Common Council - Regular Meeting

There, okay. We'll call this meeting to order. Tonight we have with us Mr. Noel Hardin, the campus pastor for the River Church to do the prayer.

Father in heaven, we are grateful that we have the opportunity to gather together on behalf of the wonderful people of Marion. So tonight, as we give of our time, I just want to express my gratitude for everyone in this room. who works hard, who staying up late, who make difficult and challenging decisions for the future and present hope for this community and the generations to come. And so tonight, I just invite your wisdom to be present with us. And Lord, for many of us, it's been a long day. And so we just invite some extra strength here in the evening time. Would you supply us with some strength? Would you supply us with wisdom? Would you give us knowledge to make the difficult or challenging decisions that we need on behalf of these wonderful people that we serve today? So, Father, would your presence be in this room? Lord, I pray even though there might be differences in opinions, that there be unity in heart. And so I pray for that tonight. I pray there be peace in this room, guide our decisions, and be with every man and woman in this room. In Jesus' name I pray these things. Amen. Thank you.

If you'd please face the flag for a pledge of allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

If we could please do roll call. Kane.

Here.

Reyes. Fordyce.

Here.

Brunner. Klein.

Here.

Marshall.

Here.

Witten.

Here.

Devine. Here. Calgill.

Okay, tonight we do not have any recognition or spotlight, so we'll move on to the consent agenda. Has anyone have any questions or comments on any of those items? Okay, I would take a motion.

Madam President, I move that we pass the consent agenda.

Okay. Motion by Councilman Kane and second by Councilman Klein. Roll call, please. Kane.

Aye.

Fordyce.

Aye.

Klein.

Yes.

Marshall.

Aye.

Whitten.

Yes.

Devine. Yes. Okay. Any committee reports for tonight? Nope. Just me? Okay. Um, the utility board met last week and gave updates on a couple different projects. Um, the sewer connections for the, um, lime sludge is, uh, completed. They are right now doing, um, soil testing for the, um, the CSO project. Um, that's on the site where the old Marion stove works was. So they're doing the soil boring to make sure that it's okay to put the, um, the contained sewer, um, in that area. Um, they paid the first and final bill to rain Stewart excavating. Um, they have had some customer requests that are being moved to the wastewater committee for review. They worked through a couple different, uh, sponsorship requests. Um, The board approved a couple of different moves. They're moving around a couple different positions as they're having retirements. They're adjusting those positions. And then they've decided to be more efficient. They're moving a couple and combining a couple positions in the admin area of admin staff and CSRs. They said that they're down to only 17 illegal use of meters in April. So that's the new meters that they've got in place are really cutting down on illegal water usage. I'm looking what else they've got going on. The two retirements they have coming up in June is one of the solid waste supervisors and also the environmental coordinator. So those positions have been opened up. They discussed the fact that both of the tanks that were just repainted last year, at the one year inspection, they found some pitting and rust marks. So as part of the warranty, those are being resanded down and repainted to fix those areas. They gave an update on the IURC rate case. That testimony has been completed. They're verifying all of that and getting ready to submit it. And that wastewater is doing some visits for the long-term control plan with various other wastewater plants to see what they are doing so that they can kind of create some of the best of both worlds for that. Did you have anything to add on that, Gary? I know you were there. Yep, and then border works met yesterday and they did five more swearings for the Marion Police Department Traceton Johnson Zachariah pad Carrie Frankie Nathan Jacobs and Damon hasty and And then Cardin Associate was there and gave an update on the field scoping for, or on the scoping project for the Ballard Field project. They're in the process of finishing the second phase environmental study. They're looking at the grading plan and the final utility confirmations, and then are working on the floodway impact, focusing primarily on the different soccer fields. They're also looking at, trying to tie the trail system around the park and clean it up and revitalize it and get it connected to some of the other trails that are downtown and possibly looking at going up to the new development up at the old Jones building. They've got a playground planned and they're looking at options about with streetscaping or some other things to keep Second Street while the park is in use to slow it down so that that keeps everybody in the park system safe. and that was the end of the Board of Works meeting.

When houses are on the list or commercial buildings to be torn down and usually they get an order and it says 30 days, do you know what the backlog is? I had a constituent call and a building was supposed to be torn down next to their business in 30 days and it's been six or seven weeks.

Okay. I don't know. That would probably be once the order is done from the Board of Works, it then goes back to the building department. Anything else? Okay. We'll move on to unfinished business then. General Ordinance 03-2026.

Approving bond series A and B for Boot Street Project, second reading and public hearing. An ordinance of the Common Council of the City of Marion, Indiana, authorizing the issuance of the City of Marion, Indiana, taxable economic development revenue bonds, series 2026A, Boot Street Project. The issuance of the City of Marion, Indiana, taxable revenue bonds, series 2026B, Boot Street Project. and authorizing and approving other actions in respect thereto. Speaking, Dustin Meeks from Barnes and Thornburg.

