Good morning. I'm going to call to order this meeting and Monroe County board of commissioners. It is
Thursday July 2nd already. Yeah. Um, I will note for the record that commissioner Madera and myself
are here and present in the net you Hill room. And we're going to begin with our public statement read
by commissioner Madera.
We, the Monroe County Board of Commissioners, renew our commitment to welcome and protect the rights
of all people regardless of age, race, color, creed, disability, sexual orientation, gender,
gender identity, marital status, economic status, and national origin. And we affirm the right of every
person to live peacefully and without fear. And we will fight and resist at every step discrimination
and harmful policies, whatever their source. We believe in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.
We also stand in support of our county public school systems, both RBB and MCCSC. Thank you so much.
We'll now turn to our department updates. We'll begin with the health department. We have Ms. Kelly
joining us. Good morning. Good morning, commissioners. Just a few updates.
According to our data from the wastewater scan, we're seeing very low levels of COVID flu and RSV. The
health department does have vaccines available. We are scheduling appointments. The number to call for
an appointment is 812-803-6364. And lastly, just a reminder, the health department offers free walk-in
testing and treatment services
for Chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis every Thursday between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Great. Thank you so
much. Any comments or questions? No. Thank you. All right. I don't either. Thank you so much for joining
us again. All right. Next, we have Mr. Stephen Miller, Veterans Affairs Officer.
Good morning, commissioners. I wanted to tell you about two things this morning. The first is I wanted
to give you a little story about a veteran's situation that I've run across recently. Oftentimes in
our office, what we do are VA disability claims for injuries, illnesses, or diseases that a veteran
incurred while in active military service. In order to do that, we will order their military records
from the National Archives.
In February, I helped this one veteran. They've been out for a very long time, and we ordered their
medical records, their personnel files, and their DD-214s from the National Archives. It usually takes
a month or two to get those records in the mail to the veteran. And after a couple, it was about three
months, we realized that we weren't getting those records.
We contacted an Indiana senator who was able to put in an inquiry and got those records in two days.
So what we found, though, was not necessarily what we were hoping for. We found that the records of
that veteran had been destroyed in the fire of 1973 in the National Archives. Back in 1973, there was
a fire that destroyed between 16 and 18 million veterans' files from the Air Force and the Army.
from starting in World War II all the way up through Vietnam. So that sounds like it's a
and no deal then, but we are going to work on getting additional records, unit level records, anything
that we can get to try to help identify the injuries that this individual had and get them a good VA
disability claim. So we're not done, but this is part of what we have to go through on occasion to try
to help get veterans connected to the benefits that they deserve. Additionally, I wanted to tell you
kind of very quickly about the new property tax credit in the state of Indiana for disabled veterans.
Beginning, veterans are able to apply for the new property tax credit for the state of Indiana.
Everyone who is receiving that benefit should needs to actually refile for that benefit, according to
the state. We're here to help. We're going to be doing walk in clinics from July 10th.
17th, 24th, and 31st from 8 to noon to have folks come in to work on those packages. We've got a real
good system with the auditor's office. We're making it really simple. The veteran comes to us, we'll
do our part of the paperwork, get it to the auditor. They don't have to deal with any of the running
around. So again, we're going to be doing those walk-in clinics on the 10th
the 17th, the 24th, and the 31st from 8 to noon. The veteran will need to make sure that they bring
two different documents with them so that we can process the benefit. They need to bring their VA award
letter or the annual VA tax letter. That's the letter that comes out every November that tells the basics
of the benefit that you receive.
And they also need to bring their DD-214. So once we have those things, we'll be able to complete the
package for them and get them going in the right direction. So that's all I had for you folks today.
Is there anything that I can help with or any questions that you have? I don't have any questions. As
someone who's personally been burned by that fire that destroyed those records, I so appreciate your
efforts to work through that.
Thank you so very much. That has had a devastating effect on my family in particular, and I think on
millions of veterans. So thank you so much for fighting for our veterans. You're very welcome. It's
my pleasure. So thank you so much, and you all have a wonderful rest of your day.
All right, thank you so much. Yeah, it's an amazing story. And we do encourage folks in the community
who are veterans to contact your office if they have questions about anything. And if you could give
your phone number again, that would be great. Absolutely. Yes, my phone number is 812-349-2537. Please
call early and often. Great. Thank you so much. We appreciate you. Next, we have our recorder, Ms. Amy
Swain joining us.
Good morning. Good morning. I love being able to follow up Stephen because the recorder's office and
the veteran service office work closely together to serve our veterans. And one of the things that I
wanted to talk about today knowing Steve was right before me is that you see how diligently our local
veteran service officers work to help the veteran get the records that they need. There is a company
out there that is charging more than $100 to expedite the process with the National Archives. And normally,
it's going to take that one to two months, as Stephen said, and there's really no expediting to it unless
you work with
the veteran service officer. And so if someone comes into our office to get a copy of their DD 214,
which they can do, we always encourage them to visit the VSO so that they learn about updates like the
new tax credit that Stephen was talking about. I also got a call yesterday from a local woman who had
just had property transferred into her name, and she got a letter in the mail.
And they said, for $285, we will give you a service that will alert you if anything is recorded against
your property. And I was able to happily tell her that the recorder's office in conjunction with one
of our business partners offers that service for free. It's called Property Watch. There is a link to
it on the recorder page of the county website. And I would encourage everyone to sign up for that free service.
Again, it's called Property Watch. It will give you either text or email alerts, your choice, when anything
is recorded that matches your legal description or your name. I will say if you live outside of city
limits and you have what's called a meets and bounds, that's M-E-T-E-S, meets and bounds, legal description,
you may get an alert when it is someone in a similar
Township range and section so it might be your neighbor But it's a really easy and again free way to
know when something is recorded that matches your information Let everyone know that we're trying to
use all methods possible to get the words out about these questionable business practices that are going
on when you can get them from your local recorder's office at no charge and
Thank you very much. Do you have any questions? I don't, but this is very helpful information. And there's
always a service that's out there that costs exponentially more than the services we provide in our
county government to taxpayers, many of which are free, the rest of which are at much lower cost.
But again, so few taxpayers know about them. So thank you so very much. Yeah, I appreciate that. Thank
you for bringing this to public attention.
Great, excellent, excellent. All right. We also have Ms. Purdy is going to introduce our get up to that
podium. You're the next contestant. Come on down. Come on down. So I want to introduce to you guys formally
and to any of the other departments who may be
watching this on cats or teams, but this is our new HR director. This is Melissa Stinson Waddell, and
she's coming to us with a lot of background that's going to be very beneficial to the Monroe County
government. So do you want to share anything, tell them a little bit about yourself?
I do come from county government. I have worked in county government for over 17 years in the Brown
County government. Prior to that, I worked for the Brown County School Corporation for 16 years. So
very familiar with the public sector and working for the citizens of the counties. And I was in HR and
worked as a commissioner's assistant for 12 years. So I do have background in benefits and in employer
services, worked in payroll in the auditor's office, so rail rounded.
So and I appreciate the opportunity to work here. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for joining us. And
thank you for being here today. We're really excited. And we I've heard only incredible things about
you so far. Well, thank you. That new HR person. Oh, my gosh. She's lots of reading. Yeah.
So thank you. You hit the ground running and it's almost budget time. So.
I'm very delighted with that. Yeah, you made it want to time that differently. I'm just saying.
But thank you. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Thank you very much. Yes, I'd like to echo everything
Commissioner Thomas said and welcome. Any other department updates? You raise your hand on Teams or
come to the podium. All right, seeing none.
We're gonna open the floor to public comment. Public comment is reserved for items that are not on the
agenda. You may raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. We ask each person to limit their time
to three minutes and to provide your name and county of residence before you begin speaking. All right,
I do not see anyone for public comment. So I do want to make it,
In addition to our very short agenda today, I would like to move that we add item AB at the end of our
agenda, which is a ratification of the emergency declaration for June 18th. I will second that. All
of those in favor of approving the agenda change, say aye. Aye. Motion carries to zero. Excellent.
All right. With that,
We'll now move on to the next item and you can make one motion. That would be great. Yes, I would like
to approve the minutes for move to approve the minutes for June 18th, 2026 and for June 25th, 2026.
I will second that. Any comments, corrections or edits? I have none. Okay. All those in favor of approving
the minutes for June 18th and June 25th, 2026 signify by saying aye.
I motion carries two zero next item please all one motion again please yes I would like to move to ratify
the claims dockets for accounts payable for June 18th 2026 for accounts payable for June 25th 2026 for
payroll for June 12th 2026 and for payroll for June 26th 2026 and I did that in one breath you did that
was awesome I will second that and I won't make you repeat it good morning
this guy or those joining us I wasn't sure who was presenting today good morning hi good morning the
accounts payable claims docket for July 2nd 2026 totals two million one hundred seventy nine thousand
forty and two cents this includes all emergency claims and adjustments thank you so much comments or questions
I don't have any, these were approved at various junctures. She just read for today, which was not part
of the vote. Can you review the previous, because we're ratifying what we did. The numbers? I would
have to go get those doc ups. Let's not do that then. I think these were presented at that meeting.
They were presented at past meetings.
So one moment, we'll be back with you. Okay. Do you have any comments on any of the ratifications? Nope.
Okay. Let's see if there's any public comment on the ratifications of the June 18th and June 25th packets.
All right. So have I sufficiently covered that for ratification? I think so, yes.
All those in favor of ratifying the accounts payable for June 18th and 25th and payroll for June 12th
and June 26 signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 2-0. Now we'll have another motion and I'm gonna
have you read that again. Okay. Yes. I would like to move to approve the claim socket for accounts payable
for July 2nd, 2026. I will second that now. Okay. Thank you.
The accounts people claims doctor for July 2nd, 2026 totals 2,179,040 and two cents. This includes all
emergency claims and adjustments. There you go. Thank you so much. Uh, comments or questions on July
2nd. Nope. All right. Any public comment on this item? You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
Thank you so much, Ms. Gallardo.
um all those in favor of approving the claims docket for accounts payable july 2nd 2026 signify by saying
aye aye motion carries two zero um now uh we will move on to i will note for the record that we have
received reports from the treasurer's office that both april and may of 2026 waits and measures june
2026 and the clerk's office for may 2026
And we will now move on to new business. So I would like to move approval for the for the record software
agreement funding cumulative capital funds number 1138 in the amount of $24,000. I will second that.
