Above is the Audio Recordings From The Loogootee Board of Works & Common Council meeting on April 13, 2026. If you want to watch the Board of Works meeting, you can also go to the following YouTube link to watch more of the meeting on The City of Loogootee YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RVMfcX6KpU&t=273s

LOOGOOTEE, Ind. — The Loogootee Board of Works and Common Council met on Monday evening, April 13, to tackle a full agenda that, according to Mayor Ader, was supposed to be two meetings. City leaders focused on downtown parking, public event applications, and key infrastructure investments.

Present at the Board of Works meeting was Mayor Brian Ader joined at the Board of Works session by Brandon Carrico, Dana Strange, Attorney Steven Teverbaugh, and Danny Clark. Council members Mike Engleman, Caroll Rayhill, and Dave Smith were present for the Common Council meeting.

Board member Mark McAtee was not present at either meeting.

The first topic of the Board of Works meeting centered around having Harvest Health relocate its company to the heart of downtown Loogootee, and city officials acknowledged mounting pressure to find a way around including them downtown while expanding downtown parking. “They don’t have everybody in there yet, but eventually they’re going to need several parking spots,” said Mayor Ader. “We looked at some things brought up at the last meeting. What I’m looking for, the board needs to consider, is making a recommendation to the council to take North Line Street, north of Main Street to Wood Street, a one-way. That way, we can do angle parking there that provides several more parking spaces.”

The board discussed creating additional parallel parking along the east side of the apartments, as well as reconfiguring parking in front of key businesses. Mayor Ader said, “Within the parking in front of the Teverbaugh Law Office, New Beginnings Church, and the apartments, instead of going [with] angle parking, that would go straight, pick up some more parking that way—at least one spot.”

Council members acknowledged the complexity of the problem, referencing historical issues involved with this relocation, acknowledging the need for accessibility. “No parking around the square whatsoever. Parking straight in, you’re not gonna have room. You gotta have room to back out,” Danny Clark said, with Mayor Ader adding, “That’s just an estimate on parking. You got to figure out which angles.”

The role of the ADA, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, in meeting ADA compliance was also discussed at the meeting. “There’s one ADA parking in that stretch,” Mayor Ader said. “On the highway side over there by you, there’s an ADA… we got one on the side of the building, yeah, if I remember correctly.”

The board heard concerns from business owners about the impact of potential parking changes. “The new owner of Greene’s Body Shop voiced some concerns about taking his parking spots,” reported one of the members. “He said, ‘If it was going to be an issue where even his workers didn’t have anywhere to park, then he didn’t have an issue selling and leaving town.’ And I know we don’t want that, because that’s a big, big business.”

Mayor Ader acknowledged the delicate balance of supporting both businesses and the people of Loogootee. One member of the board, relieved, said, “What they’re doing there, they’re looking at 20 to 25 people potentially being in there. Right now, they don’t have that many because they’re transforming everything. This is definitely phase one… it’s a step forward, people downtown.”

Council member Carroll Rayhill emphasized the importance of accessible parking for customers at Loogootee businesses: “That’s our biggest problem. When you look at a prospective business going into downtown here, there’s really no parking… We really have to work on trying to make it more evident that these businesses have a place to park and their customers have a place to park.”

Safety concerns were also at the forefront, adding to the conversation about the issue of downtown parking. Mayor Ader said, “You can’t see around the issues right now on West Main Street. The parking all needs to be completely redone. Even on Mill Street, you need, when you start getting lines coming out eight feet and 22 feet long for people to park there, and everybody just parks in any way.”

To address these issues, the council discussed the need for regular enforcement and new signage. “We talked about the two-hour parking not necessarily down there, but over on the other side, parking lot over there, at least get the signs out. We need to utilize that more,” said a council member.

The Board of Works approved the purchase of a new John Deere mower for $10,261.66, citing the deteriorating condition of older equipment. “The 2014 John Deere, it’s pushing 2,000 hours. It’s been nickel and diming us for quite a while,” said a city employee. “Every year we’re putting in repairs—it doesn’t matter what it is. Nothing’s cheap anymore to fix. The PTO clutch just grenaded on us last week.”

The board also highlighted the importance of preventive maintenance. “One thing I’d like to see… each quarter maybe get a copy of our equipment maintenance logs for the Board of Works,” said Clark. “So we can see what’s being done, maybe what’s coming down the road, what we might need to be thinking about purchasing.”

Mayor Ader responded, “We’ve got a couple guys that do a really good job on the oil changes and the maintenance. They do keep a record of all that.”

Special Event Applications and Policy

A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to reviewing public event applications, including requests for a Pride Fest, worship at the Pavilion, Food Truck Fridays, and the city’s Fourth of July celebration marking America’s 250^th birthday.

The board referenced the need for proper procedures: “We did not have an active ordinance with regards to this, and I think we may have only recently asked them to fill out an application. So, my recommendation is that we give them 30 days to fill out an application, and we hold their place in line,” explained City Attorney Steven Teverbaugh. “If they fill out the application, we will address that application at the next meeting.”

This even included taking on responsibility for the controversial topic of the Loogootee Pride Fest, as it was found that the event organizers had not submitted a proper application. Teverbaugh said the agreement “was basically just a piece of paper,” and that there was no proper application filed out by the members of the Pride Fest. The board unanimously agreed to discuss the Pride Fest activities further in 30 days or at the next board meeting. At the next meeting, the board will not only make a landmark decision but also discuss both Pride Fest and a worship event taking place at The Pavilion on Sept. 22, where Pride Fest might interfere with the event. That will be discussed at the next meeting, according to the board.

The council approved a $10,000 donation to the Loogootee Unification Board, which oversees various city improvement initiatives. “We got a lot of things going on, and that’s a lot of what’s going on here. They do a lot of different things for the city,” said Mayor Ader. “They are doing a lot more this year.”

Other financial matters addressed included the approval of a $45 monthly utility fee for the Senior Center building lease and a motion to update the leasing agreement, which had not been revised since 2012.

Discussions briefly turned to ongoing efforts to maintain and beautify Loogootee facilities. “We want to make it presentable,” said council member Dave Smith, referencing improvements to the senior center while addressing the many lecturers who talked at a recent Martin County Alliance dinner last Friday night about making Loogootee a better place to live and work. “The senior citizens are growing, it’s doing really well back here. Let’s make it presentable.”

The meeting concluded with optimism about downtown revitalization and a commitment to ongoing improvements. “It’s kind of like what we’re trying to do downtown, between the flower shop and Rosie’s areas, a part of that property, to clean that… What they turned it into from a vacant and bright area… ” It’s unbelievable what they were able to do,” said Mayor Ader.

The council agreed to revisit discussions on parking and event planning at another meeting, recognizing that continued input from residents and businesses will be crucial as Loogootee adapts to its growing and changing downtown.

All motions on agenda items passed with majority support, though some members requested additional information or expressed reservations before final votes.