Category: Monroe County

Gas line leak outside Monroe County jail shut off before evacuation plan activated

Gas leak at Monroe County jail Sept. 20, 2023
Gas leak at Monroe County jail Sept. 20, 2023
Gas leak at Monroe County jail Sept. 20, 2023
Gas leak at Monroe County jail Sept. 20, 2023
Gas leak at Monroe County jail Sept. 20, 2023

On Wednesday, outside Monroe County’s jail, a gas line that was busted around 3:42 p.m. had by 7:12 p.m. been shut off. That’s according to a Monroe County sheriff’s office news release.

At least three Bloomington fire department trucks were on the scene at the jail late Wednesday afternoon as part of the emergency response to the leaking gas line outside the jail.

Fire trucks were staged in and around the north-south alley that cuts through the block at 7th Street and College Avenue where the jail is located.

The whooshing sound of leaking gas was audible from the end of the alley. The odor of natural gas was occasionally discernible, but not persistent.

According to a Monroe County sheriff’s office news release, the gas line was broken after an ASI Facilities Services worker removed a broken toilet from the jail. The toilet was set down outside in a way that struck the inlet valve for a gas line into the jail, according to the sheriff’s news release. Continue reading “Gas line leak outside Monroe County jail shut off before evacuation plan activated” →

Election 2023, Holiday 2024 roundup: Solar Eclipse Day to be a county holiday, along with election days

District 3 city council candidate Brett Heinisch (R) at a Greater Bloomington candidate event on March 21, 2023. https://brettforcitycouncil.blogspot.com/
Stock photo of solar eclipse.
District 3 city council candidate Hopi Stosberg (D) at a Greater Bloomington candidate event on March 21, 2023 https://hopi.stosberg.com/

At Wednesday morning’s meeting of Monroe County commissioners, the routine approval of county employee holidays for the following year included a bright spot.

There will be one extra day compared to last year: April 8, 2024, which is Solar Eclipse Day.

On that day, the narrow band of the full solar eclipse will pass right over Monroe County. It’s the kind of rare event that has the local tourism sector buzzing.

At the most recent meeting of the convention and visitors commission, Visit Bloomington executive director Mike McAfee said up to a quarter million visitors or more are expected in the Bloomington area to view the solar eclipse. “It’s going to be wild,” he said.

On Wednesday, commissioner Penny Githens said part of the thought behind making the day of the eclipse a county holiday is to reduce the amount of traffic out on the road. “We’re expecting a certain amount of gridlock,” Githens said.

Commissioner Julie Thomas added, “Everything will be packed full of visitors…and anything we can do to alleviate traffic is probably going to be helpful at this point.”

Another difference between the 2023 holiday schedule  and the schedule for next  year, is that both election days in 2024—primary and general—will be explicitly designated as holidays.

For 2023, there are two flexible days that county employees can use to take off and vote in the municipal elections, but they’re not tied to the date of elections. They are called “floating holidays.”

As the Nov. 7 date for municipal elections approaches, Monroe County employees are grinding through the standard preparations for the process that is fundamental to a working democracy. Continue reading “Election 2023, Holiday 2024 roundup: Solar Eclipse Day to be a county holiday, along with election days” →

Fiscal committee edits pre-design advice to county council on new jail, funding still question mark

Monroe County councilors from left: Jennifer Crossley, Kate Wiltz, and Peter Iversen.
A member of Care Not Cages, a group that opposes construction of a new jail.
Justice fiscal advisory committee (JFAC) meeting on Sept. 18, 2023

At its final scheduled session on Monday night, Monroe County’s justice fiscal advisory committee (JFAC) slogged through 35 recommendations on a new jail facility, which it had developed over the course of seven meetings starting in early June.

The committee’s recommendations are advice on pre-architectural topics falling into broad categories: procedural matters; system-wide improvements; community services; re-entry; community corrections; diversity, equity, and inclusion; treatment; and the jail itself.

The funding recommendations remain just a list of possible sources, which include the innkeepers tax, and the food and beverage tax—which are unlikely, if not impossible, sources to fund jail programing, support services, or jail construction.

No dollar amounts are included for the amount of money that could be generated for jail construction and operations through enacting an additional rate in the corrections category of local income tax.

But on Monday, the three council councilors who are the voting members of the committee—Jennifer Crossley, Kate Wiltz, and Peter Iversen—did not take a vote to adopt their report. They want to allow time for the edited recommendations, which in some cases have been consolidated, to sit in public view and be digested—until the full county council’s next meeting, on Tuesday Sept. 26.

The edited recommendations are supposed to be posted on the JFAC’s website.

The idea is that on Sept. 26, in the context of the full council meeting, the three-member committee will take a vote to adopt the recommendations. Continue reading “Fiscal committee edits pre-design advice to county council on new jail, funding still question mark” →

Election notebook: Ballot inspections, Salt Creek vacancy

Ballots laid out for review on Sept. 13, 2023 at Election Central.
Draft ballot for Bloomington 01, City council District 6.
Election supervisor Ryan Herndon talks with Bloomington city clerk Nicole Bolden as she inspects ballots.
Deborah “Ralf” Shaw proofs ballot text against the draft ballots on display.
From left: Nicole Bolden, David Henry, and Sydney Zulich.

