- I'm going to call this meeting to order of Monroe County Board of Commissioners. It is Thursday,
- May 14th, and we are here in the NETU Hill Room and all three commissioners are here and present. We
- do have a change to our agenda. I'm going to move that we add resolution 2026-19 as item O.
- motion and a second all in favor of amending the agenda signify by saying aye aye motion carries uh
- next we have our public statement read by commissioner jones we the munroe county board of commissioners
- renew our commitment to welcome and protect the rights of all people regardless of age race color creed
- disability sexual orientation
- gender, gender identity, marital status, economic status, and national origin. And we affirm the right
- of every person to live peacefully and without fear. And we will fight and resist at every
- step discrimination and harmful policies, whatever their source. We believe in diversity, equity, inclusion,
- and belonging. We also stand in support of our county
- public school systems, both our BB and MCC SC. Thank you so much. Next we have department updates looks
- like we have miss Kelly joining us from the health department. Good morning. Good morning commissioners.
- According to the Indiana Department of Health wastewater concentrations for covid remain stable and
- no increases are noted as of May 12.
- Flu activity is currently at minimal levels. The health department is still scheduling appointments
- for vaccines. The number to call to schedule an appointment is 812-803-6364. Great. Thank you so much.
- Any comments or questions from my colleagues? No, I don't. All right. Thank you so much for being here.
- We appreciate you. Any other departments have an update for us today?
- Seeing none, we'll move on to an unscheduled proclamation. Yes, I would like to read our proclamation,
- Police Week Peace Officers Memorial Day in Monroe County.
- Whereas Congressional Joint Resolution 730, signed into law on October 1st, 1962, authorizes a national
- proclamation of May 14th as Peace Officer Memorial Day and the week of May 11th as Police Week, and
- whereas Police Week commemorates the more than 800,000 peace officers who are called upon each day to
- serve and protect American citizens, including the peace officers across Monroe County who demonstrate
- daily the highest ideals of public service and personal sacrifice,
- and whereas May 14th is designated as Peace Officers Memorial Day, and as such, flags are flown at half-mast
- in deference to federal, state, and local officers who sacrifice their lives or suffer disability in
- the line of duty, and whereas Monroe County, Indiana, its residents and families have mourned the loss
- of three deaths, Sergeant Bill Brand, Deputy Sarah Jones, and Reserve Deputy James Driver, and 111 off-duty
- deaths nationally in 2025,
- and whereas the selflessness, dedication, service, and sacrifice that those officers demonstrating to
- the people of Monroe County will be forever remembered. The residents of Monroe County wish to express
- their deep reverence and appreciation to those officers, their families, and their communities who grieve
- their loss and to all peace officers who bravely and proudly serve Monroe County today. Now, therefore,
- be it resolved, we, the Monroe County Board of Commissioners, hereby proclaim the week of May 11th,
- 2026 as Police Week,
- and Thursday, May 14th, 2026, as Peace Officers Memorial Day in Monroe County. Proclaim this 14th day
- of May, 2026, from the Monroe County Board of Commissioners. Thank you. Some of the officers who serve
- Monroe County residents every day and demonstrate courage and value every day.
- It's not sometimes it's not the most obvious dangerous situation that they face. And we do appreciate
- their sacrifice on behalf of our community to benefit peace. All right. With that, let's see if there's
- any public comment for items not on our agenda. You can raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
- Seeing none, we'll move on to our next agenda item, please. Yes, I would like to move approval of the
- minutes for May 7th, 2026. We have a motion and we have a second. Comments, corrections, or edits? All
- those in favor of approving the minutes for May 7th, 2026, signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0.
- Next item, please. I would like to move approval of the claims docket for accounts payable for May 14th,
- 2026, and for payroll for May 15th, 2026. Second. We have a motion and we have a second. Ms. Gallardo,
- would you tell us all about it, please? Good morning. The accounts payable claims docket for May 14th,
- 2026 totals $554,409.14. This includes all emergency claims and adjustments.
- The payroll document for May 15, 2026 includes $1,714,928 in direct costs and the remaining $704,956.97
- were for indirect costs for a grand total of $2,419,857.25. Thank you. Thank you so much. Comments or
- questions for the auditor's office?
- Any public comment on this item? You raised your hand on teams or come to the podium. Seeing none, all
- those in favor of approving the claim stock and accounts payable May 14th, 2026 and payroll May 15th,
- 2026 signify by saying aye. Aye.
- Motion carries three zero. I will note for the record that we have received the highways annual report
- and thank you for that, Ms. Ridge. And we will now move on to new business, please. Yes, I would like
- to move approval for Duke Energy Foundation grant for water safety fund name emergency management Duke
- grant fund number 4938 in the amount of $5,500.
- We have a motion and we have a second. Mr. Baker is joining us online. Good morning from the Emergency
- Management Department. Good morning, commissioners. Yes, this is a great grant opportunity from Duke
- Energy Foundation. We get this about each year, around this time of year. This year, it'll go toward
- uh, helping them know fire protection district, uh, increase their, uh, water safety and boating safety,
- uh, program to help, uh, keep people safe on the water. Um, so with this glance, they will be, uh, designated
- for, uh, PD, uh, life jacket owner stations where people can pick up a life jacket before they go on
- a boat and or anything on the county. This is awesome.
- Thank you so much. Comments or questions? Commissioner Maduro? This is going to be sort of a nerdy comment,
- but I'm a huge swimmer and drowning is the number two cause of death, I believe, for children right
- after gun violence.
