WEBVTT 00:00:00.386 --> 00:00:07.138 - Good morning. I'm going to call to order this meeting of the Monroe County Board of Commissioners. It 00:00:07.138 --> 00:00:14.023 - is Thursday, March 26th, and I'll note for the record that all three commissioners are here and present 00:00:14.023 --> 00:00:21.172 - in the NatU Hill Room. We'll begin with our public statement. We, the Monroe County Board of Commissioners, 00:00:21.172 --> 00:00:27.924 - renew our commitment to welcome and protect the rights of all people, regardless of age, race, color, 00:00:27.924 --> 00:00:29.182 - creed, disability, 00:00:29.282 --> 00:00:36.091 - sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, marital status, economic status, and national origin. And 00:00:36.091 --> 00:00:42.833 - we affirm the right of every person to live peacefully and without fear, and we will fight and resist 00:00:42.833 --> 00:00:49.906 - at every step discrimination and harmful policies, whatever their source. We believe in diversity, equity, 00:00:49.906 --> 00:00:56.583 - inclusion, and belonging, and we also stand in support of our county public school systems, both RBB 00:00:56.583 --> 00:00:57.310 - and MCCSC. 00:00:57.986 --> 00:01:07.934 - And with that, we'll move on to our department updates. Good morning, Commissioners. Richard Crider, 00:01:07.934 --> 00:01:18.374 - Monroe County Building and Fleet Department. I want to provide you with an update regarding the generator 00:01:18.374 --> 00:01:25.662 - installation at the Highway Garage and Youth Services Bureau. We recently 00:01:25.762 --> 00:01:34.015 - requested bids for that. We received the bid packages and we had two responders, Crown Electric and 00:01:34.015 --> 00:01:42.598 - Cassidy Electric. Cassidy was the low bidder. We are going to work with the professional services team, 00:01:42.598 --> 00:01:51.181 - Mr. Cockrell and I, and try to get a contract ready to go for next commissioner's meeting. Great. Thank 00:01:51.181 --> 00:01:52.254 - you so much. 00:01:54.082 --> 00:02:04.036 - Ms. Kelly from the health department. Good morning commissioners. Just a few updates. According to the 00:02:04.036 --> 00:02:14.184 - Indiana Department of Health, COVID wastewater concentrations are continuing to trend down. Flu activity 00:02:14.184 --> 00:02:17.470 - across the state is now moderate. 00:02:19.330 --> 00:02:28.421 - We have vaccines currently available through the Morgan County Health Department. For appointments or 00:02:28.421 --> 00:02:38.225 - more information, the public can call 765-342-6621. And lastly, the department is now scheduling appointments 00:02:38.225 --> 00:02:45.534 - for lactation counseling. For more information, the public can call 812-349-2075. 00:02:46.594 --> 00:02:56.001 - All right. Thank you so much. Any comments or questions for my colleagues? I'm glad that the flu has 00:02:56.001 --> 00:03:05.968 - flown. All right. Thank you so much, Ms. Kelly. Recorder Swain. Good morning. I appreciate the opportunity 00:03:05.968 --> 00:03:15.934 - to bring a public service announcement to everyone today. I have a couple of letters here, one I received. 00:03:16.226 --> 00:03:23.873 - and one of our property owners here in Monroe County brought in. It is a letter that wants to charge 00:03:23.873 --> 00:03:31.671 - $285 for a property alert monitoring system that will alert you whenever something is recorded against 00:03:31.671 --> 00:03:38.334 - your property. I just wanted to let everybody know that we offer that service for free. 00:03:38.754 --> 00:03:47.466 - So you can go to the Monroe County Government website, click on the recorders page, and the very first 00:03:47.466 --> 00:03:56.177 - box at the bottom is about a program called Property Watch. That will link you to DocsPop.com. DocsPop 00:03:56.177 --> 00:04:04.805 - is our partner for posting our public records online so that people can download 24-7. They also have 00:04:04.805 --> 00:04:07.934 - partnered with us to offer this free 00:04:08.034 --> 00:04:16.055 - property watch alert system. What you will do is you will put in your name, it will, and county, it 00:04:16.055 --> 00:04:24.075 - will bring up the properties that you own and then you can click which ones you want to put a watch 00:04:24.075 --> 00:04:32.417 - on. You can get an alert by either email or text or both. I do want to caution if you live outside city 00:04:32.417 --> 00:04:37.470 - limits, you will have a legal description that is called meets 00:04:37.570 --> 00:04:45.414 - and bounds meets is METES. If something is recorded against a neighbor's property, you may get an alert 00:04:45.414 --> 00:04:52.956 - because the legal description will be very similar. You can do either by name or legal description. 00:04:52.956 --> 00:04:59.518 - If you've got a name like John Smith, you may prefer just to do the legal description. 00:04:59.714 --> 00:05:07.882 - It is offered in at least 90 of the 92 counties here in Indiana. So even if you live in a different 00:05:07.882 --> 00:05:16.214 - county or have relatives in a different county, if you go to the Property Watch site, there is a link 00:05:16.214 --> 00:05:24.382 - at the bottom to the competitors website that offers a similar service called Property Fraud Alert. 00:05:24.482 --> 00:05:31.950 - If you don't mind while I have the floor, there are a couple other letters that have been sent out that 00:05:31.950 --> 00:05:39.489 - I wanted to, again, let people know of a lower cost or free option. There's another one that I received. 00:05:39.489 --> 00:05:46.670 - So I transferred property after my brother's passing recently in another county. And I got the same 00:05:46.670 --> 00:05:49.470 - letter that our Monroe County property 00:05:49.698 --> 00:05:58.892 - resident did. I also received one that wanted to charge $132.50 for a copy of the deed, the only document 00:05:58.892 --> 00:06:07.826 - showing that you own your property. You can get a copy of your deed for a dollar a page in our office. 00:06:07.826 --> 00:06:12.510 - Most deeds are between one and three pages. So again, 00:06:13.122 --> 00:06:19.700 - And you can just come into our office you can go to docs pop.com and download there. They do charge 00:06:19.700 --> 00:06:25.950 - $2 per page one coming to the county and one paying for their service. And then the third one. 00:06:26.178 --> 00:06:34.427 - is really important to get the word out. So our veterans are being targeted. There is a letter that 00:06:34.427 --> 00:06:43.089 - has gone out from a company that wants to charge them more than $100 to expedite the processing of their 00:06:43.089 --> 00:06:51.504 - DD-214 or their military discharge. You can get a copy of that for free from our office. We will also 00:06:51.504 --> 00:06:53.566 - record DD-214s for free. 00:06:54.082 --> 00:07:02.333 - We don't have it in our local database because the veteran didn't record their DD-214s. We can work 00:07:02.333 --> 00:07:07.614 - with a veteran service office to contact the national database. 00:07:07.714 --> 00:07:15.269 - It does take about two months. There's really no expediting that process. So again, we will provide 00:07:15.269 --> 00:07:22.370 - that service for free. And I just wanted to let veterans and their families who may need that 00:07:22.370 --> 00:07:30.227 - for scholarships or things like that to know. Thank you so much. That's really useful public education. 00:07:30.227 --> 00:07:37.630 - My colleagues have any questions or? No, actually, I think you explained it very well. Thank you. 00:07:38.530 --> 00:07:45.555 - It's horrifying that anyone would target in so unscrupulous a manner. So thank you so much for bringing 00:07:45.555 --> 00:07:52.580 - that to our attention as well as to how to avoid that. And I wanna let all of the property owners know. 00:07:52.580 --> 00:07:59.402 - So we're also putting an insert into the property tax billing this spring that'll go out next month. 00:07:59.402 --> 00:08:05.751 - So people can look for that and share it with others and like I said, other counties as well. 00:08:05.751 --> 00:08:07.710 - Thank you. Great, thank you. 00:08:08.290 --> 00:08:20.208 - All right. Any other department updates? All right. Seeing none, we will move on to public comments. 00:08:20.208 --> 00:08:32.126 - This item is not on our agenda. We ask each speaker to limit their time to three minutes per person. 00:08:32.418 --> 00:08:40.973 - and to provide their name and county of residence when they begin speaking. You can raise your hand 00:08:40.973 --> 00:08:49.786 - on teams or you can come to the podium. I have somebody on team Susan Hingle. You will need to unmute. 00:08:49.786 --> 00:08:58.512 - There you go. Oh, I'm on YouTube. Good morning, commissioners. Thank you for the opportunity. Can you 00:08:58.512 --> 00:08:59.710 - hear me okay? 00:09:02.754 --> 00:09:09.125 - Can you hear me? Yes, we can. TSD, can you put the clock up, please? All right. Good morning. Thank 00:09:09.125 --> 00:09:15.624 - you for the opportunity to speak. I want to address an incident that occurred last week involving the 00:09:15.624 --> 00:09:22.123 - Monroe County Women's Commission, not to assign blame, but because it raises an important issue about 00:09:22.123 --> 00:09:29.131 - process and support for our boards and commissions. Our March meeting was properly noticed in full compliance 00:09:29.131 --> 00:09:32.126 - with Indiana's open door law when Commissioner 00:09:32.226 --> 00:09:38.024 - commissioners arrived, the building was locked. After some time, we were eventually let in, only to 00:09:38.024 --> 00:09:44.228 - be told we could not remain in the room because our meeting was not listed on an internal county calendar. 