- Good morning. I'm going to call to order this meeting and the Monroe County Board of Commissioners.
- It is Thursday, December 4th. We will begin with our public statement read by Commissioner Jones.
- 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 MCCSC. Thank
- you so much. Next on our agenda, we have our proclamation, if you would, Commissioner Madeira, thank you.
- Thank you. Proclamation National Reads Across America Day. Whereas Reads Across America is a national
- nonprofit founded in 2007 to continue and expand the wreath laying tradition begun at Arlington National
- Cemetery in 1992 by main businessman Merle Worchester.
- And whereas reads across America's mission is to remember our fallen heroes honor those who serve and
- teach the next generation about the true cost of freedom. And whereas volunteers across Monroe County
- veterans the Monroe County veterans services office staff, the American Legion family VFW auxiliary.
- and veterans, service clubs, churches, and community members come together each December to place remembrance
- wreaths on the graves of our local heroes and to host educational and awareness activities throughout
- the year. And whereas this effort reflects Monroe County's enduring gratitude for the service and sacrifice
- of our veterans and their families and strengthens our community's commitment to patriotism, service,
- and remembrance across Bloomington, Ellisville, Steinsville, Unionville, Lake Monroe, and our surrounding
- townships. Now, therefore,
- the Monroe County Board of Commissioners do hereby proclaim Saturday, December 13th, 2025 as National
- Reads Across America Day in Monroe County, Indiana. And we extend our deepest thanks and appreciation
- to our veterans and Gold Star families, to the local coordinators and volunteers who make these ceremonies
- possible, and to Reads Across America for bringing honor to our community. Proclaim this fourth day
- of December, 2025, the Monroe County Board of Commissioners. All right, thank you so much.
- Thank you. Excuse me. Good morning, Commissioner. Just Andrew Blake with the veteran office standing
- in for Steve today. We just both wanted to thank you for supporting this event. Thank you so much. There
- are a number of events that have been coordinated, and we really do appreciate that. Get that one signed
- if you don't mind. And we do want to thank the
- veterans service office for all their hard work throughout the year. Not just on this occasion. Not
- just on this occasion. Thank you. Might be one more to sign. Thank you. Lid. Okay. All right.
- Next we have, yeah, that'd be great. Thank you.
- Next, we have our department updates. And we'll begin with the health department, Ms. Kelly. Good morning,
- commissioners. According to the Indiana Department of Health dashboard, as of December 2nd, emergency
- department visits for COVID-like illness have decreased, but wastewater concentrations have increased.
- According to data from wastewater scan, RSV levels are high. So RSV is a respiratory virus that usually
- causes mild cold like symptoms, but can be serious in infants and older adults. Vaccination can prevent
- illness caused by RSV. The public health clinic has vaccines available. You can call 812-353-3244 for
- an appointment.
- Thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. Commissioner Madeira? No,
- just thank you for all your work. Thank you for everything, Ms. Kelly. Appreciate you. Okay. All right.
- Next. Oh, there we go. There she is. Ms. Myers? Rural Transit. Good morning. Good morning.
- Yes, Chris Myers with Area 10 and giving you your quarterly update for rural transit. We have January
- through October 2025 total trips to date are 36,815 of that Monroe County is 14,242. That doesn't include
- the urbanized area routes that we do in addition to that, which has been 5,243 trips to date.
- The urbanized area, I am happy to report that NDOT is funding us fully for that for 2026. $150,000.
- Oh my gosh. With the intent that next year will be a planning year with Bloomington Transit and their
- strategic planning that will involve the county.
- I'm going to go back to that.
- that changed to the lit and it changes the way the whole funding scheme works. So yeah, perfect. That
- is incredible news. Oh my God, I'm so happy. I know. It was November 3rd when Larry Buckle came down
- and met with me to talk about how they came up with that solution. So what they're doing is awarding
- and increasing our
- PMTF funding, which is the public mass transit funding and it's state funding that they have to allocate
- for that. So yeah. Yeah. Good timing. Very relieved. Glad to have that. And the writers were happy to
- hear it as well. So wanted to make sure I shared that broadly with everybody. Thank you. You're welcome.
- And then quickly just wanted to say that we had closed services for part of the day on November 7th
- to have an all-day driver training that embodied a wheelchair securement, CPR training, some obstacle
- courses for doing some backing up and things like that, as well as sensitivity training for
- the intellectually and developmentally disabled population. So happy to take any questions that you
- might have for us.
- I'm still just ready to throw a confetti about getting that because we have it on the agenda next week
- for the County Council. Yeah, I mean we've been looking everywhere. Yeah. Oh my gosh. So lots of behind
- the scenes work on that. I won't go into details because it's certainly happy to answer any questions
- about in the weeds. That's really good news. And yeah, Larry Bockel is somebody that we talked to
- years ago about this and when the map first changed and really appreciate that he's helped us. And I'm
- sure you worked very hard on this too, so thank you so much. Commissioner Madeira? No, I'm ecstatic
- about this news. This is wonderful. Mr. Jones? I just echo both the other commissioners. This is great
- news for a whole lot of people. Right. Good timing.
- the best timing ever. But yes, that the transit transit is one conversation we're going to have to have
- because the entire funding mechanism changes and we obviously want to ensure that the service continues
- for residents of the county who don't live inside the city, but also are in what in dot considers an
- urbanized area. So it's absolutely
- thread that needle. Conversations in the next year will be very important. For sure. Thank you. What
- a great update. I love good news. Excellent. Any other department updates for us? You can raise your
- hand on Teams. Ms. Ridge, what do you have for us?
- Good morning. More good news. Yeah. So each year, the Highway Department applies for the Community Crossing
- Matching Grant Program. It's a matching grant for projects that we submit. We typically put in paving
- projects for the last few years. The program started in 2016. NDOT did a special call for October, so
- we submitted for that. They received $237 million worth of applications. They were only able to award
- $100 million.
- county did receive their full million that we applied for. So we have a list of roads that will be paved.
- The list of roads won't be adjusted. Once you submit those roads, that's what's going to be paved in
- 2026. So I did post those road names on our county website this morning. We will bid out those projects
- in the next probably 30 days or so.
- So we'll be ready to go when paving season starts in the spring. So very thrilled, appreciate all the
- commissioners and the council for backing this program. Since 2016, it has brought in $10.5 million
- in projects between paving and bridge replacement projects. So it completely goes to all the infrastructure
- in the 700 miles of roads that we maintain. Amazing work.
- comments or questions. Commissioner Jones. Yes, I'm not exactly surprised since we seem to receive what's
- asked for every year. But once again, it's wonderful news to receive. No, just a banner year. I echo
- Commissioner Jones. Not surprising because our highway department is the best. But again, our county
- has so many wonderful employees and wonderful people. So thank you.
- Thank you to you and your staff for organizing this, because obviously you have to put in a proposal
- that includes all these road names and everything else. So I really do appreciate the hard work over
- all the years, and that's how you get funded year after year. And I think we've been funded every time.
- Thank you. Residents, thank you, too. And their shock absorbers and their tires and their wheels. All right.
- Excellent. Any other department updates? Kip Harmon with Purdue Extension. Just have a few updates from
- from this past year that we'd like to share with you. We of course had our the Monroe County Fall Festival
- Education Day and we supported that.
- as well as the Children's Fall Festival. We had between 3,000 and 4,000 people attend that, little kiddos
- all the way up to adults. And of course, the whole office was supporting that, not only the 4-H programming.
- This past year, we also continued working with our school-to-farm field trips. We had 10 last year and
- nine this year.
- And we partnered this year with Soil and Water, and that was a continued partnership, but also partnered
- with Parks and Rec and Health Department as part of those programming this year. Just needed to add
- some other people to the programming, and so that was really helpful to continue to work with them.
- Camp this past year, we had over 170 adults and youth at camp, and they enjoyed all kinds of events.
