Good morning. I'm going to call to order this meeting. Monroe County Board of Commissioners is Thursday,
August 28th. We will begin with our public statement read by Commissioner Madera. We, the Monroe County
Board of Commissioners, renew our 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 and
without fear. And we will fight and resist at every step discrimination and harmful policies,
whatever their source. We believe in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. We also stand in support
of our county public school systems, both RBB and MCC SC.
Thank you so much. We will now move on to our department updates. First, we'll hear from the health
department. Ms. Kelly, good morning. Good morning, commissioners. As of August 19th, emergency department
visits for COVID-like illness have increased as well as wastewater concentrations. On August 27th,
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the Food and Drug Administration
has approved this year's COVID vaccines for those at higher risk. The formulas for the 2025-2026 season
target the JN.1 lineage of the Omicron variant. It is still unclear at this time who will be eligible
for shots this fall.
official guidelines should be published soon. The health department still has free COVID tests available.
Individuals can walk in Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to receive tests. And our public
health clinic has vaccines available. You can call 812-353-3244 for an appointment or more information.
All right, thank you so much. Comments or questions, Commissioner Medeira?
I have none, thank you. I don't either, thank you so much. Okay, so next we have an update from Vet
Environmental Engineering, Sarah Hemidovich, who has been working all the hours that the gods and goddesses
can send. Thank you for being here. Happy to be here. What do we need to know?
I guess I'll just start with the first couple steps where we did a couple rounds of targeted investigation
and targeted treatment in a couple of areas that we found to be problematic initially, which then prompted
us to go into the justice center and test on every level. We received those results back and use those
results to guide treatment of the entire building. To this point, we have treated
two-thirds of the fifth floor, which is the entirety of the Monroe County jail on the fifth floor.
The entirety of the fourth floor, we did that yesterday, two-thirds of five and the entirety of four.
We basically evacuated the entire jail. And when I say we, I had nothing to do with that portion.
The powers that be evacuated the jail. We were up there for three hours treating, got every single cell,
every office,
the entire fourth floor and two-thirds of the fifth done. Then we inspected, cleaned all the horizontal
surfaces, and then started bringing the inmates back into the facility. I was very pleased with the
way the treatment went. There was no residue or weirdness left behind, which is great. Smelled much
better up there. Air felt better, so I'm encouraged.
that that will be good test results. This morning we tested in the areas that we treated that were areas,
all of the areas were acceptable, but the areas that had some molds that we were concerned about,
we retested those this morning. We'll have results in 24 hours on those. So then we have also treated
the entire sheriff's department, all of two and all of three.
This evening, after close of business, we're going in and treating the remainder of one. So that'll
be the in-processing portion of the jail and the holding cells that are down there. At that point,
we will have treated the entire building, the areas that needed to be treated. And then tomorrow morning,
we will go back in and confirmation test the in-processing portion of the jail.
we're going to work on our reporting because it's a fairly comprehensive report. Get that done, we intend
to have that out by the end of next week, mid hopefully and definitely. And then we're going to start
working on a plan moving forward to target areas of the building that we feel need to have ongoing attention
and see if there's not a way that we can keep this at bay into the future.
So that's where we are. Wow. OK. Commissioner Madeira, comments or questions? Yes. I just had a question.
What impact do you think as temperatures cool that will have on the facility? It will have a positive impact,
for sure. You can already tell in the building just with the reduction. So we did the first round of testing.
The big test was during the really, really hot times, very humid. And then we had that dramatic temperature drop.
the ambient humidity in the building went down by 10% across the board. So that in and of itself is
going to help. And so I think what we need to do going forward is we have to plan for June, July, August,
September of next year, and just try and stay out in front of it so we don't find ourselves back in
the same position next year that we were this year. I had one more question to you. And while we may
appreciate their presence for mental health reasons, for other reasons, I know that
for example, around several workplaces, we can have large potted plants, large trees. What effect do
you think those have on a building that is already humid like the Justice Department, like the Justice
Building? I'm sorry. That one's tough for me because I'm a houseplant person. I love plants and I have
100 or so in my home. And so I am definitely a plant advocate. But what we were seeing in the Justice Center
is because the humidity is so high, we had detections of a number of molds that are either considered
outdoor-only molds, that are not molds common indoors, or molds that are considered to be plant pathogens.
And some of the plant pathogen molds will also selectively target humans. And so some of the bad molds
that we're targeting unfortunately live in plants. And just the, I scrubbed the planters,
along the third floor hallway. And there was some buildup in there that I considered to be problematic.