- And this is a massively important development. I know it sounds so simple, but just the opportunity
- to put on a life jacket can save so many lives, not only for children, but for adults as well. And this
- is a very preventable form of death. And I'm so grateful to the Duke Energy Foundation for stepping
- up and doing this. And this is going to help our community immensely. So thank you so very much. Commissioner
- Jones? I'll echo Commissioner Madeira's comments.
- Thank you. This is certainly a very valuable thing for the county. Yeah, absolutely. People plan to
- go out on a boat or don't plan to go on a boat and decide to go on a boat at the last minute and there
- aren't enough life jackets. It's a huge, huge deal. Mr. Baker, do you happen to know where these life
- jackets will be made available? Or has that not been decided? I am not sure at this time. I think that's
- still in the plans.
- Thank you. All right. So hopefully the Fire Protection District will give us an update in the future.
- 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 Duke Energy Foundation grant for water safety signify by saying aye.
- Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Next item, please. I would like to move approval for the Indiana Department
- of Health approval of grant amendment for sexually, well, SCI prevention, fund name, SCD strengthening,
- fund number 8112 in the amount of $48,318. Second.
- We have a motion and we have a second. Ms. Kelly. Good morning again. This is an amendment just for
- additional funding that supports our three disease intervention specialists. Our understanding is that
- additional funding is going to continue to be awarded under this same contract as the funding is received
- to the Indiana Department of Health.
- All right. Thank you so much. Important funding, um, comments or questions, commissioner Jones. No,
- just please that you're getting the money. None. Just very happy. I'll echo, um, commissioner Jones's
- comments. And again, um, these, um, conditions are on the rise. So it comes at a pivotal time.
- Thank you. Um, let's see if there's any public comment on this item. You raise your hand in teams or
- come to the podium.
- Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the IDOH grant amendment for STI prevention signify by
- saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right. Next item, please.
- I would like to move approval for financial solutions group consulting agreement. Fund name auditors
- ineligible deductions, funds number 1216 in the amount of 10,000.
- and not to exceed per year. Second. We have a motion and we have a second. Mr. Cockrell, will you be
- managing this one? Yes. Thank you. TIF neutralization essentially is every year we look at our TIF districts
- and every year our tax rate and our assessed value changes. And so the neutralization is to make sure
- that what is associated with the increment remains with the increment and what is associated with the
- base remains with the base. So the base actually grows.
- because inflation and those kind of things. This is the calculation that determines that. I would just
- note that this is for all the TIF districts in the county, not just the county's TIF districts. So this
- includes the city's TIF districts as well. And this is a required item that the state requires. And
- so FSD had done this for a number of years.
- And then the auditor's office has kind of tried to take it on. And I think they're kind of backing off
- of it because of the amount of work it takes. Yeah. And the reason that we're paying for every, the
- resolution of every TIF in the county is because the auditor's office manages the money, the tax dollars
- for every part of the county, every political subdivision. It's a state requirement that the auditor
- performs this function. Okay. Thank you. Answer questions. Commissioner Madeira.
- Um, no, thank you. Mr. Jones. I don't see if there's any public comments on this item. You raise your
- hand on teams or podium. Being none. Um, all of those in favor of approving the financial solutions
- group, consulting agreement signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three zero.
- Next item, please. I would like to move approval for resolution 2026-17, declaration of items for surplus.
- Second. We have a motion and we have a second. Mr. Kreider is with us today. Good morning, commissioners.
- Richard Kreider, Building and Fleet Department. This request is to approve resolution 2026-17, declaring
- multiple vehicles, wheels, and tires from the highway garage as surplus property.
- and authorize their disposal through public auction. These items are beyond their useful service life,
- have been replaced with new equipment or are no longer usable for their intended purpose. The vehicles
- are to include, I'm gonna read their highway inventory item number first and then the year making model.
- 22, that's a 2013 Chevrolet Silverado. 23, 2016 Ford Escape. 52, 2005 Kenworth. 54, 2003 Kenworth.
- 57, 2005, Kenworth. 91, 1993, Pro Sproom. 92, 1986, Ford Tractor. 112, 2011, Falcon Hotbox. 114, 2002,
- Chevy Malibu. 114, whoa, I have 114 twice there. Okay, I need to fix that, but 2018, Chevrolet Silverado.
- SW02, 2008, Ford Ranger. SW04,
- 2013 international street sweeper. Thank you so much. Uh, comments or questions, commissioner Jones.
- Yeah. Most of those sound like they're off the old. They're well maintained though. That's good. Yeah,
- but this is, this is what we do. We use them until the wheels essentially fall off. Uh, comments or
- questions, commissioner Madera.
- You know how I love these with the mug shots of the offending piece of the property. Yes. Wanted by
- no one in Monroe County government. So, yeah, 1986 Ford tractor. I wonder if that would even go as vintage
- at this point. Almost. Almost. Okay, let's see if there's any public comment.
- Seeing none, all those in favor of approving resolution 2026-17 signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries
- 3-0. Next item, please. I would like to move approval for Think Roberts and Petrie Incorporated Professional
- Design Services Solar Carport, fund name
- ARPA fund number 8950 in the amount of $15,000. We have a motion. We have a second. Mr. Crider. Hey,
- commissioners. We need an engineer stamp on this one. This request is to accept the proposal submitted
- by structural engineers Fink Roberts and Petri Ink in the amount of $15,000 for structural engineering
- services related to the proposed solar carport addition at the employee garage.
