OurWeek The Grant County Record in Grant County · Regular meeting · 2025-09-02 · full transcript https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOq2NcSxb8k Exported Fri, 14 Aug 2026 22:41:39 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 0:29 Good evening and welcome. Today is September 2nd, 2025. We're in the Marian City Council chambers for the regular 0:38 Marian City Council meeting. Welcome everybody. Glad to see everyone in attendance tonight. Uh those that are willingly here and those some that have to be here. We're glad you're here. 0:47 Anyways, we're going to go and call this meeting to order and begin with f uh prayer by Father Michael Block from the 0:54 St. Paul Parish. We'll welcome Father Block up to the microphone here. 1:03 Thank you, Mr. McKinley. Let's all please rise. Gentlemen, please remove your hats. Say a word of prayer. 1:10 Dear God in heaven, we give you thanks for the gift of life this day, for the blessing of the life of each person in this room. And during this beautiful 1:17 day, we recall how you created all things, how you brought order to the chaos of the world, a foreshadowing of how you would bring new life and peace 1:25 by taking on our chaos and our death in Jesus and coming victorious on that third day. We pray Lord that that same spirit and that same word of God 1:33 incarnate would be present here to bring chaos to the order of our lives to bring peace to our city, our county, our state, and our world. We pray that that 1:42 spirit of life and truth would enlighten us, would guide us in your pathways, help us to be good stewards of all that we've received and to be able to bring 1:50 Marion to the prosperity you desire for it. Please bless this time of meeting together. Bless every person here. We ask all these things in your holy name. Amen. 1:58 Thank you, Father Block. And now the pledge by Councilman Whit 2:05 of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God 2:12 indivisible with liberty and justice for all. 2:18 Again, thank you, Father Block from the St. Paul Parish for coming in tonight and um be willing to take time out of your evening to say the prayer before 2:27 the meeting. All right, move into roll call. Madame Deputy Clerk, Kain here. 2:33 Marshall here. 2:34 Ford here. 2:35 Runner here. 2:36 Klene here. 2:37 Divine here. Whitten here. 2:39 Calgill here. 2:40 Mckenley here. All right, moving into the community spotlight. 2:47 We have Usave Auto Rental and U-Haul. 2:50 We're going to invite the whole crew on up. I already warned them to come on up here. 3:02 So, as they're coming up, um, we've got Wayne, Al Jean, Adam, Carly. They're all 3:11 Westgates. Uh, Jamie Westgate, and Kim Dunn. So, they are all part of USA Auto, 3:19 whether it's through ownership, management, um, operations, the whole whole team. So, um, I just want to say I 3:26 just absolutely love every everybody behind me here. They are fantastic. If you didn't know that you you save existed, Marion, I hope you know now. 3:36 Um, you know, most people think rental cars. They think the the big chains, big name brands, but we actually have a 3:43 locallyowned rental car company here in Marian, right off the bypass, right next to Aldi, actually. And it's USA Auto Rental. Not only do they rent cars, but 3:51 they rent U-Hauls. Some people actually think that it's just U-Hauls right out front, but I have to tell them, no, they rent cars and they rent really nice 3:59 ones, brand new ones. Um, and they are just a real gem. Locally owned, grown up, most of them grown up and raised 4:08 around here. Um, and it really it's just they're a true asset uh to Marin. They offer affordable, reliable 4:15 transportation that supports residents, businesses, and visitors. and their service strengthens community access, promotes convenience, and contributes to 4:23 local economic growth and development uh every day. So, um they have been in business how long? Almost 20 years. 4:31 Almost 20 years. And so, uh tell me what what made you get into this business? 4:38 I always wanted to have uh a business with my son and the opportunity came up and uh we just said, "Hey, we're going 4:46 to do it." And I was working for the Kroger Corporation. Adam was working also and I didn't I was not able to put 4:54 a lot of time into it at that time but since then I have retired. Adam is a engineer uh mechanical engineer and he 5:03 is busy with this family. He has six children so he's busy and uh we just have uh we've really made it a good good 5:10 business for the family and stuff and the community of Marian. So we really we enjoy uh very much to uh to work with 5:18 So, it's been really great little business. So, and we appreciate, you know, if you rent it from us, we 5:25 appreciate and the support that you get us. 5:28 Yeah, they rent out not just passenger vehicles, but the passenger vans if you're taking a a trip down to Florida or wherever wherever you can you can get 5:36 those 15 passenger vans, U-Hauls, trailers. Um, you think it they have it and they're they're all new cars. I mean, they always have really nice cars. 5:45 Uh Kim, um what is your title there, Kim? I'm the manager. 