Good morning. I'm going to call to order this meeting, the Monroe County Board of Commissioners. It
is Thursday, January 22nd, 2026. And here in present in the Hill Room, myself and Commissioner Madeira.
Commissioner Jones is not here today. 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, equity, inclusion, and belonging. We also stand in support of our county public
school systems, both RBB,
and MCCSC. And with that, we will move on to our department updates. Ms. Kelly is joining us via Teams.
Good morning. Good morning, commissioners. According to the Indiana Department of Health, as of January
20th, we have not seen increases in emergency department visits for COVID-like illness.
but wastewater concentrations do continue to trend upwards. According to data provided by wastewater
scan, we are seeing high levels of flu, RSV, and neurovirus circulating. The health department is still
transitioning vaccination services from IU Health Community Health. Currently, we are referring individuals
to the Morgan County Health Department for vaccinations.
The number is 765-342-6621. All right. Thank you so much. Comments or questions? No. Excellent. It sounds
like we're in a good position right now. Hopefully we can say that way. Thank you so much. All right.
Ms. Ridge, good morning.
Just a brief update, our Eagleson Bridge replacement project went to letting this past week. It will
be awarded to Beatty Construction. But I just wanted to publicly thank NDOT for their continued support
on projects in Monroe County. We took over, we stepped up and agreed to take over management of that
project for NDOT.
using federal funds. It was to be an 80-20 match for construction. But last Friday, after the letting,
Monroe County's match would have been right at a million dollars, but NDOT is stepping up and our match
is gonna be about three and a half percent, which I got the invoice yesterday. So our match went down
to $160,000 due to NDOT providing extra funding to that project. It just shows the relationship that
we have with NDOT. I'm very thankful for the support that we get from them, how they can help us save
local dollars for our other projects that we have coming up.
But again, it was a great phone call to receive. And I just wanted to reiterate the relationship that
Monroe County has with NDOT and how projects can change. You might be thinking you're going to be paying
something out of a grant fund one minute, and that can change considerably the next day. So it's probably
why my grant funds are such a headache, which I know the auditors knows that they are such a headache.
That's just how quick something can change. And it's to our benefit whenever we have to make some adjustments
in our projects. Do you have any comments? No, this is just a wonderful development. And again, an unforeseen
one. And just we're very grateful. Thank you. Yeah, we appreciate that relationship that you've built
with INDOT. I mean, that's not something that happens overnight. It's a relationship of trust.
It's getting projects done, getting them done on time, getting them to spec. So kudos to you and your
staff. Your leadership means the world. And I know that taxpayers are grateful as well. Thank you so
much. Any other department updates? You can raise your hand on Teams or come to the podium.
We'll move on to public comment. Public comment is reserved for items that are not on the agenda. We
don't have anyone in the NetU Hill room this morning. So if anyone has any public comment to offer,
please raise your hand on Teams. We will call on you and ask you to provide your name and county of
residence. It looks like Commissioner Jones has joined the meeting. Excellent. Yay. Thank you. Good
to see you. Excellent.
It's good to see you. Good to see you. And we'll note for the record that she has joined the meeting.
Does anyone have any public comment to offer for items that are not on the agenda? All right.
Seeing none, we will move on to our next agenda item, please.
I would like to move approval of the minutes for January 15th, 2026. I'll second that. And any comments,
questions or edits? All right. Mr. Copper, will you please call the roll on the approval of minutes
for January 15th, 2026? Commissioner Thomas. Yes. Commissioner Jones. Yes. Commissioner Madeira. Yes.
Motion is approved three to zero.
much. Next item please. I would like to move approval of the claims docket for accounts payable for
January 22nd, 2026 and for payroll for January 23rd, 2026. I'll second that and Ms. Moser if you could
give us the information please. Good morning. The accounts payable claims docket for January 22nd, 2026 totals
$8,886,529.77. This includes all emergency claims and adjustments. The payroll docket for January 23rd,
2026, includes $1,744,455.29.
direct costs and the remaining eight hundred and seventy nine thousand two hundred and twenty two dollars
and twenty eight cents were for indirect costs for a grand total of two million six hundred and twenty
three thousand six hundred and seventy seven dollars and fifty seven cents. Thank you so much any comments
or questions commissioner Jones. No I don't. Commissioner Madeira. No thank you.
Any public comment on this item? You raise your hand on teams or can't come to the podium. So strange
not to have anyone here. All right. Seeing none, Mr. Cockrell, will you please call the roll on the
approval to claim stock and accounts payable January 22nd, 2026 and payroll for January 23rd, 2026.
Mr. Thomas. Yes. Commissioner Jones. Yes.
