Now call to order the Monday, February 16th.

Council meeting here in the council chambers at Carmel City Hall.

First thing on the agenda is agenda approval.

So moved.

Second.

All those in favor.

Next up is the invocation.

Would you join me in prayer, please?

Gracious God, on this President's Day, we give you thanks for our leaders for our freedoms and for our responsibilities as citizens.

Beyond policies and personalities on this day.

We're thankful for their service.

For we are not always an easy people.

Our life together is dynamic, outspoken, and is anchored in our individualism.

So help us to also be caring and hopeful.

To see what is the best about one another, and to build one another up.

It is in that spirit that we are thankful for this council.

For each speaker tonight.

And for all who would serve the public good.

This gathering of elected officials and local interested citizens is the cornerstone of our political life.

May we share a spirit of goodwill.

And may we continue to give thanks for all we have and for all that you enable us to accomplish.

Amen.

And if our deputy mayor for the evening would lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, please.

Mayor Finkham.

Or I'm sorry, Chief Sterling.

Good evening, Council.

Excited to swear in two new police officers today.

These officers come to us having already achieved certification through the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy.

Zach Graham, Zach comes to us from the Wabash County Sheriff's Office, where he's worked since 2022.

Prior to being hired as a deputy for Wabash County, he also served as a jailer.

Zach attended Ivy Tech Cokomo in Indiana State University prior to beginning his career in law enforcement.

Rodica Choudry.

Rodica comes to us as a certified officer from the IU Indianapolis Police Department.

She was born in India and moved to the United States in 2019.

She began her pursuit of a career in law enforcement and earned her earned her bachelor's degree in criminal justice from IU.

Okay.

State your name.

Do you solemnly swear?

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

And the Constitution of the State of Indiana.

And that it will faithfully and impartially.

Discharge my duties.

As a police officer of the city of Carmel, Indiana.

According to the law.

And to the best of my ability.

So helping God.

Welcome to Carmel.

Would you like your families to come up?

Any families want to take a philosophy on the aisle?

Any families want to come and stand with the photo?

Thank you.

Congratulations.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

Congratulations, sir.

All right.

Um now my privileged ad um that I teased at last week's council meeting, which I probably should have coordinated with the mayor and the rest of the market staff before doing to be on the right timeline, but tonight.

Tonight's a really cool night.

Um, as you know, Carmel's Chris Krindlemark is more than just an event, it's become an institution in Carmel.

It's become a defining tradition for our city.

It's all celebration of culture, family, and hospitality, and the entrepreneur spirit that makes Carmel special.

It draws visitors from across the region and country and beyond, strengthens our economy, and most importantly, creates memories that last a lifetime with that in mind.

Leadership of an institution like the market is not simply a job, it's a responsibility to steward something more important than yourself forward and continue to be a piece of Carmel's identity.

I'm pleased to introduce uh Jason Adamowitz, who will serve as the new chief executive officer of the Carmel Chris Kindle Mark.

Jason brings the experience, the passion, the professionalism, and strategic vision to take this market into its next chapter.

Changes and changes coming that hopefully only make it even better than it is.

I have full confidence that Jason is the right person to take the helm of this amazing institutional centerpiece for our community.

Uh Jason, on behalf of the council and all of the residents community, congratulations.

Would you like to introduce yourself?

Oh yeah, there we go.

Hey.

Thank you so much for this uh amazing welcome.

Uh I am honored to be a part of uh the Carmel Chris Kinle Market team.

Uh it's a team made up of uh incredible staff, volunteers, uh, partners, community partners.

Uh and I'm really looking forward to stewarding this amazing tradition uh with you, the city.

Uh that's really all I have wanted to come up and say.

I just just know that this is a really special uh opportunity for me and my family.

Uh Carmel means a lot to us.

And so uh we're really excited to get started.

So uh thank you so much for this opportunity to serve.

Thank you.

Next up is the um, I'm so sorry, we reordered.

Go ahead.

I am so I apologize.

All right, there you go, sir.

Good evening, city counselors.

My name is Nafeg Singh.

I am a fifth grader at Prairie Trace Elementary, and I will be delivering tonight's mayor's council report.

Last week, the City of Carmel announced that it will remove the planter boxes along the east side of Rangeline Road and turn the nearby sidewalk into a ten foot wide path for both walkers and cyclists.

This change will make the area safer, add more parking, and help with storm water.

Construction will begin after July 4th and should finish by November.

Yesterday, Mayor Fincom visited the Carmel Clay History Museum and learned more about some of our sister cities through a special traveling exhibit.

The second floor gallery includes displays from the Latvian Museum and an exhibit about Saifan Germany.

These exhibits let visitors explore the art, history, and traditions that connect Carmel to other places around the world.

This seven-week program gives people a behind-the-scenes look at the important utility services that keep our community running.

You can learn more at Carmel Utilities.com.

Finally, in case you haven't heard, the Carmel Arts and Design District has been nominated in USA Today's 10 Best Reader's Choice Awards for Best Arts District in the Nation.

Voting finished today, and winners will be announced on February on Wetness Day, February 25th.

So stay tuned.

Thank you.

All right.

So up next is the public comment section of our meeting.

And I'm gonna read a statement just to sort of set the tone, since it's clear what most well, all but one of these comments are regarding to.

And we've received your emails, your calls, and your messages regarding immigration and customs leasing office space on the south side of Carmel.

And I want to respond directly and respectfully.

First and foremost, I took an oath to serve every citizen of this community to the best of my ability.

That oath was not conditional, it was not partisan, and it was not reserved for those who agree with me.

It was a solemn promise to serve all of you.

Our duty is to the more than 100,000 residents who call Carmel home, regardless of background, belief, or conviction.

At this time, the only confirmed information available to the city is that immigration of customs is leasing space from a private property owner for administrative office use.

We have been advised this location will not serve as an enforcement or detention facility.

We do not have the authority to prohibit a lawful entity from occupying private space that is not within the powers granted to government.

And nor should it be.

When the government claims the right or authority to decide which lawful voices may exist within its borders, liberty itself becomes diminished.

Whether those fears arise from personal experience, national headlines or something in between is secondary.

Fear is real to the person experiencing it.

And real fear deserves acknowledgement, not dismissal.

At the same time, I will not broadly condemn an entire federal agency charged with enforcing laws and protecting citizens, particularly when the confirmed use of this location is administrative in nature.

My focus remains singular, and that is the people of Carmel as Americans, as Hoosers, and as especially as Carmelites.

We understand the disagreement is not a threat to our democracy.

It is evidence of it.

It is not only acceptable to hold strong convictions, it is how we conduct ourselves when we do that defines us.

You, as an example, you may believe strongly in expanded gun control, and I may choose to lawfully carry my firearm.

We would be on opposite sides of that debate, but neither one of us forfeits our position in this community because of our convictions.

A free society requires the discipline to live alongside those whose beliefs differ from our own, sometimes sharply.

In this community, if someone expresses fear for any reason, we must listen.

It does not matter whether or not we share that fear, dismissing it strengthens nothing.

Understanding it strengthens community.

If someone expresses support for a lawful tenant you oppose, we must listen to them just the same.

Shutting down one another may be feel satisfactory and satisfying at the moment, but it accomplishes nothing.

Seeking to understand the why behind someone's convictions does not weaken your own, it strengthens it.

Here in Carmel, we are so blessed with an extraordinary police department.

The men and women who serve Carmel are compassionate, professional, and deeply committed to this city.

Nothing about who polices and protects our community is going to change.

Public safety in Carmel remains in the steady, capable hands of Carmel Police Department.

In Carmel, we pride ourselves on being thoughtful, engaged, and unafraid to stand for what we believe.

But if we truly believe in freedom, real freedom, then that belief must extend beyond the opinions that align with our own.

It means being willing to live alongside that neighbor who supports ICE's role in enforcing federal law, even if you strongly, strongly disagree.

It also means respecting that neighbor who advocates for broader immigration reform and expanded protections, even when that position challenges your convictions.

The greatness that is Carmel is not tested in moments of agreement.

It is tested when someone rises to defend a position that feels fundamentally opposed to our own, and we still choose civility over contempt, dignity over division, and respect over ridicule.

Time and time again, we have proven capable of that standard.

For 42 years I have witnessed firsthand Carmel's ability to be one family.

We have weathered tragedy together, we have celebrated victories together, we have debated developments, policies, priorities, even logos, sometimes very loudly, and yet we remain neighbors first.

There are those who may have rightly suggested that the safest course of moments like this is silence.

There's no political advantage to speaking plainly.

That engagement only risks offending one side or the other.

But this is not a contest to be won.

It is not a strategy session to be navigated.

This is our community.

And I've never been very good at keeping silent anyway.

Leadership is not measured by avoiding these conversations, it's measured by stepping into them with steadfast clarity, even when it feels like it should not be our problem, or that you are wholly unqualified to speak on the matter.

If we fail to live up to the reputation that Carmel has earned as thoughtful, disciplined, and respectful, then we risk becoming just another national headline.

Another example of division.

I do not believe that'll happen.

In fact, I believe the opposite.

I believe we will not merely live up to our reputation, we will elevate it.

We will show by our conduct what it means to be a community capable of disagreement without disorder, conviction without cruelty, and adversity without fracture.

At the end of the day, this matter concerns a tenant leasing space in a privately owned building.

What defines Carmel has never been a tenant in an office suite.

What defines character has always been the people, the character of the people who live, work, and serve here.

It's worth remembering that the clerks, janitors, lawyers, accounts, assistants, and support staff who occupy that building are not symbols of a national debate.

They are human beings.

They are workers, they are neighbors, they are families, earning a living just as so many others in this wonderful community are.

I know that's what every one of us up here are doing.

So as we learn things about someone moving in that is encouraging for some and disheartening for others, no that we're here to listen.

There is no plan.

We have no legal authority to say no.

But we will be here to listen.

Because that's what compassionate neighbors and compassionate extended family members do.

This is my home.

It's your home.

Whether we agree or disagree, no law-abiding person in this community should ever feel duress by simply existing.

Every resident deserves to feel safe, valued, and respected here in Carmel.

I love Carmel, and because I love Carmel, I love every one of you.

I love the people who call it home.

And it's not conditioned by elections or ideology, it's rooted in our shared community.

I and we will strive every day to act in a manner worthy of that trust.

And if I ever cease to honor that commitment, I would accept the consequences that rightly follow.

Because this office does not belong to me or any of us at this dais.

This office belongs to Carmel.

So with that in mind, I hope, even though emotions are running high.

Those that are going to address this council do so the Carmel way.

Please, we want to listen, we want to hear.

Thank you, Ms.

Beeler.

Oh, thank you, ma'am.

Yes, ma'am, right here.

You're all ready to go.

And what Ms.

Pieler has handed is a copy of her statements, and uh it looks like some statements of the community.

That is an article I found uh from Marival that they went through a similar situation and what their outcome was in Maryville, and I thought that might be interesting to you all.

Good evening.

My name is Sally Peeler, and I am a Carmel resident since 1989.

Thank you for allowing me to speak.

I am here to express serious concern about the proposed establishment of an administrative office for U.S.

immigration and customs enforcement in our city, particularly near residential areas.

I understand that immigration enforcement is federal law, and the local governments cannot prevent federal agencies from operating independently.

However, I also understand that this is critical, that cities are not required to assist or cooperate with the federal immigration enforcement.

Carmel remains meaningful, retains meaningful authority over its own resources, personnel, facilities, and policies.

And it can adopt clear policies that protect residents from unnecessary entanglement between local services and federal immigration actions.

They are hard working and part of the fabric of our community.

The presence of an ICE facility near homes creates fear and uncertainty, even for those who have done nothing wrong.

