Oh yeah, I'm just gonna weekly.

No, I would need to be out of the right.

So I have to say particularly.

And I think that's what it was for me.

Good evening, everybody.

I'm Chairman Jared Evans and welcome to this evening's municipal corporations committee meeting on this great Wednesday, the 8th of April.

We are going to uh begin tonight's meeting with introductions from my colleagues starting on my left side.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Mike Doak, District 24.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman, Josh Bain, District 20.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Jesse Brown, District 13, area side near North Side.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Renee Allen, District 15, the far east side.

Uh Mr.

G Ron Gibson, District 8.

Good evening, everyone.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Keith Graves, District 13.

We've got a new district.

Thank you.

Good to see you guys.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Christian Jones, District 18.

Thank you, colleagues.

For tonight's meeting, we only have one voting proposal.

That's number 73, which will reappoint our appointment to the Capital Improvement Board, and then we're gonna have presentations from both the uh Capital Improvement Board of Managers as well as the Indianapolis Public Library.

We will begin with proposal number 73, which appoint reappoints Maggie A.

Lewis of the Capital Improvement Board of Managers.

I think everybody here knows her.

Um I told her she did not have to be here given we are all very um Councillor Howard.

Familiar with her and her work.

So I'd like to uh hear a motion for approval.

So move.

All right.

There's a motion and a second to move proposal number seventy-three to the full council.

Do we have to do a voice vote on this, or is it okay just to do uh roll call?

Either or either or okay.

All those in favor, please uh signal by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed, same sign.

Seeing none, that is approved.

We will let President Lewis know she has been reappointed.

Umy, your guys.

You guys have the floor.

Uh this is again for those who may be watching on TV.

This is just a part of uh trying to get our municipal corporations back in front of us before budget season to have conversations, see where things stand, as well as to hear from um our board appointees at times so that they are more familiar with us and us with them as well as the processes.

Yeah, it will.

Leader Maui, do you want to go ahead and take the opportunity to introduce yourself?

Thank you, Mr.

Leader.

My name's Brian Mowery, District 25.

Thank you, sir.

All right, good evening.

Thanks for having us.

Um this is the first time we've gotten a chance to do this, so I wasn't exactly sure what we're supposed to prepare.

I did do a quick slideshow.

Um Leslie's trying to figure it out, um, getting it up, and she will.

Um, but I'll just go through what um sort of what we've been up to.

Um you haven't been busy, have you?

Yeah, we we we had a big weekend.

Um, and uh super proud of everybody, the entire city, uh especially um folks at BNS and DPW and IMPD and you know, um everybody that was out working and um and supporting us.

It's it's it's a really I've been telling people this is a cultural thing about Indianapolis, right?

Like we do these things, it's part of what who we are as this city.

Um whether you're volunteering or just enjoying it, um, you know, it it's it's part of our DNA and it has been for a couple generations now, and it's just an amazing legacy to have a part of sort of being the caretaker of um so we can get started.

I I kind of broke it down.

Um the first slide is on the back of the cover there.

Um really the second slide, and it's just our authorizing statute, which is long, uh convoluted.

Um, but it is it's it we kind of summarize it there.

We're authorized to finance, construct, equip, operate, and maintain capital facilities or improvements of general public benefit or welfare, which would tend to promote the convention, cultural entertainment, and civic well-being of the community.

Um that really breaks down into um two large areas that we sort of feel responsible of for.

Um, and that is the really big buildings that um host groups that um bring travelers, tourists um town.

Our tourism is like 95% group or event base where you know we host conventions and trade shows and big sporting events, and um that was really what drives visitors to stay in hotels and eat at our um eat at our restaurants and fly into our wonderful airport.

Um and our venues, which are listed on the next slide, are the principal catalysts for those big events.

Um obviously the Indiana Convention Center is the oldest.

Um and it was first um built in 19 opened in 1972.

Um by the way, the CIB is now celebrating its 60th birthday, 60th anniversary.

We were um created by statute in uh 1966.

So almost as old as this building, actually.

So um, and the first project that was given to the Capital Improvement Board was to design and construct the Indiana Convention Center, which has gone through uh five different renovations and expansions.

So um it is what it is today.

Um obviously Lucas Royal Stadium, which replaced the RCA dome as the home of the Colts, also serves uh not just for the Colts matches, but is a home to a lot of our conventions and trade shows that use the um that use the the playing surface as um exhibition space and uh you know also our concerts and and all the uh other events that we do have there.

Um and we'll go through the events in a second.

Uh Victory Field, home to the our the city's original home team, which I loved as their new sort of tagline motto.

Um the Indianapolis Indians, which have been around um for over a hundred years, and um, you know, the victory field has been the home of the the Indians since um 1996, I want to say.

So um 30 30 years.

So there we um and it really is um a fabulous uh facility for minor league baseball.

Um another uh and it is operated, we built it and we maintain it and we repair it.

Um, and we'll talk about sort of the capital projects we're doing at Victory Field this year.

Um, and similarly um with Game Bridge Fieldhouse, the Indians run it.

Um, and then two new projects that are under construction, we're given up.

That's okay.

We kind of threw this together on the laptop the last second here, so I'm sorry, but I wanted to make sure um you guys have it.

So two construction projects that'll add to our portfolio um of large buildings that come out of the ground, the the uh Indiana Convention Center Expansion and Umsignia by Hilton Hotel, which is actually a city-owned and city-financed um facility, as you all hopefully know.

Um, but we will operate it.

Uh we have a lease with the city and we will operate it um on behalf of the city and a relationship kind of similar to what we have with Game Bridgefield House and the Indians, where Hilton Corporate will manage the facility on behalf of the CIB in the city, and they will do that derive the revenue from it to an extent, the operational revenue.

Um, any extra operational revenue goes into paying off the debt.

So if we're you hit operational costs, you hit um the original debt service, and then if you make any more money than that, that goes into paying off the debt early.

So it's kind of a closed loop like that, no recourse against the city or the CIB if there's any financial trouble.

So it's it's it's a new and different financing mechanism, but one we think will be super successful.

