Speaker 1
Hello and welcome to ask the mayor on WFIU I'm Joe Hren in Terre Haute with Mayor Brandon Sakbun, hello and welcome. Thanks for being here.
Speaker 2
Yeah, no thank you for coming on down to Tara dice and I know you leave one university town for another. I hope you notice some of the blew up around here. Indiana State University is doing phenomenal. They're now the 23rd ranked team in the nation rose home and had another really good quarter and and their enrollment continues to do well and Ivy Tech's got some hopefully good expansion coming up. They just applied for some ready funds and of course St. Mary the woods again at record enrollment. So we take pride in our being a university town and we're improving that and I know being in Bloomington, you're always at one so now you got to start coming in here and you look great and believe
Speaker 1
right, thank you. You know, I didn't think of that today. I had this is it's my Indiana newsdesk blue. Yeah. It's also my ISU blue. So I'm glad you notice. It's all
Speaker 2
about branding. All right. And speaking of that, we had our first rally at the valley so I sponsored a kind of a, you know, beer garden family friendly as well rally for Indiana State University before one of their Saturday basketball games against Drake. Even some Drake fan showed up and had a good time. And we had several the Indiana State radio shows there and just promoting the community promoting the university. It was a sellout crowd. We've had multiple sellouts this year. And but here's what it does to the downtown businesses. I talk to a lot of our downtown business owners after big game days and check in and they're seeing great sales numbers that you know, normally they see those on homecoming, and we're seeing them on a Saturday in February. So really helping the city really, you know, seeing that boosts in the local economy and being a true community partner with Indiana State.
Speaker 1
Why don't you took a trip down the street here to the statehouse to for ISU day. Recently, you talked about partnering with the university for research, updating city ordinances, and I thought that was really interesting. Just some examples are information to share about what you mean by
Speaker 2
that? Absolutely. So you know, the easiest example is take the Human Relations Commission, right, they're charged with looking at discriminatory practices and housing, zoning code, as well as a plethora of other problems throughout city ordinances. And a lot of haven't been updated in decades, some almost 100 years. So who's going to sort through and read all of that and update each one, you know, you'd be doing it two to three a day. And we really partner with started a partnership with the University to look at portions of our city code and graduate students are very invested in it. And you know, you're kind of getting that free consulting, almost utilizing some of your university partners. And again, I'm very supportive of the university and really want that enrollment to go up and be a strong partner and help them out with downtown programming as well as you know, looking at infrastructure projects, looking at housing, whether that student housing, multifamily housing, or I mean, housing is a huge issue across the US your state right now that we're really tackling it on as well.
Speaker 1
You already mentioned this, but it's important to be up at the Statehouse for things like that because we just talked about ISU and how that that works with the town and gown and I know we have a new mayor in Bloomington too, and I'm sure she's working with IU. You're working with ISU that I am sure it's really important that yes, city and the university are really on the same page. They've
Speaker 2
got to be nested in Anna Yeah. Mayor Thompson former employees. I know they're very close. And, you know, we take that same approach here in Terre Haute, Indiana. I just bring strong community partners with our all of our large employers in town, not just Indiana State, right. That includes Union Hospital, Rose Holman, St. Mary the woods and just having that community presence in the statehouse. A lot of times you see legislation passed at the state level and you know, gonna be a little bit frustrating. You're like, hey, you know, folks, you got to come here, you got to live here, you got to experience that, just because our area code isn't 317 Or two, six, it's a little bit different here. And so sometimes you got to go to them and have some fun conversations.
Speaker 1
So I'm not sure if you have any new information on this, but I thought I just asked because a couple of weeks ago EPA approved that permit for the construction of that you know that controversial project to store carbon emissions underground Vigo and vermillion counties. Have you learned anything more anything new or residents still concerned? Residents
Speaker 2
are absolutely still concerned? And you know, yes, a lot are in the county or surrounding counties. But you know, I attend the legislative Cracker Barrel sessions and a lot do call the office and, you know, I do provide them the right contact information but I also take time to listen to their concerns and some of the research that they've done and so it's approved through through the EPA and we'll we'll likely see that project moving forward. And I know from mine site I look at what mitigation do we need to do on the site. At standpoint, do we have the right public services when it comes to police and fire and Lord forbid a tough incident happens? Are we prepared within the city to assist our county neighbors? Or if it spills into the city? Are we prepared for that? So that's kind of the boat that I'm in now. And I've had some private conversations with legislators about what they can do or where they can go next and always seeking feedback from them as well.