5:49 Okay. I'm usually the face pretty much. Yeah. Every day. So, yeah. Yes. 5:54 So, in my my private sector job, we work with Kim all the time and um just a joy to work with and work for not for, but 6:02 um they just do a great job. And I probably should had you guys on sooner um because you know I really like to 6:09 highlight businesses that um really give back to the community that are great for our community. I mean they're the 6:16 building they're in now used to be kind of a randown um old abandoned basically um auto repair shop but now it looks 6:25 beautiful and it's nice and they maintain it. So, but uh anyway, so they are at 1871 Southwestern Avenue. Again, 6:32 right next to Aldi or in front of the um that pet store um Art in Motion. So, um please if you need 6:40 a rental car, U-Haul, anything um please give them a call, support local. We always appreciate that. So, anything you'd like to share? Anyone that's up here want to say anything? 6:49 Appreciate all the support. Like dad said, if you haven't had a chance to rent from us in the future, if there's something that we can help you out with, please uh stop by. We'll do our best to 6:58 take care of you. Our goal is to make you feel welcome when you come in and uh to get you in and out quickly. We don't we know everybody's time is important. 7:06 So, when you come in, we're going to get you into your vehicle quickly and on your way. And um you said, we're going to make sure it's a safe vehicle for you to get on the road with. 7:14 Yeah. and their rates are extremely competitive. But also, if you're getting work done at a body shop, pretty much anywhere around here, they will bring the car there and have it ready to go. 7:24 So, you don't have to worry about getting a ride over there. So, they will drop cars off at body shops and probably 7:31 your own home. Yeah. Um they are they go above and beyond more than than you would expect. Uh so, but USA actually is 7:39 a chain name, right? you buy it's kind of a not a franchise but kind of is okay. 7:45 So there are US saves all over the country. Um but they just it's just more of kind of a locallyowned 7:52 um type operation. So anyways, so we appreciate you all coming in and uh let's get a photo if all the council members want to come up unless you want to say anything else. 8:02 Kim, do you want to say anything? Yeah. 8:03 You looked like you wanted to say a few things. 8:07 All right, come on up all the council members. You guys 8:39 Okay. Ready? One, two, three. 8:45 All right, here we go. 8:49 [Applause] 8:56 I was almost mentioned when you came in the office first time. 9:00 I was 9:15 Gotcha. 9:23 Okay. All right. Moving into the city employee spotlight. Uh Caleb, where are you? There you are. 9:31 Come on up, Caleb. 9:33 So, we are spotlighting Caleb Day from animal care control. 9:39 And um so, while he's on his way up, so I asked um the animal care control manager, Britney Shrout, she's in 9:48 attendance as well. I said, "Hey, come on, get a little closer. We want you in the the the camera here." Um I don't 9:56 bite, but he does, so don't get too close to him. Uh anyway, so I had asked Britney, you know, what uh some what would you think of Caleb? What would you 10:04 say if you could? And so this is what she gave me. She said, "Caleb Day is a true team player and a pleasure to work with. He approaches every task with 10:13 professionalism and a positive attitude, always willing to step in and help wherever he's needed. Caleb's kindness and respect toward the people in our 10:21 community have not gone unnoticed. I, Britney Shroud, his manager, have received multiple compliments about his outstanding character and dedication. 10:28 We're grateful to have Caleb on our team. So, those are some pretty high words of praise, Caleb. And your position, animal care control, is probably not one for everybody, right? 10:39 So you're dealing with some of the nice little kittens to some of the more aggressive animals and not just people's animals and like their their pet 10:48 animals. Like you have to kind of handle if somebody's alligator gets loose or I'm just kidding. But no, seriously, you 10:56 got to handle all sorts of animals whether it's somebody's pet or not. Is that right? 10:59 Okay. So Caleb, how long have you been with the city now? I've been with the city for four years. 11:04 Four years. Okay. Um, and so you plan on doing another 20, 25? I'll go as long as I can. 11:11 Okay, good deal. Tell me, what's your uh what's one of your favorite things about doing being in animal care? 11:17 Probably working with animals in general. Okay. 11:20 I worked my whole life until Okay. 11:28 Good. Good. So, how did you stumble upon this job? Okay. 11:35 might not have been seen Facebook. Okay. 11:39 Good. So, you came from the restaurant industry, right? So, let's just So, anyone listening or or watching at home 11:46 that's like looking for a job, the city's always hiring. So, and we're looking for great people like Caleb and wanting to switch up the career and kind 11:54 of get out of that uh you know, the food industry. So, uh Caleb, would you like to share anything at all? Nope. Okay. 12:01 That's I never don't want to give the opportunity, but it's not for everybody, that's for sure. So, anyways, we just thank you so much, Caleb, for your four 12:09 years of service to Marion. We hope you continue. Uh we know it's probably a challenging job sometimes and different types of weather and when you're dealing 12:17 with people's pets, there's a lot of emotion that go into it as you probably know. Um and you have to be very, very delicate on handling and communicating. 12:28 So, we just appreciate you doing that. 12:30 and clearly with all the compliments that Britney's gotten that you're doing a fantastic job with that. So, let's give Caleb a hand. Thank you, Nick. 12:41 All right, let's get a picture with Caleb real quick. Oh, go ahead. Sorry. 12:45 I would like to remind you. Uh, two meetings ago, I gave some compliments to the animal control, and this was the this 12:54 was the young man that I dealt with. So without you even knowing it, someone was saying good things about you just earlier that day. So yeah, I'm pleased to see you here today. 