Um, all the initial studies that we went over three years ago now really point to the success of that.

And then on Georgia Street, the West Block of Georgia Street, we are um managing the construction of the new envisioned um Georgia Street West Block of Georgia Street, which will become a park.

Um it's geared towards allowing some outdoor meeting space in downtown and um really designed for that.

Uh we will manage the booking of it, and um and you know, the could the the building of the you know the Wendy's you know um activation, like at the uh final four last week.

So that was a really good first client to have, and they did a great job.

Um it won't look like it looks right now.

We are going to complete that project by right now, it's it's September 1st.

Um, we'll have that that park um built.

So those are those are two new things that will come into portfolios.

We also own the Virginia Avenue Garage, the um Hudnut Commons, which is sort of on the corner uh between Simon and the West in there.

Um that that sort of park uh underneath it is a parking garage, so it's really just the the roof of a parking garage.

So things like that.

Um we also are building facilities corp, which is sort of a wholly owned subsidiary, the CIB, but it is a private um uh nonprofit corporation.

It owns the Pan Am Tower, which is next door to the Cygnia.

Um yeah, and so that's uh we we we bought that is so that we could control the site and we wouldn't have um neighbors that would um get in the way of the development.

So um that's so that's what we do.

I mean, we're the capital improvement board, we do capital infrastructure, vertical infrastructure, people call social infrastructure, but it's really these big meeting spaces and the and the largest facilities in downtown.

And we do that to host events, so that's the other big bucket that we do.

We spend all our time between those two buckets, um planning for building things and building them, maintaining them, and then also putting on these shows in the convention center and Lucas Royal Stadium.

Those are the two facilities that we operate ourselves.

Um, everybody that uh um all our full-time employees are our public employees.

Um we do have contracts to bring in folks to assist, and so we can scale up and scale down based on the events, but we have 175 employees that are in uh you know employed to do these these two things, maintain our facilities and put on these events.

Um I I kind of pulled in some uh logos and and uh of the events that are happening, special events that are happening in Indianapolis um in 2026.

Um obviously there, there's the Final Four and the Final Four Fan Fest.

Um the the games were in Lucas Road Stadium, the fanfest was in the convention center, both hugely successful.

We're really proud of uh how the city came together to do that.

Um, and then not just those two events that were in our facilities, but then to do the music fest and the tip-off tailgate and um all the different activations like Swish that uh downtown Indy and the Sports Corp and everyone put together to make it a really special, unique, differentiated event.

Um that's just the most recent one.

Um we are having um we have lots of things going on.

I'll go through a couple of them.

Um the 2026 uh American Dental Association Scientific Conference will be which is a new kind of event for us.

We don't typically get a lot of medical associations.

Um they kind of go to the coasts uh in these gateway cities like San Diego and and New York, Orlando, um, San Francisco.

Um, but this is so this is the first time the American Dental Association will have had a conference in Indianapolis, and so we're real proud of that.

And um we've had a couple more since we booked this, so it's really creating a buzz.

And I think the cygnia and um and all the other improvements that we're making to downtown and and our hotels um are really getting us into this higher level of a of a educational conference, you know, where we can have the bankers and doctors and dentists and lawyers and um engineers uh come and and experience Indianapolis and with the higher expectations of of a of a the the kind of world class city that we built for ourselves here.

Um similarly, we have the Society of Uh Hispanic Professional Engers.

Um, their national convention is coming to Indianapolis in October.

Really proud of that and excited for that.

Um, American Coatings is a huge international conference, so um think paint and floor coverings and and those sorts of things.

Um, not as as uh as uh you know uh exciting is maybe the dental association or Gen Con, but um it they come back every other year.

They're fabulous.

Um these are CEOs of these uh incredible um multinational companies um that come to Indianapolis every other year.

Um obviously Gen Con, FFA, uh FDIC coming.

They're there are big um, you know, part of our big stable of like 15 to 20 annual conventions that come every year.

They're massive, sell out all the hotels, not just in downtown Indianapolis, but throughout Indianapolis and into Hamilton County and Hendricks County and uh and Johnson County, all over.

Um, so you know, there really are the foundation, the bedrock upon which all of our other events are built.

So we execute those as well as we can every year.

Um there are there are trusted partners, and um we wouldn't be here without them.

We also have USA volleyball national championship, um, juniors national championship.

So think high school volleyball, um, travel volleyball.

Um, their national championship will be in Indianapolis this year, um, this summer.

Um proud to have them.

They they again come every two or three years, so happy to have them back.

Um we have an incredible concert lineup, um, second only to 2024, which will where we had um seven concert nights.

We have five this year.

Two nights of Morgan Wallen, uh post Malone and Jelly Roll is coming, Bruno Mars is coming, Ed Sheerans and Ed Sharon is coming.

Um just an incredible lineup, and um Eric Newberger is here.

He runs the uh he's a general manager of Lucas Royal Stadium.

His team is in charge of booking um these events, and we've charged them, you know, given him the the tools and the um uh admonition to book as many of these as we can.

Um, and his team is he and his team have done a fabulous job.

Um also in the stadium explore a little bit more about how do we go about booking.

Yes, so process work.

So, what's interesting about Indianapolis, um we are we are a great city for these for concerts.

Um we don't have the like uh Nashville Austin sort of um homegrown sort of folks that are playing in honky tonks or or in dive bars outside Austin, right?

Um we don't have that, but what we do have is for touring markets, the live nations and and so touring artists all they love coming to Indianapolis at all of our different venues, whether it's Ruaf or Game Bridge Um or Lucas Royal Stadium, they come because they sell out and have a great time, and our facilities are amazing.

So they love coming here.

It's very profitable for Live Nation and Ticketmaster and all the the folks that do it.

We're really strong market for them, um, which is why we've seen additional investment in sort of facilities that like the um the boxcar facility of the live nation, the 4,000 seat live nation facility.

We don't have that smaller one that they have you know, touring acts would love to do that and would sell that out in a heartbeat and make money doing it.

We just didn't have the facility.

