- We'd like to call to order this meeting of the Monroe County
- is Wednesday, April 2nd.
- No, we don't do roll call here.
- First order of business is public input for items that are not on the.
- On the.
- Next order of business.
- Is.
- That.
- I'm.
- All in favor.
- I would like to recommend that to the person taking notes that they.
- But half verbatim and half summary in that instead of the I you know said and then I it might be
- easier to just talk about
- who spoke what time it was on the you know on the clock and then if somebody needs to go back, they
- can watch the video. That's how we do minutes for the commissioners. So it's easier.
- Trying to make life easier, not more complicated. So thank you.
- As someone who used to have to do minutes. That sounds like a really good idea to me.
- I would just, I guess.
- I think that's fabulous. So if we looked at the commissioners, that would be a good template. Okay,
- I just want to make sure there's a little direction there.
- And, you know, you can even do a little more because you can even have, you know, what the topic
- was that somebody talked about, but just list the time and that way when somebody goes back to look
- at them in at the meeting. They know where to look for that information and it's verbatim then and
- And you don't have to worry. Yeah, I, I know. Miss Barbara's online, but thanks. I just
- I appreciate the effort to make the notes. I just feel like that's probably more work than needs to
- be done.
- Or she'll be delighted.
- Anyone could talk to Anita in our office about how she does that.
- Okay, so that would be a good contact. All right. Perfect. That's all I was trying to figure out.
- Thank you.
- From water expenditure report for February.
- Fleet maintenance. We spent four thousand two hundred and forty seven dollars and twelve cents backfill
- twenty one thousand four hundred and thirteen dollars and seventeen cents.
- On call contractors, which was fourteen traffic officers two thousand six hundred and forty nine
- dollars and thirty nine cents gas five thousand four hundred and thirty four dollars and twelve
- cents and non health insurance seventy one thousand seven hundred and eleven dollars.
- Thank you. Any questions.
- And we'll move on to our only item of business today, which is an MOU with the Lake Monroe.
- Good afternoon I'm Michelle Cohen the executive director of the water fund and hopefully you all
- had a chance to stand my tiptoes had a chance to read the letter that was in your packet so we're
- just seeking thirty five hundred dollars in support of.
- Operation of a stream flow gauge on South Fork of Salt Creek, which helps to determine the
- information that we need to calculate.
- Sediment and nutrient and all those kinds of things over the long term that friends of Lake Monroe
- and other organization does that work, so the water funds role is really to try to bolster funding
- for things that are necessary for the health of Lake Monroe.
- Did you have any questions for me on that project and specifics.
- I don't have questions my comment is I appreciate that this has happened i've supported it in the
- past i'll support it in the future.
- Where does the data go.
- Data go so the city of bloomington will go and sample during high frequency events, as well as just
- getting the flow data that's continuously monitored and then friends of Lake Monroe gets that
- information and they crunch the numbers.
- distance support, I will say it's nice to kind of see the water fund and then the friends of Lake
- Monroe kind of write a letter to encourage that.
- They when we were first discussing it was nice to kind of distinguish the two and kind of now as we
- were a couple years down the road it's cool to see how things kind of came together and how they
- complement each other's efforts.
- And I think, in the past, there was an issue with hey this isn't even in Monroe county but it
- impacts Monroe county so I don't have an issue with the Jackson county location.
- Well, I think this is a very important thing to continue to maintain.
- It Monroe is is really essential for our existence.
- It would be very foolish to not keep on keeping track.
- And we do have money set aside in the budget, Ms. Pena. Okay, great. I'm going to I'm going to go
- ahead and make a motion to approve the MOU with Lake Monroe Water Fund for water monitoring in 2025.
- I'll second that motion.
- All in favor, please.
- Public comment.
- Oh, yes, thank you. Is there any public comment on this item? If you're on.
- Raise your hand, or if you're in the Net, you will room, you can come to the podium.
- And there doesn't seem to be any public comment.
- Would everyone in favor, please say aye.
- Aye, aye, aye.
- Thank you. Motion passes.
- Thank you so much.
- Thank you.