13:05 Well, that's great. Yeah, I knew remember you telling me that, but I didn't realize it was him. So that's perfect timing then. 13:17 Ready? 13:36 One, two, three. 13:55 And thank you Britney for those kind words and for being a great manager, too. 14:03 Lots of good things going on at Animal Care Control and um props to the mayor for making it a priority as well and uh 14:10 allowing us to invest in that. That's that's an asset to our community for sure. Okay, moving on to the consent 14:18 agenda for the approval of minutes regular meeting August 19th. 14:22 Consideration of pre-approved claims and consideration of claims. Is there any questions or discussions? Are there any questions or discussions? 14:31 If not, I entertain a motion. 14:33 Mr. President, I move that we pass the consent agenda. Second motion by Councilman Kaine to pass the 14:42 consent agenda. A second by Councilman Calgill. Any other discussion? Madame Deputy Clerk, roll call. 14:52 Kain. I. Marshall. I. Forice. I. Runner. I. Klene. Yes. Divine. Yes. Whitten. 15:00 Yes. Calgill. Hi. McKinley. Yes. 15:04 Moving on to committee reports. Do we have any committee or liaison reports this evening? 15:17 Okay. Wow. All right. None for this evening. All right. 15:24 We will move on. Okay. We'll move. 15:27 There's no unfinished business. Uh in fact, actually, I forgot to do one thing and we'll do it before we get into the business. Um, and so I've forgotten 15:35 twice now. So I had sent an email out last week after the agenda was put out u by our deputy clerk. Um, the mayor had 15:44 asked me and I told him I would to add an item to the agenda. 15:49 Um, basically just to get an update from uh Mark and Tom from reelement. They just want to give us an update to the whole council of what's going on there. 15:58 There's no vote. There's no decision to be made. It's just a presentation to give us an update on uh what's happening over there. So, um I considered whether 16:07 I just want to put that under announcements, but I thought it probably better just to ask the council for approval to add that to the agenda under 16:15 new business. Of course, it would automatically go to the very end. So, I uh would like to request if somebody 16:22 would make a motion to add Reelement Mark and Tom from Reelement to give an update uh to the agenda. 16:32 I'll move that. What you just said, I'll move. Second. 16:38 All right. I got a move or a motion by um Councilman Klein. Too many C's around here. I'm telling you, it's one of those 16:46 days. Uh, Councilman Klein, a second by Councilman Whitten. Any discussion? 16:53 It does require a unanimous vote to add it to the agenda. 16:58 Just FYI. No discussion. Madame Deputy Clerk, roll call. Kain. I. Marshall. I. For ice. 17:06 I. Ruard. I. Klene. Yes. Divine. Yes. Whitten. Yes. Calgill. Hi. Mckinley. 17:12 Yes. Thank you. We'll add that to the end of new business. So, now we're going to officially get into the agenda. Under new business, general ordinance 18-2025, 17:21 City of Marian Redevelopment Authority, first reading. 17:24 An ordinance of the common council of the city of Marian, Indiana, establishing the city of Marian redevelopment authority. Indiana code 17:31 section 36714.5 authorizes the common council of the city of Marian Indiana to create a redevelopment authority in order to 17:40 pursue the public purposes of the redevelopment authority act including without limitation financing local public improvements for lease to the 17:48 city of Marian redevelopment commission and to issue bonds payable to from re from lease rentals speaking Barnes & Thornberg LLP. 17:57 Thank you. If you could just state your name as well. Absolutely. Council President McKinley, my name is Dustin Meeks and I am with the law firm of Barnes and Thornberg um in Indianapolis. 18:06 I'm stepping in for my colleague Chris Chrysel tonight. Uh it's his wedding anniversary and so in the interest of preserving his marriage. Um I'm here to 18:14 introduce introduce the ordinance. So um it's a brief ordinance. Um and again just introduction tonight. Um, but what the ordinance does is it authorizes the 18:23 creation of of a redevelopment authority for the city under Indiana code 36714.5. 18:29 Um that's a section of the code that was adopted in 1987 um in response to an understanding by the general assembly that uh while they 18:38 like our constitutional uh debt limits that those debt limits uh tend to be sort of quite small um and in and 18:47 generally have the capa the result in limiting city's abilities um to undertake certain projects that may be 18:54 advantageous for the city. Um and so what the general assembly did in 1987 was created a special purpose entity of 19:01 local government um that through a leasing structure is able to allow units of government to finance projects 19:09 through what we call lease rental revenue bonds which are not treated as debt for purposes of the constitutional limit. Um and so give you a little bit 19:18 of an expansive or slightly more expansive um ability to do to do financing for for public improvement 19:25 projects. Um, the redevelopment authority is a three-member body. Um, and I I I always like to call it uh the redevelopment commission's little buddy. 