City Council - Regular Meeting

I'll call you Lynn. Oh, I'm sorry. I can pull it off.

I can pull it off. Oh man, Todd, you could do anything, man. You can do that. Oh, my turn.

Good evening. Welcome to the joint meeting with the city council and the Franklin community school board of trustees. First on the agenda is rule call. I'll start with the school board, David. Yeah. Hi, Jennifer Mann here. Brett Jones here. Becky Nelson here. Debbie Gill here. Franklin city council.

Jennifer price absent here.

Next is the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. Invocation by Todd Chuck.

All right. Will you bow your heads with me, please? Dear Heavenly Father, we pray to you tonight, giving all thanks and glory to you above. We just ask that you look over us tonight during this meeting, and we just ask for your blessings upon both of these, council and school corporation. In your name we pray. Amen. Amen.

Okay. Discussion for Franklin community schools, paving the way for Franklin's future. Dr. Clint Denning.

Well, thanks everybody for coming out tonight and having one more meeting. I know you all really have to do this in August, but it's, it's a great thing. I know that the mayor and I look forward to that conversation. Uh, cause we are excellent partners and we're moving forward. So the start of the school year, our theme is paving the way for Franklin's future. Um, and you know, we took a little liberty in thanking the mayor, the chamber meeting for the 31 project, even though it's not his project, but I know you guys all get static for it, but, um, it really does help us think about what is the school gonna look like in the next five, 10, 15 years. And so I thought tonight I would just kind of share a little bit about. where we're headed and some things that are our number one kind of uh... for us dr clinton and this is your thirty ninth first day of school what what crazy yes 39. And then if you consider all the years, the 13 that I was in school myself, uh, and then, you know, I've been in school for over 50 years.

So how many years with the corporation here?

Uh, this is 18, 18.

Yeah.

