- Good morning. I'm going to call to order this meeting of the Monroe County Board of Commissioners. It
- is Thursday, July 16th. I will note for the record that both Commissioner Madeira and myself are here
- and present in the Natu Hill Room. We will begin with our public statement. We, the Monroe County Board
- of Commissioners, renew our commitment to welcome and protect the rights of all people, regardless of
- age, race,
- color, creed, disability, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, marital status, economic status,
- and national origin. And we affirm the right of every person to live peacefully and without fear. And
- we will fight and resist at every step discrimination and harmful policies, whatever their source. We
- believe in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. And we also stand in support
- of our public school systems, both RBD and MCCSC. And with that, I would like to make a motion to amend
- our, gosh, how does this happen? To amend our agenda, I would like
- to. Move that we. Consider approval of. The retention letter from Clark. Johnson and Knight law firm.
- I also Move that.
- items on our work session agenda into our regular agenda. Um, so the letter will become item F and,
- um, uh, Ian be paving change order, uh, becomes item G and item H is the change order for the Karst,
- um, trade.
- I second that. All right, we have a motion and a second. All in favor of approving the amended agenda,
- signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries to zero. Now we'll move on to department updates. We'll begin
- with the health department. Ah, there we go. Good morning, Linnea.
- Good morning, commissioners. Can you hear me okay? Wonderful. We're continuing to monitor the outbreak
- of the intestinal parasite cyclospora, cases of which have been reported in Indiana as well as in other
- states. The CDC is still working to identify the source, though previous outbreaks have been linked
- to raw herbs, fruits, and vegetables, including bagged salad greens.
- Our public health clinic has back to school and routine vaccines available for all ages. You can call
- 812-803-6364 for more information or to schedule an appointment. This coming Sunday, July 19th from 1 to 3 p.m.
- is the Carnival of Care Back to School Health Fair. It will be at the IU School of Public Health located
- at 1025 East 7th Street in Bloomington.
- Great. Thank you so much for questions. No, thank you so much. Thank you. All right. Um, next we have
- Ms Garrett house from, um, rural transit. Good morning. Thank you for having me. Welcome. Welcome.
- to start by thanking you for your continued support of rural transit. I wanted to give a mid-year update.
- So I have figures from January through May. Total trips for rural transit, 15,875. For Monroe County,
- 5,329. And for the urbanized area, 2,587.
- Thank you so much. Thank you. Do you have questions or comments? No, thank you. Can you give us a sense
- of where ridership is over last year, for example? Yes, we're actually down for the same time period.
- Last year, the total trips were 17,636. But then Monroe County itself is up. Last year, for that same
- time period, it was 6,514.
- Thank you so much. Thank you. Have a great day. Thanks for being here. Any other departments have updates
- for us? You can raise your hand on Teams or come to the podium. Seeing none, we'll move on to public
- comment. Time is set aside for items that are not on our agenda. We ask each speaker to limit their
- time to three minutes per person.
- and we ask that you provide your name and county residents when you begin speaking. You may come up
- to the podium here in the NatU Hill Room, or you may raise your hand on Teams. All right, seeing none,
- we'll move on to the next agenda item, please. I would like to move approval of the minutes for July
- 9th, 2026. Second. Any comments, corrections, edits?
- I already sent mine in, they were pretty minor. All right. All those in favor of approving the minutes
- for July 9th, 2026, signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries to zero. Next item. I would like to move
- approval of the claims docket for accounts payable for July 16th, 2026. I will second that.
- Good morning. Good morning. The accounts payable claims docker for July 16, 2026 totals 1,454,380 and
- 35 cents. This includes all emergency claims and adjustments. Thank you so much. Comments or questions?
- I have none. Thank you. I don't either 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 claims docket accounts payable for July 16th, 2026,
- signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries to zero. Thank you. I will note for the record that we have
- received a report from the Treasurer's Office for June of 2026. Um, we'll now move on to new business, please.
- Yes, I would like to move approval for Midwest priesthood agreement. Fund name, Clark election fund
- number 1215 in the amount of $191,872 and 59 cents. All right, I will second that. Welcome to the podium.
- Good morning.
- commissioners. So yes, we're requesting the approval of a contract with Midwest for election mail services.
- This contract was drafted by Molly Turner King. Typically, we pay these services through other lines,
- but Molly suggested that this would be the most effective way to get these bills paid. This is to cover
- expenses from the primary in the spring, as well as expenses coming this fall. Go ahead. Do you have
- comments or questions?
