Common Council - Regular Meeting

All right, we'll go ahead and call tonight's meeting to order. We're going to have Pastor Eldon Jackson. He'll be leading us in prayer. He is from the House of Worship for All People. And then after that, Councilman Mike Klein, if you would, you'll lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Go ahead, sir.

Let's pray. Father, we come before you today with grateful hearts. We thank you for this day, God, and we think, Lord, before any decisions are already made, you already know what this city needs. And so, Lord, we're asking you, God, just to be in this room, God, not just on the walls or in the name of the meeting, but actually present, God, guiding the conversations and bringing clarity, Lord, where there's confusion. God, we ask right now that you give these leaders the wisdom that goes beyond their own experience. Give them ears to hear the people that they serve, the families that are trying to make it, the kids who need safe streets, the seniors who need to be seen, the businesses that are trying to hold on. God, we ask that you let integrity lead inside of this place right here, right now, today. Let every decision be made not for personal gain, Lord, but not for politics either, God, but for the good of the people. where there's disagreement, God, and there may be, let them disagree without losing respect because this city is bigger than any one opinion in this room. And God, we ask that you bless the city of Marion. Bless Grant County, God, because there's good here. There's potential here. There's people in this city who love it and are fighting for it, God, and so we ask that you honor that fight. And, God, we ask that you also that we pray for our state and our federal officials as well, God, that you give them wisdom and guidance as they make decisions. And then, lastly, God, we ask that you guide every single word that's spoken in this room today, Lord. Guide every vote that may be taken. And when this meeting is over, let the outcome be something that we're all proud of. We thank you and we pray this prayer in the mighty, mighty name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Amen.

And now on this day after Flag Day, let's honor our flag and honor our country.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, Pastor Jackson, for that prayer. I appreciate that. And Michael, thank you for the pledge. Okay, next we'll do a roll call.

Cain.

Here.

Reyes.

Here.

Fordyce. Here. Brunner.

Present.

Klein.

Here.

Marshall.

Here.

Witten. Devine. Here. Calgill.

Here. Okay, the next on the agenda is our recognition spotlight. And tonight we're going to recognize now retired fire inspector Brandon Eckstein. Brandon spent, where's he at there? Oh, 20 years on the fire department. So Brandon, if you'd like to come on up at this time. And is the chief in here? Where's he at? Oh, you guys are hiding behind everybody. And that, Curtis, that ain't easy for you. But if you'd like to say a few words, chief, come on up. Brandon, come on up here beside me, bud.

Well, if I have to say something, I guess I will. I don't particularly like Brandon too much. No, I thank you, President Cowgill, and members of the council, thank you for allowing me to speak on this life achievement in Brandon's life. I've been on the department long enough to know when Brandon started. And just like any new guy who comes on, new firefighter comes on, we often think, you know, what's that firefighter going to be? What's their, you know, are they going to make it? Are they going to be any good for us? What's going to happen? So luckily Brandon showed pretty early on that his passion for firefighting and his able to absorb the knowledge that we were giving him, he turned out to be a really good firefighter. Then he decided that investigation was his passion. Because we have a saying in the fire department that find a role that fits you. Not every role is for everybody, but find something that fits you when you find it. Be proficient at it. Be indispensable at it. Brandon found that with investigations. Even after his accident, he came back stronger than ever, in my opinion, in a lot of ways. And he took investigations to a new height when he became fire prevention chief. He took our investigation division to unbelievable heights of where it is now, to where our investigation division is a very strong part of our department. He's convicted more arsonists than not, and that's very commendable of him, and we can't thank him enough. And thankfully, I've seen him grow into a man. I've seen him become a father. I've seen him become a husband. And thankfully, I get to call him my friend. So I appreciate you, Brandon. Thank you a lot. And I wish you all the best in your next endeavor. And this department can't function without you, but it'll be a little different. But we appreciate you.

I, too, was on long enough to remember when you first come on and watch your whole career. And the chief alluded to his accident. He hadn't been on very long. Was it a year or two?

Probably about a year, a year and a half.

