like to call to order this meeting of the Monroe County Board of Commissioners. I'm very happy to say
all three commissioners are here and present today in the Nat U Hill room and we will begin with our
public statement. 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
of our county public school systems, both RBB and MCC SC. And with that. We will. Move on to our
Good morning, commissioners. Can you hear me? Yes. Good morning. Good morning. Just a few updates for
you this morning. According to the Indiana Department of Health dashboard, as of October 21st, emergency
department visits for COVID-like illness have decreased and wastewater concentrations have decreased
slightly. Flu activity across the state is still minimal.
The Indiana Department of Health has announced the first flu death of the season. The CDC does recommend
an annual flu vaccine for all people six months and older. The public health clinic does have vaccines
available. You can call 812-353-3244 for an appointment.
Thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. Thank you. Commissioner Madeira?
No, thank you. Okay. I do not have any either. Thank you for being here as always. Any other department
updates? You can raise your hand on Teams or come to the podium.
do have one. It is our health department's medical director, Dr. Reiterband. Good morning. You are unmuted.
You're ready for you. I was asked to update you all on immunizations and I'm not
clear exactly which of them you would like. There are so many vaccinations and we certainly encourage
people to become vaccinated. Flu this year is supposed to be pretty nasty. I certainly know folks across
the pond who are suffering for two and a half, three weeks
with a single bout of flu. So I certainly encourage people to get their vaccines for flu. It's available
for six months and older. COVID vaccines are also widely available and they are available for people
11 years and older. The recommendation for COVID vaccines these days are that you must do that with
consulting a professional. Now that professional does not need to be a physician. It can be the pharmacist
at your local pharmacy. It can be the nurse. It can be any professional. So as long as you can say,
I've consulted a professional and I want the vaccine, you're good to go. The other ones that I would
really encourage is that once again, if you
Do not know that you are fully vaccinated for measles. Please do that. MMR vaccines are available and
we know that there are multiple outbreaks across the country. We've had a couple here in Indiana already,
again, and we are surrounded by states
in Illinois and Ohio with larger outbreaks. So we're not sure exactly why we have not seen the outbreaks
here that we have in our adjacent states, but it is coming until there is really a 95% compliance rate
with vaccines. Then we are going to continue to see outbreaks of diseases that are readily
avoided and lives saved if people will simply vaccinate. I'm wondering, also RSV, which is respiratory
syncytial virus, also has a vaccine. This is a disease, a virus that indeed tends to attack
very young children and has caused multiple deaths. So it's, while most of us who are older can manage
it, it certainly any child who has any kind of disability, any kind of lung issue, if they have not
been vaccinated really should be. And again, it's another one of those vaccines that is certainly suggested
for those who are older and have any kind of lung problem. I'm wondering if any of the commissioners
have questions or would like recommendations about some specific vaccines. Thank you so much, Dr. Reiterman,
for being here. We really appreciate it and the insight into how people can obtain the COVID.
COVID-19 vaccine and that flu season is going to be upon us very soon. Comments or questions, Commissioner
Madeira? No, thank you very much for that detailed information. Commissioner Jones? No, thank you. Thank
you so much. We really appreciate it and we appreciate your good work for the health of the entire county.
Thanks so much. I'm happy to serve you all. Thank you. Thank you.
All right, any other department updates? You can raise your hand on Teams or come to the podium. Okay,
seeing none, we'll move on to public comment. This is for items that are not on the agenda. We ask each
speaker to limit their time to three minutes per person and to please provide their name and county
of residence.
the microphone. You may come up to the podium or raise your hand on teams. Good morning. Good morning.
You can pull that
I'm Becky Brass, and I'm with the League of Women Voters Observer Corps. And this is my first commission
meeting as a League of Women Voters Observer. I'll be observing some in person and some virtually. Great.
Thank you for being here. We had this for quite a while, and then COVID hit, and it became difficult.
So we appreciate you being here. Thank you. Glad to be here. Any other public comment?
Seeing none, we'll move on to our next agenda item, please. Approval of the minutes for August 23rd,
2025. I second that. We have a motion and a second. Any comments, corrections, or edits? I have none.
I don't either. Thank you, Ms. Freeman. All those in favor of approving the minutes for October 23rd,
2025, signify by saying aye.
Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Next item, please. Move approval of the claims docket, accounts payable October
30th, 2025 and payroll October 31st, 2025. Aye. Second. We have a motion and we have a second.
Good morning. Tell us all about it. Good morning, commissioners.
The accounts payable claims docket for October 30th, 2025, totals $3,614,556.66. This includes all emergency
claims and adjustments. The payroll docket for October 31st, 2025, includes $1,571,276.
$279.25 indirect costs and the remaining $671,991.65 were for indirect costs for a grand total
of $2,243,270.90. Thank you so much. Any comments or questions, Commissioner Jones? No, I don't.