That fear alone affects safety, trust, and community well-being.

I am not asking the city to interfere with federal law.

I am asking the city to protect its residents by being transparent, by setting firm non-cooperation boundaries, and by refusing to commit local resources to federal immigration enforcement.

Carmel is knowing is known for being safe, peaceful, and thoughtful, thoughtfully governed.

Those values depend on trust between residents and local government.

I respect respectfully urge the Carmel City Council to require full public disclosure of this lease and its intended operations.

Formally affirm non-cooperation policies that protect residents, ensure that no city resources personnel or for cities are used to support immigration enforcement, and slow this process until the community is fully informed and heard.

Thank you for your time and for taking these concerns seriously.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs.

Peeler.

And I failed to provide probably the most important thing, and that was the rules that were not created tonight.

These have been the council rules for years and years.

Three minutes.

You'll get the yellow light when uh you've got a minute left, 30 seconds left, and the red light means finish up your sentence, like Mrs.

Wheeler does.

And we do encourage uh demonstration of support or opposition be silenced.

Um I just said I want to hear you, but um please.

Uh my name's Mark Roger.

Hi.

I never thought I'd be doing this, having this conversation.

Never thought I'd have this conversation or speaking to all of you.

Tonight I'd like to also talk about safety, transparency, and trust.

Across America, there's been concerns about federal agents, it's about tactics.

It's about operating with masks, and it's without clear identification.

It's not what they're doing, it's how it's being done that I believe is a real concern for us here in Carmel.

What can the council do about it?

Limit police uh cooperation with the federal agencies.

We can set clear policies on when and how our police may assist federal agencies.

This includes requiring written authorization for joint operations and prohibiting local officers from participating in immigration enforcement.

We can increase transparency in public reporting.

We can require our police department to publicly report on any request for assistance from federal agencies.

Transparency builds trust and prevents misuse of authority.

And we can strengthen our civilian oversight.

We can empower civilian review boards to investigate compla complaints involving unidentified officers and unclear enforcement actions.

This gives residents a voice and ensures accountability.

At the end of the day, we cannot regulate federal agencies, but we can ensure that our police department never contribute to the confusion or the fear.

And that's something that you all can control.

Why this matters, public trust is most valuable asset the police department has.

When residents don't know who is approaching them, trust erodes, safety erodes with it.

Clear identification protects residents, protects officers, and strengthens our community.

Our goal is simple: a community where every resident feels safe, respected, and informed, just if all as all of you have had.

Let's make sure that the right side, we're all on the right side of history.

Let us commit to policies that provide civic liberties and ensure transparency.

A city where safety and trust go hand in hand.

Thank you.

Joey Basso.

And I apologize if I said that incorrectly, and on deck will be oh boy.

Ms.

Mora.

So quick disclaimer, uh, views are my own, not reflective of my employer or any other organization.

I'm just here as a resident of the city.

My name is Joey Bassou.

I'm a product of Mohawk Trails Elementary, Clay Junior High School in Carmel High School, Go Greyhounds, and my wife and I are proud parents of a first grader in the Carmel Clay schools.

My parents have been a part of this community for over 40 years.

I am here today out of concern after hearing that ICE is expanding their footprint to Carmel.

When I learned about this, I did what they said that you're supposed to do, and I reached out to my public officials, and I asked a simple question what protections will exist for residents of Carmel in the event that their constitutional rights are violated.

Now, credit to them for their prompt and earnest responses, but the responses, while incredibly empathetic, were also a little bit vague.

The mayor assured me that Carmel will stay welcoming, and the chief Sterling assured me that Carmel Police absolutely does not stand for unconstitutional behavior.

But even he had to admit that there are more questions than answers about how SB 76 affects their duty to intervene.

Councilman Warrell and Mayor Fencom both mentioned, as you did, uh Councilman Snyder, that the ICE office remains currently, currently administrative only, and I'm grateful for that.

But it raises a more serious question.

Even if it's administrative now, what about six months from now?

What about closer to November?

Now I appreciate the fact that our hands are very much tied here, but that still provides little assurance to those of us in the community who could be impacted.

According to recent lawsuits against DHS, allegedly ICE has detained over 170 U.S.

citizens unlawfully just last year.

My little sister, who was born in the city of Carmel, lives in Chicago, now carries her passport around with her wherever she goes out of fear of ICE's presence there.

And I don't want that to happen here in Carmel, nor do I think it should be necessary for citizens of a free country with the Fourth Amendment.

SB 76 will mandate cooperation with ICE and prohibit policies protecting residents from overreach.

That's pretty bleak.

Given at the end of the day, if I was stopped by mass men with guns demanding to see my papers, my immediate response will be to tell my wife, go call the Carmel PD.

We trust their SRO with our son's life every single day.

I trust those guys.

That's why I'm here today.

I'm urging this city council to establish clear policies ensuring Carmel police will intervene to protect any residents' constitutional rights, regardless of what federal or state mandates require.

I appreciate everyone's time today.

Ms.

Mora.

Oh.

Thank you.

And Kay, you'll be up next.

Good evening, Council.

My name is Micah Alejandra Mora.

I'm 16 years old, and I'm a resident in Carmel who cares deeply about the safety, the well-being, and the inclusive future of our city.

I stand here tonight concerned about the recent news that immigration customs and enforcement will be establishing office space within Carmel.

I respect our city, but I believe this raises serious questions about trust, public safety, and community.

Carmel is known as a safe, beautiful, thriving city.

The mere presence of an ICE office, regardless if it is administrative, it sends a message.

And for many immigrant families, that message is one of fear and uncertainty.

Even for residents who are here legally or are U.S.

citizens, having an ICE office nearby simply creates fear.

Because immigration enforcement doesn't just impact paperwork.

It impacts children, it impacts whether parents feel safe driving to work.

It impacts whether someone reports a crime or stays silent, and it impacts whether families feel secure enough to build a future here.

As we look at ICE participation in our country today, specifically in Minneapolis, how can people who look like me and my family feel safe and confident in our city, knowing that we could experience horrors like those in Minneapolis because of ICE's false identifications of citizens' legal status?

I'm carrying my passport with me as we're speaking right now.

Safety isn't just low crime rates or well-maintained streets.

Safety is emotional security.

Safety is knowing your family won't be torn apart, and safety is knowing your city sees you as a neighbor and not a threat.

When ICE, when an ICE office comes into a community, it changes the atmosphere.

It makes some residents feel like they have to shrink themselves to avoid attention.

It makes us frustrated with our look and ethnic background, why it has to be the deciding factor of whether we are a suspect of undocumented status, and it makes us feel powerless in a country where all American people are supposed to be represented and protected by the Constitution.

I'm asking you to consider the human side of this decision.

Behind every enforcement action is a child who might lose a parent.

Behind every statistic is a family like mine, half light and half dark, sitting at a dinner table, wondering if our city still sees us as a part of it.

I know immigration policy is federal, but leadership is local, and the way you speak about this matters.

Please make it clear that Carmel values all of its residents, and please make it clear that Hispanic families, Americ immigrant families, and mixed status families are not outsiders here.

We want to feel safe in the city we call home.

Thank you for your time.

Friday, February 13th, it became known that ICE is seeking a lease for office space in Carmel.

Over the weekend, we also learned that Hamilton County Sheriff Quakenbush has a mandate to assist ICE.

We have all read about and seen videos of ICE in Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Chicago, and Minneapolis.

Their actions and encounters with citizens are steadily getting less lawful and more violent.

Two American citizens lost their lives in Minneapolis to that violence.

In Mr.

Quakenbush's campaign, he stated there are laws he just doesn't agree with and chooses not to enforce.

During your campaigns for mayor and city council, you all promised leadership, transparency, and a safe environment for all Carmel residents.

What is that leadership look like since the ICE information broke?

Matt Snyder had a statement for the press by the end of February 13th.

Saturday, February 14th, Dr.

Joshi released a statement expressing her thoughts and giving practical advice for those who might encounter ICE personnel.

Josh Lowry, Chairman of Hamco Dems, also released a statement.

Our mayor has not.

We have heard nothing from the other four counselors.

You are four days late, and it's hard to lead from behind.

So next up, and I apologize because I didn't look down far enough.

Clantz?

Did I say that incorrectly?

Claunce.

About snow removal on sidewalks.

Council, uh, more local issue, but just as important.

I wanted to bring awareness that clearing of sidewalks just was not adequate during during this winter storm and asked that next year we pay more attention to clearing ice and snow, especially from our sidewalks for reference.

I walked to work every single day.

And so for about two and a half weeks, I was doing this awkward trek specifically because of South Guildford and City Center Drive.

Um, just impossible to pass.

I was having to literally step through about a foot of snow.

And it was just very, very frustrating.

I put in the 311 request, uh, got a professional response, but no action was taken, and it kind of felt like the city was just waiting for this to go away.

Um I I don't expect a lot, uh, but I do expect at least a clear sidewalk when I go to my walks to work.

Um just want to say the roads look great, but ice removal on the sidewalks just was not there this year.

Thank you.

All right.

Um that is all the blue cards.

And our agenda one thing.

By virtue of me coming out first.

I got the courtesy of my fellow counselors and the mayor to stay on point.

So your concerns, I'm listening to hear them.

But I do want to say part of it is the mayor allowing me this to to keep the message.

It was pretty pretty uh pretty shared, so I don't want her to have undue blame when it was more of a courtesy than lack of leadership.

Um but we do hear you can next up.

Um well now we are to the mayoral and council comments.

Please.

Thank you, Mr.

President, members of the council.

Uh the Carmel I know, the city I fell in love with when I moved my family here, the city I raised my hand to serve for three times on city council, and the city I'm honored to lead as mayor today, as you all know is very very special.

And Carmel residents are very proud of our city.

You've heard some of that tonight, and we've clearly hear that every single day we're on the streets.

We feel protected and safe, able to focus on our families and neighbors and our community.

And anything that may disrupt that piece is very unsettling.

As I've listened to our community over the last week, I've heard strong and sincere views from many perspectives about an immigration office opening right here in Carmel.

We've heard some of those tonight as well.

For some, the news brings concern and uncertainty.

For others, it brings reassurance and a sense of safety.

Both responses are rooted in deeply held values and both deserve to be respected.

In moments like this, it's easy for conversations to become overtaken by emotion, but leadership requires that we all remain grounded in facts.

So let's start there.

As has been reported, the city was informed by U.S.

immigration and customs enforcement last week that the agency has leased privately owned office space as overflow for administrative personnel from its Indianapolis office.

The City of Carmel does not have the legal authority to restrict, prevent, or approve that action.

Federal agencies may operate in any community, including ours.

The number one thing we value in our community is safety.

And the cornerstone of that story is the Carmel Police Department.

The men and women of CPD are committed to keeping our communities safe every single day.

These diverse professionals are well trained, well equipped, well equipped, and well led.

Their commitment to our community is unwavering, and I'm extraordinarily proud to serve alongside them as their mayor, as I'm sure you all are as city councillors.

Unlike some communities, public safety remains our top priority.

The City of Carmel will follow the law, and as we do with all federal law enforcement agencies operating within our community, we will maintain open and professional lines of communication.

That is our responsibility.

That is our commitment, and that's the promise I make to every resident of the city of Carmel.

As we move forward, remember this.

Others do not write our story.

We do.

And it's a great story.

Carmel's a city that embraces and celebrates residents from those born here and those who have come from 90 countries who speak over 110 languages right here.

Carmel is a city that shows up for one another from Christmas in August to a neighbor in need to food bank donation drives to proudly cheering on hometown heroes as they represent us on the world stage.

Carmel is a city whose love of country is so strong that our celebration cannot be confined to a single day in July.

