- you. Good morning. I'm going
- to call to order this meeting
- in the Monroe County Board of
- Commissioners. It is Thursday,
- April 17th. And I will note for
- the record that Commissioner
- Madeira and myself are here and
- present in the Natu Hill room
- and Commissioner Jones is
- joining us via teams. And we
- have a special commitment to
- welcome and protect the rights
- of all people, regardless of
- age, race, color, creed,
- disability, sexual orientation,
- gender, gender identity,
- marital status, economic status
- and national origin. And we
- affirm the right of every
- person to live peacefully
- without fear, and we will fight
- and resist at every step
- discrimination and harmful
- policies, whatever their source.
- We also stand in support of our
- county public school systems,
- both RB B and MCC SC. And with
- that we will begin our
- department updates. Is Kelly is
- joining us. Good morning. Good
- morning, commissioners. Just a
- few updates as of April 15th
- emergency visits for COVID
- like illness have continued to
- decrease and wastewater
- concentrations are now trending
- down. Flu activity is still
- minimal. The health department
- in collaboration with the
- Indiana Department of Health is
- hosting an MMR vaccine clinic.
- This will be held on April 21st
- at the Monroe County Public
- Library, Ellisville branch. This
- will be from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
- in meeting room B. Our public
- health clinic has vaccines
- available for all ages. You can
- call 812-353-3244 for an
- appointment. Great. Thank you
- so much. Comments or questions,
- Commissioner Madura? I have
- none other than, you know, now
- the measles virus is in
- Indiana, and so these measures
- are really critical, and this
- is a virus that can take lives
- very easily, and so vaccines are
- all the more important. Thank
- you. Thank you. Commissioner
- Jones? No, I don't. Thank you.
- Thank you. I went to the last
- MMR clinic, so it was very quick
- and actually painless, so it was
- kind of nice. So I highly
- recommend folks check their
- records and verify. All right,
- any other departments have an
- update for us?
- Okay, great. We will now move on
- to public comment. This agenda
- item is reserved for
- conversation and commentary on
- items that do not appear
- elsewhere on our agenda. We ask
- speakers to limit their time to
- three minutes per person. Please
- give your name and county of
- residence when you begin.
- Good morning, commissioners.
- This is Christopher MG. I work
- at the Greater Bloomington
- Chamber of Commerce, but now I'm
- speaking as a Monroe County
- resident. I just want to say I
- just gave blood to the American
- Red Cross donated at City Hall
- today, and it took 30 minutes.
- It was painless, and it really
- is the least you can do. It's
- amazing now that they tell me
- where my blood goes. I got
- recently, I think it was one or
- two times ago, that it was a
- runner who was struck by a car,
- and they were able to save his
- life because of people donating.
- And I got this fun T-shirt today,
- so I just want to say it's so
- easy to do. It's not painful at
- all, so I just encourage all of
- the residents here in Monroe
- County. I know the commissioners
- do a great job of plugging those,
- but there are opportunities
- everywhere around, so just look
- at the American Red Cross website
- for further details. Thank you.
- Thank you. Important.
- Anyone else have public comment
- for items not on our agenda?
- Make sure, TSD, please ensure the
- clock is visible on our monitors.
- Thank you so much.
- Good morning. Good morning.
- My name is Janae Trimble, and I
- reside in Monroe County.
- I worked in the Monroe County's
- assessor's office from October
- 2023 to October 2024 as the
- assistant property director
- before putting in my two-week
- notice and taking another
- position within the county.
- During my time there, I witnessed
- multiple violations of Indiana
- state code.
- This is not rumor hearsay, but
- experiences that I personally
- witnessed and partook in.
- I saw the violations, heard the
- violations, and was instructed
- to perform them.
- The practice of sales-chasing
- and the manipulation of racial
- studies are causing the housing
- and rental markets to increase
- inorganically, and this has been
- practiced by this office for
- years.
- I have hundreds of examples of
- documentation proving the state
- code violations, many of which
- I have already provided to this
- board of commissioners.
- 50 IAC 27-4-5, 50 IAC 27-11-2,
- 50 IAC 3.3-2-2, 50 IAC 15-1-3.5,
- just to list a few and there are
- many more.
- I first blew the whistle and
- followed the suggested guidelines
- found on IndianaGov for reporting
- illegal and unethical practices
- from elected officials in the
- proper chain of command.
- On 3/3/2025, per these
- guidelines, I reported this
- activity to my supervisors, the
- Department of Local Government
- Finance, and then I reported it
- to you, the Monroe County Board
- of Commissioners, and the Monroe
- County Legal Department.
- And you have yet to hold a
- conversation with me concerning
- this matter.
- Instead, I experienced
- retaliation, bullying, and
- harassment from the assessor,
- HR, and from the county
- attorneys, from whom I filed a
- claim against.
- False accusations coming from
- social media that were in fact
- rumored with no supported
- documentation were made against
- me and my employment
- threatened.
- Instead of the county
- investigating or even inquiring
- about the Frado's reporting, the
- county opened an investigation
- against me to try to terminate
- my employment once again.
- I've been bullied and harassed
- by the assessor dating back to
- October 2024.
- I choose to publicly stand up
- for myself, my family, my
- friends, my neighbors, and for
- all the residents of my county
- and ask that you do the same and
- open an investigation into the
- reported illegal activity of the
- assessor's office.
- In closing, I'd like to quote
- part of your opening statement,
- and I'm putting a demand on that
- statement, and I'm asking that
- you fulfill the oath.
- We, the Monroe County Board of
- Commissioners, renew our
- commitment to protect the rights
- of all people, and we affirm the
- right of every person to live
- peaceably without fear, and we
- will fight at every step
- discrimination and harmful
- policies, whatever their source.
- We believe in diversity, equity,
- inclusion, and belonging.
- Repeating and stressing harmful
- policies, whatever their source.
- I'm pleading the Indiana
- whistleblower laws in my defense,
- and I ask that I do not receive
- more retaliation for exercising
- my local state and federally
- protected right as a resident
- of Monroe County to speak at
- this public meeting.
- Thank you for your time.
- Thank you.
- When else have public comment to
- offer.
- Raise your hand on teams.
- Or come to the podium.
- Thank you very much.
- We will now move on to our next
- item please make a motion.
- Yes, I would like to approve a
- move to approve the minutes from
- April 10 2025.
- I will second that any comments
- edits or corrections.
- I see no, no, no, neither.
- Mr King.
- Since we have a zoom attendee we
- would need you to call all the
- role please on this item.
- Thank you.
- Commissioner Madera.
- I commissioner Jones.
- I commissioner Thompson.
- Yes.
- All right motion carries three to
- zero.
- Look at the next item please.
- I move to approve the claims
- socket of accounts payable from
- April April 17 2025 and for
- payroll from April 17 2025.
- Miss Guyardo.
- Good morning.
- Good morning everyone.
- The accounts payable claims docker
- for April 17 2025 totals 10
- million three hundred thirty three
- thousand six hundred eighty eight
- and seven cents.
- This includes all emergency claims
- and adjustments.
- The payroll docker for April 17
- 2025 includes one million six
- hundred sixty five thousand eight
- hundred and six and twenty seven
- cents in direct cost and the
- remaining seven hundred one
- thousand nine hundred and twenty
- and twelve cents were for indirect
- costs for a grand total of two
- million three hundred sixty seven
- thousand seven hundred and twenty
- six and thirty nine cents.
- Thank you so much.
- Comments or questions.
- Commissioner Jones.
- No I don't.
- Commissioner Madera.
- No thank you.
- I don't either.
- Let's see if there's any public
- comment on this item.
- You raise your hand on teams or
- come to the podium.
- Seeing none, Ms.
- Turner-King, if you would please
- call the roll on accounts payable
- April 17th, twenty twenty five and
- payroll April 17th, twenty twenty
- five.
- Commissioner Jones.
- Yes.
- Commissioner Thomas.
- Yes.
- Commissioner Madera.
- Yes.
- Thank you so much.
- Motion carries three zero.
- I will note for the record that we
- received a report from the treasurer.
- This is from March of twenty
- twenty five.
- We will now move on to new business.
- Commissioner Madera, if you would make a
- motion, please on that item.
- Yes, I would like to move to ratify the
- emergency declaration.
- I will second that.
- Who's managing that one?
- I don't know.
- I don't see if Jamie's on.
- Yeah, I think what I could maybe give a
- little recap of over.
- I don't have the dates in front of me, but
- due to the weather issues that we've
- recently experienced, the commissioners
- had to enact an emergency declaration
- at that point in time.
- This will help potentially some of our
- residents as they move forward, trying
- to mitigate the expenses incurred as a
- result of the damages from the storms.
- Yes, so I signed, I signed the first one
- for April 5th and the second one was
- signed on April 12th.
- They both appear in the packet.
- So we don't know if there will be federal
- assistance or state assistance available.
- However, without the emergency
- declaration, we know it would not be
- available.
- So we have no idea what's going to
- happen at the federal level or state
- level either.
- So all kinds of things can happen in
- that, in that context.
- So, all right, so any comments or
- questions, Commissioner Madeira?
- No, just that we really critically need
- to get funds to people whose property,
- whose lives are being disrupted by these
- storms, even before we get more weather
- this summer and spring.
- And this weekend, yeah, because there's a
- chance of flooding this weekend.
- Commissioner Jones, comments or questions?
- No, I don't.
- Thank you.
- All right.
- Any public comment on this item?
- You can raise your hand on Teams or come
- or come to the podium. All right, seeing none. All those in favor of ratifying. I'm sorry. So,
- Mr. King, if you would call the roll on ratifying the emergency declarations of
- April 5th and April 12th, 2025. Thank you. Commissioner Madera. Yes. Commissioner Jones.
- Yes. Commissioner Thomas. Yes. Thank you. Motion carries three zero.
- Before we go to the next item, maybe you want to explain item B being tabled. I mean,
- do you want us to table that? Yeah, I'm just requesting that you might want to consider
- tabling that. I have some concerns as I read the synopsis and it states that B and L IT services
- would be involved in our potential planning and preparation for vote center implementation.
- Oh, that's item C.
- So you would like us to table item C until the May 1st meeting.
- Got it. We can do that. All right. Okay. Because I was looking, I was like,
- what is this? We're all good here. We've got it together. All right. Next item, please.
- Yes. I would like to move to approve the 2026 application for section 5 3 1 1 5 3 3 9 assistance
- for rural areas grant and authorizing resolution 20 25 dash 21 funds named county general fund
- number 1000 in the amount of $80,000. We're kind of chuckling because this is an item. I was like,
- why would we table this item? It's gotta get passed today. All right. So thank you. Thank you for
- catching that. And we have, who's joining us? Good morning. Good morning. Thank you. I'm Chris
- Myers.
- I'm with area 10 agency on aging and rural transit specifically this morning. So thank you for
- making
- sure that got on the agenda. This is annual renewal grant to operate rural transit in Monroe and
- then
- three other counties. Um, in your packet, you have the application or the parts of the application
- that you need to sign and approve. But, um, just to let everybody know, it would be for a total
- operating budget of $1,781,275 of which the federal, um, 53 11 grant would be $856,438
- in the state match would be $311,595, which hasn't changed in years.