Yeah. And it's been a real blessing. So, yeah. Uh, so 39th first year and, and, uh, my happy place is definitely riding my bike and having a fun time, uh, So where are we headed? Well, some new things that happened this year, our cell phones are being eliminated from the school day. And I'll tell you, it's actually been quite good. We've had very little stress come into play for that. The middle school did a good job because they actually kicked it off in the past years, both when Mr. Hayhouse was there and Mrs. Holman. They just didn't allow kids to have them out. They kept them in their locker and maybe could have a lunch, but mostly no. At the high school last year, they could have them in the hallway or in structure time. That is not the case today. And it's really working well. I do think that the next step of this and the iteration is actually a limit on screen times. You know, as we talk about one-to-one technology and the different things that are moving forward, the legislators are really talking about, you know, how much time should kids spend on a screen in the school? And I think you're gonna see that, especially K-8. I think you're gonna see limits put to that. High school will be a little bit different, I think, as they get ready for that either career or college experience. In late November, first of December, we will have accountability grades for the first time since 2019. The legislators are saying this is kind of a zero year for everybody, but we're all gonna have those. A few differences from the past, they are gonna try to look at individual growth for each kid. The other one that's going to come into play is attendance, chronic attendance. And they define chronic attendance of missing more than 10% in that space. So for kids, that's a lot. It's still a lot of days, but they're looking individually for that. So we're looking at what that looks like for us as we continue to think about where we're headed. You're gonna see some successes here in the next slide about where we are in accountability. We're halfway through a strategic plan. The board asked me last fall to create a strategic plan for us to get us from 2026, 2027 to, 20, 33, 34, as we think about what does that look like for us? And so we've gathered community leaders, students, parents, to look at all phases of education. I will tell you a big one that we're talking about, special education. We continue to grow in the number of special education kids that we have. The state average is about 17, and I think we're up to 23, 24. So when you start to think about the question is why? What's happening in our space? So we've actually partnered with a consultant who will actually come next week to start looking at that for us. And then the action plan will go into effect in January for that. We're really excited. I think all of you received an invitation for Saturday at the open house for the Cub Academy where we are kicking off. We have almost 300 little cherubs that run around school every day. Katie Smith is our principal, and Benji has done a lot to help us get ready for that. He really shepherded that thing. home for us from the start to the finish. So thank him for that. And then the last thing that's kind of what's new for us, we continue our partnership with the city and we thank the mayor for being gracious the last several years with two officers that have always been with us and helping us as we transition from the Sheriff's Department with Sheriff Burgess and, you know, looking at Sheriff Fisher coming in and looking at the partnership with the city and school safety. We're starting the first Franklin Community Schools Police Department. Chief Gable is a retired Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officer of over 20 years. He is our new chief. We are committed to having the same number of officers that we presently have. And so we are looking at having six now and moving forward. We had our first SRO graduate from the ILEA on Thursday. And that was really exciting. Nathan Wooten's his name. And then next Monday, our second officer goes out for that 16-week training. So we're excited about that. And we continue to have a strong partnership because during this time of transition, the mayor and Chief Cochran have been gracious to still give us one officer at CBIS. And we thank them for that. It's been a real blessing for us. So thank you very much. This is our present strategic plan, this is what's gonna change as we continue to move forward. Just a couple highlights, you'll see on the middle, the special education study, I mentioned that to you, because that really is an important part of this next journey. The other one that I would say is a part of the strategic plan is, what do you do with grades four, five, six, and seven, and eight? You know, right now, there's a lot of pressure on grade three. Pass the IRE test. And once you pass, then what? You know, so that fourth grade year, you're still at the elementary school, but we're still doing a whole lot to make sure reading happens. And then grades five and six, that transition space. So we're gonna look at those things for the future, what that looks like for us. We continue to be one of the school of choice as far as both parents and for teachers. It's a really important part of our journey. We have a guiding principle, individual student growth, and we have some things that we're really proud of that happened last school year. And the gentleman right there standing next to me at our school board meeting is Alex Lin. Alex is a freshman at MIT. He graduated last year with us and he is on a full ride scholarship out there in Boston. And he would just thank the teachers for all the experiences that he was able to have. And he presented to the board two different times last year. about that, and they also then extended the same conversation out to the community schools about how to get to there, how to get to MIT, how to continue to grow in that space. The middle picture there is our National Wildlife FFA team. They placed third in the state, third in the nation here just a few weeks ago. So we're really excited about what they have done. The social studies group is two times state champion. Mr. Warland's here, he is the captain of that team. So they studied, what was the book last year? American Resolution. And this year we're going to study what? Post-war. Post-war. So anybody wants to read the book with them, let him and he'll get you a copy. You guys can join right in. But we're excited about that. And then the choir, the two-time state champion choir for the girls. So we've really had some great accomplishments. You know, people ask us like, what are we proud of? We're proud of so many things in our school district. On the academic side of life, you'll notice that our IREAD scores are at 90, almost 92% up a point and a half almost. But look at that special education gain, almost 7%. And really that, if you look at our colleagues across, not many are doing that. So I credit Dr. Worland and Mrs. Scott with helping our teachers kind of shepherd through in that space, and it really is a good thing. Julie Rowan received a state award. She actually got a $1,500 bonus from IDOE for her work in literacy last year. So we're really excited about what she provides for us in that space. The high school has a new journey for diploma, and we talked about this in the past, but really there are three parts to that diploma, and that's employability skills, and you'll notice work ethics on there, communication and collaboration in that space. There's also enlistment, so people going into public service, either Army or some other service, or police department, they want them to be prepared for that, and or enrollment in college. So what does that look like for us? Well, for us, we had to create pathways for our students. And these are the pathways that we highlight this year. Some that continue to stick out in that ag space. You'll notice there are three pathways there. Every freshman chose a principal's class that will get them to some domain, from broadcasting to ag to early childhood. We've partnered with Ivy Tech. And Eric Jenkins, who was the teacher of the year in 2024 for the state of Indiana, he is leading that class for us without partnership. We're getting kids out into the classrooms and really that's what the future of the state that Indiana wants. They want our kids out and about. I think you're gonna see in the next few years where kids are gonna spend probably one or two days out in the job market. doing internships. If you look to Sweden and what they're doing, that's really the model that Indiana's trying to follow. So our pathways are a big part of that journey for us. We're excited to see what that looks like in the future, but for right now, those are the ones that are before us. Partnerships matter. I mentioned the mayor because he's been a great partner for our schools all the years that he's led the Franklin City. But these are some of the other internship opportunities that our kids have. In the past, the mayor's had a couple of our students come to his office. This year, you'll notice that Jefferson Shreves has a member, as our representative, has a person that is doing an internship there. He's actually sitting in our audience. It's Ben. He's his first high school student ever to be an intern. coming out of that. Process Alliance, I think we've all heard about the news that Process Alliance is moving forward with to help downtown. Well, Darren Thompson and his team continue to be very gracious to us, both in providing internships for our kids, but also giving back. They sponsor a second grade field trip to a STEM site. for all second graders for what they do. So we're really excited about what that looks like. So those are some other places that you see that support our schools, but this is where we're headed. We also offer a number of high school classes at the middle school. so that our kids can free up their junior and senior year to go do these things. That's going to be part of their accountability grade. I know Dr. Worland is working with our principals on creating that space and creating opportunities for them. You know, not all kids have the luxury of having, you know, our mom and dad have a job opportunity. They go work here. So we got to continue to provide ways to connect kids and students through this. And that's what we're doing with these internships. People ask me, where do our kids go? This is an example of last year's class, a few of our kids. Where are they headed and where do they go? We have our first United States Naval Academy plebe. Kurt Holcroft's son is out there, just finished up that experience. But you can look across all the different places that we're going. Just truly amazing. So our kids can go toe-to-toe with anybody once they travel through our halls and with our teachers in that space. We have been very fortunate over the last several years to have several Lilly Scholars. From 2017 to present day, we've had a Lilly Scholar of at least one student. So then you start thinking, well, where are these kids today? So I'll just kind of highlight a couple of them. Dr. Perk is in Cincinnati. She's entering her second year of residency. Brittany Clutchie is also a doctor, IU Med School. Avery Otten is an attorney for Ice Miller. Jonathan Ott is a research specialist at the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland. Emma Dillon is supply chain person at Lilly. Lilly Lacy is in her first year of med school. Jenna Newton is on the board of directors for DePaul University.