And Carmel is a city united by the character, compassion, and strength of all those who call it home.

My leadership shows up every day to investment in our neighborhoods, support for local businesses, strong public services, development of multicultural festivals, and a culture rooted in respect, even when we may disagree.

Thank you for the opportunity, sir.

Thank you, Mayor.

Any other council comments.

Thank you, Mayor.

I really appreciate you making those comments tonight.

It means a lot to the community to hear from you.

And regardless of anyone's policy or political leanings, I think we should be able to agree that protecting children, their emotional and physical safety should be the center point of how we lead.

The limitations of our authority have been made clear multiple times, and I don't think we need to reiterate those.

However, we also know that all parties that live in this city must abide by city codes, ordinances, and residents have the right to speak, um, to seek that transparency from any entity that operates within our city and accountability, that such accountability is required.

What is within our authority, authority, a city council is truly how we uphold our local values, and I heard that very loudly and clearly tonight.

And I want to thank all of you for hoping that you will all respectfully create those opportunities to value safety, respect, and dignity of every single member of this community.

Our public safety does depend on the trust, so that residents can call the police when they need help, that children can attend school without fear, and that doctors can treat all human beings that require care in the when given the opportunity to do so.

So I understand that legal limitations have that we have legal limitations, but they do not limit our collective civic responsibility to push back against any abuses of constitutional protections that we all deserve and have.

So when an entity like this moves into our community, I know that it is natural for all of us, all of us, to ask, how does this affect the home that I love?

How does this affect the people that I love?

So my goal tonight is to not dismiss the fears, and I'm not going to engage in the broader national debate about this agency.

But I think there are things we can do at the local level that can respond to the people who are speaking to us and looking for guidance.

The first one is as a leader in this community, I want to ensure that not only just the people living here, but the people working here, the people passing through our community, traveling through Carmel, everyone is safe.

And that I have every confidence I can rely on Carmel police department.

I believe that they always have the best interest of everyone at heart, and I have to believe that, and I'm going to ask the mayor and Chief Sterling to continue to guarantee it.

But secondly, and maybe more importantly, is that I believe we have a role to play in delivering information.

Transparency, I heard that tonight from Mr.

Roger.

And we have been assured, at least for today, that this is an administrative office without detention, without the other things that are going on in other facilities.

But as has been pointed out, we have no idea how long that will last.

So how can we, as a council, create a pipeline of information that is factual, is tempered, reasoned, and coming from a source that we can all trust and believe in.

How can we do that?

I think we still have some conversation, but Mayor Finkham, I am going to look to you to lead us as you can and will to make sure that we are sharing with our community and a laying any fears as much as we can, and that we are the first to know if something should change from administrative to something else.

I want to be the first to know.

And I know you do too.

So and I pledge uh to work with you in any way that I can in order to make that happen.

So finally, and most importantly, I want to thank everyone who came here tonight to speak.

Thank you.

Because this is exactly how local government should work, and it's exactly how we know the best way to respond.

I have never been faced with an ICE facility before.

So I am learning along with my colleagues, and I want to be responsive and do the best that we can to make sure that we deal with this appropriately with the with the facts, and that I do not contribute to any fears, that I do not say or do anything that will make the situation worse.

So we all can be firm in our comments, firm in our search for the truth.

But I know that we are not going to let this issue or the one that will come a year, two years, ten years from now, we will not allow it to divide us.

I can I know that I can rely on you for that, and you can rely on me to not contribute to any division.

I want to make sure that this community remains for you, the highest quality it can be, and what we all deserve.

So thank you again for this moment to share my thoughts.

And just to kind of put a cap on that, as we are looking from this side of this table, which is the same as that side of the table.

We just happen to run for office and be up here.

Um full well that every piece of information you have, every question, every thought, is something that we want to take in and ensure that we are making the best decisions we possibly can.

To Council Morrell's point, we are operating in uncharted territory with national issues, with local issues, understanding how we can best support and put you in a position, us in a position, our families, our neighbors, other human beings in a position to feel safe, secure, sound.

That's what this entire experiment of American government is about.

So it is a bizarre thing to be facing a position where we have to be concerned, um, which is a light word about our federal government.

Um full well that we've got checks and balances, we've got the ability to make better decisions, local decisions, um, and to help each other through.

Um at the end of the day, we're all people, uh, we're human beings, we matter for as long as I would say the nine of us are sitting up here, uh, the ten of us that are elected in this room know full well that this is your city.

So do not hesitate to send any thought, any feeling, um, any feedback, any ideas, articles from Merrillville, elsewhere, uh, things that we can do, uh, send them our way, and we will do the very best we can to ensure that this thing that we are doing together to raise our kids to take care of our loved ones, to make sure that the people that support us are supported, um, is done to the best of our ability.

So thank you.

Thank you all for being here.

Don't take silence as anything other than we're trying to get information, um, and that could be coming from you.

So please do not stop.

Thank you.

Um I don't have much more to everything that's been said, people said it more eloquently, but I did want to chime in just to um lend support and echo my fellow city counselors, thanking everyone for giving their feedback.

We care about you, we care about the city.

Um, and please reach out to me if I can be of help in any way.

So thank you so much for your thoughts tonight.

All right, so we will continue to examine any lawful remedy that could help mitigate fears while still um swinging the pendulum completely the other direction as well.

I mean, this it's a very fine act, and quite frankly, the federal government's had fifty years to work on a problem that they've done absolutely nothing for, and then it falls to unqualified individuals at the local level to try to answer for it.

And that becomes very challenging.

So all we can do is commit that we will do the best we can, but as everybody has said, you know, many of the great ideas are going to come from you.

Um the rest of our meeting is very perfunctory and boring and very matter of fact.

So if you guys would like to leave, we'll take a three-minute recess just so y'all can exit and not have to sit through this.

Thank you all.

It is really perfect.

We will readjourn here at six fifty-nine.

Uh next stop.

Uh consent agenda approval of minutes from January twenty second special claims meeting.

Motion to approve.

Uh just may I speak?

Yes, discussion, please.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Um, I would just like to add for the record that in the um approval of the minutes, excuse me, the claims, the special claims meeting, my name is misspelled.

So for the record, could you please correct that in the meeting means?

Thank you very much.

I mean, I wasn't gonna throw you out of the bus, but I am so in the last minutes.

Uh my name is misspelled as well.

Uh so it's not just my name.

That's the difficult one.

Well, ours are complicated.

They're comp they're complicated.

Yeah.

Thank you, Jessica.

Thank you.

We have a motion and a second.

Carries.

Uh minutes from February 2nd regular city council meeting.

So those in favor claims, payroll in the amount of $4,738,528.50 and CPD vacation six buyback uniform allowance, $391,292.94 cents.

General claims $3,235,000, $61.41 and purchase card $31,880 and 21 cents.

Retirement 173,471.43 cents, and wire transfers in the amount of $4,269,618.28 cents.

Second.

All those in favor.

Committee reports.

First up, library board.

Oh my goodness.

Did I just skip over y'all?

Where are they?

Um left off the agenda.

Go ahead, Bob.

We'll come back to that.

Sorry.

Am I just oh committee reports?

I'm sorry.

I'm reading that as subject heading.

Uh land use.

Uh our last meeting primarily focused on the US 31 subcorridor, and so we had some wonderful discussions with neighbors, really listened to the feedback that we got.

I think we are moving forward in the right direction.

Um there are some changes coming, um, and we are going to be discussing those again on Wednesday at 5:30 at the Carmel Public Library.

So for anybody who'd like to join us, they're welcome.

Any questions for land use?

Finance.

Thank you, sir.

We met last uh Tuesday.

We reviewed the um started the BN review of the disability committee uh ordinance and structure.

Um and we also uh get received a presentation about the ERP system, and there was a motion made to uh recommend to the full council that we uh move forward further with the review and uh implementation of that ERP system pass unanimously.

It's my report.

Thank you, Chairman Taylor, Mr.

Swain.

Thank you.

Thank you, President Snyder.

Um good evening, council members.

Uh my name is Bob Swainie.

I'm the director of Carmel Clay Public Library.

Um I've had the honor and privilege of serving as the director.

This is my tenth report to the council, so I've had a little bit of reflection on that.

Um it's a different council than the one I found 10 years ago.

We have a different mayor.

Really, the city of Carmel is very different than 10 years ago, and the library is different uh than 10 years ago.

Um I wanted to go a little bit beyond just 10 years, though, since it's the 250th anniversary of the country.

It's the 50th anniversary of Carmel as a city.

Uh I thought it would be uh a good time to just go through a little history of the library.

Uh before I do that, um President Snyder, I assume you didn't mean me when you said that it was all gonna be boring for the rest of the evening.

That's just an exception.

And before I get going, just as an extension of the comments I just listened to, I just want to let you know that I have heard some concern from library staff as some there's some fear and anxiety on behalf of our residents and the people we serve.

And one thing that the library has in common with the city of Carmel, the library also serves every resident in the community, and so I've seen some a lot of concern.

Well, let's go back.

Let's go back to the history of the library in Carmel, which I think is is really fun and interesting.

And started the library in Carmel was started by the Wednesday Literary Club.

They're still around, but I think this is just uh a fascinating piece of history.

One being that there's a larger trend here, that what we see in Carmel was trending across the country uh at the time, all over the country in different states.

Women's social groups, the Wednesday Literary Club here in Carmel, they got together, they started having book discussions, and then they started pulling their money and loaning books out, and then they started the library by setting up a table in the telephone booth downtown in 1904 and loaning them out.

And the minutes show that in 1910, it's the first mention of trying to go for a Carnegie grant to establish a real library building in Carmel.

But largely the Wednesday Literary Club.

And I've seen other libraries where it's things like the Monday Reading Club.

So it's a fun part of part of our history.

So we did get a Carnegie grant, as you know, and and Andrew Carnegie born in very humble circumstances in Scotland in 1835, and his family immigrated to America in 1846.

And as we all know, he went on to make a fortune in the steel industry, and his major piece of philanthropy was libraries.

Another cool fact is Indiana is number one in the country, more than any other state in the country, seeded more libraries, more Carnegie libraries.

So Hoosier's really did well in grabbing that money and seeding libraries in our state.

164 buildings were seated, including ours here in Carmel.

So 1914, the doors opened, and that library had a long and storied run.

And the building is still part of the community and the Woody's Library Restaurant, which I love going in there because you can still see a lot of the history of that original library in that space.

So in 1963, the Carnegie Library, the Carmel Library, we it was renovated to expand the children's area was placed in the basement.

They needed the room, but Carmel continued to grow, grew a lot between 1960 and 1970, although still small.

Friends of the Library was established in 1971, and the second dedicated library building opened in 1972.

And I still talk to a lot of people that feel like that.

Either one of these libraries was somebody's beloved childhood library where there's a lot of great memories that are still there.

Out of space, that building was out of space, renovated and expanded also in 1986, but that was a short-term fix.

Carmel was growing quickly, and the library, in order to keep pace with the growth, opened the new building, the third location in 1999.

And first library website in 1996.

That year.

Now today we're 2.1 million in circulation, but it's a larger, it's a larger population we're serving.

We did have a book drop attempt in that 1999 build building, it failed.

So it took 20 years to come back around in the new version of library.

We were finally able to offer drive up book return service, which people do love.

We did some things in the in the years.

I think one of the bigger things we did was the RFID technology, which automates a lot of how we handle our materials.

It's a key to how we're able to operate so efficiently today.

The community loved it.

They figured it out, they used it, and so that became a key component of the new library that we currently operate in.

But what really struck me was 96 or 97% of the population said they love the library.

That's I found that really incredible.