Yeah, he was a fairly new firefighter, and on the ladder truck, the way the ladder works is there's the rungs, but as they go up, you've got to keep everything out from underneath. And he was going up the ladder and had got his foot entangled, and so the ladder caught it. And was it your right foot or left foot?

Oh.

And it was left foot and it pretty much almost took the front part of his foot off. He had to have major surgery and was out for quite a while. And what a lot of people don't know is if he took off his shoe, he's actually got a flipper for a foot now.

But no, he don't.

But they was able to help him out and he was able to come back on. And I agree with the chief. It just shows his determination and to want to be a firefighter and continue his career. We normally give people that we spotlight certificates, but with you, as we do with all of our police and fire that put on 20 years, we fly a flag, and we have it folded, and we'd like to honor you and give you this, and hopefully it'll mean a lot to you on behalf of the council and the city and the mayor, and we very much appreciate your 20 years, and you know I love you, buddy. I've known you for a long time, and you're going to be missed, but you're going to do great things. You always do.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Yeah, we're going to make you say a few words. Go ahead. So it was a phenomenal 20-year career. Couldn't have done it without my family beside me the entire time. Mom, dad, my wife, my husband, or son. Sorry, son. Well, that's a slip you won't let down. Nope. But a lot of it, also the guys that you see in the back that are in the blue shirts. Oh, I know. I'm never going to live this one down. But the guys in the blue sitting behind you, we have grown together. We've watched each other's kids grow up, graduate high school, go on college. We've seen some that they're starting their own families now. together so it's been a phenomenal 20 years it's another family sitting back there can't thank you guys enough and i appreciate you but that's all i got here we'll get a picture for you you want to have your your family come up for that

Thank you, Brandon, for coming in, bud. Appreciate you. Okay, next on the agenda is our consent agenda. If there's no discussion, I'll entertain a motion.

I'll move we pass the consent agenda.

Second. We have a motion by Councilman Klein, second by Councilman Cain. Roll call.

Cain?

Aye.

Reyes?

Aye.

Fordyce?

Aye.

Brunner?

Aye.

Klein?

Yes.

Marshall?

Aye.

Devine? Yes. Calgill?

Aye. Okay, next I'll take any committee reports.

The Marion Utility Board met since our last council meeting and they gave an update on the projects they're working on the stormwater Collections they said stormwater collections in the area of Wesley and Ivanhoe It's coming. They're having some flooding issues in the backyards along in that area So they're gonna do a project to try and help funnel that water where it's supposed to go they said it wasn't budgeted but that With the solid waste paying back to the stormwater. They have enough money to be able to do that project and The long-term control plan, the area that they were excavating to put the tank in had higher levels of arsenic in the soil than they anticipated. So they're having to do a couple different things depending on what comes back the most cost-effective, whether they're going to excavate and remove more soil or alter the tank size, kind of the dimensions of it so that they can fit it in an area where they don't have as many issues for that, they said. They'll have more details at the next meeting about what that's going to do and what that added expense is going to be. The wastewater loan is going to be paid off. They did, when they did the financial reports, they talked about, updated recommendations for minimum operating funds balances. They said in the water utility it's recommended that they have 910,000 in wastewater, 964,000, 268,000 in stormwater, and 398,000 in the solid waste utility. That's making sure that they have their minimum operating balance, which I think is three months on hand. So those are the balances that they're working towards. And if my notes are correct, and Gary, you can correct me if I'm wrong, I believe that they were close to all of those except in the water utility. Was that correct? Okay. So they're hoping once this rate increase comes through, then they'll have a better handle on what will work. but that's all still in process. It's not moving very quickly, but it is moving at least. So we should know something. I won't say soon. It'll be a while. As we know here at the city, the auditors have started the 2025 audit. So they're working on that. They went and did a wastewater treatment challenge and And then they finished the storage tank warranty work and the meter project. They're now working on a variety of different meter fixes. And then they had their first annual friends and family day where they had family members and friends come out to the operating plant and give tours and kind of talked over the different things that they do within the plant and said that was a great day for them. And then I think you guys should have gotten the financials emailed to you if you didn't let me know and I can scan them and send them out and Then I did not make the Board of Works meeting today this week I did hear that they went through and had a new rating system that they put into place Which they'd been working on for the last six eight months for Houses that they wanted to look at for demolition and so my understanding is is that I the building Commissioner Justin came forward with that rating scale and rated the houses that were kind of put on hold and Re-reviewed and from in talking to one of the board members. They said it was a great process and it really helped quite a bit on Determining which ones were going to be the priority to pull down first So that as they had the money and the budget kind of go down they knew which ones they wanted to target first off the list so