One of the students that was elected to be on the board of trustees.

Emma and the rest are still in college in that space. So when you start thinking about our kids and the impact they're having on the communities that they're living in and experiencing, They're really doing some amazing things. And it really is because of kind of our teachers and the people that help guide them and shepherd them. We have a few celebrations coming up. Webb turned 60 years old. Anybody go to Webb?

We have one, a couple of Webb.

All right. but they turned 60 this year, we're gonna celebrate them. CBIS is 50 and on September the 18th, it's homecoming, but we're also having a tailgate party and open house for CBIS that same day to kind of celebrate them. 19 for the highest we think, well, what's 19? Well, here's what's 19, we're paying off the mortgage. Mr. Hayhouse, we'll write one check here coming up and it'll be the last one that we ever have to pay for that high school total, that mortgage. We're really excited about that in that space. So we'll have some big burning party or something on. Franklin Cub Academy is opening up. And then, like I said, Saturday at 10 o'clock, we are having the ribbon cutting. I think the mayor will be there and some other people as we just kick off that and you'll give a tour of that facility. But it really is a wonderful site for our kids. It's a great educational space. And our partner, Schmidt, did a great job. And as I said, Benji really made sure that they stuck to what they said they were delivering for us. We had some great athletic endeavors last year and kind of where we're headed. The girl at the very top here in the blue with the sunglasses on her head is the first time we've ever had a state champion and female for track. Maddie Judge won the discus. I think it was like 158 or something feet she threw. So we're excited about that. Addie Martin right next to her was runner up in the pole vault. But, you know, as you travel through there, the guys in the middle were in the state track meet. Lucas, the blond-haired kid with the blue, he's at Texas A&M as a breaststroker. He just placed second in the nation in the summer junior Olympic program, the U.S. Nationals. We're doing pretty well. The golf team, Lexi Ray has got second. She's now at Ball State playing golf. And our boys golf team went to the state for the first time in many years. And our wrestling team won the state championship as a team. So we're doing pretty well in looking at how things are going if you're a kid in our world. From an adult in our world, it's also pretty exciting. Amanda Ray, that actually should say a different thing. Amanda Ray was just notified last Friday that she is in the top three in Indiana as a teacher. She'll find out. She has an interview with Dr. Jenner this week, right? Or is it next week? It's coming up with Dr. Jenner. So that's the last step of a hurdle. She had 12 people show up at her door at 11 o'clock on Friday, and she was getting ready to do an activity with the kids, and all of a sudden she sees all these people from IDOE. Mr. Betz was there. Ms. Betz was there. I was there. And she can just kind of see her eyes like, oh, my. Mr. Purley is the principal of the year for the district, as well as Mr. Worland is the assistant principal of the year. And then I mentioned Julie and what she get was a $1,500 reward. We continue to have other people that have highlighted their experiences that have done quite well. And I really do think it starts with great teachers to have students really do their very best. And we have some outstanding, we have some of the very best in us. So where do we head? What are some things that I look at as superintendent? And we've been talking with our board about some uncharted roads to travel on in this paving the way for the future. One is parent choice. Right now we have the smallest kindergarten class that we've ever had. We have 298 kids in kindergarten. So you're thinking, is that really true? Well, it is true, but there are more than 298 kindergartners here. Parents have so many more choices right now at the elementary level to go to school. So we need to continue to find ways to engage and collaborate with them in that space. If we get out to kindergarten class, we're right on track. We have about 350 to 375 kids enrolled. The high school, we have two classes that are over 400. So we're really doing pretty well, but it's that parent choice we continue to look at. Recruiting and retaining teachers. It's really our number one mission right now. We are looking to continue to find ways to make us that school of choice. It is becoming more difficult. We just had, for example, the start of this school year, the Friday before we had a school counselor quit, So if anybody wants to be a school counselor, let me know. We're still looking. I don't see any takers yet. Um, we also had a biology teacher quit.