00:09:44.228 --> 00:09:50.548 - It was also spring break, which I think contributed to the confusion. This was inconvenient and frustrating, 00:09:50.548 --> 00:09:56.811 - but more importantly, it put us in a position where a public body that had followed the law was effectively 00:09:56.811 --> 00:09:58.782 - prevented from using public space 00:09:58.978 --> 00:10:05.811 - to conduct public business. We did what we were required and allowed to do. We had quorum and agenda 00:10:05.811 --> 00:10:12.847 - and a lawfully noticed meeting, so we met anyway outside on the Sophia Travis Bench on county property. 00:10:12.847 --> 00:10:20.222 - I want to be clear, I don't believe this was intentional, but I do think it is symptomatic of a deeper issue 00:10:20.322 --> 00:10:26.485 - namely the fragility of the systems that support boards and commissions, especially volunteer bodies. 00:10:26.485 --> 00:10:32.889 - Boards and commissions rely on basic infrastructure, access to meeting space, clear scheduling processes, 00:10:32.889 --> 00:10:38.991 - and consistent staff coordination. When those systems fail, even unintentionally, it sends a message 00:10:38.991 --> 00:10:44.670 - that this work is optional or incidental rather than an essential part of county governments. 00:10:44.962 --> 00:10:51.382 - This matters at all the more in a moment where there are conversations about reducing and restructuring 00:10:51.382 --> 00:10:57.679 - support for boards and commissions more broadly. If meeting rooms and administrative coordination are 00:10:57.679 --> 00:11:03.853 - uncertain, then public service becomes unnecessarily difficult and public participation suffers. My 00:11:03.853 --> 00:11:10.212 - ask today is simple and constructive. First, that the county review and clarify the internal processes 00:11:10.212 --> 00:11:13.854 - around room access and calendaring to ensure that a public 00:11:14.114 --> 00:11:20.847 - properly noticed public meeting cannot be displaced by clerical or communications gap. Second, as the 00:11:20.847 --> 00:11:27.514 - commission reaffirmed its commitment to boards and commissions by ensuring that the basic logistical 00:11:27.514 --> 00:11:34.181 - support required to function is treated as a core responsibility, not an expendable one. The Women's 00:11:34.181 --> 00:11:40.254 - Commission and a lot of county boards and commissions are made up of volunteers who show up 00:11:40.354 --> 00:11:46.215 - because they care about this community and want to contribute meaningfully. The county created these 00:11:46.215 --> 00:11:52.075 - bodies for a reason. Our system should make it possible for them to do their work, not harder. Thank 00:11:52.075 --> 00:11:58.110 - you for your time and your attention to this issue. Thank you. Is there anyone else that wishes to make 00:11:58.110 --> 00:11:59.038 - public comment? 00:12:08.322 --> 00:12:15.212 - Good morning, commissioners. My name is Tia Arthur. I'm the executive director of Monroe-Kanekasa. I 00:12:15.212 --> 00:12:22.171 - just wanted to share with you, coming up in the month of April, it's Child Abuse Awareness Month. And 00:12:22.171 --> 00:12:28.993 - it's something that we have taken on since I've become the director, because it's very important to 00:12:28.993 --> 00:12:36.702 - our community. We have children in our community who are abused on a daily basis. I just got enrollment numbers. 00:12:36.994 --> 00:12:45.358 - from MCCSE. And if you think about the enrollment of Tri-North Middle School, every single one of those 00:12:45.358 --> 00:12:54.123 - children has been abused. So about that number, in 2025, all of those children had been abused or neglected. 00:12:54.123 --> 00:13:02.326 - And I think that's really powerful when you think about the number of children in our community. This 00:13:02.326 --> 00:13:06.910 - is a public health issue and we need to create awareness 00:13:07.394 --> 00:13:15.255 - so we can make it clear that we need to prevent it. And so prevention is very important to us at CASA. 00:13:15.255 --> 00:13:22.964 - We offer prevention programming to parents. We're rolling out a training in April called Stop It Now 00:13:22.964 --> 00:13:30.673 - to help people understand and learn about the signs to protect children from sexual abuse. Those are 00:13:30.673 --> 00:13:35.710 - things that are very important to us. And I just wanted to invite 00:13:36.098 --> 00:13:43.180 - everyone here to please join us. We're doing a kickoff rally next Wednesday at noon here on the south 00:13:43.180 --> 00:13:50.263 - side of the courthouse lawn. I wanted to extend my gratitude to Monroe County. They are supportive of 00:13:50.263 --> 00:13:57.414 - the welfare of children. They're concerned about the welfare of children as we are at CASA. And I want 00:13:57.414 --> 00:13:58.942 - to thank Commissioner 00:13:59.362 --> 00:14:19.422 - Thank you so much. We also have a comment from Maria 00:14:29.762 --> 00:14:36.505 - Good morning. Thank you so much for this time. My name is Maria Douglas and I have been a Monroe County 00:14:36.505 --> 00:14:43.507 - resident for over 33 years and I serve on the Monroe County Women's Commission through the County Council's 00:14:43.507 --> 00:14:44.350 - appointment. 00:14:44.866 --> 00:14:51.409 - So first I wanted to begin by thanking Commissioner Madeira for taking my call on Thursday, March 19th, 00:14:51.409 --> 00:14:57.827 - and for attempting to problem solve in real time, as Susan already spoke about the situation, and for 00:14:57.827 --> 00:15:04.307 - clearly naming how unacceptable it is for the Women's Commission to be marginalized in the very county 00:15:04.307 --> 00:15:10.913 - government that created it. And that acknowledgement mattered, so thank you so much. And she also showed 00:15:10.913 --> 00:15:14.814 - up at the county council meeting to speak about this as well. 00:15:15.458 --> 00:15:21.570 - So, clearly, I won't repeat the details of the locked door incident. We have already spoken before county 00:15:21.570 --> 00:15:27.624 - council on Tuesday, and the incident was picked up by the B Square Bulletin. Thank you so much. Instead, 00:15:27.624 --> 00:15:33.390 - I want to place that moment in a longer history, because it did not happen in isolation. The Monroe 00:15:33.390 --> 00:15:39.156 - County Women's Commission was created as part of a broader movement across Indiana in the late 20th 00:15:39.156 --> 00:15:43.134 - century to ensure that women had a formal voice in local government. 00:15:43.682 --> 00:15:51.616 - These commissions were designed to advise officials surface in equities and help integrate gender equity 00:15:51.616 --> 00:15:59.400 - into policy. Monroe County was proud to be, I think, one of only three that created this. And this was 00:15:59.400 --> 00:16:06.654 - supposed to be a place where women could gain experience, build networks, and move into elected 00:16:06.754 --> 00:16:13.146 - office. Let's be clear. I do not want to do that. I just want to serve in the capacity that I am. So, 00:16:13.146 --> 00:16:19.413 - in Monroe County, the pipeline has included respected public leaders, such as Senator Shelley Yoder 00:16:19.413 --> 00:16:25.867 - and County Councilperson Liz Feidl. This history is important because it shows what the commission has 00:16:25.867 --> 00:16:31.006 - been capable of when it is taken seriously. Monroe County has had something rare. 00:16:31.106 --> 00:16:38.479 - and all women board of commissioners. That should have been an extraordinary opportunity to strengthen 00:16:38.479 --> 00:16:46.210 - the status of women and girls and marginalized genders in our community and to model what gender responsive 00:16:46.210 --> 00:16:53.511 - governance can look like in practice. Representation alone does not demand a dismantle in equity, but 00:16:53.511 --> 00:16:56.446 - it does create the possibility to do so. 00:16:57.762 --> 00:17:05.346 - So, instead, too often, we have seen women in positions of authority uphold the same patriarchal systems 00:17:05.346 --> 00:17:13.003 - that once excluded them. Systems do not change simply because the people at the table change. They change 00:17:13.003 --> 00:17:20.226 - when those in power intentionally choose to redistribute access, visibility, and resources to those 00:17:20.226 --> 00:17:23.838 - who have been historically pushed to the margins. 