Thank you, Erica. Mike, do you have something? Go ahead.

Actually, thank you. I have two. The short one is that the compliance committee met before this meeting, and we'll talk about that later this evening. The Board of Aviation Commissioners met June 4th. Bids were opened June 3rd for work on a partial parallel taxiway toward runway 33. The engineer's estimate for the project was $1,003,595 and there were three bids. The high bid was $933,000 from 3D Company. The low bid was from Brooks Construction for $668,471.70. The board accepted the Brooks bid contingent on the construction grant approval from the FAA. The fuel farm project, the Jet A fuel system and the 100 octane low lead system, had a setback in mid-May. The company designing the fuel farm noticed that a critical valve was missing from the design for the fuel tanks, and the system doesn't work without the valve. That delay in assembling the system set it back a couple of weeks. The tanks arrived last Monday. This is stuff that happened since the meeting, just an update on the fuel farm. The tanks arrived last Monday with the valve installed and tested before shipment. Plumbing is going to be completed today or tomorrow, and the tanks will then be pressure tested, and the fuel... if everything goes well, fuel's going to be delivered tomorrow or Thursday. And once the fuel's delivered, they have to do what's called a soak test, which requires the fuel to set in the tanks, to sit in the tanks for about two weeks. And during that time, they will take tests of the fuel to make sure that in the construction, whatever coatings were put on and supposed to be taken off, haven't contaminated the fuel. And so if there's no contamination in the tanks, they're in business. There were bids that were taken and came in for design and construction of the four-unit T-hanger expansion. The engineer's estimate was for $440,776. The one bid that did come in was from Shawnee Construction and it was for $892,935. Because there was only one bid and because it was more than twice as much as the engineer's estimate, the board's going to re-bid the project. The Air Force ROTC programs in operation now and they have 20 aviation cadets Keep in mind, Air Force ROTC only has 90 cadets nationwide. So I think that says something good about the Marion program. And Sky High Scoops, the ice cream shop at the airport, passed its health department inspection. Thank you.

Thank you, Mike. Any other councilmen? Okay. We'll go ahead and move on to unfinished business then. We are ready for additional appropriation 10-2026.

Appropriation for park bond. Second reading public hearing. An additional appropriation appropriating $360,687.81 for a park bond. Speaking city administration.

Good evening everybody on this stormy evening. So I'm coming before you for the second time for this appropriation. It was already approved in December and so this will allow us to make the payment in July and then the next payment is due in January that we have to make in December for this park bond. Any questions?

I don't see any questions. So this is a second reading public hearing. So I will open it up at this time to anybody in the public that would like to speak for or against this appropriation. When you come up, state your name, your address, and you'll have three minutes. Don't see people rushing up. No, Joe, sit down. So, all right, I'll go ahead and close this public part of this then. And if I don't have any more discussion from any of the council, men or women, I will accept a motion.

Mr. President, I move that we suspend the rules on additional appropriation number 10-2026. Second.

I have a motion by Councilman Cain, second by Councilman Brunner. Roll call.

Cain.

Aye.

Reyes.

Aye.

Fordyce. Aye. Brunner.

Aye.

Klein.

Yes.

Marshall.

Aye.

Devine. Yes. Calgill.

Aye. Thank you. Now I will accept the motion to pass 10-20-26.

Mr. President, I move that we pass additional appropriation number 10, 2026. Second.

All right. We have a motion by Councilman Cain and a second by Councilman Brunner. Again, roll call, please.

