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The Grant County Record
in Grant County · Regular meeting · 2025-11-04 · full transcript
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Indexed at https://ourweek.in/grant-county/reports/grant-county-record

    0:53  Good evening.
    0:55  Welcome to the Maring Common Council meeting. Today is November 4th at 7 p.m.
    1:00  in Marian City Hall and uh glad to see everyone here tonight. We're going to call this meeting to order and begin with prayer. I'll lead with prayer.
    1:13  Heavenly Father, we come before you with grateful hearts, thankful for the opportunity to serve our community. We
    1:21  ask that you grant this grant this council wisdom in every decision and discussion we have tonight. Uh lead us with integrity, fairness, and compassion
    1:30  for all of our citizens. And may unity guide our conversations and respect shape our actions. Bless our city, our
    1:38  leaders, and those who call it home. In your name we pray. Amen. And then the pledge of allegiance led by our first deputy clerk, Aisha Richard.
    1:48  I alian to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which
    1:55  it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
    2:08  Excellent job, Aisha. Thank you for that. All right, we'll begin with roll call. Madame Deputy Clerk
    2:17  or is uh actually first of all I want to say welcome back Debbie Goodman our city clerk. Um everyone give her a round of applause. She's back.
    2:28  Shouldn't forget it's been a while we haven't seen you. I had to check your ID in the door and make sure you still work here. So we're just really glad you're back and you're doing much much better.
    2:37  So uh it's really nice to see you. Aisha has done a phenomenal job but uh it's not the same without you. So, welcome back. So, who do we talk to tonight?
    2:46  Advise me of that one. Who's taking a roll call? There we go. Here.
    2:55  Marshall Fordise here.
    2:57  Brunner Klein here.
    3:00  Divine here. Whitten here.
    3:03  Calgill here.
    3:04  McKinley here. All right, we're going to do the community spotlight first off. And uh
    3:11  tonight we are featuring the history center at the Marine Public Library and featuring Kelsey Winters and Jamie
    3:19  Pittz. And uh ladies, if you want to go ahead and come on up maybe just Oh, both of you are here. Great. Fantastic. Come all the way up to the front here. We like to do everything in the front.
    3:29  You're going to talk to everybody. Yeah, you get to be in the spotlight. So, go ahead. You can both stand on each side if you'd like.
    3:38  And uh Yeah. So, tonight's um community spotlight um Kelsey reached out to me a while ago and uh really wanted to kind
    3:47  of get the word out again about the history center at the Maran Public Library. We talked for a little bit and uh I'm fascinated. I haven't been there
    3:54  yet, but I'm intrigued and now I want to go. So, I'll let you ladies do the talking. They have a lot to share and uh we're going to learn about the history center at the library. Go ahead. Yeah.
    4:04  Who wants to go first?
    4:05  We will try and keep it brief. Um but thank you for the opportunity. I want to thank the council members for inviting us and for giving us this opportunity.
    4:16  Uh I want to share a brief update on that ARPA funded projects with the library. Um since you were so gracious
    4:24  to give us funding, I just want to let you know that the roof project was completed in August and we are going to move forward with phase two of
    4:32  improvements to the history center. So we are sincerely grateful for the funding. Um we just appreciate your support and making these projects
    4:40  possible. Um since that kind of goes outside of our operating funds, right?
    4:46  So uh the Mary Public Library is a unique entity. Um it is one of two
    4:52  libraries that have a museum and so um we preserve the history of the city of Marian and also um the surrounding
    5:01  areas. and we're just very proud of our history center with all of our resources and our museum. And I'm going to really
    5:10  just let Kelsey uh talk about what she is working on uh the things going on in the museum and her special projects that
    5:18  she is in charge of. So, I'll let Kelsey take it from here. Great. Thank you.
    5:22  Well, thank you, Jamie. Thank you everyone for being here today and for hearing what we have to share. Um we have a lot going on at the history center. and it's just been a joy to get
    5:32  to work there for the past few years and connect with the community. We've got a great staff. Um, like Jamie mentioned, the history center, if you haven't heard
    5:39  of it, we're a small local history museum. We're a department of the Marian Public Library. And the History Center building really houses two different
    5:47  departments. So, the first department is the museum. That's what I'm here representing today. The second department is our Indiana history and
    5:54  genealogy room. And they're an incredible public resource. And I'd like to take a minute to highlight what they offer to the community. Um they have
    6:02  over a million local history records in their database along with lots of resources you would not be able to find
    6:09  other places. Um they have overseen the digitization of all of Marian's newspapers from 1867 to current day um
    6:18  and kind of help run that database through newspapers.com. You can access all of those at the library. Um and they also take in research and genealogology.
    6:29  from all over the world. So really kind of anywhere people can put in requests.
    6:33  Um and I believe they are second to Allen County in the state of Indiana. So as far as what they're able to handle
    6:41  and the depth of research they're able to assist with, it really is an amazing asset for Marian to have here. Um but I
    6:48  would be remiss if I didn't focus on the museum for a little bit. Um so our museum for a museum of our size actually has a very extensive collection. We have
    6:57  over 30,000 objects and over 7,000 photographs housed in our museum. Um, we also have some collections, an extensive
    7:05  collection of additional photographs that we're working on processing right now. Um, we have multiple exhibits in
    7:12  our museum. Um, some of the main ones, um, the topics that they cover are the history of the gas boom. Um, we also
    7:20  have a wonderful exhibit called Welcome to Weaver that highlights the history of Weaver, which was a free black settlement southwest of
    7:28  really incredible community, great information highlighted in that exhibit as well. Um, and we just opened at the beginning of this calendar year an
    7:37  exhibit called um, home of the hog, Marian's motorcycle legacy that is about the history of two landmark motorcycle
    7:44  races that took place in Marian in 1919 and 1920. And they share the story of how Marian became the home of the Harley
    7:51  hog. And the way that Harley hogs got their name of hog was at one of those races. So, I don't want to spoil the
    7:59  story for everyone, but um it's a great great exhibit if anyone wants to come check it out. Um we do also host a
    8:07  couple of traveling exhibits throughout the year. Um this year we had one in the spring, one in the fall. We'll be doing the same next year and they kind of
    8:14  highlight broader Indiana history and then we find ways to tie it to our collection or our community through displays and events. Um we are a really
    8:23  collaboratively minded organization so we maintain strong partnerships with other local history organizations like the Grant County Historical Society and
    8:32  Save Our Stories, which is our historic preservation organization. Um, and really are open to collaboration with other community partners. If anyone has
    8:40  an idea, please bring it to us. And we can't promise we can always say yes, but we'll at least I have an idea. Sorry to interrupt. I have a brain. I just came. We have a gentleman over there named Jim Brunner.
    8:50  Yes. And if you wanted to start a sports section, he's your resource right there. So there's your sports library for Marian.
    8:59  So I'm gonna give you a call.
    9:00  There you go. Add the add the east wing of Sorry, I shouldn't have said.
    9:05  [laughter]
    9:06  Did not mean that. We'll call the west wing of the history center with Jim. Yeah, that would be great. Um, yes.
    9:13  Thankful that we have a new roof for you to work.
    9:15  Yeah, you need to come see me. We got a lot of uh artifacts at that radio station. So That's wonderful. Sorry, but go ahead.
    9:22  No, you're fine. Um, we do offer a variety of free public programs through the museum. Um, really that appeal to all ages. So, the next one we have
    9:30  coming up, I just want to highlight is Christmas at the Carnegie. We do that every year. Um, and it, yes, the flyer is up there. Um, it is a part of the
    9:39  city of Marian's Miracle on Third and Fourth Street event this year. Um, on November 22nd, um, from 12 to 3 p.m. And
    9:46  we'll have all sorts of things. It's a very familyfriendly event. So, towards kids and families with that one. Um, and then finally, that was the gist of what
    9:55  I had to share, but I did want to pass around to the council members. We have some flyers for you all. I'm going to let Jamie take those and pass those out.
   10:03  And then I did bring an object from our museum. We thought it would be fun to bring something for you all to see to kind of highlight. Um, this is one of
   10:11  our favorites to bring out when we do presentations. This is a telegram that was sent on April 7th, 1960 from John F.
   10:19  Kennedy who was then a senator of Massachusetts um to Jack Edwards who was the mayor of Marian at the time in the
   10:28  60s and I'm just going to read it so everyone can hear from its address to Mayor Jack Edwards city hall Marian
   10:34  Indiana and he says the reception I received in Marian is finest I have received in any community in America my
   10:43  warm thanks to you all Jack Kennedy so I'm going to That's really cool.
   10:53  Councilman Brunner, do you remember when that came in?
   10:55  Yeah, that telegram. He's just out of college. We love you.
   11:01  I know you're joking, but we did actually give a presentation recently where one of the men was on the steps of the house. Wow.
   11:09  When JFK walked in and he greeted him directly and said, "Shouldn't you boys be in school?" as he was.
   11:24  So this is the original
   11:30  [laughter]
   11:31  my sweaty palms. That is really cool.
   11:34  And it's just so interesting to see like just how things used to be typed and uh that's really really cool.
   11:47  All right. Well, uh, anything else you'd like to share or That was fantastic.
   11:52  Yeah, I encourage everyone to go check out the history center and, uh, uh, it's very, very intriguing. Um, whether you're from here or not, this city is full of lots of lots of rich history.
   12:05  So, uh, yeah. Well, thank you so much. Everyone, give them a round. Just a question. Just a question. Kelsey, Kelsey, question.
   12:14  Tell me, tell me again, remind me again.
   12:16  How many how many photographs did you rescue from the Chronicle Tribune? Yeah.
   12:40  Like I said, that was an insane number of
   12:47  museum I'm happy.
   13:12  Great.
   13:13  Yeah. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. So, I'd love to get a photo with both of you. I do give him the heads up that that's mandatory.
   13:27  Marty, you're up in the middle.
   13:54  Thank you so much.
   14:06  [clears throat]
   14:24  There we go. Hold on.
   14:41  All right, moving on to the city employee spotlight. Uh, today we are featuring not just one employee, but we
   14:50  are featuring an entire uh, department. And I'd like to invite anyone that came all I see a good group
   14:59  in here from the street, citywide maintenance department. Come on up. There's I know some of you are in here.
   15:08  Come on up. Come all the way up here to the front.
   15:13  And while they're on their way up, um I I just wanted to share a few words.
   15:20  All the way up to the front here, we're going to put you in the TV lights. How about that?
   15:27  Come on up, gentlemen. Ma'am, I was in the front. I'm working my way back. [laughter]
   15:35  Well, welcome. Thank you for for coming tonight. Um, thank you, Randy, for coming. So, uh, I
   15:43  was, uh, uh, Regina reached out to me and pointed out a few really great things that have
   15:51  happened with our street citywide maintenance department. Uh Randy as well has shared some things and it's not normal we do an entire department but
   15:59  this was one where this was an absolute team effort and as Regina said there's no eye in team and I'm just going to
   16:07  read what I wrote. I kind of summarized what was given to me. Um, but Randy and his team have worked tirelessly to keep the city well-maintained
   16:16  uh, year round. But recently, they achieved a historic milestone by completing the MS4 audit with 100% no
   16:24  deficiencies. That's the first time in Marian's history after addressing a few issues within two days. And they also
   16:31  earned another perfect score on their annual sprinkler inspection thanks to teamwork and collaboration with Chief Carr. uh their dedication, commitment,
   16:39  and teamwork exemplify excellence and pride in serving this community. And uh we couldn't be more proud because we
   16:47  know it is a team effort. Randy doing a great job. But I know if I would say, Randy, what's the secret to this? He would say, all my employees and everyone
   16:55  that works well together. So Randy, would you like to share anything?
