OurWeek
The Grant County Record
in Grant County · Regular meeting · 2024-12-17 · full transcript
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6O9UDvFcDY
Exported Fri, 14 Aug 2026 22:40:44 GMT

Source: YouTube automatic captions. Copied into the combined index from the marion-city-council-indexed report; same text, key prefixed by body.
These transcripts are machine-generated. They garble proper nouns badly —
company and personal names especially. Watch the recording before repeating
any name, number, or quotation. The video is the record.

==============================================================================

Indexed at https://ourweek.in/grant-county/reports/grant-county-record

    0:28  e
    0:58  e
    1:28  e
    1:58  e
    2:28  e
    2:58  e
    3:28  e
    3:58  e
    4:28  e
    4:58  e
    5:28  e
    5:58  e
    6:28  e
    6:58  e
    7:28  e
    7:58  e
    8:28  e
    8:58  e
    9:28  e
    9:58  e
   10:28  e
   10:58  e
   11:28  e
   11:58  e
   12:28  e
   12:58  e
   13:28  e
   13:58  e
   14:28  e
   14:58  e
   15:27  e
   15:57  e
   16:27  e
   16:57  e
   17:27  e
   17:57  e e
   18:37  all right good evening we're going to call this meeting to order a regular council meeting today is December 17th 2024 at 7 pm in the
   18:47  Maran City Hall council chambers want to welcome everyone here tonight and we're going to go start with prayer uh
   18:54  Reverend Tanya Smith from Allen Temple Am Church let's did she make it here tonight I
   19:00  know it was up in the air Reverend Smith are you in the audience nope all right um would any
   19:09  council members like to say the prayer tonight if not I'd be more than happy to okay I will go ahead and say the prayer
   19:17  tonight Lord we just thank you for uh giving such a a great year to our city and for blessing the city of Marin and
   19:25  the residents and I just U ask that you bless uh this city moving forward bless these council
   19:31  members um as we move into the next year and we just ask that you have your hand on all of our decisions and and uh help
   19:40  the city continue to grow and prosper in your name amen and then we're going to move into Pledge of Allegiance mayor roner Morell
   19:47  is going to lead the pledge pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to
   19:56  the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with
   20:03  liy and justice for all thank you mayor appreciate
   20:09  that okay and Madam clerk roll call K here Marshall For Eyes here Brunner here
   20:19  kleene Divine here Whitten here cgill here McKinley
   20:26  here all right and we're going to move into tonight's Community Spotlight and tonight's Spotlight is um it's kind of a
   20:34  combination it's going to be Wendy puffer but it's going to be on the Kennedy Arts Center Maring Arts commission and Maring design Co so let
   20:42  me get that graphic up on the screen here and um Wendy if you want to come on up did you bring anyone with you I think you brought some people you know what
   20:51  you all are welcome to come up front um every one of you come up front it's okay and in fact all the way up front if
   20:58  you've watched any of our meetings if you guys want to come all the way up here oh yeah all the way yeah
   21:06  pass you can go and pass out now if you like sure yeah while I talk and um yeah come on up here if you guys stand on in
   21:13  the gaps between here um let me get
   21:24  this okay one moment here yeah okay so um this evening oh thank
   21:34  you so much appreciate it some of you look fam I've I've seen some of them recently um we're spotlighting it's it's really more than just Wendy I mean she's
   21:42  the the lead on a lot of this but she really has a phenomenal team around her and behind her um and really I'm just going to read off the screen since
   21:50  people at home can't see it uh says Wendy has been a driving force in bringing the Arts to downtown Maran through her leadership she has organized
   21:58  numerous events events exhibitions and performances that highlight local talent and enrich the community Wendy's dedication has helped Revitalize the
   22:06  downtown area creating a vibrant space where artists and art lovers can connect and celebrate creative creativity her
   22:14  work has truly transformed Maring into a cultural destination leaving a lasting impact on the city's artistic landscape
   22:22  um and really you know I mean all of that I did write that um so you know I I have spoken to Wendy previously but then
   22:30  I also had the honor of um listen to her speak at a Rotary meeting recently and I even learned some things I didn't know
   22:37  uh just really the story behind that Kennedy art center and how it got to be and um just her drive and passion to
   22:46  keep that downtown and then of course um you know just to get that Kennedy Art Center in place so uh really if Wendy
   22:55  had not been so persistent and had the vision and dream of bringing Arts downtown we probably would not have the
   23:02  Kennedy Art Center so and of course it's you know not just Wendy but you she probably wants to give credit to anyone that's helped her along the way so we
   23:11  just really appreciate you in fact uh the pen I'm wearing actually was designed by um your team I'll say um so