We also saw in that survey that there was a strong desire for a branch in the West part of Carmel, and that's so it was based off of that data that we moved forward on the West branch.

And yeah, we've uh made our own history while we were closed.

We did spend two years at what we called Merchant Square Main Library and the Merchant Square Shopping Center.

Memorable time.

Happened to overlap with the pandemic years.

That wasn't planned.

A little bit of a happy accident.

We wouldn't have had our full library available in those years one way or the other.

Um if we had stayed, it would have been limited because of what was going on those years.

But we have some interesting and fun memories from being in Merchant Square.

I just want to note when we did reopen, we received national attention.

So that's a little blurb that we received from library journal.

That's a national publication that every library in the country saw this, and that's a it's a hot issue every October.

The design spotlight happens, and so we were in there.

Just a little bit about the structure of the library.

So I report to a seven-member board, and we have various departments.

I'm in administration, we have adult services, circulation, IT, teen services, technical services.

That's cataloging and acquisition of materials, youth services, and we have a very strong foundation.

Our foundation director, Liz Hamilton is with me tonight.

A little bit about our budget.

So our working budgets of roughly 10 million.

You can see on the pie chart, the blue salaries and benefits, 55% of our budget.

The green is what I want to really highlight.

20% of our budget on collection of materials.

That is gold standard.

State minimum standards specifies that libraries must spend at least 7% of their budget on materials.

There are a lot of libraries across the state with far smaller budgets than us, and 7% is about all they can manage.

But this is one of the reasons people love our library.

And in that survey, when I mentioned that 96, 97% of people love the library, embedded in that, the thing they loved most was the size, depth, and breadth of the collection.

They just loved the vastness that could be explored through the collection in the library.

Just I just want to just note that just in recent years, we've been seeing our tax rate fall.

Tax rates are going to be doing a lot of different things across the state in the coming years, but we've been on a good trend line up to now.

Door counts, we would have had a record year, but we had we did close the branch in August, September for some improvements.

So we're we had to redo the HVAC system.

We added book lockers, we needed to get rid of the desk that was in there and put in a more functional desk.

So we have done all of that.

The branch is preparing to close again on Monday to finish up the work.

We didn't have we didn't have all the materials in hand to complete the roofing.

So that work will be completed over the next couple of weeks.

And you can see that the main library didn't have a record amount of visits, 540,000 plus visits.

But again, that we serve everyone in the community, and that means cradle to grade, from age birth to you know senior citizens, which have programs for everyone.

Programs are not limited to what we're doing at the library.

We try to be out in the community in every way that we can, including serving homebound patrons.

So if there is a person that wants access to library services in the community and they can't get to the library, they're homebound.

The meeting rooms was mentioned that the land use committee meets at the library.

We have a lot of businesses and nonprofits that meet at the library, and it was another record year for that.

114 businesses, business reservations, 408 nonprofit reservations.

On the business side, we don't trudge nonprofits, but we do have a small rate for businesses.

And on any given day, you can walk in the library and you might see a business conducting training with their workforce or a nonprofit board meeting or a book discussion from the library happening.

Our rooms are pretty vital and they're well used, and it's it's neat to see it because you can just see a little microcosm of our community in the library.

Circulation, I mentioned we're at 2.1, just a little over 2.1 million in circulation, which is great.

This is I think really where we should be in this community.

Um we dipped down because of renovation, pandemic.

And I'm still watching the the new library cards pretty closely because for a long time we average four or five thousand new library cards a year.

These are people that have never had a library card.

They're coming in to get their first library card, and so it's been 10,000, 8,000 territory since we reopened.

And uh part of that's maybe explained because we do have the larger NICER library.

Um there's an influx of people that are still moving here, but uh, I don't totally have an explanation for it, but it's great to see this many uh new card members come in every year.

And I was told by our circulation staff that this January was a record month for that.

So it hasn't stopped.

Booklockers, very popular.

We had to expand the locker that we have in Main Library in 2024 due to demand.

We've added book lockers to the West branch, as I mentioned.

I think the residents there are really going to love the convenience of that because again it's 24 7.

You can pick it up anytime, so it's totally at your convenience.

This is just fun.

I shared this with you last year.

This is the most viral video that the library has ever done.

I'm going to play it.

It's just a few seconds.

They printed this at the digital media lab.

So you just fidget around with it.

We printed it, posted this on Instagram, and you can see it's over 30 million views.

It went viral.

This is the most popular thing the library's ever done.

I have no idea why.

But there it is.

And the digital media lab is just a fantastic space.

I myself have learned to use some equipment in there this year.

I was able to go in there and record some videos, and the staff treated me like they do a patron.

And how is that?

Anybody can go in there and ask for help using the equipment.

Our staff will go over it with you, explain it with you, answer your questions, troubleshoot with you.

I think that's a real distinction from other similar places you might see in other communities.

We have staff that's there that will help, will interact with you, and um, and people do that all the time.

And so it's just it's fun to see.

And when you get a plug-in, we're having our 3D printing expo.

That is always a fun day.

It's February 28th, and we'll have a lot of vendors, a lot of different people, businesses that are in the 3D printing world that will be there.

Kids love it.

There's all kinds of cool things to see, and you can just kind of drop by check it out.

That's on a Saturday on the 28th.

They're based on the second floor.

And uh one of the big things that we rolled out was the Lucky Day collection.

It's in the display area, and the concept of that is brand new best selling books that our patrons typically will put a lot of holds on and then wait patiently for Lucky Day collection.

We buy things that you uh it's not possible to put hold on them, and that means it is possible to walk in the library and discover some brand new book that was just published, just released.

Might be sitting on the shelf there, and you can just grab it.

So come to the library and see if it's your lucky day.

Gadget collection, this is a really fun collection.

It's just such an assortment of stuff, and I was excited to see that you know the checkout nearly doubled, all kinds of things, some things I can think of that we're we're always adding to this, so it's not a static collection.

I think we've added hiking poles, ukulele.

I went on a hike last year and I checked out some high definition binoculars, and I went back to see some family in Tennessee and went up a mountain and beautiful view out of those things.

So there's all kinds of amazing equipment there that you can check out.

Board games, you know, this is super popular, and I have a theory on this of why.

It's really popular for families in the the youth area, but the adult section too.

Why would that be?

Because I maintain that I think every single one of us, everybody has digital fatigue, and people want things to do that don't involve staring at screens.

It's pretty kind of simple.

Uh, but it's a fun collection.

Um it can be a lot of work on us, but that's okay, we enjoy doing it.

But every time one of these games checked out, I have somebody counts all the pieces, does a does an inventory, make sure it's all there so it's ready for the next person so that you're assured when you do check it out, you've got the complete game.

Okay, you've heard me talk about this a lot, but it's always worth noting.

And there's a lot of fans of uh Libby, the Libby app, that's where you listen to downloadable audio or read ebooks.

Works the way the physical collection does one person at a time.

So if multiple people want a copy, you may be on a hold list to wait for it.

Our librarians curate this.

We order and purchase items to be in this collection.

And the magazine selection is really good.

So if you are agreeable to trying to read a magazine on a tablet or PC, that kind of format, then check that out.

There are hundreds and hundreds of magazines.

Hoopla is not like Libby.

It's downloadable audio and ebooks, but it's not curated by our librarians.

It's just a massive collection that that our patrons have access to, and it's a paper use model.

That is also as usual.

It's it's going up, it's increased every year that I've been here in the 10 years.

I've been here 13% this year over last year.

But a lot of for particularly for audiobook fans, a lot there.

Canopy streaming video up 29% from last year.

Movies, documentaries, forum films, just a deep collection.

And you will find titles on there that are not on.

I think you're some of the other popular streaming apps.

Um can be watched in any variety of ways.

I watch on my TV just through, I just loaded the app on my Roku device.

So you can, and it works on most of these streaming devices.

Youth Services, just a busy fun department.

I included this picture because uh you may see story walks in the community.

We're always doing more of these and looking for places to do them, and you can just take a nice little walk and read a story as you go.

So keep an eye out for those.

And again, they're a busy department, birth to pretty much birthed through elementary age.

Um that's who they serve.

And it's an incredible department.

They always uh have something going on, it's story time program, it's dynamic.

The youth services areas, you know, it's a destination place.

We I see I talk to families, I see families there all the time.

One of the problems our staff has working is it's so noisy because there's so many people there.

That's you know, I'd remind them it's in the good problem to have category.

Teen services also we love our teens.

We uh we have our teen library council, over a hundred teens on that.

They're amazing.

Um they help us with all kinds of planning events and just a lot of community service hours and just a lot of teens there after school.

I always like to mention this one.

This is just one of my favorites, and I've I've helped out in this one before, Gambit 425 chess program, and it's co-run by the Carmel High School Chess Club.

They run this with one of our teen librarians, and the great thing about it is um you go in there and you see kids playing with, you know, I see kids playing with senior citizens.

I mean, people just pair off and play.

Uh then they don't know each other.

Uh they match up by skill level.

So if you're up for it, then if you think you can take it, come come drop by and maybe a kid will beat you at chess.

And I think it's time to give it just a little bit of a deeper uh explainer on this.

We do have an artist in residency space, so we have studio space that we created as part of our teen department, and we've done this long enough now that you know there's there's more to share.

So we have had 35 artists, um, grade six through twelve.

Uh they've done collectively over a thousand studio visits, and so we have the studio, we can have three to four per semester.

They have to, it's an application process because there are always more that would like to do it than we have the space for.

So they're kind of you know, uh getting some experience with applying, interviewing, and then they do the work.

We have a teen librarian that coordinates with them.

They have to have a culminating experience where they'll have an art display at the end or teach an art class at the end, uh, something like that.

And the art that's come through this is just absolutely stunning, amazing.

I I'm always just it totally amazed at the quality of art that our kids in Carmel are putting out.

So give you a couple of examples.

This is a picture from last year.

So we had a student, she did it, uh created her own children's book in the studio space, Bosco the Dragon.

Um it's in our collection, and it's also in the studio space, can be checked out.

Beautiful book, beautiful artwork.

And that picture that day, well, that was we were having our library-wide nerdfest program, but I was walking around touring the Japanese delegation from our sister city.

So they were there, and this artist, this teen artist got into a conversation with the Japanese mayor about helping them out with a new logo.

Um they exchanged information and um, so that was a pretty neat.

This one uh was this teen was the first artist that we hosted when we reopened the library, and her work is just incredible.

She was just trying to explore her uh Chinese heritage.

She designed her own clothes, she made her own clothes, screen printed them, went into digital media lab.

That's uh Mike Cherry, our teen librarian.

He's helping her by photographing that.

This got featured in American Libraries magazine.

Um, but just beautiful work and very inspiring.

So these kids are working in just all kinds of different mediums, and they're doing this for all kinds of different reasons.

We've heard from students that have uh been accepted into college based off portfolios they built at the library, so just a lot of cool things happening there.

All right.

And there they are, just discussing their work.

I do want to mention this year we will be in election site again.

So this is an ongoing partnership that the library has with Hamilton County elections.

That is a picture from the 2024 election, which almost every day looked like that with early voting.

We may be in for that again.

Um so you know, we're gonna try to do our best to make sure that this is uh run as safely smoothly as we can.

But I do think this is a good partnership, and it makes sense for the library to do this, and this is a very convenient place that people feel that they know and they can come vote, and everybody can vote here on um in the early voting days.

We have an amazing foundation, so uh the talk wouldn't be complete without noting that.

And so there's any number of ways that uh people can support the library, they can give to our foundation, they can get involved with our foundation.

There is a foundation board that uh Miss Hamilton works with.

Um there's uh the friends of the library, they run the bookstore, they run our book sales.

