Council meeting
Vigo County CommissionersAug 12, 2026
- Items on the agenda
- 0
Highlights
- Unverified item. Flagged · Unverified
New high school site remains unpicked while officials discuss the State Road 46 corridor
Outcome: No site has been selected; no landowner has been contacted and no formal search has begun
0:24:59 — open the recording, cued to 24 minutes 59 seconds - Unverified item. Flagged · Unverified
New state law is what lets the county help pay for school buildings
Outcome: Already in effect; no action on the law itself was taken at this meeting.
0:32:39 — open the recording, cued to 32 minutes 39 seconds - Unverified item. Flagged · Unverified
Resident presses commissioners: will my property taxes go up?
Outcome: No blanket guarantee was given; officials said this specific plan does not itself create a new tax
0:50:09 — open the recording, cued to 50 minutes 9 seconds - Unverified item. Flagged · Unverified
Commissioners approve a school-funding commitment of $15 million up front and up to $6 million annually
Outcome: Passed on a voice vote; no roll call was taken.
1:23:55 — open the recording, cued to 1 hour 23 minutes 55 seconds
Documents
- Agenda — opens the document in a new tab
Link only · Scanned PDF; yielded no text after inflating its streams — text not extracted
- Minutes — opens the document in a new tab
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Who spoke
From the recording’s speaker labels — who was heard, not who attended. The archive publishes no attendance roll for this meeting.
- Mike Morrischair (commissioner)Identification is probable
- Chris Switzercommissioner
- Carrie PickensOversight Board memberIdentification is probable
- Matt Larmerresident
- Kristen CraigPresident and CEO, Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce
- Ben Kadicstudent
- Joe Wilsonresident
- Robert Eisenmanresident
- Kathy HeatonPresident, Vigo County Teachers Association
- Marie Thieseducator; former county council member
- Chris HimselSuperintendent, Vigo County School CorporationIdentification is probable
- Kevin GardnerCounty Assessor
- Olive Levinestudent
7 more voices were separated on the recording but could not be named. They are in the transcript below under their speaker labels.
Transcript
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About this transcript
Automatic transcription, not the official record. This is what speech recognition heard at the meeting; it mis-hears names and numbers, and no editor has checked it. The clerk's minutes are the official record. Every line links to the moment in the recording — check anything that matters.
Voices were separated automatically and named from the meeting's speaker roster where the evidence supported it. An unnamed voice shows as Speaker 12 — a machine label, not a person's name.
- Meeting
- Vigo County Commissioners · Aug 12, 2026
- Length
- 1:25:00
- Lines
- 320
- Transcribed by
- mlx-community/whisper-large-v3-turbo
0:00:00 — open the recording at 0 secondsSpeaker 0 Okay, good day. Let's start with the Pledge of Allegiance, please.
0:00:06 — open the recording at 6 secondsSpeaker 1 I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
0:00:24 — open the recording at 24 secondsSpeaker 8 Okay. This is also a regular business meeting of the commissioners of Ego County.
0:00:37 — open the recording at 37 secondsMike Morris (chair (commissioner)) So we will start with acceptance of minutes of the last meeting. Any corrections or additions?
0:00:45 — open the recording at 45 secondsSpeaker 11 Motion to approve minutes from last meeting. Second.
0:00:48 — open the recording at 48 secondsMike Morris (chair (commissioner)) All by aye.
0:00:49 — open the recording at 49 secondsSpeaker 8 Aye. Mr. Auditor, claims.
0:00:53 — open the recording at 53 secondsSpeaker 14 We have a claim docket dated July 31st of 26th through August 6th of 26th in the amount of $945,100.01.
0:01:03 — open the recording at 1 minute 3 secondsSpeaker 15 I would ask for the commissioners to approve that, please. Motion to approve the claim docket.
0:01:10 — open the recording at 1 minute 10 secondsSpeaker 18 Second. Second. All by aye. Aye.
0:01:13 — open the recording at 1 minute 13 secondsMike Morris (chair (commissioner)) Aye.
0:01:14 — open the recording at 1 minute 14 seconds Thank you.
0:01:15 — open the recording at 1 minute 15 secondsMike Morris (chair (commissioner)) Okay. That concludes our regular business, weekly business. we have at this time presentation by the oversight board
0:01:45 — open the recording at 1 minute 45 secondsSpeaker 26 pretty close quarters huh yeah let me get closer
0:01:48 — open the recording at 1 minute 48 secondsSpeaker 28 (Oversight Board lead presenter) You guys must have been booked all morning because we could have spent the whole day together. All right, Clicker Works, Mike Works. I know you guys know you appointed a board of accountants and a financial advisor. We probably should have gotten a public speaker for this part, but I'm going to give it a go here. So bear with me. Good evening, commissioners. Pleasure to be here in front of you after eight months of work.
0:02:18 — open the recording at 2 minutes 18 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) We're excited to be before you today to present our findings and recommendation
0:02:24 — open the recording at 2 minutes 24 secondsSpeaker 28 (Oversight Board lead presenter) on this very important issue. Since October of 2025, when the council
0:02:31 — open the recording at 2 minutes 31 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) approved the Oversight Board, its creation, we've been working through what I believe is one of the most consequential decisions facing Vigo County. We were asked to look at this from the perspective of the county, not simply from the perspective of the school corporation and determine whether there's a financially responsible solution that serves both Vigo County students and Vigo County taxpayers today after months of analysis public meetings financial work community input we're here to give you our recommendation glad
0:03:08 — open the recording at 3 minutes 8 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) to start landing this plane. Why we were created. This board was created to provide an independent review of two things. The Vigo County School Corporation's long-term facilities plan and the county's financial ability to participate in that plan. Our responsibility was quite simple. Determine whether's financially responsible solution that serves both the students and the taxpayers. I want to emphasize the word independent. We're not created simply to accept the school corporation's plan. I think Dr. Hensel and the school
0:03:48 — open the recording at 3 minutes 48 secondsSpeaker 28 (Oversight Board lead presenter) board will agree that we didn't. There were a lot of questions there. We're
0:03:53 — open the recording at 3 minutes 53 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) created to determine whether it was the right plan and whether the county could responsibly participate in it. The process. Over the past several months we took that responsibility seriously. Maybe my family and friends would say too seriously. We reviewed the school corporation's facility studies and financial plans. We evaluated multiple facility scenarios. We examined the county's long-term finances. We consulted with our own independent financial professionals. We considered the community's future needs and we listened
0:04:34 — open the recording at 4 minutes 34 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) to business leaders and community stakeholders. We did not simply review these facilities on paper. We asked questions, we looked closely at the underlying assumptions, and we evaluated the alternatives from multiple
0:04:48 — open the recording at 4 minutes 48 secondsSpeaker 40 perspectives and we conducted our meetings in compliance with Indiana's
0:04:55 — open the recording at 4 minutes 55 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) open-door law this recommendation is the result of months of independent analysis not some predetermined outcome our board has dedicated more than 170 hours to this process I think that number is pretty light what the taxpayers told us throughout this process several themes consistently emerged. Taxpayers told us they want responsible spending. They do not want a property tax increase. They want better accountability. They want better educational opportunities for our students and they want a solution not a referendum. These priorities became the
0:05:36 — open the recording at 5 minutes 36 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) framework we used to evaluate every option that came before us. They were the lens for this recommendation. What we found? Well, what did we find? That the facts are pretty clear. Student enrollment continues to decline. Last 20 years we've lost nearly 4,000 students. We haven't adjusted our building size to accommodate that. Our facilities continue to age. Maintaining 23 aging facilities
0:06:08 — open the recording at 6 minutes 8 secondsSpeaker 42 (Oversight Board lead presenter) is increasingly expensive. I bet even more expensive after the rains yesterday and today. I got some head nods back there. The current funding sources are not
0:06:19 — open the recording at 6 minutes 19 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) keeping pace with our long-term facility needs and delaying these decisions only increase future costs. The important point in this, doing nothing is not a neutral decision. The status quo is no longer financially sustainable. Trying to
0:06:38 — open the recording at 6 minutes 38 secondsSpeaker 44 (Oversight Board lead presenter) get some emotion out of an accountant here trying to find it we knew going
0:06:45 — open the recording at 6 minutes 45 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) into this process that there was not going to be a perfect option so we evaluated every major facility option using the same criteria long-term taxpayer cost educational outcomes student opportunities building quality transportation operational efficiency and long-term maintenance our goal was not simply to build something new not something shiny not the Taj Mahal our goal is to identify the option that delivers the greatest long-term value for Vigo County taxpayers enrollment has changed before we look at the options I want to emphasize one of the most important facts underlying all of them
0:07:28 — open the recording at 7 minutes 28 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) all all of them enrollment has changed we're building for tomorrow's enrollment not yesterday's. This is not unique to Vigo County. Communities across Indiana are dealing with long-term demographic changes and are being forced to reconsider how much facility infrastructure they can responsibly maintain. We heard earlier there are dozens of referendums on the ballot this fall. We don't want Vigo County to be one of them. That means consolidation is part of the conversation. It also means we have to be very deliberate
0:08:02 — open the recording at 8 minutes 2 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) about right sizing what we build for the students we actually expect to serve to borrow the mayor's time machine a little then and now this is I think we're the discussion about the size of a proposed Eastside high school needs some context people have understandably asked whether this is a maggot school the answer is no not even in the context of Vigo County 1972 Terre Haute North alone at 725 graduates. Our forecast for the combined North and South graduating class in 2030, if we're so lucky to move forward with it, is approximately 600
0:08:39 — open the recording at 8 minutes 39 secondsSpeaker 28 (Oversight Board lead presenter) graduates. Was it a mega school back then? No. I'm not even sure it's a 6A school
0:08:46 — open the recording at 8 minutes 46 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) if we build it. It's on the border. The students already exist. We're not creating thousands of new students. We're bringing the existing East of River students together in one modern facility while preserving West Vega. This is where the trade-offs become clear. There's not one option that wins on every measure. Some options produce greater financial savings, some retain more facilities, some create different transportation challenges, some create different educational opportunities. Our responsibility was to look at all of those factors together, not to pick the option with
0:09:32 — open the recording at 9 minutes 32 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) the biggest number on one spreadsheet. I would have loved for this to be a spreadsheet decision. Probably wouldn't be as nervous up here. That process ultimately narrowed the field for us. It brings us to option six, specifically option 6.2, which we've incorporated into these numbers. This is where independent review becomes particularly important. 6 provides a two high school system it preserves West Vigo creates a new high school east of the river and produces meaningful consolidation elsewhere in the district but we did not simply take the school corporation's preferred
0:10:11 — open the recording at 10 minutes 11 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) version of option 6 and endorse it through our independent review we identified changes that we believe produce additional savings and improve the overall solution option 6 was not selected because of school corporations preferred option. We selected it because after independently evaluating the alternatives, we believe it provides the best balance of cost, educational opportunity, transportation, addressing geography,
0:10:40 — open the recording at 10 minutes 40 secondsSpeaker 51 and long-term sustainability.
