to call to order this work session of the Monroe County Board of Commissioners. We're going to add an
item at the end regarding the SUDAC budget, so just for reference for folks. And in the interim, while
I'm waiting for this to load, let's hear from the Parks Department, Ms. Whitmer, about nature preserve.
Well, I want to talk to you before we really start going down this path to see if this is the path you
want to travel. I think you will. We've been working very closely with US Fish and Wildlife Service.
And they don't use the word grant. They said it's not a grant. It's just money or programs. However
you want to look at it. And we want to plant trees. We want to plant prairies.
We're going to be responsible for some money. They're going to be responsible for most of the money.
And when I wrote this, this was Tuesday of this week, they called me late last night and said, Hey,
we might have another $50,000 for you. Okay, that will require our staff to rearrange and we'd have
to rearrange our priorities. But this is a one in lifetime opportunity. This 50 is just because
of their financial year is closing down and they're trying to gather money and looking at shovel-ready
projects, which, hey, we're the most shovel-ready project there is, plus they think this is once in
a lifetime opportunity for Monroe County with this particular piece of property. So in the end, I'll
keep this short, and this is fast math because we have to do all the math and we're gonna get this done
this week, bring it back to you with contracts.
It could be 75 acres of trees. It could be 15 acres of prairie. It could be the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
pays $66,000. It could be we pay only $19,000 with our park labor. They actually might bring in some
of their labor to help us because this is not what we were planning on Tuesday. This is Wednesday. Now,
this is Thursday. This is all great news for the Nature Preserve because we are always planning to put
more trees in, always planning to put prairies in.
We just have to figure out how to manage it and how to maintain it with also the funds from the trust.
And that's going to have to hire people to we all realize that we just have to move faster and different
now. But we want to make sure this is the path that you all think is good for the nature preserve. I
like the word path. Yes. This is brilliant.
It's brilliant and cannot thank you enough for being so creative in thinking about this. And I know
there's been a lot of discussion about what goes where, when, and how, and you've got that sort of mapped
out in a big way, right? And to me, this is just such a great opportunity and rarely does news about
funding get better over time. So glom onto it.
I'm on board. I'm on board personally. Do you have questions or comments? No, I'm definitely on board.
This is awesome. Thank you. OK. And County Legal is also going to put an exhibit to any agreements that
we make with US Fish and Wildlife to talk about the Huntington Trust and recreational purposes. So they're
aware of where we are in the world and where they're in the world. And everything we're doing is also
getting proofread, as I said, or by the Indiana State Biologist.
So we have the U.S. biologists, the state biologists, all free, helping us out. And Monroe County Soil
and Water has been instrumental in bringing everyone together. And I have to say, you moving them into
the showers building has been very advantageous for us being physically close. So I can find them every
day. And I've heard the same from Stormwater and I've heard the same from them about Stormwater and
parks and planning and
It's huge. I mean, it's just, I'm so glad it worked out. I'm so grateful. It is good. And like I said,
we are also working with pheasants and quail forever in the Turkey Federation. Purdue University has
helped us out. Monroe Lake Watershed Group has been involved immensely in stormwater. Oh, Erica was
there. So everyone's pitching in for free.
We probably have the best minds in the entire state here figuring out what we should do, when we should
do it, and how we should do it. So I'm getting a lot of calls from the neighbors and whatnot. And I
keep promising them. I said, we have the best advice. It's going to be absolutely gorgeous. It's going
to take a few years. Everyone set tight. I may have to move priorities around to stay within my budget.
Everyone just hold on. It'll get done.
I think it's just fabulous and I welcome the opportunity to review a contract about this. And I mean,
because I know, for example, Martha Miller at Soil and Water Conservation District is a big, huge fan
of the prairie grasses and the prairie growth, the flowers and their pollinators. I mean, it's just,
you do have the best experience and minds working on this, including your own. I know you wouldn't say
that, but I will.
you understand parks, you understand the community in a way that a state biologist might not too. So
I appreciate that. Oh, and another thing is we've also be coming with a contract with we have a farmer
that is working with the trust, but we also need to work with this farmer to plant beans to leave, not
to harvest. County legal has looked this over and everything is OK because this helps prepare our prairies
and our trees and
to make sure all the animals have enough food. So you'll be seeing that contract come through and you
go, why are we doing this? It's all part of the environmental plan. I appreciate you're able to spin
so many plates at one time and get such a great result. No other questions? Good. Yeah. All right. We'll
keep going. You'll see them. Thank you. That's really good news. I'm excited. Absolutely. All right.