There's some spaces within the Justice Building that have fungus gnat infestations, which just signals
overwatering, high humidity, and mold lives in soil on plants. So unfortunately, just because of the
humidity and the structure, it's just not a great fit to have the plants in there. So the basic lesson
seems to be if it can be moist,
try to keep it out of there in the future? Yes. And I mean, it's definitely an abnormal situation because
we're just struggling so much to keep the humidity at bay that anything that adds to it, anything that
introduces mold into that environment is problematic. That may not be the case in every building,
but in this building at this moment, that is the case, in my opinion.
Well, we're dealing with some very unusual constraints because that building is beyond its natural lifespan
already. I think I compared it before to a work uniform that's been worn and we just need a new uniform.
Thank you very much. You're welcome. Part of this has to do with changes in the climate because it was
one of the most humid summers in decades.
in the Midwest overall. It's certainly people have been talking about it, how they felt it. But we also
have a building that's poorly designed. I mean, we're trying to overcome so many things at one time
that are going on. But I just want to thank you for your communication.
your transparency, your willingness to meet with employees and address their questions. That was a long
meeting. There are a lot of things that you've done to go above and beyond to help us, but also to help
our employees understand what's going on. Because obviously, their health, the health of people in our
care and custody is paramount.
and you know that you recognize that and and you helped us with that communication because that's not
my expertise. Clearly um and I really appreciated um you know we had a conversation earlier this week.
He talked about long term planning and that's that is the next step after this report is out. So we
do um we do
the design issues that we face in that building. So, um, I just can't thank you enough. Um you know,
you've you've made us a priority clearly. And we are grateful. Absolutely very grateful to you.
It's our pleasure to do it.
she hasn't yet anything okay great thank you so much thanks again for your time appreciate you all right
uh next we have an update from uh richard krider fleet and facilities good morning good morning commissioners
richard krider building fleet manager um i'm here regarding roof replacement at the monroe county health
building 119
West 7th Street. Recently, the commissioner's office contracted with STR Specialty Engineering Group
to create the project manual and bid documents. The notice to bidders was advertised on August 2nd and
August 14th, 2025. We hosted a pre-bid meeting for contractors on August 18th at 10 a.m. I believe 8
roofing companies attended. Contractors were asked to provide a base bid
and two alternates outlined in the project manual. The base bid is to replace the upper, lower and loading
dock roofs. The first alternate is for using 60 mil thick membrane in lieu of 90. The second alternate
is to include replacement of the sheet metal panels and gutter liner on the upper roof. Bids were due by 9 a.m.
this morning in the legal department. There were five bids submitted. Mr. Cockrell has those.
And after he opens, the goal is to have a recommendation to you, I think by the 11th of September. Thank you.
Mr. Cockrell, we need a very long sustained drum roll here, please. Yeah. Hopefully not. No pressure, sir.
Sometimes it takes a while to open this. And this first one is from
Our Roofing Services out of Indianapolis, Indiana. Our Quality Roofing Services, Inc. out of Indianapolis,
Indiana. Their base bid is $207,600. The next bid is from Steve's Roofing and Sheet Metal out of Bloomington, Indiana.
And their base bid is $131,300. Next is from Danico Roofing Services, Inc. out of Indianapolis, Indiana.
And their base bid is $198,800. The next one is from B&L Sheet Metal and Roofing out of Bloomington, Indiana.
And their base bid is $214,000. And the final bid is from R. Adams Roofing out of Indianapolis, Indiana.
And their base bid is $352,224. And that is all the bids that we have received.
Thank you so much. We will take this under advisement. Obviously, we need to find the most responsive
responsible bidder and look through all the rest of the documentation that's there. So we will take
this under advisement. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Thank you so much. Any other departments have an update for us?
raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. All right with that we will move on to our next item
which is public comment. This is time reserved for public comment for items not on our agenda.
We ask each commenter to limit their time to three minutes per person. Please state your name
and county of residence. Raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. Okay, seeing none, we'll move
on to the next item, please. I would like to move approval of the minutes for August 21st, 2025.
Any edits or corrections? I have none. All right. I did have some and I've already given them to Ms. Freeman.
They're going to be part of our packet. All in favor of approving the minutes for August 21st, 2025,
signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 2-0. Next item, please. I would like to move approval of
the claims docket for accounts payable for August 28th, 2025. Second. Ms. Moser. Good morning.
Good morning, commissioners. The accounts payable claims docket for August 28th, 2025, totals $3,357,712.04.
