Alright Hi, I'm Adam Wason. I'm the public works director for the city of Bloomington. It is 5 31 p.m.
On Tuesday, January 13th 2026 We are in the council chambers here at City Hall Bloomington, Indiana
And this is the regularly scheduled Board of Public Works meeting We have a zoom link with a meeting
ID and a passcode on it we have a couple members of the public that are on the zoom meet and
not sure why the screens flashing like that hopefully that'll kind of stop a little bit but if you are
a member of the public on zoom and at any point have a public comment for items on the agenda or during
the petitions and remonstrances portion of the agenda we just ask that you use
The raise hand function and we will unmute you at that time and allow you to make your public comment
public comment will be limited to three minutes per individual this evening and we have several items
on the agenda of the consent agenda and then just two items of new business. So at this time I'll turn
it over to Kyla Cox Deckard board president for the board of public works.
works this Tuesday January 13th of twenty twenty six. First up we have messages from board members.
Next we have appeals under appeals. We have notice of violation appeal from December 1st twenty twenty
five for Wells and Wells.
with our engineering department, and we have Alex Pratt with our legal team here to help as well. So
this is a violation that occurred on December 1st, 2025, and after the engineering department received
a submission via the UReport online reporting function for something previously noting that the gate
was blocking the 17th Street side path.
On December 1st, staff went out and observed that and had followed up with Wells and Wells, letting
them know that the notice of violation would be issued. We have communicated, the staff has communicated
back to Wells and Wells our response to their appeal, and I don't know that we have any representatives
of Wells and Wells here at this time. Would LK or Kelly J be here?
So we do ask that you uphold the notice of violation and deny the appeal for the improper blocking of
the side path there on 17th Street. Thank you. I'll just call for the appellant for this notice of violation
appeal from December 1st 2025. If there is someone present here to represent this appeal please.
signal either on Zoom with a raised hand function or a chat function, or signal in person by standing
up. I don't have anyone here on Zoom. All right. Seeing no appellant, is there any questions from the
board on this? I have none. We had a good discussion about this in yesterday's work session.
Is your mic on? Nope.
Thank you. I said I have no questions. We had a good discussion about this at yesterday's work session.
So thank you for all the information. All right. Is there a motion on this item recording in progress.
I move that we deny the appeal for the notice of violation from December 1 2025 for Wells and Wells.
All right. I second. We have a motion in a second. I will call the roll.
Caron I Cox Deckard I motion passes. Next we have notice of violation appeal from December 3rd 2025
for Wells and Wells director. So this is a violation and the subsequent appeal was a violation on December
3rd 2025 where a truck was blocking a side path.
A parked truck was blocking a side path with no appropriate signage or maintenance of traffic in place.
And staff, when speaking with the subcontractor, they noted that they were blocking that. And in a subsequent
meeting, staff let them know that we did not agree with their rationale. And we do ask that the appeal
be denied and the notice of violation be upheld.
the appellant if the appellant is present for the notice of violation appeal from December 3rd of 2025
for Wells and Wells. If you are on zoom if you could please enter something in the chat or raise your
hand to let us know that you're here. All right. Any questions from the board on this item. Is there a motion.
I move that we deny the appeal for the notice of violation from December 3rd 2025 for Wells and Wells.
I second. I will call the roll. Crone I Cox Deckard I motion passes next we have the notice of violation
appeal from December 5th of 2025 for Wells and Wells. Yes.
director. So in early December staff was working with Wells and Wells who had submitted a right of way
permit on December 3rd for a street closure on Lincoln for December 5th. Due to the other unresolved
issues of compliance for that site staff did not approve that right of way closure request which is
consistent with city code chapter or section 12.
which enables the engineering department staff to revoke or withhold other approvals certificates and
or permits relevant to the site on which the violation has occurred or to the parties committing the
violation. So we did not issue that permit. They subsequently did close the road on December 5th after
we did not issue the permit. And so then we issued the notice of violation for the improper road closure. I will.
Again call for the appellant for notice of violation for appeal from December 5th 2025 for Wells and
Wells. If you have joined us on zoom and you would like to let us know that you're here you can use
the chat function or the raised hand function. All right. Questions from the board on this item.
I don't have any questions but I do want to express that I have deep concern about these violations.
This is not the first set of violations that we have become aware of on this board and we take seriously
the access to the right of way and the particularly egregious closure of the right of way when there
was not a permit issued.
I would implore Wells and Wells to take seriously those ordinances and the safety of our residents and
would hope that we don't see additional notices of violation from this project. All right. Is there
a motion on this item violation from December 5th 2025 for Wells and Wells and I second. I will call
the roll. Caron I Cox Deckard I.
motion passes. Next up we have petitions and remonstrances. This is a time for public comment on items
that are not on our agenda this evening. If anyone has a public comment on something not on the agenda,
now is the opportunity to offer that. If you're on Zoom, you can use the raised hand function or the
chat function to let us know you'd like to make a comment. If you're present in the room and would like
to make a comment on something not on the agenda, you may approach the microphone.
Next up is the consent agenda under the consent agenda. We have resolution 20 26-02 policy and procedure
on private art installation in the public right of way resolution 20 26-03 mobile vendor Peeley's taco
truck number one resolution 20 26-04 mobile vendor Peeley's
taco truck number two resolution twenty twenty six dash zero five mobile vendor police taco truck three
twenty twenty six service agreement with Parker Technology for Parker Pike parking services twenty twenty
six service agreement with even time for parking services service agreement for upgrade of RTA to RTA
360 with Ron Turley and Associates for fleet services purchase of fire engine from HME and payroll.