Cain.

Aye.

Reyes. Aye. Fordyce. Aye. Brunner.

Aye.

Klein.

Yes.

Marshall.

Aye.

Devine. Yes. Calgill.

Aye. Motion passes. Okay, we will move on to new business. And next up, we have a confirmatory resolution 9A-2026 that we are not going to hear tonight. Joe Murphy is graciously here enough to explain the situation and why.

Good evening, council members. Yeah, thank you so much. I am requesting a continuance for confirmatory resolution 9a, 2026, as well as the public hearing. This is for the Prismian tax abatement that we heard at our last meeting. Nothing wrong with the project or the company. very eager to make this investment, very excited about being and reinvesting in Marion. However, we did receive some news late last week after the agenda was published from the DLGF, the Department of Local Government Finance, that they may be changing their interpretation of an estate statute around the treatment of personal property inside of TIF districts that will have a substantial impact on this project. So before moving forward with this abatement, we have requested further clarification from the DLGF. So we are going to be meeting with them as well as our financial advisor, Baker Tilly, next week to receive further clarification on how this interpretation is going to impact this project. And our expectation is we'll be back before you at the July meeting with either the same form of resolution or a slightly amended form, depending on. the ruling from the DLGF on this issue. So this is something that's impacting projects across the state. We just happened to get caught up in it and the timing was poor. So I would appreciate a continuance so that we can regroup a little bit and come back to you guys in July with a recommendation to proceed on this item.

Need a motion? Yes, please. I'll move. We continue this until the first meeting? Yes. Until July 7th, I think. Until the July 7th meeting.

Second.

Okay, we have a motion by Councilman Klein and a second by Councilman Cain. Roll call.

Cain. Aye. Reyes. Aye. Fordyce. Aye. Brunner.

Aye.

Klein.

Yes.

Marshall.

Aye.

Devine. Yes. Calgill.

Aye.

Thank you, Joe. Thank you.

Thanks, Joe.

Next up is additional appropriation 11, 2026.

Appropriation for opioid settlement restricted first reading. An appropriation appropriating $130,000 for opioid settlement restricted. Speaking Dr. Jada Montero.

Welcome, Jada.

Good evening.

I'm back. So today I'm going to be asking for an appropriation of $130,000 from the Restricted Opioid Settlement Fund to fulfill a grant that I released earlier this year. It was called the Recovery... Access grant is what we're shortening to but it was to Really empower other organizations in the community to seek these funds to help them support their programming when it comes to treating the opioid epidemic There were 14 organizations in total that submitted applications to receive funds nine of those organizations presented a did a formal presentation in front of myself and our advisory board members, which consisted of 13 people, citizens throughout the community that volunteered their times, which was awesome. So we are asking, the amounts are different, so I'm just gonna read the organizations and their amounts so you guys are familiar. All of the expenses are eligible under Exhibit E, They're mostly to cover program supplies or like curriculum purchases. We did as a committee decide not to sub-plant any salaries. So there is no money going towards salaries of individuals in these organizations except for a pilot program I will tell you all about at the end. So the first organization is the Grant County Family Recovery Court. the award amount of $15,000. The second is the Grant County Rescue Mission with the award amount of $15,000. The third is Big Jaws Youth for Christ with the award amount of $15,000. The fourth is Bridges to Health with the award amount of $25,000. There are two smaller grant awards, one to Radiant Health for $5,000 and another to Lotus Recovery for $5,000. And then the final is a $50,000 reward to the Grant County Jail. They are proposing to create a treatment Coordinator position within the jail that would assist with getting inmates Mental health treatment as well as addictions treatment and we've not had this type of position before so our $50,000 will actually match $50,000 from the county government to pilot this position Yeah, that is our ass adds up to a hundred and thirty thousand I

So it'll be a $100,000 position? 50 from us, 50 from them? Is that what you meant?

Yeah. I don't think the salary is $100,000. I think it's the salary and then the fringe benefits adds up to 90-something to cover it in total.

And will you or your advisory committee have oversight of whatever program is going into the jail?