Um there's any number of ways to potentially get involved.

And I just want to go ahead and plug this.

March 21st of this year, library after dark, a fun event.

It's a ticketed foundation event, but tickets are tickets on sale.

Tickets are currently on sale, and it is it you're in the library after hours, and there's food and there's drinks, and there's games, and it's just kind of fun to be in there.

You're a little bit sneaking, you're in the library when you shouldn't be.

We're the library's closed, so it's a library after dark fun event.

So check that out, and gilded leaf every October.

And there we have our friends of the library.

And I'll just close by saying the library staff, all of our volunteers, we are all on the same page.

We are all committed and dedicated to the library's mission and to providing world-class library services to the residents of our community.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for that amazing presentation, as always.

It's as beautiful as your tie.

I just I've been admiring it since you've been standing here.

Um just one thing I would like to say, and I just like to plug for uh the community, is uh the average age in this room seems to be around my age.

And one of the items that you have in the library is the VHS to DVD and uh Yes, that's in our gadget collection.

Yes, in the gadget collection.

So for all of us VCR holders that are holding on to tapes that we have no idea what's on them, maybe your wedding, I don't know.

It'd be a great opportunity to go to our library and check it out.

So one of my favorite places to go to.

So thank you so much for your presentation today.

Thank you.

Well, I just a quick thank you to you and Liz Hamilton.

Uh you hosted the first inaugural National Civility Summit, and the comments that I heard from we had uh people come from 17 different states, and they were absolutely blown away by the library, not only by the facilities, but by the people, the people who are there, and just the kindness and graciousness.

So without belaboring, I just do want to say publicly thank you to all you've done to support Project Civility.

Thank you.

And somebody emailed me today, uh just thanking me for the kindness that they received from library staff.

But I feel like that is carmal, right?

I mean, our staff is reflecting the values of Carmel by providing that level of service.

I also should I want to just take a moment, one extra moment again, to thank Liz Hamilton.

She is going to be retiring this year.

And so it is that is definitely going to be counted as a big challenge for the library to get by without her.

But one of the things that Liz did that's uncommon among library foundations is she just built an incredible relationship with publishers and authors.

So if anybody has enjoyed an author program at the library, the odds are very good that you have Liz Hamilton to thank for that.

So that it's going to be a real challenge for us to keep the momentum that she created for us to keep it going and not lose it.

Thank you, Liz.

Well, Bob.

You know, one of the worst parts of being president is that I'm gonna have to write that letter to Michael Klitzing, letting him know you've surpassed him on most thorough presentation.

You covered most of my questions.

Your relationship with the foundation is unlike any I've ever seen, and it I mean it's fantastic.

And in my involvement for many years, I know Rich is intimately involved, but just from an observer, it's been wonderful.

Um your games, do you accept donations of games, the board games that are uh we do accept donations?

That probably that goes in the friends of the library territory, so our friends of the library generally handle that.

Now there are cases where I'm mainly thinking of books, but our librarians can occasionally have the option of adding a donated item, but largely it goes to the friends, and then they decide, you know, make some decisions about whether it goes in bookstore, fall sale, or have a librarian look at it, or if it's in terrible condition, you know, we might just recycle.

But yes.

And then my my final question, and I know it's got to be difficult since you're not your community service, right?

It's not all about revenue generation, although it looks like you maximize it where you can the only critique I've ever gotten from the library is ours.

Is there a reason it's not open later?

I mean, just as school has starts later and later, and life has gotten to be later and later.

Uh yes.

Well, I looked when we were in the Merchant Square uh library, we had obviously we had some time to look at this, and I looked, and we used to be open a little later, and it was consistently just flat dead hour.

I mean, consistently a dead hour with not a lot of people in there.

And I look now.

We're open until eight 8 p.m.

Monday through Thursday.

It's generally it's pretty thin by the time we get to seven o'clock.

So that's something that uh I watch and pay attention to.

If I ever felt like we were turning away a lot of people and it was really busy at that last hour, then I think it would be incumbent on us to look at those hours and expand to try to match what people want.

It seems it seems to me that our hours are more or less matching the demand hours.

So it's database.

That's really excellent.

Anyone else?

Awesome job.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Mr.

Zach Jackson, you don't have to be able to do that.

We'll love those.

All right.

Um I will skip through some of these opening ones here, but I'm uh Zach Jackson, CFO in control of the city, and I'm joined by uh Kirsten Haney, assistant director for budget management.

Um I've got an agenda here, but I'm just gonna go ahead and kind of jump in.

I before I go through some of these things that we're working on.

I wanted to step back and talk about the big picture for a moment.

And that is just how we are trying to improve uh several uh areas at the finance department across the city, just improving our our um our stewardship of of taxpayer resources.

And so I kind of bucket into maybe four big areas accountability, planning, process improvement, and then cost savings initiatives.

And I have a few uh things that we're working on here, whether it's completed or in progress.

Um and again, what I wanted to just emphasize is some of these projects we're talking about later, are really focused on just getting better at the basics.

How do we do that basic blocking and tackling of managing of the city's dollars in in the most efficient manner possible?

So uh I'm gonna go ahead and jump into uh the recap of the 2025 uh financial picture for the general fund.

Uh starting off with with revenues here.

Uh and I think Kirsten sent out kind of the the complete revenue report.

Happy to get in the weeds there.

Uh but uh what I'll point out here is we had um, and I kind of looked at just the things that were maybe more than like 250,000 off of our target.

Uh we had four items come in below target, two items come in above target.

In terms of the below target property tax and supplemental lit uh were not exactly surprises from the standpoint that we we developed a forecast and we stuck with that forecast the entire year.

Uh even though uh early in that process, we got new information from uh the state and others kind of clarifying what some of those numbers are.

This time around for our 2026 forecast, I was able to sub in the new numbers in time before we finalized those.

But uh that's why we have those two uh low numbers there.

Uh auto excise tax did come in under uh forecast and then food and beverage tax.

As we've talked about that a few times, uh state changed the law effective January 1st, and we can't put that I'm sorry, effective July 1st, and we can't put those dollars in the general fund anymore.

So we did receive those just in a different uh fund.

Uh above target, uh the two uh there uh the supplemental Medicaid reimbursements, that is the uh uh once a year we get usually a reimbursement from CMS for the uh for Medicaid reimbursement for uh ambulance services.

It's a little unpredictable the timing, and there's usually about a two or three year lag from when we submit our data to CMS and they process and everything and get back to us.

So uh I technically I think we got two reimbursements last year as opposed to just one.

Uh and then interest earnings came in significantly better than expected as well.

The next slide uh looks at general fund spending uh for the year.

And so as I've laid out here, we have each department along with their budget that was passed by council.

Uh the next column is whatever additional pro appropriations, if any, were passed by council.

Uh there's this third column with 109,000 dollars, and that's by statute where uh if there's certain reimbursements, uh insurance, for example, uh we can reappropriate those dollars, and we we do it very sparingly.

Uh really what I want to point out though is that after encumbrances, uh so we rolled uh 6.5 of POs from the general fund.

Even after that, our our departments really knocked it out of the park in terms of trimming their spending uh during last fiscal year.

So uh they still reverted, underspent their appropriations by seven million dollars last year.

Uh the next slide kind of uh puts this all into context, and I know this is uh we we've talked about the surplus statement a few times, and so I I won't take a lot of time to kind of uh recap here.

Uh but the the second to last column is the actuals for 2025, and so you see our our uh revenues up there, the total of 141.4 million uh in general fund revenues coming in for the year.

Uh our total expenses were 138 million, that's appropriations.

Uh uh it's a spent portion of appropriations, the encumbered portion uh for POs, uh, and then whatever they didn't spend, that seven million.

So we spent a total of 138 million, meaning we operated at a 3.3 million dollar surplus for the year revenues versus expenses.

Um below the line there as far as uh under annual surplus, I'll point out that uh council did a one-time appropriation uh out of the general fund of just under 3.6 million uh for paving.

Uh Councilor Snyder, you've asked me uh uh in the past about the reimbursement for the uh the keystone overpass, and we we did get that check a million seventy-five thousand uh is what that totaled.

Uh so that we'll be going back to the general fund.

Uh and then so we essentially ended the general fund uh for the year in a uh uh pretty close to the same place we started, about 14 and a half million.

Uh the rainy day fund balance did not change year over year, it's still at 14.6, and so our uh overall combined reserve balances did slightly uh you know creep up uh to 29 uh.1 million up from uh 28.9 million.

Uh the next column lays out our our forecast for uh 26 revenue-wise, and then as well as the appropriations uh passed by council.

Uh moving on to facilities, um and and I did a uh much bigger, well, we did a much larger presentation to uh uh to finance committee the other night.

If anybody wants a copy of that, happy to send you that.

But but just to hit the very high notes here.

And so what that means to me is one, we we've not been able to map out what our needs are in terms of where we need to make investments in our buildings.

But also it's something that uh GFOA and bond raters have continuously kind of uh brought up that uh they've asked for these documents in the past as well.

Uh City Council appropriated a hundred thousand to the finance department, our budget last year uh to assess the condition of our facilities, and then uh another 100,000 in the finance department's budget this year.

Uh with last year's money we contracted with Waypoint Strategies, a division of Schmidt associates to start on that uh assessment.

Um I've got Audra Blazedell here from Waypoint.

Um they've taken on the first 15 buildings, uh, and then also they're coordinating with a couple other contractors that are looking at uh utilities uh from a slightly different perspective, but looking at utilities and then also for performance services.

Uh another contractor is looking at uh I think a total of five or six of our buildings.

Uh Waypoint is taking those uh bits of information from the other uh uh uh contractors and layering that into their overall dashboard.

I'm gonna turn it over to Audra for a moment here to talk a little bit about uh the scoring process.

Yes, so as Zach mentioned, we've started a process not only with ourselves but with others that we're coordinating with to review um eventually the majority of your buildings and assign them scores, and we thought as some level setting going into this, we might just talk about how we're setting that up and the ways in which we're doing that.

And so um, this isn't we're looking at you know the carpet in every building.

This is primarily looking at mechanical, electrical, plumbing, architectural insight associated with your buildings.

And then from there, we go in with a full team, we do assessments, and we look, and we also have conversations with um maintenance personnel, building occupants, uh at the fire stations.

We met with a lot of the station chiefs to understand how their experience within the building was going and how that might also guide us to look deeper into some areas.

We use what's called a uniformat system to organize our data, so that allows us to group assets together based upon their likeness and systems within subsystems or subsystems within systems.

We evaluate those on a zero to four scale, and then you count kind of your number of instances, multiply that by four, you look at your total score, that gives you then an assessment score, which is your aggregate score that the building had, and then a total possible score gives you a percentage that runs from 0% to 100%.

We generally consider 75% a threshold for a building that is doing well.

25 uh 50 to 75 percent is where a building just maybe needs some extra attention from a renewal, you know, from a renewal and replacement cycle.

And then a building below 50%, we start to talk about and look deeper at what a replacement cost looks like versus what your investment costs is gonna look like.

So that generally is how that threshold uh works out.

We've done some preliminary scoring and we did review that in more detail with the finance group.

We are doing some additional work to scrap that data.

We are also starting to incorporate in the others.

So we haven't shared that in detail here, but again, Zach offered to share that.

And then our next steps are gonna be looking at getting the rest of the buildings assessed, coordinating all that work coming in from the utilities, coming in from performance services, and building out a prioritization for that renewal and replacement investment.

We've also been working alongside Baird and had conversations with them to make sure that we're aligning the output with what is needed for bond rating agencies, and then also how that plays into the larger funding strategies for those.

We'll also be generating a report with primary recommendations and again helping build out that capital investment plan over the course of the next several years based upon budgetary and bonding capacity.

