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.