- You mentioned typically. Why typically is this just because of the extraordinary amount or because it
- was a primary? Yes, so. So this this budget lines typically fall under the edit fund, and we did not
- have enough in that fund to pay these bills. So initially we were going to request to increase that
- fund, but Molly suggested that we should pay these out of our contractual line rather than that fund.
- So that is why we're pursuing it this way.
- Is this related to postage for mail-in ballots, but also the postcards that were sent? Is this separate?
- This is primarily the postcards that were sent. So this is postcards notifying people of an upcoming
- election, as well as the postcards. Kelly, can you answer? Kelly can give you more specific answer of
- which services they provided. Yeah, thank you.
- For these, we had two separate postcards that went out this year. The first one was going to be the
- yellow postcard that every registered voter received due to some of the updates to polling locations
- changing. And then there was the additional postcard which gave the information of early voting, the
- new location.
- we really had to push the new location, making sure everybody was aware of where we were. That increased
- the cost on that as well. But then this is also covering the cost of the mail-in ballots getting picked
- up and the postage on those, as well as all the postcards. OK. Yeah, because it says daily pickup. And
- I was like, wait, what is that? OK. That makes sense. Isn't it unusual to have this kind of a contract
- after the election? Because you've already incurred an expense
- Yeah, so generally this would come out of our office supply line to cover the cost of those postcards.
- And we did not have enough in that line. That's why we ended up. We were going to come back and ask
- for appropriation in that line to cover the cost. And then Molly Turner King suggested that we create
- a contract for this to cover primary and general. All right, it is unusual and it's a lot of money.
- So I'm just asking. Thank you. Yep. Thank you so much.
- Let's see if there's any public comment on this item. And I think the postcards were great. Are you
- going to do that in the general as well? Postcards? Yes. So there'll be another postcard that goes out
- in the general. It'll just be one. And it's going to, again, notify people where early voting is, how
- to register to vote, check your registration, where your polling location is, and the hours and days
- of early voting. Perfect. Thank you. So looking for any public comment on Teams. You can raise your
- hand or come up to the podium here in the NatU Hill Room.
- Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the Midwest pre-sort agreement signify by saying aye. Aye.
- Motion carries 2-0. Thank you. Thank you. And I will add on those postcards, they're going to every
- residential address, not just registered voters so that they're aware as well. Yeah, that's really good.
- Yep. Thank you. Thank you very much. Maybe we can find a more efficient way to pay after and quicker
- than general. Yeah. Yes.
- to approve the ratification of resolution 2026-28 regarding the Scientea tax abatement. That's not the
- right one. We're on item B. Oh, I'm sorry. Wrong ratification. I'd like to move to ratify resolution
- 2026-27, acknowledging the Monroe County jail overcrowding. I will second that. I'm going to make a
- motion to amend
- the text in the second bullet point. I'm going back and forth here, so I apologize. Give me a moment
- and I will get there so that I can be exact.
- So under the now therefore section, we've changed this to be more general because it's not, we're not
- the experts in determining functional capacity, bed counts, all of that. That's not our business. What
- we are saying is instead of what's in point two, the board acknowledges
- the sheriff's office's determination that the current population of the Monroe County Jail exceeds its
- functional capacity. I am forwarding this to Ms. DeLotter Myers once we approve it. So that's my motion
- to amend. I second that. All right. Any discussion on the motion? No. Do I need to re
- Do I need to move to approve the amended resolution? We'll get there in a moment. We're good right now.
- But anything on the amendment itself? No. Any public comment on the amendment to the resolution? Raise
- your hand in teams or come to the podium. All right.
- none all those in favor of amending the resolution uh signified by saying aye aye motion carries uh
- two zero uh now we'll continue with um a discussion of the remainder of the resolution mr coprol do
- you have anything you'd like to say i was just going to answer the question you don't you do not have to remove
- to approve something if you've amended it. It's already still on the floor. Thank you. Anything you
- want to say about this? It's just my understanding is that you guys had a nice discussion about it at
- your last meeting. And so if the public wants to know kind of the impetus behind it, they should watch
- that meeting. Yes, this was at the work session last week on July 9th. That is a great suggestion. Thank
- you so much.
- Do you have anything you want to add about the resolution in general? Thanks to Justin for stepping
- in and fielding that. I think that was a quick turnaround for him, and so I just wanted to thank him
- for that. We did not have a great deal of time with this at all, so it's not surprising that we want
- to make a small amendment to it at this juncture because we are at that point of ratification.
