We call the December 17th, 2025 meeting of the Monroe County Capital Improvement Board to order. And
I will ask Mr. Woodlatch to take the role. John Weichardt. Present. Doug Bruce. Here. Jeff McKim. Here.
Joyce Poling. Jim Silverstein. Here. Adam Teese. Here. Jay Baer. Here. You know, I hope everybody has
an opportunity to see Mr. Bruce, who has this occasion once a year.
to wear this suit, which I called him earlier today to ask him if he was wearing it and he was not.
And I said to him, when else do you wear this suit? So he's got it on and I'm grateful. No, no, no,
I'm just, I'm just, yeah, I didn't, I didn't, I didn't mean all of us. I meant those of us. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'm grateful it's not my suit. All right, approval of consent agenda. Item number two, you've received
the minutes of the board meeting November 19th. You've received claims in the financial report. Is there
a motion to approve the consent agenda? Second. So it's been moved and seconded. Are there any questions,
discussion, comments? Seeing none, we call the roll, please. John Weichard? Yes. Doug Bruce? Yes.
Yes. Joyce Polling, Jim Silberstein, Adam Teese, Jay Baer. Item number three, Mr. McKim's last opportunity
to give us a treasurer's report. Yeah, there's no more money. It's all gone. Sorry. No, just that our
controller has submitted a request to the city controller for the first six months of
funding for 2026. So hopefully that will get processed at the very beginning of January for disbursement.
And then I just wanted to say this is my last meeting and it has been an honor and a pleasure working
with all of you on this project. And I greatly look forward to continuing to support the project in
a different role with the city. So thank you all. And thank you. Thank you very much.
Item number four, President's Report Review of Approved Change Orders. And I believe that we, Mary,
do we have those? Oh, we're getting those ready to go up those on screen. So since our last meeting,
we've had change orders under $25,000. There are six of them. So I wanted to share with you that these are the
Change orders that I've approved since the last meeting, given the authority that you gave me to approve
change orders of under $25,000. The last one is actually a credit. If you have any questions about those
change orders or concerns about my judgment, now would be a good time for you to bring those to the
public's attention. Seeing none. All right. Moving on to requests for approval of change orders over
$25,000. Mary, are you handling that?
Yes, I am. Okay. So this is one for $50,195. It's for the operable partitions and elevator revisions.
This had to do with the fact that during bid time, we were able to select a contractor, low bidder that
did not use the operable walls that were the basis of specification. So
We were able to save money at that time, but we did have to make some alterations to the project, to
the pockets for the doors, and we had to do a shift in the elevator to accomplish the savings that we
were able to receive at bid time. So this is the result of that. Any questions from members of the board
about this particular change order?
Yes, just I do remember you put this in your written report. What is the total net savings on that change?
Yeah, I thought this was the slide that had that dollar amount. It does not, but I can get that figure
for you. It's in the neighborhood of, I think, one hundred and fifty four thousand dollars and overall
savings. It's.
It's hard to look at this number and be happy about that. But I believe we were in the neighborhood
of a $200,000 difference between bidders by using this. So we did have a significant net savings on
this. Thank you. Let's see if we have a motion to approve the change order and then we can have discussion
if there is any. Is there a motion to approve the change order?
Okay, so moved and seconded. Are there any questions for Mary or any discussion? Seeing none, Mr. Whitlach?
John Weichardt? Yes. Doug Bruce? Yes. Jeff McKim? Yes. Joyce Pauling? Jim Silberstein? Yes. Adam Teeth?
Yes. Jay Baer? Jay Baer. Thank you. Mary, did you want to talk now about the log? Yes.
This is an overall accounting of the change order contingency authorizations since the last meeting.
So you can see that there was a total through CA 11 through CA 17 of 73,390. Our overall contingency
used to date is 388,748. Out of our original contingency,
of 2.4 million, and we still have a remaining contingency just over 2 million. To date, that's about
16% of our overall contingency use. So this is just an accounting of all the approvals you have given
to date now. Are there any questions about the change order summary? Yes, Mr. Baer. In exact science,
but maybe for Adam or Mary, how do you feel about 16% of this duration
project versus what is a city site. I would agree. Okay, thank you. Any other questions or comments?
Thank you. Before we move to item six, I failed to recognize we have some guests with us today. Mayor
Thompson's with us. Randy Cassidy and John West, both from the Redevelopment Commission. Mike McAfee's here.
from Visit Bloomington and others are here as well who I think are going to speak to us through our
agenda this morning or this afternoon. Item number six, construction update. Weddle Brothers, Mr. Sherry.
Thank you. Yes, Mr. Sherry, project manager of Weddle Brothers. So a few things to talk about.
over there. The biggest one is going to be the structural steel update, moved into the anchor preparation,
and then coming out in January, February. For the construction progress, so this is a slide that I shared
last month. Structural steel has progressed across the north side of the silo and third street, and
now we're actually turning on college. So
We're working our way to the connector. Steel is starting to be placed headed south on College, and
then interior prep is taking place. So basically everywhere we see here around the perimeter of the
south, west side, we're prepping to receive our long-span dresses. That is what's going to have basically
span the exhibit hall with the roofing system on. The other thing that I'll talk about later on in these
slides. This is a photo on your left from where we were last month.
that I shared in the slide compared to on the right. A lot of skills went up, a lot of detailing has
taken place, decking, foundation, anchor bolts, all the same things that we've talked about, but this
just shows the magnitude of work that's went in place, especially with the weather that we've had. I
don't know if anybody's seen these guys walking beams at 30, 40 feet in the air whenever it was 16 degrees
outside, but I watched from the office.
But yeah, it's great progress. Here's a picture that I took this morning whenever I was prepping for
these presentations. So this is the observation deck, where we stand today versus what it's going to
look like. So I thought that was a neat comparison to show the group. Connector preparation. So exterior
demolition started on the existing convention center side. We tore the piers out, removed the sidewalk.
We're prepping for excavations, for foundations. Ground improvement.
Drilled peers are upcoming within the next week so that we can work towards excavations and placement
of our foundations as we move towards this January 26th erection day. Here's another photo from whenever
we first started the job on the left versus what it looks like as a lunchtime today, so quite the change.
Upcoming activities, so long-span trusses, this is something we've talked about for a couple months.
