- Well, it's the witching hour, so let's call the meeting of the Monroe County Capital Improvement Board
- of April 15th, 2026 to order. Mr. Whitlatch, would you please take attendance? John Weichart? Present.
- Doug Bruce? Here. Galen Cassidy? Here. Joyce Pauling? Yeah. Jim Silberstein? Here. And Jay Baker is
- present, but not eligible to take part because of the remote meeting provision, but he is present remotely.
- and is welcome to make any comments during comments from the public. So Jay, thank you for being here.
- Item number two, approval of consent agenda. You should have received the minutes of the board meeting
- of March 25th, the claims and financial report. So is there a motion to approve the consent agenda?
- Second. Is there a second? Moved and seconded. Any questions or discussion about the consent agenda?
- Hearing and seeing none, would you please take the roll?
- John Weichard? Yes. Doug Bruce? Yes. Galen Cassidy? Yes. Joyce Polling? Yes. Jim Silberstein? Yes. Item
- number three, Treasurer's Report. Mr. Silberstein? There is no Treasurer's Report. Thank you. Well done.
- Item number four, President's Report. Mine is equally as good as yours. I have nothing to report. There
- were no change orders this month since our last meeting, so there is no President's Report.
- So we are to item number five, construction update from Weddell and Mr. Logan Turner is with us, substituting
- for Andrew Sherry. And we're going to turn it over to Mr. Turner. All right. Thank you, sir.
- So as he said, I'm Logan Turner, honored to fill in Andrew's shoes today. So if you thought Andrew was
- the B team, you're definitely getting the C team today, but I'll get through the invite, get through
- this with you. So I told him he's drifting into my GPA. Yeah. So careful waiting for my slides there.
- So I'm handling the construction update upcoming activity. So first is still progress. Second one there.
- So obviously we got a lot going on out there as you can tell. It's kind of a monumental time for us
- right now. Go up, I'm on the second slide. There you go. As you can tell right there in that picture,
- to us that's sequence seven. So sequence seven means a lot to us. It means that we don't have a crane
- on site every day anymore.
- So that's a monumental time for us. That's the last steel that got set. That sequence also includes
- the beam that we had the beam signing event. So that's a pretty significant area for us. That's the
- back of house. That'll be the future kitchen. So that was a pretty huge milestone. With that being said,
- we have 52,000 pounds of supplemental steel that's in the exhibit hall. And what that means is that's
- for all the partition walls. There's a lot of coordination that goes into that and getting that in place
- so we can frame walls around it.
- and drywall paint, but there's a lot of steel that goes in before we can do that. So on sequence seven,
- as you can tell, the detailing is going on and the decking has started as of today. So that's moving
- that all get closed in. So that's a huge milestone for us. We'll go ahead to the next slab on grades.
- They are progressing well. We have poured four of the five. So we kind of broke this up into five slab
- pours, which I'm sure Andrew's talked about. We poured the fourth slab last week, went very well.
- So then the fifth slab will be that back of house area that I just talked about. So the kitchen area,
- the dock area, and we're hoping it'll be the end of April and it may fall into the beginning of May,
- but we'll see how that falls. But I'm always going very well there. As far as other concrete progress,
- so the south work exterior is southwest side is where we're concentrating right now. That's where the
- screen wall foundations are. Those are complete, as you can see in that picture.
- the walls are in progress. So if you were to actually look out there right now, that screen wall is
- getting poured as we speak. We had a rebar inspection this morning and all was good and we are pouring
- that wall right now. So with that, we'll move from that wall. We will then move eastward and do the
- trash enclosure wall, the access ramp foundations, and those will all start here in April and end here
- hopefully in May. So we'll get done on that backside of the building. As far as exterior progress,
- The building envelope, the exterior brick system is going to start on the west side of Registers lot.
- So that'll be CMU block and then capped with brick, which you'll see a picture here later of. We'll
- continue that. Preplanning is well underway. The exterior column wraps, as you can tell, are moving
- very well. We're continuing west on the north side. The north side is almost done with the column wraps.
- The building canopy framing is continuing. So that's why I kind of call the eyebrow. That was on the
- last side.
