Good morning. The call to order this meeting of Monroe County Board of Governors. It is Thursday,
March 12th, and I will note for the record that each commissioner is here and present in the Nattie
Hill room. I'm going to make a quick motion to amend our agenda to move the work session item.
the agenda. Um milestone change order number two into our regular agenda as item N. And also to remove
item P. Second motion in a second. All those in favor of amending the agenda. Signified by saying I.
All right.
And if you would please read that Commissioner Jones. Thank you. 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, appreciate that. We have an item three, please.
Yes, I moved to ratify the local disaster emergency declaration. Second, we have a motion and we have
a second. I don't think. Here. Anything we need to note about this Jeff? I think that this is dealing
with the wind tornado damage from. Last week and.
So this is declaring that emergency so that they can utilize maybe some of the state funding options
to recover some of the funding that was used for that. This several weeks ago, the big tornado that
we had. Yep. All right. And this declaration was signed.
for our standard procedures, and that's why we are just looking to ratify it today. I suppose we could
take public comment on this. Does anybody have any public comment on the emergency declaration?
Seeing none, all those in favor of ratifying the local disaster emergency declaration, signify by saying aye.
Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Next we have a proclamation in observance of National Safe Place Week. National
Safe Place Week will be celebrated across the nation during the week of March 15th to 21st, 2026. The
youth of Monroe County, Indiana will determine the future strength of our country and they will be the
bearers of our democracy.
have resources readily available to assist them. When faced with
is committed to protecting the youth of Monroe County, Indiana, by offering access to short-term housing
at neighborhood locations where trained volunteers are available to counsel and advise young people
seeking assistance and guidance. Designated locations where youth can get information and immediate
help. Safe place is found at businesses such as restaurants, convenience stores, movie theaters, and
community buildings, including fire stations,
libraries, and public transportation vehicles. Whereas the success of Safe Place is based on public-private
collaborations between businesses, school systems, fire departments, law enforcement, and a network
of volunteers. More than 1,400 communities in 39 states administer the Safe Place program at more than
22,000 locations, and increased awareness will encourage more communities to establish Safe Place locations
where youth
can readily access the help they need. Now, therefore, we, the Monroe County Board of Commissioners,
do hereby proclaim our observance of March 15th to 21st of 2026 as National Safe Place Week, and that
is proclaimed today, the 12th of March, 2026. And a big shout out to all of you who helped with this
program and the great folks
We'll now move on to department updates. We'll begin with Ms. Kelly, who's here. Good morning, commissioners.
According to the Indiana Department of Health, as of March 10th, we have not seen increases in hospital
admissions for COVID-19 illness and wastewater concentrations are trending down.
flu activity across the state is high. The health department does have combo flu A and B and COVID tests
now for free. The public can walk in Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to receive free tests.
and I wanted to provide an update on the vaccination services. So during the installation of the generator
for our vaccine refrigerators, it was identified that the existing gas meter will need to be resized
in order to accommodate the generator's gas demand. So we are currently waiting on that to complete
the transition and have our services started. Great, thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner
Madeira? No, thank you. Commissioner Jones? No, I don't, thank you.
Thank you so much. Thank you. Next, we have Veterans Affairs. Good morning, Mr. Miller. Morning,
commissioners. My name is Steve Miller. I'm the Monroe County Veterans Service Officer. And today I
have with us Ron Higgins. He's my district service officer. And he's going to explain to you about the
new state bill 433. And I have some handouts if it's OK, I'll bring those up to you.
Thank you so much. Good morning. Again, I'm Ron Higgins, Southeast District Service Officer for the
Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs, and I train and support county veterans service officers to
be in the role they're in. I'm required through this new law to brief the county commissioners twice
a year. The first briefing will be an update.
brief overview of this Senate Bill 433, which will be called IC Code 10-17-1-9. The purpose of the policy
is to establish a comprehensive mandatory standards of accreditation for veterans service officers who
are conducting operational business within the state of Indiana. The statute also sets clear rules of
operation for these accredited service officers.
service officers shall perform all functions operations report all information required to the State
Department in the claims management system required functions operation include but are not limited
to completion of all relevant information within the forms and fields intake form of logins and walk
ins appointments and substantive interactions
a claimant information and responsibility liability form and other protocols that are deemed operational
effectiveness and efficiency. Only accredited service officers in compliance with this policy are authorized
full unrestricted access to our claims management system. That is the software that we use in all 92
states or counties, pardon me, which means admin assistance and secretaries who are not accredited will
not be permitted to
submit applications to the federal VA. So a quick overview of the highlights. CVSOs are now required
to be hired employees of the county. They're not appointed for four years. CVSOs office hours must maintain
at least 1,000 hours a year, which is roughly 20 hours per week. Updated and posted office hours are
required to be on the door of the CVSO and on our database and website.
appropriate internet connection and technology that they need, utilization of all claims management
software. Again, that's our software that we use across the board. Utilization of the PIV card, which
is a personal identification verification card, allows us access to the veteran's federal database we
can see into the veteran's file and render a more accurate assessment of any claims or
advice that we might have. They must have private office space to conduct confidential discussions for
the protection of clients, information, other security standards and protocols uniform across the state
for protection of protocols and protection of personal identification. Requirement to attend IDVA annual
training semi-annually and to maintain continuing education units. There is a four day
that's in the summer and two district trainings that are one in the spring, one in the fall, and will
include certain also required online trainings, proficiency examinations. New CVSOs are required to
be reaching out to us for their orientation and training and to start the process for accreditation.
And through the claims management system, we will capture data that will be generic information that
we'll use for reports, logs, various other
information to remain compliant for these new states, which is being called KPI, or Key Performance
Indicators. There is certain outreach expectations, various other data entry that's never been done
before, and all future
briefings will be more along the lines of performance. And these are the great things that we're doing
in the Veterans Service Office. And I would like to pay you a high, terrific compliment. Stephen Miller
and his assistant Andrew have exceeded all expectations and are 100% compliant before this law was even
in place. So thank you for all you do for our veterans in the state of Indiana and Monroe County. And
that's all I have.
Thank you so much. And that was going to be my follow-up question. Aren't we doing all of that?
And by we, I mean, isn't Mr. Miller doing all of that already in his office? Yes. Okay, excellent.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Okay, next we have an update from the Women's Commission. Ms. Hardesty.
Good morning. I think we have a PowerPoint presentation if that is available to put up. Are you seeing
a PowerPoint? It's actually online with the packets as well. The PowerPoint is? It is. Well, all right
then. Here it comes. Okay, great. All right, thanks.
Oh, thank you very much. Okay. Well, good morning, commissioners, and thank you for this time on your
agenda today. My name is Julie Hardesty and I'm a member of the Monroe County Women's Commission. We
serve in an advisory role to assist residents, businesses, and the government of Monroe County in addressing
issues of gender equity in all aspects of society. And we're sharing the gender equity rubric with you
and the Monroe County community today as a tool to use towards this goal. So next slide, please.
So the gender equity rubric came about from work we started in 2023 to consider issues for women and
marginalized genders in a proposal for a new Monroe County jail. That review was bringing up concerns
such as separate areas needed for safety, supplies needed for menstruation, care needed for pregnancy,
giving birth or childcare, and childcare support needed for both diversion support when trying to keep
people out of jail and reentry support when people leave jail and reenter the community.
community. In doing this work, we realize this lens of supporting and improving conditions for marginalized
genders could be used to evaluate policies and ordinances and improve the lives of all county residents
by centering and elevating gender equity concerns. So we offer the gender equity rubric to the Monroe
County commissioners as a tool you can use to help mitigate these inequities and produce better ordinances
and policies that are better explained and maintained for everyone in our community. And this aligns
directly with the board of commissioners commitment to welcome and protect the rights of all people,
sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, marital status, economic status and national origin, and
your affirmation of the right of every person to live peacefully and without fear and to fight and resist
at every step, discrimination and harmful policies, whatever their source. Next slide, please. Since
this work began in 2023, it is worth noting that nearly all the sources from the United States used
to construct this rubric on gender equity are no longer actively available and can only be found via
the internet archive.
To define gender, we use a community-driven definition from Wikipedia of the range of social, psychological,
cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man or boy, woman or girl, non-binary or third gender. The
World Health Organization defines gender as socially constructed characteristics of women, men, girls,
and boys, and also notes that gender characteristics can change over time and vary from society to society.
And gender is not the same as an individual sex, which is biological, dealing with hormones and physical
body parts, but sex can be involved
involved in gender expression. So gender comes into play in policies used by governments, workplaces,
and organizations because how people present themselves in these different social settings impacts how
they see themselves in relation to these places. And likewise, societal expectations of gender roles
and norms, especially in the context of workplace and government settings, impacts how government workplaces
and organizations end up treating historically underserved genders in particular. Next slide, please.
This is going to go a little quickly but for rubric scoring we use the five levels of gender responsiveness
from the World Health Organization which are shown here on the slide from gender unequal to
gender transformative next slide please. For rubric organization we.