Good evening, Councillor Devine and members of the City Council. Dustin Meeks from Barnes and Thornburg here on behalf of my colleague, Chris Greisel. The ordinance before the Council this evening approves the issuance of two series of economic development revenue bonds. the proceeds of which will be provided to a developer for the construction of a multi-use development consisting of multi-family housing, retail and amenity space, as well as parking in the downtown area of the city. Their first reading on this ordinance was conducted at the council's last meeting, and in between the meetings, the city's Economic Development Commission reviewed the project and the bonds and unanimously approved of those, and so we're back here before the council for the approval of the ordinance. The two series of bonds consists of a $3.5 million series A and a $4.6 million series B. Both of these are what we call developer purchased bonds. So what that means is that the developer has brought in a third party purchaser. Hageman Capital who's going to acquire the bonds. And the developer is ultimately financially backstopping both series of bonds. So the proceeds of the bonds will be loaned to the developer subject to a loan agreement and the developer is also entering into what we call a minimum taxpayer agreement. So the property will be subject to a tax lien in the amount of the principal and interest due on the bonds. Now That taxpayer payment under the minimum taxpayer agreement and their loan obligation under the loan agreement, both of which sort of double layers of they owe the money in the event that there are not TIF revenues, those are offset by the TIF revenues that are, tied to each of the series of bonds. So that's why we have the two series of bonds. The 2026A bonds are backed solely by TIF revenues generated by the project itself. So there's an allocation area that embraces the Boot Street project location. When the project is completed, the tax increment generated from the project will pay those A bonds. The B bonds are backed by a collection of allocation areas in the downtown area of the city that we generally refer to as the consolidated area. The purpose for which the city created the consolidated area over time was to have a revenue stream for the use of redeveloping and revitalizing the downtown area. So you have one series that's backed by the project itself and a second series that's backed by access available increment from other areas of the downtown part of the city. And both series of bonds are ultimately backstopped in the event that there wasn't tax increment from any of those allocation areas as to the A's or the B's by a commitment by the developer to repay that debt to the purchaser, Hageman Capital. Happy to answer any questions that anyone has about the terms of the bonds or the project. I also have Greg Balsano here from Baker Tilly who can assist if there's math questions. So notably not a math guy.

Any comments or questions, council? Okay. Thank you. We will move on to the public hearing portion. Any member of the public can come up and speak. You will be given three minutes and make sure you state your name and your address and whether you are ultimately for or against the ordinance, please.

Hello. Ryan Powell.

Push the button. There you go.

Hello. Everybody I'm Ryan Howell my address is two nine zero nine South Branson Street Marion, Indiana and I just like to say I'm for the progress that this This project is trying to do but I have some comments I'm just curious Why does construction costs run into the millions and millions and millions instead of thousands and thousands of dollars? Is there anything that we can do in Marion to, are any state representatives listening tonight on YouTube or maybe federal representatives? Is there anything we can do to bring down the cost of construction projects here in Indiana and here in Marion and everywhere else? It just seems like we need to make the industry more competitive and therefore bring costs down. I just see all over the state and I've seen all over the country why you've got projects that last forever and they cost millions and millions and millions of dollars when they don't really cost millions and millions and millions of dollars. And with that, I thank you for letting me speak tonight and I yield back the floor.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is Bill Creech. I live at 1409 Ironwood. Got a little in my throat today. Here in Marion. And I just had a quick question. With these bond developments, is this a one-time ask or is this something that you can come back to when the project's 50% complete and say, We had some problems with committed funds and now we need another bonding aspect from the city and then also how much can the city actually bond out? Is there a credit limit to the amount that you can do? And where are we at as far as that amount? So I would just like to know, is this a one-time ask? And where are we at in relationship to giving out all these bonds? And is there still an open to be able to get other industries in or opportunities in because we didn't just close our way? So that's all I have.

Okay, thank you. Anyone else? Okay, seeing no one, I am going to close the public hearing. Council, any questions or further comments on this?

Yeah, I do. Why don't you let Baker Tilly answer that question for Bill? on the bonding and the amount we have left on our total amount of bonds.

