Good morning. I'm going to call to order this meeting of the Monroe County Board of Commissioners. It
is Thursday, March 26th, and I'll note for the record that all three commissioners are here and present
in the NatU Hill Room. We'll begin with our public statement. We, the Monroe County Board of Commissioners,
renew our commitment to welcome and protect the rights of all people, regardless of age, race, color,
creed, disability,
sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, marital status, economic status, and national origin. And
we affirm the right of every person to live peacefully and without fear, and we will fight and resist
at every step discrimination and harmful policies, whatever their source. We believe in diversity, equity,
inclusion, and belonging, and we also stand in support of our county public school systems, both RBB
and MCCSC.
And with that, we'll move on to our department updates. Good morning, Commissioners. Richard Crider,
Monroe County Building and Fleet Department. I want to provide you with an update regarding the generator
installation at the Highway Garage and Youth Services Bureau. We recently
requested bids for that. We received the bid packages and we had two responders, Crown Electric and
Cassidy Electric. Cassidy was the low bidder. We are going to work with the professional services team,
Mr. Cockrell and I, and try to get a contract ready to go for next commissioner's meeting. Great. Thank
you so much.
Ms. Kelly from the health department. Good morning commissioners. Just a few updates. According to the
Indiana Department of Health, COVID wastewater concentrations are continuing to trend down. Flu activity
across the state is now moderate.
We have vaccines currently available through the Morgan County Health Department. For appointments or
more information, the public can call 765-342-6621. And lastly, the department is now scheduling appointments
for lactation counseling. For more information, the public can call 812-349-2075.
All right. Thank you so much. Any comments or questions for my colleagues? I'm glad that the flu has
flown. All right. Thank you so much, Ms. Kelly. Recorder Swain. Good morning. I appreciate the opportunity
to bring a public service announcement to everyone today. I have a couple of letters here, one I received.
and one of our property owners here in Monroe County brought in. It is a letter that wants to charge
$285 for a property alert monitoring system that will alert you whenever something is recorded against
your property. I just wanted to let everybody know that we offer that service for free.
So you can go to the Monroe County Government website, click on the recorders page, and the very first
box at the bottom is about a program called Property Watch. That will link you to DocsPop.com. DocsPop
is our partner for posting our public records online so that people can download 24-7. They also have
partnered with us to offer this free
property watch alert system. What you will do is you will put in your name, it will, and county, it
will bring up the properties that you own and then you can click which ones you want to put a watch
on. You can get an alert by either email or text or both. I do want to caution if you live outside city
limits, you will have a legal description that is called meets
and bounds meets is METES. If something is recorded against a neighbor's property, you may get an alert
because the legal description will be very similar. You can do either by name or legal description.
If you've got a name like John Smith, you may prefer just to do the legal description.
It is offered in at least 90 of the 92 counties here in Indiana. So even if you live in a different
county or have relatives in a different county, if you go to the Property Watch site, there is a link
at the bottom to the competitors website that offers a similar service called Property Fraud Alert.
If you don't mind while I have the floor, there are a couple other letters that have been sent out that
I wanted to, again, let people know of a lower cost or free option. There's another one that I received.
So I transferred property after my brother's passing recently in another county. And I got the same
letter that our Monroe County property
resident did. I also received one that wanted to charge $132.50 for a copy of the deed, the only document
showing that you own your property. You can get a copy of your deed for a dollar a page in our office.
Most deeds are between one and three pages. So again,
And you can just come into our office you can go to docs pop.com and download there. They do charge
$2 per page one coming to the county and one paying for their service. And then the third one.
is really important to get the word out. So our veterans are being targeted. There is a letter that
has gone out from a company that wants to charge them more than $100 to expedite the processing of their
DD-214 or their military discharge. You can get a copy of that for free from our office. We will also
record DD-214s for free.
We don't have it in our local database because the veteran didn't record their DD-214s. We can work
with a veteran service office to contact the national database.
It does take about two months. There's really no expediting that process. So again, we will provide
that service for free. And I just wanted to let veterans and their families who may need that
for scholarships or things like that to know. Thank you so much. That's really useful public education.
My colleagues have any questions or? No, actually, I think you explained it very well. Thank you.
It's horrifying that anyone would target in so unscrupulous a manner. So thank you so much for bringing
that to our attention as well as to how to avoid that. And I wanna let all of the property owners know.
So we're also putting an insert into the property tax billing this spring that'll go out next month.
So people can look for that and share it with others and like I said, other counties as well.
Thank you. Great, thank you.
All right. Any other department updates? All right. Seeing none, we will move on to public comments.
This item is not on our agenda. We ask each speaker to limit their time to three minutes per person.
and to provide their name and county of residence when they begin speaking. You can raise your hand
on teams or you can come to the podium. I have somebody on team Susan Hingle. You will need to unmute.
There you go. Oh, I'm on YouTube. Good morning, commissioners. Thank you for the opportunity. Can you
hear me okay?
Can you hear me? Yes, we can. TSD, can you put the clock up, please? All right. Good morning. Thank
you for the opportunity to speak. I want to address an incident that occurred last week involving the
Monroe County Women's Commission, not to assign blame, but because it raises an important issue about
process and support for our boards and commissions. Our March meeting was properly noticed in full compliance
with Indiana's open door law when Commissioner
commissioners arrived, the building was locked. After some time, we were eventually let in, only to
be told we could not remain in the room because our meeting was not listed on an internal county calendar.