Speaker 1
So let's talk a little bit about the ARPA American rescue plan act a little bit more than is it 18 million. Is that right that you're looking at, we
Speaker 2
had about 34. So we've got 19 in the bank now, and we are getting really good interest on that as well. So it is a revenue producing account right now. So we unveiled about eight projects, the last city council meeting, and they range from, you know, infrastructure projects like an overpass over a railroad station to workforce development in a Goodwill Excel Center, you know, taking Hoosiers who need an adult education, high school diploma and getting them ready for the workforce. We've got childcare projects, instead of that we've got complete makeover as a parks like hertz, Rose Park and an array Park clubhouse. And, you know, and we're also bringing Indian American Water service to neighborhoods that haven't had it since they'd been annexed well over 20 years ago. Wow.
Speaker 1
And a lot of this, too, is you're leveraging those funds with federal and state grants. So they go far, too, but that's really important. Yes.
Speaker 2
And I'd spoke at that at the city council meeting, it's the concept of capital stacking and how I describe it as I can't stand streaming services, right, whether it's Netflix, ESPN plus, Paramount, I mean, the list is endless. So I do what many other Hoosiers do. And that's, you know, call a family relative, normally, my brother and I, and he gets one account, I get one account, and then we swap passwords. But that's how I see capital stacking, you have two people adding their buying power together to be able to make a larger purchase. So when we look, if you look at all of our projects, except for actually one, you we are getting state and additional federal dollars. On top of that one project alone is an eight to one investment. So you know, those are record breaking partnerships with taxpayer dollars, and folks have already paid their taxes in 2020 2021. And they're now at the local level. So how can we maximize that? And that's really the mindset there.
Speaker 1
This is why it takes a while to though, yeah, to get these going. So it's not like oh, the the money's there. Why isn't the street done tomorrow? There's a long process for this to go through there is
Speaker 2
Yeah, and you know, the funds have got to be obligated and then this year and then spend by 2026. So we are looking at is are our projects on time? How can we maximize the funds, and that takes time when you're working with other state, other federal agencies. And it is the way it goes with some of these larger projects. And then you have your local budget, your local dollars, and those can be to, I say short term projects, but the really projects that someone sees tomorrow, our community crossing street pavement program, we released that a couple of weeks ago, we put it all on the city website, you can go online to the city terahertz website, check Data Hub, and see all of our proposed street upgrades for the year. So we're just taking those dollars that go to effect a little bit quicker and showing taxpayers where the projects are going.
Speaker 1
You talked about in store for 2020 for the railroad overpass. Right. Yeah. That's coming up stormwater projects. Yeah. I think those seem like those were always in the works. But that's coming up to the stormwater
Speaker 2
project on brown goes to bed next month. Okay, the overpass goes to bed, the fall of 2025.
Speaker 1
Okay, okay. City Parks projects. We've talked a lot about it on the show. I know that's always been in the works to you just brought up the American Water Project $2 million there, which is really interesting to hear about. There are still pockets in the city that aren't getting city water.
Speaker 2
Absolutely. In this 2 million it does get us a large portion of the way there for the total city numbers. But it is just the start. And i The dream is for to create a pilot program so we can analyze additional neighborhoods and over time sequentially get to the other neighborhoods across the city of Terre Haute do not have access to Indiana, American Water.
Speaker 1
And then I think this is interesting too, with a child care facility. $1 million. When you think about all the new jobs coming in to Terre Haute, across the board, it's like the chicken and the egg what comes first because you want the jobs you need housing, childcare. I mean, it just goes on and on and on. So it's
Speaker 2
all about synchronization right. So when let's take interactives starting construction coming up 2026 2027 Well, that shot clocks on to get homes and facilities ready for 652 new Hoosiers new taxpaying families so I'm in taneous Lee of Saturn Petcare, Great Dane and some of our other companies that are adding expansion. You know, they're increasing their capabilities and in manufacturing. Okay, so do we have the upskill programs like a Goodwill Excel Center like Ivy Tech to to get folks into those current jobs that we already have before? 2027? Right. So you're always managing Alright, are we surging in housing? Which neighborhoods are we surging it? Well, we did a housing study turns out, we are short on housing across the board. And that's why we partnered with Thrive West Central to to unveil our housing plan, and we changed that plan. Now it used to be developers can apply for $245,000. If they're a company for five years or more, we've kind of created four programs outset, inside of that nonprofit carve out rehabilitation carve out and a newer builder carve out which is 150 instead of 250. And these funds are helping us get rid of vacant lots that you know, the city is really surging on that our redevelopment office has done well there. And we're just trying to rebuild the city of Terre Haute and really build it back better one block at a time.
