that in there and all the work at the 01:53:28.993 --> 01:53:36.333 - airport continuously. Thank you very much. I will say too. I can wait after this item, but I won't. 01:53:36.333 --> 01:53:43.673 - So this is for the design phase. The the notice of funding opportunity has opened up for the actual 01:53:43.673 --> 01:53:48.958 - construction phase, which would cost us about $3.4 million, which would 01:53:49.058 --> 01:53:56.728 - I think it's 95. I think it's 100% funded by the FAA. We submitted that application on Monday and I'm 01:53:56.728 --> 01:54:04.323 - working really hard right now on advocating to our federal elected representatives and I'm utilizing 01:54:04.323 --> 01:54:11.993 - some resources in the community to leverage their DC lobbying teams to help us with the Department of 01:54:11.993 --> 01:54:18.686 - Transportation to secure funding for the refurbishment of our 50 year old control tower. 01:54:19.618 --> 01:54:26.318 - very exciting. Mr. Cocker I believe you have something you want to say. I just and this is a very minor 01:54:26.318 --> 01:54:32.824 - technical thing the state match should end in the seven and the county match should end in the eight 01:54:32.824 --> 01:54:39.588 - dollars they just got flipped around but we are transferring out three thousand nine hundred forty eight 01:54:39.588 --> 01:54:46.159 - dollars is the county match so that should be reflected there. Thank you that's a very good catch the 01:54:46.159 --> 01:54:48.478 - state the state will not be the one 01:54:48.674 --> 01:54:57.291 - overpaying us, that we always have to give that extra little bit. All right. Do we need to make an amendment 01:54:57.291 --> 01:55:05.513 - for a minor Scrivener's error? I think the corrections in the minutes now are on the record, so I think 01:55:05.513 --> 01:55:13.815 - you're good. And the total is the same. Ms. Mote. We also don't need to re-advertise or anything because 01:55:13.815 --> 01:55:18.558 - we advertised with a cushion, so everything should be good. 01:55:18.818 --> 01:55:25.327 - for the state. Great point, experts all around. All right, council, do you have any questions about 01:55:25.327 --> 01:55:31.967 - this federal grant? Mr. Laverty, good luck on the next phase. We're pulling for you. All right, we're 01:55:31.967 --> 01:55:38.541 - looking to the public. If you have any public comments on this federal grant, please raise your hand 01:55:38.541 --> 01:55:45.246 - on teams or come forward here in the NatU Hill Room. Seeing none, may we please have a roll call vote? 01:55:50.530 --> 01:56:00.189 - Councilor Henry? Yes. Councilor Deckard? Yes. Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Motion passes 01:56:00.189 --> 01:56:09.393 - unanimous. That brings us to letter X. I'm combining X and Y. Council, I'll be combining items X and 01:56:09.393 --> 01:56:18.688 - Y into one motion. I move to approve the aviation department's request for a fund to fund transfer of 01:56:18.688 --> 01:56:20.510 - cash of $14,131.98. 01:56:20.642 --> 01:56:33.318 - From fund 4801-0000 aviation construction to 8961-0000 AIG project number 048 grant and simultaneously 01:56:33.318 --> 01:56:45.871 - create new account lines as outlined on the agenda with an additional appropriation of $565,278.95 in 01:56:45.871 --> 01:56:48.702 - the services category. 01:56:50.338 --> 01:56:58.012 - We have a motion and a second. Mr. Loverty, can you tell us what's going on with this grant and the 01:56:58.012 --> 01:57:05.839 - new lines? Monroe County Airport has been awarded an FAA grant of $537,000. $537,015 for rehabilitate 01:57:05.839 --> 01:57:13.820 - Runway 624 pavement design phase one and reconstruct Runway 624 lighting design phase one project. This 01:57:13.820 --> 01:57:19.038 - grant requires matching contributions from both the state and local 01:57:19.426 --> 01:57:33.977 - With the breakdown as follows, FAA provides $537,015. The state contributes $14,131.97. And the local 01:57:33.977 --> 01:57:48.670 - match is $14,131.98. All right. And the lines? Yeah, and then the lines in AIG project number 0488961, 01:57:49.378 --> 01:58:04.457 - dash 000 line 3006 contractual services that's where the FAA funds would be deposited $537,015 line 01:58:04.457 --> 01:58:18.782 - 381 contractual county match for $14,131.97 and 382 contractual state match for $14,131.98 and 01:58:19.938 --> 01:58:28.379 - Are those flipped as well? Yes, they are. Alright. Thank you, Mr. Library Council. Do you have any questions 01:58:28.379 --> 01:58:36.354 - on these correct numbers? Congratulations again on winning a grant and bring it home to Monroe County. 01:58:36.354 --> 01:58:44.563 - Yeah, this would. This is the design phase of the rehabilitation project of our smaller crosswind runway, 01:58:44.563 --> 01:58:49.054 - which hasn't had a rehab or reconstruct in over 40 years. 01:58:49.634 --> 01:58:59.404 - That's great. Any grants in the future for a terminal? We're working on it every single day. I'm pulling 01:58:59.404 --> 01:59:09.174 - for you, man. All right. Do we have any public comment? Please come forward in the NatU Hill room. Raise 01:59:09.174 --> 01:59:18.014 - your hand on Teams. Seeing none, may we please have a roll call vote? Councillor Deckard. Yes. 01:59:18.370 --> 01:59:27.148 - Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Councilor Henry? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. All right. 01:59:27.148 --> 01:59:35.588 - Thank you, Mr. Leverty. Thank you very much. All right. That brings us to letter Z. Council, I move 01:59:35.588 --> 01:59:44.535 - to open for discussion and possible approval of the sheriff's request to be exempt from the hiring freeze 01:59:44.535 --> 01:59:47.742 - and be allowed to hire fund 1000-0005 01:59:48.066 --> 01:59:54.678 - County General Sheriff, one full-time administrative coordinator. Second. We have a motion and a second. 01:59:54.678 --> 02:00:01.102 - And joining us again is Commander Gibbons with our financial manager, Jamie Janke. So what do we have 02:00:01.102 --> 02:00:07.714 - here before us? We have an opening in our front office, one of our administrative coordinator positions. 02:00:07.714 --> 02:00:14.263 - This person handles all of the civil process, along with as a backup for the body cameras and our false 02:00:14.263 --> 02:00:17.790 - alarms. So we really need to have this position filled. 02:00:19.362 --> 02:00:25.842 - While right now we are having the other staff members help with the tasks, it's still burdensome on 02:00:25.842 --> 02:00:32.517 - the office because we have a very small group of people. All right. Council, do you have any questions 02:00:32.517 --> 02:00:39.321 - about this administrative coordinator? Mr. Deckard. I only have one question. Why wouldn't we have heard 02:00:39.321 --> 02:00:45.996 - this when we did the hiring? We lump everything together. That way the department doesn't have to come 02:00:45.996 --> 02:00:47.486 - up like several times. 02:00:48.194 --> 02:00:54.763 - All right. I'm sorry for asking that. Thank you. You don't have to apologize. I'm sure other people 02:00:54.763 --> 02:01:01.660 - have that same question. All right. Mr. No. All right. Let's go to the public. If you have any questions 02:01:01.660 --> 02:01:08.228 - about this, please raise your hand on teams or come forward in the net. You Hill room. Seeing none, 02:01:08.228 --> 02:01:14.797 - may we please have a roll call vote. Councilor Fiddle. Yes. Councilor Henry. Yes. Councilor Decker. 02:01:14.797 --> 02:01:16.702 - Yes. Councilor Iverson. Yes. 02:01:17.026 --> 02:01:24.484 - Motion passes unanimous. All right, that leads us to letter AA. Council, I move to open for discussion 02:01:24.484 --> 02:01:31.797 - and possible approval of the sheriff's request to be exempt from the hiring freeze and be allowed to 02:01:31.797 --> 02:01:39.255 - hire and fund 1000-0626 County General Animal Control to full-time animal management officers. Second. 02:01:39.255 --> 02:01:44.830 - All right, we've got a motion and a second. What's going on here? So we have 02:01:45.090 --> 02:01:51.416 - openings one of the animal control officers is actually becoming a merit deputy and starts on Monday 02:01:51.416 --> 02:01:57.867 - so that position needs to be filled and the other one is leaving us for another department and we only 02:01:57.867 --> 02:02:04.319 - have we have three positions so two of them are going to be vacant these are the positions that go out 02:02:04.319 --> 02:02:11.146 - into the county when there's calls about any of the animal related incidents all right council any questions 02:02:11.146 --> 02:02:13.150 - about this animal control issue 02:02:14.498 --> 02:02:21.984 - Seeing none. Let's go to the public. If you have any public comment, please come to the podium in the 02:02:21.984 --> 02:02:29.911 - now you hear a rumor. Raise your hand on teams Seeing none, may we please have a roll call vote? Councillor 02:02:29.911 --> 02:02:37.911 - Henry. Yes. Councillor Decker. Yes. Councillor Iverson. Yes. Councillor Fiddle. Yes. Motion passes unanimous 02:02:37.911 --> 02:02:41.214 - All right, that leads us not to AB but to BB 02:02:41.954 --> 02:02:50.211 - Council I moved to approve the sheriff's request and fund 8 1, 4, 3 dash 0, 0, 0, 0, jag sheriff grant 02:02:50.211 --> 02:02:58.308 - to create a count line to 1, 1, 2, 4, safety supplies slash equipment and simultaneously appropriate 02:02:58.308 --> 02:03:06.485 - $3,093 in the supplies category. Second, we have a motion and a second. What do we need to know about 02:03:06.485 --> 02:03:10.814 - this Jag grant? Well, we were awarded a Jag grant for 02:03:11.106 --> 02:03:18.896 - $3,083. We bought a slow down speed sign. You'll see them, you know, along the side of the road. And 02:03:18.896 --> 02:03:26.686 - this is just, we got the grant, we've got the money, we've paid for everything. And this is just the 02:03:26.686 --> 02:03:34.708 - housekeeping for that. All right. Mr. Deckard. You'll have to answer it if you don't want to or to hand 02:03:34.708 --> 02:03:40.030 - it off. Sheriff, know any location where you might want to put this? 02:03:42.274 --> 02:03:50.114 - To my knowledge, I don't know. It's mobile, so we can move it wherever. Typically, that really comes 02:03:50.114 --> 02:03:57.877 - from the public. If there's numerous calls to come in about a certain area, we'll put it out there. 02:03:57.877 --> 02:04:05.640 - If there's complaints from high crime areas, we'll put just a presence out there like, hey, there's 02:04:05.640 --> 02:04:10.142 - law enforcement out here. We have our equipment out here. 02:04:10.338 --> 02:04:18.617 - So it just depends on how much volume of traffic we get. He and the sheriff and I had dealt with a mutual 02:04:18.617 --> 02:04:26.584 - constituent issue around some of that. So I'm glad to see him getting this. I've seen him before. Are 02:04:26.584 --> 02:04:34.238 - there some in place now of these signs, the slowdown speed trailer? Do you have any of those now? 02:04:35.618 --> 02:04:44.545 - We have another one, but I don't think that it's in place somewhere at the moment, but I'm not 100% 02:04:44.545 --> 02:04:53.561 - sure. Okay. All right, there you go. A good example of constituent services. All right, is there any 02:04:53.561 --> 02:05:02.576 - public comment on this item? Seeing none, may we please have a roll call vote? Councilor Feidl? Yes. 02:05:02.576 --> 02:05:04.094 - Councilor Henry? 02:05:04.834 --> 02:05:19.281 - Councillor Deckard? Yes. Councillor Iverson? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. All right let's move on to 02:05:19.281 --> 02:05:28.062 - CC. So I'll be combining CC and DD into one motion. I move to 02:05:28.450 --> 02:05:39.071 - Approve the sheriff's request and fund 8193-9627 MCI grant to create account lines as outlined on the 02:05:39.071 --> 02:05:50.317 - agenda. Approve an appropriation of $32,089.38 in the personnel category, $23,695 in the services category, 02:05:50.317 --> 02:05:57.086 - and $19,750 in the capital category for a total appropriation of 02:05:57.186 --> 02:06:11.606 - $75,534.38, and simultaneously approve a fund-to-fund transfer of cash of $15,106.88 from Fund 1000... 02:06:11.606 --> 02:06:25.886 - Let me make sure I got my zeros right, I'm sorry. 1000-0005 County General Sheriff to Fund 8193-0000, 02:06:26.114 --> 02:06:33.350 - M.C.I. Grant. Second. We have a motion and a second. What do we need to know about major crash investigation 02:06:33.350 --> 02:06:40.320 - teams? We were awarded a grant again this year. It's the same as last year. Just a little bit more money 02:06:40.320 --> 02:06:47.357 - in different lines, different categories. It's still a joint process. Our program with Ellitsville Police 02:06:47.357 --> 02:06:54.129 - Department. If there is a major crash, doesn't matter which jurisdiction, theirs or our jurisdiction, 02:06:54.129 --> 02:06:55.390 - they will respond. 02:06:56.546 --> 02:07:04.288 - and this is just a grant that helps fund that. It pays for the overtime and equipment and training. 02:07:04.288 --> 02:07:12.107 - Excellent. Council, any questions about this grant? This is wonderful. This is a real benefit to our 02:07:12.107 --> 02:07:19.849 - community. Yes, it is. Glad we got it again. All right. Is there any public comments on major crash 02:07:19.849 --> 02:07:26.430 - investigation teams? Seeing none. Yes, please, Ms. Mote. I just wanted to state that 02:07:26.786 --> 02:07:36.144 - the interlocal was approved by the commissioners, but the grant itself technically wasn't, but it's 02:07:36.144 --> 02:07:45.876 - going to be ratified at the 1029 commissioners meeting. Just so that's on. That is great clarification. 02:07:45.876 --> 02:07:56.638 - So, all right, let's go back to public comment. Seeing none, may we please have a roll call vote? Councilor Henry? 02:07:57.314 --> 02:08:08.102 - Councilor Decker? Yes. Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. All right, 02:08:08.102 --> 02:08:18.890 - that brings us to EE. Council, I move to approve the sheriff's request and fund 1000-0005 County General 02:08:18.890 --> 02:08:27.006 - Sheriff for a deappropriation of $26,375.63 in the personnel category. Second. 02:08:27.906 --> 02:08:37.023 - All right, we've got a motion and a second. What do we need to know? This just goes with the MCI grant. 02:08:37.023 --> 02:08:46.139 - Okay, great. It's pretty simple. It's a little shorter. Yeah. Right, is there public comment about this 02:08:46.139 --> 02:08:55.519 - depropriation? Seeing none, may we please have a roll call vote? Councilor Decker? Yes. Councilor Iverson? 02:08:55.519 --> 02:08:57.886 - Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. 02:08:58.818 --> 02:09:07.450 - Motion passes unanimous. All right, that brings us to FF. Council, I move to approve the sheriff's request 02:09:07.450 --> 02:09:15.678 - and fund 8103-0000. Operation Pullover for an additional appropriation of $11,268.75 in the personnel 02:09:15.678 --> 02:09:24.148 - category. Second. All right, what do we need to know about Operation Pullover? This is just housekeeping 02:09:24.148 --> 02:09:27.294 - for the ChIRP grant. We got our check. 02:09:29.474 --> 02:09:38.005 - All right. Council any questions? Overtime, it's just so important. It is. And the state's paying for 02:09:38.005 --> 02:09:46.452 - it, so. Let's have more of that. All right. Is there any public comments? Seeing none, may we please 02:09:46.452 --> 02:09:54.900 - have a roll call vote. Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Councilor Henry? Yes. Councilor 02:09:54.900 --> 02:09:58.078 - Decker? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. 02:09:59.810 --> 02:10:10.361 - for your patience, thank you for your service. That brings us to item GG on our agenda. Council, I move 02:10:10.361 --> 02:10:20.506 - to approve the board of commissioners request and fund 1138-0000 cumulative capital development for 02:10:20.506 --> 02:10:28.926 - a category transfer of $35,000 from the capital category to the services category. 02:10:29.442 --> 02:10:45.279 - Second. We have a motion and a second and we're joined online by Commissioner Administrator Angie Purdy. 02:10:45.279 --> 02:10:53.726 - Welcome. Ms. Purdy, you're on mute. We cannot hear you. 02:11:12.130 --> 02:11:27.692 - Ms. Purdy. All right, well, in, let's give it another couple seconds here, but we have multiple people 02:11:27.692 --> 02:11:42.046 - in this room that can present this item. Okay, I'm gonna mute it now. As soon as you stood up. 02:11:43.906 --> 02:11:52.524 - All right. Thank you. Welcome to the council meeting, Ms. Purdy. Thank you. I'm terribly sorry about 02:11:52.524 --> 02:12:01.312 - that. That's okay. Go ahead. As I say, this is just a request to do a category transfer to our service 02:12:01.312 --> 02:12:10.015 - maintenance and repair building ground line. At this point in time, we have $36,000 basically left in 02:12:10.015 --> 02:12:13.854 - that account. And this is just to hopefully, 02:12:14.018 --> 02:12:24.896 - avoid us having to come back for additional. All right, thank you, Ms. Purdy. Council, any questions? 02:12:24.896 --> 02:12:35.668 - Mr. Henry. Thank you, Mr. President. So what's going on in the account line that we need to move the 02:12:35.668 --> 02:12:42.814 - funds now? What maintenance is being done? As I stated, this is a, 02:12:43.746 --> 02:12:53.608 - Trying to avoid having a lack of funds for the remainder of the year. As I stated, we have only $36,000 02:12:53.608 --> 02:13:03.186 - basically left in this particular account. And so all I'm trying to do is ensure that we are able to 02:13:03.186 --> 02:13:10.014 - respond to expenses that are incurred to our buildings and our grounds. 02:13:10.338 --> 02:13:17.892 - And so I appreciate that, but are there anticipated uses right now? Like, is there a budget for what 02:13:17.892 --> 02:13:25.446 - the 35 or now 71,000 would do? I'm just kind of curious what we're buying. That's it. I can't answer 02:13:25.446 --> 02:13:33.000 - that particular question because we pay for things that may have already, that may have not been yet 02:13:33.000 --> 02:13:39.582 - submitted yet. And I just know that we need to be able to pay for the expenses incurred 02:13:39.714 --> 02:13:52.548 - for the upkeep of our buildings and grounds. All right, are there any other comments from council? Seeing 02:13:52.548 --> 02:14:04.414 - none, let's go to the public. Do you have any comments or questions about this category transfer? 02:14:06.722 --> 02:14:16.910 - Seeing none, may we please have a roll call vote? Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Councilor 02:14:16.910 --> 02:14:27.002 - Henry? Yes. Councilor Decker? Yes. Motion passes four to zero. All right that brings us to consideration 02:14:27.002 --> 02:14:30.846 - of the geo bond. Second reading for HH. 02:14:35.362 --> 02:14:46.001 - open for discussion and approval of Ordinance 2026-35, 2026 General Obligation Bond, and Ordinance 2026-36, 02:14:46.001 --> 02:14:56.049 - Appropriation Ordinance for the 2026 General Obligation Bond. Second. All right. We are joined by all 02:14:56.049 --> 02:15:02.846 - sorts of folks here. We have with us Commissioner, and we have, boy, 02:15:03.522 --> 02:15:13.459 - We have Commissioner Julie Thomas, we have Jeff Cockrell, and we have Angie Purdy. So who wants to lead 02:15:13.459 --> 02:15:23.396 - us off here? I'll go ahead and folks can jump in as they need to. So we came to this body several weeks 02:15:23.396 --> 02:15:31.326 - ago to discuss items on the geobond and at the time, even though it started off as 02:15:31.490 --> 02:15:44.873 - $6 million. We were at 4.1. And that's where we left things. And we kind of counted on that. And now 02:15:44.873 --> 02:15:59.582 - my understanding is that the bond amount has been reduced by $1 million. And a conversation should be had. OK. 02:16:00.098 --> 02:16:06.169 - Mr. Cockle, do you have anything to add, or Ms. Purdy, do you have anything to add? I would just add 02:16:06.169 --> 02:16:12.241 - that we had the public hearing for the additional appropriation at the last meeting. You do have two 02:16:12.241 --> 02:16:18.493 - ordinances. The ordinances in the packet are what were submitted, and they reflect a $6,500,000 amount. 02:16:18.493 --> 02:16:24.564 - I believe that that could be changed, and I think you guys had received documents that indicated the 02:16:24.564 --> 02:16:29.854 - $3.1 million. It would also be fairly easy to create documents that would be any number 02:16:30.530 --> 02:16:37.403 - between 0 and 6.5 million. But I think you guys requested at your last meeting to have that $3.1 million 02:16:37.403 --> 02:16:44.146 - figure. So you should have that document. So if that's what you choose to approve, you just amend this 02:16:44.146 --> 02:16:50.757 - document so that it reflects the $3.1 million or really whatever dollar amount you want to be there. 02:16:50.757 --> 02:16:56.190 - All right. Thank you for that flexibility. Ms. Purdy, do you have anything to add? 02:16:57.922 --> 02:17:04.722 - I don't. Thank you. All right. Let's go to council for their comments. Mr. Henry, maybe point of information. 02:17:04.722 --> 02:17:10.965 - So we took a vote on the 3.1 last week. What did that vote actually do that? If it didn't change the 02:17:10.965 --> 02:17:17.146 - doc, we didn't have the document at the time. So we voted for 3.1, but there was no change in right 02:17:17.146 --> 02:17:23.575 - specific, I guess, because I'm a little surprised to see it in the packet again, as if nothing happens. 02:17:23.575 --> 02:17:27.902 - I'm just trying to understand what in fact we, I did not have access. 02:17:28.002 --> 02:17:36.184 - to the amended geobond. So rather than not have anything in there, I just put what we had so that at 02:17:36.184 --> 02:17:44.609 - least the language was still in there with regards to and whatever projects were in there. So it's fair 02:17:44.609 --> 02:17:52.791 - to say to the public that the packet today, that copy of the bond is not actually the current draft, 02:17:52.791 --> 02:17:57.246 - right? Correct, yeah. All the information which I have 02:17:57.442 --> 02:18:03.132 - here in front of me for you to sign reflects the 3.1. And I apologize for misspeaking. Yeah, 02:18:03.132 --> 02:18:09.373 - that's fair. I just want to be clear what we have before us, right? Because if we're amending back or 02:18:09.373 --> 02:18:15.675 - whatever, that's something. So the will of council is reflected in what we would be signing. Yes, what 02:18:15.675 --> 02:18:22.038 - we would be signing. Thank you for that clarification. Excellent. Council, are there any other comments 02:18:22.038 --> 02:18:25.342 - or questions about the second reading of the Geobond? 02:18:28.738 --> 02:18:36.754 - Let me follow up and just say, with this reduction, I think there was some, in our conversation last, 02:18:36.754 --> 02:18:44.848 - some questioning about what exactly that does to the list of projects that will be included in the GEO 02:18:44.848 --> 02:18:52.785 - bond. And I hear Commissioner Thomas addressing that. And so do we have that PowerPoint available to 02:18:52.785 --> 02:18:54.750 - be shared on the screen? 02:18:57.026 --> 02:19:06.330 - This is, I think, the most recent draft of what projects would be included in the geobond. Right now, 02:19:06.330 --> 02:19:15.634 - your project list on the appendix is 4.1 million. Right. And we should have a conversation, not just, 02:19:15.634 --> 02:19:23.934 - oh, we're going to cut it. And I mean, if you want us to pick what to cut, we can do that. 02:19:24.354 --> 02:19:31.915 - And to that point, I would like to bring up that list of projects so that we can have that conversation. 