0:10:49 — open the recording at 10 minutes 49 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) After extensive review, the Oversight Board believes the strongest long-term solution is to build a new Eastside High School and fully renovate West Vigo. Why? Because it preserves West Vigo, but it modernizes educational opportunities. It reduces long term operating costs. It creates a more sustainable footprint and better positions Vigo County for future growth. It addresses our reality, but prepares us for the future. I want to be clear. This was not simply a financial decision. There were options that produced greater but nominal savings.
0:11:26 — open the recording at 11 minutes 26 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) But when we considered the full picture, including transportation, education opportunity, the geography and the future West Vigo, we do believe this is the strongest long-term solution. Compared with the other alternatives, this recommendation provides lower long-term operating costs, significant maintenance savings, modern learning environments, expanded academic opportunities, improved extracurricular opportunities, and better long-term financial sustainability. This is not about building something new simply because new sounds better.
0:12:08 — open the recording at 12 minutes 8 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) It is about making a significant investment once rather than asking taxpayers to maintain outdated infrastructure indefinitely.
0:12:17 — open the recording at 12 minutes 17 secondsSpeaker 42 (Oversight Board lead presenter) been doing that for far too long. This isn't bigger, it's smarter. This is not
0:12:28 — open the recording at 12 minutes 28 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) more buildings, it is not more maintenance, it is not duplicate administration, it is modern classrooms, it is career pathways, it is more AP opportunities, it's better athletic facilities, it's better security, and it's sure a heck of a lot better technology. Those things matter today. They matter because we're competing for students and families. They matter because we're competing for workforce and they matter because we need to give our students
0:12:54 — open the recording at 12 minutes 54 secondsSpeaker 51 reasons to stay here and give families reasons to want to move here.
0:13:03 — open the recording at 13 minutes 3 secondsSpeaker 56 Can we afford it? This is one of the most important questions we had to answer. That was our first time seeing the official numbers from Tim Berry a couple hours ago. I think it's a resounding yes, we can.
0:13:17 — open the recording at 13 minutes 17 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) We can come alongside the school corporation in this. After reviewing county finances with independent financial advisors, we found that county cash balances are extremely healthy. Existing obligations, very manageable.
0:13:31 — open the recording at 13 minutes 31 secondsSpeaker 42 (Oversight Board lead presenter) The jail lit remains untouched. You have the flexibility to address that when you need to address it. That conversation can organically happen. The county's existing financial capacity allows for meaningful participation in this plan. Most importantly, I originally said we believe, now I know there's a path forward without increasing any taxes, not just property taxes, any of them.
0:14:03 — open the recording at 14 minutes 3 secondsSpeaker 56 And that was our North Star throughout this entire process.
0:14:07 — open the recording at 14 minutes 7 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) but the county cannot and do not do this alone this is a community partnership
0:14:17 — open the recording at 14 minutes 17 secondsSpeaker 56 potential funding includes Vigo County Vigo County School Corporation we received the
0:14:26 — open the recording at 14 minutes 26 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) commitment from the casino foundation I think the mayor knows maybe his council doesn't potential City participation we're gonna go to them too everybody needs to be in this no single organization can accomplish this by itself I don't believe that they should it's a group effort together however these partners can accomplish something that none of them could do alone this is truly a community investment the buzzword accountability we recognize that the taxpayers are
0:15:01 — open the recording at 15 minutes 1 secondSpeaker 44 (Oversight Board lead presenter) skeptical sure I'm getting blasted on social media right now as I stand here I'll handle them later frankly they should expect accountability but let's
0:15:12 — open the recording at 15 minutes 12 secondsSpeaker 65 be honest in what it is you guys know I'm gonna be on Facebook later but that's
0:15:22 — open the recording at 15 minutes 22 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) why this recommendation includes independent oversight public reporting annual financial updates maintenance commitments and ongoing transparency we've made that clear we have that commitment from the school corporation
0:15:34 — open the recording at 15 minutes 34 secondsSpeaker 35 they know they know the expectation I didn't know that the oversight board
0:15:40 — open the recording at 15 minutes 40 secondsSpeaker 42 (Oversight Board lead presenter) exists after the county can commits funding may not have volunteered yeah
0:15:47 — open the recording at 15 minutes 47 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) we don't believe the taxpayers should simply have to take anyone's word for it there needs to be a structure that allows for the public in the county to see how the project is progressing how funds are being used and how these facilities will be maintained before a dime goes into this project we expect a long-term maintenance strategy it's not enough to build it we got to demonstrate that we're going to take care of it and why does this matter beyond schools this recommendation is about far more than buildings. Quality schools influence
0:16:25 — open the recording at 16 minutes 25 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) workforce attraction. They influence business investment. I can't believe that people don't understand that, but it does. They influence property values. They influence where young families choose to live. They influence the competitiveness of the entire community. Throughout this process, business leaders repeatedly told us that continued inaction places Vigo County at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to attracting and retaining workforce don't plan on
0:16:57 — open the recording at 16 minutes 57 secondsSpeaker 44 (Oversight Board lead presenter) trotting them out in front of you I think you guys get it we'll save that
0:17:01 — open the recording at 17 minutes 1 secondSpeaker 42 (Oversight Board lead presenter) for next month the schools are community infrastructure the schools are not on their own they are community infrastructure oh the cost of doing
0:17:15 — open the recording at 17 minutes 15 secondsSpeaker 56 nothing. I think oftentimes this is overlooked. There's obviously a cost to
0:17:21 — open the recording at 17 minutes 21 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) doing nothing. Without a long-term solution, West Vigo's future remains uncertain. It is what it is. Maintenance costs continue increasing. Aging facilities continue deteriorating. Student opportunities remain limited. Families continue looking elsewhere and employers continue to face workforce challenges.
0:17:43 — open the recording at 17 minutes 43 secondsSpeaker 42 (Oversight Board lead presenter) you guys know it the question is not simply what does this plan cost it is also what does it cost us not to act
0:17:58 — open the recording at 17 minutes 58 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) pretty optimistic so let's talk about what success looks like imagine Vigo County five years from now modern learning environments well West Vigo preserved expanded expanded STEM opportunities better extra better extracurricular opportunities lower long-term maintenance costs a stronger
0:18:20 — open the recording at 18 minutes 20 secondsSpeaker 51 workforce pipeline greater community competitiveness and no increase in
0:18:27 — open the recording at 18 minutes 27 secondsSpeaker 71 property taxes that's what success looks like it's not simply a facilities
0:18:33 — open the recording at 18 minutes 33 secondsSpeaker 42 (Oversight Board lead presenter) project it is an investment in our county's future so this brings us to
0:18:42 — open the recording at 18 minutes 42 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) the board's final recommendation after months of independent review public meetings financial analysis community input the oversight board believes Vigo
0:18:54 — open the recording at 18 minutes 54 secondsSpeaker 44 (Oversight Board lead presenter) County has an opportunity to accomplish something many communities simply cannot we can modernize our schools we can preserve West Vigo we can strengthen our
0:19:05 — open the recording at 19 minutes 5 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) workforce we can protect our taxpayers and we can do it without increasing
0:19:11 — open the recording at 19 minutes 11 secondsSpeaker 79 taxes we respectfully recommend moving this funding partnership forward
0:19:24 — open the recording at 19 minutes 24 secondsSpeaker 40 this is how we believe the community can accomplish it I'm not done yet Mike give me sir we're close landing gears down Vigo County who contributes six
0:19:34 — open the recording at 19 minutes 34 secondsSpeaker 51 million per year to match the 20-year bond term I don't know if it's clear in
0:19:39 — open the recording at 19 minutes 39 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) last meeting the county's not holding this bond the school corporation is going to they should the city of Terre Haute he's got his head down we're gonna asked them to contribute two million per year for 20 years subject to council approval the school corporation would accept the full gift of the casino foundation it's almost a hundred million dollars
0:20:08 — open the recording at 20 minutes 8 secondsSpeaker 42 (Oversight Board lead presenter) that's awesome it's a true public-private partnership
0:20:20 — open the recording at 20 minutes 20 secondsSpeaker 40 got ahead of myself based on these contributions and current bonding rates There's a recognized additional funding need of approximately 62 million
0:20:29 — open the recording at 20 minutes 29 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) We told you from the get-go we weren't going to force this on the county We weren't going to force it on anyone. I think we've come forward with a very responsible ask We know it doesn't cover the full school We our recommendations that the school corporation use their existing bonding capacity to address that remaining need
0:20:47 — open the recording at 20 minutes 47 secondsSpeaker 90 It'll be available. They can do it
0:20:49 — open the recording at 20 minutes 49 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) that allows us to move forward while protecting Vigo County taxpayers from a property tax increase we've shied away from that we haven't shied away from it it was a non-starter so I'll leave you with this the question is not whether we can afford to invest in our future I think we've made that pretty clear this afternoon the question is whether we can afford not to the decision we make today will not simply affect the next five years it's gonna affect Bego County for 10 20 30 50 years our schools will hit 60 here pretty soon it's an opportunity to use the resources we have today to build a
0:21:32 — open the recording at 21 minutes 32 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) stronger position for generations that follow us on behalf of the oversight board we respect what respectfully recommend moving this partnership
0:21:43 — open the recording at 21 minutes 43 secondsSpeaker 79 forward. Let's build the next generation of Vigo County together.
