Category: Bloomington

Delayed by Bloomington board: Right-of-way closures for Miller-Showers city gateway construction

Rendering of gateway monolith, birdseye view from the southeast.
Bloomington board of public works president Kyla Cox Deckard
Board board of public works vice president Elizabeth Karon
Public works director Adam Wason
Parks operations director Tim Street
Engineering field specialist Alex Gray
David Ebbinghouse at the public mic
Planning and transportation director Scott Robinson
Excerpt of the maintenance of traffic plan and detours for the construction.

In a change of plans, over the next few days, Reed & Sons Construction will not be starting onsite preparations for various improvements at the north end of Miller-Showers Park.

The scheduled work is supposed to include a 40-foot tall gateway monument costing about $400,000. The monolith features the word “Bloomington” in all caps inscribed vertically from top to bottom.

What delayed the parks department project was a decision made by Bloomington’s board of public works at its Tuesday night meeting.

In the area of College Avenue and Old 37, Reed & Sons had requested temporary sidewalk and lane closures, with proposed pedestrian detours, in order to make the construction work possible.

But the board voted to put off approval of those right-of-way closures.

Continue reading “Delayed by Bloomington board: Right-of-way closures for Miller-Showers city gateway construction” →

Hawthorne-Weatherstone greenway gets greenlight at contentious commission meeting

Dimensions of Hawthorne-Weatherstone greenway bumpouts.
BPSC members from left: Paul Ash, Jaclyn Ray, and Pauly Tarricone.
Bloomington’s bicycle and pedestrian safety commission meeting on Sept. 11, 2023.
Justin Foster at BPSC meeting on Sept. 11, 2023

On Monday night, almost a year and a half after the first public meeting on the project, Bloomington’s bicycle and pedestrian safety commission (BPSC) voted unanimously in favor of the city staff’s proposed Hawthorne-Weatherstone greenway project.

At its August meeting, the BPSC had voted to put off any decision until its meeting this month. But the BPSC voted to to allow all the public comment on the topic to finish before adjourning last month.

The lack of any public time to comment on the project at Monday’s meeting proved to be a sore point for some resident attendees. It led to some animated exchanges between them and city planning staff, as well as BPSC members. Continue reading “Hawthorne-Weatherstone greenway gets greenlight at contentious commission meeting” →

Photos | Black y Brown 2024: “Handed down to me from my dance mothers and fathers”

Baba Stafford & The African American Dance Company
Matixando
Baba Stafford & The African American Dance Company
Teresa Reynolds and the Slicktones
Matixando
Baba Stafford & The African American Dance Company
Matixando
Reggae Union
Reggae Union
Peyton Womock & Friends
Ramon Jackson & Bridges

On Saturday, leading off the performances at Bloomington’s Black y Brown Festival at Switchyard Park were Baba Stafford & The African American Dance Company.

The dance company, which is an ensemble of Indiana University’s African American Arts Institute, will be celebrating a half century of performances in 2024.

Baba Stafford told the crowd at Switchyard Park that the dance company has been a part of the city of Bloomington’s Black y Brown Festival since the start.

The inaugural Black y Brown Festival was held at the Banneker Community Center in 2018. It’s described by the city as “a celebration and showcase of African, African-American, Hispanic, Latinx, and Native American creative arts and artists…”

Baba Stafford described the dance company like this: “We’re made up of community members. We’re made up of staff. We’re made up of folks who just want to come and share what we do.”

The company’s repertory includes “a little bit of everything,” he said, from the continent of Africa and throughout the diaspora. But there is a core element, he said: “At our base is our African culture, music, dances, chants, stories, aesthetics—handed down to me from my dance mothers and fathers. And handed down to them from their dance mothers and fathers. And then me, handing it down to folks that I teach every day.”

With that introduction, the dance company launched into the first number, which was a meditation on peace.