- The scope of services includes building structural review, structural frame design, preparation of stamp
- design drawings, and two-side inspections as required for the project. These services are necessary
- to support project design permitting and construction review requirements. Thank you so much. Comments
- or questions? Commissioner Medeiro? I have none. I think it's kind of cool, by the way, that it is a
- solar carport. Yeah. Commissioner Jones? Yeah, I'm just glad to see this project moving along.
- Yeah, this is part of the larger ARPA investment in our solar infrastructure. And with the existing
- plug-in chargers so heavily utilized in our parking garage by our employees, this will add more outlets.
- But importantly, it will do so with solar rather than using standard energy production.
- Correct. We appreciate your work on this. And are we still on target to get this finished before? We're
- on target. Okay. Great. Just, you know, just sweating out that deadline. So as we all are, I appreciate
- that you're staying on top of it. I know you've got other projects going. So thank you for that. 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 FRP Professional Design Services Agreement for the
- solar carport signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. And our next item, please. I would like
- to move approval for Steve's roofing and sheet change order number one, health building roof replacement,
- fund name 2024 geobond, fund number 4819 in the amount of 201,800. Second.
- We have a motion and we have a second. I think the amount is a little, um, deceiving here. So, uh, cause
- it's really, we're not, that's not the change order amount. So we're putting, we're moving some money
- around as well. We're doing and, um, and it requires a signature. Uh, this request is to approve change order.
- 001 associated with the health building roof replacement project reflecting use of the project's $15,000
- cash allowance for necessary scope modifications discovered during construction. A total of $11,584.26
- of the allowance was utilized for the installation of two new roof drains and associated repair work
- as well as additional plywood and flashing required to complete the project.
- The remaining unused allowance balance of $3,415.74 will be deducted from the original contract sum
- of $201,800 resulting in a revised final contract sum of $198,384.26. Thank you so much. Comments or
- questions? Commissioner Madeira? I have none. Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. Thank you for working
- on this and on
- Are they done? They're done. Yes. OK. That's what I thought. I just wanted to make sure. 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 change order number one with Steve's roofing and sheet
- metal for the health building roof replacement signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries.
- And then we have item G, which has some new fund number information in it. Yep. So I'd like to move
- approval for building associates incorporated change order request number two and number 12 fund name
- 2016. Geo bond fund number 4808 in the amount of $8,673 and 27 cents. We have a motion and we have a
- second. Mr. Crider.
- Okay, this request is to approve change orders two and 12 and the combined amount of $8,673.27, associated
- with the employee clinic project for the addition of electrical receptacles to support wall-mounted
- television monitors throughout the suite, the replacement of 15 existing exam room receptacles with
- hospital-grade receptacles as required by code, and relocating electrical boxes due to cabinetry design
- change. This request is to formally ratify the completed change
- order work necessary due to scheduling on operational time constraints associated with the opening of
- the employee health clinic. Thank you so much. Comments or questions. Commissioner Jones. No, I don't.
- Commissioner Madeira. I don't either. Thank you so much. 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 change order request number 2 and 12 for building Associates
- Inc. signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Next slide, please. I'd like to move approval for
- VET Environmental Engineering
- LLC, Professional Environmental Services, Fund Name 2021 Geobond, Fund Number 4814, in the amount of
- $11,186.85. Second. We have a motion and we have a second. Mr. Crier. This request is to approve the
- proposal submitted by VET Environmental in the amount of $11,186.85 to perform lead-safe renovation
- and abatement activities associated with removal of the loading dock ceiling at the health building.
- due to the existing conditions, the project requires specialized abatement procedures and handling in
- accordance with applicable environmental and safety regulations. Work is scheduled to be completed over
- a weekend to minimize operational impacts to the facility. Thank you so much. Comments or questions?
- Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. Commissioner Madero? Nope. Any public comment on this item?
- this is to get the lead out. Seeing no public comment all those in favor of approving the vet environmental
- engineering LLC professional environmental services agreement signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries
- zero. We have yet another item for Mr. Crider.
- I'd like to move approval for B&L sheet metal and roofing highway garage roof repairs and downspout
- guards. Fund name, key load of cap, fund number 1138 in the amount of $8,500. Second. We have a motion
- and we have a second. Mr. Crider. This request is to approve a roof maintenance and drainage improvement
- project proposal for the highway garage in the amount of $8,500.
- The project includes preparation and application of an industrial grade roof coating system to approximately
- 20 roof penetrations, that's your vents and that type of thing. These penetrations require periodic
- coatings. In addition, the project includes fabrication and installation of custom downspout guards
- to address reoccurring drainage issues caused by migratory birds briefly nesting in roof gutters and
- obstructing the downspouts.
- Custom fabricated guards were determined to be the most feasible solution for the size and scale of
- the facility's roof drainage system. The total project cost includes safety protocol setup, surface
- preparation, coating application, custom fabricated downspout guards, a man lift, and a two-year warranty.
- Excellent. Comments or questions? Commissioner Medeiro?
- out. This is really necessary. The puns are so prevalent here. I don't know where to start, so I'm not
- even going to try. It's draining, isn't it? Yes. I don't know where to spout off. Yeah. Gotcha. Mr.
- Schultz? Yeah, I'm curious. If there are currently bird nests there, what will happen? Well, they do
- what they do every year. They nest briefly, and then they're gone. But it's always during the heaviest
- rains. Yeah.