Yes.

Or all these programs, I guess.

Yes, yeah. There is, per our funding agreements, which I'll create, get approved by our city attorney and executed, I will have oversight and also did already have some contact with the jail on planning for this position. And then all of the other treatments, there is a requirement for reporting for these funds, so we had to include it.

Hi, Jada. How are you tonight? Oh, I'm doing great. Good. I was curious about the Grant County Jail one on the $50,000, because doesn't a county have their own opioid board and opioid money? Yes. So is this going to the opioid board and not to the sheriff? Yes.

No, the application was for the sheriff, and then the sheriff asked the county's opioid money to match it. Yeah.

Okay, because I know that they've got their own board for this, and I had spoke to them, because it was with the court system, and then it went to the opioid board.

Yeah.

They took it from the recovery court, and they took it upon, the county took it to themselves, the council or commissioners, and they have their own board now. So I was just curious, because all the opioid money, instead of going to the sheriff, is supposed to go to the board.

Yeah, so my understanding is that...

It's my understanding.

Yeah, and my understanding is that we are awarding the sheriff's department, and then the sheriff's department went to their opioid void and asked for them to, one, approve the petition to create it, and then also to fund the other $50,000.

Yeah, because I heard he already had the staff hired or the... Consultant hired her and I was just curious how he did that if he hadn't didn't have the money yet We are they are they a consultant or they are they doing a survey or they just I Are they actually given therapy?

They are not going to give therapy. They are going to coordinate the treatment. So they will be responsible for bringing in providers to conduct the treatment, identifying the inmates, assessing the inmates and placing them in their groups that they need to be in as well as tracking that data.

Yeah. So this is a paid position for just somebody that's going to interview them and decide whether they need the treatment, what type of treatment, correct?

Yes, and manage the providers that come into the jail as well.

I just, I don't know. On that one, if we're paying a position on that, as long as it goes to the county's opioid board instead of to the sheriff.

Okay.

Because the opioid board has to administer all the opioid money. And that's why they took it from the court system. and put it before their board instead of just the sheriff. Because I think what I'm trying to get at is if the sheriff's trying to do his and the council and the commissioners are trying to do theirs, it's just kind of conflicting there with that. Because the sheriff's supposed to go to the commissioners of the council to get money for the opioid treatment.

Yeah, and my understanding is that's what he did. He went to them and asked, if the city of Marion provides $50,000, will you provide $50,000 so we can fund this position in the jail? So that's my understanding. I don't know who cuts the checks at the county, right, like where the money will go, but I do believe that this will be a sheriff's department employee that is funded by the opioid settlement dollars.

And what are their qualifications?

For the job description is to have a, well, the hope would be that you had a licensed clinician, but I do believe they put that they could have a bachelor's degree in social work, criminal justice, something around that, like a case manager position would be.

I don't have a problem sharing, especially with the opioid problem that we have and getting the help that they need. I'm just wondering, did you apply for the grant, or did you apply for the $750,000 grant, or did the county apply for the grant?

Oh, I applied for the $750,000 grant. Okay.

Yeah. All right.

It's not for the jail, though, so.

Okay. Okay, thank you. I appreciate that. Mm-hmm. Go ahead, Eric.

Just, I'm curious, I'm supportive of the idea, but where will we be next year? So this will be a one-year thing, and then you might come back again, or?

Oh, no. My under, my, in conversation with the Sheriff Department is that their ask has been to include it in their budget moving forward. Okay. Yes.

So, and we would have the funds, you will have the funds again to do, to fund this again. So you'd probably come to us next year and ask the same thing.

Um. No, that's not the plan. The plan is that they will include it in the county's budget to fund the position. Just a one-time ask. This is a one-time ask. All right. Yes.

Thank you. Anybody else? If not, I'll entertain a motion.

Mr. President, I move that we pass additional appropriation number 11-2026 to a second reading and public hearing.

Second. I have a motion by Councilman Cain and a second by Councilman Klein. Roll call, please.

Cain?

Aye.

Reyes?

Aye.