0:21:49 — open the recording at 21 minutes 49 secondsSpeaker 42 (Oversight Board lead presenter) Thank you. I'm here for questions. I expect them. We have Tim Berry available. Whoever. Address them.
0:21:57 — open the recording at 21 minutes 57 secondsSpeaker 91 Ask whoever.
0:21:59 — open the recording at 21 minutes 59 secondsChris Switzer (commissioner) No, I'm trying to figure out if, before we ask questions, if we want to have public comment and move that up about this recommendation.
0:22:09 — open the recording at 22 minutes 9 secondsSpeaker 95 or go ahead and ask our questions now, or how you'd like to proceed forward.
0:22:16 — open the recording at 22 minutes 16 secondsSpeaker 97 Do we need a motion?
0:22:17 — open the recording at 22 minutes 17 secondsSpeaker 99 (commissioner) I don't think we need a motion yet. My opinion would be to ask our questions now and then let public comment. Would you guys be OK with that? Yeah.
0:22:28 — open the recording at 22 minutes 28 secondsSpeaker 103 I tried to anticipate some, so hopefully I'm ready.
0:22:32 — open the recording at 22 minutes 32 secondsSpeaker 102 Anyone to ask some questions?
0:22:34 — open the recording at 22 minutes 34 secondsSpeaker 103 Yeah.
0:22:34 — open the recording at 22 minutes 34 secondsSpeaker 99 (commissioner) OK. You want me to kick this off? Go ahead. All right.
0:22:38 — open the recording at 22 minutes 38 secondsSpeaker 106 Well, first, on behalf of the commissioners and the community, thank you guys.
0:22:45 — open the recording at 22 minutes 45 secondsSpeaker 109 (commissioner) I can't imagine. I wrote down 170 hours. Well, there's no way. I know that's... I think we've talked for 170, Mark. Well, yeah, we have. But you've done everything that we've asked and more. And this is a big moment for our community. And just wanted to thank you for what you've done. I don't know if you guys realize what you were signing up for. I don't know that you realize you'd be up at midnight arguing with people on Facebook. I did know that one. I appreciate your comments there and everything. But, yeah, I appreciate all that you've done. I do have some questions.
0:23:27 — open the recording at 23 minutes 27 secondsSpeaker 109 (commissioner) I'll start it off here.
0:23:30 — open the recording at 23 minutes 30 secondsSpeaker 99 (commissioner) We don't know the location of the new high school yet, correct?
0:23:34 — open the recording at 23 minutes 34 secondsSpeaker 28 (Oversight Board lead presenter) No. I think the school corporation's been very good and intentional at not putting the cart before the horse I think we need to understand that we have a project first I will say there's several locations currently identified preliminary due diligence do they fit a high school that sort of thing that's being done. I do know priority is being given to the repurpose of any city, county, or school corporation-owned property that fits the criteria. There's multiple privately owned parcels of land that have been identified. And I'll speak, I didn't run this by the board, so it's my personal belief,
0:24:25 — open the recording at 24 minutes 25 secondsSpeaker 28 (Oversight Board lead presenter) high schools are the flagship of your corporation. the complete opposite of what we have now the high schools drag our
0:24:34 — open the recording at 24 minutes 34 secondsSpeaker 33 (Oversight Board lead presenter) corporations image down so we're gonna make this in the community effort build
0:24:41 — open the recording at 24 minutes 41 secondsSpeaker 28 (Oversight Board lead presenter) an East High School I think it needs to be highly visible we're gonna be proud of it if we can do it we should be but we need it to be in an area that accelerates economic development for those reasons my personal opinion would
0:24:59 — open the recording at 24 minutes 59 secondsSpeaker 44 (Oversight Board lead presenter) be it's got to be on the State Road 46 corridor between 40 and 641 bypass you
0:25:05 — open the recording at 25 minutes 5 secondsSpeaker 113 already have it's already the fastest growing side of our community you already have the major thoroughfares for transportation but obviously we're
0:25:14 — open the recording at 25 minutes 14 secondsSpeaker 44 (Oversight Board lead presenter) conscious of the optics and the politics of it there there genuinely have been no commitments made no one's been hired to go find land
0:25:26 — open the recording at 25 minutes 26 secondsSpeaker 114 That's about all I can say about it, Mark.
0:25:30 — open the recording at 25 minutes 30 secondsSpeaker 109 (commissioner) That's fine. I don't know if you can answer this question, but so how many acres would we be looking at for an Eastside high school? Because there's been talk, and also transportation. Have we looked at transportation, and maybe you need to defer this to the school corporation? But those are questions that have come up. Why couldn't we use, let's say, Meadows School Elementary, that property? but also the transportation of people in the outer line parts of the community.
0:26:01 — open the recording at 26 minutes 1 secondSpeaker 28 (Oversight Board lead presenter) Well, you mentioned Meadows. It's one of the locations identified between Meadows and Memorial Stadium, kind of split campus there. I'll ask Carrie to speak to transportation in a second here. But I do want to go on record. There's money within the estimated cost of the project to purchase land and make sure it has utilities.
0:26:22 — open the recording at 26 minutes 22 secondsSpeaker 42 (Oversight Board lead presenter) And I believe that number in there is more than sufficient.
0:26:25 — open the recording at 26 minutes 25 secondsSpeaker 28 (Oversight Board lead presenter) So we have that covered. And just so you guys are aware, you probably know, it may be the same for county, they can only pay the maximum of the average of two appraisals. I would guess that's going to be less than market value. Yeah, absolutely it is. And so it's going to take probably a little while to find that site, especially if we want it out in a highly visible, high-traffic area.
0:26:52 — open the recording at 26 minutes 52 secondsSpeaker 42 (Oversight Board lead presenter) It's going to take somebody willing to sell for less than market value. Carrie, do you want to touch on transportation?
0:27:01 — open the recording at 27 minutes 1 secondSpeaker 123 Sure. Hi. Thank you.
0:27:05 — open the recording at 27 minutes 5 secondsCarrie Pickens (Oversight Board member) So I will touch also on the size that we would need for a new high school. I believe it's between 100 and 120 acres, depending on access to utilities or the size of athletic fields needed, that thing. But in terms of your transportation question, that's a fair question, and transportation is something not only the Oversight Board considered, but also the school board. And I don't think an east side location automatically means longer bus rides for our students. If we're talking about the east side, hypothetically, along the 46 corridor, we're looking at a major
0:27:39 — open the recording at 27 minutes 39 secondsCarrie Pickens (Oversight Board member) four-lane road that can provide fairly efficient access from different parts of our county, especially with 641. And a rough estimate, you know, our students might be on the bus anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. Those aren't actual route estimates. Our transportation department would have to design that, and that's something that we currently, without a location, picked. We have not put the money and the time into that. Our transportation department is already pretty busy, so we'll get to that once we have a site picked. But these were just estimates to give us some perspective.
0:28:15 — open the recording at 28 minutes 15 secondsCarrie Pickens (Oversight Board member) And some students will have to travel farther with a consolidated high school, no matter which location is picked. That's kind of unavoidable. The question is whether or not we can safely and efficiently transport students across Vigo County. And I believe an east side of the high school gives us, along with the 46 corridor, does give us a very reasonable opportunity to do that.
0:28:38 — open the recording at 28 minutes 38 secondsSpeaker 126 Mr. Thanks.
0:28:45 — open the recording at 28 minutes 45 secondsChris Switzer (commissioner) Mark, it may be a sentiment more than a question. Obviously, I've been a county commissioner for six years. I represent the town of West Terre Haute. I think I can confidently say that we want West Vigo High School to remain West Vigo High School. The love, the passion, what that has done for our community is great. I think it's not great to hear somebody say that those kids aren't getting the same things that the kids on the east side will be getting from a new school. The most significant project in West Harrow history is West Vico High School.
0:29:32 — open the recording at 29 minutes 32 secondsChris Switzer (commissioner) And here we are finding ourselves investing $75 million in West Vico High School, which is again the most significant project in West Terhote history. So if perhaps we don't move forward or the County Council doesn't move forward and maybe this is a question for Dr. Hemswell I don't know. I don't want to set it up as West Vigo or West Terhote is in jeopardy but obviously we heard from you folks earlier that if something doesn't happen it ultimately makes sense for the biggest cost saving plans for the school corporation is just to have one high school. which I can confidently tell you,
0:30:07 — open the recording at 30 minutes 7 secondsChris Switzer (commissioner) West or Hope folks don't want that. So can you kind of explain to me, or maybe Dr. Hemsle, on what that might look like, the next steps, if we don't approve this funding?
0:30:19 — open the recording at 30 minutes 19 secondsSpeaker 95 Sure.
0:30:20 — open the recording at 30 minutes 20 secondsSpeaker 137 Yeah, I mean, I'll speak from an oversight board perspective.
0:30:24 — open the recording at 30 minutes 24 secondsSpeaker 44 (Oversight Board lead presenter) And then I don't know if Carrie or Dr. Hemsle want to answer that from a school board
0:30:28 — open the recording at 30 minutes 28 secondsSpeaker 28 (Oversight Board lead presenter) trustees or school corporation. I agree with the sentiment, Chris. I think I'd been in West Vigo High School one time prior to touring it. Thanks for coming. I appreciate it. You feel the difference. The passion for that school, we could feel that. The principal over there, he's awesome. And so I don't know. I guess I would say from my perspective, I think the opportunity to partner with the Casino Foundation, their commitments tied to an Eastside High School school corporation to have the bonding capacity to partner with them and do it. From an oversight board, that would be my recommendation
0:31:14 — open the recording at 31 minutes 14 secondsSpeaker 44 (Oversight Board lead presenter) if the county doesn't contribute. But I'll defer to the school board and school corporation if they have a different answer.