02:19:31.915 --> 02:19:39.188 - Mr. President, if I may. So I think just to make sure we're all clear about what the directions were 02:19:39.188 --> 02:19:46.533 - back and forth, I do recall, I think when we had talked about this with Mr. Cockrell and Ms. Purdy at 02:19:46.533 --> 02:19:51.934 - the table, that one comment I'm paraphrasing was that if we set the number 02:19:52.098 --> 02:19:57.352 - you know, if we, if we set the number here, you'll all figure it out. I think that was the way that 02:19:57.352 --> 02:20:02.711 - maybe it was put by Ms. Purdy. So I guess I took that as word to say, here's the cap. I think I don't 02:20:02.711 --> 02:20:08.176 - want to speak for other members of the council that aren't here, but okay, fine. Here's the new number. 02:20:08.176 --> 02:20:13.535 - And then go forth and figure it out. I mean, that was basically the way it was presented at the table 02:20:13.535 --> 02:20:19.262 - when the two were here. Yeah. We became a good faith to have a conversation about projects and the geo bond. 02:20:19.490 --> 02:20:27.985 - and came to this council, had that discussion, came away at the 4.1 number, not the 6.5 million number, 02:20:27.985 --> 02:20:36.644 - but the 4.1 million number. And then if the council has just decided, well, we're cutting that a million, 02:20:36.644 --> 02:20:45.630 - OK. That would have been a better conversation to have back then. We would have appreciated it. And I get it. 02:20:45.890 --> 02:20:55.808 - I don't get it, but I get it. So I was not here for the meeting when the number was dropped and did 02:20:55.808 --> 02:21:05.826 - not anticipate that that would happen. I just felt like we should be working on this together. Sure. 02:21:05.826 --> 02:21:07.710 - And I think you've 02:21:08.194 --> 02:21:16.592 - probably watched the recording enough to know that there's a lot of concern on council about debt and 02:21:16.592 --> 02:21:24.908 - paying debt. And that's kind of that was where a lot of that conversation originated. And so in good 02:21:24.908 --> 02:21:32.894 - faith, I'd like to be able to show the list of projects on the screen. Do I need to do it? Okay. 02:21:35.042 --> 02:21:42.205 - I can find a copy and forward it to you if you don't have it. I think I have the most recent version. 02:21:42.205 --> 02:21:49.299 - If I don't, then that would be helpful. It looks like it's page 401 of the packet, if that's helpful 02:21:49.299 --> 02:21:56.462 - at all. That's even more helpful. And that's the most recent version. But that doesn't have numerical 02:21:56.462 --> 02:22:03.134 - amounts. It does not have the dollar. Right. It's just a list of projects. Right. List. Right. 02:22:31.202 --> 02:22:38.443 - there's some misunderstanding about geo bonds and how they work and how the debt works. I felt like 02:22:38.443 --> 02:22:45.900 - there wasn't a lot of clarity on that and so I can offer Mr. Cockrell as a point of information if you 02:22:45.900 --> 02:22:53.213 - need it. All right Mr. Deckard. I think the issue is we just we've got counselors that are concerned 02:22:53.213 --> 02:22:59.006 - about the amount three whether it's three point one four point one or six point 02:22:59.138 --> 02:23:06.467 - and then the rest went down to about three point one I think everybody here's. Dealt with bonds long 02:23:06.467 --> 02:23:13.724 - enough- and what we said last time we're trying to think through different options to get this done 02:23:13.724 --> 02:23:21.053 - because we're just sitting around. Staring at each other like the cast of heat all. And I think what 02:23:21.053 --> 02:23:28.382 - we said was there's probably two options here. Approve the list and the list in the amount that the- 02:23:28.834 --> 02:23:35.528 - had come to us in your good faith discussion and talked to us about, and we'd gone back and forth, or 02:23:35.528 --> 02:23:42.155 - I think either based on what Angie said or maybe it was based on what we said and then Angie reacted 02:23:42.155 --> 02:23:48.980 - to or somebody, or maybe Mr. Cocker, I don't know, maybe we made it up, but we could just give a number 02:23:48.980 --> 02:23:55.346 - and then you prioritize within the number because we were again staring at each other, not sure, 02:23:55.346 --> 02:23:58.430 - you know, do you cut this, that, or the other? 02:23:58.690 --> 02:24:05.599 - That's kind of how I remember this discussion. And I guess maybe my, I think what I was, and it wasn't 02:24:05.599 --> 02:24:12.509 - at the last meeting, but when we presented it for the first reading, I just think that whatever number 02:24:12.509 --> 02:24:19.217 - we want the GO bond to be should be reflected in the document, right? And it said 6.5. If we're not 02:24:19.217 --> 02:24:26.462 - interested in doing 6.5, it shouldn't say 6.5. It should be whatever number. This is exactly what you said. 02:24:26.626 --> 02:24:38.079 - that you guys come to the conclusion of, right? Yeah. All right, so before us, we have a list of items, 02:24:38.079 --> 02:24:49.752 - and let me enlarge it. Does that work? It does, but then it means you can't really see it. With numerical 02:24:49.752 --> 02:24:55.038 - amounts as well as council rankings. Mr. Henry. 02:24:55.522 --> 02:25:10.213 - So it's not quite accurate. The siren replacement should be at 305 753 78 because they had some leftover 02:25:10.213 --> 02:25:22.526 - funds from previous siren installations. OK, so the top item has a little lower 39,300. 02:25:22.626 --> 02:25:31.980 - the 4 40 that we're paying over five years for body cams and all that good stuff. That was reduced by 02:25:31.980 --> 02:25:41.609 - 128,000. Because again, there was some leftover bond money from other projects that were going are going 02:25:41.609 --> 02:25:50.046 - to be applied. But that 4 40 is got to stay. Um I mean, if you if you want us to figure out 02:25:50.914 --> 02:25:59.871 - we're trying to figure out what projects to fund and which ones not to fund. Um you know, we can do 02:25:59.871 --> 02:26:09.007 - that. It's just that we had this great line of communication going and then suddenly we don't and I'm 02:26:09.007 --> 02:26:17.516 - trying to figure out how to address that. In the fairest way possible. For everyone. Mr Henry. 02:26:17.516 --> 02:26:19.934 - Thank you, Mr President. I 02:26:20.450 --> 02:26:26.079 - The accounting that we get on how to set these bonds up at least since I've been here a few two years 02:26:26.079 --> 02:26:31.653 - is interesting to me right clearly there's numbers behind numbers like clearly your office must know 02:26:31.653 --> 02:26:37.392 - the down to the nickel the cost of some of these projects because to have a thirty nine thousand dollar 02:26:37.392 --> 02:26:39.710 - variable on the first line tells me that. 02:26:40.162 --> 02:26:46.199 - What's that dealt to do, right? Because if we went forward right now with what's here, and you're saying, 02:26:46.199 --> 02:26:52.179 - oh, well, it was actually $40,000 cheaper, where does that end up? And what I know from looking at years 02:26:52.179 --> 02:26:57.875 - and years and years of bonds in the county is that those residuals pile up. So I think to the point 02:26:57.875 --> 02:27:03.570 - of fairness, to see the granularity of what you're bringing was one of, I think, Councilor Wolter's 02:27:03.570 --> 02:27:07.614 - questions. So I just want to start with that. What is the real number? 02:27:07.810 --> 02:27:15.413 - I mean, so what is behind each of these numbers? And how do we avoid carryover in the bonds each year 02:27:15.413 --> 02:27:23.016 - where there's residuals that pile up? And that's the question, really. That's the first question. And 02:27:23.016 --> 02:27:30.620 - so what Ms. Purdy has done is she has worked with departments who have bond money left over. And some 02:27:30.620 --> 02:27:35.614 - of the amounts are like $212 or whatever. It's small, small stuff. 02:27:35.778 --> 02:27:46.471 - and putting them into the next bond request. And so with that, we're caught up. Where that brings us 02:27:46.471 --> 02:27:57.058 - is about 3.8. And that means that we're 3.894. So with that, we're also covering the administrative 02:27:57.058 --> 02:27:59.070 - fees for the bond. 02:27:59.714 --> 02:28:07.012 - And that's what gets us to the 4.1. Maybe for the point of information, what is the administrative percentage 02:28:07.012 --> 02:28:13.912 - or the fee for the bond? I check, but typically I think we look at $100,000 at most. Is that a possible 02:28:13.912 --> 02:28:20.547 - line item we can add here to see? Because that's a hidden cost, right? That's $100,000 hidden cost. 02:28:20.547 --> 02:28:23.134 - That's not here for us to contemplate. 02:28:23.490 --> 02:28:30.318 - And so it'd be kind of interesting to know is a hidden fee if that's in the presentation. That's the 02:28:30.318 --> 02:28:37.145 - only one. That's fair, but that's still a number. And that's not flexible. We can't go and negotiate 02:28:37.145 --> 02:28:44.108 - that. It's not on a sliding scale. I wish we could. Is it a percentage of the... Is there a difference 02:28:44.108 --> 02:28:49.854 - between 3.1 and 6.5 or is it just 100,000 flat? It's the same for those two amounts. 02:28:49.986 --> 02:28:59.941 - right? But that administrative fee pays for the bond council and the financial advisor for these instances. 02:28:59.941 --> 02:29:09.250 - I mean, I guess it wouldn't be out of the question if we could get something in writing, documenting 02:29:09.250 --> 02:29:17.822 - those expenses going forward. Prior to now, right? That's all I have for now, Mr. President. 02:29:18.786 --> 02:29:29.222 - Council, do you have any other comments or questions about the list of items, the amount? So the document 02:29:29.222 --> 02:29:39.659 - we're looking at here, it even needs adjustment a little lower. Is that what you're saying, Commissioner? 02:29:39.659 --> 02:29:45.566 - Yes. So the total at the bottom right now reads $4 million. 02:29:46.882 --> 02:29:58.971 - And then some in this total without the administrative fee is three million eight ninety four eight 02:29:58.971 --> 02:30:11.422 - fifty three and seventy eight cents. So. This I don't know. Counselor Iverson's because you're sharing 02:30:12.034 --> 02:30:19.145 - just to show accurately for the public what we're doing. But my thought is that the bond is moving and 02:30:19.145 --> 02:30:26.187 - it's heading towards a lower amount. I don't know if someone else had a different suggestion on this. 02:30:26.187 --> 02:30:33.229 - I think the very thing that we came to last time is staring at every single one of those. I don't see 02:30:33.229 --> 02:30:40.478 - something that jumps out, smacks me in the face and say, remove that from the bond. We already did that. 02:30:40.610 --> 02:30:49.074 - I mean, we started with almost eight and brought it all the way down to 4.1 because we had heard that 02:30:49.074 --> 02:30:57.455 - from you all that you wanted. Did not want to do the 6.5 and we agreed. I mean, it makes sense. This 02:30:57.455 --> 02:31:04.094 - is doable, but these are all things that. Yeah, some things we can't remove so. 02:31:04.866 --> 02:31:14.497 - for example, the taser body cam in car camera, we cannot remove. We have a five-year contract. That 02:31:14.497 --> 02:31:24.512 - is a given. We really, you know, and then we can talk about all the other items on here. And, you know, 02:31:24.512 --> 02:31:33.854 - I could, you know, engage in a little horse trading today and ask you if we can get this down to 02:31:35.970 --> 02:31:43.396 - would that make the Council comfortable? And before we get an answer, I just want to thank Ms Purdy 02:31:43.396 --> 02:31:50.970 - for letting me know that I was displaying the wrong list on the screen. This is the last slide in the 02:31:50.970 --> 02:31:58.545 - slide deck. And this number comports with what you were saying. So let's just celebrate the fact that 02:31:58.545 --> 02:32:05.822 - we are on the right page literally. That's awesome. We're on the same page, which is even better. 