   16:59  You said it. It doesn't happen without them. Put the words out.
   17:03  Everybody's here, but yeah, it doesn't happen without those guys.
   17:06  Thank the mayor for build this team that counts for backing every choice we've made. Without that, it doesn't happen.
   17:13  Well, uh we've been definitely impressed with all the work that that you're doing and uh and and the rest of you. I know this was a day off, I think, for most of you. All of you.
   17:23  I'm glad you got the day off. Uh hope you were able to get caught up on some stuff today, but we appreciate you taking your time to come in tonight and
   17:31  um and being recognized. So, um, you know, I didn't want to just pick one of you and, um, and I appreciate I just
   17:37  want to give credit to Regina for, uh, really reaching out. She she advocated for your department and, uh, and at first I think I misunderstood and I
   17:46  think she was, I saw your name and then I replied about featuring you and then she's like, "No, the whole department like it's an I team. No, no, it's you."
   17:54  But it was like this audit and and everything first in Marian's history is a big deal. um this is what they you
   18:02  know live and breathe every single day and uh we can't keep these uh this city afloat without uh the hard work that you
   18:10  all put in. So thank you so much. Any council members want to share anything before we get a photo?
   18:14  That's I mean the perfect scores that's amazing you guys and for the first time in the history of our our city that's that's something to be proud of. I'm
   18:23  very proud of you guys honestly. You guys like
   18:33  Hey, that's in your hands, my man.
   18:36  All right. Uh, anyone else would like to share anything that's here tonight?
   18:42  We got we got good people down there and got She rolled in. She's big asset. She She
   18:50  turned things around, you know, a man running the show. Well, good.
   18:55  Could you guys would you mind uh just saying your name, introduce yourself, going around?
   18:59  I'm Billy Joe Ber. I did 33 years. I retired two years ago. I come back a year ago.
   19:06  Well, welcome back. Thank you. Yeah, I'm David Ray. I just started last year in November. So, I'm almost one year.
   19:14  So, not very old, but be here. Glad to have you. Thank you.
   19:22  These guys got a wide range of skills that I
   19:29  mean to carpentry these guys get it done. Good.
   19:36  Next. You're up next.
   19:52  So mostly AJ, he's a star. He's going to shine.
   19:57  All right. Good. So when you're all retiring, you know. Yeah. There you go. Well, good deal.
   20:03  Well, thank you so much, Regina, for sending the emails and going back and forth and uh uh you all deserve all the credit that's
   20:10  due. And uh it sounds like we got like you said a newer team and some good energy and you know half of the half the battle is having a good team that works together.
   20:19  We'll be no good fellers once that deep snow gets here and we get behind on Yeah, that's okay. It'll be a different story.
   20:26  This guy's saying the sword already in here. That's too early. So, [laughter] all right. Well, let's get a photo with all of you and um let you guys get back to your families.
   20:38  Actually, you know what? Just stay there. Just shift over.
   20:59  We have so much frame. Okay.
   21:08  All right. Good. All right.
   21:17  [applause]
   21:23  Thank you so much. Thanks for your service.
   21:30  Appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks for coming in tonight. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Thank you.
   21:42  Okay.
   21:48  All right. I know that always takes a little bit of time, but it's always well worth it. And we're going to move on to the consent agenda for the approval of
   21:55  minutes of the regular meeting from October 21st.
   21:59  Consideration of pre-approved claims and consideration of claims. Um, if there's no discussion, I'd entertain a motion.
   22:06  Mr. President, I'd like to make a motion that we accept the consent agenda in its entirety.
   22:11  Second. I have a motion by Councilman Calgill to approve the consent agenda. A second by Councilman Brunner. Any other discussion?
   22:21  Madame Deputy Clerk, roll call. Kane. Abstain. Marshall Ford. I.
   22:29  Brunner. I. Divine.
   22:33  Do we have to abstain for if we weren't here at the last meeting? Marty, you don't have to.
   22:38  Okay. I Whitten. Yes. Calgill.
   22:42  I McKinley. Yes.
   22:45  And moving on to committee reports. Do we have any committee reports?
   22:52  Councilwoman Divine.
   22:55  Um the border works met this week and the main business they did was they approved
   23:04  the purchase of um some equipment for the building department. I believe it was a trailer and then another I don't
   23:13  know if it was a full tractor or a piece of an attachment to the one that they have to help assist with um uh with the
   23:21  demolitions and breaking up concrete and and being able to actually take the bigger excavator to the different sites.
   23:29  Um they found the trailer they had wasn't heavy enough to be able to handle it and was causing them problems. So, they used the ARO money they already had
   23:37  budgeted for that. Um, the utility services board is meeting
   23:45  this week. Um, at the last meeting I was at, they did some uh updates on the
   23:51  different um SRF fund projects they had going on. Um, they started the pre-bid for the long-term control plan tank
   24:00  that's going in on the property. um that I think did we we closed vacated an
   24:09  alley or part of a street for where that project is going. Um they are
   24:16  looking at some sewage bombs which I think um I think did they they have to bring those to us anyway or was that brought at the last meeting?
   24:29  my time frame is kind of confused now with all the different meetings and things going on over the last couple weeks. Um,
   24:38  and then they reported that the H2O fund, which is a fundraiser that was started by the utility employees to help others afford their water bills, um,
   24:48  they received donations totaling almost $6,000 year to date. So, they were pretty proud of the money that the
   24:55  employees are putting into that and um and bringing in and then the matching funds that they're getting um to be able to continue to help the community with
   25:04  those bills. Um and then this they have another meeting this week, so I'll report on that one after that.
   25:15  Fantastic. Thank you so much. Any other committee reports?
   25:20  Councilman Brunner, we had a park board meeting yesterday.
   25:24  And the reason there was about 15 attorneys here is because of that park board meeting. So, uh, they'll be explaining to you what they're up to.
   25:33  So, uh, I'm just going to let them be able to tell us the whole story in just a little bit. How's that sound?
   25:40  Is that legal to have that many at one spot or It sounds like a lot of billable hours right now, too.
   25:51  Any other committee reports?
   25:55  All right. Fantastic. Then we're going to move on to unfinished business. Uh first one up is general ordinance
   26:03  26-2025, bonds for parks district, second reading and public hearing.
   26:09  An ordinance approving the issuance of bonds of the city of Marian Parks District and related matters. On October 6, 2025, the park and rec the park and
   26:18  recreation board of the park district of the city of Marian, Indiana adopted a resolution determining preliminarily to issue special taxing district bonds in
   26:27  one or more series in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $2 million to finance the construction, acquisition, renovation, installation,
   26:36  and equipping of improvements at various parks in the district, including a new municipal skate park and southside food truck. speaking, Joe Murphy, Chris
   26:44  Gryel, and a representative from Baker Tilly. Good evening. Welcome, Joe.
   26:49  Good evening. I am not an attorney, but uh I brought him if we need him. Um yeah, good good evening, council members. Uh Joe Murphy here, economic
   26:57  development director for the city. So, Aisha really covered it with that executive summary, but if you'll recall back to your October meeting, we approved the first reading for this bond
   27:05  ordinance. We're now coming back as statute requires for all ordinances to um pass it hopefully on second reading if we may suspend the rules. Um the
   27:14  project we're looking at financing here is the Southside Park and the skate park. The Southside Park would be a whole new park focused on food truck
   27:22  events as well as live music and other public events. Um and then during the the day-to-day course of the normal business week, it would just be a a public recreation site. And then the
   27:31  skate park would be a purpose-built skate park with um an eye towards creating a regional asset that would be attracting people from all over the state of Indiana to Marian for the
   27:40  purpose of of skating and biking. Um both of these projects are part of the the greater elevate Marian package and and the reason we're coming before you
   27:48  with this specific parks bond is because we do have an existing obligation that's about to roll off the books at the end of this year. And in instead of allowing
   27:56  that bond to roll off the books and allowing that property tax rate to drop by two percent, we're recommending that we keep that rate flat, issue new debt.
   28:04  That would allow our debt service to remain flat. So there's no increase in payment, no increase in taxes, but we do be we are able to capture new revenues
   28:12  to perform these projects. As you can see in your documents, uh not to exceed 2 million. Right now, we're anticipating project proceeds about 1.5 million
   28:21  dedicating $750,000 to each of the two respective projects and then probably another one to 150 uh 100 to $150,000 in
   28:31  issuance fees as well as um reserve money as part of that bond issuance. So, we'd be happy to answer any questions.
   28:38  Oh, one other comment. We like Councilman Brunner did mention, we did meet as a parks board yesterday. They held two public hearings on the confirmatory resolution as well as the
   28:46  appropriation for this bond and um after [music] closing those public hearings approved those two uh resolutions by unanimous consent. They also approve the
   28:55  form of the bond as well by unanimous consent. So they've fully authorized this approval and now it comes before you for final approval. So be happy to
   29:04  answer any questions otherwise. Thank you for your time.
   29:07  Great. Thank you so much Joe. um good explanation and um description of what's going on here before we go to the public hearing. Any council members have
   29:16  questions for Joe or Chris? Uh Vice President Ford, I'd rather speak to Joe since Chris just
   29:23  made partner. I don't think I can afford to speak to him unless unless he's getting bill is unless he's billing RDC
   29:31  instead of the city of Marion. If it's RDC, I'll let him get up and speak if he's billing them. But anyhow,
   29:38  congratulations, Chris. Um, I just Joe, I know we've gone over this a couple times. Um, do you have any hard numbers for the projects? I know I asked you last time we brought this up.
   29:49  Yeah. So, so to answer your question, not nothing definitive yet. So, we're at a process right now with the skate park where
   29:57  we've completed about 40% of the design process. So, we have a a fair estimate of what it's going to cost right now.
   30:04  Um, truth be told, that $750,000 we anticipate will cover kind of the the core components of the park. There are going to be some alternates that will
   30:12  probably take to full design and bid out, but likely will not be able to accomplish with this initial budget.
   30:17  Hopefully come back in additional phases and perform that work. Primarily, that's going to be the pump track. Um, Nick, you might care to speak on that more,
   30:24  but I don't know exactly what that component entails, but likely will not be included in part of the original construction on the southside park. uh a
   30:32  very similar situation where that $700,000 right now we have an estimated total project budget. If we were to perform all those works right now that's
   30:41  about 1.2 million. But the $700,000 we feel confident we'll be able to get the core components of that which is all of the hardcape work, all the concrete work
   30:50  as well as the turf lawn and some of the amenities that are going to come along with that. What's likely going to have to occur at an additional phase is going
   30:57  to be the covered awning for the actual concert venue stage. that's going to be part of that park fixture in in years to come. So, right now, again, with the 1.5
   31:06  million across the two projects, we feel very confident we'll be able to accomplish kind of a very strong phase one um with likely need to perform some additional works in the future if we're
   31:15  going to fully realize the renderings and the concepts that have been shared through the Elevate Marion proposal and other u project discussions throughout the last month or so.
   31:24  Great. Thank you very much. I appreciate it, Joe.
   31:29  Yeah. But, uh, the skate park's kind of been something I've pushed for and we'll call it, for lack of better words, my
   31:36  baby, so to speak. Um, yeah, the we're estimating the total skate park, um,
   31:43  about 1.25 million. That's including the pump track and everything. My hope is that we can do it all at one time. It
   31:50  would probably save us since the manpower will be here, you know, just some of that overhead uh, expense, but
   31:57  uh, about a 1.25 25 tow for the skatepark and it would make it the state's second largest skate park only to Evansville which is uh three four
   32:07  hours away uh larger than any skate park in the rest of the state other than Evansville. So definitely would be a regional attraction. Uh it is a concrete
   32:16  skate park. Uh I know some of the council members are very familiar.
