- Good morning, I'm going to call to order this meeting Monroe County Board of Commissioners. It is Thursday,
- June 4th already it's June, and like to note for the record that I'm the only commissioner here and
- present in the net you know room. Therefore, we're going to take care of a few agenda items, and then
- we're going to recess until Commissioner Madeira can join us she's at another.
- and appointments and she cannot be here. So we'll get through what we can in the agenda to begin with
- and then come back for the remainder. All right, so I'm going to start 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 will move on to our department updates, as I do not need a quorum for that.
- Is Lori Kelly here from the health department.
- Good morning. Good morning. Sorry. I just have a few updates. According to the Indiana Department of
- Health, we have not seen any changes in wastewater concentrations for COVID as of June 2nd. The Health
- Department does still keep a free stock of flu and COVID tests for the public. Anyone can walk in Monday
- through Friday
- between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to receive free tests. The health department will be offering free walk-in
- testing and treatment services for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis every Thursday beginning June
- 25th from three to six p.m. Lastly, the department does have appointments available for free lactation
- counseling services. Individuals can call 812-349
- 2075 for an appointment. Great. Thank you so much. I do not have any questions for you today. Appreciate
- you joining us. Thank you. Any other department updates for us? You can raise your hand on Teams or
- come to the podium. All right. Seeing none, I'll go ahead and open up public comment.
- This is time for items not on our agenda. We ask each speaker to limit their time to three minutes per
- person and to provide your name and county of residence when you begin speaking. Raise your hand on
- teams or come to the podium. Hi, Commissioner Thomas. My name is Jonathan Pierce and I live in Floyd
- County, Indiana.
- I am the newly appointed director of field operations for Congresswoman Erin Houchin's office, and I
- was in the area today, and I hadn't met you yet, so I just wanted to stop by and introduce myself, and
- I won't need the full three minutes today, but just wanted to say hello, and I just wanted to offer
- to be a friend and a resource to the county, whatever that looks like.
- And I was hoping to give you my card. Is it OK if I can? If you would. Yeah, I was just going to ask
- for that. Thank you. Perfect. Perfect. Well, I really appreciate the work that you guys do. And if there's
- anything that I can do to support you all, please let me know. Thank you, Mr. Pierce. I appreciate it.
- It's my pleasure. Thank you for your time.
- Thank you. Does anyone else have public comment for items not on our agenda? All right. Seeing none,
- I'm going to go ahead and read. Oh, we have bids.
- Can we do the bids today? Yeah, I think we can open the bids. I don't think we're going to. Great. Let's
- go ahead. These are the Monroe County Highway Parking Lot and Maintenance Yard bid opening. It's item
- A under new business. Yes. And I just reiterate two weeks ago, we had a passive resolution because we
- were going to open them last Thursday, but there wasn't a meeting. So we just said we would open them
- today at 10 a.m. And so that's what we're doing. And the first bid is from EMB Paving.
- out of Bloomington, Indiana.
- I'm reading this correctly. The base bid from EMB Paving is $162,117.33. There is an alternative item
- which they have a bid of $12,753.67.
- Second bid is from Milestone Contractors of Bloomington, Indiana. They have a base bid of $180,841.25
- and an alternative bid of $19,130. Next bid is from Lent's Paving.
- have a base bid of $142,651.
- first glance I do not see an alternate bid but on further study if we find it we will certainly take
- that into account. Next bid is from All Star Paving, Inc. out of Seymour, Indiana.
- They have a base bid of $178,152.40 and an alternate bid of $7,951.62. All the bids that we received.
- Okay, so we've received four bids and with that we will go ahead and take it under advisement.
- recommendation hopefully at your next meeting. Okay, July. Okay. All right. Since I have not heard what
- time we're going to be doing. Just go to 11. Okay, great. I'm going to go ahead and recess this meeting
- until 11am.
- Um, and if I need to extend that recess, I will come out and tell you at 11. Um, and I appreciate everyone
- for being here and I apologize for the delay in continuing with our meeting. All right. We are resist
- until 11 AM. Thanks everyone. Sorry. Thank you. Um, I'm going to bring this meeting back to order following
- our recess. I appreciate everyone's patience. Thank you. Um,
- and we are going to continue with our meeting beginning and I will note for the record that Commissioner
- Madeira is here and present in the Natt U Hill Room and we will begin with item five please. Yes I would
- like to move approval of the minutes for May 21st, 2026. I will second that. Any comments, corrections
- or edits? No I have sent mine in. Okay thank you.
- All those in favor of approving the minutes for May 21st, 2026 signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries
- to zero. Next item, please. I would like to move approval of the claims docket for accounts payable
- for June 4th, 2026 and for payroll for May 29th, 2026. I will second that. Ms. Gallardo.
- Good morning. The accounts payable claims docker for June 4, 2026 totals $12,055,453.99. This includes
- all emergency claims and adjustments. The payroll docker for May 29 includes $1,618,040.85 in direct costs.
- and the remaining $608,673.64 were for indirect costs for a grand total of $2,298,714.49. Thank you.
- Thank you so much. Comments or questions, Commissioner Medeo? I have none. Thank you. I don't either.
- Let's see if there's any public comment on this item. You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
- All those in favor of approving the claims docket accounts payable June 4th, 2026 and payroll for May
- 29th, 2026 signify by saying aye. Motion carries to zero. I will note for the record that we have received
- reports from the clerk's office for April, 2026 and weights and measures.
- One measure in lots of weights, weights and measures, May 2026. Sometimes you only notice something
- when you read it out loud. All right. We will move on to new business. Now, we've already handled item
- A, which was the bid opening. And for item B, I'm going to go ahead and open a public hearing for ordinance
- 2026-21, the vacation of right-of-way
- 5109 North State Road 37 Business. You want me to go ahead and kick this off and kind of explain what's
- going on? The county received, the commissioners received on I believe it was the 18th of May and I
- think it had been filed with planning or another entity in the county before that a request to vacate
- 75 feet of right away along Old State Road 37.
