Speaker 1
Hello. And welcome to ask the mayor on WFIU. I'm Joe Hren. This week we're back in Terre Haute with Mayor Brandon Sakbun. But Hello, welcome to the show. Thanks for having us.
Unknown Speaker
How are you doing?
Unknown Speaker
I'm doing well. How are you well?
Speaker 2
I'm doing okay. I can't imagine how difficult it is to cover multiple mayors this time of the year with the budget construction season. You know, still going. So I just, I'm sure there's a lot going on around the state. Oh,
Speaker 1
yeah. And I hear budget hearings are just getting started this week here in Terre Haute, they are, yeah. Are you ready to go?
Speaker 2
I think so we gotta, you know, we've got a good budget. We're not gonna take on any debt next year, which is a good change for Terre Haute, Indiana. We do need to get going on some sewage and storm water projects that, as I'm sure every mayor has lamented to you, EPA and federal standards. Those have been around for a couple of decades, right? And we really need to get going on those here in Terre Haute. So our proposed budgets 127 million, excluding some redevelopment funds, but focused on wastewater sanitation the city. 120 7 million in expenses. Of course, we never get 100% on expenses and 115 million in revenue. Lot of folks ask, Well, wait, where's that 12 million coming from? It is a cash balance within our Sanitary District and within our edit fund, economic development income tax fund to start and finish some longer projects that had been previously been started. So you're balancing, you know, brown stormwater project, which I know you've covered, that's about to start construction. So that bill's coming up. We've got to upgrade some main lift stations. So little bit of everything is starting to come and hit us in terms of infrastructure. We do think in 2026 those numbers will stabilize a little bit better. Thankfully, though, you know that casinos opening up, those numbers are coming in. We are looking forward to more demolition, removing some older homes that nobody wants to invest in, and they've already cleared through billing inspection, notice of the owner, tax sale, and getting some new homes built on city owned lots, and our housing productions through the roof. But as you also know, those don't get assessed till next year, and we won't see some of that growth financially for another year and a half.
Speaker 1
Let me just really check, make sure. I just, I'm sure it's fine, but
Unknown Speaker
there we go, good,
Speaker 1
yep, and I'm sure that was fine. I just, you know, get nervous. Yeah, I drove all the way here, and I will edit that out, so I'm just gonna keep going with follow up here. So you were talking about, you know, cash balances. So just to be clear with that, does that leave any cash balance for next year, or is this kind of like instilling a budget that will need to find other revenue next year.
Speaker 2
So that's a good question for the first answer, there is still a cash balance in the Sanitary District. We will continue to invest from the Sanitary District over the next three years a public utility like sewage. We are not, you know, Duke Energy or center point or Indian American Water. We are not in this to get profit. So the money that we do get that covers expenses needs to be reinvested back in the community in a smart, deliberate way. What we do know is our long term control plan, which is our 25 to 30 year plan to update sewage and storm water within our community. That's a $300 million price tag. But before we start looking at any sort of long term financing, we are going to use a cash balance to get started and show some progress towards that. Secondly, every community has got to evaluate the revenue sources, the property tax caps they're good on, you know, some homeowners are saving and there's a cap, and then they do inhibit local growth for some communities, not every community, that is just kind of how the formula affects. Communities like Terre Haute that aren't hitting that five 6% growth. We had a 3.7% growth rate this year, but, you know, we're not quite at that five to 6% so it's an interesting challenge. There are some creative ways capital stacking, looking at state and federal programs are out there, really combining public private partnerships, and the goal is to increase population and increase median income. To do that, it takes quality of life investments. Place, making infrastructure, workforce development, and you got a lot of different irons in the fire, but I think the answer should be yes to both of those. Honestly, does the casino help? Yes, but can you bank for long term casino funding? So those are the interesting problem sets presented to local government. So
Speaker 1
that's something I think the last couple months, I just heard you bring up a couple times, yes, casino, casino, casino funds. Do you know how much you're getting when that's going to come in?