- Before I leave the podium, I have a couple of pieces of literature for you. If you'd like, I'll
- just pop up there and hand them out. If that's okay.
- Great. Thank you.
- Thank you.
- Okay. We like Liz.
- Lost my agenda.
- Here.
- Thank you.
- So much.
- No.
- Available?
- Lisa's online.
- Can you hear me?
- Yes.
- Perfect.
- Okay.
- Good afternoon.
- So I want to provide a kind of I've made a spreadsheet there to explain why I would be going in for
- an additional.
- I have it scheduled for April 22 at this time.
- So to finish to keep the project of Stipp Road moving along and get that completed, I kind of give
- you a breakdown any of the funds that were left and appropriated in the Stipp Road Morse Creek
- project just stayed in our cash at the end of the year, we did not deplete that line.
- And then after January 1 milestone was able to work with our consultant get the quantities agreed
- upon submit their final payment of that 255056 at the top and then our consultant final fee on that
- project was the $11,754.16 so we ended up for the completion of Morse Creek being paid out in 2025
- was $266,810.
- So we had appropriated, I believe 1.5 million in the Stipp Road project. So that left us with a
- balance of this as of 320 of $1,233,189.84 since then and I've provided all the contracts, we were
- kind of on a time crunch, and that was not due to any fault in the department.
- Erica and before Erica Kelsey, I can went back through my emails we started working with Duke and
- the Army Corps in August of 2022 to get a easement for Duke.
- So that's kind of why it everything fell to this last week.
- So we ended up getting the Duke utility agreement there for $122,637 and 24 cents.
- We had Locke Mueller group we had to restake everything for the tree removal. So that task was $8,800.
- Then we had to go through and get the bluestone tree quote updated, and that was the $96,577.
- And then we also have remaining on our existing contract with Locke Mueller for these two projects
- $187,624.61.
- So the estimate for completion for stiff road construction this year, and that also includes
- replacing a bridge in that project is $1.758, $238.85.
- I really worded that really wrong.
- So the additional would be around $500. We're going in for $525,000.
- And then again, I see I put on there as the cash balance for the council on that at that time.
- So none of these costs were not anticipated. We just didn't know until closer to time what we would
- be up against, whether or not we could even do the project because we were up against a week and a
- half window of getting the trees down, getting the contracts down.
- I appreciate everybody's hard work and doing that. Bluestone, the commissioners, everybody running
- through the contracts, Locke Mueller, but we did get it done.
- We know that the trees are down. We're ready to go. Of course, we'll be waiting on Duke at this
- point, further relocation, but I do believe that we'll be able to we have EMB ready to do the
- project.
- After that point, we also just opened bids to pay the rest of Stipp Road out of MBH funds when the
- project is complete. I wanted to give you a breakdown of the cost for that project.
- Again, a lot of this was anticipated. We just didn't know the final numbers and then paying that
- extra $266,000 out of the 2025 budget for the completion of Morse Creek.
- So, I'm happy to answer any questions that anybody might have.
- I just wanted to see if we had to do to take a vote here to send this to Council for an additional
- is actually going to recommend doing that just to make sure it's cleaner.
- It shows that it has no vote needed, but that was going to be kind of my recommendation.
- Yeah, and I would prefer to tell, you know, let the council know that it was brought to you all and
- you, hopefully at this point, approved us moving forward with it.
- I'm going to go ahead and make a motion to recommend that we take this to Council for an additional
- preparation for the amount of 525,000. Is that the right number?
- Yeah. Okay, great for $525,000.
- Have a second. Thank you.
- All in favor, please say, oh, no. Is there any public comment on this item.
- Raise your hand. If you're in the net you go room you can.
- Seeing none, we'll come back to the board. I guess I just wanted to ask so the Moores Creek in this
- dip road.
- I will say I am going to support this motion but outside of long term maintenance and other issues
- because you know it's we're never done maintaining our infrastructure and.
- But I guess, Miss Ridge, do you do you think that this is going to kind of get us to the finish
- line on this project that we've been seeing for almost five years now, I want to speculate multiple
- years.