Speaker 1
I also like the $500,000. For food deserts and something we don't hear a lot about. I wish media including US reported more about this. I know my hometown way back up in Northwest Indiana, used to have three grocery stores and now has none. So that's an important area to some cities really need to look at.
Speaker 2
We do and you know, does 500,000 solve the problem, Joe? Absolutely not. It does. It does get us moving in the right direction. So what I'm really concerned about is on top of a lack of grocery stores, we see in a city like Terre Haute, that median income level not be as high as it should be. We also see that 26% of kids in our city right now growing up in a one parent household. A large percentage of parents are working one to two, sometimes even three jobs to make ends meet. So it compounds it compounds and compounds. So I look at strong youth programming, working with the Board of Public Health to do some education on food, how to prepare it what to prepare proper diet, it's a multifaceted problem that 500,000 is not going to fix. But with the right synchronization, you can begin to make a dent in some of these figures or at least hold them where they're at.
Speaker 1
And this is interesting to about 2 million for City Hall. It's where we're at right now. I've been coming for years with previous administration. And and can tell it might need a little work but didn't realize how much it really does need. I mean, this is only 2 million of what 10 million needed. Yes,
Speaker 2
absolutely. And even in the slide presentation, which is on the city website, I share some of the pictures to show how bad it truthfully is no one parks in our garage, because it's caving in every time it rains, it floods on on equipment that's being used to manage millions of dollars for the city. So this $2 million, gets the roof upgraded, fix our age back, fix our electrical systems. It does have some good tax credits, tax savings, because it's an energy efficiency program. Not as much capital stacking as the other projects. But it's a good start. But you're right. I mean, that's some of these buildings, not just City Hall, but across the United States here in the Hoosier State were put up decades and decades ago and you know, operating costs, updating buildings, it does add up over time, so looking to make an adjustment on that.
Speaker 1
One more on this I wanted to get to as well. 3 million for a 14 million combined Hotel. So what's that money going for?
Speaker 2
So it's not just a hotel, but there are two hotels that will go up on the property. It also connects it to a nearby parking garage, as well as to other hotels through the desertrian skywalks. We've got a convention center here in Terre Haute and we are turning some folks away because we don't have the appropriate hotel space. So it satisfies that need. It takes a dilapidated office building and turns it into something else. There's also room for two first floor commercial retail opportunities there repurposing an old parking garage, it builds some pedestrian sky bridges for when it's cold. I mean, it's gonna look almost like a downtown Indianapolis are some of the improvements that a city like Columbus has done right here in Terre Haute, Indiana and it's addressing sidewalks addressing stormwater as well and it's not what you see sometimes right? It's underneath the ground or it's some enhancements here or there but it is a true public private partnership. The hotel rooms alone the revenue we expect to see there. It's a true win for the city of Terre Haute especially downtown. The downtown businesses are very supportive of it. The restaurants what little retail is left there right we're trying to get retail back and of course the bars are are interested there. They're always seeming to get more folks in the door. So
Speaker 1
Thrive West Central and the city county released an updated Vigo County homes for the Future program. Think we talked about this is a little bit the last time but maybe getting a little bit more about the details of what has changed now that that you've arrived Yes, it's
Speaker 2
briefly mentioned in the show, there's something I started working with them actually November 8 on it. Now, if you're a nonprofit, you can apply for funds if you're building or rehabilitating a home. So think of your Habitat for Humanity, your veteran's village, which is a small nonprofit here in the city of Terre Haute building tiny homes for veterans. And this covers the infrastructure costs hooking up to water, sidewalks, stormwater, and those programs are great because they fit in need in our community. We also have a rehabilitation program, not all homes should be torn down. I don't like tearing down homes, sometimes they're so old, the lead paint the asbestos that you have to. But if we can salvage what we have, if we can marry that history to modern day architecture and continue to grow and build the city, why would we not. So there's a program for builders to apply for that. And then we've broken down our residential builder category into two sections. If you're a company, you've been in business for five years or more, you can apply for about $245,000 worth of funds. If you're a newer company, five years or less building 10 homes and so that 10 to 15 range, you can apply for about $150,000. So we adjusted the program. And we are seeing a lot of applicants really strong applicants were rebuilding on vacant lot dilapidated properties. And I checked the building permit numbers and those are going up.