Long-span trusses start Monday, so December 22nd. We're anticipating to set two of these a day. These
weigh 26,000 pounds, 120-something to be long. They'll come in in three sections to be erected on the
ground and then placed in the air. So I included a note. What we will see, we're changing our crane
out. The crane is actually demobbing tomorrow and then this one is moving in. This is a 300-ton crane.
This is over 20,000 pounds per axle. So we're working really hard right now on the site, especially
with the breeze, fall, snow, rain, and everything to prep. The site preparation, the safety evaluations,
and make sure that whenever we have this swing radius or 120 foot long span truss, that everybody else
can still do their job safely. So a lot of work going in place there. Connector activities. So the connector
steel placement will start on January 26.
In the middle of the night, Sunday night, if anybody wants to join, we'll start placing barricades and
barrels and signage and things like that. During this connector activity, whenever college is shut down,
we plan on erecting the steel, placing elevated deck, and pouring the slab so that we can include everything
that we can in that duration. I do want to point out, you know, we look at this picture and think that
we're just going to set this steel. It's been approved. We're fine. We have literally worked with Schmidt,
the engineering,
team, the design team overall, evaluating every connection point, what can be welded, what could be
bolted to enhance our schedule. The end product being whenever you're walking through this as a user
here in a year, you don't want to see a bolted connection. So which ones are you going to see? It will
be welded. And then the ones you won't see will be bolted so that we can plan accordingly. So just kind
of talk about the level of detail that goes into one small piece of the job.
Upcoming activities again, maintenance of traffic plans. So phase two and phase three for this project
were approved at the Board of Public Works last night. Phase two was referenced as a door closure. This
is the longest planned complete closure of College Avenue. I think that as we talked about it last night,
there was like emergency services or something small. We plan on 14 working days for this closure. So
this will be January 26th through February 12th. Again, plan on doing here is
fabricating the connector, placing the decking, detailing everything down, completing welds, and then
pouring the deck so that we can open the road back up. Phase three was also approved. This will direct
South College to one lane. The reason being we're going to take one more lane of College. That way we
can prep for our facade systems. We're going to have lifts and everything like that, but it will also
allow us to button up additional demo curves, pavement, things like that, set storm structures.
that way that whenever summer rolls around, we can complete our asphalt patches, our curb work, and
everything else that ties into the project. So that's the gist of the update. Thank you. Any questions
for Mr. Sherry? Yes. Mr. Teese. February is what we're looking at.
We're buttoning up the detention system on the south side, then we'll work construction. In the last
spot where the crane will sit is on that construction pad to set our back of house field. So that's
an idea for you, John, and for the CID. We just held a beam signing ceremony up in Indy yesterday for
our new arena we're building on the IU Indy campus. And it was really quite a great event. And that's
not something we traditionally have done for many of our buildings. But it was pretty uncool.
It could be a really neat way to shape the hands of the people who do the actual work. Traditionally,
these have been held by the construction company, because it's a way to celebrate their achievement
for reaching the significant milestone of being built out with the structure. It tends to be overtaken
by people who aren't actually doing anything. There's a lot of talking, and they reach a point where
they aren't. Why are you looking at me? Look around. You have to look right at me. OK.
If it's. Very cool. Sign your name. It gets hidden by the poster. That way to have a chance to shake
the hands. Just an idea. No, that's an excellent idea. Can we can we make that happen? Let's make sure
we make that happen. Yeah, we've actually started that conversation. We're trying to find a small piece
of steel because at that time with how old it will be. Maybe we can bring it over here. We've been with
delicious name used a very modest. Yes, so it makes that better.
And ours are very similar. Yeah, there's a row for the arena. Very similar. Yeah. Yeah, it'd be a cold
job walk that day. But yeah, we've talked about doing that. Work with the Polish and the Convention
Center team to see maybe we can set something up over here. Hot chocolate sounds good for the guys across
the road. Well, and it's a great thing for the external communications team to work on as well and to
get information about that out. And another great marketing opportunity. So thank you, Adam, for the
suggestion. Yeah, we'll make it happen again. Any?
You're welcome to. As much as they'd like for you to operate that crane. We didn't crane it away. We
just craned it to the other side of construction site. Thank you. Any other questions for Mr. Ferri,
Mr. McKim? Yeah, actually, can you go a couple of slides back to the slide that had the scaffolding
on it? Yes.
Is that kind of scaffolding eventually going to cover the entire front or is it to be moved or what,
why, why is it there? No, that's actually there because that's about a 30 foot cantilever for that beam.
So as we erect the building, um, really try to, it's not a total system until everything's placed decking
and everything or a structural standpoint. So that is there. It's just a precautionary measure. The
scaffolding that we have.
whenever we start the facade, like the brick and the masonry work and we'll be hydro models. Um, so
it'll look a lot different. Yeah. Any other questions? Yes, Mr. Bear. You mentioned that external
communications are aware of the focus that will be placed on this project. Once we close a major arterial
for 14 business days,
So I'm on that committee, so I'm sort of making a note to myself that we need to get ahead of this as
much as possible and work with our partners in Michigan Local Media and other state policy constituencies,
because I think we want to make this as less of a surprise to anybody as possible, parents, school bus
drivers, and everybody else. Yeah, thank you. Just to note to that point, too, that was a big topic
as we coordinated with engineering. So the initial list that we created, or actually Talisha gave to me,
We've worked through the people between 3rd and 2nd Street, adjacent property owners, but also with
engineering, that was a big requirement for them, is making sure that we work with different marketing
teams and things to notify everybody involved. So I think that a lot of that will come out and agree
that with the external communication committee that can help with that. Thank you. And John, could I
speak to that just a second? We've anticipated that, and with that getting communication out right before
the holidays, probably we
not really get paid attention to. So we're looking to do that right after the first of the year. Great.
Anything else? I just wanted to mention for those of you who don't know, Mr. Sherry is a Purdue University
grad, and he told me he'd been authorized on behalf of the Purdue football team to announce that in
solidarity with the Notre Dame team, they will not accept any bowl bids this year. So thank you, Mr. Sherry.
Item number seven, wayfinding update. Schmidt, you may recall that we awarded the contract for our wayfinding
to Schmidt Associates. So we have an update for Mr. Layton. So we officially kick off the efforts for
this month. So it would be a good time to share what we have done for that and what our next steps are.
So I'm going to walk through some of the things we share with that group. We'll have a discussion that
came out of that. So starting off with the idea of the goals. We're going to start with goals for the
project. A wayfinding project that has many similar goals to the building itself, but just to get simple
works, we want to make sure we're thinking about that. The RFP itself, the design work, listed a few
goals which we captured.