   32:19  They've been at some of the meetings we've had. Um but that's the estimate.
   32:23  you know, you but we had this estimate done earlier this year. Um, but as we know, you know, labor and concrete can go up and down. So, we don't have a hard
   32:32  hard number yet, and we we didn't want to spend the time and money to get that until we knew we had some funding for it. So, this is the initial funding for
   32:41  that. So, all right, any other questions before we open it to public hearing?
   32:50  All right, sounds great. We'll open it to the public hearing. If you'd like to speak on this bond for the Southside Food Truck Park in skate park, you're
   32:59  welcome to make your way to the microphone now.
   33:06  Come on up to the microphone, state your name, address, and you have three minutes.
   33:11  Good evening. I'm Could you turn the mic on, please? Yes. Thank you.
   33:16  Good evening. I'm Joselyn Whitaker and I am speaking against this at this time and the reason I'm speaking against it
   33:26  is this. We have a bond about to roll off. Why can't we let that bond roll off
   33:34  and wait? You compare the second largest to the city of Evansville. Evansville is the third largest city in the state.
   33:44  We're talking millions of people. I believe is 2.5.
   33:49  Let's talk about property tax. We just had property tax cut in the state of Indiana. We, this board, just did a 1%
   33:59  food and beverage tax for the county that has gone up. Marian itself is 27.8%
   34:08  in poverty. We have a shutdown in the government right now. Next year we are
   34:15  going to be hit with different information because the tax revenue is not going to come in from property tax
   34:24  success. So we're going to have a fire department. We're going to have a library that is a wonderful library.
   34:30  We're going to have a fire department and a school department and overall taxes will be dropping. I don't believe
   34:38  we are increasing in property. What we are doing is losing people and when we
   34:46  lose people the property stays but we are adding debt to it. I'm a fiscal
   34:54  conservative and I think we all need to be at this time and stage in our community. I served on this board. I
   35:02  understand finance and what scares me is going into debt when we know there will
   35:09  be loss in revenue and if there's loss in revenue where are the circuit breakers and where are the people and
   35:16  how will we be able to afford all of that I really don't think at this time
   35:24  your project you said your baby should be funded based on what is going on in this state
   35:33  and in the economy. I believe the baby can wait. Thank you. Thank you.
   35:43  Anybody else like to come to the microphone if you could when you get to the microphone if you could uh state your name, address, and you have three minutes.
   35:52  I'm Marcus Garcia. I am 51 years old.
   35:55  I've lived here since 1988 with the GM uh transfers. I grew up skateboarding around here. And you know what, ma'am,
   36:04  you're right. We don't know what's going to happen. But I tell you what, why should we live in fear? Why should we be afraid of what's going to happen?
   36:13  Taxes have gone up.
   36:16  You know what? Indiana's still what? 7% sales tax if I'm not mistaken. Still one of the lowest in the country. Again, why
   36:25  should we live in fear? This is a good project to help the younger generation
   36:33  stay off the streets. And you know, there's a whole group of us over here.
   36:38  Unfortunately, the numbers aren't here like they were the first time, but there is a need for this skate park. We've got
   36:46  plenty of basketball courts, tennis courts, pickle ball. You know, they just tore down a skatepark in Cookamo and it had a history that was known worldwide.
   36:58  Now, some of you guys obviously we know aren't into skateboarding. That's natural. But it is an upand cominging
   37:05  sport and there are actually studies that show
   37:10  upper 30s to to middle age does have a mental health benefit to it. It's
   37:19  athletic. It gets it helps social um structure. You learn to you're off your phones. You're outside. You're enjoying
   37:27  the weather. Meeting new people. Part of part of skateboarding is traveling. I have met friends all over the US from skateboarding.
   37:37  And you know, you can't take back those memories. And you know, we all have we're all I'm a grandpa now. So my kids
   37:46  unfortunately did not grow up skateboarding, but you know, maybe my grandkids might. These gentlemen over here may have kids one day. Their kids
   37:54  might skateboard. You know, it's it's it's I've grown up through the the bad low time of it when people made fun of
   38:01  us to where now it's accepted and it's on the Olympics. It's on ESPN. And you know, you're right, man. Times are tough.
   38:12  But this is how we escape that.
   38:19  I'm going on 10 months sober.
   38:23  Every Saturday I go skate. Skateboarding is part of my therapy.
   38:28  I use it. I look forward to going skateboarding every Saturday or Sunday.
   38:33  Once a week I'm going skateboarding. And again, it goes back to mental health. I mean, if I didn't have skateboarding and
   38:41  my homies over here helping me, 10 seconds, it might not be this way. Peace. Thank you. And I appreciate every one of you
   38:49  guys. Whether or not it goes or not, I appreciate you. Thank you.
   38:53  But please, we need Thank you.
   38:56  Thank you so much. All right, microphone's still open. If you could say your name, address, and you have three minutes.
   39:02  Hello, my name is Andrew Low. I'm a 35-year-old resident of Marin, Indiana.
   39:06  I was born and raised here. I was actually raised a block away from the original skate park on 14th and Hill.
   39:12  And I'm all for the advocating of skateboarding and teaching people the future. And I've done it to my best
   39:20  ability. So with this skate park being improved and implemented into the community, it's going to implement that many more of the younger citizens that
   39:28  are going to end up growing into your positions eventually one day. A structure in life that they will never learn outside of skateboarding or
   39:36  extracurricular activity. We have a problem with the the youth nowadays sits inside and plays video games and plays
   39:44  on their cell phones 247. They don't learn any social constructs. They don't learn how to get out into the community
   39:51  and develop with their peers. For me, skateboarding, I've been 20 years deep.
   39:58  I I don't turn back. I'm 35 years old and I have absolutely no plans on quitting or stopping teaching people how
   40:05  to skate and try to fill my shoes in the in the process. So, I know it's probably
   40:11  a big project to chunk off all at once and I understand where you're coming from. may be doing it in in se in
   40:18  situations instead of all at once, but at the same time, if it's if it's practical to do all at once, it would be
   40:26  definitely a benefit to the society around us. It will bring and attract a large crew and a crowd from many states
   40:35  over. And I can attest to that because I travel many states over quite quite often a month to skate all these other
   40:43  new skate parks. And I see the amount of people that they are bringing. It's almost the skate parks are huge now. And
   40:51  there's so many people there that it's almost hard to still skate because it's attracting that many more people. So I'm
   41:00  I'm not sure what what's in the budget or what's in the future. And at the same situation, I'm not against it. So
   41:09  hopefully we can go forward with it and move forward into the future of what life is going to be like outside of, you
   41:17  know, the practical basketball and baseball because this is a sport. It's not only just an art form. It's a way of
   41:24  life and it it it will teach you so many fundamental practices in life. So hopefully we can go somewhere.
   41:33  Thank you so much. Appreciate that. to it. All right. Welcome to the microphone.
   41:41  Your name, address, and you have three minutes.
   41:43  Address, 7 Valley Court. Is that what you said?
   41:47  Name, address, and you have three minutes.
   41:48  Guy Allwine, Seven Valley Court. Uh, I'm a 31 I'm 31 years old. I've lived in this town my entire life. I'm here to get to speak against this proposed bond.
   41:58  The reason I'm here today is con is to convince this council and everyone else here that this proposed skate park is a frivolous expense that doesn't need to
   42:05  be made at this time. Above all, it should not be paid for by the hardworking taxpayers of Marian. I frequented the old skate park that was
   42:12  located on South Valley Avenue for many years before it was moved to near the splash pad. Uh I'll start with the city
   42:20  of Marian already had a skate park, which I just spoke on, uh that was completely fenced in, had a concrete pad, spann the entire which spanned the
   42:27  entire area of the actual skate park, had plenty of attractions, halfpipe, quarter pipe, boxes, rails. It had everything a skater could ask for
   42:35  besides a bowl, a concrete bowl. It did not have that. So, at some point, the city decided to move this skate park from 14th Street and South Valley Avenue
   42:44  to 24th in Adams. The reasons the city gave the people for moving the skatepark was vandalism, crime, as well as it being difficult and costly to maintain.
   42:53  If the previous skate park was difficult to maintain and costly to maintain with a smaller footprint, where will the money for this skatepark's maintenance
   43:00  come from throughout the next 10 to 15 years after it's completed and all the money has been spent?
   43:07  How often is our current skate park used daily or weekly? Can we get a study to see how many people actually go to our skatepark now or how how many wanted a
   43:16  skate park versus financing infrastructure upgrades or bringing in more jobs?
   43:22  Google searches for skate parks from 2004 to 2021 have dropped over 85% which very well indicates fewer people are skateboarding.
   43:32  Anticipation uh participation numbers are suffering.
   43:35  Fewer skaters are going to the skate park uh than in uh past times. In the seven years between 2006 and 2014, the
   43:42  number of participants aged between 6 and 17 years old decreased from 8.75 million to less than 4 million. And that
   43:50  was a while ago when skating was, in my opinion, bigger, more popular. Youth participation dropped 50% in the last
   43:58  seven years of skateboarding. That's a statistic found on gokate.com.
   44:02  After the skate park was moved to the Adam Street location, it became almost unusable. This was due to it being on a large hill directly to next to and above
   44:11  Adam Street. This created a problem because it wasn't fenced in with skateboards being launched out into traffic because like I said, the city
   44:19  didn't choose to fence in that newly made area. They just kind of moved what was already there and just kind of threw it up there. The city of Mary needs to
   44:27  focus on bringing in more high-paying jobs and repairing the current infrastructure we have and less focus on seasonal attractions. Why not focus on
   44:35  making Matter Park the greatest park in the state? Thank you. That's all I have. Appreciate that. Thank you.
   44:48  All right. Welcome. If you could just state your name, address, you have three minutes. Hello, council. My name is Sammy Bracie.
   44:54  I'm from Portland, Indiana. I'm a senior at Indiana Westland University, and I'm here to support the skate park. Uh, I
   45:02  think there's this divide and barrier between IU as a college and the city of Marian. Uh, not saying if that's a
   45:10  Marian problem or an IW problem, but for me personally, going to the skate park here in Marian the last four years has
   45:17  been a really good way to kind of bridge a connection between me and the city and I feel that a lot a lot of other IU
   45:25  students feel the same way. Uh, I think skateboarding is a form of self-expression and I think that it's
   45:32  important that the youth are able to do that in a productive, safe manner and I think this new skateboard park can help
   45:41  accomplish that. Uh, the current park is I think reasons for people maybe not being out there. There's a big sand pit
   45:48  in the middle. The gravel is cracked. I think the need for the skate park is a new one is is obviously there. Uh, Muny
   45:55  just built a new skatepark. they're doing fine maintaining it with the community. There's always a lot of people there. I don't see why it would
   46:02  be any different here in Marian. Uh, additionally, I'm I'm from Portland, so I I go to college here. Uh, but when I'm
   46:10  in Portland and I'm not in college, I have to drive 40 minutes an hour to my or Hartford City for the nearest
   46:17  skatepark. The, uh, Portland skatepark got tore down years ago. So, I think the notion that people within the state and
   46:25  even outside of the state would drive far just to get to a skate park, especially the second biggest skate park is very feasible and that there would be
   46:34  some economic development and incentives there in that regard. So yeah, just just coming out in support of that and saying
   46:41  that I think it would be it would be really good for the community for for getting people involved and from the perspective of of an IW student, maybe
   46:50  getting more of a a bridge between the city of Marian and then some of the younger college students of which there
   46:56  are a lot that skate and they skate on campus. They just don't feel safe or as comfortable in the current escape park
   47:05  that we have than we would in this new one. Thank you for your time. Great. Thank you so much.