0:31:20 — open the recording at 31 minutes 20 secondsChris Switzer (commissioner) I mean, I know we've heard perhaps what could happen. I don't know if that needs to be repeated again. But I just want to make sure that people know that what we decide to do right now has severe consequences for the future of West Terre Haute. And whether you're an elected official or not, or just a parent, I'm a parent of an eighth grader and fourth grader over there. My eighth grader's probably not going to see much change, you know, as things get done, but my fourth grader might, perhaps. But I want him to have, selfishly, that pride that,
0:31:52 — open the recording at 31 minutes 52 secondsChris Switzer (commissioner) you know, the West Terre Haute community has for their high school over there. And I know folks from North and Terre Haute South do too, But the opportunity for new technology in both schools, new athletic facilities, expanded spaces,
0:32:10 — open the recording at 32 minutes 10 secondsSpeaker 95 I think the school corporation has done a great job of including all students. And you guys have too in your recommendation.
0:32:17 — open the recording at 32 minutes 17 secondsSpeaker 28 (Oversight Board lead presenter) Yeah, I know we call it kind of group one, group two. The plan would be that the county comes alongside in this partnership to do both at the same time. So it's not putting one before the other. We've been talking about equal opportunities,
0:32:31 — open the recording at 32 minutes 31 secondsSpeaker 44 (Oversight Board lead presenter) no matter which high school you go to.
0:32:34 — open the recording at 32 minutes 34 secondsSpeaker 145 And that's the plan.
0:32:39 — open the recording at 32 minutes 39 secondsMike Morris (chair (commissioner)) I don't really have any questions, but I want to make it clear that commissioners have been, for over two years, felt that the Beagle County government could be a participant in moving the Beagle County School Corporation ahead and improving their facilities. The manner or the look of those facilities has certainly been discussed and recused and what have you. New law was passed especially to accomplish this through the state legislature. Understand, though, that the commissioners are not building the schools and that the school corporation is responsible for that.
0:33:22 — open the recording at 33 minutes 22 secondsMike Morris (chair (commissioner)) Obviously, in your research and with the oversight committee, And maybe the legislature saw a little something there that commissioners didn't when we wanted to get this law passed to delve into all these details in a way that we couldn't do that. And we appreciate your efforts for that. I know there's many hours of that. So that's what I said.
0:33:52 — open the recording at 33 minutes 52 secondsChris Switzer (commissioner) If I could ask one more question, Mike. Jimmy, I'm going to put you on the spot. I had the opportunity to work with Jim Bramble for five years, six years as county auditor. Formerly, I was on the county council. And then for all of you that don't know, I ran for school board once. I got my butt kicked. You've obviously been involved in county politics for a long time.
0:34:17 — open the recording at 34 minutes 17 secondsSpeaker 95 You know our financial resources probably better than most people. You did make the motion this evening to move this forward. Do you have the confidence that we can make this happen?
0:34:33 — open the recording at 34 minutes 33 secondsSpeaker 152 I wouldn't have made the motion if I didn't.
0:34:37 — open the recording at 34 minutes 37 secondsMike Morris (chair (commissioner)) And to that effect, we have our financial consultant from Bose here. Baker Tilly. Baker Tilly. Pardon me. And if there are any questions about where the money's at or whatever.
0:34:52 — open the recording at 34 minutes 52 secondsSpeaker 95 Well, Commissioner Morris, if we could, if we're done with questions, I'd like to open the floor for public comment. But first, start with Mayor Sackbun. He sent me a text shortly and asked if he could speak.
0:35:04 — open the recording at 35 minutes 4 secondsSpeaker 160 Okay. One more quick question. Okay.
0:35:08 — open the recording at 35 minutes 8 secondsSpeaker 109 (commissioner) That I think this – and just kind of backing up what Chris said, but I'm going to be a little more blunt. What if Vigo County government cannot partner with a school corporation? What happens in your estimation?
0:35:21 — open the recording at 35 minutes 21 secondsSpeaker 28 (Oversight Board lead presenter) Well, I would, in my estimation, if the county wants to have any say in what happens, you have to contribute. You have to participate. Our group goes away. The oversight goes away. The accountability partner goes away if we don't allocate any funds. So you're leaving it up to the school corporation.
0:35:44 — open the recording at 35 minutes 44 secondsSpeaker 162 With limited funds?
0:35:46 — open the recording at 35 minutes 46 secondsSpeaker 42 (Oversight Board lead presenter) Not nearly enough funds. Correct.
0:35:48 — open the recording at 35 minutes 48 secondsSpeaker 163 Yeah.
0:35:48 — open the recording at 35 minutes 48 secondsSpeaker 97 Thank you.
0:35:49 — open the recording at 35 minutes 49 secondsSpeaker 164 And the only options of referendum? increase property taxes
0:36:01 — open the recording at 36 minutes 1 secondSpeaker 169 this okay yeah good evening Commissioner Morrison members of the Vigo County Commissioners my name is Brandon Sackman I have the pleasure of serving
0:36:11 — open the recording at 36 minutes 11 secondsSpeaker 170 (mayor) as mayor of Terre Haute Indiana and what I will say I'm gonna borrow your clicker here mark as we look at this city's commitment what I would ask is that we scratch from casino revenue city of Terre Haute but leave the number itself and as I explained that you know earlier to with a conversation with some council members city residents do pay county tax so if we were to leave it the way that it was written you could make the argument that a city resident would be paying you know double taxes but I would still leave that two million there
0:36:44 — open the recording at 36 minutes 44 secondsSpeaker 170 (mayor) because there are three TIF districts around the east side and so if you put a school on the east side you can argue that one of at least one if not three of those tests would directly benefit from a school many folks who argue against TIFs say they do not help schools and there is a fair point that argument I want to make that clear and for decades cities and counties would use what's called tax increment financing to help with economic development projects that would come at the expense of school corporations.
0:37:20 — open the recording at 37 minutes 20 secondsSpeaker 170 (mayor) So allow me to pause there because I know there's going to be some questions generally from the audience and those watching online. What is a TIF? So everyone look at Commissioner Klinkenbeard's water bottle. Now imagine that that water bottle is empty. A TIF district basically is a geographical boundary, so we draw a circle on a map. And the water inside that bottle is the taxes that go into this boundary. Those dollars must stay within that boundary or go to projects that benefit the growth of the boundary that we've drawn.
0:37:53 — open the recording at 37 minutes 53 secondsSpeaker 170 (mayor) So by positioning a school out east, there is a conversation with the city and county council and oversight committee and school corporation that will allow a business, for example, a casino with a net assessed value of over $200 million to single handedly fund the city's contribution over 20 years and ensure that additional city residents or city programs are not put at an expense. that we financially believe we could get done to a certain extent. And so that's what I wanted to come up here and kind of explain.
0:38:31 — open the recording at 38 minutes 31 secondsSpeaker 170 (mayor) So I don't think it's, you know, let's not dive into the detail of where, you know, what that line is coming from. But I am happy that you put that the city is interested in helping. There is still some analysis that I will have to do on the city's end. I'll continue to work with both our financial advisors, the commissioners, and anyone from the county or city council or frankly general public to show them the math of how we could get to that number thank you pending any questions
0:39:07 — open the recording at 39 minutes 7 secondsSpeaker 147 so any other comments or questions of us I think again we're not commissioners
0:39:15 — open the recording at 39 minutes 15 secondsMike Morris (chair (commissioner)) aren't building schools but we want to be a partnership in the funding of that
0:39:21 — open the recording at 39 minutes 21 secondsMatt Larmer (resident) sure yes thank you Matt Larmer 363 Westcatsinger Drive I don't know if we need to say our addresses for this I just want to personally state up front that I was supportive of this plan I came and spoke at South Vigo High School But I am a little frustrated by the way that it was presented to treat the people that are, you know, in opposition as though their opposition is a joke. I think is a wrong, is a very wrong way to build support for this if we want long-term success. even though I am supportive of the plan, I have tremendous sympathy for the people who are opposed to it.
0:40:19 — open the recording at 40 minutes 19 secondsMatt Larmer (resident) I fully understand why they are opposed, why they are so adamantly opposed. They see the potential for, I won't go I won't go into all the details. But I think moving forward, it's very important that as a community, we look at those people who we maybe strongly disagree with and try to understand fully why they feel that way. We may feel like they are being manipulated by private interests for their opinions. But we have to recognize that they view those who are supporting this as being manipulated by private interests as well. So I think it's important for all of us as a community
0:41:16 — open the recording at 41 minutes 16 secondsMatt Larmer (resident) to understand that people have mixed motivations for what they're doing, not to demonize people that disagree with us. And because this is such a big project that is going to be affect the entire community, I think it's extremely important that we talk about it with the utmost solemnity because it is people on both sides of the issue are so passionate about it. And I believe that there are people who are opposed to it that are not opposed to it just because they're being manipulated but they're opposed to it for a lot of very legitimate reasons. And so I think it's important moving forward
0:42:05 — open the recording at 42 minutes 5 secondsMatt Larmer (resident) that we treat them with respect. So thank you.
0:42:13 — open the recording at 42 minutes 13 secondsSpeaker 179 Thank you. And any other comment?
0:42:20 — open the recording at 42 minutes 20 secondsKristen Craig (President and CEO, Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce) Hello, Kristen Craig, President and CEO of Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce. I just want to take this opportunity to thank every member of the Oversight Board for all the work that they have done. I think they didn't quite know what they were getting themselves into, but they have approached this with diligence and just thoughtfulness that has absolutely above reproach. So I thank them for all of that. I wanna thank you all as commissioners as well for being a big part of this process and really listening and understanding the needs. And I wanna highlight something
0:42:51 — open the recording at 42 minutes 51 secondsKristen Craig (President and CEO, Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce) that actually Mr. Jim Bramble said earlier in the oversight board meeting. He's looking at me like, what did I say? You know, Jim said that when he got into this, paraphrase a little bit here, you didn't understand the importance that K-12 education has on businesses when they're making decisions whether or not to locate here, whether to stay here, whether to expand here. And through this process, you have understood that that is absolutely the case. It is a big part of that decision-making process. And that is why the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce has become involved in this issue.