19:35 Um, we bring it out when the redevelopment commission is going to sort of exercise this lease rental revenue bond financing ability to um do 19:43 a financing um not using its own direct debt capacity, but it serves no other purpose. Um, so it's a small governing 19:50 body, but it's also a very special purpose entity. um any time that the redevelopment authority would be doing its work, right? So, entering into a 19:58 lease with the redevelopment commission um to allow it to issue bonds, that whole process is going to be approved by 20:06 the council. So, um you would never be in a situation where the redevelopment commission and redevelopment authority would be engaging in a financing that 20:13 doesn't come to the council for an explicit approval process. So, um, while this does provide an additional tool in 20:22 the toolbox, it is remains under the sort of same level of oversight as any financing that the city would do in that it would require the council's approval. 20:31 Um, I'm happy to I know that uh Chris had circulated a brief memorandum that kind of walks through the lease rental revenue bond financing process and the 20:40 background on the redevelopment authority. I'm happy to answer any questions that the council may have as well. 20:44 Thank you so much, Dustin. Appreciate that. Um, I just have a question. Can you I mean, basically what I've seen is about every 20:53 major city already has one, right? Right. 20:56 We just don't We're probably one of the last, right? 20:58 When when Chris said that um he wanted me to draft an ordinance for you guys to establish an RDC, my first question was they don't they don't have one. Um 21:06 because because yeah, it um every city of of Marian size um and and many many cities much smaller. Like I said, this 21:14 was a tool that the general assembly put into the toolbox in 1987. Um it's just not something that that has been done 21:21 here before. Um but uh I do um RDA, RDC lease rental revenue bond financings probably 15 or time times or more a year 21:30 and that's that's just you know me one bond lawyer in Indianapolis. So, um, it's a really common tool. 21:37 And just for the general public, people watching at home, can you just give us a scenario where having a redevelopment authority would be beneficial or advantageous for us as a city? 21:47 Yeah. So, um, and I I hate I hate to this is I it I'm going to start the story and nobody fall asleep. Um, the reason the constitutional debt limit is 21:55 so low in the state of Indiana is that in 1836, uh, everybody and their brother thought that canals were going to be the next 22:03 big thing, right? That that we we if we just had enough boats, the economy was really going to hum. And every county in 22:10 Indiana and every big city and the state sort of leverage themselves up on debt to finance all kinds of canals. And then 22:17 in basically 1837, the railroad gets invented. And so suddenly we're all full of debt with canals and and and then these railroads are a much better idea. 22:27 Um you bankrupt the state one time and everybody really panics about that. So in in 18 uh 38 I think is when when they 22:35 ratify it. There's a new Indiana state constitution and it has this very restrictive um debt limit which is um 22:44 it's 2% of the assessed value of the unit and that's actually been statutoily restricted even further. So, um, 22:52 generally speaking, when you're talking about a unit of government issuing direct debt, so the city issuing debt in its own name or the redevelopment commission issuing debt in its own name, 23:01 you have a very, very limited capacity to do that. And that capacity is sort of completely unrelated to the amount of 23:08 revenues that you may have at your disposal that you could use to finance projects. Um and so the situation that that Marian is in, the situation that 23:16 many communities are in is that um you know, you've done direct debt and there are more opportunities that are that are 23:23 on the horizon and there is revenue capacity to do additional financings for um infrastructure improvements 23:31 um to attract, you know, sort of businesses to the community or you you can also use this um for um an economic development purpose from time to time. 23:41 um and you have the revenue. It's just there's not adequate debt capacity because the debt capacity um is is 23:49 written in reference to an 1836 canal panic um and not in terms of our sort of modern reality. Now, you're asking yourself, why does the general assembly 23:57 keep the 1836 Canal Panic debt limit? Um they like that the limit is is low. Um 24:04 you know, they prefer that that uh you have to go through some extra hoops to to issue debt. Um and additionally changing the constitution is very very 24:12 difficult. Um so it is sort of something that they have kept in there but in 1987 recognizing this problem exactly they 24:20 they created this special entity of of state government. Um so it's I mean you know it's not even sometimes you you 24:28 know you do things and you're like aha we can use the law this way but the law is written for exactly this purpose right that you have a limited capacity 24:36 and you may have additional revenues where it could be prudent to do a financing beyond that very limited capacity. 24:42 So in layman's term it's like telling somebody they can't take any loans out more than 2% of their annual income. 24:49 Right. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. And you might right and they definitely have income right above that but um you have this weird artificial limit in place. 24:58 Great. I just wanted to I just know as an audience member I'd be like I don't know what they're talking about. So I always like to explain it a little more simply for everybody. Any council members questions? 