Speaker 2
We have an account of what we've gotten through last August. That being said. You know, when you look across the nation, you know some of the what the syntax, right? The si n syntax, not the Pythagorean Theorem, but different individuals in different communities partake in different activities, and then ebbs and flows, as the economy does so your 2025 projection might not be your 2026 projection, and that might not be your 2027 projection. So figuring out what projects you're going to fund from that can always be an interesting problem set. What we are looking to do is some sidewalk improvement, a lot of parks improvement. We are looking to purchase some equipment for city employees to make them more efficient on the job and help them out, because some of these departments have been working with equipment that is older than you or I, but we're also looking at investing in our YMCA in partnership with hopefully a Lilly Foundation grant. We are looking at starting to address the Deming Park pool. And those are problems that every mayor has had since before I've been born, right? And these are really good opportunities to begin to dabble into some of those projects, but also use that cash on projects that are completed within one year. Balancing Act.
Speaker 1
So just speaking of casino we haven't talked about in a few months. Obviously, it just opened earlier this year. Any indication about how it's going over there, I assume, obviously, when something new opens, it's the headlines the big deal. Everybody wants to check it out. You know, it might kind of decrease just a little bit as things kind of pan out. How's it going?
Speaker 2
So from a food and beverage and hotel tax perspective, they are doing well. From a gaming tax perspective, they are doing well. And we see, I mean, the cars, it's always packed. So that's good. I'd love to see more business on the east side. We do have several developers that are building on the east side in the next couple of months, some more commercial and dining opportunities along State Road 46 what I would like to see is, you know, our vision for not just the east side of Terre Haute, but Terre Haute at large is when we talk about place making. How can we integrate opportunities for youth sports within sports tourism? Right? Our universities are doing well in sports tourism. We're blessed to have the Special Olympics, we have rec baseball, but for kids 18 and under, we don't quite have some of those sports facilities like other communities our size. And how do you leverage that opportunity in an area along the east side where you have some natural growth. How do you make sure downtown is revitalizing? I'm sure you've reported on the hotel project. We are going to take down the old jail that's downtown along Wabash and then advertise that site through an RFP process to redevelop it into a multi use building. So you're seeing activity downtown, you're seeing activity on the east side. We're not going to hit everything, right? And it's all about prioritization. But you know what funding, limited funding you do have. The vision is to see more than just a casino along State Road 46
Speaker 1
What about the infrastructure over there about the casino the east side. I mean, is it up to speed in terms of, you know, increased traffic, water, sewer, all that.
Speaker 2
So in our opinion, no, and that's exactly why we are proposing to build a road called New Margaret. That road is currently getting designed that'll be funded off of the casinos property taxes, through a bond, and that's going to open out another Ingress, egress route along the back, kind of backside of the casino, but also help with traffic flow, and it brings utilities to a lot of those green fields. So it's it's going to help developers in the long run, it's definitely going to help the community with traffic flow. And it really just hits kind of multi multiple multiple problems at once, with one road project, of course, bringing more utilities along the east side.
Speaker 1
So I see the city council just recently allocated, was it ARPA funds with 14 million in total, I believe 3 million for a new downtown hotel complex. And I know this is something mayor, former mayor Duke Bennett, talked about, yeah, more parking, the convention center not being utilized to its fullest. But when people think, Oh, the city, is the city giving $3 million to a hotel developer?