- So yeah. All right. Let's see if there's any public comment or perhaps somebody wishes to offer their
- own pun for the for the collection. I really thought you guys would open up on this one. Richard, you're
- in the game.
- All right, seeing no public comments. All those in favor of approving the BNL sheet metal and roofing
- highway garage roof repairs and downspout guards signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries three.
- Thank you, sir. All right, thank you. I would like to move approval for resolution 2026-18, city of
- Bloomington bridges number 316 and 317. Second.
- Motion and we have a second. I don't know which one of you wishes to speak about this, but it appears
- in stochastic toys to pounce I'm wrong I think the county is in a little bit of a sticky situation and
- a couple years ago state passed legislation that that indicates what what bridges are the city or the
- counties and they are bridges that are
- located within the county have a span of 20 feet or more not part of the state highway system and that
- we that we either inspected the bridge prior to January 1, 2024 or the county executive has brought
- that into our county inventory. There are two bridges within the city of limits of Bloomington that
- are over 20 feet not part of the highway system that
- We had not inspected before January 1, 2024, and we have not accepted into our inventory after the day.
- And so one of those is one that we went ahead because our Cume Bridge allows us to use Cume Bridge dollars
- to inspect any bridge in the county, whether it's our responsibility or not, to go ahead and inspect
- two bridges, bridges 316 and 317. The inspection came back.
- that indicated that one of the bridges, I think it was bridge 317, and please correct me if I'm wrong,
- but this is off old 37 kind of going up into the city's, by the city's golf course, so by Cascades Park
- and all that. And so we don't have the authority or the responsibility under state code to do anything
- with it. So we wanna make sure the city knows
- at least for the one that we have a lot of issues. They are the underlying property owner. They own
- everything around this bridge. Our understanding is that they had done the inspections up until 2024
- due to their small bridge or small structure inspection process. And for some reason, it went from a
- small structure to a bridge. Someone determined that around that period of time.
- But we don't have it in our inventory So we really don't have any authority to get on the road to do
- anything with it But we want to make sure the city knows about this inspection with with the hope that
- Something is worked out for You have any questions Nope, mr. Jones. No, I don't um, I
- Okay, so a lot of our focus here is on Bridge 317, which has a weight limit change that has been recommended
- after inspection. We're not doing any more inspections with cumulative bridge funds on this bridge or
- the other, correct? We are required to do our bridge inspections that's in our inventory. In 2024,
- brought to our attention that it had become a bridge over the 20 foot span. At that time, it needed
- posted nine ton weight limit. We went ahead as a county and necessary to go ahead and post that bridge
- because of the inspection. The city did not want to post the bridge at that time.
- We reached out again, because it was two years later for the cycle of the bridge inspections. We asked
- the city of Bloomington to maybe do an MOU with the county. We would still go ahead and inspect it.
- It's very normal with counties to have a cum bridge to go ahead and do the inspection, but then bill
- the owner for the city of Bloomington for that inspection. And we just didn't want to take the risk
- of ever losing federal dollars.
- with our bridge program. So we went ahead and incurred the cost. The city of Bloomington denied that
- offer. So we got the inspection back. It showed that the bridge does need to be reposted at a lower
- weight limit. Probably the next option would be closing that road. So we sent the bridge inspections
- to the city of Bloomington.
- Bridge technically needs to be posted with the new weight limit within a 30 day time period is the end
- of May. Yeah. So this is in essence, almost like a legal notice, but we don't want the city to construe
- the fact that we
- did the bridge inspections as we're taking the bridge. It's not our bridge. It's not in our inventory.
- It's listed in ITAMS, which is the National Database for Federal Highway, where we have to put all of
- our bridges. And it is noted in there that Monroe County does not own either one of these bridges. Because
- it's not really mentioned in here except by number, where is bridge? 316. 316 Renwick. It is over on Renwick.
- I do believe that it needs repairs on that bridge also. I believe the estimate for that was around a
- half a million dollars. We forwarded that information two years ago or last year to the city of Bloomington
- at their request of what those repairs are. We just again just forwarded on just because we did the
- inspections just because we felt that's what we needed to do at the time because there was such an ownership
- question and we didn't want to not
- And again, we didn't want to jeopardize any federal in the future for our existing bridges in our. Makes
- total sense. It's bureaucratic, but it makes total sense. Now we will not have to inspect it because
- we have this resolution. If we pass this resolution, we're not going to have to inspect these bridges
- at all. And it's not going to impact our.
- I guess the intent of this resolution doesn't deal with who's going to do inspections in the future.
- I think we have a funding mechanism that we can use it. I mean, it would be nice if we, with the city
- of Bloomington figured out who is actually gonna do that in the future and things like this is much
- more of a, we know there's a problem with this bridge. We don't have really the authority to go in and
- do anything. We wanna make sure the city knows about it because it's a problem with a bridge and the
- other one.
- So this is much more of a we want to make sure the city's aware they have our report and that they are
- And that they understand our position On it is I mean because when lisa was talking about inspections
- and things like that We didn't inspect this bridge prior to january 1 2024. I think the when the Correct
- me where i'm wrong here because i'm not i'm a little out on a limb here When it was reposted for it
- was based upon a city's inspection
- not the county's inspection. That is correct. Somebody has to figure out who's responsible for this
- bridge. Somebody has to figure out, because it's getting, while it's not there yet, it's not hard to
- imagine in the next three or four years or longer, I'm not an engineer, I'm not a bridge person, that
- at some point this is going to have to be closed or fixed. Yeah, correct. And it'll move to now that
- it's reached the point that it's at.