Commissioner Madeira. Yes. Is approved three to zero. Thank you so much. We will now move on. Well,
I will note we don't have any reports and we will now move on to our sole item of new business. I'd
like to move approval for the award community crossing matching grant paving to award the community
crossing matching grant paving projects to milestone. Fund names, economic development and motor vehicle
highway, fund numbers,
11,112 and 1176 in the amount of $2,169,377.90. I'll second that. Ms. Ridge. Good morning. Sealed bids
were open on January 15th at the commissioner's regularly scheduled meeting. Four sealed bids were received
and we would like to award the lowest most responsive responsible bidder of milestone.
Thank you so much. We're really excited about these projects. You listed out the roadways at the last
meeting last week. And I know that there are people across this community who are very anxious and eager.
But again, being awarded the full amount from INDOT is impressive. There were other agencies locally
that didn't get anything.
Really big kudos. All right. Any comments or questions, Commissioner Madeira? Nope. Just eager to move
along with this project. Thank you. Commissioner Jones, comments or questions? No, I don't. All right.
Let's see if there's any public comment. Raise your hand on teams. And we will recognize you. I don't
see anyone. All right. Mr. Cockrell.
Will you please call the roll on awarding the community crossing matching grants, paving projects to
milestone? Mr. Thomas? Yes. Mr. Jones? Yes. Commissioner Madeira? Yes. Motion is approved at three to
zero. Great. Thank you so much. And we have one appointment. Yes, I would like to move to approve Dr.
Kevin Moore to the Board of Health.
I will second that. And this is the physician appointment that was vacated by Dr. McKinley. And again,
we thank Dr. McKinley for his service. And we appreciate Dr. Moore's willingness to serve. So with that,
Mr. Cockrell, will you please call the roll on the appointment? Commissioner Thomas. Yes. Commissioner Jones.
Yes. Commissioner Madeira. Yes. Approved three to zero. Excellent. We have just a few announcements
today. Just a reminder, especially with the incoming inclement weather, keep an eye on weather reports
and the forecast seems to change daily. It went from three inches to flurries to nothing to
6 inches plus and everything in between and it does change daily. So, but the other thing you can do
is sign up for the resident alert system go to our homepage and sign up. So you will receive notifications
about whether emergencies road closures if need be.
God is forbid. But anything like that that comes up in the county, you will be notified. And you can
select text, email, and or phone call, belt, and two sets of suspenders if you choose. So just go to in.gov
slash county slash Monroe, and it's right there on our home page.
We are still accepting applications for boards and commissions. We have two positions still vacant on
the health board. And this is a fairly wide scope in terms of the descriptions, because some of them
are very specific. So a clinician, somebody that has experience in public health.
we invite you to apply. We also have openings in animal management. And you go to our homepage and search
boards and commissions. The next Red Cross blood drive that we have co-sponsored with Ivy Tech is,
let's see, it's Wednesday, February 11th.
1 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Thursday, February 12th, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. And this is at Ivy Tech in rooms C130A
and B. And we continue to host office hours six times each month. Just go to the calendar on their homepage
and look for it. And had an interesting conversation yesterday. Very good conversation.
We appreciate those folks who participate. We found we had a disagreement about an item, but we found
common ground on others and it was great. So really appreciate those folks who participate. And we are
meeting at 630 p.m. tonight with the county council in a joint work session with hard stop at 830.
This is regarding their vote last year to decline to continue with the purchase agreement for North
Park and the five questions that were posed. And I'm hopeful that we'll be able to get through those
five questions today, plus hopefully figure out some next steps, which would be nice. Am I missing anything else?
I think that we have some congratulations are in order for the IU football team and for Coach Cignetti.
So who's yours? And I think we have some congratulations festivities that hopefully will not be trampled
into snow this weekend. But a tremendous comeback for a franchise that has long been an underdog and
that will bring a lot of needed
and traffic to Monroe County, and we welcome everybody who comes to see our folks in our wonderful university
with open arms. And just, yeah, looking forward to a collegial discussion on next steps with the Jail
and Justice Center this evening. And be very safe this weekend. Please, yeah. Commissioner Jones, do
you have anything? I think the two of you have kind of covered everything.
Yeah, we're really proud of the Hoosiers, underdogs all the way, and it proves that nice guys can finish
first and can finish 16 and 0. Yeah, it really struck me that Mendoza actually tried to walk onto Miami
and was turned away. That was new to me, as well as that final play. Just amazing. So we do have a work
session agenda that's been a bit beefed up. So we do need to come back for that.
Can we come back at 1040? Does that work for you, Commissioner Jones? Yeah. Excellent. Good, good.
All right. With that, our next meeting is January 29th, 10 a.m. here in the NETU Hill Room, and we are
adjourned. Thanks, everyone. Thanks.