- One of the highlights was they got to do some welding,
- That was a big event for the kiddos. They really enjoyed that. At the fair, we had 145 judging opportunities
- for youth across all projects. We had a total of 631 youth exhibitors.
- The 4-H years netted over $450,000 from the animal auction this year, which is the highest we've ever
- had. We also partnered with Rice's in Spencer, Rice's Quality Meats, to assist us with providing some
- meat to local community food banks. We provided over 4,600 pounds of beef, pork, goat, and lamb, along
- with over 3,000 pounds of shelf-stable foods through the Stock the Trailer program.
- that all went to various local food programs. And we had over 140 of our youth who went on to exhibit
- at the Indiana State Fair, and two of our youth participated as exhibit hall workers. We had several
- youth go on program trips out of the state and within the state. We had three go to Washington, D.C.
- Four attended a program at Purdue in the 4-H Academy. One went to National Congress. We had 50 of our
- youth from
- County attend the Teen Leadership Weekend, which was the largest contingent in the state. We had one
- who received a state scholarship and several who attended the State House, one of which was also a page
- for the day at the State House. Our 4-H junior leaders provided over 500 hours of volunteer days across the year.
- With a total of 715 youth participating in 4-H this year, it's up slightly. 93 approved adult volunteers,
- 21 clubs, and a total of 3,520 county fair entries. In Ag and Natural Resources, as you know, Edward
- Ullman has left the office, but we've continued
- programming through there. The Master Gardener programming is really strong and continuing. They are
- planning more trainings coming for this year. We had 31 who graduated this past year the Master Gardener
- program and of course Bugfest will continue.
- Because of Edward leaving, we had to find somebody to sit on the County Plan Commission and Joe Van
- Deventer agreed to take his place while we are in process of looking for somebody to replace him.
- And then finally in health and human science, we had over 1,500 projects this year in open class. They
- added a new class this year for children between the ages of 13 and 17, so those who outgrew the division
- below that could continue to participate. Of course, Audie has continued with the financial literacy
- program for kids, Bump to Baby, which she has partnered with the health department on. And then also
- some of the other programming she's done is Where Does Your Money Go?
- A new one, she offered charcuterie board 101. It's been a big, a big highlight as well as a matter of
- balance and steps to healthy you. We'd like to thank the commissioners for their continued support of
- Purdue extension. And I'll provide, I'll leave these copies of the report with you. Excellent. Thank
- you so much. It's always good to have you here. Thank you. Any other department updates?
- we're going to go ahead and open the meeting up for public comment. This is for items that are not on
- our agenda. We ask commenters to limit their time to three minutes and to please give us your name and
- county of residence when you speak. You may come to the podium when you're ready. And if you're on teams,
- please raise your hand in order to be recognized. I'm going to have Angie help me a little if I need it.
- Although I think I have the same screen you do now, so maybe not. But we'll see if I might need some
- help. OK. All right. Anybody wish to offer public comment for items not on our agenda? TSD, please put
- the clock up on the countdown clock up. Good morning, everybody. Thank you for being here. First, I
- just wanted to make a quick note. Whoever is monitoring the Teams chat, there are quite a few folks
- who are stuck in a waiting room, and they have asked if they could be admitted.
- So I just wanted to flag that first. My name is Shelby Porter off my pronouns are she they and I'm a
- narrow county resident I live in Bloomington City proper. I'm here today to talk about the evictions
- that are happening at several of the unhoused encampments around Bloomington set for Monday,
- December 8, which is as I'm sure you all are familiar, right in the dead of winter.
- So I first wanted to just say that I really appreciated some of the lines in your statement where you
- affirmed your commitment to protect all citizens and for all folks in Bloomington and Monroe County
- to live peacefully and without fear. And so it's with those lines that I ask you, although this is not
- on the agenda, to use the Monroe County Code 2571 to consider staying these evictions until the spring.
- I understand that this is a complicated and nuanced issue.
- And however, I encourage all of you who I'm sure have been in Bloomington for a long time to recall
- what happened in 2020 when Mayor Hamilton's administration, without any correspondence to communities
- outside of Bloomington Police Department and the mayor's office, despite CDC encouragement to leave
- encampments in place,
- Evicted the communities of seminary square and on Christmas Eve one of our long-term unhoused community
- members froze to death the folks who are in these encampments have their materials in place and Solidified
- in place for them to survive the winter right now We do not have enough volunteers for our emergency
- shelters to open overnight and the few shelters that we have there year-round are completely full the folks who
- are here today, go out to these community members regularly to support them and check in on them. And
- if you have not been to an unhoused encampment in the woods on your own, it's not what you expect. Yeah,
- there's trash. I'm not going to lie and pretend that there isn't. There are also not resources for these
- folks to clean up their messes. Dumping is illegal. If they throw things in dumpsters, they get in trouble.
- They don't have cars. They don't have trash cans. They don't have municipal services to pick up their waste.
- But what's also out there is an attempt to make a home. If you have ever been to an encampment in the
- woods, what you will see is community spaces. You will see areas that are sequestered off specifically
- for restroom use. And you won't find needles loosely scattered like you think that you will. Any of
- those preconceived notions that you have are not the reality on the ground. They're humans, too. They're
- not evil. They're people who are having a really hard time. And as community members, it's our responsibility
- to step up and care for those closest to us.
- While at a panel recently listening to some faculty members talk about what happens at the end of the
- world, specifically from the context of climate crisis, there's a history back to the Little Ice Age
- of Christians saying that we care for the most proximate. The most proximate does not mean
- our family members. It means the people closest to us physically who are in the most need. And as time
- has progressed, that ideology of Christianity has been distorted to mean our family members. But it's
- not always our family members who are the ones that are in the most need. Sometimes it is the people
- that are just a few miles away from us who live outside. Please, please, please, I implore you to consider
- adding this to your vote and staying the evictions until the spring.
- In the spring it's warmer and we don't have to worry about our community members dying. I don't agree
- with the evictions, but I do ask that you stay them until it is safer for people to be removed from
- those areas and so they will not freeze to death. I don't think that's how you would want to die. I
- don't think it's how anyone would want to die and it is not deserved. Thank you for your time.
- Thank you. Next please.
- I'll leave this pen up here for other folks to sign in. I did not realize that we do that. Thank you.
- Do we need another pen up there? Oh, OK. Thank you. All right. My name is Ed Doss. I'm resident of Morell County.
- Yeah, I'd like to follow up with what was just shared by Shelby. I agree with everything that was shared
- there. Y'all have plans to evict dozens of people from where they're staying, where they have set up
- their shelters with the only supplies that they have and threatened to seize their property in the middle
- of winter and also force them to relocate. And if they haven't actually cleared their property out,
- y'all would take it. So first question, what do you expect people to do? It's a dead of winter.
- It's freezing out. It's icy. People only have the ability to carry things on foot or on bike most of
- the time, and nothing more. That means their entire shelter, their entire range of possessions, all
- expected to be uprooted and moved within less than a week of notice. So firstly, how do you all see
- this as just at all? And what do you plan to do about it? Secondly, in your opening statements,
- You all stated that your role is to fight any injustices that you see within your community. If you
- actually plan to fight injustices, you would not allow this to occur. So what you can do and what we
- ask you to do is to add a vote to this agenda to stay the evictions that have been posted at two locations
- around town, forcing dozens of people to relocate until the spring. Is this something that you will do?
- We just take public comment at this point. All right. Well, I just want to make it clear that this is
- what we're expecting. Thank you. And the majority of us in this room see this for what it is. If this
- policy passes, we see it as state-sanctioned murder. What you are choosing to do is force people to
- uproot their livelihoods, leave whatever comfort that they have been able to build for themselves, whatever
- warmth that they have been able to gather through the most adverse conditions, and either reset up
- which is going to cause people to die in the process, as well as cause people to die when they get evicted
- over and over and over again through winter as we see. So once again, we implore you to add this to
- the agenda and to put a stay on this until the spring. Yeah, thank you for your time. Thank you. And
- this is something that we'll be expecting throughout the meeting. Thank you. If I can make an announcement
- about the people who are in the waiting room, they're in the wrong waiting room.