Good morning, Mr. Crone. He's the director of technical services department. Can you tell us about this?
All right.
So we've been using FTR for well over a decade now, and that stands for For the Record. That's our judicial
recording software. The version that we're on is discontinued by the manufacturer, no longer supported.
With architecture changes in Windows 11 that Microsoft's made, it's caused compatibility issues with
the old version we have. So our tech services group has done very well to keep spitting Band-Aid and
this thing back together to keep it running for the courts.
So it's time to upgrade the cloud version that we are looking at to go with here offers functionality
that we've not had previously that the courts could use One prime example is we have no way of if a
case is locked There's no way other than annotating that that they can put that there was no block there.
So it was kind of relied on people being honest about
In the system so this gives them permissions gives them tighter controls to be able to control who can
see what between the courts and any confidential documents. But also gives them the ability to redact
annotate in real time things options we didn't have before it's cloud based, so it is accessible from
anywhere by any of the staff, it would make it easier.
for the process to share documents with attorneys and things like that because it can be done through
the cloud and not through flash drives and things like that the way we do now. One advantage to this
system, it does put all the data storage in the cloud on FTR. Right now we have four and a half terabytes
of recorded data.
So moving forward, we need to look at other solutions for that storage and backup, which FTR would then
take care of that. I am in discussions with them about whether they will take this four and a half terabyte
we currently have and move it into the cloud under this price tag, whether there be an additional charge
or whether we need to just maintain that old archive data ourselves. So that's still moving forward.
But the terms of this agreement are for one year. We wanted to run it at least once and then talk to
them later.
If everyone agrees with the courts that it's working well, then look at longer term contracts. There
is a training period with this contract that FTR would come on site, train all the court services employees
to get us through the system. Excellent. Thank you so much. Comments or questions, Commissioner Madera?
None. This is actually a really super critical function. And this is a, I can't say how much I appreciate
the careful research you've done.
on this software option. And thank you. I definitely want to give a lot of credit to Court Services
and the court offices. We actually had FTR come on site and give us a quick demo. They got to ask their
questions. Jamie Chandler, head of Court Services, has been very involved in the process. So a lot of
the credit goes to those folks. Excellent.
The question I have for you, if you get out your crystal ball, do you think it's going to be approximately
this much per year to maintain this if we decided to stick with them? Because this is really you're
renting cloud storage and not really buying software, is that correct?
No, you're doing both. You're buying software. This is all cloud based software as a service. What's
known as a SAS. OK, so you're getting that FTR recorder. The data components say it's all bundled together,
but it is a separate component of that. So going forward, all cloud based services, all software's take
an annual increase, depending on what kind of terms you can work with and dictates what your increases
are going to look like. And along with obviously longer term contracts offer some benefits.
we just wanted to make sure this was a good fit for us based on the price tag before we committed. Yeah,
it's a prudent way to move forward. So thank you for that. So we would have to be buying the software
again in the future. Correct. Along with the cloud storage space management. That is correct. Got it.
The data is always ours. So obviously if we decided not to stay with the cloud base, want to go on prem
or go with another manufacturer, we have all that data. They will help us download back into our own
repositories. Awesome.
Thank you so much. Thanks for answering all the questions. Let's see if there's any public comment on
this item. You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. None. All those in favor of approving
the for the record software agreement signify by saying aye. Motion carries to zero. Thank you very
much. All right. Next.
I would like to move approval for the proposal for valuation services between Integra Realty Resources
and Monroe County Assessor. Assessor. Fund name reassessment, fund number 1224 in the amount of $6,900.
I will second that. Ms. Sharp is not. The assessor's office asked if I could cover this for them. Oh,
thank you so much, Mr. Cockrell.
While not routine, not extraordinary in that there is an appeal from an assessment for the property
located at 1700 North Washington Street. This is the appraisal that the county needs to justify the
number they have on that appraisal. So this is, again, this is site-specific, but in the grand scheme
of things, we do this quite often. Pretty typical, yeah. Thank you. Comments or questions, Commissioner Medeira?
No, this looks like a routine item. It does. Let's see if there's any public comment. Thank you, Mr.
Cockrell, for providing the information. 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 proposal for evaluation services
between Integra Realty Resources and Monroe County Assessors signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries. 2-0.
Next item please. Yes I would like to move approval for the KS contract for disaster debris. Fund name
county general EM response and recovery. Fund number one thousand in the amount of ten thousand dollars.
I will second that we have Mr. Baker joining us. Good morning. Good morning commissioners. So this is
a contract for the dumpsters that we have out currently
at three different locations within the tornado path. One dumpster is located at the Liberty church.
And another one is located at Mount Pleasant church. And the last one is at the entrance of Morgan Monroe
State Forest. These dumpsters are available for those impacted residents to dispose of household and
construction debris.
Um, thank you so much. Um, I'm wondering if, uh, first of all, TSD, can you remove that calendar from
our screen? Because I cannot read the captions. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. All right. Um, so
I'm wondering if you could give us, uh, and give the residents an update on this cleanup process and
how long those dumpsters will, will, they're not there anymore, I believe. Um, can you give us some
more information, please?
Yes, so the dumpsters will be there until July 8th. So they got almost a whole week left. And I checked
them yesterday, went out, drove around the area. They haven't been used yet, so we'll try and spread
the word about them being available to the residents. But the Indian Department of Transportation has
been out and about the impacted area, cleaning up the light away.
within like two feet of the load and stuff. So that's been going on and we'll continue for the next
few days until it's completed. They're helping the County Highway Department with that. And totes and
some other supplies are available if residents need them, they can contact our office. Thank you so
much. Can you provide some information about how this cleanup
process is going in general? Are we in good shape? Do we need to think about extending the time on the
dumpsters? At this time, I think we are in good shape. But yeah, the trees have been picked up a lot.
And that helped out a lot. And people are happy with the dumpsters and stuff, it seems like. Great.
Thank you so much. Do you have any comments or questions? No, I'm very glad we can provide the service.
And again, an essential service I think we can do. I would like to provide more, but at minimum, I think
this is incredibly useful. So I just wish we
would get out of the path of these darn storms. I don't think that's going to happen as much as I wish.
And I do want to say that the governor's office reached out early on. And at that point, we had had
some discussion about tree debris. And I drove through the area about a week after it happened. And
you could smell the green. You could smell that that had been decimated. And you could obviously see
it as well.
And we're just grateful everybody's OK. We really appreciate the work at emergency management. So thank
you to you and Jamie for all your hard work. I know it's been a lot. And hopefully, as Commissioner
Medeira says, we won't be doing this again this year. But that's a wish. It's a good wish. But this
is why we all need to take it seriously when
there's a warning. It's important that we do the right things in order to save our lives. Property can
be replaced, people can't. And just a quick question, either for Angie or Jeff, this is coming out of
rainy day, is that correct? Okay, thank you. I appreciate that the council set aside the funding in
rainy day so that they could act quickly and get this done. Yes, thank you, that was wonderful.
All right, with that, any public comment on this item? Raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
All right, seeing none, all those in favor of approving the K&S contract for disaster debris signify
by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries two zero. I do have one question actually.
Do we have the addresses of these dumpsters published anywhere? Are they online on the website, by chance?
They're on the emergency management website, I believe. Okay, perfect. Yeah, yeah. Yes. Perfect. Okay.
Yes, they are on our press releases that we've been sending out, which can be found on the county website
and our Facebook page. Wonderful. Wonderful. Great. Thank you so much. Good question. So just if anybody's
watching and they want to know where they are. Yeah. Excellent.
Mount Pleasant Church, Liberty Church, and the entrance to the Morgan Monroe Forest. Excellent.
There we go. Yes. All right. Next item, please. Excellent. I would like to move approval for the digital
scanning project of historical documents by U.S. Imaging and fund phase two fund name recorders perpetuation
fund for fund number 1189 in the amount of $178,023.66.
I will second that recorder swing. Thank you for joining us again. Yes, it's nice to be here and talk
with you guys about this project. It's phase two of a project to protect and preserve the contents of
the physical books that are in the recorder's office that have yet to be digitized. There are approximately
300 books in the office. Phase one of this project was last year. This is to take care of the remaining books.
It's to protect them from water and fire damage and deterioration. Most of our records are over in the
archives, which has a dry fire suppression system. The one in the recorder's office is water. And so
I think it's critical to get these digitized. The other thing is the purpose of the perpetuation fund
is to protect and preserve those records as well as make them more publicly accessible.
which this does. And so I think it's right in line with the purpose of the fund. And so, like I said,
this is phase two of this project. Makes sense. We also went with US Imaging. We've had prior
good relationships with them and worked on projects. Plus, they will actually scan the books in our
office. They don't leave the premises. So I think that's another big point in their favor. Yeah, for sure.
I think this is an essential project I think this places us ahead of many counties in Indiana. I frequently
have students and I know of other people who do research in rural Indiana particularly
And they can't, you know, people go in records or loss and real legal outcomes hinge on this availability
of this information, unfortunately. And so this can be catastrophic. So I really appreciate these efforts
and they can save everybody a lot of time and money. And again, I think this is wonderful. So I really
appreciate this. This is great. I'm so glad we can do this. Yeah, this is what
perpetuation funds are for, and it's great transparency for the public, and preserving those records
is part of our history, so I appreciate that. And you noted here that you have had TSD review this contract
as well, so I appreciate that. All right. 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 digital scanning project of historical documents by U.S.
Imaging, and this is phase two, signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 2-0. Next item, please. Yes,
I'd like to move approval for Eastern financing rental agreement for a large format scanner and printer.
Fund name Recorders Perpetuation Fund, fund number 1189, an amount of $529 for installation and $359
per month plus printing coverage.
I will second that, Ms. Wayne. Yes, I really want to thank you for your cooperation during June to go
ahead and authorize Angie Purdy to sign this contract while you were not looking at new things. It allowed
us to take advantage of a unique situation where we got a gently used large format
printer at last year's prices. And that was locked in for five years at that previous year's price.
So it really is a big help to our office when we're scanning plats and surveys and other large format
documents. The current one that we have now resides in the surveyor's office. So
They will continue the service contract on that piece and it provides service over there. But it's an
internal thing where they don't have customers waiting at the counter for us to take care of them. And
so I think this is a win-win for both offices. It's a good plan. Thank you so much. Comments or questions?
Commissioner Medeira? Only that we save taxpayers money, which is always a great thing.