25:11 What are the risks associated with establishing an RDA? So uh in a 25:18 redevelopment authority um does give you right additional financing capacity. Um 25:25 so there is the ability right to do to do more than that 2% constitutional limit right so in terms of our ability 25:34 to um finance additional projects goes up right and there's always a risk right inherent um in in just like when you 25:41 take on a mortgage right you take on the risk that you have to you have to pay on that mortgage um but um the city has has 25:50 a great municipal adviser um you know you have you have you have good legal legal ed talent, right? That's that's helping to advise. And it's a it is a 25:59 more complex approval process for those financing than it is for your standard redevelopment commission financing. So, there's sort of extra checks and 26:06 balances on these financings. So, um in so far as we're allowed to take on additional um financing debt, right, 26:15 that is a risk, but this tool also has some built-in extra checks. And that the key is really just like with your finances um you know to we that we make 26:24 good decisions about about what our capacity is. Any other questions? 26:37 All right. Well, thank you so much. Uh there's no other questions. There's opportunity for discussion. If not, then I would entertain a motion. 26:47 Mr. President, I move that we pass um 26:53 general ordinance number 18 2025 to a second reading and public hearing. 26:59 Second motion to pass by Councilman Kaine, a second by Councilman Brunner. 27:07 Any discussion? Madame Deputy Clerk, roll call. Kane I. 27:14 Marshall I. Ford Dice. 27:17 Hi, Runner. 27:18 I Klene. Yes. Divine. Yes. Whitten. Yes. Cowgill. 27:23 I McKinley. 27:24 Yes. General ordinance 18-2025 will go to a second reading public hearing at the next city council meeting. Moving on 27:32 to additional appropriation 14-2025 2026 budget first reading. 27:41 We are pleased to share the 2026 budget for the city of Marian. This budget reflects our continued commitment to the city's mission and long-term goals. Our 27:50 administration's top priority remains providing excellent community service and showing appreciation for our employees hard work and dedication. We 27:58 are pleased to present a balanced budget for 2026 and anticipate maintaining our cash reserve balance. Speaking Mayor Ronald Morell. 28:06 Good evening, council. It's an honor to be before you again for the second second budget. It's the second time getting to do this again. It's a privilege and an honor. All of our team 28:15 has worked very hard um on putting this together. Um um kudos to them. We had our uh budget committee meetings and um they were ready and and I think most of 28:24 them are here tonight to answer any additional question that may that may come. I'll do um a couple um couple highlights and then if if there's any 28:32 more um detailed questions you would like me to answer, I would gladly go over that. Our um our total um general 28:40 fund budget is $24.7 million with um police being 8.3, fire being 7.5 and the 28:48 rest of the general fund being 8.7. Um again, one of the things that we would like to highlight, this is a a balanced budget. If you look back in history's 28:57 public knowledge, this is only the second year we've had a balanced budget. 29:00 A couple years before that, it was unbalanced. So, we're very again, our team's done a great job. All credit to them for working so hard on this. Um 29:09 we also with this budget presentation we still remain at a 45% cash reserve which those who've been around Mary for a long 29:16 time who been paying attention I um was confirmed. This is the first time we've been we've been able to hold at that 29:22 since like the late 90s. So we're in a a great financial position and again to all the hard work that everyone has 29:29 done. We uh again thank thank them them so much for the work that they've put in. Each and every one of our department 29:37 heads and everybody has worked diligently to make sure that this budget is um passed and our cash balance remains where it is. So um with that I 29:44 would entertain any further questions that you have. 29:48 Thank you mayor. Appreciate it. Any council members with questions? 30:04 All right. There's no questions. I'd take a motion. 30:13 Mr. President, I'd like to make a motion that we pass the 30:20 additional appropriation 14205 on second reading public hearing. 30:25 Second motion to pass additional appropriation 14205 by Councilman Calgill. A second by Councilman Kaine. 30:34 Any other discussion? Madame Deputy Clerk. Roll call. Kain. I. Marshall. 30:42 I. Forice. I. Brunner. I. Klene. Yes. Divine. Yes. Whitten. Yes. Calgill. I. 30:49 McKinley. Yes. Additional appropriation 14205. 30:54 We'll move on to second reading public hearing at the next council meeting. 30:56 Thank you, mayor. Thank you all to the department heads for coming tonight. 31:04 All right, moving on. 31:07 So, we're going to go through this pretty quick. We've got the This is kind of more of an announcement. Uh the Grant County Public Safety Operations 31:14 Communications Board. Um Madame Deputy Cler, I'll let you read that. 31:22 Marian Common Council appointment. 31:23 Marian Common Council has a vacant position for the Grant County Public Safety Operations Communications Board. 31:31 The council has an opening to appoint a person to the Central Dispatch Advisory Board due to the resignation of one of its current appointees. This board 31:39 position has no compensation and is a four-year appointment. Applicants must live in the city of in the city limits. 