John said he would. That's so nice of Sean.

But a lot of these kids are just going to someplace else where they can either get a different experience or they're leaving education altogether. Special education, we have a big need and void of special education teachers. Miss Scott has continued to find ways to them and there's a program through the state called ASSET that we have to enroll teachers in and people in if they don't have a special education background. Well, then that's also, they're learning as we're learning what it's like to deliver instruction for those kids and it's very difficult. We need to continue to focus on how do we individualize learning. As I mentioned to you a second ago, that internship space is gonna be one that's prevalent over the next several years. And how do we do that in that space? And so those are things that we're gonna continue to think about with the board, about what that looks like to our strategic plan, and also through the city. How do we partner together to make sure that our kids in Franklin can go do whatever they want when they walk across that stage in May? If you want to learn more, feel free to be part of our academy that we offer. Robin Betts is the facilitator of this. But this is a way to get the inside look each month of what we're doing in our schools. That way people can experience and hear from us about what's going on. I know, you know, you think about how do you get information? Well, this is one way that we want to deliver information. You don't have to be a parent. You just have to be someone that cares about our school to come be a part of this journey. So that's a little bit of where we're at and where we're headed. I'll be glad to take any questions, and if I can't answer them, we'll pass them off to somebody else.

Dr. Klandening, I didn't see Enderson Hauser on here. Are you partnering with Enderson Hauser?

We do. We do a couple different things with Enderson Hauser.

Okay.

One of them is that we have a group of kids at the high school that go to their headquarters in Europe. Um, and actually they were going to come here tonight, but a couple of them could not make the presentation. So in our September board meeting, they are going to be there and they're going to present that. Um, we also have them in our internship. We have two, at least two kids in their internship program right now. I thought so.

Yep. They're a great partner. Thank you.

thank you very much for, like I said, for coming out tonight and listen a little bit about how we were moving forward in our district and kind of what we're focused on right now. So thank you.

Thank you. Next on the agenda is Benji Betts, Franklin Cub Academy certificate of completion.

All I need is our board. We are getting ready to sign off. We need to get insurance for the, Todd's like, yep, you're going to need this. We need to get our insurance in line from liability. So Benji's actually going to do the presentation next month about the completion of the Cub Academy. I need our board. to accept the completion so that Ms. President Gill can sign off so by the end of the month we have insurance. Because right now it's still in that construction space. So that's what that is. I just need a motion from someone.

Motion to approve completion of the Cub Academy. Certificate of yeah. Yeah.

It's been moved and seconded all those in favor, please signify with aye. Aye. So moved. Um, thank you. Thank you. Mayor's youth leadership council update, Liz woods and Ben Warland are up.

Hi, so I'm Liz Woods, and I'm currently president of FMLC. So this is Ben. He's the vice president, and he was president last year. So he's going to kind of tell you about what we did last year, and then I'll come in about this year.

So yeah, last year, FMRLC, we were able to do quite a bit as a club. But the main project we did, as some of you will probably know, was we installed the pet water fountains along some of our Greenway trails at various locations. And in order to fundraise that, we did a walk-a-thon last spring. And I think I saw a few of you there. And we did other fundraisers throughout the year, of course. But in total, yeah, we were able to raise over $3,000. So that was incredible. Just a little update on what we did last year. But now I'll turn it over to Liz, looking forward.

Yeah, so like Ben said, we had a really good year last year. So kind of keep that momentum going. But right now, we're still really early. We had our first meeting. two Thursdays ago, and at that meeting we just kind of split up into groups and talked about projects we thought we could maybe do this year, and we got a lot of really good ideas. So then this meeting, we'll pick one and we'll decide on one final one, which is really exciting, because then we can really focus on that. But yeah, other than that, just a lot of planning right now. If there's anything you guys want to see from FMYLC, let me know. But yeah, we're just really excited about the year.

How many members?

About 35 of us, I think. Yeah, so we've got a good group. It's a good number. There are a lot of really dedicated people, and we're glad they have this opportunity to connect with their local government and community and really be a part of it and make a difference.

Do you have any fundraisers planned already?

Right now, not, like, necessarily, just because usually we like to plan the fundraisers kind of based around what our project is and kind of have them, like, correlate so that the fundraisers also raise, like, promotion for the project. But we do a lot of dine-to-donates throughout the year, and we sell things just throughout the school year during lunch and stuff like that. Oh, yeah, the winter market's a big one for us. Yeah, we always do a booth there, too. So, yeah.

How does a student get involved in the organization?