Speaker 1
So as we know, spending plans for the city budget are pretty much locked in for this year. They're they're made the year before, of course, you'll be working on next year's budget. Is there other any initiatives that are that you still need to carve things out this year that you're able to do or like how restrained are mayors or city council or city officials during the current year's budget? Well, it
Speaker 2
depends on the city. And it depends on the budget. You know, we do have some frustrating line items on our city budget, we do have a couple items that are in the negative. So although that general fund is up there, we've got to find ways to pay back some of this debt. So we're looking at creative solutions to that. And then we'll set our priorities in the 2025 budget. I'm very passionate about updating our infrastructure, creating a city that builders want to come build in whether that's commercial or residential, and a community that satisfies the needs of the locals who already lived. They're very passionate about quality of life. What does that mean? Can you walk to a park? Is it part clean? Is that part nice? Can you walk to a shopping area or downtown? What does that look like? So you'll see that our spending priorities match that we are looking to improve our transportation, we've got a couple new buses that are coming in, hopefully this spring, will repurpose some old buses, sell some old buses back and then look to use those funds for transportation. Outside of that we're always trying to make strong strong improvements to our parks system, the opportunities we have there. And then we got to improve our STREET DEPARTMENT those guys were working nonstop. They handled the what little snow we had very well. And they've got a great plan there. I just checked before I came in here. They're already had a dozen potholes for the day, but they're working hard. But again, it's cold season. So you can only do a cold patch instead of a hot patch. And I love learning and spending time with them and the work that they're doing. And we've got our long term control plan here to be finalized, hopefully soon with the wastewater department in engineering and we'll have to make some investments into our stormwater problem our combined sewage overflow problem and you know, the wastewater department is hard at work making sure that when you flush the toilet, things go well. I
Speaker 1
see you've started is it mingle with the mayor? Yeah, I'm keeping that February. Have you done one yet? Or first ones today? Today? Okay. Okay. I did start
Speaker 2
Mondays with the mayor. It's a bi weekly podcast on YouTube. The first episode I was with the street department in the second I did. Yeah, it was with Parks and Recreation. So we made a lot of jokes about it being like parks and rec but I went out to play disc golf, I walked around one of our parks and those are fun because we can highlight what Taro has to offer and we'll look to incorporate some businesses here in town some other elected leaders as well and really highlight what the city Terre Haute has to offer Hoosiers and Haitians alike.
Speaker 1
And keeping up with the mingle with the mayor gets you the opportunity to talk with residents and what's on their minds to
Speaker 2
which I love. Honestly, some of the changes that we've already made. We heard from constituents. Starting February 14, we'll have a new recycling center at the street department for city residents to go to we learned that that is the second center in the county and there's not one for county residents in the South. We're working on a third location with the county but for the time being I said, Well, you know what, come on in. You know, we're not going to turn you away while we get our third Senator up, you just come to the city center. So hearing those constituents hearing that feedback allow I was leaders to really adjust plates to meet the demands of the people, then you've got to lead through listening. And that's something I take a lot of pride in. And I stress to all of our city departments, our street sweepers, we are now adding like a water cleaning with fire hydrants and some water meters as well on top of just sweeping the streets. And that was good feedback from constituents. And we're incorporating that already. So again, that feedbacks really important.
Speaker 1
I know we're about done. I was like, leave the last minute tip for you. Any announcements? I think you said There's a new Is there a new recycling?
Speaker 2
They're in or going out? Yep. 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday at the street department here in the city of Terre Haute. And, you know, I, during these closing remarks, you see folks, they had the announcements, they kind of pushed their platform. I like to use them to be upfront and say, Hey, where are we fallen short. So we are falling short on mental health, not just here in Terre Haute, but across the state. I know that I'm analyzing the budget and looking for opportunities to improve the current social worker program. It's been very well received across the cities adding resources to that we are looking at adding providers for city employees to receive mental health treatment we got to right now but we always want to add another option for employees feel safe to feel comfortable having conversations about mental health. That's a sphere that I think we can always improve on whether it's a city, a county, a school corporation, a state, a nation, when it comes to animal control, we've improved some local ordinances. We're starting to do that to add to the capabilities of our code enforcement. But it's a rampant problem across our city that we're working to address and we haven't quite hit it as much as I'd like to have had the first two months but we've got we've got some time still, but we've got to keep improving that and we've got a new spayed, neutered facility opening up at the Humane Society here in the next couple of months. That should help kind of quell the problem that we're we're working strong with the nonprofit community and animal control. So yes, we've done well. First couple of months but a lot of room to always continue to improve and make our see that much of a better place. Thank
Unknown Speaker
you so much and hope to see in March Absolutely.
Speaker 2
I'm glad you're wearing sycamores month to hear they are the best team in the state of Indiana. They are I'll take that up with Coach Woods and coach and painter and coach Matt at Butler IU Purdue ISU is the best basketball team in the state of Indiana.