- And then of course, leaving the local burden, um, at 562,242. And we're hoping that the Monroe
- County commissioners and council will approve $80,000 towards that local match along with other
- county, um, governments. And then the other part of that is putting in to replace four vehicles.
- Three are buses from 2018 with almost 200,000 miles on them. We always stretch it as far as we
- can. In fact, a couple of them probably won't be running this year and we're going to be waiting
- until next year's, um, grant. And then one low floor minivan, all of which will have ramps or,
- or lifts in order to be 100% accessible. Uh, that application, uh, is for 459,000
- of which the federal government will pay, hopefully 328,400. And then the local match is
- 68,850, which area 10 commits from other sources and not asking for Monroe County help. So that's
- the entire numbers game. If you have any questions. Great. Um, we actually don't have it in our
- packet,
- but I feel very familiar with all of this, uh, because it's been so many years, but I do want
- to see if, uh, commission Madeira has any comments or questions. No, I've actually looked at
- documentation from prior years and you and I, when you kind of walked me through the history
- of transit and how this is funded a long time ago, this was very helpful. So thank you so much for
- that. Commissioner Jones, comments or questions? No, I don't. Thank you. All right. Um, I do
- actually have two questions for you. Um, one is, uh, the USDA has already cut a billion in
- food relief, uh, and spending for, um, lunch programs and food banks. Uh, are they talking
- about cutting transit as well? They are not talking about cutting transit. I reached out
- to Todd Jennings, our NDOT program manager, and he believes that, um, because it's considered
- infrastructure, that it will be supported and continued. There hasn't been any threats to that.
- Yeah. I know on the food bank piece, you know, area 10 also has a mobile food pantry for,
- not that I want to take up time, but we are feeling the hurt for that. In fact,
- this Saturday is our stuff of us, which isn't great weather for it as it turns out to be,
- but you know, you can't predict that, but we are, everybody's feeling that hurt for sure.
- Yeah. It's terrible. Um, it's really terrible. Um, and we have, we're currently, um, the Monroe
- County government is currently supporting the, uh, bus program that allows you to take non-USDA
- buses, uh, um, into, out of Ellisville and Bloomington and, uh, how's that going?
- It's fine. It's continuing as it has been. Um, so it has about the same ridership as it's,
- you know, been supporting the last year. I don't have the numbers right in front of me, but, um,
- you know, I look at it every month and it's, it's right there where it has been. So I think that
- the funding that you've allocated for this year out of the remaining ARPA funds is going to cover,
- hopefully we'll cover all of that through the end of the year. And of course we've got the struggle
- of figuring out how that's going to be fixed for 2026. Right. Well, I, I think we, I think we just
- get it on your calendar. I think we are going to make sure that it gets in the budget proposal
- first, the very first thing, uh, instead of having to be added later. And Angie's writing it down.
- I
- can see her doing that. Thank you, Angie. And, um, and we will make sure that it's heard. Um, and I'm,
- I'm just glad to hear that ridership continues apace and I'm grateful for your ability to juggle
- and provide these services for our residents. So thank you. Thank you. And I, I mean, I want to say
- Monroe County has been so supportive of rural transit, especially in the last few years. Um,
- but, you know, I've been at area 10 for 11 years and it hasn't always been the cleanest and best
- relationship. And I feel like we've done a great job, um, building that rapport and reputation over
- the years. But, you know, it, I also work with Putnam, Lawrence and Owen County governments,
- so I can tell you that it's not as easy to exchange information and get people who are genuinely
- interested and concerned about trans public transportation in your position. So I do appreciate
- that. It makes my job a little easier in that regard. Well, we're grateful. Thank you. Yes,
- thank you. All right. Uh, let's see if there's any public comment on this item. You raise your hand
- on teams or, um, come to the podium. Mr. King, will you please call the roll on a 2026 application
- for section 531-5311-5339 assistance for rural areas grant authorizing resolution 2025-21.
- Commissioner Jones. Yes. Commissioner Madera. Yes. Commissioner Thomas. Yes. Motion passes.
- Thank you. 3-0. Thank you so much. Thank you, Ms. Meyer. Um, I'm going to go ahead and make a
- motion
- to table item C, um, until our next meeting, which is May 1st, uh, B and L IT services,
- LLC renewal for election support. I'd like to, uh, table that to May 1st. I second that motion.
- All right. We have a motion and a second. Any comments? Um, Commissioner Jones. Hi. No, I don't.
- Um, Mr. Madera, I have none. Okay. Um, I don't know, Angie, if you have, if you'd like to speak on
- your concerns and yeah, um, just, just so that everybody's understanding, I was looking at the
- synopsis here and it references that B and L would have, um, it states here. Um, they covers, um,
- upgrade of heart equipment once approved by the state, potential equipment moves and potential
- planning and preparation for vote center implementation. I need to know clarification
- as to what that input actually is because this is a Monroe County government, um, project. And, um,
- I think we need to ensure that missionaries who are responsible for these, um, buildings and spaces
- have the authority to do what they need to do. So that was my only concern.
- And, uh, may 1st won't hurt you if we delay this. It does. We actually have, we are holding claims
- waiting for this to be approved. So if we can pay some claims before this is actually approved,
- then we can submit it for clarity is the claims regarding the storage unit. Yes. So thank you. The,
- um, previously the clerk's office had a agreement with a storage unit and now that storage unit is
- going to be, um, encompassed in B and L's, um, service agreement. And so the claims for the
- storage unit, I think are waiting to be paid. The storage unit is going to be a two year agreement,
- um, and it's going to be in Mr. White's name, who will provide access to the clerk's office.
- And it's also for a reduced rate. They agreed to keep us at the current rate rather than giving
- us a bump up if we pay in the two years. So, and they have been very kind and very, very patient
- for their money, but we, I mean, it is a small business. We do need to get them.
- Right. Um, I don't know that I understand why it would not be in the county's name.
- That become, I will defer to Mr. Turner King.
- So the agreement was, um, previously in the county's name. And when it
- come to time to renew it, I had mentioned that to renew it, we would have to have a public hearing
- and there are some several steps and clauses that need to go to the agreement for it to
- be a county agreement. And, um, and explaining that to the clerk's office, the option that
- they elected to do was place it in this agreement. Um, it is for storage of equipment that I
- believe
- it's, it's the only thing I know is it's election equipment. So I don't know what equipment is
- there.
- It is a lot of election equipment, not the voting machines per se, but everything that goes along
- with it. And so there is a stipulation in the agreement, please correct me if I'm wrong,
- that everything in the storage is property of Monroe County. They're just paying the bill and
- they're going to be held. Um, they're not going to be held liable if any natural disaster happened
- because it is Monroe County's property and legal did suggest this option for us to just get it paid
- and move on. It is more complicated. And it did need, I think, correct me if I'm wrong,
- to be this complicated. I think we could put the lease in the county's name. There are two options
- and this is one of the options. A third option is to see if there's a place for the storage of this
- equipment that is county owned, but I don't have an idea of what this equipment is.
- Nice. Good question. Please. Why would we put it in another party's name?
- So the, um, contract previously has Mr. White, um, I'm trying to find the clause. It said he would
- maintain storage loc- er, that's an old version. Previously the contract alluded to that he was
- maintaining and inventorying the equipment that was already in storage and because he was already
- doing that it seemed appropriate to have him manage the storage unit too.
- And he was doing that pursuant to his duties under this contract?
- Under the previous version of this contract. Yes. And just for clarification, we also do have
- keys and access to that storage so it's not just the vendor, it's us as well. Just make sure that
- is very- No, I understand that and I think for a normal business that's fine to do- assign an agent
- to manage a lease or a storage unit but my concern is this is the people's property
- and I don't feel- I can't think of an example where we've ever done this before,
- where we've given somebody that ownership of a space, oh you'll have access, it's the people's
- property. And I agree when I was looking at this I couldn't find an example where we have had a
- storage unit in someone else's name and I think that's because most of departments don't have
- outside storage units. But I can't think of anywhere else where we've got county property
- in someone else's possession. Is it really going to be problematic to wait two weeks?
- It is. We're already a month late and given the storage and they've waived the
- fee, the late fee. I just don't feel- I'd rather pay a late fee than do the wrong thing here.
- I agree. I don't know. I don't feel comfortable with this. It's nothing you've done. I mean I get
- it.
- But I just have real concerns with something that I've never seen before and I've been here 12
- years
- doing this job 12 years and unfortunately we weren't giving any other storage options so this
- is where they resorted to actually store and I'm trying to think of- so we have tables, we have
- equipment, we have dividers, we have voting booths, we have- and he has inventory of all of this. I
- mean he's very meticulous. Our vendor is amazing. Can we get a copy of that inventory? Yeah let's
- get a copy of the inventory. How big the storage unit is. Let's talk to Richard or Mr. Kreider
- and let's see if there's a way we can do something else so that it is in our hands.
- We'll pay whatever's due to them at that point as well and we're not going to short anybody.
- Certainly they, you know, I would never do that but I would rather just wait on this than do the
- wrong thing and save a few bucks. This is one of those few times I'm going to say that.
- Write it down because it won't happen much. Commissioner Jones, what are your thoughts?
- Yeah I'm pretty much in agreement with you.
- Thank you. All right so just to clarify, I just want to make sure we can pay the claims for the
- storage even agree to the contract for the being just yet. Let me ask this question. Can we pay it
- out of our budget for a month? Our budget for a month if we have to instead of having this contract?
- In other words is there another way to pay it? I don't know that there is. I don't know that we can.
- Okay. I think the concern is that the all safe storage contract is expired.
- I think we could, one option is we could ask all storage if we could do a month to month agreement.