The dance company was followed with performances by: Teresa Reynolds and the Slicktones, Matixando, Reggae Union, Peyton Womock & Friends, and Ramon Jackson & Bridges. There are more photos below.
Continue reading “Photos | Black y Brown 2024: “Handed down to me from my dance mothers and fathers”” →

Showers West police-fire expansion update: Out for bids in November, construction start in 2024

Showers West expansion city council work session (Sept. 8, 2023)
Kerry Thomson, presumptive mayor of Bloomington. (Sept. 8, 2023)
Showers West expansion city council work session (Sept. 8, 2023)
Paul Post, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, Don Owens Memorial Lodge 88
Councilmember Dave Rollo
Deputy mayor Larry Allen and councilmember Sue Sgambelluri

By November of this year, construction bids are expected to be put out for the expansion of Bloomington’s city hall building into Showers West—which is supposed to house a new police headquarters, and the administrative offices for the fire department.

That was one key takeaway from a city council work session held at noon on Friday.

The hoped-for timeline was described on Friday by project architect Chris Hagan from StudioAXIS. Hagan’s firm was selected by Bloomington for the project in April, after a different firm, Hoefer Welker, had initially been selected in March.

The timeline drew some pointed questions from council president Sue Sgambelluri. Offering some skeptical commentary on the timeline was police union president Paul Post, who was seated at the work session table.

Also in attendance at Friday’s work session—which was held in the Allison Conference room—was Kerry Thomson, the almost certain future mayor of Bloomington starting in 2024. She’s the Democratic Party’s nominee and the only candidate on the ballot, with no registered write-ins.

Thomson took a seat along the back wall with the rest of the public. Around 50 minutes into the meeting, which was scheduled for an hour, councilmember Ron Smith made a gambit to allow Thomson to offer a comment. Smith’s gambit was firmly declined by Sgambelluri, who was presiding over the meeting. Continue reading “Showers West police-fire expansion update: Out for bids in November, construction start in 2024” →

Interim compromise on Bloomington city clerk’s salary: $87K not $104K

No final decision was made on Wednesday night, but Bloomington’s city council took a clear step towards giving the position of elected city clerk a big salary boost.

On a 7–2 vote, the council passed a resolution indicating its intent to set the clerk’s salary for 2024 at $87,000 . That would be a 34-percent increase over the $64,773 that the job pays this year.

Dissenting were Steve Volan and Kate Rosenbarger, who supported a higher figure of $104,089. The bigger number was in the original draft of the resolution put forward by Matt Flaherty.

Flaherty and Isabel Piedmont-Smith joined Volan and Rosenbarger in voting against an amendment put forward by Dave Rollo and Sue Sgambelluri, which decreased the amount to $87,000.

Unlike Volan and Rosenbarger, Flaherty and Piedmont-Smith were willing to support the compromise figure.

As Flaherty put it, “I can’t really support…the amendment—though, of course, if it passes, would support the resolution as a whole.” He added, “As a step forward, it’s better than nothing.”

Bloomington’s city clerk is Nicole Bolden, who is seeking re-election to her third four-year term this year. She is unopposed on this year’s Nov. 7 ballot, as she was in the Democratic Party’s primary. That’s the same pattern as in 2019 and 2015.

Bolden spoke on Wednesday night in support of the salary increase for the clerk’s position, noting the awkwardness of doing so. Continue reading “Interim compromise on Bloomington city clerk’s salary: $87K not $104K” →

Judge says Bloomington annexation trial to be put off until related lawsuit is resolved

Lawrence county circuit court photo of special judge for Bloomington annexation lawsuit Nathan Nikirk
Order issued on Sept. 5, 2023 by judge Nathan Nikirk

The special judge assigned to a Bloomington annexation case has ruled that a standard trial to which remonstrators are entitled will not go ahead in mid-November as originally scheduled.

That’s what remonstrators in Area 1A and Area 1B had requested—a delay on those proceedings, until some related litigation has been settled. The related litigation was initiated by the city of Bloomington, on constitutional grounds.

Remonstrators filed their lawsuit on March 16, 2022.

The related litigation was initiated by the city of Bloomington on March 29, 2022.

The related litigation will start to come into clearer focus in the next three months, because the current case management plan calls for a Dec. 10 hearing on the city’s motion for summary judgment.

Judge Nathan Nikirk’s Tuesday ruling in favor of the remonstrators came after hearing oral arguments for a little more than one hour last Friday morning (Sept. 1). Nikirk is the special judge out of Lawrence County who has been assigned to the case. Continue reading “Judge says Bloomington annexation trial to be put off until related lawsuit is resolved” →

Column: A quick reminder for Bloomington that there’s a better way to corral meeting documents

Looking northeast at the intersection of Fourth and Washington streets in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It’s not a scooter corral (Sept. 2, 2023)

Yes, it’s been quite a summer.