   47:18  Good evening. You have to state your name, address, and you have three minutes.
   47:21  My name is Ethan Roush, 515 East Val Lane. Um, I'm all for the skate park.
   47:28  Skateboarding is so important to me. Um, I met like I
   47:35  call my second family. I met so many brothers in skateboarding. They taught me how to skateboard. They they keep on
   47:44  showing me new tricks. I am also 10 months sober and I struggle really hard
   47:52  with like drinking and stuff. not trying to drink and skateboarding is there for me.
   47:59  I reach out to to my homies and I say, "Hey, let's skate." And when I go when I get on that board, like I free my mind.
   48:11  Everything's all better. It it heals me.
   48:14  It fixes me. And then it makes my sobriety stronger. So I It just It helps
   48:21  me out with that. Um, I do not agree with him in the yellow shirt.
   48:28  Uh, we use that skate park. It's raggedy. It's dangerous, but we still use it cuz that's all what we have in
   48:35  our little small town. And I used to skate every single day there when I was younger
   48:44  from when it from daytime till night, like 12 hours a day. And then obviously I grew up had kids and stuff like that.
   48:53  But I try to skate at that park like every weekend. So that park does get used almost every day by us.
   49:04  And we have to drive like hours away for better parks. And if we get this park
   49:11  built, I believe the other towns and cities will come here and skate with us.
   49:18  Um, I'm all for this park. Uh, I think it's going to um help the kids um stay off
   49:28  the drugs. Drugs is really big in this town. I think it will help um in that type of way. Get the kids off streets,
   49:37  get physical, learn new hobbies that they didn't think that they would uh learn or want to try.
   49:46  Um, it's really good socializing. You meet a new person every day when you skateboard. Um, it's kind of like a big family.
   49:57  Um, what else can I say?
   50:02  I have I have a pretty big family. I have four kids and I would love to take my kids out to the new skate park. And I have a 5-year-old daughter.
   50:12  10 seconds. She always comes to skate park with me and I would love to teach her how to skateboard and have her at that new park. So, I'm all for the park.
   50:22  So, thank you. Thank you so much. Appreciate that.
   50:30  Would anyone else like to speak? Welcome.
   50:35  State your name, address, and you have three minutes.
   50:38  My name is Mark Calendarer. I live on 20004 South Valley Avenue. I too have a big family. I have 12 kids if you count
   50:47  grandkids. I also pay a lot in property taxes, probably one of the higher people who pay property taxes in the community.
   50:54  I'm against the proposal, mainly because I currently spend a good deal of time cleaning up the current uh skate park.
   51:01  If you see somebody lugging around a garbage can near that skate park and dressed like a hobo, it's probably me.
   51:07  Uh, so I spent a lot of time cleaning it up. I pay a lot in property taxes. I have a lot of kids. None of them use the skate park. Most of that money I spend
   51:16  on their education, frankly. But, uh, that would be why I'm against it.
   51:21  Furthermore, um, I would add I would probably echo u Miss Whitaker's Johnson's points. Um, the town loses I I
   51:31  forget the numbers. I haven't checked in a while, but the town loses about 25 to 50 households per year. I think the last time I looked at the numbers a few
   51:39  months ago, which means your tax revenue is going down. Um, your property has held firm. Sorry, I ran to get here, so
   51:47  I'm I'm windy. I don't run very I'm getting old. Um, but that means your your property taxes are coming down as
   51:54  well. Um, I do own a few properties in town and um, I watch the market pretty closely. I work with a few developers
   52:02  for that and uh, I think it would be better to just hold fast and not move at this time and let that bond roll off.
   52:11  Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate that.
   52:18  Welcome. Uh, set your name, address, and you have three minutes.
   52:21  Thank you, Mr. President. Austin uh I live just down the road at Ridley Tower and I've been a resident here in Marion
   52:28  for my whole life and I have come here today to support the project for the skate park uh for a few different
   52:35  reasons. Um, I agree with what's been said about the economic benefit of the state park of the skate park bringing in
   52:43  people from surrounding areas with it being one of the biggest and best in the state as well as the um quality of life
   52:51  benefit that it'll bring to our residents and kids, you know, keeping them off the streets and off their
   52:57  phones and um uh you know, outside. And uh but I do want to just point out one
   53:06  uh what I think is a underappreciated uh benefit of this um particularly because there was a point made about uh wanting
   53:14  the city to focus more on bringing more jobs. Um I currently serve as a board member on
   53:22  the Grant County Economic Growth Council and I'm not here to represent them. This is just my own personal opinion, but I
   53:30  have a lot of conversations with other board members and with the president of the council on how to bring more businesses, how to encourage more
   53:38  businesses to come to Marion. And one of the most common questions that site selectors ask um this is coming from our
   53:46  president and um actually he says the first question that many of them ask is what kind of amenities does Marian have
   53:54  for our employees? So quality of life is something that employers are thinking a lot about and it's one of the um number
   54:02  one considerations for them uh when they're thinking about moving their business to Marion. And so I just wanted to make that point. I think it's um
   54:10  important to improve the quality of life here and to build on the momentum that we have with the Elevate initiative. And
   54:17  um so I think with that momentum, now is the time to do that. So thank you. Thank you so much. Appreciate that.
   54:27  Microphone still open.
   54:34  Good evening. Welcome. Name, address in, and 3 minutes.
   54:37  Yes. My name is Hayden Sloop. Uh, 622 Bond Avenue. Um, I'm here. I am for the skatepark being built. So, currently,
   54:45  um, myself, I am investing into a skateboard shop downtown Marian. Will be
   54:52  located in the Boston Hill Center. And I'm really hoping that we can come together as a skateboard shop and a skateboard park for Marion which will
   55:01  attract plenty. So just like it is scary. It is something you know I'm a lot smaller than a big group and I'm
   55:09  doing a whole store by myself. So you know I am here for it. Hopefully the the store could turn into multiple jobs over
   55:16  the coming years. And I just do want to say I support. So great. Thank you so much. Appreciate that.
   55:27  Public hearing still going. If you'd like to speak, now is your opportunity.
   55:32  [clears throat]
   55:34  Good evening. Name, address, and three minutes.
   55:37  Hello, my name is Jeremy Spencer. I live at 978 South, 372 East. And as of tomorrow, I'll be a resident of Marion
   55:45  for 53 years. Um, in that time, um, when I grew up, uh, we spent most of our days out on on those streets and you came home when the the street lights came on.
   55:57  Um, today I see kids locked up on their phones. They're in their house. There's no social interaction.
   56:04  Um, and I think this is something that saddens my heart. This is something that these kids need to get out and enjoy
   56:11  their their community, right? Our common unity, right? Um, something that we used to do as kids was, um, the generation
   56:19  before me cruised the square and then they were kicked off the square and then we went to the mall. That was my generation. And then we were run off the
   56:27  mall. Um, so if we're not going to invest in something for our children to do, what are we investing in? Um, I
   56:35  think it takes this community to invest in itself and the things that these children enjoy. Um, I tried
   56:43  skateboarding, likely to kill myself trying it. Um, so I didn't stay doing it, but we didn't have something like
   56:49  that at that time. Um, I see my son that has a passion. He has a passion for
   56:56  skateboarding. And I see um guys like Marcus and Andy that when I was not there for him and I was lost in my
   57:05  addiction and I am a person in long-term recovery that's approaching seven years and 10 days. Um, I'm thankful for these
   57:14  gentlemen that were there that taught him how to skate, that invested in him, and uh, I think it would be an injustice
   57:21  to the community if we don't support our children and um, invest in them. Thank you so much.
   57:33  Anyone else like to speak? Microphone is still open.
   57:41  No, sorry. [laughter] Three minutes per person.
   57:45  Okay, I'm not seeing anyone move. So, it's your last opportunity.
   57:58  All right, state your name, address. Three minutes.
   58:01  My name's uh Kane Spencer. I live in Gas City, 107 East South Sea Street. And one thing I just want to shed light on, I'm
   58:08  sure you guys heard earlier within the year, a buddy of mine, Leo Madam Morris, was sadly taken from us.
   58:16  And that put me in a deep part of my life. One of probably one of the worst moments of my life I've been through.
   58:24  Not for just me, but my whole family, my friends.
   58:29  It separated me from skateboarding. And these people back over here are who got me in into it again.
   58:36  I'm shaking because my anxiety is going through the roof right now.
   58:40  But um I want to shed light on the fact that the driver of the murderer who killed my
   58:47  friend, he skated and he didn't have a community that had a park that we could potentially have.
   58:55  And I really believe that the skate park can do a lot for our community. And what matters is the kids because they are the future of this community.
   59:03  So, I'm done. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate that.
   59:11  Anybody else? Last call.
   59:21  Not seeing anyone else move forward.
   59:22  We're going to go ahead and close the public hearing. Any council members? Councilman Calg.
   59:31  Yeah, I I I need to on this. Um I'm grateful for everybody spoke but whether it was for or against either way but you
   59:40  know we the ones that are against I hear you know well we're losing people and we're doing this. That's the problem with Marion. We're losing people because
   59:49  we're not doing anything. Yes sir. I disagree with you. I am for this. I am for the other projects. But Joe and
   59:58  Chris and Andy, everybody, there's a lot of work, a lot of research that goes into this. We don't do any of this just because it sounds good. And if
 1:00:07  Marian doesn't start doing some of the things that all these other cities are doing that are growing people and that are getting bigger,
 1:00:16  we're going to stay right where we're at. And it's never going to get any bigger. I support this project 100% and I'm supporting the projects that are coming up.
 1:00:25  Any other council members? Yes, sir. Mr. President, go ahead.
 1:00:31  I kind of liken this to uh maybe going to church. If you go to church and you have kids, what church
 1:00:39  are you going to go to? Are you going to go to a church that doesn't have a kids program?
 1:00:45  What are they going to do?
 1:00:49  When you travel and you look for a hotel to stay at and you have kids, what are
 1:00:57  you gonna look for? You gonna look for one for that has a swimming pool, maybe things for the kids to do?
 1:01:06  The same way with our neighborhoods, uh you move into a city that that doesn't
 1:01:14  have any parks, what are your kids going to do?
 1:01:19  here again. And they've it's been mentioned tonight. Yeah. They're going to sit at home. They're going to watch TV. They're going to get on their cell phones. They're not going to interact with anybody.
 1:01:32  I am for this 100%.
 1:01:36  This provides just another caveat for businesses to
 1:01:42  look at Marian Indiana and say, "Hey, Marian's got something going on." You
 1:01:48  know, and having the the second largest
 1:01:53  [snorts]
 1:01:53  skate park in the in the in the state, that's going to draw a lot of people from all over the state and multiple states.
 1:02:03  Evansville That's a long ways to travel. Evansville is is about a little over 115,000 people. That's all Evansville is.
 1:02:14  Um so we have to provide things to do. We have to provide
 1:02:24  amenities within our city to attract businesses.
 1:02:30  It's been proven time and time again, the cities that are successful in
 1:02:37  Indiana, in multiple states around us, have the amenities that draw those businesses because that's what their employees want.
 1:02:49  And for too long, wow, for the last 40 years, we've done nothing.
 1:02:58  We have done nothing to attract businesses. Yes, everybody wants this.
 1:03:03  Where's the factories at? We have to employ people. Hey, look guys. You're not going to you're not going to employ anybody unless you provide amenities.
 1:03:12  So, let's move forward with this project. Thank you, Mr. President.
 1:03:17  Thank you. Other council members, questions, comments, opinions?