Do we have any items that need to be removed from the consent agenda this evening. Do we have any public
comments on items within the consent agenda this evening. Seeing none is there a motion on the consent
agenda for tonight's meeting of January 13th 2026.
All right, I second. I will call the roll. Caron? Aye. Cox-Dekard, aye. Motion passes. Next, we have
new business. First under new business is road closure and sidewalk diversion on South High Street for
Duke Energy. Good evening. Kyle Wall, program manager, engineering. So Duke is requesting this closure
on High Street just south of Woodstock,
So this would be a project that would take place over the period of three days occurring between February
23rd and March 9th of this year I Wanted to note that this one's a fairly unique one in that there's
no sidewalk that they're so sorry, they're requesting lane and sidewalk intermittent roadway closure
Intermittent roadway closure is going to be because of the nature of this layout
Only providing one sidewalk, which is on the east side of High Street in this location So we've come
up with a kind of a unique plan to allow Flaggers to stop traffic both north and south on the roadway
that would allow Pedestrians to traverse on the left-hand side of this work area that would occupy the
eastern sidewalk so it's it's a little bit more intense than what we would normally see but the location
Is what it is So myself and field specialists will be out to monitor the progress on this Also want
to note that this would not be in place during the school arrival or dismissal hours as we know that
there's heavy foot traffic in the area during that time Thank you questions on this item I assume as
part of this you'll be in touch with MCC at that local elementary school and let them know about the
The increased flagging. Yes. Thank you. Any public comments on this item. Seeing none. Is there a motion.
I move that we approve the road closure and sidewalk diversion on South High Street for Duke Energy.
And I second. I will call the roll. Caron I Cox Deckard I motion passes.
Next we have resolution twenty twenty six dash zero one policy on special events in the right of way.
Good evening again Adam Wilson public works director on behalf of Cassie Warney our special projects
and operations manager in the public works department. We've been working for the last couple of last
year plus with our downtown special event organizers on revamping and updating our policies and procedures
related to special events in the downtown using the public right of way.
The policy that we're proposing here would apply to special events in the public right of way IE events
that take place on city streets and it does not apply to events that take place in our parks or with
our parks and Recreation Department at their facilities This was co-created with in consultation with
our public safety agencies both here in Bloomington and with the state of Indiana other city departments
other comparable cities and our community event organizers and
Several updates of note. This establishes three downtown festival footprints for events anticipating
attendance of 1000 people or more. The application use and temporary parking permit fees per the Bloomington
Municipal Code Chapter 12.08 and 12.10. Moving forward there will be a routine annual review of this
policy and application and any changes will be shared with the Board of Public Works.
Staff does recommend that we adopt the board resolution 26-01 and enact the policy. Please note that
an exception for the 4th Street Arts Festival has been granted for 2026 in the policy. The event will
celebrate its 50th anniversary this year on 4th Street and we want to help accommodate their use of
4th Street for this 50th anniversary and in subsequent years would be moved to Kirkwood Avenue.
Submission additional context on the three downtown festival footprints. So the three footprints would
include Kirkwood Avenue from Walnut to Indiana the courthouse square Kirkwood to the south and 6th Street
to the north and trades district up to the north of City Hall here on Madison and Makers Way. These
these footprints would accommodate the majority of the city's large street festivals that
take place currently and are well suited due to the existing traffic patterns and public safety
infrastructure that is already installed. This allows for more contained and manageable closures and
establishing these footprints sets predictability for our public for the public public safety operations
and those that have to adapt during these street closures.
We've also invested significantly in downtown safety infrastructure, including the permanent bollards
on the Kirkwood corridor. Following a project this spring, all alleys and blocks from the 100 through
500 blocks will have sleeves for bollard installation. This will be not only the actual intersections
of the roadways but all of the alleyways as well.
Standardizing event location also improves the operational efficiency for all city departments that
support these festivals and festivals and events. We've worked very closely with our downtown stakeholders,
including the Kirkwood Community Association, Downtown Bloomington, Inc., our downtown strategies consultant,
and community event organizers from other peer communities to develop these best practices.
A few things to note. There's basically four reasons we're moving this forward. A number one is public
safety. We have to put together festival footprints and public events in the public right of way with
footprints that have public safety at the forefront. That is absolutely the A number one reason we're
doing this. We also need to establish some policies and procedures around this. Right now we have an
event application and those come to the board just
after submitting applications. These policies and procedures actually put a process in place for footprints
for all organizations to be able to look to and then have a set maintenance of traffic plan that would
go for each of the footprints that's more of a plug and play. Here's where your signs go, here's the
type of sign, and it's for each of the three different footprints. A few other notes to make here.
our work towards agency accreditation through the American Public Works Association. All of our divisions
in public works outside of the animal care and control division are currently going through an accreditation
process. Part of that is to establish policies and procedures for all of the various roles
and responsibilities we have in public service. So it applies to six of our divisions. This is a several
year process. As part of that, this is a policy that's being established so that we have
that we have a set policy for all of our event organizers. A big other factor in all of this is over
the last several years we've had a significant increase in the number of special events coming to the
city to try to create an event for whatever their specific whether it's a bike race whether it's a food
festival whether it's other types of art art showcases or things like that. Last year alone we had over
a 50 percent increase in the number of applications coming through to use our rights of way.
By standardizing this we will have set footprints we will have information for the event organizers
that they can implement in an easy fashion while also keeping in mind the resources the city puts towards
this. Sorry I think I said 54 percent but the memo states 57 percent increase.