- I just wanted to say that it's largely a technical and rather general vote of confidence in our sheriff.
- It's not really necessary as we understand it, and it's scarcely controversial to say the jail
- is overcrowded. So what we intend to say is that we know the jail is overcrowded. We support that principle,
- and we know this is going on to others who will vet it more closely, like the board of judges and the council.
- and we are not the experts in vetting it in those in that capacity. Yeah, exactly, exactly.
- We can acknowledge that we're beyond functional capacity, but to what extent is not. It's not something
- you're. So sheriff chief deputy jail commander. Have that managed and they yes, they're going to have
- to talk to the Board of Judges and then the Council. In the future, so.
- any public comment on this item, you raise your hand on teams or come to the podium. Seeing none, all
- those in favor of ratifying the amended resolution, 2026-27, signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries
- to zero. All right, now we'll move on to number three.
- now my favorite ratification that I wanted to do beforehand. I know. Ratification resolution 2026-28
- regarding the Cientia tax abatement. I will second that, Mr. Cockerill. I hate to steal your thunder,
- but this is not a ratification. You guys have not seen this before. No, it's a mistake on the agenda.
- I apologize about that. So what we have is we have a local company who is currently in a TIF district.
- The Westside Tiff District, they want to expand their building, but basically make it twice as big.
- So add another 6,000 square feet. They want to increase their employment in that building from 40 full-time
- employees making about $4.2 million to add 30 more employees that would make about $2.3 million.
- The average, the total tax evasion savings is about $100,000.
- which is about 10,000 a year. This has been approved by the council. This comes to you because it is
- in the TIF district, so you have an obligation to review the statement of benefits. For that, we did
- have a redevelopment commission meeting last night where we discussed it, and they were made aware of
- it, and they did not indicate that it would affect any of their abilities to pay for anything in the
- future. So all in all, I think, particularly with the shift of
- from property tax to income tax, that the wages being paid here are I think significantly higher than
- our average wage in the county. And this group indicated that they have about 75% of their current employees
- live in Monroe County. Typically when we look at a tax abatement, it's a 50-50. Half of them live in
- the county, half are out. So that's a little bit higher for this group as well.
- Yeah, so typically with a tax payment, it doesn't come to us. But being in a TIF, it does. But it's
- almost like a double abatement, in a sense, because that TIF is supposed to be collecting those excess
- dollars. And in a sense, what we're saying is you can divert that from the TIF. And so sometimes that's
- difficult to approve.
- I agree we're moving into a different world now, and with the way taxes are going to be assessed and
- carried forward. So I don't have an issue with this. Do you have any questions? No, no. And in the issue
- of, in terms of issues of this versus unconstitutional jail, it's still my favorite. People getting
- employed, growth, absolutely. So I have no issue at all.
- Okay. All right. Um so 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, um. Approving resolution
- Thank you, Mr. Cockrell. Thank you to the Development Commission. And we'll move on to item D, please.
- Yes, I'd like to unward the untreated salt to Morton Salt Fund, a local road and street fund number
- 1169 in an amount as needed of $100 and 65 cents per ton delivered. I will second that. This is making
- me salty. That was coming anyway. I don't mind. Yeah.
- Good morning. So we open sealed bits on July 2nd at the regular commissioners meeting and the low bid
- was provided by Morton Salt. So we are requesting to accept that low bid for the upcoming season with
- those materials. And they will have enough supply. They aren't guaranteeing supply though, are they?
- Probably not.
- So I think it's more of the issue of the treated salt that nobody's really providing bids for. I think
- we did get a place out of Chicago that is around $150 a ton. So significantly higher. But we do have
- our barn pretty well stocked full. So we just, everybody's in the same boat. NDOT does annual bid every
- year and I don't think they've received bids.
- also for all the materials. So what would we do? So you can still use the untreated. We prefer the treated
- because you can use it in colder temperatures. Right. So and also we can change our mixture. We mix
- some of our salt with sand. We would have to modify maybe the quantity of that mix also. OK. So there
- are adjustments that we can make.
- But we can make our own sand anyway, but not with the other treatment. OK, gotcha. And obviously, this
- works with the brine system. Yes, it will still work with our brine. OK, questions? No, but I would
- think that it guarantees kind of in the name. After all, it does save more time, right? Yes.
