Board of Business and Neighborhood Services Meeting – July 24, 2025
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Board of Business and Neighborhood Services Meeting Summary – July 24, 2025
The Board of Business and Neighborhood Services met on July 24, 2025 at 3:01 PM in Conference Room T-260, City-County Building, Indianapolis. Members present: Abbey Brands (Director), Camille Blunt, Katherin Chi, and Belinda Drake. The meeting lasted approximately 10 minutes and covered approval of prior minutes, certification of two sets of liens, a report on neighborhood cleanups, and deliberation on an appeal of a floodplain permit denial.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes of July 1, 2025: Motion to approve by Belinda Drake, seconded by Abbey Brands. Motion carried unanimously.
- Resolution 2025-C10-019 (High Weeds and Grass Liens): Certification of 223 mowing cases totaling $85,484.00 in unpaid fees 30 days past due as of July 24, 2025. Motion by Camille Blunt, seconded by Katherin Chi. Motion carried.
- Resolution 2025-C10-020 (Trash Liens): Certification of 45 trash violation cases totaling $24,199.54 in unpaid fees 30 days past due as of July 24, 2025. Motion by Camille Blunt, seconded by Katherin Chi. Motion carried.
Reports
- Neighborhood Cleanup Update: Director Abbey Brands reported that two neighborhood cleanups have been completed so far in 2025. The vendor collected 23 tons of trash from these events, compared to 43 tons collected in all of 2024. The vendor pre-collects large items and then collects volunteer-gathered debris. The department is on track for another successful year.
Discussion Items
- Appeal of Floodplain Permit Denial (Permit FLD24-00287): The board discussed an appeal heard at the previous meeting regarding a property requiring floodproofing. Director Brands stated that the appellant’s representative argued that general standards did not apply, so specific standards did not either. Brands clarified that improvements to the site since 1971, regardless of being substantial or not, require compliance with flood ordinance regulations. The unit in question lacked load-bearing walls on either side, making unit-level floodproofing impossible. The floodplain administrator consulted Indiana DNR, which agreed that floodproofing could be applied unit-by-unit as future projects arise. Brands and Belinda Drake both found no showing of exceptional hardship as defined in the ordinance and noted that granting the appeal could lead to increased flood heights, threats to public safety, or other issues listed in Section 565-404(f)(3). Both members voted to uphold the administrator’s decision.
Key Outcomes
- Approved minutes of July 1, 2025.
- Approved Resolution 2025-C10-019, authorizing liens on properties for unpaid high weeds/grass mowing costs.
- Approved Resolution 2025-C10-020, authorizing liens on properties for unpaid trash/junk/debris cleanup costs.
- Uphold the Floodplain Administrator’s decision to deny the appellant’s permit until plans comply with floodproofing standards. The vote was unanimous among the two voting members present (Brands and Drake).
- Next meeting scheduled for August 28, 2025, at 3:00 PM in Conference Room T-260, where the board will review the 2026 budget.
Meeting Transcript
All right. Calling to order the July 24th meeting of the Board of Business Neighborhood Services. My name is Abby Brands. I'm the director. If board members would like to introduce themselves, starting with my right. Camille Blunt. All right, thank you, board members. In front of us, we have our minutes from the July first meeting. I think the attendees of that meeting were me and Belinda. So I think we should have enough. Was that enough to vote? Just yeah, yeah, yeah. We've done that before. Okay. I remember that's come up in the past, so I want to confirm. All right, so you want to take a look at those, and if there's a motion to approve those minutes. Motion. So motion. I will second. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Look at that. Then it's passed. Thank you. All right. Moving on to our two action items. Uh Miss Carly to talk about highweeds and grass and trash liens. All right, so for resolution number 2025, C 10019. Staff recommends this board authorize the director to place liens upon the properties listed in exhibit A for unpaid highweeds and grass. Mowing and abatement costs incurred by the department. Under chapter 575 of the revised code, BNS is responsible for the inspection, abatement, and enforcement of environmental public nuisances. When a property owner does not correct a violation, the city enlists a contractor to mow the property. In the event the city's abatement costs are unpaid, the city shall place a lien upon the property. This highweeds and grass lien certification represents 223 mowing cases with a total amount owed of 85,484 dollars. The cases reflect outstanding fees 30 days past due as of July 24th, 2025. Thank you, Carly. Any questions about the highweeds and grass liens for C 10019? And if not, is there a motion to approve certifying these means? I move that we approve these um liens. All right, is there a second? Second. All right. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. All right, C 1020, trash liens. All right. Uh for C 1020. A staff recommends this board authorized the director to place liens upon the properties listed in exhibit A for unpaid trash jump debris cleanup and abatement costs incurred by the department. Under chapter 361 of the revised code, BNS is responsible for the inspection, abatement, and enforcement of environmental public nuisances. When a property owner does not correct a violation, the city enlist a contractor to abate the nuisance.
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