Good afternoon. Let me call the meeting of the Monroe County Capital Improvement Board of May 20th,
2026 to order. And with that, I will ask Mr. Parris, who's in attendance with us today, to take the
role. John Weichart. Present. Doug Bruce. Here. Jim Silberstein. Here. Joyce Pauling. Here. Galen Cassidy.
Here. Jay Baer is absent. Thank you.
Before we move on, I think it's only appropriate to mention, as Mr. Parris is in attendance today, that
since we last saw Mr. Parris, he is now a married man. And I think it's only appropriate that we offer
congratulations, I believe, to the groom, so I would like to congratulate Mr. Parris on his nuptials.
I don't believe I've ever seen a young attorney blush before. Second order of business is approval of
the consent agenda.
you've uh... should have received the minutes of the board meeting of april fifteenth minutes of the
special meeting of april twenty fourth claims and the financial report and if uh... i could ask for
a motion to approve the consent agenda so moved to move and seconded uh... net we're now open for questions
discussions comments any questions about the consent agenda i think you've seen uh... none item number
three treasurer's report mister silverstein do you know i'm sorry i'm sorry about
We got to stop and do a roll call on the motion to approve. So if you'll hold off briefly on your Treasurer's
Report, Mr. Silberstein, we'll now vote on the motion to approve the consent agenda. John Weichart?
Yes. Doug Bruce? Yes. Jim Silberstein? Yes. Joyce Poehling? Yes. Galen Cassidy? Yes. All right. Now,
item number three, Treasurer's Report. Mr. Silberstein? Yes. I know you've been waiting for this, but
I have no report. All right. Thank you. President's Report.
Change orders, and I think we have a slide, do we not? It's been a busy, busy few weeks of change orders,
$25,000 or less. So you can see this list of change orders that I have approved since we last met. And
if you have, and you'll also see the use of contingency to date.
which is 1,161,458, which is 48%. You'll see the original contingency of slightly more than 2.4 million
and the remaining contingency of 1.2 million. So if you have any questions about any of those contingencies
that I've approved, now would be an opportunity for you to ask about them.
I'm not seeing questions or concerns, so we will move on from that. It's just my monthly report to you
of change orders. A second item under President's report, environmental study contract. You may recall
last month you authorized me to move forward with an environmental study. We have contracted with VET,
V-E-T, which is a local environmental study group.
in the amount of $8,219 for an environmental study that will be completed by the 29th of June.
And in fact, that study began today. So they are, unless the rain has stopped them, the rain did not
stop them. So they're onsite today beginning their environmental study. Next item, appraisal contracts.
I have approved two
contracts for appraisals, one with Integra, which is an Indianapolis firm, in the amount of $26,500,
and that appraisal will be completed by June 29. The second one is First Appraisal, which is a local
group for $19,500, and that one will be completed June 22.
The difference of roughly $7,000 is First Appraisal did an earlier appraisal of these properties, so
they're updating their appraisal, so that's why you might see that amount and wonder why there's a $7,000
difference. So they are moving forward as well, and those were authorities that you gave me last month,
and so we've moved forward with both appraisals and an environmental study, and we will have those by
the end of June.
Happy to answer any questions if you have them about that. All right, item number five, construction
update. Mr. Sherry. Thank you, John. Andrew Sherry, project manager with the Weddell Brothers.
I should have taken some pictures yesterday before all this rain, but these are as of this morning.
So we'll go through the construction progress in some upcoming activities. This is a photo from the
North elevation. It's hard to see with the lights, but the middle openings here have frames probably
three quarters of the way up. And we are progressing around the building. So structural steel progress update.
Our structural steel detailing continues in the main portion of the expansion. So this is a photo from
the south mezzanine over the main exhibit hall. We will be halfway complete with this tomorrow,
or I'm sorry, Friday, then working on the west half of the exhibit hall. We're preparing for installation
of our partition walls. So our team had the partition walls installer come out on site last week. We
have all this material procured, ready to put up.
finish framing walls around that. And then our sequence seven back of house steel that we've been talking
about is completed with roof decking installed. So the majority of our steel sequences are complete.
Slab on grade and decks. So our slab on grade, our last slab on grade pour, which was the sequence five,
the back of house was completed last week.
There is only a small portion remaining where the temporary site access is currently, which we plan
on having done here in a couple of weeks. Our elevated decks have been poured to the second floor. Our
only remaining deck pour is the north side mechanical room, which is upcoming here in the next few weeks.
