Bloomington posts 30-day deadline for encampment near Rail Trail, cites fire safety risks

The aerial image is from Monroe County’s parcel lookup system, from a flyover photograph taken on March 11, 2024.

On Monday this week, the city of Bloomington posted a 30-day notice to vacate the area at homeless encampments along the Rail Trail south of Country Club Drive and north of Gordon Pike.

That was a day before a storm blew through Monroe County, downing trees, powerlines and damaging several houses.

It will be the fourth significant encampment closure since the start of the year, when Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson first took office. The first came in early January, at a city-owned property on the northwest corner of the intersection of Fairview Street and Patterson Drive. The second closure came at the end of January, on a wooded stretch of city-owned property behind Wheeler Mission.

The third encampment clearance came in early May on public and private property at the southwest edge of Switchyard Park. Continue reading “Bloomington posts 30-day deadline for encampment near Rail Trail, cites fire safety risks” →

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. Continue reading “Column: Staring into the civic sun in 2024, the year of a solar eclipse” →

Bloomington wins dismissal of Perry Township trustee’s lawsuit over records about homeless encampment policy

Order to Dismiss Screen Shot 2022-03-21 at 11.54.27 AM

Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021

The lawsuit filed last October by Perry Township trustee Dan Combs against the city of Bloomington for allegedly failing to provide records under Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act (APRA) has been dismissed.

The requested records involved implementation of policies related to homeless encampments.

On March 9, Monroe County circuit court judge Geoff Bradley issued his second order of dismissal, which ends the case. The first order to dismiss came late last year, but gave Combs a chance to file an amended complaint.

An amended complaint was filed, but did not fix the problems that Bloomington and the judge found with the original complaint. Continue reading “Bloomington wins dismissal of Perry Township trustee’s lawsuit over records about homeless encampment policy” →

Bloomington human rights commission waits for specific wording before voting to support possible protections for park encampments

At their Monday meeting, Bloomington’s human rights commissioners seemed supportive of a possible new law that would protect homeless encampments in city parks.

Screen shot of the Jan. 25, 2021 Bloomington human rights commission meeting.

The proposed new law comes after a decision by Bloomington’s mayor, John Hamilton, to clear a Seminary Park encampment in early December and again in mid-January.

The proposed new Bloomington law is modeled on an Indianapolis ordinance.

But city human rights commissioners wanted to see the specific wording of Bloomington’s ordinance before voting to support it.

As commissioner Carolyn Calloway-Thomas put it, “I will have to lay eyes on the language that’s constituted now, because there might be some differences stylistically and otherwise, during the translation from Indianapolis to Bloomington.” Calloway-Thomas is a professor African American and African diaspora studies at Indiana University.

The new law, which got some discussion at a city council work session last Friday (Jan. 22) is co-authored by councilmembers Matt Flaherty and Kate Rosenbarger.

City councilmembers did not attend the human rights commission meeting on Monday.

Speaking in support of the proposed new ordinance on Monday was Monroe County county human rights commissioner Vauhxx Booker, who provided the impetus for the new legislation. Continue reading “Bloomington human rights commission waits for specific wording before voting to support possible protections for park encampments” →

Bloomington city council to consider new law protecting homeless encampments in parks

Seminary Park from the Walnut Street side, looking northwest on Jan. 23, 2021. (Dave Askins/Square Beacon)

A new local law that would provide certain protections to people living in city park encampments could get a first reading in front of Bloomington’s city council on Feb. 3.

The proposed new law comes after a decision by Bloomington’s mayor, John Hamilton, to clear a Seminary Park encampment in early December and again in mid-January.

On Saturday, Jan. 23, four tents were set up on the Walnut Street side of the park, and a half dozen people were congregated there.

Highlights of the proposed new law include a requirement of 15-day notice by the city to a homeless person living in a city park encampment, before they and their belongings can be removed from the park.

Another requirement of the proposed law is that the city catalog and store for at least 60 days the belongings of a person who is removed from a park encampment. The amount of belongings the city must store is described in the draft as fitting “entirely within one 96-gallon container per displaced person.”

Under the proposed new law in its draft form, the city wouldn’t be able to close down a park encampment unless there is “sufficient available housing”—except in the case of an emergency.

After giving the required 15-day notice, the city would, under the proposed new law, have to work with service providers, faith-based organizations, street ministries, or volunteers ensure that those in the encampment are offered alternative housing and wraparound services.

The possibility of a Feb. 3 first reading, which could mean enactment at the city council’s Feb. 17 meeting, was floated at the city council’s noon work season on Friday, Jan. 22.

Continue reading “Bloomington city council to consider new law protecting homeless encampments in parks” →

Enforcement by city, county against encampments in different locations Thursday night: 1 tent remains at Seminary Park

Seminary Park

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During a Thursday night meeting of Bloomington city council’s four-member public safety committee, to hear public comment about the houseless encampment in Seminary Park, Monroe County sheriff’s deputies were patrolling county land further south off Rogers Street.

At Seminary Park, after the committee meeting ended around 9 p.m., word had already spread about two arrests made on the county’s property, which includes 87 acres that front Rogers Street north of Cherokee Drive.

A couple hours later, Seminary Park would see its own, second enforcement action of the day.

[Updated at 12:22 p.m. on Jan. 15. The city of Bloomington issued a statement on the topic. “The City will continue actively collaborating with the entire community and region, including other governmental entities (Monroe County government and township trustees) service providers, those with lived experience, faith communities, and philanthropic agencies, to identify short- and long-term alternatives for our residents experiencing homelessness.”]

The statement includes information about where the people’s belongings had been taken: “Switchyard Park maintenance building at 1601 South Rogers Street where they may be retrieved today from 8:30 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. and Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. starting next week.” The statement also says, “Anyone seeking information about available services including emergency shelter may call 211.”

Monroe County land

This aerial image of the county-owned property off Rogers is from the Monroe County online GIS system.

Continue reading “Enforcement by city, county against encampments in different locations Thursday night: 1 tent remains at Seminary Park” →