31:45 Resumes can be dropped off at the city clerk's office or emailed to council president at cityofmarian.in.gov. 31:52 Deadline is September 26th at 4 p.m. The appointee will be selected at the council meeting on October 7th. 32:00 All right. So, a couple things on this. 32:01 So, basically, this is the dispatch, the central dispatch advisory board, but that's the official title um that they 32:08 have, the Grant County Public Safety Operations Communications Board. Uh so I was made aware by Bob Jackson I don't 32:17 know two weeks ago or so that so Paul Thompson III was a previously the council's appointee to that uh and he 32:25 had resigned last year. I did not know that until Bob brought it to our attention or my attention. So that seat 32:33 on the board has been open. The council does get one appointee. 32:38 The one thing that I'm asking for, and we wouldn't necessarily do this until we would choose the candidate, 32:45 but previously it was a lifetime appointment. 32:49 And I'm just not a big fan of lifetime appointments. And it runs into, you know, somebody resigned last year. I didn't even know about it. And so my 32:57 request is when we end up choosing that candidate, if we just we don't I don't we have to make a motion or anything. Or maybe we do. We'll 33:07 get our attorney's advice on that when that comes, but basically just to make it a four-year appointment. So, I did put that in there, but if anyone's 33:15 opposed and thinks it should be a lifetime, happy to have that discussion um now or whenever we decide on that 33:23 candidate. So, uh any questions, opinions? Is does everyone concur with 33:32 the four-year appointment? Getting a couple head nods. Yeah. 33:39 Um and then so we would just go from what was it? Uh so we would choose it 33:46 the first choose the person October 7th as the first meeting and it would go uh four years 33:54 basically starting October 1st. So, kind of it's kind of three years and a couple days or four years and a couple days short. So, anyways, just hope some 34:02 people apply. The uh we did we are putting an ad in the newspaper. We'll have the city put it on the city website as well. I'll share it on Facebook and 34:10 we'll just try to get the message out there as best we can. preferably somebody with some kind of public safety 34:17 experience, whether in dispatch or former police, fire, somebody with some communications or dispatch 34:26 knowledge would be good, but it's not required. So, we're open to anybody, but you do have to live in the city of Marion in the city limits. So, that's 34:33 the only requirement. Uh, and be 18. So, please drop your resume off city clerk's 34:39 office or send me the email. Any dis questions discussion on that? 34:47 Okay. Awesome. All right. Moving on to CF1 form. So, this was mailed out in the packet. Um, right. That was me. Yeah. 34:59 Remember, I looked at separately in the email or in the packet. So, this one was sent in. It was sent in late. Uh, but Mason Village did send it in. It is 35:07 their last year to request. So, I'm not even sure how much of a uh how much they're really going to save on this. 35:14 It's their last year. Their AV's gone up, so they may not be saving much, if anything at all. But um 35:22 that CF1 form, I did go through Chuck Binkard at the growth council. So, he did take a look at it, communicate, and said everything looks good on it. 35:33 There's no issues whatsoever. So, any questions on that? And it's 35:41 uh up to the council to decide everyone's vote decide whether to approve it or not based on whether it was late or not. I mean we we are 35:50 allowed to approve them even if they're late. 35:53 So it's uh it's going to be up to you guys and any questions? 36:01 Okay. If not, I would entertain a motion. 36:04 Mr. President, I move that we approve the attached CF1 form. Second. 36:12 Motion by Councilman Kaine to approve the Mason Village CF1 form. A second by Councilman Klene. Any other discussion? 36:23 Madame Deputy Clerk, roll call. 36:26 Kain, I. 36:27 Marshall, I. Forice. I. Brener. I. Klene. Yes. Divine. 36:32 Yes. Whitten. Yes, Calgill. 36:35 I McKenley. 36:36 Yes. CF1 form has been approved. Thank you. Okay, moving to the last item that we added on the agenda, uh, Reelement. 36:44 So, Mark and Tom, come on up to the microphone. 36:50 So, for those that aren't aware, so Reelement is the one that rehabbed and is occupying the former RCA building. 36:58 And Mark, Tom, welcome. Thank you for coming and wanting to share some updates with us. First of all, if you could just 37:05 for public record in the minutes, share your full name and your title with the company. 37:09 Yep. Uh good to see everyone again. Mark Jensen, chairman, CEO of Reelement Technologies. 37:16 Tom Save, Strategy and Development. 37:19 Great. Thank you so much. So, the floor is yours. Whatever you'd like to share. 37:22 Yeah, I'll keep it pretty brief, but uh thank you all for letting us speak. 