Mine ended with a one-day visit up to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to see Chris Buhalis  play a show at the North Star Lounge.

When Buhalis sings the lyric, “I come from a big car town, we shine ‘em up and we drive ‘em all around,”  he’s not talking about Ann Arbor. He means Detroit, where he was born.

But Ann Arbor, just like any city in America, including Bloomington, Indiana, has its share of cars.

On this weekend’s short visit to Michigan, I noticed some efforts by Ann Arbor’s city government to keep car drivers from killing people. Continue reading “Column: A quick reminder for Bloomington that there’s a better way to corral meeting documents” →

Bloomington city council to consider resolution on proposed $104K salary for city clerk

Cued up on the Bloomington city council’s meeting agenda for Wednesday (Sept. 6),  is one item for a final vote.

It’s a resolution that expresses the council’s intent to set the elected city clerk’s salary for 2024 at $104,089, which would be a significant increase.

For 2023 the clerk’s compensation is $64,773.

Incumbent clerk Nicole Bolden is this year seeking reelection to her third four-year term. Bolden appears on the Nov. 7 ballot as the Democratic Party’s nominee. She is unopposed.

Wednesday’s resolution requests that Bloomington mayor John Hamilton accommodate the bigger amount into the final budget appropriations that he eventually submits to the council on Sept. 27.  The final budget is set for an adoption vote on Oct. 11.

Also appearing on the Sept. 6 agenda is an ordinance that regulates obstructions of the public right-of-way.  The ordinance about the right-of-way is up just for a first reading on Wednesday, which means it will not get any discussion by the city council.

It’s the ordinance that the board of public works recommended in mid-August  that the city council adopt, in response to complaints about unhoused people blocking sidewalks with their belongings. The ordinance regulating obstructions of the right-of-way could get a vote the following week, at the council’s Sept. 13 meeting.

Continue reading “Bloomington city council to consider resolution on proposed $104K salary for city clerk” →

Six now to pick a seventh: Appointments to CIB for Monroe Convention Center expansion nearly done

In a news release issued at the end of the day on Friday,  Mick Renneisen and Adam Thies were announced as Bloomington mayor John Hamilton’s two appointments to the seven-member capital improvement board (CIB).

The image links to the text of the ordinance approved by county commissioners establishing the CIB.

The CIB will govern the expansion of the Monroe Convention Center.

The CIB was created on July 5 under state law by the Monroe County commissioners .

Hamilton’s appointments round out the six members of the CIB who are to be appointed by four governmental entities—mayor (2); city council (1); county commissioners (2); and county council (1).

It’s up to those six to make the seventh appointment.

Still to be worked out are details of an interlocal agreement between the city and the county.

Continue reading “Six now to pick a seventh: Appointments to CIB for Monroe Convention Center expansion nearly done” →

Judge says key ruling in Bloomington annexation case will come on Sept. 5

The shading on the map reflects a 1-dot-per-person plot based on the population of census blocks as measured in the 2020 decennial census.

After hearing oral arguments for a little more than one hour on Friday morning, judge Nathan Nikirk told attorneys for annexation remonstrators, and for the city of Bloomington, that he’d take their arguments under advisement.

Then he told them he would issue a ruling next Tuesday, the day after Labor Day.

That means on Sept. 5, Nikirk will answer this question: Should the standard annexation trial for Area 1A and Area 1B be put off—until a constitutional question about the status of annexation waivers is resolved?

[Updated Sept. 5 at 3:01 p.m. Nikirk granted the request by remonstrators for a stay on the trial. Here’s a link: Nikirk’s order on the motion.]

Remonstrators filed their lawsuit in March 2022.

Nikirk is the special judge appointed in the case. His home court is in Lawrence County, but the hearing on Friday morning was held at the Charlotte Zietlow Justice Center in downtown Bloomington.

The constitutional question is the subject of separate litigation initiated by the city of Bloomington. Continue reading “Judge says key ruling in Bloomington annexation case will come on Sept. 5” →