We used rubric categories based on categories that are defined in the Women's Democracy Network's Gender
Responsive Policymaking Handbook. And the formatting for the rubric is based on the University of Arkansas
at Little Rock's Equity Lens Assessment Rubric, which is now only available on the Internet Archive.
Next slide, please.
And we structured the rubric with policy phase, category, and then criterion with the five scoring levels
to consider for each criterion. And we provide this in a spreadsheet file format, so including notes
and scoring and adding up scores is also possible. We also have a guidelines document that goes into
more details on using the rubric. Next slide, please.
Part of this work, I conducted a test run of sorts of the rubric using an ordinance from 2024 to amend
the Monroe County Personnel Policy Handbook regarding paid parental and family leave. And I'm just one
person testing, so it's one person's reflection using this evaluation tool. But overall, I did not find
that this ordinance rated very highly for gender equity when evaluating with this rubric. I found that
the ordinance was mostly gender unequal or gender neutral, according to our criteria. So at the most,
it's maintaining status quo and not identifying how it helps women in marginalized genders.
Missing from the ordinance are background information, evaluation information, and any information that
explains that the supports and levels the playing field for women and marginalized genders who were
previously expected to handle the work of parenting and taking care of family without any acknowledgment
or support from their place of employment. That information is not provided elsewhere in the Personnel
Policy Handbook either, where this amendment was added. Additionally, since the Monroe County website
moved last year, this ordinance is no longer available online, so it can't be found anywhere publicly.
It's possible this ordinance could score better against this rubric with things like still being available
online, including related public meeting minutes, and tracking the process more transparently as the
ordinance moves through to being passed. This rubric can also, and just as importantly, inform
the conversation as ordinance and policies are developed. And the Monroe County Women's Commission thinks
we can do better to support women of marginalized genders in having the same opportunities and benefits
that men have had in Monroe County government and the community for a significantly longer period of time.
efforts like this will make ordinance development better for everyone, keep everyone better informed,
and this kind of transparency and policy construction will benefit everyone, not just a single group
within our community. Next slide, please. So with the approval from the county commissioners, we're
interested in publishing, if we can, both the rubric and the guidelines, maybe on the Monroe County
Women's Commission webpage, if possible, but just making this available as a tool for public use.
Next slide, please.
So this is also going to go quickly, but these are resources that we used for reviewing gender equity
and policies. And next slide. These are the references that we were using for figuring out how to organize
the rubric. Next slide, please. So last, I just want to say thank you to the members of the Monroe County
Women's Commission Policy Subcommittee, past and present, for all the work and research to put this
together, and to all the women's commission and our ex officio members from both the board of commissioners
and the county council for their review and feedback. Thank you.
Thank you so much. No, and we will definitely check on whether the ordinance is online. That is, I thought
it was actually. It's 2024, and I think there was just like a whole timeline, a time where it's like
anything previous just is not there yet and not back yet, I guess. Yeah. And thank you so very much.
I know this took a lot of hard work to create. And thank you. Thank you.
Thank you for all you're doing to help out with gender equity. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have an
update from Mr. Cockrell on a couple of items. Yes. I think we did this at the last work session where
I gave an update on where we're at with
what I've been doing, what we've been working on towards the new justice facility. And so I think when
we left off last time, we would discuss the resolution from the county council talking about financial
matters. I reached out the next day to our bond council to determine what the timing of that bonding
in that documents could be.
He was, he needed to find and we needed to look for one of the corrections that we think are necessary
for that. And at that point in time, the legislators had not quite finished but were finishing recently.
So we decided that we were gonna meet tomorrow to kind of go over and make sure that either that opportunity
was there or make sure everybody knows that it's not and if we have to find a different avenue. So I've
reached out to him and hopefully we'll have
a short answer tomorrow with maybe a long answer after that, depending on that answer. Then on the 27th,
I also, and when I say I, I'm including, typically when I, with bond counsel it was me, but when we're
meeting with DLC or things like that, there's generally somebody from the commissioner's staff, and
typically we invite some, Molly Turner King from our office or someone, I did not note whether they
were there at any.
And so when I receive information from one of the property owners about one of the sites that we identified
at the work session, I forwarded that to the council and the council staff, DLZ, and your staff to kind
of review and look at. And then on March 2nd, and discuss
details with the people who are doing this, the subdivision next to where we are, which is going to
have the and we're taught primarily we've been focused on the Thompson site because that's the one I
think we can get the most. We had the most questions about and we can probably get the most answers
about without expending money, right? And so we discussed with the with the developer kind of their
plans for Adam Street and how that was going to go through. And then we also met with
DLZ to kind of relay that information and get some give give them that information so they can kind
of help figure out what's changed on the Thompson site because this is a I mean a two conclusions already
the Fullerton first and then North Park second where Thompson was considered at both of those. So we're
trying to figure out what's changed there that would make it more
acceptable and able to be built upon. And I'm not gonna say there's nothing there, but we're working
on that. So, and then, you know, I've sent some of the water documents, I think it's the jurisdictional
water information to our stormwater review for review and to see what they thought about that. And then,
I mean, that all happened last week and then this week,
kind of continued with review of the Thompson site, trying to figure out if we had a rough based upon
what we're looking at, what we were looking at at the North Park site, kind of where things would lay
out. So I sent that to the city planning department to see if they saw any real issues with that, with
slopes or interference with any of their policies. So I'm waiting to hear back from them on that.
And so, and I also, I think we've
Mr. Thomas and I met briefly yesterday with Mr. Falk. And so we were talking about, you know, what does
he feel is necessary to get the agreed order extended? And I think he's looking for progress. You know,
I think timelines and things are really important to him. He wants this moving quicker. I know we talked
about, you know,
had to wait two years to move some stuff, whether that would be problematic, and he indicated it probably
would be. We also talked about what happens if we don't have the ability to bond pursuant to the state
legislature's changes, and he's like, well, we work through that with a different county, and he's sending
me some examples on how they work through that. So trying to kind of engage so we can understand where
he's coming from. I think at the end of the day,
what he said and what he will continue to say is, you got to show me and then I'll make a decision,
right? And we're just trying to chip away at the edges to kind of see where he's at. But I think at
the end of the day, that was his message that I heard. And so that is kind of my update on the jail property.
I had heard that at the council meeting, and I haven't watched the council meeting, there was a conversation
about the convention center properties, particularly the lease properties to the south. And so I kind
of will give a brief, here's how we got to where we are. That is in 2010, the county purchased those
properties and they cost in the neighborhood of $3 million and they were purchased
for the expansion of the convention center, including the location of a potential hotel. And that was,
you know, five years, 10 years, 20 years down the line, it was paid through innkeeper's tax. And since
that time innkeeper's tax has been used to maintain the property and keep it in relatively working order
in order for it to be able to still be used for that purpose. In February of this year,
we have gotten a request from the CIB, which is the Capital Improvement Board, which is the board that
is put in place to oversee the expansion and the convention center properties and things like that for
those properties. And again, those were purchased with innkeepers tax dollars. And so right now we are
exploring that transfer.
right, we are aware that there are 17 tenants, residential tenants in those properties through three
different buildings. We are working, we have had discussions with, and I don't know how, what's been
communicated to the tenants yet or not, that we are working with the executive director of the apartment
association, as well as tangently, Mary Morgan with Heading Home has been
has been communicated with and they are prepared to help. I think the homeowners or the apartment association
is planning on in the near future. And I don't know the date to have a flyer and a presentation for
the people who are currently living in those areas. And the intent is to find them a suitable place
that is relatively close and relatively in that cost area for them to be able to move to and be there.
and have a reasonable place to live. So we're working on alternative housing options for those groups.
I think there has been some discussion, I don't know where at, with the potential of helping with moving
expenses and things of that nature. So that's where that's at. And I think what's happened is there
was a letter sent to the tenants kind of reminding them, hey, your lease ends on July 7th.
I mean, we're going to have public comment after this where everybody's going to have the ability to
speak. So, you know, and so that that's kind of where it's at. And so I don't know if there's any other
details you want. What significance is it that the properties were purchased with in keepers tax? Well,
in keepers funds can only be used for the for tourism or tourism related. Expenses, right? And so.
You know, we've maintained them with innkeepers tax because the intent is to use those properties for
a tourism related expense. And so that's how we've been able to keep those maintenance. I would also
say it's, this is the only area where we have residential tenants. Unusual for a county to have residential
tenants. There are statutes out there that would allow
you know, housing authorities and things like that, which is typically how you would, a public entity
in the city has one would deal with housing issues like this. There's also residential TIF options,
but this, but what the areas we're talking about is within the city limits and we don't have the ability
to do a residential TIF within city limits. So in a sense, the properties are in the name of the board
of commissioners, but we don't manage them. And,
It is really just a name only. I think it's a little more than that. I mean, I think it is in your name.
I would say until I think it was February of last year, so about a year ago, it wasn't in your name.
