By KEN ALEXANDER
Council Minutes
The August County Council meeting had a long agenda that had two public hearings and several presentations highlighting some of the activities continuing to happen behind the scenes.
Due to a planned absence, I presided over the Council meeting, which was an interesting introduction given the amount of information on the agenda. As with every meeting, you can watch recordings or live stream meetings from our YouTube channel.
The council meeting started with two public hearings that were procedural items for some projects that we discussed in July. The projects in question were two major highway projects that have been in the works for several years – the new Pleasant Street bridge and a new intersection improvement at 146th Street and Allisonville Road. By definition, both projects classify as “Major Bridge,” and the bond issuance is to use that fund as the revenue source. This and other bonds you may see advancing through the council are for projects that are needed to support the continuing growth in our county and are built into our county’s fiscal plan. Many counties are not positioned to do this, but we can because of good fiscal management.
The next item I want to highlight is the County Council appointee application process. During this month’s meeting, we had the opportunity to showcase the ineffective nature of the current process as we filled a position on the newly formed consolidated Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) and the library board appointment for Hamilton East Public Library. These two appointments sparked a spirited debate about recommendations and the questions that arose about the qualifications of these individuals are items that could be automated if done correctly. The Information Systems Services (ISS) department was tasked by the Council to improve the board appointment process. Our goal was to create an online form that not only captures information about interested parties but also can be a tool to inform people about the roles and responsibilities of these different board and commission positions. ISS has created an online portal and SharePoint site to support this appointment process. They walked through the application process, and it was well received. The Council agreed to move forward and go live prior to budget hearings in September. It is great to see something evolve from a mere idea I had, and I was excited to work with some of the extremely talented people we have working in our County. Look for a press release later this month.
The last item I want to highlight is the future of the Hamilton County Fairgrounds. It was part of a presentation by Purdue Extension, mentioned in a few appropriation requests and was the location of several projects identified in the General Obligation Bond that was introduced to Council this month.
A bit of history on the existing fairgrounds:
There has not been a sizeable investment in the fairgrounds over the past 25 years. The current facility has major drainage issues that the county has tried to fix in isolation and not as part of a total storm water drainage plan. During the past few years, the county fairgrounds was used to support COVID-19 vaccinations and it supports many meetings needing a large space. The expansion of Pleasant Street will impact two of the buildings on campus that will need to be replaced to help support event rentals. A few county departments have offices in this facility or adjacent such as Hamilton County Soil & Water, Household Hazardous Waste, and the extension office. There is a lot of activity, but it also does not cover its operating costs, which is subsidized by the county.
Last year, the county commissioned a design and master plan for the fairgrounds property. It is called the Silos @ 37. This master plan showed a multi-phased project that is budgeted currently at $64 million with the first phase being $26.5 million. This item has sparked a healthy debate that dates back a few months. While there is a growing sentiment that the county fairgrounds need to be invested in to make it viable, there is a desire to have a complete understanding of the pros and cons of this location and a thorough understanding of the fiscal plan that will be required to complete the first phase.
Additionally, Hamilton County Tourism commissioned a study that discussed the return on investment for this facility if the master plan is implemented. While that study is not complete, it was stated that even when partially or fully implemented, the facility will most likely still need to be subsidized for operations and will not cover its debt service for the improvements. The initial ask in the bond is a series of projects that add up to approximately $15 million. In the end the Council tabled these appropriations. A joint meeting with the Commissioners and Council is being scheduled to address several issues and the fairgrounds project is one of the main topics to be addressed.
Good fiscal management is how we have positioned ourselves to be able to take on some big projects. It has been that stewardship and good foresight that has led us to the investment at Baker’s Corner. We must be consistent in our approach to these big projects, and while tabling the appropriations for the fairgrounds may not be a popular decision, it is the right one. The council is not comfortable moving forward without an identified financial source for the first phase of this project at a minimum. We need to look at our options of investing in a facility that must be subsidized or exploring the benefit of relocating the facility and creating a financial plan that provides for the full buildout of the building program identified in the Silos @ 37 master plan.
If items mentioned above are of interest, please reach out to me or any member of the County Council. As always, I am thankful that the Hamilton County Reporter for publishing my Council updates and a special thanks to you, the readers and residents of Hamilton County, for reading it and being engaged in the discussion. Our County is better because of you all. I welcome your questions at ken.alexander@hamiltoncounty.in.gov.