- So yeah, I'll drop the puns there. But seriously, it's good to know that we're stocked and ready to
- go. So I have a question, too. I believe this is the set of bids that we opened where were they,
- in effect, the only bidder? Yes, the other ones submitted no bids. Yes. So if we run out and we come
- to them and they say, we can't help you, we would have to call around.
- Yes, okay, so we are not limited at that point. We can then revisit the issue and yeah. Gotcha. Question.
- So let's see if there's any public comment on this item. You raise your hand in teams or come to the
- podium. All right, seeing none. All those in favor of awarding the untreated salt production
- manufacturer delivery to Morton Salt, signified by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries 2-0. It's hard to
- talk about winner when it's so bloody hot out. I understand that. Item E, please. Yes, I'd like to move
- to approve the award crack ceiling bid to
- I'd like to move to award the crack ceiling bid to RLH Seal Coating, Incorporated. I will get that right.
- Fund name, NVH restricted, fund number 1173 in the amount of $145,955.60. I will second that. Ms. Ridge?
- So we also open bids on July 9th here at the public meeting.
- There were three bids that were read aloud, and RLH was the lowest most responsible responsive bidder.
- We've done work with RLH, and they've done a good job with us. So we'd like to have that awarded to
- them. Great. Thank you so much. Comments or questions? None. This came in higher than we thought.
- Now, actually, we thought it would be around 159,000, so it came in a little bit less. I think the highest
- bid was 319,000. Yes, that was an outlier. Pretty broad. I think the middle bid was around 237,000.
- Oh, good. Thank you so much. All right, so let's see if there's any public comment on this. You raise
- your hand on teams or come to the podium.
- All those in favor of awarding the bid to RLH CL coding Inc. Signified by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries
- to zero. Now we have our amended items. You feel comfortable making a motion on item F? Yes. I'd like
- to move to approve the representation letter from Clark Johnson and Knight. I will second that.
- Mr. Cockrell is going to need to share his screen. Can I raise my hand so you could find me easier?
- There you go. Thank you.
- this morning we received a letter from the law firm of Clark Johnson and Knight. This is the same firm
- I believe the Commissioner has approved last week for representation in the ACLU lawsuit. This letter
- is for the same work for the same price and
- But it also adds the sheriff as someone that she will represent in this case. The bulk of this letter
- discusses the conflict of interest.
- assessment that was done by the the law firm and they came to the conclusion that they could represent
- both the sheriff and commissioners and not have a ethical violation or a conflict violation as as you
- guys are aware and I told you a while ago if this did become part of a litigation that our office would
- be conflicted out and that we represent the entire county and we have three different members of the
- county who have been named in this lawsuit and we don't think we were
- positive, we couldn't ethically represent each party to their satisfaction or basically without creating
- a conflict with us between those two parties. So we are unable to handle it for anyone, and we do not
- believe that this conflict is a waivable one, but it is one where we have to step out. So this letter is
- kind of continuing the thought that they would represent the county commissioners. But it also adds
- the sheriff and the bulk of this letter, it's a four page letter and pages two and two and half of page
- three talk about that conflict analysis that they had done. And so same price, same representation,
- it still holds. We have reached out to the insurance with the
- And we expect an answer from them within the next week or two as to whether they will pay for
- this representation. But they had indicated that this was a group that they would recommend and that
- they would appoint if they do pay for it. Excellent. And also in the letters and outline of how we will
- be billed if the
- attorney works with just us. They bill us for those hours. If they work for just the sheriff, same thing.
- If they work, are doing work for both of us, that they will then divide the time and bill both of us
- half. Comments? No, I think we're very happy with that representation and very happy with that firm.
- And so, yeah.
- Yeah, I feel like we have really good representation and I've learned a lot already. 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.
- And I want to note too that it says in the letter that we do get discounted rates per insurance, so
- I think that's very important for the public to know.
- I don't see any public comments. So all those in favor of approving the representation letter signified
- by saying aye. Aye. Carries two zero. We're now going to move on a new item G. If you could. Yes, I
- would like to move to approve.
- the E and B paving LLC change order number three for the showers building hardscape project. I'm sorry.
- Go bond funds number 40 15 in the amount of 14 million for 14,410 dollars and 281,590. And I have now
- advertised to the county that I perhaps need reading glasses. Zoom in on your screen.
- technology. Mr. Crider, good morning. Thank you for hearing this. Good morning, commissioners.