- I know that will cost more but the reason it's being included in this agreement is because it's
- for a longer period of time and I know they have a month to month option. I think we've utilized
- the month to month in the past and I don't know if they we can have a conversation with all safe
- to see if that's an option. Okay so where should we pull the overage cost from someone else's
- budget
- or because you guys are incurring additional expenses the clerk's office budget by us just
- not being able to pay so I'm I'm not trying to be rude I'm just trying to get this out in the
- public
- so I know everybody knows I get your question um I think we have to figure that out and we'll
- figure it out we'll figure it out I this isn't um the appropriate forum to dig through and figure
- that out I think between legal staff and Angie and Mr. Kreider um there's some work that can be
- done
- 1215 um I just can't imagine late fees are that much yeah pull it out of my pocket and generally
- you know so everything associated with election comes from that so we can track all the costs
- incurred um so I'll I'll work with Molly and see what we can come up with that it will just come
- from the same fund yeah I I want to acknowledge your concern I do hear that um because I know that
- it's your budget and it's not our budget to mess with I hear that I hear that we'll figure it out
- okay um and we've done our job uh let these magnificent women do their job and then we'll
- all come back together and do our job again in on May 1st does that sound good feeling
- uncomfortable
- with it we just want to pay and just I mean well I I want to make sure the people's properties and
- the people's names so I think I'm gonna have to you know we'll figure that part out I get I get it
- I want you to know I hear you I hear you um and I respect your concerns and thank you for sharing
- them okay uh so uh Ms. Turner King um would you please call the roll on tabling uh item c until
- May 1st okay Commissioner Jones yes Commissioner Madera yes Commissioner Thomas yes motion passes
- three to zero thank you so much uh sorry this was all last minute but we will we'll we'll get there
- we will get there okay we'll figure it out all right next item please I would like to move to
- approve resolution 2025 19 approving the ratification of the help americans vote act
- grant received by the Monroe county clerk's office I will second that okay thank you this
- word tells us I wanted to make sure if you guys had any questions it's basically we received a
- grant
- to help with the um the ballot emitters which will help us whether we have vote centers or not
- yeah uh so it's it really it really is a benefit for the the citizens of Menor county um we thank
- the state for giving us this grant it it's amazing uh so 35,873 so basically it's kind of a shift
- uh
- we were informed that we had to pay it out before they're going to pay us and so that's basically
- I think we do have a line but we had to go before the council uh to have it brought up so we can
- have
- that money come in so we just need to make sure y'all are okay with it good deal thank you yeah
- the HAVA act is very very important uh comments or questions commissioner jones oh no turner king
- go
- ahead sorry and I did want to add that I prepared a resolution to go with the approval of this
- um uh HAVA grant um so on july 9th of 2024 the clerk submitted this um grant application and so it
- would be ratifying the grant application and then um authorizing the execution of attachment c
- in communication with the secretary of state's office there's not an executed attachment c yet
- and so I was trying the resolution is written as an ether or because at the time that I wrote it I
- didn't know how if it had been executed or not so um this is again specifically for the thirty five
- thousand eight hundred and seventy three thousand dollar um grant for the printers there was a
- prior
- version of this but I wrote the resolution to specify which one we are ratifying and authorizing
- the execution of attachment c for got it thank you sorry commissioner jones comments or questions
- no I don't thank you every dear no very very important thank you okay um I don't either thank
- you for doing this um and yes the printers always come in handy always all right um
- let's see if there's any public comment on this item you raise your hand on teams or come to the
- podium seeing none oh uh miss turner king would you please call the roll on resolution
- 2025 um dash 19 to approve the ratification of the hava act grant commissioner jones yes
- commissioner
- madero yes commissioner yes motion passes three zero all right thank you so much thank you just a
- quick question molly does uh clerk brown need to sign that c or will clerk brown will sign um
- attachment c and provide it back to the secretary of state and once she does so can you please
- provide me a copy absolutely thank you very much thank you thank you so much all right uh next item
- please yes i would like to move to approve multiple mo us or memorandums of understanding
- regarding mass countermeasure dispenser clinic sites i will second that um is kelly please tell
- us all about this um yes so our preparedness coordinator um just has been working to uh ensure
- that we have updated memorandum of understandings with certain locations throughout the county
- in the event that we do need to host a mass countermeasure dispensing clinic site so the
- purpose of that site location would be to be able to provide medications or vaccinations or
- information or education in response to an emergency that involves an infectious disease threat
- right thank you so much comments or questions commissioner madeira
- no a very important uh community project and hopefully one that does not get more
- important before the year's out there you go commissioner jones yes i agree with commissioner
- madeira uh something that is wonderful to have in your back pocket and you hope you never ever ever
- need it uh but i'm so glad um that uh you your staff the board have had the foresight to ensure
- that this is in place these are nice sized areas and a shout out to surewood oaks christian church
- for doing what they didn't have to do for the community let's see if there's any public comment
- on this item raise your hand on teams or come to the podium
- all right miss turner king would you please call the roll on the multiple mo us regarding mass
- countermeasure dispensing clinic sites commissioner jones yes commissioner madeira yes commissioner
- thomas yes motion passes three zero right thank you so much uh next item please i would like to
- move to approve tyler technology's iot website hosting fund name cumulative capital fund number
- one one three eight in the amount of twelve thousand dollars i will second that mr crone
- good morning everyone morning so currently our co dot minero dot i n u.s domain is provided
- force free of charge by the department u.s department of agriculture but it is our intent
- uh hopefully at third quarter in the later and third quarter of this year to be migrated over
- to the i n dot gov domain provided by the state of indiana the dot gov domain provides increased
- security and puts us more in alignment with what other counties across the state are doing which
- which helps with visibility for the public part of that that goes hand in hand with that is a
- website underneath the same domain address so the state of indiana has a program going with tyler
- technologies for at a very minimal cost they will provide all website hosting for the counties
- under
- that domain so for the last year and a half the county webmaster has been working with the
- departments to clean up their current website that they have all the data that's on the back end
- it's taken some time the average county has 500 to a thousand html's on their website which is
- documents videos pages connected to it here at manero county we had 12 000 and we're only allowed
- the maximum of a thousand the reason that was is early on whenever we started a website we
- didn't have secure server that we could host that data on that the public could access without
- having to worry about security coming back so i understand how all that documentation got there
- but now we need to move it so like i said the webmaster for the last year and a half has been
- working with the county offices and we've gotten 12 000 painstakingly whittled down to 1500 html's
- so this contract with tyler's kind of two parts yeah
- way we've done that is we've had to move everything over into our sharepoint site that
- we now have the webmasters had to painstakingly rename relabel and redirect off of our website
- to that sharepoint site so yes it's it's taken a lot of time so we've been working with tyler
- technologies in the state and they've been really helpful on all this but in addition to
- a much cleaner improved website the state's hosting provides us much more flexibility over
- what we have with our current site i do get a lot of criticisms about how our current site
- looks and things people like to see changed but we are limited on what we can do with that page
- and so is the provider so with states hosting we have much greater flexibility with that
- they are open to anything we want to see changed they work with us on that they have a ticketing
- system one of the big perks of this it also includes the ada compliance software that we
- currently pay seven thousand dollars a year for so after this is implemented we'll be paying 250
- a month which is three thousand dollars a year does for the site hosting we currently pay seven
- to egev for that so we're going to go from fourteen thousand dollars a year approximately
- down to three thousand dollars a year to host the same site i don't know how many of you spend much
- time on the state's website but it's very clean it flows well it's just a much updated from what
- we have so i'm asking for both these agreements for a total of twelve thousand dollars to be
- approved all right thank you so much i appreciate the explanation um comments or questions
- commissioner
- jones yeah this sounds like a good idea to me commissioner madira i agree you had me at increased
- security yeah there you go um and you know and our when we changed over our website last we had
- this
- really great search capability and then that disappeared and i i'm hopeful that the search
- capability will become improved again it will be and part of the reason you saw issues with the
- search capability was how that data was structured and back into that website that's where we run
- into problems early on and it has got exponentially worse over time got it so uh one difference
- that
- we will have in under the current system each department had some some departments had two or
- three content editors but there was at least one per uh as staff would leave new staff would come
- in the training wasn't always there so it was kind of the wild west a little bit and under this new
- system uh will be eliminating most of those content editors and it'll be a very very controlled
- environment so that way we can maintain consistency through the whole thing nice nice document
- naming
- and things like that have a lot to do with all of that as well um and then our our email addresses
- will be changing in the future in the future so right now all that the county domain will stay
- the same for now the only thing that changes is the county web page if uh visitors to the site
- go to go to the co.manero.in.us they will be redirected to the new site so they can either
- go straight to the in.gov or then go to our old address they will still land on that same page
- once all work is complete excellent um then like I said in third up for shooting for third quarter
- there's a lot of work to be done to make sure we don't a lot of dots to connect there to make sure
- we don't break any systems whenever you change a domain that's a big undertaking so we are taking
- our time to get that done good but yes eventually we will be over on the in.us yeah right thank
- you so much um and I appreciate that time that's being taken to do this right I think we're all
- going to benefit from that including the residents of this county who need to use our website
- so thank you for that let's see if there's any public comments on this item
- raise your hand on teams or come to the podium
- seeing none uh Ms. Turner King if you would please call the role on the
- Tyler technologies iot website hosting commissioner jones yes commissioner madera
- yes commissioner thomas yes motion passes three zero thank you very much thank you so much
- um
- do two motions the one yeah can you add this to the next motion it's yes thank you so much um so
- please item g yes I would like to move to approve the dlz traffic study agreement uh and the
- traffic
- study cost share contract fund name edit edit ban fund number four eight one six in the amount of
- twenty eight thousand two hundred dollars i will second that miss prudy thank you um this is a
- proposal for traffic engineering services related to proposed developments that are anticipated
- along state road 46 between interstate 69 and west arlington road this development is expected to
- include our plan justice center um as well as other residential and commercial development
- according to the north park pud and include extension of west hunter valley road east of
- state road 46 to west arlington road this is um this traffic engineering study as indicated here
- is covering both the county's interests as well as the developer's landowners potential interest
- on the other areas and that is why item number two the traffic study cost share contract has
- come into play as um i believe it's called logan land development is agreeing to
- pay half the cost of this particular engineering study thank you so much comments or questions
- commissioner madera i just think the public might be interested why we need a traffic study at this
- critical moment in time um in other words they might think they might think we're building a
- jail in north park why do we need a traffic study um there is concern and i will also let lisa step
- in if necessary there is concern that due to there might be increased traffic um use in that
- particular area there's going to be increased traffic to our facility um there's also then the
- concern that as part of the north park pud with the expansion of the other side of things that
- they're just going to be a higher input of traffic and we're wanting to kind of look into the
- future