00:17:24.066 --> 00:17:30.100 - And so our County is not judged on how well it serves those with power and stability. It is judged by 00:17:30.100 --> 00:17:36.015 - how well it cares for the people with the least access and least protection. So we have a chance to 00:17:36.015 --> 00:17:42.168 - do that in Monroe County to demonstrate what that looks like when women are in leadership and lift them 00:17:42.168 --> 00:17:48.261 - up as they climb and use their positions to dismantle rather than replicate the systems that once held 00:17:48.261 --> 00:17:52.638 - them back. Thank you so much. Thank you. Any other public comment for us? 00:18:04.354 --> 00:18:12.419 - Good morning. My name is Sandy Keller. I am with my sister's closet of Monroe County. We are in the 00:18:12.419 --> 00:18:20.807 - property directly south of the Monroe County Convention Center. I sent you a letter last week regarding 00:18:20.807 --> 00:18:27.582 - our situation with our lease. First, my sister's closet has been in our lease since 00:18:27.842 --> 00:18:35.638 - November of 2014. And we are an organization that serves women who are in vulnerable positions. They 00:18:35.638 --> 00:18:43.356 - are low income. They are trying to move out of poverty under their own power by finding employment. 00:18:43.356 --> 00:18:51.152 - Women who we serve are moving towards self-sufficiency. Over the last 28 years that our organization 00:18:51.152 --> 00:18:56.478 - has been around, we have served over 4,000 women with free advocacy, 00:18:56.578 --> 00:19:03.807 - and mentoring services, 85% of the women that we serve move into better paying jobs or new jobs within 00:19:03.807 --> 00:19:08.158 - six weeks of their first appointment with My Sister's Closet. 00:19:08.258 --> 00:19:16.374 - I'm here today because we are in the group of leases that are supposed to expire July 7th of this year. 00:19:16.374 --> 00:19:24.255 - We have been very fortunate that we have been able to find a property, and we met with Jeff Cockrell 00:19:24.255 --> 00:19:32.137 - last year to let him know about our successful status in finding this property, and that we were not 00:19:32.137 --> 00:19:38.224 - going to be able to pay for both our lease and our mortgage at the same time. 00:19:38.224 --> 00:19:40.126 - at that point that we. 00:19:40.226 --> 00:19:47.568 - asked that the county would forgive our lease until we were able to move, and you have been able to 00:19:47.568 --> 00:19:55.203 - do that for us, and we're extremely grateful for that rent forgiveness. At the same time in our meeting 00:19:55.203 --> 00:20:02.691 - with Jeff, we talk about the possibility that we may not have enough funds to be able to renovate our 00:20:02.691 --> 00:20:08.638 - new building by the time our lease ended. Our plans with the architect are still 00:20:08.802 --> 00:20:16.094 - at the Taper Bruce architect office. They do need to be moved along for approval for the county and 00:20:16.094 --> 00:20:23.531 - city, and then they would go up to the state. We have been told because of funds that have been taken 00:20:23.531 --> 00:20:30.968 - away from those departments at the state level that this will take an additional eight weeks from the 00:20:30.968 --> 00:20:32.062 - time that they 00:20:32.130 --> 00:20:39.378 - get these plans. It is unlikely we'll be able to start to put a shovel in the ground before June gets 00:20:39.378 --> 00:20:46.484 - here. That will displace our free community services to these vulnerable women. We are respectfully 00:20:46.484 --> 00:20:53.803 - asking the county to consider our situation with either a month to month or an extension on our lease, 00:20:53.803 --> 00:20:56.574 - similar to what you've given Jeff Cock 00:20:56.738 --> 00:21:04.582 - Jeff, who is just south of us with the warehouse to June of 2027. This would keep our services for vulnerable 00:21:04.582 --> 00:21:11.784 - women in the county in place without interruption. It would keep us from having to lay off 11 people 00:21:11.784 --> 00:21:19.057 - to whom are clients that are receiving job skills training services at the moment. And it would avoid 00:21:19.057 --> 00:21:25.118 - the need for us to pay for our stock to be stored. We are hoping that the county can 00:21:25.186 --> 00:21:33.364 - commissioners can help us find an alternative solution while we take the steps to move our organization 00:21:33.364 --> 00:21:41.228 - to its new location. And I would be very, very grateful if we can have a discussion about this now, 00:21:41.228 --> 00:21:49.092 - if you have any questions. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. And this item is actually on our 00:21:49.092 --> 00:21:54.046 - agenda in a way. So we can that for now. Thank you. Thank you. 00:22:03.682 --> 00:22:14.275 - other public comment. Let's move on to our next item, please. Yes, I would like to move approval of 00:22:14.275 --> 00:22:25.080 - the minutes for March 19th, 2026. Any comments or edits, corrections on this morning? Okay. All those 00:22:25.080 --> 00:22:33.342 - in favor of approving the minutes for March 19th, 2026 signify by saying aye. 00:22:33.730 --> 00:22:42.889 - I motion carries three zero. Next item, please. I'd like to move approval of the claims docket for accounts 00:22:42.889 --> 00:22:51.623 - payable for March 26, 2026. Second. We have a motion and we have a second. Ms. Gallardo. Good morning. 00:22:51.623 --> 00:23:00.104 - The accounts payable claims docket for March 26, 2026 totals $1,892,820 and 91 cents. This includes 00:23:00.104 --> 00:23:03.326 - all emergency claims and adjustments. 00:23:04.386 --> 00:23:11.528 - Thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner Madero? I have none, thank you. Commissioner 00:23:11.528 --> 00:23:18.742 - Jones? No, I don't. Let's see if there's any public comment on this item. You can raise your hand on 00:23:18.742 --> 00:23:25.956 - Teams or come to the podium. Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the claims docket accounts 00:23:25.956 --> 00:23:33.598 - payable March 26, 2026, signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero. I will note for the record, 00:23:33.794 --> 00:23:41.538 - that we have received a report from weights and measures. It is for February of 2026. And we'll now 00:23:41.538 --> 00:23:49.515 - move on to new business, please. I would like to move approval for the 2026 polling site locations for 00:23:49.515 --> 00:23:57.492 - the primary and general election. Second. We have a motion and we have a second and we have Ms. Ferris 00:23:57.492 --> 00:24:01.054 - joining us to tell us about it. Good morning. 00:24:01.282 --> 00:24:07.617 - Good morning, commissioners. Kylie Ferris, Monroe County Election Supervisor. I have presented 00:24:07.617 --> 00:24:14.552 - the commissioner board with the list of 28 polling locations for the 2026 election cycle. When we first 00:24:14.552 --> 00:24:21.754 - were looking at locations, we were between a number of 29 and 22. One of our locations, Southside Christian 00:24:21.754 --> 00:24:29.022 - Church, had to back out due to damage that they had during the tornado while they were already in a modeling 00:24:29.218 --> 00:24:41.036 - So that has extended theirs, so it has dropped down to 28 from the 29. Thank you so much. Have you share 00:24:41.036 --> 00:24:44.638 - information about early voting? 00:24:45.026 --> 00:24:51.511 - when it starts, and election day, and I'm sure you have this memorized. Yes. Early voting will begin 00:24:51.511 --> 00:24:58.124 - on April 7th, so the last day to register to vote is April 6th. You can call our office or stop by the 00:24:58.124 --> 00:25:04.993 - office. Currently, we are at 501 North Morton in Suite 203, which is upstairs to the left down the hallway 00:25:04.993 --> 00:25:11.478 - at the very end. And then election day will be on May 5th this year, so the last day of early voting 00:25:11.478 --> 00:25:14.046 - will be May 4th. That will end at noon. 00:25:16.386 --> 00:25:22.774 - And there are a couple of Saturdays in there. Yes, the last two Saturdays, May 2nd, and I believe April 00:25:22.774 --> 00:25:29.162 - 25th. All of those are posted on the county website on the voter registration page, and then all sample 00:25:29.162 --> 00:25:35.304 - ballots are posted there as well. Thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner Jones? No, 00:25:35.304 --> 00:25:37.822 - I don't. Thank you. Commissioner Madera? 00:25:38.082 --> 00:25:45.372 - Uh, just that I'm so glad we have almost that full month instead of the bill that would have limited 00:25:45.372 --> 00:25:52.950 - us to what 16 days or something like that. That was horrific. So yes. Yay. Democracy. We've got to fight 00:25:52.950 --> 00:26:00.312 - the federal legislation on ballots, which is crazy. Even though our, our president just mailed in his 00:26:00.312 --> 00:26:02.910 - ballot in Florida. So there you go. 00:26:03.170 --> 00:26:17.469 - you. All right. Let's see if there's any public comments on this item. You can reach your hand in teams 00:26:17.469 --> 00:26:27.230 - or come to the podium. Seeing none all those in favor of approving the 00:26:27.426 --> 00:26:32.605 - Motion carries 3-0. Thank you, ma'am. Thanks for being here. Thank you. These will be posted on the 00:26:32.605 --> 00:26:37.783 - Monroe County website. There is a tab that you can click that says, where do I vote? It'll take you 00:26:37.783 --> 00:26:43.014 - to a GIS map. Type in your address, and it'll tell you which location to go to. Excellent. I love it 00:26:43.014 --> 00:26:46.846 - when technology works. All right. Let's move on to the next item, please. 00:26:47.586 --> 00:26:56.405 - I guess I'd like to move approval for Nature's Way Landscape Services for multiple county properties. 00:26:56.405 --> 00:27:05.051 - Fund name, county general, fund number 1000 in the amount of $41,244.05. Second. All right, we have 00:27:05.051 --> 00:27:10.238 - a motion and we have a second. Good morning, commissioners. 