   23:19  the Maran logo you see the stuff around the building um that stuff was all designed by Mary and design Co but you
   23:27  know there there's so much to all all three of those entities um that that brings a lot of life to downtown and just Maring in
   23:33  general so we're really excited moving forward um just what the mayor's doing with downtown bringing the River Rocks
   23:40  and how you know what all you're doing can help enhance and connect um you know the vision of downtown so we really
   23:48  appreciate you and just want to give you an opportunity to say anything you like sure yeah just briefly um Welly it's a
   23:56  little embarrassing but thank you and it's it clearly is a team effort um I'm honored to get to stand here with
   24:03  individuals who have been a part of our growth um we actually launched in 2016 as a DBA under the university uh here
   24:11  locally Indiana westle University where the majority of our Workforce were interns um and it was very much
   24:18  educational base I was a faculty member at the time but over the course of the years and includ during covid honestly
   24:26  we chose to go uh toward the the uh escort Direction because we had something to offer the university that
   24:35  went beyond what we were able to at that time and when we were trying to decide if we should become a nonprofit or a business we decided business because
   24:43  someone advised us if you're running a nonprofit you will be raising money to give money away but you guys have
   24:50  something that you can sell and make it a profit off of that you can actually give more money away and that has been the case over the course of the last
   24:59  three years since we opened as a escort we've grown uh 300 fold our store alone has grown 2,000 fold and so as a result
   25:08  this year we're able to give three times more toward our nonprofits in the community um as well as uh individuals
   25:15  so we have I represent Maring design Co which my team here is Miss D Jake and Willie they're just a part about half of
   25:24  the team that we have uh that show up every day at the studio and um it is a organization or business that's designed
   25:32  to revive Empower and Propel our community forward then I also represent um the keni art center which is a building and many of you have been in
   25:40  that building it's a beautiful place that we get to be we have the privilege of Designing it but it is an open space to the public and it's amazing being in
   25:49  that space seeing people walk in because if we were just a design studio we wouldn't have people just wandering in you know to talk to us but because we're
   25:57  our Gallery people from all over the state um and Beyond show up at our doorstep and we have a chance to share
   26:05  the Maran story with them and it's amazing how many people have moved away and come back and walk into that space
   26:12  and learn that things have accelerated in the arts for us as a community um and Chris Kennedy a big invest the the main
   26:20  investor in that building has made a significant investment so we're very honored to get to lease that space and show up every day for that and then the
   26:28  Marian Arts commission which Matt is representing uh many of you know Matt from psychedelic seller in downtown Marian Arts commission is designed and
   26:37  was developed originally to Champion the Arts in our community so through Maring Arts commission commission we support
   26:45  artists by giving grants out to them to help support their businesses and we also want to make art more visible and people understanding that Maran is a
   26:54  place where art drives it's amazing how many artists there are and often times like when we walked into the Art Space people would tell us well people just
   27:02  don't buy art in Maran but we just recently had a a Galla uh to raise money for the Maran Arts commission and
   27:09  two-thirds of that art that was up for auction sold so we're very pleased with just the growth that we're seeing in our
   27:16  community and how the story is changing um just to wrap up I was just recently at a conference the university and
   27:23  college design Association we had a chance to share the story about Maring design Co and the city of Maran and someone in the audience came up to me
   27:31  afterwards and she was from Maran she grew up here and she just had kind of that negative uh tone that oftentimes we
   27:38  get so comfortable with um but as a result of our conversation and her her understanding of the new story that
   27:46  we're learning here in Marion and what we're living out um she was really encouraged and had a different story to tell about her hometown so it's
   27:54  important that as we see positive things happen that pushing that narrative into utilizing the art and to help Empower
   28:02  people in our community so well really appreciate that thank you for sharing all of that and thank you all for taking some time out
   28:12  yes thank you for all what you do and what you're going to continue to do and of our ceremonial photo we'd like to get a photo right out front here if you guys
   28:20  want to get out front and then the other council members come back around so we'll get a photo and we