- According to Indiana code, we have 30 days from when we received that to have a public hearing on that
- matter. And so that is what is being brought forth today. Commissioner should be able to reference it,
- but I did speak with Mr. Ayers in highway. And my understanding, and they can correct me if I'm wrong,
- is what is really being, is at the end, the end result of this is that they're asking to remove
- 75 feet of right-of-way in order to give us 50 feet of right-of-way so we'd have a net 25 foot change
- between what we have today and what we would have at the end of this whole process. I guess my opinion
- is I don't know why we wouldn't just vacate the 25 feet, but I expect we may hear why that shouldn't
- occur that way as we move forward. But that's kind of it. This is a long old State Road 37.
- The resolution meets highways, that ultimate resolution meets highways thoughts on this, and that allows
- them to do some of the interior construction work on the subdivision. We have a petitioner present to
- discuss this. I'm Doug Graham, I'm with the Fire and Fan Yo.
- Okay. Great. Can you spell your last name so that we make sure we get in on record? Okay. Thank you,
- sir. So I agree with your statement, sir. It was kind of a convoluted process. The reason I got set
- at 75 feet in the first place, we prepared a type E
- subdivision for Kelly to kind of adjust a lot lines between her and another property they own to the
- north. And at the time, generally when we do that, we designate right away according to the thoroughfare
- plan. At that time it said it should be 75 feet. So that's where we drew that.
- We had that in, we had the mylar prepared, it was ready to go, and the county says, well, you know,
- you may not want to do that because you're not going to have any parking out front, you're going to
- have any room for landscaping. And so you would have to have a variance if you did that.
- They also wouldn't tell us if they would support a variance at that time. That was kind of their policy.
- They just say, well, you have to ask, well, will we get it? They said, well, we can't tell you. So we
- kind of had a burden at hand. That plot was already prepared. It was going to pass. Or the one in the
- bush was, we don't know if we would get a variance or not. So we just proceeded with that at 75 feet.
- And then it came up this, well, now you need to do a plot plan, site plan, showing parking
- landscaping, which, of course, there's no room for. That's why we needed to change it. Now, make an
- even longer story for that one. Ben Ayers looked into that. The state highway back in the 40s, maybe,
- had designated the right of way as 50 feet, which is what we're asking for now and which is what Ben
- thinks that we should go for.
- The state highway at that time didn't really record legal documents that actually established free title
- to the state. So we, it's kind of like a limbo. So we're just, we're to make panning bin errors and
- everyone happy. We'll dedicate that 50 feet and then they'll have room for the parking and our landscaping.
- And the right away will be where the state thought they were buying to back in the forties and where
- Ben thinks is a good idea.
- So what is going in here? What is it? It's an existing business. It's premium and exotic. They sell
- and lease trucking equipment, high-end tractor trailers and RVs. So there's nothing changing? No.
- No use changing. Okay. All right. That actually makes sense. Yes. Okay. Thank you. All right. So let's
- see if there's anyone here who wishes to speak in favor of the vacation of the right-of-way. Anybody
- here who wishes to speak in opposition to the vacation of the right-of-way?
- but it's down now. Anybody else have public comment to offer? I just want to say this is Tammy Beerman
- in the planning department. Yes, we are in support of this and we're going to do more of a corrective
- plat so that we can make the site plan work out here. Just wanted to put in that two cents that planning
- is good with this as well. Thank you. Thank you for that information. Appreciate it.
- I'm gonna go ahead and close the public hearing and move that we vacate right of way from a 5109 North
- State Road 37 business and 5141 North State Road 37 business. I will second that motion. All right,
- we have a motion and we have a second. This up for public comment again, even though we just had our
- public hearing.
- just to be sure. Some suspenders. All right, seeing no commenters. All those in favor of approving the
- vacation of right of way on North State Road 37 business signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries
- to zero. Next item, please. Thank you.
- We'd like to move approval for Graber Post Buildings Incorporated Service Agreement, fund names 1,178
- and 1,179, fund number county general, park non-reverting capital, and park non-reverting operating
- in the amount not to exceed $27,770. Second, Ms. Whitmer. Yes, at the Will Dutmer Park, we have a 50-year-old
- pole barn that we have probably done
- almost nothing to. So hopefully the new roof and siding and doors will provide better security in another
- 20 years of good life. Great. Thank you. And thank you again for your patience this morning waiting
- for us to resume our meeting. Do you have any comments or questions? No. Thank you for the upkeep as
- always. 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 Graver Post Buildings Inc. Service Agreement signify
- by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 2-0. Next item, please. Yes, I would like to move approval for the
- request for approval of the Monroe County Nature Reserve Recreational Use Certification. I will second
- that. And once again, we have Parks and Recreation Director Ms. Whitmer.
- Yes, County Legal wrote up the certification, and I believe it's very well written. It's to provide
- written certification to the Huntington trustee verifying and describing how the real estate is being
- used for recreational purposes. The Park Board approved it. We need your approval. We'll give it to
- the trustee. And if she approves it, which there should be no problem. And at that point, there's some
- mathematical calculation, which I don't know, that she will
- give a donation back to the Parks Department to help maintain this property. And we do this every year.
- We'll be doing this every year around this time. Okay, I get, yeah, all right. Is that a yearly thing?
- Good, good. Yeah, makes sense to me. Even though it's not open to the public yet. Correct, it's not
- open to the public. This certifies our intention. Our intention and
- that we show them their plans and I think they'll be happy. They just wanna make sure we're going on
- the right path. Got it, no pun intended, or pun intended. All right, comments or questions? Nope.
- All right, thank you for bringing this to us and we look forward to the annual renewal. Any public comment
- on this item? Raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
- Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Monroe County Nature Preserve Recreational Use Certification
- signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries to zero. Thank you. Thank you. Please. Yes, I'd like to move
- approval of the contract amendment for the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Grant. Fund name PHEP,
- fund number 8104 and grant amount of $25,000.