00:27:11.650 --> 00:27:18.204 - This request is to approve renewal of landscape services with Nature's Way Inc. in the amount of $41,244.05. 00:27:18.204 --> 00:27:24.518 - Services include spring cleanup, mulching, monthly bed maintenance, fall cleanup at the following county 00:27:24.518 --> 00:27:30.651 - facilities, community corrections, Fiscus Building, Gordon Pike Roundabout, Health Services Building, 00:27:30.651 --> 00:27:36.725 - and the Historic Courthouse. This agreement also includes installation of summer annual plantings at 00:27:36.725 --> 00:27:41.054 - the Fiscus Building, Health Services Building, and Historic Courthouse. 00:27:41.250 --> 00:27:49.558 - and irrigation services at the Gordon Pike Roundabout. Great. Thank you so much. Comments or questions? 00:27:49.558 --> 00:27:57.547 - Commissioner Medira? No. Sounds wonderful. Thank you. Commissioner Jones? Yeah. I very much enjoyed 00:27:57.547 --> 00:28:06.494 - the native plant areas that they did last year, and I hope that they'll stick with that and maybe even do more. 00:28:06.594 --> 00:28:15.880 - And my personal opinion is that Lantana, Salvia, and Begonia's are pretty boring. I wish they would 00:28:15.880 --> 00:28:25.166 - consider some more interesting options. Okay. I think we can look at that. Okay. Sounds good. Yeah. 00:28:25.166 --> 00:28:34.451 - And I cannot tell you how many people have stopped to say how beautiful the courthouse looks really 00:28:34.451 --> 00:28:36.030 - all summer long. 00:28:36.610 --> 00:28:43.122 - couldn't get over the daffodils here recently. Yeah. Yeah. It's beautiful. So thank you for organizing 00:28:43.122 --> 00:28:49.570 - this. And I'm sure that commissioner Jones would be willing to offer some suggestions and see what we 00:28:49.570 --> 00:28:56.082 - can substitute in. It'd be really good. Good to me. All right. Let's see if there's any public comment 00:28:56.082 --> 00:29:00.254 - on this item. You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. 00:29:07.458 --> 00:29:14.878 - Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the Nature's Way landscape contract for multiple county 00:29:14.878 --> 00:29:22.224 - properties. Signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Next item, please. Yes, I would like to 00:29:22.224 --> 00:29:30.085 - move approval for Wells Lawn Care and Landscaping LLC for Youth Services Bureau. Fund name County General, 00:29:30.085 --> 00:29:36.990 - fund number 1,000 in the amount of $19,320.46. Second. We have a motion and we have a second. 00:29:38.658 --> 00:29:46.949 - This request is to approve renewal of landscape services with Wells Lawn Care and landscaping LLC at 00:29:46.949 --> 00:29:55.979 - the Youth Services Bureau in the amount of $6,120.50 to provide mowing and trimming services, bed maintenance 00:29:55.979 --> 00:30:04.435 - in the amount of $8,032.54 to include spring cleanup, weed removal, shrub trimmings, and fall cleanup. 00:30:04.435 --> 00:30:07.390 - Mulching in the amount of $4,265.42 00:30:07.650 --> 00:30:17.351 - plus one mowing of the field behind the Youth Services Bureau in the amount of $910 for a combined total 00:30:17.351 --> 00:30:27.236 - of $19,328.46. Thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner Madeira? No, thank you. Commissioner 00:30:27.236 --> 00:30:37.214 - Jones? Yes, I want to commend the one mowing of the field behind Youth Services. This is a way to encourage 00:30:37.442 --> 00:30:47.266 - plants that pollinators tend to really enjoy. If you keep things mowed completely all the time, then 00:30:47.266 --> 00:30:57.284 - those plants never have a chance to grow. If you never mow, then it turns into trees real fast. So the 00:30:57.284 --> 00:31:06.718 - once a year mowing is really a nice way to handle it. Great. All right, let's see if there's any 00:31:06.978 --> 00:31:15.561 - Public comment on this item. You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. Seeing none, all those 00:31:15.561 --> 00:31:23.896 - in favor of approving the Wells Lawn Care Landscaping LLC Contract for Youth Services Bureau signify 00:31:23.896 --> 00:31:32.149 - by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero. Next item, please. I would like to move approval for 00:31:32.149 --> 00:31:36.606 - core restoration agreement for the convention center. 00:31:36.738 --> 00:31:45.422 - fund name ARPA, fund number 8950 in the amount of $1,646.52. Second. We have a motion. We have a second, 00:31:45.422 --> 00:31:53.693 - Mr. Kreider. This request is to accept the proposal submitted by Corps Restoration in the amount of 00:31:53.693 --> 00:32:02.543 - $1,646.52 to replace the existing flooring and mop sink in the utility area due to wear and deterioration. 00:32:02.543 --> 00:32:06.430 - And I will note, this is it. This is the final 00:32:06.594 --> 00:32:13.888 - project at the convention center. I had a sinking feeling about that. I guess all the funds are drained. 00:32:13.888 --> 00:32:21.183 - Yeah. All right. I can't believe it's the last one. Yeah. Good on you. All right. Comments or questions, 00:32:21.183 --> 00:32:28.199 - Commissioner Madera? Nothing to pipe up with. Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. Thank you. All right. 00:32:28.199 --> 00:32:34.174 - Any public comments on this item? You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. 00:32:40.322 --> 00:32:46.893 - Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the core restoration agreement for convention center signify 00:32:46.893 --> 00:32:53.091 - by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero. Thank you. Thank you. Next item please. I would like 00:32:53.091 --> 00:32:59.352 - to move approval for F&E payment pros agreement for scanning software. Fund name county general fund 00:32:59.352 --> 00:33:05.551 - number 1000 in the amount of $12,596 for three year agreement. Second. We have a motion and we have 00:33:05.551 --> 00:33:09.022 - a second. Ms. Purdy is going to handle this one for us. 00:33:09.154 --> 00:33:18.772 - Yes, thank you. This is requesting the approval of a contract with F and E payment pros by the treasurer. 00:33:18.772 --> 00:33:27.846 - And this software system they already had in place, but this is providing a three-year agreement of 00:33:27.846 --> 00:33:37.282 - contract. The treasurer was able to negotiate significant savings for the county. The original proposal 00:33:37.282 --> 00:33:39.006 - was a 32% increase 00:33:39.714 --> 00:33:51.273 - And this is more likely 2.5% increase. So this agreement will provide as a total of $12,596 over the 00:33:51.273 --> 00:34:03.518 - three years. Each year is broken down as April 1st of 2026 through March 31st of 2027 is at $4,095 a year. 00:34:03.778 --> 00:34:12.362 - The same time for 2028, it becomes $4,198 per year. And then April 1st through March 31st of 2029, it 00:34:12.362 --> 00:34:21.031 - becomes $4,303 per year. So she's just requesting your approval of this contract. And we'll go forward 00:34:21.031 --> 00:34:28.353 - from there. Thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. 00:34:28.353 --> 00:34:33.150 - Thank you. Commissioner Madeira? No, I don't. Thank you. 00:34:33.282 --> 00:34:42.484 - I don't have any questions either. It makes sense. Let's see if there's any public comment on this item. 00:34:42.484 --> 00:34:51.247 - You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. I see none. All those in favor of approving the 00:34:51.247 --> 00:35:00.099 - F and E payment pros agreement for scanning software signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Motion carries 00:35:00.099 --> 00:35:03.166 - three zero. And we'll now move on. 00:35:03.394 --> 00:35:10.486 - to our next item, please. Yes, I would like to move approval for the Title IV-E grant renewal. Fund 00:35:10.486 --> 00:35:17.650 - name Title IV-E, fund number 8117 in currently unknown grant amount. Second. We have a motion and we 00:35:17.650 --> 00:35:23.678 - have a second and we have Ms. Turner-King joining us to tell us about it. Thank you. 00:35:24.290 --> 00:35:30.695 - Good morning, commissioners. So what is before you is renewal of the Title IV Recovery Grant for the 00:35:30.695 --> 00:35:37.228 - Public Defender's Office. What this grant provides is the opportunity for the Public Defender's Office 00:35:37.228 --> 00:35:43.633 - to receive reimbursements for the cost of representing parents in CHINs or TPR cases, so children in 00:35:43.633 --> 00:35:49.214 - need of services or termination of parental rights cases. The amount is unknown because 00:35:49.954 --> 00:35:57.932 - the reimbursement is dependent on the number of those kinds of cases that the office is representing. 00:35:57.932 --> 00:36:05.831 - The grant started in 2022, so this is renewal, and the cash balance in the Title IV funds reflecting 00:36:05.831 --> 00:36:14.043 - recovery or reimbursements to date is $82,508.01. Thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner 00:36:14.043 --> 00:36:19.518 - Madeira? No, I have none. Thank you. Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. 00:36:21.378 --> 00:36:30.341 - Thank you for bringing this forward. It's always good news to get a grant renewed. See if there's any 00:36:30.341 --> 00:36:39.567 - public comments on this item. You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. Seeing none, all those 00:36:39.567 --> 00:36:48.178 - in favor of approving the title for grant renewal signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. 