- So if you have the ability to let them know they need to vacate the link that they have gotten on, they
- should go to our website and go to the calendar and look for the commissioners meeting and then join
- that link. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Gabriel and I live in Monroe County. I'd
- like to start off my speech talking about my religion because there's a concept pertinent to the evictions
- on the 8th.
- It's called Natib Khadish and it tells us that we are responsible not for simply the direct results
- of our actions, but the secondary results. So if I were to not stay this eviction and we moved the camps
- and we took the tents and all the supplies and the warmth and someone froze to death, I am culpable
- for that death. Our gods are not physical though. They are mental and emotional as are the punishments.
- Natib Khadish and the violation of it is the desolation of the soul.
- It is the introspection and knowing that our actions cause destruction. It's the fear at death's door
- when we look back at our life and only see chaos that we have sown. And I want you to sit with it very
- personally, that if people die, that is murder by proxy by your hand. I am here to prevent that hand.
- I hope you can make the moral choice in this, or at the very least, steal your mind for the
- coming introspection. Because when this happens again,
- It is your fault. I would like to spend the rest of my time speaking about frostbite. Frostbite is the
- precursor condition. It's when the water molecules in the extremities, namely the fingers and toes,
- starts to crystallize. It begins as a soft, tingling pain rising from the bone as stiffness riddles
- the joints. Discoloration and numbness spread outwards, causing radial pain. Left untreated, it does
- become frostbite, a solid freeze of the blood and veins.
- Shooting pains are barely held back by the brain's merciful, but ultimately incapable numbing mechanism.
- Deep purple hues form at the tips of fingers as the tissues necrosis die, and in severe cases, the affected
- tissue will simply fall off, dead flesh no longer able to cling to frostbite bone. We have lost people
- in the city to the cold before in 2020 and in 2013. Three is a pattern and a devilish number to appear
- under your auspices. You can stop this eviction until spring,
- lest your soul be robbed, lest the nip progress to bite within the coldness of your hearts. Wanton death
- and murder by proxy are both avoidable outcomes and so I implore you to invoke your right as laid out
- in Monroe County Code 257-1 because you do have the power to commit this extension. Ms. Majir, I know
- that you are sympathetic to this cause, although I also know
- July 24th, 2025, when you granted the contract to buy a one, you said this is important work. I agree
- it is important work, but why must we do it in winter? April 1st is the proposed date that we would
- like to put forth for you to please put it to a vote today. There is no time left. Thank you for your
- time. Thank you. Do we see any hands raised on teams? I don't see any.
- Next up, please. All right. Hello, commissioners. My name is Jesse Coggi, and I'm here today to express
- deep concern at your decision to order the clearing of the encampment at the Thompson property and request
- that you suspend this order until the spring. I'm a voting resident of Perry Precinct 1 of the 1st District.
- I attended MCCS schools
- I'm a current student at IU, and I'm an active member of this community. The people who currently reside
- on this property are not only my neighbors, but after several camp visits and other forms of outreach
- work over the last year, they have become close friends. As someone who has met with the people at the
- Thompson property several times,
- I can say with certainty that these are good people who selflessly look out for their neighbors, whether
- that means sacrificing a meal for a hungry visitor or opening their insulated tents to someone stuck
- out in the cold. Personally, I don't want to believe that you are in the business of hurting good people.
- I imagine that you feel that you are helping these people by forcing them into what you see as a better
- situation, whether that's a shelter, public housing, or even a friend's couch.
- It is nice to think that these options are realistic for everyone, but they simply are not. Our low
- barrier shelters are already experiencing severe staffing shortages. It is only December, and the B-Swerve's
- winter contingency shelter at First United Methodist was not open several nights last week due to a
- lack of volunteers. Even if there was available space, shelters will never be a solution for everyone.
- The shelters in Bloomington do not accommodate pets, which are often one of the few bright spots in
- the lives of unhoused people. Shelters also present risks around parasites and illness, lost or theft
- of personal belongings, and even physical and domestic violence. In a November report, our own Mayor
- Thompson stated that meaningful action must be taken to improve these, quote, strained systems.
- Until Trump appointees to the U.S. Supreme Court overturned City of Grant Pass versus Johnson in 2024,
- the act of placing camping bans in the dead of winter was deemed to be cruel and unusual in violation
- of the Eighth Amendment to our Constitution. However, it is clear that you are taking advantage of this
- conservative ruling. And as Democrats, I'm curious what your constituents would think of this when we
- start knocking on doors, which I assure you we are prepared to do.
- When you sit down with your family this holiday season, I sincerely hope that you can feel good about
- doing the right thing for the most vulnerable members of our community at this critical moment. Please
- do not force these good people out into the cold. Let this be your good deed for the season. Thank you.
- Thank you. Next up, please. Next up, please. OK. Anyone on teams?
- Okay. Well, thank you all for your comments today. We appreciate it. Um, Ms pretty, would you outline
- the, um, process that, okay, please come up because I can't read your mind and I'd love to be able to
- read your mind. Please come up. There you go. Thank you. But I'm going to go ahead and have Ms pretty address.
- to kind of outline the process that occurs, because this is not sadly the first time we've had to do
- this. Correct. So just for everyone's understanding, we have a process in which, once we are noticed
- of an encampment, we reach out to the Sheriff's Office, we reach out to Health Net, and we reach out
- to the, in this instance, as this is in the city,
- the city SROs. And when staff went out on December 1st to give notice of the requirement to leave, they
- were provided with information. Health Net and the SROs have been going out daily and meeting with these
- people, trying to get them into shelter. There is shelter available. We have confirmed that. Health
- Net has confirmed that. They advise that they
- don't want to take that particular option. So that's where we're at at this point in time. We give them,
- we take personal belongings that are left when we do go for the cleanup and we hold on to those for
- one week's time. And then they can come and make arrangements to pick those up. That information was
- also provided to the people who are on the property.
- Thank you. Appreciate it. Did you have anything to add, Mr. Cocker? I don't think so. Okay, thank you.
- All right, please.
- Thank you. My name is Maria Bull. I have moved here recently from Indianapolis, and I have seen the
- homeless situation in Indianapolis, and it is dire. And when I moved here, I thought that the city that
- has less of a homeless population than Indianapolis does would be a little bit more proactive than some
- of the people up in Indianapolis. I am a Christian, so I'd like to speak a little bit about that.
- In my religion, there is this principle of preferential option to the poor. This means that we must
- treat the poor as kindly as possible and give them the most compassion. Now, I think that this council should
- move the eviction date into the spring when it is warmer out, because it is the dead of winter. It is
- very cold. Even I, as an IU student, am freezing out there. And these people that have less of resources
- than I do and don't have an option to go into a warm building when they need it need help and should
- be evicted in the spring. Honestly, I don't think they should be evicted at all.
- We will compromise on that. The shelters are currently full, and there are not enough volunteers.
- In fact, I think that if you guys are concerned about it, as you say you are, I think you should volunteer
- yourself to go and volunteer at these shelters. Thank you. Thank you. Next, please. Thank you. Hi.
- Please give us your name and county of residence and you three minutes. Sure. Heather Lawrence County.
- You mentioned earlier that people have been informed that there are shelters. Are you aware of the reasons
- why people don't take shelters when they're offered? There are good reasons. Are you aware of them?
- Please continue with your comments. I'm asking a question.
- We don't engage in dialogue. We listen. We don't want to be distracted by anything. We just want to
- listen. Fascinating. There are good reasons not to go into shelters. You've heard them all before. You're
- hiring people to clean up trash. That's what it said on the Bio One job offering, right? The trash that
- they are going to clean up is somebody's entire life. They have very good reasons for being out there.