0:43:24 — open the recording at 43 minutes 24 secondsKristen Craig (President and CEO, Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce) Sometimes it's not always fun to be involved in local issues when you're a chamber but this is of utmost importance and our board of 30 some odd business leaders in this community have voted unanimously time and time and time again to continue to support this issue and continue to move it forward. So thank you for hearing that all of the ideas this evening. Thank you for being open to this
0:43:45 — open the recording at 43 minutes 45 secondsSpeaker 183 process and looking forward to the future.
0:43:54 — open the recording at 43 minutes 54 secondsSpeaker 188 Yeah, can you come on in? Or somebody outside that wanted to come in and speak?
0:44:01 — open the recording at 44 minutes 1 secondSpeaker 189 Oh.
0:44:02 — open the recording at 44 minutes 2 secondsBen Kadic (student) Hi, I'm Ben Kadic. As students, first of all, we want to thank everybody, the school corporation and everybody here. Thank you, Mark, of course, for giving us the opportunities and all the information about and how much we've learned from these experiences. They've taught us how to advocate our voices, taught us how to be leaders, most importantly, and also has taught us how to keep going through adversity when that comes our way. I just truly want to express how important this has been to us and it will be very important to the future generations.
0:44:42 — open the recording at 44 minutes 42 secondsBen Kadic (student) And I believe as a community we can take this on and conquer it and make Terre Haute better. Thank you guys again.
0:44:50 — open the recording at 44 minutes 50 secondsSpeaker 99 (commissioner) Mike, Commissioner Morris, I believe there's somebody outside that wants to come in and speak. Yeah. And I want to take this moment.
0:45:00 — open the recording at 45 minutesSpeaker 199 We don't normally go back and forth in public comment, but I want to thank the Beagle County students for change. You guys are making a difference. Keep it up.
0:45:08 — open the recording at 45 minutes 8 secondsSpeaker 201 You need to bring somebody in? Yeah.
0:45:14 — open the recording at 45 minutes 14 secondsSpeaker 205 I don't know. we got come on I know please
0:45:30 — open the recording at 45 minutes 30 secondsJoe Wilson (resident) my name is Joe Wilson lived here all my life just a couple questions what's the projected size of the new school would be is it going to be big enough to accommodate this future growth that we're hoping for mark you want to turn
0:45:46 — open the recording at 45 minutes 46 secondsSpeaker 213 your microphone on and address that?
0:45:50 — open the recording at 45 minutes 50 secondsSpeaker 28 (Oversight Board lead presenter) Yeah, so the current projections show that the size of that school will be about 2,700 students when it opens. It's built to handle about 20% more than that. And then it's also designed to be able to add on to it.
0:46:05 — open the recording at 46 minutes 5 secondsSpeaker 47 The educational, the classrooms are in an area that they can be added on to.
0:46:09 — open the recording at 46 minutes 9 secondsJoe Wilson (resident) If we get to Provide Grown?
0:46:11 — open the recording at 46 minutes 11 secondsSpeaker 47 Yes.
0:46:11 — open the recording at 46 minutes 11 secondsJoe Wilson (resident) Okay, the other question would be is, if we do this,
0:46:15 — open the recording at 46 minutes 15 secondsSpeaker 215 I mean I keep hearing that the community is going to grow so how much how much do we believe the community is going to grow the community
0:46:29 — open the recording at 46 minutes 29 secondsSpeaker 225 I mean do we have examples of other communities in Indiana absolutely I
0:46:36 — open the recording at 46 minutes 36 secondsKristen Craig (President and CEO, Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce) think whatever we're talking about economic development and growth we can provide a litany of examples of businesses that are looking at yeah Absolutely.
0:46:45 — open the recording at 46 minutes 45 secondsSpeaker 232 He's saying about 20 percent. Do you think it's going to be that?
0:46:48 — open the recording at 46 minutes 48 secondsSpeaker 235 So when you actually analyze the tax data, 80 percent of population growth in the state of Indiana is in 10 or less counties. Those 10 counties have all passed multiple property tax referendums to support public education over the last 20 years. What we are seeing is I'll use the Donut County, Avon and Brownsburg as three specific examples. What we're seeing is, in communities like that, when you look at how they invest in public education, they continue to get younger families.
0:47:22 — open the recording at 47 minutes 22 secondsSpeaker 170 (mayor) So now when we analyze the city of Terre Haute's demographics, yes, our population is going up, and we're excited for that. We're about to hit 60,000 again. And we used to be 72,000. The harsh reality is Americans and Hoosiers are having less kids than they were in the 1990s and 2000s. Part of that is the rising cost of childcare, housing, wage growth that doesn't keep on pace with inflation, and a number of those concerns, frankly, no one in this room is going to be able to directly address because they're not in Congress or the Senate. But to be very direct, even with the increased
0:47:56 — open the recording at 47 minutes 56 secondsSpeaker 170 (mayor) population growth that we are seeing in the city of Terre Haute, our demographic, our median age isn't coming down as much as it should. We're getting more workers who are a little bit older. We're getting some retirees, but we're not getting as many younger families compared to other communities that have invested in public education. There was a nationwide and statewide study done by Michael Hicks. He's a former professor at Ball State University. And he literally analyzed all the variables that families and new workers look at when they move to a community.
0:48:30 — open the recording at 48 minutes 30 secondsSpeaker 170 (mayor) The number one variable that was listed in this economic study was education. In fact, that one variable was more than every other
0:48:39 — open the recording at 48 minutes 39 secondsSpeaker 239 variable tested put together what I can't say if anybody had looked at how much we're projecting it here we have I don't need all that I just want to know this
0:48:51 — open the recording at 48 minutes 51 secondsSpeaker 245 is I look at this way too much what do we think it's going to increase what I can say 20% what are you thinking I have seen firsthand multiple companies that
0:49:04 — open the recording at 49 minutes 4 secondsSpeaker 170 (mayor) have chosen to expand in the city of Terre Haute and I'm thankful for that What I have also seen is a company sit across the table from me and say young man and if they say young man they're going to vote against you. Just remember that. They said young man.
0:49:19 — open the recording at 49 minutes 19 secondsSpeaker 250 I don't think it was going to happen here.
0:49:21 — open the recording at 49 minutes 21 secondsSpeaker 170 (mayor) You've done everything right. Housing is going up. Infrastructure is getting worked at even though it's raining tonight and I know there's some minor flooding. Okay. I acknowledge that. But the education problem is going to be difficult for our workforce. That company planned to bring in 500 jobs to this community. So it's very difficult for me to stand here and say, I can give you an exact figure because I can't do that in good faith. But I can give you data-driven examples of what right looks like in this state. There's a handful of good in this state, trust me.
0:49:53 — open the recording at 49 minutes 53 secondsSpeaker 170 (mayor) And I can give you some examples of communities who continue to say no to problems like this that are forcing consolidation currently. In fact, some of our neighboring counties are doing just that right now. So thank you. Thank you.
0:50:07 — open the recording at 50 minutes 7 secondsSpeaker 254 Mr. Wilson.
0:50:08 — open the recording at 50 minutes 8 secondsSpeaker 170 (mayor) One last question.
0:50:09 — open the recording at 50 minutes 9 secondsJoe Wilson (resident) Just one last one. Can you guys guarantee my property taxes won't go up if we do this?
0:50:15 — open the recording at 50 minutes 15 secondsSpeaker 157 Well, appraisals are going up. My property taxes went up.
0:50:20 — open the recording at 50 minutes 20 secondsSpeaker 231 Mine already did go up. Right, right. Appraisal went up.
0:50:23 — open the recording at 50 minutes 23 secondsJoe Wilson (resident) Nobody has done anything for the area where I live.
0:50:26 — open the recording at 50 minutes 26 secondsSpeaker 257 Done anything.
0:50:28 — open the recording at 50 minutes 28 secondsJoe Wilson (resident) Well, I don't have fire hydrants up there. It's not regularly controlled by law enforcement
0:50:33 — open the recording at 50 minutes 33 secondsSpeaker 109 (commissioner) I can guarantee you that if this goes to a referendum Your property taxes will go up And that's what we're trying to keep from happening Is do all we can to
0:50:42 — open the recording at 50 minutes 42 secondsJoe Wilson (resident) What's the difference if we vote on it and it happens Or just we go with a plan right now Why would that cause my taxes to go up?
0:50:51 — open the recording at 50 minutes 51 secondsSpeaker 147 Because if a referendum
0:50:54 — open the recording at 50 minutes 54 secondsMike Morris (chair (commissioner)) To be able to accomplish what we're talking about Accomplishing without a tax increase It can be done this way, or we can, in another year or so, they can, 2028, they can go for a referendum.
0:51:14 — open the recording at 51 minutes 14 secondsSpeaker 147 And it may pass or it may go down, or it may not.
0:51:17 — open the recording at 51 minutes 17 secondsSpeaker 264 A referendum only guarantees school revenue, and school revenue is only on property tax.
0:51:23 — open the recording at 51 minutes 23 secondsSpeaker 267 Right.
0:51:24 — open the recording at 51 minutes 24 secondsSpeaker 266 It doesn't allow a partnership like that.
0:51:26 — open the recording at 51 minutes 26 seconds Right.
0:51:27 — open the recording at 51 minutes 27 secondsJoe Wilson (resident) and and but still if we go with this so you're going to guarantee my tax my
0:51:35 — open the recording at 51 minutes 35 secondsSpeaker 209 property taxes won't go up I mean if you can guarantee that I'm all for it I mean because I'm retired I'm on a fixed income like a lot of people in this area I
0:51:49 — open the recording at 51 minutes 49 secondsSpeaker 268 can't I can't I can't make that guarantee
0:51:54 — open the recording at 51 minutes 54 secondsSpeaker 279 I mean, these guys are a big determining factor on that.