- So, no, I couldn't agree more Tron it's taken a long time to get here. Yes, I do see completion of
- these two projects. I do want to point out, but I don't know if you're familiar with area but where
- this project of steep road stops around car top.
- And then going towards Morse Creek there, there will still be an area that could could face
- flooding, but it's outside the area of any homes or anybody being displaced that that was the main
- goal for this project.
- So the construction limits will include anybody that has a residential driveway in that area. The
- other end of Morse Creek anybody would be able to get out on that side so the goal that we had for
- this project.
- I believe we will meet those.
- So yeah, I'm, I'm excited that we can, I saw more screen get done it turned out really well. And I
- think step road. The other end is going to turn out just as well.
- All right, if there's, there are no further comments to all in favor please say aye. Aye.
- And the motion passes.
- Do you want me to go on to my next item.
- South Shore. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm, I'm trying to read someone else's computer. Yes, please. I'm sorry.
- You're fine. So I just wanted to talk about the South Shore project that we've been doing for the
- last two or three years.
- We ended up getting a permit to be able to work on bank stabilization allowance along South Shore
- Drive.
- We were permitted I believe for like just under 2200 feet.
- Over the years back and Terry Quillman and Kelsey, we had chose some of the worst spots to do.
- Our permit expires next year. I believe we have an additional right around that 2200 feet still to
- complete.
- I met with Erica this week. She's going to redo some maps, get with IDEM to where we can update.
- It states in the permit if you're going to change your scope a little bit or the area, then to
- contact them.
- We want to be transparent with them. We want to make sure we do this right.
- But we also want to do the project before the permit expires next year.
- So it is it was the other item on my agenda was to go to the council to ask for $160,000 to
- complete that project in 2025.
- So we can not have to go through the permit process again because it can be very lengthy.
- We do this mainly in-house with our forces. The only thing that we do is hire outside trucking
- services.
- But then we believe that we will be able to finish this.
- It's south shores on our radar for possible paving in 2026.
- So we're just trying to plan ahead and try and get this project complete before that permit expires
- and work with IDEM of getting the location to show them what we've completed and what we have left
- and work with them if we need to make any adjustments to that permit.
- And the work would probably be done this fall.
- So, so obviously we have the, the budget for this.
- We just need an additional from Council so I'm going to go ahead and make a motion to support in
- support of seeking an additional preparation to complete the South Shore project this year and the
- amount of $160,000.
- Motion.
- I just have one question.
- I'm definitely familiar with their area South Shore, definitely kind of an access road for everyone
- in that area. So, my only request is maybe kind of in a future meeting that maybe we can have kind
- of a high level report where we're just kind of
- highlighting kind of where those improvements are and kind of for my own, you know, understanding
- but also I think that would be nice for the public as well.
- No, I think that's a great idea, Tron. We'll get some areas that we haven't been to yet and then we'll
- get you some areas and some photos and such of the areas that we've completed and how it's helped
- for the stabilization in that area.
- Yeah, that would be great. Thank you.
- Questions, comments.
- Are there any questions or comments from the public.
- Seeing.
- Hey Lee.
- Pardon.
- Can I, I need to add we will bring a resolution to you guys soon and then there'll be a chance to
- for a public hearing. I want to make sure I added that.
- Okay, great. That's good to know. Thank you. And seeing no.
- All in favor, please say aye.
- Aye.
- Motion passes.
- And the business is adjournment.
- Water quality monitoring report.
- I'm sorry.
- Katelyn Berkey.
- Which is going to be very interesting.
- Water is so good quality that it's already clear.
- Hello, my name is Katelyn Berkey and I am a graduate fellow at Monroe County Stormwater. So today I'd
- like to report to you just a brief synopsis of the first year of the water quality monitoring
- program.
- And I would like to preface that all this information will be giving to you with more details in a
- report that is currently being composed. This is just a general overview so everyone can get a good
- idea about what's going on.
- So to begin with just a first project summary, the goals were to get more consistent water quality
- data across Monroe County, and as well as to evaluate the water quality of Monroe County's MS4
- critical watersheds.
- Now when picking these sites, we picked locations we wanted to make sure or try our hardest to get
- sites located within these critical watersheds. Site three is up in Jax DeFeet Creek near Alexville.