- we don't have the crystal ball that we're trying to kind of get an idea and make sure that we are
- anticipating potential needs before they actually happen miss ridge that was perfectly said it's
- very typical to do a traffic impact study when you're making new connections uh to see try and
- anticipate where the traffic's going to flow and then prevent uh you know traffic backup at
- certain intersections um so it's kind of just staying a little bit ahead of the game if you
- can thank you so much i just think that you know we we so rarely get an insight into what it takes
- to build a major project of this scale and i want the community to appreciate how much we are
- looking
- out for you know traffic and making sure we have the requisite infrastructure as this important
- project develops thank you so much and i and i will note as well that the uh entire north park area
- uh planned unit development which is basically a set of laws and structures and regulations
- regarding
- the development of that entire property um is coming to us soon um and that's also part of this
- as well um comments questions commissioner jones no i don't great uh let's see if there's any um
- public comments on this item you raise your hand on teams or come to the podium
- looks like there's a hand raised uh tsd can you help facilitate that it is not on my screen but i
- see it on the other screen and please give us your name and county residents and ask your question
- or
- make your comment hi my name is lee runetaefer can you hear me yes we can
- hi i'm a mineral county resident this traffic study will it uh address pedestrian traffic or just
- vehicular traffic thank you thank you um we will go ahead and and field that question
- with um ms ridge and ms purdy so at the time it is just for um vehicular traffic but also in the
- design of the new hunter valley road connection there is um sidewalk and um a side path that is
- being constructed also for the safety of the pedestrian traffic yeah so we've kind of already
- done that part of of that research but thank you for that great question i'm glad that we
- were able to clarify them uh any other public comment on this item all right uh seeing none um
- ms turner king if you would please call the roll on both the dlz traffic study agreement and the
- traffic study cost share contract commissioner jones yes commissioner madera yes commissioner
- thomas yes motion passes three zero thank you so much all right next i would like to move to
- approve the amendment to the 2020 sofia travis community service grant for the health department
- i will second that miss turner king tell us all about it so in february of this year the
- representative of the health department reached out to the council office because they determined
- that they have approximately it's a little more than 400 left of a sofia of travis grant funds
- that they received um as part of the 2020 sofia travis agreement um the agreement indicated that
- the funds were supposed to be used for disposal um and that the funds were supposed to be used by
- the end of the calendar year of 2021 and so the health department was requesting um an amendment
- to the 2020 agreement to allow them to use the remainder of the funds
- and so i did um talk to the sofia travis committee about this i think it was last week well it was
- last friday um and their recommendation was that the health department should be allowed to use
- the funds so this is the amendment to the contract that would allow such excellent thank you uh so
- much comments or questions commissioner jones yeah that makes sense to me commissioner madira i
- just
- had one quick question um down in the synopsis uh it mentions wheeler mission yeah it should say
- health department is that correct okay just wanted to just wanted to make sure i had that's gonna
- i was gonna make the same point for the public record that if you're looking at the packet there
- is an error all right uh we wheel away yes um so let's see if there's uh any public comment
- on this item you can raise your hand on teams or come to the podium
- all right um mr king if you would please call uh the role on the uh motion to approve amendment
- to 2020 sofia travis community service grant for the health department commissioner jones
- yes commissioner madera yes commissioner thomas yes motion passes three zero excellent thank you
- so much um all right so uh we'll now move on to item i please move to approve ordinance 2025
- 11 sunset hill rezone i will second that um mr meyers morning can you hear me okay
- yes um tsd could raise the volume a little bit in the room but yes we can hear you
- great thank you so this is ordinance 2025-11 also known as rez-25-1 the sunset hill rezone
- from hd to res as requested by the commissioners the plan commission voted six to two to forward
- this with a positive recommendation to the board of commissioners with one condition of approval
- and i'll get into details of that in a moment but this is 100 parcels on approximately 64.44 acres
- in perry township section six and it is currently zoned hd all right so the request as i stated is
- to rezone from high development residential or hd to residential one or res and the purpose of
- this rezone request from the commissioners is to preserve the overall character of the area which
- contains older established neighborhoods the presence of sinkholes and other cars features
- in the area it also incorporates the recent approval of the historic preservation overlay
- on 25 parcels in this neighborhood as well as most existing homes stating that they don't have
- access to sewer that most of them operate on a septic system this request was made by the
- commissioners immediately following the adoption of the county development ordinance on december
- 18th 2024 that request was reinstated on march 13th 2025 during the commissioner's work session
- planning staff sent out approximately 85 property notice letters and 170 notice letters for this
- rezone specifically on january 31st 2025 evidence of that the the documents are included in the
- packet that show what those letters looked like and the information that was provided to the
- property owners and neighbors access to this sites these sites are through south corey lane west
- piper lane south annalee lane west wiley street west corey drive or west bloomfield road so here
- is the rezone request for this neighborhood just some images here you can see on the right side
- of the screen all the properties that are zoned in the yellow or hd are the ones that are subject
- to the rezone to the res zone this is the former zoning map of this property before the county
- development ordinance was approved in december of last year so you can see there was a quite a bit
- of a mix of different zoning districts in this neighborhood these were all a result of the former
- fringe areas of the interlocal agreement that was back before 1997 with the city of bloomington so
- you can see there was quite a bit of different zones here and on december 18 2024 this was all
- rezoned except for this pd into the hd zones and then of course the commercial districts the the
- salmon color here those were transitioned into the limited business zone that you can see on this
- screen
- but now we are requesting a different a change in the zone from this hd district to the res
- zone on this screen you can see the current zoning map those hatchings on the screen are the
- properties that exhibit the historic preservation overlay the historic preservation overlay does
- not
- affect the underlying zoning district but does provide protections as well as some flexibility
- with respect to zoning uses and also does provide some guidance on the certificate of appropriateness
- process which is related to the external features or appearance of some structures in those areas
- it only applies to those properties that are designated it does not impact neighboring
- properties that do not have the designation okay so a bit of a background here and a lot of this
- information with respect to design standards and uses will also apply to the next ordinance that
- you'll be hearing from fellow planner sean smith because the the reason request is the same going
- from hd to res so with respect to lot size the hd zone's minimum lot size is 0.14 acres and the
- residential zone's minimum lot size is one acre and the lot width will also change from 50 feet
- to 75 feet now with respect to the one acre requirement for the res zone i will state that
- there is a provision in the ordinance that does allow for lots to be smaller than the one acre
- in the res zone and would not require a minimum lot size variance to further develop the property
- as long as other design standards are met such as setbacks previous cover things like that
- now the proposed rezone is also impacting side and rear yard setbacks side is going from 5 feet to
- 10
- feet through this rezone and the rear yard is going from 10 feet to 20 feet accessory buildings
- less than 15 feet in height can have reduced setbacks of 5 feet in all zones so i wanted to
- make sure that that was clearly communicated that even though the setback is changing accessory
- buildings that are short meaning five feet in height or less can be still five feet in any
- zoning district if a property in the res zone i already talked about this bullet point so yes
- this basically talks about that one acre minimum requirement and that being a little flexible in
- the res zone as long as setbacks and other things can be met a variance is only activated with new
- construction slash development is occurring on the property which would require a permit
- otherwise a property that's not compliant with lot size or setbacks is considered pre-existing
- non-conforming and they can remain as such in perpetuity until a new structure is built or
- expanded altered or changed or new development occurs in the property that would require a permit
- and a planning procedure okay so on this screen now we have the descriptions of the two zoning
- districts the res district as well as the hd district i'm not going to read from the screen
- this is also included in the packet but it provides information on the district
- character between the two zones as well as their purpose statement
- now on the screen is the table that's found in the county development coordinates that details
- those design standards that i spoke on a few minutes ago as you could see the differences
- here between the hd on the left and the res on the right and those changes in minimum lot width
- lot size maximum impervious cover which i'm going to talk a little bit more on in a moment
- changes a bit between these two zones as well as the setbacks on the the side and rear setbacks
- i will state that these properties are in the critical watershed of clear creek so that does
- provide that more restrictive state provision here regarding the maximum impervious cover
- so you just want to note that those two are the ones that would be applying here
- and we'll talk about more about that in a moment on the screen now is the background discussion
- for the uses of the properties with respect to the two different zoning districts the highlighted
- items are items that are changing between the two zones and if there's an asterisk next to it it
- means it has standards that must be met in order for it to get approved so you'll see on the hd
- zone side on the left side of the screen multifamily dwelling three to four units multifamily
- dwelling
- five unit five plus units senior housing single-family detached dwelling three to five units
- two-family dwelling and child care center are all in the permitted use section whereas on the
- residential side on the right side of the screen two-family dwelling is conditional use child care
- center is a conditional use and you'll note that you don't see multifamily units anywhere located
- on that residential zoned side and then of course on the hd side on the left side of the screen
- again
- in the conditional uses we have firearm sales retail sales small scale which do not appear on
- the residential zone side conditional uses i will say they need to go to the board of zoning
- appeals
- at a public hearing and so neighbors get noticed that there's going to be a petition requesting
- that particular use nearby and there's an opportunity for them to discuss or ask
- questions or speak their concerns or support for those particular uses in their neighborhood
- okay site conditions map sorry for the resolution it's a bit blurry but it does show the presence
- of sanitary pipes as well as water pipes on the screen the blue being the water pipes and sanitary
- lines shown in green so you can see that sanitary line is somewhat present in the neighborhood
- however a majority of the properties are all still operating on septic as sewer services are not
- being extended at this time a brief discussion on the comprehensive plan phase one of the
- comprehensive plan for the monroe county urbanizing area designated these areas as
- see it's in the orange so it's the mixed residential you can see on the screen on
- the right that star indicates the location of the neighborhood and then the comprehensive plan
- discussion for phase two describes it as n1 or urban infill neighborhood and all this information
- is included in your packet with more discussions about what those terms involve now i'm going to
- take a moment to discuss the non-conformity in a bit more detail because that has been a topic of
- a lot of discussion between the planning commission meetings as well as the county commissioner
- work
- session so non-conformities on the screen now you see the definitions for non-conforming use
- non-conforming structure and non-conforming lot and as i stated any of those items and those
- definitions can apply to a property if it doesn't meet those specific standards and it can remain
- as such until a permit process is triggered for the new development so from the last work session
- we the planning department with the assistance of the surveyor's office and gis coordinator dr
- john baten were able to provide some calculations that provide a little bit of guidance on where
- we're at with respect to non-conformity and at least the respect of impervious cover so as i
- stated sunset hill is located in the clear creek critical drainage area so those more restrictive
- impervious cover standards do apply so hd has a maximum impervious cover of 50 percent while res
- has a maximum impervious cover of 10 percent of the lot size so with the assistance of the gis