- it'll be required to be inspected every year. But Jeff is correct. We had never done an inspection on
- either one of these bridges prior to 2024. Back to bridge, you don't know it exists. And it was always
- listed according to my knowledge. Wow. Okay. Okay. I think along with that,
- My understanding is these are the only two bridges that we are aware of that exist at our meet the 20
- which isn't to say city doesn't have more in their inventory don't know about right. I'm sorry, I didn't
- catch why we didn't know that this existed before.
- knowledge it was in their small structure inventory so we have a small structure inventory too so we
- have our bridges that are over a 20-foot span then we have a small structure of anything that's under
- 20 foot and those are just inspected with our local inventory has nothing to do with the federal aid
- project or a bridge replacement and we so they were never listed in our bridge inspections ever because
- it went over a 20-foot span and we were never notified that it ever was until
- February or so of 2024 when they were doing their small structure inventory and inspector and said,
- hey, these are bridges. But that's the first that we ever knew. Thank you so much. Yeah, thank you.
- I was just gonna say there may be a backstory with
- Johnson County and things they did that kind of brought this issue up to the light so that people will
- see it because there's a long-served vacuum bridge and all that. I appreciate all the thorough information.
- I just think it's important for you to understand why we're doing this. It's why the inspection was
- done and why we're doing this. And these bridge inspections are not particularly expensive.
- individually per per bridge right but it is the fact that we have to do all the bridges and so yeah
- all right so much let's see if there's any uh public comments on this item or questions because somebody
- questions all right seeing none all those in favor of approving resolution 2026-18 signify by saying aye
- Motion carries 3-0. Next item. I would like to move approval for Bledsoe, Rigert, Cooper, and James
- change order number two, Redbud Drainage Improvement Project, fund name Stormwater, fund number 1197
- in the amount of $19,488.69. We have a motion and we have a second. Are you going to do this for Ms.
- Pena? Yeah. Okay.
- Thank you. So we're requesting the approval of the change order number two. It's an increase on the
- project. The increase includes additional stabilization to the road subgrade, slight expansion to the
- original design alignment that required additional backfill grading and stabilization, a tree replacement
- and additional seed and straw. It does also include a deduction of $2,210 for utilizing seed and straw
- in lieu of the sod.
- we were wanting to process the change order so we can get the project closed out. It is completed and
- issued the final payment to the contract. Thank you so much. Comments or questions, Commissioner Jones?
- Commissioner Madeira? No, thank you. This makes a ton of sense. So thank you. And thanks to Ms.
- Penna as well, the Director of Stormwater. Any public comment on this item? Oh, she's got her hand raised.
- Ms. Penna?
- Hi, thank you Lisa for presenting for me. I did just want to make a note that the blood so rigor Cooper
- James is doing project management and inspection for us So they are putting together the change order,
- but the change order itself is for the milestone Contract as the milestone performed the work, right?
- Yeah, that makes sense. Thank you Thank you any other comments Here's your hand on teams come to the podium
- Seeing none all those in favor of approving the bullets of rigor Cooper and James change order number
- two for the red bud drainage improvement project signified by saying aye aye motion carries three zero
- next item please yes I'd like to move approval for
- awarding ENB paving, LLC various paving projects, fund name, motor vehicle highway, local road and street,
- fund number 1176-1169 in the amount of $519,400. Second. We have a motion and we have a second. Ms.
- Ridge. So sealed bids were opened on May 7th for the paving projects of Night Ridge Road, which is the
- east portion of
- east of State Road 446, Duke Road and Gross Road. EMB paving was the lowest most responsive and responsible
- bidder, and we'd like to award those paving projects to them. Thank you so much. Comments or questions?
- Commissioner Madeira? I have none. Thank you. Commissioner Jones? No, I don't. Well, I do. So we had
- the bids open and it is kind of goes into the next item too. So we had bids open and it exceeded what
- we thought the engineer estimate was. Well, we knew the engineering estimate was these totals that came
- in and exceeded it. So what was, how did you manage that? When we do our estimates of inflation costs,
- fuel costs, so we,
- do them a little bit higher. The prices for the tonnage were higher than what we anticipated. But again,
- in our paving program, we kind of allow for that and those issues to come up. So we have figured out
- where we can move some funds around within our budgets and continue to include these roads for a paving
- need. And you did not cut any projects. There you go.
- not to I know we got some calls yesterday for a new request for another road but that's it's on south
- shore drive it's on our radar I think that's what we'll put in for the community crossings for this
- fall so we're always looking ahead we've already got our list started for 2027 but as of right now we
- think we can still do what we have anticipated we're still waiting for final numbers I know with the
- gas tax there was
- some suspension of the gas tax for the month of, I think, April, May. So we will wait and see what that
- will cost us. I know our monthly distribution, we expect that to go down a little bit. We usually go
- in for an additional for paving in our MVH every year. We haven't had to do that yet. So if we see our
- distribution has gone down some, the last calculation that we saw for local,
- communities such as the counties and the cities, we saw that maybe it would be a $3 million hit across
- the state for the gas tax or reduction. And that's across the state. It was more hit at the community
- crossing program is hit pretty hard with that. And then in dot take the largest hit of that
- So we stay in constant communication with LTAP, which is a great resource for us that helps us counties
- know if we're going to see a deduction, what to expect so we can anticipate that. And the tax has been
- reinstated.