I always try to do that when I can. Yes. All right. Let's see if there's any public comment on this
item. You raise your hand on Teams or come to the podium. Seeing none, all those in favor of approving
the Eastern financing rental agreement for a large format scanner printer signify by saying aye.
I motion carries to zero. Thank you so much. Thank you all. All right. Next we have the presentation
of county form number 144. Good morning. Morning. I'm here to present
I'm here to present the counties 144 is for 2027. This is a form that outlines the anticipated expenditures
for payroll in 2027. The forms are rather large so they're included in the packet on the agenda as a
link. And again, these are just used to
to the council for what the 2027 wages should be. Excellent. Thank you so much. And we have to do that
by August 20th. Comments or questions? Nope. Everything looks to be in order. Thank you. I appreciate
that it was done as a link this time.
instead of a packet of paper. Thank you for that. Yep, this is an annual review that we do prior to
council budgets being set. So thank you so much. Any public comment on this item? You raise your hand
on teams or come to the podium. Seeing none, I guess we accept
the presentation of the Form 144s. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries to
zero. Next item, please. I would like to move approval for the 2026 covered bridge certification. Yes.
I will second that. And you're here to present that as well. Thank you.
Yes. So each year we are required by code to certify the amount of covered bridges in the county. That
amount still remains at one. So we're here today to request the commissioners certification. Yeah. One,
one cool one. Yes. One. It's funny that we have to do this. All right. Uh, thank you. Nothing controversial
here. Um, any public comment on this item? You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
Seeing none, all those in favor of certifying our 2026 covered bridge, signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion
carries, 2-0. Thank you, ma'am. All right. Next item, please. Yes, I'd like to move approval for change
order number two with Strouser Construction Fund named County General Park Non-Reverting Capital and
Park Non-Reverting Operating Fund number 1000, 1178, 1179, an amount not to exceed $19,374.
I will second that Ms. Purdy is going to be presenting for parks today. Yes and thankfully Ms. Whitmer
has provided a very concise and easily understood explanation for this request. These have sufficient
funds to cover this change order and this change order is the result of the Flatwood Park restroom.
having an issue with the underground holding tanks that were leaking. And so this is going to remove
those and replace them and ensure that everything is appropriately tested and cleared before opening
the actual restroom. Great. Thank you so much. Let's ask, let's ask Ms. Purdy a tough question. You
got one for him? Any comments, questions? I'll skip all the puns that go with this. I'll keep a lid
on them. So,
Yes, this is essential, obviously, for many obvious reasons. And so this is a... So the restroom was
never opened at all, is that correct? Okay, yes. Yep, yep, good. I have no further questions. All right,
yeah, let's...
bad puns, the potty jokes. A hundred percent, yes. 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 two of Strausser construction signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries,
two zero. And next item, please. Yes, I'd like to move approval for the blood.
uh, Riggett, Cooper, James service agreement, second addendum. I will second that Ms. Birdie. Okay.
And this is, um, an addendum to extend the, uh, the contract. So it now extends from June 30th of 2026
to 12, 31, 26. And this is for, um, services of the survey survey of the Monroe County nature preserve.
Yep. Excellent. Thank you. Uh, comments or questions? Nope. Uh, again, I look forward to moving this
project along and this is an important part of it.
Yeah, absolutely. Great. Thank you so much. 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 second addendum to the
Bledsoe Rieger Cooper James Service Agreement for the Monroe County Nature Preserve, signify by saying
aye. Aye. Motion carries 2-0. Next item, please.
I would like to move approval for Ordinance 2026-22 to amend Chapter 258-1 of the Monroe County Code.
I will second that. Ms. Purdy? Yep. This is a housekeeping issue because the Parks Department has moved
from their original spot, which is now, I believe, voter registration, to another spot in showers. And
so this is just updating that address within our code. Yeah. Makes sense.
not lost on this one. Got anything? No, I just don't want lost and found to be lost and found. We got
to find the lost and found. All right. Thank you so much. Any public comment on this item? You raise
your hand on teams or come to the podium. None. All those in favor of approving ordinance 2026-22, signify
by saying aye. Aye.
Motion carries 2-0. Thank you so much, Ms. Curry. Thank you. And Ms. Whitmer says thank you. She's having
problems with her computer. She can hear, but she can't talk. We're all good. All good. Thank you. We'll
center tough questions later. All right. Item K, please. Yes. I'd like to move approval for the memorandum
of understanding between Monroe County Circuit Court and Centerstone. Fund name
JDAI programming fund number 9123 in the amount of $1,500. I will second that and we have Ms. McAfee
joining us and if you could give an overview first because we have so many of these contracts and then
we can just go through the individual contracts then.
would be spectacular the other day to someone you're the commissioners meeting I said I am the commissioners
meeting juvenile detention alternatives initiative it's been in Monroe County since 2014 and we received
grant from funds from the State Department of Correction and they filtered down to a
the counties that are part of this initiative. For the 26-27 fiscal year, we were awarded $80,000. The
exciting thing about this award, I think in the past, they put our money in buckets for us. So we had
money that was kind of for coordination. It was office supplies and meals and travel training. And they
gave us an amount that if we didn't use all of it, we couldn't move it. This year, they gave us a pot.
And they said, you can't go over this. But the good news is we are able to put just over 60,000 of this
into programming for our community. And that will be the majority of the MOUs that we're going to talk
about today. The other MOUs are for data. So we do a lot of data-driven decisions. We do a lot of data
visualization, a lot of data collection. I'm good at a few things, and I'm not really good at a lot
of things. And data, I'm getting better.
I need a lot of help. So we've partnered with a couple entities to help us with that. We're also working
with Indiana University. We do a survey for youth and families who leave our probation department. It's
after court, after appointments, after intake. Just to get some feedback on how did this appointment
feel? Did you feel respected? Did someone listen to you? Was our location easy to find? How awful was
parking on the day that you arrived? Just some of those kinds of things so that we can continue to inform
the county as well as our leaders in the department about things that are
really well and maybe things we might consider looking at. Great. Thank you so much. Yes.
Oh, Centerstone, sorry. Yes, we will go with Centerstone first. For the last few years, we have partnered
with Centerstone for a specific program called Teen Intervene, and it is an evidence based intervention
for low to moderate youth experiencing substance use. The reason this funding is so important
is historically, if we wanted to send a young person to Centerstone for services, they had to go, they
had to do an intake, they had to open a chart. It was a two or three step process and regrettably,
Sometimes families got lost in that stretch. And so what we're able to do is make a direct referral
to Centerstone, and then Centerstone bills us directly so we don't have to worry about, is there insurance?
Is there not insurance? How much is the copay? Those kinds of things. So it's a maximum six
week intervention. It is typically done on a weekly basis. It can be done individually or in a group
setting. Great. Thank you so much.
comments or questions on the centerstone? I'm a big fan of this and there are, this is an area that
I've done research in and this is an excellent way to reduce so many of the barriers of youth starting
this type of program. Is there a way that individuals can transition to other care after these sessions are over?
Yes, so Centerstone will also do an intake with that family, not as formalized as it would be if we
didn't make the direct referral, but we have had instances
where the young person's need was determined to be higher than this. This wasn't really a good fit,
and so they were able to shift them into something a little bit more intensive. They've been able to
shift families into their wraparound services because, yes, this young person was having this behavior,
but looking at the totality of it, you know, if we don't address the whole package, we're probably not
going to have much success in this one area.
So yes, absolutely. Given center stones diversity of services that they offer. They're really good at
kind of keeping an eye out for what else is missing. Awesome. Yes, and I can't think of a better provider.
So thank you so much. Good work. One additional thing and this will again be kind of an overview of
all of these.
Monroe County has spent the last five or six years focusing on how do we keep kids out of the system.
So not just serving kids in the system and we still do that and we do that very well. But there are
a lot of resources that are available through Department of Child Services to pay for system involved families.
The services, a lot of the things we're going to be talking about today are intended for either non-system
as a prevention intervention or like a soft touch. You came into the system. We don't really want to
keep you. So here's a resource that you can access. Again, reducing those barriers and trying to keep
kids and families out of the system. Because like so many other systems, once we get a hold of people,
sometimes it can be hard to get out. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
I've had friends who felt obligated to get their kids into the system in order to get access to certain
services, and a family should never feel that type of pressure. Regrettably, that has not been fixed
yet, but I think that is really starting to be verbalized very loudly. And again, with so much research
talking about the dangers of being in the system, we're really trying to explore
Why can't that funding be available? Why can't that door be open? What is the magic that my office can
make a phone call and access, but your office can't? So we're getting there. Thank you. And so much
of this targets prevention, interventions, and the evidence shows it works. Yeah, absolutely. Really
grateful for all the hard work that's gone into this, all these programs, your staff, you, of course.
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.
All right. Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the MOU between Monroe County Circuit Court
and Centerstone signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 2-0. Next item, please.
I would like to move approval for the memorandum of understanding between the Monroe County Circuit
Court and impact solutions funded name JDAI data analysis fund number 9175 in the amount of $3,150.
I will second that.
Ms. McAfee? Yeah, this is part of that data package where most of our reports come out in Excel format,
which is really boring and not super engaging. And so what we do with Impact is they use a software
tableau and they insert our data, they work their magic, and it comes back looking really impressive.
And we can have really good conversations about what's happening now, what's happening trending-wise.
Two years ago, we noticed an increase in female referrals and so we're able to do some real life analysis
with the data that they provide to us. And again, it's interesting. That's part of the evidence of evidence
based right. Questions. Nope, in a world where people are are.
wanting to make so many decisions without that evidence base, evidence is incredibly important. And
we have so many resources in our own backyard here. And we have so many wonderful tools with which to
do this with. So it doesn't seem logical to do it any other way. And it's our best use of dollars because
we can target exactly those interventions that are most called for. And we're getting to track program
outcomes and recidivism and all of those things.
You know, talk about so often. And for years, all we could say was, my gut. Well, I think it's working.
I don't know if it is. So yeah, this has been wonderful. And increasingly, grants are demanding. Grants
should demand that type of proof. So we need to prove that there is efficacy, right? And put our dollars
where those outcomes are. Thank you. And I would say, the other thing I noticed about the contract is
it's scaffolding previous data collection. Yes.
bringing in older historical information and really helping make a more informed decision. So good work
on that. All right. Any public comment on this? You can raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the MOU between Monroe County Circuit Court and M-PACT
solution signify by saying aye.