Fordyce? Aye. Brunner?

Aye.

Klein?

Yes.

Marshall?

Aye.

Devine? Yes. Calgill?

Aye. And next up is additional appropriation 12-2026.

Appropriation for opioid settlement restricted first reading. An appropriation appropriating $150,000 for opioid settlement restricted. Speaking Dr. Jada Montero. Thank you.

Hello again. So, and you all may be aware, are likely aware of this. House Bill 1296 is scheduled to go into effect on July 1st of this year. And what that law is in the state of Indiana is to provide regulation to all recovery residences. So it is a stipulation that to identify as a recovery resident, you have to be in line with the National Alliance of Recovery Residency Rules. You also have to register with FSSA, and they will manage that. if you're allowed to call yourself a recovery residence. So to be in a line with those rules, there are some things that you have to do. You have to get accredited, you have to go through certain trainings, whether they be trauma-informed, peer recovery, and then you also have to supply your home with certain things. So it could be like individual refrigerators, mini refrigerators, fire extinguishers, carbon monoxide, Supplies, you have to get ready. Recovery residences are something that's needed in the community, but one thing that we've talked about is standardizing the type of care that our citizens receive when they reside in those homes. So in preparation for how the city can, one, help enforce getting in compliance with HB 1296, but also in support of our recovery residents. I'm asking for an appropriation of $150,000 from the restricted fund to allow me to create a grant process. So it would be an RFF that I release to our current existing recovery homes for them to request funds to help them get in compliance with HB 1296. So they could make a request to receive funds to help them pay for their accreditations, to pay for the training fees, to pay for small supplies, like I said, fire extinguishers, carbon monoxide. We will not pay to one fund a new home or residence or purchase. We will not make mortgage payments. We will also not pay for construction. Have not put the grant together yet. Wanted to make sure that it was something that we would be interested in funding before I accept applications.

That's it.

When you say construction, what about bringing, say, a bathroom up to code? Does that count as construction?

That does not. We had to add for construction because in our first round... You mean new construction?

New construction. Okay.

Yeah, people wanted to add on...

bedrooms and those kind of things and I know it varies by instance do you have any kind of ballpark estimate for one facility what it might cost I know that's an impossible question to ask or answer, but I'm asking it.

I appreciate that. Thank you. Yeah, so each home is in different conditions, and the setup is a little bit different. It depends on where they're going to apply when it comes to the level of recovery residence. So depending on the levels go up to five, I think. Some require that you only have one person per bedroom, right? Well, that's not the case for most of our recovery homes. They're sharing bedrooms and things like that. So I put a limit on we will award up to six awards at no more than $25,000.

I was asking that to try and figure how much bang for these bucks. So thank you.

Yeah. Out of curiosity, how many recovery homes do we have that are in the community?

Currently, seven, I believe. Seven organizations. Two of those organizations have multiple homes.

Okay. So if thinking six awards at no more than 25, probably not all seven... they may not organizations receive.

Well, yeah, not all seven organizations may receive. And also they may not be interested in getting in compliance with that law. Right. All it says is that you can't identify yourself as a recovery residents. If you don't do those things, it doesn't mean that they have to.

And as the definition of recovery residents could vary from like, I'm trying to get the language. I want to use like halfway houses to you know, working on self-sufficiency or these are homes that people are living in specifically and like longterm.

Yeah. So recovery residents aren't meant to be longterm. The average day is supposed to be no more than a year. But I do believe for the definition of recovery or sober living, it's supposed to be an active recovery of illicit substance.

So what kind of, I guess, qualifications or grading scale, whatever it is you want to use? You said there's only seven recovery homes. But then I noticed in the previous one where a lot of that was awarded to, like, the Grant County Jail or to this organization. Right. So is it, what is it that, what is it that all these homes aren't getting help, I guess, or is there, do you have a grading scale, I guess, is what I'm asking.

Yeah, so our first grant, we modeled after our, we modeled the grading scale after the grant that we received from the Department of Mental Health and Addictions, because why would we recreate the will? So we utilized that grading scale, that format for the presentation. I will say in the ask that we received from recovery residences in our last grants, it was largely to cover salaries or to cover large-scale construction, which we could not support.