- I will second that. Miss Kelly, thank you for your patience as well. I know you were on earlier. Please
- tell us all about this. This is standard grant funding that helps to support our public health preparedness
- division. We have two full time employees who work in that. So this helps to provide funding for continued
- training as well as supplies that we can use in public health emergencies.
- and for ongoing education to the public and services such as vehicle maintenance and cell phones.
- All right. Thank you so much. Uh, comments or questions. Commissioner Madeira, any public comment on
- this item? You can raise your hand on teams or come to the podium and thank the health department and
- the health board for bringing this forward.
- Seeing no public comment, all those in favor of approving the contract amendment for public health emergency
- preparedness grant signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 2-0. Thank you. Next item, please. Yes,
- I'd like to move approval for the Cutters Soccer Club Memorandum of Understanding, the updated payment
- schedule. I will second that. Ms. Whitmer. I hope not to confuse you. This is very simple. Let's keep
- it simple, then.
- Let's keep it simple. We signed an MOU with them in 2023 or so. Anywho, they missed their first payment.
- So they requested the park board to take that first payment and move it to the last date on November
- 15th, 2028, which means their first payment now will be June 15th, 2026. They just needed a little more time.
- And the park board granted them that, and we hope that you grant them that also. Because the creation
- of the athletic fields is not dependent on one organization providing payment, but it will help down
- the road when they do. Correct. And this is to go to replace the turf every 10 or 15 years. You may
- need to replace it. This won't be all the money, but it's a good start. And they were gracious enough to donate
- This money overall will be $60,000. And the park board has vowed to set aside $30,000 each year for
- 20 years for this process also. So we'll have it in one of our non-reverting accounts. And we'll show
- everybody, oh, why do you have all that money? It's not our money. It's for this purpose. It's a good
- plan. Thank you so much. Comments or questions, Commissioner Madeira? No.
- Yeah, it was interesting because when I read the synopsis first, I was very confused. Yeah. But then
- when I read the MOU, it was very clear. They just need to move their payment. One payment. One payment.
- One payment. Payments do not start on the 2028, November 15. That's how it reads. OK, thank you. Yes,
- that's how I know. That's not my writing. No, that's OK. That's OK. We're good. We're good.
- All right, so let's see if there's any public comment on this item. You raise your hand on teams or
- come to the podium. I think it's a really good, fair deal to split this because they are going to be
- a predominant user of those fields and it's a good agreement. And I do want to emphasize this is not
- a rental agreement. Right. Just for turf replacement. Right. It's just a contribution toward the inevitable
- turf replacement.
- Correct. Got it. Thank you. Other than I'm really happy just we have access to the synthetic turf because
- it just extends the playability. Oh, they've been playing on it a lot. Yes. Any public comment? Raise
- your hand on teams or come to the podium.
- Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the Cutter's Soccer Club MOU updated payment schedule,
- signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries zero. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next item, please. Yes,
- I would like to move approval for the kiosk agreement with Custom Control Systems Incorporated doing
- business as precision kiosk technologies. Fund name court alcohol drug user fees, public safety lit.
- fund number 2504-2508 in the amount of $19,800 per 12 months per kiosk. Excellent. I will second that.
- Good morning.
- I am here for approval of the MOU with precision kiosk technology for us to use an automated kiosk system
- which includes a breathalyzer. So this MOU is allowing us to obtain and use up to two automated kiosks
- with one anticipated in our community corrections office and the other placed out in the community where
- our clients would have access to it 24-7. The kiosk can be used for breathalyzers
- client check ins drug testing scheduling and data collection and it supports.
- all the areas of our community supervision, including pretrial, our probation program, our court alcohol
- and drug program, community corrections, and the problem solving courts. It's really just another way
- that technology gives us a tool to help monitor compliance in a secure and consistent manner. And it
- allows us to reduce some of that administrative workload so our officers can spend more time focusing
- on case management interventions with our higher and moderate risk clients.
- and there's no obligation for us to use the kiosk for every program or every client. We just plan on
- implementing it kind of thoughtfully and where it makes operational sense. Really good. Thank you. This
- is great. I don't know how they do it technology-wise, so I'm impressed and I'm glad that you all found
- this because this is one of those questions about when we co-locate in the future,
- wherever we do, where's that service going? And now it sounds like it's going nowhere. It's going to
- be available, but Ms. Purdy. My concern is, is go on our network. I'm just doing that because Mr. Crown
- is right here. He always writes me about things going on in the network. So I wanted to see. Have you
- had that discussion? I believe Linda has, but if I'm,
- I could be mistaken. We'll just make this contingent on TSD approval. Is that okay? Absolutely.
- All right, perfect. I'm gonna go ahead and move to amend this. Thank you, Ms. Purdy, to amend this motion
- to be contingent on TSD approval. I second. All those in favor of amending the motion? Aye. Aye.
- All right, so we now have it amended.
- motion. So I don't anticipate any issues because obviously other counties are using this, but we want
- to do things by the book. All right. Any questions? I really, again, I don't understand the technology.
- I don't know how they can do this, but this is great. And thank you for finding it. And let's see if
- there's any public comment on this item. You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
- All those in favor of approving the amended motion for the kiosk agreement with custom control systems,
- DBA, precision kiosk technologies, contingent on the approval of TSD, signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion
- carries 2-0. Thank you. Thank you. I'm glad you raised that. I just, you know, I think we need to add
- that line to our agenda.
- Yeah, please do that. Yeah, that would be great. All right. Thank you. Next item. Yes, I'd like to move
- approval for the hoplite penetration testing agreement. Fund name cumulative capital fund number eleven
- thirty eight in the amount of ninety thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars. I will second that. Mr.
- Krum. Good morning, everyone.
- I have not been able to find any record other than a kind of cursory testing that our cyber insurance
- carrier did where Monroe County's actually had a deep penetration testing done on all its networks.