Thank you. Commissioner Madeira? No, thank you.
I don't either. Let's see if there's any public comment on this item. You can raise your hand on teams
or come to the podium. Seeing none, we'll come back for a vote. All those in favor of approving the
claim stock at accounts payable October 30th, 2025 and payroll October 31st, 2025 signify by saying aye.
I. Motion carries 3-0. I will note for the record, we've received reports from the Clerk of the Circuit
Court for September 2025 and weights and measures for September 2025. And with that, we will move on
to new business, please. Move approval of the 2026 Department of Corrections Community Corrections Grant Fundings
Community Corrections Program, Drug Court, and Mental Health Court. Fund numbers 9142, 9148, and 9150
in the grant amount of $1,229,334. We have a motion.
I would like to second that. Great. We have a motion and a second, and we have mystery joining us. Good
morning. Hi, good morning. Becca Strike, Community Corrections Executive Director and Deputy Chief Probation
Officer. I am here requesting that the commissioners sign our 43rd year contract with the Department
of Correction. This partnership has been going on, like I said, for 43 years, where the Department of
Correction provides funding for us to support alternatives to incarceration.
This would include community corrections programs such as home detention, electronic monitoring, our
day reporting program, and our drug testing program. This also supports two of our four problem solving
courts, including our drug treatment court and mental health court.
You might notice one difference. We were disappointed to learn that this year, or for 2026, the Department
of Correction is unable to help fund our pretrial program. They've been doing that for, 2026 will be
our 10th year of pretrial. This did come as a surprise. Monroe County was not the only one affected
by this. DOC could not fund pretrial across the entire state.
Fortunately for 2026 the Indiana Supreme Court came through with a one-time assist so our pretrial program
is guaranteed to function through 2026 with that extra money but we will be working hard next year to
see how we can sustain that program. We've assessed over 20,000 defendants who have been booked into
jail in order to
to assist the court in making release decisions. So we were disappointed to hear about that.
But for 2026, we're solid. But stay tuned. So thank you. Wow. That's a huge disappointment. Comments
or questions, Commissioner Madeira?
No, I've done a lot of research with pretrial release programs, drug courts, and I think that they're
very effective, and we're very proud to have them in our community. So it is wonderful to see this on
our agenda for today. Thank you. Commissioner Jones. Yes, I'm very pleased that the Supreme Court did
come through for 2026. Really, pretrial is something that needs to be expanded, not have money taken
away from it.
this is very unfortunate on the part of the state. It really is. Well, you know, we're interested and
obviously hopeful that this funding can continue beyond 2026, and we appreciate the effort that's been
made. And just for the public certification, the Community Correction Program grant amount is $1,049,167.
the mental health court grant amount is $137,209. And the mental health court grant amount is $42,958.
All of these programs are vital. Thank you for all you do. All right. 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, we'll come back for a vote. All those in favor of approving the 2026 Department of Corrections
Community Corrections Grant signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Thank you for your continued
support. Thank you. Becca, I'm sending you an email. They have not corrected the signatory line yet.
They haven't corrected the signature line yet.
on the document so I'm sending an email to them now. Okay and I will alert my program director through
the DOC as well. Thank you. Thank you. So if we get it from Indiana don't sign it yet. It's already
I have it. Oh okay because yeah all right cool thank you. All right next item please. Move approval
of the 2026 Ansem renewal fund name self-insurance fund number
47,000 in an amount that's various. I second that.
We have a second. E, good morning. Good morning. So this is our annual process that we go through to
ensure the information for our medical plan. So what you have is the stop loss agreement, the administrative
fees agreement, what's called the assumptions and conditions, and then we just added the pharmacy pricing
information for you as well. And we do have Amanda.
Gilbert from Apex is with us to explain this in more detail if that is something that you would like.
It's a lot of terms that are not normal for the average person, right? Yes, it takes a bit.
It's very dense language. But let's see if we have questions, and we'll start with that. Sounds good.
And if she needs to chime in, that would be great. And thank you, Ms. Gilbert, for being here. Commissioner
Jones, do you have any comments or questions? Yes, insurance is always very dense language, as far as
I can tell. Commissioner Madeira? No, I don't, actually. OK, well, that's easy.
I actually don't either, because I looked at last year's. I cheated. So that helps. So no, I don't have
any questions. It's necessary. It's obviously one of the most important benefits we can offer to our
employees, especially given the crazy stuff going on in Washington, DC with the ACA. So I'm grateful.
for everyone that worked on this. Angie, legal, everyone that's worked on this, thank you. It means
a lot to all of our employees. So thanks. All right, let's see if there's any public comment on this
item. You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
We do have one commenter. Good morning. Sorry, I didn't put my full name there. This is David Henry.
I'm a resident of Monroe County and Van Buren Township, and I'm also a member of the Monroe County Council.