Hello, Greg Balsano, Baker Tilly Municipal Advisors. As far as in terms of the request, as far as if an additional bond could be asked for, I defer to Dustin and see as far as if that could happen down the road. Now, I'm sure anything is possible, but as far as what we know today, I think this is kind of the ask in terms of what the project needs to happen. As far as the bonding capacity of the city, There is a limit in the state of Indiana on what can be borrowed by an entity, a redevelopment district, or a city. And that formula is one-third of 2% of the city's net assessed value. So that is the bonding capacity when you're talking local income tax or property tax-related funds. When you're talking TIF funds, which is what we are speaking about here today, that is a revenue stream. And so what I mean by that is there's not a limit outside of what is your revenue limit in terms of what you feel you have the capacity to borrow and still have enough revenues remaining to do your annual ongoing types of projects. So just for some perspective with this project here, even in kind of one of the worst case scenarios in terms of the highest bonding amounts in what we've run, the consolidated TIF where majority of the TIF lies and where a lot of the bonds are being paid from, With all of the bonds that have been approved up to this date in terms of what has been issued, I should say, what's outstanding, the debt outstanding, plus the obligation from this bond issue, again, it's kind of closer to its highest amount, you would still have anywhere from $2 to $3 million or so of revenue remaining after your debt payments. So again, that's before any future bonds would be issued. So that's about coverage of 160%, meaning you have revenues of 1.6 times your debt, if that makes sense, meaning that you have that much left over to do your ongoing projects and needs. There is still room to do further projects if so chosen to, but that's something we constantly monitor with you guys in the council and the commission to make sure that there's a comfortability of what could be remaining after these debt obligations are due. Yeah, absolutely.

And that's just the consolidated TIF. You're not even talking about all the other TIF districts that may still have revenue available for bonding.

Correct. Yep. That is, that is the consolidated TIF. So that, that represents all of those components into it. Yep. Okay.

Other questions, comments. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay. I would take a motion.

I would make a motion to suspend the rules on general ordinance number three, 2026. Okay.

I have a motion to spend the rules by councilman Kane and a second by councilman Klein. Roll call please. Kane.

Aye.

Fordyce.

Aye.

Klein.

Yes.

Marshall.

Aye.

Whitten.

Yes.

Divine. Yes.

I would make a motion to pass general ordinance number three, 2026.

Second.

Okay. Motion by councilman Kane and second by councilman Marshall. Roll call please. Kane.

Aye.

Fordyce.

Aye.

Klein.

Yes.

Marshall.

Aye.

Whitten.

Yes.

Devine. Yes. Say that's passed. We'll move on to the next order of business, additional appropriation 07-2026.

Appropriation for opioid settlement unrestricted, second reading of public hearing. An additional appropriation appropriating $30,000 for opioid settlement unrestricted. Speaking Dr. Jada Montero. Good evening.

Yes, so we are here for a second reading. This appropriation is for the renewal of my contract as Loy Bui settlement coordinator for the city. I recapped a little bit of progress of work that I've done over the last year, including completing the community needs assessment, writing two state grants, and we also just finished a round of RFF. So there will be grants that will be awarded to local organizations that applied, and it was a pretty rigorous process. But we did have some awards that will be coming to you within the next six weeks. So, yeah, questions.

Any questions, comments, counsel? Okay, we will move to public hearing then. Thank you. Again, same thing, you're welcome to come up and speak, state your name and where you reside, and you will get three minutes. I don't see any movements, so going once, twice, correct? We will close that public hearing then. Any additional comments or questions? No, if not, I will take a motion.

Madam Vice President, I move that we suspend the rules on additional appropriation number seven, 2026.

Second.

Okay, I have a motion from Councilman Cain and a second from Councilman Fordyce to suspend the rules. Roll call, please. Cain.

Aye.

Fordyce. Aye. Klein.

Yes.

Marshall.

Aye.

Whitten.

Yes.

Devine. Yes.

Madam Vice President, I move that we pass additional appropriation number seven, 2026. Second. Okay.

Motion by Councilman Kane, second by Councilman Klein. Roll call, please, if no other comments.

Kane. Aye. Fordyce.

Aye.

Klein.

Yes.

Marshall.

Aye.

Whitten.

Yes.

Do I? Yes. So that has passed. Final piece of unfinished business is additional appropriation 08-2026.

Appropriation for opioid settlement restricted, second reading in public hearing. An additional appropriation appropriating $120,000 for opioid settlement restricted. Speaking Dr. Jada Montero. Hi.

So this appropriation is asked for a match fund, a match to a grant that is being funded by the state, so the Department of Mental Health and Addictions. It will allow us to implement some evidence-based prevention programming in our school system for grades five through 12. It is also gonna allow us to host some family workshops over the next two years.

Any questions or comments? Okay, seeing none, we will go ahead and open the public hearing. Okay, seeing no one approach, we'll go ahead and close that public hearing. And any additional comments or questions from the council? Okay, seeing none, I will take a motion.

Madam Vice President, I move that we suspend the rules on additional appropriation number eight, 2026. Second.

Okay, motion by Councilman Kane, second by Councilman Whitten. Roll call, please. Kane.

Aye. Fordyce.

Aye.

Klein.

Yes.

Marshall.

Aye.

Whitten.

Yes.

Devine. Yes.

