WFHB Local News – February 13th, 2025

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 This is the WFHB Local News for Thursday, February 13th, 2025.

On this episode of Prescription for Healthcare, Dr. Walter Tsou discusses lessons from Cuba’s healthcare system and whether healthcare should be a public good or a market commodity. More in the bottom half of our program.

That’s IU student Madeline Koehler. As enrollment goes up and available housing goes down, she’s feeling priced out. We’ll get a response from an IU administrator later in the show in a feature report.

But first, your local headlines:

The Board of Zoning Appeals met on February 5th. First Margaret Clements was reappointed as President of the Board of Zoning Appeals. Skip Daley was reappointed as Vice Chair. In addition, Jeff Morris joined the Monroe County Board of Zoning Appeals.

First the Board considered the issue of Hubley ECO Area 1 and a 12 percent slope variance request. This request was originally filed for a June 2024 deadline, but had been continued at every meeting until this February. The petitioner’s Representative, Mike Carmen, spoke on behalf of the property owners.

The Board then heard from Jerome Delbridge, an arborist that had conducted a tree inventory and assessment of the property. It was found that the 10 trees that were subject to removal in the original proposed area were much younger and sparse as compared to the 41 trees that would need to be removed in a new proposed area that would fit within code guidelines. The Board was also particularly concerned with soil erosion, especially in the 12 percent area off the property. After a vote, the motion failed in a 2-2 vote, continuing the petition to the next meeting.

Next the Board heard from Stephen Bishop, a homeowner concerned about his deck being out of code after an unfortunate run-in with a faulty contractor. Bishop bought his home in September 2022 with his wife with the hope of making a few home repairs and starting a family.

One of these home repairs included a damaged deck that would need to be completely torn out and rebuilt. The contractor that Bishop hired for the job neglected county codes while assuring Bishop that he was acting within the proper regulations. Once it became apparent that the contractor was acting outside of county codes, construction was halted. Bishop came to the Board looking for approval for the deck along with permission to place a concrete slab underneath the newly built deck. The board approved this motion.

Next, the board heard four new variances for a new convenience storage facility. The variances included going over the maximum permitted lot coverage, a reduced buffer yard width along the eastern and western side, no buffer on the southern side, and limitations to landscaping. The variance had been requested in March of 2024 where conflicts arose and the petition was pushed back. The main petitions focused on changes to the original landscape plans along with an area large enough for a firetruck to be able turn around if needed for public safety. A complaint was heard from Brett Berkhart, another owner that owned property that bordered the possible convenience storage facility.

The Board moved to approve the petition with changes including gravel instead of asphalt for the turn around area and the landscape to be shrubs instead of trees if they are located in or within the 15 foot buffer of a waterline.

The next petitions were heard for the Humphrey family, requesting permission to convert their existing property to a “Detached Accessory Dwelling Unit” and building a new primary residence. This would allow the petitioner to provide on-site care to family and assist with their business. Carmen once again represented the petitioners.

Monroe County Resident, Richard Fish, a neighbor of the Humphrey’s who also volunteers at WFHB, spoke in favor of the petition.

The motions were approved.

Lastly, the Board heard a request for a single family residence and a detached accessory dwelling unit. The proposed location of the single-family detached dwelling would require its driveway to cross over an area over 25 percent slope and a Riparian Area. After some conflicts with planning and changes in percent slope, the motion was postponed and scheduled to be heard next month.
The next Monroe County Board of Zoning Appeals will be on March 5, 2025.

Feature Reports:

As the debate over healthcare in the U.S. continues, some experts argue that looking beyond our borders can offer valuable insights. In this edition of Prescription for Healthcare, hosts Dr. Rob Stone and Karen Green Stone bring us Part 2 of their conversation with Dr. Walter Tsou—former health commissioner of Philadelphia and past president of the American Public Health Association. Dr. Tsou, a board advisor to Physicians for a National Health Program, recently returned from a medical educational tour of Cuba. Today, he shares what the U.S. can learn from Cuba’s healthcare system and explores the question: Should healthcare be a public good or a market commodity? Here’s Prescription for Healthcare.

With enrollment at Indiana University rising steadily—up 3.5% last year and 24% over the past decade—housing in Bloomington is becoming harder to find and more expensive. For some students, the increasing costs are making college feel out of reach. In today’s feature report, produced in partnership with The Media School at Indiana University, correspondent Owen Koehler speaks with student Madeline Koehler about feeling priced out of the college experience and hears from IU Vice President for Student Success Julie Payne-Kirchmeier on how the university is addressing housing and financial assistance. Here’s IU: Priced Out.

Credits:
You’ve been listening to the WFHB Local News,
Today’s headlines were written by Amelia Bucher, in partnership with Cats – Community Access Television Services.
Today’s feature story “IU: Priced Out” was produced by Owen Koehler in partnership with The Media School at Indiana University.
Our theme music is provided by Mark Bingham and the Social Climbers.
Engineer and Executive producer is Kade Young.