Unknown Speaker
Thank you. Thank you
Hello and welcome to ask the mayor on WFIU I'm Joe Hren in Terre Haute with Mayor Brandon Sakbun, hello and welcome. Thanks for being here.
Speaker 2
Yeah, no thank you for coming on down to Tara dice and I know you leave one university town for another. I hope you notice some of the blew up around here. Indiana State University is doing phenomenal. They're now the 23rd ranked team in the nation rose home and had another really good quarter and and their enrollment continues to do well and Ivy Tech's got some hopefully good expansion coming up. They just applied for some ready funds and of course St. Mary the woods again at record enrollment. So we take pride in our being a university town and we're improving that and I know being in Bloomington, you're always at one so now you got to start coming in here and you look great and believe
Speaker 1
right, thank you. You know, I didn't think of that today. I had this is it's my Indiana newsdesk blue. Yeah. It's also my ISU blue. So I'm glad you notice. It's all
Speaker 2
about branding. All right. And speaking of that, we had our first rally at the valley so I sponsored a kind of a, you know, beer garden family friendly as well rally for Indiana State University before one of their Saturday basketball games against Drake. Even some Drake fan showed up and had a good time. And we had several the Indiana State radio shows there and just promoting the community promoting the university. It was a sellout crowd. We've had multiple sellouts this year. And but here's what it does to the downtown businesses. I talk to a lot of our downtown business owners after big game days and check in and they're seeing great sales numbers that you know, normally they see those on homecoming, and we're seeing them on a Saturday in February. So really helping the city really, you know, seeing that boosts in the local economy and being a true community partner with Indiana State.
Speaker 1
Why don't you took a trip down the street here to the statehouse to for ISU day. Recently, you talked about partnering with the university for research, updating city ordinances, and I thought that was really interesting. Just some examples are information to share about what you mean by
Speaker 2
that? Absolutely. So you know, the easiest example is take the Human Relations Commission, right, they're charged with looking at discriminatory practices and housing, zoning code, as well as a plethora of other problems throughout city ordinances. And a lot of haven't been updated in decades, some almost 100 years. So who's going to sort through and read all of that and update each one, you know, you'd be doing it two to three a day. And we really partner with started a partnership with the University to look at portions of our city code and graduate students are very invested in it. And you know, you're kind of getting that free consulting, almost utilizing some of your university partners. And again, I'm very supportive of the university and really want that enrollment to go up and be a strong partner and help them out with downtown programming as well as you know, looking at infrastructure projects, looking at housing, whether that student housing, multifamily housing, or I mean, housing is a huge issue across the US your state right now that we're really tackling it on as well.
Speaker 1
You already mentioned this, but it's important to be up at the Statehouse for things like that because we just talked about ISU and how that that works with the town and gown and I know we have a new mayor in Bloomington too, and I'm sure she's working with IU. You're working with ISU that I am sure it's really important that yes, city and the university are really on the same page. They've
Speaker 2
got to be nested in Anna Yeah. Mayor Thompson former employees. I know they're very close. And, you know, we take that same approach here in Terre Haute, Indiana. I just bring strong community partners with our all of our large employers in town, not just Indiana State, right. That includes Union Hospital, Rose Holman, St. Mary the woods and just having that community presence in the statehouse. A lot of times you see legislation passed at the state level and you know, gonna be a little bit frustrating. You're like, hey, you know, folks, you got to come here, you got to live here, you got to experience that, just because our area code isn't 317 Or two, six, it's a little bit different here. And so sometimes you got to go to them and have some fun conversations.
Speaker 1
So I'm not sure if you have any new information on this, but I thought I just asked because a couple of weeks ago EPA approved that permit for the construction of that you know that controversial project to store carbon emissions underground Vigo and vermillion counties. Have you learned anything more anything new or residents still concerned? Residents
Speaker 2
are absolutely still concerned? And you know, yes, a lot are in the county or surrounding counties. But you know, I attend the legislative Cracker Barrel sessions and a lot do call the office and, you know, I do provide them the right contact information but I also take time to listen to their concerns and some of the research that they've done and so it's approved through through the EPA and we'll we'll likely see that project moving forward. And I know from mine site I look at what mitigation do we need to do on the site. At standpoint, do we have the right public services when it comes to police and fire and Lord forbid a tough incident happens? Are we prepared within the city to assist our county neighbors? Or if it spills into the city? Are we prepared for that? So that's kind of the boat that I'm in now. And I've had some private conversations with legislators about what they can do or where they can go next and always seeking feedback from them as well.