Madam Vice President, I move that we pass additional appropriation number eight, 2026. Second.

Okay. I have a motion by Councilman Kane, second by Councilman Klein. Roll call, please.

Kane.

Aye.

Fordyce.

Aye.

Klein.

Yes.

Marshall.

Aye.

Whitten.

Yes.

Devine.

Yes. So that shows passed. Thank you. Move on to new business, additional appropriation 09-2026, first reading.

And additional appropriation appropriating $150,000 for opioid settlement unrestricted. Speaking city administration.

Madam President, members of the council, I want to thank you for the time you're taking to consider what I think will probably be some of the most meaningful and consequential legislation you may be a part of during your career, which is to address the mental health and well-being of your public safety professionals. On behalf of the mayor, we've talked about this for months, even years, probably To me in 40 years. I've been before this council many many times for things Substantial and maybe some not so much. This is substantial We I Think I speak for our officers when I tell you we don't ask anyone to cry us a river, but there are times that we See some things that are pretty challenging I I will testify that the idea of mental health, I'm grateful that in the last few years it's become something that's been more common and more accepted, even in our circles. I don't want to tell war stories about 40 years ago, but I can tell you that when I, by comparison, when I came on, there was a A fine officer who worked, and being a rookie, you don't ask too many questions, but I noticed that he was called by a nickname that was really mean and unfortunate. His nickname was Psycho, but never to his face. And finally, I had the courage to ask a veteran one time, why is he called that? And the answer was that he went to speak to a mental health professional. That was why. And then fast forward to today, Or even during that time, I'll go back. I came on the police department with a young man named Brian Dennis, who I went to the academy with and came on together. And a few years later, he took his own life. And I talked to him a week before he did it. He'd moved on to another department. And we'd planned to have lunch and talk about something that was going on in our lives. And a week later, he was dead by his own hand. And I never knew. And if you visit the police department, I know some of you have, you go back and look in our squad room, our training room, we have a gallery there of officers who passed, not necessarily in line of duty, but while they were active officers. And one of those photos you'll see there is a man named Jerry Herring, who also took his own life while he was an active Marion police officer several years, many years ago. So the idea of mental wellness is not... uh a myth it's not not real and uh the the policemen i've had the privilege to work with and lead are tough men and women they don't ask for a lot of help and we're actually kind of discouraged in this macho business from doing that i can tell you which is a shame but with the help of some people who've kind of taken the stigma away from that to one degree or another um And then in conversations with the mayor, I've got Deputy Chief Mark Stephanotis here and Tim Harris, who I think most of you know is a long standing member of our community, who I hope they'll speak, maybe Dr. Montero as well. We came to this meeting to where we are in this moment in time. Mark Stephanatis is my deputy chief. He's here with his wife. If you didn't know, his son is on the police department. And Mark and I have been on a combined total of 70 years on the police department. And in those 70 years, we've been blessed that in many times that we might have had to use deadly force, we've just somehow found a way that it wasn't. the only thing we could do, even though there were many times, and I know I can speak for Mark, I've lost track of the times that I could have used deadly force and been justified and righteous in doing it. But I just was able to find another way. And I'm glad for that. I don't want to hurt anyone. And I know I speak for Mark in saying that as well. But Mark's young son is, to me, he's still a rookie. I've watched him grow up as from a baby. And it wasn't... Couple of years he was on the police department. He was forced to take another human being's life in defense of his own That quickly and I think I'll let I'll leave that at that let mark speak to that. I hope you'll give him the time to come up and testify And Tim as well, but but long story short we've come across what we hope is the beginning of a solution for our public safety fire as well the mayor I'll try to shorten this up. Mark and I were on the same journey, unknowingly even, even though we worked in the same suite. He was pursuing, how do I help my son? And I was discussing with Tim Harris the idea of how can we do better? And at some point in time, we intersected. Mark and I realized we were talking about the same thing, even with some of the same people. And then we had a meeting with the mayor, and the mayor, long story short, was very supportive. But he's a man who doesn't leap before he looks either. I think he knew that police and fire were pretty, I used the word macho a little bit ago, but were pretty resistant to Acknowledging weakness or what we we think may be weakness So what he asked us to do is I'm not going to waste the council's time my words not his but I think I'm gonna cover pretty clearly I'm not gonna waste the council's time asking for funding for this initiative if you you at the police department in the fire department and It's if it's not in demand, if it's not something that they want to do or feel that it's needed. So we heard that and we took an opportunity during what we call our midwinter training, which is training in the middle of winter where every policeman comes in for a week's worth of training over a five week period. And what we built in purposely, a component of that training, pretty significant component of that training that dealt with de-escalation and use of force and not using force when we can help it, but also mental health issues. Tim came, one of his partners in this initiative that he may speak to, came and testified with our officers and talked to them about the seriousness of mental health and wellness, and actually brought police officers from another agency who were already doing what we're talking about doing here, which is to supply an opportunity for police officers and firefighters to talk to someone when they need to. And these were crusty, old grizzled veteran police officers that to look at them and hear them talk about anything else you think they'd be the last people on this planet to say my marriage was in the toilet my wife left me i was thinking about harming myself uh the things i've seen i didn't know they were impacting me until they were and these were tough men and women in some cases and uh And it's being done in their departments, and they testified to me very openly that without this programming, without this opportunity, they would have lost a marriage, they would have lost their children, and maybe even lost their lives. And take my word for it, after 40 years, those kinds of statements from police officers' mouths are pretty rare. But it was very... meaningful to me. It was very truthful, very sincere, and very open. And even at a point in time, I think I started telling these people at this luncheon I attended, I'm sold. With us, it's not that I don't believe, it's a function of money. And so I took that experience back to the mayor and And here we are. And the mayor, being the wise person that he is, said, hey, let's take a look at it. Let's see what we can do to put you guys in a better position when you serve us. And so here we are. So I talked about a function of money, and that's your bailiwick. And with the mayor's support, we're here to talk about it. The funding source, Dr. Montero is an expert on that. but also Tim Harris is here if you would Oblige a few more minutes and then deputy chief mark stephen otis is here as well He's prepared to speak as well. So with that said I will yield I appreciate your time. You've been very generous I support this and I hope you will as well.