And be sure to take a lot of before pictures.
you know, like drone shots or whatever, because it's going to look really different. It's going to be
beautiful. Yeah. All right. Next resolution 2026-10B. Would you go ahead and make a motion to approve?
I would like to approve resolution 2026-10B, amendment regarding transfer property to the Monroe County
Capital Improvement Board. Second.
Yes. And, uh, Jeff Cockerill, Monroe County legal department, uh, at the last meeting you approved the
resolution 10. Um, this is 10 B we did at that meeting. We did, we had a request to meet with my sister's
closet and the capital improvement board. I will say that did occur. And what I'm about to say is an
outcome of, of, you know, kind of the discussion that we had, what I had with the capital improvement
board. Um, they were asking about,
really two things and one of them made it into this and apparently I did not forward the most up-to-date
version when I sent this in so I'll tell you about that but there were two things one was what it references
sort of our historic properties historic districts and things like that working with John Baten talking
to him that's not that's that's not clear that these properties have that kind of historic designation
so we're taking that out of the resolution
in a day if it does, it does, right? But it certainly is not clear to be right now. And then the second
is there was an inconsistency with the potential to transfer that day. The whereas clauses says when
the justice center is complete, the actual language in the ordinance said after the November election,
kind of want to make that both read after the justice center is complete.
just internally consistent with the documents, I will say that the CIV would rather work out an arrangement
with the with the board of commissioners and the county to get that transferred earlier and preserve
that kind of preserve the parking needs that the county would have through a contract or something like
that, as opposed to delaying the transfer. But that but this would allow that to happen as well.
So I mean, it says you may withhold it. It doesn't say you have to. Right.
Was there something about your conversation with? Oh, I mean, it was an initial conversation. I think
it was clear that the C.I.B. had the C.I.B. didn't have the full board there. They have. They really
and it was clear that the leadership at that meeting hadn't talked with the rest of the members. And
so they were just it was kind of fact finding. I think it went really well. I actually between meetings
was talking to
our building commissioner, because there are some questions about timing and timelines that came out
of that meeting. I think I talked with some other local landlords in the downtown area, including,
you know, what do we have as far as some kind of interim use for a couple months? So there's some moving
parts there, but it was a good, I guess we delineated the needs very well, the needs of the my sister's
closets and kind of where the CID is.
in terms of their process. So we're trying to work and see how those will all get together. I think
everybody left the meeting fairly positive, but knowing that there weren't any decisions made and there's
a lot of work to have. Sure. And of course, yeah, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that we'll
do what we can. If there's anything we can do as a county to help provide a temporary space or storage
or something, if that's what they need, we'll figure it out. I mean, it's such a great organization, but
But really the fact that they we gave them a reduction in rents and then it's it's we've been as as
kind and generous as we could be to help them get into their new location, which is also going to be
very exciting. But and then on the historic side, this doesn't preclude the city of Bloomington from
a historic investigation into the buildings, but it doesn't require it because this isn't necessarily
a historic district.
Correct. Taking that out doesn't change any processes that are available to anybody. It's just not having
the conclusion that hasn't been made yet included in the document. Got it. Thank you. Thank you for
that. All right. Do you have any comments or questions? Yes, I'd really hate to see any interruption
in services for those who use my sister's closet. That really is such an integral service for the community.
And I echo you and we'll do everything we can. And I'm glad that we don't have to bind the CIB's hands.
I do hope that the city will investigate any avenue it can, particularly for housing. Yeah, that was
our big concern, really. Absolutely. And our hands are tied.
because we are not a housing authority. And of course, we don't have those powers, but I'd like to see
that outcome very much. So thank you. That may be what the CIB does. But it may not be. But at least
we put it out there that that's our interest and that is our concern. Yes. And again, I think they have
to transfer that to the city to really effectuate that purpose. Right. Right. CIB cannot do that. Correct.
Thank you. All right. Let's see if there's any public comment on this. I have you raise your hand teams
or come to the podium. And we don't have to ratify this since it's an amendment. I think you're fine.
It's really more of a covering up for the attorney's mistake. Covering your attorney.
All right, seeing none. All those in favor of resolution 2026-10B signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion
carries to zero. Thank you for bringing that to us. Next we have a planning presentation. Mr. Smith,
are you? Oh, there he is.
Okay, hello, good morning. Oh, you are muted. There you go. Okay, can you hear me now. Okay, perfect.