Aye. Motion carries two zero. Next item please. Yes, I'd like to move approval for the memorandum of
understanding between the Monroe County Circuit Court and Family Solutions Fund named JDAI programming
fund number 9123 in the amount of $5,500. I will second that Ms. McAfee.
Parenting project we've been here a couple of times to talk about this specifically again another one
of those wonderful intervention programs. This is designed specifically for parents and caregivers of
strong willed children. If any of you have had one you know exactly who i'm talking about they are bold
they are brilliant and they are really challenging and sometimes they're hard so this program has direct parent
recommendations and tools to be able to address some of those challenges. It is done this this bundle
of money will be for an in person class. Well, one of the items is also for some virtual programming.
But this is for specifically the in person class, you do not have to be a system involved family. We
asked that for the in program that you can be a Monroe County resident, the out of
the virtual, we can broaden that certainly. So if we have anybody that's watching that wants to learn
more about this, I would love to share information. Christine McAfee at the Probation Department. So
give us a phone number. Yeah, absolutely. 812-349-2649. All right. Thank you so much. Comments, questions?
No, again, I think this is one of those pre-involvement programs that's so critical.
and give skills to people who may be at their wits end. So thank you. Yeah. Turning the stubborn child
into a tenacious child. I was one of them. All right. Let's see if there's any public comment on this
item. You raise your hand in teams or come to the podium. All those in favor of approving the MOU between
Monroe County Circuit Court and Family Solutions signify by saying aye.
motion carries to zero next item please yes I'd like to move approval for the memorandum of understanding
between the Monroe County Circuit Court and Justin site LLC fund named JDI data analysis fund number
9175 in the amount of four thousand three hundred dollars I will second that tell us about this one
yeah it's another data request I thank you all are familiar if you remember we are moving from quest
into SRS, which is an entirely different beast. These dollars are specifically to help us start exploring
what can we get out of SRS and how can we use that. So we're going to continue with the tableau. We're
going to continue with the other things. Those things are going to merge, but we're suspecting there
might be some ad hoc reports that we didn't previously have that we might want to add to our menu. So
that's what this funding is for. Good idea. Comments, questions? No. This is again, wonderful tool.
Let's see if there's any public comment on this item. You raise your hand on teams or come to the podium.
None. All those in favor of approving the MOU between Monroe County Circuit Court and Just Insight LLC
signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries to zero. We only have three more items for this. Yes. Great.
So I'd like to move approval for the Memorandum of Understanding between the Monroe County Circuit Court
and People and Animal Learning Services, or PALS, fund named JDAI Programming, fund number 9123, in
the amount of $6,400. I will second that. Tell us about this lovely program. I love this program. It
started just a few years ago. And what this pays for are eight one and a half hour sessions, an adult
caretaker and a young person. And in the midst of having fun and working with those beautiful horses,
Angie is smiling because she probably knows this but apparently horses are pretty intuitive. And they
really help you kind of identify the energy that you're bringing into the space and sometimes our adults
and young people have a lot of difficulty with self regulation. And these this animal interaction helps
them identify what am I adding.
to maybe the part of this story. And the horses are wonderful and some of them are huge and some of
them are little. But we have had a wonderful, wonderful time with this program. We have increased the
length of the sessions. We were doing one hour sessions. They decided that really wasn't enough because
by the time they got in, they got introduced, it was time to leave. So there are fewer sessions, but
they're a little bit longer. For this grant, we're also adding an end of session celebration. So that
will be open to friends and family, to the community, to come and see what work these young people
families have been doing during these eight weeks will provide some horse time. And then there'll be
refreshments and things like that. So again, if you're interested in learning more about pals, more
about this horse interaction, contact me. I would love to share the information with you. Excellent.
Comments or questions? Yep. We're not horsing around with this major. It's fun Thursday.
I think that's a really good point. I think that's a really good point. I think that's a really good
point. I think that's a really good point. I think that's a really good point. I think that's a really
good point. I think that's a really good point. I think that's a really good point. I think that's a
really good point. I think that's a really good point.
All right, seeing none, all those in favor of approving the MOU between Monroe County Circuit Court
and People and Animal Learning Services signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries to zero. Next item,
please. Yes, I'd like to move approval for the Memorandum of Understanding between the Monroe County
Circuit Court and Parenting Solutions. Fund name JD-AI Programming, fund number 9123 in the amount of $9,000.
I will second that. Tell us about this one, please. So Rob Evans is a former probation officer from
Hamilton County. He started his business parenting solutions because he really feels that homes and
families are where the magic happens. And too often entities kind of swoop in and we want to work with
this person or that person individually. And he believes that the family really is a unit and working together
is where that magic is going to happen so what he is offering to Monroe County are those parenting solution
or the parent project classes that I spoke about earlier there they are virtual so he will offer those
multiple times during the year the parent
project is for kids 11 to 17 there's a loving solutions that's actually available for 5 to 10 year olds
so again those strong will kids don't wake up the age of 12 and suddenly have this energy sometimes
we can see it coming so this is something to help parents support those young people as they develop
they also have a variety of one hour
he's doing one on school success so kids that are school resistant. How can parents kind of get ahead
of that before the trancy courts coming before the trancy officer before the trancy letters. He's got
a really nice webinar on technology and safety and how parents can be as responsible and acknowledge
and knowledgeable about technology are young people are using. If you've ever looked at any young persons
phone they could. Probably launch a
missile with it. They can do so many things with it. I just want to call people. So he does a really
nice job of supporting parents and learning more about those things as well. Excellent. Thank you so
much. Comments or questions? No, it sounds like it's the type of information that instead of searching
a bazillion YouTube videos with conflicting information, this could be very helpful and perhaps directly
speak to our families.
That is the hope. And I will tell you also, I didn't say, but this is also at no cost. Yeah. Pal's is
at no cost. The family solutions is at no cost. So all of these things are available to the community.
That's wonderful. Exactly. All right. Thank you so much. 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 MOU between Monroe County Circuit Court and Parenting
Solutions signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 2-0. Last one for you, anyway. I would like to
move approval for the memorandum of understanding between the Monroe County Circuit Court and the warehouse.
Fund name GDI programming, fund number 9123 in the amount of $13,500. I will second that. Tell us about
this, please.
Yeah, again, this is a long term relationship that we have had with the warehouse. It morphed out of
a conversation with Dave while who is the executive director, insurance requires kids 12 and younger
have to be present with an adult to take
to engage in activities. So he was having to turn kids away. So what we have done is develop a partnership
with a couple of their staff whom we pay their hourly wage. They pick them up at the Dorothy Apartments
and at Country View on specific days and specific times. They bring the kids back to the warehouse.
They engage in activities. They have a short life lesson kind of curriculum. There's obviously gonna
be food involved. And then they take the kids back. And the goal is really that,
kind of selling it under structured activities, but it's really about relationships and mentorships.
If you look at the research about keeping kids out of the system, the number one predictor is a committed,
caring, consistent adult. And we're trying to help our community provide that to these kids in this
program. So important, thank you. Yeah. Questions?
No, this is the warehouse is one of those wonderful community spaces that's very unique. I think every
community should have one of those and it provides an ideal site for this type of programming. And I'm
really glad that we can provide what the resources we need to most effectively use that space. And I'm
grateful to the owners of the warehouse for making that space available in this capacity.
and they made the space available for the program that you did this spring. I was only there a short
time, but I learned so much. So thank you again for extending that invitation. We'll keep you on the
invitation list. Show up when you can. We love it. I learned a lot in a very compressed amount of time.
It's impressive. All right. 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 MOU between Monroe County Circuit Court and the warehouse
signify by saying aye. Aye. Thank you so much for being here and for all the information you gave to
everyone. And thank you to the county, to you all, to the probation, the judicial branch, or the judicial
officers. The community really steps up. I can't tell you, we would not be able to do this if all of
these partners didn't say yes when we reached out. So thank you to all of you. Awesome. Thank you so much.
Right, do you need a break or should we just go? Okay, next item, please. Yes, I would like to move
approval for ordinance 2026-24, adding chapter 385 to the Monroe County code. I will second that. Mr.
Cockrell. Yes, and TSC at some point in time, I may ask to be able to share my screen. So just kind
of giving you a heads up.
First, I'd like to say this is an expansion of what can be used on county roads. This is no way, if
you are allowed to drive this vehicle on a county road today, this does not change that. I've gotten
quite a few questions about that. So what we have here is a co-provision that allows certain new types
of vehicles on the roadway. There's a really long definition in the ordinance
Please look at that if you have a vehicle that meets that, that is great. But I'm gonna go through some
of the highlights of what we expect these vehicles to be able to do. One, they have to have at least
four wheels. Two, they have to be able to operate at at least 35 miles per hour. They have to be insured.
The driver has to have a driver's license. They have to have seat belts for everyone that is riding
in the vehicle. They have to have a roll cage.
has to have at least one brake light, has to have turn signals, have to have headlights, and it has
to have a traditional steering wheel, and it's got to have rear view mirrors, side view mirrors. So
that encompasses a lot, and I think the speed is necessary to make sure that they can travel safely
on the roads without impeding traffic too much. And then the roll cage and all those other things are
safety equipments to make sure they can be operated safely.
So those are the types of vehicles that we are looking at. What's not included in that definition are
your traditional ATV four-wheelers, three-wheelers, golf carts, those are not. And actually, what I'm
asking you to look at is slightly changed from what was submitted before. It excludes golf carts. Outside
the definitions, it always included that you weren't allowed to, but it just
clarifies it, and it reworks the roadways where you're not allowed to. So if TSD would allow, I would
like to share my screen to go over the roadways.
So I had our friends at the surveyor's office, Dr. Baten, put this together. I don't know if you could
see it very well. We expect this to be placed on our website in our GIS. But the red roads indicated
on this are the roads where it's, and the areas of the roads where it's prohibited. And it's prohibited
on roads where we have higher traffic counts. So if it's a really busy road, and those roads are part
of Arlington,
Drive, part of Business 37 North, all of Curry Pike, all of Fairfax Road, a portion of Fullerton Pike,
I think a portion of Gordon Pike, all of Hunter Valley Road, Industrial Park Drive, portions of Old
37 South, I think all of Profile Parkway, Rogers Road,
uh roger street and rora road those are the names of the road that are at least partially if not totally
prohibited from using these types of vehicles so and i think as you can see from the map it's it's really
the heavy roads around the city of bloomington in between the city of bloomington ellisville that's
really used for people to get to and from work and really highly congested this also does not include
any state highway um in addition
we're only talking about use of these vehicles on a public roadway or a public place. If you could not
drive an automobile on it right now, these vehicles still aren't allowed. So you can't ride it through
our parks. You can't ride it through the trails, walking trails, those kinds of things. So there's a
lot of no's in there, which is why I started off with, this is really expanding quite a bit where you're
able to utilize these vehicles.