02:32:06.050 --> 02:32:12.477 - So it's the small things. All right. So any reactions to what? Yes, Mr. Henry. Thank you, Michelle. 02:32:12.477 --> 02:32:19.162 - What was our vote when we changed? Sorry. What was our vote last week when we changed it to three point 02:32:19.162 --> 02:32:25.653 - one? I believe it was unanimous. But one moment. Some of the other concerns that were raised in that 02:32:25.653 --> 02:32:32.402 - meeting, which you were not in, Commissioner Thomas, were and I don't want to speak for Councilor Wells, 02:32:32.402 --> 02:32:35.230 - but I agree with a lot of what she said was 02:32:35.522 --> 02:32:41.690 - Just because we have the ceiling, we should consider getting back to our historical three-ish million 02:32:41.690 --> 02:32:48.100 - that we've done over the years. I think that's where her risk tolerance was. I think certainly I seconded 02:32:48.100 --> 02:32:52.030 - that motion. Another thought that comes to me here, too, is that 02:32:52.354 --> 02:32:57.712 - what could be done with reversions in the departments that come back to cover some of these things, 02:32:57.712 --> 02:33:03.123 - rather than assuming that the bond process is where we should go, rather than using in-house dollars 02:33:03.123 --> 02:33:08.481 - that we've already accumulated through things like, well again, what we've over budgeted that comes 02:33:08.481 --> 02:33:13.999 - back in reversions, or putting the edit to work because we've already collected that resource from the 02:33:13.999 --> 02:33:19.518 - community. Those are some of the other ideas that were raised as to why the risk tolerance for bonding 02:33:19.810 --> 02:33:27.587 - that we've been working on for a long time beyond a historical level seems to be at least on two of 02:33:27.587 --> 02:33:35.752 - our minds. Um. What is your viewpoint about using other resources in the county to achieve some of these 02:33:35.752 --> 02:33:43.762 - projects that are lower hanging fruit? January 1st. Yeah So my sense of it is when we talk about these 02:33:43.762 --> 02:33:47.262 - items, they are large capital expenses that. 02:33:47.458 --> 02:33:57.817 - and not find enough to do things. And that makes that a very difficult process. I mean, cash, you could 02:33:57.817 --> 02:34:08.076 - use cash. You could use, I hate to use edit because that's not what it's for. Or we just don't do them 02:34:08.076 --> 02:34:16.542 - and we don't have sirens or we don't have new trucks or something along those lines. 02:34:16.642 --> 02:34:23.781 - I think that's why this would have been a better discussion to have when those departments were here 02:34:23.781 --> 02:34:30.920 - with us to explain the projects to have those conversations. But I think, I don't know, Jeff, if you 02:34:30.920 --> 02:34:38.200 - could speak to what we do now with bonds in terms of the length of time versus what we used to do with 02:34:38.200 --> 02:34:46.046 - bonds. Well, we used to do a one-year bond, right? And I think everybody was aware that we do a one-year bond, 02:34:46.210 --> 02:34:52.661 - three to 3.1 million was kind of the last probably eight to 10 years. Before that it was two, there 02:34:52.661 --> 02:34:59.305 - was state law changes. And so that we used to do a one year bond that was for three, 3.1 million. Then 02:34:59.305 --> 02:35:05.756 - when Senator O'Loughlin came into place, they said, if you're gonna do a one year bond, then you're 02:35:05.756 --> 02:35:12.529 - gonna have to have essentially a two year cooling off period because you pay the bond off at the January 02:35:12.529 --> 02:35:14.206 - and then you have to have 02:35:14.466 --> 02:35:21.597 - a full year after that before you could issue a next one. And so we but those are only but if you go 02:35:21.597 --> 02:35:29.364 - longer than five years, you get a six year bond is what we did last year. What we're what we're contemplating 02:35:29.364 --> 02:35:36.495 - this year. A six year bond. I checked my property tax bill. There was a the information you can find 02:35:36.495 --> 02:35:43.838 - on those is amazing. There was a zero point zero zero zero point zero zero eight eight rate on my home. 02:35:44.674 --> 02:35:52.096 - for the county debt service. And this is the only debt that the county has that would be on the property 02:35:52.096 --> 02:35:59.377 - tax bill. So with that being over five years and six years, that's really a fifth of what the rate was 02:35:59.377 --> 02:36:04.254 - before. So the rate will still be down. It's going to build back up. 02:36:04.546 --> 02:36:11.253 - at the current rate of, I think we did 4.8 million last year. We'll do four this year, whatever, 02:36:11.253 --> 02:36:18.305 - or three. I think you're going to see the tipping point of absent increase in assessed values and all 02:36:18.305 --> 02:36:25.358 - those other things that play a factor in this. Probably year four or five, you will go above where we 02:36:25.358 --> 02:36:31.166 - were when we were issuing a one-year $3 million bond. I appreciate the recap again. 02:36:31.522 --> 02:36:36.061 - I think spent the better of two years, having this conversation about the six I mean this isn't new 02:36:36.061 --> 02:36:40.690 - information to counsel I think we understand the math of it the questions are a little different than 02:36:40.690 --> 02:36:45.274 - that one of the comments you made it which is interesting to me is one that we brought up last week, 02:36:45.274 --> 02:36:49.086 - which is I don't I think once we start talking about the objects or the items that. 02:36:49.314 --> 02:36:55.285 - I'm not trying to draw sympathy off of that saying we don't need sirens, we don't need trucks. I think 02:36:55.285 --> 02:37:01.082 - that must be set aside because what we're talking about is the debt, the credit card amount, right? 02:37:01.082 --> 02:37:06.995 - And focusing on the items doesn't appeal to me in the sense of changing my mind about what the number 02:37:06.995 --> 02:37:12.850 - was. The number is what we settled on last week as a body to say, are there other ways to find these 02:37:12.850 --> 02:37:17.662 - resources in the county? I also said, and I do believe this, that the more that we 02:37:18.018 --> 02:37:24.534 - burdened the bond with multi-year requirements to pay that service on things like sirens and law enforcement 02:37:24.534 --> 02:37:30.870 - equipment means that basically future elected officials must spend something that was decided by previous 02:37:30.870 --> 02:37:37.146 - people. I find that to be a problem in the nature of how we're bonding some of these projects. We should 02:37:37.146 --> 02:37:42.526 - be able to vote up or down on those each year and not be tied up with mandatory spending. 02:37:42.626 --> 02:37:48.354 - and to pay for this. So there's philosophy here, not just stuff, I think is important to say. And those 02:37:48.354 --> 02:37:54.248 - were some of the other conversations we had that you weren't here for. And I don't think my mind's changed 02:37:54.248 --> 02:37:59.921 - on any of that since my vote on this. I think the question is, where can you find in here ways to trim 02:37:59.921 --> 02:38:05.760 - these budgets if you know, and I know I'm rambling here, but let's just pick the prosecutor's renovation, 02:38:05.760 --> 02:38:11.268 - right? Do you know that's the half a million dollars down to the nickel that's going to be spent on 02:38:11.268 --> 02:38:12.094 - that building? 02:38:12.226 --> 02:38:19.581 - Like what do you, is that a budget that can be trimmed? No, because the issue is, is that we get ballpark 02:38:19.581 --> 02:38:26.589 - estimates and we've done furniture renovations for other departments in the past as well, of course. 02:38:26.589 --> 02:38:33.528 - And we know what those costs by square footage or the number of employees, the number of deaths. We 02:38:33.528 --> 02:38:41.022 - know what the cost is going to be. However, you can get a quote today. And by the time we actually do this, 02:38:41.442 --> 02:38:48.988 - That quote's not going to be accurate. So that's why the numbers are round numbers. That's how we've 02:38:48.988 --> 02:38:56.683 - always done it, because we've got an estimate on the courthouse dome that is dang near $200,000. Well, 02:38:56.683 --> 02:39:04.229 - that's what we're going to meet. Now, the problem is, if we can't go in and order anything, we can't 02:39:04.229 --> 02:39:09.534 - go in and put down payment down on a quote, because we don't know that 02:39:09.666 --> 02:39:16.817 - that this is the bond that we're going to do. So that's why the numbers are round. But typically, what 02:39:16.817 --> 02:39:23.829 - happens is item A, B, and C will go over. D, E, and F will go under. And you come out at about even. 02:39:23.829 --> 02:39:31.466 - Because if you look at this list, the only two things on here where we have money left over from a department 02:39:31.466 --> 02:39:38.270 - that can be applied is two departments out of all of these, the Sheriff and Emergency Management. 02:39:38.530 --> 02:39:46.953 - So that's not like every department on here has got money left over from a bond and can put it on us. 02:39:46.953 --> 02:39:55.458 - So highway typically will augment what the bid is or the quote is for the equipment or the trucks that 02:39:55.458 --> 02:40:03.880 - they're getting. And they will try to find another avenue to make that fit. So it does kind of happen 02:40:03.880 --> 02:40:06.110 - organically anyway because 02:40:06.402 --> 02:40:14.529 - Most of these are going to be too low, given inflation. But not all of them will be. But our hope is, 02:40:14.529 --> 02:40:22.656 - and Angie is so good at this, our hope is that when you come out at the end, you're pretty dead even. 02:40:22.656 --> 02:40:30.784 - And that's how it has to go, because this is such a long process. We don't get the bond money as soon 02:40:30.784 --> 02:40:35.166 - as we vote. We don't spend it when we create the list. 02:40:35.266 --> 02:40:43.410 - We have to wait for things to be ready. Three years ago, if you would have had the haircut anyway, right? 02:40:43.410 --> 02:40:51.324 - I'm sorry? Three years ago, the budget, the cap, it's not like ancient history that we used to operate 02:40:51.324 --> 02:40:56.702 - under a different understanding of what the bond was used for, right? 02:40:57.890 --> 02:41:03.157 - We found a way to fill the additional capacity. We've negotiated down a little bit. But I think that 02:41:03.157 --> 02:41:08.424 - was a comment we made last week, too, which is, if the law hadn't changed, what would this look like 02:41:08.424 --> 02:41:13.639 - in the county still? Where would you go do the additional $2 million or $1.8 million in projects if 02:41:13.639 --> 02:41:18.854 - that ceiling had not raised? I mean, there are more things on the list now, is my point, right? And 02:41:18.854 --> 02:41:24.225 - the only thing that's changed is the state code, not necessarily the manner by which the county's done 02:41:24.225 --> 02:41:27.198 - business in the past three years. Right, I can see that. 02:41:27.330 --> 02:41:37.331 - I also see inflation playing a big part in some of this. For example, vehicles are much more expensive 02:41:37.331 --> 02:41:47.041 - now than they were three years ago, essentially the same vehicle. So I could see that. And if it is 02:41:47.041 --> 02:41:55.294 - the council's wish to stick to 3.1, fine, but we're going to have to make some cuts. 02:41:55.426 --> 02:42:01.938 - looking at this list, there's no way I can get this list of items down to 3.1 by bargaining or finding 02:42:01.938 --> 02:42:08.386 - pennies in the couch cushions or whatever it is. I can't do it. I wish I could. Pennies might be more 02:42:08.386 --> 02:42:13.886 - valuable these days. They may be. That may be true. Mr. Decker? All right, Mr. Decker. 