- prior. We can get there. No other way. Is it acting up on you? So the eyebrows all the way around it
- ties the roof into it. Fireproofing is ongoing on those columns. So the way that works is we'll frame
- that column. We fireproof it. We have to get roughed in with any electrical plumbing or whatever might
- be in that column. And then we can close it in and start wrapping it with brick. Following that will
- be the curtain wall system. All the glass door front will go in. So
- These pictures right here, I feel like the, it's okay. I can move on. So the top right picture, I feel
- like it's a really neat picture. That right there in the center is where the limestone wall is gonna
- be. It's an accent wall. There'll be glass storefront on both sides. I feel like that's a really cool
- look of the north side of the building with an entrance on the east side of that wall and the west side.
- I think that's a really cool picture. So then interior wise, we're still progressing with interior walls,
- metal studs and masonry.
- The brick columns, as I said, are moving along the north and are completed on the east. So in this picture
- right here, you'll see that the brick is completed on the interior side of the building of those columns.
- So what that allowed us to do was go ahead and get the fireproofing done, get it inspected. Now we are
- hanging dens glass on the outside and then we'll do the same thing with brick on the outside. So here
- in the very near future, you'll be able to see a finished look from the columns from the outside of
- the building and they'll all be wrapped with brick and that'll be pretty cool and neat to see.
- The in-wall rough-in continues, so kind of similar to the columns I was talking about earlier, and the
- in-walls on the inside of the building would do the same thing. Electrical conduit, boxes, carriers
- for plumbing. We'll get all that installed, get it inspected, and then we hang board on that as well.
- You can kind of see here on this slide that she has pulled up, this is kind of the interior. So on the
- left, there's the back of house. It's a corridor, CMU walls, and it's acting up, but it's all right.
- There's the limestone wall on the top right. That's at the center of the project, glass on each side.
- And then you can kind of tell how we're framing out walls in front of CMU so that you'll see drywall
- and you will not see the CMU from the exhibit hall. One key note that I should have mentioned on slab
- on grade four. So we got together and made a logistics plan. We left a little notch out in slab on grade
- four where we can pull a pump truck in to pour the elevated decks.
- So the elevated decks, we're hoping to pour those next week. So that's a monumental time as well. Then
- we can start setting stuff on the second floor of the building. And then once that's done, then the
- overhead rough in above ceiling will start. Exterior wise, we're going to keep going on the columns.
- I mentioned the brick column wraps. Go ahead to the next. Go one more. So as you can tell here, this
- is the dens glass. So then now that that's wrapped,
- the bottom of that we'll get limestone and granite and once that limestone and granite is installed
- then we'll build off the top of that with the brick and it'll go all the way up and then that column
- will be finished and a finished look and that'll be very neat to see from the road and start to see
- the building really come together. As we do that we'll continue the roof work so roof work I'd like
- to tell you we're probably 50% installed on the roof right now so it's going very well we're actually
- up on the high roof installing right now today
- pretty much what I have. The one thing that I have to give credit to is there's a lot of people that's
- made this thing go around. So these pictures are a lot of people that put a lot of hard work into it.
- It's definitely not Andrew or I or Lincoln. There's been a lot of hard work and we're pretty proud where
- you are. So that's what I have. Thank you. Thank you. You know, Mr. Turner, I think if Andrew's
- 1A, you're 1B. I wouldn't think, I wouldn't call myself the B team. You're just, you're 1B. Well done.
- And I'd like to comment, Doug and I attend the construction meetings that are held every two weeks.
- Jeff, Jeff participates as well as, well as J.S. Held. It's, it's remarkable to me. And I'm very grateful
- for the cooperation of all, all this team we put together from Weddle Brothers, from Schmidt, from J.S. Held.
- how at least nicely they play in front of us. And I just wanna thank them and congratulate them for
- all the effort. So are there any questions for Mr. Turner? I'll wait. Well, seeing none, thank you very
- much. Item number six is request for approval of RFP for owner provided audio visual and IT equipment,
- JS Health.
- So what we thought we would do is just step back a little bit here. You know, we've talked a lot and
- we'll give an update soon about the furnitures, fixtures, and equipment. But we know that convention
- centers are filled with audiovisual equipment and there is a whole information technology or IT backbone,
- right, that helps make it all function.
- And so what we thought we'd do today, what we're gonna be requesting is really just approval of the
- overall procurement process. Some of that includes RFP, and some of it is just seeking proposals. But
- we thought we'd start with what is in the Whittle CMC contract, just to level set a little bit.