I wanted to thank he and the commissioners for their good work on the anthem insurance for this year.
I'd like to express a desire, at least from my own seat on County Council.
as well as my colleagues to have an opportunity to be involved in the process at looking at our insurance
and self-insurance in the next fiscal year. As we know that we had some additional claims and expenses
that kept up on us during the budget cycle that made things a little difficult for us as we were trying
to balance the books and pay for things. And so I think if there's opportunities where we conclude council
leadership in the next round of decisions about how
We're working through choices and claims rather than having this presented at the tail end and settling
bills might be useful as we do forecasts in the budget for the next year. Hopefully that was clear.
I know sometimes the audio is choppy coming into the room, but again, thank you for everyone's hard
work. Thank you. Any other public comment on this item? You may raise your hand on teams or come to
the podium.
see none, we'll come back for a vote. All those in favor of approving the 2020-2026 Anthem renewal signify
by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Thank you so much. But stay there. We got one more for you.
Yep. Move approval of resolution 2025-44, the 2026 Monroe County Government holiday schedule. I second.
We have a motion. We have a second E. Thank you for working on this for us this year. We appreciate it.
No problem. Tell us all about it. Yeah, so this is the holiday schedule for 2026, which includes the
primary and general election days. And it also includes an additional holiday on January 2nd due to
the day that falls in the week. So we've got the two holidays on the Wednesday and Thursday. And so
that's just an additional day because that can be a challenge for people, right?
I got it. Thank you. Any comments? So there's no floating holidays this year, just to be clear. Yeah,
with those election days, that covers those. Right. Any comments or questions, Commissioner Madeira?
No, it's good to get this stuff locked down. Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. I appreciate it. It's
very consistent.
Good work on that. And I'm going to see if there's any public comments on this item. Seeing none, all
those in favor of approving resolution 2025-44 signify by saying aye. Aye.
Motion carries 3-0. And we will, thank you. Yep, thank you very much. And we'll move on to the next
item. Move approval of Strasser Construction Company, Inc. Agreement for Election Central Renovations
at Showers Building North. Fund name 2025 GEO Bond. There is no fund number and the amount is
$653,600. I second. We have a motion and a second, Mr. Kreider. This is a little cart and horse, but
we're very soon, hopefully, going to have the vote on the GEO bond again.
commissioners. We have a few minutes. So this is if all goes well, please tell us about this. All right.
Good morning, commissioners. We've recently received bids for renovations at the showers building for
Election Central. Um the. Professional services provider sent a letter of recommendation
Dear Mr. Kreider, we are pleased to recommend award to Strouser Construction Company Inc. as the most
responsible and responsive bid for the renovations in Showers North for the Monroe County election central
renovations. Their bid packet included the project bid form and required attachments, State Form 96
and the Affidavit of Compliance. We reviewed Strouser Construction Company Inc.'s material and subcontractors
list for the project and have found it acceptable.
Our firm has multiple project experiences working with Strouser Construction Company, Inc. on a range
of project scales and types and can speak to the care they put into their work and their ability to
deliver a project on schedule. We recommend accepting Strouser Construction Co.'s Inc.'s base bid and
alternate bid pricing as follows for a total contract amount of $653,600. So with that said,
This request is to accept the proposal submitted by Strouser Construction Company Inc. in the amount
of $653,600 to furnish all material and labor and perform all work necessary to complete renovations
for election central in accordance with the contract documents. Wow. Excellent work. You made that look
easy, and I know it took a long time to get to that point, so thank you. Comments or questions? Commissioner Jones?
I don't. Commissioner Madera? No. So initially we'd received a much higher estimate from the architect
and the firm about what it would cost to create this space and we have to create the space. This is
for the elections early voting
to get that price cut. That's a great question. Um, initial estimates came in at 1.3 to 1.5 million.
And at that time,
It's zoned as an office space, the occupancy. And changing it to early voting changes the occupancy,
which required additional construction, a lot of extra materials, labor, man hours, because you need
to completely encapsulate the ceiling.
When you walk in, you see an eight-foot ceiling with a suspended ceiling. Actually, above that, it goes
several feet higher to the floor above, and we were going to have to encapsulate all that. Well, because
of the limited use of the space, twice a year, I think, we were actually able to receive a variance
through the state to maintain the current occupancy, and it saved
it saved a lot of man hours and material. A lot of money for county taxpayers too. It reduced our bond
request for the GEO bond. So thank you for working on that and for getting that variance from the state.
I appreciate that. As do all county residents. Thank you for that. And we should be on schedule for
the spring early voting
we're on schedule. Excellent. Excellent. Thank you. In fact, the the Strauser they've been great to
work with. They're doing a lot of the behind of the scenes things to prepare and gear up so that we're
not just we're going to hit the ground running. Great. Thank you for that and your attention to detail
on this project is is.