   28:35  of
   29:25  all right and if you didn't notice the uh backdrop for tonight is actually the
   29:32  Kennedy Art Center um the council backdrop so if you're not familiar with that you are now when you drive by now
   29:39  you know that's a kened art center and if you remember before they remodeled that building it it hadn't been really messed with in a long time so lots of
   29:48  life in that building now that wasn't there and I've heard of the history of like 15 different things that used to be in there like a a men's clothing store
   29:56  and other things like that so it's exciting to see spaces fill up all right we're going to move into tonight's City employee
   30:04  Spotlight and tonight the council is spotlighting Jason kesi I hope I'm
   30:13  saying it right uh he is the come on up here Chief code enforcement officer in Marion um come on all the way up here
   30:22  Jason any side you want you can pick um Jason's been with a city I think what four years now a little over going on
   30:30  five and so we just want to show appreciation um and again for those at home um that maybe can't see it right now but says the council appreciates
   30:38  Jason's proactive approach attention to detail and effective problem solving skills make a significant impact improving the standard of living for all
   30:46  residents and we're fortunate to have such a capable and dependable leader guiding our efforts in Code Enforcement thank you for your unwavering commitment to
   30:54  Excellence and uh we just really appreciate what you've done we know it's probably not easy um you know I've not
   31:02  ever heard anyone say well I just really love having a code enforcement officer come to my door right so um yeah we understand it's it can be a difficult
   31:10  task and you know especially some of the conditions in which you have to to get into and work within some of these buildings you're working with or um just
   31:20  even outside of the blight there's a lot of other things you handle other than blight right um but I know the mayor's kept you really busy on the blight side
   31:27  of things which is great um but we just appreciate your your time with the city four plus years now and and what you've
   31:35  done on your part to help clean up um part of the city so thank you so much for coming tonight anything you want to share with us I'll give you the
   31:42  microphone oh I didn't prepare there you don't have to it's okay I'm just thankful for uh having the job here at the city um helping helping the mayor
   31:50  and uh cleaning up this city I've lived here since uh basically 1986 I moved here from Oklahoma or Texas or ter hope
   31:59  I can't remember so I've been here a while um and I've seen how the city was going and then where it was going and then where
   32:07  it's going now and I'm very pleased of where we're heading from this day forward it looks like it's moving in a
   32:15  great direction we're getting rid of a lot of blight a lot of houses we deal with a lot of trash and
   32:23  vehicles and stuff I work with a great group of guys they're mainly the ones that are out doing the thing and U they're the ones
   32:32  that make me look good and so I appreciate them very much for what they do great well the council appreciate you thank you so much appreciate it yeah
   32:41  want to get a picture picture if you want anyone to come up
   32:56  or e
   33:52  all right well I appreciate um Jason coming in and Wendy and team for coming in of course you're always welcome to stay it's a public meeting and we like
   33:59  it when we have an audience so um thank you for coming tonight and we're going to move on to the consent agenda however
   34:06  just real quick um we did receive a couple claims today uh you guys should have seen them in email um there's about
   34:14  four of them uh various reasons why they came in today it's the end of the year so there's some things that are trying to get in on the budget um before this
   34:23  is the last meeting of our year and so um anyways so technically our rule state we have to receive them within five days
   34:31  or be five days before the council meeting um however with the two3 uh majority we are able to suspend that and
   34:39  allow those in on the consideration of claims so really what I'm asking for is what was sent out today for those four
   34:46  claims is a motion to suspend the rules and allow those for into the consent agenda under the consideration of claims
   34:54  uh and then if we're able to suspend the rules then we'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda that's what I'm asking for councilman for I Mr
   35:02  President I'd like to make a motion to suspend the rules on consideration of claims and accept the additional claims submitted December 17 2024 by the
   35:11  controller's office for the amount of $ 62,5 4228 second motion by councilman for I
   35:19  second by vice president cill any discussion Madam clerk roll call Kane I
   35:28  for I I Bruner I Divine yes Whitten yes cgill I mckenley
   35:38  yes so the rules have been suspended so I would entertain a motion excuse me to uh approve the consent