- And one, we know that we have to have an external service to the building to bring fiber to the building
- so you can connect with the outside world. And so the pathway is in the project. That's already happening,
- Whittle's doing that.
- We also, but the actual fiber service provider is a contract.
- that has to be retained. And so that is something we're going to help solicit do. The second part there
- is, but we have within Weddell's contract, we're going to tie fiber between all the telecommunications
- rooms within the building. And there are several. And so we tie all those with what's called a fiber
- backbone. So that's in the Weddell contract. Then from those individual telecommunications rooms, we
- have cabling that goes out to all the data locations, the projector locations,
- any locations where wireless access points actually are wired, even though they provide you wireless
- access, as well as when you think about the actual video equipment. So like we see a projector sitting
- on this table, that projector for the new building is in the project already. The CIB is already under
- contract for that and the installation for that in the new building. We do have the installation of
- any new audio visual equipment in the existing building, but we still need to
- acquire the AV equipment yet, right? So that is a piece that is owner provided. So if those are the
- things that are.
- you've already signed up to pay for, then that says, well, what is left? What else needs to be done?
- There is an, as I said, there's an IT side of this that includes network engineering and installation
- and professional service to make sure that it's configured, the equipment is configured properly. And
- since Talish and her team already have a contract with ProBlue to do that, we will be seeking a proposal
- from them because they are the trusted network engineer. And from a security perspective, there is a great,
- certainty and having them do that. So we've been already talking to them and we expect that we'll be
- bringing back a proposal to consider that for the CIB. Additionally, because of the AV equipment and
- any IT equipment that we can't purchase on the CP
- Some of you may remember that term that was brought up during the furniture discussion about QPA, right?
- Qualified Purchase Agreement. If we can buy some equipment through that, we will, because those are
- already bid through the state. If not, we will look to IMG to help us to ensure that we're
- following proper bidding procedures are in line with procurement law. Ultimately then, that will bring
- back to you a proposed contract award for the actual additional equipment that is needed to complete
- the AV as well as the IT. I mentioned earlier that there is a, we'll need the fiber brought to the building
- Smithville and Comcast are our typical two that we're going to be looking to. And then again, within
- the next one to three months, we're going to be bringing back these recommendations, whether
- it's professional services and or for equipment, they will all come back to you for award. But this
- is our approach and we'd like to give you our approach first. Have you approved that? And then we'll
- come back with awards in the coming months.
- So do we want a formal approval for yours? Is that what you're asking for? Yes, please. So is there
- a motion to approve the presentation as it's been made? We have a motion. Is there a second? Second.
- So it's been moved and seconded. So discussion or questions about the motion? All right, so seeing and
- hearing none, Mr. Whitlach? John Weichart? Yes. Doug Bruce? Yes. Galen Cassidy? Yes. Joyce Pulling?
- Jim Silverstein. Yes. OK, thank you. Anything else on that, Deb? OK. Item number seven is working group
- updates. And the first one is wayfinding with Schmidt. And I see a couple of things, bullets,
- under there. Yep. So we are, as you guys remember, working through our construction documents process
- for the wayfinding package. So there's a couple of updates. For this month, no formal approvals needed.
- Last month,
- Shortly after the last CIB meeting, we attended the BZA variance hearing to get our signage package
- through the BZA board. There were a few variances we had to request from the signage code. Thank you,
- Sarah and John, for attending in my absence and learning a lot about ROC that they didn't know already.
- It's a long meeting, but maybe not as long as last night's, but it was a long one. They got through
- it. We were approved with one condition to modify the
- the message sign that we're replacing. So we're working through that. We do not need to take it back
- to the BZA. We would just submit it as part of our signage permit process, meeting that condition. And
- then the other thing is we have a meeting with the working group next week to review in very high detail
- all the way finding signage we're preparing. So that'll be fun time in our office to learn and review
- all the sign types, what they all say, where they go, what they look like, and that sort of thing.
- And I think in fairness, I would like to mention that Sarah and I sat through probably a one hour discussion
- about decorative, two hour discussion about decorative rock, which I learned more about than I've ever
- known about in my life. And secondly, I do want to point out that when Eddie said we attended, Eddie's
- attendance was he was texting us pictures of his vacation while we were sitting through the decorative
- rock presentation. So I just want to make sure we all understand what Eddie meant by we.
