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.
 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.
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