00:36:48.178 --> 00:36:50.814 - Thank you. Thank you so much. 00:36:50.914 --> 00:36:59.397 - Next item, please. I'd like to move approval for resolution 2026-09 regarding the justice project location. 00:36:59.397 --> 00:37:07.253 - Second. We have a motion. We have a second. Yes, and I haven't checked, but I think this is on with 00:37:07.253 --> 00:37:15.500 - our meeting packet information. There is a draft version of this so that the public and those can follow 00:37:15.500 --> 00:37:18.878 - it as we move forward with this. This is a 00:37:20.130 --> 00:37:27.359 - resolution by the commissioners that would kind of set some parameters with the justice location site. 00:37:27.359 --> 00:37:34.378 - As you know, we've been working on this determined site, and we've been on and off for about six or 00:37:34.378 --> 00:37:41.608 - seven years now, and it's all based upon a lawsuit that started in 2009, or a settlement that occurred 00:37:41.608 --> 00:37:46.942 - in 2009, dealing with the jail overcrowding issues that we're experiencing. 00:37:48.130 --> 00:37:54.955 - We've talked a lot about the history, so I'm really not going to go through a whole lot of the reasons 00:37:54.955 --> 00:38:01.581 - we're looking for a new facility. But we hit a snag last October, and so we need to get out of that 00:38:01.581 --> 00:38:08.273 - snag, and the Indiana Civil Liberties Union has given us until April. Our agreement expires on April 00:38:08.273 --> 00:38:14.966 - 15th. Our agreed order expires on April 15th unless something occurs. The attorney can fault for the 00:38:14.966 --> 00:38:17.086 - Indiana Civil Liberties Union's 00:38:17.538 --> 00:38:24.209 - I'll listen to you if you guys make some substantial progress. We can continue that agreement and that 00:38:24.209 --> 00:38:30.944 - agreement is important for us because it involves a class of individuals. And once that gets dismissed, 00:38:30.944 --> 00:38:37.680 - that class goes away and it opens us up to litigation on the current conditions of the jails. And we've 00:38:37.680 --> 00:38:44.221 - had studies done on the current condition of the jail. So I'm really not gonna go terribly deep into 00:38:44.221 --> 00:38:47.006 - that kind of thing. But I think what this, 00:38:47.586 --> 00:38:54.962 - ultimately says in the now therefore is three things that the commissioners are indicating. One is that 00:38:54.962 --> 00:39:02.551 - you guys will continue to consider the North Park site for the justice project. That you will unilaterally 00:39:02.551 --> 00:39:09.927 - reject any property that will not allow for future co-location expansion and will cause an unreasonable 00:39:09.927 --> 00:39:13.118 - delay in the project. And three, that you're 00:39:13.378 --> 00:39:19.110 - you're requesting the county council to commit to utilizing cash on hand to begin the project prior 00:39:19.110 --> 00:39:24.842 - to issuance of a bond, right? With those three, the whereas clause also includes language where the 00:39:24.842 --> 00:39:31.089 - bonding, where we're at with the bonding is a little hazy right now, but we're hoping to have that clarified 00:39:31.089 --> 00:39:36.878 - within the next few days. I have a meeting with bond council tomorrow to kind of figure out if there 00:39:36.878 --> 00:39:42.782 - is a way to get the bond, what is the timeline for bonding? So can we actually get that done this year 00:39:43.138 --> 00:39:48.745 - if that's possible to get it done this year, not that that necessarily will happen, but what 00:39:48.745 --> 00:39:55.076 - the possibilities are. I think there's also an acknowledgement that, you know, even with that timeframe, 00:39:55.076 --> 00:40:01.165 - a co-located facility right at the onset is probably not feasible financially, right? And so I think 00:40:01.165 --> 00:40:07.134 - this acknowledges that, but says, hey, we still want to have that option to do that in the future. 00:40:10.306 --> 00:40:18.775 - of the resolution if you have any questions. Thank you so much. I will note for the public that if you 00:40:18.775 --> 00:40:27.490 - go to our county website into our calendar and it says agendas and packets for today's meeting underneath 00:40:27.490 --> 00:40:35.794 - the regular session packet, the work session packet, which is blank, there is the exhibit for item H 00:40:35.794 --> 00:40:38.590 - and then also this item, which is 00:40:38.690 --> 00:40:49.259 - item G. Resolution 2026-09. So I just want to make that clear for the public that it's not in the packet, 00:40:49.259 --> 00:40:59.330 - but it is where it can be found on our website. So hopefully that will help folks. So let's go ahead 00:40:59.330 --> 00:41:06.110 - and take comments, questions. Commissioner Madeira? So I think that 00:41:07.874 --> 00:41:16.314 - I'll allow much of what stands in the resolution to speak for itself. I think that there is going to 00:41:16.314 --> 00:41:24.838 - be two areas that attract public attention, and that's why North Park is still a viable property when 00:41:24.838 --> 00:41:33.612 - the council has so vociferously said no. And that's because we haven't heard from members of the council 00:41:33.612 --> 00:41:37.790 - what characteristics make it undesirable and why. 00:41:41.506 --> 00:41:48.230 - why we need to take it off the table. So when we're looking at other properties, in other words, what 00:41:48.230 --> 00:41:54.888 - characteristics will rule these properties out, for lack of a better term. That makes it really hard 00:41:54.888 --> 00:42:01.480 - to adequately identify other properties and choose one that's going to be acceptable both to us and 00:42:01.480 --> 00:42:07.742 - the council. And this is especially the case because we've literally spent millions of dollars 00:42:08.130 --> 00:42:17.698 - that we're not going to be able to do on this property. And of course, much of this was done before 00:42:17.698 --> 00:42:27.457 - I came into office and. In this era of fiscal belt tightening the expenditure of taxpayer funds isn't 00:42:27.457 --> 00:42:37.886 - something that I take lightly. And while we. Obviously are not committed to the design that was. Originally. 00:42:38.242 --> 00:42:47.916 - that property has several characteristics that remain very active for the jail. It allows for circulation. 00:42:47.916 --> 00:42:57.047 - It allows for co-location. And it is ready to go. And when we're staring down a lawsuit, being ready 00:42:57.047 --> 00:43:06.631 - to go and having the expenditure of public funds already passed us makes that property look like a pretty 00:43:06.631 --> 00:43:07.806 - good option. 00:43:07.970 --> 00:43:16.046 - I don't say that out of disrespect for council and disrespect for the public and the reasons they oppose 00:43:16.046 --> 00:43:23.045 - that property. I just wanted to make those remarks because the sheriff and other employees 00:43:23.045 --> 00:43:31.582 - of our correctional facilities have asked why not North Park and we have not heard an answer to that question. 00:43:32.354 --> 00:43:38.584 - I also wanted to say that it does remain very important that we continue to collaborate with the city 00:43:38.584 --> 00:43:44.813 - of Bloomington and collaborate with the council because this is a group project, for lack of a better 00:43:44.813 --> 00:43:50.982 - term. The justice center isn't just a building, it's a public institution and it's a public decision 00:43:50.982 --> 00:43:57.456 - that we all must make together. And we cannot do this without transparency and without public confidence. 00:43:57.456 --> 00:44:00.510 - And so I'll just end my remarks there, thank you. 00:44:01.570 --> 00:44:11.350 - Thank you, Commissioner Madure. Commissioner Jones? Yes, I think it's important that we keep in mind 00:44:11.350 --> 00:44:21.420 - that there are people actually living in that jail in the conditions that have been identified as being 00:44:21.420 --> 00:44:30.910 - unconstitutional. The longer we leave them sitting there, and our staff also who are in the jail, 00:44:31.426 --> 00:44:43.515 - It really seems rather cruel to unnecessarily delay this project any longer. It's been in the works 00:44:43.515 --> 00:44:55.966 - for years, as Mr. Cockrell pointed out, and yet seems to have gotten almost nowhere. It's time to take 00:44:55.966 --> 00:45:00.318 - it seriously and to really remember 00:45:00.450 --> 00:45:10.508 - the people who are actually incarcerated there and what the conditions are that they're living in. 00:45:10.508 --> 00:45:21.886 - Thank you. Thank you so much. And I just want to add a quick comment about the situation. And this is something 00:45:22.082 --> 00:45:33.644 - a barrier or an obstacle at least that the legislature has thrown into our path. It is not something 00:45:33.644 --> 00:45:45.321 - of our own making and we are working diligently to overcome that obstacle and having a property would 00:45:45.321 --> 00:45:50.014 - be a good start to that process as well. 00:45:50.114 --> 00:46:04.290 - But it's taken a lot of time to rehash what has already been done, the work that has already been done. 00:46:04.290 --> 00:46:16.830 - And I don't want us to spend more time on revisiting and revisiting and revisiting the same 00:46:18.146 --> 00:46:32.589 - I think we're missing out on good. In a search for perfect and perfect is never going to happen with 00:46:32.589 --> 00:46:46.174 - a project like this ever. But the. Issues that. Had been raised about North Parker all easily. 