Overall we know this has impacts on our downtown festivals. We know the biggest impact is on the 4th
Street Festival. We've been trying to work very closely with. Oh shoot I just closed my laptop. Sorry.
Oh no I'm running it through the other computer today. Yesterday during the work session I closed my laptop.
And I closed the Zoom meeting, but it's on the other computer today. Thank goodness. So overall, we
know this affects the 4th Street Arts Festival. We've been working with their executive director, their
board president for some time now, trying to socialize the idea that we were going to be making these
changes. We know not all of the participants in the 4th Street Arts Festival agree with trying to move
their festival to Kirkwood. This is very much public safety in mind. We recognize that we haven't had
a major incident of
of what we're trying to avoid at 4th Street, but it doesn't mean it can't happen in the future. This
is why we're taking this approach. It is not to target one festival over others. It's one to try to
provide consistency for all of our large festivals in the downtown. We're still going to be good partners.
We're still going to be big supporters of the 4th Street Festival, but we do ask for your approval with
the contingency that the 4th Street Festival would remain for 2026 and move to Kirkwood in the subsequent years.
Cassie is here to answer questions. I'm here to also answer questions. And we'll be happy to answer
any of your questions. Thank you. So we'll go to questions from the board. I had a question
for clarification, but I need to find the item here.
Just to quickly recap our discussion in yesterday's work session, we talked a little bit about some
of the fees associated with having a
street closed for a festival, and how some of the clarification in this policy helps to align
the expectations of that more consistently. Could you speak a little bit more to that, Cassie, just
about the way that the fee structure stands and how this clarifies it? Yes, happy to. So Cassie Wernie,
Department of Public Works Special Projects and Operations Manager.
Yes, so the fee structure currently exists in the Bloomington Municipal Code And as we were kind of
chatting about yesterday this program really historically has been Decentralized so the right of way
special event program different pieces were sitting with different departments And this is really the
first chance that we've had to take all of those pieces look at it together Holistically and really
review the program overall and as Adam said we did quite a bit of research and looking at
What other communities are doing best practices in this space and realized very quickly that I think
we were the only city Compared to other comparable cities that had no fee structure. Well, we realized
we actually do have a fee structure It is in the Bloomington Municipal Code and so we adopted that fee
structure in this policy But like I said, it does already exist I think one of the important parts to
point out about the fees is really the idea behind this there are several one is
Recovery should really be associated with the event that is that is Creating those costs. So that's
just best practice Otherwise those those costs are basically being taken on through other kind of budgetary
funds that we have at the city In addition to that. I would also say that with the fees and
You know, looking at what other cities charge, this is still a fractional amount of our overall cost.
But what it does allow with the 57% increase in right-of-way special events is a little bit of coverage
for us to make this sustainable, for us to continue to support our festivals, our parades, our neighborhood
block parties by purchasing water barricades, by purchasing no parking signs. You wouldn't believe how
many we have to put out and how much that costs.
So just the cost associated with supporting these events, this is a fractional portion of that, but
it will help make it sustainable for us to continue to support moving forward. Does that help? Okay.
And just to clarify, by no means is the fee schedule covering all the actual costs incurred by the various
departments that are helping to support all of these agencies or all these events and festivals. So
when Cassie says it's fractional, it's very fractional.
You know, so we're not trying to, in any way, try to cover all of the costs. Again, it's just try to
create some revenue stream to help manage the overall process. When you have this many events coming
in, it also helps to, if you have a small application fee, you know, we want to work with all of our
events, but it makes sure that they have some level of planning and resources behind to actually move
forward with success.
Don't think I'd understate this in any way shape or form the number of folks that approach us and that
don't even get to the application process because they realize they don't really have the resources
to pull off what they want to pull off. We get approached by bike races every couple months where they
want to use large portions of the downtown and we want to have a bike race. OK.
when we ask them questions about, you know, what have you done to figure out what types of maintenance
or traffic you would need there, what types of public safety officers you would need to actually do
it. A lot of them haven't even taken a remote step towards understanding all of those other resources
that are needed to host a successful event. And it's not that we want to just keep them from trying
to apply. We want to make sure that they recognize and have some level of financial involvement to say,
yes, we can actually try to do something like this.
So again, it's just a fraction of the cost recovery and it's really to help sustain an overall program.
Cassie is one person in our department that works on all of our special events. We look at some other
cities, they have a department of special events. Every city operates differently, but again, we've
been working hard with everyone on this and we do hope that we can all move forward with it.
that have existed in the code are exactly the fees that are in the code now associated with this policy.
There have been no change to those fees, correct? That is correct. Okay, thank you. Yes. I think you
probably can both speak to this a bit, but could you talk about the engagement process you've gone through
in preparing for this? I know serving on the board, I have been a part of conversations and heard reports for
years now about moving festivals into the Kirkwood Festival footprint because of the infrastructure
improvements. Would you be able to just talk a little bit, particularly engagement with those community
event organizers who are working in the spaces of our downtown?
Yeah, I'd be happy to. It's been fun. So I started this role about a year ago now. And I would say I
started meeting with all of the event organizers that host large downtown festivals, like Four Street
Festival, Lotus Festival, Taste of Bloomington, the ones, Grand Faloon, that all come to mind, these
iconic festivals downtown.
I would say within two or so months of me starting this role, I met with Brendan King from 4th Street
Festival I think in late January. So it was really great that so many had reached out and were really
proactive even though their festivals were occurring or their events were occurring later in the year.
We started conversations very early.