- I think it has I know for that one month we run in the rear and then also I think the will tax and everything
- that goes through B and B kind of runs a few months behind too so we might not see that deduction for
- a couple months so we're just moving forward as is we haven't cut anything from our paving program and
- if we have to go in for an additional from our cash that's what we anticipate.
- or something has to get postponed potentially. And these contracts allow you to do that if it comes
- down to it. Okay, perfect. Thank you so much. Your thorough answers. These are questions that plague
- many people. So let's see if there's any public comment on item L. All right.
- Seeing none, all those in favor of awarding ENB paving LLC, various paving projects signify by saying
- aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Please. I'd like to move to approve awarding milestone contractors LP
- subdivision paving projects.
- fund named Motor Vehicle Highway and Local Road and Street, fund number 1176 and 1169 in the amount
- of $241,363. I second. We have a motion and we have a second. So sealed bids again, we're open on May
- 7th for these three subdivisions, which is Amber Ridge, Plateau Place and Bristol Manor, which those
- roads in there
- consist of, which I want to read, because sometimes subdivisions join together and you might live in
- a different part of a subdivision. It's really not the same subdivision. But this would include Sienna
- Court, Livia Drive, Samantha Drive, Plateau Place, Cordova Place, Nottingham Court, and Amber Drive.
- Those we would like to award to the lowest bidder on that was Milestone.
- move forward with getting those subdivisions paved. Great, thank you so much. Comments or questions?
- Commissioner Jones? No, we don't. Commissioner Medeira? No, thank you. My question relates to the previous
- item and this item again, but together. So as needed, stormwater goes in and does drainage work as well
- to kind of prolong the lifespan of these roadways, correct?
- We get with our crews of what we can do in-house. We replace any pipes that need replaced. We look at
- sidewalks. We look at curb. The stormwater crews will do what they need to do beforehand. Our highway
- crews will mow and cut brush and do the ditching. What they need to do, our Cume Bridge crew will go
- and replace
- the pipes that go under the roadway that are needed. We do all of this before releasing the roads to
- the contractor and just try and stay at least, you know, months. But that's, that's made a huge difference
- over the last several years and really just want to thank you and Ms. Pena Stormwater for foresight
- to integrate that the stormwater projects and drainage projects
- before even the road works begin. So it's made a big difference, I think. Has and I can't think the
- highway crews, stormwater crew, bridge crews at the garage, they all work and the management there.
- They work great to bring this all together. It takes a lot of coordination. It takes a lot
- of time commitment, but they work well together. And it's just worked out really well for us to be able
- to fix the drainage issues and do it right.
- Um, I did, I do. Yeah, go ahead. No, I was going to say we do have a construction reconstruct. Mike,
- it's a big project. We're only doing one segment of that. We have done this. We're doing this through
- the help of our RDC and TIF district. So we will be doing.
- Basically, State Road 48 to Bloomington City limits, which is around Beasley Drive. DC Construction
- will start that. They were awarded that project. They will begin curb work, concrete work next week,
- and then the whole road will be milled and then repaved. So that'll all be over probably the next 30
- days starting next week. There's a lot of traffic on that road, so I just want to get that out there.
- Expect delays, no road closures, we don't anticipate, but delays.
- Yeah. So it's from the intersection of Curry and 48, which is third street going south. Okay. Yeah.
- City of Bloomington limits. Yeah. Okay. Boy. Yeah. That alignment issue. So many near miss accidents
- with that. So I hope that that gets addressed in the next bet. I know this is a big project.
- It's a big project. Thank you for that. So everybody, yeah. I mean, just as we kind of feel the newfound
- freedom of having less traffic with IU out for summer break, well, mostly, please be careful and watch
- for crews. I mean, I know the patching crew was in my neighborhood yesterday. They did a great job.
- There's going to be construction everywhere, not just county, but city and state. So, you know, just
- keep an eye open, slow down. Let's make sure we protect the lives of those workers. Good time to remind
- everybody about that. All right. So let's see if there's any public comments on this item.
- Seeing none, all those in favor of awarding milestone contractors, the subdivision paving project signify
- by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Thank you so much. All right. Item N is our next item, please.
- Yes, I'd like to move approval for ordinance 2025-15 amendments to the development ordinance. We have
- a motion. Second. And a second.
- Here Ben is here and she is serving as the acting director of the planning department while Ms.
- Bellin is off. Good morning. Can you hear me all right? We sure can. Great. I'm going to go ahead and
- share my screen for this one. And I'm not going to bother you with the little scrivener. You're muted.
- You muted. I did. I didn't share screen. I can't see the screen yet, but it'll show up. There. I think
- I got it this time. There it is. Thank you. Good. Okay. So what I'm presenting is amendments to the
- county development ordinance to fix some Scribner errors.
- to have our code align with state code provisions and then to modify some sidewalk requirements and
- address some energy production technologies. So I'm gonna just sort of skip through here a little bit.
- And the first page, is it gonna let me do it? I'm really hoping it doesn't make me
- The plan commission heard this on April 21st, 2026 under the petition ZOA-26-1. They forwarded a positive
- recommendation with a vote of six to zero. In our CDO, we always have a list of revisions that just
- documents every text amendment that we've ever done. This is the amount that we're doing here today.
- And I'm going to skip over the Scrivener errors. They're kind of insignificant, but we'll stick to the
- meat and potatoes of this one. So I first want to start off with 40.