Things like that, the way finding the graphics should be simple and not too complex. It should be memorable,
authentic, and unique. And in general medium, we have talked about the fact that it needs to be durable
and flexible, needs to be around for a while, and really be adjustable to the needs of the conventions
that are in different events, consistent with new brands, and as much as possible build this technology,
and also make sure that it can accept new technology because it's always changing, right?
We'll talk about the schedule for this part of the project. We're working in two big phases, kind of
a concept design, then implementation drawings. The concept design works where we are now. We will be
coming to the CIB in the February meeting for formal approval of that. And then in the implementation
drawing, the construction drawings for the graphics refining would be in May of this year to get that
out there.
and get all that procured and installed in the fall before the building opens. So when we look at where
we started, obviously you guys did a lot of work on the planting package, which is going to be out in
the community, and it's a big part of how people experience the Convention Center. So we want to make
sure that our graphics and wayfinding are consistent with that.
We're definitely deploying from the logos, from the colors, the fonts. All that work that was done through
the branding of us, the graphics as well, so that's a reference point for us. And then when we start
thinking about how we're going to implement this, really it breaks into four big categories, and each
of those categories has subcategories of different types of signs. So things like interior way findings
so guests know how to get to a different room.
where we're going for craft rooms, in terms of that, which is apparently the most, especially in this
area, that is very important. Interior branding, so that's some of the more graphic elements that are
around the space, things that highlight the uniqueness of the room itself. We're looking at the exterior
signage. Obviously, we know there's, in the building design, they've made combinations for an exterior
sign that will take the time to design those parts of the package.
and then replacing the monuments on Allen College in some way. And then exterior way of finding, which
would be very critical for this project, being that there's two buildings separated by streets. People
don't even know where they're going, where to park, where to park, how to get in, that sort of thing.
Here's a look at all those. While we're developing the concepts for all these different types, we're
also going to be looking at where they go. So this is a very early look at placement designs and kind
of taking a parallel path
this with the committee on their next meeting. We'll start to look at in more detail where the different
sign types go. I'm not going to get into much detail today, just that that's something that costs as
well. I'll go forward, obviously, and then I'm going to build it. So, you know, what I've talked a lot
about is the signage here. While we're not necessarily changing the ruins and the lanes and layouts,
things like that, we need to make sure that if someone is blocking across the British from one building
to the other, they're not going to go into another dimension. Be consistent.
So they relate to similar scenarios. So we talked about that, and then we completely overwhelmed the
group by sharing various options. We didn't even get to do that, and there's so many different ways
of science-sharing. Don, make sure you tell me, don't bring more than three options next time. But we
had a good discussion about things we didn't like and things we did like. And so that's a good starting
point. And also, the negative reactions are more powerful and useful to us than the positive reactions.
emotional response to things, and we go, okay, we're not going to do that. So this is just a few slides
to show some of the preferences and things that we're taking as we move forward. So in terms of the
interior wayfinding, really simplicity with what we heard, things that aren't too busy, when it comes
to the signs themselves and making them visible from far away, so things like
signs that protrude from the wall, like these guys do, are helpful, so you're more visible, like before
they're like, across from our floor plan. We have some pretty long pre-function spaces. And so if you're
a one-ended building, you need to know how to get to the other end, or where those things are. Again,
that's a very common question. Being able to see that from far away is helpful. We can talk about the
technology. We know we have digital roof signage outside of each of the exhibit hall rooms. But so how
is that implemented and incorporated in this, you know, broad design as well?
Again, simplicity, not making it too complicated or anything. And that was really a very strong message
we heard throughout the entire meeting. And it all suggests really be a distilled information into any
form possible for people walking by who don't have much time to get to where they're going. You can
understand where they're going and where it will lead to be. Simple signs, simple graphics, clean letters,
We look at interior branding. I've xed out this whole time, because apparently we missed the mark entirely
on our pricing images for the historical messaging. So that's something that we talked about. We talked
a lot about how it doesn't necessarily need to be a big thing, but we do want to pay homage to the history
of the site and to this building. So we're going to work to explore what that means and what it looks
like, and then where that is. So it's not something that maybe could be in the way of features like
TV. Then outside, again,
It seems to be simple. We know that we will get signage around town, and if you're driving by, you don't
want to keep distracting, but if you're driving down college, for example, coming to this light, you
need to know where you're going, and then we'll quickly see where your parking is, and that's what it's
like. And it's the same thing for exterior lighting, once you're here, to talk a lot about. Maybe even
in the parking lot,
They're promoting different areas that are for the hotel, those that are by color, are giving directions
to visitors, should say apartment or whatever. Fresh center and then they're signed. So right now we're
going to go over concept development. So we have a meeting set up over the course of the year with the
committee where we will have three options that take those present images and count them into examples
of the science.
Our mission is there on the 14th of January. We'll get feedback from that group. And then our goal is
kind of a design concept, including a temporary CIB meeting, which we'll move into station drawings,
where it will be, that's where we'll take every location of sign, say what type of sign it is, what
it's made of, get ready for it. I'll pause questions.
Any questions? I might just mention on the branding. You mentioned all of our involvement. Credit goes
to Visit Bloomington on the branding campaign. And we certainly were presented with the branding campaign
and thought it was a great job by Visit Bloomington. So just that clarification. Any questions about
wayfinding? I would like to mention, Eddie brought it up,
As we went through the process of naming the convention center and we settled on the name Bloomington
Convention Center, and that may sound like a pretty easy no-brainer, what's the name of the convention
center, but there was great sensitivity to our relationship with the county and the county's legacy
with this particular building and its stewardship of it. And then we assured the county that we would
appropriately recognize that legacy and that heritage through signage.
in the both expansion in this building. So I just wanted to mention that, that that'll also be part
of what I've asked the wayfinding group to look at. Anything else for Eddie? Okay, thank you. Item number
eight, request for approval for issuing RFI for FF&E in the alphabet soup of procurement consulting.
Yeah, you had that with some CAs and VCC. That's really interesting.