I am a listen and learn kind of person. So when I started this job, I literally asked every event organizer
that I met with, give me feedback on your experience to date. What's working? What's not working? What
can we do differently? How can we improve this program? How can we support? And I will tell you the
biggest point of feedback I received from all the event organizers
was that there was no clear role and responsibility between the city and the event organizer, also that
their expectations were just not clear on how we work together. And there was inconsistency from year
to year in how we stand up these events. And they wanted a consistent approach, something that is rinse
and repeat from an operational, logistical, public safety standpoint. The content of the event is the
opportunity, I think, to keep it vibrant,
keep it relevant to the community so they want to attend. But no one wants to reinvent the wheel on
type 3 barricades. Like they just want to know what to do, where to put them, how does this go, how
does this work. And so through those conversations, many that I've had, this policy has been kind of
formed through that. And I've previewed the policy with all of the large downtown
Event organizers all of our kind of festival organizers and chatted through it with them and addressed
any kind of concerns that they had I think four Street festivals. We've said is the one that has the
largest impact So that that was the engagement process. I would say within the city There's a lot of
internal stakeholders as well. So this was reviewed by
Bloomington Police Department, Bloomington Fire Department, Planning and Transportation, Engineering,
Economic and Sustainable Development. So we have a lot of folks internally too that have a stake in
these events that also needed to give feedback, iterated, legal. Sorry, I left our attorney who's sitting
back there out and she helped a lot. So yeah, this has really been through quite a few reviews. So that
was that process.
It says moving forward though there will be a routine annual review of this policy and application and
any changes will be shared with the Board of Public Works. Would revisions be subject to approval by
the Board of Public Works. I think they would. Yeah go ahead. Our attorney is saying yes. Yes yes they would be.
little bit about the inevitable situation where one of the three identified footprints might be under
construction or in some way not a good place to host a festival for many different reasons that could
could arise and that in that situation that the city would review what those alternative
options would be for those events in the case that we can't use a footprint that maybe would have been
ideal for that event. We're so blessed here in Bloomington that, you know, given our academic calendars
and such, we do try to pack a lot of projects in during times when the university population is lower.
So that involves a lot of the summer months when our festivals take place.
You know, as early as spring break this year and throughout the summer, we're gonna be doing sidewalk
maintenance on Kirkwood bricks from Indiana all the way to Walnut. We're probably gonna have a festival
taking place, a street fair or festival taking place during that maintenance project at some point in
time this summer. We're gonna accommodate. We're gonna shift things. We're gonna make sure that anywhere
that's under construction is safely barricaded and outside of any of the festivals.
footprints. We're going to modify, we're going to adjust, we're going to accommodate as best we can.
In the instance that Kirkwood from Indiana to Walnut is obviously one of the key footprints that we're
asking for approval on.
If we had a major reconstruction of Kirkwood, which I don't foresee in the near future, that there's
always been the conversations in Bloomington. Is it a pedestrian mall in the future? Are there vehicles?
Are there not? If we were to make some major change to Kirkwood in a given summer with a major construction
project, we're going to relook at this policy, try to identify other locations that we could make do
in that timeframe. But we don't expect those in the next several years. We expect Kirkwood and the locations we're
Asking for approval here to remain pretty identical to what they are for the foreseeable future and
I think I would just add to that that Parks are other locations that we can explore So we've been working
really closely with the event organizers to really think about where is your event best placed? I
We know that there are event organizers that are now considering using switch yard park instead of a
street for an event in the future So we don't just even if there is construction or some extenuating
circumstance to consider There are other places that are actually built for recreation That we can also
work with our colleagues and parks to adapt and adjust Any other questions
to mind. Alright.
Next, we're opening this up for public comment. We are giving three minutes per commenter for anyone
who would like to make a public comment on this item. We will first go with the in-person public comment
and then turn to the Zoom public comment. So if you are on Zoom and would like to make a public comment,
you're welcome to notify us through the chat that you'd like to do so, but we'll first queue the in-person
attendees. So if you are in-person and you would like to make a public comment,
welcome to approach the microphone. If you can state your name for us, that helps us to document this
for our minutes. Thank you. My name is Pamela Davidson. I'm on the board of the 4th Street Art Fair,
and I have a list I would like to share with the two of you and Adam.
I request permission to read this into the record, so it's also for CATS. It may take longer than three
minutes, but it's very succinct, as you can see. Ms. Davidson, what I would let you know is we will
include this whole document in the meeting minutes. If you can do it in three minutes, great, but we
will definitely include this whole document in our meeting minutes and make it part of the public record.
I know this is on CATS, and I would much rather it be recorded. I will read quickly. This is very succinct.
This is a huge issue.
This is a mighty big issue. I won't go on. What I would like to do is just start your three minutes
now instead of with the time it took you to be able to provide us with the list. So we'll start that
now. Thank you. Thank you. These are compelling reasons to grandfather the 4th Street Art Festival.
I have 15. Number one, our very name, our very identity for 50 long years has been the 4th Street Festival
of the Arts and Craft and known as 4th Street. Volunteer organizers have spent
decades cultivating and nurturing that name recognition locally in Indianapolis and in central Indiana.
This change would destroy decades of carefully cultivated and costly marketing outreach and name recognition.
How do we market 4th Street on 5th Street?
Festival has long been a revenue producer for the community. Artists travel here for it to stay and
eat here, as do patrons on 4th Street, downtown and also Kirkwood Avenue. Number three, the treeline
4th Street is absolutely essential to festivals patron and artist experiences. And as a matter of public
health, with temperatures heating up, shade keeps patrons at the festival longer.
far more comfortable and shopping at more artists booths. Number four, artists have told us they've
had their best day ever at this festival, which is a huge endorsement to get other artists to come and
a shining example of how well it's run. Number five, the fee of $1,000, I'll move on, we'll talk about
that later, I understand cost recovery.