Good. So if... If this were to not go through, then this means that we're not in compliance or these potential recovery homes will not be in compliance without their own dollars for HB 1296. Is that what I'm hearing?

I am meeting with all of the recovery residences this coming Monday to figure out could they make this happen without these dollars? I can tell you that currently only two organizations are um, DMHA certified as recovery residences. So that's Lotus recovery and radiant house.

So, so of, I'm guessing these seven organizations from the previous appropriation are the seven homes that would also be receiving this money to get in compliance. Like the jail, Bridges to Health, Big Jaws, all of that? Are those those? Who are the seven? What are the seven recovery homes? Oh, the... Organizations, I mean.

That are recovery residences? Yeah, you have Lotus Recovery, Radiant House, Hope House, which has two properties. Jimmy's Recovery Residences, I think it's what it's called. It's newer. He purchased two of Hope House's residences. Okay, and he has two properties. You have From the Ashes Recovery, Gala House, Journey Square, and Agape Recovery.

And the two that are DMHA certified right now are?

Radiant House and Lotus Recovery.

Okay.

So they wouldn't need to apply for this if they're already qualified and correct.

They should be in compliance, but they're going to come to the meeting just to see if there's anything else that they might need.

And I guess I have one more question along those lines. Would some of this be a way to encourage additional houses or additional organizations to come up to provide more space for recovering housing? Because I'm assuming the percentage that's there is very small and not nearly what is needed for the community.

Yeah, I think that we could all, I don't know that we could benefit from No, I don't know that we could always use more is what I'm trying to say. But I really think that the purpose of these dollars, especially for the city of Marion right now, should be used to getting all of the recovery residences on one page and everyone having a good understanding of what HB 1296 means, not just for the community, but how recovery residences are expected to be run. I think that it would likely be enticing, right, to see that the city is willing to offer money for everyone to get in compliance. I don't think that it would be a good investment right off the bat to offer money for people to create their own recovery residences because we want to make sure that these are programs that are gonna sustain. And with the exception of Jimmy's, all of those recovery residences have been around for at least a year.

How many people between these seven can we help at one time if fully at capacity?

So the capacity for each home varies depending on if it's a single room or if they're sharing a room. But some of the homes have up to 12 residents at a time. So if we multiply eight even by seven, we're talking about 50 people at a time.

Jada, I'm curious too, because I just plain don't know. Like you said, Jimmy's that opened two new ones, he's new.

Yeah.

So what qualifications, what does it take to, I understand with this new bill, everybody's going to be on the same page, which I think is fine. But like, what does it take for somebody to say, I'm going to open up a recovery house?

Without HB 1296?

Well, like right now, before that went into effect, was there any qualifications?

No.

Wow.

Okay. So what this new law does is actually impose state-level standards on a situation that was previously unregulated across the board. And so there are going to be a lot of challenges in people having to comply with rules that simply didn't exist before. So there are going to be some, since DMHA is involved, I expect them to have high standards for this. and that's going to create some compliance issues for people that are currently in business, and they're going to have to invest and decide what they want to do. But I'm expecting, I think we'd look up, the regulations are due out sometime in August.

The regulations are due out in August, yes.

So we don't even know what those qualifications are going to be.

We just know they're going to be shaped after the National Alliance. Yes.

Well, and it's better than nothing. I mean, right now, with not having any qualifications, to me, that's kind of a dangerous situation.

Go ahead, Gary. So, Jada, are you going to oversee the... the purchasing of what it takes? Are they gonna supply you with a list from the state of what it's gonna take for them to confirm to the state statute? And then you're gonna regulate, well, okay, you can have this much money for fire extinguishers or et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. to be able to get them. So you're going to oversee each house of what they spend their money on.

Yes. They'll submit a line item budget. We will approve what is eligible within the line item budget. And that's what we will award. They will then provide proof of purchase.

Excellent. Thank you very much. Yes.