Now we're gonna have the facility, you know, we'll see that sort of either emerging artists that are just beginning their tours and are really focused on selling out 4,000 seats, or you know, folks that have been around the block a little while, and yeah, and they can still sell out 4,000 and make money doing it and have it continue their career.

So it really kind of the the way that that we book them, and Eric's here, he can he can he throw something at me.

Um it really depends on our calendar.

First and foremost, we're one of the busiest stadiums in the country because it it's not just a football stadium, it also doubles as convention space.

So conventions when they come in, they will be there for a week, you know, sometimes 10 days.

Um, especially the really big ones, the FFAs, the uh the PRIs, um, they'll come in and they'll set up and it takes them the conference is three or four days long, but it takes them you know, three days to set up and a couple days to get out.

So that eats up a big chunk of our calendar that we don't have available for concerts, right?

Then we also have to manage in the Colts Um schedule, which doesn't come out until the spring.

So it's hard to book if you don't know those dates.

Um we get a sense of where it is because Eric controls how the dates that they give the Colts or that they give the NFL, um, so we kind of have a sense of where we are and prioritize, but so that, and then we also have all of these um historical um annual events.

You gotta work in the IHSA state championships for football, right?

You gotta work in state robotics, um uh supercross, uh, very loyal following.

We make sure that we have space for them every year.

Uh Monster Jam uh with the monster trucks, we make sure that we have space for them every year.

So those those sorts of annual things all eat up parts of our calendar, and then we really have to give the concert promoters uh the um the dates that we have available.

Um really they come to us because they try to fit because their matrix, their Tetris is also with the calendar too.

Like, all right, we're gonna be in Atlanta and we can go to Columbus, or maybe we can go to Louisville, we can go to Indianapolis.

Where does that fit, right?

And what's their availability, what's our availability, those sorts of things.

So we gotta make that fit.

And then we all have the added issue of 60,000 seats, right?

Not everybody can make money playing to uh uh in a in an arena or in a in a stadium, so you have to have the type of of um artists that can sell out a stadium because they're not gonna want to, you know, risk it, go in, spend all this money putting stage, hiring artists, and then only sell 20,000 tickets that they could have sold at Ruoth and made a killing, but now because all it's just cost so much more to do it at a stadium, um, now they've lost money because um their venue was too big for them.

So we gotta have the right artist, um, the right time, the schedule, and then uh adjacent cities not being available either.

So that's kind of how it goes, right?

Yeah, all right.

Sweet.

Um we got great, we have great um, and you also have to be touring, right?

Like these artists, you know, didn't all tour last year, and maybe they did and we missed it, and now they're coming back around, which is what happened with Taylor Swift, right?

Um, she really wanted to be here the first time around, and um, you know, we were able to get them on the on the the next year over, which is actually a better thing, you know.

Everybody's complaining about it, but um, that we didn't get them the first time around, but it actually meant that we had them um all to ourselves pretty much that year.

Um, a couple other uh, you know, events.

Well, I mentioned them, the high school state, and then finally I want to mention uh in August, we are hosting ASAE, which is the American Society of Association executives.

So much of our all of our clients come from like these associations that have their annual conferences, right?

The American Dental Association, the American Codings Association, you know, for examples.

Um the ASAE event is an annual event.

It jumps from city to city where you have these decision makers of all of the different associations.

You know, think of you know, all of all of us have professional associations, all of us are affiliated.

There's an association for everything, they all come to the ASAE event every year.

Last year was in LA.

Um we have never had it.

We've never hosted it.

It's it's really the Super Bowl for people in our um in our line of work because you have everybody here.

And visit Dizzy always says for Indianapolis, you have to look to book it, right?

You have to be here, you have to understand it.

Otherwise, you just know the race and you maybe know some events that you've been to, but when you get here, you get it, and you understand why your event would thrive here.

So this year we have we get to host all those executives, all those decision makers.

Um, and it becomes this event for us is really our Super Bowl.

And um you know, we're gonna make the the most of it, we're investing money in it.

Um, and it really needs to be fabulous in it.

And um, you know, that's our thing.

We do fabulous really well.

So thank you, sir.

Appreciate this update.

Um would you mind introducing your team if you're sure, yeah, absolutely.

Um the only other thing is is capital investments on the back.

It's cut and paste from our um from our budget.

So I just want to sense of the things that we're doing this year.

Um, so with me today is Kobe Wright, who is our uh director of uh business director and chief legal officer.

Um Eric Newberger, I think the wave Eric is the general manager for Lucas Royal Stadium.

Tim Kerr is our CFO, and you guys will remember him from budget time, and then Monica Brazi, who helps uh with PR communications and presentations.

Okay, and then and it was my mistake, not Monica's, that the presentation didn't work.

We know Andy, you can do those in time.

Um thing that we didn't mention, I just kind of wondered if you could briefly touch on it.

You know, last year we we hired Shill Sexton to do the uh pre-construction design, I think, for a potential soccer stadium.

Yeah.

I think that report was gonna be due sometime this year.

Do you have any?

Yeah, so we hired Populous to do the design of it.

Um and Shield Sexton was brought on to um help us with the pre-construction services and the estimating.

That work is still ongoing.

Um when we said it was gonna be due at the beginning, that was in the RFP for that contract, which was as fast as we could possibly do it.

Um so that was because they needed to know as fast as possible.

We haven't moved that fast on purpose.

So um I would I would expect well, I would expect us to figure out um have that report you know within the next few months.

Um I it's not fully designed, so I had I will I'll just be frank with you.

I hesitate to give an estimate of a concept.

Um but um but yeah, and when we when we have something to to talk about, I will come back here and talk to you about it.

All right, thank you.

Colleagues, any questions?

Counselor.

Thank you, Andy.

Uh I do have several questions, and I did not give you a heads up on this.

So any of these or all of these that you'd like to take back and get back to me.

No, I'm gonna do my best.

Okay.

Um, so I I may have asked you about this before, but uh constituent of Bayern, who's a big environmentalist, pointed out that the largest flat roof in central Indiana is the convention center.