We are working with the FF&E committee, which happens to also be the same group of people working on
the wayfinding since they are both aesthetic issues and dealing with... I'm sorry, Mary. Furniture,
fixtures, and equipment. FF&E. Furniture, fixtures, and equipment, yes. Thank you. So that committee
met along with the wayfinding effort earlier this month, and we reviewed our process that we would be
going through.
asking for approval to issue an RFI request for information for a procurement consultant for the furniture
fixtures and equipment. And this is everything from forks to forklifts. So there's a number of different
categories and there would be a number of different processes to procure that information depending
on the size of packages. But we would like to issue an RFI with a receipt of
January 9th and potential interviews of candidates on the 14th of January in order to come back to the
CIB at your January board meeting to make a recommendation for that consultant. So we're seeking approval
to issue the RFI for the procurement consultant. So is there a motion to approve that request? So moved.
Second. Okay, so it's been moved and seconded. Any discussion?
Did we talk about a budget for this consultant in that meeting? We don't have a specific. I think the
services could vary widely depending on the consultant that we get, but it would be within the $3 million
category that we have budgeted so far for all the FF&E. It comes out of that budget. So it's not a request
for additional funds. Right. And that's the request for 2026.
Any other questions? Yes, Mr. Behr. Is there an existing procurement consultant being needed for this
building or for other documents related to the convention center impact? I don't believe so. There are
only a handful of them in the region to begin with. We are looking to see if there are consultants out
there with the convention center experience so that we can capitalize on their expertise.
Any other questions? All right, so we have a motion and a second for approval. Mr. Whitlatch. John Wyckart.
Yes. Doug Bruce. Yes. Jeff McCann. Yes. Joyce Pulling. Jim Silverstein. Yes. Adam Tease. Yes. Jay Baer.
Jay Baer. Yes. Thank you. Item number nine is requests for approval of amendment to the JS held contract
for 2026, and I see
I see it says it's presented by JSL, but I wonder if it might be better for Mr. Underwood to present
the request since it's for JSL. Sure. Yes. So this contract has been on an annual basis since we started.
This will be the fourth amendment to this contract. So it'll cover all services for the year 2026.
in the amount of $250,000, which will be added to the total. The new revised total of the contract will
be $813,900, and this is all within what was actually included in the budget as well. So it's consistent
with the budget that was approved by the CIB and the City Council as well. Happy to answer any questions.
Let me see if there's a motion first to approve the amendment, and then we can have discussion. Is there
a motion to approve the amendment?
Okay, so it's been moved and seconded. Now, is there any discussion or questions about the amendment?
Seeing none, Mr. Whitlatch. John Weichart. Yes. Doug Bruce. Yes. Jeff McCann. Yes. Joyce Polling. Yeah.
Jim Silverstein. Yes. Adam Teese. Yes. Jay Baer. Yeah. Thank you. Item 10, request for approval of our
2026 CIB meeting schedule. And I think we have, Mary, do we have something we're going to put up here?
Cindy has a slide to pull up. So this would be the schedule of our meetings for 2026. It would keep
to our third Wednesday of each month schedule with the exception of March. So we have a March 25th,
which is the fourth Wednesday date. As we all know, the third Wednesday is spring break. And when we
have spring break in Bloomington, the earth no longer moves on its axis and everything stops.
So rather than meet then, we will meet instead the fourth Wednesday on March 25th. We could choose the
second Wednesday, but I put the fourth Wednesday up as an option because that's what we did last year.
So are there any any questions about the calendar? So I don't know that we need a formal motion with
your with your consent. That will be the calendar and we will announce that. And that's the third Wednesday
of each month, with the exception of March, when it will be the fourth Wednesday.
Our Arts Project update, our BEAT Advisory Group, and I see Galen Cassidy and Holly Warren are both
here. So you can go ahead and grab the microphones and let us know what's happening. All right. Thank
you for having us here. So a quick update. As you know, we had 180 applicants for the project, which
is really amazing. There are a lot of talented people that I'll let Holly
expand on a little bit. But our recommendation committee had a tough task of narrowing that down through
a rubric that we looked at past experiences they've had, the craftsmanship within their art, and also
staying within budgets of major projects they've done. So our group, through several meetings, was able
to finalize that. And I'll let Holly explain on some of our next steps here.
Thanks to everyone. So like you said, we took it from a pool of about one hundred and eighty applicants
down to about I'm going to say about ten top contenders for the piece.
And this was a very hard job. Everybody was very talented and brought a lot of different skills to the
table. So now for those top contenders, we were reaching out to those that we would like to be our five
finalists to confirm that they're still interested in putting forward a proposal in the spring and to
discuss next steps with them. Once we have those five finalists, we will come back to you just to share
more information about
who they are, what they've done in the past and our procedure for getting them just more familiar with
the project. So they're set up to give us the best proposals that they can. And again, we will be looking
for them to give us those proposals of actual potential art for the Convention Center expansion in spring
of 26. So we're really excited about that. And we're happy to answer any questions you have at this
point in time. Yes, Mr. Tease. I just wanted to comment. I sat in on the final
session that this group that was put together. I want to congratulate both of you. It's so wonderful
to see a group of committed people in the community who want to be a part of making thoughtful decisions.
And it was really quite impressive to watch good debate happen where civil people figure out civil ways
to talk about fun topics. You know, so who knows what it will be like relating that.
Yes, and I know it was a lot of work. I mean, I know there were a lot of, it was a huge time commitment
and we appreciate that. Galen had asked me prior to the meeting,
because we had approved a payment for the finalists who were selected for a $5,000 payment for their
submissions, which is a standard in the art industry, if you will. And I, Adam asked, or I'm sorry,
Galen asked how we might proceed with that, and I simply suggested that Holly could work with Jeff Underwood
in terms of how we handle invoicing payments and all the things we need to do to properly record all
of that. But let me add my own comments of thanks for all the hard work
work that's been done. And I think we're all excited to see what comes of all this. So thank you. Any
other questions or comments? Thank you again. Thank you very much. Item number 12, hotel update. And
I know we have both, Jane is here as well as Vince Dorr is here today. As a reminder,
In October, we asked both the city team and Mr. Dora to come back to us by today's date and tell us
whether an agreement was imminent on the Bunger Robertson property. And so we're eager to hear your
report and update on that. And then I'm sure we'll have questions for you. Thank you, Jane. Yeah, thanks
for that. Thanks for having us here.
Jane Cougarsmith, Director of Economic and Sustainable Development for the City of Bloomington. I'm
actually joined with my colleagues online, Anna Killian Hansen, Director of Housing and Neighborhood
Development, Executive Director of the Redevelopment Commission, Jessica McClellan, City Controller,
Dana Kerr, Assistant City Attorney, and Margie Rice, Corporation Counsel. That's the staff team who's
really been working on this project together. And then, of course, we're joined today with two members
of the Redevelopment Commission. I thought we had two, Randy Cassidy,
Yeah, John's online. John West is online. John West online. So appreciate them being here today as well.