- For those who don't know what deep penetration is, basically you're contracting with a company as white
- hackers to go after your systems just the same as any threat actor would do to try to discover revealed
- vulnerabilities in your system
- bring them up for remediation. I've been trying to find a company for about the last three years to
- perform these services. Most of the companies I talked to, it was one-off testing for $50,000, followed
- up by one follow-up testing included in that contract. So I've been working with the state IOT office
- because this is a broader problem for the state, not just this county. They turned me on to this Hoplite
- company who's willing to do, for $30,000 annually, they will
- perform a deep penetration test, then they will follow up with us every 30 days to retest any remediations
- we've done or test any changes we've made to our environment. I felt it best to go ahead and lock this
- in on three-year terms, because as these services, more people on board, the price is going to go up,
- not down. So they did agree to do a three-year contract with us on this, and testing would start immediately
- upon approval.
- Excellent negotiation skills, as always, sir. So are you going to be aware, or is your staff going to
- be aware when they run these tests, or you just know that at some point they're going to throw a test
- at you once a year? They're going to throw a test at us. I don't want to know when they're executing
- it, because I want to test our monitoring ability to detect anomalies. And we see it all the time. We're
- constantly seeing outside entities trying to get into our network. So, yeah. No, I want it to be a surprise
- for us as well.
- That's what it is. How will you know that's what it is when it when it starts. Well it won't. I'll have
- to. We'll have to get the IP addresses everything we see coming in and then that's when I'll reach back
- out to hop like hey is this you. OK. So perfect. I was just curious because it's just so fascinating
- that there are good hackers and bad hackers.
- Sometimes your bad hackers become good hackers. Usually after they've been arrested and spent some prison
- time. But then they come out and make more money than I ever will. Got it. All right, thank you. No,
- it's a good deal. Comments or questions? Sorry, I made a stupid mistake. No, I think this is excellent
- because this is kind of where we're headed. And otherwise, we're just taking a chance. And so unfortunately,
- it's also very expensive.
- but it's less expensive by far than an actual hack is, so. That's exactly right. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
- Summer time reminds me of that summer. I'll never forget it. You didn't sleep a whole month. To not
- be repeated. No, to not be repeated. All right. If there's any public comment on this item, you raise
- your hand on Teams or come to a podium.
- none all those in favor of approving the hoplite penetration testing agreement signify by saying aye
- aye motion carries to zero next item please i would like to move approval for shi corporation lucidia
- it agreement uh fund name 2022 geobahn fund number 4815 in the amount of twenty thousand two hundred
- forty one dollars and 32 cents second so the primary
- core network switches, which are the ones responsible for doing the bulk of the lift of moving your
- traffic around your network. They're end of life. Some of them are pushing 20 years old, so we've gotten
- our money's well worth out of them. We've already secured the new core switches. Those are already in
- our possession. To get this project done, we're going to have to do it on a weekend, and we need to
- be fast, because when we take these core switches down, we take the whole county down.
- There's such a dramatic difference in the architecture of this new hardware compared to the environment
- we're working in that we thought it best to leverage professional services to make sure that we can
- get this done over a weekend and not drag this out for a week or more, or if we run into issues, not
- being able to correct them timely.
- are working with SHI Corporation. They're playing the middle man on this, which you're familiar with
- their name. We buy a lot of things off them. But they've partnered with Lucidia IT Corporation, who's
- actually going to come on site and help us get those core switches replaced. Great. And you're going
- to alert employees to when this is going to happen? Yes. I was waiting on approval of the agreement
- and then scheduling a time with Lucidia that works for everyone.
- big impact is going to be obviously on our sheriff jail and you shelter. So I was going to want to coordinate
- with all three entities to try to find, try to find the best time. They're in a great time for your
- jail, but the best time that we could apply this. Excellent. Excellent. Thank you. It's really thoughtful.
- Um, questions?
- done, I think we need to get these things out of here before they have 21st birthday parties. Yeah,
- there you go. Because you never know how drunk they're going to get. Right. Absolutely. That's what
- they were going to do. Are these going to have a 20, are these new switches going to have a 20-year
- lifespan as well? Or it seems like it seems to get shorter, no longer. Yeah. And well, to be honest
- with you, these never were intended to run this long. We're about double past, typically, five, depending
- on what the use load is on it, five to 10 years is what's what considered industry standard.
- So, you know, we've enjoyed a long period of not paying for things. So, yeah, it's time to start doing
- some more work. Sounds like a good plan. Thank you. Comments from the public? You may come to the podium
- or raise your hand on Teams. It's not ours.
- Maybe it's on. All right, seeing no public comment, all those in favor of approving the agreement with
- SHI Corporation and Lucidia IT, signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries to zero. Thank you very much.
- Thank you. Next item, please.
- Yes, I'd like to move approval of the TRAC funding request, fund name to be determined, fund number
- to be determined in the amount of $5,399.25. I will second that. Ms. Kelly, welcome back. We're going
- to have to adjust these agendas so people don't have to pop back on and off. Sorry about that. Thanks
- for coming back.
- No problem. We received an award for this funding that would support us to purchase 75 bleeding control kits.
- So our two full-time public health preparedness employees that I mentioned previously, they provide
- these trainings for free to the public and to staff within our Monroe County schools. And during those
- classes, they distribute these kits for those who participate. We have used in the past some of that
- grant funding for the purchase of these kits and the
- The program has been so successful that we've run through all of those. So we actually found this council
- who was agreeable to provide us with funding so that we could continue providing these classes. Great.
- Thank you so much. Questions, Commissioner Madeira? No, this is one of those things where you don't
- think you need them until you do. And then it's catastrophic. So this is very, very
- essential and I'm glad that we can get these distributed. Thank you. Yeah, it's sad that we need them,
- but it's gratifying that they're provided. So absolutely hope they never get used. Let's see if there's
- any public comment on this item. It's another great service from our health department. Thank you. Um,
- the public comment, you don't see any, um,
- All those in favor of approving the track funding request, signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries
- 2-0. Thank you. Thank you. Next item, please. I'd like to move approval for ratification of the 2026-2027
- Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative grant contract, fund name JDAI coordination implementation,
- JDAI programming, JDAI data analysis, and research.