0:52:03 — open the recording at 52 minutes 3 secondsSpeaker 281 Actually, we don't determine property taxes. It's not the county commissioners that determine property taxes.
0:52:09 — open the recording at 52 minutes 9 secondsSpeaker 283 So what you guys... Okay, thank you.
0:52:13 — open the recording at 52 minutes 13 secondsSpeaker 286 Thank you.
0:52:13 — open the recording at 52 minutes 13 secondsSpeaker 285 I think the answer to his question is property taxes won't go up because of this plan. Correct. because we are using existing revenue streams to fund it.
0:52:26 — open the recording at 52 minutes 26 seconds Right. I don't know if you have that.
0:52:28 — open the recording at 52 minutes 28 secondsSpeaker 289 Make sure that Mr. Wilson. Mr. Wilson! Mr. Rambl just explained something. Say it again.
0:52:40 — open the recording at 52 minutes 40 secondsSpeaker 297 Your property taxes won't go up because of this plan
0:52:46 — open the recording at 52 minutes 46 secondsSpeaker 299 because we're anticipating using existing revenue streams to fund it. We're using revenue that's already projected to come in and it's not going to produce the need for an additional property tax.
0:53:13 — open the recording at 53 minutes 13 secondsSpeaker 301 Go ahead, sir.
0:53:14 — open the recording at 53 minutes 14 secondsRobert Eisenman (resident) Yes, my name is Robert Eisenman. I had just a couple questions asked to the commissioners and the city council. The question is, is there any foundation members here?
0:53:28 — open the recording at 53 minutes 28 secondsSpeaker 306 Present.
0:53:28 — open the recording at 53 minutes 28 secondsRobert Eisenman (resident) Present.
0:53:29 — open the recording at 53 minutes 29 secondsSpeaker 307 Casino Foundation?
0:53:33 — open the recording at 53 minutes 33 secondsSpeaker 308 Casino Foundation. Yes.
0:53:35 — open the recording at 53 minutes 35 secondsRobert Eisenman (resident) Yes? The question I was going to ask is, if this doesn't go through, I know they talked about what kind of option was you talking about if it come by the end of the year? Can you explain about what next option you might be talking about if it doesn't?
0:53:53 — open the recording at 53 minutes 53 secondsMike Morris (chair (commissioner)) The Casino Foundation has made a firm commitment to help with funding of this for several million dollars. and their stipulation is very simple, that we get this proceeded and voted on and approved by December 31st. If not, bets are off on that agreement, period.
0:54:20 — open the recording at 54 minutes 20 secondsRobert Eisenman (resident) Did they mention anything about options, though, in case? No, no. There is no option. Okay.
0:54:28 — open the recording at 54 minutes 28 secondsSpeaker 313 So, okay, I got my answer there. Okay.
0:54:32 — open the recording at 54 minutes 32 secondsRobert Eisenman (resident) So the next question is on the location of the new high school, if it's approved, have they thought about the, on 42 and 46, where the First National Bank sign is, that big field where you have four-way highways, was that ever looked at itself? Do you know of?
0:54:53 — open the recording at 54 minutes 53 secondsSpeaker 317 I don't know of.
0:54:56 — open the recording at 54 minutes 56 secondsSpeaker 28 (Oversight Board lead presenter) It has. my understanding is that there's existing underground mines there that eliminate that site from being feasible okay I just went I didn't know if
0:55:08 — open the recording at 55 minutes 8 secondsRobert Eisenman (resident) anybody brought that up so that's one of the questions I asked and then thank you very much for your time hope forward that I know the City Council has a big decision to make because of one of the biggest it affects all the students all the students and all the community and I still hope that maybe you can think about having meetings like I brought up the first time I thought it'd be it would be good for the community to be involved in it the ones that maybe disagree and the ones that do agree get their input it probably gives a broader base of
0:55:42 — open the recording at 55 minutes 42 secondsRobert Eisenman (resident) getting the comments from the whole community that once it couldn't be here
0:55:46 — open the recording at 55 minutes 46 secondsMike Morris (chair (commissioner)) thank you very much thank you but to your point this is a unique opportunity with a number of groups involved in it. And it is new in the state of Indiana. It has not been done before. So, yes, there's, I guess, questions. Not necessarily confusion, but questions about it.
0:56:09 — open the recording at 56 minutes 9 secondsSpeaker 325 Hi, my name's Ann Wright. I was not at the 3 o'clock meeting, but could you explain in a little more detail why the county is in such a financial place to contribute as much. Is it typical that we would have that much as a surplus,
0:56:28 — open the recording at 56 minutes 28 secondsSpeaker 327 or is that not typical for other communities?
0:56:32 — open the recording at 56 minutes 32 secondsMike Morris (chair (commissioner)) One thing I was going to tell Mr. Wilson, there's 92 counties in the state of Indiana, and one of the frustrating things for me in being in county offices over the last few years is it would be nice to go to association meeting and have a solution and there is not one template that I can lay down for a county in Indiana and it relates to the the other counties there are uniqueness to all these counties and their needs several years ago we had a need to build a new jail and expand that and that process we had to pass some tax increases
0:57:20 — open the recording at 57 minutes 20 secondsMike Morris (chair (commissioner)) which were our income taxes and mark Chris once you explain which ones we
0:57:26 — open the recording at 57 minutes 26 secondsSpeaker 330 passed well actually I'll defer to Jason okay there Jason or even Tim I mean Tim
0:57:31 — open the recording at 57 minutes 31 secondsChris Switzer (commissioner) was intricately involved in the implementation of our local income tax
0:57:35 — open the recording at 57 minutes 35 secondsSpeaker 333 Jason Simler with Baker Tilly, serving as financial advisor for the county. Yes, Mike is correct. At that time, when you're looking at the jail project, a number of local income taxes were passed. Those were passed even before the construction of the jail, if you remember. And since that time, the income tax has grown. Because I was thinking in 2018 when that was passed. So when the numbers were ran, those were based upon probably 2017 income. numbers. Well, since that time, fortunately for Vigo County, those numbers have continued to grow each year.
0:58:11 — open the recording at 58 minutes 11 secondsSpeaker 333 So now the revenue streams that you're currently receiving are more than enough to cover the bond payments that you issued for those bonds and they cover the operating costs. So that's a large part of what revenue that we're talking is available for a project like this. It is and I will say to working with the county, you know, part of that is, you know, looking at the budget and being responsible with, you know, the revenue stream that you have and, you know, looking at what's the highest priority for the county.
0:58:56 — open the recording at 58 minutes 56 secondsSpeaker 338 Anything else? Certainly.
0:59:05 — open the recording at 59 minutes 5 secondsSpeaker 342 Actually, Rick Stevens here, but this is not a question for the commissioner, so I'm going to lean on Mark a little bit because he kind of opened the door. I guess I'd like to hear a little bit more about the property and really what has been done in looking at property or talking about 641 and the bypass, because as my understanding, nothing has went that way yet until this totally passes because you don't put the cart in front of the horse but with a couple comments you made that kind of felt like maybe there's some looking really going on.
0:59:38 — open the recording at 59 minutes 38 secondsSpeaker 137 Yeah, I would say as I mentioned earlier, I mean, it's pretty natural.
0:59:43 — open the recording at 59 minutes 43 secondsSpeaker 28 (Oversight Board lead presenter) Maybe one of the first things I did was poke around on Beacon and see what parcels are large enough to accommodate what they need.
0:59:51 — open the recording at 59 minutes 51 secondsSpeaker 146 But, I mean, we haven't talked dollar amounts with a single landowner, most of the properties we haven't even contacted the landowner i think it'd be really premature rick i respect the question um i don't want them to know what's coming out there and have them increase their price we're going to try and strike the best deal we can um that clarifies the formula
1:00:14 — open the recording at 1 hour 14 secondsSpeaker 342 like sounds a slow concern we're getting the cart before the horse we want to get this done here
1:00:18 — open the recording at 1 hour 18 secondsSpeaker 28 (Oversight Board lead presenter) first and then we start looking yeah i just knew that the number one concern on that corridor is that the underground mines eliminate a lot of that property and why it remains
1:00:27 — open the recording at 1 hour 27 secondsSpeaker 47 undeveloped
1:00:41 — open the recording at 1 hour 41 secondsSpeaker 355 Kathy Heaton currently serving as the role as president of the Vigo County
1:00:47 — open the recording at 1 hour 47 secondsKathy Heaton (President, Vigo County Teachers Association) Teachers Association I did speak earlier at the advisory board and I I did give the commissioners and the advisory board, the oversight board, pardon me, some raw data. With going back to school and being new in the president role, I want to provide an opportunity for our teachers to share their voices and concerns. I created a Google form survey and we're midway through the week in the first three days of school I sent that survey out to building reps that were building reps at the end of the school year last year.
1:01:31 — open the recording at 1 hour 1 minute 31 secondsKathy Heaton (President, Vigo County Teachers Association) Asked them to share it with their association members in each of their schools. In the first three days back, we've had over 130 teachers respond, which is something to take a minute or two out of your day to answer a survey that somebody sent you on your first day of school. So it's a priority. We are concerned. We do have a voice. And I would ask as an association if we can continue to be, because we have been brought in on discussions and school visits, and I thank the school board and Dr. Hemsall for being a part of that.
1:02:09 — open the recording at 1 hour 2 minutes 9 secondsKathy Heaton (President, Vigo County Teachers Association) But in moving forward that we can continue to be a voice, a stakeholder, because we all want what's best for our students. Part of doing that is thinking about what's best for our teachers as well. So, just to focus on one question, primary educator concerns, the number one, it was to rank your top five. There were several listed, but just choose your top five. That would be a concern. Number one, at the current point in time, 2 o'clock this afternoon when I ran raw data, it's not complete, mind you, 56% said increased class sizes.