And then finally, the penalties have changed since what was put on the website. We're not doing an ordinance
violation for these. State law covers what the penalties are for these, and state law will continue
to cover the penalties for these. I think internally, we kind of had a conversation about it. We don't
want any incentive for a local government to collect fines and fees based upon regulation of state code.
So if it's a penalty, it's a state code penalty.
Really this this allows a whole new set of vehicles and I guess maybe a little bit of the history is
we've had these conversations off and on for a long time. I think what really got it traction this time
is that when we had the gigantic snowstorm last year.
individuals were wanting to use these vehicles to help out their neighbors to plow their drives and
do things like that. And they were running into resistance from law enforcement who were like, you're
not allowed to use these here. And that really jump started that conversation. So that's kind of how
it got to where it is today. Yeah. All right. Yeah. And I will add that all of this came from folks
who attended office hours. This is where it started.
Um, and this is why it's important for us to have them and continue them. Sometimes nobody shows up.
I was on three hours the other day and nobody showed up. Um, but it's, it's important to have that conduit
with, with our community. And, you know, and I talked through, I was initially, I initially.
threw up a lot of objections. But they answered a lot of the questions that I had. They're
very knowledgeable. I really appreciated that they took the time to do that. They send us similar ordinances
from local counties, which saved us some time. I also want to give a huge shout out to Ms. Ridge and
her department for helping out with creating this list. I mean, the roads that are
are selected in red. And again, a reminder, this does not include State Road 45. This does not include
State Road 46, right? Any state road or obviously I-69 is prohibited for utility vehicles. These are,
so it's interesting. So my nephew has one of these up in Michigan and he's driven me a few times. My
knuckles just,
just turned back to their usual color, but he's a good driver. But I really have a better understanding
of them thanks to my nephew, inadvertently, but that these, I mean, his goes 55. So he, you know, it
is a safe way to get around. You know, yes, you still, if you're on a four wheeler that's intended for
off-road use only,
you should not be on county roads. If you are in a golf cart, you should not be on county roads. That's
not changing, right? But these utility vehicles are really safe. Um, and, um, and it's, I think it's
important to kind of continue to add onto what folks can do in our community ways that will help them
get around easier, especially in inclement weather. But, um, it's, it's, um, fairly,
really good gas mileage, too. But I'm really grateful to Mr. Cockrell for working through this. I had
a number of questions that he even addressed this week, so thank you for that. And also, Dr. Baten,
with GIS services, the map, I
I saw the email that said, Hey, can you make a map? And then I saw the email that said, here's the map.
Um, that was great. Uh, so really do appreciate all of that. Um, and I want to thank everybody in the
community for helping out, um, and within county government for making this happen pretty quickly. My
understanding though, is that pretty much all along only conservation officers have been, have been
the ones who have been
focused on ticketing and addressing this. So I just want to make sure that we do send this out and get
a copy of this with some information to not only our sheriff's department, I think the city of Bloomington
and town of Elisle should have this information because they may want to look at their ordinances because
this does not cover either of those, right? It's only the unincorporated parts of the county, but also
to send it to our
friends in the conservation office and Indiana State Police so that they know what our new law is. And
I'm really grateful to have a map because reading a list of streets is, yeah, makes your eyes run.
So anyway, a lot of info, but again, thank you to the community. And do you have any comments or questions
for Mr. Crockrell? Yes, I just want to second a lot of what you said. And in Torts, I teach how,
one case where, you know, you had the Model T's and they started, courts started to impose a duty on
counties to build wooden guardrails, you know, and they said, now that we have these technologies,
communities have to basically regulate accordingly. And then we had to go to metal guardrails, you know,
once cars got faster. But as technology gets safer, communities have to sort of ease up on some regulations
as well. And consumers do pay a premium for these safety features as well. These are not
the four-wheelers that just come with handlebars and that pose a rollover risk. These are very expensive
pieces of equipment. They have a lot of safety features. They're very expensive. And this is a pretty
restrictive ordinance as well. But they can engage in these activities in adjacent counties. And there
are many, as you said, good examples of ordinances that people have presented. And so I think this is
a very reasonable, very
a good, moderate step forward. And so I think it's also a very great example of county departments working
together to allow this activity. So I think this is everything that you said. And thank you to those
who came forward and merged this. Yeah. It's really good. I do want to note that we'd also had conversations
with the Sheriff's Department about this
before hand because obviously we want to make sure that they're okay with what we're doing and they
were so grateful for that input as well so thank you to them. The first contacts once we thought this
was maybe on the horizon.
So folks, look out for UTVs. And I just want to also state that if the sheriff's department or highway
sees any issues or concerns and we need to change this map, just let us know. And we can easily make
those accommodations if something comes up that's a safety issue. Am I thinking about going to buy myself
one now? I hope they all get snow plows. Yeah, that'd be awesome, wouldn't it? Yes, they are fun.
If citizens have questions about these individual roads, and I know it's very clear once you look, you
know where exactly they're allowed and permitted, but if they have questions about why should they contact
should they contact County legal should they contact highway. I think you can reach out to either Jeff
or myself.
It's something that a list that we put together just trying to get the ordinance to, um, to you guys
to get passed. Um, I know I have had a lot of questions, uh, when's it going to take effect and a lot
of support for it. It's not anything that a list can't be modified. If there's reason that we say maybe
there needs to be a change or a road eliminated or maybe an additional road added. Again, we just, uh,
briefly went through, um,
roads that were classified at a higher level than a local road to recharge list. Just like you said,
it's just the congested areas. Maybe as the public gets more comfortable with these vehicles on the
roadway, we can modify the list. But if they have any questions, I'm sure they can reach to Jeff or
the highway department. That's awesome. Thank you. And I know one of our options was, and I appreciate
the way that
we've done this without adding more fees or fines or things because we already know golf carts are not
allowed on public roads, et cetera. Um, that w I was also told that, uh, some counties will sell a permit
so that you can actually, and I was just like, I don't want to go down that road. First of all,
it's just, yeah, it's not, um, it's not worthwhile. And I certainly, if somebody is using a UTV,
It may be because they don't have a car car. And if they don't, then why would I add another, right?
Why should we do that? It should not be an excuse to build taxis out of more money. Exactly. It doesn't
cost us anything to do this. Exactly. Right. Time. But thank you. All right. Don't go down there.
All right. Let's see if there's any public comment on this item. You can raise your hand on Teams or
come to the podium. Oh, looky there.
Now, fees for public comment now. Yeah. That's free, too. OK. Today, Monroe County government makes
me proud. Thank you for all those comments. And I've kind of been a little bit behind a lot of this.
Can you give us your name, please? Tom. Or M-A-N.
91 counties in the state of Indiana today if you guys vote yes 88 of those 92 counties will have ordinances
it was the right it was the right move these things are safe they do i worked with the sheriff's department
to answer the question you're right no police officers ever pulled any of us over no city no county
no state it's just one department and Monroe county is beautiful and it gives us a chance to get out
and explore Monroe county in a different way
so i appreciate all your help and you guys might be proud today thank you all right thank you and thank
you again for joining us during the office hours that was awesome and if it wasn't for that i don't
know where i've been in this process so thank you for that service i learned so much from you thank
you yes thanks for your help yeah great all right any other public comment you raise your hand on teams
or come to the podium
and just to clarify this will take effect immediately upon passage yes um we need to get it out to the
uh to the so have a little patience with them yeah but but i mean but it does become effective immediately
it's it's just that we're going to get this information out over a holiday weekend and hope that
that they have it, so if somebody out there wants to drive a utility vehicle, I recommend you kind of
fold up a copy of this and put it in your pocket, including the map. Yeah, and then, yeah, we can get
you a copy. We can get you a copy. It's on the website. Once it gets signed, we'll put it in the updated
news area of our website, so you can just pull it and print it off.
probably need it signed before it'll be done. Yeah, we need it signed first, yeah. Okay, so seeing no
other public comment, all those in favor of approving Ordinance 2026-24 signify by saying aye. Aye.
Motion carries to zero. Thank you so much. All right, next item please. Yes, I would like to move approval
for the assignment and assumption agreement for the convention center management and the modification
of various management duties.
I will second that Mr. Cockrell. Yes, this is a an agreement and it's it's kind of based off of our
transfer of the property to the properties south of the Convention Center to the Capital Improvement
Board. Those properties as well as the Convention Center. And maybe this is how I connect the dots all
went into a fund to pay for the management contract.
So the revenues from those rental agreements as well as the revenues from the Convention Center itself
went into the management contract. Our plan all along was to make sure that when the Capital Improvement
Board got on its feet and was ready to take over the management of the Convention Center that they would
get the contract for the management
address to them, assigned to them. It's in the agreement that we can assign it to the Capital Improvement
Board. This is just a document that does that assignment. It also includes turning over the funds that
we have collected through the rentals and all that to them. I think it's $190,000 that we have
an appropriation for because all that money was going to go back to the management company as well.
I guess just as a
bring everything around together. Part of that when we transfer the property, we also have an agreement
that is included in the transfer approval for you to sign off on transferring some of the damage deposits.
So we'll do that as well. But that's kind of just bringing this all the authority that the county has
for the area is going and under that contract is going from the county to the capital improvement floor.
That's the gist and the kind of the long story behind the long document. Excellent. Thank you so much.
Do you have any questions? No, that was incredibly clear. And I think, yeah, no questions. We knew this
day was coming and it's bittersweet for me because it's been fabulous working with the management group
and Ms. Copping. And I don't know if you wanted to say anything today. Please.
Hi, Talisha Coppett, Convention Center Management Company. And the same for me is we've loved working
with commissioners, the council, your leadership, your support, but also
the depth that the county has with the various departments and from the office folks with Angie and
Jeff was legal, but the IT and maintenance and auditor's office and treasurer's office and even getting
to know the health department more during COVID when we did the vaccine clinic and IT department. So
there's maintenance, there's just a lot of depth there. And we found that everybody is
helpful and friendly and professional and have provided a lot of advice over the years, which has allowed
us to continue to work with you and do it correctly. We've started working with
the capital improvement board, and that transition is going well. We continue to work very closely with
Visit Bloomington, already starting to do tours of the site that should be open in January, getting
a lot of enthusiasm. So it's really interesting that they really are, if you build it, they will come.