Exterior progress, our building envelope, our exterior brick is completed at the southeast portion of
the project around the registers lot.
Our exterior column wraps on the east elevations are to be completed within the next two weeks. They're
working around the frames. So this photo here on the right-hand side is the east corridor. You can see
the curtain wall frames from inside. This is looking from the north towards the south. Our exterior
limestone and granite has started on the southeast side of the project. This will allow us to start
getting ahead on site work, moving towards sidewalks, light pole bases, and just exterior improvements.
Curtain walls are set on the east elevation and currently in progress on the north elevation. We do
have glass on site at our temporary construction office. And we will now see temporary enclosures being
placed around the perimeter of the building. So our team is working hard to have temporary units installed
so that we can start moving towards drywall, hanging, finishing, interior finishes, those types of things.
Here are some exterior photos. So the top left is the north elevation.
The bottom left is the east elevation from the bus station, and then the northeast corner here. So you
can see that the canopy has been framed and sheathed, the column wraps, and then again on the lower
left-hand side, it's hard to see, but we have the window frames in. So glass on site, we will be progressing
to install that, quickly trying to wrap this building for weather days like today.
We did have a lot of contractors stay on site today. Our team may or may not have said we were gonna
buy lunch and had to cancel because of skeleton crews. So maybe that's why they stayed. But again, a
lot of great progress. Interior progress. So interior framed walls around the exhibit hall continue.
This is from the patio area, looking along the north corridor. So on the lower right-hand side, you'll
see these are the restrooms, the main doors to get into the north side of the exhibit hall. Our in-wall
rough-ins are taking place.
Overhead rough ends are in progress. So we have duct work on site, sprinkler hangers for the system
and plumbing, all overhead starting on the east side of the project and working counterclockwise. Our
interior CMU walls are starting at the back of house. Plan on starting those Monday, doing layout and
everything currently. And then again, finalizing temporary power to the project now that we have our
slab pores completed. So Duke set temporary power to the south lot.
Now that we have the last slab on grade poured, we will set up our temporary units. We'll have trees
and everything for a more solid power source. Here are some interior photos. On the left-hand side,
you'll see carriers for the restrooms, for the toilets, in-wall. The middle photo is the backup house,
so the kitchen area. You can see a lot of stub-ups. There's gonna be a lot of equipment and stuff in
that area. And then on the right-hand side is the north corridor. So again, you see the in-wall progress
that we have with plumbing and electrical.
Upcoming activities, so our interior framed walls will continue, including in-wall rough-ins. Our interior
CMU will progress throughout the back of house. Our overhead rough-ins will progress from the east side
of the project towards the west, and then we will be jumping into the exhibit hall. And then, again,
the temporary climate-controlled place of the building to allow for drywall and finish work to take
place. Exterior work upcoming.
We plan on continuing with the brick column wraps. Our curtain wall systems progress on button up the
east and the north elevations and then go to the west. Canopy system to continue with our roof detailing
to follow. This photo right here on the right hand side is the granite and limestone that will wrap
the perimeter of the building. So we have started that.
We are preparing for the remainder of the site demolition existing curb so that we can start getting
sidewalks, light pole bases and those types of things installed. And then starting our exterior features
on the south side of the project. So trash enclosures, our main entrance ramp, those types of things
at the loading dock area. A big talking point over the next couple of months will be the connector
preparation. So we are planning to proceed with the next closure of College Avenue on June 30th through
July 24th.
We have a Board of Public Works meeting June 2nd at 530. We have been coordinating with the Board of
Public Works talking through all the logistics planning the closure. Luckily, we've are luckily or unluckily.
We've been through this before. Luckily, we hope to not have two feet of snow hit the same day we plan
to close. But if so, we do have a snow blower this time. So
We currently have started our work to prepare for the closure, so we're getting ahead everywhere that
we can. This photo of the closure, you can see the parapet wall is framed. We've framed underneath for
the metal panels. We're buttoning up ramps for the elevation changes, and then we will start installing
curtain wall systems prior to this closure that way that we really focus on just getting across the
road in this time period. So I want to eliminate any risks that we may have.
Again, we will have the curtain walls, metal panels, plumbing, electrical rough ends and roof work completed
during this closure. So we've spent a lot of time, our team spent a lot of time coordinating deliveries,
procurement, prep with subcontractors. Again, the board of public works to plan for this. So expect
that to go well. I have issued our letters to all the property owners between second and third street,
trying to check all the boxes. So the next big,
Big hurdle here, be a good one. And that's what I have. Thank you. Any questions for Andrew? All right,
thank you, Andrew. Working group updates. The first one, wayfinding with Schmidt Associates. And I guess
this will be Mr. Layton.