- Royalee. And you've touched on the meeting we have on Monday? Very good. Next item, furniture fixtures
- and equipment. Anything to report, JSL? Yes, Reload Strategies was down here last Thursday having a
- meeting with Talisha in regards to starting to get more detail about the various parts and pieces that
- we'll be specifying.
- We are starting to look at what will be priced, what will be quoted, and what will be bid. We still
- have quite a bit of process to go in front of us, but this was just one of the meetings of many that
- will take place over phase two. Thank you. Any questions about that?
- All right, Art Installation, the Beat Advisory Group, and Galen is still chairing that group. So I'm
- going to ask Galen if he'll give us an update on where we are with our finalists and what's happened
- to date and what we've got coming. Sure. So we, as you all know, we started this process probably back
- in September, put out a call for artists. Got 180 applicants then and narrowed it down our recommendation
- committee to five in January.
- And between then and last Friday, we hosted a few of them and they were working on their proposals and
- we have successfully received all five proposals as of last Friday. We're compiling that data and we'll
- be releasing a public outreach feedback plan on Monday that will last two weeks until May 1st.
- At that time, or in between that time, our recommendation committee will also be doing interviews with all
- five of the artists, including Weddle and Schmidt in those meetings as well. And then by this time next
- month at our May 20th meeting, we hope to have a recommended artist and proposal to the CIB. Thank you.
- Any questions for Galen?
- We'll be releasing a press release and we will have that on the CIB, munrocib.com website. I assume
- the city is also gonna be advertising that online survey. There'll also be some pop-up events. Those
- are to be determined a little bit, but I'm still narrowing down those locations for the pop-up events.
- Thank you. We have a new item number eight
- in an amended agenda. And item number eight is consideration of acceptance of land transfers from city
- and county and related real estate discussion and proposals. So by way of update, since our last meeting,
- the Redevelopment Commission by resolution approved the transfer of parcels to the Capital Improvement
- Board that include
- by way of description, the south overflow parking lot, as well as the parking lot that is behind the
- courtyard by Marriott. So west of the courtyard by Marriott, south of this building. So the Redevelopment
- Commission has approved the transfer to us of those two parcels. I think it's more than two, but those
- parcels of land. In addition, last night, the County Council completed the approval process
- started by the county commissioners. The county commissioners by resolution approved the transfer to
- the CIB of the West parking lot, as well as those parcels that I will simply describe as south of Smith Avenue,
- to 2nd Street with the exception of a privately owned building that's on that property. So the county
- commissioners approved that by resolution. Last night, the county council also approved that resolution.
- So both the city and the county have advised us that they are transferring or are wanting to transfer
- those parcels to us. So what we need to do today by action and by resolution is accept those transfers.
- So they've been offered and we will now determine whether or not we are going to accept them.
- So with that, I'm gonna turn this over to Mr. Whitlatch who can talk to us about those resolutions.
- Yes, as John stated, we have two resolutions. One is accepting the property that has been identified
- that the redevelopment commission of the city of Bloomington would transfer to us. And so I have prepared
- a resolution,
- provided that to you and it was also in our updated agenda that was published. And so we will do this
- in two steps. The first step is to have a motion to accept the resolution to accept the property that
- is being transferred by the Redevelopment Commission of the City of Bloomington. And so that would be
- the first matter to be considered.
- So we have a resolution that you have in front of you to accept the Redevelopment Commission's conveyance
- of Convention Center parking lots to the Monroe County Capital Improvement Board of Managers. So if
- I could have a motion and a second, and then we can have discussion if necessary. So is there a motion
- to accept the conveyance of the properties? Second. That's been moved and seconded. So now the floor
- is open for discussion or questions. Is there any discussion or questions?
- about the conveyance of those properties. Since we asked for them, I assume there aren't any questions
- about them being conveyed to us. So, Shane and Harry Nunn, if you would please take the role. John Weichart.
- Yes. Doug Bruce. Yes. Galen Cassidy. Yes. Joyce Polling. Yes. Jim Silberstein. Yes. Thank you. All right,
- then the second resolution to consider
- is the resolution accepting the transfer of the real estate from the Monroe County Board of Commissioners.
- And you also have a resolution before you on that. And if there's a motion, John can proceed forward
- with that resolution. So do we have a motion to accept the conveyance of properties from the county?