00:46:46.466 --> 00:46:56.231 - addressed through other means. But to me, it's the clock that's ticking. And as part of this motion, 00:46:56.231 --> 00:47:05.996 - we should send this resolution to council and also to Mr. Falk. Does everybody agree with that? Yes? 00:47:05.996 --> 00:47:13.054 - Can I follow up on those remarks? Sure. I think you touched on something 00:47:13.186 --> 00:47:19.601 - really important. I mentioned transparency before, but taxpayers expect that these major public projects, 00:47:19.601 --> 00:47:25.713 - especially ones as expensive and significant as this jail, they expect that they're gonna be planned 00:47:25.713 --> 00:47:31.825 - with diligence and care. And I get it that North Park is a political hot potato. It's something that 00:47:31.825 --> 00:47:38.421 - people, I use this comment about being haunted, right? There's something that's deeply politically unpopular 00:47:38.421 --> 00:47:39.934 - and has been for a long, 00:47:40.034 --> 00:47:46.642 - for months about this property. And as deeply unpopular as this property is, every other thing that 00:47:46.642 --> 00:47:53.448 - we've considered, every other site we've considered, there's a lot of unknowns about it. There's a lot 00:47:53.448 --> 00:48:00.121 - of delays. And time is money. Time is suffering. And we have an obligation. We may go down the road. 00:48:00.121 --> 00:48:07.191 - We may find that there's something with these sites that makes them unusable. We may find out that there's 00:48:07.191 --> 00:48:09.438 - features that cost us more money. 00:48:09.538 --> 00:48:19.044 - And for all that North Park seems untouchable, unpalatable, we know everything about that property. 00:48:19.044 --> 00:48:26.078 - And we know that we can put a jail at that site in a transparent fashion. 00:48:26.594 --> 00:48:33.655 - We know that we can use public dollars efficiently. We know we can minimize waste. We know we can maximize 00:48:33.655 --> 00:48:40.319 - long-term value. We know that we can safely put it there in all ways and under all circumstances. We 00:48:40.319 --> 00:48:46.918 - know that we can safely use taxpayer dollars. We know that we can ground our decisions in evidence, 00:48:46.918 --> 00:48:47.710 - and we know 00:48:47.938 --> 00:48:54.641 - that we are not making a hasty decision. We know that we are not making one out of urgency or incomplete 00:48:54.641 --> 00:49:01.089 - information. And that's the only site where my little empirical brain feels comfortable at this time 00:49:01.089 --> 00:49:07.536 - moving forward. And we have to move forward hastily and with urgency. And under these circumstances, 00:49:07.536 --> 00:49:14.750 - that's why I arrive at that site time after time. Did you want to add anything else? No, I don't. Thank you. OK. 00:49:14.946 --> 00:49:28.276 - Let's go ahead and open this up for public comment. You can reach your hand on teams or come to the 00:49:28.276 --> 00:49:32.542 - podium. All right, seeing none. 00:49:32.866 --> 00:49:41.748 - All those in favor of approving resolution 2026-09 with a copy going to council and Mr. Falk at the 00:49:41.748 --> 00:49:51.340 - ICLU signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero. Next item please. I would like to move approval 00:49:51.340 --> 00:50:00.222 - for resolution 2026-10 regarding the transfer of property to the capital improvement board. Second. 00:50:00.546 --> 00:50:07.887 - We have a motion and we have a second, Mr. Cockrell. Yes, and much like the last item, this one is also 00:50:07.887 --> 00:50:15.017 - can be found on the web page at the same place. Last week was spring break, I apologize. But this is 00:50:15.017 --> 00:50:22.076 - a resolution that acknowledges that on February 5th, the Capital Improvement Board asked the county 00:50:22.076 --> 00:50:25.182 - for the remaining properties on that block. 00:50:25.410 --> 00:50:33.103 - where the convention center currently is. So to the south of the current convention center and to the 00:50:33.103 --> 00:50:40.645 - west of the Beeline Trail. And this is done in regards to the fact that they've attempted to have a 00:50:40.645 --> 00:50:48.186 - hotel project go north of the current convention center and that has fallen apart. And so they need 00:50:48.186 --> 00:50:54.974 - to find a site where that critical convention hotel can go and whether the property there 00:50:55.714 --> 00:51:01.782 - requested for now is that site where it ultimately goes, or if it's worked in some kind of arrangement 00:51:01.782 --> 00:51:07.732 - for some other site that is equally as appropriate is kind of the CIB's duties and jobs, but they've 00:51:07.732 --> 00:51:13.800 - made this request. And so this acknowledges is that, and I know that the commissioners, much like this 00:51:13.800 --> 00:51:19.809 - morning, I've heard a lot of information about the current tenants wanting to use that. And honestly, 00:51:19.809 --> 00:51:22.814 - if you would ask me a year ago, I would have said, 00:51:23.010 --> 00:51:29.606 - hotel is going to go north of the site. And so we don't have a lot of these timing issues or these issues 00:51:29.606 --> 00:51:35.829 - with these properties, but that's not where we are today. However, I also don't know how the timing 00:51:35.829 --> 00:51:42.612 - that the CIB has in order to get these properties transformed into the ultimate hotel and whatever mechanism 00:51:42.612 --> 00:51:48.959 - that is. So what we've included in this resolution is kind of two things, kind of two instructions to 00:51:48.959 --> 00:51:52.382 - the CIB, which one is that, you know, we've heard from 00:51:53.058 --> 00:52:00.323 - people who are currently utilizing the property as tenants and that to the extent that they can, as 00:52:00.323 --> 00:52:07.806 - an interim use, allow that to continue that the commissioners are okay with that or would be satisfied 00:52:07.806 --> 00:52:15.216 - with that, provided that the ultimate long-term goal for that property is still to support tourism in 00:52:15.216 --> 00:52:21.246 - the convention center. And two, that some of the buildings are historic in nature, 00:52:21.506 --> 00:52:29.440 - nature and through their decision making process they should acknowledge that and respect those things 00:52:29.440 --> 00:52:37.296 - to the extent possible. And so those are two things. Then in the kind of the now therefore portion of 00:52:37.296 --> 00:52:44.999 - this it is there are two exhibits and the exhibits on the website have a couple of technical issues 00:52:44.999 --> 00:52:50.622 - that I've since corrected names and such. I think Richard Martin was the 00:52:51.202 --> 00:52:58.980 - bill in the notary clause, which clearly is not appropriate. So basically this is saying that you approve 00:52:58.980 --> 00:53:06.539 - the president executing those two deeds in essentially the form they are now, or if there's some minor 00:53:06.539 --> 00:53:14.243 - changes, the legal descriptions are going to have to be updated with actual meets and bounds. That takes 00:53:14.243 --> 00:53:18.206 - a little bit of time, and we wanted to make sure that 00:53:18.850 --> 00:53:25.398 - We had this done in time for the council to review it in a timely fashion. And it allows the board of, 00:53:25.398 --> 00:53:32.073 - the president of the board of commissioners to execute them in different orders. One is for the property 00:53:32.073 --> 00:53:38.684 - west and there are some parking issues that we need to work out with the CIB before that. That may take 00:53:38.684 --> 00:53:45.168 - a little bit while to learn, longer to work out plus that isn't the area where they believe that they 00:53:45.168 --> 00:53:47.838 - have interest in utilizing for the hotel. 00:53:48.450 --> 00:53:56.027 - So, and it also indicates that the copy of this resolution will go to the Capital Improvement Board 00:53:56.027 --> 00:54:04.134 - so they can understand both the current tenant and your wishes on that as well as the historic properties. 00:54:04.134 --> 00:54:11.939 - And then also this will be forwarded to the County Council with an agenda request to approve the terms 00:54:11.939 --> 00:54:17.470 - and conditions of these transfers. So that is what is in the resolution. 00:54:18.242 --> 00:54:27.362 - All right. Thank you so much. Um, comments or questions, commissioner Jones. No, I don't. Thank you. 00:54:27.362 --> 00:54:36.391 - I just had one question. So if people want to ask questions about their leases, then they then take 00:54:36.391 --> 00:54:41.086 - it up with the CID. Is that correct? Well, I guess. 