It was also spring break, which I think contributed to the confusion. This was inconvenient and frustrating,
but more importantly, it put us in a position where a public body that had followed the law was effectively
prevented from using public space
to conduct public business. We did what we were required and allowed to do. We had quorum and agenda
and a lawfully noticed meeting, so we met anyway outside on the Sophia Travis Bench on county property.
I want to be clear, I don't believe this was intentional, but I do think it is symptomatic of a deeper issue
namely the fragility of the systems that support boards and commissions, especially volunteer bodies.
Boards and commissions rely on basic infrastructure, access to meeting space, clear scheduling processes,
and consistent staff coordination. When those systems fail, even unintentionally, it sends a message
that this work is optional or incidental rather than an essential part of county governments.
This matters at all the more in a moment where there are conversations about reducing and restructuring
support for boards and commissions more broadly. If meeting rooms and administrative coordination are
uncertain, then public service becomes unnecessarily difficult and public participation suffers. My
ask today is simple and constructive. First, that the county review and clarify the internal processes
around room access and calendaring to ensure that a public
properly noticed public meeting cannot be displaced by clerical or communications gap. Second, as the
commission reaffirmed its commitment to boards and commissions by ensuring that the basic logistical
support required to function is treated as a core responsibility, not an expendable one. The Women's
Commission and a lot of county boards and commissions are made up of volunteers who show up
because they care about this community and want to contribute meaningfully. The county created these
bodies for a reason. Our system should make it possible for them to do their work, not harder. Thank
you for your time and your attention to this issue. Thank you. Is there anyone else that wishes to make
public comment?
Good morning, commissioners. My name is Tia Arthur. I'm the executive director of Monroe-Kanekasa. I
just wanted to share with you, coming up in the month of April, it's Child Abuse Awareness Month. And
it's something that we have taken on since I've become the director, because it's very important to
our community. We have children in our community who are abused on a daily basis. I just got enrollment numbers.
from MCCSE. And if you think about the enrollment of Tri-North Middle School, every single one of those
children has been abused. So about that number, in 2025, all of those children had been abused or neglected.
And I think that's really powerful when you think about the number of children in our community. This
is a public health issue and we need to create awareness
so we can make it clear that we need to prevent it. And so prevention is very important to us at CASA.
We offer prevention programming to parents. We're rolling out a training in April called Stop It Now
to help people understand and learn about the signs to protect children from sexual abuse. Those are
things that are very important to us. And I just wanted to invite
everyone here to please join us. We're doing a kickoff rally next Wednesday at noon here on the south
side of the courthouse lawn. I wanted to extend my gratitude to Monroe County. They are supportive of
the welfare of children. They're concerned about the welfare of children as we are at CASA. And I want
to thank Commissioner
Thank you so much. We also have a comment from Maria
Good morning. Thank you so much for this time. My name is Maria Douglas and I have been a Monroe County
resident for over 33 years and I serve on the Monroe County Women's Commission through the County Council's
appointment.
So first I wanted to begin by thanking Commissioner Madeira for taking my call on Thursday, March 19th,
and for attempting to problem solve in real time, as Susan already spoke about the situation, and for
clearly naming how unacceptable it is for the Women's Commission to be marginalized in the very county
government that created it. And that acknowledgement mattered, so thank you so much. And she also showed
up at the county council meeting to speak about this as well.
So, clearly, I won't repeat the details of the locked door incident. We have already spoken before county
council on Tuesday, and the incident was picked up by the B Square Bulletin. Thank you so much. Instead,
I want to place that moment in a longer history, because it did not happen in isolation. The Monroe
County Women's Commission was created as part of a broader movement across Indiana in the late 20th
century to ensure that women had a formal voice in local government.
These commissions were designed to advise officials surface in equities and help integrate gender equity
into policy. Monroe County was proud to be, I think, one of only three that created this. And this was
supposed to be a place where women could gain experience, build networks, and move into elected
office. Let's be clear. I do not want to do that. I just want to serve in the capacity that I am. So,
in Monroe County, the pipeline has included respected public leaders, such as Senator Shelley Yoder
and County Councilperson Liz Feidl. This history is important because it shows what the commission has
been capable of when it is taken seriously. Monroe County has had something rare.
and all women board of commissioners. That should have been an extraordinary opportunity to strengthen
the status of women and girls and marginalized genders in our community and to model what gender responsive
governance can look like in practice. Representation alone does not demand a dismantle in equity, but
it does create the possibility to do so.
So, instead, too often, we have seen women in positions of authority uphold the same patriarchal systems
that once excluded them. Systems do not change simply because the people at the table change. They change
when those in power intentionally choose to redistribute access, visibility, and resources to those
who have been historically pushed to the margins.
And so our County is not judged on how well it serves those with power and stability. It is judged by
how well it cares for the people with the least access and least protection. So we have a chance to
do that in Monroe County to demonstrate what that looks like when women are in leadership and lift them
up as they climb and use their positions to dismantle rather than replicate the systems that once held
them back. Thank you so much. Thank you. Any other public comment for us?