So we go to the middle school around the end of the year-ish. And we talk to the middle schoolers about FMYLC. And then they turn in an application. And then we go through all the applications anonymously. And we pick the best ones. And then we find out who the applications were. And then we invite them to the club. So yeah.

Is it a four-year commitment? It's all through high school?

Okay, so it used to be a four year but this year we did a new constitution change so after sophomore year you can decide if you just want to drop out and let some new people join and just kind of give up your space or if you want to continue on just because we kind of felt like sometimes people were staying all four years and getting kind of tired by the end and it just wasn't helping really. Yeah.

Makes sense.

It's a great opportunity, as you guys know. I mean, I speak about this many times to city council, the faces we see here, what they're experiencing at your age is incredible that you get to do that so young. So I'm glad that you were participating.

Absolutely. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Project update. Mayor Barnett.

Good evening, and thank you all for being here. This is one of our favorite times of the year to come and see what the schools are doing and make sure the rest of the state sees how a city and school corporation are supposed to work together, and we do a good job of that. And I do appreciate Dr. Clendenning and I. We do usually have like a lunch once a month, and then we meet with... a college president, CEO of the hospital once a month. So we do stay in communication. If there's ever any issues, we pick the phone up and, hey, doc, you know what I mean? So we get along really well and appreciate that. Appreciate our mayor's youth council and all the kids. And it's really exciting to see what our mayor's youth council can do and the excitement that they bring. It really is one of the most enjoyable things I do. So us, city council, mayor, our number one priority is a little bit different than the schools. The schools do a great job of taking care of the education, and our number one priority is public safety. And I will tell you that last year, 69% of our budget went to public safety. We just introduced our budget last Monday night. This year, 72% of our general fund budget twenty four million dollar budget goes to public safety so i think that says a lot to our commitment as a city uh... to the safety of our citizens uh... we do couple times a year try to prioritize drug roundups and i want to keep the poison away from our kids and i will tell you From what I've seen in the last 10 or 15 years, we have really made a big dent in the war against drugs, and people say you can't win that war. I don't know that you can totally win it, but we can sure put a big dent in it, and we're doing that, so I'm proud of our police department. We also, this year, we partnered with Bartersville, if you've noticed, with Bartersville Ambulance Service. The reason we did that, all that money that is charged to the user, us, if we have to, hopefully none of us have to use an ambulance, but if we do, that is charged, you pay for that. That is, sometimes your insurance does, sometimes your insurance doesn't, but Bargersville has a better way than what we had with seals on our our users to be able to pay for that and also All that money that does get paid stays right here in our county to make the service better So I think that's a win-win for Johnson County Quality of life quality of life is the next thing that we all Enjoy in Franklin and as you've heard probably I'm sure you've heard by now that we're working on some quality of life projects with Scott Park expansion and And with this pool expansion, we also have a bond that's rolling off next year, which will be our pool bond. So it's time. I think that pool was originally built 40 years ago, and it's at the end of his life. And we all know how desperately we've needed a Scott Park, not only just to bring people here, but for our own residents. That's huge to me, for our own kids to be able to have a good place to go and call home. We are a destination city. Last year we had 73 residents. uh... events and we had one point three million visitors into franklin from those seventy three events of course uh... the fourth of july and holiday lighting that's our biggest ones and that's my favorite so i do love those two we have an arts advisory board that does a lot of uh... quality of life stuff and and i will tell you that you know we've been talking about the ugly water tower by the amphitheater for years and the council this year we were given a grant uh... that we could do anything, $275,000, we could use that grant for anything, and the city council is going to put that in a fund to help try to get Mayor's Youth Council to raise funds this year to help, it's gonna take about five, $600,000 to get a nice mural, something attractive for people to come and wanna see, not just a painting on the side of a water tower, we want something special, people will come and wanna see it. infrastructure infrastructures are other big thing yes u s thirty one that's front and center and i will tell you that it is going to be a great project when it's done i am uh... the city's part of that like we said many times the trail the drainage on both sides of thirty one it's going to be uh... trails from city limits to city limits uh... lot safer pedestrian traffic i will tell you that and i'll just say it people know i say it the way it is and i want to thank you i want to thank rosie the chamber of commerce the u s thirty one construction project information that's really been helpful and the chamber's done a good job this year to try to promote those businesses out on thirty one to try to to keep the impact at a minimal i wish the state would do their part and that's what i'm gonna say about the state needs to do their part they gave the information it was going to be done august first so we get back in the school will we see where that's at last year the state didn't follow through so if you're watching state of indiana i'm calling out right now well just stick to what you're gonna say if you can't at least work overtime that's the part that frustrates me they're not working overtime so we'll move on from that one uh... u s thirty one's been a pain graham road Graham Road Phase 1, getting ready to start at the end of the month. The bridge, just up by the animal shelter there, the Humane Society is where they're going to end it this year. Phase 