Bloomington OKs $400K for promotion of Trades District development, tech center construction

Looking north from the top of the Trades District parking garage. Cutting across the foreground is 10th Street. The Mill, with its sawtooth roofline, is visible to the right about mid-way up the frame. (Jan. 28, 2023)

The now open space in downtown that’s roughly bounded by 10th and 11th streets, and Rogers and Madison streets, will get some renewed focus and attention for development.

The area is known as the Trades District, which is a 12-acre portion of a larger area comprising Bloomington’s certified technology park.

The real estate was purchased by Bloomington’s redevelopment commission more than a decade ago.

At its meeting last Monday, Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC) approved an agreement that pays The Dimension Mill, Inc. $200,000 each year for two years to “advance the City’s objectives for the Tech Center, Trades District and Bloomington’s innovation ecosystem…”

The Dimension Mill, Inc. is a non-profit corporation that operates the coworking space known as The Mill, in the former dimension mill of the Showers Brother furniture factory.

A key part of the agreement with the RDC is that The Mill will hire an executive director for the Trades District and technology center, to focus on development of the district, construction of a new technology center, and recruitment of tenants for the center. Continue reading “Bloomington OKs $400K for promotion of Trades District development, tech center construction” →

Snowfall notebook: 24-hour rule means few tickets for uncleared Bloomington sidewalks

Jan. 25, 2023 around 2 p.m. Kirkwood Avenue and Walnut Street looking southeast.
Snowfall map from National Weather Service.
Jan. 25, 2023 around 6 p.m. Intersection of Morton Street and 7th Street looking north.
Jan. 25, 2023 Bloomington Transit bus headed north on Walnut at 3rd Street.
Jan. 27, 2023 around 10 a.m. Walnut Street looking north, just south of the railroad tracks.

According to the National Weather Service snowfall map, only about 3 inches of snow  fell on Bloomington, Indiana, from Tuesday night at 7 p.m. through 7 a.m. on Thursday.

It was a gloppy, wet snow that came with the above-freezing temperature of around 34 F on Wednesday morning.

But the overnight temperature from Thursday to Friday dipped to 15 F. That meant any of the uncleared slushy mix on sidewalks became a frozen bumpy mess.

That prompted a request on the city’s uReport system on Friday morning: “Please enforce the city’s ordinance requiring property owners to clear their sidewalks within 24 hours. The frozen slush today is worse than the snow was days ago. Thank you.” Continue reading “Snowfall notebook: 24-hour rule means few tickets for uncleared Bloomington sidewalks” →

Colocation of police with city administration big theme of Bloomington council deliberations on 5-4 approval of Showers building deal

Bloomington city councilmember Susan Sandberg (Jan. 25, 2023).
Bloomington city councilmember Kate Rosenbarger (Jan. 25, 2023).
Bloomington city council member Sue Sgambelluri (Jan. 25, 2023).
Bloomington city councilmember Dave Rollo (Jan. 25, 2023).
Bloomington city councilmember Matt Flaherty (Jan. 25, 2023).
Bloomington city councilmember Steve Volan (Jan. 25, 2023).
Bloomington police chief Mike Diekhoff (Jan. 25, 2023).
Bloomington mayor John Hamilton (Jan. 25, 2023).
Former city councilmember David David Sabbagh speaks against the Showers building purchase (Jan. 25, 2023).
Police union president Paul Post (Jan. 25, 2023).
Bloomington police detective Jeff Rodgers (Jan. 25, 2023).
The view is from the west of the Showers building. The pink outline shows the portion of the building that Bloomington has made an accepted offer to purchase from CFC Properties. The image is from the Pictometry module of Monroe County’s property lookup system.

On Wednesday night, Bloomington’s city council took action that will, as councilmember Dave Rollo put it, shape the city’s public safety building footprint “for decades to come.”

The council split 5–4 on a vote to approve the Bloomington redevelopment commission’s purchase agreement with CFC Properties—for the 64,000 square feet in the western portion of the former Showers Brothers furniture factory that currently houses city hall.

Asked by Rollo if he agreed that the “decades-to-come” description of the deal’s impact is accurate, Bloomington’s mayor John Hamilton confirmed that he did.

The deal negotiated by the RDC with CFC Properties carries a price tag of $8.75 million. The proposed move includes another $14.75 million to renovate and re-configure the Showers building space. Continue reading “Colocation of police with city administration big theme of Bloomington council deliberations on 5-4 approval of Showers building deal” →

Yes to purchase of west Showers building, says Bloomington city council on 5–4 vote

Bloomington city hall’s footprint inside the former Showers Brothers furniture factory building on Morton Street will expand by 64,000 square feet to include the western portion of the building, where the city’s police station and fire department administrative headquarters will be located.

