Tag: alley vacation

Johnson’s Creamery: No new alley means no swap, but council’s vacation stands, project can proceed

The orientation is west-to-east. A schematic proposing an alternative to an alley vacation. The idea is to relocate the existing alley (red) a bit to the south (blue)
View looking west-to-east of the Johnson’s Creamery alley that is subject of an alley vacation request.

On the list of Bloomington public rights-of-way there is no longer an east-west alley cutting across the former Johnson’s Creamery parcel off 7th Street and The B-Line Trail.

The city council took care of that when it voted 8–1 to grant a request from Peerless Development to vacate the existing alley at that location.  The dissenting vote came from Dave Rollo.

That clears the way for a housing project that Peerless wants to build.

But on Tuesday night, Bloomington’s board of public works denied a request from Peerless to dedicate a new alley, just to the south of the one that had been vacated.

The denial of the new alley dedication does not stand in the way of the plans that Peerless has for development of the parcel with a 51-unit apartment building. The site plan for the building has been approved by the city’s plan commission.

The plan commission’s approval of the building’s site plan was contingent just on the vacation of the alley. The proposed apartment building would have sat partly in the middle of the alley that was vacated on Monday night. Continue reading “Johnson’s Creamery: No new alley means no swap, but council’s vacation stands, project can proceed” →

Bloomington sewer, stormwater rate increases get city council OK

Sanitary sewer manhole in the alley between Kirkwood Avenue and 6th Street, running west of Walnut Street.
Storm drain at Lincoln Street and Kirkwood Avenue.
A Bloomington street sweeper in action in late October 2022 on 6th Street.
City of Bloomington utilities director Vic Kelson addresses the city council (Nov. 16, 2022)

Approved by Bloomington’s city council on Wednesday night were increases to sewer (wastewater) and stormwater rates. Not affected are drinking water rates.

Stormwater rates will increase from $5.95 a month to $7.50 a month for about a 26-percent increase. That works out to $18.60 more a year. [($7.50 – $5.95) * 12] The stormwater rate increase will take effect in January 2023.

On the sewer side, the increases are in two phases, the first in January 2023 and the second two years later, starting in January 2025.

For the sewer monthly service charge, the first bump is from $8.19 to $9.17 and then to $9.72. From the current rate to the Phase II rate, that’s an 18.6-percent increase. [$8.19/($9.72 – $8.19)]

For the sewer usage rate, the first bump is from $7.99 per 1,000 gallons to $8.95, then to $9.49 in the second phase. From the current rate to the Phase II rate, that’s about an 18.7-percent increase. [($9.49 – $7.99)/ $7.99]

Based on past B Square reporting, an average city of Bloomington utilities (CBU) customer who lives inside the city uses 3,300 gallons of sewage service a month.

Comparing current rates to what the rates will eventually be under Phase II, an average inside-the-city customer would see an annual sewer bill increase from $414.68 to $492.44.

The votes on the rate increases were unanimous. Continue reading “Bloomington sewer, stormwater rate increases get city council OK” →

Johnson’s Creamery alley vacated by city council on 8–1 vote, BPW to see request for new alley next week

View looking west-to-east of the Johnson’s Creamery alley that is subject of an alley vacation request.
The orientation is west-to-east. A schematic proposing an alternative to an alley vacation. The idea is to relocate the existing alley (red) a bit to the south (blue)
City engineer Andrew Cibor addresses the Bloomington city council. (Nov. 16, 2022)
City councilmember Matt Flaherty (Nov. 16, 2022).
City engineer Andrew Cibor (Nov. 17, 2022).

By an 8-to-1 tally, Bloomington’s city council voted Wednesday night to vacate an east-west alley that cuts across the old Johnson’s Creamery property off 7th Street and The B-Line Trail.

Taken at face value, giving up that right-of-way clears the way for Peerless Development to construct a 51-unit apartment building, which has site plan approval from the city’s plan commission. The plan commission’s approval of the building’s site plan was contingent on the vacation of the alley.

The proposed apartment building would sit partly in the middle of the alley that was vacated on Monday night.

But the city council’s approval was part of a kind of swap that Peerless is proposing: The vacation of the existing east-west alley would be made in exchange for the dedication of a new alley, just to the south of the existing one.

The dedication of the new right-of-way would have to be accepted by the board of public works. That’s queued up for the board’s meeting next week, on Nov. 22. Continue reading “Johnson’s Creamery alley vacated by city council on 8–1 vote, BPW to see request for new alley next week” →

New alley as part of swap at old Johnson’s Creamery likely won’t get city engineer’s support

View looking west-to-east of the Johnson’s Creamery alley that is subject of an alley vacation request.
The orientation is west-to-east. A schematic proposing an alternative to an alley vacation. The idea is to relocate the existing alley (red) a bit to the south (blue)
On-screen: CM Jim Sims. From left: council attorney Stephen Lucas, CM Ron Smith, deputy council attorney Ash Kulak, CM Susan Sandberg, and city engineer Andrew Cibor.