Number six, the city would like to move the festival to Kirkwood and suggest we avoid the bar blocks.
How is that even possible when most blocks have a bar? So that would break up the festival
with interruptions. The flow and continuity would reduce attendees and sales and mar the experience
that make it such an exceptional art fair. Number seven, the hardscape of and lack of trees on Kirkwood
is highly unsuitable for an art fair. That's why we go to the courthouse
lawn and Penrod in Indianapolis very shaded. Number eight, hard-working volunteers for the festival
have for decades cultivated getting artists here. That's a hard task. With the uncertainty of sales,
distance, and the cost of being and traveling here, no doubt we would attract fewer artists. There's
no way it wouldn't impact us. Number nine, we support local
nonprofits with our community booth areas and performance space. That would end if the festival ends,
no question. We have also worked with the city and law enforcement and with local businesses too to
be good neighbors. Number 10, since we know this location change would reduce the number of artists
we can attract, we fear this could be the very demise of this highly regarded juried festival of a half
century that celebrates arts and crafts here locally, bringing a variety of artists to town, even attracting
football games on game weekends. Eleven, we know the arts community is under siege. This would be a
further attack while Bloomington considers itself artist friendly and as a vibrant and inclusive arts
community.
Number 12, we understand how well Kirkwood works for lotus taste and all those. We're vastly different
because Kirkwood has a lot of foot traffic going to restaurants and bars in the library. They would
mingle with the art patrons, cutting the intensity and the joy of walking from booth to booth. It would
just be so disruptive.
You could grandfather you have the power to grandfather existing events That takes care of the problem
with the new applications. I get that Public safety you mentioned Adam. We haven't had an incident 50
years It could happen a tornado could take my house tonight anything could happen, but 50 years is a
long time Okay
would like to read the other, I think you had three remaining. If there are people who weren't planning
on making a comment but would read those, you're welcome to do that. Thank you. Thank you. My name is
Martina Sellerin. I'm a local fiber artist, and I was the 4th Street Vice President
2006 to 2010 and then I was the president from 2011 to 2017 I went through a lot a lot and I appreciate
all that the city has done but we have been very much a Self-sustained organization and all those points
are very accurate and I feel very strongly about this So I will gratefully read the rest of this. I
have not rehearsed it. So I apologize in advance Number
13, the board can make an exception or exemption and or grandfather any existing local events affected
by this policy and our renowned 4th Street Festival warrants that exception or exempting or grandfathering.
A tradition of 50 years, its very name and name recognition and its existence are tied for decades to
our community's artistic identity all at stake. Number 14,
Uniformity in Bloomington is not a virtue most times, especially at performances and the arts. Keeping
this festival true to its roots and not mainstreaming is a huge plus with this community. And we like
quirky and unique here. That's one of the joys of Bloomington, is not being a mall type organization.
And number 15, finally. We understand that this plan to consolidate all such gatherings has been thoroughly
considered for a few years by the city, but we do not know of any opportunity to provide public input
until we heard of this vote, and I heard on social media yesterday about it, now affecting this festival
in only a few short months.
And as I say, for me, it's one day, and it's a lot of my own personal history as part of this. When
applications to artists are already being sent and now cannot, we are thankful that the public at this
meeting is given a chance with the Board of Public Works to weigh in and to hear from affected groups
that such a move as fatal to this very existence could be happening. This truly is something
that has been a defining feature and one of the reasons that I have stayed in Bloomington because of
the arts community and because of the respect that the city has done for maintaining the arts community
and the idea of forcing us to move to a completely different location when there's nothing bad that
we have done.
We have been good stewards of that location. We've worked diligently with the restaurants that are present
there to try and maintain that relationship. We could have easily, over the years, it was suggested
by city persons that we could set up food trucks, we could set up a beer tent and make more money and
go hand over fist, but we wanted to be
good stewards and working hand in hand with the people in that vicinity, with those restaurants. We
have worked very hard in the past that we had to pay for all of the barricades and all of the security
things. And so the idea that the city is willing to help with that is wonderful. We urge you, urge you
as strongly as possible, and then I can say that, to grandfather the 4th Street Festival, the 4th Street
Festival onto 4th Street.
Thank you for your time. Thank you. Madam President just offer a comment here real quickly. I do want
to stress that we have been talking to Brendan for over a year. We have been talking to Juliet the board
president for quite some time. This is not the first we have been putting this information out to the
Four Street Festival. This has been shared with them for quite some time. So the idea that it's only
been a day or two is not a fair. I don't find that to be a fair statement. We have been
Socializing this and talking about this for the last two festivals with Brendan and others to let them
know that this was coming This is all driven by public safety We understand there hasn't been a public
safety major public safety issue in the last 50 years We did have a pedestrian struck two years ago
at Dunn Street, this is all about public safety and putting the public in the safest locations in the
city. We understand the quaintness of 4th Street. We understand the restaurants are there. We wanna
still be good partners. We want your event to last for another 50 years. And we're gonna help you do
that. 4th Street has 51 points of entry that we have to try to solve for with barricades that are temporary
and do not provide the level of safety that the Kirkwood bollards provide.
a car going they do not provide the same level of safety. So if I would just like we are not trying
to put this festival out we are we want to work with you folks into the future and I just want to make
that blanket statement that we do want to be good partners. But this is very much a public safety driven
proposal and policy. It's not to try to put the festival in bad shape. We will work with you. And so
I just wanted to make that comment.