- One of those reasons is that the shelters are shit.
- You know that. Don't kill my goddamn friends. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Hello. My name
- is Amara Briscoe. I have been a resident of Monroe County for the last five years.
- When I first got to Bloomington, I was homeless. And I went to stay at the shelter friend's place. It
- is very hard to get into the shelters. Most of the time, especially at friend's place, it is a first
- come first serve basis. A lot of people do not have transportation, especially the homeless. And they
- are not offered a lot of resources for that transportation. It is freezing outside.
- and I am an epileptic and I have had multiple seizures, let alone this week having seizures back to
- back due to the cold. People are freezing outside and people have lost their lives due to the cold.
- It is not right or fair for them to be removed from where they live or from where they stay safe at.
- So I am personally asking and requesting that the
- that there is a due date for the eviction to be moved closer to spring or at least to spring so that
- it is warmer and there is not as many people at risk of losing their lives. People at the camps aren't
- trashing the camps on purpose. They do not have the resources they need to keep their belongings safe.
- There's and every time there's a camp eviction
- If they do not leave the camps, by the time that the people in the city want them to, their belongings
- are taken, and there is nowhere safe for them to put their belongings. It is not fair for... It is not
- fair for you to say that you care about the people in the city, but it doesn't seem like the homeless people
- are being cared for or getting the support that they need. So I am requesting, personally, since I have
- been a homeless in Bloomington before, that the evictions be moved to spring. Thank you. Thank you.
- Next up, please.
- Good morning, Seth Mutchler, resident Monroe County. I think the people who have spoken before me have
- all said really powerful things, so I won't repeat. I will just say that I stand with a lot of the things
- that have been said. I will also ask you to stay at the eviction until the spring. I understand there
- are policies in place, but I think this is just very clearly a moral issue, an ethical issue, and I
- hope that you would do that. I do see that we have sort of two things going on right now. We have an
- acute crisis of this eviction, and we have a chronic condition of
- homelessness in our community, and I will encourage you to both stay this eviction, which is the acute
- crisis, and I will also encourage you to please, and all of county government, to please focus on making
- it so that we don't reach these acute crises in the future. That's an investment in services. I hear
- the people that have spoken before.
- I have not been volunteering with the folks in the unhoused camps. I think that is incredibly important
- work. So I want to give thanks to every single person who has been doing that work. But since I have
- not been doing that, I hear them and I hear that they're valid and really important and real reasons
- why this needs to be stayed. And so I want to echo that. Yeah. And ask you to please stay the eviction
- until the spring. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next up, please.
- My name is Joseph Callahan. I've lived in Monroe County for many years now. Many years ago, I used to
- be more involved in issues like this. I don't know any of the people that have spoken today, but I find
- them very inspiring as I've gotten further away from these issues. I'm not homeless, and that's really
- a blessing, and I'm not sure.
- if you haven't experienced it, if you understand what a blessing that is. I've been shoveling snow lately
- and the pain that I feel in my hands and feet is something I can escape. I know this isn't easy. There
- aren't simple answers to these questions. I know
- that nobody wants to cause harm to others in this way. But I know that if people are kicked out as soon
- as they are proposed to be, that there will be harm. If I were homeless, I also would not go to a shelter.
- I'm obstinate as a mule. I want to do things on my own. I don't want to be a burden to others.
- And to be under someone else's roof, under someone else's rules is not something that everyone is prepared
- for. The sanctuary of these camps might not look like much to someone from the outside, but if you have
- a place, you know you're going to sleep every night and the layers to keep warm to do so. That's a terrible
- thing to be taken away from you when you don't have anything else. And I understand that those things
- can be picked up
- But if you don't have a car and you don't have a home and you don't have any money, one week is meaningless
- to try to do something like that. I hate public speaking, but I saw this was happening and I just felt
- a weight in my heart to speak on this issue. So I stand with these people and I hope that you can at
- least hold off. Thank you. Thank you. You did well.
- Anybody else want to speak? You've already spoken. We only have one public comment period per person.
- So thank you. I'd just like to reiterate that there are only a few days left before these evictions
- happen. You've already spoken, and you've had your three minutes. Are you all going to take the step
- of voting on this today or not? Thank you so much. Thank you, Kelly.
- Thank you. We do appreciate everybody coming out today and we know that it is, we agree it's not a simple
- issue. We have public safety concerns, we have public health concerns, and it is not a simple issue.
- As I have received calls from people who have wanted us to postpone,
- This decision, I've also received calls from neighbors who are grateful that this is moving forward
- because their own piece has been disrupted. But there is a-
- because we do have a meeting to. So I'm going to ask the public. Thank you. Should we take a recess?
- Should we take a recess? We're going to take a recess for five minutes. Thank you.
- we need quiet. We've asked everyone to remain quiet. We do have space and we've provided time for public
- to speak and we've appreciated what you folks have said. And we cannot be interrupted. This is a public
- assembly. Ma'am, please. This is a public meeting. We have government business to conduct. We have
- We have heard from you and we really appreciate the fact that folks have spoken up. But we are closing
- the public comment section for this agenda. And so we ask you to please be silent because we do have
- public business to conduct or you will be removed. You will be removed if you don't do that.
- So, okay. So thank you. So we will go ahead and wait and see if we can get quiet so we can go ahead
- and attend to the rest of the people's business. Thank you, everyone. We're gonna be recessed. All right,
- I bring this meeting back to order. If we could have quiet, please, in the room. So as we listen to everyone,
- We appreciate your coming in. We appreciate your comments. We encourage community members to volunteer
- their time, if they can, to help. There are no simple answers. We do have a process in place that we
- utilize. And I will ask my colleagues, Commissioner Jones, did you have anything you wanted to add?
- No, I don't.
- Excuse me. I will echo that this is a really tough conversation and it is a conversation that's best
- suited to you for other
- forums as well. And during public comment, it's usually a one-sided dialogue and not a two-sided dialogue.
- And that is just sort of the nature of this beast. And thank you all for understanding that. Also, I
- just wanted to reference another story that's been in the news. These situations always cause community
- tension. And there was a situation in Whitetown
- That was a pretty bad misunderstanding. And this has been in the news nationwide. There was a couple
- who was hired to clean a model home. And this couple came to a home. And they tried to insert a key
- in the door lock. And they tried to enter a home under mistaken identity. And there was a gentleman
- who shot the wife, the woman, through the head, through the door, believing her to be an aggressor.
- And that was a tremendous shame. Somebody lost their life that day. They were murdered. And this is
- an allegation to this point. So what I said is what is alleged. But it's a very, very tragic situation.
- It's a situation that could have been avoided had someone checked, had someone called police, had someone
- acted with circumspection.
- our job as elected officials is to save as many lives as possible and we have to balance considerations.
- We have to balance tensions between neighbors and we have to balance tensions between neighbors and
- camps and neighbors in neighborhoods and our fear is that sometimes these tensions may boil over in ways that
- cause people to lose lives that shouldn't. So we're not just looking at lives lost because of cold weather.
- We're also looking at lives lost because of mental health conditions, lives lost because of recovery,
- and from substance use. And all of these things are things that we're taking under consideration. So
- thank you for your comments. We will take all of them into consideration. And thank everyone for their
- patience this morning.
- And we do expect quiet in this room unless you've been addressed and asked to speak at the podium or
- online in order to conduct the people's business. We listen to you respectfully and we just ask the
- same consideration. And again, we do appreciate everybody who has contacted us, made comments. We know
- your heart's there and we have done
- that we've done a great deal in this community. To try to address. The core issues rather than the symptoms.
- Um. And we have provided, um. Millions of dollars to heading home to, um.
- to try to address the larger issues. And there are a number of issues that need to be addressed. You're
- absolutely right. But we can't solve those in a day. But certainly, we need to keep working them. And
- that's what we do.