It was in the building corporation's name. And so the building corporation had the actual ownership.
I mean, the issue here, I think the issue that people are gonna talk about that are kind of gonna come
from the other side, and that's perfectly fine, is that we bought this property within Cooper's tax
for a purpose. We knew at the time we bought it in 2010, that purpose was not going to occur in the
next three or four years, right? We knew it was a longer down the line issue. And then we went through
a process with the city of Bloomington, which was,
ended well, right? We ended with a good solution with the CIB. I think until probably three years ago
or two years ago, I don't know, we assumed that the expansion of the hotel and all that was going to
go to the north property where we call it the former bunker site, but that property that the city had purchased
And so that's not, we've gone through a process with hotel developers and the city and the CIB have,
and it's not worked out on that site. And so they're really looking for a different area for that or
some mechanism. I mean, that's a negotiation that has not come to any conclusions yet, but this request
has been made in furtherance of the Convention Center Host Hotel. And we're going to be looking at that transfer
in a few weeks? I think the county council has to approve the transfer as well as the county commissioners.
So that both bodies have to approve that because those properties are clearly valued at more than $1,000.
But is there which body goes first? Does it matter? It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter from my perspective,
from a legal perspective. I think the council has to approve the terms and conditions. And in this case, we
just transferred these properties a year ago. So, you know, the real question is going to be that I
think it's going to be different from what we transferred last year just because of where these properties
are and the fact that it may be used for a hotel is the language in it that said, we get the property
back if it's not used for convention center purposes, you know, is a hotel essential center purpose
but I don't think they're gonna retain ownership or potentially won't. There is a lot of negotiations
that has to go through that. So that clause is something that we would have to look at, but it's a similar
process to what we did last year where the council approved it and then the commissioners approved the
transfer. There were two, because the building corporation gave it
gave all of it to the commissioners. And then the commissioners carved off some, but not clearly not
these and gave it to the CIB. And now the CIB is, cause that's what the CIB asked for at the time. And
now the CIB has come back and asked for these. And when the convention center project started, we pledged
our properties to support that center. And really our properties were really properties paid for with
innkeepers tax. So, you know, again, in our name,
but we had made that pledge as well. All right, do you have questions? Okay, the one thing going back
to the properties discussion, did my colleagues have comments or questions on that? No, my understanding
is also that the buildings are also at least one of them in,
condition that would need substantial repairs. Oh, about the convention center. Oh, not the convention
center. Okay, no, that's right, go ahead. But the apartment buildings themselves. The apartment buildings,
right. I think it's a matter of, and I think you're right, but I think it's also a matter of, because
they've all met the hand inspections and things like that, it's a matter of things have started to break
down and when they do, it's been $20,000 repairs and things
that funding is just not. The buildings are to a point now, I think that we're going to keep them as
they currently are. You would probably want to go through and do a major call. And back to that question,
I think it was raised Tuesday night was something about the discrepancy in wind leases and
a business versus the residential. Can you explain that a little bit? I think the notice was sent to
all tenants that they would end on July 7th, except for one of the commercial tenants had a provision
in their lease that said we had to give them a one-year notice in order for that lease to end. And that
notice was given in February of this year, so that would not end until February of 2017. All right.
And then shifting backwards to the Justice Center discussion, we had thought we would have a resolution
today, and we're not there yet because of a lot of the questions that Jeff has been talking about. So
we hope to have something July,
That'd be good, July. March 26 is our hope that we have something for consideration on the table. So
that's where we're at with that. Anything else on either of those two hot topics? Okay. All right. I
was asked about something, sort of an informal,
discussion here, but I was asked whether the historic courthouse could be considered an emergency or
backup polling site for the primary and general elections of 2026, and I wanted to gauge the response.
There seems to be no concern from the facility side, but
I support doing so, and are we good with that, offering that to the election board? Definitely. Okay.
So election board, take note, we are offering the historic courthouse as a voting site. It used to be
one all the time, but those were the days, right? I believe it's a backup. Backup site, right? Yeah.
This would be a backup or emergency site.
but we're offering it to the election board and they may do as they wish with that information.
Anything else? Other department updates? Okay, seeing none, we will move on to public comment. This
is time reserved for items not on our agenda.
We ask that you give your name and county of residence. You may come up to the microphone. We will ask
you to sign in. And if you wish, we can move the sign in over to that little table there so that we
don't have to wait while people sign in. And if you're on teams and you wish to speak, you may raise
your hand and we will
you. We'll do our best to do that. So if you would like to speak from on teams virtually, you may do
so as well. But we'll start here in the room, sir. You have three minutes. There is a clock. T s d.
Can you make sure that that's on the
Could we get? Oh, there we go. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Excellent. So you see it to your
left and right. You've got your clock. Thank you for waiting. Good morning. Morning. My name is Barry
Herbers. I'm a resident of Monroe County zip code 47401. I don't know if that matters. I appreciate
those vows you took. They're relevant to what I have to say, and we have already heard plenty about
that innkeeper's tax that you imply has been such a burden from the people who actually pay it, which
are not you.
Every single person in the Seminary Point apartments was just told, and I mean within the last few weeks,
that they will be forced out of their homes in July, homes they had been asking for renewals for for
six months, and you told them nothing. This is a college town, so that would be bad enough on its own,
but the Seminary Point apartments are also the most affordable housing in Bloomington's core. I understand
the county, that's you, claim that they have rehomed these people like they're animals,
Now it sounds like you're not claiming that anymore. I guess that was a rumor you found out you were
being lied to. Or if you were lying to us and we found that out first, unclear. But it was a lie. I
know that because I did something that will shock you. I actually asked the people living there if they
had been helped. The man I spoke to the longest is a recovering addict. He's also a father and a husband.
He and his wife have one young child and a second one on the way. I asked him what his plans are when you three
force him out of his home. He said, I have no idea. He told me he was laid off and that he's just trying
to stay off the street. He said this apartment was a lifeline for his family. And you are cutting his
lifeline, his pregnant wife's lifeline. Now, it's tempting when you're accused of something like that
to deflect and point anywhere but yourself, which you've already done. But I'm not going to let you
do that because this isn't our first stop.
We asked the Bloomington City Council months ago, why are you forcing these people out of their homes?
They pointed at the county. I thought, fair enough, the county owns the building. So I spoke to the
Monroe County Councilors multiple times. I asked them, why are you forcing these people out of their
homes? They pointed at lawyers. So at that point, I started to get a little annoyed. I get emotional.
I understand that. But we heard from a lawyer, and they pointed at you, three of you, the only three
people. This is the end of the road.
I don't really care who you decide to counsel, the commissioners, or the lawyers. I just need you to
answer the question honestly and without deflection. Why are you forcing the tenants of the Seminary
Point apartments out of their homes? That is not rhetorical. What are you planning to do with this block
once you've gotten rid of the people who live there? And what about the businesses who pay your innkeeper's
tax that you're so worried about?
In lieu of an answer, I'm left to assume it's going to be a parking lot for the convention center that
you want us to subsidize with more of our money that, again, is not yours. And that sounds pretty bad.
So fix it. Renew these leases. And if you're tired of being a landlord and paying shady companies like
PMI to eat your sins, then instead of destroying some of the only meaningful affordable housing we have
left, let the seminary tenants decide their own futures
and sell these buildings to an affordable housing land trust or something, which we've spoken to a county
lawyer about. Not this one, the other one. There's got to be a lease too. And they said would be on
the council and the commission to decide. They said the renewal of the leases would be on you three
to decide. And you know as well as I do that when you gentrify a community, people don't always land
on their feet. So if you go through with this, it's a coin flip. And if my friend ends up on the street,
take it from someone with a conscience that you don't want that blood on your hands, but that is exactly
where it will be. Clear your times up. Fucking Christ. Thank you. Good morning. I want to second everything
Barry said. First of all, my name is Jessie Lloyd. I lived in Bloomington for about seven years. And
I would like to ask you not to displace residents or destroy the Seminary Point apartments.
We're in the middle of an affordable housing crisis and every step should be taken to preserve and expand
affordable housing And if the county is unwilling or unable to maintain the block they should transfer
it to a land trust as I'm sure you will continue to hear today Yeah, and just there's been a lot of
lack of transparency about the lease renewals a lot of people are kind of in
like panic mode, there's not enough time to find housing. People have not been helped to find housing,
as we've heard from the county council. They told us to come to you, that y'all are the ones who can
give some answers, and it sounded a little bit like maybe y'all also don't have answers, so that's pretty
confusing and disheartening to hear. Yeah, so just please, like,
When there's a will, there's a way. So it's not just when there's a will, there's a way. So please preserve
affordable housing, not build a hotel that's going to have to be subsidized its entire life. Thank you.
All right. I see we do have somebody online. But come on up, sir, first. And then we'll go to the online
person. Thank you.