Good morning. My name is Sandy Keller. I am with my sister's closet of Monroe County. We are in the
property directly south of the Monroe County Convention Center. I sent you a letter last week regarding
our situation with our lease. First, my sister's closet has been in our lease since
November of 2014. And we are an organization that serves women who are in vulnerable positions. They
are low income. They are trying to move out of poverty under their own power by finding employment.
Women who we serve are moving towards self-sufficiency. Over the last 28 years that our organization
has been around, we have served over 4,000 women with free advocacy,
and mentoring services, 85% of the women that we serve move into better paying jobs or new jobs within
six weeks of their first appointment with My Sister's Closet.
I'm here today because we are in the group of leases that are supposed to expire July 7th of this year.
We have been very fortunate that we have been able to find a property, and we met with Jeff Cockrell
last year to let him know about our successful status in finding this property, and that we were not
going to be able to pay for both our lease and our mortgage at the same time.
at that point that we.
asked that the county would forgive our lease until we were able to move, and you have been able to
do that for us, and we're extremely grateful for that rent forgiveness. At the same time in our meeting
with Jeff, we talk about the possibility that we may not have enough funds to be able to renovate our
new building by the time our lease ended. Our plans with the architect are still
at the Taper Bruce architect office. They do need to be moved along for approval for the county and
city, and then they would go up to the state. We have been told because of funds that have been taken
away from those departments at the state level that this will take an additional eight weeks from the
time that they
get these plans. It is unlikely we'll be able to start to put a shovel in the ground before June gets
here. That will displace our free community services to these vulnerable women. We are respectfully
asking the county to consider our situation with either a month to month or an extension on our lease,
similar to what you've given Jeff Cock
Jeff, who is just south of us with the warehouse to June of 2027. This would keep our services for vulnerable
women in the county in place without interruption. It would keep us from having to lay off 11 people
to whom are clients that are receiving job skills training services at the moment. And it would avoid
the need for us to pay for our stock to be stored. We are hoping that the county can
commissioners can help us find an alternative solution while we take the steps to move our organization
to its new location. And I would be very, very grateful if we can have a discussion about this now,
if you have any questions. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. And this item is actually on our
agenda in a way. So we can that for now. Thank you. Thank you.
other public comment. Let's move on to our next item, please. Yes, I would like to move approval of
the minutes for March 19th, 2026. Any comments or edits, corrections on this morning? Okay. All those
in favor of approving the minutes for March 19th, 2026 signify by saying aye.
I motion carries three zero. Next item, please. I'd like to move approval of the claims docket for accounts
payable for March 26, 2026. Second. We have a motion and we have a second. Ms. Gallardo. Good morning.
The accounts payable claims docket for March 26, 2026 totals $1,892,820 and 91 cents. This includes
all emergency claims and adjustments.
Thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner Madero? I have none, thank you. Commissioner
Jones? No, I don't. Let's see if there's any public comment on this item. You can raise your hand on
Teams or come to the podium. Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the claims docket accounts
payable March 26, 2026, signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero. I will note for the record,
that we have received a report from weights and measures. It is for February of 2026. And we'll now
move on to new business, please. I would like to move approval for the 2026 polling site locations for
the primary and general election. Second. We have a motion and we have a second and we have Ms. Ferris
joining us to tell us about it. Good morning.
Good morning, commissioners. Kylie Ferris, Monroe County Election Supervisor. I have presented
the commissioner board with the list of 28 polling locations for the 2026 election cycle. When we first
were looking at locations, we were between a number of 29 and 22. One of our locations, Southside Christian
Church, had to back out due to damage that they had during the tornado while they were already in a modeling
So that has extended theirs, so it has dropped down to 28 from the 29. Thank you so much. Have you share
information about early voting?
when it starts, and election day, and I'm sure you have this memorized. Yes. Early voting will begin
on April 7th, so the last day to register to vote is April 6th. You can call our office or stop by the
office. Currently, we are at 501 North Morton in Suite 203, which is upstairs to the left down the hallway
at the very end. And then election day will be on May 5th this year, so the last day of early voting
will be May 4th. That will end at noon.
And there are a couple of Saturdays in there. Yes, the last two Saturdays, May 2nd, and I believe April
25th. All of those are posted on the county website on the voter registration page, and then all sample
ballots are posted there as well. Thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner Jones? No,
I don't. Thank you. Commissioner Madera?
Uh, just that I'm so glad we have almost that full month instead of the bill that would have limited
us to what 16 days or something like that. That was horrific. So yes. Yay. Democracy. We've got to fight
the federal legislation on ballots, which is crazy. Even though our, our president just mailed in his
ballot in Florida. So there you go.
you. All right. Let's see if there's any public comments on this item. You can reach your hand in teams
or come to the podium. Seeing none all those in favor of approving the
Motion carries 3-0. Thank you, ma'am. Thanks for being here. Thank you. These will be posted on the
Monroe County website. There is a tab that you can click that says, where do I vote? It'll take you
to a GIS map. Type in your address, and it'll tell you which location to go to. Excellent. I love it
when technology works. All right. Let's move on to the next item, please.
I guess I'd like to move approval for Nature's Way Landscape Services for multiple county properties.