1:02:54 — open the recording at 1 hour 2 minutes 54 secondsKathy Heaton (President, Vigo County Teachers Association) 41% was tied in increased workload staff displacement and reassignment right after that 40% loss of positions through attrition and or reduction and then and went on to changes in student behavior supporting needs and loss of reduction of programs those percentages of course I'm sure will change between now and the end of the week and I will compile it and do my best to provide that information to the commissioners the oversight board and our school board as well again just representing today I know I've made comments at other meetings just kind of
1:03:34 — open the recording at 1 hour 3 minutes 34 secondsKathy Heaton (President, Vigo County Teachers Association) Roman wore my own personal hat but the school year has started and so just want
1:03:40 — open the recording at 1 hour 3 minutes 40 secondsSpeaker 364 to be recognized as as a unit could I ask you a question how much longer is this survey going to go on because I found it pretty interesting the
1:03:48 — open the recording at 1 hour 3 minutes 48 secondsSpeaker 109 (commissioner) responses that were on there and we definitely I think everybody wants to
1:03:51 — open the recording at 1 hour 3 minutes 51 secondsSpeaker 367 teacher input on this? Correct, as did I. Sometimes the most vocal group is not always
1:03:57 — open the recording at 1 hour 3 minutes 57 secondsKathy Heaton (President, Vigo County Teachers Association) what ends up in your data, and we all have our own circle of influence, and the people we talk to are often those who we are already familiar talking with and share like opinions. It is open until the end of the day, Friday, so a full first week of school, and again, this is just my attempt at creating a space where teachers can have their opinions and concerns put into one form and then shared with our leaders.
1:04:25 — open the recording at 1 hour 4 minutes 25 secondsSpeaker 109 (commissioner) Right. And I don't have that graph with me, but the teachers that were surveyed, what was the percentage that were in support of consolidation or kind of leaning that way?
1:04:40 — open the recording at 1 hour 4 minutes 40 secondsKathy Heaton (President, Vigo County Teachers Association) So again, being raw data and not the end of date, but for those that thought it a priority to answer within their first three days of school, of a number of 135 out of roughly 640 teachers. So the question would be in support of consolidation or be open to consolidation if it brought forward meaningful improvements. that was I think it was roughly if you combine them 82 percent so that's what I
1:05:22 — open the recording at 1 hour 5 minutes 22 secondsSpeaker 364 remember yeah so roughly 82 percent so far support the plan that the school preparation out of 135 that gotcha yes okay thanks thank you or to see in the rest of the results yeah thank you
1:05:37 — open the recording at 1 hour 5 minutes 37 secondsSpeaker 379 any other comment please
1:05:47 — open the recording at 1 hour 5 minutes 47 secondsMarie Thies (educator; former county council member) Marie Thies, Vigo County School educator, 31 years I believe this year, former counsel. I just had a couple questions. I think most people know me, know where I stand. I've seen this as from the parent's side, the teacher's side of it, the council's side working on economic. I always say it's pieces of the puzzle. So I appreciate this opportunity to even have that come together. I received a couple questions and I think as a teacher I always kind of take this to heart that if someone has a question other people have questions about it.
1:06:28 — open the recording at 1 hour 6 minutes 28 secondsMarie Thies (educator; former county council member) So to clarify what I think it was Mr. Wilson had asked about property taxes and can we give a guarantee. I think it's important for people to understand and Jim probably can I think he really started to hit it pretty well on what goes into creating property taxes it's not just the schools property taxes cover a lot of different things there's a lot of other other entities in it but with a referendum that's 100 percent like a different new tax having been on the council having known the council the council before me working with the auditors our council's been good about trying to
1:07:08 — open the recording at 1 hour 7 minutes 8 secondsMarie Thies (educator; former county council member) look at how best to spend money and in doing so we do have some money there I know that I've seen the numbers I know what it's like so to try to explain that a little better it's it's not it's a very complicated thing unless you've seen all the different buckets that go into it so I don't know if there's anyone here that it can explain that better to the public that's never worked with property taxes and how the school gets their share of it and so on but I do do you want to say our council, our commissioners for years, and I was on budget committee three
1:07:44 — open the recording at 1 hour 7 minutes 44 secondsMarie Thies (educator; former county council member) out of those four years, you know, have an understanding of it and have done a good, they were in a good spot because of that. And this is a great way to open up the door to new opportunities for our county. So if somebody could take that on better than me, that'd be great.
1:07:59 — open the recording at 1 hour 7 minutes 59 secondsChris Switzer (commissioner) Chris Hemswell, do you want to explain the way property taxes work for a school corporation? He does a good job. I can explain the county government side, but I think the question is more directed toward, can you guarantee me my property taxes aren't going to go up because of a school project? Obviously, assessments change every year. State formulas change every year, and how we do assessments change every year. I think we have a fantastic assessor who does a great job, who's bringing us up to where we should have been years ago. But maybe you can explain your side of the property tax.
1:08:28 — open the recording at 1 hour 8 minutes 28 secondsChris Himsel (Superintendent, Vigo County School Corporation) In terms of school funding in general, first of all, things change dramatically and have continue to change dramatically in the school side. So in 2008, part of our property taxes used to fund the general fund, which is the people side of things. That was taken away and the state does that now. So our school property taxes, there are basically two buckets. One, or three. One is the operations fund, which is the old transportation, bus replacement, and capital projects combined. The capital projects is where basically you would do building maintenance, preventive maintenance,
1:09:05 — open the recording at 1 hour 9 minutes 5 secondsChris Himsel (Superintendent, Vigo County School Corporation) those kinds of things. The state changed that to combine those three, put them all together into one, and that is the operations fund. The second one is a debt service fund. The debt service fund is the fund that we use for bonds. It's the one we use for bigger projects. We've been using general obligation bonds to help make up for property tax caps so that we can make up and can try to do some preventive maintenance. The third one that I mentioned was the operations referendum. That's a referendum fund. That is to supplement what the state does. There are two kinds of referendum funds.
1:09:40 — open the recording at 1 hour 9 minutes 40 secondsChris Himsel (Superintendent, Vigo County School Corporation) One is to supplement the state funding to help with the people and other aspects. Our school corporation and our community passed one of those to help support mental health supports, school nurses, our school protection officers, as well as teachers. The other type is a building referendum fund. It is a new tax. It is done outside of the rest of the property tax. So that's the reason why if we were to do a referendum with a question, that question is to add a new tax that does not exist on top of everything that I just said to support,
1:10:13 — open the recording at 1 hour 10 minutes 13 secondsChris Himsel (Superintendent, Vigo County School Corporation) and it would only support a building at that particular point in time. Does that answer your question?
1:10:19 — open the recording at 1 hour 10 minutes 19 secondsSpeaker 390 Yes, sir. Thank you.
1:10:21 — open the recording at 1 hour 10 minutes 21 secondsSpeaker 393 Thank you.
1:10:33 — open the recording at 1 hour 10 minutes 33 secondsSpeaker 395 Hi, my name is Marcus Songer. My question is regarding career and technical education. At one point there was discussion about having a separate career center. Just curious with the committee, was that in your study? Are you recommending keeping career and technical education in both West Vigo and this new school, or moving those career technical education classes to a separate career center building?
1:11:02 — open the recording at 1 hour 11 minutes 2 secondsSpeaker 146 Looking at Carrie here, it is included in the plan. I don't know if you want to expand. It is in the long-term plan, yes.
1:11:10 — open the recording at 1 hour 11 minutes 10 secondsChris Switzer (commissioner) Mr. Songer, it's nice to put a face with your social media.
1:11:21 — open the recording at 1 hour 11 minutes 21 secondsSpeaker 399 I don't know what side of the fence you lie on, but I think you respond to people very well with thoughtful responses. So thank you.
1:11:30 — open the recording at 1 hour 11 minutes 30 seconds Okay.
1:11:33 — open the recording at 1 hour 11 minutes 33 secondsChris Switzer (commissioner) Well, if there's no more further public comment, I'll just – oh, sorry. Come on up. We'll get up here.
1:11:40 — open the recording at 1 hour 11 minutes 40 secondsSpeaker 403 I'm Alan Nurse from North Vigo. I just wanted to address people like Mr. Wilson and say that I do know it will make some sort of positive growth in our community to fund new schools. Because for me personally, I would like to grow a family in a place that gives ample funding to its education system. I mean, schools that have these decent sized student bodies and funding like Avon, They get to be pilot systems for new AP courses, such as Business Fundamentals, which is going on this year.
1:12:10 — open the recording at 1 hour 12 minutes 10 secondsSpeaker 403 And our school simply just doesn't get access to that because we don't have a large enough student body to have people in those kinds of pilot courses. So I know it will at least contribute a small amount to the growth of our community. Thanks.
1:12:30 — open the recording at 1 hour 12 minutes 30 secondsSpeaker 410 Anybody else? Kevin? Oh boy. That look.
1:12:38 — open the recording at 1 hour 12 minutes 38 secondsKevin Gardner (County Assessor) Campus Guard, 1276 South Wild Road Place. Also the county assessor. I've been listening to the meetings on both sides. I don't miss commissioners meetings. I don't miss council meetings, which everyone can attest to. Since the beginning, I've been a little apprehensive on the plan that's been developed for the fact that it's the county council's job to fund the county, to make sure the county operates. That's why you have a school corporation, you have a county council. They're supposed to be separate. But I will say the work that this committee has done, the commissioners working with them,
1:13:25 — open the recording at 1 hour 13 minutes 25 secondsKevin Gardner (County Assessor) I think they presented a case that shows that it can be done without adding more taxes. And I guess I would say I'm not apprehensive anymore. I think it's a good idea. And I think on the county council's side, they've been showed that it's not going to cut into anything. It's still going to allow them to operate the county. And I think we need a collaboration. I mean, on the council side, it's always our job is to operate the county. But they give money to non-profits all the time. They give money to all these different programs. And the kids are our future.