I think that's that on the facility site.

So if you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them before we get to the next one.

Yep.

And then we've got one slide on the uh energy center here.

Um I'll let you go back.

Okay.

Um so when we started to when we were engaged to kind of look at the energy center, and really we were brought in from a project management and owners' rep perspective on this project.

We worked um with Zach and the team at the city to understand kind of what key objectives would be for this project.

So that is addressing the plant capacity and resiliency.

So currently it relies on uh what should be kind of a backup system to help fulfill its needs on a regular basis.

Um that is also uh the way all of that is currently structured and established at the energy center is also not very efficient.

So your energy center is using a lot of energy to produce um the heating and cooling for the buildings on the loop.

And then we also want to make sure we're enhancing the maintainability of what is placed in there.

So over the course of time, assets age, you need a viable means to handle renewal and replacement that doesn't entail shutting down an entire plant or doesn't entail um having to maneuver through a lot of different areas.

We also look at that with your resiliency as well.

I mean a life useful life of those assets in that plant is here, and so what we're looking at right now is that a lot of your maintenance is getting more and more expensive because those assets are moving out of life cycle and serviceability.

Um and then we also want to make sure that we're looking at a strategic investment plan around that long-term operation and maintenance of that of the energy center, would um probably be the better better way to state that.

So our next step is that he is coming on board.

He is an independent engineering firm, they are not associated with any one manufacturer, they are also not a contractor or a constructor, so they are solely an engineering firm, and that was important in that decision to bring them on.

And they're looking at some preliminary and early feasibility engineering to look at the various outcomes and options that we have for addressing the needs of the energy center.

And those are a wide range of options that are out there that'll create a basis of design information that we can then determine how we are best going to move forward from there.

They'll also get us some better cost estimates so we can come up with a proper project financing plan to support that.

Thanks, Audra.

Um, and I would be happy to kind of continue to keep council uh updated on these if you want me to throw a slide or two in my uh quarterly updates on these.

Hey, Zach, so the inner energy center, since it's a big ticket item, and there's just a lot of confusion around that.

We're gonna send that to finance.

So if you could give them updates and so at this time, I will uh we'll turn to uh project cornerstone.

And uh Project Cornerstone is is the the name I've given to our ERP project as opposed to just keep uh to to continually referring to that as the ERP project.

I think Cornerstone gives a better uh emphasis on kind of that back to the basics, building from the ground up, getting getting good at the basics and going from there first.

Um this project would be uh updating our financial and administrative systems, um looking at existing business systems that we have today, uh whether accounting, purchasing, uh uh reporting, HR, all work purchased or built without a coordinated plan, so uh various licenses, various manufacturers, um none of our data really talking together uh in a lot of manual processes.

And so I I uh example I've given a few times is uh today when when one of our departments uh receives an invoice, uh they create a claim form in our uh access database purchasing system.

Uh they print out a copy of that claim form.

It's uh supposed to be folded a very precise manner along with the invoice that's supposed to be folded in a very precise manner, paper clipped in a very precise manner, and then sent over through inner office mail to the finance department.

Um I'm not sure if we open it in a precise manner, but we then enter it into uh we we key it into the accounting system, so now it has the second person uh keying in the same information that that the uh the first person did.

Uh there are a lot of processes like this uh across HR as well as finance, where we're we're still pushing paper.

Um I've rambled a little bit our legacy systems.

We have some that the no longer supported by their vendors or have upcoming end of life dates.

And so an ERP platform would help us to address these things.

What all does this solve?

It's the data flowing between our processes and our systems, creating efficiencies and automation, elimination of manual processes, and then by centralizing data, we'll have better data and more timely data.

The graphic up here is kind of the way I like to think about an ERP system.

To me, it's it's that uh your your financials system at the core there where it says ERP, and then you have data kind of feeding into it from your HR system, your payroll system, your asset management system, uh, your your uh contract management system, all of those seamlessly feeding data back and forth without having to have a person manually uh move that data.

As it comes to the uh anticipated costs, uh we've we've met with uh several different vendors, and and as we look at this project, there are two types of vendors.

One is who would be selling us the system, and the other would be who would be the implementer of that system.

It could be the same uh company, but it doesn't have to be, and uh I would guess probably 50% of the time it's it's not.

Uh the quotes that we've received so far uh would have implementation uh ranging from about a half million to two million dollars.

Um I believe that uh we we can probably keep this to to a million at this point.

Um these costs depend upon the scope.

So uh all those things I was rambling about earlier: the the HR system, the payroll system, financials, purchasing, all of those might be a different module in this system, and so we would decide which of those modules do we need, which of those do we need first, uh, how do we phase this implementation.

Another thing is that uh we we have heard from a few vendors that they are willing to uh uh help spread these implementation costs over the life of the system, and so uh you know, rather than paying that million up front, we could smooth it over uh the the life of this uh uh contract.

The ongoing uh annual licensing fees are expected to be in the range of 300,000.

I again I've seen I've seen a range probably more like uh 250 to 400,000, but I think based upon the modules that we would want to uh implement that's probably uh where we would be.

But again, uh some of these modules that we choose would be replacing existing modules or contracts that we have today.

And so, for example, our our accounting software today has a $50,000 contract that would be replaced by this.

A uh our our I'm not in a position to say that we would uh replace our our payroll system today, but we pay 250,000 a year just for that, and so you can see where if we would replace that uh with uh some other solution uh that that will almost cover the entire cost.

And obviously, we're gonna be committed to uh being as transparent as possible with these costs.

Um how are we going to measure success?

Uh reduced manual work, potential elimination of duplicate systems, and again I want to I want to flag potential there.

I I can't say for sure today that we're going to be able to roll in the uh accounting systems used by uh utilities or the separate accounting system that we use for QuickBooks, but uh those will all be things that we consider as we're looking at this.

Um tracking, transparency and reporting capabilities, and then just more reliable and supportable systems for the IT department.

From a timeline perspective, uh I have two stages up here.

Uh you know, we're going through stage one right now.

Uh for us, we we would like to proceed with hiring a project manager who will uh you know help us scope our side, help us uh keep the trains running.

Uh, I I see a lot of teams kind of getting together independently to uh you know what exactly are our uh payroll needs, what exactly do our uh purchasing uh policies dictate and and what's that process look like so that we can compare what a system offered with our existing processes.

After that, we will select an ERP vendor and an implementation partner.

And this next part, stage two, I see this as something that we could repeat uh maybe a couple times maybe three, uh, where we would select a uh uh a single or a bundle of modules, implement those, and then go back and do some more.

I I think uh with you know change is difficult, and trying to change too many systems at once, I think will be difficult for our our uh uh our teammates here, and so uh perhaps going with uh you know two or three modules and then coming back and doing another two or three later will be will be easier on everybody.

With that, I've said a lot, I've rambled a lot, happy to take any questions.

Zach, thank you so much for the cornerstone update and sharing it at finance last week.

Um one of the things that I wanted to touch touch touch on was when you talked about the modules and replacing some and covering the costs.

I think it's really important going forward, and I know we spoke about this during the finance meeting as well.

That I'm just gonna use ADP because it's the easy, it's the easy one to use.

If we're replacing ADP, what's the cost recovery for the module that you would be replacing with?

So that we can see the cost savings for us, just so just so we're all on an even playing field here.

So I I will say, you know, most of these modules appear to be running uh licensing cost, let's say 25 to 50,000 a year is kind of what I'm seeing for most of these.

And that's that's gonna uh it's gonna vary.

I'm I'm sure there's some small modules that are are very cheap, and other larger ones like an accounting that would that would be more expensive.

But I want to say I'm impressed.

Uh you know, I was uh when I first heard about the ERP, the timing was a little tough.

It was coming at the time that we were dealing with uh a very difficult budget process.

Um and then not only facing financial issues that we were dealing with that year, but hearing, hey, next year is gonna be even worse.

So the timing wasn't always great when we hear heard of this.

Um the number we heard was a little bit bigger at first.

Um, but I think you come up with a good plan.

I followed this and um talked to some people I trust.

Um I appreciate uh the breakdown and the need.

Um appreciate bringing the cost down and explaining exactly how it's gonna work.

Um so um I like I said, I'm impressed, and uh I uh had some skepticism, but I think your thoroughness has uh won me over.

So thank you.

Um just some annoying me questions because it's been a while since I've asked some from you.

Um wondering, do you have like a walk forward of the modules from the things that we're replacing?

Um and is that like a chart we could get some more actual concrete data of what you're what you're looking at, what you're thinking for this first run, and then the 2028 second phase run, what what things you've kind of got ready to go?

Um, because I do think that cost question is hard, changing ADP to something else is a big transition for lots of people.

Um but just would love to see that data um as we progress.

Um I uh happy to send that.

And I would uh I would say, and I can't remember if I mentioned this earlier, most of these providers or uh vendors usually have about 12 or so modules components.

Uh I I would say probably six of them probably make sense for us, but it uh it probably becomes a uh is that a need versus a want on on some of those six, and so uh to me probably three or four are uh you know absolute, and then after that, I think it just doesn't make sense or not.

Yep, and then just a process question.

This there's obviously been a lot of work that's gone into this.

This will this be a special procurement, are you going to do an RFP based on this process to pick a ultimate vendor, or is it something you've already got kind of lined up?

Yeah, great question.

So I would see us doing it, and there's probably two different answers to that.

One is in terms of choosing the system, and the other is in terms of choosing who implements that system.

For either the answer could be RFP.

Uh for either the answer also could be there are a number of uh um cooperatives or other things like that out there where we can all work where we're very competitive prices have already been made available.

We're a member of probably three or four different very large cooperatives uh Indiana based as well as one that's Texas based that's focuses on IT needs.

Um we've already got these have been publicly bid that we can kind of go out and grab.

So uh either RFP or something that's already been publicly bid that we can go out and grab.

And then final question the position that you're contemplating adding for project management.

Is that a full-time new FTE on staff into perpetuity, or is it a part-time or contractor?

Yeah, that's it.

That's a great question as well.

Uh so the project manager position was funded in IT's budget for this year.

Um, I I I really regret kind of um uh uh holding on filling that position from the standpoint of this is not the only place where this position could add value.

When when it comes today, today when it comes time to just implement anything new at the department, uh, even when it just multi-factor authentication, we have to pull people off their normal duties of supporting our our uh our software and equipment and and have them do this, then bring them back to their normal.

We we don't have the capacity of for anybody to really execute special projects there.

This gives us that whether they're working on the the ERP or just hey, we we need to get this implemented as well.

It'll be multi-purpose.

Okay, and then I do have one more based on that.

Um obviously, this is a massive technological undertaking that's going to apply to everybody across the board.

It's a change in folding habits of many individuals.

Um how ingrained and involved have you kept IT and keeping them kind of in the loop and understanding what that means kind of for the full enterprise of the ERP as it applies to everything.

Yeah, I I you know uh Kevin and and um uh Seth have both been very heavily involved in this project from the beginning, and they both have been involved with uh the implementation of uh ERP systems at other uh places they've worked in the past.

So I I think that you're they're aware and they they know what they're getting themselves into.

Yep.

Just just as a follow-up to, I'm sorry, excuse me.

I'm sorry, Councilor, just as a follow-up, Ryan.

I've been on all the meetings that I could possibly attend.

And Seth and Kevin are completely involved in all of this, part of the discussions.

And again, I just want to thank Zach and company for allowing me to be a part of those discussions.

I do appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Royal.

Mr.

President, thank you.

Um I just wanted to give a vote of confidence.

I was an early less adopter.

Um, and I was skeptical, and you know, we're changing everything.