Fund name, county general, fund number 1000 in the amount of $41,244.05. Second. All right, we have
a motion and we have a second. Good morning, commissioners.
This request is to approve renewal of landscape services with Nature's Way Inc. in the amount of $41,244.05.
Services include spring cleanup, mulching, monthly bed maintenance, fall cleanup at the following county
facilities, community corrections, Fiscus Building, Gordon Pike Roundabout, Health Services Building,
and the Historic Courthouse. This agreement also includes installation of summer annual plantings at
the Fiscus Building, Health Services Building, and Historic Courthouse.
and irrigation services at the Gordon Pike Roundabout. Great. Thank you so much. Comments or questions?
Commissioner Medira? No. Sounds wonderful. Thank you. Commissioner Jones? Yeah. I very much enjoyed
the native plant areas that they did last year, and I hope that they'll stick with that and maybe even do more.
And my personal opinion is that Lantana, Salvia, and Begonia's are pretty boring. I wish they would
consider some more interesting options. Okay. I think we can look at that. Okay. Sounds good. Yeah.
And I cannot tell you how many people have stopped to say how beautiful the courthouse looks really
all summer long.
couldn't get over the daffodils here recently. Yeah. Yeah. It's beautiful. So thank you for organizing
this. And I'm sure that commissioner Jones would be willing to offer some suggestions and see what we
can substitute in. It'd be really good. Good to me. All right. Let's see if there's any public comment
on this item. You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the Nature's Way landscape contract for multiple county
properties. Signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Next item, please. Yes, I would like to
move approval for Wells Lawn Care and Landscaping LLC for Youth Services Bureau. Fund name County General,
fund number 1,000 in the amount of $19,320.46. Second. We have a motion and we have a second.
This request is to approve renewal of landscape services with Wells Lawn Care and landscaping LLC at
the Youth Services Bureau in the amount of $6,120.50 to provide mowing and trimming services, bed maintenance
in the amount of $8,032.54 to include spring cleanup, weed removal, shrub trimmings, and fall cleanup.
Mulching in the amount of $4,265.42
plus one mowing of the field behind the Youth Services Bureau in the amount of $910 for a combined total
of $19,328.46. Thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner Madeira? No, thank you. Commissioner
Jones? Yes, I want to commend the one mowing of the field behind Youth Services. This is a way to encourage
plants that pollinators tend to really enjoy. If you keep things mowed completely all the time, then
those plants never have a chance to grow. If you never mow, then it turns into trees real fast. So the
once a year mowing is really a nice way to handle it. Great. All right, let's see if there's any
Public comment on this item. You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. Seeing none, all those
in favor of approving the Wells Lawn Care Landscaping LLC Contract for Youth Services Bureau signify
by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero. Next item, please. I would like to move approval for
core restoration agreement for the convention center.
fund name ARPA, fund number 8950 in the amount of $1,646.52. Second. We have a motion. We have a second,
Mr. Kreider. This request is to accept the proposal submitted by Corps Restoration in the amount of
$1,646.52 to replace the existing flooring and mop sink in the utility area due to wear and deterioration.
And I will note, this is it. This is the final
project at the convention center. I had a sinking feeling about that. I guess all the funds are drained.
Yeah. All right. I can't believe it's the last one. Yeah. Good on you. All right. Comments or questions,
Commissioner Madera? Nothing to pipe up with. Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. Thank you. All right.
Any public comments on this item? You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the core restoration agreement for convention center signify
by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero. Thank you. Thank you. Next item please. I would like
to move approval for F&E payment pros agreement for scanning software. Fund name county general fund
number 1000 in the amount of $12,596 for three year agreement. Second. We have a motion and we have
a second. Ms. Purdy is going to handle this one for us.
Yes, thank you. This is requesting the approval of a contract with F and E payment pros by the treasurer.
And this software system they already had in place, but this is providing a three-year agreement of
contract. The treasurer was able to negotiate significant savings for the county. The original proposal
was a 32% increase
And this is more likely 2.5% increase. So this agreement will provide as a total of $12,596 over the
three years. Each year is broken down as April 1st of 2026 through March 31st of 2027 is at $4,095 a year.
The same time for 2028, it becomes $4,198 per year. And then April 1st through March 31st of 2029, it
becomes $4,303 per year. So she's just requesting your approval of this contract. And we'll go forward
from there. Thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner Jones? No, I don't.
Thank you. Commissioner Madeira? No, I don't. Thank you.
I don't have any questions either. It makes sense. Let's see if there's any public comment on this item.
You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. I see none. All those in favor of approving the
F and E payment pros agreement for scanning software signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Motion carries
three zero. And we'll now move on.
to our next item, please. Yes, I would like to move approval for the Title IV-E grant renewal. Fund
name Title IV-E, fund number 8117 in currently unknown grant amount. Second. We have a motion and we
have a second and we have Ms. Turner-King joining us to tell us about it. Thank you.
Good morning, commissioners. So what is before you is renewal of the Title IV Recovery Grant for the
Public Defender's Office. What this grant provides is the opportunity for the Public Defender's Office
to receive reimbursements for the cost of representing parents in CHINs or TPR cases, so children in
need of services or termination of parental rights cases. The amount is unknown because
the reimbursement is dependent on the number of those kinds of cases that the office is representing.