So, thank you I'm just gonna speak to some of the kind of technicalities of it. I think Chief Gilbert did a beautiful job just explaining the need and why this request is being made. So I won't add to any of that. In conversation with the mayor, I think immediately, The mayor was like, yeah, we need to do this. And I think initially his idea was to just make a request from the general fund. And I explained to him that in this type of funding is covered. in Exhibit E under first responders. It's a provision for wellness and support services for first responders and others that have secondary trauma associated with doing the work that they do every day. So this is an eligible expense for the opioid settlement fund. How we would like, in conversation with the mayor, how we would Like to proceed in what we've already done, you may have seen a press release come out for a request for proposals. It is for this fund, right, for this initiative. It's called the Public Safety Mental Health Initiative. Understanding that the police department has identified a provider that they would like to be awarded this fund. The request for proposals just allows us transparency with the community. It also allows us to clarify the scope of the services provided as well as mitigate any risk for the city and what that may look like. It's not always that a municipality is paying for mental health services and what does that look like liability wise for a municipality when that happens. So that proposal is out there. It'll be open for another month. And if we were to get any other interest outside of what Mr. Harris can provide, we are meeting on Thursday to talk about it. Those proposals, I would read through, send them to the Mayor and Chief Gilbert so they would have. So just so you all know, that is the structure by which we're just making sure the community is aware of why we are asking for this large amount and how it will be spent.

Thank you.

Lou, I hope you guys got my email. I sent an email to try to make it so I wouldn't have such a long presentation for you. So if you haven't had a chance to read that email, I'd ask you to look at that. Like the chief said, this is just something that we think is important at this time. We went in there with the... I told the guys when we went in there to talk to them that I wasn't going to send them or try to get them to do something that I wouldn't do myself. So I've been doing the... some of the training with Tim Harris and his crew and it's been wonderful. I think it's what we need and I think if you look at the guys back here, we got a lot of young officers and we have to look for their future and make sure that they're mentally right because I think everybody's goal here is to retire but then go on and live a regular life. So the stuff that we saw, yeah, it was, hey, get up, rub some dirt on it. I tell sometimes, I died once and my dad told me, get up and get back in the game. But at the same time, we're just looking at that long-term effect. And we'd ask that you look seriously at this and find a way to fund this. And hopefully this is something that goes on for a long time, long after I'm gone, the chief's gone, and we make sure that we take care of our public servants. So I know it's not the public thing, but I could answer any questions. I've been doing the brain training for about five or six sessions and also seeing the frontline counseling in Noblesville. and my son's doing it, my wife's doing it too. So I'd ask you to do that. So I can't talk about my son because I'll lose it. But just thank you for your consideration.

Thank you.