They've put in many hours trying to advance this project along and... Sorry, I've prepared a statement
just so I remember all the things that they... The RDC has not been able to reach a deal with
Dora Hospitality at the Bunger and Robertson property. This past Monday, the RDC expressed their formal
support of the site for use of the Host Hotel for the Convention Center via Resolution 25136.
But this resolution did not communicate about potential incentives, which leaves the project with a
major funding gap. Our current TIF is dedicated to other projects right now, meaning that it is not
available subsidy for this project. And further common council has communicated a desire to use only
food and beverage tax and income tax in support of this project.
given the CIB's request of the city to communicate on behalf of the RDC whether it would be able to
close this gap and reach a deal by today. We're here to tell you that unfortunately we have not reached
a deal. We're not feeling particularly confident about that right now. We simply can't close the gap
of resources that we have available. We do want to communicate to the CIB that we believe in the project,
really like the Bunger site for use of the host hotel
that we haven't been able to get there. We've really done our best to try to find a way to yes, but
we have not been able to do that. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Dora, any of your comments, please? Well,
I'll just echo what Jane said. I'm disappointed that it's taking so long, but I'm here to just tell
everyone that I remain resolute in my belief that we can get this deal done. I know it's been a long
time since we bought the RFP, and to be here today,
Uh, but we are still working on it. I know that I'm continuing to have conversations, uh, with multiple
people and entities to try to solve this. And so whether it's this site or another site that the CIP
controls, I still firmly believe that also tell the commissioner is something that's needed and I'm
willing to be able to continue working on that. Um, it's just taking more time. And all of us would
like to get that figured out. There's a lot of voices in, uh, Bloomington that need to be heard to figure
out what's best use of this project.
that site is, and we're trying to thread the needle, so to speak, to get this figured out. Thank you.
Let me make comments. As we announced in October, we had asked that at the end of this 60-day period
of time, we have some indication that a deal was imminent.
And it sounds to me, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but at this point, there does not appear to
be a path forward with this particular property deal. What I had also asked Mr. Dora to consider for
today is whether or not he has interest or Dora has interest in the properties that we made available
in our original RFP, which are to our south,
and to our West. So we've had conversations about this, but let me ask you publicly, do you have interest
in pursuing or continuing to look at either of those two opportunities as this one seems to be certainly
at an impasse that hasn't been able to be closed? Yes. Yes. I did to figuring this out, whether it's
one of the other two parcels, one of the Bunker Rock Society, I still think this
maybe a way to figure that out, I think, with a little more time. So happy to continue to work on that.
I did speak with some of our architecture engineers. Not totally sure if we could have all the answers
to those questions on the other sites, but the next meeting in January, given the holidays coming up,
so it might ask for a little bit more time, graciously, to get that figured out, but it is something
that we're going to start looking at seriously.
And I'm going to ask a question. I already know the answer because I've already asked you. As you consider
our other locations, and you indicated to me that of the two, your preference was for South. Is that
an accurate statement for me to make? I mean, if it's not, that's fine. I don't know yet. OK,
that's fine. My question, Mr. Dora, was simply,
If we permit this process to continue to go on, whether or not he is agreeable to working with our hotel
consultant, who's part of the J.S. Held team,
so that we can better understand what these construction costs are, what this gap is, what, if anything,
needs to be done to close it, because we've not been privy to these other negotiations. We recognize
and we've been told about the gap. We recognize what it is.
but we've not been involved in any of the detailed discussions. So I've asked Mr. Dora if he will work
with our hotel consultant in a period of time so that we better understand what it is we're talking
about about cost and gaps. And so I'll ask you publicly if you're agreeable to doing that. Yes. Okay.
What I would propose is that, and I know you said you may not know by January,
I want to tell you, we need to know something by January. We need to know if we agree to extend this
period of time some more, because it's not between now and January. At that point, it's a 15-month period
of time. And so we need some clear evidence of whether or not we're able to make this happen. Our RFP
committee, if you will, our hotel evaluation committee,
if you don't mind me speaking on its behalf, has had an initial meeting to review our original RFP,
as we said we would do when we've had previous conversations about this. And so we've been looking at
that original RFP to see what modifications or additions we might be able to make to it. I reported
at the last meeting that once we were made aware of the gap, which was in late October, was the first
time we were involved in hearing discussions about that gap,
that we indicated that we would certainly consider making scope reductions in order to help close that
gap. And by your figures, those scope reductions were about $15 million, and we were agreeable to doing
that. So we've made movement certainly in that direction. But what I'm asking, and I'm asking the board, is that
As we prepare, we've looked at how we might modify the RFP. The holidays are coming up. We will take
some time to finalize what that new RFP might look like if we have to put a new RFP out. Even if we
put it out at this very instant, I think two things are going to be problematic. One is the holiday
schedule. And the second is, from everything I've heard from our hotel consultant,
we can't really expect we're going to get a lot of hotel developer response to a new RFP right now because
we're still in conversations with Mr. Dora about what his plans might be. And they're not going to spend
a lot of time and effort to respond to an RFP until we've determined what our relationship with Mr.
Dora is. So what I would propose is, is that we continue along that process to finalize the development
of a new RFP.
that we are prepared at our January meeting for one of two things. That we want to hear back from Mr.
Dora about his review over that same roughly five week period of time about the other options available
to him. If the path to the Bunga Robertson property can't be navigated, that he will be prepared to
report back to us his interest in our other properties and whether he's prepared to move forward with that.
If Mr. Dora's response is he can't make that happen or he's not interested, that's a decision for him
to make. But at least we are prepared at that meeting if that's the answer to approve the RFP and to
not lose more time and to issue that RFP. So January, we will either hear back from Mr. Dora about
where he is having examined those sites or we will, depending on that answer, we're prepared to reissue
the RFP. So I don't know that we need a formal motion to do that, but that's what I'm proposing and
I would welcome getting back from the board. Yes, Mr. Baer. The other option would just be to say we've
concluded this process with door hospitality and if door hospitality chooses to bid on a new RFP based
on a new partial blend, then that's fine.
they're free to do that. And then everybody can bid because that part of the process has been concluded.