02:42:14.978 --> 02:42:21.561 - I appreciate all the discussion in the back and forth here, and I'm trying to think of how we get to 02:42:21.561 --> 02:42:28.078 - something that moves forward to have an affirmative vote this evening. It has to be four counselors 02:42:28.078 --> 02:42:34.661 - up here, and Commissioner Thomas has kind of stated her position. I looked at the list, and again, I 02:42:34.661 --> 02:42:41.113 - come to a struggle on figuring out what would come off. We have 500,000 on there on a prosecutor's 02:42:41.113 --> 02:42:44.958 - renovation. Every counselor up here has been talking about 02:42:45.762 --> 02:42:52.716 - that would be our justice facility generally in the need so we agree that wouldn't come off with sirens 02:42:52.716 --> 02:42:59.403 - has been talked about extensively- some of these others are less important. At first blush but when 02:42:59.403 --> 02:43:06.290 - you start to begin to explain them you get into the complexities of them and so here's I'd like to see 02:43:06.290 --> 02:43:12.977 - something move forward or we'll be here till five in the morning or we could just pass on this item 02:43:12.977 --> 02:43:14.782 - and I'll leave that to the 02:43:15.042 --> 02:43:24.010 - items alone, I get a number around 821,000, which ironically takes the 3.8. When you take the 3.8, you 02:43:24.010 --> 02:43:33.065 - start getting the 3.1 with those. And my argument is that this might be a time to think about something 02:43:33.065 --> 02:43:42.207 - I think we've used one other time in the past, and that was relying on our food and beverage tax dollars 02:43:42.207 --> 02:43:43.774 - and that process. 02:43:44.418 --> 02:43:52.409 - to think about parks from that light, given that they are an attraction, Karst, which is, I think, a 02:43:52.409 --> 02:44:00.638 - good portion of this, has had heavy eyeballs and investment already as a tourist location, and I wonder 02:44:00.638 --> 02:44:08.629 - if that doesn't get the items accomplished, this process moving, a bond to a lower level to start to 02:44:08.629 --> 02:44:12.190 - satisfy us towards maybe four votes up here, 02:44:12.450 --> 02:44:20.197 - and maybe use these dollars as they're intended. I'm gonna float that out there, and then the will of 02:44:20.197 --> 02:44:28.323 - the council is the will of the council, and the will of the commissioners on the food and beverage request 02:44:28.323 --> 02:44:36.374 - as well, but I wanted to float it out there. I will tell you that we have our plan on our agenda Thursday 02:44:36.374 --> 02:44:41.918 - to be presented Friday at the Food and Beverage Tax Advisory Commission. 02:44:42.146 --> 02:44:53.015 - And we're adding money in that plan. We'll see if it passes for to assist the CIB in getting a development 02:44:53.015 --> 02:45:03.275 - plan done for a hotel. And this is something the city should be doing. You know, they get 90% of the 02:45:03.275 --> 02:45:11.198 - money and they're not. And we'd hate to see that project linger unnecessarily 02:45:11.714 --> 02:45:19.689 - for a want of $300,000. So that is something we always talk about. This year has been the nature preservers 02:45:19.689 --> 02:45:27.147 - received food and beverage money. So that's always something we consider. I mean, if you all want to 02:45:27.147 --> 02:45:34.531 - just vote on, I feel like we're going to be all over the place if we start talking about individual 02:45:34.531 --> 02:45:41.694 - items. If you all just want to vote on an amount, we'll just figure it out. And that will be it. 02:45:41.826 --> 02:45:49.409 - which we can do. But I think the process would be better in the future if we had that financial discussion, 02:45:49.409 --> 02:45:57.062 - which I thought we had, but if that financial discussion had more meaning when we had it with the department 02:45:57.062 --> 02:46:04.715 - heads here who had the projects. Okay. Mr. Deckard. Just for the record, unless I have this wrong, Michelle, 02:46:04.715 --> 02:46:09.630 - you ran down numbers for me because I was just spitballing out there. 02:46:09.826 --> 02:46:18.622 - Food and beverage right now is at $2,673,148.63. 02:46:18.818 --> 02:46:24.856 - That's not a comment one way or the other on that three hundred thousand that you're talking about, 02:46:24.856 --> 02:46:31.257 - but I like to put that in the atmosphere because there's been a lot of discussion up here. I'm not always 02:46:31.257 --> 02:46:37.355 - party or privilege to it or support it, but there has been a lot of talk about using the dollars you 02:46:37.355 --> 02:46:43.454 - have available. When we dealt with the legislature, we say all the time the government's not a bank. 02:46:44.290 --> 02:46:50.544 - Although we spend an inordinate amount of time talking about reserves here. I feel like I run the Federal 02:46:50.544 --> 02:46:56.621 - Reserve of Monroe County, but that might be an option here, depending on where we go. And I throw that 02:46:56.621 --> 02:47:02.521 - out just so that these things get done. I mean, there's nothing on there that I look at and go, oh, 02:47:02.521 --> 02:47:08.539 - they're right there. That's the one Congress authorized that they shouldn't. There's no Lawrence Welk 02:47:08.539 --> 02:47:10.014 - Museum on their friends. 02:47:10.242 --> 02:47:17.725 - Not that that's a bad thing, but we wouldn't pay for it. Everything on there, including from highway 02:47:17.725 --> 02:47:25.283 - up, is something that somebody needs and in some cases may have been needed for some time. All right. 02:47:25.283 --> 02:47:32.841 - So we have two paths forward that were just articulated and the night is not getting any younger. One 02:47:32.841 --> 02:47:35.582 - pathway is Mr. Deckard's suggestion. 02:47:35.714 --> 02:47:43.255 - that involves the parks items. And one pathway was suggested by our commissioner, which is that we go 02:47:43.255 --> 02:47:51.019 - ahead and just do this and you'll find a way forward somehow. Mr. Cockrell. And I just want to be clear. 02:47:51.019 --> 02:47:58.856 - If you change the list in the ordinance, then it has to go back to the commissioners for approval because 02:47:58.856 --> 02:48:05.214 - they approved the original list. Those two lists, in my understanding, have to match. 02:48:05.922 --> 02:48:13.893 - commissioners. So if you approved it, um, just what the list the project list as is, then I think all 02:48:13.893 --> 02:48:21.786 - the approvals are done. If you change it, it will go back to the commissioners. Just so you guys are 02:48:21.786 --> 02:48:29.054 - aware when it if it comes back on a commissioner, and it's okay if the list is longer on the 02:48:29.442 --> 02:48:37.551 - The list creates what you can spend it on. It doesn't necessarily say you have to fund all these projects, 02:48:37.551 --> 02:48:45.130 - but these are the things that that money can be spent on. Right. Council, do you have any reactions 02:48:45.130 --> 02:48:53.012 - to Mr. Cockrell's statement? It does seem to me that if we're going to choose to do the most wise thing 02:48:53.012 --> 02:48:56.574 - right now, it would be to not change the list. 02:48:58.882 --> 02:49:06.911 - because then that would not restart the process. Mr. Henry. To my understanding, Mr. Cockle, then all 02:49:06.911 --> 02:49:15.333 - we're doing is affixing a number and whatever is in that list, those are eligible items up to 3.1 million. 02:49:15.333 --> 02:49:23.204 - Correct. Then that seems to be a clean cut, I would agree, Mr. Iverson. Commissioner Thomas, in the 02:49:23.204 --> 02:49:28.478 - spirit of collaboration, do you have anything else to offer? Okay. 02:49:29.986 --> 02:49:37.697 - and can I clarify something please councilmember so counselor Decker brought up the food and beverage 02:49:37.697 --> 02:49:45.256 - are we just not going to think about that or where are we out with that it is my understanding that 02:49:45.256 --> 02:49:53.345 - that will be something that will be taken up by the board of commissioners as that they are moving forward 02:49:53.345 --> 02:49:58.334 - on plans regarding the hotel and other items if council wishes to 02:49:59.074 --> 02:50:06.400 - You know, I think particularly councilmember Deckard wishes to move forward with his idea. I think the 02:50:06.400 --> 02:50:13.656 - the correct people are in the room We don't disappoint information on that. We don't vote on food and 02:50:13.656 --> 02:50:20.911 - beverage tax dollars. Am I right? The County Council has to appropriate. Yes appropriate it. Okay The 02:50:20.911 --> 02:50:24.254 - commission is from a request the commissioners 02:50:24.578 --> 02:50:32.006 - it's very similar to the edit. The commissioners create the plan, and then the council funds the plan. 02:50:32.006 --> 02:50:39.649 - The difference is that there is a required request for recommendation from the Food and Beverage Advisory 02:50:39.649 --> 02:50:46.861 - Commission. So that is not present in the edit conversations, but it's a plan, and then the council 02:50:46.861 --> 02:50:52.990 - has to appropriate the funds for that plan if they choose to do so. Okay. All right. 02:50:54.210 --> 02:51:00.806 - Council and commissioners, we have successfully sat in discomfort together. We have a motion and a second 02:51:00.806 --> 02:51:07.215 - on the table. We've heard a lot of conversation. I'm gonna go to the public and see if the public- Can 02:51:07.215 --> 02:51:13.438 - we just restate the motion for everybody at this point? Yeah, and it's the same motion you read, so 02:51:13.438 --> 02:51:20.158 - would you mind doing that? I'll read it again. So let me get the right number or right letters. Here we go. 02:51:20.770 --> 02:51:29.297 - I move to open for discussion and approval of Ordinance 2026-35, 2026 General Obligation Bond and Ordinance 02:51:29.297 --> 02:51:37.430 - 2026-36, Appropriation Ordinance for the 2026 General Obligation Bond. All right, so that's the motion 02:51:37.430 --> 02:51:45.641 - and the second that's on the table. Again, we're gonna go to the public now. If you would like to weigh 02:51:45.641 --> 02:51:50.142 - in on the procedures and processes by which this council 02:51:50.786 --> 02:51:58.778 - is adopting the second reading of the general obligation bond. Please raise your hand on teams or come 02:51:58.778 --> 02:52:06.615 - forward in the NatU Hill Room. Seeing none, I want to go back to council because I have a sense that 02:52:06.615 --> 02:52:14.452 - there's more to say. Councilmember Feidl. Well, I liked everything to be absolutely clear. So here I 02:52:14.452 --> 02:52:16.702 - am. Please go. So is it 3.1? 02:52:17.058 --> 02:52:24.761 - 3.8. Is it 6.5? What is the number we're talking about? Michelle, can you help clarify? Yes. At the 02:52:24.761 --> 02:52:32.540 - 20th meeting, there was a motion made for the bond amount not to exceed 3.1. Thank you for verifying 02:52:32.540 --> 02:52:40.243 - that. And that's what this says that we've got. Okay. Yes. Now I think- To be crystal clear, a vote 02:52:40.243 --> 02:52:44.094 - yes is a vote for 3.1. Yes. Councilmember Decker? 02:52:44.354 --> 02:52:52.658 - I would like to add an amendment to this, since it is at 3.1, that the sense of the council is that 02:52:52.658 --> 02:53:01.627 - food and beverage tax dollars should be explored for eligible and remaining items on the list that couldn't 02:53:01.627 --> 02:53:09.932 - be funded beyond 3.1. We have a motion on the floor. Is there a second? I'll second that. We have a 02:53:09.932 --> 02:53:13.918 - motion and a second. Council, any conversation? 02:53:14.370 --> 02:53:21.268 - on the proposed amendments to the bond. Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. I was not on council when council 02:53:21.268 --> 02:53:28.034 - had begun to use the food and beverage tax for things outside of its intent under code, which I always 02:53:28.034 --> 02:53:35.195 - read to be for the convention center. So I appreciate Commissioner Thomas's comment that the next iteration, 02:53:35.195 --> 02:53:42.027 - what goes to Fabtac will be in support of CIB to figure out convention center centric activities around 02:53:42.027 --> 02:53:43.998 - the hotel. I appreciate that. 02:53:44.194 --> 02:53:50.291 - that ought to be maybe a city endeavor, but we also have a chunk of that project. And so as a citizen 02:53:50.291 --> 02:53:56.628 - observing the use of that funding over the years, I've noticed that caused consternation with our friends 02:53:56.628 --> 02:54:03.024 - in Ellitsville about the use of the tax dollars, the food and beverage tax, about what they could possibly 02:54:03.024 --> 02:54:09.061 - use it for. No doubt that one of the planks of their merger might be to have the autonomy to control 02:54:09.061 --> 02:54:10.974 - that revenue in the future. And 02:54:11.394 --> 02:54:17.351 - And it's I believe, and it's just my belief that that put us on a slippery slope of the use of that 02:54:17.351 --> 02:54:23.309 - particular resource. So I am not fond of using that resource outside of the purpose for the county, 02:54:23.309 --> 02:54:29.624 - which is the convention center and its activity. I know that many of you were here and made that decision 02:54:29.624 --> 02:54:35.641 - years ago, but it's not one that I share from that era. And alas, I just don't think it's a good use 02:54:35.641 --> 02:54:37.726 - of that resource for this purpose. 02:54:38.338 --> 02:54:48.761 - Thank you, Mr. Henry. Mr. Deckard, was the language of your motion that we could or that we should look 02:54:48.761 --> 02:54:59.384 - at? The nature of the motion or the amendment was that for any since it's the bonds, it's a 3.1. Anything 02:54:59.384 --> 02:55:04.094 - beyond that that is doesn't make the 3.1 list. 02:55:04.258 --> 02:55:10.022 - but from the commissioners, they would explore food and beverage tax dollars. Okay, excellent. Thank 02:55:10.022 --> 02:55:16.128 - you for that clarification. Mr. Cockrell. I just want to make it clear from the record that that amendment 02:55:16.128 --> 02:55:21.892 - is not an amendment to the document itself. It's just an amendment to what you're approving. So as a 02:55:21.892 --> 02:55:27.656 - part of clarification or information, Mr. President, so Councilor Decker, it's just the intention to 02:55:27.656 --> 02:55:32.222 - express a sentiment of council. Is that a sense of the council? Yes. All right. 02:55:32.802 --> 02:55:40.947 - and another point of information. Would an abstention cause that to fail? Yes. You have to have four. 02:55:40.947 --> 02:55:49.011 - You have to have four. All right. That's fair. Okay. All right. We have a motion to express the will 02:55:49.011 --> 02:55:57.236 - of council by council member Deckard. Let's go to the public. Any public comment on this? Seeing none, 02:55:57.236 --> 02:56:00.190 - may we please have a roll call vote? 02:56:01.026 --> 02:56:10.060 - on Mr. Deckard's amendment to express the will of council. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Councilor Henry? Yes. 02:56:10.060 --> 02:56:18.920 - Councilor Deckard? Yes. Councilor Iverson? Yes. Motion on the amendment passes unanimous. All right, 02:56:18.920 --> 02:56:27.779 - we're back at the underlying two ordinances. We've heard public comment. I'll go back to council for 02:56:27.779 --> 02:56:29.182 - one last round. 02:56:31.522 --> 02:56:38.835 - Mr. Decker, I just would say one more thing. I appreciate everyone who has worked on this list, the 02:56:38.835 --> 02:56:46.148 - strangeness of the bonding process, et cetera. This doesn't always seem to make sense. But when you 02:56:46.148 --> 02:56:53.681 - look at the projects that have been pitched to us, you understand why why these things are very unique 02:56:53.681 --> 02:56:58.142 - in that sense. All right. Thank you, Mr. Deckard, Mr. Henry. 02:56:58.242 --> 02:57:04.116 - Thank you, I'll be brief. I do appreciate the idea of starting earlier at the front end to explore the 02:57:04.116 --> 02:57:09.819 - bond process, to Commissioner Thomas's point. I think it probably starts a little earlier than even 02:57:09.819 --> 02:57:15.978 - that, which is understanding that the council may have a number in mind before we begin soliciting projects 02:57:15.978 --> 02:57:21.737 - from departments. Because what happens then is as we've solicited projects, and then they're brought 02:57:21.737 --> 02:57:27.326 - to us, it feels like a negative action of council. It may make more sense for us earlier to start 02:57:27.458 --> 02:57:33.016 - suggesting what our tolerance is before the call for proposals goes out. I don't know when that process 02:57:33.016 --> 02:57:38.360 - starts. Chances are it's already started for this year. But to understand that just because it's on 02:57:38.360 --> 02:57:43.918 - the wish list doesn't mean it gets the whole way through at this point. Council's attitude, in my view, 02:57:43.918 --> 02:57:49.475 - has started to change on this a bit to be a little more understanding and proactive about the proposals 02:57:49.475 --> 02:57:55.033 - that are being generated in the county. So I don't want to set people's expectations up year after year 02:57:55.033 --> 02:57:57.438 - that they're not going to get the wish list. 02:57:57.762 --> 02:58:05.415 - Thank you, Mr. President. All right. If there are no other comments from council, Michelle, could we 02:58:05.415 --> 02:58:13.220 - have a roll call vote? Councilor Deckard? Yes. Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Henry? Yes. Councilor 02:58:13.220 --> 02:58:21.176 - Feidl? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. Thank you for your work on this, Mr. Cockrell. Commissioner Thomas, 02:58:21.176 --> 02:58:27.390 - thank you for your work on this and thank you for coming tonight to talk with us. 02:58:28.258 --> 02:58:38.602 - That moves us on to item number II. Council, I move to approve the Council's offices request and fund 02:58:38.602 --> 02:58:49.352 - 1000-0061 County General Council for an additional appropriation of $60,000 in services category. Second. 02:58:49.352 --> 02:58:57.566 - All right, we have a motion and a second. Michelle is our council administrator. 02:58:57.794 --> 02:59:06.378 - What's going on here? The amount that I'm requesting is for professional services and that's due to 02:59:06.378 --> 02:59:15.133 - the ACLU lawsuit. We've already expended and actually overexpended our current appropriation. So this 02:59:15.133 --> 02:59:23.717 - I'm hoping and I'm going to cross my fingers that this will take us to the end of the year, but I'm 02:59:23.717 --> 02:59:26.206 - not going to hold my breath. 02:59:27.234 --> 02:59:33.521 - And just for the record, crossing fingers and holding breath are not sound fiscal practices, but sometimes 02:59:33.521 --> 02:59:35.166 - we do it anyway. All right. 02:59:35.266 --> 02:59:41.325 - Council members, yes, Mr. Deckard. Thank you very much. I'm going to make a comment here. I was going 02:59:41.325 --> 02:59:47.741 - to reserve this for a council comment, but I think this is the time to jump in because this is for services 02:59:47.741 --> 02:59:53.681 - and many of those services are because we have a giant lawsuit happening. And I get worried because 02:59:53.681 --> 02:59:59.799 - some days it seems like there's not a giant lawsuit happening. And anyone following the news this week 02:59:59.799 --> 03:00:05.086 - has seen that the Indiana ACLU and Mr. Falk apparently have something in common with us. 03:00:05.186 --> 03:00:13.310 - in that they have a workplace that doesn't always agree eye to eye on a whole lot of things. There's 03:00:13.310 --> 03:00:21.756 - been a lot of news on that, right? I guess my takeaway from that is I think that this might be a renewed 03:00:21.756 --> 03:00:30.202 - time for the council, the commissioners, perhaps even sheriff and other key stakeholders to really renew 03:00:30.202 --> 03:00:33.822 - conversations around the committee work that 03:00:33.922 --> 03:00:42.165 - led off with commissioner council member finals committee that got done in, gosh, was it July? In July, 03:00:42.165 --> 03:00:50.250 - renewing around that conversation to figure out what we're gonna figure out on all the questions that 03:00:50.250 --> 03:00:58.573 - still remain towards our jail. That discussion is not graced this bench in some time. And I'm not saying 03:00:58.573 --> 03:01:03.646 - work on it really quick because the other side's having issues. 03:01:03.778 --> 03:01:11.203 - I'm saying work on it really quick because that's how good public policy gets dealt with. And regardless 03:01:11.203 --> 03:01:18.557 - of what happens, this is the time, I think, to kind of renew those conversations. I guess a judge could 03:01:18.557 --> 03:01:24.638 - tell you otherwise and block you, but isn't that the point of the suit to begin with? 03:01:25.410 --> 03:01:32.382 - maybe receiving that report officially, maybe hearing some comments from that group, renewing discussion 03:01:32.382 --> 03:01:39.222 - of the bodies that were involved in that, it might not be a bad way to spend an afternoon. At the very 03:01:39.222 --> 03:01:46.195 - least, we would have elected officials in a room talking to each other, trying to move a problem forward 03:01:46.195 --> 03:01:50.046 - potentially, and God forbid they actually do it for once. 03:01:50.178 --> 03:01:57.333 - just some thoughts on this. I'll be voting yes on this. And I suspect we'll be voting yes on many more 03:01:57.333 --> 03:02:04.627 - of these because we're in a big lawsuit that sometimes we act like it's not happening. And I don't think 03:02:04.627 --> 03:02:11.990 - that's healthy either. All right. Council, do you have any other additional comments on this professional 03:02:11.990 --> 03:02:19.006 - services appropriation? All right. Hearing none, let's go to the public. Do you have any comments on 03:02:20.578 --> 03:02:30.555 - our lawyer fees. Seeing none, Michelle, may we please have a roll call vote. Councilor Henry? Yes. Councilor 03:02:30.555 --> 03:02:39.799 - Deckard? Yes. Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Feidl? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. All right, that 03:02:39.799 --> 03:02:49.044 - brings us up to item JJ. Council, I move to approve resolution 2026-29, the 2027 target fund balance 03:02:49.044 --> 03:02:50.142 - resolution. 03:02:50.722 --> 03:02:57.235 - second. All right. We've got a motion and a second. Uh, Miss Molly Turner King is not here, but Mr Jeff 03:02:57.235 --> 03:03:03.748 - Cockrell is Mr Cockrell. Can you walk us through this resolution? I think I can. The resolution is very 03:03:03.748 --> 03:03:10.074 - similar to ones that you guys have approved in the past. It basically looks at a subset of the funds 03:03:10.074 --> 03:03:16.399 - and say this is our target fund balance, which really means we don't want it to go below this amount 03:03:16.399 --> 03:03:20.094 - for each of these funds, starting with the geo or with the 03:03:21.122 --> 03:03:30.620 - general fund and my computer. Starting with the general fund aviation fund, just the lit special purpose, 03:03:30.620 --> 03:03:39.850 - which is the juvenile court or what was formerly known as the juvenile code. MVH motor vehicle highway 03:03:39.850 --> 03:03:48.811 - health public safety lit rainy day reassessment. The edit the lit edit self insurance chemo capital 03:03:48.811 --> 03:03:50.782 - development election. 03:03:50.914 --> 03:03:57.074 - I don't think any of these have really changed since last year. I think they're all the same amounts. 