A potential alley “swap” that would be crucial to construction of about 50 new apartments off 7th Street  is a possibility that Peerless Development is still trying to sort out.

At its Wednesday meeting, Bloomington’s city council did not take up its part of the swap, which would be to vacate the existing east-west alley on the old Johnson’s Creamery parcel.

The new apartment building, to be built on the northern part of the parcel, which is now a parking lot, would encroach on the existing alley. That is why the Peerless wants the council to approve a vacation of that public right-of-way.

The reason the council took no action on Wednesday is that by the time the agenda item was reached, the hour had grown late, so the council declined to take up the question of an alley vaction.

That means the alley vacation won’t be considered until the council’s Nov. 16 meeting.

The other piece of the swap—the dedication of a new alley just south of the existing one—won’t be considered until Nov. 22, at a meeting of the board of public works. Continue reading “New alley as part of swap at old Johnson’s Creamery likely won’t get city engineer’s support” →

Bloomington city council preview: Johnson’s Creamery alley vacation; higher sewer, storm rates

View looking west-to-east of the Johnson’s Creamery alley that is subject of an alley vacation request.
Storm drain at Lincoln Street and Kirkwood Avenue.
Sanitary sewer manhole in the alley between Kirkwood Avenue and 6th Street, running west of Walnut Street.

Next Wednesday’s meeting of the Bloomington city council (Nov. 2) will likely feature a renewed consideration of a request by Peerless Development to vacate an east-west alley on the old Johnson’s Creamery building.

According to a memo in the council’s nearly 500-page meeting information packet, it’s expected that a motion will be made at Wednesday’s meeting to take up the item again for consideration. The request was tabled at the council’s meeting in the third week of July.

Also on Wednesday’s agenda are first readings for increases to the monthly sewer and stormwater fees. Because of a 68-year old clause in Bloomington’s local code, no discussion of the rate increases can take place at their first reading on Wednesday.

Based on their pattern of the last couple of months, councilmembers might spend some time debating whether to discuss the rate increases at a committee-of-the-whole meeting the following week, or to skip the committee meeting. A vote to enact the rate increases, to start in 2023, could come on Nov. 16.

Already anticipated on the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting of the Bloomington city council was a proposal to install a stop sign at the intersection of Maxwell Lane and Sheridan Drive.  Based on the discussion at a committee-of-the-whole meeting this past week, the stop sign ordinance probably has at least five votes of support, which would be enough on the nine-member city council to pass it. Continue reading “Bloomington city council preview: Johnson’s Creamery alley vacation; higher sewer, storm rates” →

Denied by Bloomington: Request to vacate two strips of right-of-way where parts of buildings stand

Indicated in red are the two strips that Lowenstein asked the city council to vacate. Green is the proposed easement.
Solomon Lowenstein’s attorney, David Ferguson, addresses the Bloomington city council (Sept. 21, 2022)

If a property owner asks the city of Bloomington to give up some public-right-of-way, the city’s default answer is no.

On Wednesday, Bloomington’s city council hewed to that basic standard, when eight of nine councilmembers voted against Solomon Lowenstein’s request for vacation of two strips of land.

The property is in the northeast part of the city, just south of 11th Street near the B-Line Trail.

The proposal got just one vote of support, from Ron Smith.

The historical background goes back around 100 years. More recently, in 2014, the city council considered, but ultimately denied ,a package of vacation requests, that also included Lowenstein’s. The vote eight years ago was 3–4, with two councilmembers absent—Steve Volan and Dave Rollo.

Why did Lowenstein, then as now, want the city to give up some land that is owned by the public? Continue reading “Denied by Bloomington: Request to vacate two strips of right-of-way where parts of buildings stand” →

Photos: Brick-by-brick partial demolition of Johnson’s Creamery smokestack starts, as Bloomington watches like a hawk

On Thursday, the partial demolition got started for the Johnson’s Creamery smokestack, located off the B-Line Trail and 7th Street.

Two workers in a metal cage suspended from a crane first removed the topmost metal reinforcement band from around the stack, which they lowered to the ground.

With the metal band out of the way, they used a hand-held power tool to bust up bits of the masonry and shoved loosened bricks over into the hollow interior of the stack.

The work circled the smokestack counterclockwise (east-to-north-to-west-to-south). By the end of Thursday, the first of the iconic vertical letters had disappeared against partly cloudy blue skies. That meant the smokestack would, at least overnight, read “OHNSON’S.”

While workers chipped away at the top of the smokestack, a red-tailed hawk kept watch two blocks east, on top of the antenna affixed to the roof of Monroe County’s Charlotte Zietlow Justice Center. Continue reading “Photos: Brick-by-brick partial demolition of Johnson’s Creamery smokestack starts, as Bloomington watches like a hawk” →

Telecom gear gone from Johnson’s Creamery smokestack, partial demolition to come next week

Workers remove AT&T telecommunications gear from the historic Johnson’s Creamery smokestack. (Aug. 8, 2022)
Workers remove AT&T telecommunications gear from the historic Johnson’s Creamery smokestack. (Aug. 8, 2022)
Workers remove AT&T telecommunications gear from the historic Johnson’s Creamery smokestack. (Aug. 8, 2022)
Workers remove AT&T telecommunications gear from the historic Johnson’s Creamery smokestack. (Aug. 8, 2022)
Workers remove AT&T telecommunications gear from the historic Johnson’s Creamery smokestack. (Aug. 8, 2022)

The actual “H” in the word “Johnson’s”—which is spelled out in the brick on the Johnson’s Creamery historic smokestack, off 7th Street in downtown Bloomington—is now visible.