The grant started in 2022, so this is renewal, and the cash balance in the Title IV funds reflecting
recovery or reimbursements to date is $82,508.01. Thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner
Madeira? No, I have none. Thank you. Commissioner Jones? No, I don't.
Thank you for bringing this forward. It's always good news to get a grant renewed. See if there's any
public comments on this item. You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. Seeing none, all those
in favor of approving the title for grant renewal signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Next item, please. I'd like to move approval for resolution 2026-09 regarding the justice project location.
Second. We have a motion. We have a second. Yes, and I haven't checked, but I think this is on with
our meeting packet information. There is a draft version of this so that the public and those can follow
it as we move forward with this. This is a
resolution by the commissioners that would kind of set some parameters with the justice location site.
As you know, we've been working on this determined site, and we've been on and off for about six or
seven years now, and it's all based upon a lawsuit that started in 2009, or a settlement that occurred
in 2009, dealing with the jail overcrowding issues that we're experiencing.
We've talked a lot about the history, so I'm really not going to go through a whole lot of the reasons
we're looking for a new facility. But we hit a snag last October, and so we need to get out of that
snag, and the Indiana Civil Liberties Union has given us until April. Our agreement expires on April
15th. Our agreed order expires on April 15th unless something occurs. The attorney can fault for the
Indiana Civil Liberties Union's
I'll listen to you if you guys make some substantial progress. We can continue that agreement and that
agreement is important for us because it involves a class of individuals. And once that gets dismissed,
that class goes away and it opens us up to litigation on the current conditions of the jails. And we've
had studies done on the current condition of the jail. So I'm really not gonna go terribly deep into
that kind of thing. But I think what this,
ultimately says in the now therefore is three things that the commissioners are indicating. One is that
you guys will continue to consider the North Park site for the justice project. That you will unilaterally
reject any property that will not allow for future co-location expansion and will cause an unreasonable
delay in the project. And three, that you're
you're requesting the county council to commit to utilizing cash on hand to begin the project prior
to issuance of a bond, right? With those three, the whereas clause also includes language where the
bonding, where we're at with the bonding is a little hazy right now, but we're hoping to have that clarified
within the next few days. I have a meeting with bond council tomorrow to kind of figure out if there
is a way to get the bond, what is the timeline for bonding? So can we actually get that done this year
if that's possible to get it done this year, not that that necessarily will happen, but what
the possibilities are. I think there's also an acknowledgement that, you know, even with that timeframe,
a co-located facility right at the onset is probably not feasible financially, right? And so I think
this acknowledges that, but says, hey, we still want to have that option to do that in the future.
of the resolution if you have any questions. Thank you so much. I will note for the public that if you
go to our county website into our calendar and it says agendas and packets for today's meeting underneath
the regular session packet, the work session packet, which is blank, there is the exhibit for item H
and then also this item, which is
item G. Resolution 2026-09. So I just want to make that clear for the public that it's not in the packet,
but it is where it can be found on our website. So hopefully that will help folks. So let's go ahead
and take comments, questions. Commissioner Madeira? So I think that
I'll allow much of what stands in the resolution to speak for itself. I think that there is going to
be two areas that attract public attention, and that's why North Park is still a viable property when
the council has so vociferously said no. And that's because we haven't heard from members of the council
what characteristics make it undesirable and why.
why we need to take it off the table. So when we're looking at other properties, in other words, what
characteristics will rule these properties out, for lack of a better term. That makes it really hard
to adequately identify other properties and choose one that's going to be acceptable both to us and
the council. And this is especially the case because we've literally spent millions of dollars
that we're not going to be able to do on this property. And of course, much of this was done before
I came into office and. In this era of fiscal belt tightening the expenditure of taxpayer funds isn't
something that I take lightly. And while we. Obviously are not committed to the design that was. Originally.
that property has several characteristics that remain very active for the jail. It allows for circulation.
It allows for co-location. And it is ready to go. And when we're staring down a lawsuit, being ready
to go and having the expenditure of public funds already passed us makes that property look like a pretty
good option.
I don't say that out of disrespect for council and disrespect for the public and the reasons they oppose
that property. I just wanted to make those remarks because the sheriff and other employees
of our correctional facilities have asked why not North Park and we have not heard an answer to that question.
I also wanted to say that it does remain very important that we continue to collaborate with the city
of Bloomington and collaborate with the council because this is a group project, for lack of a better
term. The justice center isn't just a building, it's a public institution and it's a public decision
that we all must make together. And we cannot do this without transparency and without public confidence.
And so I'll just end my remarks there, thank you.
Thank you, Commissioner Madure. Commissioner Jones? Yes, I think it's important that we keep in mind
that there are people actually living in that jail in the conditions that have been identified as being
unconstitutional. The longer we leave them sitting there, and our staff also who are in the jail,
It really seems rather cruel to unnecessarily delay this project any longer. It's been in the works
for years, as Mr. Cockrell pointed out, and yet seems to have gotten almost nowhere. It's time to take
it seriously and to really remember
the people who are actually incarcerated there and what the conditions are that they're living in.