- One is in Acuff Road, Stout Creek. Two and seven are Clear Creek in Jackson Creek, down near
- Jackson Creek Park. Four and five are in Cave Creek, upstream and downstream of the Monroe County
- Airport.
- And then site six is Sinking Creek and right behind the Walmart Supercenter up in that area.
- And the analytical methods used for all these sites were based off Hoosier Riverwatch. Hoosier
- Riverwatch is an IDEM program that is for volunteers who are trained in simple water quality
- monitoring with like pH test strips, chem kits.
- Very simple, very replicable and can be done by stormwater program or anyone within the county who
- has had the training.
- So first we look at pH. Now the state standard for pH is six to nine. It's simply how acidic or
- basic the water is. Now all of our watersheds consistently stayed within this range, which is a
- good sign.
- There was a couple instances in where site four, as you can see, dropped below six and it was at 5.5.
- Now this is really based on precipitation events and the soil composition.
- So the phenomenon is called episodic acidification. Essentially large precipitation events can leach
- minerals from the soil and into our local waterways.
- However, since it did coincide with the precipitation event and was not repeat, we did not see low
- pHs again. It's considered a one-off.
- Nothing to worry about, especially since it's pH test strips and it was 5.5. Nothing crazy going on.
- So the next is temperature change. This is simply the temperature taken at the first transect.
- So the most downstream portion of our sample site and the third transect, which is the farthest
- upstream.
- Now, for Hoosier River Watch and state standards, you do not want the difference to exceed 2.8
- degrees Celsius.
- Now, the county average for this is about 0.3, which indicates that we're doing very good in terms
- of temperature change.
- Environmental factors are a big influence, especially with our smaller, slower moving streams.
- That has to do with the air temperature and then tree cover and sun exposure.
- So the one spike on the graph that you can see that happened in October on site six, that was right
- at the end of the drought season.
- So the stream is moving extremely slow and it is one of our more developed sites.
- So the first transect is in a very shaded covered area, has a very large tree growing over it,
- while the rest of the stream is pretty much 100 percent sun exposed.
- So with a combination of the water moving slowly, it has a lot of time to heat up between the first
- and third transects, which results in that higher temperature change.
- Next is dissolved oxygen, state standard, four to 12.
- Now the Hoosier River Watch, the highest they can measure is 12 milligrams per liter and is not
- necessarily a bad thing if the DO exceeds it.
- It just, it's preferred if it's in this range for aquatic organisms.
- The county average is right about 9.49, which is pretty much spot on perfect, especially with the
- state standards and with the federal EPA.
- Environmental variables for this are temperature, especially seasonal fluctuations, which you guys
- can see on the graph.
- With your colder months, your November's through your April's having an average of around 10
- milligrams per liter, whereas your summer months, your June through October, the average is around
- 7 milligrams per liter.
- Another impact on this is decomposition. So decomposition is also highly affected by temperature.
- It eats up the dissolved oxygen in the water, which is why you would see that in the summer months,
- June through October could also be another cause of having the lower dissolved oxygen levels.
- Next is nitrate and nitrite. Now there's no state standards as it's considered a nutrient pollution,
- but in Indiana, the typical range is 0 to 36 milligrams per liter.
- The county average is 0.1. So nitrate is very, it's harder to test for, and the strips are not as
- accurate as say the DO samples would be, but it does give us a good idea that at least there is
- some nitrate in the systems.
- Now environmental variables are agriculture, and specifically agriculture that gets caught up in
- the runoff from heavy precipitation events.
- Now, not all sites are shown on the graph, and that's because three of them did have concentrations
- that were lower than the detectable limit for the science that we are using.
- The one spike from Site 1 that occurred in October, once again during a drought area when it was
- very low water, so there's a chance that there's higher, you can pick up on the higher
- concentrations.
- It was not a repeat event. However, we are hoping that the land use analysis that I will discuss
- later will help explain why the site on Stout Creek has more nutrient pollution.
- It also, this phosphate is another nutrient pollutant. It has the same sort of trends as the nitrate,
- and they normally coincide in terms of agricultural fertilizers.