 1:03:23  Councilwoman Divine. And remind me Joe, this is um even though it's a bond rolling off and this is a new bond, this
 1:03:31  is being paid for by that sales tax we approved. Correct. It's it's not coming from property tax or is this coming from property tax?
 1:03:41  So the parks board has a parks district which is a special taxing district. So they have their own established tax rate that's separate from the general fund
 1:03:49  rate which funds the primary that's the primary funer of your budget. That tax rate is what funds this new debt. So, it's currently sitting at a level that
 1:03:58  if this bond were to roll off would decrease slightly by about two cents per um dollar of assessed value.
 1:04:06  What we're proposing is that we issue new debt to keep that rate flat. So, it wouldn't be a new tax or an increase in tax. It would remain at its current
 1:04:14  level and allow us to capture new revenues to fund these projects. Um, and then what you might be referencing is that as part of the food and beverage
 1:04:23  tax, what we've done is commit to allocating probably about4 to $500,000 a year to the maintenance of all of our
 1:04:32  parks facilities moving forward out of that budget. So, in terms of the long-term upkeep and maintenance of both the skate park as well as the Southside
 1:04:39  Park in addition to all our other parks will be funded out of food and beverage tax.
 1:04:46  So, if we allowed the property tax to roll off, for lack of better, then we
 1:04:54  would have no parks board tax at all coming in on property taxes or would it just be a percentage of it?
 1:05:02  Do you know that?
 1:05:06  I'm gonna have Andy Mouser come up and answer that specifically. He'll be able to go in a little bit better detail than I could. Okay.
 1:05:12  Andy Mouser with Baker Tilly. we serve as financial adviser to the city and the redevelopment commission. So, um if that old debt did fall away, that three cents
 1:05:21  on the tax rate um would not be renewed um and would go away. I I would note that that is, you know, three cents per
 1:05:28  $100 of assessed value and that is part of the larger city tax rate. So, if I'm a taxpayer within the city of Marian, I
 1:05:35  pay um county property taxes, city property taxes, school property taxes, and altogether, depending on where you are in the city of Marian, that tax
 1:05:44  rate's around $4.60 to $4.80. So, again, we're talking um three cents on that
 1:05:50  $460 or $480 um tax rate. Um many of your taxpayers as well are at the property tax caps. So even if there was
 1:05:58  a reduction in that rate, many of your taxpayers are already paying up to that maximum 1% um that they can pay under um
 1:06:06  Indiana um the state constitution with the um circuit breaker tax cap. So um for some taxpayers, yes, it is possible that a 3cent reduction um could be a
 1:06:15  slight decrease in property tax bills, but for many of your taxpayers, they're already at that cap and they would remain at that cap even with the
 1:06:22  reduction in tax rate. Could you could you repeat that one more time? Are you saying that for most of our population,
 1:06:31  their property taxes will not go up with this?
 1:06:35  Correct. Yeah, I think it's safe to say um nobody's property taxes will go up due to this. Um this is a renewal of that existing tax rate. So you're um you
 1:06:43  had a 2005 bond was refunded in 2014. Um that bond for the last 20 years has had that rate in place. Um and that rate's
 1:06:51  actually come down several cents. um across that 20-year period, it's a renewal of that existing rate, so it's not an increase. Um and again, many of
 1:07:00  your taxpayers are at the property tax caps. Um so again, we would we would not anticipate any increase due to this specific project.
 1:07:11  Great. Thank you. Any other council members questions for Andy while he's up there? Okay. Thank you so much.
 1:07:21  Any other council members?
 1:07:29  add a few things. Um, appreciate other council members speaking. Um, making some good points. Um,
 1:07:38  first off, I've been waiting for you to speak. I want to welcome Councilman uh Kaine back and it's good to see you back
 1:07:45  and and doing very well. So, uh, I was going to say some earlier, but I'm going to wait till he talks and then address.
 1:07:50  So, I'm just really glad to have him back. So, welcome. Um, first off, on this skate park, um, [clears throat]
 1:07:59  uh, we have tried for eight grants. I will say we have been working on this skate park endeavor for, well, I guess
 1:08:07  since we took office almost two years ago. Um, this was a seed planted in me well over two years ago. Um, two of my
 1:08:14  kids are avid BMX and skateboarders and I've been taking them to that old park for years when they were younger. Um, so
 1:08:22  I've witnessed it firsthand and seen the the moving of the skate park, the decline of the skate park. Um, to
 1:08:30  nobody's fault, it's just the way those were built, they don't last.
 1:08:34  Um and and basically them nearly begging me to go, "We need a good skate park."
 1:08:42  Specifically, they really like hunger skate parks and okay, tell me all about it. I've never done it. I don't know anything about it
 1:08:51  and I probably never will uh for my own safety.
 1:08:56  But I started doing more research and started figuring out where all these hunger skate parks are and really what they do in the community. There is
 1:09:03  to get to this point right now is a big big deal. Um there has been a lot and a lot of work and a lot of communication
 1:09:12  done leading up to today for the last two years. Lots of communication with hunger. Um I have talked to other
 1:09:20  cities, other city council presidents, other parks directors and other cities that have these skate parks and really done a lot of homework. Every single
 1:09:28  city that has put one of these in said it was one of the best decisions they've ever made. Ever.
 1:09:36  Like emphatically, I didn't even plant that in like so tell me what's done for city. Wow. We would do it again 100%.
 1:09:43  One of the best decisions we've ever made. And that's what really sold me on to continue pushing for this. And I
 1:09:50  appreciate the mayor um seeing that vision and coming on board. Joe, who's done a lot of work as well. Um, a whole
 1:09:58  team behind all of this. But I wanted the community to know that we're not just we didn't just cut the line and go,
 1:10:05  "Ah, let's just try and get this off of a park bond." Um, we've tried eight different grants. Our grant um writer,
 1:10:14  Dr. Jeff Reyes, has done a phenomenal job so far. We haven't gotten any yet. I think we have a few remaining. Um, but it's not for a lack of effort. We're
 1:10:23  really trying to get grant money. I've also tried to solicit businesses for naming rights. So, if you're listening or you know somebody, we're looking for
 1:10:31  a business to if they want to call this the Acme skate park, then show us the money and and we would take your
 1:10:39  sponsorship. So, we're we really would love some private investment. But just to kind of go back real quick on some of the things were said and recap. Um
 1:10:48  appreciate Councilman Calgill saying this, but and I've said this in other meetings and and very passionately, but um
 1:10:55  the mentality of do nothing has been our problem. And we have been bleeding residents because why? They go to
 1:11:04  communities where they see there's things for my kids to do. There's a reason Hamilton County gets talked about all the time. Fort Wayne is back on the
 1:11:12  rise again. Their river district is uh is completely changed in the last 10 years because they're investing in their
 1:11:20  youth, investing in their community. And yes, sometimes it requires a bond. Um
 1:11:28  we cannot let the fear us in making bold decisions. November 5th of 2024
 1:11:38  or of 2023, the voters of this city voted on a mandate for change. We're all sitting here right now. Many of us knew
 1:11:45  a new mayor and they said we want change. We're tired of the same old same old.
 1:11:53  And this is what we're doing. We're delivering on that mandate of we're going to make change in this city. We're going to move this city forward. And
 1:12:00  we're going to be proud to say we're from Marion again. Because when I moved here, it wasn't that way.
 1:12:09  I've said this before, I'll say it again. When I moved here, I felt depressed. I mean, people like, why'd you come here? There's nothing to do.
 1:12:17  Um, which is another reason it motivated me to sit here right now is to be part of that change. And to speak on the old
 1:12:25  park or the current park, I hopefully we can call it the old park. Um, it's wooden. It falls apart. It doesn't
 1:12:33  withhold the wear and tear of BMX and and skateboarding. That's why we're looking at concrete. The maintenance, it's actually these skateparks are very
 1:12:41  low maintenance. You just have to seal the concrete every couple years and that's it.
 1:12:48  I mean, that that's it. You put a sealer on it and it's I think Hunger told us it's sometimes depending on the size of
 1:12:56  the skatepark about $5,000 to seal it every couple years. a drop in the bucket. That maintenance can be paid with food and beverage tax.
 1:13:05  Um, I'm sure we could probably get a donation for $5,000 to do that as well.
 1:13:10  Uh, I appreciate the gentleman coming up from Indiana Wesley. I had not even thought of that. I can't believe it. But what a bridge between the college
 1:13:18  community and Marion to bring them here and also to help Indiana wine attract students.
 1:13:25  We have a gentleman once invest in his skate shop. I've seen other communities that have skate and BMX shops that are thriving and those skate and bike shops
 1:13:34  actually are kind of like that rally point for the community. And these skate shops and bike shops actually have competitions. They do bike giveaways. It
 1:13:42  is a it's more than just I don't want to There's a community, but we want this community to grow, right? Um, we want
 1:13:51  little kids to come out and ride the little bikes around the pump track and stay off of their iPads, right? How many of us go to a restaurant, no offense,
 1:13:59  and kids can't get eaten pizza and can't get his eye off the iPad, right? That's the world we live in. We're in the iPad
 1:14:07  cell phone culture and this is a way to get away from that. Um, the definition of elevate Marion, as may the mayor has
 1:14:14  said, is to elevate Marion and that's what we're here to do. And I I I knew the answer to Andy's question. I just
 1:14:22  wanted you to say it. This is not increasing anyone's taxes. Um I would say my strongest point for this
 1:14:30  I had I can't remember who it was. A gentleman talked about Mod Park. Um Councilman Klein's not here to be proud of me. I said it properly. Mo Park, not Matter Park. It's M Park.
 1:14:41  Uh but if you've ever been to Mod Park, you've gone to Friendship Corner, which is that giant playground
 1:14:48  You would not have that playground if it wasn't for this bond. This bond originally funded that playground. If you've ever been to the splash house,
 1:14:57  the water park, you would not have that splash house if it wasn't for this bond.
 1:15:02  Those were investments in our community that we are proud of. Somebody said, "I'm let's invest in model park." Well, we did. And you know how we did this
 1:15:11  same bond. And I hope in 10 or 20 years somebody else is sitting up here and going, "Yeah, remember that skate park
 1:15:19  that everyone still really loves? That's how we pay for it was this bond and continue that forward." Um, and so that's just how things have to get done,
 1:15:27  right? We have to invest in our community. So, uh, I think we've driven this point long enough. I did want to say, uh, I I recognize and congratulate
 1:15:36  those of you that talked about soberness, and I do, uh, really appreciate you sharing that. I know it's not an easy thing to share that and it can feel vulnerable, but commend you.
 1:15:46  I'm proud of you for saying that and and maybe motivating others that were in your shoes to find some community as well. So, we really appreciate that. Uh
 1:15:54  that's all I have to say. Any other council members?
 1:16:00  All right. With nothing else, I would entertain a motion.
 1:16:03  Mr. President, I would like to make a motion that we suspend the rules on general ordinance 26 2025. Second.
 1:16:11  Motion to suspend the rules by Councilman Calgill. A second by Councilman Kaine. Any discussion?
 1:16:19  Madame Deputy Clerk, roll call.
 1:16:21  Kane, I. Forice. I. Runner. I. Divine. Yes. Whitten. Yes. Calgill. I.
 1:16:29  McKinley.
 1:16:30  Yes. The rules have been suspended. I'd entertain another motion.
 1:16:34  Mr. President, I'd now like to make a motion that we pass general ordinance 26 2025. Second
 1:16:41  motion to pass general ordinance 26 2025 by Councilman Calgo. Second by Councilman Kaine.
 1:16:49  Madame Deputy Clerk, roll call.
 1:16:51  Kane I. Forice. I. Runner. I. Divine. Yes. Whitten. Yes. Calgill. I. Mckenley.