Yes.

And so he was like, why aren't we at leasing that space to a company to do solar panels or putting it up ourselves for the revenue?

Um, I don't know if you've evaluated that recently.

We have we looked at that.

We I looked at that as soon as I started at the uh CIB seven years ago.

Um the problem with it is it is a vinyl roof, and when you put uh penetrations through it, it leaks.

Um, and I can't have leaks on you know millions of dollars worth of exhibit space.

So that's that's the biggest that's the biggest problem.

Okay, I appreciate that.

It still might be worth looking into.

Yeah, if we can figure out a technology that I didn't have to that would be structurally sound enough to hold them, and I wouldn't have to penetrate the vinyl roof.

Yeah.

Appreciate that.

Um okay, and then these are a couple like larger chair questions, uh, which you might you know give me the high level now if you can.

But okay, so you mentioned, you know, and I agree, uh DPWB and S police all did a really great job this last weekend, for example.

Can you help me understand like what percentage of costs those agencies are taking on themselves and how much are they reimbursed by CIB?

Yeah, how much are they reimbursed by NCAA?

Yeah, for that particular so on-duty officers that were there, um were you know that's that that's born by the police department.

Um we do uh write a check back, so we collect all the admissions taxes for the city of Indianapolis, right?

For Marion County.

Um, and in order to qualify for admissions taxes, they have to come from CIB owned operated buildings, right?

So you know, you don't have to pay admissions taxes at uh you know uh name a venue that we don't own.

I don't know.

Um old national center, right?

Like they don't they don't charge admissions taxes.

Um so we take a portion of the the uh admissions taxes that we get and we write a check back to the city every year, and I think it's it's it's about three or four million dollars every year, right, Tim?

It's about three and a half, yes.

Yeah, great.

Do we and uh at some point I'd love to evaluate how much we're spending on officer overtime compared to that amount to just to see right, and and so this was based on a deal.

I don't know if it was it was um it was a deal that was cut in I think 2012.

Um that it it tied itself to admissions taxes because of that that that sort of tracked how busy those officers were for big big events like the Final Four and a Big Ten Championship and the like.

So that's why it was tied to it.

Um yeah, I'm happy to follow instructions.

So yeah, not trying to put down the spot.

I just know I think 2018, the first year officer made 34,000, now they're making 84.

I'm glad that they are, yeah.

But that's a big you know the difference.

Third and fourth year or six figures, anyway.

Right.

Uh which is good, they deserve it.

Um Mr.

Chair, just a couple quick questions.

Don't mean to monopolize the mic.

Um yeah, I would just love to see like cost versus revenue because yeah, I don't have that information.

I just have the check we write every year.

I think you guys have that.

In general, I think I'm hearing from some constituents, and I understand where they're coming from.

It's like, oh my gosh, there's all this money flowing into the city.

What percentage do we get?

I know that CIB is a state-city kind of cooperative enterprise in a lot of ways.

Yes.

Um so I don't know, um, any kind of one-pagers we could break it down to help constituents understand.

Yeah, uh, yes, and I can I can explain it like this.

I have I have you know, uh mayor appointed, council appointed, and governor appointed, and actually a couple other um appointed one other appointed by um the donut counties.

Um so they represent uh the what we do conscious choice and it's and it's worked in to the benefit is these are taxes generated by visitors generally speaking, right?

And when visitors come here, we take that that tax revenue just conceptually and reinvest it back into those facilities, and that's been the choice.

So we uh we don't we other than this public safety um uh contribution that's um you know it it goes back into pay for these um for these facilities and the and the operations of them.

So it kind of just builds on itself and recycles itself, and that's why we've been able to maintain this growth and take on new and better projects.

Um again, author uh tax taxes authorized by the state and then uh uh approved and raised by um by the council.

So that's the yin and yang of it, or the symbiotic relationship.

Last goofy question, goofy maybe.

Um I used to work with the payamp tower and loved walking around the sky bridges sky bridges though, you know.

I I see we're doing a lot of skybridge enhancement or replacement.

Um how do we determine like the ROI on that?

Because I would imagine if I was a business at ground level, I'd be a little annoyed that you know some of these visitors aren't walking past my yeah.

I think it's it's really just um part of the design and and um negotiation of every uh big project, right?

To add the Skywalk um, for example, the parking garage to the to the uh fever center, um, you know, it is you know it's it was just part of the deal um that in order to have the fever center built one of those.

Yeah, so this was this sort of price poker.

Makes sense, yeah.

Sorry for all the questions.

Thanks for the channel.

No, I have to report happy to answer.

Thank you.

Thank you, uh director.

Um Chairwolan Jones.

Thank you.

Thank you, Annie.

Thank you for the presentation.

Um, I just want to say I appreciate this visual.

Um for I know for my constituents, I know I'm biased because this is a lot, most of this is in my district.

I'm so very close to many of my constituents, and a lot of these jobs, my constituents um can work at these jobs, right?

Yeah, um, and not just in in my district, but also around the county.

But I think this is very helpful.

I'm sure you might not have the number now, but just an interesting fact of how many jobs you know this provides for Marion County.

But it's a nice visual to see, and I know a lot of my residents have have these jobs, and they're good paying jobs with with good benefits.

So I I appreciated the visual to see just how many how many actual assets that that CIV does have.

So I appreciate it.

Absolutely.

So thank you, and thank you for those those jobs for our residents.

Absolutely.

It's 83,000 in central Indiana in central Indiana, not just Marion County.

Uh, visit Indy has a number for Marion County, and I think when we did the insignia project, we did break it down by council district.

So I I will make sure to ticket that to you.

That would be great.

Thank you very much for the question.

And then uh last question, comment, Councilor Graves.

Just one.

Thanks for the presentation.

You got the floor.

Yeah, thank you so much.

Um just back on the uh the insignia project.

Um as we get up and running, uh, do we have any forecast to see if we'll meet operating and maybe even get into the desk service on that or yeah?

No, uh everything looks great.

Um as a city, the comp set against which you know, sort of how we we derived our expectations from them, is outperforming what we originally thought.

