I struggled to put together the ideas and information I wanted to share from our April meeting. As we all know, sometimes life is less than exciting, and in politics that is sometimes a good thing – especially in an election year.
April’s meeting was mundane and dominated by an in-depth conversation about funding an overrun for a sewer project at the White River Campground. Other topics discussed included the approval of a one-time interlocal agreement regarding the distribution of public safety LIT funds, updates on several highway projects and a review of a request from the new Director of Administration, Lee Buckingham. Most of this was standard, so I will use this space to discuss only a few topics and close the loop on the County Fairgrounds.
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We have had several meetings pass with a tabled request to appropriate $2.5 million for affordable housing. This money makes up the second half of the ARPA committee’s request to Council. The Council is fully in favor of an initiative to support attainable/affordable housing but is waiting for the plan to be presented before funding the second half of this request. These dollars have restrictions on use and need to be appropriated and spent within a designated time frame.
Since ARPA funds were used to fund the water and sewer project at the White River Campground project, it made sense to keep the funding the same, and it was the Council’s decision to request of the ARPA committee to use some of the money designated for affordable housing for the overrun on this project with the understanding that the Council will fund the gap created once the affordable/attainable housing plan is solidified. This strategy took two actions, and the items were not in the appropriate order on the agenda, so we had to un-table the Affordable Housing request, request that the ARPA committee review this as a funding source for the sewer project and then we had to motion for a conditional approval of the campground to be funded by ARPA monies. We will wait for the ARPA committee to reconvene and then this should be able to be funded without reducing the general fund.
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The other topic of interest was a request of administration to pursue the creation of a legal department within county government. This would allow the county to take advantage of efficiencies by having staff and personnel available to provide the legal support needed by various departments and elected officials.
While my initial expectation was how this could be used to support contracting, most of our legal expenses relate to human resource issues. That is certainly expected and needed for an organization of our size, but the opportunity to draw in other services such as project procurement, contracting, grant administration and project management are items to be discussed as this department takes shape. The goal is to create efficiencies and consistency with our approach to these issues. The initial request is to add staff to help create the organization and scope of this department. It is basically a request for new employees, so it was referred to the Personnel Committee before it is brought back to the Council for review and action. I expect to see this back on the agenda in May or June.
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The last item I want to bring up is regarding the Hamilton County Fairgrounds.
As mentioned in my previous column, I have provided a financial plan that can fund the first two phases of the project without any further impact to taxpayers using tax incremental financing (TIF). This would require building a new facility elsewhere and working with Noblesville on creating a TIF area to support relocation of the fairgrounds and redevelopment of the existing facility. This would be a heavy lift and take a lot of coordination among various involved parties. Initial thoughts were that this would create $52 million in proceeds to support the project and $15 million to support redevelopment. If you were to add in the $15 million the County has already obligated to the fairgrounds project, it would almost pay for the new facility in its entirety.
As I’ve said in the past, this is a hard decision for many as this option is only available if the fairgrounds were to move, but it does create funds to build out the fairgrounds as master planned with all the bells and whistles one would expect in Hamilton County.
This idea has created a lot of consternation among some in the community. On Wednesday, April 19, I met with another set of facility stakeholders, the Purdue Extension Office. This wide-ranging meeting discussed the financial benefit, but they expressed deep concern about relocating the facility. I told them that the Council is not the decisionmaker, and I am merely presenting an idea that would fund the project.
It has never been my desire to move the fairgrounds. We are just presenting financial solutions for a project that has a substantial funding gap of over $50 million to build out at the existing location.
Later that evening I was told that the Purdue Extension board had unanimously voted not to support the proposal even if the move was only a few miles away. I will continue to work with stakeholders, but as stated before, the Council has provided $15 million to support upgrades to the existing facility, and future phases have not been listed as priorities as we tackle issues related to public safety, public health, transportation, and other statutory needs.
If the 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. I welcome your questions at ken.alexannder@hamiltoncounty.in.gov.
Ken Alexander represents District 4 on the Hamilton County Council, which includes Adams and Washington townships, and part of Clay Township. He currently serves as the President of the County Council.