- Did you want to go ahead? Yeah, I just wanted to connect two dots that I think I did not connect before.
- What I was referencing that anecdote, why I was referencing that anecdote, we've had complaints from
- other individuals from homeowners associations that individuals were trying to get access to cars and
- trying to look indoors of
- occupied dwellings. And so my fear is that that might lead to confrontation at some point in time. Those
- calls have been escalating. And so I'm afraid in light of events like Whitetown that that might be here
- in Bloomington. And so that's always in the back of my mind lately. So that's the reason for my comments.
- Thank you. Thank you. All right. So let's go on to item six, please.
- Move approval of the minutes for November 13th, 2025. Second. Any comments, corrections, or edits? All
- those in favor of approving the minutes for November 13th, 2025, signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion
- carries 3-0. Next item, please. Move approval of the claims docket, accounts payable November,
- December 4th, 2025.
- and payroll November 26, 2025. Second. We have a motion. We have a second. Good morning. The accounts
- payable claims docket for December 4th, 2025 totals $3,506,832.78. This includes all emergency claims
- and adjustments. The payroll docket for November 26, 2025 includes $1,594,600
- $2,277,490 in direct costs. The remaining $682,856 and 54 cents were indirect costs for a grand total
- of $2,277,490 and 73 cents. Thank you so much. Any comments or questions? Commissioner Jones? Commissioner
- Maduro? No. All right. Any public comment on this item?
- see none. All those in favor of approving the claim stock and accounts payable December 4th 2025 and
- payroll November 26 2025 signify by saying aye. Motion carries three zero. I will note for the record
- we received reports from the clerk of the circuit court for October 2025 and the treasurer's report
- for October of 2025. We'll now move on to new business, please.
- Move approval of the Purdue grant extension with Purdue University for 2026. Fund name, county general,
- fund number 1000 in the amount of $219,910. Second. All right, we have a motion. I'm sorry, please note,
- we need quiet, please. We need quiet, please.
- We need quiet, please, to hear the people's business. You will be asked to be removed. You will be asked
- to be removed. You will be asked to be removed. Thank you. I apologize for that.
- Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
- Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
- have none. This looks wonderful. Thank you. We look at this every year. It looks the same every year.
- Yeah. Really appreciate the hard work that you and your staff do in the community. We just got our report
- today on this, so it's really nice to see those numbers that reflect that. But really do appreciate it.
- And I sent back a note you had a question about Citizens Academy. So I sent back a note. I'm going to
- send another one because I'm not sure it got there. But we do want to have that conversation about Citizens
- Academy. And it's something that I think can grow over time. And it's been a good program. So I look
- forward to talking about that. Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you. All right. Any public comment on
- this item? Can you raise your hand on Teams or come to the podium?
- All right. Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the Purdue extension with Purdue University
- for 2026 signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Thank you, ma'am. Thanks for your patience
- today. Thank you, Ms. Smith. I appreciate it. Appreciate you. All right. Next item, please. Move approval
- of the Community Justice and Mediation Center, or C-JAMM, MOU. Second.
- Oh, I didn't finish reading that. Sorry. Fun name, lit special purpose, fun number 1114, in an amount
- not to exceed $32,000. There you go. Now. Second. Thank you. Perfect. All right, Mr. Erwin. Thank you
- so much. Morning. Jeff Hartman, Monroe County Juvenile Probation. Wyatt Lawson from the Community Justice
- and Mediation Center.
- The MOU before you represents a long-standing relationship with the Community Justice and Mediation
- Center and the Probation Department. The MOU allows juvenile probation to send referrals to C-Jam for
- the Victim Offender Restoration Program. This program is considered evidence-based with research showing
- that it leads to higher victim satisfaction and increased offender accountability. So we just hope for
- your continued support of the MOU.
- if Wyatt would like to say anything.
- We appreciate your time. I'll keep it very brief. I am excited to be back. My first week was the last
- week that we presented this last year. So this is one year marked at CJAM. And I've had a lovely experience
- working with the VORP program and our case manager, Nick Philbeck, as he's kind of worked through this
- program as well. And it's very inspiring to see the young people and their capacity for thought on kind
- of the harms that they were created and how they may take accountability for it. So I hope you take
- that in consideration. Thank you.
- Excellent. Thank you. Thank you for all your work with CJAMM. So vital. Colleagues, do you have questions?
- Commissioner Jones? No questions, but I'm always very supportive of this and I'm pleased to see it going
- forward for another year. Commissioner Madeira? No comments, but I love CJAMM so much that I've served
- on the board for many years and I have a question for Jeff in that capacity. Should I recuse myself
- since I serve on the board?
- I don't think you necessarily have to because you don't have a direct financial interest in the vote,
- but if the people have abstained in the past, so that wouldn't be an unusual action. It's entirely up
- to you, but unless you have a fiduciary direct fiduciary interest in the outcome. Yeah, I've been I
- volunteered with CGM. I took their course and did the
- shoplifters alternative program for quite a while when it was back over on Pete Ellis way before your
- time probably. All right so really do appreciate C Jam and what they do in the community. I know we
- had youth there as well for warp and it's really important work. Such a good program. Yeah excellent
- yeah. All right so let's see if there's any public comment on this item. Raise your hand on teams or
- come to the podium.
- Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the Community Justice Mediation Center MOU, signify by
- saying aye. Aye. Motion carries. I heard an aye from you, so you're not going to abstain. 3-0. Thank
- you so much. That's okay. I just want to make sure I heard. Thank you. Next item, please. Move approval
- of the 2025 through 2026 Stop Grant Agreement.
- Fund name, stop grant, fund number 8123, in a grant amount of $122,809.52. Second. We have a motion.
- We have a second. Ms. Hamlin. Yes, can you hear me? Yes, we can. We can't see you yet, but we'll get
- there. Excellent. Thank you. There you are. Thanks. Oh, there I am.
- Great. This is a request for approval and signature on the grant agreement with Indiana Criminal Justice
- Institute for our stop grant funding that this period covers October 1
- of 2025 through September 30 of 2026 and it pays approximately 50% of the salary FICA and perf for our
- sex crime deputy prosecutor and our domestic violence deputy prosecutor. The goal of this project is
- to more efficiently focused resources training and staff
- on crimes of violence against women. The award amount under this contract is $122,809.52. And the 25%
- match is made by the PS lit in the amount of $40,928.96. Happy to take any questions. Great. Thank you
- so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner Jones.
- that we've seen often in the past, and I'm very supportive of. So thank you for bringing it forward
- again. Commissioner Madeira? More vital than ever, as Commissioner Jones said, especially as other funds
- for this type of work are decreasing. So thank you so very much. I'm glad we can continue to prosecute
- these cases because women deserve it. So thank you. All right.
- see if there's any public comment on this item. You can raise your hand in teams or come to the podium.
- All right, seeing none, all those in favor of approving the 2025-2026 Stop Grant Agreement signify by
- saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Thank you, ma'am. Thanks for your patience. Thank you. All right,
- next item, please.
- Move approval of an agreement with Blue Dag, fund name, election, fund number 1215 in the amount of
- $11,988. Second. We have a motion. We have a second. We have Ms. First joining us.
- I think we got everything solved, didn't we? You say we, but we didn't do it. It's been done. Yeah,
- there was a lot of different back and forth, lots of communication with Molly Turner King as well, but
- I think we're in a good place and just here to answer any questions if you have any more. Yeah, I appreciate
- that and I know Greg Crone spent some time looking at
- the way the system works and how it works for our network and everything else. So we appreciate that.
- Yeah, Greg, me and Michael Shermus from the city all had a meeting earlier this week and got some stuff
- figured out so that we can make sure everything will be smooth and easy going once it's approved and
- we can get going. Excellent. Thank you. Thanks for your patience. Appreciate it.
