By John Estridge
EDITOR’S NOTE AND EDITORIAL COMMENT: This is the fourth of a multi-part transcription of the August 24 Brookville Town Council meeting’s pertinent parts relating to the Golf Course Purchase, Zimmer Building Purchase and Frisbee Golf Course. I wanted to break this down into parts because it will be a very long piece, if I can even finish it. It takes a long, long time to go over and over a recording to do a transcription, especially with how fast and slurred Curtis Ward, BTC president, is when he begins talking about something that apparently excites him.
This was an interesting but terribly chaotic part of the meeting. Brian Bauman, who described himself as a “realtor slash developer,” was the only person present at the meeting who spoke in favor of the town purchasing the golf course. Brian addressed the crowd and not the council members, which is usually not allowed at governmental meetings. Apparently, it was allowed and encouraged by Curtis because Brian, a realtor slash investor, is in favor of the town purchasing the golf course.
When Curtis finally, at the urging of the crowd, told Brian to address council members and not the crowd, Brian stopped talking.
Because people were talking from the audience without microphones and many people were talking at the same time, including Brian, and — as Curtis — who was supposed to be in control of the meeting, allowed this chaotic interlude to transpire, it was very hard to understand the people in the audience and Brian himself when everyone was shouting at the same time. One needs to go to the video to really appreciate what Curtis allowed and encouraged to occur.
Also, Brian reportedly sold the nine lots adjacent to the golf course to Curtis on July 7. Many people believe the prospective development of that property is reason enough Curtis should not have had anything to do with the town purchasing the golf course as it is an obvious conflict of interest and one that, at least on the surface, would point to Curtis having a large financial stake in getting the town’s taxpayers to purchase the golf course using taxpayer money and not Curtis and his friends own, private money.
Instead of divesting himself of the golf course purchase process, Curtis has very publically become the driving force behind it. That should tell everyone all they need to know about the audaciousness, arrogance and complete disregard for the public welfare behind this entire ordeal.
Brian Bauman: “Brian Bauman, realtor and developer. Dusty (Robinson), where’s this manufacturing plant going to go, in Brookville, right now? Tell me.”
Dusty Robinson: “Up on 101 hill.”
Brian Bauman: “Perfect. Perfect. In Brookville, Where’s it gonna go?”
EDITORIAL COMMENT: I don’t really get how buying a golf course and annexing Snob Hill will make room for manufacturing. Is Brian trying to state the golf course will become an industrial park? I am sure that will make those lots around the golf course he just sold to Curtis go up in value. That is sarcasm. By annexing Snob Hill, it will not create more area for commercial enterprises and manufacturing within the town limits. If it does, with manufacturing going in on Snob Hill, there will be even more people mad at Curtis than are currently upset with him now, and that number is increasing by the second.
Dusty is correct, one of the best places for more industry is up on 101 where industrial sites are currently located and that area has all the amenities an industrial park needs.
Dusty Robinson: Tried to say something but he was shouted down by Brian
Brian Bauman: “101 is not in the town limits.”
Brian is yelling from the microphone and many people are yelling from the audience. Curtis continues to be silent and allows it to happen. Dusty finally shouted louder than everyone else.
Dusty Robinson: “All I believe is you and the rest of the real estate agents of this town want to benefit off the taxpayers of this town.”
Applause
Dusty then accused Brian of once being against annexation, then changed his mind and is now for annexation.
Several people talking including Curtis Ward
People are screaming back and forth. A male finally shouted over the others telling Curtis to tell Brian to settle down, or that male was going to tell him. Curtis finally said something but, it is to Dusty, telling Dusty to settle down.
Curtis Ward: “Dustin, Dustin…”
A female: “He (Bauman) already has his answers.”
Curtis Ward: “Please sit down. He (Bauman) is talking.”
Brian Bauman: “There are five to 10 places to build a house currently in the town of Brookville on vacant lots. There are three to four parcels for commercial development. FCN Bank owns one of them, Jim Hyde owns the other and…”
Curtis Ward: “Brian is talking right now we need to be respectful.”
Brian Bauman: “There’s no place for the town to grow. It’s stuck. It’s stuck between the rivers and it’s stuck between hills.”
Curtis Ward: “Please be respectful or we will cancel the public comments of this.”
Brian Bauman: “I mean that’s just the way it is. They built this town on a hill and there’s a river on each side of those rivers and there’s a hill on this side. You can’t go down 52 because it’s flood plain on the whole right-hand side of 52. You can go up 101, but you’re further out of town. Or you can go up Reservoir Road, which has always been outskirts of town. There’s just nowhere for it to grow. I mean it’d be great if we were in Batesville, and we had a 300-acre field next to us here that just could grow into town. And then another 300-acre field…”
A female asking a question: “Brian, why…”
Curtis Ward (?): “Excuse me, please be respectful, he’s not done talking.”