All right, sounds good. My name is Bryce. I'm a longtime Bloomington resident, an organizer with local
community groups. And I think everyone in this room understands that one of the biggest issues that
Monroe County residents care about is affordable housing. I'm part of the DSA, and we just hosted a
candidate forum where we're asking the candidates, and we're asking the public, what do you want to
hear about from these people who are trying to run for county commissioner?
And the biggest single issue was affordable housing, surprise. Knowing that, it seems ridiculous to
me that the county would insist on displacing a bunch of people who have affordable housing in a very
good location at a time when there's affordable housing crisis. And this claim that there will be some
sort of equivalent housing available
at a similar price point at a similar location within reason. I mean, that just seems like false. I've
tried to rent an apartment in this town. It seems just impossible and kind of a joke to push things
off to the side. And so there are other options available, right? Especially if this property is not
going to be used for what its intended purchasing purpose was, why not?
spin it off into its own entity? Why not sell it to the city so they can spin it off into its own entity?
There are all sorts of options. And like my friend earlier said, where there is a will, there's a way.
Now, there was a question about whether or not a property that was bought with the innkeeper tax can
be transferred to a function that is not directly tourism or tourism related.
you know, maybe we can say that making Bloomington a less shitty place to live will get more tourism,
but even not, that statute comes from the county, and that statute can be changed, unless I'm mistaken.
That's actually state code. State code? Well, in any case, there are many ways that you can use this
property. There are many other ways that you can allocate funds, other ways that you can ensure that
affordable housing is maintained.
If the end of the line is that we have to kick these people out of their houses, I don't think that
it's been clear that there's been every avenue taken to avoid that outcome or to prevent that outcome.
And so I think on top of the lack of transparency,
on top of the piling onto the affordable housing crisis, there seems to be a very good case for the
community being upset. And more and more community members are hearing about this, and more and more
people are asking to figure out what's happening. And I think if this eviction, if this displacement
continues, this room and rooms like it are going to have a lot more people in here yelling and screaming
about it. Thank you. Thank you, sir. We'll now go online.
We're going to unmute. You're going to have to unmute. We will allow your microphone and then you're
going to be you're going to need to unmute. And you also will have three minutes to speak. And I'm sorry
if I mangled the pronunciation of your name. So we need to unmute his mic or you may need to do that,
sir. There you go.
Okay, great. Good morning. Good morning. Hi, my name is Dennis on park, I live in Bloomington Monroe
County. Thank you to commissioners for hearing us out today. I first off on a second everything my friends
and fellow organizers have said about seminary part, seminary point apartments. I would like to point
out a few things.
Firstly, I think it's important to understand just how bad of a housing crisis Bloomington currently
has. Rent has been increasing at a rapid rate, significantly faster than inflation. In fact, the cost
of living in Bloomington is now comparable to Chicago. And yet for most people, their wages have not
increased at the same rate. And so as a result, it's become extremely difficult for many people to find
housing in Bloomington. Seminary Point is one example of the few places where people can go to actually
afford to live a reasonable life. And so it seems like the county commission's choice to sell the area
for the purposes of a convention center hotel seems honestly misguided, mainly because one, there are
a significant number of hotels already in Bloomington. This business will not do well. Secondly, it
won't actually contribute to tourism since one of the most important parts of Bloomington is the beeline
and seminary point is where
significant portion of the attraction of the bee line comes from, including places like the Friendly
Bee Cidery, which are what give that area its value in the first place. In addition to that, it seems
like there is a significant portion of the population of Bloomington that is completely opposed to this
move, and I believe that it will continue to create
a large amount of distraction and frustration for the commissioners if they pursue this route, because
we will keep coming to these public events and our size will keep growing. As for the innkeeper's tax,
I think that it's important to recognize that tourism in Bloomington is in large part maintained due
to things like the university, which needs to be staffed by people who live at Seminary Point. In fact,
many people there
do staff at the university. The existence of the B line is another example. And then thirdly, it seems
sort of silly to build an additional hotel when most of the hotels in Bloomington are not being fulfilled.
I believe also what's been frustrating is the lack of transparency and communication from the City Council
and from the County Commission. And what we need is a
more open and direct line of communication so that residents aren't suddenly being kicked out of their
houses and suddenly having to find new places to live. Moving forward, I think that giving the area
to a land trust, giving it to the city of Bloomington would be a possible avenue forward that wouldn't
cost the commission any money, but would still
help us actually fix the situation, which is the massive affordable housing crisis. Thank you for listening.
Thank you, sir. Right. That was timed well. We'll take the next one in the room, please. Thank you so
much. And please give us your name and you'll have three minutes. Thank you. Hi, my name is Rebecca
Stoops. I'm a county resident. Thank you so much for your time. I'm also here to talk about the seminary
point apartments.
purchased by the county in 2010 as part of the convention center expansion. So earlier this week, I
met with the Convention and Visitors Commission, and I understand that the apartments were purchased
to demolish, to build a future hotel or related buildings to support the influx of more people for the
bigger convention center. But since 2010, so much has changed. The circumstances are completely different now.
We are now in a housing affordability crisis. So Seminary Point is a very affordable apartment to this
day with 29 units. So I would like to request that the commissioners consider transferring ownership
of Seminary Point to the city or to a community land trust. This would guarantee permanently affordable housing.
If you must build a hotel, consider placing it closer to the convention center. There's a lot of parking
lots. You could have a more efficient land use and it could be a win-win. You could get what you want.
We preserve 29 units of affordable housing. And so my main points are please don't displace residents.
Don't destroy the block and transfer ownership of the block. Thank you very much. Thank you so much.
Next up, please. Come on. Hello. My name is Eli Beaton, and I've lived in Monroe County for about half
a decade. Obviously, I'm going to echo some of the points that previous people have said. But I wanted
to thank you for the updates at the beginning of this public comment. I think that's really useful.
One of the things that stuck out to me is the question of negotiations not yet being settled.
right, like there's a lot of moving pieces to this and like coordination between bodies. And to me,
that strikes my ear really funny, particularly because that means that the residents are being asked,
are being displaced to give the county a bargaining position for sort of a speculative deal. And there's
this question to me about how to use this land. I don't know, forgive me, a little bit of like
an architecture guy or whatever.
one of the things like one of the sayings I've heard around is like the most efficient building carbon
wise is the building that's already built. I think like this is the question when getting to this issue
of like all the repairs that need to happen or to improve the building or to make this continue to be
an affordable housing unit owned by the county owned by a land trust. I think.
I don't know I think like the question of is it more affordable to build a subsidized hotel for the
economy like does that improve the economy of the county, more than the affordable units for these residents
and the character of the beeline that people have already pointed out.
I think that's a question that I would love to hear the justification about. I don't know how public
comment is usually structured. I would love to hear from the commissioners and the county attorney after
this as well. Because I'm sure that we can find a solution to this that preserves affordable housing
in Bloomington without jeopardizing the lives of these tenants or these small businesses. Yeah.
Thank you. Thank you.
Good morning, everyone. My name is Nancy Goswami. I live in Monroe County. And I really came here just
to observe today, however, so I don't have anything prepared. I haven't had to rent in Bloomington ever.
I've been very fortunate to be able to own a home or two.
I was just looking over the rents, and they ranged from $900 for a mobile home all the way up to $4,000.
And not everywhere in between, and most of it was on the higher end. And not all of it, it wasn't in
student housing area.
places that students would normally live. It was just kind of a little farther out. So I can't even
imagine how, I don't even know how people can afford to pay rent like this. So I think we have to be
innovative to be able to preserve the seminary point, to be able to provide homes for affordable housing,
for the least of us, right? Because here we are, up here, we're all very privileged. And the privileged,
there are privileged people that are telling the least of us that we're gonna kick them out of their
homes. And what we do to the least of us is a strong indicator of who we are as a species.
And I'm very, we cannot be telling people they have to just go find a home. And I don't know how people
can afford it on, my kids couldn't even afford to pay rent in this town. And so I think that we need
to just care about other human beings. And also if the business,
is not, you said there was a business that needed a one-year notice, then if they're still gonna be
in the building, then why kick the tenants out in July? Why can't they stay and give them a little more
time to find affordable housing? Why kick them out and have those apartments being emptied while the
business is still in the building? Thank you.
We'll go online next. So Christopher? Online. Online. We have people on Teams waiting, and they were
online with their hands raised before you got in line. So thank you. So you will need to unmute. Ma'am.