- coordinator using information that was provided from assess structures which does not include
- driveways or parking areas mind you we found that approximately 67 percent of the properties were
- conforming to the standard in the res zone and in the hd zone all but one parcel was conforming to
- the standard so there's a little bit of a there's a difference there from 67 percent to you know
- 98 percent or so with respect to impervious cover conformity we did exclude the parcel
- 717 south analee lane to 725 south analee lane um that is the one parcel that exhibits multifamily
- use within the sunset hill neighborhood and is part of the condition of approval to exclude that
- from the res zone request and that property specifically exhibits nine percent impervious
- cover which would meet the standard from either the hd zone or the res zone i will take a moment
- too to discuss that the planning commission is considering an amendment to the impervious cover
- maximums this amendment in part has been drafted to we consider the res critical watershed impervious
- cover maximum from that current 10 percent of the lot size or 4500 square feet whichever is less
- to be 30 percent of the lot size or 5000 square feet which could provide some relief for folks
- because we are seeing a large uptick in variance requests specifically to the maximum impervious
- cover across the county so we're working on adjusting that text in the ordinance to address
- that and then if the text and i were to proceed this would increase the number of conforming lots
- to this particular standard so that is a bit of a non-conformity analysis for the impervious cover
- and again you know it's not totally conclusive because it did have to exclude driveways and
- parking areas um finally on the screen i have letters of support and these were included in
- the packet so i will not leave them on the screen for very long as they are all accessible in the
- packet as well as this letter of support and then we also had a letter of opposition from
- the greater bloomington chamber of commerce again this is included in the packet for your review
- okay that brings me to staff's recommendation um so staff recommended that the planning
- commission forward a positive recommendation to the intercounty board commissioners they did so
- in their march meeting with the one condition of approval that 717 south annalee lane and 72
- through 725 south annalee lane be excluded from the rezone request you can see that image here
- on the right side of the screen be excluded from the rezone because the use of the property is
- multifamily and the use would be considered non-conforming with the new zoning district
- of res which would be a non-conformity with respect to use which can be a little trickier
- for any property owner to go through the variance process to remedy oh and i'll take any questions
- all right thank you so much mr meyers we really appreciate um your explanations um and and your
- clarity for the public uh let's see if there's any um oh miss turner king did you have a comment or
- a question i do have a comment um and speaking with mr schilling he would have liked me to
- provide the following advice um so an interpretation of case law indicates that um the applicant
- can
- amend their request so in this case since the commissioners are the applicant they can amend
- the request but if the applicant chose not to remove or amend the request the rezone as proposed
- could still move forward um the planning commission's um recommendation is advisory
- and they can either approve their recommendation is either approve or deny not amend okay thank you
- right because it was amended to remove in this for this petition um these addresses which are
- on one lot but they're multiple addresses it's one parcel but they're also in the historic overlay
- yeah just to make things even more interesting uh commissioner jones comments or questions
- yeah this is an interesting area here and uh i i'm very much in favor of this it's one of these
- situations where the city is just kind of grown around an area that's really in nature somewhat
- more rural and i think it's important that people be able to people who are already there be able
- to
- continue to enjoy things as they've known them in the past um to suddenly be enveloped by the city
- would be pretty unpleasant for a lot of people
- thank you commissioner madure comments or questions um no and actually i was coming at this
- from a slightly different angle and i very much appreciate the uh very thorough and you know
- complex
- analyses given i was there for the planning commission uh reports and debates and we received
- a very very comprehensive assessment in the last work session and i very much respect my colleagues
- and opinions and i very much respect the residents opinions as well and i just have one concern
- and that's the process by which this happened and so this was left out of the cdo and i think if it
- had been discussed in the cdo it would have been handled a different way if it's since it's been
- handled outside the cdo process uh it's my interpretation that it's actually under a sort
- of different code provision which um is indiana code 36 74 603 and i was grappling with everything
- all of this complex information and section 603 i think was kind of instructive and spoke to me
- in a different way and it said in preparing and considering proposals under the 600 series
- the plan commission in the legislative body shall pay reasonable regard to one the comprehensive
- plan
- two current conditions and the character of current structures and uses in each district
- three the most desirable use for which the land in each district is adapted
- four the conservation of property values throughout the jurisdiction and five a responsible
- development and growth and several of those classifications are just subjective it is subjective
- what considered what is considered responsible development and growth and that often evolves
- as certain areas evolve but i think when i looked at the case law that i saw most cases
- involved the designation of the comprehensive plan the comprehensive plan has not been updated
- actually since 2012 and so i think we have some parcels here that it's not so much for this
- parcel as it is for the following one maple grove baby farms but i would give due consideration to
- section 603 and that's sort of where my thoughts have been going in this in this matter yeah and
- and i appreciate that and that's part of what's driven some of this as well is that specific code
- so these i'm going to talk about both of these areas and when folks come up to comment they may
- you know comment ahead or they may speak twice if they wish just to let you all know that but
- these two areas were formerly part of the areas intended for annexation between the city and a
- county and this agreement lapsed more than a decade ago in 2011 and during that time we had to use
- city zoning the city set the zone and we had to live with it and work with it so we had to learn
- counties that when you got on the planning commission you had their county zone and city
- zoning and now this is something the city doesn't even use anymore and it was still on our books
- so it was a little crazy um but um the city did not do anything uh did not annex did not extend
- sewer
- and um and there's um one of the things that happened in the process of the CDO
- is as we had our work sessions we addressed other areas like this elsewhere in the county
- that were still under city zoning jurisdiction and because of that they were just dropped into the
- same thing um because that's how it got moved to our new zone based on what it was under the city
- we're not the city that's not us that's not who we are and if you spend any time in these areas
- you'll know for folks who haven't that these are not city looking lots um these are definitely not
- that um so what was occurring at the city zone was automatically transferred to a county zone and
- again
- we had we addressed most of this during our work sessions and through the CDO process however
- inadvertently missed these and so this is a very unusual thing to have the commissioners at this
- juncture asking for a planning petition because we don't typically do that um but postcards had
- already been sent out um with and the new map had already been passed and so um in order to provide
- people with the opportunity to offer commentary um uh this is the process that was deemed to be the
- most transparent um and um and i'm and i do apologize to the property owners who had to
- contact me and correct me and tell me what you didn't fix that i was like oh my gosh so um and
- again where it was where it happened before we addressed it and we dealt with it um and yes one
- of the key things um in that ic 36 legislation or statute regarding zoning current conditions and
- character of current structures and uses in each district and that's kind of the way um to think
- through this because that's what folks who live there have they can as folks who live there decide
- they're fine with the change and that's how change happens but it doesn't happen by somebody
- sitting
- somewhere else who doesn't live there making a decision for them that higher density will
- benefit them somehow um and then they wake up one morning and find another student apartment
- towering over their house um so um so county advise we follow this process that we're following now
- and um the um again most of the properties are on septic um this is not vacant land that y'all can
- sit uh you know outside of these neighborhoods and make a decision that they should be this that or
- the other we are to me this is a reflection of what's there as close as possible um and again
- non-conforming is i've lived on a non-conforming property for years decades uh never had a problem
- um as a result of that and if you are adding onto your house you may have to add onto the back
- instead of on the side we don't have and there's a lot of information we still don't have
- and i appreciate what dr baten did with the impervious um service but again with the the next
- piece that we're looking at doing again to continue to improve and correct the cdo
- then all of that changes anyway so um and and again if your impervious surface is already there
- it's a legal non-conforming impervious surface um so you won't run into difficulties um so with
- this process neighbors can be alerted can be part of the process of changing their neighborhood if
- they choose to do so instead of having it foisted upon them um from uh someone else also
- recognizing
- here we have a historic district um we have hobby farms we have a whole lot going on um so um i
- just
- um you know because right now somebody could come in purchase property put in a high density
- apartment and it doesn't really fit right if you think like what would that look like well it doesn't
- really fit now um i'm you know perfectly okay with um keeping these exemptions um which is one
- parcel
- but it's multiple addresses 717 to 725 south analee lane um i'm perfectly okay doing that um but it
- is
- already historic so it's not going to become something completely different anyway um and
- it allows that um that property to conform more closely um with what's there um so that's where
- i'm at on this i think this is a good move i think this is you know obviously something i had hope
- we
- had done during the cdo process and hadn't um so that's where i'm at so uh since we are the
- petitioner let's go ahead and hear um from folks who are uh supportive of this petition if you
- would
- um please come to the podium in the natu hill room or raise your hand on teams
- we'll take the podium first does anybody here wish to speak in favor of this petition
- please give us your name and county of residence and um we do ask you try to limit your comments
- to three minutes per person thank you my name is delores brinniger i live at 621 south analee lane
- i actually grew up in that house moved back there when my husband passed away
- it's a very quiet neighborhood very narrow streets very little sidewalk and i'm off for
- going to where you're going for the residence thank you so much i appreciate you being here
- and being patient through our sitting through the rest of our meeting but that's you know you get
- no problem all right thank you all right um it looks like we have uh comments uh commenter online
- um tst if you could make that happen
- third one down i think it's that one right there
- can you see that inch good sir i guess uh susan
- miss brackney are you there
- okay well we can come back to her is there anyone else who wishes to speak
- in favor of this petition in the net you hilbrim can you hear me now ah yes if you don't mind
- thank you uh yes thank you miss brackney sorry about that i would have been there in person but
- i'm a little bit under the weather so um uh my name is susan brackney i'm a property owner in the
- sunset hill area i do support this rezone um for several reasons for those of you who aren't
- familiar with the area it is environmentally sensitive and historically significant you can
- think of it as a depression era working class village its residents worked in nearby quarries
- in many of minero county's now defunct factories additionally the properties were originally set up
- to accommodate supplemental or incidental farming and livestock multiple homes in the area are part
- of the historic preservation overlay as you see um and still other homes in the area are included
- as contributing in the indiana historic sites and structures inventory database but in addition to
- the age and architectural styles of many of the sunset hill homes there's a vernacular landscape
- that is important to consider um as a site as a whole the relation in this site consists of the
- way the houses were positioned on the land the fact that the lots are comparatively large and
- there is a back 40 for each home this was neither accidental nor coincidental it's an intentional
- relationship which enabled sunset hills original working class residents and frankly as well as
- many of its current residents to farm incidentally or supplementally um it's also worth noting that
- in early september i completed a request for determination of eligibility for the national
- register of historic places and the indiana register of historic sites and structures
- and in mid-september the assistant director of preservation services with that body at the dnr
- contacted me to say quote we believe the district meets the criteria for inclusion in the state and