- So moved. Moved. Is there a second?
- Okay, second. So it's been moved and seconded. Discussion, questions? Seeing, hearing none, Mr. Whitlatch?
- John Weichart? Yes. Doug Bruce? Yes. Galen Cassidy? Yes. Joyce Pauling? Yes. Jim Silberstein? Yes. Okay,
- thank you. So we have now formally accepted the conveyance of those properties as offered by
- the Redevelopment Commission and by the county. The second part of the agenda item is related real estate
- discussion.
- Our mission is clearly defined by both statute, county ordinance, and interlocal agreement is fourfold.
- Expand the convention center, renovate the current building, select a hotelier and a site for a host
- hotel, and address parking issues related to our expansion project. We're obviously well underway with
- the expansion and plans for renovation, and the transfer from the RDC and the county parking lot secures
- that into the future.
- There is now an opportunity presented by the transfer of the further south properties by the county
- to identify what land we own for hotel development. We've all recognized for two years now that it is
- a north site, the College Square site that is the best fit for the hotel site. Negotiations between
- the hotel developer, we selected in the city ended in December 2025 after 14 months of discussion. But
- now with the transfer of land from the county,
- the CIB is for the first time in a position to make its own offer on the College Square site.
- In May of 2024, in response to the CIB's request to the City to identify property available for the
- Convention Center project, Margie Rice Corporation Council wrote about the site to the North, and I
- quote from her letter, negotiations will be required for the purchase or acquisition of the RDC-owned
- parcels to the North
- if those parcels are determined to be integral to the project. The city will expect to be paid or reimbursed
- in some amount for the real property to the north of the existing convention center. We are now in a
- position for the first time to request those negotiations because we now have something to offer in
- exchange. That being the case, I am requesting a motion from the board to permit me to communicate with
- the president of the Redevelopment Commission
- that we are requesting negotiations for the CIB acquisition of the College Square site. We are also
- requesting that if the RDC is preparing a public offering of the site, that they postpone that offering
- for a period of 30 days or until our May 20th CIB meeting for the purpose of those negotiations for
- the CIB to obtain the site for a host hotel. The site has been undeveloped since 2019,
- seven years now, and we are asking for 30 days to discuss its future. So what I'm asking for is a motion
- that you authorize me to communicate with Deborah Meyerson, the president of the Redevelopment Commission,
- a request for formal negotiations for acquisition of the College Square site, and secondly, to delay
- in any public offering for 30 days or no later than May 20th for us to complete those negotiations.
- So that's what I'm asking if we would have a motion for, and I would see if we have one. Still moved.
- So it's been moved? Second. It's been moved and seconded. So I would open it up for discussion or questions
- about the motion to enter into negotiations to acquire the College Square site. Any questions or discussion?
- Seeing none, would you please take the roll?
- John Weichart? Yes. Doug Bruce? Yeah. Galen Cassidy? Yes. Joyce Pauling? Yeah. Jim Silberstein? Yeah.
- Okay, thank you. I will communicate that request immediately following this meeting. So thank you very
- much. Item number nine, old business says land transfers update, but that was before we amended, so
- we've already taken care of that. So moving to item number 10, new business. Is there any new business
- to be brought before the board?
- Seeing none, next item, old business. Is there any old business to be brought before the board? I guess
- I got them out of order, old business and new business. Also seeing none, item number 11, comments from
- board members. Are there any additional comments from board members? Seeing none, item number 12, comments
- from the public. Are there any comments from the public? Yes.
- Sidney Zulek, please, Sidney, if you'd go to the microphone where so we can make sure you're recorded
- and properly heard. Hi, thank you. Sidney Zulek, Bloomington City Council District 6 and Vice President
- of the City Council. I just want to take the time to thank you all for all the hard work that you've
- done on this and say that it is not necessarily up to me, but I am very supportive of your efforts to
- enter into negotiations with the city for the College Square property. And I just wanted to come on
- record and say that so.
- Thank you very much for all of your work, and I look forward to continuing to work with you in the future.
- Thank you very much. Any other comments from the public? Both in person or online? Anyone asking to
- be recognized online? No? All right, seeing no other requests for comments from the public. Item 13.
- Next board meeting is May 20th, 2026 at 3 p.m. And item 14, you don't have to go home, but you can't
- stay here. We are now adjourned. Thank you very much.