 1:17:00  Yes. General ordinance 26205 has passed.
 1:17:04  Thank you everyone. Whether you're for or against it, we appreciate you being here tonight. Thank you.
 1:17:11  Moving on to additional appropriation 15-2025, additional appropriation for transportation. Second reading and public hearing.
 1:17:20  An additional appropriation for the city of Marian Transportation Department. We need to address an issue with the transportation budget for account 2418.
 1:17:29  The 2022 audit report required that the transportation has its own dedicated fund. However, by late 2023, the 2024
 1:17:37  budget had already been completed and submitted to the council. As a result, no city funds were appropriated for the matching portion in either 23 or 24. To
 1:17:46  rectify this oversight, we're requesting an additional appropriation to correct these past years. The total city portion was $638,658.
 1:17:55  Speaking the controllers's office, good evening and welcome. Good evening.
 1:18:04  Good evening to the council and um everybody here who's mine's not that exciting. So we kind of talked about it
 1:18:12  two weeks ago and I brought this to the council that we wanted to go ahead and uh rectify this oversight 638,658.
 1:18:21  There's any questions?
 1:18:25  Thank you Dana. Any council members with questions?
 1:18:32  If not, we would go ahead and open the public hearing for this. If you'd like to speak, come up to the microphone.
 1:18:45  Not seeing anyone move to the microphone.
 1:18:50  All right, we'll go and close the public hearing. Any other council members or questions? If not, I'd entertain a motion.
 1:18:56  Mr. President, like to make a motion that we suspend the rules on um additional Appropriation 152025. Second.
 1:19:04  Motion to suspend the rules by Councilman Calgill. Second by Councilman Kaine. Any discussion? Madame to every clerk. Roll call.
 1:19:13  Kane. I. Forice. I. Runner. I. Divine. Yes. Whitten. Yes. Calgill. I.
 1:19:20  Mckenley.
 1:19:22  Yes. Rules have been suspended. I entertain another motion.
 1:19:25  Mr. President, I'd like to make a motion that we pass additional appropriation 152025.
 1:19:30  Second. Motion to pass additional appropriation 15-2025 by Councilman Calgill. Second by Councilman Kaine. Any discussion?
 1:19:40  Madam Deputy Clerk, roll call Kane. Hi. Forice. Hi. Runner. I. Divine. Yes. Whitten.
 1:19:48  Yes. Calgill. Hi. Mckenley.
 1:19:50  Yes. Additional appropriation 15-20 2025 has passed.
 1:19:58  Moving on to additional appropriation 16-2025, additional appropriation for parks and wreck. Second reading of public hearing.
 1:20:07  An additional appropriation for salaries for the park security officers. This request is for an additional appropriation in the amount of $27,972
 1:20:17  to fund three security positions for our city parks. The goal is to enhance the safety and security of both the parks and their visitors. These security staff
 1:20:24  members will provide coverage for our parks at least 42 hours a week, seven days a week. The salary ordinances for these positions have already been
 1:20:32  approved. Speaking Rose Kadina and the controllers's office.
 1:20:38  Guess it's me. No, Rose. Um yes, I brought this two weeks ago also that we just need to um get that additional
 1:20:45  appropriation to pay the salary for the security for the parks.
 1:20:53  Great. Thank you. Council members with questions.
 1:20:59  [clears throat]
 1:21:00  Ju just to clarify, President McKinley, it that's for the remainder of this year. It's already been budgeted for next year.
 1:21:08  Thank you. That is correct. Thank you. Appreciate that. If no, there's no other questions.
 1:21:17  We'll go ahead and go to the public hearing.
 1:21:21  If you'd like to speak, make your way to the microphone.
 1:21:29  All right. Don't see anyone moving to the microphone. Close the public hearing. Council members, any other questions?
 1:21:38  If not, I'd entertain a motion.
 1:21:40  Mr. President, I'd like to make a motion that we suspend the rules on additional appropriation 16 2022.
 1:21:47  Second.
 1:21:49  A motion to suspend the rules by Councilman Calg. Second by Councilman Brunner. Any discussion?
 1:21:56  Madame Deputy Clerk. Roll call. Kane. I. Forice. I. Brunner. I. Divine. Yes.
 1:22:03  Whitten. Yes. Calgill. I. McKenley.
 1:22:06  Yes. rules have been suspended. I'd entertain another motion.
 1:22:10  Mr. President, I'd now like to make a motion that we pass additional appropriation 16205.
 1:22:16  Second motion to pass additional appropriation 16205 by Councilman Calgill. Second by Councilman Brunner. Any discussion from councel?
 1:22:27  Madame Deputy Clerk. Roll call. Kane. I. Forice. I. Runner. I. Divine. Yes.
 1:22:35  Whitten. Yes. Calgill.
 1:22:37  I McKinley.
 1:22:39  Yes. Additional appropriation 162025 is passed. Moving into new business resolution 15-2025,
 1:22:48  excuse [clears throat] me, lease agreement among the Maran Redevelopment Commission and the Maran Redevelopment Authority.
 1:22:55  A resolution of the common council approving a lease between Maran Redevelopment Authority and the Maran Redevelopment Commission and addressing
 1:23:02  matters related there too. The Maran Redevelopment Authority is considering the issuance of one or more series of bonds in the maximum principal amount of
 1:23:11  $20 million to finance all or any portion of Ballard Fields project, the bridge project, the airport utilities
 1:23:18  project, and the firetruck project. The lease provides for the lease by the redevelopment authority to the redevelopment
 1:23:26  commission of certain real estate consisting of all or a portion of Washington Street in the city from 1st Street to 32nd Street. The redevelopment
 1:23:35  commission has conducted a public hearing and approved the form of lease presented for the purposes of paying the principal and interest on the bonds
 1:23:42  issues to finance the projects. The redevelopment authority has authorized the issuance of bonds and approved the form of lease. Speaking mayor Morell
 1:23:51  Barnes and Thornberg and Bakers All right. Thank you so much Joe Murphy. I am not Joe.
 1:23:59  There we go. Good to be back for you again. actually why I'm getting feedback there.
 1:24:04  Can you just try Marty's? See if that works better. You don't have to get it too close.
 1:24:11  How about the one up there? How's that? Better. Okay.
 1:24:22  Yeah, the executive summary does a great job of summarizing what this project is all about. Ultimately, um I just want to provide you guys with some additional
 1:24:30  information and overview of the project as it stands. So, number one, the nuts and bolts. We're looking to issue $20
 1:24:36  million in new money to fund four major projects. This is in addition to the two projects we just finished speaking about, which make up the whole of of Mayor Morell's Elevate Marian vision.
 1:24:47  We've beat this horse to death a little bit this evening, but obviously this administration is on a path to try to create a new Marian, a better Marion
 1:24:55  that's focused on quality of life, quality of place, and creating a a beautiful place for our our residents to live in and play in. And now it's getting loud. Sorry.
 1:25:04  Is that better? Okay. Sorry, I was getting feedback there. Um, I do want to touch just very briefly on why this is a a lease financing structure and not a
 1:25:12  traditional bond like you may expect with this kind of project. So, um, as you may or may not know, cities, any other taxing district across the state
 1:25:20  of Indiana is bound by a constitutional debt limit. So, you have an assessed value as a community. Onethird of your assessed value times 2%. That's all
 1:25:28  you're allowed to issue in terms of general obligation debt. That is a state law passed 100 some years ago. It's a little bit archaic, a little bit um
 1:25:37  challenging to meet when you're talking about doing large projects. you're in a position where you're trying to push a community forward and grow at a quick pace like we are like a lot of
 1:25:45  communities across the state of Indiana are. So when bonding is not an option because your debt limit is so low that the projects exceed that debt limit. You
 1:25:54  need to go to an alternative. The lease financing is that alternative. Uh what we're looking at is the creation. Well, we've already created a redevelopment
 1:26:01  authority and now we're going to be entering into a lease agreement between our redevelopment commission and our redevelopment authority for, as we mentioned there, Washington Street
 1:26:10  between 1st and 32nd Street. That's important because that's an asset that the bank can recognize as collateral against the bonds that are going to be
 1:26:18  issued by the redevelopment authority in the amount of $20 million. We know it's $20 million because we had HWC, our
 1:26:25  professional engineering group, come out and look at that road, understand what it would cost to mill it all the way down and reconstructed today's standards. And they estimated that'd be
 1:26:33  about $20 million. So that's why we're talking about that specific asset. Um the redevelopment authority once this is complete will then issue bonds in at up
 1:26:41  to $20 million in multiple series. Um the proceeds of those bonds will flow directly back to the city to perform the
 1:26:49  four projects. Ballard Fields, the bridge project, the airport project, and the uh fire apparatus project. Um, and
 1:26:58  then the way that the city will cover that debt is through lease payments. So, the redevelopment commission will issue lease payments to the redevelopment
 1:27:05  authority that will be identical in value to the debt service on the bonds that were issued by the redevelopment authority. So, it's a way to circumn
 1:27:13  that debt obligation that would exceed the uh constitutional debt limit for the city while also allowing the city to do projects at a high level. Um, last thing
 1:27:22  I'll mention is the repayment of those debts is going to be a combination of tiff monies and food and beverage monies and um we feel that there is is more
 1:27:31  than adequate revenues being developed right now and then into the future um to support this bond. So, we feel like this
 1:27:38  is a very financially responsible uh project and we also think that it is imperative as uh Councilman Calgill and
 1:27:46  many others mentioned that we continue to push Marion forward with these projects and grow and create a community that is exciting, vibrant, and has
 1:27:53  things to do. So, I'd be happy to take any questions you guys have. We also have Chris Gryel with Barnes & Thornberg here to discuss kind of the format of the lease if there's any questions about
 1:28:02  that, as well as Andy Mouser from Baker Tilly to discuss the financials of it all. So happy to take any questions.
 1:28:08  Thank you so much, Joe. Great job explaining it. Any council members questions?
 1:28:19  All right.
 1:28:21  No other questions. I'd entertain a motion.
 1:28:24  Mr. President, like to make a motion that we pass resolution 1520 onto a second reading public hearing.
 1:28:32  Yeah, it's actually it's just a resolution. All we need is just this is a just actually Yeah.
 1:28:37  I was just You wasn't here. I was checking. Very good. You got Okay.
 1:28:41  So, well, just for the public, I want them to know a motion that we pass resolution 15 2022.
 1:28:46  Second. I got a motion to pass resolution 15205 by Councilman Calgill, second by Councilman Kaine. Any discussion?
 1:28:58  Madame Deputy Clerk, roll call.
 1:29:00  Kane, I. Forice. I.
 1:29:03  Brunner. I Divine. Yes. Whitten. Yes. Calgill.
 1:29:07  I Mckinley.
 1:29:09  Yes. Resolution 15-2025 is pass. It will not go to a public uh reading.
 1:29:15  [laughter]
 1:29:17  Thank you. Appreciate it. Joe, appreciate all your hard work, too. If if you don't know, this guy works so hard um for the city and we just really
 1:29:25  appreciate all the efforts that you're you're you're doing. you're uh kind of like the unseen force behind the scenes is really helping drive this change for our community. So kudos to you.
 1:29:35  Appreciate you.
 1:29:36  Thank you very much. I just want to congratulate you guys all. I I commend you for taking this vote tonight as well as the previous vote on the uh parks
 1:29:43  district bond. I mean I think this is really momentous stuff you guys are doing and kudos to you guys for moving your community forward. It's it's a bold vision. It's an exciting vision and it's
 1:29:51  why I continue to come back here and work in Marion. So thank you all very much. Thank you Joe.