- national registers so that doesn't mean that it it's a green lit done deal it just means that
- we have more work to do um but we are moving forward with the next steps to apply for inclusion
- in both of those registers and that's for that kind of that whole area doing so doesn't cause
- any um undue hardship for the residents it it at least in theory could open them up just to have
- some grants and funds and stuff if those things are even available down the road i don't know but
- um but anyway there's a lot of good reasons to to support this and uh and that's that's all i just
- wanted to go on the record as giving some of those reasons thank you thank you so much
- uh anyone else wish to speak in favor of this petition
- rarely on the side of the microphone so thank you very much and i'd like to thank you for
- um this thoughtful rezone of um the neighborhoods that you have described i referred to them
- as annexation areas three and four because they are what the city kind of has called islands
- although um that because they're surrounded completely by the municipality that being said
- these are distinct neighborhoods and um one of the aspects about my service as president of the
- monroe county plan commission and of the monroe county board of zoning appeals and as a citizen
- planner from that is recognized by the american planning association one of the aspects of my
- service that i'm most proud of is how county leadership listens to the people in these areas
- you know uh 66 of the people in annexation area three which is the baby farms area and 71 of the
- people property owners in annexation area four which is sunset hills have remonstrated successfully
- against involuntary annexation they have expressed their will to remain as they are and not become
- part of the city and i think that they have an identity i know they have an identity because
- i've spent a lot of time in both of those neighborhoods i've spoken with the neighbors
- i've gotten to know people from that involvement people i cherish and they have spoken that they
- would really value remaining as they are they live in single-family homes without a shared wall
- they have large lots it they are what peter dorfman refers to as naturally occurring
- affordable housing it for all of the lip service given to affordable housing these two areas
- are two areas where that's actually feasible within a somewhat of a proximity to the municipal area
- i think there's an over estimation by people who live in the city of bloomington to think
- of themselves and the community where they live inside the city as more valuable to the people who
- are not necessarily involved with the university than it truly is and these people um have farms
- they can vegetables that they grow on their lots they uh have a value for each other they are
- neighbors to each other they take people to doctor's appointments as they age they check
- in on each other they have chickens they lay eggs on the chickens lay eggs and uh i'm very moved
- to find this type of community in our larger broader area and i'm also very proud that
- monroe county listens to the people now uh this area had been previously intended for annexation
- that annexation never took place and um as someone who is certified by the american planning
- association as a citizen planner it's just a lot simpler for everybody if we go ahead
- and rectify the code to what is currently existing and um and i think that this is i commend also
- the
- commissioners for bringing this to our attention this way acknowledging that it was an oversight
- and taking care of it in this uh administrative manner so i uh i'm in favor of this i think it's
- important to do i think it's important because of the fragile landscape and i um i think it's
- important for a way of life and preservation of affordable housing so thank you very much
- for your efforts in this regard thank you i thank you again for your service appreciate you thank
- you
- morning i'm roger steward i don't live in that area but i did at one time i kind of stand here
- uh representing the fathers and mothers that live there when i lived there and how i witnessed
- uh those working people doing their jobs coming home and taking care of their families
- and uh and taking care of their properties
- uh i'm in favor of this rezone for area three in the sunset hill and area four the maple
- grove baby farms neighborhood i kind of like to see the homeowners have the right to live in these
- neighborhoods without the worry of multi-family structures being constructed in the future
- they are affordable homes uh and this is a these neighborhoods uh as i said earlier it was was
- in fact the home i lived in i think's over 100 years old still standing
- when i grew up there there was probably 20 kids on my road 20 kids in the neighborhood trailer park
- and and d's place over in an alien land it was probably 23 kids about 60 kids in that
- in that one uh sunset hill area a lot of uh baby boomers so to speak but everybody got along
- everybody worked as margaret said people had gardens some of them had chickens some of them
- had a cow or what have you but uh if almost if not all those homes are still standing
- and many are approaching it if not already over 100 years old these areas have stood to test the
- time and i think we need to continue that test i like to take a minute and thank the commissioners
- for their work and correcting this zoning oversight if you have any questions okay appreciate that
- in favor of uh this petition please come to the podium surveyor and right randall well i'm here to
- speak neutral um but i wanted to come up here maybe before you ask for opposition sure okay
- so this is a good time so really i came to kind of um clarify just a bit of uh some of the
- discussion
- that was at the work session so um my name is tron inwright randolph i'm the elected minro county
- surveyor um on the county website you can go to the surveyor page and you can find the
- responsibilities
- of the surveyor's office that has a large list of things that was helped put together by the county
- surveyor association of indiana um and then within that you can also see some of my statutory
- duties
- under indiana code title 36 article 2 chapter 12 section 135 that stipulate my charge of the
- perpetuation effort of the county so that does intel surveying work because we do have the ability
- to do boundary perpetuation surveys with a professional surveyor but that does not include
- private surveying private property so it's very complicated in nature and i actually deal with a
- bit of uncertainty and uh things that are pretty ambiguous so i just really wanted to clarify for
- the public that my charge is not to go out there and survey out individual properties and
- understand
- how they conform with certain compliances and setbacks i do serve on the minero county plan
- commission but i'm not here to advocate kind of my position there i'm just here to really make sure
- that the public is aware of my charge and my duties some of my core functions is the public land
- surveying system in the gis within the county i'm very happy that planning is working with my
- office
- and the gis coordinator to figure out better ways to do calculations of impervious surface
- we're also working with the auditor's office to help improve the representation of parcel lines
- so i have just a bit of information i'd like to share too because this compelled me to kind of
- just dig in a little bit because i could address these questions but again i'm going to read this
- disclaimer so you understand why this isn't concrete information and why planning has certain
- provisions where they do ask for surveys so they really have clear under case indication of if
- things are in compliance or not so the disclaimer i'm going to say is the gis disclaimer minero
- county does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy of the information contained herein and i have a
- map so uh it contains herein and disclaims any and all liability resulting from any error or
- emission in this map the lines and corners represented by gis do not represent legal
- boundaries users should not rely on them for any purpose other than a low accuracy approximation
- of location or lines or corners they are of limited precision and are simply geographic
- representation so with that said i did run some analysis and i did um do a couple selects by
- locations so parcel lines you know in uh being in 2018 uh did uh building footprints um so anything
- that has expanded since 2018 doesn't really fall in this but i think it gives us a good baseline
- as you can tell planning does use gis to kind of have certain understandings and then they go
- from there to make sure that they are requesting what they need to make a very informed decision
- with that analysis uh 64 out of 105 parcels fell within 10 foot so that's the setback but
- to be fair i did the five foot with the uh district that they're in and it's about half that so we're
- already going to see issues with if it remains the same or if this gets approved and it changes
- so i wanted to make sure that i'm telling a whole complete story and i'm not just trying to present
- information that really kind of you know might boister one side or the other 89 out of the 98
- which i know is 100 which is another outlier of using gis i did talk with drew and he did
- recognize the one that wasn't part of it but from the analysis i had 89 out of 98 don't meet the
- minimum lot size but again that might not be an issue i did some calculations with impervious
- surface but there's a lot of things in motion to address that and relieve that concern and i
- applaud the commissioners and i applaud the planning office uh to address those and continue
- to move those forward um thank you um i hope i didn't go over my time or maybe i wasn't being
- timed and i just really want to make sure that everyone's aware of my duty my charge and my
- intentiveness to the impacts on the county and whenever i can provide a service i do my utmost
- to provide that service um enjoy the rest of the day thank you i think it's it's just been a um
- long-standing frustration for residents who look at the gis map and you know the lines going
- through
- their house or whatever and um and it's just it's just um a functionality of putting on a flat
- screen something that's on a slightly rounded part of the earth um but um if if somebody is going
- to
- call for hey we really don't know this well if you could find that out that's a good thing so
- um i appreciate that dr bayton did the um impervious uh study um that was helpful um from
- the gis office so thank you um anyone else have comment in support
- anyone wish to speak in opposition to this petition
- good morning commissioners this is christopher mg on behalf the greater bloomington chamber of
- commerce
- um the proposal before you on downsizing the sunset hill and maple grove baby farm areas we
- uh oppose this ordinance change these rezonings are unnecessary reduce housing capacity in very
- urbanized areas hinder economic growth and really conflict with the county's own long-term
- developmental goals and it seems to be based on a 30 year old mindset clouded by annexation as we
- heard from ms clemens earlier um and what i've learned more and more about this process it's
- gotten more and more complicated where it's hard to figure out i needed some sort of decoder wheel
- to sort of figure out what's included what's not and i don't you know i heard from the neighbors
- today which i do appreciate i've been on their side of the aisle which i'll talk to a little bit
- but you know it's not what's happening now is not going to change their quality of life it's not
- going to push them out of their homes um i can recall this happening and um as a perry township
- resident in uh sunny slopes where i live where the echo park apartments came in and i spoke out
- against it it was too large it was going to cause this it was going to cause that 10 years later
- i was wrong it i was completely it didn't cause any of the issues that we brought up probably even
- enhance the neighborhood and this would be something that probably most of you would be against on
- a
- multi-family basis but this is this is a solution looking for a problem um i appreciate everybody's
- comments on this but it really forecloses on some of uh opportunities to be creative with this land
- and you know really look forward with something that we could do with it instead of sort of
- being stuck in the past where we're not moving forward on it i mean i'll probably spend a little
- bit time later on to sort of discussing i think the complications of getting variances for doing
- any little thing with your property um other urban growth and some other things but i think at this
- time i think i've said enough thank you very much thank you anyone else wish to speak in opposition
- it looks like there's a hand raised online but i cannot see the information i'm going to log in
- keep doing this a t s d it looks like there's a hand raised um nancy jones
- yes uh can you hear me yes we can okay my name is nancy jones i'm a bloomington resident bloomington
- native and i'd like to speak in support of the resolution and to just echo the statements by
- president clements and others in support of this um largely and and the comment i want to make is
- i don't think this is a an issue of nostalgia i think one of the uh the county has an interest
- in supporting the wishes of the residents um and that this uh this land is theirs
- and that they have the right that changing the that not changing it back not changing it to a
- um downzoning the uh the two uh districts in question um would really undermine i think the
- the great uh goal here which is to uh support uh long-term uh residential use patterns
- that have been very um as we said a form of natural affordable housing
- and i think those reasons were clearly articulated um i think it's in the county's interest to
- support
- the kind of use pattern that supports long-term residency and long-term uh residential ownership
- that that is my chief uh comment at this point thank you all right thank you so much so we'll
- log that as a point of uh support uh anyone else wish to speak on this item either for or against
- if you haven't had an opportunity
- get hand raised
- oh is it still there okay perfect thank you
- all right uh so um well i'll start with um commissioner um jones did you have
- anything you wanted to add or any other comments you wanted to make on this particular item
