Advisory committee previews election precinct change recommendations, asks for feedback

The Monroe County Precinct and District Advisory Committee presented some potential election precinct changes at the Board of County Commissioners meeting on Wednesday, but their work is still far from finished.

Many of the changes were described as minor, necessary revisions, but committee members indicated they would be open to taking a closer, deeper dive into the county's precincts again in the near future when they are not restricted by the current compressed timeline.

The advisory committee, made up of citizens with no more than two members associated with any political party, was formed last month to review and recommend any changes to Monroe County's voting precinct and district lines.

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Because of residential construction over the past decade, boundaries may need to be moved to rebalance the population among precincts and voting districts, such as for seats on the Bloomington City Council and Monroe County Council. Monroe County must incorporate data from the 2020 U.S. census in any redrawing of precinct and district boundaries. They were last adjusted after the 2010 census.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 census data arrived too late for county officials to do the typical months-long process of review. The newly formed committee has been meeting twice a week to look over data and draft recommendations, which then must be approved by state officials and the county commissioners.

"We knew this was a compressed schedule," county attorney Jeff Cockerill said. "It was a six-month project that essentially narrowed down to six weeks, at best."

According to the resolution, the committee was instructed to ensure the election precinct and district boundaries comply with legal requirements and make geographic sense, such as keeping core neighborhoods together.

The committee used census blocks, such as moving one block from one precinct to another, to illustrate the recommended changes.

In a presentation to the commissioners on Wednesday, seven changes to the election precincts were previewed.

Two changes were recommended to keep residential structures in the same precinct. For example, one precinct line currently splits a housing space near West Gourley Pike and Cascade Avenue. In another area, one building is split between two precincts. By moving some census blocks from one precinct to another, it mostly eliminates those divisions.

Three changes addressed properties Ellettsville has annexed since 2010 that needed to be absorbed by the town's precincts. One of those changes include creating a new precinct in Bean Blossom Township to encompass the incorporated areas of Ellettsville. There are not many current voters in the area, but that could change over the years, Cockerill said.

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According to Cockerill, the committee wanted to present these election precinct recommendations now for any feedback before they submit them to the Indiana Election Division for a state review of compliance, which is due by next Friday. After receiving approval from the state, the changes will then be considered at a commissioners meeting again for a formal order.

Citizens are encouraged to direct any questions to the committee. The advisory committee meets via Zoom every Monday at 11 a.m. and Thursday at 2 p.m.

Because of the unresolved topics, the committee members recommended this advisory committee to be re-established sometime in the future to review precincts and recommend changes ahead of the general election in 2024.

According to Cockerill, the committee members only "scratched the surface" of several issues related to election precincts.

Some of the discussions at these advisory meetings included looking at the amount of active voters in each precinct and deciding whether some precincts should be combined or allow more voting sites to be established. These conversations could not come into full fruition due to the current time constraint.

Cockerill mentioned the county can redraw election precincts every year, but it is not the ideal practice because it would lead to voter confusion. However, there are some unresolved issues that could be looked at again in the near future.

One issue was the current annexation debate in Bloomington, which Cockerill briefly touched upon.

"My thought, and this is purely mine and not of any of the committee members, we should have a better feel for the annexation issue at early January and maybe that would be a time to determine, 'Hey, do we want to do it next year or the year after, depending on that?'" Cockerill said.

The commissioners did not discuss whether the advisory committee will be renewed following their work this year.

Now, committee members will focus on the latter part of their advisory duties: reviewing the district boundaries of Monroe County. Cockerill said he expects recommendations for redistricting will be completed for review by end of this month or early December.

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Rezoning for rural fire station, potential subdivision

At Wednesday's meeting, the commissioners also approved two rezoning proposals.

A new subdivision in Ellettsville could be coming soon following the commissioners' approval of a 2.61-acre site near West Carmola Drive to be rezoned as medium-density residential. The site was previously zoned as agriculture/rural reserve, a noticeable difference from the surrounding area of the Glen Meadow Subdivision.

Blackwell Contractors was the petitioner of the rezoning but a specific plan for the subdivision was not presented. That is anticipated to come at a later date.

The rezoning for a rural fire station was also approved by the commissioners. The 5.5 acres of land at 478 E. Chambers Pike in Washington Township has now been rezoned as institutional/public.

The site is currently owned by Washington Township.

In an email to the Monroe County Planning Commission, petitioner Barbara Ooley, Washington Township trustee, described a fire station as being "so greatly needed within our township."

The rural fire station is projected to be 3,600 square feet with seven parking lot spaces.

At a previous commissioners work session, it was estimated that 89% of calls that the township receives are related to emergency medical services. The facility would be geared toward EMS response and it will provide fire response as well, planner Anne Crecelius said.

Both rezones were approved unanimously.

Contact Rachel Smith at rksmith@heraldt.com or @RachelSmithNews on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Monroe County officials discuss election precinct changes