Column: Staring into the civic sun in 2024, the year of a solar eclipse
In 2024, the local civic cosmos could see some big changes, in the same year when a rare literal cosmic event will unfold.
On April 8, a solar eclipse will briefly cast a shadow directly over the Bloomington area, turning daylight into gloam. (Yes, that is an awfully fancy word for “twilight,” but it’s the kind of highfalutin fare that is customary for a newspaper year-in-preview column.)
During an eclipse, in the battle between dark and light across the visible disk of the sun, the dark begins with a steady assimilation of the light’s territory, but the light always reverses the trend and prevails in the end.
That’s either a great or a lousy metaphor for municipal annexation, depending on a person’s political perspective.
In fall of 2021, Bloomington’s city council approved the annexation of seven different territories, all of which are still the subject of litigation.
Metaphors aside, 2024 holds the potential for some court decisions on those pending annexations, which might settle the question of how much Bloomington’s boundaries will change.
Of course, annexation is just one of myriad civic issues that are in the queue for Bloomington and Monroe County in 2024.
Here’s a non-exhaustive rundown of topics The B Square will try to track in the coming year.
Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson’s leadership team
As mayor-elect, Kerry Thomson has already announced two rounds of appointments to key positions in her incoming administration—one on Dec. 1, and another one about three weeks later.
There are still some spots that Thomson has filled only on an interim basis, among them the jobs of communications director and public engagement director, which work out of the mayor’s office.
Interims are also currently slotted in for planning and transportation director, housing and neighborhood development (HAND) director, community and family resources department (CFRD) director, director of utilities, and fire chief. The need to name an interim fire chief arose when chief Jason Moore resigned a few days after Thomson announced him as her choice to continue in that role.
How Thomson fills those roles on a permanent basis will likely be a frequent news item through the early part of the year.
Monroe County elections
Thomson’s choice of Jessica McClellan as Bloomington’s city controller, will take the current county treasurer out of the mix for another big local civic event in 2024—elections for Monroe County offices.
Though she is term-limited as treasurer, McClellan had been expected to run for county auditor to replace current county auditor Catherine Smith, who is term-limited in that role. Smith is running for treasurer.
That sets up at least one, and maybe two, Democratic Party caucuses in the first month of the year—one to fill the vacancy in the treasurer’s office and another to fill the auditor’s vacancy, if Smith prevails as the caucus choice for treasurer.
Already announced as a candidate for auditor is Democrat Brianne Gregory. Gregory currently works in the auditor’s office as the county’s financial director.
District 3 county commissioner incumbent Democrat Penny Githens has not made an announcement about her re-election plans. The District 1 seat, now held by Democrat Lee Jones, is not up for election in 2024.
But already announced as candidates for the District 2 county commissioner race are incumbent Democrat Julie Thomas and current county councilor Peter Iversen.
Iversen’s District 1 county council seat is not up for election this year. It’s the three at-large seats on the county council that could turn over.
Now serving in all of the at-large seats are Democrats. But Geoff McKim will not be seeking re-election. Incumbent Trent Deckard has already announced his re-election campaign. Incumbent Cheryl Munson is expected to seek re-election. Current Monroe County Democratic Party chair David Henry has announced that he will be seeking election to one of the three county council spots.
Independent candidate Joe Davis, who fell just short of collecting enough signatures to appear on the ballot for mayor of Bloomington in 2023, plans to collect signatures to qualify for the ballot as an at-large county councilor.
Also up for election in 2024 are three circuit court judgeships, county surveyor, and county coroner.
Planning for new Monroe County jail
Likely to be an issue for the county commissioner campaigns is the planning work that is being done on a new jail for Monroe County. Around this time last year, the county commissioners hit a setback, when their preferred location in the south part of Bloomington did not receive the needed zoning approval from the city council.
County commissioners are currently investigating the possibility that the Thomson PUD, south of the Catalent facility, could be the site of a new jail.
If a choice of a new jail location is dialed in sometime in the first part of 2024, that would count as a significant milestone.