Eddie Leighton, Smith Associates Project Manager. We are here today to give an update on the wave finding
package and the work we've been doing with the committee since the last time we talked, really looking
towards bid approval. So we're going to talk about signage types, locations, cost estimate, our schedule
for bidding, and then ask for official approval to release the bids.
So from the signage types, there are nothing new that you haven't seen before, but just providing an
update. This is the monument sign that replaced the message sign on college. This is, if you might remember
from our BZA hearing, the request there was that the sign would be six feet tall, max, which is we've
addressed that and adjusted the signage and the digital message board to reflect that.
We've got some other exterior signs as well, kind of get people around the building to the parking lots.
And once they're in the parking lots to know where they should be parking, those are located throughout
the site. We've got the signage on the buildings themselves. We've got two signs on the new building
at each corner. And then a similar sign on the existing building in one of the solid infill panels faces
the parking lot.
So once you're in that parking lot area, there's a consistent messaging and you know where you are and
where you should be. We also developed with the group a whole series of interior signs that all have
a similar aesthetic, similar look and feel, various sizes, messaging. We had a long meeting last month
with the group where we went through each of these signs and confirmed what they would say, what they
would look like.
You know, what is the text that actually replaces the Latin placeholder there? So we've worked through
all that so that we can, in the big package, have a schedule that relates each sign location to a sign
type. So as far as outside, we've got the signs all throughout the campus, around both buildings and
through the parking lots and on both College and Walnut Streets.
to get people into the sites and around and know where they should park. The big package also includes
interior floor plans. I'm not going to go through all of them because that would take a while. But just
as an example, showing where each sign is located by type and those types relate back to the slide I
showed a minute ago with the different messages, that sort of thing.
and mostly focused in the pre-function area, because that's where most of the way finding happens, but
also within the exhibit halls and meeting rooms and backup house as well. Part of the document also
is, as I mentioned, the sign schedule. So this will tell the bidders for each of those tags what that
sign should say, what type it is, and then some comments on that sort of thing.
And then as far as cost estimate, we had a budget for the entire project of $800,000 as we've looked
at this. And we did get some preliminary pricing from some vendors we work with so we could check our
estimate. We've got currently 266 signs throughout the buildings. We are still holding a contingency
for signs and things that we might have forgotten or might decide we need later, but happy to report
that we are still well under the budget.
with a good amount remaining. But that is important to note that the one thing that's not in this budget
yet would be some of the historic graphics and storytelling signage, which we've talked about location
possibly being in the new corridor that's created in the great room on the second floor where the bridge
connects. And we're working with getting the content from the historical people here to
sure we're showing the right thing. So that's going to be something that still needs to be developed,
I think, as we work through that. But being that that's part of the second phase of the project, I think
we have a little bit of time as well to address that in a different manner. So when we look at the schedule,
we're requesting that approval to bid today. The documents are already, so they'll be able to be released tomorrow.
We've set up for our advertisements in the paper as required for public bid. We've got a couple
of placeholder dates for addendum. We're expecting to, if approved, to receive the bids on June 17th,
which is the next CIB meeting date, just trying to get it all together. We'd spend the next few weeks
reviewing the bids with the low bidder, making sure everything's covered so that we could make
a recommendation at the July meeting to move forward.
That's what I've got in this quick update. Happy to take any questions. Any questions related to the
wayfinding signage and the request for approval to go out for bids? Is there a motion to move forward
with the bids for the signage package? I'll move for approval for the signing package to go out for
bid. Second.
It's been moved and seconded. Any discussion or comments from board members? All right, seeing none.
Mr. Paris? John Weichart? Yes. Doug Bruce? Yes. Jim Soberstein? Yes. Joyce Poehling? Galen Cassidy?
Yes. Thank you. Next item under working group furniture fixtures and equipment. Just a very quick update.