Until Monday, the letter had been obscured by some AT&T telecommunications equipment that was installed at the top of the smokestack.  Two bars of the telecom gear had been colored white, as a stand-in for the “H” so that the name of the historic creamery was still legible.

On Monday morning, a crew from an AT&T contractor removed the telecommunications equipment from the top of the smokestack.

AT&T had been ordered to remove the equipment by Bloomington’s housing and neighborhood development (HAND) department.

The removal of the gear sets the stage for the partial demolition of the smokestack, which has been ordered by Bloomington’s housing and neighborhood development (HAND) department, because an engineering study determined that the smokestack is structurally unsound.

The smokestack, with its unsafe lean, is supposed to be knocked down from 140 feet to 60 feet.

The Johnson’s Creamery building, which is now its own local historic district, is owned by Peerless Development.

Responding to an emailed question from The B Square, Peerless founder Michael Cordaro indicated on Monday that his contractors should be on site next week to begin the demolition and restoration work on the smokestack. He estimated the time for that work at four to six weeks. Continue reading “Telecom gear gone from Johnson’s Creamery smokestack, partial demolition to come next week” →

Johnson’s Creamery developer pitches swap of alley location, city council puts off decision

A schematic proposing an alternative to an alley vacation. The idea is to relocate the existing alley (red) a bit to the south (blue)
From the Arsee Engineers March 1, 2022 study, a recent photograph of the Johnson’s Creamery smokestack with diagram showing where it could fall.

Just this week, a plot twist has emerged in connection with the potential future development of the northern part of the 7th Street parcel where the Johnson’s Creamery building sits.

The twist: Peerless Development has added a corresponding offer to its request for an alley vacation

Now, Peerless says it is willing to dedicate a new public alley on the property, just south of the existing alley. The vacation, combined with the new dedication, would amount to moving the existing alley a bit to the south.

Peerless wants the existing alley to be vacated, in order to build a 51-unit apartment complex north of the old creamery building, right next to the B-Line Trail, off 7th Street. Bloomington’s plan commission approved the site plan for the new development in October 2021. But that approval was contingent on getting a greenlight from the city council for the vacation of the east-west alley—because part of the proposed new building would sit in the right-of-way.

The creamery’s historic smokestack stands in the existing alley. It is subject to a partial demolition order  from the city, based on an engineering study.

At its Wednesday meeting, Bloomington’s city council responded to the offer to move the alley, instead of just vacating the existing public right-of-way, by putting off a decision on the alley vacation.

What the council did procedurally was to table the question. The vote on tabling was 6–2, with Dave Rollo and Jim Sims dissenting. Kate Rosenbarger was absent. Continue reading “Johnson’s Creamery developer pitches swap of alley location, city council puts off decision” →

$500 “goodwill gesture” goes to Johnson’s Creamery smokestack owner from Bloomington historic group

On Thursday, Peerless Development received a $500 grant award from Bloomington’s historic preservation commission (HPC)—in connection with an engineering study that found the Johnson’s Creamery smokestack to be structurally unsound.

B Square file photo of Johnson’s Creamery smokestack in the first half of 2022.

Peerless owns the historic smokestack, along with the creamery building, which is located off 7th Street on the B Line Trail. Earlier this year, the city council designated the building as a historic district.

Peerless is currently looking at a cost of around $350,000 to partly demolish the smokestack and another $250,000, which mayor John Hamilton’s administration wants the developer to contribute towards commemorative art for the smokestack.

The city of Bloomington has ordered Peerless to reduce the height of the smokestack from 140 feet to 60 feet.

Compared to the half million dollars in smokestack-related costs Peerless might be facing, the size of the HPC’s grant is small.

But as HPC member Sam DeSollar put it, “I think it’s a goodwill gesture.” Peerless has had to spend “a bucket of money” to figure out how to deal with the smokestack and its unsafe lean, DeSollar said. “I won’t feel guilty about defraying their costs by $500.” He added, “And we’re going to have to work with these folks in the future on what happens with this—so I’m going to support this.”

Dissenting on the vote was Matthew Seddon, who said the cost of the Arsee Engineers report was definitely within the guidelines for the grant, which talks about consulting fees. But the guidelines for the HPC grants say the consulting fees are supposed to be associated with the rehabilitation of a historic property. From Seddon’s perspective, the project was not about rehabilitation: “These guys are taking the thing down!” Continue reading “$500 “goodwill gesture” goes to Johnson’s Creamery smokestack owner from Bloomington historic group” →