And um I I shared with you at um committee that you know, not only do I trust you, but I can see for my own uh I can see for myself that you have done the due diligence, had the people involved that need to be involved.

I also shared with you that I did consult some of our trusted advisors who said we need this.

So, mayor, um, you know, yeah, it it's it's an ex, you know, it it costs money, and but we have to do this to Excel, and so thank you, you know, and I admit I was wrong.

Um now I will tell you that I received a couple emails from people who watched the committee meeting, said, Oh, it never goes as planned, you know, and it's always longer, more expensive, et cetera.

I said, Well, I I feel like we know that.

Counselor War, what I didn't tell you is that I extended the deadline but or for the implementation before I presented it to you last week.

So I've I've tried to say, yeah.

Good.

You're you're tricking them.

Okay, all right.

I hope they're watching now.

So anyway, thank you.

Just a vote of confidence.

Thank you.

I will support this.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Also, what I thought was really interesting is Seth is actually an accountant, has served at a number of large uh account accounting firms, and has implemented ERPs for public and private um clients.

So I thought that was a great, though he's not gonna be the project manager, he's got significant background and uh really strong opinions about some of the providers of uh pitfalls and and pros and cons of some of the providers too.

So I think he'll serve as a great him and Kevin will serve as a great resource.

Thank you.

Thank you for excellent.

Say a couple comments.

So, first off, thank you to Zach and the team, IT, Kirsten, and everybody else for working on this.

And there's much more work to do.

And you guys will be involved in the process.

But I was struck earlier with uh Bob from the library talking about you know, this really represents Carmel.

For anyone who understands, I think Zach tried to give you a little picture of it, the perfectly placed clip, you know, paper clip.

This does not represent Carmel.

This puts us at risk.

This makes us inefficient, and frankly, it's pretty embarrassing how bad the software systems that we use are.

Um and uh we hear it every time people come to start to work with us because they've come from elsewhere, and they're like, this is how you do work here.

So we truly do need this.

Is truly a heart transplant when it comes to the how the city functions.

We have to invest here.

They would give me much more joy to build another section of the path or plant more flowers, or put another statue somewhere.

This is like having to replace your roof at home, right?

It's painful, and you have so we have much more fun things you could spend your dollars on.

This is just essential.

So I thank you all for digging in and listening to Zach and even when you're skeptical to start, you know, but listening to really what the need is here.

Uh and especially at the timing.

Especially at the time that we have, but we have to invest in this, if nothing else for the cybersecurity support and prevention, right?

It's just we have to do that.

So I just I just want to say thank you.

And also final comment on this.

We've been slowly but surely trying to really talk to our teams about innovation and efficiency and doing business smarter and better.

Not always cheaper because we have to invest in things like this.

And um your support of this will also send a message to our teams, um, many of whom have done things the same way for maybe the entire 25 or 30 years they've worked here, um, that you know, we're truly trying to to it to move the business forward in addition to the community forward.

So thank you for that.

Um Mr.

President, if you can delve me for 30 more seconds on a different topic.

Um we got word that um two beach grove police officers were shot this evening in an ambush style attack.

And I think there's a lot of more information still coming out.

Uh Beach Grove.

Um, but I think I want to ask two things.

One, as we have talked a lot about police and the importance in our community, uh, these are the things that our officers put their badge on and put their uniform on and know it's a risk.

And you know, thank God for all of them that they do that for us.

And these are the things that that are really scary.

Um, and I also like to just say a prayer to make sure I don't think I trying to listen and do a little research.

There's no um update on their condition.

So hopefully they'll be fine, but just want to make you aware of that and say please say I pray for their um improvement.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Appreciate the indulgement for the extra time.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um the ERP.

I mean, I had your back from the very beginning, obviously, everybody knows that.

It was all in.

Never doubt it yet.

Or maybe the exact opposite.

Um but I do want clarification.

So what what came back?

What is like so we've got a positive recommendation to do what?

I just want to make sure uh we are approved the project manager, so the positive recommendation is to move into phase one, which is uh select a uh implementer, uh hire the you know, they have to hire the project manager, uh select an uh an integrator implementer and RFPQ for a um ERP system.

Excellent.

Um and then there'll be a financial request that would need taken care of in the future whenever you yeah, at this point in time I I don't need any funding.

Um I'm I'm not certain that I will this year.

Um and and we can talk about later what I mean.

Happy to do another quarterly update and give you an idea of what what cost might be down the road.

Sure.

Uh and then my final comment on just kind of the whole thing was and I know it was challenging 2025, um, because you were on the fence with that employee, but like a need is a need, so I would consider that um if we're not servicing the community to the best of our building because we're missing an employee.

Obviously, we've been no strangers to making changes in the last couple of years, mid-year.

So uh I I'm not speaking out of turn, right?

I mean, I'm not speaking on behalf of the council, but I'm saying consider that and make the argument.

Thank you.

Anything else, sir?

Anything else from the do we need I don't I mean, I don't know if we need to take an action just assigned consensus or uh let's let's let's do that.

We'll do a um based on the recommendation from the finance and rules committee.

Let's do a consensus vote to uh move forward with the ERP phase one selection procurement, everything.

Chairman Taylor stated.

I moved to acknowledge support to move forward with the processes outlined.

Second, all those in favor.

All right, thank you.

Moving on.

Old business.

Items A, B, C, and D remain in committee.

Public hearings.

Ordinance of the Commons Council of the City of Carmelindia establishing the Illinois Street Townhomes planned unit development.

Councilor Austin, could you read the synopsis, please?

Absolutely.

The wait a little confused.

You just skip all the way to 13.

We're at 13A.

Okay.

Did we want to do old business first?

They all remain in committee.

Okay.

I got confirmation from legal that I was allowed to do that.

You don't have to read them.

Yes.

Okay.

Great.

This is this synopsis establishes the Illinois Street Town Home Plan Unit Development District, Illinois Street Town Home PUD, the ordinance we rezone the real estate from the MC Meridian Corridor District to a planned unit development district, allowing the development of a residential neighborhood laid out in the style and character as depicted the concept plan.

And just for um order's sake, I will move to introduce.

Second.

Okay.

Before we get to the report from the plan commission on this, so this did come back to the from the plan commission with a um six negative six to three negative recommendation.

Um there was a lot of debate on it.

It kind of uh spanned before the year two, so councillor Minar, if she wanted to weigh in on kind of some of the conversations that were had uh prior to that, but listening to some of the um the plan commissioners and the reasons for voting for a negative recommendation.

They cited um location, they felt that this use um felt they thought it was out of place at this location, and then uh some commissioners cited building materials uh asking for more masonry uh in the design.

So hopefully I'm not misquoting anyone, but uh that is how it happened.

So and just before you go on with a very long compelling argument, this will go to committee.

Um thank you and good evening, council members.

Uh for the record, my name is John Daboshewitz.

I'm a landing professional with the law firm in Nelson and Frankenberger.

Uh, we represent the applicant Pulty Homes of Indiana.

Uh present tonight on behalf of the applicant is Rex Ramage and Jack Burton from Poulty, as well as Jim Shinemer Attorney Weather Office.

As noted, the uh Poulty is seeking approval of the Illinois Street Town Home PUD to remember the development of a small for-sale three-story townhome neighborhood, including 27 homes.

The real estate is identified on the aerial map now on display, and it's included behind tab two of the informational submittal that we made to council prior to tonight's meeting.

It's an infill site located north of 106th Street between U.S.

Highway 31 and Illinois Street and consists of approximately 4.4 acres.

The real estate is adjacent to Forte Ortho to our north and Indiana Farmers Mutual Insurance to the south.

Across Illinois Street to the west is the Springmill Heights neighborhood.

The subject site is very tight from a development standpoint as it's small in area and triangular in shape with a stream running along the south perimeter.

The site lends itself to provide a transition between the surrounding commercial uses along the corridor and the single family neighborhood to the west.

Development of the site is for a for sale townhome community, which will provide a residential infill site.

We're adding residentials encouraged under the comprehensive plan.

The exhibit now on displays a color concept plan for the community.

As indicated, the plan is to develop for sale townhomes.

Uh 27 in total.

Access to the real estate will be provided from Illinois Street via public street.

The concept plan provides significant open space along the south perimeter of the site that is crossed by a wooded stream corridor.

Overall, more than 40% of the site will be dedicated towards open space, and the tree preservation is a primary component in that tree preservation area is identified in the darker green color on the image now on display.

The townhome buildings themselves are positioned along the northern portion of the site with the fewest mature trees.

Additional landscaping will also be provided along the north side of those buildings adjacent to the shared property line with four tank.

Four parking spaces per home are provided off-street as well as ten additional off-street parking spaces identified here on the site plan.

Stormwater retention is provided to the southwest of the townhomes and north of the stream corridor itself.

Finally, development of the site will connect the path along the east side of Illinois Street, which isn't currently there.

North from 106th Street, where it terminates today, up to fourteen expanding connectivity from a pedestrian standpoint in this area.

Character illustrations of the townhomes, some of which are shown here, are included in the rezoning request.

The townhomes are three-story in height and then will be priced from the mid-500s.

On all elevations of all buildings, with a minimum of full first floor masonry on all sides of each building.

Enhanced site elevations will be provided along the side facing Illinois Street, incorporating additional masonry as well as bump outs along that particular frontage of Illinois Street.

Additionally, based on the site layout, all garage doors for dwellings within the site are internally facing.

So that'll be screened from Illinois Street.

So coming down Illinois Street, you won't see those and from the north and the south adjoining properties.

You won't see those garage doors, they're internally facing.

In conclusion, our team had a neighborhood meeting as part of the planning commission's review process that was held back late last year.

One resident attended that individuals in the audience this evening.

They're an HOA board member of the adjacent neighborhood.

That individual sent a communication to the planning commission with support of the request, and no members of the public spoke at the public hearing in front of the planning commission.

Pulte believes the proposal is worthy, a positive consideration as it expands housing options, enhances walkability, preserves mature trees, and protects single-family neighborhoods.

We understand that at the conclusion of tonight's discussion, this matter may be sent to the land use committee for additional discussion.

We'll await your direction on that meeting night.

And with that, I'll conclude and be glad to answer any questions the council may have.

Thank you, John.

Appreciate it.

Just a couple things that I wanted to highlight from Plan Commission that you didn't touch on, John.

I did ask for rental restrictions, the same type of rental restrictions that we had at the 146 in town PUD.

Just so you're aware that those are commitments made through the deed, correct?

Am I correct?

Correct.

They're included in the transmittal we made to council.

Um and that's a good question.

Yeah.

So just FYI.

You said the Plan Commission that there's open to some discussion about possibly looking at some of the design or the building materials, and they said that could be on the table to something discussing land use.

Is that something we can keep discussing?

Absolutely.

We we look forward to the feedback from all count all council members, in particular those committee members.

Um te is committed to providing a design that the council will find appropriate for this location.

Okay, thank you.

This I think would be our second Pulti development since this council us nine, and they've made commitments before.

And I unless somebody corrects me, I don't think we have no reason to believe that they wouldn't continue.

They've upheld what they've promised on the past two developments.

There's no reason to believe if they make commitments, there would be any issue moving forward.

I mean, they've typically been a good partner of the community, is what I'm getting at.

Yes, sir.

And they're and they're enforceable by the city, just as the ordinance is.

In particular, they revolve around rental restrictions, and they're uh subject to the commitments as well as the city's current UDO.

This will go to land use and special studies.

Mr.

President, it is a public hearing.

I'm sorry.

Open the public hearing.

Thank you, Sergey.

Welcome to the public hearing at 819.

Good evening, members of the city council.

Uh, my name is Ron Hauck.