This includes all emergency claims and adjustments. Thank you so much. Comments or questions, Commissioner
Madeira? I have none. I don't either. Any public comment on this item? You can raise your hand on Teams
or come to the podium.
seeing none all those in favor of approving the claims docket for counts payable August twenty eight
twenty twenty five signify by saying aye aye motion carries two zero I will not for the record we have
received a report from the treasurer covering the period of July twenty twenty five and with that we
will move on to new business place.
I would like to move approval of the AT&T multi-service agreement, fund name County General, fund number 1,000
in the amount of $88,547.40. Second. Mr. Crone, good morning. Good morning, everyone. So everyone's
known for a while that AT&T and the other phone carriers are trying to get away from their old copper
lines and get everybody on board.
For two years now, we've been working with AT&T trying to identify all the copper lines we still have
remaining. Obviously, the county has a very vast phone system, so with multiple locations, so it's taking
some time to get sorted out. What's currently in your package, what AT&T has identified is our remaining
copper Centrix lines that need to be replaced. They do this, part of this process is they bring in a
signal converter, which is laid out in your packet there. It shows you what the device is that converts
that from an analog to digital signal. Doing this process with all this transition will bring us a savings
right now of about $750 a month. If we don't get off that copper in the next year when our contract expires,
that we'll end up spending about $10,000 more a month because the way AT&T will change their charges.
So it's a prudent that we get this taken care of.
Thank you so much. Comments or questions, Commissioner Madeira? I have none. Yeah, I mean, in the short term,
$750 a month versus $88,000, that's it, you know, is it worth doing? But now, you know, if we know that
within a year that our monthly costs are going to increase so much, yes, it's worth doing. Yeah.
Right now, we're paying about $3,000 a month on those copper lines. So you see where that dropped that
down to. But that's why I say later on, those numbers will shift. Right. Right. Right. That's, yeah.
So the 88 would be well worth it now. Got it. Thank you. Let's see if there's any public comment on this item.
You raise your hand in teams or come to the podium.
none all those in favor of approving the AT&T multi-service agreement signify by saying aye aye aye
motion carries to zero thank you very much thank you next item please i would like to move approval
of resolution 2025-35 approving the statement of benefits for SEMTRA US LLC second mr cockrell yes and
i i'll just
for the record is resolution 36. There's a typographical error on the cover sheet and so I just wanted
to note that. This item as a tax payment went through the county council meeting on Tuesday and was
unanimously approved. The site we're looking at was declared an economic revitalization area in 2017
beginning on
I think it was January 1, 2018 for 15 years. So it's already gone through that process. A state code
does require that, but it isn't in the Curry profile TIF district. This is the old GE plan.
I think we've been referring to it as we've been working with the company as the park project. And so this,
since it's in a TIF district in order for the tax abatement to be finally approved, the county commissioners
or the legislative body of the group who
first started the TIF has to approve any tax abatement in that area. I would tell you that I've talked
with the Redevelopment Commission who oversees our TIF district and our conversation was the whole point
of that TIF district is to get this building in operation and productive again. That TIF district is
a very small TIF district that only includes this building and the parking lot.
the lot to the left that has a gigantic parking lot on it. So from a redevelopment commission perspective,
what is promised in this whole agreement, and I think the company is here to talk about it as well,
is they're gonna do some rehabilitation to the property and they're going to add in the next 10 years,
three production lines, which would be all told
well north of 300 employees, well north of $300 million investment in the property. So I've got the
company here who kind of share more of the details of what they're planning to do there, but this is
coming to you because of that state code. Thank you so much. Would somebody from Central or BDC like to speak?
Good morning. I need to sign in here. Please do.
Good morning. Yeah, so my name is Pat Adams. I'm the general manager at the Bloomington site. I've spent
about the last 20 years at the site. And as Jeff said, we've recently purchased the old GE building,
as we've dubbed Project Park, with the intention of expanding the type of manufacturing we do,
which is contract manufacturing work in perennial or sterile injectable products, both syringes and vials.
The uniqueness of this property gives us the ability to step into kind of a new field of the same type
of manufacturing, highly potent. It's something that our site in Halle, Germany does. It's very popular
or relevant in the oncology therapy. So a lot of cancer products are moving this direction.
more targeted products, more targeted therapies. And it allows us to become the only North American
commercial manufacturer for these types of products. So it really helps our clientele in terms of their
supply chain and domestic supply chain. And this property is quite large. It gives us the ability to
continue to expand in Monroe County. So as Jeff said, the abatement has those commitments from us to
add one line in the first three years
And then in each of the subsequent three years, another line that equates to close, I think we put 90 people.