That’s because at its Wednesday meeting, the city council voted 5–4 to approve an ordinance that appropriates $29.5 million in bond proceeds, which includes $8.75 million for the purchase of the western portion of the Showers building.

It’s part of Bloomington mayor John Hamilton’s plan to put both the city’s main police station and fire department administration in the same historic city hall building. The proposed move is part of a bigger plan estimated at over $30-million—which includes reconstructing the flood-damaged Fire Station #1 and remodeling Fire Station #3.

Approval of the bond issuance itself had come in early December last year. Continue reading “Yes to purchase of west Showers building, says Bloomington city council on 5–4 vote” →

Bloomington trail closures, detours to be decided “in collaboration” with engineering department

Signage for closure of The B Line during the recent removal of some callery pear trees. (From slide presented by parks operation director Tim Streets at the board of park commissioners Jan. 24, 2023 meeting.)
The signage for the closure of The B-Line Trail in 2022 near the Johnson’s Creamery smokestack came in the form of an 8.5 x 11 laminated sheet, which is barely visible on the chain link fence.

Under a new policy, when multi-use trails in Bloomington are closed—because of work by contractors or a dangerous situation—a detour has to be provided that gives trail users a convenient alternate route.

The policy was adopted by Bloomington’s board of park commissioners at its regular meeting on Tuesday.

Under the new policy, the closure has to be marked with signage that’s compliant with the Indiana Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).

The policy also says that the decisions by the board about trail closures and detours have to be made “in collaboration” with the city engineer.

The development of the policy came after complaints about the city’s implementation last year of a detour and signage for a B-Line closure. That closure was made in connection with the unsafe building order issued by the city for the Johnson’s Creamery smokestack. Continue reading “Bloomington trail closures, detours to be decided “in collaboration” with engineering department” →

Monroe County sheriff on racist graffiti in jail cells: “When I see that word…I cannot move slow.”

Monroe County jail intake. An inmate uses a cup as a pillow.
One of two toilets for 20 inmate workers.
Ceiling under an area underneath of the shower and toilet facility in the inmate worker dorm that drips constantly.
Graffiti on a cell wall.
Detritus accumulated between a metal screen and the window.
Ceiling under an area underneath of the shower and toilet facility in the inmate worker dorm that drips constantly.
Monroe County councilor Jennifer Crossley.
From left: Monroe County circuit court judges Catherine Stafford, Darcie Fawcett, Kara Krothe, and Mary Ellen Diekhoff.
Ashley Pirani reads a statement from Monroe County Party chair David Henry at the Jan. 23, 2023 CJRC meeting.
After cleaning: Each person in the intake is now give a pad and a blanket.
After the intake area was cleaned up.
After the intake area was cleaned up.
Monroe County Sheriff Ruben Marté.
Monroe County chief deputy sheriff Phil Parker holds a bog of detritus cleaned out from a window ledge that was sandwiched behind a metal grating.

“It looks like that’s not even the United States of America.”

That was Monroe County’s new jail commander Kyle Gibbons talking about a photograph he had displayed for Monday’s meeting of the community justice response committee (CJRC). It was from a slide deck he’d prepared, in order to show committee members conditions inside the jail when he took over at the start of the year.

In the photo, a pitcher of water had been placed on the floor outside a cell door. Jail staff were using it as a stop gap to give inmates water on request—because the water wasn’t working in the cell at the time.

Gibbons told committee members, “The staff was just trying to make sure people had water. …They were trying to ensure that everybody had access to basic human rights.”

But the color of the water inside the pitcher looked sketchy enough that county councilor Peter Iversen asked Gibbons, “That’s drinkable water?!” The glum reply from Gibbons: “That’s drinkable water.”

Monday’s slide deck was a visual followup to oral presentations that Gibbons has given to county commissioners and county councilors in the last couple of weeks.

The visuals he presented on Monday appeared to have a sobering impact on committee members. Continue reading “Monroe County sheriff on racist graffiti in jail cells: “When I see that word…I cannot move slow.”” →

Talk deemed off-topic, ill-tempered: Backdrop for Bloomington’s resolution on embargo against Cuba

Bloomington city councilmember Susan Sandberg (Jan. 18, 2023)
Bloomington city councilmember Dave Rollo (Jan. 18, 2023)
Bess Lee, CUBAmistad.
Frank Marshalek, CUBAmistad.
Dareal Ruble, Bloomington resident.
Outline of Bloomington in blue, superimposed (to scale) on map with Santa Clara, Cuba.