I am the president of the Spring Mill Place Homeowners Association, which is the neighborhood directly to the west on Illinois Street, across from this development.

Um we are in support of this project.

Uh is obviously residential in nature, uh, which is compatible with our neighborhood.

It offers minimal impacts from lighting, uh, signage, traffic, you know, the things that uh neighborhoods are sensitive to when projects develop adjacent.

Um US 31 sub-area conversations.

Um residents are concerned about new developments and existing developments and sensitivity to their neighborhoods.

Um of the things that tends to be overlooked is lighting.

Uh sensitivity in the C S 31 sub-area language really addresses more massing scaling and facades, but being adjacent to Forte Franciscan Hospital, they have a 45 square foot signage adjacent on the Illinois Street side.

They have a 45 square foot signage on the Illinois Street side.

Residents within our neighborhood actually talk about having their drapes closed in the evening because of the intensity of the lighting, although it uh technically does meet the one-tenth foot candle stipulation at the property line.

Uh it's more obtrusive than one might imagine.

So obviously, uh looking at the exhibits here, the amount of uh lighting that uh on the buildings would be internal and a very low impact to our neighborhood.

Um again, we I just wanted to be on record as in support of this project and its compatibility with our neighborhood.

Uh turns out that my property is actually directly adjacent to the the north end of this project.

So thank you.

Seeing no more public comment, we will close the public hearing at 821.

Any further discussion by council on the project?

This will go to uh land use and special studies.

Do you know if it will be discussed at the next meeting?

Uh as uh our petitioner prepared to discuss that on Wednesday at the next meeting at which we'll be 5 30.

I'm seeing a yes.

Then yes.

Thank you.

This will be discussed this coming Wednesday, 5 30 for the library.

Thank you, Dr.

Joshi.

Next up, and uh Sergio, you're gonna I'm not gonna do this wrong all year.

Uh first reading of ordinance Z 704-26.

Moon introduced.

An ordinance of the Common Council of the City of Carmel, Indiana amending the greenhouse cottages of Carmel Planned United Development.

Um District Z 594-14.

Uh Councilman, or excuse me.

Yes, Councilman R.

Would you read the synopsis, please?

Yes, thank you, Mr.

President.

Um this ordinance establishes an amendment to the Greenhouse Cottages of Carmel Plan Unit Development Ordinance, ordinance Z594.

Oh, 594-14, which amendment shall be referred to as the Z 704-26 greenhouse cottages of Carmel Amendment Ordinance.

This Z-704-26 Greenhouse Cottages PUD amendment amends certain provisions of the original greenhouse cottages of Carmel PUD ordinance, ordinance Z-594-14, the original Greenhouse Cottages PUD ordinance pertaining to the existing conditions on the subject property.

That was a mouthful.

Good luck.

And this did get a unanimous positive recommendation from the Plan Commission.

Thank you.

Good evening, President Snyder, members of the council.

My name is Kyle Russeteras with Dentons for the record.

My address is 10 West Market Street, suite 2700 in Indianapolis.

Pleased to be before you this evening with that favorable recommendation from the Plan Commission for the companion petitions by my client MBR Carmel Health, better known as the Restoracy of Carmel, located at 6616 Greenhouse Way, with respect to an amendment to an existing PUD, the Greenhouse PUD, and the establishment of a rezone and a new PUD, the restorcy of Carmel at 240 East City Center Drive.

As a context exhibit before you this evening is a dashed red outline around the existing site and the proposed adjacent site, which is uh approximately a two-acre site uh sitting just west of Concord Village and just south of Carl Carmel Elementary School and the aforementioned uh Carmel Clay Public Library that we heard this about this evening.

Um as I offer the uh site plan for you uh as a new exhibit.

The existing facility, the restoracy of Carmel includes six skilled nursing uh facility buildings and one small administrative building, including uh two rain gardens and one private drive drive known as Greenhouse Way, uh ending in a uh Cal de sac access exclusively from City Center Drive.

The expansion uh facility as proposed adds two new cottages uh to the overall site plan accessed off uh of an extension or artery to the existing drive bordered on the north and the south by additional parking as well as sidewalks ending on the eastern edge of the facility of the facility site to uh two new driveways serving uh the two the two new cottages here.

The uh skilled nursing facility licenses are state-issued licenses.

Those are there is an existing and long-standing moratorium of the issuance of new skilled nursing bed licenses in the state of Indiana.

The exception to that license moratorium is uh for licenses granted to the small home concept, that is for facilities offering cottages as they're uh most often known of 8,000 square feet or less.

These cottages uh allow for uh no more than 12 skilled nursing facility licenses or skilled nursing facility beds.

Each of the six existing cottages include 12 beds, so the existing facility has 72 beds, the two new cottages would offer 12 each for a total of 24 uh 24 new beds.

There's a variety of um state licensing parameters that need to be fulfilled, but really this lends itself to uh being fitting very well within residential corridors, uh pitch roofs.

Uh really as you walk into facilities like this, you're welcome to buy a common area, a living room, a shared kitchen, uh really a very family-oriented, uh family-oriented feel uh where you can feel as though your loved ones are getting the care and attention that they so need and desire.

The two new cottages would be supported by an additional proposed uh rain garden and uh subterranean uh drainage infrastructure that uh presently exists along the site.

There's an existing 30-foot tree preservation along the northern boundary of the site, which provides added buffer but also preserves the wooded area that exists on the site.

Uh that 30-foot uh buffer area would continue and is part of the PUD ordinance for the greenhouse um cottages and the greenhouse restoracy PUD.

Uh with great discussion at the Plan Commission uh stage, but but great dialogue.

We are pleased to offer a commitment to the council uh this this evening as part of uh any uh approval of of both the amendment and the new PUD, a uh dedication of right-of-way as contemplated by the thoroughfare plan of the city.

You can see that uh dedication of right-of-way indicated in in a light blue um in a late light blue color.

That's about in total about a quarter of an acre.

It expands uh to a greater area.

It's about 10 feet along most of this area from north to about middle of the site, expanding to 20 and then 30 feet, uh, and then additional right of way along for an expansion of the road or expansion of the trail, what have you.

But um that would be a set of commitments recorded against the property if the develop if the property is developed as proposed, um, that right of way would be dedicated before any building permit would be issued.

The uh set of commitment documents was per uh submitted to council.

Um it was a discussion at Plan Commission, particularly at uh plan commission uh and council's uh attorney advocate uh I shouldn't say advocating but supporting the suggestion uh that that would be uh memorialized in a set of commitments.

So again, uh pleased uh to to offer those tonight.

That uh does uh provide some additional buffering to the residential neighborhood uh to the east, as I mentioned.

Um that and combined with some reconfiguration of the site, rendered a 9-0 uh unanimous plan commission recommendation for approval.

We strongly uh believe that this plan meets the comprehensive plan, fits with the residential character of the neighborhood, allows for many facets of the comprehensive plan to be capitalized on here, but one I want to speak on this evening is is aging in place uh and being an intelligent infill development.

Um there is a significant uh macroeconomic trend happening in all of uh the United States and Indiana, but particularly in Hamilton County of aging aging in place.

There is a hundred and eighty-nine skilled nursing facility beds per year shortage in Hamilton County.

There is no doubt that the restoracy of Carmel in their existing facility and their proposed facility won't be able to solve that problem, but they are one part of the solution to offer an excellent infill development site to add 24 new new uh skilled license beds uh to this pipeline.

There is no existing pipeline of skilled nursing facility beds that fall into this uh moratorium in Carmel or in Hamilton County.

So we again uh just ask for the council support in being a small part of that uh solution.

The restoracy of Carmel and the Restoracy uh product, which has facilities in Whitestown and Goshen has been honored uh in many different ways, but in particular last year winning the uh IBJ Excellence and Health Care Award recognized for their great service here.

So we want to uh and my client continues to hope to be a wonderful citizen of a corporate citizen of the community.

Uh we expect to be uh a discussion at uh land use committee.

We look for discussion uh by the council of when that date would be, and certainly available for any questions and uh uh this evening.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

We shall open up the public hearing at 831.

Seeing no one from the public.

We'll close the public hearing at 832.

Comments.

Um, I do have questions.

I will wait for it in land use.

I will not be at the land use meeting on Wednesday, as I told you.

So is this going to go in?

And Mike, a question for you.

Is this where the 90-day starts today, or a question for anybody that can answer that?

Good evening, Council Mike Hollibaugh, Director of Community Services.

The uh 90-day clock starts from the date of certification.

Um, April 22nd is the magic hour.

So you have until April 22nd.

Yep, uh, real quick.

Um I know the last ordinance we just had didn't appear to have any remonstrators.

Um, were there any remonstration you know, with this ordinance?

And were the commitments that you kind of promised uh in response to that uh remonstrators and the HOA?

Thank thank you, Counselor, for the question.

We did um notice and host a uh public uh meeting uh for for the neighbors.

Uh there were two uh residents who attended that meeting.

Everyone who received public notice of the plan commission public hearing received that those two red residents uh live in Concord Village to uh to the east.

Um one of those members did speak at the initial uh plan commission public um hearing uh in in opposition uh to the matter.

Um the uh discussion uh uh ultimately led to a variety of um revisions to the site plan uh that included additional uh buffering to the east, uh uh dedication uh and as you just uh alluded to a dedication of of right-of-way, additional uh tree buffering, as well as uh a visual buffering of uh of a fence that will connect the southeast uh corner of this building and the northeast corner of this building to add that additional buffering.

Um ultimately no other uh instances of comments from the public uh presented themselves other than what I've offered tonight.

Mr.

President, go ahead.

Um, just kind of adding that because I talked to some of the the people who remonstrated you know after the meeting.

Um stormwater was one thing that was brought up.

Can we that areas had issues?

And as we're continuing to develop, um, what can we do to address that?

How much of it goes on you, how much of it goes on the city?

Uh and then also publicly there was comments about uh the extension, the possible extension of a road and how that would affect houses.

Um I just wanted to be clear, they've been um great to dedicate right-of-way, but they have no say in whether a road goes there or not.

So I don't want to hold up this project or penalize them for something that is not in their control whether a road happens there or not.

They just gave us the right-of-way in case that's something that is decided down the road.

This will go to land use.

Thank you.

Next up, first reading of ordinance z seven oh five-two six.

In ordinance of the common council of the city of Carmel, Indiana establishing the restoracy of Carmel Planned Unit Development District sponsors Councillor Osaminar.

Councilman R we go and do this one as well.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Ordinance amending the regulation of parking on Autumn Drive.

No.

We um the above, right?

But I'm still in old business.

Oh, sorry.

I'm so sorry.

I'm so sorry.

Yeah, my apologies.

Long night.

Ordinance establishes the restorancy of Carmel Planned Unit Development District.

Do we need any more comment on this one?

We'll open the public hearing.

We will close the public hearing at its own at the same time.

This will also go along with the other one to land use.

New business.

First reading of ordinance D two eight one one-two six.

Ordinance of the Common Council to the City of Carmel, Indiana Amending Chapter 8, Article 5, Section 8-47 of the Carmel City Code.

Sponsors Taylor and Well.

Councilor Taylor.

Move to introduce.

Second.

Screw it up again.

Would you read the synopsis?

Ordinance amending the regulation of parking on Autumn Drive.

Are there any comments presently about this?

Will go to this will go to Finance and Rules Committee, but are there any comments anybody wants to make this evening?

No.

All right.

Agenda item items.

None.

Other business.

None.

Any announcements?

Can I say one?

Please.

I didn't want to say this earlier because I know I didn't want to take light of the importance of the public speaking, but I do want to congratulate the Carmel Girls Swim team for winning state.

This is 40 in a row, so congratulations to them.

We are adjourned.