It's starting, so it's pretty exciting.
So anyway, we just wanted to say excited for those next steps and thank you all and love Fullerton Pike.
So, and the Fourth of July parade is Saturday so downtown Bloomington continues to co sponsor that with
the parks and rec but I mean I think you can be very proud of the county's investment over all these
years have been 14,000 events over a million people through local community events.
as well as out of town visitors and generating that economic impact. So I just see more of the same
coming along and being able to go to that next step. So onward, upward. Thank you. We will miss seeing
you here, at least annually, to do the contracts and to discuss things. But it's been wonderful working
with you. And don't be a stranger.
Be sure to let us know if there's anything you need. Getting through COVID, you all were amazing. It
helped so much. You've helped in elections in the past. And really, this whole project, oh,
and the ARPA, the ARPA renovations, I'm so glad those got done. Yeah, right. I think it's really helped
be able to keep the doors open, actually, during this whole
part of it, because all those things were really overdue. So they've really been and we haven't had
any issues with all of them. And we haven't had the bills that come with, you know, having to repair
something last minute. Yeah. So that's really good. And, you know, just you've been wonderful to work
with you and your staff and cannot thank you enough for all you've done to welcome people, but also
to encourage them to visit Bloomington and Monroe County. Yes. Yeah.
And we've got a great team. Our staff, you know, loves the business and it's a fun business and it's
really interesting to see all the different interests people have. Yeah, for sure. Anything to add?
Yeah, so my late night reading for the past, you know, approximately two years has been the history
of what has gone on in much of the county. And so there have been certain heroes in those sagas and
you've been one of them. So, you know, I think that
I marvel at all you've done and how you've done it not only in the convention center space but also
in visit Bloomington and to invoke you know Commissioner Thomas is field of dreams analogy. I would
say field of beams. But it's just been marvelous you know how quickly it's risen, and you know, all
of all of the things you've managed to do.
while that project has been ongoing. And I think everything just has operated smoothly over there. You
wouldn't even know that there's this major construction project across the street. And all of the things
you've helped us negotiate, all of the many, many difficult situations you've helped us negotiate this
year alone. So even from the moment I've been here forward, thank you very much for all of that. Oh,
thank you.
just a spectacular professional, as well as a spectacular human being. Thank you. But I think those
personal remarks are warranted even in this professional context. We've come a long way since the train
used to go by five times a day and rattle the whole building. And that West parking lot was a field.
And so there have been a lot of things up and down over the years.
A lot of changes and it takes a lot of changes in downtown. Yeah, and it takes a special person and
a special organization to to weather those changes and to keep making it better and more interesting
and more alluring for folks. So absolutely. Yeah, really. You've just done amazing. Such a bright future,
too. So so, you know, set up to succeed. So thank you so much. OK, great. Thank you for everything. Yeah.
Thanks. Let's see if there's any public comments on this item. Raise your hand on teams or come to the
podium. Seeing none, all those in favor of the assignment and assumption agreement for Convention Center
management and modification of various management duties signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries
to zero. Next item, please.
like to move approval for the letter of representation for Clark Johnson and night LTD. I will second
that. Yes, this is a letter of representation that would have that would give the commissioners their
own legal counsel for the anticipated ACLU jail constitutionality case. I think from the legal of the this firm
Members of this firm were part of the firm that originally represented the county when the Richardson
case was filed in 2008-2009 Pam Schneeman is the person who will be the primary and she was part of
that litigation as well We had Angie pretty and I had been discussing with our insurance carrier and
our insurance
in our insurance agent, whether the insurance carrier would cover the cost of this defense. They don't
want to, and I don't blame them, make any kind of decision until they actually see what claim has been
filed. But they indicated that if they would, that this firm would be, who would they would recommend
us using, so we would have some continuing. And the, I guess the
other part that's probably not on the cover sheet is that the rate is $225 an hour for the principal
and 195 for and below for others in the firm. So I guess capped off I know that the sheriff's has has
gotten their counsel this would be the commissioners getting their counsel and I guess from our office's
perspective we don't believe that
we could represent any of the parties because there is a conflict between the three. I don't think we
could represent you and have the council feel that we are adequately representing them and vice versa.
And the sheriff could be vice versa between all three of you as well, right? There's ways this case
could go that could cause all kinds of conflicts between all the parties. So we ethically are not able
to do that. What fund is going to be used to pay this
we're going to be using is county general professional services. Okay. And at the last council meeting
when the sheriff requested an additional he was initially advised to use funds that he currently had.
We're going to do that and I'll send an email to the council letting them know that we're not coming
for an additional at this point in time however this is displacing
um our ability to pay those professional services we had planned on paying for 2026 so we will more
than have to come back for an additional but we will do that later um and um i i want to say two things
um and neither's controversial but this is an example of a cost for not
completing what should have been done by Mr. Falk's deadline on time. Um, and it's unfortunate because
taxpayers are paying the price. Um, the other thing I will say is that right now, even though we, we
should have separate council that we're aligned with the sheriff's department on, on this project and
where it should go and what it should entail and how quickly it should have been done. But,
I do want to say that because I don't want anybody to come away thinking that we've not been in alignment
with the sheriff's department. I think it's important to note that. Any comments? Just a clarification.
So it says in the agenda that this is the commissioner's attorney. So this does not cover counsel. Correct.
Correct. Okay. And I guess when you speak with them, you may ask them if they see the same conflict we do.
And if they don't, then that's a conversation you guys can have with them. If they talk to me, I would
indicate that we found that there was a conflict. And I also think, to your point about representation,
with my knowledge, this is a very specialized body of litigation, as well, that a certain subset of
lawyers specialize in. Yes. OK. Great. Thank you so much. Any public comment on this item? You raise
your hand, and teams are come to the podium.
Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the letter of representation for Clark Johnson and Knight
LTD signify by saying aye. Motion carries to zero. And thank you for helping vets the best firm possible
for this. Appreciate the work. Can I ask one more question?
So there is a determination that is possible by insurance after the lawsuit gets filed. They then they
will determine whether or not this is covered by insurance. But that this one is on their list. So another
is for not going out of balance. Right. Right. Right. Right. So it's vetted. But a determination is
yet to come. Right. Right. Yeah. Exactly. Yes. Okay.
Thank you. All right. Next item, please. Yes, I'd like to move approval from Monroe County and city
of Bloomington memorandum of understanding. Second, I don't Mr. Cockrell, I guess or Ms. Ridge, I don't
know tag team, whatever. The city of Bloomington is doing a project and that project includes every
is going to include work that we requested they do on one of our bridges. And so this agreement is for
them to do go ahead and oversee the work.
and that we will pay them an amount associated with I think it's like $38,000. It's approximately in
the MOU I believe it's $34,000. EMB is the awarded contractor. We've made a little bit of modifications
to it already. It's just for the longevity of the bridge for removing the sidewalk that's on the bridge
increasing what we call a membrane layer.
The 34,000, it is an MOU that as long as we approve a change order that we've seen, it pertains to our
bridge, then we have the right to approve that. We have let EMB know we do support that additional cost.
Again, it's all just for the longevity of the bridge, and the work is just for what is on the bridge
that's in this MOU. And the bridge is our responsibility.
And is this being paid for out of Kew Bridge? Correct. All of this makes sense. I guess I'm just trying
to ensure that I understand what's going to be done. So they're actually going to put the membrane down,
repair the sidewalks, but they're also then putting asphalt down on top of the bridge deck? No. Yes,
that is correct.
The membrane was actually going to stop at the edge of the bridge where the sidewalk was. They were
not going to remove the sidewalk. So we had reached out to our bridge inspector. We feel for the longevity
of the bridge, the sidewalk does need to be removed so we can extend that membrane. And then the extra
cost is putting back that sidewalk. So that's why the cost has increased over the last week or so after
we made those modifications and worked it all out. So yeah, and then they'll
I was a little confused when I read it. I'm sure it's something you're like, yeah, of course,
but I was, can we pay? All right. Any questions? I'm perfectly fine. My mic's not working. 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 Monroe County City of Bloomington Memorandum
of Understanding signified by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 2-0 and thank you, Ms. Ridge, for working
on this. This is a good example of when collaboration works. We don't always have that. So next we have
our road salt bid opening. If you would like to proceed with that, it looks, I can't believe we're talking
about road salt.
be prepared. I know you're so smart to talk about it now. Makes me feel salty. Yeah. So bids were due
this morning by 10 a.m. The first one that I am gonna open is from Morton Salt. This tells me that they
provide road salt too. They do yeah. If you go to if you go to Manistee Michigan on the shores of
Lake Michigan, you can see their settlements. They're still there. That's amazing. They're still there.
That's so fascinating. Yeah. Sodium chloride delivered is $100.65 a ton. And untreated sodium chloride,
if we picked it up, would be $97 a ton. The next one that we have is from Cargill.
stuff and it really knows how to clear out a room, don't they? A drum roll, but I think it would get
old after a while.
Okay, so Cargill is regrets. They will be unable to submit a bid for the salt according to their letter.
And then we have one from Compass. Your jokes are going south.
That looks like another we're not bidding letter. Oh, no. And we received that Compass will not be providing
a bid on SALT either. Is there still a shortage? I mean, this was last year. I don't know if that's
what's anticipated or if you just have to call at the time for quotes for materials. But you can still
do that, right? We can still get quotes
if even if we i think some of the things we ran into last year when we had the shortage i believe that
compass was one of the companies um when we reached out to them having a hard time getting salt they
were only committed to their um right awarded clients right so they wouldn't right so um we'll look
at this maybe contact the companies talk to legal department and see how we want to move forward i would
check and see
that price compares to what we've currently been paying. Yeah, it seems like it's in line with what
we're paying now per ton. So it might be that that's that's who we go with. But we'll just take them
under advisement at this point. Yeah. Take this under advisement. Yeah, I'm just curious. I mean, I
do feel like we should have a contract with somebody. But
Again, our barn is pretty full. So we've been ordering salt and up until the last month or two.