Well, thank you for the opportunity Madam Vice President and members of the council. I'm Tim Harris, and along with Dr. Chad Lighty and Dr. Stu Kelly, we own a neurofeedback clinic here in Marion called Peak Brain Centers. We began in June of 2020, which was a brilliant time to start a new business right at the start of COVID. I won't get technical unless you want me to get technical, but real quickly, we work with the electrical system of the brain. I'm here because we're already doing what is being proposed here in Hamilton County with the City of Noblesville Police Department, with Hamilton County Sheriff's Department, jailers, with a few officers in Carmel, both police and fire, and one from Avon, Indiana. We also work with Police Department in La Porte, Indiana, We help people with anything brain related, but our niche has become emotional trauma and PTSD. We kind of got on the map, if you will, when we helped a teenage girl who was blind because of emotional trauma and what the trauma did to her brain. We helped her get her eyesight back. And that's when people started to, I guess, hear a little about us. An initiative, a pilot program was started in Hamilton County. With another very good neurofeedback company, the pilot went pretty well through a series of things that happened, which I won't go into. That was not going to continue, and so they asked us if we would get involved. And candidly, I said no initially because it was Noblesville and somebody else had done the pilot. But ultimately, I agreed. We did another pilot there and the success of what we're doing collectively with, let me back up. We work with a social work practice there, Frontline Counseling that the Chief mentioned. They've been, their practice has been almost solely with first responders for more than 20 years. they really helped to change the culture that the chief was talking about in Hamilton County so that it's okay for these folks to say they need help. And what we have found is what we do with our technology, it's non-invasive, non-meds, But it's incredibly advanced technology. What we do along with what the therapists provide speeds up the healing process. Many times, not always, but many times the officers are able to continue to work during the time. Because I can tell you with first responders it's not a question of if they will experience trauma and have PTSD, it's just a matter of when. We all probably have experienced some trauma. They see it all the time. And so our clients come to us, the first responders especially, come to us for a variety of reasons. Either they can't sleep at night without self-medicating in some way that's not usually healthy. They end up in the ER thinking they're having panic attacks and it turns out, I'm sorry, thinking they're having a heart attack and it turns out to be a panic attack. Or they're losing their family, et cetera. And I don't say that to be overly dramatic, it's reality. And so we've been ecstatic, my staff and I, this has really become a mission for us. It is a business, it's a for-profit business, but it has really become a mission for us. And it's going so well in Hamilton County, again, that we had to open an office down there as well. So I would love to be able to do this in my hometown, taking care of people that I know and have cared about for a long time. I'd be happy to answer any questions, and I can tell you anything you want about what neurofeedback is, but I just don't want to take your time if you don't want that. But I'd be happy to answer questions.

Any questions or comments?

What is it? How does it work? Thank you, Councilman. So again, we work with the electrical system of the brain. Let me give you the two minute as opposed to the hour long. The brain's an electrical organ. When it functions, it produces electrical charges. We know those electrical charges as brain waves. That's what they are, real electricity. Those brain waves travel to the scalp via towers of cells in the brain. And we can find out what's happening with that electrical system of the brain by doing a special kind of EEG. We collect raw brain wave data in a little different format than is done in a hospital, but same concept. We collect that data, upload it to a site, password protected, et cetera. It goes through some algorithms that I can't begin to understand, but that gives us a 200-page report that tells us what happens or what's happening with that brain and the electrical system of the brain. The basic concept, not concept, the basic fact is because different parts of the brain control different parts of the body and different functions of the body, the brain has to work together all day, has to communicate with itself all day. That works great if that electrical system is in balance. If it's not, then we have symptoms, and the symptoms are based on that part of the brain that's out of balance. We work with, we contract with a neuroscientist in Germany who is one of the top five to 10 people in our industry worldwide. She works with us on every single client, every EEG that we do, tells us which FDA approved protocols to use, and then what we do is train the brain to get itself back in balance. So what happens specifically with trauma and PTSD is the parts of the brain under here, the amygdala and the insula that control emotional regulation, when there's trauma, the brain suppresses those, shuts them down to protect us. So that, well, it just does that. That's fine in the short term. It's very bad in the long term because the trauma's still there in our subconscious mind. It affects us either emotionally or physically. It does affect us, I can guarantee you that. And so what we do is we help to get the brain back in balance, again, non-invasively and without meds. Nothing wrong with meds at all. It's just not what we do. But we do that to get that part of the brain back in balance so that it will work and so that people can begin to feel, recognize what they feel. Because a lot of times with trauma, people are just completely numb emotionally. They're so suppressed they feel nothing. We have officers that have told us literally, and they're serious about this, they've not felt anything in 20 years. And they don't want to retire and still be in that situation. So when we do that with our trauma clients, we require that they have a therapist that they work with, a therapist that's trauma certified and certified. frontline counseling that we work with down there. We work with them simply because they have all this years of culturally competent therapists working with first responders. It's nothing against any other therapist, they're all wonderful. And if an officer has their own therapist, they can continue obviously with their therapist. So in a nutshell, That's what it is. I could tell you lots more. I can, again, answer anything you want to, but that's a real quick explanation of incredibly advanced technology.

Thank you. Any other questions?

I'm curious, can you speak to some success stories and how long a period of time someone would have to be going through this treatment and how do you measure that type of thing? Yeah, that's a great question.