Thank you. Let's see if there's any public comment on this item. You can raise your hand on teams or
come to the podium. Have Ms Ferris from the clerk's office. Good morning. You need to unmute.
There you go. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning, commissioners. I just want to say thank you very
much to Richard Crider for working very digitally on this with us.
and ensuring that all of the needs that are needed are being met. I also want to say thank you to you,
the commissioners for making sure that this is getting done and ready to roll for the primary election
in May. Great. Thank you so much. Yes. Thank you. And we appreciate that
you and others from the clerk's office have worked with Mr. Kreider throughout this planning process
to get this all set up and to make sure that the space will work. And I believe it will and everybody's
happy. So excellent. Any other public comment on this item? All right.
Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the Strouser Construction Company Inc. agreement for election
central renovations at Showers Building North signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0.
Thank you. Thank you. Next item please. Move approval of the 2026-27 written plan to use
that we have a motion. We have a motion and we have a second. This I will step in here. This is.
County Council wanted to reduce the general litigation bond amount. This will add a $905,000 project
to food and beverage funding to ensure that the Monroe County Nature Preserve is ready for
that we are receiving residents and visitors and obviously we do believe that this is. A tourist attraction
and in that way it fulfills the requirements. For the food and beverage fund so there is a food and
beverage tax advisory commission meeting tomorrow- and if we approve this I will be
Um, Mr. Cockrell, did you have anything you wanted to add? Oh, this is a state required document that
we have to file with the state of Indiana and presumably with that, uh, the Indiana coach section dealing
with this. And I would also say, uh, this somewhat reflects some of the conversations that was at the
previous, uh, food and beverage advisory commission as well. There was, there was some comments by,
by some of the other members of that board about utilizing some of that funding for this property.
right but that was to build athletic fields which we're not going to do that's yeah that's a very different
thing but yes but but we were hopeful i mean this has this is work that has to get done to ensure that
the park is accessible to the public and that's something we have to do in order to receive this gift and
So it's vital that this gets done. And since we cannot use geobond funding, this works well. So any
questions from my colleagues, Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. Thank you. Commissioner Madeira? Okay.
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 revised 2026-27 written plan to use food and beverage
tax funds for Monroe County, signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Thank you to my colleagues
for supporting that. And we'll move on to the next item, please.
Move approval of resolution 2025-38-C, approving the issuance of a general obligation bond, fund name
and number to be determined in an amount up to $6 million. I second. All right, we have a motion and
we have a second. Mr. Caldwell.
Yes, and this is the third time we've done this. This is just changing the project list, and this project
list is changed to reflect what was approved by the county council on Tuesday night. I think the primary
changes were justice building repair, and we removed, I think, the YSV, more of the placement of the
justice building repair, so that the modifier of the clerk space, it's clear that it's going to be in
the showers building.
I'd like to also add that additionally you added a body scanner for the sheriff's office as well as
to jail transport vehicles that were not previously correct and and while and we dropped the nature
preserve because we just we're going to put it in food and beverage. So that falls under equipment for
the sheriff's department. Yes. Okay.
vehicles and vehicles. And vehicles. Yes, and vehicles. And vehicles are there. I was thinking about
the scanners. Yes. Thank you. Okay. All right. Any comments or questions? Commissioner Jones? No,
I don't. Commissioner Madeira? Nope. I'm grateful that we got this process wrangled through earlier
this week. Yeah. Who needs sleep? All right.
any public comment on this item? You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. All right. Seeing
none all those in favor of approving resolution 2025
We can actually get Strouser construction working on the showers building. All right. Next item, please.
Move approval of ordinance 2025-40 to amend various traffic ordinances. I second. We have a motion.
We have a second. We have Ms. Ridge here to tell us all about it. Good morning.
These items did go before the Traffic Commission on October 16th and they were all approved and they
are all warranted within the Indiana MUTCD. It is amending Ordinance 86-09 to add a 20 mile per hour
speed limit on Salt Creek Drive, Salt Creek Court, Winfrey Lane, Nomp Creek Road. Amend Ordinance 86-06
to delete the following stop locations.
balkan drive for Gordon Pike, Wiccan Street for Gordon Pike, Clearview Drive for Gordon Pike, Rockport
for Fullerton Pike, Fullerton Pike for Rockport Road, Sunrise Greetings Court for Vernal Pike. Amend
86-06 to add the following stop locations, balkan drive for Fullerton Pike, Wiccan Street for Fullerton
Pike. Amend ordinance 86-12 to add the following yield locations. Fullerton Pike for Fullerton Pike
Roundabout,
for fullerton pike roundabout. Gordon pike for fullerton pike roundabout bachelor drive for fullerton
pike roundabout. Amend ordinance zero zero dash thirty two to add the following traffic signal location.