So we are, we were prepared for. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we've got what's been called the super El Nino on
its way. And it's actually started now. Right. Right. Right. I mean, weather agencies are like, there's
a hundred percent chance we're going to have a strong El Nino. Okay. Yeah. So I think, I think it,
We may be okay, weather-wise, but you had to be prepared, and it could be ice versus snow, and that's
just a salt, another salt lick. All right, great, yeah, let us know what you wanna do, think about it,
and appreciate you opening bids and being a contestant today. All right, we'll move on to item W.
Yes, I'd like to move approval for the change order number four for Sunrise Greetings Vernal Pike Connector
Road. Funding Vernal Pike Sunrise Greetings, fund number 8165 in the amount of $10,165. I will second
that. I thought we were done with this. We're getting there. I believe this is our last change order
for this project. At the time when we put the ends on the bridge railings,
This felt like that there needed to be a different type or additional attenuators on the ends, basically
for pedestrian traffic. So we wanted to make sure that we had the best finished product. So we wanted
to take on this extra cost of putting in that extra protection for the pedestrian traffic at the ends
where you're entering the bridge, kind of where you see the guard rail ends.
Um, so that's what this change order is for. Uh, again, I believe this is the last change order, um,
for this project. So awesome. Good work. Uh, comments, questions. Uh, no, good to know. There will be
no additional attenuators for the project at the ends of the bridge. Right. Exactly. The road. Yeah.
Um, any public comment on this site? Any raise your hand in teams or Mr. Askins can come to the podium.
All right, seeing none, all those in favor of change order number four for Sunrise Greetings Vernal
Pike Connector Road signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries two zero. Next item please. Yes, I'd
like to move approval for supplemental number two with Clark Dietz Engineering for that road bridge
number 79. Fund name cumulative bridge fund number 1135 in the amount of $75,450.
I will second that. Ms. Ridge, tell us all about it. So when we designed this project, it was all going
to be locally funded from design right of way through construction. As we've gone forward, the cost
of the replacement increased. So we submitted this project to be a federal aid project. It was awarded
for construction of fiscal year 2031. So 80% of the construction and construction inspection will be
covered as a federal aid project. But to lead up to
satisfying all the federal aid requirements, there'll be additional documents required like NEPA, things
like that to show that we have our right of way certified. So these are the extra steps. So the cost
of 75,000 upfront to the county is better than paying the 100% of, I believe the current estimate is
about 1.8 million for the bridge replacement. Questions? You know, it makes sense,
No questions. What is the time frame on this again? I believe that's a construction season of 2031.
So far in the future. Oh my gosh. I mean, that's the last we did not get a call. We did not put a project
in in November of 2025 just because we are so far out. Um, but we put this in into the call on November
of 2024 and that's how far out it is for construction.
And it takes you five years, basically, to get to construction. Sure. Yeah. That's amazing. Awesome
work planning ahead for that. Really, really good. Do you have any? No. OK. Yeah. Let's see if there's
any public comment on this item. You raise your hand in teams. If you're asking, this is even left.
And there's nobody to come to the podium. All right.
Seeing none, all those in favor of approving supplemental number two with Clark Dates Engineering for
that road bridge number 79 signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries to zero. Next please. Yes, I'd
like to move approval for awarding the highway garage parking lot paving project to Lutz Paving LLC,
fund name 2025 Geobahn Capital Projects, fund number 4820 in the amount of $142,651.
not euros, dollars. I will second that, Ms. Ridge. So we had four sealed bids that we opened on June
4th at the Monroe County Commissioners meeting. Lent Asphalt was the lowest, most responsive and responsible bidder.
The engineer estimate was $173,623.77. So yeah, we're excited for this project. We want to thank the
commissioners for putting it into their GeoBond capital projects and the council supporting that. The
parking lot was built in 1995, so it's definitely overdue, but we wouldn't have been able to do this project.
without your support. We've done all the drainage work, replaced some pipes in-house with our crews
to get it ready. So we're ready to go once Lentz is ready to go. Great. Questions, comments? Absolutely.
This is a project that has, as you said, been long overdue, and I'm so glad we could come in under budget.
I have a question for you that came up for me, and it's not directly
to this, if you don't mind. So the governor put a leave of the gas tax. He's rescinded the
gas tax temporarily. It's both the get and the gut, which is the excise tax, but then also the sales
tax of 7%. I've been seeing things coming from Association of Indiana Counties about
how much this because that means we're getting no funding when we don't know if it's going to be continued
or not but what what is going to be the impact of this so that residents understand that and i think
maybe putting something on our website would be useful too but okay yeah um so yes we have followed
this close um governor did announce i believe it was on tuesday of this week that
He has directed the state comptroller to make the local government's hole on this suspension by November
1st. So how much we're going to, our distribution comes in monthly from the gasoline tax. We won't see
that deduction until we probably receive our July, August, September, because it kind of runs in the rear.
when it calculates out. So I believe it was suspended for three months at this point. So we expect to
see those deductions, reductions in August, September, October, July, August, September. Again, however,
the governor has issued a press release statement this week that he will make the local county entities
and cities whole.
It will affect probably moving forward county community crossing matching grant program right paving
projects that we've submit always have submitted to for the last ten years. We did not anticipate that
the governor would come back and make us whole but we also we have a cash balance we were we did not
go in for an additional this year like we do usually do in the past for paving.
in case we needed to go into those reserve cash funds. We wanna maintain what we're doing. We're just,
we're still moving forward with what we're doing. And I think we're gonna be okay because they are gonna
make us whole by the end of the year, so. Okay, so even the delay is not necessarily a negative. The
delay should be fine because again, we get it in monthly. We have our projects appropriated for
We can cover our lines right now. If we did say that we needed to go in for an additional to the council,
we would. We have a great staff that's watching our lines to make sure that we're not depleting a line
and don't have something to cover that. But we're watching it closely. There's kind of a mixed, mixed
number out there. What, how much we're going to lose in a month. Mr. Garitas with FSG set,
believes 15 to 20%.
Um, I believe our county auditor believes it's going to be 50%. So for those monthly distributions.
So again, the governor has said that, that, um, that we will get those funds back by the end of the
year. So, okay. I was just curious about that. Thank you for all the information. I, I think people
need to understand that. Yeah.
I was up in Michigan, gas was $4.40 a gallon. Oh, yes. Colorado, $4.79, $4.95. Yeah, sure. Very expensive.
So there's a price to pay for that. And we're going to pay for it somewhere or another. And I didn't
ask for this war. Did you ask for this war? I didn't ask for this war. No, but Congress has determined to. Yeah.
All right. So anyway, thank you for that additional information. I think it's important. And, you know,
keep us posted. If if something is going to be shorted, you know, let us know how you want to manage
it and we'll we'll work. We'll work with you as always. All right. So back to the highway garage parking
lot, the jumble of stones and debris and dirt that it is.
that is going to get done. Let's see if there's any public comment on this. All right. Seeing none,
all those in favor of awarding the highway garage parking lot paving project to lens paving signify
by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries to zero.
It's amazing the connection between these national dents and the local. It all filters down. If people
weren't already worried because they've gone to the Urushi store and things are way more expensive than
they used to be for no apparent reason, this is a good example of how it could really impact us. Absolutely.
Next item, please. I would like to move approval for the agreement between the Monroe County Board of
Commissioners and Aegis BLN USA Incorporated for the right of way services.
fund named Dillman Road Bridge number 83, fund number 8170 in the amount of $62,227. I will second that,
Ms. Ridge. This is basically to start the right of way process. This is a federal aid project. When
we begin the right of way process, it'll be 80% reimbursed from NDOT. So this is just the next phase
of replacing Dillman Road Bridge 83. Right. Thank you so much. And when is the project
The letting for this project is in 2027. I want to say the fall of 2027. So it gives us about a year
for right-of-way acquisition. Okay. All right. Thank you so much. Do you have any questions? Nope. Again,
another critical project that has waited quite a while. Yeah. This is going to be a really good one.
Absolutely. Appreciate you working on this. Huge safety issue. So thank you for working on
this so diligently. Let's see if there's any public comment or on Teams.
Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the agreement between Monroe County Board of Commissioners
and EGISPL and USA Inc. for right-of-way services signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 2-0. Ms.
Ridge, thank you for being patient and sitting with us today for so long and for all your hard work
and your staff.
Go on to the next item please. Yes, I'd like to move approval for the 2026 Sophia Travis Community Service
grant agreements fund name county general fund number 1000 the amount of $190,000. I will second that
Mr. King. Good morning.
On June 23rd of this year, the council approved the distribution of $190,000 of appropriations for the
Sophia Travis grants program. The funds were awarded to 41 agencies, all of which submitted applications
or projects for one of the eight categories for which Sophia Travis
grants cover, which include food, nutrition, security, shelter and health, transportation assistance,
climate change, emergency shortages, first responders, veterans assistance, excellence in government
and or youth enrichment. The council is requesting that the board of commissioners approve and sign
the twenty twenty six agreements in your packet. There's a template agreement. And then I just prepared
an agreement for each of the agencies by filling in their project, their name and their amount.
I'm happy to read the list of awardees if you'd like, but it's also included in the packet. Yeah, I
think it would be really useful if you don't mind doing so. Thank you. So Amethyst House received $5,300
for residential food. Artist Adjacent received $2,100 for Rover's kickoff shows. Auxiliary to Boys and
Girls Club received $2,000 for the Crestmont Special Snack Program. Big Brothers Big Sisters received
$4,900 for the Big and Little Adventure Connected Print and App Tools Program.
Blooming Arts received $2,800 for a scholarship fund for young actors. Bloomington Cooperative Living
received $1,000 for their digital outreach program. Boys and Girls Club of Bloomington received $8,600
for summer field trips. Cancer Support Community received $4,020 for food and transportation assistance
for cancer patients.
Monroe Kayane Casa received $2,500 for the Project Stop It Now program. Catholic Charities received
$3,400 for the Affordable Therapy program. Center for Sustainable Living received $3,140 for environmental
remediation and safety improvements for the community greenhouse. The Chamber of Commerce received $2,200
for their Career Cruise program.
C jam received two thousand three hundred and forty for expanding volunteer led eviction mediation services
community culture inc received three thousand four hundred and twenty dollars for their bobs garden
program community kitchen received nine thousand two hundred and forty dollars which is for food for
all essential food for funding um first to change sober leaving received two thousand six hundred and
sixty dollars for welcome home kits and drug tests el centro communal
Latino received $5,000 for rent and utility assistance for Latino community members. First Christian
Church received $5,600 for Welcome Table Breakfast and Sunday Meal program. First Presbyterian Church
received $10,060 for the Bloomington Severe Winter Emergency Shelter.