- fund number 9122, 9123, and 9175 in the amount of $80,000. I will second that. Mr. Williams, it looks
- like you're going to present for us. Thank you. Hello, yeah. The understudy today for Christine McAfee,
- who's the expert in this. But hopefully we're all accustomed to receiving this JDI grant over the years.
- This is for the 2026, 2027. We're receiving $80,000. And I think the highlight I would like to point
- out is that $60,000
- $2,800 of that is going to support local programming within Monroe County. Really good. Really good.
- Um, how does that amount compared to last year? It's about, I believe it's right around the same amount.
- Yes. Seems like there's great programming. I mean, I, yeah, we're going to get the contracts coming
- in next, but there's some really great programming. Uh, commissioner majority. Any questions?
- I think in the last couple of weeks especially we've heard how important it is the community to have
- these non-carceral alternatives and I think that now more than ever before both those plus anything
- that keeps anybody especially at these core ages out of the system is just
- and especially out of detention is just so important. And so I think for every dollar spent, you can't
- even anticipate the amount of return you get. So I think this is just so precious. So appreciate this.
- Getting to youth early in the process, and even in some cases, I know some of the counseling is just for
- family conflict resolution, things like that, that will help prevent youth from going wayward. Huge,
- huge benefit to the community. So thank you. Let's see if there's any public comment on this item. You
- can raise your hand on Teams or come to the podium.
- All those in favor of ratifying the 2026-2027 Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, JDAI grant
- contract, signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 2-0. Thank you. All right. Next item, please. Yes,
- I would like to move approval for resolution 2026-21 regarding resolution 2025-58, notice to homeless
- encampments. Second. Mr. Cockrell.
- Yes, and I think I'm going to start with what this is not. This is not a change in the county stance
- that was stated in that previous resolution, which basically said two different things. One, it said
- we are not going to do any of our encampment removals without giving 30 days notice to those in the
- encampment. And the second is that the members of the council
- county commissioners are going to encourage, and the meetings have been occurring, a kind of conversation
- with the city's leadership, county council, county commissioners, kind of figure out the best way to
- handle these kind of situations. And if it were up to, I believe, the commissioners, that's the route
- we would go in addressing these types of issues. Unfortunately, or, you know, the world is as it is,
- the state decided to pass some legislation that indicated
- some requirements on our law enforcement if they find people sleeping on public property without approval.
- And so in that legislation it includes that the counties aren't allowed to have any policies in place
- that may be seen as changing or in any way hindering law enforcement's ability to deal with that. What
- this resolution does is essentially it gives notice to the individuals who are affected by this that
- That legislation did change and it does affect the county's ability to maintain that 30 day notice provision.
- Now I would say that the commissioners are willing to, if it's a commissioner started process where
- we're going to do that, that that 30 days notice will still have some power and carry some weight, but
- we have to be able to react to situations that are the result of this new legislation by state law.
- So this is kind of giving people notice that,
- This occurred and it kind of makes everything we had said in the original resolution as far as the 30
- days notice, it kind of overwrites that. It makes it something that we can't necessarily maintain. So
- that's what this is. It is not saying that we are now going to be able to go out three days from today
- and start issuing notices that you have to leave and things like that.
- clearly does not overwrite 257. And it also does not go into effect until July 1st, which is when that
- state legislation. All right. So we're essentially almost 30 days out from that. Questions? Nope. So
- this frustrates me a lot. And I think it's a very emotional issue for me. Sorry.
- I think this is an issue I spent a lot of time thinking about. I think we have an obligation to protect
- public spaces and the quality of life for all residents. We also have an obligation to say really clearly
- that homelessness isn't solved by pushing people from one place to another. And poverty shouldn't become
- a pathway into the criminal legal system. So people don't have to sleep outside because it's easy. They
- sleep outside because they run out of options. Because housing is too expensive,
- Shelter is unavailable and unsuitable, and treatment is hard to access, and the safety net has failed
- them. And so the law may require local governments and law enforcement to respond, but our county's
- response shouldn't begin and end with enforcement. It has to include shelter. It has to include mental
- health care. It has to include substance use treatment and case management.
- and affordable housing and serious coordination among county government and city government and service
- providers and courts and law enforcement in the state. And we can acknowledge legitimate concerns about
- public health and safety without dehumanizing people who are in a house.
- And so our goal should be fewer encampments because more people have housing and not because people
- have citations or warrants for jail time. And Murrow County should approach this moment with urgency
- and with compassion and with realism because criminal penalties are not housing policy. So if the state
- of Indiana is going to impose new obligations on local communities, then it also should help people
- to help provide the resources needed to meet people where they are and to move them towards stability.
- And I don't see that happening here. And so especially around SB1, this is going to hit communities
- hard. It's going to hit humans hard. And so that's why I think you hear the tone in my voice that you
- hear, because we're all human. And these are our neighbors. And these are our brothers and our sisters.
- And I don't want to have to put my brothers and sisters and my neighbors in jail.
- This really is horrible. Yeah, I appreciate it. And thank you for your emotive and logical, at the same
- time, statement. I think this is another, I mean, on the one hand, looking at the facts of it, it's
- another unfunded mandate from the state of Indiana. Terrible, because there is nothing
- to help prevent folks not having shelters, so basic. I know that there are a lot of good folks in the
- community. I know that there are a lot of agencies, churches, and other really well-meaning people who
- are involved. I hope they are able to fill the gap because
- beyond being an unfunded mandate, this is a human tragedy. And it is horrible to imagine what will happen
- here in Monroe County, but across the state especially, where they may have different kinds of leaders.
- It's now erecting another barrier for someone getting employment or getting a place to live because
- now they will potentially have a record that they may not have had before. It doesn't solve anything.
- It solves nothing, the state law. But it makes sense for us to step back and to say, look, we intend to
- provide as much notice as possible if there is a county-based encampment that we are trying to move,
- disassemble, and hopefully get people into housing and shelter and safe places and dry places and warm
- places and cool places in the summer that we will follow through with our intention, but we can't step
- on state law.