- All right, let's see if, first let's see if my colleagues have any questions on this item. Okay. Let's
- see if there's any public comment. Raise your hand in teams, come to the podium. I see a hand raised.
- I believe it might be Molly Turner King. It is me. Yay.
- I just wanted to add, I am still working on an interlocal with the city to allow for the city employees
- to assist in providing support. So that should be forthcoming, hopefully very soon. Okay. Should this
- motion be made on the contingency that that interlocal is completed or will that work? That work will
- have to be done anyway. So I don't know why we would do that. Okay.
- So, okay. But thank you for that. Appreciate it. All right. Any other public comment? All right. All
- those in favor of approving the Blue Dag Agreement signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries. 3-0.
- Thank you again for your patience. Thank you so much. All right. Next item, please.
- I move approval of B&H Electric Services Agreement, fund name, county general, and parks non-reverting,
- fund numbers 1000, 1178, 1179, and 4113. Second. In an amount of each project, one project shall not
- exceed $2,000. Second. All right. Thank you. We have a motion. We have a second. Ms. Wimmer?
- Yes, this is so we can have our pumps and compressors and all our electric motors repaired. Good thing.
- All right. Comments or questions on this? OK. Any public comment on this item? Raise your hand in teams.
- Come to the podium. All right. Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the B&H Electric Services
- Agreement, signify by saying aye.
- Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Stay where you are, Ms. Whitmer. We've got a few more. All right. Next item,
- please. Move approval of Bobcat of Ellisville Services Agreement, fund names, county general, and parks
- non-reverting. Fund numbers 1000, 1178, 1179, and 4113.
- in an amount of each project shall not exceed $3,000. Second? We have a motion. We have a second. This
- is to fix all our Bobcat equipment, but usually nothing will cost this much unless it's catastrophic.
- Yeah. No pun intended. All right. Thank you. All right. Any questions? Questions? All right. Any public
- comment on this item?
- All those in favor of approving the Bobcat of Elksville Services Agreement signify by saying aye. Aye.
- Motion carries 3-0. Next item, please. Move approval of an addendum to extend the Bledsoe-Rigert-Trap-Cooper
- and James contract. Second. All right. We have a motion and we have a second. Ms. Whitmer.
- This is for a state survey of the Monroe County Nature Preserve. And we believe that we're going to
- need more time to get that done. No additional costs. Nope. Got it. Questions? Questions? No questions.
- All right. Any public comment on this item? You raise your hand and teams come to the podium.
- None all those in favor of approving the addendum to extend the blitz over your Cooper James contract
- signify by saying aye aye Motion carries three zero next item, please move approval of Todd septic LLC
- services agreement fun names County General and parks non-reverting fun numbers and
- 1,178, 1179, and 4113 in an amount of each project shall not exceed $800. Second. We have a motion.
- We have a second. Podceptic, he pumps our restroom holding tanks. Got it. Questions, questions, questions,
- questions. All right. Any public comment on this item?
- Seeing none, all those in favor approving the Todd septic LLC services agreement signify by saying aye.
- Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Next item, please. Move approval of ordinance 2025-46, major crash investigation
- interlocal with the town of Ellisville. Second. We have a motion. We have a second. And I can cover
- this. Thank you. Yep.
- This is an interlocal agreement. The Sheriff's Department got a grant and this interlocal agreement
- is to help them with crash scene investigations and it's working with Ellitsville to accommodate that.
- This has gone, my understanding, this has gone to the town council already, it's gone to the county
- council already and it's been approved by both of those bodies. And we approved the grant earlier itself.
- This is the interlocal side of it. Great. Questions?
- questions. Nope. Just really great program. It is great. Uh huge, huge program. Appreciate everyone
- working together this way. Helps everybody, benefits everybody. Um alright, public comment on this item.
- I'm pretty sure none teams come to the podium. Seeing none. All those in favor of approving ordinance
- 2025-46 signify by saying aye.
- Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Next item, please. Move approval of Paragon Event Management LLC agreement
- to assist SUDAC with the proposed 2026 Opioid Summit. Fund name, donations for SUDAC, fund number 4112
- in an amount not to exceed $9,000. Second. We have a motion and we have a second.
- I'm bringing this to you. So next had some difficulties getting a quorum, but I have been in conversation
- with some members and I believe in this is who they use last year that it's prudent that we go ahead
- and get this approved this agreement now. And that way,
- Paragon can begin the process for getting ready for the 2026 Opioid Summit. So ask for your approval
- for this. There's funds already in the account, so set to go. This will be in September? Yes. September
- 2026. I believe so, yes. Anything you want to add or questions?
- This is going to be a wonderful event. And I believe that we are looking forward to getting this moving
- forward in January. So stay tuned. And we're working heavily in cooperation with IU and local service
- providers, including Centerstone. Good. All right. Great. Thank you, Ms. Burry. All right. Any public
- comment on this item? You raise your hand on Teams or come to the podium. I see Mr. Iverson has his
- hand raised.
- Thank you Commissioner Thomas and thank you Commissioner Madeira for being representative on this body.
- I did want to make one additional point that Michelle Sills is, oh, we good? Alright, that Michelle
- Sills is the person who helped us out last time and helping us out this time. They are a Monroe County
- resident. This is a local business. This is a local small business, so we're very excited by
- this contract using her business again. So thank you very much. Thank you. Any other public comment
- on this item? All right. All those in favor of approving the Paragon event management LLC agreement
- to assist SUDAC with proposed 2026 opioid summit signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0.
- Next item, please.
- Move approval of resolution 2025-55, establishing the 2026 board of commissioners meeting schedule.
- Second. We have a motion. We have a second. We have Ms. Purdy to tell us all about it. This is just
- a housekeeping issue. This establishes you're going to continue on the Thursday schedule throughout
- 2026 and at the 10 o'clock AM and all meetings will be in here unless otherwise noticed.
- Thank you. Questions, comments? You know, there was a date on here. If I only had my desk with me right
- now at home, there's a date on here that was... There's just a typo with the May date. It's just 21,
- There's a two, and then a space, and then an eight. Scriveners. It's just, no, no, it's not a typo typo.
- It's just a readability thing. I think that was it. And we can always adjust as needed. Absolutely.
- So this is your standing, and you can always change. We can add more. You can add more. We can make
- them all five hours long. It's your buttons for punishment. We are.
- We like to punish staff. All right. You got to be here. All right. So, um, okay. So, uh, any other comments,
- questions? I think we have to take public comment on this, but why not? Let's just see if anybody has
- any comment on this item. You reach your hand in teams, come to the podium. That's not you saying. All right.
- Thank you for putting this together, Ms. Ferdy. All those in favor of approving resolution 2025-55 signify
- by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Next item, please. Move approval to 2026 Computer Systems,
- Inc. Disaster Recovery Agreement Renewal. Fund name, recorders perpetuation, fund number 1189.
- in the amount of $2,387.81. Second. We have a motion and we have a second and I'm going to actually
- ask Ms. Jones if she would go ahead and introduce the next item and the next item because they're all
- three connected to the same thing.
- Move approval of the 2026 CSI land records management system support agreement renewal, fund name, recorders
- perpetuation, fund number 1189 in the amount of $11,300. And move approval of 2026 CSI land records
- management system software maintenance agreement and imaging support renewal, fund name,
- recorders perpetuation fund number 1189 in the amount of $32,254 and 41 cents. Second. All right. So
- these three items together, it makes sense.
- Thank you for doing that. I can speak to that. I'm Amy Swain. I'm the Monroe County recorder. And in
- the recorder's office, we use a land records management system, not only to process our documents, but
- also to collect payment. And so these are these three
- agreements are renewals of existing contracts. And so one is for system support and hardware. One is
- for the software maintenance and imaging where we can scan documents and actually bring them over to
- the land records management system. And the third one is for disaster recovery. So it's really important
- because of the role we play in
- property going back and forth and mortgages and things like that, that we stay operational during a
- disaster. And so the disaster recovery is a failover in case the
- Whole County is involved and TSD is busy elsewhere. Within four hours, CSI can get us back up and running,
- restore the software on the local server, or if that's not an option, they can give us cloud access.