“Who the hell do you people think you are? You’re not the White House!”

That was Dareal Ruble speaking from the public mic at last Wednesday’s meeting of the city council.

He was reacting to a resolution on the meeting agenda that called for an immediate end to the US economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba.

The resolution was not controversial for councilmembers—it passed unanimously.

The vote came almost an hour after the resolution was introduced by Dave Rollo, who co-sponsored it with Susan Sandberg.

Rubel was interrupted twice during his allotted five minutes by council president Sue Sgambelluri, who admonished him—for speaking off the topic of the resolution, not for any particular choice of words.

But questions about the kind of tone and demeanor that councilmembers consider acceptable were swimming just under the surface of Wednesday’s meeting—in connection with an earlier agenda item.

Neither Rollo nor Sandberg supported a raft of resident re-appointments to boards and commissions that were approved early on the agenda.

After Wednesday’s meeting, Rollo confirmed to The B Square that he voted no, because the list included Greg Alexander’s reappointment to the city’s traffic commission.

Based on Alexander’s social media interactions, which Rollo described as “aggressive,” Rollo said he think’s Alexander’s temperament is “ill-suited” to serving on a city board or commission.

Continue reading “Talk deemed off-topic, ill-tempered: Backdrop for Bloomington’s resolution on embargo against Cuba” →

Photos: Freezefest Ice Battle 2023

Temperatures on Friday night for the Freezefest 2023 Ice Battle were a smidgen warmer than freezing—right around 33 F degrees.

The competition unfolded on Upland Brewing’s outdoor stage north of the parking lot off 11th Street. Starting with blank blocks of ice, two teams of ice carvers from Ice of America completed three rounds of carving lasting 15 minutes apiece.

At the end of 45 minutes, one team had produced a dragon. The other team created a carving that depicted Sponge Bob Square Pants blowing bubbles.

They were competing for the crowd’s approval as measured by the loudness of the cheers. It took three rounds of voting for a winner to be determined—Sponge Bob.

More photos from Friday night’s event are included below.

Continue reading “Photos: Freezefest Ice Battle 2023” →

Committee on jail’s future gets tweaks, commander says: “We have an obligation to people here now.”

Monroe County jail commander Kyle Gibbons addresses the county council on Jan. 10, 2023.
Monroe County’s jail is located on the top floors of the Charlotte Zietlow justice center.

In December, Bloomington’s city council unanimously rejected a rezone request for some land in the southwestern tip of the city, where county commissioners had proposed building a new jail.

But planning for the possible construction of a new Monroe County jail continues—as a response to the reports from two consultants delivered to county government 18 months ago. As one of the reports puts it: “The jail facility is failing…”

Still set for Monday (Jan. 23) is the next meeting of the community justice response committee (CJRC). That’s the group that was established by county commissioners to address the problems highlighted in the consultants’ reports.

Even as work continues on planning for the future of Monroe County’s jail, sheriff Ruben Marté’s jail commander, Kyle Gibbons, has addressed both the county council and county commissioners at recent meetings of those elected bodies. His basic message: “We have an obligation to people here now.” Continue reading “Committee on jail’s future gets tweaks, commander says: “We have an obligation to people here now.”” →

2023 election notebook: $190K raised in 2022 by Bloomington mayoral campaigns

Wednesday at noon was the deadline for political campaign committees to file their finance paperwork—the CFA-4.

Hitting that deadline were all three declared candidates for mayor of Bloomington: Don Griffin, Susan Sandberg, and Kerry Thomson.

Raising the most was Thomson with $92,828. That’s more than three times what each of the other two candidates raised.

Griffin raised $25,987 which was just a little more than Sandberg’s $25,217.

With his mid-December fundraising launch, compared to mid-summer for Thomson and Sandberg, Griffin got the latest start of the three. They’re all competing for the nomination of Democratic Party in the May 2 primary.

There’s still time for candidates to declare a candidacy for either major party’s nomination—that deadline is Feb. 3 at noon.

Griffin’s later start came only after incumbent mayor John Hamilton announced in mid-November he would not be seeking reelection to a third term.

Added to the amounts raised by the three declared candidates for mayor, Hamilton’s roughly $45,000 brings the total amount generated by Bloomington mayoral campaigns in 2022 to about $190,000. Continue reading “2023 election notebook: $190K raised in 2022 by Bloomington mayoral campaigns” →