The committee is getting back together the first week of June to look at some final selections on
chair types and furniture types, things like that. And then we'll have another update in June, but the
group will be ready to go out to bid and ask for bid approval. So they're ready to go in July. Any questions
related to furniture fixtures and equipment? All right, thank you. Art installation, the Bead Advisory
Group. Galen Cassidy, who I want to recognize right away and upfront is
been so involved in all of this and given so much of his own time. And we much appreciate that. So Galen,
we'll turn it over to you. Thank you. I'd like to begin actually by thanking everyone that has contributed
to us getting here today. Our list, hopefully. So these are some prominent members, and I apologize if I've
left you off this list, but our first round here, Ajaan Rose, Jennifer Muyeznovich, Malcolm Abrams,
Talisha Kopek, Steve Versa, Chad Rabinowitz, Karen Jepson-Inez, Dallas Evans, these were all part of
our bead advisory committee that kicked off this project. Maya Michelson, Christina Ellum, Adam Tease,
Joyce Poling, and Rob Shakespeare all made up the recommendation committee that helped choose this final
recommendation.
We also took input from the Bloomington Arts Commission. Of course, John Weikart and the rest of the
Capital Improvement Board were great helps, as well as Mike McAfee and Visit Bloomington. Special shout
out to Jane Coopersmith helping throughout this process. And of course, Eddie and Andrew have been excellent
to work with as we talked with all these artists.
about different opportunities. Special, last but not least, I definitely wanted to recognize Holly Warren
here. She was a part of both of our Beat Advisory Committee and the Recommendation Committee. And I
can't overstate this enough, but we really would not be here without the legwork that Holly put into
this. So I'm not sure if she's in the room or online. Stand up, Holly, so we can- Holly, is it true
here? Yes.
So, you know, in June of 2024, the Capital Improvement Board formed the Bloomington Entertainment Arts
District Advisory Committee. That was represented by community members and business owners that all
lived or worked within the bead itself. And being one of 12 cultural art districts in the state, one
of our charges was to advise the CIB on the arts portion of the project, specifically the 1% for the
arts budget.
As the project progressed, this group had many great discussions about what makes Bloomington the place
we all know and love and how art could reflect that in this project. With the help of Holly, specifically,
we began our first round of public feedback in September of 2025, which helped us determine what the
community was looking for in the art. By October 2025, we were ready to release our call for artists.
That call attracted more than 180 artists from around the world.
Holly and I then formed the recommendation committee to help sort through these artists, which consisted
of representation from the Bloomington Arts Commission, the CIB, and the Beat Advisory Committee, as
well as other members involved in the arts in this community. Our first round narrowed it down to roughly
a top 60, then a top 10, and by the end of December and early January, we had narrowed it down to a top five.
These five finalists then spent the next several months working on proposals based on the themes represented
in our public feedback session, and we hosted several of the artists on site for a chance to meet with
the stakeholders and community members. By April, we had four finalists move on to the last stage, where
a recommendation committee, along with Schmidt and Weddle Brothers, interviewed each artist
We also did another round of public feedback where the community got to see each proposal and vote for
their first and second choices. We received nearly 1000 responses to that survey. Is there anything?
Looks like the little bit out of focus. Yeah, sure. It's very clear on my screen that. You know how
helpful I can be in this. Here we go.
Yeah, great. Well, I didn't do anything, so. We'll see. Well, it must have been something I did, then.
Thank you very much. So after the interviews and the public feedback, our recommendation committee analyzed
each proposal and graded them on artistic merit, implementation, feasibility and experience, community
engagement and impact, and then met to deliberate each of the finalists. Each finalist had a unique
theme in their proposals, and the decision proved to be very difficult.
as there were many strengths to each. Ultimately, our group went back and forth on each proposal. In
addition to our recommendation committee, the Bloomington Arts Commission and the public survey were
also considered in the recommendation. The proposal we are recommending finished first in both
the recommendation committee and the Bloomington Arts Commission and finished second in public voting.
It ultimately ended up being the only proposal to finish in the top two of each of these groups.
With that said, on behalf of the recommendation committee, I'm proud to recommend a form of connection
from Ball Nogue Studio be awarded the Convention Center Art Project. And I'd like to quote the artist
on their narrative here. The best public art changes how people recognize and remember a place. For
the Bloomington Convention Center, I invented a singular sculptural form that winds around the sky bridge
connecting the existing Convention Center to the new expansion.
It then extends outward over the courtyard and then forms a kind of entry canopy at an entrance to the
original building. In traversing along all the walls of the bridge, the work transforms a familiar piece
of connective architecture into a civic marker and gives the convention sitter a new image by which
it can be known. The work takes form of a lyrical line overhead, vine-like in spirit, but abstract.
It wraps the sky bridge, thickening and narrowing as it entwines the bridge.
at times drawing close to the architecture, and at times pressing outward over the courtyard. The scale
matters here. I want the work to have a presence from below the sky bridge, from inside the convention
center, and when viewed from up and down College Avenue. It holds its own in relation to the building
from all these vantage points. Up close, viewers can read the pattern, precision, and intricacy of its
colored panels. But from a block or two away, they grasp the scale of its signature urban gesture.