Monday was the legally mandated chance for the public to inspect proofs of  ballots that will be used in Monroe County’s upcoming Nov. 7 municipal elections.

Ballots were on display from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Election Central (7th and Madison streets).

The ballots had been laid out for inspection on a long table by the county’s election division staff, led by election supervisor Ryan Herndon.

Arriving shortly after 9 a.m. to inspect the ballots were a couple of the Democratic Party nominees for Bloomington city offices—Nicole Bolden and Sydney Zulich.

Seeking her third four-year term, Bolden is unopposed on the ballot for city clerk. Zulich is seeking her first four-year term as the District 6 Bloomington city council representative.

All the Democratic Party nominees on the ballot are unopposed, except for Hopi Stosberg, who is competing with Republican Brett Heinisch to represent District 3 on the Bloomington city council.

Based on the sign-in sheet at Election Central, Stosberg and Heinisch dropped by to inspect ballots later in the day. Isabel Piedmont-Smith, who is the Democratic Party’s nominee for District 1 city council, also dropped by to inspect ballots later in the day. Continue reading “Election notebook: Ballot inspections, Salt Creek vacancy” →

5 tapped for Monroe County vote center committee, six more needed

Vote center committee appointee Danielle Wheelock (Sept. 7, 2023)
David Henry, election board member (Sept. 7, 2023)
Judith Benckart, election board member (Sept. 7, 2023)
Ryan Herndon, election supervisor (Sept. 7, 2023)

At its Thursday meeting, Monroe County’s three-member election board accepted five appointments that have been made to an 11-member vote center committee.

Vote centers are different from the kind of precinct-based polling locations currently used by Monroe County. At a precinct-based polling site, only voters from specified precincts can cast a ballot there.

Vote centers are polling places where a voter who is registered in any precinct can cast a ballot. For election administrators, it means some additional planning—to make sure that all the different ballots, which are tied to different precincts, are available for voters across the county.

The usual precinct-based polling locations will be used for the upcoming Nov. 7 municipal elections.

The vote center committee is supposed to produce a plan, as part of the requirements for eventually establishing vote centers.

Named to the vote center committee on Thursday were: Ilana Stonebraker; Hal Turner; Debora (Ralf) Shaw; Daniella Wheelock; and Stacy Kowalczyk. Continue reading “5 tapped for Monroe County vote center committee, six more needed” →

Lake Lemon Marina rezone denied: Driveway onto Northshore Drive can’t stay

A rezone request for Lake Lemon Marina was denied by Monroe County’s three-member board of commissioners at its Wednesday meeting.

Voting against the request were the two commissioners present—Julie Thomas and Penny Githens. Lee Jones was absent.

Based on commentary during Wednesday’s meeting, the case will eventually be litigated in the Monroe County circuit court.

Continue reading “Lake Lemon Marina rezone denied: Driveway onto Northshore Drive can’t stay” →

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” →

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” →

Next steps taken for Thomson PUD as potential site of new Monroe County jail

The building footprint of the Hamilton County jail is superimposed on the map to give a rough idea of the size of a potential jail compared to the overall site.
The building footprint of the Hamilton County jail is superimposed on the map to give a rough idea of the size of a potential jail compared to the overall site.
The building footprint of the Hamilton County jail is superimposed on the map to give a rough idea of the size of a potential jail compared to the overall site.
The building footprint of the Hamilton County jail is superimposed on the map to give a rough idea of the size of a potential jail compared to the overall site.
Aug. 29, 2023 review of jail sites
From front to back: Julie Thomas, Jeff Cockerill, Angie Purdie, Mary Ellen Diekhoff (Aug. 29, 2023)
Monroe County councilors, from left, Kate Wiltz, and Jennifer Crossley (Aug. 29, 2023)
Across the corner of the table are Monroe County sheriff Ruben Marté and Monroe County commissioner Penny Githens (Aug. 29, 2023)

The consensus was pretty clear among county officials who met on Tuesday at the county courthouse: They want to take steps towards making the Thomson PUD the site of the county’s new correctional facility.

The Thomson PUD is the county-owned property west of Rogers Street and south of Catalent.

Those next steps include doing a geotechnical analysis of the property, starting conversations with Bloomington’s planning department about zoning requirements, and talking to immediate neighbors.

Next steps also include getting an appraisal done on some land that the county does not own.

The land not yet owned by the county government is wedged between the Thomson PUD and Catalent along Strong Drive, which would be one of the access points to the new jail.

Tuesday’s gathering was a publicly noticed meeting of the county council and the county commissioners, but no formal votes were taken on a decision about the Thomson PUD property. Several other officials had been invited. Continue reading “Next steps taken for Thomson PUD as potential site of new Monroe County jail” →