That would be at the intersection of fullerton pike and rockport road and intersection of vernal pike
and sunrise greetings court. And amend zero zero dash thirty one to add following no turn on red look on
location eastbound Fullerton Pike for Rockport Road. This is most of these are in coordinates with the
new installation of a roundabout on the Fullerton Pike project. And road name change and the completion
of the other big projects, Sunrise, which now has a stoplight on Vernal. All right.
the traffic commission. Uh comments or questions. Commissioner Madeira. No a bunch of essential changes
and glad again to see this done. Mr Jones. No, I don't. Thank you. All right. Um. I don't have any either,
except thank you for. The attention to detail as always.
Any public comment on this item? You may raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. Seeing none,
all those in favor of approving ordinance 2025-40 signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0.
Thank you, Ms. Ridge.
All right. I did want to talk through a couple things because, well, first of all, let's go through
the usual, which is that we do know that SNAP benefits, Supported Nutrition Assistance Program benefits,
going to end Saturday and we are going to be posting something on our website both for those who need
food assistance and those who are able to donate and help. One of the things I know is that there are
a lot of really
generous people in this community. And we've got our friends and neighbors who are hurting across the
US. I believe the average is one in eight people receive some sort of nutrition assistance benefits.
That's across the country. We do know that there are a number of people in this county who receive it,
a number of households that receive it.
And one of the things that may help and does always help is going through the pantry and sharing with
others in our community. And there are so many food pantries and almost every township trustee has a
food pantry of some sort. Of course, there's Mother Hubbard's Cupboard, Pantry 279.
Grace Food Pantry down in Harrettsburg. There are too many to name actually, but we will put that up
on our website so that if you know someone who needs help, you know where to go. The biggest supplier
of food in this community for those in need is the Hoosier Hills Food Bank, and as a food bank, one
of the best ways that you can give is to actually donate money.
they can buy a lot more food per dollar than you can at a grocery store. And so if you can please open
your hearts, your wallets, check on your neighbors and friends and see what you can do to help those
in need at this terrible time for them. And we do appreciate
all the great folks who volunteer and staff the Hoosier Hills Food Bank and all of the food pantries
and other organizations that help people in need. We really, really do appreciate your hard work all
year round. But sadly, it's only going to get tougher, at least for the short term. I'm not sure long
term if it's going to get much better. I do want to note that
We do have office hours, and they are held six times each month. You just go to the calendar at our
website, in.gov slash counties slash Monroe. That's our new home base home web page. And while you're
there, please sign up to
be alerted for any emergencies, whether it be medical, highway or other, through our resident alert
service. This is an amazing service and we encourage people to sign up and stay safe. There is the 10th
annual Monroe County Childhood Conditions Summit, which will be held on Thursday, November 13th from 8 a.m.
to 4 p.m. and that will be at the Monroe County Convention Center. The admission for that event is free
and the event is open to the public, of course. We continue to offer the opportunity to donate blood.
The next is Wednesday, November 12th, 2025, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Ivy Tech, and Thursday, November 13th,
2025, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., also at Ivy Tech, rooms C130A and B. Please go to redcross.org.
to make an appointment. We also have in our minutes a list of phone numbers and email addresses for
each of our Township Trustees. And again, if you are looking for food resources or assistance during
this difficult time, please contact your Township Trustee. They can help you directly or provide information
on where you can find assistance.
I believe my colleagues may also want to chime in but I've been asked the question after Tuesday's council
meeting as what's next and that's a great question because that's pretty much all I think all of us
have been thinking about and it's not
a great events for us in our lives. We've spent five years on this project. And all along the way, working
with the council, all along the way, working with the council. But it's been five years.
have had a number of points along the way where we've obviously engaged with, involved council members,
board of judges, prosecutor,
public defender's office, the clerk's office. It's been a collaborative effort to this point. And we
reviewed four properties in 2022. Fullerton Pike, which was the corner of the southeast corner of Fullerton
and I-69, was selected as the best site. We wanted to be as close to the city as possible.
and that is actually in the city limits. It did require a rezone from the city, but the city planning
commission and the city council both denied it, but here they are saying, telling us what to do, telling
us that we should work with them. That's a little rich, a little too late. We also actually considered
a portion of the Hopewell property as well. It would have divided the jail and the rest of the justice
structure, the courts and prosecutor and everything else. It wasn't ideal in that way, but it's downtown,
it's close by. We were told no regarding Hopewell.
Then we went to look at the Thompson property, property we already owned in the city limits again.
This time, it wasn't the city that stood in our way. It was Mother Nature and, of course, all of the
people who have owned the property in the past. There is a massive 10-acre mound of dirt that would
have to be moved, electrical supports,
would have to be moved and removed by Duke, which would be at least a two and a half year delay plus
another two million dollars. The city would have to approve us to build in this quarry sinkhole area.