All right. Good morning commissioners TSD, if you could promote me so I could share my screen.
the commissioners see the screen okay we sure can thank you okay um good morning commissioners the request
before you is an outline plan amendment the second one to be exact which pertains to the highlands pud
specifically for parcel e also known as links edge subdivision or perhaps more commonly known as the
wick apartments
And this is a fairly long report, so I will be jumping around just a bit here. The site is located off
of South Rockport Road in Perry Township, with the inner streets being South Lincoln Street and South
Rangeview Circle. Going to jump around again here. So the image on the screen gives you a better layout
of what it is that you are
Voting on, so for this purpose of the outline plan amendment south range view circle is the street before
you that you will be voting on whether to grant the petitioners request to make range view a private
road. Should the commissioners vote to deny the petitioners request range view circle would stay as
a planned public road required to meet all public road improvements.
And I'm going to jump around again here to provide a little background on this petition. I did want
to note that this subdivision is part of the Highlands PUD, which is a PUD that was originally approved
under the city of Bloomington planning jurisdiction in 1996 under ordinance 96-05.
In 2018, the developer did receive approval for the current subdivision and development plan with a
revision to the outline plan having been approved by the Monroe County Board of Commissioners to have
a reduced front setback from 25 to 15 feet. It was during this time that the developer preferred to
have Rangeview Circle become a private road versus a public road. However, when this was presented to
the plan commission,
There were concerns that were raised over the course of that process about placing an economic burden
on the future presidents of that subdivision to pay to maintain the roadway should the developer opt
to sell that property either to an HOA or another private entity. As such, the intent to make Rangeview
Circle a private road never made it into the final outline plan.
and therefore the road was approved to become a public road, which the developer did agree to at that
time. The planning commission forwarded a positive recommendation seven to one to the county commissioners
on October 18th, 2018. And the county commissioners approved that outline plan amendment to reduce the
front setback from 25 to 15 feet on December 5th, 2018. And that was under ordinance 28
18-34. The current petition request first began in 2023. However, the petition was withdrawn for reasons
unknown to planning. It wasn't until November of 2025 that the petitioner came back to planning to restart
this request. And that is the request that is before you today.
This petition did receive extensive review and discussion over the past few months, going to ordinance
review committee on December 8th, 2025, the planning commission administrative meeting on February 3rd,
2026, and the preliminary planning commission regular session on February 17th, 2026. And I will jump
around here again.
Because the petitioner's request of waiver of final hearing was denied, this petition was heard again
at the Plan Commission administrative meeting on March 3rd, 2026, and the Plan Commission regular session,
also known as its final hearing, on March 17th, 2026. So during the Plan Commission meetings, there
were extensive and spirited discussions regarding the construction and intent of this development.
including a number of deficiencies that are currently an issue with this development. Much of this discussion
ultimately led staff to create a visual aid to help illustrate what exactly these deficiencies are and
where they are located. So the deficiencies on your screen are taken directly from the Highway Department's
inspection
were they noted deficiencies that needed to be corrected before they would accept Rangeview Circle into
the county road inventory. Planning did sit down with the petitioner and the petitioner's engineer,
petitioner's engineer being Daniel Butler with Bynum Vanyo to see what or if any public improvements
they were willing to make as part of their request to make Rangeview a private road. And you'll see
the items on the screen
In red being improvements the petitioner is unwilling to make. And then the improvements in green being
that the public improvements the petitioner is willing to make as part of their request. And you'll
see on the screen I have made a
planning map here, just identifying the areas of concern, the deficiencies specifically that the petitioner
is unwilling to make. So I have identified what those deficiencies are and then its approximate location
on this aerial view. You'll note that many of these deficiencies range from cracked sidewalks, parking stripes,
We've got a six foot ADA sidewalk requirement. We have cross slope issues. And we also have private
signs that are within the right of way. So a number of different issues that are noted in the packet,
but certainly issues that the highway department would like to see corrected. But ultimately the petitioner
is requesting that Reggie would become a private road
So they are opting to not do these improvements. I'm going to jump around here. I did want to state
that planning's original recommendation to the plan commission was to forward a positive recommendation
to the county commissioners with four conditions of approval.
much of this is based on the Highway Department's stance that they would not be able to accept Rangeview
Circle in its current state. And you'll see on the screen the letter that was provided by the Highway
Director, Lisa Ridge, her letter to the Plan Commission dated March 10th, 2026, and that's what I have
up here on the screen. She noted
the highway department's position as well as a number of their concerns that they had with this site.
However, the first condition of approval that planning had recommended was that the petitioner work
to get South Wiccan Street accepted into the county inventory by the Planning Commission meeting on
March 17, 2026. To planning staff's knowledge, this has not occurred.