2 will be next year. We also, getting ready to start, they've already started with the handicap ramps with, we have 2026 pavings, a $1.8 million project, and $900,000 of that is a grant. There's about 32 streets. that's gonna be paved. And we also have a patching project this year that Brett, who is our street commissioner and our city engineer, looked at a bunch of roads on over the winter time. Instead of us just seeing roads where we got potholes, what can we do where those roads are and do a better job of patching them instead of just putting cold mix in and trying to get by for a year or two so we have about three or four hundred thousand dollars worth of patching work whenever you call it patching work in the next few years we'll go in and mill it all down and and pave the road the way it should be but it's going to be better than running over a pothole essex drive that's where malarkey's at hoping to get that opened up by the end of the year that's a road that malarkey paid for the new business that come to town We also have a project with sidewalks and curbs. If you've seen over on Madison Street, we're replacing some curbs that come right off of 31. And my thought is, as we change the flow in 31, Madison Street is gonna become a main corridor to get into town as you come off 31. So we want those curbs right, the drainage right, and be paving the street after we get the curbs done. That's part of the project. The street department. The street department has been doing a great job in fixing some of the concrete streets that we have in town. We have some subdivisions with concrete streets, and our street department in the last few years have been taking care of that, doing a great job. DPW, $30 million plan expansion should give us 30, 40 years of expansion if we choose. We were getting to capacity and it's best that we take care of that before the state Puts a mandate on you. You got to fix this. That's it Westside interceptor west side of the high school over by the high school. That's where we know it someday there's a lot of interest in housing that direction and we're putting in a Sanitary sewer for an interceptor to be able to handle that to get it to our new plant and the DPW billing office and is also going to be an IT office as we grow. And I want to say we didn't talk about the partnership with the high school with our IT department. We're still working with the high school on our IT department as well. It's a good partnership I think at times that it works so well we just take it for granted and just think that's the way it is. But we're the only city and school corporation We think in the whole United States, not just in Indiana, that does that with the research that's been out there that we found. Economic development. Let's go on to economic development. You got malarkey, $200 million investment. They gave the city about $5 million. They rebuilt Essex, about $3 million, about $2 million for Paul Hand. They paid for that. Usually these companies come to town and want you to pay for all that stuff. We just told them we can't do that. They left. They come back a couple months later and said, Mr. Mayor, we love your town. It's the best town that we've been to all over the state. We want to help your community because you're helping yourself. What they mean by that, when we talked about the $5 million, The game I was playing, I love to play the games, the game I was playing, we can't give you $5 million for road improvements because we're putting $5 million into our community with the active adult center. And they didn't have much to say about that. And when they come back, that's whenever they said, since you're invested in your community, we want to invest in you. So that helped. And the city council was the ones that was a siding factor in getting the money appropriated for that. So thank you for that. The pre-K, Franklin Schools. Some people may not see that as an economic development tool, but quite honestly, I see it as a quality of life and economic development tool, because people want to come here because they have the opportunity to do that in a great school corporation. Franklin College Innovative Park. It is moving further down the road. We are having conversations with IEDC to try to help with stuff. It's still moving and we still have people that's interested in locating their business there in the life sciences. Chick-fil-A, thank God we got that done. And Aldi's, and Aldi's, that was another one. Panda Donuts, Dutch Brothers Coffee, Vavoline. Vavoline has started with their construction behind Chick-fil-A. Dutch Brothers has not, but they're just about ready to, I believe. It's just up to them, when are you gonna do that? And yes, it is Chipotle at Kentucky Fried Chicken. And it's kind of funny. I would look at people. They'd say, what is that? And you would tell them. And they'd say, no, I heard it was this. OK, I give up. I don't know what to tell you. It's Chipotle. So. Wawa. Wawa in front of our preschool. Wawa is coming and the reason it was held up a little bit, they own the property, they own all of that and they went through the process with the Wawa and now they're coming back in the process with a car wash and then there's two lots that they're going to have ready but not they don't have a tenant for it yet so there's a while what is going to happen and i'm proud of that one uh... and just ask me this the other day texas roadhouse i'm just not written that one off i'm not that give up so i'm sorry and that's right i'm about to give up and usually when you give up that's when good things happen so that's why i'm saying about it housing housing, what affects our schools. In 2025, we built 165 homes. That's 1,400 since 2017. We're averaging about 155 a year. Five subdivisions, home, the price range, 300,000, 900,000. Right now in the subdivisions that is built, at first of the year we had 204 lots. Right now we're about 100 lots. So we are seeing then bluffs at Young's Creek. They are developing their last section now. So whenever that's, and those are selling pretty fast. We have 370 lots that could be becoming developed with, that's part of that last section of uh... bluffs at young's creek those three hundred seventy lots that's part of that also part of that is the silverthorne project out on umbarger lane they are moving forward they just had a uh... a meeting uh... plan commission meeting last week they got their their platting done so that's two hundred homes about four hundred to six hundred thousand dollar range eagles landing uh... out