- So we have in our ordinance these two pagers, we will be updating throughout the ordinance our two pagers
- to any use changes that you're going to see. And then we also have a few Scrivener type errors such
- as this was a one, we needed it to be 10. And then throughout we're going to be referencing footnote
- number three and adding this
- to each one of our two pagers. I am not going to flip through all of those two pagers though, but just
- letting you know this is kind of a wide sweeping, a lot of little changes throughout. So this is our
- permitted land use table. And one thing that we're doing to align with state code is allowing schools
- to be permitted in every single zone, which will include the industrial zones and mineral extraction
- now. And then we have
- was pretty large things that are going on here. I want to point out that in 2024, when we passed the
- CDO, we made data centers not permitted in Monroe County. Then the state has now allowed for nuclear
- energy to start coming in. We are going to go ahead and make small modular nuclear reactors, which are
- often the source that powers data centers, not a permitted use in Monroe County.
- And then we are looking at battery energy storage systems. And these will all have definitions. And
- those are going to be permitted in the IP zone, the institutional public zone and mineral extraction
- zone and airport zone. And they are conditional. So they have to go to the board of zoning appeals.
- The next thing to focus on is with the battery energy storage systems, they are conditional.
- And so we have several items that we want to kind of make sure that these facilities are safe. They
- fit within our community and they aren't going to bother neighbors too much. We definitely want to make
- sure that we know how the transportation plan works, what their drainage plan is going to be, some screening,
- have a statement of compliance regarding noise. We don't want these to be
- too noisy like those bells I can hear in the background. And then setbacks and a decommissioning plan
- we found would be important if we were going to be allowing these in the community. And then our staff,
- we sat and debated this table for a while. We're making some clarifications to add decks to the list
- of developments.
- that's able to encroach into a setback and we clarified horizontal projections for detached garages,
- carports, storage sheds that are no higher than 15 feet. Jumping down. So with this text amendment portion,
- we removed the requirement for sidewalks within subdivisions located on a moderate priority road improvement segment
- of the alternative transportation map to be removed. We were finding that most of these were requiring
- waivers or in the case of commercial development variances. And so the map is a little outdated. What
- we wanna do is eventually update our alternative transportation maps where sidewalks and bike lanes
- would be going and then maybe bring this back
- into the ordinance to bring the moderate priority back in, but right now they just don't align with
- our planning. And so we're just going to remove it to keep people from having to go through a planning
- process that's timely and a little expensive. And then we are clarifying under expenses how the plan
- commission expenses section
- how we pay board members for which meetings per month that they are eligible for. And then I'm gonna
- skip down to our definitions section. We have, hold on, look for home occupation. There it is, oh, it's
- just a little one. This is a conflict we actually,
- require a permit for a home occupation. And then yet it was stating permitted by right. And I think
- that was just leftover language from the old ordinance. So we're cleaning that up so that we can make
- sure that people on their properties and their residences comply with certain standards and meet the
- home occupation requirement. And then we have a couple more definitions to cover. At the beginning,
- you saw in our two pagers that we had added some
- language to our front yard setbacks. And so here we're just kind of clarifying lot line slash front
- yard and giving this more clarity to planners. And we've also included an image, especially for when
- there's an easement that runs through a property and how we would determine the front yard setbacks
- for how much a structure would need to be from that. And then I'm going to scroll down to our next one.
- We currently have a use called major utility. And, you know, it's just for like gas generation plants,
- electrical substations. What we wanna make sure is that this definition excludes the small modular nuclear
- energy reactors and battery energy storage systems, because we're going to treat them differently than
- what we would treat a major utility. And they are gonna have their own set of standards. I'm so fine.
- And so, with that, we have the small modular nuclear reactors. We're clarifying what this is.
- These are, you know, these are reactors that have the power capacity to do 300, I want to say megawatts
- of energy per unit, whatever. But anyways, this is to clearly state that these are not permitted in
- Monroe County. And then finally, we have, I'll touch on the,
- battery energy storage system. So this is the definition here, not included in the major utilities,
- but it will have its own definition and we've run over those standards that are applicable to that one.
- So yeah, does anyone have any questions? See if my colleagues have any questions, Commissioner Medeo.
- We do not. No, this is pretty straightforward.
- Yeah, and we were under the state had asked us to ensure that we did a moratorium on hearing cases relating
- to small nuclear reactors and that we did complete this part of our requirement before our
- one-year moratorium lapses. And I believe that all of the state law requirements, obviously small nuclear
- reactors are pretty frightening things, especially when you take into account not just waste and accidents,
- but also decommissioning and what happens if the company goes up and who pays for it and how is it done.
- There's a lot to it. And so those are banned.
- or not permitted. And then the data center part that Ms. Bierman raised is really important because
- just this week, I've read two more articles about how a small city lost about half of their water pressure
- because they added a data center in their vicinity. And another one, which is tracking the amount of PFA
- PFOAs, or forever chemicals, as they're often called, and how these data centers are leaching the stuff
- into the environment, which no one really thought about before. They're also supposedly one of the new
- sources of nuisance lawsuits based on mass toxic tort claims. Ah, there you go. OK.
- Um, so there's, there's a lot there and I do, I do appreciate the work that was done on the, um, battery
- storage systems, because this is something that power companies are moving toward and sometimes they're
- in close sometimes they're not and. But we do want to make sure that the impact on the community is
- not negative in terms of noise or run off for drainage or anything else. So.
- And I would like to add a thank you to our SPIA fellow who researched that and presented reports to
- the ordinance review committee. They did a really great job of helping us formulate standards to review.