I am not after a literal emblem. I am after something more potent, a form so particular in its relationship
to the buildings in the urban context that people cannot separate it from how they know the place. Its
overhead sweep, its unusual intimacy with the bridge, and its transformation of a functional connector
into a memorable civic gesture can make it a lasting image for the convention center and, over time,
a lasting symbol for Bloomington itself.
I'd like to quote another member of our Beat Advisory Committee, Chad Rabinowitz, on his feedback about
this piece, which he recommended, as I think it's a great summary of the piece. So when he was asked
why he would recommend, he said, it's one that creates a sizable and memorable piece of art that also
embraces the new building and its architecture. This is the postcard. This is the magazine cover. This
is the image that will represent the attractiveness and uniqueness of our community to the outside world.
Form of Connection is a high impact piece that features hundreds of pieces of custom marine grade aluminum
finished with powder coating. The piece has a lighting integrated throughout to help provide an unmistakable
after dark presence that extends the sculpture visibility and reinforces it as a landmark.
Upon acceptance of this recommendation, the artist would begin working with Schmidt and Weddle immediately
to ensure the necessary structural components are in place for when the art is installed. The tentative
installation timeline provided for the artist includes a 16-month timeline from start to finish.
A preliminary budget, including design, fabrication, installation, contingency, and other general expenses
has been provided and falls within the $400,000 project budget. Thank you again.
and especially all those that have contributed to this project, I'm happy to answer any questions. Dale,
and we had, you know, what we were looking at was kind of fading in and out. Your budget sheet, I think
it was the second one to the last. Yeah, so within the,
The artist is clearly staying within the $400,000 budget, including a contingency or anything that may
be necessary in working within the bridge structure itself. Yeah, that's true. There's a 10% contingency
in that budget. And I don't know if it'd be helpful, but Cindy does have the PDF that might be clear
if I can. Okay. Yeah.
Well, as we're looking for it. So you brought this forward as a report from the committee. May I take
it that you're also bringing this forward as a motion that we approve this? That's correct, yeah. So
we have a motion, because then we'll move to discussion and comments. So we have a motion to approve
this recommendation. Is there a second to the motion? And Joyce would second the motion, and I would
point out that both
Neil and Joyce were members of this committee representing the CIB. So it's been moved and seconded
that we approve this recommendation. So let me open this up for comment or discussion among board members.
Comments? Okay, and the budget is up. I just wanted to make sure we all knew this was within the budget
that we set aside for the ARD installation.
And I would welcome, of course, any comments from Weddle Brothers or Schmidt about the installation
or the project itself. I know you've looked at it as well and from a structural standpoint and what
we're working with on the bridge and the connection. Yeah, I mean, during the interviews and the final
process, you know, we talked about schedule and how that ties into what we're doing. I do feel very
confident that
After approval, we can start working as a group with the connection points, accommodate that while we're
finishing out the connector, that way it doesn't hold anything up, and as we wait on the final product
to be brought to the job site. So I think it was great conversations, there was a lot of coordination,
great groups, it was awesome to be a part of all the artists involved, but we did talk in detail about
all those different things. And knowing that we can move forward while you're still
Under construction if you will on the bridge, it's a good opportunity Excuse me to to get things done
with the bridge that that support the the installation as well Yes, it's not gonna stop anything that
we're doing so and it's better than going back later and making Accommodations to the bridge later.
Absolutely. Okay and Eddie any comments from from Schmidt I agree with that out of all the
different installations, this one was probably the one that had the most complicated connection to the
bridge, but they also, I think, put the most thought into it and had ways to work through it in a way
that was sequenced with the construction. So knowing that the final piece is not gonna arrive too much
later, the connections are separate and meant to be installed first, so. Thank you. Questions from board
members or comments? Mr. Silverstein.
Let's take Mr. Silberstein for example. This is the first time I've noticed the illumination on the
piece. Is it firm that they're gonna illuminate it the way they're showing here? That's correct, yeah.
That it's integrated throughout the whole piece and it's kind of tucked away. There's not a great image
on here but they tuck that away in the paneling so it's not easily, it's accessible if you need to work
on it but it's not easily accessed for any other purpose, yeah. LED lighting or something like that.