We would have had to do a tree study. It's a lot of time. It's extra money. And we moved on. And as we
It was honed in on North Park, which I believe was the favored property for the fact that it is unencumbered.
It is not karst-y and likes with cheese. And it is flat. And it doesn't have anything on it. It's available.
It's been a favorite for many of us on the inside of this project.
So as we were finalizing those last plans, we were asked to consider a Vernal Pike property,
because why not? So once again, like we did with Thompson, we met with area residents. They were opposed.
But the property is not ideal for a lot of reasons.
sinkholes and it's uneven and it would have required a forced annexation for folks on Vernal Pike just
to receive sewer service and we weren't happy with being doing the the work of the city for them. But
really the property when Ms. Mitovich looked at both properties she said North Park is ideal in terms of its
of the property. Um geography and engineering. So, um. We, um, looked at. Um looked at North Park again.
We, uh, we asked the Council to support the purchase of the property in 2024. All along the
and we have been working with folks in county government, whether they be elected or department heads.
And we have been. Working with, um, the good people at D L Z. And it has been a lot of work trying to.
Meet the demands and
but Scott Carnegie and his staff have done an admirable job and we appreciate their work. And as we're
moving into 2025, we had the county council approve the corrections tax to supplement the edit that
would both be used to
provide a 20-year bond to pay for this facility. And the total cost over 20 years is eye-watering. It's
a high number, but this is vital infrastructure. And we've seen what happens when you try to save money
on a building. And you can look at the current Justice Building for that answer. We had the funds ready
for liftoff.
ready to, we need the schematics done and then ask the council for the bond. But then the state legislature
intervened and the state legislature, we're ready for takeoff. We had the money. State legislature said,
how about three more obstacles for you? Why not? So, and that's where we've been at.
Now, again, the council approved the corrections tax. The council approved the purchase agreement. I
heard in general for issues raised by various members of the council on Tuesday night or into the early
morning hours of Wednesday. And there's no agreement from them. There is no agreement in that group
about what to do next. But location, well, there will be bus service. We didn't talk about this. We
did talk about this because why would we put a bus route where there's a field with cows right now?
We wouldn't start the bus service yet, but there will be bus service. And not everybody lives downtown
either. So what do people do now when they get out of the facility? The cost.
It's a high number, but we've reduced what came out of the initial plans working with DLC and every
single department head, and none of them are happy, which tells you that we've reduced the cost.
The size, well, I'm going to borrow from our
and say, Google it, Vigo County. See what happens when you don't build an appropriately sized jail.
That is not going to help anyone who lives in Monroe County. Legislature, yep, they're always a question.
It's always a question. There's never a known there. Certainly, things were super crazy in 2025.
I don't see that as a reason to say no, because I don't see that legislature changing anytime soon.
And we do not have constitutional care in our jail. We have schematic drawings. Well, not schematic,
sorry. We have drawings. We have designs. These are available and present in both our office and in the
legal office and we've had the meetings with council. We've certainly had meetings with a number of
department heads going through each point, each possibility. We've talked about, I've been in many of
those meetings, we've talked about the size of the desk and the aisle way and where's the kitchenette
and how big is it and how many people use it. There's a lot of detail.
that's already been done, based on North Park. And we have continued to proceed and continue to work
based on what the council has approved to date. Now, I ask my colleagues, sorry to put you on the spot,
but have any of you received a phone call from any council members since Tuesday night or early Monday
or early Wednesday? Have you? About this?
and what they plan to do. No, I haven't. There's no agreement on the council and there needs to be enough
agreement on the council to build consensus. They've got a lot of work to do. We've done our job and
I think we've done our job well. We've done our job
because of DLZ, because of Angie, because of Jeff, because of all the people in our office who have
helped make this project work. And with all the department heads who participated, thank you. I hope
that your work and efforts has not been in vain. So with that, balls in your court, council. But Commissioner
Jones, did you have anything you wanted to add?
Well, yes, I just hope that moving forward, the council can come together a bit more in agreement. And
hopefully, this project will still be able to happen. Commissioner Madeira? Yes, I actually have some
thoughts. I previously mentioned on Tuesday that I believe we can't renovate the existing building because
of architectural constraints.
In addition, in its current form, we can't effectively provide health care, mental health care, vocational,
educational, and reentry services. We can't provide adequate recreational space, gender equitable work
opportunities, separate people by risk, gender, medical needs, and other factors. But at Tuesday's council
meeting, I actually mentioned that despite our admirable community values and our intentions, local
efforts can only have so much of an effect on incarceration rates, and that advocacy efforts can
actually be really, really effective on the state level.
on the local level, certainly, but really primarily on the state level. And so a lot of folks have reached
out and asked me what I meant. And so I'd like to talk more a little bit about some of these statewide
legislative measures that are coming that will potentially swell our jail populations and that make
our current situation even more desperate. So Indiana is a qualified right to bail state right now,
meaning that anyone charged with any crime, murder, or treason will have bail set against them.