What I struggle with is that it seems as though the gap in the funding mechanism for this project exceeds
the approximately $7 million worth of plan that may or may not have been possible with about the represent
property. So if the gap is larger than seven or frankly, 22, because they sort of came back 15 on the scope.
then I don't know what's going to change between now and then. If there are not other incentives available,
I don't know what another 30 days or 60 days is going to provide door hospitality for us. So I'm afraid
that we continue to drop back and throw the Hail Mary pass, but to no avail. So my consideration is
if we're going to reassure RFP,
then let's just reissue it and Dora Hospitality can rebid as they have initially, especially if the
site may change. I understand your comments. My point would be we probably are not going to be prepared
to reissue that RFP until January anyway. And that allows Mr. Dora to see if he can close the gap. We
can't close the gap.
we don't have any financial incentives to offer. So other than parcels of land that have been made available
to us, that's all we have. So again, working with our hotel consultant, if Mr. Dora can see other ways
to help close the gap, given the fact that we have some land available, then it provides him the opportunity
to do that while we're completing the development of the RFP anyway. So I would hate to suggest
he has to drop out and rebid since we're not ready to reissue. So we're just saying, take the five weeks
and the same five weeks we need anyway, and then we will know as of date whether to reissue the RFP.
I think that's fine, just as long as when we get to that point, we have an official, we are concluding
this to avoid the issue that we talked about earlier today. Other potential developers may think that
this is not really an option that they can actually pursue. Yes.
lie on the sand and say, we're done now, and now we're going to try it again. Yes. Agreed. Any other?
Mr. McCamp? Yeah. I guess I just want to understand that not necessarily amount, but the nature of the
funding gap. When we're talking about this gap that's so large that it couldn't possibly be closed,
are we talking about
the cost of the land, the $7 million for the land, and the $15 million in possible scope reductions,
and then there's still some enormous gap beyond that? Or are we a lot closer after the elimination of
potentially
some items of scope, like the bridge and the rooftop bar. I'll allow Mr. Doar an opportunity, but I
think as Mr. Baer said, our reduction of $15 million in scope, plus taking a $7 million price tag off
property, closes the gap by roughly $22 million.
So I guess it would be Mr. Dora to, you know, whatever gap remains will be one that he'll need to work
on to see if he can potentially close, but I'll allow you an opportunity to speak to that. Yeah.
So obviously, what I'll say from a high level is the RFP and the scope of work that we did on what I
don't need to, dictated in an upscale hotel, post connect center,
It would help the team over at the visited Bloomington to keep the sale of the condom center. I mean,
they need that nice, off-scale post-hotel to steal from the city of Louisville and all the areas that
bring business and tourism into the city of Bloomington. And at that level, that's the reason for the
gap. We've been working closely with the current of the city, 2% other options that reduce that scope
of work and therefore reduce the cost and therefore reduce the incentive package tax
It's chicken and egg though, because every time you present a reduction in scope, we also lose the ability
to market the hotel of the convention center. Good examples, the rooftop bar, it'd be a very cool thing
to have in a dual city to market on that overlooks the new convention center. But to do that, we have
to increase the structural load for the hotel. And you know, the engineering team has to make sure that
all that weight that goes up there is sound.
underground versus surface versus above ground versus offsite parking. And then if it ended from a guest
perspective, how do you deal with that? Does someone want to walk in today's or last week's temperatures,
you know, three or four blocks to a condensed center or do they have to drive or do they have to park
their car? There's a lot of new blocks if they don't want it. So we've been actively working on all
these things and it's just a matter of what are we willing to give up to get that reduction in costs.
So that's why I said there's a lot of voices in the community that want to have an opinion on this.
And I'm trying to work through all that because I want to deliver the hotel that the city needs, but
I'm not able, but finding it at a crossroads that would be able to deliver the high expectations of
what you guys need. I can easily build a hotel that doesn't require an incentive package, but that doesn't
help you guys sell gifts.
or grand conventions in. Yeah. And as we've talked about this, and when I indicated that our willingness
to consider reductions in scope, those reductions in scope included
you know, is a rooftop bar absolutely necessary? Our original RFP talked about underground parking.
Well, we never knew whether underground parking was ever going to be a possibility anyway, because there
had never been any site development or site review to see if that were even possible. When we first
put in a connection between the hotel and the convention center, you know, we were talking about from
south or west, which were locations that we had talked about.
We never intentionally meant there should be another bridge between a hotel across 3rd Street. In fact,
we've not designed our own convention center for such an attachment anyway. So what we presented in
the conversation was 200 rooms is necessary. The host hotel is designed specifically to attract conventions.
So if in my career I wanted to go to a convention where I were being sold on a convention, you wanted
to know what the amenities were in the host hotel. And clearly that's what we need to attract conventions,
which is our goal. This hotel is not simply a place for people to stay overnight after an IU football
game and then drive home the next day.
It's designed to attract 600 people to come to a convention and want to stay here in our downtown in
walkable distance to a lot of other outside amenities in a nice place. So we said, look, we believe
clearly we need a restaurant, clearly we need a bar. In my experience attending conventions, I wanted
the bar as close to the hotel or the elevator as possible for my room, but that's not a requirement either.
And a fitness center, medium rooms. There was a 25,000 square foot medium room in the original RFP.
I don't know that we need a 25,000 square foot medium room. And one of the proposals that Mr. Doerr
proposed was, could we cut it back to 10? The answer is yes. The suggestion, do we need one at all,
goes back to, well, what do they need to make money in their hotel? And they may need a medium room space.
Those are all the kinds of things that have been subject to review and subject to review in the scope
of what we're looking for. I think those things can still happen, but I think from our end, I don't
know how we further reduce the scope and still have an attractive host hotel for conventions. I think
we've done what we can. I think we can offer
parcels to the south and west. That's something else, obviously, that ought to be considered an incentive
because it doesn't have price tags on it. But, you know, the hard work will have to come between now
and then with Mr. Dora looking at those other locations and seeing if he can make it happen and reporting
back to us in January that he thinks he can. Mr. Baer. So a point of clarification. I'm not quite certain
what happens now.
internally within Dora Hospitality and thinking through the options in the south and west parcel and
the engineering ramifications that I'd certainly take. But beyond that, if the city can't use PIT by
the early mission, the RDC has chosen to not donate the land and project. We don't have a funding source
for the project. We have already reduced the scope to the point that we can reduce it. I'm not certain
with whom Dora Hospitality plans to negotiate for the next 30 days or five weeks.