Thank you. Thank you so much. And I just want to add a quick comment about the situation. And this is something
a barrier or an obstacle at least that the legislature has thrown into our path. It is not something
of our own making and we are working diligently to overcome that obstacle and having a property would
be a good start to that process as well.
But it's taken a lot of time to rehash what has already been done, the work that has already been done.
And I don't want us to spend more time on revisiting and revisiting and revisiting the same
I think we're missing out on good. In a search for perfect and perfect is never going to happen with
a project like this ever. But the. Issues that. Had been raised about North Parker all easily.
addressed through other means. But to me, it's the clock that's ticking. And as part of this motion,
we should send this resolution to council and also to Mr. Falk. Does everybody agree with that? Yes?
Can I follow up on those remarks? Sure. I think you touched on something
really important. I mentioned transparency before, but taxpayers expect that these major public projects,
especially ones as expensive and significant as this jail, they expect that they're gonna be planned
with diligence and care. And I get it that North Park is a political hot potato. It's something that
people, I use this comment about being haunted, right? There's something that's deeply politically unpopular
and has been for a long,
for months about this property. And as deeply unpopular as this property is, every other thing that
we've considered, every other site we've considered, there's a lot of unknowns about it. There's a lot
of delays. And time is money. Time is suffering. And we have an obligation. We may go down the road.
We may find that there's something with these sites that makes them unusable. We may find out that there's
features that cost us more money.
And for all that North Park seems untouchable, unpalatable, we know everything about that property.
And we know that we can put a jail at that site in a transparent fashion.
We know that we can use public dollars efficiently. We know we can minimize waste. We know we can maximize
long-term value. We know that we can safely put it there in all ways and under all circumstances. We
know that we can safely use taxpayer dollars. We know that we can ground our decisions in evidence,
and we know
that we are not making a hasty decision. We know that we are not making one out of urgency or incomplete
information. And that's the only site where my little empirical brain feels comfortable at this time
moving forward. And we have to move forward hastily and with urgency. And under these circumstances,
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.
Let's go ahead and open this up for public comment. You can reach your hand on teams or come to the
podium. All right, seeing none.
All those in favor of approving resolution 2026-09 with a copy going to council and Mr. Falk at the
ICLU signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero. Next item please. I would like to move approval
for resolution 2026-10 regarding the transfer of property to the capital improvement board. Second.
We have a motion and we have a second, Mr. Cockrell. Yes, and much like the last item, this one is also
can be found on the web page at the same place. Last week was spring break, I apologize. But this is
a resolution that acknowledges that on February 5th, the Capital Improvement Board asked the county
for the remaining properties on that block.
where the convention center currently is. So to the south of the current convention center and to the
west of the Beeline Trail. And this is done in regards to the fact that they've attempted to have a
hotel project go north of the current convention center and that has fallen apart. And so they need
to find a site where that critical convention hotel can go and whether the property there
requested for now is that site where it ultimately goes, or if it's worked in some kind of arrangement
for some other site that is equally as appropriate is kind of the CIB's duties and jobs, but they've
made this request. And so this acknowledges is that, and I know that the commissioners, much like this
morning, I've heard a lot of information about the current tenants wanting to use that. And honestly,
if you would ask me a year ago, I would have said,
hotel is going to go north of the site. And so we don't have a lot of these timing issues or these issues
with these properties, but that's not where we are today. However, I also don't know how the timing
that the CIB has in order to get these properties transformed into the ultimate hotel and whatever mechanism
that is. So what we've included in this resolution is kind of two things, kind of two instructions to
the CIB, which one is that, you know, we've heard from
people who are currently utilizing the property as tenants and that to the extent that they can, as
an interim use, allow that to continue that the commissioners are okay with that or would be satisfied
with that, provided that the ultimate long-term goal for that property is still to support tourism in
the convention center. And two, that some of the buildings are historic in nature,
nature and through their decision making process they should acknowledge that and respect those things
to the extent possible. And so those are two things. Then in the kind of the now therefore portion of
this it is there are two exhibits and the exhibits on the website have a couple of technical issues
that I've since corrected names and such. I think Richard Martin was the
bill in the notary clause, which clearly is not appropriate. So basically this is saying that you approve
the president executing those two deeds in essentially the form they are now, or if there's some minor
changes, the legal descriptions are going to have to be updated with actual meets and bounds. That takes
a little bit of time, and we wanted to make sure that
We had this done in time for the council to review it in a timely fashion. And it allows the board of,
the president of the board of commissioners to execute them in different orders. One is for the property
west and there are some parking issues that we need to work out with the CIB before that. That may take
a little bit while to learn, longer to work out plus that isn't the area where they believe that they
have interest in utilizing for the hotel.
So, and it also indicates that the copy of this resolution will go to the Capital Improvement Board
so they can understand both the current tenant and your wishes on that as well as the historic properties.
And then also this will be forwarded to the County Council with an agenda request to approve the terms
and conditions of these transfers. So that is what is in the resolution.
All right. Thank you so much. Um, comments or questions, commissioner Jones. No, I don't. Thank you.
I just had one question. So if people want to ask questions about their leases, then they then take
it up with the CID. Is that correct? Well, I guess.
