Tag: CBCI

Showers West prep for police, Hopewell owner’s rep: 2 RDC projects take steps forward

The image is from the master plan for the redevelopment of the Hopewell site, which is the former site of the IU Health hospital. The view is from the southwest.
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.

At its Monday meeting, Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC) took incremental steps on two of its projects.

First, the RDC ​ approved a $479,000 contract with U3 Advisors to serve as the owner’s representative for the redevelopment of the Hopewell neighborhood—which is the former site of the IU Health hospital, at 2nd and Rogers streets.

On a second item, the RDC approved a $100,000 contract with Axis Architecture for some preliminary design work on the western part of the Showers building—where city hall is located. It’s the portion of the building that is the planned future home of Bloomington’s police station and fire administration. Continue reading “Showers West prep for police, Hopewell owner’s rep: 2 RDC projects take steps forward” →

“How would you know when you’re done talking about it?” Bloomington council president asks mayor about board appointments for new nonprofit

Sue Sgambelluri (March 29, 2023)
Jim Sims (March 29, 2023)
Steve Volan (March 29, 2023)
John Hamilton (March 29, 2023)

On Wednesday, an update from Bloomington mayor John Hamilton to the city council—about a nonprofit that his administration has formed—highlighted the current tension between the city’s executive and legislative branches.

The new nonprofit is called City of Bloomington Capital Improvement, Inc. (CBCI).

One source of a current conflict between the mayor and the city council is the way the appointments are made to the five CBCI board seats. Hamilton formed CBCI with bylaws that say four board seats are to be appointed by the mayor and one seat is to be appointed by the city council.

Several councilmembers think the split should be more evenly balanced. Still, the council forged ahead a couple of weeks ago by making its one appointment—retired housing and neighborhood development (HAND) department head, Doris Sims.

The four mayoral appointee are: Sarah Bauerle Danzman, Valerie Peña, Mick Renneisen, and John West.

On Wednesday, during Hamilton’s update, the disagreement between the mayor and the council, over the proper split for the appointments, generated some sharp exchanges.

Throughout the back-and-forth, Hamilton met council questions with affable assurances that he was willing to continue to talk with them about the allocation of the appointments.

Hamilton’s tactic eventually prompted city council president Sue Sgambelluri to say: “I’ll take another run at this…How would you know when you’re done talking about it, and able to make a decision?” Continue reading ““How would you know when you’re done talking about it?” Bloomington council president asks mayor about board appointments for new nonprofit” →