03:03:57.074 --> 03:04:03.233 - I think this is just kind of establishing that, yes, we've looked at these this year and we are still 03:04:03.233 --> 03:04:09.393 - comfortable that these amounts are our comfort level and where we wanna be. This is done for a couple 03:04:09.393 --> 03:04:15.553 - of different reasons. One is to have the process where we talk about, hey, are these numbers adequate 03:04:15.553 --> 03:04:18.814 - or not adequate? And two, to demonstrate to the world 03:04:18.946 --> 03:04:24.862 - particularly when we go out for bonding and things like that, that we're looking at these things, we 03:04:24.862 --> 03:04:30.720 - wanna make sure we're solve it, we wanna make sure that all things are going well. So that's... And 03:04:30.720 --> 03:04:36.637 - clearly the financial advisors has played a key role in coming up with these numbers. So that's what 03:04:36.637 --> 03:04:42.729 - this is, this is just, and it's essentially a repeat of last year, because we did relook at the numbers 03:04:42.729 --> 03:04:46.302 - and we're still comfortable with those numbers, which is it, 03:04:46.530 --> 03:04:53.131 - that surprising to me, given where we're at in the state of the world, and we don't know what's gonna 03:04:53.131 --> 03:04:59.992 - happen with the state next year, and all these kind of upheaval in what's going on, so I would not expect 03:04:59.992 --> 03:05:06.528 - it to have gone down, and I also not necessarily would have expected it to come up, because we also, 03:05:06.528 --> 03:05:13.000 - current legislation says in a couple years, the council gains a little bit more control over income 03:05:13.000 --> 03:05:14.942 - tax and those kind of things. 03:05:15.362 --> 03:05:23.150 - and keeping it where it is did not surprise me at all. Thank you for that thorough explanation, Mr. 03:05:23.150 --> 03:05:30.937 - Cockrell. Council, do you have any questions about this? I do have a question. We received an email 03:05:30.937 --> 03:05:38.959 - at 1.20 today from Ms. Molly Turner King saying that an updated version was being emailed and that was 03:05:38.959 --> 03:05:41.918 - different than the one in the packet. 03:05:42.338 --> 03:05:51.006 - read the email into the record, but is there a more concise summarization? I guess I would summarize 03:05:51.006 --> 03:05:59.760 - it as this. The actual target amounts didn't change, right? What we're looking at didn't change. Some 03:05:59.760 --> 03:06:08.600 - of the language about process and procedures and those got removed because it was not critical for the 03:06:08.600 --> 03:06:11.518 - document itself. So this reflects 03:06:11.938 --> 03:06:22.361 - the conclusions and it makes some notes of some auditor's office policies, but it really just kind of 03:06:22.361 --> 03:06:32.579 - condenses what it is into a statement. Really, it's just, I think removing some of our wording, but 03:06:32.579 --> 03:06:40.958 - the auditor's office has, we're more conservative and so like our internal policy 03:06:41.250 --> 03:06:50.471 - watches these closer and has different values, but it doesn't affect this policy. It's just 03:06:50.471 --> 03:07:00.795 - more conservative. All right. Thank you for that. Council, do you have any other questions about this? 03:07:00.795 --> 03:07:03.902 - I will just conclude by saying 03:07:04.162 --> 03:07:12.366 - This came directly out of the long term finance committee and the work that I think was Jeff McKim probably 03:07:12.366 --> 03:07:20.419 - started to I think this came around during his tenure. And this is a clear indication of how we're trying 03:07:20.419 --> 03:07:22.622 - to implement best practices. 03:07:22.850 --> 03:07:29.670 - in county government. And I think this is such an important document because if we didn't have this, 03:07:29.670 --> 03:07:36.557 - we'd be in a whole different world. And so, Mr. Cockrell, I really appreciate your analysis here that 03:07:36.557 --> 03:07:43.376 - not only is it something that helps us when it comes to budgeting, but it's also very important when 03:07:43.376 --> 03:07:50.196 - it comes to maintaining our excellent credit rating. All right, let's go to the public. Is there any 03:07:50.196 --> 03:07:51.006 - comments on 03:07:51.586 --> 03:08:01.837 - the target cash balance resolution or the target fund balance resolution. Seeing none, may we please 03:08:01.837 --> 03:08:12.697 - have a roll call vote? Councillor Henry? Yes. Councillor Deckard? Yes. Councillor Iverson? Yes. Councillor 03:08:12.697 --> 03:08:19.294 - Feidl? Yes. Motion passes unanimous. All right, that takes us to 03:08:19.554 --> 03:08:27.089 - one of our final options, which is options, items, which is KK. Council, I move to approve the council 03:08:27.089 --> 03:08:34.697 - office's request to amend the 2027 salary ordinance special occupation hourly rates. Second. All right, 03:08:34.697 --> 03:08:42.086 - we have a motion and a second. And again, we're going to look to Council Administrator Kim Schell to 03:08:42.086 --> 03:08:47.134 - talk about what's going on with this special occupation salary grid. 03:08:48.354 --> 03:08:59.727 - Yes, I put together the salary ordinance for adoption for the council. In it, I add the salary grids. 03:08:59.727 --> 03:09:10.877 - When I created the salary grids, I captured the 2026 portion of the special occupations rather than 03:09:10.877 --> 03:09:14.334 - the 2027 that included the 2%. 03:09:15.778 --> 03:09:26.520 - And so I want to amend that section and also even though I tried to amend this I. Still screwed up on 03:09:26.520 --> 03:09:37.262 - the airport directors amount and the airport directors amount that I have listing it going to is 6505 03:09:37.262 --> 03:09:41.790 - and it should actually be 6765. Excellent. 03:09:43.490 --> 03:09:51.595 - Given the fact that we have 815 employees and we had a long budget session, if this is the only mistake 03:09:51.595 --> 03:09:59.155 - that comes to us, we're not paying you enough. All right, counsel, do you have any comments? No. 03:09:59.155 --> 03:10:07.182 - Get in line. Yeah, I was going to say, can we talk about that? All right, counsel, are there any other 03:10:07.182 --> 03:10:09.598 - comments or questions on this? 03:10:11.266 --> 03:10:21.614 - All right, seeing none, let's go to the public. Do you have any public comment on this? All right, can 03:10:21.614 --> 03:10:31.961 - we please have a roll call vote? Councilor Deckard? Yes. Councilor Iverson? Yes. Councilor Henry? Yes. 03:10:31.961 --> 03:10:39.998 - Councilor Will? Fiddle. Fiddle. Yes. Councilor Fiddle? Motion passes unanimous. 03:10:40.962 --> 03:10:48.312 - all right council that concludes item number eight on tonight's agenda which was lengthy uh it brings 03:10:48.312 --> 03:10:55.589 - us to item number nine does anybody wish to make a lengthy presentation or have a lengthy discussion 03:10:55.589 --> 03:11:03.155 - all right seeing none that leads us number 10 council liaison updates and comments i see the color-coded 03:11:03.155 --> 03:11:07.550 - legal pad is already out council member fidel lead us off um 03:11:08.130 --> 03:11:14.907 - I just wanted to highlight a few things. Generally, in the past two weeks, I went to seven different 03:11:14.907 --> 03:11:22.086 - meetings on behalf of the council with liaison assignments and other things. And I attended five different 03:11:22.086 --> 03:11:28.930 - events. And some of those events, I think, are important to talk about. The Harrodsburg Fall Festival 03:11:28.930 --> 03:11:35.774 - occurred the weekend of the 17th of October. It was their second annual event. They even had a donut. 03:11:36.034 --> 03:11:43.823 - eating contest, which this little, I don't know, probably 10 or 12 year old young man won. He ate three 03:11:43.823 --> 03:11:51.388 - in two minutes. But it was just, and then they had a chili tasting benefit that was going to benefit 03:11:51.388 --> 03:11:59.102 - the Grace Center down there. And so there were nine chilies you could get a little small container of. 03:11:59.426 --> 03:12:06.013 - people in the community had brought dessert so we can all have dessert to go along with them as well. 03:12:06.013 --> 03:12:12.472 - And so I don't know how much they raised, but it was just a lovely event. Got to meet some charming 03:12:12.472 --> 03:12:19.253 - folks down there that lived down there and we had good discussions. So I really enjoyed that. So I also, 03:12:19.253 --> 03:12:25.970 - and others did here too, attended the Hozier Action People's Forum recently. And we all signed a pledge 03:12:25.970 --> 03:12:27.326 - that basically said, 03:12:28.226 --> 03:12:34.985 - we were going to do our best, basically. I thought there were six or eight things listed there, and 03:12:34.985 --> 03:12:41.811 - it reminded me of we were just going to do our best to do the right thing all the time. And I really 03:12:41.811 --> 03:12:48.638 - was impressed with that. We all signed it. And then Saturday, some of us were there. We went to the, 03:12:48.638 --> 03:12:55.464 - well, yeah, some of us were there. We went to the NAACP Freedom Banquet, where a wonderful guest, or 03:12:55.464 --> 03:12:56.478 - not guest, but 03:12:57.154 --> 03:13:04.411 - What do you call it? The keynote speaker was terrific. It was Denzel Ross from IU Health. He told a 03:13:04.411 --> 03:13:11.740 - very personal story about his situation and his family. And it really touched my heart. I know about 03:13:11.740 --> 03:13:19.070 - the health care field. But then also other things. We had the downtown Bloomington meeting recently. 03:13:20.066 --> 03:13:26.048 - And the most recent meeting, there was a huge turnout because the whole topic of the college and Walnut 03:13:26.048 --> 03:13:31.857 - one way to two way was fresh in everybody's mind. And people who hadn't come for, geez, I don't know 03:13:31.857 --> 03:13:37.839 - how long, the whole time I've been going, and it's been long since I came on council, showed up to talk 03:13:37.839 --> 03:13:43.706 - about that. It's a passionate issue. But as I understand it, that will not be happening. And that was 03:13:43.706 --> 03:13:49.918 - just a study. We were reminded, ultimately. So that's good news, I think, for the public and the community. 03:13:50.338 --> 03:13:58.513 - And I wanted to thank the auditor's office, specifically Charlotte and Carly, for sitting down with 03:13:58.513 --> 03:14:07.423 - me before we did our final budget adoption meeting. You were just instrumental in making me feel comfortable 03:14:07.423 --> 03:14:16.006 - in making that vote to adopt it. So I wanted to thank you publicly for that. Got to meet the BEDC board, 03:14:16.006 --> 03:14:19.358 - new CEO and president, Susan Boyce Reed. 03:14:19.522 --> 03:14:25.902 - I think she'll do wonderful. I haven't had a follow up meeting, but I intend to do that with her. Got 03:14:25.902 --> 03:14:32.470 - to attend the new Convention Center site with others. They have a 2000 attendees space. I didn't realize 03:14:32.470 --> 03:14:38.850 - it was going to be quite that big, but 2000 people is quite a quite a large number than what they can 03:14:38.850 --> 03:14:45.355 - do now. I think their numbers now they can do maybe five or 600, so that'll be really special when that 03:14:45.355 --> 03:14:47.294 - gets into high gear. And then. 03:14:48.258 --> 03:14:54.770 - I was there for Peter for the must meeting. I don't know what I did, but just sit and look good in the 03:14:54.770 --> 03:15:01.662 - audience, but I was there. You vastly increased the intellectual power in the room. That must have happened, 03:15:01.662 --> 03:15:08.364 - yes. But I did enjoy being there and see that group come together and really take a statement and present 03:15:08.364 --> 03:15:14.750 - a position on where they were at with it all. I thought it was very healthy for the communities they 03:15:14.750 --> 03:15:17.342 - represent and for the public in general. 