And it's meant to just provide subtle
lighting, not just to be something flashy, really. Yeah. OK, great. Thank you. Joyce. We had great committees
who worked very, very hard. Lots of great public comments. I think everybody should be proud that that
many people responded. So thank you to Galen, Holly, the whole team that worked together.
And I think, if I recall correctly, that this particular piece had the most public reaction, both strongly
for and strongly against, which shouldn't be too surprising. We're talking about art. So I would guess
that would—to me, that's somewhat inspiring, that we have so much attention to it, and it has attracted
that kind of reaction, strong reaction. So I appreciate that. Any other questions, comments, observations?
Okay, so we have a motion and a second. Mr. Parrish, would you take the role, please? John Weichardt?
Yes. Doug Bruce? Yes. Jim Silverstein? Yes. Joyce Poehling? Yes. Galen Cassidy? Yes. Okay, thank you.
And thank you so much to everybody who's been so involved in this for so many months. We know how much
hard work you've put into it.
I'm looking around the room and I see all of you, and you're probably thinking, thank God this part
of it's over, so we can move on to something else. And Holly, thank you again so much for your leadership
and assistance in all of this. Much appreciated. But thank you very much to all of you. I'm going to—you
know what? I'm going to applaud, because I think this was a—
Next item on the agenda, approval of various professional services, JS Held. Yeah, I'm going to allow
my associate, Mary Karpinski, who you've seen before, she's going to do this. Thank you, Mary Karpinski.
We have been working back and forth with professional service groups to bring you this.
The first one is for Pro Blue for their professional services for network engineering and hardware
installation. This is a not to exceed figure as we'll look at it as we get them under contract should
you approve them. This is for both buildings and so this really is the hard work that makes all the
other technical things in the project work.
So just to note, also ProBlue has been a partner for a long time and much of their research and early
work on this has been donated in their time and effort towards the project. That's outside the number
that you're seeing here in front of you. The second one is a request for approval for IMG as professional services.
And this is for identifying the audio visual equipment in the existing building. As you may recall,
the new building does have all the AV equipment incorporated into the project already. We did not do
that for the existing building because of budget purposes early on. IMG is being asked to engage to
create the list of equipment that
is needed for this building. So this is just for their service. We will then, after that, work through
a QPA process to procure that equipment. But this is just to identify it. Just so you know, IMEC has
been the engineering firm on the project through Schmidt, who has identified the rest of the AV for
the project. So with that, we would ask for approval for these professional services.
Okay, Mr. Whitlatch, are you, can you hear me? Are you muted? We what?
Okay, I'm going to let me let me turn to Mr. Paris and ask Mr. Paris a question. Should we deal with
this as two separate approvals or can this be one approval? Two separate. Okay, so we're so we're seeking
approval for two separate contracts. So let's take let's take the request for approval for pro blue
pro blue professional services. Let's take that one first. Is there a motion to approve? So moved.
Is there a second? Any discussion? David, please take the roll. John Weichardt? Yes. Doug Bruce? Yes.
Jim Silverstein? Yes. Joyce Polling? Gail and Cassidy? Yes. All right, the second one then is the request
for approval for IMEG professional services for the audiovisual equipment for existing building. Is
there a motion to approve? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Second. Any discussion or comment?
If you take the role, please, Mr. Parrish. John Weichart. Yes. Doug Bruce. Yes. Jim Silberstein. Yes.
Joyce Pulling. Yes. Galen Cassidy. Yes. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mary. All right. Next item
of business is update on newly acquired properties. And I'll take that. That's bright.
First, let me report and just as a reminder that we've had properties offered to us by the county to
the south that include these properties we're gonna talk about today. We have not yet been deeded these
properties. So we're sort of in this position where we're talking about leases for buildings on properties
that have not yet been deeded to us. Although I've had conversation with the county attorney today and
we expect all the deed process
for him, Mr. Whitlatch, to review that yet before this week is out. And so we anticipate that these
properties will be formally deeded over to us by the 1st of June. So with that as background, I want
to catch you up on the leases for the properties to the South. And we have both residential and we have
commercial properties to the South. So
There are 35 units in total, 31 of them are residential, 4 of them are commercial. Of the residential
units, and there are 31, 14 of them are vacant and unrented. So they have not been rented,
they are vacant, they have been left as open units, and that's roughly 45% of the total units in the
residential properties. There are 17 units then,
that are occupied. Three of the residents in units have notified us of their intent to move out. Three
of the 17. Another different three of the 17 are delinquent in their rental payments. And one of those
residents is actually
up against an eviction notice. One resident does not have a lease at all and has not had a lease since
December 31st of 2025, so is on a month-to-month sort of rolling lease, living there and obviously paying
rent, and that's a month-to-month lease. So that leaves 10 residents who have current standing among
the 17 who are there who have current leases.