So at that March 17th meeting, Planning had recommended continuing the petition to the next meeting
in hopes that the petitioner would work with the Highway Department on getting South Lincoln Street
accepted into the County Road Inventory, which the petitioner did agree to finish all final
public improvements to get that accepted by the Highway Department. Ultimately, the Planning Commission
did vote to vote a negative recommendation to the county commissioners by a vote of five to two. And
this is a pretty lengthy report, but I am happy to take any questions that the commissioners may have.
I believe the planning director is also online in case there are any questions that she might be able
to answer as well. And I will take any questions. All right, do you have any
Any comments or questions? No, thank you. I think I understand the issues. I don't have any questions
beyond what I posed at the planning commission meeting on this item. I don't think we need to hear from the
representative. We have questions for them. I think we'll just put it on our agenda. So Mr. Smith, thank
you for the clear presentation. It is a lot. There's a lot going on here. And I'd like to check in with
our third commissioner and
send some dates to you to put this on our agenda, if that's okay with you. Absolutely. That's fine.
I appreciate that. Thank you so much. Okay. Yeah. All right. Thank you very much. Appreciate your time.
All right. We have one more added item on our agenda. Is it you Ms. Turner King presenting the SUDAC
It was two T's budget. Did it cost more for the extra T? Sorry. All right. So the Substance Use Disorder
Awareness Commission, SUDAC, met yesterday and discussed the upcoming summit, which is scheduled for
September 1st and 2nd of this year at the Bloomington Convention Center. And one item they discussed
was the budget for the summit.
And that's what's before you today for approval. So I have provided a copy of the budget to
the commissioners. The budget results in an ending balance of $7,147.71 in the SUDAC fund, which would
make funds available for future SUDAC events like Paint the Town Purple or the next year's summit. I
would note that yesterday it was discussed during the SUDAC meeting that the speaker line
in the budget will likely increase as speakers are confirmed and they communicate their fees but even
with the anticipated increase it will result in a positive balance in that fund. So SUDAC approved this
yesterday and I provided a copy of the resolution that was passed approving the budget or recommending
the budget to the commissioners and so that's what is before you for approval today. Great.
Thank you so much. So Commissioner Madeira, anything you want to add to this? No, I think that this
is going to be a tremendous event. I think this budget looks exceedingly balanced and I think we're
ready to go. Excellent. Now I appreciate the Substance Use Disorder Awareness Commission and their work.
And yes, I do think it's going to be a great event. So we should take a vote on this. Yes, Mr. Cockrell,
and would we need to ratify it next week?
You can just vote on this. I mean, this is a budget. So any contracts associated with the budget will
still have to still see it. Got it. All right. Would you make a motion, please? Yes, I would like to
move to approve the budget for the 2026 Sudak Recovery Summit. I will second that. Let's see if there's
any public comment on this. Teams come to the podium.
none all those in favor of approving the recommended budget from Sudak for the recovery summit signify
by saying aye aye motion carries to zero thank you there's actually one more Sudak item and that's an
amendment to the tall cop says stop contract with the commissioners approved on March 12th after that
contract was approved they were
The option, it was, there was an option discussed, and that tall cop could provide a report after his
presentation and Sudak would like to get that written report and there's a $500 fee for that report.
So, it increases the contract amount by $500.
says stop organization, submitted an invoice that includes that amount. SUDAC talked about it yesterday.
They would like to amend the contract to include that $500. Wow. Can I talk about that a little bit
more? That sounds like a lot. This is a report where this particular individual will come and basically
do a report dedicated to our local circumstances.
Uh, the student team thinks that that would provide very valuable information as an outside professional.
Yes. Not embroiled in the community, not from the community looking at it with fresh eyes, somebody
who's a professional. I got it. Thank you. Okay. So this would be, um, I'm going to go ahead and move
to approve the amended, um, a Chad professional training. Is that correct? Yes. Yes.
Um, with the amended total of $3,275. Yes. That is not the full total for clarity. That is the total
of the invoice because, um, Mr. Tall Cop, um, we get that's the total amount is broken into two amounts
and that is the amount to secure the date. And so that means that the total, um, contract was originally
$12,600 and then you had 500.
Okay, so 13 one. Yes. Okay. So I'm going to amend my motion to accept the full contract for $13,100
to amend it. Yes. I second that. I will second that. Thank you. Yes is good, but I need a second.
All right. Let's see if there's any public comment on this item.
Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the amended contract with JCHED professional training,
signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries, 2-0. Thank you. Thanks. All right. With that, we are adjourned.
Thanks again, Katz. Thanks again, TSD. Thanks.