- yes i do want to comment on the agricultural nature of this area and in
- times coming up urban agriculture is going to become more and more significant and important
- we cannot always count on having food shipped off from all over the world to
- get to us we a time may come when we actually need to be able to look locally
- to sustain ourselves and places like this could become very relevant for that
- and i just i i am concerned that people are not paying enough attention to the need to support
- this kind of local agriculture thank you that's really insightful i appreciate that
- commissioner madera do you have any comments you wish to make um yes i very much appreciate all
- that i have heard thank you so much for your thoughtful testimony and you've given us a lot
- to chew on um and i will also go back and think uh the the residents who were able to attend the
- um planning commission meeting who who logged their commentary um for and against and i think
- asked some good questions and i think those have been addressed now by staff
- i really think that one of the key points here and i think commissioner jones is onto something is
- you know you can't you can't have been addressed now by you can't build your way out of
- um the the necessity to sustain a community and more building is not going to be
- more affordable um and because even if just throwing this out there but even if uh someone
- were to buy um significant acreage and put um what are the infamous paired patio homes or
- whatnot on them they're certainly going to end up costing much more than the homes that are there
- which have a historic value and yes that's a subjective thing a historic value the agricultural
- value the neighborhood ties the um the way this community obviously has um a great um advocate for
- historic preservation and and hopefully will become state and federally recognized in the very near
- future if they even do that anymore who knows but um you know uh but but i do think that there are
- a
- lot of opportunities here and um and to the agricultural side of course you can do farm stands
- in res one which is nice so um but um i really um do think that you know change may come if the
- city decides they want to provide sewer if if if change may come and but but i think what this does
- is it says the residents will have the opportunity to say at that moment whatever moment that is
- yes we want to change we want to see a change in our neighborhood no we we want to have high
- density
- housing whatever it might look like um but those residents at that moment are the ones who should
- decide not city planners from 1990 whatever it was uh so it really puts the control back into
- the hands of the residents recognizing what's there uh so with that uh i'm going to go ahead
- and call for a vote on ordinance uh 2025-11 miss turner king if you would please call the roll
- certainly and for clarity this is ordinance 2025-11 which rezones the 100 parcels and
- doesn't exempt any ah no i will i will go ahead i didn't realize i had to go ahead and do that
- because this is part of the um resolution that came out of um the plan commission so um that
- would be to follow um uh this recommendation from the plan commission and exempt the single parcel
- which carries the addresses of 717 south annalee lane to 725 south annalee lane
- thank you you're welcome and so this is a a roll call on ordinance 2025-11 now exempting those
- parcels commissioner jones yes commissioner madera no commissioner thomas yes motion passes to one
- okay thank you um next item please i would like to call to approve ordinance 2025-12 the maple
- grove baby vote farms rezone i will second that um mr smith if you would share with us those
- aspects
- that are different from what um mr meyers addressed already in the other uh ordinance that might
- make your life a little easier but it's up to you
- yeah absolutely um just doing a mic test are you able to hear me yes
- okay um so this is again the maple grove baby farms area um so there are a total of 138 parcels
- uh 132 after we uh factor out the duplicate parcels um so it's the same request as the
- sunset hills so this is a rezone request from high development residential to residential one
- the purpose to preserve the overall character of the area this contains older neighborhoods there's
- presence of singles cars features as well as a number of existing homes that don't have access
- to sewer but we will note that this particular request does not include historic preservation
- so there will not be a discussion on that topic this request was also made at the same time as a
- sunset hill rezone request planning staff you know just to note we did send out uh 99 property
- notice or property owner notice letters and 142 neighbor notice letters for this rezone
- so everybody in the area was notified and then access to the site uh derives from west third
- street so south fairfield drive south kimball drive and south johnson avenue are the three
- main intersecting streets and they all derive access from the west third street
- and then i have a image on the screen which just kind of details the overall area and then
- on the right hand side the hd zoning those are all the zones that are affected by this rezone
- request
- i drew went through this uh background discussion board post so i can always
- revisit this and uh restate um sort of the same talking points if the commissioners would like
- but i will go ahead and continue
- so just a little bit of an analysis so if we um are measuring the lot size of all the parcels
- so the residential one zoning district has a minimum lot size of one acre so for the maple
- grove baby farms when it's all said and done approximately 82 percent of the parcels are less
- than an acre 18 percent are greater than an acre but we'll note that in the residential one zoning
- district the minimum lot size is not an issue so long as all other design standards have been met
- again the same information as a sunset hills rezone request um just a table stating what
- the character and the intended purpose of each zoning district is for design standards also the
- same uses also the same this is the site conditions and infrastructure maps that i have so on the
- left
- hand side apologize for the colors it's not as quite clear on the screen but essentially there
- there is sewer available to specific properties so not all properties in the maple grove baby
- farms area actually have access to sewer it's only select parcels which i will get into later in
- the
- presentation and then on the right hand side of the screen you'll notice the blue overlay color
- that indicates the area that's within the clear creek watershed
- comprehensive plan discussion is the same as the sunset hills rezone
- again it's also an urban infill neighborhood
- um i do also have a slide on the non-conformities um whether they're used structure or lots
- i will actually maybe come back to this slide in a moment
- i did want to use the property 101 south fairfield drive as an example of what uh what we mean by
- what
- uh non-conformity is so this uh particular property was issued a building permit in 2014
- for 43 units i did want to point out that even if it does retain its hd zoning um this actually
- exceeds the number of units that would otherwise be allowed um outright under the zoning district
- outright under the zoning district so we did some calculations and approximately
- if this were proposed today they could have 22 units in total so i'd also wanted to point out
- that multifamily developments of more than 30 units on a lot are actually subject to
- planning commission approval so this kind of goes back to that you know non-conforming so
- maybe not necessarily the law itself is non-conforming but maybe it's the use
- that's not conforming because it would actually exceed the number of multifamily units allowed
- on the property dr john bateman did an excellent job of providing us with some analysis of the
- non-conformity so specifically for baby farms uh maple grove baby farms approximately 71 percent
- of the properties were conforming to the impervious standard in the res zone if we were to retain
- the
- hd zoning all but one parcel was conforming to that standard and i do have some addresses on the
- screen these were part of the planning commission's approval to the board of commissioners to
- exclude
- so we did like a quick analysis of each of these properties so 101 south fairfield was
- approximately
- 54 impervious cover so that would well exceed the res zoning standards the next property at west
- evergreen was approximately 60 percent 415 north kimble was approximately 40 percent and 215 north
- johnson was approximately 60 percent and then we have some significant significantly lower
- percentages
- for the remainder of the properties that were included in that request so 325 north johnson was
- approximately 15 percent 2312 west baumont was approximately 13 percent and then 120 south kimble
- was approximately 25 percent all of these calculations you know these are done on the gis
- visually but also using that parcel improvement data that the assessor office maintains and then
- of course to reiterate what drew had already mentioned the planning commission is considering
- an amendment to the impervious cover maximums so you know for example if what is currently drafted
- if it were to be changed to be approximately 30 percent of the lot size you may see the last three
- addresses mentioned they might actually become conforming so i do have a graph just to kind of
- illustrate what this looks like so on the left hand side we have the res if this were to be
- proposed as is you know approximately 71 percent of those parcels would be conforming to the
- impervious cover and 29 would be non-conforming and then on the right hand side we have the hd
- where
- 99 percent of them would be conforming and about one percent would be non-conforming but as i just
- mentioned there is a an amendment that's going through the process at the moment so if that were
- to be increased you might see the red on the left hand side shrink significantly
- these are letters of remonstrance that were also included in the packet so like the previous
- petition
- i won't spend too much time on these but i will at least go through them really quick with you
- thank you
- this letter did include some nice graphics so i also included those for the presentation
- uh mr smith that letter relates to just to clarify uh the address of 101 south fairfield correct
- correct and they they also included 111 north kimball but yeah
- thank you um i also included some other letters of remonstrance um some of these uh i should say
- most of these did not include addresses or parcel numbers so i'm not entirely sure which they are
- referring to but they otherwise uh expressed their um opposition
- this uh particular remonstrance is referring to the 215 north johnson avenue property
- now i turn to letters of support
- i don't believe this particular uh letter of support included
- a specific location but nonetheless did want to voice their support
- and then this is a letter just generally supporting both rezoning requests as they're presented
- so the planning commission did vote six to two to afford a positive recommendation to
- the minero county board of commissioners as presented by planning staff based on the petition's
- compatibility with minero county comprehensive plan with the following condition so these are
- the conditions that will include the properties that i mentioned earlier in the presentation so
- to avoid creating non-conformities consideration should be given to the zoning of the following
- pre-existing multifamily developments at 101 south fairfield drive 2542 west evergreen drive
- 415 north kimball drive 215 north johnson avenue 325 north johnson avenue 2312 west baumont lane
- and 120 south kimball drive does anybody have any questions thank you mr smith appreciate your
- report and the information you provided comments or questions commissioner medeira i think my
- comments and questions are pretty much reflective of what i said in the sunset hills i will note
- that one of the things that i think communities go through when they grow are these kinds of
- tensions and these kinds of conflicts and i very much appreciate the thoughtful way in which this
- process was handled and the very intellectual and erudite contributions and on both sides of the
- issue i did want to say something about the importance of supporting long-term residents
- and there are only so many areas into which a city can grow and of course we know that these
- are actually subject to litigation at the present time we also know that with the baby hills i'm
- sorry maple grove baby farms rezone we have people who have purchased property in reliance
- on the wish to develop at some point and that that's of a bit of concern to me so this property i
- think is uh even one that i feel more conflicted about than sunset hills and of course it's bordered
- by i-69 so i think when we think of the tensions you know there's uh the tensions between the
- ability of residents to bind others outside their borders and to bind others in neighborhoods
- outside their borders and that's always going to be uh up against tension with very very important
- considerations like those mentioned by commissioner jones which is due regard for urban agriculture
- which is the future of our community in the future of many other communities um and i would say
- that
- this process sort of reminds me when i go through and sit on it uh of that old operation game that
- i play with my kids still and you know you go in to get like water on the knee or uh some facetious
- parts of the body and if you have batteries in the game which actually we did not always have
- in our game you know you touch one side and it goes you know and the red light lights up and so
- i think that determining housing and zoning us basically in this community and many others that
- are going through these kinds of growth struggles right now is a bit like the game of operation
- because you try to see can we develop in this area or can we what should we do with this area
- and no matter what else what you decide you're going to go up against one side or the other
- and so but i think it's very important for both of those sides to have the ability to
- buzz and to voice their concerns and i very much appreciate the thoughtful
- and comprehensive way in which it's been done in this process.
- Commissioner Jones comments or questions? I'll stand by what i said for the previous one.