Additionally, there is also a presumption of release and judges utilize a risk assessment tool for bail
setting that helps them do that.
Currently, though, Indiana doesn't allow for preventative detention. So judges often take matters into
their own hands, and they set bail excessively for some offenders. So that makes cash bail a proxy for
de facto detention. And statutes in Indiana aren't clear on what constitutes excessive bail. So to fix
this, Indiana has proposed a preventative detention measure. We have this, and it says basically, dangerous
suspects are to be held without bail. 22 states and the federal government currently have this.
of the Indian Constitution. That will allow for all other offenses other than murder or treason to not
be bailable. If two factors are meant if proof is evident or the presumption is strong. And the state
proves by clear and convincing evidence that no release conditions will reasonably protect the safety
of any other person or the community. This requires as a constitutional amendment so it requires language
to pass out of a separate general assembly before going to the ballot.
for Hoosier citizens to approve. So to take effect, it must pass the General Assembly again, the exact
language, in 2526, and it must win voter approval likely on the November 2026 ballot. This is not that
far away. It is not yet certified for the ballot, of course, because it has to make its way through
this legislature. But if adopted, we can expect a lot more pretrial detention.
longer lengths of stay for defendants flagged as dangerous. But note, this process of preventative detention
can be subject to misuse and overuse. It provides no instruction to judges. It establishes no due process
protections. It offers no guidelines for judges to follow before detaining someone that judges think
is, quote unquote, a public safety risk. In addition, we have proposed criminal rule 4D that is open
for comment until October 2025. So it's just about current right now.
The court has proposed cutting the case continuance period from 90 to 70 days and allowing judges to
keep individuals accused of felonies level three to level one and murder jailed during continuances.
This means more jailed bedtimes even for a shorter continuance clock.
In addition, we have Public Law 197, where arrestees for crimes of violence are to be held until a hearing
is held by the court that sets bail individually and in open court. Again, this means longer stays in
jail, more people in jail. And there's also a proposal for statewide minimum bail.
Currently, Indiana lacks a uniform statewide schedule, so counties set their own provisional amounts.
For some reason, state officials are worried that folks lack incentives to show up for their trials
or that judges are setting bail too low. So they're looking at imposing a statewide minimum bail that
effectively puts people in jail if they cannot afford to post bail. This will disproportionately detain
low-income individuals, exacerbate health problems, and have little impact on crime rates, but it will
also swell our county jail populations extraordinarily high.
We already are facing every legislative session, sentencing, and charging changes that also indirectly
swell our jail populations. Outside the bill rules, criminal penalty upgrades mean higher pretrial jail
populations and increased costs for counties. In addition, I have a grim and dismal prediction. So in
Howard County and in Allen County, which were also under ACLU settlement agreements, they had majors
where they were dragging their feats. The ACLU called in the federal courts,
they brought the counties to heel in what were called private settlement agreements. That cost the county
a great deal of private autonomy, and in addition, the counties ended up building jails. So I have a
prediction when our settlement agreement ends, which is going to happen in a couple of months, that
we will soon end in a private settlement agreement. We will end up losing our autonomy, our privilege
of choice, and we in turn will have to build a jail which might end up being bigger, badder, and in
a location we don't want.
because we lost our choice and our chance. Thank you for that. I do want to offer the opportunity for
Mr. Cockrell and Ms. Purdy if you wish to add anything that we've not addressed because you both been
working so hard on this.
I just would, the only thing I would add is I don't think anybody really understands the incredible
amount of time and effort and really tough decision making that goes through the process that we've
gotten to to get to this point. I mean, it was extremely intensive, particularly after the first report
where the budget was at 239 million. We have always set the goal and made the requirement and we've
expressed it to all our contractors that
we are not going to back to the County Council to ask for an increase in the corrections lit, even though
there's little room left, we were going to work with what the numbers are of what was already approved.
And so we were not going to, we were going to make sure that whatever we came up with fit within the
budget as we understood it. And it was just a tremendous amount. And it's, you know, there were meetings
we walked out of and said, man, we had to cut things or we had to recommend cuts that, you know,
we think are necessary, just to make sure we can comply with the fiscal constraints that we knew about.
Thank you for that. Ms. Purdy? I don't have anything in addition to that. I think that yourself and
Commissioner Madeira and Mr. Cockrell have pretty much summed it up. It was a gut. I mean, it was just
a blow to the gut on Tuesday. And frankly, very depressed about
how we're gonna go forward, if we can even go forward. This is just like having the rug pulled out from
underneath, yeah. It is easy to say no, it's harder to create and we've spent five years collaboratively
getting to the point where we're at on Tuesday and to just be told no, okay, well then what's the option?