Eventually, yes, right? I mean, we are still the owners of the property. We are still, if there is a
water leak in their spot, they should continue to communicate that way. I guess the real answer is until
this gets transferred, we're still involved, but the CIB is also going to, we're going to include the
CIB in those kinds of discussions, right? So we can't transfer, it wouldn't be right to transfer it without,
with a brand new lease or a new lease extension or something like that without having the CIB involved
because of the reason we're transferring it. We're transferring it for a different use. And I'm not
as up to, I don't think anybody in the commissioner's office or the county are as up to date on where
they're at in that process as they are. So we wanna make sure that we are working hand in hand with
them. So I would say while we're still have title, we're still involved,
But we would certainly want to make sure that the CIV is involved with any kind of conversation along
those lines.
Just for clarity, this resolution does need to go before the county council as well, because it is about
the transfer of real property, even though it was purchased by Inkeeper tax dollars. Well, this resolution
will go with it, but they have a different set of approvals. They have an approval. They have to do
setting the terms and conditions of the tree. OK.
And I appreciate that we have acknowledged the historic nature of some of the buildings on this property
as a whole. We appreciate the folks that are working hard and making a difference in our community,
my sister's closet and the businesses and the tenants. And we will have to see what the CIB's timeline is and
to address the concerns of my sister's closet. I would just like to explain for the public what West
lot is different, which is west of the beeline. It's behind the sort of an overflow lot of the current
convention center. And we do need that lot during the times of
early voting in both the primary and for the general election. So essentially April and October, essentially
with some spillover. Because our employees at North Showers will be using that West lot so that more
parking is available for county residents who wish to vote early and don't want to pay the city's meter.
And I don't blame them. I wouldn't either. So it keeps elections free in a sense. And we really won't
have that ability to free up that space until after the Justice Center project is done, because that
can then serve as an area for overflow parking for our North Shower's employees. Well, actually,
the employees that are occupying the parking garage will be at the new location and employees that nor
showers can use the parking garage extensively. So that will change, but we can't even say when that
is thus the previous resolution because time is of the essence in a lot of ways. And I think that is
all true. I would just point out that this resolution
and presumably what the council will look at will allow for that transfer of that West lot done earlier
than that. But it acknowledges that right now that's not really seen as a higher priority, a higher
need for the CIV at this point. That's also part of that whole. Right. And I've had discussions with
Mr. Whitecard and they're very willing to allow us to
to utilize that space for overflow parking, which is very kind. So, all right. With that, let's see
if there's any public comment on this item. Raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. So,
for clarity because this is still kind of muddy for me to understand. I don't walk in these conversations
very often. We are being asked on a daily basis multiple times by the media and by several concerned
citizens about our status.
I would like to be able to give them something that's a little bit more clear if possible. It kind of
sounds like that you have an urgent need to make a decision, but the CIB has not been able to clarify
their timeline. Does that mean that at least where my sister's closet is concerned, we could stay at
our location after the lease until you tell us we cannot?
I think your best next step would be to meet with Mr. Cockrell and a member of the capital improvement
board and set some sort of parameters. And that way you're not surprised your clients and the community
will know. So that timeline can be set, correct? I think it's, again, I think it has to include, and
I'm more than happy
to be your guys' representative there, but it has to include somebody from the CIB. I think what I felt
that you may be experiencing is something that, as a government attorney, I hear a lot is that you push
the one side or the other, because we've got two people who need to be part of that decision. We need
to get those two people with you, work out what solution, if any, there will be.
We would appreciate a conversation. We have been told to talk to one person after another, John Weichart,
who told us how the money from the food and beverage tax could be used and how the money that was allotted,
the $71 million, was only for the construction. At that time, we did ask if there was a possibility
of a grant to help us to make
our timeline towards renovation to help you out. He advised me to bring it to the property manager.
We were told by Talisha that we needed to speak to their property manager because they did not want
to be involved with that conversation. Last week I was
I did make those calls, I've made them several times. This last week I was put on hold six times to
an office with people where English was not their first language. And then I was finally transferred
to the Indianapolis office where I was told emphatically by the person in charge that under no circumstances
would there be any consideration for an extension on the lease. And then I informed her about the situation of our
business right next door to us who, because of a boiler issue, recently was able to extend their lease.
And she said she was not aware of that at all. So I have to believe that because that exists, then possibly
some kind of an exception can be made even just temporarily from my sister's closet.
but we have not been able to actually have much of a conversation. Given that, I know Jodi, that you
met with John Zodi recently and answered several of his questions and we met with him yesterday and
we're very grateful for that conversation. And Jeff, I appreciate the time that you've given us. We
just have women walking in on a regular basis and we're the only game in town doing what we do. It's
very unique and it's,
It keeps people from being in the system using all the social services they do. It helps them to stand
on their own two feet. It releases that money to be used for several of these other projects that you
have on your docket and agenda all the time that are extremely worthy and very important.
We feel that the work we do makes a difference. We would just like to be able to give people an answer
because I can't go anywhere without people asking me. And neither can anybody else who is connected
with my sister's closet. It just is getting to a point where we are having people offered to do things
in our behalf.
which would make it look like we are not in partnership with each other. And that's not what we want
because we feel that our organization has been walking step-in-step with the county commissioners and
their agenda to make a better community.
You would not have forgiven our rent all this time, you know, since April, if you did not believe that
you would not have kept it at such a ridiculously low rate that would have allowed us to function as
a mostly self sufficient organization under our power by operating this resale boutique.