Every brain's different and so it can be a different amount of time But but the the standard approach we use and what I proposed to the mayor and what we proposed to most for PTSD is A package, it would be four of the EEGs that are spread out over time to see how the brain changes over time, and then 40 brain training sessions. Ideal plan for that is two times a week, not two days in a row. So whatever, 40 divided by, so that's 20 weeks of time. Sometimes that's enough, sometimes it's not enough, and then we go a little longer. In fact, there was an officer that was going to be here tonight, and he texted me late this afternoon with a car problem, but we've got lots of officers that can come and tell you their stories, but I'm happy to tell you stories. We are probably, every Wednesday and Friday right now in Noblesville, I think we're treating 27 officers, same ones those two days. We have finished, I would guess, we've been doing this two years down there and we've probably finished with 15 to 20. And those are officers that are back to good. We can tell how the brain is responding every single session that we do. We show them on reports how their brain's doing. And if it's not responding, we don't blow smoke. We tell them it's not responding. If it's not, then we work with our neuroscientist and we adjust the protocols that we do. We... I just lost what I was going to say. Sorry. Anyway, and so we... when we know we're getting close to done is when symptoms go away. And so it's not that they will never feel anxiety or some of those things again because we can't control the triggers that come. What we can do is get the brain back in balance so that it can handle it. So what happens is there's a moment when the triggers come that when the brain's in balance, a person can figuratively step back for a second and say, okay, I know that's anxiety or I know that's fear or I know that's whatever. And they can then employ tools that the therapists have given them to control that so it doesn't take on a life of its own. The problem is until the brain's back in balance, and this is not the only thing that happens, fixes things, but when the brain's out of balance and suppressed, then they don't have that little moment and so one of the first things we'll hear from our clients is all of a sudden they can feel and they can recognize what those feelings are and they can see it coming and then they can can do some things to control it um but yeah we we have a whole host of oh success stories we have um oh gosh um one the one that started the whole thing was a um fireman medic um from carmel um who the therapist literally thought he was going to die. His trauma was so bad that he was having heart and blood pressure issues. And that's why I agreed to do it, because I'd been saying no, because I thought somebody else should do it down there, the ones that did the pilot. But when she said he was going to die, obviously I... couldn't stand that. And we got him back to good. And we see him every now and then. He gets very emotional when he sees us. He was, in fact, I was walking outside the Noblesville office. One day he was driving back in his truck with his little granddaughter. He pulled over crying and said, Tim, I was just happening to think when I saw you, if it wasn't for you guys, I wouldn't have this time with my granddaughter. Now I'll get emotional, sorry. But it's a lot of stuff like that. And I'm telling you, these guys and gals, they don't talk a lot about what they go through and what their families go through, but it is real. And I love the fact that you guys are considering this. Let me just say this one last thing real quick. To point toward the success, we presented, the neuroscientist, myself, and the therapist from... Noblesville, we were asked to present at the International Chiefs of Police Conference in Boston two years ago about what we're doing. That's a huge conference. There's like 17,000 officers from all over the world. Now, we just did a workshop. There weren't 17,000. But what we found while we were there is what we're doing collectively is just not being done. There are other things, good things being done, but what we're doing collectively is just not being done. And so... one of our goals is to help change that culture within the first responder community so it's okay, right, to ask for help. But that points to the success we've had.

Other questions, comments?

I guess the only other question that we haven't really discussed is, uh, what's our investment per, uh, officer. Uh, and I guess if you could point to the historical, what happened in, in, uh, Hamilton County as an example you had so you had 20 go through what what did you spend per? Yeah, so I sir.

Yeah, I can tell you so that the the package that we've that I told you the numbers that I told you of EEGs and sessions We charge thirty seven hundred and fifty dollars for that. That's a pretty dramatic reduction from our Normal pricing, but that's what we charge some that take For many, that's enough. And our goal is to get people where they don't need us anymore as soon as possible. Some have very complex PTSD and it takes longer. Historically, I can tell you with our company, my partners will hate that I say this, but we're going to work with them until they're done. Now, what's happened both separately from the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department and the City of Noblesville Police, they both came to me separately, the people that coordinate this, and said, Tim, we're paying attention and you're providing way more sessions than we've paid you for. And they literally asked me to charge them for more. And so I did. And so what we do is we do an additional EEG and 10 more sessions for a thousand dollars. That's what we do. Um, but, um, but yeah, that's how it works. Now that's my, those are my, those are, uh, peak brain centers fees. That's what they pay us. Um, And I gave the mayor, and I don't have it with me, but I gave the mayor the hourly charges for frontline counseling. I don't remember what those are because they're a separate company. But the mayor's got that and can share it with you. I can share it with you because I just don't have it here. Yeah.

Thank you. Thanks.