   35:46  agenda Mr President I'd make a motion to approve the consent agenda as written second motion by councilman fori second
   35:54  by councilman Brunner any other discussion Madam clerk roll call Kane I for I I
   36:03  Bruner I Divine yes Whitten yes cgill I
   36:09  McKinley yes consent agenda has been approved and moving on to committee reports do we have any committee
   36:22  reports councilwoman Divine thank you okay um the Utility Board met uh
   36:32  last week on the 5th was that last week two weeks ago two weeks ago um they gave some
   36:40  updates on projects uh I think as I reported at the previous meeting like they did that uh most of them were slowing down due to the weather the lead
   36:49  service lines the meter project the water tower having the cold snap has really set all that aside and I think they're planning to just let them sit
   36:57  until we get warmer weather in the spring um they looked at a couple of different
   37:05  um requests to have um bills adjusted due to um potential water
   37:13  leaks and things of that nature and they they worked through those um they also reviewed and approved the 2025 budget um
   37:23  so all the Committees met and they uh worked on the budget buet and it looked um they were following the same kind of
   37:31  the same guidelines that we were that they wanted to keep it as a zero balance and make sure that they were putting enough money aside for their Capital
   37:38  Improvement projects um they also approved to rehire the
   37:46  current legal council um and do a two-year contract for that uh at the same rate that they had
   37:53  been paying um they had some additional sponsorship requests which which they try to help as many groups as they can
   38:00  um and these were the Meals on Wheels Training Center the 1812 group and the Community
   38:07  Foundation um they looked at updating uh policy on the reti spousal Insurance um
   38:17  and they're planning to make that match the current federal language which allows the spouse to remain until um
   38:25  their Medicare eligible or to years after the retired employee passes so this is for the spouse to continue
   38:33  coverage um and they were keeping the percentage cost the same um they said that uh illegal usage
   38:44  has increased right now because of the new meters going in so they're able to they get alerts right away when somebody
   38:51  turns a meter on when it's been turned off or if usage is going on um so they're able to respond to it quicker
   38:58  but it also means that they're catching those usage a whole lot faster um so it's not going for weeks on end before
   39:06  the meter reader goes back out again to reread um so they are finding some benefits to the new to the new meters
   39:13  and helping keep track of those things and then they um and I think everybody got an email they reminded about their
   39:19  Christmas luncheon uh coming up this week um the second report I have was on
   39:27  the Board of Public Works uh which was yesterday um they had a bid opening for the sale
   39:36  of one of the buses from the Transportation Department that was advertised and um had bids come in they
   39:44  only had one bid and it was from the training center so they uh so they sold the the one um bus that they were
   39:53  looking to sell for $5,000 um so that's you know a great opportunity to to transfer to an
   40:00  organization that needed uh needed that they said they originally had two they were trying to sell but the federal
   40:08  government felt that the second one still had some useful life and would not allow them to sell it just yet so that's still um being used through
   40:17  Transportation um the police department opened uh bids on the um the new police
   40:25  vehicles uh they bid out six and my understanding was that Mike Anderson Dodge was the lowest so being nice to
   40:33  have um a local business be able to provide those I did not catch what the cost was
   40:40  per um okay I couldn't remember what the cost I didn't catch what the amount was but I know that'll be in the minutes and
   40:47  and posted um let's see they also looked at uh
   40:55  granting an easement to AE for two Transformer um pole placements
   41:02  near where the street department is um a had just this year had put up a new substation switch area over there by the
   41:11  street department and so then they found that they needed additional easement in order to put up two larger Transformer
   41:18  the large transmission poles um so that was an agreement was made um with a
   41:26  contract amount in order to do that and they're planning to use that money from that easement um hopefully to demo the
   41:34  the detention home that's out in that area that is that has come under U poor repair at this point um and then um
   41:43  Building Commissioner fos Knight gave an update on three of the unsafe structures that were um pushed out to a 30-day
   41:50  update two of them have started getting the permits and started working on them to repair them rather than have them uh
   41:57  demoed and one the board of Works upheld the the demo order and so they'll be
   42:03  working that direction on that one all right thank you so much any