So efforts to work with tenants have included the Monroe County Renters Association, which has conducted
four open houses for tenants to review other apartment options that they have. And the apartments, those
four apartments who have had open houses have agreed to waive credit checks for any residents who are
interested. Residents have also been notified that if they
terminate their leases early because these are all leases to July, roughly the first part of July. If
they terminate their leases early, they'll be released from their leases and their damaged deposits
will be returned to them. In addition, two men in a truck movers here in Bloomington is offered to move
any residents free of charge from their current location to wherever they might choose to move. So that's
an update on the residential units.
Commercial units, there are four of them. Three of them are on leases that expire in July. One of them,
Blue Tip Billiards. I've not spoken with him personally, but it's my understanding that he has found
a new location effective June 1st, but is still working out details of that new location. Friendly Beast
is the cider business that's located down there. They've also found a new location
But there's a complication, as one of the owners and I have discussed, in that moving in June, even
if there's an available space, makes a change in the liquor license for Friendly Beast. It means they
have to reapply for a liquor license, which would mean that they would miss an opportunity in the month
of August for both Taste of Bloomington and Pride Fest.
which can be an important part of their business relationships. So they have requested, if it's possible,
that they be allowed to stay through the month of August so they don't miss those opportunities. The
third one with a current July lease is My Sister's Closet. We've had conversations, and they've asked
for an extension of an indefinite length as they continue to work on their own relocation efforts. My
Sister's Closet has had its rent waived since April of 2025.
And to date, uncollected rent waived by the county has been in the amount of $52,500, which has been
a county donation, if you will, to My Sister's Closet to help them with their relocation expenses. The
fourth commercial resident is Jeff's Warehouse. And Jeff's Warehouse has a lease that goes to the end
of February of 2027, to February 28th of 2027.
But I've had conversations with the owner, and he has agreed to revise that lease with a termination
of no later than September 30th of 2026. So he has agreed that he will move out and end his
lease relationship at the end of September rather than five months later at the end of February of 2027.
And he also has a new location and is working on his new location.
So that's an update on where we stand with all the leases, both residential and commercial, that we
will receive when these deeds are transferred to us, estimated now to be the first part of June. So
what I'm asking the board and what I'm proposing today is that to aid with some of these requests and
to bring these leases into alignment,
I am asking for a motion for the following two actions from the board. First action is at the time of
the deed transfer from the county of the parcels that the CIB will notify the remaining residential
and three of the commercial tenants that we will offer them the option of extending their leases to
August 31st of 2026. So rather than ending those leases the 1st of July that we would extend those through
through July and through the month of August. That secondly, we will also amend the lease with Jeff's
warehouse for it to end no later than September 30th of 2026. So in this fashion, we can bring these
leases into closer alignment, also allow residents some additional time for them to have the opportunity
for relocation with the assistance that's being provided to them, and certainly allow in particular,
friendly beasts, for instance, so that we're not causing any harm as far as their business relationship
and their business model. So I am asking for a motion for those two actions. If I can have a motion
in a second, then we can discuss this. So it's been moved. Is there a second? Second? Second. Oh, second.
So it's been moved and seconded. So now I would open the floor for discussion.
Notifying these residents and tenants once these properties are transferred to us the 1st of June that
we are willing to extend these leases to August 31st if they so desire and to work with Jeff's Warehouse
to revise that particular lease to a September termination rather than February. So are there questions?
Is there discussion? Are there comments?
I would simply point out that we're providing three more months from now, actually, for the tenants,
for the residential tenants, to continue to look at relocation opportunities. As I said, we're meeting
the business needs of Friendly Beast, and we're providing two additional months for my sister's closet
relocation and extending the financial contribution, not only that the county is making, but by extending
that lease
And we're actually extending an additional $13,000 of our own contribution in rent waiver that would
bring support from the county and the CIB to $65,400 to my sister's closet to assist in their relocation.
So I would add those as additional comments. Are there any additional comments from or questions from
board members? All right, seeing none, Mr. Paris, will you take the role?
John Weichart? Yes. Doug Bruce? Yes. Jim Silberstein? Yes. Joyce Poehling? Yes. Galen Cassidy? Yes.
Okay, thank you. The next item on the agenda is a permit authorization. And I don't know if we,
do we have Mr. Whitlatch back? Mr. Paris, do you want to speak to this or do you want me to? You can?