Speaker 2
Really good question. So that project all started with ready one point out, right? And when the state allocates ready funds, you know, it expects. A return on investment, and that project was delayed a little bit. It should have been passed, honestly, a year and a half, two years ago, different kind of frustrations emerge. And long story short, we said, hey, look, we got to get this project off the goal line. It's got a potential to be a $70 million investment, and bringing, you know, more hotel rooms plus first floor commercial opportunities to downtown. Refurbishes. Refurbishes, a parking garage has not one but two pedestrian bridges connecting different elements of our downtown. It's a good project in the long run for our community. We're looking forward to it, but also in that American rescue plan act, funding that was passed, I believe, in March or April. Brown stormwater project, the 13th and eighth overpass that you've you know, followed since its inception, not to mention sidewalk projects. We gave money to small businesses and nonprofits through the local United Way, allowing entrepreneurs a chance to apply for some of those federal funds we've helped our park system. Hertz rose Park, Ray Park, is going to go from just a golf course to a true community park, following a five to 10 year master plan. So all those dollars are really being leveraged. They've got strong match from other groups, non profit for profit entities really pursuing that public private partnership, capital stacking mindset.
Speaker 1
And just another quick update too, on that. Just now, as time has gone on, things are happening. I think I see there's some work being done to City Hall. And was there a couple million funds to
Speaker 2
Yeah, so, you know, the building is almost 100 years old now, and we are doing phase one, which is the roof, some HVAC and electric. It does set the conditions for future renovations of the building. We've got some city employees working in conditions that are just not ideal. We do want to rectify that and address that. Of course, financing will definitely be a hurdle that we'll need to cross. But yes, some work is being done to City Hall. It's been badly needed for a while. It's been a good construction season for Terre Haute, Indiana, our residential and commercial building permit data clearly shows that we are seeing increases, lots of permits being pulled, lots of construction that you can see just driving around town. The goal is to maintain that for several years to come. You
Speaker 1
know, I just did a story about Dora districts with Columbus Mayor last week and Mary ferdon, and I just see that Terre Haute is also looking at that. For those who don't know, it's kind of like an open carry district. It's a good word. You can describe it, purchase an alcoholic beverage, of course, of age, yes, and kind of move around. So can you give us a little bit more information about what Terre Haute is looking for there?
Speaker 2
So we presented this opportunity to downtown Terre Haute. It's a 501, c4, through our chamber of commerce of downtown businesses. And I was very clear. I said, if you think this would be a good idea, with all the outdoor festivals that we have, as well as your businesses. Should we pursue it? Lot of buy in from the private sector, and that's really what pushed me to begin crafting the legislation. We've got a draft or a map. We have plans to bring it to the city council in November, with a start date of January 1, 2025 we did not want to start this year only, you know, we've got Indiana State homecoming, a lot of outdoor events already planned, and it kind of creates confusion if you start something in the middle of the year, unless it's absolutely required. So our plan is to start next year.
Speaker 1
Is there any, you know, feedback, pushback, especially, you know, being college town drinking environment?
Speaker 2
Well, we are very specific on the areas that we encompassed in the map, so it's mostly our downtown and the brewery district, but you know, again, folks have got to make the adult decision to partake in that activity in a safe and responsible manner if you do not do that, and that's why we have local law enforcement. We're confident that this will be a good positive for the community.
Speaker 1
So have to get your feedback on a news article I just read about the Federal Trade Commission saying it's urging the Indiana Department of Health to deny the merger of union health and the Terre Haute Regional Hospital. They claim the merger could lead to higher costs, declining health care, lower wages. You've been quoted report, I think we talked about this a few months ago too, when this was in the news that you know you were in support of the merger,
Speaker 2
yes. And you know, we usually do see that the FTC does issue a similar opinion for most medical mergers. But it's important to know that is why the state legislator passed the Copa to have clear guardrails established for price increases at the end of the day. There was not interest in other hospitals to purchase regional and this was the deal that was presented to keep multiple, not multiple hospitals, but multiple medical facilities under one umbrella functioning. And you know, we'll let the state give it a look, and if they need to go back and try to find more buyers. And that's. On the private sector and them to negotiate, but at the end of the day, this was the option that was presented to us. I wish the medical community the best, and certainly hope there's a way to come out with a deal on top to hopefully bring more high paying jobs and investments to our community and union health is not stopping their growth.