   42:11  other council members just have a quick update from the Redevelopment commission um that has sit on I'm excited to announce that the
   42:20  Redevelopment commission has approved um $20,000 towards a design phase for the what we hope to be the um
   42:29  worldclass Maran skate park that we're hoping to bring to Hogan Park we have a skate park there now it's a pre-fabricated park um you know they're
   42:38  doing the the the best they can to to maintain it in fact a lot of the skaters and bikers are helping to maintain that but we're looking to bring a really nice
   42:46  concrete um skate park to Hogan Park first part of that is to go through the design phase to figure out how much it
   42:53  would cost how much would we need a fund raise or um and come up with so I'm excited Redevelopment commission I'm
   43:00  appreciative of them to approve that initial funding to get the design and Community input on this hopefully new
   43:09  skate park so uh that's all I have any other committee reports all right okay and we're going to move on into
   43:17  unfinished business all right and that that would
   43:23  be additional appropriation 37- 2024 corating $3,357 to the Marin fire department from
   43:32  arpa second reading public hearing an ordinance appropriating
   43:40  $13,300 to the mar and fire department the Maran fire department is welcoming a new fire engine and will need to be
   43:48  fully equipped and ready for work having the right type of equipment impacts Maring fire department's Readiness to
   43:55  respond to emergencies this equipment cost is $13,300 which would allow the fire department
   44:04  latitude to order everything they need the current equipment is aging along with the old fire engine speaking fire
   44:13  chief Curtis gar hello
   44:21  hello back um any questions I can answer
   44:30  uh it's Minnesota I do have uh more prees I'll send you some later when I uh go back to my
   44:37  office it's almost done it's almost do you have a date a delivery
   44:45  date 13th was supposed to be the date they were done but obviously that's com and gone so uh I don't have a new date yet okay I know you just wanted to twist
   44:54  my arm I got it all right any other council members with questions before we go to the public
   45:05  hearing all right thank you Chief we're going to go ahead and open up the public hearing for appropriation
   45:12  additional appropriation 37-22 24 if you'd like to speak You're you can make your way to the microphone and you have
   45:18  three minutes okay I do not see anyone getting
   45:30  up so without that we will go ahead and close the public hearing and open up to the council for
   45:37  any further discussion or questions and if not no other questions or
   45:45  discussion I would entertain a motion Mr President I would uh this is
   45:52  second reading tonight didn't it I'd like to uh make a motion that we suspend the rules on appropriation 37
   46:02  2024 second a motion to suspend the rules by vice president cill a second by
   46:08  councilman Kane any other discussion Madam clerk roll call Kane I
   46:17  for I I Brunner I deine yes Whitton yes
   46:24  cgill I McKinley yes rules have been suspended i' would entertain another motion Mr President I'd now like to make
   46:31  a motion that we pass uh appropriation 37 2024
   46:38  second motion to pass by vice president calill a second by councilman Kane any
   46:46  discussion Adam clerk roll call Kane I for I I Brunner I Divine yes Wht yes
   46:56  cgill I McKinley yes additional appropriation 37-22 24 is passed thank
   47:04  you Chief thank you appreciate you okay and moving on to General ordinance
   47:13  27224 petition to vacate a public RightWay second reading and public hearing an ordinance to vacate a portion
   47:21  of First Street from Branson to Adam Street and the east west alley from Branson to Adam Street and the north
   47:30  south alley from second to First Street the city of Maran is requesting the vacation of First Street from Adams and
   47:38  Branson and the alleys running East and West between Adams and Branson and the North and South between second and First
   47:47  Street for the purpose of providing a location for the New River Rock Project speaking mayor Ronald moral Jr good
   47:56  evening Council um I have a request on this we need to resubmit this to get the uh petition out to all the um adjacent
   48:04  Property Owners so I would like to make a request that we you would either table this or vote this down for the resubmission in the first meeting in
   48:13  January thank you mayor any council members with questions vice president Calo so you're you're
   48:21  going to come back with a whole new appropriate we we we got to start over well I think be best if we just vote this down and kill it then if they're
   48:29  going to come back with a whole new one that's all right with you what the reason why we didn't get all of the uh petition to all the
   48:36  adjacent property owners in in time to match up with this so we have to redo it okay I appreciate you letting us know
   48:44  and um any other discussion from Council Members or
   48:52  questions just on a legal side of things do we still need to have the public here or we can go ahead and take a motion it's advertised so yeah okay that's what