Yeah, I'm Chris Branham.
a lifetime resident, Bloomington, born and raised. Yeah, and I'm just going to say that sometimes best
laid plans, right? When this project for a convention center was set out, we weren't in the middle of
the affordability crisis we now find ourselves in.
made even worse by the events that have happened within the last couple of weeks, heading towards perhaps
even international recession. I think there's a time to say, what are we going to prioritize in this
moment? The comfort and pleasures of people from out of town coming in for a convention or
our own people that were here to serve and help our neighbors. When I can speak to my own mother, she
is a bus driver in Bloomington and she does not live in Bloomington. She couldn't live in Bloomington
city limits on the salary she gets. And many of her colleagues are in the same place. So when we couch
you know, things in terms of we'll help these residents find something relatively close and relatively
in the same price point, that relative might be doing a lot of work. You know, are we talking about
Judah, Olidoc? Where are we talking about? Because we all know, those of us who have lived here our
whole lives, I grew up down on Handy,
Even if you drive down that way, you can see how much the housing has popped up and how much prices
have increased. Or even if you head out towards Ellitsville. Ellitsville doesn't look like it did many
years ago. More apartments popping up and the cost increasing exponentially. So while I'm not opposed
to the idea of Monroe County having a convention center, I think we look at the moments that we find
ourselves in
and we say, what are we going to prioritize in this movement? The people who work here, who help the
city be what it is, or are we more concerned with the people who wanna come in and visit our town for
a little bit and then leave? That's all I gotta say, I don't need my whole time. Thank you so much.
Next online, we have Sarah Mosier. You will be,
your microphone will be allowed, and then you'll need to unmute. You will have three minutes.
Thank you. My name's Sarah Mosher, and I'm a resident of Bloomington and Monroe County. And I wanted
to thank you for having a Teams option, because like many people, I worked during the day, but I was
able to get a quick break so that I could
tune in and listen to some of the discussion and leave a comment. Thanks for having a Teams option.
I wanted to encourage the commissioners to not tear down seminary point apartments and evict the residents.
I think as other folks have said, there are many residents there who don't know where they could go.
I had read from Bloomington Homes for All that the rents there are between $400 to $700 and
Someone at the Tuesday meeting had mentioned that, oh, they should work with heading home to find comparable
places to live, but I don't know of any other places to live in Bloomington that have 400 to 700 a month
rents. And I just also wanted to say as someone whose family's from here from many generations back,
You know, my great grandparents lived here and when they were young, they didn't have a place to live.
They struggle with affordable housing too. And when they were finally able to settle down after they
had been homeless with my grandma and her three sisters when they were little kids,
When they were finally able to find a place they could afford to live, they were able to establish themselves
and contribute to the county and found a business that businesses Maze Greenhouse. It's been a small
business here for many generations and have dozens of members of my family now that have been able to
live here and grow up and pay taxes and contribute. And so just as an example of that, you know, any
time that we are
destroying the very few little pockets of affordable housing we have left. We're pushing out people
and families like my family had been that could be staying here and contributing and building lives
here instead of the folks who will come to park on a parking lot because they're visiting for a little
while and won't actually have much of a contribution. Thank you. Thank you so much. We'll take your
public comment next please please come on up. Good morning my name is Mary Mosier and I'll say right
from side don't have tremendous amount to add over some of the previous speakers including my own daughter
who's just online. I was born in Monroe County born in Bloomington I'm a current resident
I was here basically to urge the commissioners not to displace the residents of the Seminary Point Apartments
and the business spaces that are there at South College and Second. It sounds from what the county attorney
has said and what was discussed earlier that this is a hot mess that has been years in the making. There
seems to be a certain amount of
non-transparency about what the actual situation is. Is this hotel actually going to be built? Is the
parking lot actually necessary? And whether or not these people have another place to go. It sounds
like wishful thinking to believe at this point in time without further information that anything has
been arranged for these people if there is a place for them to go. Where are the workers in Bloomington
going to live?
The affordability crisis is here, it's now, it may not have been here 10 years ago, or 15 years ago,
whenever this idea first came up about these two blocks of space. I can only encourage the commissioners
not to displace these people, to find another solution. And that solution may be through community land
trust models.
find a partner, the city, a local organization, something to maintain this area, to maintain affordable
housing, and perhaps even expand it. There is space in that area. Would it be better served for the
county for that space to be used as a parking lot or for that space to be used for affordable housing
for workers who pay taxes in the county, in the city,
in the state. I'll stop right there. I thank you very much. But creating a process by which this housing
can be maintained would be entirely in line with the commissioner's statement that you read at the beginning
of this meeting. And I think this is a vital thing for Monroe County, for the city of Bloomington. Find
a solution.
that doesn't eliminate affordable housing. Thank you so much. And we'll go back to our online commenters
who have been waiting. Erin Comforti, you will be unmuted. You will need to unmute yourself. And you
will have three minutes. Thank you.
Hi, good morning. My name is Aaron Comforti, and I am a resident of Monroe County for over 15 years
in total. And I wanted to really focus on the legal reasoning for which we have to think through this
process. In particular,
I guess, given the housing affordability crisis, it seems well within reason to research alternative
legal interpretations and analyses that would allow the county to fulfill its obligations under the
state code as it relates to assets purchased through funds raised through the innkeeper's tax, while
also protecting the Seminary Point Department's building and maintaining it.
as affordable housing. I really think that there are ways to do so and that it's very much worth doing.
It's a really reasonable exercise for the county to investigate. The other thing I would like to point
out is if the public comment today is indicative
of public sentiment in Monroe County and in Bloomington, then it seems that there is a lot of support
for maintaining this kind of rare gem of affordable housing and not as much support for building another
hotel and parking lot. So I think that's very important and as I'm sure you all appreciate.
I suppose in some, my point is that our hands as a county are not tied. And we can look for these alternative
legal interpretations that would allow us to maintain the current building while not under Indiana state
code. So I appreciate the opportunity to speak and, again, encourage
the county to undertake that research and propose a way in which the building could be maintained and
the tenants not evicted. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we will go to Rowan M, online, waiting patiently.
You'll need to unmute and you'll have three minutes. Thank you. Good morning.
My name is Rowan Morse. I'm a born and raised Bloomingtonian, and I've lived in Monroe County my entire
life. I grew up about two blocks west from the Seminary Point Apartments, and I wish I was there in
person, but I wanted to call to add my support to everybody showing up for affordable housing today,
and I mean actual affordable housing. I want to reaffirm that Monroe County is in a desperate housing
crisis, and we need true affordable housing options, and removing people from their housing
will only exacerbate the problem. And trying to relocate them only pushes the buck off until later.
I would love to see the commissioners commit to transferring Seminary Point to a community land trust
and lay out a plan on the process of that transfer. I also think the community deserves to know why
businesses have been given almost eight months longer to vacate than citizens of our county. Thank you.
Thank you so much.
We'll go next user in person. Thank you. My name is Toby Foster. I live in Monroe County. Since it's
been brought up a couple of times, I just thought I would lend some context. I'm a part owner of Friendly
Beast Society. You had mentioned that you thought the businesses all got the same letter and
That's true that we got the same email that everybody else got regarding the July 7th date. And I just
kind of wanted to express my frustration with how that all happened. I've been trying for a long time
to figure out if leases were going to get renewed reaching out to people. I was told
that it would probably be OK to stay until the end of the year. And then just a couple of weeks after
that, got this email at 5 15 p.m. on a Friday. So there was nothing we could do over the weekend. I
thought that was really frustrating. I think it was the same for the people that live there. And yeah,
I do I want to
I express my support for everything that everyone said regarding the apartments and the affordable housing.
I support all of that and yeah, basically just wanted to learn some context and express my frustration
at the way that all of this has happened and the lack of information that it seems like anyone has received.
In that email, it said, we work with you to extend leases, have flexibility, et cetera, and then when I
tried to take them up on that. I was basically told, oh, actually, no, that's not true. We need to stick
to the July 7th date, which again, I realized that I think that the affordable housing issue is much
more important, but just since several people had mentioned the businesses, it seemed like maybe there
was some lack of clarity there. I just thought I would offer that.
Thank you. I have a quick follow-up question just for my notes. So you have a business lease right now
in that area. And that's okay, not a residential lease. Correct. Thank you. Appreciate that. Thanks
for being here. But we were not given the year long notice that you mentioned that another business
had been given. Right. Thank you. Next up, please.
I'm going to turn it over to you. Please everyone who is speaking or has spoken if you would sign in
before you go today, that would be helpful for our minute to do so. Could I get some paper and a pen?
It's on the table behind you. You don't have to do that right now. You can do that just before you leave.
I'm just asking everybody in the room. It's a tutorial for everybody online. There you go. Hello. My
name is Joffrey Livingston, and I'm a
I lived here briefly a couple of years ago, and then when I was looking to renew a lease, it was just
a massive challenge, and I had a lot of proofs in my own life that I could look around, and it was still
taking an incredible amount of time. If Bloomington wants to have
affordable housing and actually impact the housing crisis, there needs to be a housing first model and
perspective in how we approach businesses moving in, how we approach the displacement of residents,
and the fact that folks live in a place should take precedent over every
aspect of the decisions being made in that area. Whether it is having to do with previous eviction notices
in the past regarding the homeless community, whether it has to do with the affordable housing that's
being built that is not actually affordable because the average cost of a home is around in the affordable
housing that I know is being built around, I forget which area,
but the average housing, somebody who was working on that brought it up to the council and said that
the average cost was around $290,000 a home. That is not affordable housing. Everybody should know that.