Speaker 1
City tourism, yeah, reporting up 18% from a year ago. Of course, there's so much in this past year. We talked about the convention center, the new Larry Bird Museum, the new casino. I mean, this is kind of unprecedented. I think in many cities that that much has happened within a year,
Speaker 2
not to mention Laverne Gibson cross country course, which continues to bring in 1000s of athletes to our community. Of course, strong university sports definitely helps. Not but we've got the mill right a concert venue. They've had ludicrous this year. They had T PAIN last year. They've had several country artists that I cannot name because I'm not the biggest country music fan, no. But overall, Joe, we've had some remarkable opportunities to highlight the community of not just Terre Haute Indiana. Let me be clear here, we always try to market West Central Indiana at large. We love it when folks from Sullivan come up. And I enjoy going to Sullivan, where JD Wilson is the mayor. Brazil has good opportunities to offer, as does rockville, rockville Park County, and just really showcasing that West Central Indiana is a growing region within the state. Tourism numbers are good. You've seen multiple companies sign to relocate to the Wabash Valley or expand, some within city limits, some in the county and some in surrounding counties. The bottom line is, you know, our region recognizes that we've got a lot of work to do when it comes to relationships with the IEDC, the ready process. You know, our own personal investments into our community. But what these numbers also shows that West Central Indiana continues to improve and is ready to see, you know, new leadership and a new chapter in the state of Indiana. So
Speaker 1
before we go, I know the city was looking for interested well water residents to switch to city water in Indiana,
Speaker 2
American Water. City Water American Yes, okay, okay. It's a privately owned utility, but, but it serves the whole serves most of the city.
Speaker 1
Yeah. Okay, okay. What kind of results to that? Is it too early to say, well, we got
Speaker 2
a couple of good mini projects within the pilot program, so there are some opportunities, and other residents opted out, and that's completely okay. You know, at local government, we said, look, we've got this funding opportunity. Do you guys want to opt in? Here are the benefits, and at the end of the day, it was their ultimate decision that being said, you know that we won't use the $2 million appropriated for that project. It'll be a little bit less. And so now we got to find some opportunities for the remaining ARPA funds that have got to be allocated by the end of December 31 this year. Good, good problem to have, right? You know, we we had this, what we thought was a solution for a neighborhood. Some residents took us up on it, but not everyone. So let's find ways to repurpose those dollars and continue to grow Terre Haute, Indiana. And
Speaker 1
that was one neighborhood. It was a terror town. And what about the rest of it's pretty much the rest of the city on American Water. There
Speaker 2
are a few pockets, yes, but you know the program that the state legislator passed and in partnership with Indiana American Water. You really have to have dense neighborhoods to be able to pull this program off. So that's a little bit of a limiter. Yeah.
Speaker 1
Hey, thank you so much. But before we go, we always like to have the last minute with the mayor. Like, what else you have any announcements, anything else you want everybody know
Speaker 2
about? You know, one really want to highlight our four universities. I mean, Ivy, tech st, Mary of the woods continue to be strong. We look forward to this upcoming legislative session and some opportunities for all four of our universities. Indiana State Universities started a huge renovation their technology building, as well as some other buildings on campus, their graduate student number increased, right? Yes. Did they lose a few undergraduate numbers that they did, but with a new president coming in, several new Board of Trustee members, we look forward to see what they do next, and remain in close conversations on how the city of Terre Haute can assist Indiana State University. Rose Holman Institute of Technology, had record enrollment, and as we touched on earlier in the show, the rose Holman Venture Program in partnership with Union health truly shows what we can accomplish when we work in collaboration instead of rowing separate directions. One of the biggest, biggest, biggest assets to not just our community, but West Central Indiana is these four institutes of higher education, and I look forward to seeing what 2025 and beyond has in store for them.
Unknown Speaker
Thank you so much. Hope to see in October. Thank
Unknown Speaker
you.