- And so it really, this is the basic functions of our office and planning for continuity of operations.
- Got it. Comments, questions? Comments, questions?
- I'm glad we have this. I'm too grateful for the foresight to protect residents and their property in
- case of disaster. So thank you for that. Let's see if there's any public comment on this item.
- All those in favor of approving the three items, the 2026 Computer Systems, Inc. Disaster Recovery Agreement
- Renewal, the Management Systems Support Agreement Renewal, and the Records Management Systems Software
- Maintenance Agreement and Image Support Renewal signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0.
- Thank you, ma'am. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Thanks for your patience. Next item, please.
- Move approval of the award of milestone, the move approval of awarding milestone, the Redbud Heights
- stormwater project. Fund name stormwater fund number 1197 in the amount of $357,650.
- And I'm going to add that this approval will be contingent on the stormwater board approving this as
- well. So if you could take that into account. Second. Great. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right.
- Good morning. Good morning. Yeah. So yeah, we received four bids for this project. They were sealed
- bids that were opened on November 13th at 1 PM. And we would recommend awarding it to milestone being
- the lowest bidder. The project should be completed in early of 2026. And it is on the agenda for today's
- stormwater meeting at 1230. 1230 in this room, because we're going to have a hard time making that.
- We'll have to figure that one out. We'll do that in a moment. All right. Comments questions. Comments
- questions. We already heard about this. It's from water board. So, okay. Any public comments on this
- item? You raise your hand and teams come to the podium.
- Seeing none, all those in favor of awarding milestone, the Redbud Heights stormwater project contingent
- on approval by the stormwater board today, signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero. Next
- item please. Move approval of the AcuBrine maintenance agreement for the brine system at the highway
- garage facility. Fund name, motor vehicle highway.
- fund number 1176 in the amount of $3,250. Second. Maybe a motion and a second, Ms. Ridge. You've got
- lots to cover with us today. Yes, I'll keep it brief. Thank you. The department's requesting to have
- this contract for pre-season maintenance for our brine system at the County Highway Garage. We just
- want to keep everything in good working order and take care of our equipment that we have for the brine system.
- Thank you so much. Questions, questions, questions. So glad we have the Brine system. So if people drive
- before there's a storm or an ice storm pending, you will see on the streets what looks like liquid.
- And it's streaked out like somebody was dumping a load accidentally off of a truck or something. That
- is the Brine system at work. And just letting folks know that that's a proactive way to save lives and
- protect people. So thank you so much.
- All right. Any public comment on this item? See none. All those in favor of approving the AccuBrain
- maintenance agreement for the Brine system at the highway garage facility signify by saying aye. Aye.
- Motion carries three zero. Next item.
- I move approval of an NDOT agreement extension for Sunrise Greeting Court Project, fund name Vernal
- Pike, fund number 1165, in the amount of $288,122.82. Second. And it's fund number 8165.
- I think you said 11, but I'm not sure. So it may just be my hearing. So I just want to say it again.
- Ms. Ridge. So the project is complete.
- You always have a little bit of close out items to do. So the construction inspection contract had expired.
- So in dot reached out, wanted to extend it to make sure that we do get reimbursement for any final invoices
- that we have for construction inspection. So this is lengthening that contract until 2026, until the
- project can eventually be closed out. Thank you so much. Comments, questions?
- All right. Any public comment on this item? All those in favor of approving the agreement extension
- for sunrise greetings court projects signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero. Next item.
- Move approval of double down dirt works LLC quote fun name.
- Motor Vehicle Highway fund number 1173 in the amount of $36,393. Second. We have a motion. We have a
- second. Yeah, interesting name. Ms. Ridge. It's actually triple, but okay. Anyway, triple D. But anyway,
- Ms. Ridge.
- Yes, so we received three quotes. This is for our traffic signal curry and vernal pike intersection
- It's to do some sidewalk work and ADA ramp replacements and that will bring that intersection up to
- ADA compliancy Double down work LLC was the lowest most responsive and responsible bidder that we would
- like to Request for the work to be completed by Thank you so much and
- questions, comments. Any public comment on this item? Raise your hand in teams or come to the podium.
- Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the double down dirt works. LLC quotes signify by saying
- aye. Motion carries. 3-0. Next item, please.
- move approval of the 2026 highway material bids awards fund names motor vehicle highway cumulative bridge
- and stormwater fund number 1176 1135 and 1197 in various different amounts second all right we have
- a motion we have a second it's time for the bids yes ms ridge
- So the first category that we put out for bids is aggregate stone, gravel, and sand. We, according to
- Indiana Code 36-1-12-4, we award it to multiple vendors just due to material availability and where
- our project is located in the county. So we would like to award that category to Rogers Group on Ord
- Road and Rogers Group in Morgan County, Lincoln Parkstone,
- US AG and Blackwell. Our second category that we do is for pavement markings for paint. Accu-Rite striping
- was the lowest, most responsible bidder for that category. Item three and four is for our thermoplastic
- for markings and removal of transverse and longitudinal markings that are thermoplastic.
- Low bidder was Traffic Services LLC as being the lowest bidder. And item five is Corrugated Metal Pipe
- and High Density Pylene Pipe. We would recommend to award to all bidders due to material availability,
- delivery, and freight charges that are all compared. Civilcon, Metal Culverts, and E3 Bridge were the
- three bidders on that category. Great. Thank you so much. Comments, questions? Comments, questions?
- No, just there's an incredible amount of time, detail that goes into all of these things that you just
- have an appreciation for when you get into this office. So thank you so much. Yeah. It's a lot of work.
- Absolutely. I appreciate it. And again, very transparent. Yep. Yep. And it does make sense to do the
- stone based on where the project is. Oh, absolutely.
- the cost to move stuff. Astronomical. Yes, absolutely. Public comments. Raise your hand in teams. Come
- to the podium. None. All those in favor of awarding the 2026 highway material bids signify by saying
- aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Thank you, ma'am. Appreciate you.
- Now we move on to a planning item. Approval of ordinance 2025 dash 41. 838 no 8383 VR LLC rezone. Second
- the motion we have a second Mr Myers are you still there?
- appreciate your patience thank you so much um please tell us all about this and abbreviated is fine
- okay thank you let me pull up in my slideshow here real quick all right this is ordinance 2025-41 also
- known as rezone-25-5 it is a rezone to 221.98 acres from
- mineral extraction slash agricultural residential to solely mineral extraction. The purpose is to ensure
- all property owned by 8383SBR LLC is zoned mineral extraction. There are some locations within the petition
- site that are still exhibiting the agricultural residential zoning classification. The petition site
- exhibits ongoing property activity at 8304 and 8383 North Steinsville Road, which includes approximately
- 189.79 acres.
- The remaining 32.19 acres at 8436 West Hedrick Road also contains a portion of land utilized for quarry
- activity. The 32.19 acre property was established as tract one of the Indiana quarries and
- carvers administrative type E subdivision. That was in 2020. Ultimately, the petitioner intends to perform
- a plat vacation of that type E and perform a subsequent second type E
- subdivision to combine the 32.19 acre property with the remaining 189.79 acres. For the type E,
- which are 32.19 acre property contained only 22.8 acres and was rezoned from agricultural residential
- to mineral extraction through another ordinance petition through this board.
- So that ordinance number, it was 2011-17, and it did include some conditions of approval that have been
- evaluated by planning staff in the plan commission, and a few of those have been selected to remain
- conditions of approval for this ordinance, and we'll get to that at the end. Here's the location map,
- Bean Blossom Township.