- Once again, they don't have a state standard. However, it is an limiting nutrient of freshwater
- ecosystems, so a spike in this is what can lead to harmful algal growths and eutrophication of the
- local waterways.
- Next is turbidity. Okay, so this graph is a little backwards.
- The higher turbidity, 60 centimeters, is when you can see 60 centimeters down into the water, which
- technically means there's low turbidity because you can see far, whereas where the lower near 10,
- which happened in March at site five, that means the water is very cloudy, very turbid, you can't
- really see through it.
- The state standard for this is 90 centimeters. The Hoosier Riverwatch uses a turbidity, which only
- reaches 60, so that's why our data is capped at 60 centimeters. The goal is to hopefully in future
- get a turbidimeter so that we can more accurately guess the turbidity rather than just using our
- eyesight to do so.
- Environmental variables for this are precipitation, as with most physical water quality parameters,
- substrate composition, and flow. Now, here are more rock based streams, so our sites one, two,
- three, and seven, they typically don't have as big of change in turbidity because they don't have
- the sand and the silt that easily gets swept up when there is high amounts of water flow resulting
- from precipitation events.
- Again, as you can see on the graphs, sites four, five, and six, they're the ones that tend to have
- a drop in turbidity. Specifically around March, there was a large precipitation event, and then in
- January there also was.
- August, I've looked back at the precipitation data and everything that happens there. Since it was
- only a one time drop in turbidity, I haven't considered it a red flag, but it is something to pay
- attention to if it does happen again at site five.
- Next is discharge. This is completely dependent on stream size and precipitation, therefore, not a
- state standard. In general, the county average about 10.5, but our sites, the larger ones, one, two,
- three, and seven, they're normally up around 15 or higher, and then our smaller sites, four, five,
- and six, they're in people's backyards.
- They're very manmade influenced. They're normally below 10. And then finally is the water quality
- index. Now this is an accumulation of all the previously talked about water quality indicators.
- The state standard for this is between 80 and 100 is considered good. Everything's healthy. It's
- good for aquatic organisms. There's no major red flags.
- It wouldn't be a need to learn to the state if this was a higher scientific level study. County
- average is 91.5, so it says we're doing pretty good.
- Most of the drops in these, especially below the 85, were at sites four, five, and six, and they
- are all related to the increase in turbidity from large precipitation events.
- So land use analysis is currently in progress. I'm working with Madison, Luna, Erica, and they're
- also talking with GIS to help work with using our parcel data and doing upstream analysis to see
- what physical and chemical parameters are impacting the sites.
- We also used a little bit of USDA stream stats for that land cover. However, that is from 2011, so
- it should be used as a underestimation of the percentage. Now, this will be broken down in the
- report.
- It's still currently an ongoing process, so I didn't have any product to show you today, but the
- maps of each individual sample site will also be included in the report.
- Next, so these recommendations come from Erica, Adam, and myself. First would be to evaluate
- opportunities and feasibility of best management practices upstream of sites with higher turbidity.
- Higher turbidity is normally because of flash flooding, erosion, heavy precipitation events. So
- rain gardens, detention ponds, stuff that the office could feasibly do.
- And then the other one would be education and outreach based off of land use. Examples of this is
- working with the Soil and Water Conservation District on education of agriculture and fertilizer
- use.
- And then specifically focusing on commercial and industrial properties using rain gardens, placing
- retention or detention ponds in proper places, especially if they are placing large amounts of
- impermeable surfaces to help not drastically change the water flow and keep our downstream areas
- safe.
- This picture is an example of vegetation that was put in in Will Dettmer Park by Monroe County Soil
- and Water.
- Our next steps are equalized sampling, which will hopefully be done alongside CBU and the project
- that is going on there.
- And then we have begun BOD analysis, so biological oxygen demand, how much dissolved oxygen are the
- organisms using up.
- And then eventually it will be a publication dashboard, so that will include maps, all the water
- quality data we have.
- I am graduating in May, so that project will have to be placed on someone else, but I'm sure it
- will be done beautifully no matter who does it.