- Yeah, absolutely. And that's been great work. Just we've learned a lot. So it's been really helpful
- for the whole planning commission. All right. So let's see if there are
- If there's anyone who wishes to speak in favor of this petition, raise your hand on teams or come to
- the podium. Is there anyone who wishes to speak in opposition or make general public comment? None,
- and I do want to take a moment to thank
- the planning staff for all of their hard work and getting through all of this stuff. Some of it minutiae,
- some of it big, but all of it important. So thank you so much. All right. Any further comments? Okay.
- I'll go ahead and bring the questions to the floor. All those in favor of ordinance 2026-15 signify
- by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. Thank you so much.
- All right, we do have the new item, oh, please. Yes, I would like to move approval for resolution 2026
- dash 19. We have a motion and we have a second. This is a resolution in Manure County Board of Commissioners
- authorizing the Manure County Sheriff to appoint up to three deputies under the emergency appointment
- statute. Please tell us all about it.
- I will start with the goal and what we're intending to do with this and then we can back out into questions
- or things like that. And it's a little ironic to me because I've worked here for so long that we're
- actually to the point now where we have more confidence in our ability to attract jail staff than we
- are sheriff's deputies. So that's just a shift in.
- and how we are, but what this is, the goal of this is to allow us to train three of our correctional
- staff members to go to the police academy so that they can fill in for the merit deputies when there
- is an emergency. So it took a while to get around it. If you read the statute, it isn't exactly clear
- on this goal.
- But that's the goal. I think the important thing that I want to point out with this is that including
- the statute, it allows you to set a compensation for those deputies. This says they have to remain within
- the budget. That's what approved by the county council. So this does not have a budgetary impact. It
- is purely a way to get to allow the sheriff to send up to three of their correctional officers to the
- police academy, the law enforcement academy to get those training.
- And that's important for a lot of variety of reasons, most particularly is that they're seeing a lot
- more overtime and kind of expenses coming out of the sheriff, the mayor, deputy side of the organization.
- So that's the intent of this. The statue is admittedly much more designed for what I considered like
- the Wild West and the Old West posse.
- you know, special deputy and those kind of things, which is not the intent of what we're using this
- for. We are using this for the ability to get our correctional staff trained better. Even if
- these correctional staff never utilize it as an emerit deputy, there is a value to the jail to have
- members of the jail trained through the Law Enforcement Academy. Help the conversations between EPD
- IUPD merit deputies and the jail staff to help understand what's going on and what some of the concerns
- are. And so that's a benefit, even if this emergency situation where they need to be actually used as
- merit deputies does not exist. So there is benefit no matter what. Yeah. Uh, comments or questions,
- commissioner Jones. Yeah.
- Yeah, the old posse statute. Which actually goes back to Alfred the Great. It's really kind of got a
- storied history. But it's alive and well. Yeah. 100%. Yeah, yeah. So we're not declaring an emergency.
- There isn't an emergency. But there is an emergency, as far as the sheriff is concerned, because he
- does not have
- He wants to make sure he has sufficient deputies on the road if someone is out sick or anything else.
- And he is at that point where he needs to make sure he can call people in. So there's no emergency.
- The downtown bank hasn't been robbed by stagecoach robbers and whatever. I don't know. Anyway, go in
- at the train station, find out. I would say there's no emergency event.
- Yes, there's no event. We're not declaring an emergency, but this is an emergency appointment statute
- that we are considering. Okay, thank you. Thank you for clarifying that. Yes. All right. Any public
- comments on the world of law? Nerdy legal point. Yeah, there you go. I see none.
- All those in favor of approving resolution 2020-19 signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 3-0. I
- just say I am so grateful for our county attorneys and their depth of experience and how well they explain
- things. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, 100%. I'm grateful for all of our county employees to speak of it, but yes.
- No, that's very true. And the sheriff was eager to get this done quickly. So I appreciate that as well,
- because the Academy season start waiting lists and whatnot. So it's a timing issue as well. So I'm happy
- to do this to support the sheriff. All right.
- We do want to remind folks that there are virtual office hours via teams available and there are 6 hours
- per month. Just go to our calendar on our homepage. I am dot gov slash county slash Monroe and.
- We are still looking for some members for some boards and commissions, especially the library board
- and animal management. So if you are interested, please out boards and commissions and you can fill
- out an application online. So I believe there are June blood drive dates, but I do not have them.
- Sorry and um, but go to redcross.org and they'll have the info. Um, so we usually have two days each
- month that we work with ivy tech to provide um Jeff is having an identity crisis All right, um, so um,
- and the other thing we do want to do is remind folks that the
- Monroe County alert notification system is great thing for you to sign up for some people charge for
- this, by the way, we don't it's it's included for all county residents, no matter where they live. And
- you will receive updates on weather related traffic related other emergencies in the community, so that
- you can stay safe. And that.
- is available from our homepage, iand.gov slash county slash Monroe. And I do want to remind folks that
- again, this is police week. We had our proclamation. We will be at the peace officer's memorial ceremony
- tomorrow. It is 11 a.m. at the Showers Plaza as it was last year. There's only a slight chance of rain.
- Anything else for the good of the order? Anything? Okay. All right. We do not have a work session, correct?
- All right. No working today. All right. With that,
- We are going to adjourn this meeting. Our next meeting is the 21st of May, 10 a.m., right here in the
- NatU Hill Room. And with that, we are adjourned. Thanks, everyone. Thanks, Katz, and thank you, TSD,
- for all your hard work.