So, like um the average daily rate of the con comp set is already outpacing what we thought it would be when we opened, and it's I think we we got higher than what we thought at opening a year or two ago.

Um so the baseline against which we're comparing, and we'll you know, they'll set their prices and their their rates based on that comp set.

They're already outperforming it, so we're really enthusiastic that that the rate will be um where we need it to be or outpace.

Um we don't necessarily want to be in the hotel business for very long, so as soon as we can um pay these these um what's interesting is once once you pay off the debt, um it is um the the revenue comes back to the city in CIV.

So on the Shinola project.

Can you talk a little bit about that real quick?

I don't know much about the Shinola project other than the uh it's now it's the writs.

It's gonna attach the game bridge.

Um we uh that we are building the sky bridge to that.

Um we're as a as a tourism community, we're happy to have a ritz.

Um that is that is another level of uh finish and and just um just the next level of of hotel that we have.

Um and there's a market for it, and otherwise we wouldn't be building it.

So that's it speaks well of our hotel market in our city.

Thank you for all you do.

Thank you, Mr.

Thank you, Councillor.

Interesting, uh unrelated to our writs.

There was I was watching something, and I forget what city got this.

It's been a couple years ago.

But in that um conversation they were talking about how just getting that sort of development, that higher income development was assigned to A, B, C and D businesses, you know, to come into that area.

Uh that they follow them.

And so that's interesting.

I never really thought of it in that way, but I'm like, I think we're gonna get some residual uh developments in that.

Director, thank you so much for coming.

I appreciate the update.

This is exactly what it was meant to be, and you guys did great.

I think your team, I've gotten to see a couple of you over over the years, so appreciate all of your hard work and everything you guys do.

We'll see you back here in a few months for budget time.

Awesome, thank you.

Appreciate the time.

All right, CEO Hill in the library.

I don't know if you want to bring up maybe one uh board member at a time, or if you want to introduce them, how can say a few words?

However, you work at however you want to work.

I mean all reports of vision.

You guys are also serious.

Seriously, act like they're successful.

It always happens at this time.

Right.

Well, maybe next time we'll have a meeting at a half year.

Just go with those slides.

I'm gonna come myself.

Yes, I guess we'll you go really cool.

Well, I mean properly.

All right, good evening, Chairman Evans.

My name is Greg Rehill, CEO of Indianapolis Public Library.

And I'll start off by just introducing, and if it's okay, I have Dr.

Dr.

White is one of our board members.

And uh did you want him to say a few words?

Sure.

He's welcome to if you'd like to just have to.

I I and thank you to our board members for being here.

I know it's not easy to get here and can sometimes be frustrating to get in and out of this building.

So I appreciate you taking the time to come.

It's just something I'm trying to do to get our board more familiar with us, us more familiar with our board, as well as to let those in the public who may be watching to uh see your faces.

Well, thank you very much for the invitation.

Uh it has been an honor for me to uh represent the council uh with the library.

Uh I think um we had uh turbulent times early on, but we have uh super exceeded our expectations uh since Mr.

Hill has been the CEO.

Uh we have fantastic feedback from patrons and employees about his ability to unite people and to get people to work together, and he's uh really communicated the message that it's not him, it's them, it's everyone.

And he's uh kind of revolutionized his executive team.

Um they all have ownership of everything going on, and Mr.

Hill has uh the unique uh I guess uh privilege of having worked in every position in the library from the front desk up to the CEO.

I told him he needs to write a book on really hope he does that about the functions and the value of libraries to a community or what have you.

But uh I have enjoyed uh my time uh representing the council on the library, and so uh I'm still not divorced from saying I'll do a second term uh but I think I can't press my luck for a third one, that's for sure.

But uh it's an honor to serve, and I'm glad that you extended the invitation uh to us, and it's fascinating uh to really get to know you and how you function.

Uh there are different views of how you do what you do and etc.

And so this is very informative to me.

So thanks.

Thanks again for the invitation.

I am the chair of the finance committee.

Uh uh, and I am honored to have uh one of our members of the finance committee with us tonight, and that's uh Miss Natitia Wooder.

And she's taking time from her busy schedule because having a regional function in the city, so she's running up here.

So I'm so happy that she's able to join us, and she has been a wonderful addition to the finance uh committee.

But overall, we've had that kind of feedback from being a place for people to work.

Uh we've won awards for that, and all of that is not accidental.

So the storm that I came on the board in uh received it some time ago, but we are so happy to have the support of the uh council because uh we still have to keep in mind that we're working for today, but more importantly, we're working for the future, and the more we can give and uh share with the community to enhance the uh contributions of libraries to the community.

It's just amazing what all we do beyond just dealing with books and video tapes and movies, etc.

But there's an outreach to our library system that I don't think many people understand uh from dealing with the unhoused right on up to counseling, etc.

And I just want to applaud the work that the library is doing and uh before all of you.

And before all of you, I want to celebrate the leadership of Mr.

Hill.

So thanks.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Dr.

White.

And if I could, I could uh ask Miss Woodard to come up as well, just to say a few words if you like.

Thank you, Dr.

White.

Well, he's a gentleman, so I'll take the seat.

Well, good evening, as Dr.

White stated, um, I am actually taking a break from a conference.

It was interesting to hear about the conferences.

Uh, the ladies of Alpha Capital Alpha Sorority Incorporated are hosting about 5,000 women this weekend here uh at the convention center.

So Peter is very familiar.

Um I also want to commend Mr.

Hill.

I wasn't here when the storm was here, so I hear about the storm, but what I'll tell you is the collaboration with the board has been amazing.

And um I actually gave Mr.

Hill some feedback to say that when I joined the board, what I appreciated, and I didn't know if it was intentional was his focus on employees.

Um I also reminded him that I'm here because the city county council appointed me, and so with that, I am always thinking about the people in the community, and so I appreciate the fact that he does not shy away from the tough questions that I ask about the people in the community.

But I do want to say that I am always impressed when I show up to at the uh board meetings with the programs that are happening within the city.

And um, I think Dr.