If you do not know that, you'd need to rework your definition of affordable in 2026 and forward. So
this issue,
is going to continue to be an issue unless the fundamental perspective on the importance and the priority
of folks living somewhere is shifted. A housing first model does not just mean that everybody needs
to be provided a home or that everybody needs to be provided a roof over the head as a first measure. That is a
that would be a great place for us to be and a goal that we should work towards. But it also means that
putting the housing needs of residents that already live somewhere should be a priority as opposed to
businesses moving in residents are more important than businesses. Thank you. Thank you. We have one
more person online, Mr. Spoonmore. We'll need to unmute.
Good morning commissioners. Eric Spoonmore, Monroe County resident, president, CEO of the Greater Bloomington
Chamber of Commerce. I agree entirely we have an affordable housing crisis here in Monroe County. Although
I think some of that may have been kind of brought on ourselves over the last few decades. And I do
get a little wary of government getting into the
landlord business. We've seen some of the challenges that that's presented for the city of Bloomington
recently as well too from a legal standpoint. I do think that we can address this affordable housing
crisis in multiple ways and especially through land use policies and zoning policies that make it easier
for housing developments to be constructed in Monroe County rather than rejecting them or severely
restricting them.
Thank you. Thank you. OK. Well, I do, on behalf of my colleagues, want to thank everyone for coming
out today and providing your input and giving us some things to think about. And we'll take that under
advisement. And our next, we should move on to our next item as the hour is getting late.
I would like to move approval for the minutes for February 26th, 2026. Second. We have a motion and
we have a second. Any comments, corrections or edits? Okay. All those in favor of approving the minutes
for February 26th, 2026 signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Next item, please.
I would like to move approval of the claims docket for accounts payable for March 12th, 2026 and for
payroll for March 6th, 2026. Second. We have a motion and we have a second. Miss Gallardo, please tell
us all about it. Good morning. The accounts payable claims docket for March 12th, 2026 totals $1,937,276.76.
This includes all emergency claims and adjustments.
The payroll docket for March six twenty twenty six includes one million six hundred three thousand five
hundred four and sixty six cents in direct costs and the remaining six hundred seventy nine thousand
seven hundred ninety and eighty four cents were for indirect costs for a grand total of two million
two hundred eighty three thousand two hundred ninety five and fifty cents. Thank you so much. Comments
or questions from my colleagues?
I have none. Okay. I don't either. Let's go to public comment. If anybody has public comment on the
claims docket, please raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. All right. Seeing none, all those
in favor of approving the claims docket accounts payable March 12th, 2026 and payroll March 6th, 2026
signify by saying aye.
I motion carries three zero we have not we don't have any reports today to note and we're going to move
on to new business and our first item of business is a hearing on the revised ADA Americans with Disabilities
Act in title six plans and I'm going to go ahead and open that public hearing
Thank you very much. Dave Schilling from the legal department, and we're presenting some draft plans
for you, which revise our existing plans. And so these relate to the Americans with Disabilities Act
and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. And both of those bits of legislation are designed to remove barriers to
public services and programs based on disability, race, ethnicity, and so forth. And so county staff
has met to work on the previous plan to update it. And these are the plans that we are presenting. They
have been put online and this hearing has been advertised. And I'll just go through a few features of each plan
They have a similar structure. There's policy statements in there pledging our desire to fulfill our
obligations under these acts. And there's educational component requiring the education of staff and
so forth on these obligations. There's assurances for our content where we assure.
Contractors will be aware of these obligations and fulfill them in all the public works that they do.
There is a complaint process where people can contact our ADA coordinator or Title VI coordinator if
they have any complaints that they would like to have addressed relating to access.
The county last adopted a plan in 2019. There's a few differences or a few things that have come up
since then that are reflected in this plan. One, we're supposed to really
revised these plans every two or three years and that hasn't been done. And so in this plan, we've built
in a schedule, a review schedule. So every year in June, staff will meet to review items to see if we've
had any complaints. We have a list of questions and topics that each department head will have to address
so that we can ensure that we get the correct data
to move forward and to revise our plan. With respect to the ADA, we've performed self evaluations in
the past to ensure that our buildings comply with the ADA requirements. And in our last plan, there
was a list of projects needed to bring us into compliance. And we've completed almost all of those from
our last plan.
And so the ones that haven't been completed are kicked over into this new revised plan. And one thing
that relates to this one development is that the county has obtained facilities maintenance software.
So once we get a complaint, it's gonna be easy. Richard will put it into the software and that will
be on a program schedule.
We'll know exactly what needs to be done to bring the county into compliance. And of course, the ADA
extends to all our facilities, including our website. And so since the last adoption of the ADA, the
state is now hosting our website and all the Proag
guidelines requirements are satisfied by the state. Programs hosting our our our website and our staff
has even gone farther to try to bring him to bring in proag to compliance and so I think we're in very
good shape on that with respect to title 6 on the website. There is.
I mean, one of the concerns of Title VI is the language barrier. And so on our website now, there's
up in the right corner, you can click on that to have the website translated into any number of languages.
And of course, since the last adoption, Google Translate has become popular and is available to anybody
who needs help in that regard.
covers everything. If you have any questions, be happy to answer those, or we can open it up to public.
I think just going forward, what I proposed is we conduct the hearing today. If any comments are received,
we can discuss those. But if none are received, at your next meeting, I'll come back with a resolution
adopting these documents. That was one of my questions.
questions. Commissioner Jones comments or questions. Just that I'm pleased to hear that this is going
to be reviewed yearly and brought up to date and it sounds like it should run more smoothly in the future.
Yes, I agree with Commissioner Jones.
What's not included in here is polling sites for elections. Yeah, those are all taken care of under
HAVA, I believe. OK. And they have the clerk has hired somebody specifically to ensure that they're
in compliance. Perfect. I just want to make sure that that's covered. And there is a
piece in here about contacting human resources director. I think we go, we call employee services now.
So if you could change that, that would be great. All right. With that, we'll see if there is anybody
in the public who wishes to speak. You can raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
I see none. If you could bring that back for us next week, that would be great. All right, thank you
very much. Thank you so much. I would like to move to approve Tyler Technologies memorandum of understanding,
fund name, county general fund number 1,000 in the amount of $475 and 94 cents. Second. We have a motion
and a second. Mr. Miller, our veteran service officer
Good morning. Good morning. Thank you again for having me. This is a relatively low level change to
a memorandum of understanding for the claims management system that we use. It's our bread and butter,
really. It's what we do and spend our heads in all day. So we really appreciate you considering this.
Comments or questions? Commissioner Madeira? I have none. Thank you. Commissioner Jones? No, I don't.
Thank you.
I don't have any either. It makes a ton of sense. All right. Let's see if there's any public comments
on this item. You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. All right. Seeing none, all those
in favor of approving the Tyler Technologies MOU signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero.
Thank you, sir.
Next, we have the 2025 OSHA 300 report. Mr. Elgar is joining us to provide us this information.
Thank you. Good morning. Thank you for having me. For anybody watching, my name is Seth Elgar. I'm the
Assistant Director of Human Resources in the Employee Services Office here in the courthouse.
In the report, I highlight that even though we had more or less the same number of workplace injuries,
I'm happy to report that those were 81% less costly in regards to the claims that were filed that were
medical in nature. 2024 was a little bit of an outlier in that we had some major claims that befell us.
So it's good to see that that did not repeat itself. Slip and fall continues to be something that is
not only preventative, but the bulk of what our claims are. So we're putting our heads down and really
focusing with the folks from IPEP to come up with in-person and virtual learning, just support
resources for people to remind them that we need to watch where we're going. We need to be certain of
the terrain we're navigating and things like that to mitigate these kinds of accidents. Thank you so
much. Let's see if my colleagues have questions. Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. Thank you. Commissioner
Madeira? No, thank you. Mr. Cockrell, do we have to vote to accept this report or is it just that we're
receiving the information and we have received it?
I mean, I think you could go either way. I mean, my recommendation is so we get in the minutes that
you just accept the report. OK. That would work. You don't have to vote on that. Yeah. All right. So
I'm going to go ahead and accept the report with gratitude. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.
All right. Thank you, Mr. Cockrell. All right. Next item, please.
Yes, I would like to move to ratify the Bobcat of Ellisville Equipment and Implements Fund Name, Food
and Beverage Fund number 4932 in an amount not to exceed $92,960. Second. We have a motion.
We have a second. We have our Parks and Recreation Director Ms. Whitmer joining us. Yes, this is for
a compact track loader in a smooth bucket, a tooth bucket and a brush cutter.
not to exceed $92,960. It'll be used for the construction in the ongoing maintenance at the Monroe County
Nature Preserve. It'll be used by our staff, of course. Right. Thank you so much. All right. Comments
or questions? Commissioner Madera? Nope, none. Commissioner Jones? It makes sense that this equipment
would be needed.