Your input and your guidance during this time and those acts have allowed us to be able to serve all
these women all this time. You are much a part of their success as our own efforts and we do appreciate
what you're doing. Just give us some guidance and help me put some words on paper and in my mouth so
that I can let people know what they're really wanting to know and so they don't
make assumptions on their own about what we are trying to accomplish here. All right. Thank you.
Thank you. And we do appreciate the work that you and your agency does for women across our community,
for families. Thank you. And that's why we had forgiven the rent. And I think we were kind of caught
in that in between time of we knew this resolution was coming up.
Um, and, um, and not make a commitment because we knew this resolution was coming up. So you can understand
that. And I appreciate that. Um, but I think we do have a solution for you, which is a conversation
with a member of the CIB, uh, and Mr. Cockrell, and you can walk away with more certainty because I
don't know the CIB's timeline either.
I mean, they meet regularly, but I don't know what their plans are specifically for that part of the
property. And I'm not going to guess. But I guess I will try to reach out to the CIB attorney today,
see if we can get something scheduled for probably early next week. And I'll let you know what times
and we can make sure they all match up. I just want to be very careful because
or what we'll be talking about is potential to extend the lease. I don't think any of this group, CIB,
I mean, really anybody but the CVC or the County Council has any authority for providing the new operation
at the different location, right? I understand that. Yes, I'm glad you raised that. But you don't know
unless you ask, so. But I can tell you the County Council and the CVC
I actually don't even think the CBC has the authority to do that because I think that's outside their
bounds. But what I'll commit to is reaching out to the CIB attorney, see if we can't get something,
a meeting scheduled early next week. Maybe after this, I can, you can send me what times you are available
early next week. So maybe to make the scheduling a little easier and we could probably either meet here
or at your spot or at their, I mean, we're all within a block.
so or two so it's not that big a deal so we'll we'll try to get something scheduled early next week
thank you thank you very much all of you i really appreciate it thank you thank you for your heart for
your work we appreciate it sure
I know Jeff mentioned the historic properties communication, but this seems relevant now. I'd also like
to point out that the resolution says that the commissioners wish to communicate to the CIB that members
of the public have made a case for continuing the leases beyond their expiration date. And the board
of commissioners would not object to the extension so long as the ultimate use of the property is in
compliance with Indiana Code 6943A6, which is, of course, the ultimate goal of the innkeeper's tax.
Thank you. Any other public comment on this item? Okay. Seeing none, all those in favor of approving
resolution 2026-10 signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Next item, please.
I would like to move approval for in dot revised agreement for eagles and bridge number 922 for construction
funds named eagles and bridge number 922 fund number 8176 in the amount of 5,326,229 dollars and 62
cents. Second, we have a motion and we have a second miss ridge.
This actually was approved on February 26th on the original contract. NDOT has updated some of their
definitions and things like grant agreement was changed to contract, so they resend it just so we could
re-sign for those changes. Thank you so much. This is not new funding. This is just a carryover from
before. Correct. The only thing that's changed is that clause. Yeah, just some wording and the finalizing
of the contract and things.
Perfect. All right. Thank you. Comments or questions, Commissioner Madeira? I have none. Thank you.
Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. I don't have any either. So let's see if there is any public comment.
You can raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
those in favor of approving the end dot revised agreement for eagles and bridge number 9 22 for construction
signified by saying aye. I motion carries 30. Uh. You don't have any appointments today. Um I do have,
um, a couple of. Announcements I do want to
of the trees on Pete Ellis. Although not all of them could be saved, but at least some of them were
and I'm glad that that happened. I know there was a lot of community concern. Around that post office
when all those big red X is appeared on the trunks of the
essentially with the city it's part of that larger State Road 45 correction that's being done that will
provide a safer transit for folks in that on that side of town so sadly we lost some trees but
beauty is in the compromise and I just wanted to thank Ms. Ridge and Colonel Ferris for their efforts
to raise this issue at the MPO meeting and make something happen and get us to this point of compromise.
We still have appointments to make to boards and commissions including
the health board, the library board, and animal management, easy for me to say. And so if you are interested,
please go to in.gov slash county slash Monroe and take a look at the vacancies and or fill
out an application. We continue to have office hours via Teams each month, six times each month. Just
go to the calendar on that same homepage.
and we're looking at some potential for some severe weather tonight. So it's a great time to sign up
for the alert notification system where you will receive texts, emails and or phone calls about weather
emergencies to keep you informed. And we are
continuing to co-host the blood drive at Ivy Tech. Thank you, Ivy Tech. The next blood drives are Wednesday,
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
and B. Please make an appointment at redcross.org. And for CASA's Child Abuse Awareness
We are lighting the courthouse blue. And when is that? Is that for the month? No. For the whole of April.
Aren't we good? OK. So there's the reminder. OK. Anything else from my colleagues? We do not have a
work session today. Our next, I have to open a calendar. Our next meeting is coming up soon. And it is.
April 2nd. There we go. Our next meeting is April 2nd, right here in the NetU Hill room at 10 a.m. And
with that, we are adjourned. Thanks, everyone. Thank you, Katz. Thank you, TSD.