Anyone else? If not, I will, uh, What's that called? Take a motion. My mind went blank.

Mr. President, I move that we pass additional appropriation number 12-2026 to a public second reading and public hearing.

Second. Okay, I got a motion by Councilman Cain, a second by Councilman Klein. Roll call.

Cain?

Aye.

Rez? Aye. Fordyce? Aye. Brunner?

Aye.

Klein?

Yes.

Marshall?

Aye.

Devine? Yes. Calgill?

Aye. Okay, next on the agenda is CF1 forms annual review and speaking, Councilman Mike Klein.

Thank you. The compliance committee along with most members of the council met before this meeting and went with Joe Murphy, St. Joe, after the work is in his staff have done, Yeah, keep that in the act. Anyway, seriously, but seriously, folks, we reviewed 11 compliance forms for tax abatements, both real and personal property, and made... Well, and the committee made recommendations on finding them in substantial compliance or not. We made a recommendation on each of them. And my question for our attorney is, can I group the approvals in one motion just so we don't have to? Yes. Okay. But first, again, and I've said it, and this is honest, thank you for all the work your office did, you and your office did. It made it very much clearer and much easier. So, I will move, I have 10 to approve, I'm gonna lump those in one motion, and then one to not approve, and worry about that one later. The ones I move that we, that the city council approves as in substantial compliance, CF1 forms from Athena, AgriCorps, both real and personal, Barr Brothers, General Motors, Halstead, Mason Village, Sulai Hospitality, Wiley Metal, and Winterland.

Second. Okay, we got a motion by Councilman Klein and a second by Councilman Fordyce to approve the ones that he just said on the CF1 forms.

Kane?

Aye.

Reyes?

Aye.

Fordyce?

Aye.

Brunner?

Aye.

Klein?

Yes.

Marshall?

Aye.

Devine? Yes. Calgill?

Aye.

and one other one is uh... historic gallatin apartments lot of discussion about that is in many ways in substantial compliance but there are some glaring and we thought serious questions that need to be answered and this is not a termination this is simply for this year a no on substantial compliance and we will talk with the folks involved with historic Gallatin at some point and maybe they, you know, to see what happens. But right now, I am moving that we do not approve the CF1 form for historic Gallatin apartments. Second on that motion.

Okay, we got a motion by Councilman Klein, a second by Councilman Brunner for denial. Go ahead.

Kane?

Aye.

Reyes? Aye. Fordyce?

Aye.

Brunner?

Aye.

Klein?

Yes.

Marshall?

Aye.

Devine? Yes. Calgill? Aye.

And one last thing. I'm extending the committee report now, I guess. We discussed a procedure. It won't be an ordinance. It will be a policy procedure for the committee to streamline the operation or the procedure and to deal with repeat folks who are late in turning in their compliance forms because there were several this year that did not make the May 15 deadline and we're going to address that by this time next year. Thank you. Thank you, Mike.

And, yes, I will echo Mike. Joe, thank you very much for helping the council out. You've done a tremendous amount of work on that. And, Mr. Harker, same with you on your research and your coming up. And, Mike, thank you for your job that you did as well. The only announcement, really, that I have tonight is we have a utility board opening coming up, and it's the council's. opening this on this one not the mayor's so resumes and applications are due by july 15th thank you what would i do without you aisha at noon july the 15th by noon that is the deadline if Yeah, there you go. And if you don't turn it in by noon, that music will go off, and that's the deadline. So there you go. But that's the only announcement that I have. Does anybody have any other announcements they need?

The applications are due, then. When's the decision?

July 31st is when the roll is over of the gentleman in there now. All right. It's a four-year term. Yeah, it's a four-year term. Yeah. If nothing else, I'll take a motion to adjourn. Mr. President, I move we adjourn. Second. Motion by Councilman Cain. Second by Councilman Klein to adjourn. Go ahead.

Cain.

Aye.

Reyes.

Aye.

Fordyce. Aye. Brunner.

Aye.

Klein.

Yes.

Marshall.

Aye.

Devine. Yes. Calgill. Aye.

As you're earned.