37:26 Sorry, my voice is a little bit raspy getting over a cold here. Um been an exciting time. If you read the news, you 37:33 can see that uh President Trump has on many times had to negotiate with China with regards to critical minerals, rare earth elements, part of the trade bill 37:42 uh which ultimately enabled um the the awareness of what we actually do here at Reelement Technologies. So reelement we 37:51 acquired the RCA Thompson building, which most you're aware of. Uh we've got renovated that. We're installing uh some final stage fire suppression as we 37:58 speak. Um while also working with a lot of members of the Marian community that are training down in our Noblesville 38:06 facility. So we have about 10 members that we're training to be senior level positions as we start operating here in 38:12 in Marian. Um over the last two years it's been uh pretty much 247 working with our different customer base to 38:20 build the future of what Reelement can provide. So, one thing we're super excited about is re essentially 38:27 rebranding what we're calling our Maran facility, and that's really focusing on the heart of what we're doing there. And that's providing defense materials to 38:36 some of the largest, actually the largest defense contractors in the United States today. Materials that they once had to source from China, they can 38:43 now buy from Marian, Indiana. Um, or will be able to buy from Marian, Indiana, where they're currently buying from our small facility in Noblesville, Indiana, which a number of you have had 38:50 the opportunity to see. Um these materials are elements that you read about in the news every day. 38:56 Germanmanium which goes into semiconductors which goes into every advanced um defense application um and as well as auto um itrium which is a 39:05 product that codes your high heat reactors. So your jet engines your F35 fighter jets enables these engines to operate at super high temperatures uh 39:12 that keeps them sustainable and operating. The rare earth magnets, neodyinium, precedenium, dprosium are the magnets, the rare earth elements that are needed to actually the 39:21 propulsion system goes into the motors to operate a lot of these defense applications. And then the battery materials as well. So lithium, cobalt, nickel, and these various elements. The 39:30 products we produce are relatively benign. Uh so they're not dangerous materials. They're not in a a form that could combust or anything to that 39:39 nature, but they are produced at ultra high purity. So the largest defense contractors in the world, they came to us because we could produce product at 39:46 99.5% purity upwards of 99.999% purity. That capability did not exist in the United States before we developed 39:55 this technology in partnership with Purdue University to be able to do it here in the United States. Uh we were just in the White House last week, I 40:02 think was last week or the week before, going a little blank on my days. Um presenting what we're doing. So, not only are we financing this privately, we 40:11 are also receiving money from the federal government to be able to expand our business, expand our capabilities, and working with our customer base. Um, 40:20 we are working through, we did receive a tiff from Marion, um, that Mayor Morel helped us get put in place. It's a non-funded tiff, so it didn't provide us 40:27 capital. We're working with the state right now because they did just pass regulation that kind of mitigates the benefit of that. Um so hopefully working 40:35 through that with our council to see what that what how that needs to be modified based on the state reg uh state um what has been passed at the state 40:44 level. Another thing that we'd like to bring to the attention of Marion that could actually provide benefit not only to our region but also to the community 40:52 is the federal government is re-evaluating their opportunity zones. 40:56 And currently where we operate in where our facil where our facility in Marian is we don't qualify. Um, now an 41:04 opportunity zone is private capital finance. It's not it's it's deeming a territory by the federal government to deem it as an opportunity zone and this 41:12 area should qualify. Um, I would ask that city council look into it um for the benefit of Marian to drive private capital into this territory and try to 41:21 get the this area or other areas, not even my area, but just in general. Um, this is a benefit that Marian should get. Uh, Marian should push for being an 41:29 opportunity zone. An opportunity zone enables um and I don't know the specifics of it, so check with your council, see if this is something that you you could look at, but it enables 41:38 and helps incentivize private capital to invest into this community. Um, and I think it would be a 41:46 big benefit uh given the benefits of opportunity zones with EB5 programs and other programs that we're utilizing that would help unlock additional capital, 41:54 which would unlock additional jobs and taxable income for the community and for the city. Um we are currently getting 42:03 close to going on a pretty big hiring spree. Um we've we just closed on a financing. We're working on another financing as well uh 42:12 with our bank at Caner Fitzgerald. Uh that's doing a really good job for us of helping us capitalize the production lines for the orders that we've signed. 42:19 The cool thing about our business is these orders aren't short-term. Most of our orders are anywhere from five to 10 years in business uh refining these various materials from recycled material 42:28 as well as virgin ores. Um and a lot of the there's essentially on the recycling side there's no waste. So we we work with steel dynamics up in uh in Fort 42:37 Wayne to take a lot of the the byproducts that we produce out of our process. So we're not throwing a lot of stuff in landfill. We're trying to monetize everything that we touch going out of that process. 