   49:01  I figured because it's advertised so because it's advertised second reading public hearing we will open the microphone up um anyone's welcome to
   49:10  speak but I'll will let you know this will come back uh if it comes back first reading it'll be first meeting in January second reading we'll have another public hearing uh more than
   49:19  likely the second meeting of January just for The public's information but again um for ality sakes we have to have
   49:27  the public hearing so you're welcome to come up to the microphone I don't see anybody moving to
   49:36  the microphone so we'll go and close the public hearing and there's no other discussion I'd
   49:43  entertain a motion Mr President I'll make a motion that we pass General ordinance 27
   49:51  2024 so you just you have a motion to pass sorry I'm sorry yeah I'm just got ahead of my there motion to deny yeah
   49:59  I'm sorry motion to deny General ordinance 27 2024
   50:06  second okay I have a motion to deny by vice president Cel as second by
   50:13  councilman Kane any other discussion go ahead can you turn your
   50:19  mic on I'd just like to check legally if we deny this they can't bring it back for a year it's the general ordinance
   50:28  unless they completely rewrite it no that's not correct we checked this um earlier and that uh rule only comp um
   50:36  applies to when matters get sent to committee rather than uh the full Council so it when it is not voted out a
   50:44  committee then it is not uh able to be brought back uh for a year unless the council were to suspend the rules but that provision does not apply when
   50:53  things go directly to the council yeah we we did check that because um
   50:59  it's all in committee only so vote it down in committee it has to wait one calendar year but we don't have any rules that restrict us from bringing
   51:08  something back at the on the council level okay so but I appreciate thought I double check yeah no no
   51:17  problem all right so we had the motion and a second any other discussion Madame clerk roll call okay I
   51:27  for I I Brunner I Divine yes Wht yes
   51:35  cgill I McKinley yes so General ordinance 27 2024 did not
   51:43  pass moving on to new business uh the only thing we have under new business this evening is the Maran
   51:51  Public Library board appointments the city council gets one appointment to the Public Library board it's a four-year
   51:59  term and um the current appointee I believe it's Jeremy case um and his
   52:06  terms expiring and so this Library board appointment is for the next four years and we did post it publicly online
   52:14  newspaper and we did receive two resumés one from Connor Owens and one from Jeremy huff and both of them did
   52:23  submit the resumés and um they were were given the same questions and they both responded to those questions so I
   52:30  appreciate both of them um responding to those I did share those with the uh rest of the council so the way we're going to handle this is we're going to give each
   52:39  candidate um three minutes at the microphone up to three minutes you don't have to speak the whole time uh just tell us about yourself um and you know
   52:48  why you are interested in being on the board and anything else you might help us make a decision so uh um just the
   52:57  order of the way they were submitted Connor Owen submitted first so Connor if you want to make your way to the
   53:07  microphone and we welcome you we thank you for coming and um yeah if you want to share anything you would like about yourself give us the sales pitch on why
   53:16  we should select Conor Owens thank you council members for having me uh my name is Connor uh I am a Marian resident been a resident my whole
   53:24  life uh Marian high school graduate Indiana Wesleyan graduate and received my masters from Mount Vernon Nazarene uh my wife is from this town as well and
   53:33  she's a she's a uh RN at the VA and we have three little kids who are eight five and three so the library is an
   53:39  important place to us uh we are there each week if not more than that uh especially in the winter time to get our kids out uh reading and education is a
   53:48  very important thing to me uh as well as my wife we both hold master's degrees so for us education is a very big thing for
   53:56  me me the library holds a special place in my heart um but we're at an interesting point in society where you
   54:03  don't have to go to the library to receive the information you once went to the library for uh the average American goes to the library four times a year in
   54:11  their local community the average American also opens their phone 144 times a day so I'm not here to have a
   54:19  battle about technology or say the library is need to go to war against phones I'm just saying there is a level of compe I the library has that it once
   54:27  did not have so how does the library reinvent itself for a new culture and for a new generation uh my
   54:35  eight-year-old son sitting back there does not need the library the same way I needed it back in the day uh but he still uses it because we take him there all the time uh two things that I would