Hello. And welcome to ask the mayor on WFIU. I'm Joe Hren. This week we're back in Terre Haute with Mayor Brandon Sakbun. But Hello, welcome to the show. Thanks for having us.
Unknown Speaker
How are you doing?
Unknown Speaker
I'm doing well. How are you well?
Speaker 2
I'm doing okay. I can't imagine how difficult it is to cover multiple mayors this time of the year with the budget construction season. You know, still going. So I just, I'm sure there's a lot going on around the state. Oh,
Speaker 1
yeah. And I hear budget hearings are just getting started this week here in Terre Haute, they are, yeah. Are you ready to go?
Speaker 2
I think so we gotta, you know, we've got a good budget. We're not gonna take on any debt next year, which is a good change for Terre Haute, Indiana. We do need to get going on some sewage and storm water projects that, as I'm sure every mayor has lamented to you, EPA and federal standards. Those have been around for a couple of decades, right? And we really need to get going on those here in Terre Haute. So our proposed budgets 127 million, excluding some redevelopment funds, but focused on wastewater sanitation the city. 120 7 million in expenses. Of course, we never get 100% on expenses and 115 million in revenue. Lot of folks ask, Well, wait, where's that 12 million coming from? It is a cash balance within our Sanitary District and within our edit fund, economic development income tax fund to start and finish some longer projects that had been previously been started. So you're balancing, you know, brown stormwater project, which I know you've covered, that's about to start construction. So that bill's coming up. We've got to upgrade some main lift stations. So little bit of everything is starting to come and hit us in terms of infrastructure. We do think in 2026 those numbers will stabilize a little bit better. Thankfully, though, you know that casinos opening up, those numbers are coming in. We are looking forward to more demolition, removing some older homes that nobody wants to invest in, and they've already cleared through billing inspection, notice of the owner, tax sale, and getting some new homes built on city owned lots, and our housing productions through the roof. But as you also know, those don't get assessed till next year, and we won't see some of that growth financially for another year and a half.
Speaker 1
Let me just really check, make sure. I just, I'm sure it's fine, but
Unknown Speaker
there we go, good,
Speaker 1
yep, and I'm sure that was fine. I just, you know, get nervous. Yeah, I drove all the way here, and I will edit that out, so I'm just gonna keep going with follow up here. So you were talking about, you know, cash balances. So just to be clear with that, does that leave any cash balance for next year, or is this kind of like instilling a budget that will need to find other revenue next year.
Speaker 2
So that's a good question for the first answer, there is still a cash balance in the Sanitary District. We will continue to invest from the Sanitary District over the next three years a public utility like sewage. We are not, you know, Duke Energy or center point or Indian American Water. We are not in this to get profit. So the money that we do get that covers expenses needs to be reinvested back in the community in a smart, deliberate way. What we do know is our long term control plan, which is our 25 to 30 year plan to update sewage and storm water within our community. That's a $300 million price tag. But before we start looking at any sort of long term financing, we are going to use a cash balance to get started and show some progress towards that. Secondly, every community has got to evaluate the revenue sources, the property tax caps they're good on, you know, some homeowners are saving and there's a cap, and then they do inhibit local growth for some communities, not every community, that is just kind of how the formula affects. Communities like Terre Haute that aren't hitting that five 6% growth. We had a 3.7% growth rate this year, but, you know, we're not quite at that five to 6% so it's an interesting challenge. There are some creative ways capital stacking, looking at state and federal programs are out there, really combining public private partnerships, and the goal is to increase population and increase median income. To do that, it takes quality of life investments. Place, making infrastructure, workforce development, and you got a lot of different irons in the fire, but I think the answer should be yes to both of those. Honestly, does the casino help? Yes, but can you bank for long term casino funding? So those are the interesting problem sets presented to local government. So
Speaker 1
that's something I think the last couple months, I just heard you bring up a couple times, yes, casino, casino, casino funds. Do you know how much you're getting when that's going to come in?