Yeah, and I don't know if it's a matter of them negotiating, certainly with us, and as you pointed out,
there's nothing we have to negotiate. I think it's a matter of introspection on their part for how might
they be able to close this gap, knowing now what the limitations of incentives may be. And I will say
that I said in my own
I attended three of the RDC meetings. And I want to, before I forget to do it, I want to compliment
the city staff and the team that's been involved in all of this. Jane Anik, Gillian Hanson's on the
call. Jessica McClellan, Dana Kerr, the attorney, they've, as I've watched in particular over the last
six weeks, I've been impressed by the effort that they've put into this and their desire to get, to
make this happen. And I want to thank them for that and congratulate them.
for that effort. But we have nothing else to give. And I said in the meeting, one of the first meetings
with the RDC, why are any of us shocked that a hotel developer would be looking for incentives to build
a hotel? Why has that stunned any of us? In many of our communities in the state of Indiana, the opening
volley is we have land infrastructure and tax abatement. Will you please come here? And that's not who we are.
who Bloomington is. That's just not what we do. But we should not be shocked that developers are conditioned
to ask those questions, and it's all part of the negotiation. So again, it's going to be incumbent on
Mr. Dora over these next few weeks to figure out if he can close the gap, because there isn't anything
we can give. I'd say just after that, especially in the host of that,
I mean, there are fundamentally no host hotels built anywhere in the United States without a sentence,
because host hotels are hamstrung by having to provide blacked out rooms that lower rates for a group
convention. So they can't make the same kind of profit day to day that a non-host hotel would. So again,
I agree with you. I'm not sure why this was such a shock to folks. Maybe if we just combined the host
hotel to data center, it would be great. And build it in a rural county.
Yes, Mr. Bruce. I do have a question. One thing I thought of, Jay or Mr. Bayer. Microphone there. The
DORA group would look at the other sites and see in this time also if you could make the numbers and
the site work to meet your goals as well.
So that's one thing I think that the five weeks is. And then I heard you mention that there's a hotel
consultant that Jay has held has available. So I'm assuming in the five weeks, I think the biggest benefit
would be Dora and the hotel consultant kind of hashing out some here's
what we think you ought to have and making sure that again, that helps get those numbers closer, at
least your cost to build as we found out with the convention center as well. I mean, it's not inexpensive
to build anything of this scale. So getting your square foot numbers and needs and the hotel consultants
kind of blessing on what they see and then coming back. I mean, that would be the best use of the five
weeks. So I'm assuming that's what's going to happen. And I'm okay with that knowing that we still have
to put the RF
RFP together anyway. Yeah. Well, and remember that the consultant who works with JS Held is part of
our owner's representative. So is there listening to these conversations as our representative to hear
this information, to be able to share with us his expertise and his thoughts on it as well? And I appreciate
your willingness to sit down and have those conversations.
Is there anything, any other comments, Mr. McCann? Yeah, sorry. And this is just kind of a general comment.
And I want to echo your thanks to Jane and Anna and Jessica and the Redevelopment Commission and all
the work. Because you've got to work with them. They've really worked hard on this. I do think that
As we're talking about all these other locations, I do think that there is a community benefit to having
the hotel at the Bungern Robertson property versus the other locations. Is it worth $7 million?
I don't know. It's certainly not worth zero. And unfortunately, the idea of trying to extract all $7
million purchase price from the
for the property would essentially value that community benefit at zero. And I don't think that's accurate.
I don't think that's any of us would agree that having the host hotel to tie to the downtown so directly
has zero community benefit. Thank you. So unless there are other questions, comments or discussion,
we will move forward.
towards preparing to issue an RFP at our January meeting, if necessary, while Mr. Dora examines our
other properties we made available in the original RFP. And he is willing and able to come back to us
then in January and share those thoughts with us. And then in January, we will know where we stand.
I think in fairness, I don't know that we're going to go beyond January before we consider and adopt
the reissuing of the RFP. So I just want to make
that that's an understanding. Thank you very much. And while we're on the hotel update, I want to share
these thoughts, and I want to preface them by saying that I've been permitted to share these, they're
not thoughts, to share this information. You were all copied on a memo that some members of the city
council sent to the RDC.
about their feelings on the Bunger Robertson property. And in the memorandum, they ask some questions
about whether consideration had been made to other funding sources. So I wanted to share with you information
that I've been permitted by the parties to share with you. And that is that when we first became involved,
and by we, I mean, Mr. Whitlatch, myself, and Jeff Cockrell, a county attorney, were invited October
24th to a meeting
with the city team, which included the city staff, as well as some of the RDC membership, as well as
Mr. Dora, where we discussed the gap and where we were. October 31st, we came back together, and Mr.
Dora's team presented us the numbers on what those gaps were, and at that point then
we suggested we were willing to consider how we could help close that gap by reduction in scope. As
part of that October meeting, the discussion was, what other funding sources are there out there? And
we were asked, Mr. Cockle and I were asked, and we agreed that we would approach Mike Campbell with
the Commission and Visitors Commission, the president of the commission, to inquire whether or not the
innkeeper's tax was in fact
another opportunity to help close the gap on funding for the hotel. And we met with Mr. Campbell and
we had that discussion with him. I indicated in our October 31st meeting with the city and Mr. Dora
that in full transparency, they needed to know I was going to ask him for money too, that we have alternates
on our current convention center that cost us about $2.2 million. And we were trying to figure out how
we were able to fund those alternates.
and that I was going to be approaching the CVC as well to see if they could assist us with closing our
own $2.2 million gap. So in our presentation to Mr. Campbell, I said, up front, I'm here to inquire
about innkeeper's tax, if it can help with this funding gap, but also to make clear to you that I have
my own ask of $2.2 million. So don't give everything away because I'm right here asking for $2.2 million.
Mr. Campbell's response when we talked about it was that first he considered the request to fund alternates
to be an appropriate use of the innkeeper's tax, because by statute, the innkeeper's tax exists to,
among other things, fund the maintenance and operations of the convention center, and that he found
that to be an appropriate request. What he told us was that in looking at his own funding abilities,
that the innkeeper's tax, as controlled by the CVC, was dedicated to the operation and maintenance of
the convention center. It was dedicated to the operation and maintenance of Visit Bloomington. And it
was dedicated to promoting and marketing tourism in the community. And those were its statutory requirements.
that his own review of his own budget, given the fact that we had our own ask, that he had
his own responsibilities, statutory responsibilities for those funding, that he did not believe the
CVC had the capacity to be involved in also funding to help close the gap on the hotel. So the question
was asked and answered, and I brought that information back to the city team.
and shared that with them. So in terms of the council asking that question in their own memorandum,
I simply want to report and make a public statement that it's been asked and it's been answered. So
they thought of it, we thought of it already. We'd already made that approach, we'd already made that
inquiry, we'd already gotten an answer. So I just wanted to make that as a public report on that particular
part of what was suggested. Okay, I think that concludes the hotel update.