Monroe County officials received a consultant’s report two and half years ago—indicating that the current facility at 7th Street and College Avenue, is failing to provide constitutional levels of care. That’s why a new jail facility is being considered.
Monroe Convention Center expansion
The establishment of a capital improvement board (CIB) by county commissioners this past July marked meaningful forward progress on a project that would expand the existing Monroe Convention Center. The CIB is supposed to provide the governance structure.
The seven-member CIB has now met three times and is looking to move ahead without delay, after the project stalled out in 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
One remaining political piece of the convention center puzzle is ratification by the county commissioners and the county council of a four-way interlocal agreement that also includes the Bloomington city council and the mayor. Both parts of the city have signed off on the interlocal agreement.
But county’s side is taking a minute to review the agreement. In the first months of 2024, it should become clear if the delay by county commissioners and councilors will prove to be just a hiccup, or if county officials will insist on amendments that would require re-approval by the city council and the mayor.
The status of the interlocal agreement could conceivably become a campaign issue for the county council and the county commissioner seats.
Annexation: Two sets of lawsuits
There are two sets of pending litigation related to the city of Bloomington’s annexation effort, which started in 2017. In 2021, Bloomington’s city council approved the annexation of seven areas near or surrounded by the city.
One set of litigation involves two areas where landowners collected enough signatures to force a judicial review of the merits for annexation in those two areas. The timing of that review was the subject of considerable legal wrangling.
The five-day judicial review on the merits for Area 1A and Area 1B is now set to take place in front of special judge Nathan Nikirk out of Lawrence County, starting on April 29, 2024.
The other litigation involves a constitutional question—whether a 2019 law passed by the state legislature can invalidate annexation waivers and still be consistent with a state constitutional prohibition against creating laws that alter obligations under a contract.
The city of Bloomington initiated that litigation, because the other five annexation areas, other than Area 1A and Area 1B, collected enough landowner signatures to stop annexation outright in the five areas. But their tally of signatures is enough, only if the 2019 law is allowed to apply, which invalidates many of the waivers that were attached to the properties.
A hearing on the case is set for February 8, 2024 in front of special judge Kelsey Hanlon, out of Owen County.
Construction: Police, fire public safety projects
Already started is the construction on one of the big projects to be funded with the $29.5-million bond issuance approved by the city council in late 2022. The 4th Street Fire Station 1, which was damaged in the Kirkwood 2021 flood is getting renovated and reconstructed. That work started a few weeks ago.
When it is finished, which is expected towards the end of 2024, the firefighters working out of the temporary station at 4th and College, in the old Bunger & Robertson building, will move back down the street to the newly reconstructed fire station building.
The administrative fire staff will not make the same move, because no space for administration has been designed into the renovated Station 1. Instead, the plan is to move fire department administration into Showers West, which is the western part of the same 110-year old brick furniture factory building that also houses city hall. The city council approved the purchase of Showers West in early 2023.
The whole police department is also supposed to join fire administration in Showers West, when the renovation is complete. As a part of the plan, the current police station, located on 3rd Street, was supposed to be sold. But on the last substantive vote of its four-year term, the city council unanimously rejected a $4.4-million purchase offer.
At least a slight pause was introduced into the plan at the final meeting of Bloomington’s redevelopment commission. At that meeting, the RDC considered the construction contracts for the Showers West building, but was not able to achieve a majority vote on any action.
Based on remarks by councilmembers and mayor-elect Kerry Thomson, the future of the 3rd Street police station building is unclear, but its sale is not essential to moving ahead on the Showers West renovation.
Even though Thomson advocated at the RDC meeting against approval of the construction contracts on that occasion, she did not say anything that indicated she wants to try to reverse the basic idea of moving the police department to the Showers West building.
One question of timing that could emerge towards the end of 2024 is whether the Showers West renovation will be done in time for the fire department administration to move there from the former Bunger & Robertson space, to make the 4th and College parcel available for the expansion of the convention center.