It's probably a little conservative with each of those manufacturing lines. The building itself and
the property does allow us to go beyond that if we have the opportunity. A lot of that will be driven
by our client interest and demand, of course, but on our current property on 927 South Curry Pike,
We are essentially landlocked there. We're out of space. It's about a 29-acre parcel. We also lease
space near the Cook headquarters on Daniels Way. So this gives us, you know, this is a 65-acre lot.
The building itself's probably got close to 800,000 square feet. We intend to keep and continue the
outfit that Cook started about 300,000 to 400,000 feet of that.
And then to the east, kind of some of the older blue area, we intend to demo and that will be a grass field.
So we showed a rendering of that Tuesday. So very exciting to be part of that, having lived here for
20 plus years. So yeah, that's our intent. It allows us to both expand our current offerings
and manufacturing, really cater to custom solutions for our clients, as well as step into that new highly
potent field, which
is a very strategic decision for the company so. Great comments or questions for Mr. Adams? No I think
that people think that tax abatements are basically corporate giveaways and they're not they're really
community partnerships and you guys are going to take and invest a lot of money in our community's future.
You've already taken a facility that was blighted
And you're going to do more to turn it into a productive asset. You're going to give us good living wage jobs.
And the abatement is structured to incentivize further investment. And we look forward to partnering
with you in our community's future. So thank you very much. Yeah, I'm typically not a big fan of corporate
welfare, because in a sense,
every taxpayer in Monroe County has to pick up what's not coming in. But obviously this is in a TIF
and so things are a little different. And which is also to benefit businesses but businesses have to
benefit the community and I really I want to take a second to thank Mr. Cockrell for crafting a really
And it's a great product. Which will which very clearly defines obligations on both sides. As a good
contract should so kudos to Mr Cockrell for that. And but it is exciting and you know we thought something
was going to happen with this property. Just a year or two ago and that fell through and it's just been.
I think we're all very excited to see something come out of this property and couldn't think of a better
way to use it. And I just want to, again, compliment your company on the expansion on Curry south of
this site that we're talking about, but really good work.
And people are really excited about it. I mean, we even helped invest in a bus line to ensure that people
can get there. So it's all coming together finally. And that's a really positive thing. So thank you for that.
All right. Did you also want to make a comment, Ms. Pearl? Sure.
Thank you. I'm Jen Pearl. I'm president of the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation, and mainly
just came to say thank you. The county team, Jeff, everyone has put a ton of work into this in structuring
to make sure it's a great partnership with the company. We've been really pleased to work alongside you all.
We're very excited about what this could bring for the community and the site, in addition to the wages,
which are above the median household wages for both the county and the state.
So mainly came to say thank you for your consideration today. And we're excited about this. Great.
Thank you so much. Thanks. I will sign in. Yes, please sign. Appreciate it. All right. Any public comment
on this item? You can raise your hand on teams or come to the podium here in the net you will room.
I do have one. That's interesting. I cannot see the name, but we do have Ms. Purdy, can you see the
name there? It's like a CE. There we go. Oh, I know who that is. Mr. MG. Good morning. Good morning,
Commissioner Thomas, Commissioner Madeira. I just want to echo a lot of the statements I heard at the
County Council earlier in the week.
and today about what a good investment this is for our community. Simtra is an excellent community partner.
I just booked one of their fine employees for an Edgewood Junior High Career Panel. They're very accessible.
This is a great way to reinvest in a reused property. Great work by Jen Pearl at the BEDC, Jeff Pearl as well.
So I just want to give kudos to everybody involved. This is an exciting moment for economic development
here in Monroe County. Thank you.
Thank you so much, Mr. MG. Any other public comment on this item? You can raise your hand in teams or
come to the podium. Seeing none, all those in favor of approving resolution 2025-36 signify by saying aye.
Aye. Motion carries 2-0. Thank you all for being here.
Next item, please. Just one question. It is 36 and not 35. Yes. Okay. I would like to move approval
of subdivision participation forms for two opioid lawsuits, Sandoz and Purdue. Second. Mr. Cockrell. Yes,
and I got an email yesterday that says there may be more on their way. So just, but these are two that,
one is the
Purdue agreement, and it is one that we have looked at, and it went to the back to the banker or the
court and the court said, not good enough and so they renegotiated it and this is the end result of that.
We have outside counsel, Cohen and Malad, who specializes in these class action lawsuits. They've reviewed
this. They've recommended approval of both. The Purdue one is extremely complicated because issue in
it involves Purdue. And it involves bankruptcy court and a whole lot of different areas. The second
one is from what they termed one of the more minor
people in this realm in this opioid litigation, and the settlement is for just under $100 billion if
that gives you a an idea of what what what all these in the public an idea of what all these has done.