1:14:08 — open the recording at 1 hour 14 minutes 8 secondsKevin Gardner (County Assessor) So everyone out there that you can ask will say something needs done with schools. Well, now I think you've presented a plan that shows that it can be done, still allow the council to operate the county and fund the county as it needs to. So I just wanted to say I think you guys have all done great work. And after this presentation, I don't see how the council could vote against it
1:14:34 — open the recording at 1 hour 14 minutes 34 secondsSpeaker 415 unless they're just flat out against. Thank you.
1:14:46 — open the recording at 1 hour 14 minutes 46 secondsSpeaker 418 Chris? You're up. We got one more?
1:14:52 — open the recording at 1 hour 14 minutes 52 secondsSpeaker 422 Okay. And after that I'd say something.
1:14:55 — open the recording at 1 hour 14 minutes 55 secondsSpeaker 424 Hello, my name is Olivia Cordray. I'm also from Terre Haute North.
1:15:03 — open the recording at 1 hour 15 minutes 3 secondsSpeaker 426 I wanted to kind of piggyback off of what Alan said about increased opportunities for students. I think that with a new high school and a bigger student student population not only could we increase like academic experiences like so AP and stem courses for example but we could also increase fine arts we could increase sports we could increase clubs I have friends who go to school in like Hammond Indiana so like way far up north and they have a mute like a rock band class so that more kids are included in the music department and music is a
1:15:44 — open the recording at 1 hour 15 minutes 44 secondsSpeaker 426 really important part of my life and it's saved like a lot of people from it's given them a direction to put their lives to if we could have more direction amongst kids in Terre Haute then I think it would increase our it would increase the betterment of the community as a whole. Thank you.
1:16:17 — open the recording at 1 hour 16 minutes 17 secondsSpeaker 429 Hi, my name is Olive Levine. I'm a current senior at Terre Haue South and I'm also a part of
1:16:23 — open the recording at 1 hour 16 minutes 23 secondsOlive Levine (student) BCSC, Students for Change. And Ben has done such a good job giving us opportunities to speak to the community. And as a student at Terre Haute South, I've heard from teachers, students, everyone in the building, kind of how we're the butt of the joke of crumbling infrastructure, unregulated air conditioning, all that stuff. And at South and at North and all students at Vigo County are doing the best that they can do to do good in the environment that they're in. There's so many service clubs, student council, great, amazing, talented kids in fine arts, all that stuff.
1:17:04 — open the recording at 1 hour 17 minutes 4 secondsOlive Levine (student) But I believe that they have the chance to grow in a facility with more opportunities. And we need opportunities that are to the level that our students are at that can help foster even a better sense of community, a sense of school pride, and help Vigo County students feel like they're at the level of other schools in Indiana. and when they're competing for sports or competing in band, that they actually have a chance to win and are not just underdogs. And I think that that mentality and that pride is really, really important to fostering a future generation
1:17:44 — open the recording at 1 hour 17 minutes 44 secondsOlive Levine (student) that goes into leadership and change and just overall goodness in the community.
1:17:49 — open the recording at 1 hour 17 minutes 49 secondsSpeaker 433 Thank you.
1:17:55 — open the recording at 1 hour 17 minutes 55 secondsSpeaker 434 Anyone else?
1:17:56 — open the recording at 1 hour 17 minutes 56 secondsSpeaker 15 Yes. Yeah. Larry Hutchings, County Auditor. I just wanted to say thank you to the Oversight Committee and to all those that I put all the time and effort into. The county is financially strong. It took a lot of work before I came, and it continues on. We invest wisely. And while it's not my decision to make that decision, I will say that the ability is there.
1:18:35 — open the recording at 1 hour 18 minutes 35 seconds Thank you.
1:18:39 — open the recording at 1 hour 18 minutes 39 secondsSpeaker 109 (commissioner) Commissioner Schweitzer, before you make your motion, I want to address Kevin's comment, Mr. Gardner. When we started down this road a year and a half ago, two years ago, we were looking at something big and bold, and we wouldn't have done it if we didn't know the means were there and we didn't know how big of a project this was. So, you know, it's good to see that we have confirmation from Tim Berry and we got confirmation from Jason Simler that the funds are there and we can do this, and we can do this without raising property taxes.
1:19:14 — open the recording at 1 hour 19 minutes 14 secondsSpeaker 109 (commissioner) and again we would have never ever put our county in jeopardy by coming before the council and asking for money that we didn't have and knowing that we had other projects we're going to be able to take care of the other projects that we have and we're going to be able to do this and I think we proved that the The oversight boards prove that, and I think it's time to move on.
1:19:37 — open the recording at 1 hour 19 minutes 37 secondsChris Switzer (commissioner) Yeah, I'd like to respond to Matt just a little bit. It was April 13th I put on my calendar that I gave up trying to have this conversation on social media. It was just impossible. If you disagree in today's world, it means that I strongly dislike you, and I can guarantee you that's the farthest thing from the truth. There's just no ability to have this significant of a conversation on social media to thoroughly explain what the Oversight Board has gone through now for several months and what we go through on a daily basis from the county government perspective.
1:20:22 — open the recording at 1 hour 20 minutes 22 secondsChris Switzer (commissioner) There's just so many different funds. I mean, Kevin with his assessment fund and the health department with their funds and local income taxes and jails and everything else. There's just so much that goes on that trying to have this conversation on social media, I'm sorry if you took it as demonizing. That's the part of the saying that I want to do with people and I know my fellow commissioners want to do as well. It's just for my own health, I had to get away from that because it was just the rhetoric is so terrible around this subject and it's not just because it's a Vigo County
1:20:51 — open the recording at 1 hour 20 minutes 51 secondsChris Switzer (commissioner) issue, it's nationwide. But this is the culmination of several events. the first meeting that we had at our jail solutions with our friends Rachel and Danielle and Kristen we literally have photos of us joking around hitting our heads off the table I mean trying to figure out how we were going to navigate this this problem with the school corporation and how Vigo County government can help knowing that we are financially in a great position and we kept going through the steps and things just kept getting approved unanimous
1:21:23 — open the recording at 1 hour 21 minutes 23 secondsChris Switzer (commissioner) unanimous approval to the Senate committee. Great, you know. Then it gets, the legislation gets removed, the Senate bill gets removed, and then it gets included in other language, and we're back to being extremely happy again. And things just fell into place where it's legal for us to do what we're doing. Everything the Oversight Board has done has been thoroughly transparent. All the meetings are on YouTube. People have asked the very difficult questions. From the very beginning, our whole goal was to do a project and partnership with a school corporation that would not
1:21:55 — open the recording at 1 hour 21 minutes 55 secondsChris Switzer (commissioner) increase people's property taxes, and that's what we're doing. I mean, there's no other way to look at this other than if we decide to not move forward or the council decides to not move forward, the only other option to make things right for the future of our community is a referendum. And nobody wants to pay more taxes. We get that. But we also have to believe in good faith that we believe in our children, too, and we want the best for what they're doing. So, you know, for me, it's emotionally fantastic to be to this point. Obviously, we have four weeks leading up to the next
1:22:27 — open the recording at 1 hour 22 minutes 27 secondsChris Switzer (commissioner) county council meeting where we're going to make some type of request if the commissioners approve that today. But we're going to need your help, whether you're opposed or for it. You have every right to speak in opposition or for something. That's the great part of America. We get to do all these things. We want to hear from you. The good, the bad, the ugly, whatever it is, we need to know what's going on, just not through social media. I can tell you I went back through my email offers this afternoon, specifically with keywords, schools, consolidation, teachers, audits.
1:23:01 — open the recording at 1 hour 23 minutes 1 secondChris Switzer (commissioner) I've received seven total emails of communication about this specific thing, but I've probably received 10,000 comments on social media that I can't keep up with. It's impossible. And I just ask, before I make a motion, if there's any opportunity for people to be more kind to each other, This is the moment to do it. I mean, Vigo County is doing something that no other county across the state is doing. This legislation was specifically made and meant for us. And I appreciate you, Mayor, offering up $2 million. No offense to you, if you don't do it, we're still going to move forward.
1:23:40 — open the recording at 1 hour 23 minutes 40 secondsChris Switzer (commissioner) We're still going to have to find a philanthropic way to close this gap to get this $222 million project off the ground. And that would be our next steps if the council says, yay, all of us are going to have to our hats on and find a way to get this accomplished. So that being said, I'll make a motion to accept the recommendation of $15 million cash up front, an annual bond
1:24:04 — open the recording at 1 hour 24 minutes 4 secondsSpeaker 399 payment potentially of up to $6 million for a total of $135 million over 20 years.
1:24:11 — open the recording at 1 hour 24 minutes 11 secondsSpeaker 450 Second. Am I? Aye. Aye.
1:24:16 — open the recording at 1 hour 24 minutes 16 seconds Okay.
1:24:21 — open the recording at 1 hour 24 minutes 21 secondsSpeaker 456 Yes?
1:24:33 — open the recording at 1 hour 24 minutes 33 secondsSpeaker 146 So technically I need to call for a motion to adjourn the oversight board meeting since we're all five in attendance. So I can get a motion in a second here from my group, then we'll let you guys close out.
1:24:46 — open the recording at 1 hour 24 minutes 46 secondsSpeaker 28 (Oversight Board lead presenter) Want to make sure everything's on the up and up.
1:24:48 — open the recording at 1 hour 24 minutes 48 secondsSpeaker 461 I'll move to adjourn. Second.
1:24:50 — open the recording at 1 hour 24 minutes 50 secondsSpeaker 28 (Oversight Board lead presenter) Thank you, Carrie, for the second. All those in favor?
1:24:53 — open the recording at 1 hour 24 minutes 53 secondsSpeaker 462 Aye. All right.
1:24:54 — open the recording at 1 hour 24 minutes 54 secondsSpeaker 463 We're good. Thank you. Commissioners will stand in recess. Thank you.
1:24:59 — open the recording at 1 hour 24 minutes 59 secondsSpeaker 391 Thank you.
Marked moments above are where the archive's reviewed highlights were drawn from. Everything else on this page is unreviewed.