I truly appreciate that. I come at this also as an artist, and I know that when there are dramatic changes
at a festival, the first thing that an artist does is it raises red flags. The uniqueness of the 4th
Street Festival is that we have worked to try and bring truly
a top-notch high-level artist to this location from all over the US and Canada. We have a phenomenal
number of people who expect that and who look forward to that. And to change it this dramatically is
going to mean that we are not able to present that level of art to the Bloomington community, to have
those people coming. We also have 50,000 people that attend the event, 50,000 people.
and to try and cram that all on that little spot in Kirkwood, that's not going to happen. Also,
The roads that are not closed going up and down Dunn Street in past years, where that accident happened,
in past years, the City of Public Works, the Public Works Commission has allowed us to close Dunn Street,
therefore making it safe to connect the two sections of the show. The reason that their accident was
there is that the city did not permit us to close that area, and therefore it makes it more dangerous
having traffic running through
the sections of the show. Having one contiguous is the key. Public safety standards of 2025 do not allow
for that. We have to allow the public safety agencies to get where they are. When I say this is driven
by public safety, I truly mean that this is not just public works trying to say we want to move you.
It's because public safety standards for events like this have changed so significantly over time. It is not
20 years ago, it is not 15 years, it's not five years ago when it comes to the public safety standards
for large scale events. We are trying to keep vehicles from large crowds of people in every way, shape
we can and in the safest way. That is where this is being driven from, I promise. So I appreciate it
and I'll be happy to. And I would like to go ahead and honor the next public comment so that we can
make sure everyone is heard. I will not chime in anymore, I will, yes.
If you can just state your name for us. Yeah, I'm Juliet Roberts. I'm the president of the 4th Street
Festival This is my 20th year being involved as a volunteer Just want to be extremely clear Adam mentioned
my name twice as someone who they've worked with consistently I just want to clarify that my meeting
with him and Cassie yesterday was the first time that I have met with the city so
Brendan King, our director, has been in a paid position where he has been meeting with and liaising
with the city. That is not in my job description. So I apologize. I thought that you and Cassie had
been talking as well. It's just been Brendan. Thank you for that. All right. All right. Why keeping
the festival on Fourth Street matters.
Public safety shade and crowd comfort like you said public safety is of the most the utmost importance
Patron feedback from our on-site survey this year was clear. We need more shade This act this feedback
was echoed by comments on our Facebook post yesterday patrons concerned about heat exposure on Kirkwood
Fourth Street's mature shade trees materially improve safety Comfort and crowd flow during late summer
heat and allow patrons to spend more times browsing the wares Kirkwood Avenue lacks shade Increasing
heat exposure and limiting how long patrons can safely remain on site We have had incidents each year
where patrons have needed medical attention or attention from the firehouse
to deal with heat stroke or heat exposure. The lack of shade on Kirkwood is my largest concern. Parking,
or let's see, direct economic benefit to local restaurants. Visitors experience art and global culture
together, something unique to 4th Street and not replicable elsewhere. The festival does not sell food
by design.
intentionally directing foot traffic into 4th Street's international restaurant corridor. Patron feedback
confirms this in our survey this year. Quote, perhaps trying to showcase the 4th Street restaurants
more, Siam House was great with their stand. Relocation would shift spending away from these restaurants,
reduce concentrated economic benefit to these locally owned food businesses, whereas Kirkwood's bar
and retail heavy mix does not provide the same economic impact.
Cultural identity is tied to place number four the festival has operated on 4th Street for over 50 years
Again 20 of which for which I've been a volunteer and the festival is named for the street Its identity
is inseparable from fine art traditions multicultural artists and experiences and Bloomington's international
restaurant corridor
Booth fees, travel, lodging, and time are significant investments for artists. Artists make careful
economic decisions about where to apply and attend each year. A permanent move risks loss of identity,
artist confidence, and possible long-term stability. Community trust has been built over decades. These
quotes come from patron surveys and interactions. OK.
Our request essentially is that the board pause or provide an exception to the relocation of the 4th
Street Festival and authorize a collaborative solution such as jointly covered street closure costs
that would allow the festival to remain on 4th Street while infrastructure options are explored. Thank you.
We have the opportunity for the next public comment if we have someone here in the room who would like
to make a comment. Hello, I'm Rebecca Lowry. I am a ceramic artist here in Bloomington. I have been
a part of 4th Street since 2014, and I have served on the executive board in the past as vice president
and secretary, or not secretary, something else, but.
most recently, but I am currently, I've been stepping back because I'm very busy and I do lots of art
fairs around the country like Martina. Martina and I go all over the country as far as, for me as far
as Denver and Florida and I know Martina is all over also. They're some of the highest rated art fairs
in the country. 4th Street has some of the highest level artists
the region and I am also do I also do the social media and the public Martina is no longer on the committee
and she only found out about this yesterday because I posted something on social media and it's the
first our public has gotten to see about it because it has been as far as the committee has been concerned
a talk about making this change and
We were rather surprised that it was going to be a permanent change this year and we're very grateful
for the Concession of late giving us our 50 50th year So I just wanted to say our public social media
posts people are very shocked at this because we are 4th Street and
It's very hard for the public to imagine 4th Street anywhere else. It's very hard for, I've already
had one artist say that if he goes to Kirkwood, they're not going to apply, which is just a taste of
what we may end up having. And if we don't have artists applying and buying the booth, we can't afford
to be anywhere. We will no longer exist if we cannot get the artists to come and do the show. And that's
pretty much what I have to say.