Speaker 2
We have an account of what we've gotten through last August. That being said. You know, when you look across the nation, you know some of the what the syntax, right? The si n syntax, not the Pythagorean Theorem, but different individuals in different communities partake in different activities, and then ebbs and flows, as the economy does so your 2025 projection might not be your 2026 projection, and that might not be your 2027 projection. So figuring out what projects you're going to fund from that can always be an interesting problem set. What we are looking to do is some sidewalk improvement, a lot of parks improvement. We are looking to purchase some equipment for city employees to make them more efficient on the job and help them out, because some of these departments have been working with equipment that is older than you or I, but we're also looking at investing in our YMCA in partnership with hopefully a Lilly Foundation grant. We are looking at starting to address the Deming Park pool. And those are problems that every mayor has had since before I've been born, right? And these are really good opportunities to begin to dabble into some of those projects, but also use that cash on projects that are completed within one year. Balancing Act.
Speaker 1
So just speaking of casino we haven't talked about in a few months. Obviously, it just opened earlier this year. Any indication about how it's going over there, I assume, obviously, when something new opens, it's the headlines the big deal. Everybody wants to check it out. You know, it might kind of decrease just a little bit as things kind of pan out. How's it going?
Speaker 2
So from a food and beverage and hotel tax perspective, they are doing well. From a gaming tax perspective, they are doing well. And we see, I mean, the cars, it's always packed. So that's good. I'd love to see more business on the east side. We do have several developers that are building on the east side in the next couple of months, some more commercial and dining opportunities along State Road 46 what I would like to see is, you know, our vision for not just the east side of Terre Haute, but Terre Haute at large is when we talk about place making. How can we integrate opportunities for youth sports within sports tourism? Right? Our universities are doing well in sports tourism. We're blessed to have the Special Olympics, we have rec baseball, but for kids 18 and under, we don't quite have some of those sports facilities like other communities our size. And how do you leverage that opportunity in an area along the east side where you have some natural growth. How do you make sure downtown is revitalizing? I'm sure you've reported on the hotel project. We are going to take down the old jail that's downtown along Wabash and then advertise that site through an RFP process to redevelop it into a multi use building. So you're seeing activity downtown, you're seeing activity on the east side. We're not going to hit everything, right? And it's all about prioritization. But you know what funding, limited funding you do have. The vision is to see more than just a casino along State Road 46
Speaker 1
What about the infrastructure over there about the casino the east side. I mean, is it up to speed in terms of, you know, increased traffic, water, sewer, all that.
Speaker 2
So in our opinion, no, and that's exactly why we are proposing to build a road called New Margaret. That road is currently getting designed that'll be funded off of the casinos property taxes, through a bond, and that's going to open out another Ingress, egress route along the back, kind of backside of the casino, but also help with traffic flow, and it brings utilities to a lot of those green fields. So it's it's going to help developers in the long run, it's definitely going to help the community with traffic flow. And it really just hits kind of multi multiple multiple problems at once, with one road project, of course, bringing more utilities along the east side.
Speaker 1
So I see the city council just recently allocated, was it ARPA funds with 14 million in total, I believe 3 million for a new downtown hotel complex. And I know this is something mayor, former mayor Duke Bennett, talked about, yeah, more parking, the convention center not being utilized to its fullest. But when people think, Oh, the city, is the city giving $3 million to a hotel developer?
