Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson’s veto of a resolution opposing a potential water pipeline, from the aquifers of the Wabash River to Lebanon in Boone County, has been overridden by the city council.
Wednesday’s vote tally was 7–0 with one abstention, by Kate Rosenbarger. Matt Flaherty did not attend the meeting.
Lebanon is about 30 miles northwest of Indianapolis. From Lebanon, it’s another 35 miles, northwest along I-65, to West Lafayette.
The urbanized area inside Ellettsville in 2020 is shown in blue. To see the official Federal Transit Administration’s UA maps, see: http://tinyurl.com/FTA-Urban-Area
Owl camera view of Ellettsville town council meeting (March 11, 2024)
Rural Transit now has a way to provide on-demand public bus service to Ellettsville residents past the end of March.
That’s because Ellettsville’s town council voted unanimously at its Monday night meeting to extend the timeframe, but not the dollar amount of an appropriation it made last year.
Last year, service had been in jeopardy due to a strict interpretation by INDOT (Indiana Department of Transportation) of an existing federal funding rule—which meant Rural Trant could not tap the same kind of federal money it had previously used to pay for certain kind of trips.
The kind of trips in question are on-demand urban-to-urban bus trips outside Bloomington city limits, starting or ending inside Ellettsville. Many of Rural Transit’s riders are elderly or have disabilities.
Panorama of convention center looking to the southwest as seen in August of 2022.
Bloomington city councilmember Kate Rosenbarger.
Monroe County capital improvement board president John Whikehart.
Downtown Bloomington, Inc. executive director Talisha Coppock.
Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson.
Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce director of advocacy Christopher Emge.
Bloomington corporation counsel Margie Rice.
The governance structure for the expansion of the Monroe Convention center, which currently stands at 3rd Street and College Avenue, is now settled.
On Wednesday night, Bloomington’s city council approved its side of a four-way interlocal agreement about the way the Monroe County capital improvement board (CIB) will interact with other local units, to handle the convention center expansion project.
The vote on the nine-member city council was 7–1. Dissenting was Kate Rosenbarger.
The tally does not add to 9, because the District 5 seat is currently vacant, pending the selection of a replacement at Saturday’s (March 2) vacancy caucus to be held by the Democratic Party.
Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson attended Wednesday’s meeting, but did not address the council. After the council’s vote, Thomson responded to a B Square question by saying she would be signing the agreement as soon as it is presented to her.
This past week’s big annexation news was the cancellation of Thursday’s hearing on a cross motion for summary judgment in a constitutional challenge that was filed by Bloomington two years ago.
This table, from a recent court filing by the city of Bloomington, sums up the impact of the disputed 2019 law. The left column shows the outcome if the 2019 law is valid and is applied to remonstration signatures: Annexation is stopped outright in five areas (red) and is subject to judicial review in two areas (blue). The right column shows the outcome if the 2019 is unconstitutional: Annexation can proceed forward with no additional steps in five areas (green) and is subject to judicial review in two areas (blue).
But that hearing will be rescheduled. The hearing was canceled, only because the special judge in the case, Kelsey Hanlon out of Owen County, recused herself, due to a potential conflict involving her husband’s recent transfer of employment to Monroe County’s legal department.
At the start of the year, the nonprofit organization County Residents Against Annexation (CRAA) had expressed some hope that Bloomington would withdraw its lawsuit.
The constitutional question concerns a 2019 law, enacted by the state legislature, which voided many of the annexation waivers that Bloomington was relying on for a successful annexation effort. The waivers were supposed to ensure that landowners with such waivers attached to their property would not have their signatures counted for any remonstration against annexation.
CRAA president Margaret Clements is quoted in a Jan. 2 news release saying, “Just as the City of Bloomington unilaterally and involuntarily attempted to annex property in the county, only the City of Bloomington can unilaterally end the dispute.”
But it is now clear that new Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson’s administration will be looking to proceed with the litigation of all of the pending annexation cases.
Monroe County Community School Corporation superintendent Jeff Hauswald (May 23, 2023)
Monroe County Community School Corporation board president Brandon Shurr (May 23, 2023)
No referendum to increase property taxes has yet been placed on the Nov. 7 ballot by the Monroe County Community School corporation board.
But at its Tuesday night meeting, the board voted unanimously to pass a resolution authorizing district superintendent Jeff Hauswald to consult with Monroe County auditor Cathy Smith about the calculations that would go into increasing MCCSC’s property tax rate by 8.5 cents.
A press release issued immediately following the board’s meeting says, “In the November 7th election, MCCSC expects to ask voters to approve the rate not to exceed $0.085 per $100 of assessed property value.”
The revenue generated by the additional tax would go towards early childhood education for 3-to-5-year-old children, as well as other initiatives to make education more accessible.
The other initiatives include free instructional technology, supplies, and consumables for all students. Also made free would be Advanced Placement (AP) exams and tests that are needed for workplace certificates. The additional revenue would also mean free career education, including tuition, testing, supplies, and associated fees.
Transgender Visibility Day Celebration, Monroe County courthouse lawn April 2, 2023
Nicole Bolden
April Hennessey
Shelli Yoder
Kirin Clawson
On Sunday afternoon, around 150 people gathered on the southeast corner of the Monroe County courthouse in downtown Bloomington, for a celebration of the Transgender Day of Visibility.
Melanie Davis, with the LGBTIQ+ Community Center of Bloomington, kicked off the the event by telling the crowd “There’s a lot of scary stuff going on. We all know, we’ve all felt it.”
The “scary stuff” that Davis was talking about includes some legislation now pending in the state legislature.
That’s because several signatures were submitted on the final day.
Based on the now final but still raw tally, every area but one would have enough signatures to meet the 65-percent threshold that automatically blocks Bloomington’s annexation attempt.
That’s the same basic picture that was already known on the final day of remonstrance.
What’s different is the status of Area 1B, which by the auditor’s count at the time had not yet achieved even a lower threshold of 50-percent. That’s a benchmark that doesn’t stop the annexation but does ensure that a judge reviews a city’s annexation ordinance.
Adding in the final day’s count has bumped the total for Area 1B past the 50-percent threshold.
Bloomington resident Jean Capler stood at the public podium in city hall last Saturday morning to ask: “Is there ever any talk about decriminalizing syringe possession?”
Jean Capler at the March 2, 2019 League of Women Voters legislative update held at Bloomington city hall. (screenshot from CATS broadcast)