- So overall, the annual water quality trends show that Monroe County critical watersheds are doing
- really well.
- However, I think it's important to point out that as Bloomington continues to develop, that the
- relationship between runoff and impervious surfaces, erosion and turbidity, and then nutrient
- pollution and eutrophication.
- Keeping these in mind while working on these new permits and new stormwater ordinances will really
- help protect these waterways, even as development continues.
- Any questions?
- Yes, I just want to say congratulations on graduating. Good report. Thank you for that.
- So actually, I'm wondering if there is a way that we can in the future.
- I'm hoping we're still going to be tracking these numbers, right, that we can look at those
- instances where there's high turbidity and look in the area and see what's going on.
- Is there a construction project? Is there, you know, what's changed or what's led to it?
- And I think making those connections is going to be really important for folks.
- Yeah, I think that's kind of a next step. Like Kailin said, she's graduating, so we're taking notes
- for how to pass this on to our next graduate fellow that will be starting in the fall.
- We don't know who that will be yet. I just submitted the job description back to O'Neill School, so
- they'll be getting that started, but that's definitely something that we're thinking about as we
- continue this project.
- It's just like a little red flag that says, hey, look at me and what's going on here, right? Yeah.
- Thank you so much. This was really quite interesting and very informative, and I'm looking forward
- to getting the actual entire.
- I have a question for staff, not related to this, but since we are on the eve of a major rain event,
- is there anything you want the public to know at this moment?
- I would say if you live in an area with storm drains to make sure they're clear, what else would
- you want people to know at this moment?
- Yes, definitely if there's a storm drain in or near in the front of your house or near your house
- in your neighborhood, make sure it's clear so that water can get off the road and keep the roads
- clear.
- If trees go down, if there's water blocking the roadway, turn around, don't try and go through
- standing water. You can call our highway dispatch number, which I don't know off the top of my head,
- but it's listed online.
- Give them a call and let them know that there's a road hazard and crews will be able to address
- that as quickly as they can.
- When it's safe to do so, make sure that if there is a detention basin in your neighborhood, make
- sure that the outlet control structure, the big concrete structure is clear.
- There's no debris built up on it so that that water can move out and not create a standing water
- issue for you as well.
- I'll plug the county alert system. You can find information at the county website to sign up and
- you'll get alerts. I think that's a very helpful tool.
- I did want to make a comment about the presentation though, but I feel like that's what we're
- discussing is way more important, people safety.
- I just want again want to express some gratitude and thank you. I also kind of, I think it kind of
- falls in line with what Commissioner Thomas was saying is like, you know, having this monitoring
- program out there really gives us a better indicate
- or indicators of like maybe what's impacting our waterways is a development is it like, you know, a
- potential pollutant runoffs, like, you know, we haven't done a lot of water monitoring and I think
- this is going to help build the value so we continue to make
- that investment so what you did here to even give us kind of like a very, you know, simplistic
- baseline with you know what type of kits that were available and you know what kind of analysis we
- can get from that is great but I think that this is a shows what
- the value is truly in here because everything that you're going to be able to compile by monitoring
- our waterways can complement efforts in our planning department can complement efforts in our
- building department can complement efforts here in our storm
- water or drainage board across the board. And I'm really happy that you kind of saw this through
- and this is the second time you went through it and I noticed some subtle changes on your
- presentation and.
- Again, thank you for kind of dedicating your time and being willing to provide this work for our
- storm water program. Thank you.
- I've had a lot of fun doing this this is really showed me what my passion is and I'm now going to
- do that in the workforce so I'm very excited.
- So, just to confirm there was the instruction to call the highway department to report.
- I think I have that number here. It says online to report potholes fallen trees or other road
- maintenance issues please call highway maintenance at 812-803-6810.
- So that's if you or you can report it online and they'll get it the same way, whichever way is
- easier. Yep. Yep. I no longer have an agenda in front of me is our next 14th.
- May 7, May 7, May 7.
- We are adjourned. Thank you. Thank you for the excellent presentation. That was beautiful. Yes.
- Beautifully done too. Yes. Congratulations.
- [ Music ]