Speaker 2
Really good question. So that project all started with ready one point out, right? And when the state allocates ready funds, you know, it expects. A return on investment, and that project was delayed a little bit. It should have been passed, honestly, a year and a half, two years ago, different kind of frustrations emerge. And long story short, we said, hey, look, we got to get this project off the goal line. It's got a potential to be a $70 million investment, and bringing, you know, more hotel rooms plus first floor commercial opportunities to downtown. Refurbishes. Refurbishes, a parking garage has not one but two pedestrian bridges connecting different elements of our downtown. It's a good project in the long run for our community. We're looking forward to it, but also in that American rescue plan act, funding that was passed, I believe, in March or April. Brown stormwater project, the 13th and eighth overpass that you've you know, followed since its inception, not to mention sidewalk projects. We gave money to small businesses and nonprofits through the local United Way, allowing entrepreneurs a chance to apply for some of those federal funds we've helped our park system. Hertz rose Park, Ray Park, is going to go from just a golf course to a true community park, following a five to 10 year master plan. So all those dollars are really being leveraged. They've got strong match from other groups, non profit for profit entities really pursuing that public private partnership, capital stacking mindset.
Speaker 1
And just another quick update too, on that. Just now, as time has gone on, things are happening. I think I see there's some work being done to City Hall. And was there a couple million funds to
Speaker 2
Yeah, so, you know, the building is almost 100 years old now, and we are doing phase one, which is the roof, some HVAC and electric. It does set the conditions for future renovations of the building. We've got some city employees working in conditions that are just not ideal. We do want to rectify that and address that. Of course, financing will definitely be a hurdle that we'll need to cross. But yes, some work is being done to City Hall. It's been badly needed for a while. It's been a good construction season for Terre Haute, Indiana, our residential and commercial building permit data clearly shows that we are seeing increases, lots of permits being pulled, lots of construction that you can see just driving around town. The goal is to maintain that for several years to come. You
Speaker 1
know, I just did a story about Dora districts with Columbus Mayor last week and Mary ferdon, and I just see that Terre Haute is also looking at that. For those who don't know, it's kind of like an open carry district. It's a good word. You can describe it, purchase an alcoholic beverage, of course, of age, yes, and kind of move around. So can you give us a little bit more information about what Terre Haute is looking for there?
Speaker 2
So we presented this opportunity to downtown Terre Haute. It's a 501, c4, through our chamber of commerce of downtown businesses. And I was very clear. I said, if you think this would be a good idea, with all the outdoor festivals that we have, as well as your businesses. Should we pursue it? Lot of buy in from the private sector, and that's really what pushed me to begin crafting the legislation. We've got a draft or a map. We have plans to bring it to the city council in November, with a start date of January 1, 2025 we did not want to start this year only, you know, we've got Indiana State homecoming, a lot of outdoor events already planned, and it kind of creates confusion if you start something in the middle of the year, unless it's absolutely required. So our plan is to start next year.
Speaker 1
Is there any, you know, feedback, pushback, especially, you know, being college town drinking environment?
Speaker 2
Well, we are very specific on the areas that we encompassed in the map, so it's mostly our downtown and the brewery district, but you know, again, folks have got to make the adult decision to partake in that activity in a safe and responsible manner if you do not do that, and that's why we have local law enforcement. We're confident that this will be a good positive for the community.
Speaker 1
So have to get your feedback on a news article I just read about the Federal Trade Commission saying it's urging the Indiana Department of Health to deny the merger of union health and the Terre Haute Regional Hospital. They claim the merger could lead to higher costs, declining health care, lower wages. You've been quoted report, I think we talked about this a few months ago too, when this was in the news that you know you were in support of the merger,
Speaker 2
yes. And you know, we usually do see that the FTC does issue a similar opinion for most medical mergers. But it's important to know that is why the state legislator passed the Copa to have clear guardrails established for price increases at the end of the day. There was not interest in other hospitals to purchase regional and this was the deal that was presented to keep multiple, not multiple hospitals, but multiple medical facilities under one umbrella functioning. And you know, we'll let the state give it a look, and if they need to go back and try to find more buyers. And that's. On the private sector and them to negotiate, but at the end of the day, this was the option that was presented to us. I wish the medical community the best, and certainly hope there's a way to come out with a deal on top to hopefully bring more high paying jobs and investments to our community and union health is not stopping their growth.