Speaker 1
So let's talk a little bit about the ARPA American rescue plan act a little bit more than is it 18 million. Is that right that you're looking at, we
Speaker 2
had about 34. So we've got 19 in the bank now, and we are getting really good interest on that as well. So it is a revenue producing account right now. So we unveiled about eight projects, the last city council meeting, and they range from, you know, infrastructure projects like an overpass over a railroad station to workforce development in a Goodwill Excel Center, you know, taking Hoosiers who need an adult education, high school diploma and getting them ready for the workforce. We've got childcare projects, instead of that we've got complete makeover as a parks like hertz, Rose Park and an array Park clubhouse. And, you know, and we're also bringing Indian American Water service to neighborhoods that haven't had it since they'd been annexed well over 20 years ago. Wow.
Speaker 1
And a lot of this, too, is you're leveraging those funds with federal and state grants. So they go far, too, but that's really important. Yes.
Speaker 2
And I'd spoke at that at the city council meeting, it's the concept of capital stacking and how I describe it as I can't stand streaming services, right, whether it's Netflix, ESPN plus, Paramount, I mean, the list is endless. So I do what many other Hoosiers do. And that's, you know, call a family relative, normally, my brother and I, and he gets one account, I get one account, and then we swap passwords. But that's how I see capital stacking, you have two people adding their buying power together to be able to make a larger purchase. So when we look, if you look at all of our projects, except for actually one, you we are getting state and additional federal dollars. On top of that one project alone is an eight to one investment. So you know, those are record breaking partnerships with taxpayer dollars, and folks have already paid their taxes in 2020 2021. And they're now at the local level. So how can we maximize that? And that's really the mindset there.
Speaker 1
This is why it takes a while to though, yeah, to get these going. So it's not like oh, the the money's there. Why isn't the street done tomorrow? There's a long process for this to go through there is
Speaker 2
Yeah, and you know, the funds have got to be obligated and then this year and then spend by 2026. So we are looking at is are our projects on time? How can we maximize the funds, and that takes time when you're working with other state, other federal agencies. And it is the way it goes with some of these larger projects. And then you have your local budget, your local dollars, and those can be to, I say short term projects, but the really projects that someone sees tomorrow, our community crossing street pavement program, we released that a couple of weeks ago, we put it all on the city website, you can go online to the city terahertz website, check Data Hub, and see all of our proposed street upgrades for the year. So we're just taking those dollars that go to effect a little bit quicker and showing taxpayers where the projects are going.
Speaker 1
You talked about in store for 2020 for the railroad overpass. Right. Yeah. That's coming up stormwater projects. Yeah. I think those seem like those were always in the works. But that's coming up to the stormwater
Speaker 2
project on brown goes to bed next month. Okay, the overpass goes to bed, the fall of 2025.
Speaker 1
Okay, okay. City Parks projects. We've talked a lot about it on the show. I know that's always been in the works to you just brought up the American Water Project $2 million there, which is really interesting to hear about. There are still pockets in the city that aren't getting city water.
Speaker 2
Absolutely. In this 2 million it does get us a large portion of the way there for the total city numbers. But it is just the start. And i The dream is for to create a pilot program so we can analyze additional neighborhoods and over time sequentially get to the other neighborhoods across the city of Terre Haute do not have access to Indiana, American Water.
Speaker 1
And then I think this is interesting too, with a child care facility. $1 million. When you think about all the new jobs coming in to Terre Haute, across the board, it's like the chicken and the egg what comes first because you want the jobs you need housing, childcare. I mean, it just goes on and on and on. So it's
Speaker 2
all about synchronization right. So when let's take interactives starting construction coming up 2026 2027 Well, that shot clocks on to get homes and facilities ready for 652 new Hoosiers new taxpaying families so I'm in taneous Lee of Saturn Petcare, Great Dane and some of our other companies that are adding expansion. You know, they're increasing their capabilities and in manufacturing. Okay, so do we have the upskill programs like a Goodwill Excel Center like Ivy Tech to to get folks into those current jobs that we already have before? 2027? Right. So you're always managing Alright, are we surging in housing? Which neighborhoods are we surging it? Well, we did a housing study turns out, we are short on housing across the board. And that's why we partnered with Thrive West Central to to unveil our housing plan, and we changed that plan. Now it used to be developers can apply for $245,000. If they're a company for five years or more, we've kind of created four programs outset, inside of that nonprofit carve out rehabilitation carve out and a newer builder carve out which is 150 instead of 250. And these funds are helping us get rid of vacant lots that you know, the city is really surging on that our redevelopment office has done well there. And we're just trying to rebuild the city of Terre Haute and really build it back better one block at a time.