   54:44  love to see the library work on in the coming years that I think would bring it into a new culture and a new era uh the
   54:51  digital loans that they offer I would like to see more of those I don't know if any of you council members have used their digital apps uh they have two apps
   54:59  that are great finding titles on there is very difficult uh whereas in larger cities it's very easy to find those and you can get them quicker I know we're a
   55:08  smaller City but it would be lovely to have our city offer those amenities to our citizens and be something our citizens are proud of and I would like
   55:16  to see the children's area revamped quite a bit um I don't see a ton of kids in there were're in there or the teens area I have a background in fundraising
   55:24  uh and the work that I do so I would be happy to lend my hand at that to see how we could get some funds in there to revitalize the children's and teens
   55:31  departments um I'm also a little Free Library Steward I have been for seven years we built one put it in our Median on uid Avenue if you want to come visit
   55:39  it or drop any books off we'd welcome that anytime um but yeah librar is just an important part to me and my family um I want to see it protected I also want
   55:46  to see it reinvented and have a new energy to it so thank you guys so much for having me here I appreciate it thank you so much Connor yeah thank you and uh
   55:54  any council members have any question questions they want to ask Conor while he's up there okay all right thank you Conor
   56:02  appreciate you and then we're gonna invite Jeremy Jeremy Huff come on
   56:12  forward thank you for coming tonight and uh you've got three minutes tell us all about yourself push the button
   56:20  yes uh go ahead and press the button it was already on there you go oh there it is okay uh good evening um my name is Jeremy h I am not a lifelong resident of
   56:28  mar Indiana I came here in 2002 for college at Indiana Wesley and and I've never left because I fell in love with this community uh R David lanis once
   56:36  said that bad libraries build collections good libraries build services and great libraries build community and I believe Conor and I both
   56:44  share that view of our current library that it is a great library in that sense um my wife and children my wife is a a lifelong resident of Grant County and
   56:53  I'm the Maran and my wife and children are at our Public Library very regularly uh my girls love to go in there and get books to either be read or to be read to
   57:01  them or to to read themselves to grab a craft to uh participate in the events that we
   57:08  have the the fact that our our library also has the museum attached to it is another great way that we can invest in our community I share a lot of opinions
   57:17  um in in common with Connor um I I would love to see some revitalization of our our children's area I think there's a lot of work that could be done there to
   57:25  to improve that in our teens area um most importantly it's it's making sure that our library stays viable and stays
   57:33  as this wonderful treasure for our city it's a gorgeous building it's a gorgeous resource um and that's the one thing I would love to do when my background is
   57:41  uh in commercial insurance so looking at it from a liability perspective um the things that the ways that we can look at making sure that we're providing great
   57:50  resources that are also safe for our community and for our patrons um that's what I would have to
   57:57  offer thank you so much Jeremy appreciate that any council members with questions for Jeremy I appreciate you going to have a
   58:06  seat thank you so much uh I did speak to both of them on the phone and had a great conversation with both and um both
   58:13  of them have excellent answers I think they're both very well qualified I wish we could appoint two but they only let
   58:20  us do one um and so it's a it's going to be a tough decision uh for me I think you're both overly well qualified and we
   58:30  appreciate your willingness to serve your community and the public library so and thank you for coming tonight um and so what's going to happen next is so you
   58:38  know basically I'm going to open it up for nominations with a motion to the rest of the council um and then whoever
   58:45  would be selected um you're required within 10 days to take the oath of office you actually do take an oath of office uh there's some forms that have
   58:54  to be signed and so whoever will be selected we'll go ahead and take the oath office tonight and we'll do it right here in the council chamber so um
   59:02  but yes any council members with any last minute questions or
   59:10  discussion okay I would entertain a motion for nomination and selection Mr
   59:16  President I make a motion that we um Place Connor Owen as our Maran Public
   59:24  Library board representative second okay I have a motion excuse me
   59:32  motion by councilman Brunner to select Connor Owens I have a second by councilman Cain any other
   59:42  discussion Madame clerk roll call k i for I I Brunner I
   59:51  Divine yes Whitten yes Cal Gill I McKinley
 1:00:01  yes uh so Connor Owens uh congratulations again Jeremy thank you so much um in four years or if you were