Bloomington received $4,900 for summer camp. Harmony School received $2,200 for the Harmony
School Performance Tech Upgrade. Healing Hands received $3,800, which is for Nourishing Neighbors Produce
Project. The Hoosier Trails Council received $2,600 for their Growing Scouts in Monroe County program.
I will note, in the packet, I do believe
The next award was listed as going to Monroe County for age, but the appropriate agency is Hoosiers
feeding the hungry Hoosiers feeding the hungry is going to work with Monroe County for age, but they're
the receiving agency. So Hoosiers feeding the hungry received 11,400 and that was for Monroe County
for each livestock sale for meat processing for local hunger relief.
Limestone Media received nine hundred and eighty dollars for climate change. What's the atmosphere like
here program? Lotus received two thousand two hundred and fifty for the Lotus Blossoms Artist Residency
and World Bazaar. Middle Way House received two grants. One was an individual grant and one is for a
collaborative project. So for the first one, they received one thousand five hundred next for decreasing
transportation barriers for survivors of violence.
And then the collaborative project received $5,120 and that's to provide CPR trainings. Mother Hubbard's
cupboard received $5,500 for the MHC education program.
My sister's closet received $2,080 for providing a secure resource for women. New Hope families received
$7,400 for the New Hope family shelter summer camp. New Leaf New Life received $5,860 for stability
and motion rent assistance for sober living and transportation. PALS received $5,100 for stable futures
after school program. Pantry 279 received $13,000 and that's for nutritional food for food insecure families.
Pathways received 2,400 for their My First Library program. Pathways to Cross-Cultural Understanding
received 2,460 for Bridging Borders of Visual Dialogue on Global Youth Perspectives. Reimagining Opera
for Kids received 1,300 for their 26-27 season of Reimagining Opera for Kids. Ana Isu Sombra, I'm sure
I mispronounced that. Sombra Mesa received 6,400.
for increasing local grown nutritious food. Stone Belt received $5,240 for CPR and first aid training.
Suzy's Place received $4,100 for Suzy's Place internship opportunities. Tandem received $11,090 for
Tandem Essentials. And the Wonder Lab received $3,040 for the Wonder Lab lab room facility
tech up improvement. Sorry. Thank you. Thank you for reading all that. That saved us. I mean, we've
been here a couple hours, so it was a nice relief for us. Do you have any comments?
No, I just wanted to say thank you to the committee for their diligence and looking at all the applications.
I know this takes so much time. And thank you to the committee community organizations for putting in
these applications and for the tremendous work they do. Yeah, it's it's so important I mean there's
a lot here with food, food insecurity and but shelter and transitional housing and
people in recovery. It's a good wide range of programming. So, yep, certainly do appreciate this getting
done. Let's see if there's any public comment on this item. You raise your hand on Teams or come to
the podium. All right, seeing none, all those in favor of approving the 2026 Sophia Travis Community
Service Grant Agreement signified by saying aye.
motion carries to zero. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. And I'm going to go ahead and make a motion for
item A B. I'm going to move that we ratify the emergency declaration that was posted for June 18th,
2026 regarding the tornado damage. I will second that. All right. We have a motion and a second.
I don't know. Uh, Bernie, if you want to address this or Mr. Baker,
looks like he's still on but I have it. There it is. We were impacted by excessive rain tornado damage
and wind damage down power lines and trees and public structure damage and life safety issues. We declared
the local disaster emergency exists in the county and that we declared
uh invoked and declared those portions of the Indiana code which are applicable to conditions and have
caused the issuance of this proclamation to be in full force and effect in the county and this was for
seven days um so uh this idea is of course that it may make us eligible for some funding um either through
the state or even potentially the federal government we shall see but if anybody has suffered damage
and needs funding
or funding assistance, they should go to the emergency management webpage or call them and they can
give you information based on the kinds of situation that you're dealing with. And I know we've also
had, we had a lot of money spent out of highway and in overtime and equipment. So I don't know if we
can recoup any of that with,
FEMA, who knows? I mean, the money is there at the beginning of the year, and then it goes. And once
it's gone, it's gone. They don't really portion out for various seasons, unfortunately. So we'll see
what happens with all of that. But we did have to have this in place in order to do that. Ms. Purdy
signed for me because I did not have a printer where I was. So I appreciate that. Anything else?
Thanks to our sheriff's department. Thank you to our highway department. Thank you to emergency management,
Red Cross, everybody that helped out. We got through it. Let's hope we don't have to do it again.
All right. Any public comment on this item? Raise your hand on teams. Oh, Mr. Baker. Thank you. Anything
else you need to add? Thank you so much.
The state disaster relief fund is open for applications from people who are impacted by the tornado
if they are underinsured or uninsured. So that application process is going on. It is a bunch of applicants
from all the disasters that happen within the whole state from January 1st, but applications are open. And
They can go to the application. It's posted on the county website on the plus releases that we sent
out or also our social media page, Facebook. So that's one big thing that's going on. And I did talk
to Jamie and if needed we can extend the dumpsters beyond the eighth if needed. I'm gonna drive out
today and check out
you see at the green news and stuff. So that's, so we'll keep you updated if that's needed. Great. So
if you do decide to extend, just make sure to post it and we'll get it on our homepage as well. Especially
if it could be done before the weekend, that would be even better because we're off tomorrow. But yeah,
thank you so much. So folks can go to the emergency management webpage.
or call the office for further information about those applications for assistance. Thank you. All right.
All right. Seeing no other public comment, all those in favor of ratifying our emergency declaration
of June 18th, 2026 signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries to zero. And one of the things that became
apparent to me
was when I first started as a commissioner back in December 2012, uh, emergency declarations were rare.
Rare. And now I feel like a couple of years normal. It's, it's, it's, I mean, this is what climate change
is. It doesn't come on all of a sudden. It, it, it creeps up on you, but it's expensive. I think this
is the third since I took office. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
COVID, well, that was a whole year and a half. I know, yeah. It would say typically it was snow, too.
Right. Yeah. I mean, now it's not. It was not. Yeah. Oh, maybe this was the fourth. Yeah, because we
had that. Yeah, we had two tornadoes of snow in the. Yeah, and this. Yeah. Crazy. All right. I just
wanted to add that in there. It's a little anecdotal evidence of how things have changed.
I do want to remind folks that we do have office hours and look what can happen. You can get utility
vehicles allowed on some county roads as a result. So join us, go to the calendar on our homepage, iam.gov
slash county slash Monroe, and check out the calendar and join us if you have comments, if you have
questions, if there's anything we can help you with, we will do so. It's been amazing to me how much
this has helped.
Sometimes I'm just explaining code for zoning, or sometimes it's really something where we can make
a substantive change to our code to help people out. I do also want to remind folks that we are under
an extreme heat warning, and that will continue. But if you want to receive information from Monroe
County government about any emergencies,
you can sign up for our resident alert system right on our homepage. I also do want to encourage people
to go ahead and think about, especially if you have a little time this summer, think about boards and
commissions. And if you would like to become part of Monroe County government and lend your expertise.
I know our traffic commission was part of that utility vehicle discussion as well. So we are,
We are on holiday tomorrow for the 4th of July celebration. I do want to wish everyone a happy 4th of
July from all of us at Monroe County government. There is a parade Saturday morning at 10 a.m. where
it's only supposed to be like 86. Yeah, 10 a.m. Yeah, it's going to be hot. So just bring more watering
you think you need.
It'll be a great parade. A reminder that the Monroe County Fair continues through July 5th. The fireworks
for the community are postponed. They're postponed until September. September? Yes. Okay. Just making
sure I understand. That's correct. Yeah. It was, no, it was, it was, we had storms that night. It was
a week ago, Friday.
Yeah, we had storms. Yeah, it was raining. But you can look around on Visit Bloomington's website to
see other, I know Lake Lemmon's doing theirs, and there are some other folks that charge or don't charge.
Ellisville's doing one. Yeah, so if you really got to go see fireworks, do it. My dog and I will.
to be hiding from fireworks, per usual. He gets very scared. Yeah, not good. Not good for wildlife.
I'm just going to say it. Anyway, I also want to mention that I had a really amazing experience last
week at Pantry 279. They'd received a grant for two of my truckloads of food, 40 tons of food each.
They had a little ceremony, and it's really nice. This came out of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints across the nation. They did some fasting and put their money together and made this happen. And
there were 250 places that got food. Each 40-ton semi is 33,000 meals. They are going to be through
it quick, though. They have been struggling. Pantry 279 has been struggling.
Who's your host food bank? Everybody's been struggling because food insecurity is really high right
now. We've got kids home from school who aren't on their lunch programs. We've got, you know, we've
got all kinds of situations where the cost of food, gas, all of those things are just putting the basics
out of reach for people. So if you have anything to spare, please remember all of these food organizations.
I know we're doing something
through the Sophia Travis grant, but boy, it's not enough. It's not enough. And then again, a reminder
that the roll off containers are up and out at Liberty Church, Mount Pleasant Church, and the entrance
to Morgan Monroe Forest. This is the area directly impacted by the tornado. Those
will be there at least until the eighth of July and maybe longer, but check back with emergency management.
If you have any questions, we do not have a work session today. Oh my God. How crazy is that? We are
meeting next week. Yes. Uh, that will be July 9th at 10 AM. Uh, anything else for the good of the order?
Uh, I have nothing. I just wanted to wish people a safe and happy 4th of July holiday. Absolutely. Um,
I want to thank, um, uh, Mr. Crider, um, Alex, everyone who has helped, um, spiffify Monroe counties,
uh, historic courthouse. It is a, uh, there's beautiful bunting up and it's, it's really beautiful.
Did a great job. That was just.
Richard and I walking around in the spring going, what are we going to do for the fourth of July? So
that was good. He did a great job, really brought it to life. And we are going to be on July 11th, dedicating
a revised plaque for the Monroe County families, dedicated Monroe County families who were active in hearing.
our independence, taking part in the American Revolution, who are from Indiana, and that will be on
July 11th. So keep an eye out for that. I'll talk about that again next week, but just it's a Saturday
morning. So very exciting. All right, everyone happy say forth. Be well and we'll be back in a week.
We're adjourned.