00:54:42.690 --> 00:54:49.804 - Eventually, yes, right? I mean, we are still the owners of the property. We are still, if there is a 00:54:49.804 --> 00:54:57.200 - water leak in their spot, they should continue to communicate that way. I guess the real answer is until 00:54:57.200 --> 00:55:04.384 - this gets transferred, we're still involved, but the CIB is also going to, we're going to include the 00:55:04.384 --> 00:55:12.062 - CIB in those kinds of discussions, right? So we can't transfer, it wouldn't be right to transfer it without, 00:55:12.162 --> 00:55:18.526 - with a brand new lease or a new lease extension or something like that without having the CIB involved 00:55:18.526 --> 00:55:24.704 - because of the reason we're transferring it. We're transferring it for a different use. And I'm not 00:55:24.704 --> 00:55:31.006 - as up to, I don't think anybody in the commissioner's office or the county are as up to date on where 00:55:31.006 --> 00:55:37.184 - they're at in that process as they are. So we wanna make sure that we are working hand in hand with 00:55:37.184 --> 00:55:41.694 - them. So I would say while we're still have title, we're still involved, 00:55:41.826 --> 00:55:50.791 - But we would certainly want to make sure that the CIV is involved with any kind of conversation along 00:55:50.791 --> 00:55:51.934 - those lines. 00:55:52.066 --> 00:56:00.177 - Just for clarity, this resolution does need to go before the county council as well, because it is about 00:56:00.177 --> 00:56:08.443 - the transfer of real property, even though it was purchased by Inkeeper tax dollars. Well, this resolution 00:56:08.443 --> 00:56:16.168 - will go with it, but they have a different set of approvals. They have an approval. They have to do 00:56:16.168 --> 00:56:20.030 - setting the terms and conditions of the tree. OK. 00:56:20.354 --> 00:56:29.142 - And I appreciate that we have acknowledged the historic nature of some of the buildings on this property 00:56:29.142 --> 00:56:37.512 - as a whole. We appreciate the folks that are working hard and making a difference in our community, 00:56:37.512 --> 00:56:46.718 - my sister's closet and the businesses and the tenants. And we will have to see what the CIB's timeline is and 00:56:46.946 --> 00:56:58.226 - to address the concerns of my sister's closet. I would just like to explain for the public what West 00:56:58.226 --> 00:57:09.730 - lot is different, which is west of the beeline. It's behind the sort of an overflow lot of the current 00:57:09.730 --> 00:57:16.766 - convention center. And we do need that lot during the times of 00:57:16.898 --> 00:57:25.689 - early voting in both the primary and for the general election. So essentially April and October, essentially 00:57:25.689 --> 00:57:33.834 - with some spillover. Because our employees at North Showers will be using that West lot so that more 00:57:33.834 --> 00:57:42.302 - parking is available for county residents who wish to vote early and don't want to pay the city's meter. 00:57:42.658 --> 00:57:52.307 - And I don't blame them. I wouldn't either. So it keeps elections free in a sense. And we really won't 00:57:52.307 --> 00:58:01.862 - have that ability to free up that space until after the Justice Center project is done, because that 00:58:01.862 --> 00:58:11.038 - can then serve as an area for overflow parking for our North Shower's employees. Well, actually, 00:58:11.490 --> 00:58:19.183 - the employees that are occupying the parking garage will be at the new location and employees that nor 00:58:19.183 --> 00:58:26.726 - showers can use the parking garage extensively. So that will change, but we can't even say when that 00:58:26.726 --> 00:58:34.269 - is thus the previous resolution because time is of the essence in a lot of ways. And I think that is 00:58:34.269 --> 00:58:38.302 - all true. I would just point out that this resolution 00:58:38.690 --> 00:58:46.624 - and presumably what the council will look at will allow for that transfer of that West lot done earlier 00:58:46.624 --> 00:58:54.253 - than that. But it acknowledges that right now that's not really seen as a higher priority, a higher 00:58:54.253 --> 00:59:01.958 - need for the CIV at this point. That's also part of that whole. Right. And I've had discussions with 00:59:01.958 --> 00:59:06.078 - Mr. Whitecard and they're very willing to allow us to 00:59:06.370 --> 00:59:21.192 - to utilize that space for overflow parking, which is very kind. So, all right. With that, let's see 00:59:21.192 --> 00:59:35.422 - if there's any public comment on this item. Raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. So, 00:59:35.618 --> 00:59:46.068 - for clarity because this is still kind of muddy for me to understand. I don't walk in these conversations 00:59:46.068 --> 00:59:56.024 - very often. We are being asked on a daily basis multiple times by the media and by several concerned 00:59:56.024 --> 00:59:58.686 - citizens about our status. 00:59:58.850 --> 01:00:06.681 - I would like to be able to give them something that's a little bit more clear if possible. It kind of 01:00:06.681 --> 01:00:14.511 - sounds like that you have an urgent need to make a decision, but the CIB has not been able to clarify 01:00:14.511 --> 01:00:22.265 - their timeline. Does that mean that at least where my sister's closet is concerned, we could stay at 01:00:22.265 --> 01:00:26.718 - our location after the lease until you tell us we cannot? 01:00:27.042 --> 01:00:35.733 - I think your best next step would be to meet with Mr. Cockrell and a member of the capital improvement 01:00:35.733 --> 01:00:44.508 - board and set some sort of parameters. And that way you're not surprised your clients and the community 01:00:44.508 --> 01:00:53.030 - will know. So that timeline can be set, correct? I think it's, again, I think it has to include, and 01:00:53.030 --> 01:00:54.718 - I'm more than happy 01:00:54.946 --> 01:01:01.626 - to be your guys' representative there, but it has to include somebody from the CIB. I think what I felt 01:01:01.626 --> 01:01:08.307 - that you may be experiencing is something that, as a government attorney, I hear a lot is that you push 01:01:08.307 --> 01:01:14.859 - the one side or the other, because we've got two people who need to be part of that decision. We need 01:01:14.859 --> 01:01:20.062 - to get those two people with you, work out what solution, if any, there will be. 01:01:20.322 --> 01:01:27.460 - We would appreciate a conversation. We have been told to talk to one person after another, John Weichart, 01:01:27.460 --> 01:01:34.732 - who told us how the money from the food and beverage tax could be used and how the money that was allotted, 01:01:34.732 --> 01:01:41.466 - the $71 million, was only for the construction. At that time, we did ask if there was a possibility 01:01:41.466 --> 01:01:43.486 - of a grant to help us to make 01:01:43.842 --> 01:01:53.516 - our timeline towards renovation to help you out. He advised me to bring it to the property manager. 01:01:53.516 --> 01:02:03.189 - We were told by Talisha that we needed to speak to their property manager because they did not want 01:02:03.189 --> 01:02:08.510 - to be involved with that conversation. Last week I was 01:02:08.610 --> 01:02:15.062 - I did make those calls, I've made them several times. This last week I was put on hold six times to 01:02:15.062 --> 01:02:21.578 - an office with people where English was not their first language. And then I was finally transferred 01:02:21.578 --> 01:02:28.610 - to the Indianapolis office where I was told emphatically by the person in charge that under no circumstances 01:02:28.610 --> 01:02:36.030 - would there be any consideration for an extension on the lease. And then I informed her about the situation of our 01:02:36.130 --> 01:02:43.569 - business right next door to us who, because of a boiler issue, recently was able to extend their lease. 01:02:43.569 --> 01:02:51.294 - And she said she was not aware of that at all. So I have to believe that because that exists, then possibly 01:02:51.294 --> 01:02:57.374 - some kind of an exception can be made even just temporarily from my sister's closet. 01:02:57.666 --> 01:03:04.365 - but we have not been able to actually have much of a conversation. Given that, I know Jodi, that you 01:03:04.365 --> 01:03:10.998 - met with John Zodi recently and answered several of his questions and we met with him yesterday and 01:03:10.998 --> 01:03:17.631 - we're very grateful for that conversation. And Jeff, I appreciate the time that you've given us. We 01:03:17.631 --> 01:03:24.331 - just have women walking in on a regular basis and we're the only game in town doing what we do. It's 01:03:24.331 --> 01:03:25.790 - very unique and it's, 01:03:26.850 --> 01:03:32.960 - It keeps people from being in the system using all the social services they do. It helps them to stand 01:03:32.960 --> 01:03:39.011 - on their own two feet. It releases that money to be used for several of these other projects that you 01:03:39.011 --> 01:03:44.350 - have on your docket and agenda all the time that are extremely worthy and very important. 01:03:44.418 --> 01:03:52.056 - We feel that the work we do makes a difference. We would just like to be able to give people an answer 01:03:52.056 --> 01:03:59.472 - because I can't go anywhere without people asking me. And neither can anybody else who is connected 01:03:59.472 --> 01:04:07.110 - with my sister's closet. It just is getting to a point where we are having people offered to do things 01:04:07.110 --> 01:04:08.222 - in our behalf. 01:04:08.418 --> 01:04:15.013 - which would make it look like we are not in partnership with each other. And that's not what we want 01:04:15.013 --> 01:04:21.673 - because we feel that our organization has been walking step-in-step with the county commissioners and 01:04:21.673 --> 01:04:24.350 - their agenda to make a better community. 