White said it best.

It's not just about books, it's not just about um things that the library can offer in terms in terms of tangible things, but they are if you have not been a part of a board meeting to hear the programs that are happening within the city across the city.

I implore you to do so because they are amazing.

I say that because I'm a woman of service.

I belong to many organizations where we offer services, and I was on an unexpected, I just very unexpected to see how many programs are offered up.

Mr.

Heel, I want to congratulate you on a job well done.

Your team does a mate an amazing job, and again, every time we show up with the hard questions, his team is always ready, prepared, are willing to come back and answer those questions.

So again, um, unlike uh Mr.

White, this is my first term.

I have not completed my first term.

Feel free to invite me back for a second time when my term ends, okay?

And so with that, um, I'll turn it back over to Mr.

White.

Thank you, board member Warner.

All right, thank you.

And just so the committee knows, we were originally going to have this meeting at the Central Library, but they weren't prepared to uh host us quite yet.

Okay, all right, thank you.

And I just want to add uh thank you to both uh Miss Woodard and Dr.

White for their support, uh, not only to those two, but the rest of the Indianapolis Public Library Board of Trustees.

It's been um an amazing ride over the last three years.

Uh so I appreciate not only their support, but I appreciate the support of the council as well.

And I just want to introduce one member of my team is here.

Her name is uh Miss Mary Ann McKenzie.

She is our chief strategy and analytics officer.

Uh so welcome to her and thank I want to thank her for the work that she does to help me prepare for some of the things that I have to do as well.

Thank you.

All right, so let's go ahead and get started here.

This is this will be brief.

There's just uh a couple uh slides I want to talk through, and this is mostly just dealing with the uh the first quarter, some of the things that we've done over the the first quarter.

So every 4.74 to five seconds, a neighbor walks through the door of one of our 25 locations.

And I want to just talk about the essentialness of the Indianapolis Public Library, what it means to the community.

Um, we contribute to a better quality of life to make communities stronger and and more resilient, and we do that in several ways.

One of them is we are the great equalizer, right?

We by providing information equity to people that come through.

Um we we equalize the we also provide intellectual freedom.

It serves as a sanctuary for diverse ideals for people and our patients to explore without judgment.

It also serves as a social infrastructure, it combats isolation, right?

There's it provides human interaction.

Uh, we know with some of the studies that have been uh come before us in the last year or so, especially with seniors, there's a problem with uh loneliness and isolation.

So we we provide that as well.

We also civic engagement serves as a neutral ground for programmers for all communities.

Also, it's an economic and workforce catalyst.

It provides infrastructure for job seekers and entrepreneurs to build their resumes and apply for jobs and to launch small businesses.

We have a small business series that we've been having for a couple years, it's extremely popular, and we get a chance for you know our patrons to come through and learn a lot of things for them to either continue working on their business or to help them launch a new business.

And then last, I want to say stability and safety.

It's a safe haven, not only for kids, but could be for adults as well.

So we provide a safe space for everyone.

And then as you look at the output measures on the slide, you see that we had 549,000 visitors in the first quarter, which equates to about 6,400 on an average day at any of our 25 locations.

We circulated 2.1 million items in the three-month period, which is about 25,000 items a day at any given day.

That includes physical circulation and electronic circulation as well.

And as Miss Woodard attested to you see the adult programs, we had 866 total adult programs where 8,310 of our neighbors enjoyed that program.

Youth programs, we had 1,621, and that equated to 36,316 of our patrons who had a chance to come through our doors and get to see one of those programs.

And that just again goes to test of what Ms.

Witter explained expressed when we have our board meetings.

Just the not the quantity, but the quality of the programs that we provide to our community.

Next slide.

Circulation and digital engagement, digital engagement.

As you can see at the slide, most of our circulation is still physical books, but the electronic circulation is starting to creep up a little bit.

And if we were to annualize that over the year, that'd be about nine per capita.

That's extremely healthy.

The average is usually anywhere from seven to ten per capita, and we're at about nine per capita if we were to annualize that 2.25 over a 12-month period.

So we're really really happy with our circulation numbers.

Next slide.

Program impact and attendance, and this these are four-year statistics right here.

So our attendance is about 164 neighbors or guests per 1,000 residents, which is about 16% of our population comes through our buildings for a particular program.

And that's respectable for a large system of our size that we serve close to one million.

So just thinking about the scale of that, I think that's still pretty respectable.

We are working on again, it's not about the the uh the quantity of our programs but the quality of our programs.

Um things I want to mention about our program impact.

Uh it prioritizes quality of engagement over just the number of people who come to our programs, and it also demonstrates the library's role in literacy, workforce development, and social cohesion.

Uh we also use surveys to measure our patron outcomes.

Those survey key outcomes include knowledge and confidence, uh, application and awareness.

And as you look at the slide, you see that over a full year through all of our surveys, 99% of our patrons who attended the program feel that they gained knowledge, some type of knowledge from one of our programs.

And then 94% of our patrons feel that they felt like they were connected to the community or that they were connected to others, and those are very important measurements that we try to make sure we measure to see if uh patrons are getting what they expect out of the Indianapolis Public Library, and often it is expressed as uh what the patron perceives is what they got out of the program as well.

So all right, next slide.

Oh, this one is library business and space utilization.

Um, as you see, Wi-Fi sessions, we had 124,397, and those are unique sessions, meaning that it was a specific device that was uh tracked on those sessions.

That is a lot of Wi-Fi sessions, 124,397.

We also had 90,314 individual uses of our public PCs.

And it's not just the Wi-Fi sessions and the public PCs and of course the visits.

We also have study rooms for the quarter, first quarter.

We have 14,804 reservations of our study rooms and the community rooms, we have 359.

So again, the space utilization of our 25 locations is definitely being used by our patrons with the Wi-Fi sessions, the public PCs, and then the programming as well.

The next slide is talking about community access and engagement.

So the slides you see here, the the graphic is total population, and then you have active users.

Active users are described as library card patrons who have used their card in some form or fashion in the previous 12 months.