Any old business to be brought before the board? Any new business to be brought before the board? Yes,
Mr. Baer. Just one, I think some of us need to be appointed or kicked out. Yeah, I was gonna mention
that. Yeah, I was gonna mention that. Four of us, the two mayoral appointments and the two
county commissioner appointments both expire and new appointments need to be made by January 15th.
for two-year terms both by the mayor and by the county commissioners. Those appointments are bipartisan.
So one of each of us has to be a Democrat and the other one has to be the other guys. So they will deal
with that as both the mayoral appointment and the county commissioner's appointment. And they've been
made aware and reminded we need those appointments by January 15th. If they're not made, we simply continue
to serve until such time as appointments are made.
The other issue for appointment would be Mr. McKim, the second year of Mr. McKim's two-year term. And
I've been in communication with Jennifer Crosley, the president of the county council, to say that we
need a new appointment. And the reality is that if I'm correct, Mr. McKim's new position starts January
12th. Correct. So he's not eligible.
for our January meeting. So we meet January 21st and by statute, you can't be an employee of the city
or county government and serve on the board. So Mr. McKim's period of time will end January 12th once
he takes his appointment to the city. So the county council will need to make a new appointment.
prior to our January 21st meeting for the second year of Mr. McKim's term, if they do not act by then,
then there will be a vacancy in that appointment until such time as they act on it. So is that, I think
that answers the question. Yeah, is the assumption that it's that Mr. McKim's replacement also serves
as manager or do we still have to make- No, no, no. In fact, our January meeting is a reorganization
meeting where we elect officers and no, so there's no,
There's no such assumption. We would never be able to recruit a new member if we told them they had
to be treasurers. So, you know, we'll see what happens. Anything else on that, Mr. Baer? I only do a
cap and a peso, so don't even bring it up. Okay. All right. I'm going to allow Mr. Bruce to make some
comments by way of an introduction before I make any closing comments.
Yeah, thank you. So I want to say a couple of things. One, I did want to say thank you to, wanted to
say thank you to Mr. McKim. He's already so lighted up. I just didn't even. I have greatly valued your
expertise and your financial background and look forward to seeing you serve the city as well as you
have served us here. So thank you for that. I did want to make an introduction and this is, I would say all,
that our esteemed president has had lasting more than one hour. My youngest son is home from college
for Christmas break, and he is looking to, when he gets his undergraduate in another year, hopefully,
not five, that he will pursue a master's in architecture and join me and kind of continue our firm.
And so my youngest, Grady Bruce, is home from the University of Mississippi, and I wanted him to stand
up and just wave at everybody. So his first real public meeting. Yeah, I want to mention that Grady
is a student at Ole Miss, where 10 and 2 is an acceptable football record, but it wouldn't be here.
And I also wanted to mention that maybe after the meeting, we can have this conversation. I'm trying
to figure out
why a lateral move from one SEC school to another is considered promotional, especially in a second
tier conference like the SEC is to the Big Ten. Yeah, we still have comments from the public, so I probably
ought to be careful about exactly what I say. And I also wanted to mention that I wanted to congratulate
Grady, because I understand that someday this suit will be yours.
All right. Let me, unless there are comments from others, I thought I'd just take a minute to reflect
at the end of this year on the year 2025. And I'm sure I'm going to leave some things out. In January,
we welcomed Mr. McKim as our new member. And I want to add my thanks and appreciation for all of his
hard work over this past year serving not only as our treasurer, but as a member of our board whose
opinion I highly valued.
In February, we finished the final design and budget on our new convention center expansion. On March,
it was bonded. In June, we had a groundbreaking for the new convention center. Since that time, we've
moved from a design focus to a construction focus, if you will. And you can visibly see all the results
of that work that's happened in 2025 when you look across the street.
And I wanna conclude by again, thanking Mr. McKim and congratulating him and offering my best wishes.
And I wanna thank Jessica McClellan, who's leaving a city controller because she's been so extremely
supportive and helpful through the last couple of years in this process. And I wanna thank
her and congratulate her and wish her well on her new journey and the next steps of her new journey as well.
And then I would simply want to conclude by offering my best wishes for all of you to have a great holiday
and a new year, and obviously we'll be back together in January. So that concludes my comments. Are
there other comments from other members of the board? Just thank you for your leadership. Oh,
thank you. All right, so next item on the agenda, with the exception
of Mr. Bruce's son, Grady, would be comments from the public. Yes, Mr. McAfee. It is. Thank you.
You mentioned the wayfinding. I wanted to just say how thrilled I am that you're aligning with the branding.
Appreciate that so much. Regarding the branding, John is so gracious. I don't know how many times John
and I talk a week, but it's a lot. Couldn't be a better leader of this group. But the branding, I just
wanted to, it is not just Visit Bloomington. We collaborated with Talisha and her team on that, and
they're an integral part of that. The details, the creativity of her group,
unbelievable the job they do of running this organization. When it comes to, we just launched the website
today, bloomingtonconvention.com. It's live if you want to check that out. Regarding the hotel, I've
talked to you before, listening to Mr. Baer and Mr. Whitehart and the things you say are right on point,
you're absolutely right. So I don't need to rehash that. We need that host hotel. I too want to thank
the city for all their work on it.
Everybody's working positively towards that. We're gonna get it done. We've been working on this and
bringing events to this building for 30 years. We're gonna continue to do that. We won't reach the full
potential of this expansion until we do have that host hotel, but you should all be very confident and
delicious team and my team that we're gonna keep bringing groups here and keep doing our jobs and doing
a great job to make this building successful. So I just, again, wanna thank everybody and the public
should be very,
proud of this group and feel confident with what's happening in the future. Thank you. Thank you. Any
other comments from the public? Anything online? Okay. So seeing none. Next item is our next board meeting
as we've approved the schedule is Wednesday, January 21st at 3 p.m.
Again, happy holidays, happy new year. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here, and we are
adjourned.