I thought you were gonna say something about the scoop is. All right, any public comment on this item?
Seeing none, all of those in favor of ratifying the Bobcat of all spill equipment and implements purchase
signify by saying aye. Motion carries three zero. Next item please.
Yes, I would like to move to ratify Richard's small engine implements. Fund name, food and beverage,
fund number 4932 in the amount not to exceed $26,898. Second. We have a motion and a second. Yes, we
are asking for a grapple, forks, power rake and wire harness for the compact track loader.
and we would like to buy those implements from Richard Small Engines, not to exceed $26,898. This is
also for the Monroe County Nature Preserve. Excellent. Comments or questions? Commissioner Jones? No,
I don't. Thank you. Commissioner Madeira? No. I don't either. We did already hear this item. Let's see
if there's any public comments.
Raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. Seeing none, all those in favor of ratifying the Richard
Small Engine implements purchase signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero. Next item, please.
Yes, I would like to move to approve the Bledsoe-Rigert-Cooper James Engineering Addendum
and Travis easement. Fund name, 2017 Geobond, fund number 4810, in an amount not to exceed $2,500. Second.
We have a motion and we have a second. Please. Yes, and Mr. Cockrell knows about this also, but we've
been working with Mr. Travis. He is, we believe, going to gift us an easement that the public can use
for a trail. In our first round,
he thought his easement was going to look like X and he's like, oh, I need to make it adjustments. So
this is going to be those adjustments and he'll be on site when we go out with the survey crew this
time. Okay, comments or questions? Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. Commissioner Madeira? No. So this
has already been done, but it's going to be done again,
$2,500 is the additional cost. Correct. Oh, correct. To bring the survey crew back out. To revise. Yes.
Got it. To revise it to the specific. Yeah. And this is a wonderful gift. So we appreciate it. And it
has bond coverage, so we're good. Say again. It's covered by the bond. Yes. Yes. So we're good. OK.
Excellent. All right. Any public comment on this item? You raise your hand in teams or come to the podium.
Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the Blitzer, Rigger, Cooper, James engineering addendum
for the Travis easement signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero. Thank you so much. Thanks
for your patience.
All right. Next item, please. I'd like to move approval for the soft choice agreement for core view
software. Fund name, cumulative capital, fund number 1138 in the amount of $26,220 and 80 cents. Second.
We have a motion and we have a second. Mr. Crown, good morning. Good morning, everyone. Hope everyone's
well. First item I have for you this morning is
regards to our Microsoft 365 environment that we've fully implemented four years ago. That's comprised
of 10 different administrative components to that suite. Any change made in one administrative component
has a ripple effect on one or more components across that whole environment. One of the big problems
with the way Microsoft designed the system, and I understand why they did it from a security standpoint, but
It's all broken down, like I said, into 10 consoles. You don't get a picture, a complete picture from
any one perspective. You have to go into each one of those consoles. Additionally, to make simple changes
for user access and things like that, you have to go into one or more component to configure,
make configuration changes. So if you miss any one of those, this over here on the left's not working
because you missed two things over here on the right. So multiple companies have
come together to try to address that creating their own software packages that incorporate all those
into one palatable console. I've spoke with several of them core view. It's the most for our needs seems
to be the most most robust solution at a competitive price point. I am only looking to do this for a
one year agreement to start out just to make sure that it meets our needs rather than make a longer
term commitment.
Thank you so much. You answered a question that I had. Comments or questions, Commissioner Jones? No,
I don't. Commissioner Maduro? It doesn't sound like a hard choice to go with soft choice. So did you
get a chance to see a trial of this software first, and so you think it's going to be what we need?
But you really want to try it out for a year? Exactly. I went through multiple demonstrations through
different providers.
We actually implemented this on a trial basis incorporated into our 365 environment. It is actively
there now. We don't have the full abilities because we are on a trial period, but it gave us enough
scope that even the daily tasks that we run into it.
sped that up dramatically. We've got one place to go to. You make a few clicks, it's taken care of.
So it's also expedited our ticketing process for the users on the back end of that. Excellent. Excellent
news. Great. I'm glad you found this. Let's see if there's any public comment. You may raise your hand
on Teams or come to the podium.
Seeing none, all those in favor approving the soft choice agreement for core view software signify by
saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero. Next item, please. I would like to move approval for Toshiba
desktop printer support. Fund name, cumulative capital, fund number 1138, the amount of $61,006
and 20 cents. Second. We have a motion. We have a second. Mr. Crone, tell us all about it.
So as far back as my knowledge, which goes back to 2004, Monroe County has contracted out our small
desktop printer support with the staffing and the price points to try to buy hardware and things like
that parts. It was more cost effective to go with a contractor. That contractor that we worked with
for many years changed hands and we've parted ways with the company since they've resold. So for about
the last six months, my office has
been picking up doing the printer service, buying the toners for the departments. The problem with that
is we don't have the buying power. So we still pay a little more for toner than we can get it for. We
still pay a little more for parts. So Toshiba, who is also our largest enterprise copier supplier,
came in, did what's called an FM audit. We installed software on the back end that picked up all those
desktop printers, and they did an assessment.
With their assessment and then based on our invoices, we're currently spending about $1,500 a month
just on toner for these desktop printers. That's not even counting the parts. Toshiba, with their buying
power, has offered not only to supply the toner, just like they do for our large enterprise copiers,
but they will also provide the repair support.
at a little over $1,000 a month. So we're looking to save approximately $500 a month. This is a 60-month
contract that we estimate to save the county $30,000 over the life of that duration. So it will speed
things up for the users who have the printers down, and it will save us money at the same time doing
it. Excellent, excellent. Great, great work from our Director of Technical Services.
So comments or questions, Commissioner Madera? I have none, thank you. No, I don't think. Good work.
I see if there's any public comments. You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. Seeing none,
all those in favor of approving the contract for Toshiba desktop printer support signify by saying aye.
Aye. Motion carries 3-0.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Thanks for waiting today. All right. Next item, please. Yes, I would
like to move approval for ordinance 2026-10, approving the interlocal cooperation agreement with the
Bloomington Transit regarding the Park 48 route. Fund name, edit, fund number 1112 in the amount of
$184,104. Second? We have a motion. We have a second. Mr. Cockrell, tell us all about it.
But this is a kind of a continuation of the line 13 that we started last year. I believe the price went
up from $170,000 to $184,000, $104,000. The route's the same. The times are the same. I think the other
difference is since we're doing this approval in March, the April payment will be a catch up for the
first three months. This will still have to go to the council because it's an
an ordinance approval of an interlocal. And so the interlocals go through either the attorney general
or the fiscal bodies, and we always go through the fiscal bodies whenever we can. So basically, it's
just to continue that line for another year under the same terms we had for last year. All right. Thank
you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. Commissioner Maduro? No, thank you.
I just want to clarify something that came up Tuesday night, apparently trying to roll this into the
urban transport that are using real transit for so rural transits contract with the USDA and that provides
multi county inter county service and then the
state of Indiana changed the map of so-called urbanized areas. And when they did that, those rural transit
buses could not go there. And so we had fortunately, fortuitously, already purchased electric buses
for rural transit. Those are being used for the urban, urbanized area. We paid for both Line 13
and the urbanized area transit with ARPA money. Ellisville, we went multiple times to their meetings
and they refused to pay. We want to make sure that residents have the same service they've always had.
This year fortuitously, again, the state of Indiana INDOT has paid for the urbanized area transit through
rural transit for this year. Thank goodness.
Um, so let's, um, hope in dot feels as generous next year. Uh, but anyway, I just wanted to give that
background. Uh, let's see if there's, uh, any, uh, public comments on this item. Being none. Um, all
those in favor of approving ordinance, 2026 dash 10, signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero.
Uh, next item, please. Yes. I would like to move approval to ratify acceptance of the quote from Monroe
site work LLC for tree removal. Fund name, cumulative bridge fund number 11 35 in the amount of $39,000.
Second. We have a motion and we have a second. Ms. Ridge. Thank you for your patience. Tell us all about it.
Good morning. This is just to ratify. I brought this up at the work session. We were on a time crunch
to get the trees down before bat restriction starts April 1st. So this is just ratified the acceptance
of that quote. Thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner Madeira? I have none. This looks
great. Thanks. No, I don't. Thank you for working on this. See if there's any public comment.
Raise your hand in teams or come to the podium. None. All those in favor of ratifying the acceptance
of the quote from Monroe site work LLC signify by saying aye. I motion carries 3 0 next item please.
Yes, I would like to move approval for the in-dot revised agreement for Fullerton Pike phase three funds
named Fullerton Pike fund number 8169 in the amount of $5,025,027,156 and 40 cents. Second. We have
a motion and we have a second. Ms. Ridge. So this contract was originally to expire June 30th in 2026
and dots extending that so we can work through,
still need to do the punch list items, the walkthrough and things like that. So this gives us an extension
onto that to be able to finish out the project. That five million number is not new additional money.