I'll close by I think it was Magnum PI, the original, uh, I know what you're thinking. Um, I've known Tim a long time. And when he first started talking about, to me about this new venture that he was involved in, I, I was polite and I nodded, but I, I, I wasn't a believer. Uh, but, but I've become one. Uh, and, uh, that's another, that's one confession. The other confession is that, uh, uh, Mark Stephanatus is one of the most courageous policemen I've ever been around in my entire career. And, uh, When the mayor issued the challenge that we see if the guys really mean it, it crossed my mind that I needed to find the officer I thought at first blush would be the most reluctant to do it. Macho, been on a long time. And it was Mark, and he's a believer, and he's gone through this. And his original concern wasn't for himself. It was for his own son. And so the skepticism, I had it, and I've been convinced. These officers that Tim has talked about, I won't want to rehash it necessarily, but I want you to hear me say that I went down for a luncheon, and it was – literally wall-to-wall policemen, shoulder-to-shoulder, saying, excuse me to move and take a couple of steps. And every one of those officers there who've been doing this were telling just powerful stories. And again, they were veteran policemen just like me. They'd been through a lot of things and they were very open and honest about what this had done. Again, I'll end with something I said before. Mayors just have been saved. relationships with children have been saved and grandchildren. And I'll be honest with you. I don't get too dramatic here, but lives have been saved. I really believe that. Um, so, uh, again, I'll end where I began. I appreciate your time. Uh, I know this is a, this is not a normal thing that you consider. Uh, But I think it will help our officers in their own beings, and I think it will help them provide a better service. And I recall a call we went on pretty recently where, I'll be honest with you, we didn't handle it very well. We reacted emotionally. A group of officers fed off the negative energy of a group they were dealing with. And I saw, of course, we have body cams now, so I got the front row seat to see that. I was very disappointed, I'll be honest with you, with how we responded to it. And I knew then that we had to do something different. I knew we had to find a way to put our officers in a position where they can rise above difficult things and still maintain dignity and professionalism and all that. And this is part of that too. And then to go home and be healthy. So again, thank you for your time. I really mean it. I'll end where I began. I truly believe that this is one of the most consequential things that you will consider As a legacy, as Mark said very well, long after we're all gone, if we do this right, there will be people who will be hugging their grandkids who might not have if we don't consider this. So I appreciate it. Thank you very much. If there are no questions, I'm going to yield. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other questions? I think I'll just say chief and everyone who shared, I appreciate that. Um, me personally, I also am a law enforcement family. Um, I have two family members that are law enforcement and one of which who is actually going back to school to do just this. Um, and it believes strongly that this needs to be done and normalized so that the officers and public safety people can, can heal. and work through that PTSD and still be able to be emotionally available and be there for their families and enjoy their life. As much as we love you guys as law enforcement, we do want you to retire and to have a life afterwards. And this is, I think, a huge step towards that. And so I'm very happy to hear that this is something that's coming forward. And from what I remember reading, something that I believe a lot of the officers said they would actually take advantage of So I'm very pleased to hear that as well. With that said, any other comments or concerns? Okay. I'd be happy to take a motion.

Madam Vice President, I would be honored to move this additional appropriation number 9-2026 forward to a second reading in public hearing. Second.

Okay. We have a motion from Councilman Cain and a second from, I heard a voice over there. Councilman Klein. Roll call, please.

Cain.

Aye.

Fordyce.

Aye.

Klein.

Yes.

Marshall.

Aye.

Whitten.

Yes.

Devine. Yes. So we will move that on to next meeting for second reading and public hearing. Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay. That's all that's on the agenda. Any announcements for the good of the order?

It's not an announcement. Well, I'd like to announce gratitude. Ward 2's cleanup was Saturday. Saturday was something of a sloppy day. The crews were out, and they were busting their butts, and thank you, city, for that.

I have a quick announcement. On behalf of my sister you may have heard that Samuel Plato has made the news recently Cursing my sister invested quite a bit of time Getting him entered into the Alabama Men's Hall of Fame So he will be inducted there in September But she sent this to me this evening and says that she received confirmation today from a congressional record that a congressional record statement is from the state of Maryland is being developed in honor of Samuel's well, because he did some significant construction there. One project in particular was $26 million in today's money. And so that and a couple other things are coming. The State General Assembly here in Indiana is going to recognize him in 2027. So just wanted to get that in there. Shout out for my sister because she's done that all on her own time and effort just because she wants to see history set right. So that's all.

Great. Thank you. Any other announcements? Okay. If not, I will take a motion to adjourn.

So moved. Second.

Okay. Motion from Councilman Cain. Second from Councilman Fordyce. Roll call, please. Cain.

Aye.

Fordyce.

Aye.

Klein?

Yes.

Marshall?

Aye.

Witten?

Yes.

Devine? Yes. We are adjourned. Thank you.