42:46 One thing I will say is as we hire um what I'm super proud of is the the individuals that we've hired so far from Marion that we're now training down in 42:54 our Noblesville facility and operating up here um in the renovation side of get helping on the fire suppression and everything else to to be fully operational which we need to do 43:03 immediately is we started them off at with zero experience. They weren't chemical engineers. They didn't I don't think a few I think a fair number of 43:12 them were not college educated. Um, we have trained them to operate our equipment using some of the most advanced technology, especially the most 43:20 advanced technology in this industry and they can operate it themselves. Now, they've had multiple payraises um to that they've received as part of their 43:29 training, as part of their development, and now they'll be the individuals that come back here and train the next group of individuals. We've signed partnerships with IvyTech. Uh, we've 43:37 signed a number of other partnerships on the trade school side. Uh so mayor was talking about doing here in the city with the trade schools and and different 43:44 universities. That's awesome. That those are the type of people that we want to work for us that we can train up that can learn this skill set, teach them a new skill set and help them advance 43:53 within our company or elsewhere um as they continue to benefit themselves and and benefit this community and and put them to work. Um but we're really proud of that and we're excited about it. 44:02 Happy to answer any questions, but wanted to wanted to give a brief update because there's going to be some pretty cool things that come out. Do you follow our company? Go to our website, sign up 44:10 for our newsletter. We we think it's going to be a pretty fun next three to six months with everything that's going to be coming out from what we're doing here, some of the federal government 44:19 that's supporting us and some of the bigger financings that we're working on with the federal government as well as private sector to create these jobs here. 44:27 Great. Thank you so much, Mark. Really appreciate you driving up here, spending time with us this evening. Any council 44:33 members with questions or We'll check into that. Opportunity 44:40 zones. I uh I thought that they they'd closed that a while back, but we'll check into that. Okay. 44:48 I think they're re they're reevaluating. 44:50 I don't know the exact time period, but I could we can send you some information on that. Sure, that'd be great. 44:54 I think it'd be a really good benefit for the area. 44:57 That's something that it's you you fight for it. You gota I mean that's something that if you guys fight for it they they evaluate it from the federal level to open that up. 45:06 Yeah. Great. Appreciate it. Wish the best of luck. So uh the question is so when is President Trump coming to Marion 45:13 then we're fighting for it. We'll see. We have uh we have some pretty interesting stuff taking place within the federal government right now. 45:23 And they recognize what we do. We had uh I was meeting with David CPPley. David CPPley is direct report to Trump. um he's a minerals are so what we produce 45:31 critical minerals rare earth elements uh he's been tasked with managing that from the federal government perspective and that's who we're meeting with in DC we've met with him now three times um 45:40 and we're we're hoping to get the big guy here sounds great appreciate you guys investing in Mary and looking forward to 45:47 seeing uh any future updates and and just watching things grow down there on South Adam Street so absolutely 45:55 thank you so much thank you and what I say is feel free to stop by Noblesville will stop by Marian Manny who runs a facility local from 46:01 Marian um who's managing the Marian operation for now until we get the equipment up here. But you'll see equipment being installed there every 46:08 week for the next 10 weeks, 20 weeks. Um stop by, say hi. Uh you can see the building in a much different light than it was before we took it over as well as 46:16 the exterior starting. I think we got the old office building renovated from the windows perspective. Had no vandalism recently. Probably shouldn't 46:23 say that would. So, I appreciate what you're doing to help clean up the city, too. It's It's looking beautiful. So, yeah. 46:31 Awesome. Thank you so much. Thanks for investing in Mary and investing in that building, too. Yeah. Thank you all. Appreciate it. Yeah. Likewise. 46:38 All right. It's exciting update. 46:42 Okay. Uh moving on to announcements. Uh just again, the Amplify Marion, the big uh music concert is October 18th and 19th. Please put that in your calendars. 46:53 And the last citywide cleanup of the year covering district 6, Councilman Kane's district, southside of Marian, 47:01 uh, September 20th. Again, 9:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. You can drop your stuff off at the city maintenance building off 18. 47:07 But if you're in district 6, put your stuff curbside, not in the alley. Put it on the curb side um where the vehicles 47:15 drive by right in front of your house and the the um street department can pick things up right there in front of your house. So looking forward to that 47:23 last one. It's the last opportunity until next spring. Any other announcements from council members. 47:33 Oh, one last announcement. So I will not be here the second meeting of October. 47:37 So Vice President Ford Ice will have to run that meeting. Um I will be out of town. So I will not be able to run that meeting. I've been meaning to tell you that. So um that's all. 47:49 No other announcements. I'll take a motion to adjurnn. I'll make a motion we adjourn. 47:58 Second. 48:00 Uh motion to adjourn by Councilman Prgill and second by Councilman Kaine. Any 48:07 discussion? Madame Deputy Clerk, roll call. Kane. I. Marshall. 48:12 I for Klene. Yes. Divine. Yes. Whitten. Yes. Calgill. 48:20 I McKinley. 48:22 Yes. Meetings adjourned. Thank you so much everyone for coming tonight.