- I will as well and i appreciate Commissioner Madura's points you know the other issue is when
- you look at this particular neighborhood and you look at the map people look at it and go like well
- look at all that vacant land well a lot of the people who own a house on one piece of property
- actually own the vacant lots adjoining i'm not sure why they're not combined for whatever reason
- they're not that's an assessor question not a not a commissioner question but um you know that's
- and
- there are barns there are crops there are farm animals it is uh it's a cool place that's a very
- cool place um so okay so um and also again we still have the sensitivities of the environment
- the critical watershed this is a very critical watershed area as well and i'm not sure how much
- it can take i will point out that yes indeed the apartments at 101 south fairfield are
- um would not what are going to be are already non-conforming pre-existing entities i will also
- know for the record that the mobile home parks very small mobile home parks are also pre-existing
- non-conforming because we would under the cdo require that they produce and create a planned
- unit development that includes a storm shelter which i hope they have um all right so uh let's
- go ahead and see uh if there's any uh public comment um on the this petition um first we'll
- hear from people who support this petition well once again i'm dr margaret clements i have a phd
- in policy studies and policy analysis and um i'd like to address one common kind of fallacy
- that keeps getting perpetuated and that's this idea of growth um bloomington population hasn't
- really grown and uh we have we as government agents need to consider whether or not we're
- pushing people away or pulling them in and i would argue that we've been pushing people away
- we're not pulling them in and part of that is because of what we've done to the idea of
- community annexation area three maple grove baby farms says it all it's it's an area where baby
- farms are supposed to be um and those people have expressed quite vociferously and on repeated
- occasions that they would like to be less dense and supporting long-term residents should be a
- goal of our government and i share that goal to support long-term residents in preparation for
- this meeting and for this discussion i have telephoned many of the people that i had spoken
- with in annexation area three in this maple grove baby farm area and they are so appreciative of
- county government considering their wishes so that they don't feel so harassed by city development
- goals so i um they don't share the city development goals they were not involved in the discussions
- for city development goals the city development goals may not serve them and they at least say
- that they don't serve them and i would say in order for the city of bloomington to be relevant
- to these people and to long-term residents there's a lot more discussion that needs to take place
- and it hasn't happened yet so i urge you to adopt this down zone and to respect the will of the
- long-term residents who uh who have this neighborhood as their way of life they deserve it thank
- you
- anybody else wish to speak in favor of this petition mr steward registered again i'd like
- to tell you i appreciate uh what you've done secondly i support this down zoning i had a
- uh i thought about people purchase property on speculation yeah it happens so
- any questions i'll answer thank you anyone else wish to speak in favor of this petition
- anyone wish to speak in opposition to this petition
- please come to the podium or raise your hand on teams
- uh good afternoon i think we're afternoon now commissioners this is christopher mg from the
- greater limington chamber of commerce uh encouraging you to reject this ordinance as well i think
- what we we've heard is this thing where that's changing of life uh for the neighborhood and i
- you know i don't see the status quo as doing that i think this is if you look at the map this is
- uh area that's ripe for urbanization and just to go through a couple of the concerns raised by two
- elected officials one was uh county council member david henry which believes it forecloses on
- opportunities to be creative small footprint development there's an opportunity especially
- with tiny homes and other type of structures and fill small parcels in a way to not only retain
- the character but maybe restore the character the fact that down something forecloses on this
- creates
- fewer opportunities i'll mention who we heard from today county surveyor tron inron randolph who
- cautioned that post changes would put a lot of burden on people's property just to do simple
- things he notes that owners will now have to pursue variance and the board of zoning and appeals
- for even the most modest changes and we know what a hurdle that can be and the other thing is the
- pie that needs to grow for the county the county has a lot of bills to pay with the new justice
- center we're looking at sb1 in order to meet those needs of all county residents that pie needs to
- grow the best way to do that is for growth these conversations about um urbanized agriculture good
- conversations to have but it can't be just thrown out every time we want to grow a little bit it
- we need a larger conversation on this and this is not the platform to make this sort of change
- we need to think about other you know future generations not just those living in the current
- development but have a vision and this is not a vision this is something stuck 30 years ago
- and we should reject this ordinance and this down zoning i thank you for your time today thank you
- we also have uh jena may from trg management
- if tsd that's she's online if tsd could get her up here we go
- good afternoon thank you for your patience
- we cannot hear you you need to unmute
- now try it here you go got it okay computers thank you um
- i think the same comment that i made at the first meeting uh there in bloomington it's not that trg
- opposes the downgrading it's just we totally understand the infrastructure the watershed
- i mean we we totally understand that our total interest is making sure that we get our
- exception if you will um so that we can continue to operate as is it's a very small
- manufactured home community uh every lot is needed in order to pay the bills for those residents
- uh it provides nothing but affordable housing for that area uh which is totally residential
- so again we understand it but it's just very very vital to us that we keep our exceptions that we
- can keep operating the way we are thank you can i ask you may i ask you a question um is this the
- can you give me the address of this property i want to make sure that we've got this on our list
- yes it is it's the 215 north johnson avenue got it thank you appreciate that thank you
- yeah and just and just to clarify um pre-existing non-conforming means you can continue to do what
- you're doing on your property um even if it doesn't match either um hd or uh residential one zoning
- um
- so that's the good news you can continue to do as you've done um appreciate that um and um
- anyone else yes yes thank you good afternoon good afternoon i'm christine bartlett with ferguson
- law
- on behalf of regency hadley village um we do appreciate the exclusion of 101 fairfield we
- hope that that will be amended today formally and and excluded from the rezone um but today i'd
- like
- to talk about 111 kimble and ask that that also be excluded on the map you can see it's the
- property
- just to the east of 101 south fairfield 101 south fairfield actually kind of hugs around it on both
- sides um and and to be clear we understand that there will be issues already with compliance um
- and that were already previously non-conforming by the prior change in zoning so we understand
- that that property couldn't be used to make more units for this development but one thing that it
- could be used for um would be to add an additional amenity for the property at 101 south fairfield
- drive when this property was rezoned to hd one change that did occur is it requires
- multi-building multi-unit developments to have at least two amenities which was not a requirement
- to our understanding under the prior zoning so this property at 111 kimble which was purchased
- by regency with the idea that it would be folded into the hadley village community could be used
- to become more in compliance or closer into compliance with existing zoning by becoming
- one of those potential amenities for the existing apartment community so we would just ask that
- that
- also be considered for exclusion we obviously submitted a memorandum providing some general
- reasons why we think the property west of kimble drive is is different in character enough that it
- it could be excluded as a whole but today our primary ask is of 111 kimble shane allen i think
- is still on the the remote attendance but if not i'm here to answer any questions that may come up
- thank you thank you
- anyone else wish to offer commentary
- that include us no i'm going to come back to the board next i just was checking through the
- the pictures on my laptop okay we are good i think i don't see any more hands
- and yes i will now come back to commissioners for final comment commissioner medir
- yes i wanted to again thank everyone for their thankful commentary and especially those that
- brought forward new information new requests today that very much helps clarify some some things
- that
- you know we will need to know when considering this important measure and i just wanted to
- address the idea that there's uh growth is a fallacy for this community growth is an imperative it
- is
- not a fallacy the trick is to get it in appropriate times and places and spaces and that is the
- democratic venture and we are elected not just to serve long-term residents of communities but to
- represent all residents of communities including property owners including business owners and
- again that's part of the the pool and the tug and i'm very respectful and appreciative of this
- democratic pool and tug and the opportunity to have a say in this pool and tug but i think growth
- is a
- communal imperative and i think looking at our demographics we do have people moving in and we
- do not want these people to move out we we need these people more than ever before to support the
- long-term residents who are getting older and to support our businesses that need their dollars
- and so we must create new opportunities we must get new employers and in fact i think in the
- planning commission meeting one of the residents of i believe it was the maple grove baby farm area
- even charged the chamber of commerce with bringing in residents and that is you know and new
- employers
- and new residents that in turn can become long-term residents and i think that that imperative is
- hard
- to fulfill if we turn every area down for development and so again it's that democratic
- pool and tug and maybe certain areas are right for development at certain times and other areas
- are not but we always have to keep in mind that growth is what we owe our community appropriate
- growth sustainable growth responsible growth thank you commissioner jones comments questions
- yes well right off i'm afraid that i have to take exception to sustainable growth that is actually
- an oxymoron we cannot grow forever and ever and ever that's not possible we need to start thinking
- about how we can pursue life from a different perspective i was elected by the people who
- actually live in this community no one who wanted to move to this community voted for me
- i think it's extremely important that i pay attention to what i hear from the majority
- of the people of this community which is that they like it they like it as it is most people
- are not desperately anxious to see major changes happen to our community most people do not want
- to live in portland if they wanted to live in portland they'd probably move to portland
- they have chosen this monroe county because it suits them the way it is
- so i will be supporting this all right um thank you both um and clearly there is a great deal of
- debate um you know is the population going up is population going down um why is the city prioritizing
- uh creating student housing um for iu instead of housing for people who can live and work in the
- community um why is the city not providing sewer why is the city continuing to insist on pursuing
- lawsuits against county residents um lots of questions uh not our job to answer them all today
- but i think we're acknowledging them all and um i think that um the concerns about hey we need
- growth
- yeah okay once again this doesn't say zoning can never change what this says is
- this is not high density zoning area um this is not what this is now uh what it's doing is it's
- setting the zone to what it is now uh it is not preventing any changes in the future but what it
- does do is it protects those folks who live in this community from having something foisted upon
- them which has not been there yet uh and who knows if and when it will arrive and by the way um we
- have
- a lot of talk about gosh we need housing well if you look at the regional opportunities initiative
- study um they identified a certain number of units that we had to have in this community
- meaning county city and ellisville and guess what we've already passed that number of new units
- planned or done so now what now we've met that number we've exceeded that number now we're still
- somehow doing something wrong uh let's see if there's demand beyond that number uh but at the
- same time what we're doing is the prudent thing which is um planning staff has been asked to
- develop a clear housing inventory and my hope is that the city participates uh so far they are not
- uh let's find out what's vacant and what's not the other concern i have for those of you who do
- live
- in the city is how many apartments are sitting vacant and we do not know that number somebody
- knows that number but they're not telling you why aren't they telling you what that number is
- i think it'd be really interesting to know uh the next time the city council wants to look at a
- another apartment complex how many empty apartments are there now do we need to add more because
- what
- you're doing is displacing people out of potential homes uh long-term homes not apartments and and
- that's a different kind of living situation and i think we have to accommodate everyone and i think
- we are i look at the mobile home park look at the apartments uh look at it all so um i think what
- we're doing in my book is recognizing what's there so with that um i would um like to um call
- for a vote and i'm going to go ahead and read in those addresses that the plan commission had um
- asked us to consider excluding and that is 101 south fairfield drive 2542 west evergreen drive
- 415 north kimble drive 215 north johnson avenue 325 north johnson avenue 2312 west Beaumont lane
- and 120 south kimble drive um and i will and i will note uh for the representative from fergus
- noire that i think what you want to do needs to have a needs to be part of a conversation with
- planning staff and i encourage you to have that conversation because no matter what i don't think
- it would work in either zone so i think i think it's a matter of going to planning staff and
- talking about a bza process which is actually very simple i don't know why people think it's
- complicated but it's really not all right so that's what's on the table which is what the
- planning commission handed us and uh miss turner king if you would please call the roll on
- ordinance
- 2025-12 so this is a roll call on ordinance 2020 2025-12 as amended um to remove those addresses
- from section one commissioner jones yes commissioner madera no commissioner thomas yes
- all right motion carries three zero um again a huge thank you to everyone who came participated
- plan commission here today thank you all for your patience it's been a long morning but
- i think really i think we've gotten a lot of things on the table and um have talked through a lot
- of
- key issues and i appreciate everyone everyone's participation online as well um so uh we do not
- have any uh appointments today but i do have a few announcements and i will make them as quick
- as i possibly can uh believe me um so first and foremost um i do want to note that uh county
- government is closed uh tomorrow which is um april 18th um and we are not meeting next week so our
- next meeting is on mayday mayday mayday uh and that is going to be right here in the natu hill
- room may 1st 10 a.m um and so no meeting on the 24th and per the minutes we're not meeting on the
- 34th either so uh so with that in mind uh but i do um want to encourage folks uh to contact their
- township trustee if they do have a rural housing repair the arpa funding that remained um and could
- not be spent before the deadline is in the hands of um the bloomington oh my gosh foundation oh my
- gosh it's been a long morning long morning long morning not enough caffeine in the world um and uh
- so please contact your township trustee and they will help guide you toward making an application
- i also encourage folks to get onto our website co.monroe.in.us while you're there please click
- on the megaphone make sure that you are weather aware um we do have storms coming in this weekend
- we're going to have a rainy weekend and there may be more the f word flooding and uh so you can
- sign
- up to receive alerts uh so that you are in the know and keep you and you are safe um also note
- we do have uh virtual office hours six times each month go to the calendar on that home page and um
- the next uh blood drive is thursday may 8th 1 p.m to 6 p.m ivy tech uh c 130 a and b
- um please go to redcross.org to apply um i do i don't think i have anything else is there anything
- else i'm missing no i just want to say i appreciate you all i appreciate everyone
- who's worked through these issues on the planning commission and the residents who
- took the time to respond and again government is as valuable as the people who participate in it so
- thank you uh commissioner jones anything for the good of the order no i don't okay great thank you
- so much um so we do have a work session um can we do uh 12 45 for the work session uh tst okay
- with that cat's okay with that good okay yay thumbs up all right um 12 45 for the work session
- thank you all