by the legends golf course they've changed their course they're going 16 lots 1.5 million to 2 million dollar price range on the homes that's another need that the city of franklin has and looking forward to that moving forward and they are moving forward it's not like they're talking about it they're moving forward with it the college project uh... i've already talked about that a little bit with the economic development part of that but the housing part for the college project four hundred fifty to seven hundred thousand dollar homes i would say that that is probably going to be uh... when i'm seeing now two three years down the road and with something happens that i'm not aware of so that's where that's that uh... the apartments the post out on u s thirty one three hundred and twelve units market rate And then Redwood, over by Needham, 156 units. That's market rate. And then the FDC, the Franklin Development Corporation, they've had two homes that they've recovered, whenever we say recovered, homes that's been vacant for a very long time, off the tax rolls. The city's been mowing the yard. The FTC goes and tries to buy the house or get the house and and their goal is to try to make Break even on the project. There's been a couple homes that they've actually lost money on but that's okay, too Because we have a home that can be used That's back on the tax rolls and the city's not going out and mowing the yard So it's it's like it's it's a good program and I hope to see that continue down the road and it's in most of the homes that we've been working on is in the lower income area that we have really tried to lift up as a city with alleys and sidewalks and paving the roads and and the FDC helping with homes and and whenever you see that you drive through those neighborhoods today and it's that's also where we concentrated on cleaning up the neighborhood with our police department and it's just becoming a hidden gem in that area so we're proud of that. Our CIS values last year went up about 11.9%, about 1,800,000. That's 71.75% since 2017. And when you say that, I think it's a thing that we want to brag about. But on the other hand, I'm not sure we want to brag about that because that's why all of our property taxes went up. And that's why all of the big debate on SB1 and all that, that's because all the assessed values went up. And the assessed values went up all over the state, not just in Franklin, Indiana. So we're not the only ones with this problem. Grants is something else we like to work on and since 2017 we're $26 million in grants. So that's how we've been able to accomplish a lot of stuff and not have to bond a lot of it. I also brag about this a little bit on how we've been able to utilize cash. Now with these next two projects that we're trying to take on, there will be a bonding component with that. however with their cash is a fifty million dollar project the pool and scott park we have uh... We have the RDC is putting in about $6.2 million for engineering, plus they bought the property, which was $1 million. So the RDC has about $7.2 million in the project. And then we're gonna put through our edit funds, economic development income tax funds, we're gonna take $5 million and use $5 million there. So we are putting cash into this and you will hear more about this in the coming weeks on where we're headed. future projects innovation park uh... like it or not the early would interchange will happen someday and that will be working with the county and state and with that i will tell you you've all heard me talk about an interchange for ten years now This time we kind of, I don't want to say we put it on a back burner, but we wouldn't push in that real hard. The state of Indiana has reached out to us and they're starting to see the need of what we have in Johnson County and starting to see the need in Whiteland. And what I'm hearing from Whiteland, they can't fix that the way it needs to be fixed. So it's easier sometimes for the state to invest in the next interchange. And I think that's what they're starting to see. Forsyth Street culvert. There was a time on Forsyth Street, you know the culvert there that it's two round pipes and they're getting egg-shaped and been working with the county on that for several years. Then there was a time that the bridges were our responsibility. So we were moving forward and now it goes back to the county. we have done the engineering we're going to partner with the county and the county's really loving this partnership because we just heard jefferson sareev's name a few minutes ago he's the only congressman that i ever had that actually was able to find us a grant and He is working to get us a $1.1 million grant. It's out of the committee. Now it goes to the full Senate House. Then Donald Trump has to sign off on it. They're saying that usually happens after the midterms. I'm pretty happy that the county should be happy because they're the ones that's going to benefit off of that grant that we work to get. Also, Westview Trails. From 44 out to 31, there's a trail that we have been applying for grants for the last two or three years. We're gonna apply again this year for a community crossing grant. Young's Creek Creek Improvements. That's another project that we would like to see get done, stabilizing our banks, our creek banks, getting our creeks cleaned out, get the water flowing again. You know, that's almost like a never-ending battle. However, we're looking and going to try to work with an engineering firm and talk to some other folks on how can you do that to where the water doesn't, there's ways to make that water go different routes and be more of a destination stream than just a stream that holds water. So that's what we're looking to work on. And then I know there's another one that we'd like to work on at some point with the county, Simon Road, the Simon Road improvements. Yeah, we realize that that's not a very safe road, but that's not a city road. That is a county road. We have had many conversations with the county about that. The county really wants to fix that road, and we would partner with that, but they can't get the right of way without doing intimate domain, and I just don't think that they're ready to do that right now. So we'll see where that one heads someday. But that's basically all I got. I like to give updates when I can give the updates. A little long-winded, but... that's where we're at. So that way, if you talk a lot, they don't ask you a lot of questions, right? But I'll take questions. I'd be happy to.