03:15:17.922 --> 03:15:26.868 - last night I went to a heading home celebration kind of where they were talking about things they've 03:15:26.868 --> 03:15:35.725 - been a part of and so our own veterans officer here in the county he's been instrumental in working 03:15:35.725 --> 03:15:42.014 - with them to reduce a 70% reduction from veterans homelessness so from 03:15:42.274 --> 03:15:49.178 - 27 persons to eight now. So that's a huge, huge reduction. I was so happy to hear that. And 11 other 03:15:49.178 --> 03:15:56.014 - agency partners reported successes as well, but including thanking the landlords working with them. 03:15:56.014 --> 03:16:03.123 - I mean, that was a big thing. So that's kind of where I've been putting my time and efforts. Thank you, 03:16:03.123 --> 03:16:10.164 - Council Member Pytel. Council Member Deckard. My list is not near substantial, but I was happy to join 03:16:10.164 --> 03:16:11.326 - Councilor Pytel. 03:16:11.682 --> 03:16:20.069 - and others at a lot of these events, including the People's Forum. It was an honor to take that pledge. 03:16:20.069 --> 03:16:28.214 - It was an even bigger honor to hear individuals tell their story for the better part of an hour plus 03:16:28.214 --> 03:16:36.843 - to talk about their lives and realities as renters, as folks seeking affordability in homes and healthcare 03:16:36.843 --> 03:16:39.262 - in our community. And it was, 03:16:39.394 --> 03:16:48.047 - It's supportive of what we hear all the time but you never run out of time to hear it. Also, I joined 03:16:48.047 --> 03:16:56.784 - counselors Henry counselors vital at the NAACP dinner that was exceptional congratulations to Jim Sims 03:16:56.784 --> 03:16:59.838 - and all our friends over there for. 03:17:00.482 --> 03:17:08.067 - wonderful night centered around we the people and just before the council meeting, had I known our agenda 03:17:08.067 --> 03:17:15.437 - was this long, I would have stayed at this last location. cd fi friendly under john's odys leadership, 03:17:15.437 --> 03:17:21.662 - it was a good community gathering over at the mill and it was a lot of people present. 03:17:21.794 --> 03:17:27.596 - talking about community investment in a lot of different organizations trying to do good things. There's 03:17:27.596 --> 03:17:33.509 - always good people doing good things around these parts. And that's all I've got. All right. Councilmember 03:17:33.509 --> 03:17:39.034 - Henry. Thank you, Mr. President. You know, I always wonder how to use this time because sometimes I 03:17:39.034 --> 03:17:44.781 - feel like I've got like cleanup duty, you know, try to keep it light. And then there's the serious work 03:17:44.781 --> 03:17:47.102 - of liaison work. Maybe maybe it's just my 03:17:47.330 --> 03:17:53.684 - I was dealt this year with some of these liaison assignments. I will say on the plus side, I appreciate 03:17:53.684 --> 03:18:00.221 - council support of the Board of Aviation and the work Carlos is doing. He had alerted us to the eight-year 03:18:00.221 --> 03:18:06.331 - bump in the salary there that we were able to move into the proceedings tonight at the last minute. 03:18:06.331 --> 03:18:12.990 - Again, the Board of Aviation has their own sort of schedule for these things. Thank you for supporting that. 03:18:13.186 --> 03:18:18.812 - I will say to add to Councilor Feidl's observation about the Convention Center, we both had a chance 03:18:18.812 --> 03:18:24.437 - to tour, do the Hardhat Tour. And I encourage everybody up here to go do the Hardhat Tour. We should 03:18:24.437 --> 03:18:30.453 - all do it again together to see the progress over there. The second piece of that work is also the movement 03:18:30.453 --> 03:18:36.134 - of the Bloomington Visitors Center. Visit Bloomington into the first floor of the garage there across 03:18:36.134 --> 03:18:41.815 - the street. And that's also, that's part of the package, right? To move everything into the core. And 03:18:41.815 --> 03:18:43.152 - so we also toured that, 03:18:43.152 --> 03:18:48.727 - the work being done there, which has been supported by the county, and that marries up what will be 03:18:48.727 --> 03:18:54.748 - a welcome front door into the community. That was great to see the work there as a member of the Convention 03:18:54.748 --> 03:19:00.546 - and Visitor Center Commission through that liaison appointment. I will say to Council on a more serious 03:19:00.546 --> 03:19:06.233 - note that I have taken some initiative to start calling each of the members of the Board of Health to 03:19:06.233 --> 03:19:06.846 - figure out 03:19:07.330 --> 03:19:13.483 - what they'd like to do next in terms of how we're moving forward in our health department. 03:19:13.483 --> 03:19:20.448 - We heard tonight, of course, from our staff and our frontline staff that are still doing the hard work 03:19:20.448 --> 03:19:27.345 - in this community of delivering public health, despite what's going on above them. And I look forward 03:19:27.345 --> 03:19:33.566 - to making sure the current Board of Health is empowered to do their work and hands off from 03:19:34.114 --> 03:19:39.931 - Maybe meddling from this room as they try to figure out the next steps. I think it's vitally important 03:19:39.931 --> 03:19:45.918 - that we entrust that we trust the five folks that we have their MDs and our ends to help sort us through. 03:19:45.918 --> 03:19:50.718 - And I think in my view, we should be in very much of a support mode until we can get 03:19:51.042 --> 03:19:56.230 - things stable there. There's a lot of work ahead of us, you know, in that space. And so I've had some 03:19:56.230 --> 03:20:01.316 - good conversations with board members so far. I will continue to call down on that list to get some 03:20:01.316 --> 03:20:06.910 - insight as to where they want to take the strategy for our health department moving forward in the community. 03:20:07.010 --> 03:20:12.979 - I would also be remiss if I did not bring up the conditions in our courthouse. We've had employees concerned 03:20:12.979 --> 03:20:18.510 - about maintenance work going on that has created some fumes in the building. I understand that there 03:20:18.510 --> 03:20:24.041 - was a lot of concerns about long-term exposure to VOCs in the building, which has only been resolved 03:20:24.041 --> 03:20:25.246 - in the past few days. 03:20:25.378 --> 03:20:31.485 - And it probably highlights again the necessity that we have a good hazmat plan in place to address things. 03:20:31.485 --> 03:20:37.307 - The issues that we are facing with IOSHA right now are a little dated because it seems like there are 03:20:37.307 --> 03:20:42.787 - additional issues that are continuing to go on in that building where we need to, in the spirit 03:20:42.787 --> 03:20:48.666 - of transparency, communicate with our workforce before we start doing work as opposed to communicating 03:20:48.666 --> 03:20:54.431 - after the fact when the complaints come in. We can do better there. And those staff in that building 03:20:54.431 --> 03:20:55.344 - that I've heard 03:20:55.344 --> 03:21:01.329 - from. Please keep telling us what's going on it's really the only way we can raise these issues and 03:21:01.329 --> 03:21:07.493 - public space to make sure that we're providing not only good salary good benefits but a safe workplace 03:21:07.493 --> 03:21:11.742 - for you as well. On a fun note, then, because that was a lot of stuff. 03:21:12.770 --> 03:21:19.167 - For those of us that are owned by black cats it is national black cat day I'm going to go home and see 03:21:19.167 --> 03:21:25.440 - mine and a minute or two here but happy I was the best Halloween the best Halloween prop you have in 03:21:25.440 --> 03:21:28.670 - a house is an actual live black cat and we've been. 03:21:28.770 --> 03:21:35.291 - owned by our cat for a few years now, so thank you Mr. President. It's a great way to end on a holiday 03:21:35.291 --> 03:21:41.749 - weekend. All right, I'm gonna mention four things here and then we'll get going with our evening. The 03:21:41.749 --> 03:21:48.080 - first thing I want to mention is the number four. Both the IU football team and the IU men's soccer 03:21:48.080 --> 03:21:52.702 - team are now ranked number four in the nation. Folks, when we talk about 03:21:52.802 --> 03:22:00.453 - quality of life and about distinctive differences that we have here living in Monroe County. Part of 03:22:00.453 --> 03:22:08.256 - that is that, man, we've got some real talent here. And it's really exciting to see us go into the big 03:22:08.256 --> 03:22:15.908 - house in Michigan and break that, what was it, 50, 60 years? I don't know, whatever. Number two. And 03:22:15.908 --> 03:22:21.438 - I'm really proud of the budget that we passed. We did that one week ago. 03:22:22.722 --> 03:22:30.623 - And in the B Square Bulletin, the way that it was talked about is that it was done without much fanfare. 03:22:30.623 --> 03:22:38.223 - I love that phrase because that means that we did our job and we did it well. That means we had lots 03:22:38.223 --> 03:22:45.898 - of conversations. That means that we had lots and lots of folks coming to us and telling us what they 03:22:45.898 --> 03:22:52.670 - needed and they wanted. And I really like that we were able to pass a $147,020,534 budget 03:22:53.570 --> 03:23:01.165 - without much fanfare. That's pretty great. The next thing I'll note is that we did convene must. This 03:23:01.165 --> 03:23:08.760 - will not be the last time that we convene must is my gut. We passed a statement that essentially said 03:23:08.760 --> 03:23:16.206 - we have too much uncertainty to be able to do anything. We're not going to adopt a rate for lit. So 03:23:16.206 --> 03:23:21.790 - we are going to closely watch what happens in the legislature this spring. 03:23:21.890 --> 03:23:28.318 - there's a lot of nervous people out there about the change in FY29 going from property tax to local 03:23:28.318 --> 03:23:34.811 - income tax. That includes your libraries, your schools, your firefighters, your city of Bloomington, 03:23:34.811 --> 03:23:41.432 - your town of Ellisville, Steinsville, and of course, Monroe County. So we'll hopefully watch. The last 03:23:41.432 --> 03:23:48.182 - thing I will note is it is time to vote, folks. If you've not already voted, I think Councilmember Feidl 03:23:48.182 --> 03:23:49.982 - is wearing her vote button. 03:23:50.242 --> 03:23:57.558 - It is time to vote. Vote early. Here in Monroe County is made really easy. And you can also, if you 03:23:57.558 --> 03:24:05.385 - don't know what your ballot's gonna look like, go to vote411. It's a great resource, nonpartisan resource. 03:24:05.385 --> 03:24:12.994 - So. So let's just remind people when the hours are for voting yet. So. Please do. Through Friday, it'll 03:24:12.994 --> 03:24:18.334 - be 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. And Saturday will be 9 to 4. And then Monday will be 03:24:18.562 --> 03:24:25.891 - I forget what time till noon. It's either 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. to noon. It's only till noon. I remember 03:24:25.891 --> 03:24:33.441 - that. All right. And you can find all that information online at 411 or the county election board. And 03:24:33.441 --> 03:24:40.916 - Councilmember Deckard, of course, this is a very, very busy time for our election workers. So whether 03:24:40.916 --> 03:24:47.806 - you are part-time, full-time or anywhere in between, thank you, thank you, thank you so much. 03:24:48.098 --> 03:24:54.533 - for ensuring free and fair elections here in Monroe County. All right, with that, we are adjourned. 03:24:54.533 --> 03:24:59.102 - We will see you next on November the 10th. Happy Halloween, everybody.