All right, why don't you go ahead and talk to us about the resolution we're asking the board to consider.
Yeah, so this resolution has been passed out to the CIB members. It is a resolution authorizing the
removal of real property for some of the buildings on the parcels that will be transferred by the county
to the CIB. And in order to do that, there's a demolition permitting process you have to go through.
And so this resolution is a resolution authorizing Mr. Weichart
and his capacity as president of the CIB to carry out the permitting process to obtain that demolition
permit in order to facilitate the removal process of those buildings. And happy to answer any questions
the members have. So if we, let's see this. Is there a motion to move forward for approval of the resolution
and then we can have discussion? So moved. Okay, is there a second?
Second. So it's been moved and second, and now we can have discussion. Is there any discussion or any
comments about the resolution to move forward with this permitting process? So, Mr. Bruce. Yes,
thank you. So this would get the process started, but this doesn't mean demolition starts immediately,
obviously, because we have tenants that are there until the end of September, correct?
So until until the end of August. So well, and then one one for Jeff's warehouse. So through so nothing
would start before all the tenants are out of all the buildings. We probably have to I'm going to ask
Deb for some advice here because it's possible we could move forward with them on demolition of some
buildings and wait
later for the Jeff's warehouse, but that might be a confusing process for those involved in bidding
on the proposal. So I think it's safe—it's certainly safe to say that by moving forward with
the permitting, we would gain the permit, which would give us the opportunity to determine what date
we would move forward with removal of the buildings. So the fact that we have the permit doesn't mean
that the instant we get the permit, we would move to remove the buildings.
Is that a fair statement? Yeah, that's fair. The city has a process for permitting, right? There's a
certain set of documents that have to be submitted for said permit. We have to follow the rules there.
And then additionally, there'll have to be a bid for demolition. And the bid for demolition will have
to come back to this group for award. So you'll have another opportunity to approve the actual demolition
contractor award is probably the next big step.
Any other questions or observations or comments? Seeing none, Mr. Paris? John Weichart? Yes. Doug Bruce?
Yes. Jim Soberstein? Yes. Joyce Poehling? Yes. Galen Castey? Yes. Thank you. Next item on the agenda
is old business. Is there any old business to be brought before the board?
Item number 10, any new business? Any new business to be brought before the board? Item 11, comments
from board members? Any comments from board members? Seeing none, item 12, comments from the public.
We offer a 10 minute period for the public to make comment with individuals having two minutes to make
comments. So do we have any comments from the public?
Green. Do you identify yourself, please? I'm Bryce Green. I'm a representative of Bloomington Homes
for All, a group that's trying to organize to preserve Seminary Point, the south parcel that we've been
talking about. I just want to, A, thank you for extending the leases. It seems that that is a vote of
confidence to some extent in our ability to work something out with the RDC and the relevant bodies
that would
result in the land of the College Square property being transferred to the CIB as part of the hotel
development, which is something that everyone here would like, and that would enable the organization
to preserve Seminary Point. I would also like to urge this body to endorse the plan that the Homes for
All group has put forward in terms of
either proposing a land swap again or proposing a sale to the RDC that would be contingent on the sale
of the Seminary Point property to a mission-based organization dedicated to preserving affordable housing.
This plan seems to be workable from all sides and it responds to the needs and concerns of all the relevant
bodies. This would allow
of Seminary Point to be preserved, it would allow the College Square property to be used for a host
hotel, and it would also reduce the bureaucracy that would come with a direct land swap and a transfer
from the RDC. So I urge you guys to look at that, consider that, and hopefully make public statements
in support of it and help push this through in private. Thank you, guys.
Any other public comment? Isabel Piedmont-Smith? I think you may be muted, Isabel. Yes. Hello.
Thank you. Oh, there you are. OK. I wanted to also encourage the CIB to look at the homes for all proposal.
And also consider whether a hotelier would actually need an entire block like College Square, because
one possible avenue for the land swap would be to swap the southern property, which is assessed at a
quite a bit lower value than College Square.
for part of College Square rather than the whole block, which would seem sufficient space for a hotel
if we compare with the other large hotels we have downtown. So I encourage the CIB to look into that
option. Thank you. Any other comments? Any other hands up? Okay, seeing no one else in person or no
one else online.
The next item on the agenda is our next board meeting is June 17th, 2026 at 3 p.m. here in the Convention
Center. And with that item 14, you don't have to go home but you can't stay here. We are adjourned.