Speaker 1
I also like the $500,000. For food deserts and something we don't hear a lot about. I wish media including US reported more about this. I know my hometown way back up in Northwest Indiana, used to have three grocery stores and now has none. So that's an important area to some cities really need to look at.
Speaker 2
We do and you know, does 500,000 solve the problem, Joe? Absolutely not. It does. It does get us moving in the right direction. So what I'm really concerned about is on top of a lack of grocery stores, we see in a city like Terre Haute, that median income level not be as high as it should be. We also see that 26% of kids in our city right now growing up in a one parent household. A large percentage of parents are working one to two, sometimes even three jobs to make ends meet. So it compounds it compounds and compounds. So I look at strong youth programming, working with the Board of Public Health to do some education on food, how to prepare it what to prepare proper diet, it's a multifaceted problem that 500,000 is not going to fix. But with the right synchronization, you can begin to make a dent in some of these figures or at least hold them where they're at.
Speaker 1
And this is interesting to about 2 million for City Hall. It's where we're at right now. I've been coming for years with previous administration. And and can tell it might need a little work but didn't realize how much it really does need. I mean, this is only 2 million of what 10 million needed. Yes,
Speaker 2
absolutely. And even in the slide presentation, which is on the city website, I share some of the pictures to show how bad it truthfully is no one parks in our garage, because it's caving in every time it rains, it floods on on equipment that's being used to manage millions of dollars for the city. So this $2 million, gets the roof upgraded, fix our age back, fix our electrical systems. It does have some good tax credits, tax savings, because it's an energy efficiency program. Not as much capital stacking as the other projects. But it's a good start. But you're right. I mean, that's some of these buildings, not just City Hall, but across the United States here in the Hoosier State were put up decades and decades ago and you know, operating costs, updating buildings, it does add up over time, so looking to make an adjustment on that.
Speaker 1
One more on this I wanted to get to as well. 3 million for a 14 million combined Hotel. So what's that money going for?
Speaker 2
So it's not just a hotel, but there are two hotels that will go up on the property. It also connects it to a nearby parking garage, as well as to other hotels through the desertrian skywalks. We've got a convention center here in Terre Haute and we are turning some folks away because we don't have the appropriate hotel space. So it satisfies that need. It takes a dilapidated office building and turns it into something else. There's also room for two first floor commercial retail opportunities there repurposing an old parking garage, it builds some pedestrian sky bridges for when it's cold. I mean, it's gonna look almost like a downtown Indianapolis are some of the improvements that a city like Columbus has done right here in Terre Haute, Indiana and it's addressing sidewalks addressing stormwater as well and it's not what you see sometimes right? It's underneath the ground or it's some enhancements here or there but it is a true public private partnership. The hotel rooms alone the revenue we expect to see there. It's a true win for the city of Terre Haute especially downtown. The downtown businesses are very supportive of it. The restaurants what little retail is left there right we're trying to get retail back and of course the bars are are interested there. They're always seeming to get more folks in the door. So
Speaker 1
Thrive West Central and the city county released an updated Vigo County homes for the Future program. Think we talked about this is a little bit the last time but maybe getting a little bit more about the details of what has changed now that that you've arrived Yes, it's
Speaker 2
briefly mentioned in the show, there's something I started working with them actually November 8 on it. Now, if you're a nonprofit, you can apply for funds if you're building or rehabilitating a home. So think of your Habitat for Humanity, your veteran's village, which is a small nonprofit here in the city of Terre Haute building tiny homes for veterans. And this covers the infrastructure costs hooking up to water, sidewalks, stormwater, and those programs are great because they fit in need in our community. We also have a rehabilitation program, not all homes should be torn down. I don't like tearing down homes, sometimes they're so old, the lead paint the asbestos that you have to. But if we can salvage what we have, if we can marry that history to modern day architecture and continue to grow and build the city, why would we not. So there's a program for builders to apply for that. And then we've broken down our residential builder category into two sections. If you're a company, you've been in business for five years or more, you can apply for about $245,000 worth of funds. If you're a newer company, five years or less building 10 homes and so that 10 to 15 range, you can apply for about $150,000. So we adjusted the program. And we are seeing a lot of applicants really strong applicants were rebuilding on vacant lot dilapidated properties. And I checked the building permit numbers and those are going up.