I actually think for our purposes the sand dose maybe a little bit more important because the first
The Purdue one and the reason I didn't go into a lot of detail is because that's really what the state
legislation was about. And the state was part of that. Because of the history with how it's gone through
the court and back and forth, they are wanting us to sign off on it as well because of that history.
But ultimately, at the end of the day, I'm not sure there's really any requirement that hasn't been
taken care of by the statute. The second one may fall into that category or may not.
I'm not sure the state has really picked up on that litigation as well, but we had included them in
our initial complaints. And so that one is for just under $100 million. That's total. That's not us.
There is a percentage associated with us. I think it's between $100,000 and $200,000 that would ultimately
come to us, which is like 0.0137% or something like that.
But we want to get these back to our council so that they can file with the court. And they have to
do that sometime in September, so we wanted to get it back to them in August. Thank you so much.
Comments or questions? Commissioner Madeira? No, it's just amazing how long all of these opioid litigation
processes have taken. It's good to see that they're trickling down to this level. Thank you. Yeah.
I'm not casting aspersions against the legal industry, but I think those are the folks who are doing
the best in all of this. And that's not the intention. We really need to get this money in for treatment
and investments and try to help the folks who are suffering. So anyway.
public comment on this item. Raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. Seeing none, all those
in favor of approving the subdivision participation forms for two opioid lawsuits. Misspelled there.
Sandoz and Purdue signify by saying aye. Motion carries 2-0. All right.
Next item, please. I would like to move approval for N-dot change order number three for Vernal Pike
Sunrise Greetings Extension, fund named Vernal Pike Sunrise Greetings, fund number 8165. Second. Ms. Ridge.
Good morning. I want to clarify this is a zero dollar change order.
That's why there was no funding attached to this. It was just basically changing to use an E5 as an
alternate internal curing method for the structural concrete. It's an in-dot approved mixed design. And again,
there was no cost change and it basically helps the concrete absorb better and set up better,
making it for a longer lasting product.
comments or questions commissioner Madeira. I know I think this is really cool actually thank you so much.
I appreciate the work on this it's it's interesting to see. You know the details of this kind of how
much it involves. Because it it doesn't a lot. So yeah. Really grateful
for your efforts on this and hopefully it will last longer, which would be nice. All right. Let's see
if there's any public comment on this item. You can raise your hand on Teams or come to the podium.
see none. All those in favor of approving in that change order number 3 for vernal pike sunrise greetings
extension signify by saying aye. Motion carries to 0. All right. Before we get to the next thing.
my colleague to consider a request to the Monroe County Planning Commission to change the zoning of
the Monroe County Nature Preserve Park, which is currently zoned as CVR, which is conservation residential,
and rezone it to institutional public. Would you be willing to support that request? Yes. OK.
great. I will forward that information to the planning commission and they will begin their work.
It's not urgent so they know that. All right and with that so do you have just a few
Announcements today, first and foremost, we are going to be closed. County government will be closed
on Labor Day, which is September 1st. All of our offices are closed. We're grateful for all the labor
of all of our good folks here in Monroe County government who work every day to serve this community.
A reminder to sign up for the Resident Alert System.
for whether health related emergencies and other updates. You can receive information by phone, text,
and or email. We do continue to hold office hours via Teams each month. It's on the calendar at iam.gov
slash county slash Monroe. And just as an FYI, the next blood drive at Ivy Tech 200 Daniels Way will be
Wednesday, September 3rd and Thursday, September 4th. Both of these blood drives are running from noon to 6 p.m.
in room C-130A and B, and that's at IB Tech 200 Daniels Way. And a reminder that for those folks who
live outside the city and the town of Valsville, that there are still some funds left
for rural housing repair and that is now being managed by originally ARPA funded. That is now being
managed by Bloomington Foundation and so you please work through your Township Trustee. This is for
necessary repairs for owner occupied homes in the county.
anything else for the good of the order? No, I just think it's really neat to drive down past the convention
center expansion site and see that while underway. And I think kind of we're in the swing of fall, so. Yeah,
really, it is good news. And just as a note of record, tomorrow at 1130, here in the NATU room, the
county council
is holding a special work session where they're going to receive updated information from DLZ on the
proposed basic floor plan for the new justice building. So we're looking forward to getting the council's
input on that. All right. We do not have a work session today, correct? All right. Anything else?
I do not. All right. Have a great, safe, fun Labor Day weekend. And our next meeting will be Thursday,
September 4th. My gosh, it's going to be September. All right. With that, we are adjourned. Thanks, everyone.