01:04:24.514 --> 01:04:31.510 - You would not have forgiven our rent all this time, you know, since April, if you did not believe that 01:04:31.510 --> 01:04:38.369 - you would not have kept it at such a ridiculously low rate that would have allowed us to function as 01:04:38.369 --> 01:04:44.414 - a mostly self sufficient organization under our power by operating this resale boutique. 01:04:44.962 --> 01:04:52.035 - Your input and your guidance during this time and those acts have allowed us to be able to serve all 01:04:52.035 --> 01:04:59.317 - these women all this time. You are much a part of their success as our own efforts and we do appreciate 01:04:59.317 --> 01:05:06.390 - what you're doing. Just give us some guidance and help me put some words on paper and in my mouth so 01:05:06.390 --> 01:05:12.062 - that I can let people know what they're really wanting to know and so they don't 01:05:12.386 --> 01:05:20.251 - make assumptions on their own about what we are trying to accomplish here. All right. Thank you. 01:05:20.251 --> 01:05:28.602 - Thank you. And we do appreciate the work that you and your agency does for women across our community, 01:05:28.602 --> 01:05:36.791 - for families. Thank you. And that's why we had forgiven the rent. And I think we were kind of caught 01:05:36.791 --> 01:05:42.142 - in that in between time of we knew this resolution was coming up. 01:05:42.498 --> 01:05:50.687 - Um, and, um, and not make a commitment because we knew this resolution was coming up. So you can understand 01:05:50.687 --> 01:05:58.270 - that. And I appreciate that. Um, but I think we do have a solution for you, which is a conversation 01:05:58.270 --> 01:06:05.853 - with a member of the CIB, uh, and Mr. Cockrell, and you can walk away with more certainty because I 01:06:05.853 --> 01:06:08.734 - don't know the CIB's timeline either. 01:06:08.834 --> 01:06:16.481 - I mean, they meet regularly, but I don't know what their plans are specifically for that part of the 01:06:16.481 --> 01:06:24.129 - property. And I'm not going to guess. But I guess I will try to reach out to the CIB attorney today, 01:06:24.129 --> 01:06:31.776 - see if we can get something scheduled for probably early next week. And I'll let you know what times 01:06:31.776 --> 01:06:37.758 - and we can make sure they all match up. I just want to be very careful because 01:06:39.042 --> 01:06:46.416 - or what we'll be talking about is potential to extend the lease. I don't think any of this group, CIB, 01:06:46.416 --> 01:06:54.076 - I mean, really anybody but the CVC or the County Council has any authority for providing the new operation 01:06:54.076 --> 01:07:01.451 - at the different location, right? I understand that. Yes, I'm glad you raised that. But you don't know 01:07:01.451 --> 01:07:06.462 - unless you ask, so. But I can tell you the County Council and the CVC 01:07:06.978 --> 01:07:13.169 - I actually don't even think the CBC has the authority to do that because I think that's outside their 01:07:13.169 --> 01:07:19.239 - bounds. But what I'll commit to is reaching out to the CIB attorney, see if we can't get something, 01:07:19.239 --> 01:07:25.734 - a meeting scheduled early next week. Maybe after this, I can, you can send me what times you are available 01:07:25.734 --> 01:07:32.046 - early next week. So maybe to make the scheduling a little easier and we could probably either meet here 01:07:32.046 --> 01:07:35.870 - or at your spot or at their, I mean, we're all within a block. 01:07:35.970 --> 01:07:42.409 - so or two so it's not that big a deal so we'll we'll try to get something scheduled early next week 01:07:42.409 --> 01:07:49.041 - thank you thank you very much all of you i really appreciate it thank you thank you for your heart for 01:07:49.041 --> 01:07:51.102 - your work we appreciate it sure 01:07:51.490 --> 01:07:57.566 - I know Jeff mentioned the historic properties communication, but this seems relevant now. I'd also like 01:07:57.566 --> 01:08:03.700 - to point out that the resolution says that the commissioners wish to communicate to the CIB that members 01:08:03.700 --> 01:08:09.600 - of the public have made a case for continuing the leases beyond their expiration date. And the board 01:08:09.600 --> 01:08:15.500 - of commissioners would not object to the extension so long as the ultimate use of the property is in 01:08:15.500 --> 01:08:21.342 - compliance with Indiana Code 6943A6, which is, of course, the ultimate goal of the innkeeper's tax. 01:08:22.498 --> 01:08:35.424 - Thank you. Any other public comment on this item? Okay. Seeing none, all those in favor of approving 01:08:35.424 --> 01:08:46.430 - resolution 2026-10 signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Next item, please. 01:08:47.074 --> 01:08:53.807 - I would like to move approval for in dot revised agreement for eagles and bridge number 922 for construction 01:08:53.807 --> 01:08:59.983 - funds named eagles and bridge number 922 fund number 8176 in the amount of 5,326,229 dollars and 62 01:08:59.983 --> 01:09:03.998 - cents. Second, we have a motion and we have a second miss ridge. 01:09:04.546 --> 01:09:11.398 - This actually was approved on February 26th on the original contract. NDOT has updated some of their 01:09:11.398 --> 01:09:18.454 - definitions and things like grant agreement was changed to contract, so they resend it just so we could 01:09:18.454 --> 01:09:25.307 - re-sign for those changes. Thank you so much. This is not new funding. This is just a carryover from 01:09:25.307 --> 01:09:32.498 - before. Correct. The only thing that's changed is that clause. Yeah, just some wording and the finalizing 01:09:32.498 --> 01:09:34.398 - of the contract and things. 01:09:34.658 --> 01:09:41.106 - Perfect. All right. Thank you. Comments or questions, Commissioner Madeira? I have none. Thank you. 01:09:41.106 --> 01:09:47.747 - Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. I don't have any either. So let's see if there is any public comment. 01:09:47.747 --> 01:09:51.358 - You can raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. 01:09:58.306 --> 01:10:10.935 - those in favor of approving the end dot revised agreement for eagles and bridge number 9 22 for construction 01:10:10.935 --> 01:10:22.868 - signified by saying aye. I motion carries 30. Uh. You don't have any appointments today. Um I do have, 01:10:22.868 --> 01:10:27.966 - um, a couple of. Announcements I do want to 01:10:28.290 --> 01:10:39.698 - of the trees on Pete Ellis. Although not all of them could be saved, but at least some of them were 01:10:39.698 --> 01:10:51.334 - and I'm glad that that happened. I know there was a lot of community concern. Around that post office 01:10:51.334 --> 01:10:57.950 - when all those big red X is appeared on the trunks of the 01:10:58.178 --> 01:11:10.384 - essentially with the city it's part of that larger State Road 45 correction that's being done that will 01:11:10.384 --> 01:11:21.534 - provide a safer transit for folks in that on that side of town so sadly we lost some trees but 01:11:21.666 --> 01:11:30.177 - beauty is in the compromise and I just wanted to thank Ms. Ridge and Colonel Ferris for their efforts 01:11:30.177 --> 01:11:38.938 - to raise this issue at the MPO meeting and make something happen and get us to this point of compromise. 01:11:38.938 --> 01:11:44.862 - We still have appointments to make to boards and commissions including 01:11:45.122 --> 01:11:54.630 - the health board, the library board, and animal management, easy for me to say. And so if you are interested, 01:11:54.630 --> 01:12:02.495 - please go to in.gov slash county slash Monroe and take a look at the vacancies and or fill 01:12:02.495 --> 01:12:11.312 - out an application. We continue to have office hours via Teams each month, six times each month. Just 01:12:11.312 --> 01:12:14.942 - go to the calendar on that same homepage. 01:12:15.138 --> 01:12:26.177 - and we're looking at some potential for some severe weather tonight. So it's a great time to sign up 01:12:26.177 --> 01:12:37.544 - for the alert notification system where you will receive texts, emails and or phone calls about weather 01:12:37.544 --> 01:12:42.462 - emergencies to keep you informed. And we are 01:12:42.946 --> 01:12:53.697 - continuing to co-host the blood drive at Ivy Tech. Thank you, Ivy Tech. The next blood drives are Wednesday, 01:12:53.697 --> 01:13:04.054 - April 8th from 1 to 6 p.m. Thursday, April 9th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. And that's at Ivy Tech, room C130A 01:13:04.054 --> 01:13:12.734 - and B. Please make an appointment at redcross.org. And for CASA's Child Abuse Awareness 01:13:12.866 --> 01:13:22.997 - We are lighting the courthouse blue. And when is that? Is that for the month? No. For the whole of April. 01:13:22.997 --> 01:13:32.554 - Aren't we good? OK. So there's the reminder. OK. Anything else from my colleagues? We do not have a 01:13:32.554 --> 01:13:42.494 - work session today. Our next, I have to open a calendar. Our next meeting is coming up soon. And it is. 01:13:43.010 --> 01:13:51.833 - April 2nd. There we go. Our next meeting is April 2nd, right here in the NetU Hill room at 10 a.m. And 01:13:51.833 --> 01:13:58.686 - with that, we are adjourned. Thanks, everyone. Thank you, Katz. Thank you, TSD.