- On the map now shows the portions of the property that are still zoned agricultural residential. You
- can see this slightly off-colored polygon here. That was the rezone that happened in 2011 from agricultural
- residential to mineral extraction. Here on the screen, I have the definition through each of the zoning
- districts. And then here we have Chapter 811-11F, which
- does have some standards for mineral resource extraction. And it is permitted, mineral resource extraction
- is permitted obviously in the mineral extraction zone. This is an urban analysis that planning staff
- performed with respect to some of those standards, as I mentioned on the previous screen, basically
- within a certain distance of houses
- mineral extraction type of use is prohibited. So that's what this hatchet area indicates is that mineral
- extraction cannot occur because those areas are classified as a urban area. On the screen now is that
- original ordinance from 2011, as well as the AECOM report that was submitted as part of that ordinance
- or a condition of approval of that ordinance. And I just included that documentation here.
- This is all in the packet. Here is the original type E administrative subdivision, the Indiana Quarries
- and Carvers, that shows the acquisition of additional acreage, about 9.27 acres, I believe,
- into the 22.8 acre parcel that was back in 2020. And then this is the conceptual
- Type E that will be occurring. You can see lots of different legal descriptions that will all be consolidated
- into one large lot of record for the oratory activity here. This is also some more exhibits that were
- a requirement from the original 2011 ordinance for that rezone for the 22.8 acre parcel.
- Here was the recommendation that was made to the Plan Commission. As you can see on the screen, conditions
- number one through seven, those were the ones pulled from the original 2011 ordinance rezone. And so
- there are a number of them that have clearly been satisfied here from that time, as well as some of
- these are being carried over into the recommendation by the Plan Commission to the Board of Commissioners.
- And that's now on the screen.
- Plan commission on October 23rd, 2025 voted six to zero for positive recommendations to the board of
- commissioners with the following conditions. One, incorporate the recommendations of the AECOM CAR study
- for the subject site, which is exhibit five, as part of the actual quarry operations plan. Number two,
- access to Hedrick Road is restricted for all uses other than residential or agricultural purposes. Quarry
- traffic shall use the internal roads of the American limestone property to the north in addition to
- their right of way
- at the driveway access point on Steinsville Road. Number three, quarry activity shall not extend down
- into 50 foot frontage slash access strip or the flagpole of the subject site. And then finally,
- number four, rock crushing is prohibited on the 32.19 acre site. The future administrative subdivision
- plot should delineate the 32.19 acre site as no rock crushing permitted. I'll not take any questions.
- any other questions? Um. I don't have any. I want to point out that I appreciate that. Point point for
- being made clearer because. You know, as time goes on, you know, we're going to forget that there was
- a 32.19 acre site that was part of the larger 200 some
- everybody's good. We all know, planning staff knows, anybody complains, they can look it up. It's,
- you know, it's all good. It's all good. It works out well. So colleagues, anything, questions, comments?
- We're going to hear from the petitioner next. Yeah, I have nothing at this time. Okay. So petitioner.
- present and accounted for. Please introduce yourself again. I'm so sorry. I do not remember your name.
- That's all right. You may find me in the records, but we want to talk about that right now. Okay. My
- name is Kevin Buckheit. I'm a planner. I work for the law firm, Krieg Devault, at their Colonel India
- office, 12800 North Meridian Street, Suite 300.
- here today to represent the petitioner 8, 3, 8, 3, S, E, R, LLC. With me today is David Edgeworth, who
- is a member of the LLC and president of Big Creek Limestone. My abbreviated presentation today is we
- request approval of Ordinance 2025-41 as it's been certified to you. Oh, that's easy. We like that.
- And you're OK with the four conditions that have been outlined? Absolutely. Thank you. All right. Do
- my colleagues have questions for the petitioner?
- to speak in favor of this petition is representative. No, it all appears to be very straightforward.
- It does. Um this makes a lot of sense. So I thank you for working on all of these. Aspects Um, let's
- see if there's anyone who wishes to speak in favor of this petition. You can raise your hand on teams
- or come to the podium in the
- any other questions? If not, please come to the podium and that you have room or raise your hand on
- teams. Well, normally, this is a point of time where the petitioner can rebut anything that's been said.
- But since nothing's been said, did you forget anything? Is there anything else you wanted to add?
- We're good. Okay Excellent. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for your patience today.
- This has been kind of, uh. Um a
- doing well with your patience. Any other comments? Any other public comment on this item of any nature?
- All right. I think we've run down our quarry. All those in favor of approving ordinance 2025-41 signify
- by saying aye.
- Hi, motion carries 3-0. Mr. Myers, thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you. And Mr. Myers, thank you again
- for your patience and your assistance. You're able, more than able, assistance on this item. Oh my God,
- we got there. Okay. There is in 20 minutes another meeting in this very room. So we also have a work
- session. I think that work session is going to take longer than 20 minutes.
- I think we could do it and then there's one 30 is a. Election board meeting, I believe right? So. There's
- no 3 o'clock hearing that has that has been moved. We could do it 3. Can we do the work session at 3
- PM? If you can't say it's OK, it's quite all right, but can you do it?
- I have to get home before 5.30. No, it's fine. Just let me know what you need. I just got Stanley home
- with a grumbly tummy. All right, let me see. Bring him in here. I know. Oh, he would love that.
- Oh my god. I'm trying to think what we can do here real quick.
- I don't believe that the stormwater board meeting is going to take very long at all. Can we get it done
- in 15 minutes, do you think? Okay, perfect. Great. So let's, should we just come back to 1245? I mean,
- tell your 1230 and then right after the stormwater board meeting, 1245 ish, we will have the work session.
- Does that work? Yeah. And if we have to, we can continue it. Yeah.
- Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Is that work for everybody? Yep. Yep. Yep. Good. Good. Excellent.
- Thank you. Thanks, everyone for your patience today. Um, serving the public is, um, a blessing. Um it's
- an honor and privilege to serve the public. It's an honor and privilege to hear from the public. It
- is always better when we're all respectful of one another,
- There is a meeting tonight at 5.30 at Steinsville School, former Steinsville School, regarding Bean
- Blossom and the Fire Department. It is a meeting that's been on our calendar. Technical Services,
- Greg Krohn, is going to try to get this on Teams.
- we're going to see if it can happen. But if you are very interested in we recommend that you go to the
- science will school. Um to offer your commentary. It's really, um, another listening session for us.
- Um to hear from members of the community and being blossom are getting their
- that we will have some board and commission appointments that we will put on. The agenda the next few
- weeks. Um but I just want to remind folks to please go to our county website and check out. Um. The
- list of boards and commissions and if you're interested in applying, please do we, um. There are some
- that really need help. We can never find
- to serve on the citizens advisory commission. Um so, you know, there are all kinds of ways to serve
- all kinds of ways to. Share your time talent with your friends and neighbors in Monroe County. Um all meetings
- I don't want to scare anyone off. All right. So with that, do you want to believe there's some council
- members on online and just want to reiterate to them? Yes, that'd be about 1245. You're hoping to be
- back 1245 because we have a 1230 stormwater board meeting. Apologies to everyone who's here for the
- work session because we do have
- and I believe Ms. Nester Jones also waiting to join the meeting because she has items for our work session.
- So I appreciate everybody's patience. It's just not in our control today and we will hopefully convene
- at or near as near as possible 1245 the work session meeting and
- for Mr. Schilling and Ms. Jelen. If you can be brief, we'd appreciate it so that we have time to have
- a conversation, at least beginning of one, about the capital improvement plan with our colleagues on
- the county council. Sorry, out of our control that it's so late. Anyway, any questions? Anything else?
- I know I've missed a lot. All right, with that, we're going to adjourn the regular meeting. We'll be
- back at 1230 for stormwater.
- I'm going to turn it over to you. Thank you. 12 45 for work session. You get all that TSD. Thank you.
- They followed it great. Um and 5 30 at Steinsville tonight because we just didn't have enough to do
- today. Thank you,