And I personally don't think I was asked the question about, well, where do you go back to the beginning?
And it's like, well, we've spent five years. And we've looked at all of the possible properties. We
have a design for a property. We spent money to get there. And we spent money all along the way to survey
study the properties that we've been looking at. We spent six months with the city for Fullerton Pike,
and that was a no. I don't think any of us should play Groundhog Day and redo that process, but I didn't
hear anything else. I don't know that any land's been manufactured and is suddenly available.
right downtown where everybody wants it. There are a lot of issues with the downtown. If you look at
all the empty storefronts, you may understand that. And local business, we were talking about how often
people eat out for lunch when they're in county employees, and the answer is not often. But a lot of
them do order in, and that can happen anywhere in the county. But North Park is
right outside the city limits. And I do mean right outside. Just because you're crossing a highway doesn't
mean it's a continent away. It's across the highway. It is available land. It is flat land. It's good
land to build on. And we had an opportunity to do so. I don't know what happens next either. But I'm
sure you're eager to hear from
I'm not going to say no to anyone on the council who wants to talk about what they are going to do.
Rather than just say no to. So. With that, I think we've provided all the information we have.
At this moment, and we will keep everyone updated as as we move along. Yeah, I think if there are
we have no more time. The time essentially has run out. And so I think that's the sticking point here.
And we have inmates in prison who are suffering. And so we have a lawsuit breathing down our necks.
And these solutions that are out there, whatever they are, must include solutions that defray these
problems, as well as solutions that
don't expend taxpayer dollars needlessly to keep resuscitating a dying building. Right. And yes, to
protect our staff, to protect those folks who are currently incarcerated in the Monroe County Jail.
And for our community at large, we need to get this done. And I would love to live in a world where
there are no jails. That world does not exist.
I would love to live in a world where we talk this through until we all come to a consensus. That world
doesn't exist either because there are folks who say there should be zero jail. Well, good luck telling
a federal judge that when we have no jail. We are constitutionally required to provide a jail
as commissioners. Not my favorite thing in the world. I'd much rather be building
treatment centers and schools and recreation areas and a thousand other things I would rather build.
But we do have an obligation. And that is to protect our community, protect our staff who work in the
criminal justice system, to protect the people who are there, to provide for treatment and medical care
and constitutional care for inmates. That's our obligation.
Again, 100 are the things I'd rather build. But we have to do this. We have to do this. Yeah. If there
was some way to have some community, county, government conversation accelerated on steroids, I would
love to have that. That would just zoom us forward into the future. But I just can't foresee any way
to make that happen on the current timeline. Right. And I will tell you, those are conversations we've
been having all along the way for the last five years.
Yeah, there were some new faces in the room Tuesday night, but there were some familiar faces. But these
are conversations that we've been having all along. And so to have another, OK, but I don't know what
that gets us. Because to say no is easy. To build and create and to collaborate and to do as much as
you can is hard. And it takes time. And that's been the last five years.
I'm just thinking about the number of public meetings that were held over the past few years regarding
the search for property and. Um you guys received a lot of public
people, nobody wants this facility in their backyard. That is just a fact. We're not going to ever be
able to make everybody happy. And as I said before, it's extremely frustrating. We've expended over
$3 million already at this point in time on this project. We have a failing building that is not just
a jail. The entire facility is a
is a nightmare. And it's not that it wasn't cared for. I do want to put that out there. You just cannot
renovate a building while it's occupied 24-7 to the level that would need to have been renovated, but
it still wouldn't have been provided the necessary space for the jail. So that comment was specific
to the people who are working that are not part of the 24-7 jail facility.
It's I don't know what else you guys can do. I really don't. Yeah. And a lot of the members of the public
were calling it our project. And yes, commissioners have to provide the building. That is our job. That
is our constitutional requirement, statutory requirement to provide a jail. But this project has been
collaborative all along.
And there are things I'm not excited about. There are things that others aren't excited about. And it
runs the gamut. There are things about this building, not quite what I envisioned, but we have to cut
costs or we have to make this work. And this is part of building such a huge project. You would think
for that much money, it should be exactly what we want. But what is it that we all want?
We are not all going to agree on that. If we sat down right now and drew out our ideal facility space,
it would not look the same at all. And so we have to be careful. We cannot be reckless. We have to provide
a facility. And again, easy to say no, difficult to do the work. And we have to provide a facility that
will serve us now as well as it will 50 years in the future.
So everybody Google vehicle county. So if you want a small facility, great. All right, I think we've
done enough here. Yes, I think we've responded. OK, I'm sure we will have more to say. But for now,
what I will let folks know is that we do have our next meeting
which is Thursday, November 6th, and we do not have a work session today. So with that, we are adjourned.
Thank you everyone for letting us speak out.