- Richard Crider, Monroe County Building and Fleet. This request is to approve change order number three
- for the showers building hardscape project. The original contract amount for the project was $296,000.
- The change order returns $14,410 in unused allowance funds, resulting in a new contract total of $281,590.
- that. Excellent Thank you so much. Um. Comments. No, I always like when it comes in under budget. Yeah,
- it's a good thing. Really great. Yeah the, uh, lot in our showers looks great. Yeah Yes, it feels like
- to Yeah, I'm. Eager to hear how it goes after the first big gully
- we won't be saying, oh, golly. Oh, golly. But that's amazing. And I think with the new stormwater management
- plan for that lot, which slopes right to the building, we'll be in good shape. So yeah, I'll be eager
- to hear how the first, you know, the one inch and half an hour rainfall goes and see how we do.
- But really, thank you for taking the leadership role in this project and making sure that everything
- got done right. So thank you. You're welcome. 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. None. All those in.
- favor of approving the EMB paving LLC change order number three for the showers building hardscape project
- signify by saying aye aye motion carries to zero and our next item please yes I'd like to move approval
- for change order number three and number four for the karst trail extension fun name karst trail extension
- fun number 8172 in the amount of
- I will say $105,604.55. All right. I will second that. Ms. Ridge, thank you for staying. Yeah. So change
- order number three is actually for the result of when they finish a project to go over the quantities,
- what was overrun, what was under run. There was some minor liquidated damages assessed in this project
- due to delay of some materials, but overall it is a negative
- decrease in the construction contract, which is always good. In the end, we would possibly see about
- 20% of that back to the county because our match is 20%. And then the other change order number four
- is a $0 change. It was just basically for the time allowance, but there was no money involved in that
- request. Great. Thank you so much.
- I don't have any questions either, but thank you for all your work, and it is nice to have contracts
- come in under budget. Doesn't happen much, but it happened twice today, so lightning struck twice. Let's
- see if there's any public comment on this item. Raise your hand in teams, come to the podium.
- All those in favor of approving change orders number three and number four for the cars trail extension
- signified by saying aye. Motion carries to zero. And I do want to remind folks that we do have a blood drive.
- that is held with obviously the Red Cross, but also Ivy Tech. Thank you, Ivy Tech. There are a couple
- more dates in July. Friday, July 17th, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Wednesday, July 29th, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The
- blood drive takes place at Ivy Tech in rooms C, 130A and B. And we thank everybody who chooses to
- give blood. We're always in short supply. And you can make an appointment at redcross.org. I want to
- encourage residents to sign up for the resident alert notification system, or you'll be advised of any
- emergencies, including weather emergencies. And you can be advised of those emergencies via text, phone,
- and or email.
- and this is a free service we offered every Monroe County resident where they live in Bloomington, Alexville
- or neither. So we encourage folks to sign up. It is a freeze free to residents service. We did have,
- you have continue to have office hours six times each month, go to the county calendar, in.gov slash
- county slash Monroe.
- and look at the calendar, and you will see the dates and times. Just sign in on Teams, and away we go.
- Also, we just to review some of the things that have happened recently. Last Saturday, we had the dedication
- of the new plaque downstairs for the local Patriots who fought in the American Revolution.
- which is really cool. And it was a great ceremony. Um, and a lot of community members came out. Um,
- so that plaque is downstairs. We encourage folks to stop by. There are some pamphlets that, um, offer
- a little biographical sketch of those, of those Patriots. Um, yesterday, um, at, was it yesterday? Gosh,
- I believe it was.
- No, it was Tuesday at Karst. Oh my gosh, the days are flying by. Tuesday, we had the ribbon cutting
- at the Karst Farm Athletic Fields. We're on field nine. It's beautiful. One of the things that I had
- forgotten was that constant breeze out there, which is great.
- it was super, super hot, so. But anyway, it was a really fun event. Um. We had a great time and thanks
- to, um. His Whitmer, who's are, um. Director Parks and Recreation for the county, the board her staff,
- which is amazing. For all their hard work to make that happen, and it
- the parking lot. It involved a lot, but it was. It's really a beautiful project. They did a great job.
- Um so next we have to do the parking lot because I can attest it's. It's kind of. Um so we're on to
- that next. All right. Um. Any other. Announcements have none. Okay I don't either. So now we do not
- have a work
- With that, our next meeting is July 23rd, right here in the NETU Hill Room at 10 a.m. Thank you, everyone,
- and thank you, TSD, and with that, we are adjourned.