Hello, I'm Chris Bush, also a local artist. I've been on the committee for about 25 years and it's been
a labor of love the whole time. All the committee members are volunteers. We meet once a month and work
outside of that time too. So it's close to our heart and we would hate to see it end under our tutelage.
My main concern is what Rebecca just said, that artists will not apply to the show anymore. We already
have people saying, we're not going to apply anymore. And we've kind of been struggling to keep the
show going for quite some time now. Through the years of COVID, it was difficult and things are always
changing. So it's a constant struggle to make sure that we can still have this festival. So I would
just say one, I wanna reiterate one important thing are the trees.
People suffer from heat stroke every year at the show. And so it's only going to be worse when it moves
up to Kirkwood. Thank you. Thank you. Other public comments in person? Any other in-person comments?
If not, we can go ahead and move to any Zoom comments.
My name's Ruth Conway, and I was part of the original committee back in 78. And one thing that does
trouble me on Kirkwood is the safety of the art units that are set up. I mean, they're large. It takes
an awful lot of setting up. And if you have several people there at night, late on Friday night or Saturday
night, can you really assure that no drunken people are going to
lean back and, oh dear, we fell on a booth. And suddenly, you've got horrendous destruction for the
artists. If that happens just once, that could actually give sufficiently bad reputation that artists
would not apply again. You know, it has to be safe. On 4th Street, it's safe, it's quiet, but Kirkwood
is busy at night, which just seems so inappropriate to leave
valuable art up overnight. Thank you. Any other in-person comments on this topic? Did we have any Zoom
comments or typed comments or requests for... Kelly J. asked a couple of questions that I was able to
respond to about
If water barriers would be needed in 2026 on fourth they would remain. The answer was yes. And that
if the bollards on Kirkwood are removable which they are. I just answered a couple of those questions
but I don't I don't have any members of the public that have done a raise hand to offer a public comment
or anything. Now would be the time if you are on the zoom meeting if you would like to offer a public comment.
I just wanted to clarify a few things One I think I heard someone say attendance of 50,000 the attendance
for 4th Street Festival for last year for Saturday was 1700 and for Sunday was 1600 this is based on
an attendance data platform, which is called placer.ai, which uses cell phone data to determine how
many people are in a space during a date and time frame. That is what we use for attendance data for
right-of-way special events. There's a margin of error. If someone doesn't have a cell phone, they would
not be counted. This number does also obviously account for every artist that was there, as well as
other folks that dedicate their time to make the event successful, volunteers,
I'm sure many of the folks in this room. So I just wanted to share that I also wanted to share that
The way the exemption is written is that 4th Street Festival in 2027 Would move to one of the festival
footprints I have heard since I've been in this role many people talk about Kirkwood in particular I
think because it's adjacent
The other festival footprints are also available. So I just wanted to clarify that the courthouse square
and also the trades district and I wanted to just personally thank Juliet who I think has just been
super accessible over the last few days and really made herself available to Adam and myself to just
better understand, you know, kind of
some of the conversations that we've been having. And Juliette, I wanted to also say that you submitted
a letter to us, and I think you were reading from that. We will make sure that the full letter, which
is very thoughtful, is included in the packet as well. And I think that's it for me. If I could just
follow up with a couple comments as well. Is public comment period over, or are we? It is. Yeah. Comment?
No, we don't have a time for response So right now is just you know an open time for public comment
if there if we don't have any additional public comment We'll close that and then we'll then move to
just final board Questions, so we've got another yeah, we can do that My name is Dawn Adams, I'm a former
president and been on the committee a long time I wanted to address the crowd count
Dennis Conway, a former emeritus professor in geology, set up as an opportunity for us to count. We
stand in a position for five minutes every half hour, and then we compile those numbers and then guess
what the attendance is. And I have this 2022,
The attendance we estimated 16,680 on Saturday and 27,546 on Sunday. And there's a survey that he quoted
for us that underestimates this between 9 and 25%. So that's where those numbers came from.
Thank you. Right, yeah, it's definitely dependent. The place or AI is dependent on the cell phone technology.
Other public comments before we do a final staff and board? No, that's not how the Board of Public Works
is structured.
Adam did you have some additional clarification. I just wanted to offer a comment to all the attendees
with the 4th Street here. You know I hear some talk about you know that this could put the future of
the festival at risk by off by by working with Brendan and Juliet yesterday to try to come to a compromise.
hearing that the whole board hadn't been kept up to speed on all the conversations that had been taking
place, specifically with Brendan over the last year. That's why we came to a compromise yesterday to
say, hey, it's the 50th anniversary. No one had said it was the 50th anniversary this year. Once we
heard that, we were like, OK, hey, let's give it another year. It's the 50th. But we want to help you
plan for 2026 and beyond, to help you plan to have it be a great festival into the future, to tell your
artists that it is a place where you're still going to sell a lot of art, even though we're on Kirkwood.
we still think we can create a safe environment for the artists, their artwork. Right now you have security
overnight.
right. You know we want to continue to help you plan for this. We understand there's an identity with
4th Street your name. We want to help you transition that. So you know we did have a lengthy conversation
with Brendan and Julia yesterday trying to come to a compromise. We thought we had reached that. We
thought we were talking with the folks that had decision making authority with the board. We thought
information was being widely shared. If that's not been the case you know
We've been trying to communicate with who we think we should be, the executive director, the board president,
et cetera. That's why we had the conversation yesterday. Our intent is not to try to damage your festival.