 1:29:59  Yeah,
 1:30:02  [laughter]
 1:30:04  good point. DJ, thank you guys. Appreciate it. And I know they uh they haven't said a whole
 1:30:11  lot tonight, but uh Andy and Chris do do a lot behind the scenes. Yeah, they're the ones that write these the the legal jargon and educate us at the
 1:30:19  RDC meeting. So, while they may not say a lot here, um they have wellprepared us to get to this point. So kudos to them
 1:30:26  as well. So thank you. Have a safe tribe. Moving on to general ordinance 28 2025 adding no parking zones. First
 1:30:34  reading an ordinance establishing a no parking zone on the east side of Washington Street from 7th Street to 10th Street. With the construction of
 1:30:42  the walking path and parking bumpouts along the west side of Washington Street from 7th to 9th Street, it reduces the overall travel lane width of Washington
 1:30:51  Street. This reduction prompted an engineering recommendation to create a no parking section on the east side of Washington Street to enhance traffic
 1:30:58  movement and overall public safety from Seventh Street all the way to 10th Street. Speaking Mike Craft. Uh good evening. Hi.
 1:31:06  How are you, sir? [laughter] So, uh, many of you have been, uh, a part of the, um, interesting wide
 1:31:16  sidewalks, uh, that that started from the Cardinal Greenway, [clears throat] uh, down 10th Street and, uh, goes up
 1:31:23  Boot Street and then crosses on Ninth Street and then attaches at Washington Street and stops at the library. Not
 1:31:31  only is it a walking path, but it is a bike path. That is why you have the width that you that that was required.
 1:31:39  We had a uh a grant uh that we accepted from DNR that had specifications that we had to meet and one of the
 1:31:47  specifications that it had to be a minimum of a certain feet to allow for both uh walking and biking. The
 1:31:55  unforeseen circumstances that um that prompted after the design was done that
 1:32:03  really no one saw on paper was there are a few what are called bumpouts uh that
 1:32:10  protect uh the area along the bike path and those those bumpouts extend into the
 1:32:17  drive lane uh as you go southbound. And although if any of you have traveled that area, there's very very few parking
 1:32:26  if any that anybody parks maybe at the church, we've seen a couple people parked there. Uh which kind of prompted
 1:32:34  uh the concern. We were I was actually driving down on the west side u going southbound and there was somebody that
 1:32:43  actually parked at the at the church uh on the street. And if you know the way
 1:32:50  that the uh realignment of the road is done, I could not get into the lane because there was people on my left side
 1:32:58  as I was driving down. So I had to stay in that lane until they passed in order to get in the lane because of that uh
 1:33:05  parking. So an unforeseen situation that u uh reared as the design was done but
 1:33:13  wasn't caught in the you know when it's on paper everything looks good on paper and then you kind of see what you have after the fact. So uh what's brought
 1:33:21  before you this evening is along that as you're traveling south uh the left lane to uh place no parking. We gave you some
 1:33:30  examples of where we would put that signage uh to kind of give you some visual uh along the way. So uh if you
 1:33:38  have any questions, I'd be glad to entertain any of those.
 1:33:41  Appreciate it, Mike. Thank you. Any council members with questions?
 1:33:46  Did any of the adjoining property owners have any issues with that?
 1:33:52  No, I mean obviously this is as we're going we've discussed with the church.
 1:33:58  They know that they have adequate parking. It's very seldom that anybody really parks on the street. So, they were surprised that anybody parked on
 1:34:06  the street there by the church, but no one is most everybody has adequate parking along there. Anyways,
 1:34:15  is that starting at you're talking the First United Methodist parking lot across the street from there. So to make it consistent rather than just going
 1:34:23  from like 7th to 9th, it was just easier to extend it where it stops at the at the intersection at 10th.
 1:34:37  Any other questions for Mike?
 1:34:41  Uh has notice been given to anyone that lives in those blocks? I mean to to let them know.
 1:34:47  No, just verbal. We've just talked to them and just let them know that this is where we're going to go. And as this, you know, the process goes, they'll have
 1:34:55  a second reading that we'll we'll let them know that they can come and and have conversations with you folks if they have concerns.
 1:35:03  And Mike, the church did not have a problem with this.
 1:35:06  No, they have, like I said, they have adequate parking. Uh they were kind of surprised that anybody actually parked on the street. They It's It's very seldom that that's ever done.
 1:35:19  Mike, would this remove any handicap parking? Is there any specialty parking there?
 1:35:22  None, there is nothing there. There's already some no parking from here to corner uh which there's several intersections that that that is through
 1:35:31  there, but uh no nothing specialized even no loading zones or anything that this would uh hinder.
 1:35:40  Great. Thank you. Appreciate that. And will it are we anticipating that that's going to affect the new business that's
 1:35:48  going in the old is that Firestone building the that's by the church because they're from what I understand they're putting in some additional recreation things and stuff like that.
 1:35:59  So where's their parking going to be?
 1:36:01  Well, as as always noted, when development happens, on street parking
 1:36:08  is not part of what is considered when when you're asking for uh you know, zoning or anything like
 1:36:16  that. Uh so having it removed um is not should not affect what they already have
 1:36:24  to have resolved within their in their area. Either they would have to extend their parking lot, lease parking space,
 1:36:32  but having off or on street parking is not it's not something that we negotiate with them.
 1:36:42  You know, I was kind of taking a Google Street View while we're talking and I I don't even I don't maybe I'm not seeing I don't see any residences along.
 1:36:50  They're all businesses, right? Yeah.
 1:36:53  [clears throat] because I know there was like the body shop and the roofing company, but I'm like I don't see any residential. So, all these are businesses with parking lots.
 1:37:03  Um, and then looking across the street, mostly businesses as well. And if there's a house, it has a driveway. So,
 1:37:11  or and there is where you see the bumpouts, there is parking that that if they needed to park on that side, that's
 1:37:18  that's negligible to the to the traffic flow. Perfect. Thank you. Any other questions?
 1:37:28  Thank you so much, Mike. Um, no other questions. I'd entertain a motion.
 1:37:33  Mr. President, I'd like to make a motion. I'm going to go ahead and pass this one on to second reading if that's all right with you. Um, for general ordinance 28 2025.
 1:37:43  Second. That's true. Yeah. Who had the second on that? Okay. [clears throat] Excuse me.
 1:37:50  I got a motion to pass general ordinance 282025 to a second reading public hearing by Councilman Calgill. Uh second by Councilman Kaine. Any other discussion?
 1:38:00  Adam deputy clerk. Roll call. Kane.
 1:38:03  I for I runner I. Divine. Yes. Whitten. Yes. Calgill. Hi. Mckenley.
 1:38:10  Yes. General ordinance 28 2025 pass. Go to second reading public hearing at the next council meeting. And
 1:38:18  then moving on to general ordinance. Our final 129 2025 reszoning ordinance. First reading.
 1:38:24  An ordinance of the common council of the city of Marian amending Marian city code chapter 153 zoning ordinance at the regular meeting of the Marian city of
 1:38:33  Marian advisory plan commission on October 28, 2025. The main agenda item was a public hearing for the resoning of lots 78 and 79 of Grey Dod's first
 1:38:42  edition being a part of the family express development at 301 South Baldwood Avenue from R4 medium density
 1:38:50  single to [clears throat] multif family and multifamily residential to GB general business which is the same zoning as the remainder of the property in this development. The proposal aligns
 1:38:58  with the comprehensive plans criteria and received a positive staff recommendation. The motion to approve the resoning was made, seconded, and
 1:39:06  passed unanimously and subsequently passed to the city council. Speaking Mike Graf or Brian Stumps.
 1:39:14  Good evening. I'm not going to hog uh the newest member of uh the city of Marian's planning directing uh position.
 1:39:22  So, uh without I just kind of give a little intro. Brian's and it's actually uh not at stumps. It's there's an F on a
 1:39:30  stump. So Brian will be doing the planning directing for the city of Marian and he he works for HWC. So he
 1:39:39  can provide any uh information to you that you might need. If not, I'll sit back here and be able to back him up if needed.
 1:39:46  Great. Thank you so much. Welcome. Um I I would like to say you have big shoes to fill, but if you need to fix anything, just make sure Mike's outside
 1:39:55  the room first. Okay, [laughter] just kidding. Welcome. We're so glad to have you here.
 1:39:59  Thank you. Uh, as Mike mentioned, I'm Brian Stump with HWC Engineering. Have the honor of serving as your interim planning director. And the petition that
 1:40:06  is before you tonight is to reszone two lots on Fourth Street from R4 to GB.
 1:40:12  They are part of a larger 1.4 acre site that Family Express has assembled to uh be part of a new gas station with car
 1:40:21  wash and other fun facilities that they have. This uh in reviewing this item, it is consistent with your comprehensive plan. The two residential lots that are
 1:40:30  there that are the subject of this reszone have homes on them but that have been damaged by fire and are slated for demolition. So this will be part of it's
 1:40:38  a great opportunity to incorporate that into their uh into the site. The plan commission provided its required
 1:40:46  notification. Everything was uh was met as required by law and on the 28th of October at the plan commission meeting
 1:40:54  this was forwarded to you with a unanimous favorable recommendation. Uh, I'm available for any questions you may have. Also is Patrick Lip with the
 1:41:02  Family Express is here to answer any questions you may have as well. Great. Thank you.
 1:41:08  I did put on the screen and for momentarily on the video um kind of the location for those that are watching or
 1:41:16  um in the audience wondering where this is at, it is if you're looking there, you see 18 and South Baldwin Avenue
 1:41:24  there. Uh that 18 on the map here is Fourth Street and so that would be [clears throat] uh there are the lots
 1:41:33  are on the north side of 18 or right above it. Um so it's going to be hugging the corner there at Baldwin and 18
 1:41:42  Fourth Street. Um but it will not cross the alley that separates Third and Fourth Street. So just wanted some clarification for public.
 1:41:52  Any council members with questions?
 1:41:55  I would I would like to have the uh representative from Family Express uh step up to the mic and kind of give us
 1:42:03  an explanation and preempt what you're proposing and what you want to do here. Good. Thank you. My name is Patrick Lip.
 1:42:10  I'm here on behalf of Family Express. I think in front of each of you should be a tangible copy of a PowerPoint presentation. So, um provides us some
 1:42:18  conceptual drawings of what the um what the um the store, the car wash um will and the fueling area will look like.
 1:42:27  Again, based upon your approval to reszone, uh those those two parcels there. Very little background, Family
 1:42:34  Express is a 50-year-old family-owned business. Began in Valerezo, but we're now up to 82 stores. Our most recent one
 1:42:43  was open in Ligonier a few weeks ago. We have one also under construction in Napony. Uh so we are moving um our
 1:42:51  footprint uh further east and further um and further south. Um this was mentioned uh by Brian. Uh the intent is to make
 1:42:59  this lot um as large as possible so that we're not in front of your BCA or plan commission uh looking for additional
 1:43:07  variances. We want to comply with uh the city's uh zoning code. Um and with just one minor um variance we needed from
 1:43:15  your BCA on u the placement of our container for our trash uh receptacles.
 1:43:21  Um everything that we are proposing u meets uh with the um uh with your town code. Um and so with this I can share in
 1:43:29  behalf of of the ownership family. We're excited uh to be part of the Marian community. um hoping to break ground and
 1:43:37  in a couple of weeks. Again, presum not presumptuous, but presuming you do approve uh the resoning of these two lots and looking at some point probably
 1:43:45  uh early summer of 26 to have this um location open. Great. Thank you. Any other questions?
 1:43:55  Vice President Pores, could you just give us a a a basic estimate of your amount of investment into this property?