It is not additional money. It's pretty much correcting what's been given at the time when it was let.
All right. Okay. Thank you so much. Uh, comments or questions, commissioner Jones. No, I don't know.
Thank you.
All right. Any public comment on this item? You raise your hand in teams or come to the podium. None.
All those in favor of approving the in-dot revised agreement for Fullerton Pike Phase 3, signify by
saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Next item, please.
Yes, I would like to move approval for the end agreement for Rockport Road Bridge number 308. Fund name
Rockport Road Bridge number 308, fund number 8186 in the amount of $1,679,962.89. Second. In motion,
we have a second. So this project went to letting February 12th and
Um, so this is to actually increase the funding just a little bit to bring it to the 80, 80, 20 split.
Um, the contract is actually awarded to CLR construction and we will begin the project. It'll be a 20,
26 construction season. Wow. This year. Amazing shins commission right here. Nope. This is great project.
Looking forward to getting it done. Mr. Jones.
No, I don't. Any public comments? Raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. Being none, all those
in favor of approving the endowed agreement for Rockport Road Bridge number 308, signify by saying aye.
Aye. Motion carries three zero. Next item, please.
I would like to move approval for ordinance 2026-09 to amend traffic ordinance 86-06 stop location.
Second. We have a motion. We have a second. Ms. Ridge. And this is basically just some cleanup work
that intersection actually is within the city of Bloomington boundaries. Um, so it's basically taken
it out of our jurisdiction, our inventory. Um, and that is the responsibility of the city of Bloomington.
Thank you so much. Uh, comments or questions, commissioner Jones.
No, I don't. Commissioner Madeira? No. 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 ordinance 2026-09 signify by saying
aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Now we're going to the item from the work session is now the new item
And yes, I'd like to move approval for milestone change order number two red, but height stormwater
project fund named stormwater fund number 11 97 in the amount of $14,263 and 60 cents. Second, we have
a motion. We have a second. Ms. Ridge. Thank you for moving this up. Also, this will go to the stormwater
board at their next meeting.
And I apologize for getting that out of sequence, but it has to do with the timing ordering of the materials.
We wanted to do this project last fall, but just ran out of time and weather complications. So we wanted
to get this started. The contractor was given the notice to proceed on March 1st. So the water line
that is in the location is extended out farther from the project. So we needed to extend our pipe over
the coverage.
This is what the change order is for, and to not stall the project any longer and be able to keep it
on a timeline to get it done in the next 60 days. Thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner
Madeira? I have none. Thank you. Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. We'll be seeing this again. Any public
comment on this item? You raise your hand in teams or come to the podium.
All those in favor of approving the milestone change order number two for Redbud Heights Stormwater
Project signify by saying aye. Aye. Carries 3-0. Item. I would like to move approval for ordinance 2026-07,
3521 South Rogers Street Rezone. Second. We have a motion. We have a second.
Mr. Myers waiting for us patiently, I believe online. May not be there. Through Myers online or somebody
from planning. Asking our wonderful TSD staff up in the booth in the balcony. Okay, well, I will
I suggest we continue this item. I'm going to make a motion to continue this item to our next meeting.
Would that be okay with falling off? We'll see what happens. It may get bumped again. Second.
Thank you. That was my motion. I was going to say, so that was my motion. All right. Any concerns?
All right, so all those in favor of continuing ordinance 2026-07 to the March 19th meeting signify by
saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero. All right. Next we have item, the next item. I'll just say
the next item. Our lettering is all off right now. Yes, I would like to move approval.
for ordinance 2026-08, the amendment to SUDAC membership. Second. All right. We have a motion and a
second and we have Ms. Turner King joining us to tell us all about it. Thank you. Good morning,
commissioners. So this might feel like deja vu because at the last meeting you did adopt an amendment
to the SUDAC composition. However, I realized mid SUDAC meeting that the
The draft that was passed was not the most recent and current draft. So I apologize for that. But what
was before you today is the correct draft. So it creates a nine-person board for SUDAC, one representative
from the Justice Department, and five individuals with professional experience in substance use disorder
and or lived experience. And then it clarifies SUDAC.
Thank you so much. Comments or questions, Commissioner Madeira? I have none. Thank you. Commissioner
Jones? No, I don't. Thank you for bringing this corrected item to us. We do appreciate it. Let's see
if there is 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 ordinance 2026-08, signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carried.
The budget has been taken off our agenda for now. Apparently we've received something, so maybe we can
bring it back. But we do have the next item, which now we're back on lettering, correction. Item Q.
I would like to address approval of Tall Cop says stop is the Recovery Summit presenter. Second. We
have a motion. We have a second. So what is before you is considered for consideration is a contract
with Mr Jeremy Galloway, who does business as Tall Cop says stop. Mr Galloway would be a presenter at
the Recovery Summit that is hosted by Sudak and is set to begin September 1st and 2nd.
community. Um at the Bloomington Convention Center, Mr Galloway would be presenting for breakout
presentations, and the theme of his presentations would be on drug trends within our local community
and best practice recovery aspects to address those trends. Right Thank you so much. Um comments or
questions. I'll start with
I believe also that he gives us personalized feedback on those trends. Is that correct? Correct.
So Mr. Galloway would do what is called a community scan where he comes the night before his presentation
and gathers community data. And then at his presentation, he would talk about what he observed and ways
to address that. Oh, nice. Any questions or comments, Commissioner Jones? I don't. OK.
any public comment on the site and you can raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. And I know
we have sufficient money in the budget to pay for this. Budget yet there's already existing funds okay.
Seeing no public comments all those in favor of approving the tall cop says stop as recovery summit
presenter signify by saying aye.
Motion carries three. Thank you. I'm real soon. OK. So I do want to wish all of the folks in our community
happy Women's History Month. It's important to recognize the work that women do.
seen and unseen for our families, our communities, our workplaces, and within local government. So everyone,
just a couple of really quick announcements. We do have some remaining board and commission vacancies.
There is a library board, health board,
and animal management all have vacancies. So if you're interested, go to our county website, in.gov
slash county slash Monroe, and you can search around and find that list and you can see some past minutes
and see what they do. And a very handy feature, you can find the application there and you can fill
it out and submit it online. We'd like to hear from you, so please consider it.
We also want to remind folks to utilize our alert notification system, go to our homepage, take a look,
sign up, and you can be in the know for things like yesterday's flood warning and today's wind warning.
No, that wasn't on our alert, but tornado warnings.
and we do have virtual office hours six times each month. Go to that home page. I n dot gov slash county
slash Monroe. And take a look and join us for
next. Blood drives are Wednesday, April 8th and Thursday, April 9th. April 8th, 1 to 6 PM Thursday,
April 9th, 10 AM to 3 PM. And that's at Ivy Tech room C130A and B. And if you can please make an appointment
first at redcross.org. Anything else for the good of the order? I just like to say a couple things.
I'd like to thank everyone who came to give public comment. As Jeff noted, my understanding is that
our hands are also bound by restrictions on the funds that were used to purchase these properties in 2010.
These are state laws that we can't work around, but we're also bound by assurances that we as a county
made to the CIB. These assurances were made alongside the city in good faith in building the convention
center. We both pledged to work together to give the CIB what it needed. Several people who gave public
comment mentioned giving these properties to the city. The city is equally invested in making this convention
center work.
We are now far, far past the point of no return on the road to the Convention Center expansion. As any
survey of Herald Times or B-Square articles reveals, this process is often non-transparent for all parties
involved in it, because there are often surprises and negotiations with one hotelier, and these negotiations
may end up at any point where the CIV couldn't foresee
And these may bring any party to the point where it needs properties that it couldn't foresee in the
beginning. So it's a moving target. We're bound to facilitate, as the city is, what the CIB requests.
And we're all whirling with developments as they occur. If Bloomington Monroe County are going to invest
in expanding the convention center, it has to ensure that the project can succeed as a whole. And this
means having nearby hotel capacity.
This is needed to attract conferences, overnight visitors, and larger events that will bring people
downtown and generate economic activity for local businesses. But at the same time, we need to be honest
that these apartments aren't just parcels on a map, they're homes. We are facing real pressure in Bloomington
on housing affordability, and every loss of existing residential units matters, especially when these
serve as affordable housing. So whether or not we support that transfer, we can't ignore that reality.
economic development and housing stability must be pursued together and not in opposition. And so preserving
and expanding affordable housing must remain a priority for everybody. So this means recognizing the
need to replace lost units, support displaced residents, and continue investing in housing units for
working people and families. And I think that we are working towards that as a county and we will continue
to do so. So thanks. Thank you. Anything else, Commissioner Jones?
All right. All right. We do not have any work session items now that we moved that one. So we are adjourned
until March 19th, 10 a.m. right here in the NatU Hill Room and on Teams. Thanks, everyone. Thank you,
TSD. Thank you, Katz. We're adjourned.