- And that's the unfortunate thing, so yeah. It's a double cruelty. It really is. It's a double life sword.
- It really is. So it's so hard. And it's a nationwide problem, but it's a local problem. And it's a statewide
- problem, but it's a local problem. And as much as it's a local problem, it's an individual problem too, right?
- We could just do so much better. I don't know how we can do better, but I hope we can do better and
- figure something out. And again, thank you for your impassioned speech. Let's see if there's any public
- comment on this item. You can raise your hand on Teams or come to the podium here in the NatU Hill Room.
- Good morning, commissioners. This is Christopher M.G. from the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce,
- and I understand the gravity of this situation. You are where you are. The state legislation is an unfunded
- mandate in that we have to react to it accordingly. But it is an opportunity to sort of rethink some
- of the things that we do in making sure we're tying coordination with the city, the service providers
- in this, and making sure
- These encampments don't grow to where they become unreasonably harder to deal with. I think encampments
- are not safe places. These are not ideal places for people to live. They need housing. They need shelter.
- We hear from our employers or property owners on the safety, the property damage caused, and the lack
- of clarity of who's responsible when these issues arise from a public and private property.
- When July 1 comes, and we encourage you just to coordinate some of this, business shouldn't be left
- guessing on the processes. We should be hitting interventions early. As mentioned, shelters,
- mental health, caseworkers, those are all important. And it's important we do this early in the process
- before the encampments become larger and become more of a problem that we did see last December, where
- it seemed to sort of
- rather than it should have, because of a lack of clarification, because of a lack of streamlining and
- planning. So as much as we're sort of put in this situation, it does give us a chance, July 1, to hit
- the reset button on it. I thank you for your time today. Appreciate it. Thank you. Anyone else have
- public comment on this item? You raise your hand on Teams or come to the podium. I will note
- that Commissioner Medeira has been working with city colleagues on this. It's an ongoing effort.
- It's been going on for several months, really, and heading home is part of that as well. So we have
- a member of County Council and we have Commissioner Madeira, and then we have a City Council member,
- Mayor's Office, and heading home. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
- Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
- Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes
- And I think the suggestion is a good one to find a way to reach out to business owners specifically
- before July 1st and maybe that's something I'm sure the Chamber could help with that. I'm just going
- to put you on the spot and ask you to help with that. But I'm sure you could help with that. And that's,
- you know, but you have to have getting that plan done has been a little bit more problematic.
- Yes. And I've been reaching out to the faith community and I'll be happy to reach out to the chamber
- as well. So all those in favor of approving resolution twenty twenty six dash twenty one signify by
- saying aye. I motion carries two zero. Can I just say one more thing. So the city had a doesn't have
- a resolution there. They actually just had a policy so they also will nix their policy.
- July 1st, and so you won't see them repealing anything for the members of the public out there because
- they don't have a resolution. We did have a resolution and so that's why we actually have to explicitly
- repeal ours. But both will be null and void because of the state law. As Attorney Jeff Cockrell said,
- that's why we have to. It's not a change in policy. But it's still our intention to provide notice if
- it's a county-determined, county-based action.
- Uh, we cannot control what the public does, residents, businesses, et cetera. So that's the unfortunate
- part. We can only control what we do. Yes. And it does have that private enforcement component. And
- I believe if we did not enforce, then we'd have that, you know, state hand come down as well. Yeah.
- Yeah. Uh, so thank you. Next. Uh, yes. Um, I'd like to move approval for ordinance, uh, 20,
- 26 dash 18, the revised building permit and license fee schedule.
- I will second that. Schilling. Very much. Dave Schilling from the legal department here with Bobby LaRue,
- the building commissioner. And this is an ordinance just to update the building permit fees. It hasn't
- been done for probably 12 years, 14 years. Okay. And the recent legislation
- been enacted that limits the county's ability to increase effective at the end of the year we can only
- increase the fees one time per year according to tied to an index unless the council approves a hire
- after a hearing so we're getting it done right now the
- fees will not take effect, they cannot take effect for 180 days after publication. And last time we
- were here, we spoke about possibly just having the start date for the new fees as January 1. So I propose
- this amendment to section 3.
- that that section would read the exhibit a fee shall become effective on the date 180 days after being
- published in accordance with Indiana code 36248 E as amended or on January 1, 2027, whichever date is later.
- And then the second amendment is the Scrivener's area right underneath that. It says it's so resolved
- before it should be so ordained. So with those two proposed amendments, we would request your approval
- of this fee. So did you incorporate those into the
- you incorporate those amendments in already in the packet no they are not in the packet so I will you
- know what I did is I went back to the that's what got me off track yes perfect thank you thank you great
- thank you so much I'm gonna go ahead and move that we
- I would like to amend ordinance 2026 dash 18 to reflect section 3 exhibit a fee shall become effective
- on the date 180 days after being published in accordance with Indiana code as amended or on January
- 1st, 2027, whichever date is later. So ordained by the Board of Commissioners. Can I get a second on that?
- And my name's Miss Beldens. My name is Miss Beldens. I already sent that one in. All right, so all those
- in favor of amending the motion, signify by saying aye. Aye.
- The motion carries to amend Ordinance 2026-18. Anything else that we need to know? No. Yeah. Questions?
- No, no questions. Okay. I don't have any either. Any public comment on this item? Can you raise your
- hand on Teams or come to the podium?
- Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the amended ordinance 2026-18 signify by saying aye. Aye.
- Motion carries 2-0. Next item, please. I would like to move approval for Ordinance 2026-19, amending
- the Monroe County Code, Chapter 430, the Building Code. Second. Thank you very much. Dave Schelling
- from the Legal Department again.
- This ordinance just updates our what we call the building code, the Monroe County Building Code to reflect
- recent amendments to state law, adding some definitions. There's a new procedure that applies to class
- two structures which are your residential structures. The building department has to provide notices
- and respond within certain amounts of time.
- to applicants and there's an opportunity for applicants to employ a private inspector rather than using
- the building department. So that this just the intent of this ordinance is to just update some of the
- terms in our building code and to make it consistent with recent amendments to state law.
