Board of Public Health and Safety Meeting Summary - January 7, 2026
Board of Public Health and Safety Meeting Summary - January 7, 2026
The Board of Public Health and Safety convened on January 7, 2026, at 14:45 UTC, presided over by Director Andrew Merkley. The meeting focused on approving lease renewals for police facilities, awarding a training contract through federal grants, and facilitating a tour of the Indiana Task Force facility. Board members unanimously approved all proposed items following brief discussions on cost structures, grant compliance, and administrative rotations.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes from the previous meeting were reviewed and approved without amendment via a motion and second.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No formal public comments or testimony were recorded during this session.
Discussion Items
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IMPD Lease Renewal (Item 010726A): Deputy Chief Kevin Weddington requested approval for a five-year lease renewal for IMPD investigative property at 4150 North Keystone Avenue (mailing address 4134).
- Position Summary: The city administration supports the proposal to consolidate satellite offices into a 27,001 square foot facility. Deputy Chief Weddington noted the rate is $14.50 per square foot, all-inclusive (turnkey), compared to a market rate estimate of $15.70 per square foot provided by the City Real Estate Manager. The Board noted the inclusion of $120,000 in tenant improvements.
- Inquiry: Board members inquired about the fluctuation in square footage. It was clarified that IMPD previously occupied more space due to other county agencies vacating, subsequently reduced their footprint upon renewing in 2022, and is now increasing it by approximately 600 square feet for efficiency.
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FEMA Training Contract (Item 010726B): Grant Manager Dintab Brahman and Program Manager Tom Neal sought contract approval with John Gerdish and Associates for Hazmat training and shipping regulations alignment for 23 individuals.
- Position Summary: The Indiana Task Force supports the expenditure of $23,435 from the 2024 grant funds to ensure compliance with FEMA position descriptions. The speakers confirmed the funds are part of a 36-month cooperative agreement with balances available for training before the 2027 expiration. One board member raised a discrepancy in the draft contract regarding unit pricing for additional students (text vs. numerical values); the presenter acknowledged the contract was a draft pending final legal review and price reconciliation.
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Facility Tour Proposal: Representatives from the Indiana Task Force proposed a guided tour of their facility to improve Board awareness of their quasi-federal operations under the city umbrella.
- Position Summary: The Task Force expressed support for increasing transparency and invited Board members, including the Corporation Council, to schedule a daytime or evening tour. The Board expressed general openness and directed staff to coordinate scheduling options.
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Appointment Updates: Chief Andrew Merkley updated the Board on recent promotions within the police department, elevating Major Seth Farrell to Commander and Lieutenant Nathan Schmidt to an administrative role, noting their potential to lead future hearings.
Key Outcomes
- Adopted Item 010726A: The five-year lease renewal for IMPD at 4150 North Keystone Avenue was unanimously adopted.
- Adopted Item 010726B: The training contract with John Gerdish and Associates for $23,435 was unanimously adopted.
- Referral: Staff (Abby) was directed to send date options for the Indiana Task Force facility tour to the Board members.
- Note on Attendance: The Board noted the absence of corporation council member Ethan (no longer with the city) and acknowledged Rich as the interim replacement until a new appointment is made.
Meeting Transcript
Uh well, good morning. Sorry for my tardiness. Um I will hereby call to order the January 7th meeting of the Board of Public Health and Safety. My name is Andrew Merkley, the director of the Office of Public Health and Safety. Um Abby, can you please call the roll for 10 minutes? All right, Ingram. President Webster. Present. Thank you. Um has everyone had an opportunity to review last month's meeting or minutes? Yes. Any discussion or changes? Hearing none, uh, I will uh entertain a motion to approve the minutes from last meeting. So moved. Second. Motion has been moved and seconded. Uh minutes passed. Uh the first item on our agenda today is item number 010726A. And we'll be hearing from IMPD. Sorry. Good morning. Trying to squeeze into the chair. Now I'm stuck. Uh good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the board. I am Kevin Weddington. I am the deputy chief for IMPD administration. And I am here today to request uh approval to enter into a new slash renewal lease agreement for five years uh for our uh investigative property or investigative location at 4 1 4134 North Keystone Avenue. Um I guess I'm I'm seeing 4150. Um the lease legal term is 4150, but we use 4134 as a mailing address. I just realized that. Uh and this is uh where we will lease uh right at 27,010 square feet. It is a five-year lease uh with an option to renew for additional five-year agreements. So the history of this building is that um for over 20 years, uh Indianapolis Marion County has occupied this space. Uh the youth emergency services, the Marion County Sheriff, the Marion County prosecutor, um, family family advocacy. Uh there have been a number of county agencies who have occupied this building. And when IMPD and Marion County Sheriff merged in 2007, uh, we moved some of our investigative units there. And uh IMPD paid uh a proportionate share of the lease through the Marion County Auditor, so we never had our own lease uh with the police department in 2022. All of the Marion County entities vacated that building, uh leaving us as the remaining tenant. Um so in May of 2021, IMPD CFO Mitchell came before this board uh to request a new lease with uh the then receiver uh bank uh who had taken the building back in receivership from the landlord um and we entered into our first lease agreement in 2022 that was approved by this board. It was publicly vetted uh as the process we're doing right now. Uh all lease agreements have to be uh publicized, uh public hearings, council approval. We went through all of that the last time. So what happened was we signed a new three-year lease in 2022 with options to renew. The landlord, we needed them to do some additional building modifications and tenant improvements for us to for them to agree to do that and roll it into the cost of the rent. They asked for a new five-year lease. And per state statute, you can't renew a lease for a period longer than the initial lease period. So what we did is we renewed in August under board authority of the original contract. We renewed for three years, so we're currently under a lease agreement, but now we're coming before you to start a new five-year to replace that three-year and then continue forward. Uh we've increased our footprint, we decreased our footprint the last lease term.
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