Same person asking question but I cannot understand her.
Brian Bauman: “Okay, you’ve got to imagine you’ve got a bowl of marbles. All right? And there’s a 100 marbles in that bowl. And that 100 marbles gotta pay the bills for this bowl of marbles. Well the bills always broke. So, if you don’t grow the marble bowl that’s paying the bills, then there’s gonna get to where you can’t pay any bills.”
Someone from audience: “Well, how is the golf course going to pay the bills?”
Brian Bauman: “The golf course needs the annexation.”
Audience erupts
Brian Bauman: “We gotta make the bowl bigger.”
Someone from audience: “Finally, somebody said it.”
Brian Bauman: “The bowl is only so big, and you can only get so much blood outta that bowl to pay these bills. The town expenses are gonna go up every year. There’s no stopping that. And if the same people are paying those expenses, your taxes are going up. There’s no doubt about that.”
EDITORIAL COMMENT For Snob Hill residents, you may want to make a copy of Brian’s last paragraph and magnet it to your refrigerator. You are going to need to budget the much bigger taxes that are coming your way. Just don’t think in the terms of property tax, although that will increase, but in Part III, Curtis talked about the different kinds of bonds available to the town. That means sewer and water among others. So, at this moment, you may not have sewer and water bills. Just wait. Everyone in town, including you, are going to be paying much higher sewer and water rates to pay for the needed infrastructure up on Snob Hill among the improvements in town. And we haven’t even gotten into the increased street department and police department employees, their pay, their benefits, their needed additional equipment. Watch you grass height and forget about hunting on your property or parking any vehicles on your property, the town, the town’s codes and regulations and the police to enforce all of that cometh.
Someone from the audience: “You’re right about that.”
Someone from the audience: “How is the golf course going to pay for this? I mean, you tell me, why do we need this golf course? Convince me that we need this golf course.”
EDITORIAL COMMENT: By the town purchasing the golf course, it takes that amount of land off the tax rolls; thus, decreasing the tax revenue.
Brian Bauman: Okay. I don’t know how many parcels are up there right now, let’s say there’s 200. Those people, if annexed, start paying town taxes. Now they add to the bowl, that’s something. There’s hundreds of acres up there that can be developed into more housing that goes into the bowl.”
Many people from the audience talking at once.
Brian Bauman: “In 2018, the golf course was tied into annexation. Let’s assume it’s going to be tied into annexation again.”
Someone from the audience: “I have a question. You are a…”
Brian Bauman: “Realtor slash developer.”
Same person from audience: “No. You are a no with annexation and then they were going to take your house in…”
Brian Bauman: “I was a yes.”
Many from the audience saying the word “no.”
Brian Bauman: “I signed…my petition says yes.”
Many from the audience: “Now it does.”
Curtis Ward: “All right, enough.”
Brian Bauman: “My petition says yes. My house was included, which is not on the hill in annexation. I didn’t understand why. So I pulled it. I now know that for town to grow, they have to be so much more something current…
Someone from the audience”: “Curtis, Curtis, Curtis, Curtis”
Curtis Ward: “Marty, Marty, stop talking.”
Someone from audience: “Can you ask him to address the board or sit down? He’s not talking to us.”
Curtis Ward: “Brian, do you want to talk to us?”
Brian Bauman: “I’m sorry. That’s all I have is if we stay within the rivers and we stay within the hills, we’ll never get bigger.”
Curtis Ward: “Ok. Thanks, Brian. More discussion real quick. Are we, have we reached the point where we’re saturated so let’s put an end to public comment.”
John Estridge: “Can I ask a question?”
Curtis Ward: We closed with all the comments on this, John.”
John Estridge speaking to Tammy Davis (town attorney): “Is it legal for an entity to sign a nondisclosure agreement with a business that they are going to buy?”
Tammy Davis: “Um”
John Estridge: “I have never heard of that before.”
Tammy Davis: “We are going to address…”
Curtis Ward: Starts talking about the sales agreement.
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Think about the absurdity of the town signing a nondisclosure agreement with a business the town is about to purchase using taxpayer money. I imagine the town can sign any number of agreements such as this, but I really don’t think it is legal to not disclose those facts to the taxpaying public. Thus, the town can sign an agreement like that, it just cannot enforce it. That goes under the umbrella of “PUBLIC RECORDS.” This town council, or at least one or two people on town council, seems to be breaking Indiana Codes with impunity. We shall see what may become of this apparent reckless disregard for state laws and/or the arrogance of someone with such a small title of town council president feeling he is above state law.
End Part IV