Registered users are just people who have a library card but may not have used their card in 12 months or not.

And just keep in mind that a lot of our programs, things that we do, you don't need a library card, right?

For programs, you don't need a library card to use the Wi-Fi, you don't need a library card, public PCs, you don't need a library card to use our study rooms.

You don't need a library card.

So a lot of people use the library without having a card.

So I just want to make sure that we're aware that it this may not uh I still think that uh our registered users is pretty good, but we are working on uh a library card campaign at this time, and you may have seen we have three uh billboards around the city right now.

Uh that's uh part of our library card campaign, and then we will have a more extensive library card campaign in September, which is um library card national signup month day.

Um we're gonna have a three-day period where uh all the branches will be involved.

Um we'll have the patrons involved, and uh we're just really looking forward to uh making sure that normally when we have a library card campaign, it's just the library card campaign.

But this time we're going to just make sure that we invite our patrons in, we have displays, we show them how to use the Livvy app and make sure they're aware of all the different resources that we have available to them.

So that'll be coming up in September.

I just want to give a quick update on the central library.

As you know, Central Library has been closed since February 22nd.

There was an interior glass panel in the six-story atrium was found to be fractured and it required repairs.

So the the fractured glass was about 50 feet up.

Um the glass is four feet by 12 feet and it weighs close to 600 pounds.

So it's not an easy task to get up there and get that down.

So we had to do an engineering analysis to make sure when the scaffolding was placed in that the floor could handle that.

Uh so they had to remove the floor, and then the scaffolding was placed on the actual slab because the floor couldn't hold it, and then just hiring uh uh make sure we get the right folks in there that could do that.

So it's taken a while, but I'm happy to report that today that the glass was removed, and uh we we will be opening on Monday, um, and then we'll close again for about five days once the glass is received, so we can replace the glass.

And we just felt that it would be much safer if we didn't open because if that was to fall from 50 feet weighing 600 pounds, uh, it could cause some damage.

So appreciate the support of everybody, supported the staff and the patrons.

You know, they were they were going to some of the other locations, um, but we were still providing um curbside service uh to folks who still wanted material.

So we will be open on Monday.

The West Indianapolis branch, um we're working with KRM architects.

There were about eight proposed locations.

I think we finally whittled it down to one, which will be at the same location where they are now, but we're in the process of working with uh Mary Riggs and uh WIDC to uh purchase those lots, and then we will be the West Indianapolis branch will be towards the Hyatt and Morris uh section.

Um so right now KRM is working up the drawings uh for the location, and then we're working on just getting those parcels so we can move forward with that.

So that's where we are with those two locations.

Uh the new West Indianapolis branch.

Again, we decided to to do a new location because if we tried to do the the footprint that they have, it's only it's not a very big branch.

There's not much we could do with that.

So to make it just a little bit better for the community, we decided to go to a bigger branch.

It'll be anywhere between 10 to 12,000 square feet, which is about the same size as the Martindale Brightwood branch.

So pretty decent size.

So we're excited and looking forward to that.

Next slide.

I just want to talk about the heart of every neighborhood.

So the heart of every neighborhood is just a chance for us to let our patrons know and make them aware about the important role that the branches serve in their community.

Our first one was at the Glendale branch.

We had a really great turnout.

Senator Friday Cordora was there.

We had a lot of patrons came in.

We also do uh video testimonials that we will use later in the year.

So we had some of our patrons uh give some testimonies, testimonials on what the library means to them.

What impact has this library had on your life?

Uh and I think at the Glendale branch, I think we received 10 of those.

Um, so we're really looking forward to being at East 38th Street branch.

I think the branch manager has done a really good job of promoting it.

Uh, I think there's gonna be 10 to 12 community partners there, and then there's four key uh messages that we want to uh celebrate with this is free access for everyone, literacy, uh exceptional experiences and uh the importance of not only signing up for a library card, but just making sure that you use your library card when you get it.

So uh and then after that, there's one schedule for the Lawrence Branch, Hallville branch, and then the last one would be um at the Southport branch, and uh again the first one that was exceptionally well, and we're looking forward to the next one, and we invite you to join us at uh the next one at East 38th Street if you're uh able to come, and uh we really appreciate it.

And that's all I have.

If you have any questions for me.

All right, thank you, CEO Hill, appreciate it.

Um has to be pretty nice to get the uh remarks that you got from your two board members, and I think we have seen that too.

Since you have taken uh the helm of the uh indie go library CEO position, and really thankful for your leadership.

Um everything they've said, I absolutely believe.

Uh, I'm hearing it from boots on the ground from the library system workers, and uh I couldn't help but think that uh when they said it wasn't about you, but it was about everybody.

That seems like that's like uh maybe it comes from your background in the military, perhaps.

Yes, sir, thank you.

And again, I'd like to uh thank my executive leadership team, they're amazing.

We work really great as a team, and uh I've learned in my career of managing people, my 23 years in the service that uh it takes a team, right?

And uh I just make sure that uh we have the library's best interest at hand and do what's best for for uh not only our staff but our community as well.

So thank you.

Okay, counselors, any questions, call it counselor Gibson.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman, and uh thank you, Mr.

Hill for exceptional report.

And I'm very proud of our library.

I love the work that you guys do.

Hats out to our our board members.

Both of you are uh top notch and adding to the fabric of our libraries, and I very much appreciate your service.

And uh and Dr.

White, if you want a third term, we can work very hard to get you a third term.

So Matt and we'll get you a second term as well.

But um uh I asked a question to you, Mr.

Hill, and maybe uh uh board member uh Dr.

White could probably help with this too.

In terms of your finances, uh, when we look at uh coming for the 2027 budget, can you tell us what your your primary concerns are and are any challenges with you possibly being uh needing increase in rates or or how's your debt service?

Just a just a broad overview would be appreciated.

And then finally, uh the second question is what's the status of upgrading the East 38 Street Library.

I was in there yesterday.

I went in there on purpose yesterday, and I was I had a lot going on, period.

But I went in that library yesterday because I wanted to see what what would it look like.