Construction: Hopewell
In the last couple of weeks of December 2023, the city of Bloomington closed the deal on the site of the former IU Health hospital at 2nd and Rogers Streets. The city’s online financial system shows a payment of $2,500,550 to IU Health OCC Health Services on Dec. 21. That’s part of the total $6.5 million total the city agreed to pay for the land.
The new neighborhood to be constructed there, with as many as 1,000 units of new housing has been named Hopewell. Ground was broken in July of 2023 on the infrastructure work in the northeast corner of the project, the so-called Phase 1 East area.
Sometime in 2024, responses by developers to the city’s RFPs for the different phases can be expected to emerge for consideration, either by Bloomington’s redevelopment commission, or the new nonprofit formed by outgoing mayor John Hamilton, called the City of Bloomington Capital Improvements, Inc.
The CBCI is a different entity from the capital improvement board (CIB) formed by county commissioners to oversee the expansion of the Monroe Convention Center. The official name of the county’s entity is the Monroe County Capital Improvement Board of Managers.
Another housing-related idea that could be picked up and pushed forward by Thomson is the development of some of the city-owned downtown surface parking lots as income-restricted housing.
No money was allocated for it, but as part of the 2023 budget discussions, Hamilton talked about identifying one of the surface lots for housing development. That idea was basically put on hold by Hamilton and was not acted on.
Construction: Technology Center, Trades District
The technology center has broken ground in the Trades District. The 3-story 22,000-square-foot technology center is being constructed at the southwest corner of Maker Way and Madison Street, kitty-corner from The Mill, which is a coworking space developed by the RDC. The technology center can be expected to take clear shape in 2024.
Also hoped for in 2024 is some progress on the development of the rest of the Trades District, which is being led by former Bloomington mayor John Fernandez, who is now vice president for innovation and strategic partnerships at The Mill. The land was offered for sale by Bloomington’s redevelopment commission in June of 2023, for a total of $6.18-million.
County Development Ordinance
The Monroe County planning department has been working on a revision to the county’s basic land use regulations—the county development ordinance (CDO). Four listening sessions were held in 2023, and the planners are considering feedback up until the time of the official public hearings, which are hoped to be scheduled for 2024. No date has yet been specified.
The county planning department has set up a website dedicated to the topic, and has disseminated a one-page explainer on providing feedback.
The CDO can be expected to be a campaign issue in the county commissioner election campaigns.
Mixed bag: greenways, fiber, Lower Cascades, transit, encampments
Several other topics can be expected to get some time on the civic stage in 2024.
The construction contract for the Hawthorne-Weatherstone greenway, worth $873,000, was approved at the end of the year by Bloomington’s board of public works. A point of emphasis for staff was that incoming mayor Kerry Thomson would have to review the project before staff would proceed.
Meridiam’s fiber-to-the-home project, which received approval from Bloomington’s redevelopment commission in summer of 2022, is in the middle of the build-out. Progress can be monitored on a dynamic map that Hoosier Networks has set up. During the project work so far, the horizontal boring that is required to install underground cable has on occasion hit sewer laterals.
In summer 2023, the Hamilton administration was keen to have the city council take some kind of action on the closure of the section of Old 37 that runs through Lower Cascades Park. But other than a report made in July to the council, the issue did not make it on to a city council agenda in 2023.
Expected on the historic preservation commission’s agenda in early 2024 is consideration of the Lower Cascades park for a historic designation.
Sometime in the first quarter of the year, county government, Ellettsville town government, Rural Transit and Bloomington Transit are likely to hash through some kind of arrangement to pay for rides inside the county’s urban area, but not wholly contained inside the city of Bloomington. A stopgap arrangement goes only through the end of March.
Based on remarks from some Bloomington city councilmembers who returned from a Local Progress conference in St. Louis over the summer, 2024 could see an effort to introduce some kind of legislation that would provide protections for homeless encampments.
Happy New Year!
Any of the issues previewed here have the same potential for a big letdown as a solar eclipse on cloudy day. But The B Square will do its best to keep an eye on these topics and more, without staring straight into the sun.