- You presented this to us last time as well. Thank you for that. I don't have any questions either, but
- once again, we're gonna have to amend 2026-19 to reflect the partners error on ordained versus resolved
- at the very end, section two. Can I get a second for that? Yes, I'd like to second that and just
- And what I'm trying to figure out, this is the one with the private inspector provision. Is that correct?
- Private building inspector? Yes. Okay. Yeah. I think I just, I was looking through things. I think I
- just answered my own question. Okay. I was trying to, yeah. You had me on tenterhooks. Okay. Sorry.
- I was like, oh.
- All right, let's see if there's any public comment on this item. Did you have anything you wanted to
- add, Mr. Lueber? Okay. I was just going to answer the question if she, if Commissioner Madeira. Yeah,
- no, I think I answered it. Okay. Thank you. Seeing no public comment.
- All those in favor of approving the amended ordinance 2026-19 signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries
- 2-0 and I will note that we have the same thing for the next item if you could just make it part of
- your motion. Okay.
- I think I may be confused on that. But that's right. I can make the motion. I'm going to go ahead and
- move to approve ordinance twenty twenty six dash twenty to amend Monroe County code chapter four three
- three with the note that the Scrivener's error needs to be addressed to at the very end, which is I
- believe in section three on this one. That's yeah, I didn't know what section. So can I get a yes, I
- would like to second that motion. Thank you. The motion is second.
- Thank you very much. This ordinance amends chapter 433, which is our contractor registration ordinance
- and licensing ordinance. So there's electrical contractors, which the county is still authorized to
- license. So this sets forth the process for licensing of electrical contractors. The state regulates
- the licensing of
- plumbers. And so we just we just require licensed plumbers to register with the county. That's basically
- it. We've just updated some of the procedures and the terms that are in this our old ordinance.
- We've changed, make them consistent with current practice and some of the statutory language. Thank
- you so much. Questions? No, I just think all of this is frustrating because it starts at the state level
- and then we have to
- amend. And this is sort of the frustration I still have on 2026-19. And again, I answered my own question
- there. Do you ever think that they're going to also make the changes that we've seen with plumbing on
- the electrical side as well and just take everything up to the state? Bobby LaRue with the building
- department.
- It's a really good question. I know that most surrounding states have state issued license for electricians.
- Certainly there are some advantages to that for electricians and for our department to be quite frank.
- Licensing electricians is a lot of work for the board. We have to, we talk to a lot of people and we have to,
- verify test results and do a lot of maintenance with those license. I don't have a great answer. What
- I understand the history of this was that there was a certain in the past there were certain groups
- of people who felt like they were going to benefit from state issued license and as it turned out those
- groups didn't benefit from the state issued license and so the
- the motion or the momentum to continue different type of state issued licensing is just petered out.
- So I don't know if they'll ever... Sorry, I don't have a better answer other than to talk a lot. So
- I'll just leave it at that. No, that's great. That actually was very helpful because it fascinates me
- sort of like how these are different from state to state because this is actually much harder than plumbing.
- You think it would just be the opposite. And I've asked that question. And why did we start with plumbing?
- And the answer, and it's somewhat true, is that plumbing errors and cross connections can contaminate
- communities, not necessarily, you know, electrical issues generally affect the structure that they happen
- in. And contamination of potable water can affect a large number of people.
- Oh, gosh. OK, so it's not particularly shocking. Sorry. Pardon. Sorry. You're getting underwater with
- your jokes. Stop it. Excellent. Thank you so much. That does help shed light on it. And with that, Mr.
- MG is packing up. Sorry. We're driving him out with the jokes. So yes, thank you so much. That does
- make sense from that vantage point. Thank you. And that actually concludes my questions.
- Yes, and Mr. Schelling, thank you so much for doing all of the due diligence just to bring these up
- to snuff with the state, so thanks. Yeah, and I do want to thank both of you for being patient today
- with our recessed meeting. Yes, thank you. The other thing is I think what's worrisome for me is these kinds of
- Changes in state law and I think it's still true that about a third of state legislators are builders
- or developers So I think it's Interesting to see what happens Fox and hen house and all of that Anyway,
- all right any public comment on this item you raise your hand on teams or come to the podium and
- motion carries. All those in favor of approving ordinance 2026 dash 20 as amended signify by saying
- aye. I motion carries 2, 0, thank you thank you. I just say one other thing. I just wanted to say thanks
- to Kirk Sylvester and and the building
- comments in it over the last Several months to try to make these the best that they can and they all
- three of them have been extremely gracious with their time And I really appreciate it. So thank you.
- Thank you, sir Thank you for asking the questions because that's how the sausage gets made. There you
- go. So yeah Yeah, thanks for your hard work and I apologize for holding everything up and looking at
- feeble minded because I had I had put questions in a version of the PDF packet and then I can't I couldn't
- find that version. So I was trying to find the portions of the packet that I had the questions on and
- like trying to and I was like just yeah. So sometimes best laid plans if you can't find the file ready
- for the new ready for the next item. Thank you. I'd like to move approval for the ratification of the
- agreement between the Monroe County commissioners and in dot.
- Uh, for the baby Creek road bridge, number six, 29 replacement funding. Oh, I'm sorry. Fund name, baby
- Creek road bridge, number six, 29 fund number 81 67 in the amount of 1,689,600. Who's doing this one?
- I can do it. Or you can do it since I go ahead and get started. Cause I'm scrolling down to it.
- OK. All right. So this was this is a ratification because the index fiscal year was ending and the time
- that we were going to be able to get this on to your agenda was not in alignment. And if we waited until
- we could get it on the agenda such as today it would it would end up becoming null and void by India
- and they would have to resend it.
- So what this is doing is you guys had, I've reached out to you individually and you've approved the
- signature of this. And this is just making it a formal approval of this particular project and fund.