Speaker 1
City tourism, yeah, reporting up 18% from a year ago. Of course, there's so much in this past year. We talked about the convention center, the new Larry Bird Museum, the new casino. I mean, this is kind of unprecedented. I think in many cities that that much has happened within a year,
Speaker 2
not to mention Laverne Gibson cross country course, which continues to bring in 1000s of athletes to our community. Of course, strong university sports definitely helps. Not but we've got the mill right a concert venue. They've had ludicrous this year. They had T PAIN last year. They've had several country artists that I cannot name because I'm not the biggest country music fan, no. But overall, Joe, we've had some remarkable opportunities to highlight the community of not just Terre Haute Indiana. Let me be clear here, we always try to market West Central Indiana at large. We love it when folks from Sullivan come up. And I enjoy going to Sullivan, where JD Wilson is the mayor. Brazil has good opportunities to offer, as does rockville, rockville Park County, and just really showcasing that West Central Indiana is a growing region within the state. Tourism numbers are good. You've seen multiple companies sign to relocate to the Wabash Valley or expand, some within city limits, some in the county and some in surrounding counties. The bottom line is, you know, our region recognizes that we've got a lot of work to do when it comes to relationships with the IEDC, the ready process. You know, our own personal investments into our community. But what these numbers also shows that West Central Indiana continues to improve and is ready to see, you know, new leadership and a new chapter in the state of Indiana. So
Speaker 1
before we go, I know the city was looking for interested well water residents to switch to city water in Indiana,
Speaker 2
American Water. City Water American Yes, okay, okay. It's a privately owned utility, but, but it serves the whole serves most of the city.
Speaker 1
Yeah. Okay, okay. What kind of results to that? Is it too early to say, well, we got
Speaker 2
a couple of good mini projects within the pilot program, so there are some opportunities, and other residents opted out, and that's completely okay. You know, at local government, we said, look, we've got this funding opportunity. Do you guys want to opt in? Here are the benefits, and at the end of the day, it was their ultimate decision that being said, you know that we won't use the $2 million appropriated for that project. It'll be a little bit less. And so now we got to find some opportunities for the remaining ARPA funds that have got to be allocated by the end of December 31 this year. Good, good problem to have, right? You know, we we had this, what we thought was a solution for a neighborhood. Some residents took us up on it, but not everyone. So let's find ways to repurpose those dollars and continue to grow Terre Haute, Indiana. And
Speaker 1
that was one neighborhood. It was a terror town. And what about the rest of it's pretty much the rest of the city on American Water. There
Speaker 2
are a few pockets, yes, but you know the program that the state legislator passed and in partnership with Indiana American Water. You really have to have dense neighborhoods to be able to pull this program off. So that's a little bit of a limiter. Yeah.
Speaker 1
Hey, thank you so much. But before we go, we always like to have the last minute with the mayor. Like, what else you have any announcements, anything else you want everybody know
Speaker 2
about? You know, one really want to highlight our four universities. I mean, Ivy, tech st, Mary of the woods continue to be strong. We look forward to this upcoming legislative session and some opportunities for all four of our universities. Indiana State Universities started a huge renovation their technology building, as well as some other buildings on campus, their graduate student number increased, right? Yes. Did they lose a few undergraduate numbers that they did, but with a new president coming in, several new Board of Trustee members, we look forward to see what they do next, and remain in close conversations on how the city of Terre Haute can assist Indiana State University. Rose Holman Institute of Technology, had record enrollment, and as we touched on earlier in the show, the rose Holman Venture Program in partnership with Union health truly shows what we can accomplish when we work in collaboration instead of rowing separate directions. One of the biggest, biggest, biggest assets to not just our community, but West Central Indiana is these four institutes of higher education, and I look forward to seeing what 2025 and beyond has in store for them.
Unknown Speaker
Thank you so much. Hope to see in October. Thank
Unknown Speaker
you.