 1:44:03  um all in about $9 million um which will be the total amount. Uh now that also includes land acquisition. Uh but um um
 1:44:11  and again I'm biased but in terms of our investment we try to do the we do these things um top-notch first class. Um
 1:44:18  again if you've traveled further south towards Indianapolis or further west uh towards um the state line you may have visited one or more of our other
 1:44:27  locations. Um um and um again that's going to be about $9 million all in once the whole project is done.
 1:44:34  Great. That's fantastic. Um do you have any um desire for additional expresses
 1:44:42  according to population or size north or south or do you just usually have one per location or
 1:44:49  no essentially and again a lot's done upon based upon our our looking of data and communities. Uh but you'll see in
 1:44:56  other areas uh where we do uh put um our our our convenience stores. Um we generally look for for primarily
 1:45:04  logistic purposes because we do as a side note, we do all of our our baking inhouse and then distribute to our 82
 1:45:11  locations. And so um it does make practical and efficiency sense to have multiple um uh stores in one community
 1:45:19  or or in communities nearby. And so many of the communities that we do serve have multiple locations and my sense is that
 1:45:27  this location will do well and we'll look for other locations um in Marian as well. Um I guess without being
 1:45:34  self-serving if I could make one comment um I I can't express how welcoming the city of Marian and your staff have been
 1:45:41  from Mike to Brian uh to Lisa. Um one of my day jobs is that I'm the city attorney for the city of Valareerezo.
 1:45:49  Oh. Um and so um I I so I I do see this on a firsthand basis. Um and some of the things in which I've experienced here,
 1:45:56  I've gone back to my mayor, Mayor John Kostas, and told him about the way uh that um that we've been welcomed into the community here. And so um I'll also
 1:46:05  put a little plug in uh for the skate park. Uh we built one about two years ago. I'm lucky that I can walk on two legs, let alone a board [laughter] and
 1:46:14  four wheels. Um, but it is amazing the number of people who do utilize that skate park here. And a lot of what I
 1:46:22  heard this evening were the same comments uh that we heard during our park board um and also in in our city council meetings uh when that was
 1:46:30  approved. It opened I think April of 2024. It has lights so it has both day and night. Um and again it's it's
 1:46:38  packed. Um and um again I don't want an outsider you know commenting on what this community is doing. Uh but um take it for what it's worth. Um in the city
 1:46:47  of Alperezo, um our our skateport park is well is well used.
 1:46:52  Well, Patrick, I appreciate that very much and I appreciate you choosing Marion and your investment into our community. Thank you. Thank you.
 1:47:00  Thank you. Uh I do have a question. Um and I appreciate getting the packet. Um I don't remember I don't think that was in our packet originally. Yeah. So
 1:47:09  this evening. Yeah. which you know I had a chance to vote over briefly this evening. Um
 1:47:16  so I I I will say the a concern of mine is so the lot that you're requesting the
 1:47:23  lots are to accommodate the car wash and the actual fuel bays. Is that correct?
 1:47:31  Yes. It's the two I guess the two westernmost parcels. I think it's lot 78 and lot 79 which currently have um um
 1:47:39  they're no longer occupied. I think one actually was a burnt out um residential structure and so all three of the structures that will be coming down are currently unoccupied. Yes.
 1:47:52  I the you know the concern I have and I didn't know until I saw this packet is um you got the alleyway that's going to
 1:47:59  split the store parking and then the fuel bays and the car wash. So technically it's still a public
 1:48:07  alleyway. Cars can be coming up and down. Am I correct? And I have a concern with just foot traffic safety, cars
 1:48:16  driving through there and where those parking bays are for the family express.
 1:48:22  So if somebody is backing out of a spot there, what's that going to look like if a car is coming down the alleyway?
 1:48:30  Can somebody address that concern? So So yes, that we we reviewed the same.
 1:48:35  We have we have an agreement with them that that will constantly that alley will constantly stay there. it it it will remain a rideway. Uh there's actual
 1:48:45  um sewer pipes that that run under there that cannot be built over. Uh so yes, those were addressed. uh they had uh the
 1:48:54  INDOT actually brought up some of the same concerns that you did about the ingress egress at that location and we believe that we've resolved everything
 1:49:03  to INDOT's liking to the city's liking to allow the alley to be uh remained open so trash trucks can still service
 1:49:12  the residents that are on the north and south of the alleyway. Uh and uh this is not not dissimilar to what you kind of
 1:49:21  see at Mccclur's uh as you're going in and out of the Athena. There's a lot of lot of movement and but we don't see anything. We don't see an issue with
 1:49:30  that particular area about backing up into that alleyway. So,
 1:49:38  okay. I guess you know with the mcclers and the fina I just don't remember as many residential units there and
 1:49:46  um [clears throat] you know I live two three blocks from this so I live it every day and um I'm excited. I mean
 1:49:54  this is great investment. Um it's just it it is a concern with the alleyway there of traffic if trash trucks are
 1:50:03  coming down. I would say my number one is just cars backing out and valleys coming down. I don't know, Mike, um, if in the alleyway there, if this is
 1:50:12  approved, if there can be signs that in are installed to say caution, slow down, or just something for public safety.
 1:50:19  If if you look at uh the view of the overall site plan, the the trash trucks uh are have already been notified that
 1:50:28  they'll they'll move north to Third Street. So if you see the arrows, instead of instead of going through that
 1:50:35  particular area, they'll have access to go directly out north. So they won't be that that will be a minimization of that
 1:50:44  area. And I mean without doing a full-blown traffic impact study, the the use of that alley
 1:50:53  is primarily by the trash trucks. There are there's very minimal use from the residential area. Most of them go out Western Avenue.
 1:51:02  Okay. That that helps a lot. I'm seeing that North South drive that's just east of the actual
 1:51:11  Family Express building. You're saying they know they're going to turn up and they I mean that's private property, right? And but they have permission.
 1:51:20  Again, that was that was part of the agreement that they had to supply that.
 1:51:26  Is there a termin is there expiration of that agreement or is it indefinite?
 1:51:30  It it goes it'll it will go with the property. So yeah. Okay. That's that makes me feel better.
 1:51:38  And so the trash pickup in the alley will not be impacted. Okay. Gotcha. All right. Sounds good. I've been looking at
 1:51:46  those empty lots forever and going, would somebody just buy these and do something? And uh um that's Yeah, they did. That's great. A couple
 1:51:55  other questions. Uh, how many approximate jobs would you say this is going to bring?
 1:51:59  Um, in terms of a number of we call associates at our stores um anywhere from 15 to 20 uh scheduled um uh from um
 1:52:09  uh from the folks who work um in in supplying the store, the folks that cook the food, the folks that uh that manage the store there. Uh most of our stores
 1:52:18  are usually open between 5 and 5:30 in the morning and close somewhere around 11 o'clock in the evening. We have about two stores, three that are out with 24
 1:52:26  hours, but we don't anticipate this being a 24-hour store. And answer to Max's question is ours.
 1:52:32  Um, and then out of these jobs, are they all full-time, some part-time?
 1:52:37  Yeah, most of our most of our associates are full-time. Um, we start at about $16 an hour uh for a first-time associate
 1:52:44  and then there's a career path to um increasing uh your wages as well as working your way up to a store manager
 1:52:52  and and other in other areas. Um, Family Stress takes pride in terms of our employee training. Um, it's not necessarily on the job training. All of
 1:53:00  our associates come to our corporate headquarters in Valareerezo. It's four days of training. Um, we treat we treat as a career. Um I know in some some
 1:53:09  places people view uh jobs working at a convenience store differently. Um we do it differently in the sense that um uh
 1:53:16  for our associates um it's it's for many it's a career choice and um something they're very proud of doing and we're looking to have those jobs available
 1:53:24  here in Mary. I know again our last store legioner uh we've reached out to the community there and tried to um to have folks living in the community work work at our stores.
 1:53:34  Great. Uh um great job answering that last question. Sorry I have a bunch. Um that alley that kind of intersects in
 1:53:42  between there, who's going to be responsible for paving that? How is that going to live with the parking lot?
 1:53:47  We I mean we're paving the entire lot um and so all the costs or expenses for that and maintaining the um I'm sure in
 1:53:54  terms of snow plowing or other maintenance of that, we're going to be more on top of it. Not that the city of Marion would not be, but in terms of our
 1:54:02  desire, I'm sure we'll be out there as quickly as possible to make sure any impediments uh for access to that um that alleyway are taken care of.
 1:54:11  Perfect. And just want to make sure there is that there is it in writing? I mean, are we protected as a city?
 1:54:17  Um as far as just the maintenance of that. So, you're basically it's going to look like a full parking lot. However,
 1:54:25  you're with the understanding that that strip that you're maintaining is still city property. Correct. That is correct.
 1:54:32  Great. Thank you. Answer my questions. Any other council members? All right. Thank you so much.
 1:54:40  Appreciate it. All right.
 1:54:44  Nothing else. I would entertain a motion.
 1:54:48  Uh, Mr. President, I would like to make a motion that we pass general ordinance 29 2025 onto second reading public hearing.
 1:54:56  Second motion by Councilman Calgill, second by Councilman Brunner to pass general ordinance 29 2025 to second reading public hearing. Any discussion?
 1:55:08  Madame Deputy Clerk, roll call.
 1:55:10  Kane, abstain. Forice. I. Runner. I. Divine. Yes. Whitten. Yes.
 1:55:18  Calgill I McKenley.
 1:55:20  Yes. Uh general ordinance 29 2025. We'll go to seaging public hearing.
 1:55:27  And that's it for the agenda except for two announcements. One's listed. Uh the next town hall meeting for the mayor that he's having is November 5th, 2025
 1:55:36  at Real Community Covenant Church, 1240 South Adams. Appreciate the mayor doing that. And those of you that, you know,
 1:55:44  have questions and want to know about more about the Elevate Marion and these these projects that are ongoing, that is probably, I could say, one of the best
 1:55:51  resources, bless best places to go to get more information and to be able to ask questions directly to the mayor. So, um 6 o'clock, yep, 6 pm November 5th.
 1:56:03  That is tomorrow, um at Real Community Covenant Church. So, highly encourage you to attend those town hall meetings.
 1:56:11  um with the mayor sharing the vision. Uh last one, it's not listed and thanks the councilman Kaine for for bringing this
 1:56:19  up again, but I'll put on the next agenda. The cops and kids, the Brian Sharp Memorial Foundation for Cops and Kids at the Pulled Pork Fundraiser. They
 1:56:28  are raising money to for the police officers to to help provide Christmas for uh many of our youth in this community. They're having that pulled
 1:56:37  pork fundraiser Saturday, November 29th at the Grant County 4 building from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm. And u there's information
 1:56:46  online, too. It's on plenty of Facebook pages. Uh this is the Marian Police Department Facebook page, etc. Um but
 1:56:54  please check it out and support the cops and kids. All the money goes towards the foundation that helps provide the it's basically what I call shop with a cop.
 1:57:04  Um where these kids get to go shopping with police officers and have a wonderful Christmas. So, that's all we have for announcements. Any other council members with announcements?
 1:57:17  Thank you. Uh by skateboards there.
 1:57:20  Yeah. Or VMX. All right. No other announcements. I'd entertain a motion to adjourn.
 1:57:28  Second.
 1:57:29  Uh a motion uh or by Councilman Kill to adjurnn. I'll take the second by Vice President Fordise. Any discussion or
 1:57:38  objection? Madame Clerk, Madame Deputy Clerk, roll call.
 1:57:42  Kane, I. Forice. I. Runner. I. Divine. Yes. Whitten. Yes. Calgill. Hi.
 1:57:50  McKinley. I. Meetings adjourned. Thank you.