Any questions? Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you. Good job.

Steve, I would just reiterate, actually I'd comment, I guess I would just reiterate Dr. C's comments around the police department. Obviously that's a huge transition for us as a district. Um, but thank you for the continued support and the council as well. Obviously you all had to make sure we could fund it. So, um, that's been a huge undertaking for us and definitely appreciate your guys's willingness to help us along as that transition takes place and appreciate you not just drawing a line in the sand when we officially kicked off and saying good luck. Right. So, and, um, chief Cochran as well, I thanked him personally, but it's been a, it's been a great partnership for a really long time and, and, uh, We're nervously optimistic about the future of having a police department. So thank you.

Any other business questions?

Two things. Mayor, you probably are aware of this, that when the Chamber did the work on US 31 with the pamphlet, I know why you're happy. Because then the talk on the internet was about why did the Chamber do all this with 31. So we laughed about it in meeting. But anyway, also I think it's important because we did the 10 year planning part recently about what our growth has been over the years. Because when we talk about this growth and we hear these numbers, we often hear we're going too fast and we get that pushback. And now we have numbers to back that perhaps that's not the case. And I know the school, and the city understand numbers and really what's going on out in the community. So if you guys want to share what kind of growth we're actually seeing, and I suspect it's going to be a little bit more in the near future, but still in the past, it's been pretty steady.

I think. and doctor clinton in the school corporation actually did a study on uh... houses how many students first house and and all that we are since worth what we've heard there is some developers that's interested on the west side of where the new interceptor's going. I will say that I think that we've set a pretty good standard, a pretty high standard of what we want to see in Franklin with what we went through with Silverthorne. And so it sets the stage for the next developers that come in to see what we expect and not have to fight off the ones that we don't want. And I'm probably getting where I shouldn't get, but there is times that we have fought off A lot of, everybody thinks that we go with every development that comes. That's not the case. We vet them pretty well and make sure that this is what we think is good for our city and our schools. I mean, we are treat partners and we don't wanna kill our schools with overpopulating. And I think Dr. Clendenning has said in the past, we're not overpopulating now, but we could if development starts. So that is something we watch. And Dr. C, would you add, please?

So in our 2022 study with IU, they said that the elementary age in every home, we've seen about 0.2 student. And then as we travel to the intermediate middle school and high school, it goes to 0.3. So if you put all those together, it's about a half a kid for every house that comes in here. And with the addition of the Cub Academy, we have plenty of room now at the elementary to bring more students in. And then if you look at intermediate and middle school, we're also fine. So as these new subdivisions come to us, we're prepared to meet the needs of the student, and won't have to add a bunch of space. Now, we're still doing deferred maintenance. If you see what you need to do, we're taking care of some of our roofs, and Malarkey is a big partner with us on the high school roof, and we need to do those things, but as far as actually building a new building right now, we have enough space if the subdivisions do come to fruition. I know that it's outside of the city limits, but I know in Bargersville, there's conversation right now of homes for our Union Elementary School, There is Lennar Homes. They have about 180 homes going up on Tucson and 135. And then Ryan Holmes is also talking about putting a Silverthorne also just south of that area. And that may be a few years down the road, but that's a conversation they're at least having with us. So we're able to meet the needs of where we're headed in that space as far as enrollment growth. I want to throw one more potential partnership with us that we've talked about, the mayor and I. Going from Upper Shelbyville Road from the apartment complex to Needham Elementary, the bike path stops right where the apartment complex is. So we're talking about creating that space from the bike path to go from there into need and sort of safe travel for our kids, because we do have kids living in the apartment complex and also with the addition of the one going ahead of that. So we are looking at that and looking at some engineering costs. So that may be in a future project that everybody will see come to fruition, but we are in that conversation space as well as another partnership opportunity.

Thank you, Dr. C for saying that we have two RDC members here today that would help with that.

Thank you. Any other announcements or public comments? Okay. Thank you gentlemen for your updates. I entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded. All those in favor. Aye.

Thank you.