- Thank you. Let's ask her some really tough questions. What about the right of way and the public engineering
- project portion of the, anyway, okay, we'll do that. I think ultimately this is a,
- project that needs to be done. We've gone through a very lengthy process to prioritize bridges and determine
- which is the most appropriate to fund. And this one was the next one to be identified to be done. And
- these processes take such a long time, too. Yep. All right. So 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 ratifying the agreement between Monroe County Commissioners and INDOT
- for Baby Creek Road Bridge 629 replacement, signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 2-0. Last item,
- please. I would like to move to approve the change order number 6 with INDOT for the Vernal Pike Sunrise
- Greetings Extension. Fund name, Vernal Pike Sunrise Greetings, fund number 8165 and the amount
- of $148,481.69. I will second that.
- I was not involved in this one. This is the final project tabulation on the Vernal Pike Sunrise Greetings
- Extension. The project connects basically the back of Lowe's to Vernal Pike through the Sunrise Greetings.
- I've always called it the bridge over the railroad because there's a railroad that hooks into the roundabout.
- created when we extended Dan profile Parkway, sorry, profile. So this is, I think this is what is necessary
- to close it out. Yeah. It looks like the final items, um, backfill additional asphalt grade conflicts,
- the lineators sidewalk sections, uh, overruns were documented tickets and field calculations and justified
- by each department.
- So with that in mind, any public comment on this item? Thank goodness it's done. I just went through
- that intersection yesterday. The other side of it goes to nowhere. Yes. Of that traffic light on Vernal.
- If you're on Vernal, you can cross over the light. There's a light that goes both ways, but there's
- nothing except a dirt patch.
- I just had a question. What's a delineator? So in this case, the delineators west side of the bridge
- and additional sidewalk sections, delineators typically are either railings or curbs or something, some physical
- Sure, to separate. Yeah, it's a separation. And I wondered if all the overruns are going to pay those
- tickets. We're losing our crowd. We're logging off left and right.
- All those in favor of approving change or number six with end up for renal pike sunrise greetings extension
- signify by saying aye. I motion carries zero all day three zero all day. Okay. Now that I've learned
- to count. She is always now that I've learned to count. I do want to make a motion to appoint Becky
- Hill to the Monroe County Library Board.
- I second that motion. Her term, I think is completing one. She's aware it might not be a full four years,
- but I think it's actually, I think I have to look at it. Yeah, we'll figure it out. But it was a real,
- really great to talk to her and learned a lot. And she brings a lot of experience with her, which is
- really great. So all those in favor of appointing Becky Hill to the library board, signify by saying aye.
- I motion carries two zero. Um, so we've got a cray cray schedule for June. Um, first of all, um, Monero
- County government will be closed on June 19th for Juneteenth. Um, and, um, our next meetings are a little
- going to be a little strange, um, but in a good fun way and a good summertime kind of way. Um, so we
- will only be hearing claims
- We are not meeting next week at all, June 11th. We will be hearing claims only on June 18th, claims
- and payroll by then, yeah. And June 25th will be claims only meeting. And then we're going to come back
- to have our regular meeting on July 2nd.
- those will be ratified. Yes, we'll have to ratify everything. So I appreciate everybody's willingness
- to be flexible. We have, you know, the forum is difficult for us, and we're doing the best we can, but
- we're also mindful of our need to take a vacation before we say something we shouldn't. Well, I'm talking
- about myself again, but sorry anyway. I say lots of things I shouldn't. Apparently I do too.
- So we are going to have an odd June schedule, but we'll figure it out. And if any department heads have
- any questions, please contact Angie because she can manage it so well and keep us all in stride and
- keep us all on point where we need to be in order to get things done.
- your cockerel is also able to provide great legal advice about how the heck are we going to prove that?
- Yes. So we'll figure it out. But if you have an issue, please contact Angie or Jeff. Don't ask me because
- I do not know. And I will say something that probably isn't true. So we do remind folks that even if
- we're not having our regular meetings, we do have
- virtual office hours on teams each month for six hours. Go to the calendar at im.gov-counties slash
- county slash Monroe slash and look at the calendar for dates and times. We are still accepting applications
- for all boards and commissions. We still have some openings. So please go to our website and find out
- more information, fill out an application.
- We also, well, it's too late for today. There's going to be another blood drive in July. I don't have
- the date here, but it'll be in conjunction with Ivy Tech. Thanks, Ivy Tech. But go to redcross.org to
- make an appointment. They would appreciate it, although if you don't make an appointment, you will go
- in. We also encourage folks to sign up for the alert notification system, the resident alert notification system.
- And that sign up again is on our main website. Did you have anything you wanted to add at this point?
- No, I would just say again, I'd emphasize your severe weather that I cannot overstate that because that
- cannot it can come up very suddenly and just again,
- you know, congratulations to Bloomington South and Bloomington North graduates this past week.
- There you go. So we have a bunch of brilliant people going out there in our world, and they're going
- to help make the world an even better place. And yeah. Awesome. It's awesome. Not there in Edgewood.
- I know that we have. Did Edgewood graduate this past weekend as well? Yeah. I believe so. Oh, awesome.
- OK. For some reason, I thought they graduated a week earlier, a week later.
- I think their ceremony is a week before, but I think their school dates are probably about the same.
- Okay, well then, absolutely. Congratulations, Edgewood is out. We have an Edgewood graduate. And to
- all the private school graduates around here as well. All of those people leaving secondary education.
- Yeah, moving on to something great. And thanks to those people who will be getting started on their,
- I know most
- if they're not getting started on life and they're, you know, they've got that one last hiatus of spring,
- there are some who are going into the military and thank you there. And so, you know, just congratulations
- and to all and be safe. Yeah. And I just want to remind folks that this weekend is the Bloomington Garden
- Club garden walk.
- And the ticket price is $10. You can go to BloomingtonGardenClub.org. There's four hours of viewing
- time on Saturday and four hours on Sunday. And if you go to the New Hope Shelter, I will be there. Hosting,
- co-hosting, I should say. So really, really spectacular gardens this year. Wow. So 10 bucks, cheap.
- I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
- I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.