We understand a new footprint is different. It's change. It's hard. We want to help support you in moving
to Kirkwood. We understand it doesn't quite have the shade. We understand these things. But when I say
it's done with public safety in mind, that is our police department.
That is our fire department. That's the Department of Homeland Security for large scale events in this
day and age where we have so many instances of violent activities taking place in large scale attended
places. We are not trying to be adversaries with you. We want to work with you. I hope that's the spirit
that you feel like we're coming with. We know this is a big change. We're not trying to be damaging
or anything like that. So I just want to make that comment that if we want to be good partners and we
will commit to doing that into the future.
clarifying questions from the board or comments from the board at this time. My question was about overnight
security and you mentioned that. So I think I'm good. Thank you. So
I first of all want to say I appreciate everyone who is here in attendance to speak about the Fourth
Street Festival. It is obviously a very important event in our community and something that really our
community identity identity is.
Entwined in the identity of the 4th Street Festival. So I appreciate the the passion and the commitment
to which you have Come to this meeting and to this discussion broadly speaking for people who couldn't
attend in person But have also been having these discussions Appreciate the work that Adam and Cassie
have been doing to put a policy in place that does put public safety at the forefront I think that this
is an important policy
You know the I truly hadn't realized what an increase we had experienced in those requests for public
events in the right of way. And it is a challenge for the city. I mean it's one this board I would say.
Maybe 40 to 50 percent of what we work with our issues of events in the right-of-way or other important
things that are happening in the right-of-way that we have to consider so I appreciate the effort that's
being made to make this both a safer plan and a consistent plan because that is another issue that we
hear about within the city is consistency is often You know an issue for
community residents who are looking to engage with the city on something and so consistency is really
important. One one request I might make on this policy I think the policy is written well I think that
the information is there that we need to have as a board and also that community partners need to have
when they're considering their events. I appreciate the plan for 2026.
the festival carrying on with its location on 4th Street as plans are already underway. I do have a
deep appreciation for the amount of time it takes to put an event like this on and understand that you
need a long runway to prepare for the changes that come forward. I don't
think that I have a specific change to the wording of this policy as it's currently written. But what
I would ask is that this comes back to the board for that annual review following additional conversations
that continue to happen between specifically the 4th Street Festival and the city. Because I think that
while the conversations that needed to happen, several of them may have happened in the last week
We'll give it a week. Maybe it's been the last day. I think that there are additional planning activities,
coordination activities, and other elements that need to come into play to ensure that this transition
is functional for everybody involved.
Proposal is that this policy be approved as it is currently presented with the one addition that the
Board of Public Works would Review this policy again. I don't know if January 2020 So maybe we say October
this year October of 2020 November we conduct a
Another review after we've had more opportunity to engage in deeper conversations about the plans Hearing
how porous the 4th Street corridor really is and how
Our world has changed so much. I feel so very strongly that the work that you and your team has done
to create a safer space along Kirkwood with about the bollards not only on the major streets and the
side streets, but the alleys as well. Yes, nothing has happened here. Let's hope it doesn't. But I think
as a board member, I feel like it would be irresponsible
Allow a festival to continue to happen In a place that we know is not safe. Thank you. Thank you So
I Will I offered a vague motion, but I will make a motion that we lost my documents here
That we approve a resolution twenty twenty six dash zero one policy on special events in the right of
way with a review of this policy taking place in October of twenty twenty six by the Board of Public
Works. All right. We have a motion and a second. I will call the roll. Caron I Cox Deckard I motion passes.
Next up is staff reports and other business. Sorry turned it off. Quick staff report. So as we talk
about public safety and we talk about large scale events and gatherings we hope to have a large scale
gathering on Monday evening next week after a
victorious Hoosiers team in the national championship, but we are undertaking major public
safety conversations and efforts Knowing that the students will be back in town for the championship
game and for when the Hoosiers do win What precautions need to be taken? So we are working very closely
with all of our public safety partners all the partners at the university to understand what additional
what additional precautions we're going to be taking. There will be closures on Kirkwood. There will be
whether it's snow plows or sanitation trucks or public transit buses blocking vehicle access to any
of the areas, including Kirkwood and surrounding. So major undertakings going on and major planning
efforts there. We just urge everyone to celebrate safely. We know this is an exciting time, but safe
celebration is the A number one goal of all of this next week. And we wish our Hoosiers the best.
Couple other just staff reports. We may get some winter weather coming through as early as tomorrow
afternoon, tomorrow evening. So crews are gonna be out doing.
pre-treatment and brining, and then they'll be on call to respond as needed for any winter weather events
we have over the next day or two. And then just the final thing I wanted to update the board on,
we've been, I mentioned the APWA accreditation is part of this, so we are continuing to work with each
of our divisions. We do have a July date that we're setting for the accreditation managers to come in
and review our application and all of our submissions.
So we expect that to occur in mid-July, and we'll make sure we get that on your calendars for you to
be available to meet the accreditation team and see what we're doing. Actually, very last thing, we
are still continuing to gauge with Access Design Group on a Public Works Operations Center preliminary
design. We may be as early as the next few meetings coming with a, we're doing preliminary design right
now, next up we would move to actual
The design process with architectural civil engineering etc. So you may be seen a contract for that
coming in the near future But that's all I have for tonight. Thank you Are there any questions on the
claims this evening Any public comments on the claims Is there a motion on claims
I move that we approve claims tonight in the amount of three million eight hundred forty two thousand
three hundred and seventy eight dollars and twenty eight cents and I second I'll call the roll. Chrome
I Cox Deckard I motion passes and seeing as there's nothing else on our agenda I will call for adjournment.