March madness is upon us but has already hit the Hamilton County Council in the tune of major project discussions. Our March meeting came early, and three key issues dominated the conversation.
First, there was a request by Hamilton County Tourism (HCT) to approve improvements to the County-owned building where they reside. Prior to COVID-19, HCT was contemplating the idea of selling the property and moving into a new facility. This renovation will be half the cost of a new building and be 100 percent financed out of HCT revenues with no impact on the County. This was an easy decision and we approved it 7-0.
The next two items involved a couple of highway projects that have been impacted by construction price escalation and work force shortages.
The Bell Ford bridge project bid above an allowable margin to award, and the highway department was seeking an additional $3 million to cover the updated budget before rebidding. The request was split in half and directed through Cumulative Capital Development (CCD) Highway and Motor Vehicle Highway (MVH). This project is scheduled to be rebid on March 15 by INDOT.
The other highway project of note was the 146th Street and Allisonville Road intersection which was bid in February but exceeded our budget. It was still within the allowable limits award, but Council needed to pledge additional funds to support the project. This request was for an additional $10 million from the Major Bridge Fund. Both items passed 7-0 but were discussed in great length and were a focus of both our Council Finance Committee and Highway Committee. Neither project has an immediate impact on our fiscal plan but does impact our ability to handle overruns on future projects.
It was important to be brief with a review of major Council meeting items because I want to use the lion’s share of this article to review our Council work session that we had prior to the regular March meeting. A work session is a public meeting that allows for more dialogue and discussion amongst the Council members. We had four topics on the agenda: the ratification of the Council Rules, a presentation by the Hamilton County 4-H Council regarding Phase 1 of the fairgrounds, a discussion of the 146th Street and Allisonville Road intersection bid results, and a review of items the Council would like to address during March 13 joint meeting of Commissioners and Council.
The Council rules discussion was procedural and does not need a great deal of recap. It is taking our processes and putting them on paper to better communicate how we do business.
The second item on the agenda was a presentation of the Hamilton County fairgrounds Phase 1. If you remember, back in September, the County Council presented an idea to relocate the fairgrounds and fund the development through a series of bonds tied to the tax increment that would be generated by the redevelopment of the existing fairgrounds. Ultimately, the Commissioners wanted to keep the fairgrounds at their current spot and sought $15 million from the Council with the direction that all other funding gaps had to be financed in an alternative way. The presentation we received asked for an additional $11 million to build out Phase 1. No decision was made and the only concern I had was in regard to members of a team responding to the fairgrounds RFP being a part of this presentation, which may create a conflict. I was told that this was a review of work already under contract and had no bearing on the future development RFP even though the ask was to fund that project.
The last item on the work session agenda was items for review at the joint meeting. Given the nature of the asks being made by the Commissioners to fund projects, our desire was to create a better tool for managing the financial impacts, commitments and future risks associated with our projects. As the fiduciary entity, our responsibility is to provide financial oversight and maintain strategies that support our County departments and statutory responsibilities. This is a task we take considerable pride in managing and may be the primary reason we have a AAA bond rating with the S&P, the only county in the state with that designation. The work session concluded, and I will share information regarding the discussions and decisions from the joint meeting in a separate column in the near future.
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.alexander@hamiltoncounty.in.gov.
As with every meeting, you can watch recordings or live stream meetings from our YouTube channel.
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.