And it was uh very much uh it was packed, everybody's in there doing something.

I love that, and uh, I even test out some of your equipment myself.

I went on one of the computers and did all that just to have a good experience about it.

So I want to say that uh that's a valid asset in our community, but I I do think we need to worry about the doors and the carpet and all that stuff.

And so I know you committed to making some changes there, so I'd like to hear that as well.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you.

I'll start off with your last question first.

Um we do have a facility assessment plan, and um we just try to go in order of the recommendations that was uh given to us, you know, through the facilities uh assessment.

Um if it takes a while for us to get around to the branch, we also have a schedule where we do a refresh uh where they can get new carpeting if it's needed, uh new furniture, uh they can get new painting and things like that.

Also, we have a schedule for replacing uh you know some of the HVAC units, uh the roofing has been placed.

I think last year we may have placed four or five roofs throughout the system as well.

Um so we try to stay on schedule with the facility assessment plan, and I think the last time we had this conversation, I know that uh East 30th Street should be coming up.

I don't know where it is.

I know uh the Irvington branch is next, and then after that, I do believe it's uh Garfield Pike, Garfield Park, and then the Library Services Center.

I believe Council Distance Libraries in 2028.

That's the date that we have that's been.

You made a commitment to have it this year.

It went 2028.

Now I'm not talking about major improvements.

I'm talking about just like the carpet is totally soiled.

I mean, all that I mean, it's it's I mean, it needs some upgrades.

Okay, and uh and I will follow up with you on that.

Um I don't have the exact date, but I know that all 25 locations have uh different phases where things are being made.

I don't think we keep coming back here.

I mean, if you guys uh Mr.

Dr.

White and uh Morgan, you're gonna get hammer in at least give me a concrete answer about the library and it's actually in Keystone, but I use it.

Well, uh last year I was the chair of the facilities committee, and one of the things that Mr.

Hill and others were concerned about was the visual that you get when you walk into the various branches, and if the carpet is worn or furniture is in the air repair or disrepair, it hits you right away.

And it it forms somewhat of a negative opinion or what have you, but we have worked very hard of a rotation so that that doesn't happen.

Uh we think that uh Mr.

Hill's uh expertise and and the holistic part of libraries, he has a good vision as to what it should look like, but in that we have to be uh thankful and keep it before the council that everything is getting more expensive.

And because prices are going up all over, we have to be very, very aware of making sure that people feel like they're valued in every community.

So when we go to Franklin Township and look at that branch, and we go to Mind That Brightwood and look at the new branch, we want people to always have a positive impression that we have a world-class library system, okay.

And in order to do that, it's a visual thing first.

You can talk a lot, but people see first and then they think about it as opposed to hearing what you say.

And so with there, I know that we will be uh urging uh the council to keep in mind that things are going up and that we need a repair kind of schedule that's gonna make our different branches uh the best that they can be.

And we have sister and competitive branches uh like Ohio and different places, uh Columbus, Ohio and what have you, that we can see what people are doing.

So we know uh we're not at the top of the scale in terms of where we want to be, but the funding mechanism from state to state and community to community is very different.

And so for a long time, we hesitated, and I'm not saying we, me or what have you, but um we just allow things to weigh out as opposed to having a schedule to keep them up.

And so I think that's what Mr.

Hill has uh communicated to our facilities people that that definitely that was communicated to me when I was chair.

And up to the uh our library buses, what you call those two buses we have to go booking.

Okay, well, those those buses are being replaced because that gives you impression when they come to your neighborhood.

Okay, and you get on them, etc.

etc.

So I just want he he probably won't say this, but uh because I helped to represent you on the uh library board.

I I think we have to ensure that we keep a meth mechanism for keeping a quality kind of appearance to all our branches because it's gonna pay off big time in other ways.

Uh and uh our patrons get accustomed to seeing certain things.

We've added the Ford Bien uh branch and some uh Mindel Brightwood branch and so in the meantime you got other branches that haven't been touched recently and there's a fairness about the whole thing and it all comes back to money.

Uh and so I'm sure we will be uh sharing information with you, encouraging you to make sure that you keep our library system at a quality level because we are a quality community.

I was listening to the convention people and what have you.

Uh and I served on the host committee for the Super Bowl some years ago when I was superintendent of uh IPS, and I know that you get uh a lot of things that you wouldn't normally get if people believe in you and operation and again to what they see.

And so I want to thank you because you were responsive when Mr.

Hill was talking before about finances, but there's no doubt we need additional funding to do the things we want to do to have a first-class library system.

Thank you.

Uh Dr.

White to clarify my remarks, it was a $15 million renovation that's slated for that in 2028.

However, the smaller things you two have discussed, you guys can continue to have that conversation and loot me in if you need to.

I'm gonna take one more question because we are past one hour.

So counselor Dill.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Thank you, Mr.

Hill, for your presentation.

I appreciate it.

Um also want to thank you for your military service and your service with the library.

I guess I guess for the people listening, I just want to verify that they understand the library cards are for all the libraries, not just branch specific.

That is correct for all the libraries.

So I encourage those people that they visit all the libraries and see what we have.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you for your presentation.

Thank you for taking the time to come down here and take our questions, and we'll look forward to seeing you here uh in a few months.

Okay, great.

Thank you.

Thank you for the invitation.

Uh counselor, just a few cleanup things.

Um is it the May meeting is gonna be uh ingo?

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Yes, the May 6th meeting will be at Indigo.

I have been in touch with uh Cameron East Campus.

I'm assuming yes.

It'll be at the May.

Okay, um it will be there May 6th.

Um we actually have been in contact today um to confirm that meeting for the um June meeting.

I have not spoke with the airport as of yet, so that email is coming.

That communication is coming, and it will be relayed to all of you.

Tentatively plan that we will probably meet in June at the airport and just for staff purposes too is we're communicating municipal corporations and canceling the July meeting.

So we will not have a July meeting unless it is actually necessary for one of the municipal corporations.

Um that's to give our staff give counselors everybody a little bit of a summer break.

So all right.

Seeing no more business before us, we are dirty.