 1:00:08  to resign please don't hesitate uh don't be discouraged you are very well qualified and we really appreciate you and just to let anyone know in the
 1:00:16  audience you know there's more than one board member so the council gets one but there are other board seats and I encourage you to find those other
 1:00:23  avenues to get on the board um as well so this isn't the only way to get on so um we go and welcome Connor on up here
 1:00:31  and then did you guys end up having that oath printed you're fantastic come on up here
 1:00:38  Connor she's on
 1:00:49  it I just got all right come on over here and uh so yeah go and raise your right hand and
 1:00:59  just repeat after me it says I Conor Owens I Conor do hereby solemnly
 1:01:06  swear do hereby solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and
 1:01:14  the constitution of the state of Indiana constitution of the state of Indiana and to the best of my ability to the best of my ability will faithfully and partially
 1:01:23  will faithfully and partially discharge the duties and diligently discharge the duties and accept the responsibilities and accept the
 1:01:32  responsibilities of a member of of a member of the library Board of the Maring Public Library the library Board
 1:01:39  of the Maring public library and that I will observe and Obey all the laws I will observe and Obey all the laws relating to said office relating to said
 1:01:48  office now in force or which now enforce or which may Hereafter be enacted Maya
 1:01:56  during my term of service during my term of service that's it
 1:02:00  [Applause]
 1:02:08  congratulations all right and uh we again appreciate both of you and U look forward to seeing the direction of the
 1:02:17  library it's I know Jamie's doing a fantastic job over there and I'm sure um you know the the rest of the board will be happy to have you on there and just a
 1:02:25  quick note side note on the Marian Public Library board there's um councilman Klein actually is not here tonight um because he serves on that
 1:02:32  Library board and I if I think he told me correct he's been on their four and a half terms so not four and a half years four and a half terms and tonight was
 1:02:40  his final meeting as a library board member and so he wanted to be there the whole time so uh we've got an excellent
 1:02:47  Library board candidate coming off and a good one replacing him so we just publicly want to thank councilman Klein for his service to the public library
 1:02:56  board all right and then finally uh we're going to just one quick announcement um the Maran High School
 1:03:03  black history Club has a play called The Whiz on February 22nd 2025 at the Maran High School Walton Center and the reason
 1:03:11  I have the announcements today is that I've been speaking to some of the the people that helped run that black history club and um they are in needing
 1:03:20  of raising some money so I'm just trying to help get the word out um to help put on The Whiz and buy all the material
 1:03:29  because uh normally they have the the money and supplies but they're actually sending some of their black history club members overseas to a trip so some of
 1:03:37  those funds are being diverted for some trips and um but we just wanted to get the word out to put it in your calendar February 22nd for The Whiz at the Maran
 1:03:46  High School Walton Center more information on Facebook um but if you're interested in donating they're trying to raise another
 1:03:53  $1,400 um you either can reach out to me and I'll get you in connection or contact like Bobby owensby or anyone at
 1:04:00  the Maran High School black history Club so um we're just looking forward to that so that's the only announcement I have for this evening other than finally this
 1:04:09  is our last council meeting of the year it has been an honor um and a pleasure to serve as your council president and
 1:04:15  serve uh with all the council members here um it's gone fast we've done a lot
 1:04:22  um appreciate you know the mayor uh for for all of the work him and his team have put in this year I think uh we definitely in the right direction in
 1:04:30  Maran and we appreciate all of you in the audience for coming tonight and we're looking forward to what next year brings to the city of Maran and uh we
 1:04:38  appreciate everybody's support so that's all I have any other council members with announcements all right I had to
 1:04:47  entertain a motion make a motion to adjourn second motion by councilman Force second by councilman Brunner any
 1:04:54  discussion Madame clerk roll call Kane I for I I Runner I Divine yes Whitten yes
 1:05:04  cgill McKinley yes meetings adjourned thank you for
 1:05:18  coming had the L time and that she really David I guess
 1:05:54  yeah
 1:06:24  e
 1:06:54  e
 1:07:24  e
 1:07:54  e
 1:08:24  e
 1:08:54  e
 1:09:24  e
 1:09:54  e
 1:10:24  e
 1:10:54  e
 1:11:24  e
 1:11:54  e
 1:12:24  e
 1:12:54  e
 1:13:24  e
 1:13:54  e
 1:14:24  e
 1:14:54  e
 1:15:23  e
 1:15:53  e
 1:16:23  e
 1:16:53  e
 1:17:23  e
 1:17:53  e
 1:18:23  e
 1:18:53  e
 1:19:23  e
 1:19:53  e
 1:20:23  e
 1:20:53  e
 1:21:23  e
 1:21:53  e
 1:22:23  e
 1:22:53  e
 1:23:23  e
 1:23:53  e
 1:24:23  e
 1:24:53  e
 1:25:23  e e