The Terre Haute City Council voted Thursday to approve $14.35 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding for a variety of projects when it revisited an appropriation tabled at its previous meeting.
A downtown upgrade that would build two new hotels, an adjoining parking garage and a pair of skybridges held up the vote at last week’s meeting. ARPA money would contribute $3 million to the $69 million project, with $55 million coming from private investments.
Councilman Todd Nation decried the fact that the ground floor of the parking garage was not devoted totally to commercial businesses, which held up the vote at the previous meeting, but he moved to approve the measure Thursday evening. It passed by a 9-0 vote. Garage plans call for two retail spots on the ground floor.
Other items in the $14.35 appropriation included $3 million to constructing a railroad overpass at 13th Street and 8th Avenue, $4.5 million for upgrades to Rea and Herz-Rose Parks, $2 million for an upgrade to City Hall and $2 million for a Brown Avenue storm water project.
In other business, the council approved a number of appropriations for the Terre Haute Police Department. The first included $59,948 for drug training, prevention and education for the Drug Task Force and passed by an 8-0 vote. Councilwoman Amanda Thompson, a public defender who recently handled a case involving the Drug Task Force, abstained from the vote to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
The other three appropriations were entwined, using money from the proceeds of decommissioned police vehicles sold at auction to purchase new vehicles. Those measures each passed unanimously, 9-0.
A public alley from 1311 to 1317 Eagle St. was vacated at the behest of the new owner, Mark Sellers, representing God First Properties LLC. The alley had been covered in an untended overgrowth of grass before Sellers removed it in the interest of beautifying the neighborhood.
The council also approved a transfer of $2,000 in the City Clerk’s budget to pay for office supplies.
Appointing a new member to the Terre Haute Human Relations Commission was also on the agenda, as it had been postponed at the previous meeting. The Commission has seven members, four appointed by the mayor and three by the council.
Commission director Anne-Therese Ryan noted that city regulations dictate that only four members of a political party can serve on the Commission concurrently, meaning that given the four Democrats now on the commission, the empty seat must be filled by a Republican or Independent.
Earlier, the council had received seven applications for the seat, but none of them fulfilled the necessary requirements. Thompson and Councilmen Curtis DeBaun IV and Anthony Dinkel all questioned why political affiliation was a requirement for the Human Relations Commission, since no other city commission has a similar restriction.
They lamented that the previous seven applicants all seemed better qualified than the current applicants, suggesting the current rule could prevent the best candidates from serving on the commission. They referred the issue to committee in hopes of changing that rule and naming an appointment thereafter.
Ryan also informed the council that the Human Relations Commission would host a pair of community engagement meetings in collaboration with the Terre Haute 10 to discuss various education and employment issues affected by discrimination and intolerance. The meetings will be next Thursday and April 16 from 6-8 p.m. at the Booker T. Washington Community Center.
Mayor Brandon Sakbun told the council that he would soon be asking for ARPA money benefiting the Excel Center of West Central Indiana, a tuition-free school opening in August for adult students to earn high school diplomas and industry certifications. Excel Center is overseen by Wabash Valley Goodwill and Goodwill Workforce Enterprises.