Speaker 1
So as we know, spending plans for the city budget are pretty much locked in for this year. They're they're made the year before, of course, you'll be working on next year's budget. Is there other any initiatives that are that you still need to carve things out this year that you're able to do or like how restrained are mayors or city council or city officials during the current year's budget? Well, it
Speaker 2
depends on the city. And it depends on the budget. You know, we do have some frustrating line items on our city budget, we do have a couple items that are in the negative. So although that general fund is up there, we've got to find ways to pay back some of this debt. So we're looking at creative solutions to that. And then we'll set our priorities in the 2025 budget. I'm very passionate about updating our infrastructure, creating a city that builders want to come build in whether that's commercial or residential, and a community that satisfies the needs of the locals who already lived. They're very passionate about quality of life. What does that mean? Can you walk to a park? Is it part clean? Is that part nice? Can you walk to a shopping area or downtown? What does that look like? So you'll see that our spending priorities match that we are looking to improve our transportation, we've got a couple new buses that are coming in, hopefully this spring, will repurpose some old buses, sell some old buses back and then look to use those funds for transportation. Outside of that we're always trying to make strong strong improvements to our parks system, the opportunities we have there. And then we got to improve our STREET DEPARTMENT those guys were working nonstop. They handled the what little snow we had very well. And they've got a great plan there. I just checked before I came in here. They're already had a dozen potholes for the day, but they're working hard. But again, it's cold season. So you can only do a cold patch instead of a hot patch. And I love learning and spending time with them and the work that they're doing. And we've got our long term control plan here to be finalized, hopefully soon with the wastewater department in engineering and we'll have to make some investments into our stormwater problem our combined sewage overflow problem and you know, the wastewater department is hard at work making sure that when you flush the toilet, things go well. I
Speaker 1
see you've started is it mingle with the mayor? Yeah, I'm keeping that February. Have you done one yet? Or first ones today? Today? Okay. Okay. I did start
Speaker 2
Mondays with the mayor. It's a bi weekly podcast on YouTube. The first episode I was with the street department in the second I did. Yeah, it was with Parks and Recreation. So we made a lot of jokes about it being like parks and rec but I went out to play disc golf, I walked around one of our parks and those are fun because we can highlight what Taro has to offer and we'll look to incorporate some businesses here in town some other elected leaders as well and really highlight what the city Terre Haute has to offer Hoosiers and Haitians alike.
Speaker 1
And keeping up with the mingle with the mayor gets you the opportunity to talk with residents and what's on their minds to
Speaker 2
which I love. Honestly, some of the changes that we've already made. We heard from constituents. Starting February 14, we'll have a new recycling center at the street department for city residents to go to we learned that that is the second center in the county and there's not one for county residents in the South. We're working on a third location with the county but for the time being I said, Well, you know what, come on in. You know, we're not going to turn you away while we get our third Senator up, you just come to the city center. So hearing those constituents hearing that feedback allow I was leaders to really adjust plates to meet the demands of the people, then you've got to lead through listening. And that's something I take a lot of pride in. And I stress to all of our city departments, our street sweepers, we are now adding like a water cleaning with fire hydrants and some water meters as well on top of just sweeping the streets. And that was good feedback from constituents. And we're incorporating that already. So again, that feedbacks really important.
Speaker 1
I know we're about done. I was like, leave the last minute tip for you. Any announcements? I think you said There's a new Is there a new recycling?
Speaker 2
They're in or going out? Yep. 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday at the street department here in the city of Terre Haute. And, you know, I, during these closing remarks, you see folks, they had the announcements, they kind of pushed their platform. I like to use them to be upfront and say, Hey, where are we fallen short. So we are falling short on mental health, not just here in Terre Haute, but across the state. I know that I'm analyzing the budget and looking for opportunities to improve the current social worker program. It's been very well received across the cities adding resources to that we are looking at adding providers for city employees to receive mental health treatment we got to right now but we always want to add another option for employees feel safe to feel comfortable having conversations about mental health. That's a sphere that I think we can always improve on whether it's a city, a county, a school corporation, a state, a nation, when it comes to animal control, we've improved some local ordinances. We're starting to do that to add to the capabilities of our code enforcement. But it's a rampant problem across our city that we're working to address and we haven't quite hit it as much as I'd like to have had the first two months but we've got we've got some time still, but we've got to keep improving that and we've got a new spayed, neutered facility opening up at the Humane Society here in the next couple of months. That should help kind of quell the problem that we're we're working strong with the nonprofit community and animal control. So yes, we've done well. First couple of months but a lot of room to always continue to improve and make our see that much of a better place. Thank
Unknown Speaker
you so much and hope to see in March Absolutely.
Speaker 2
I'm glad you're wearing sycamores month to hear they are the best team in the state of Indiana. They are I'll take that up with Coach Woods and coach and painter and coach Matt at Butler IU Purdue ISU is the best basketball team in the state of Indiana.
Unknown Speaker
Thank you. Thank you
