WEBVTT 00:00:00.866 --> 00:00:09.463 - Welcome to our October town hall in district five. Council member Daley is on her way and is excited 00:00:09.463 --> 00:00:18.230 - to join this town hall. I'll sort of walk through the map of how we do these town halls. And the first 00:00:18.230 --> 00:00:27.422 - thing you need to know is that this is participatory and I'm sorry for the setup being way up on the stage. 00:00:27.618 --> 00:00:35.933 - We try to have these be very conversational, especially when we have an intimate group like this. So 00:00:35.933 --> 00:00:44.330 - I will be inviting you to offer questions, comments, et cetera. I usually start with a big picture of 00:00:44.330 --> 00:00:49.022 - what's going on in the city and what we're doing lately. 00:00:49.410 --> 00:00:57.008 - That is not meant to guide or put parameters on what we're talking about tonight. That's just what's 00:00:57.008 --> 00:01:04.606 - top of mind for me. And Councilmember Daley will do the same thing. So you'll hear from her and then 00:01:04.606 --> 00:01:13.182 - we'll take questions and you're welcome to ask about things that we have talked about, more detail that you want. 00:01:13.282 --> 00:01:19.831 - or just things you're curious about or things you don't like that we're doing or things that you love 00:01:19.831 --> 00:01:26.445 - that we're doing. We love hearing that too. Shockingly, it's always good to know if we're on the right 00:01:26.445 --> 00:01:31.582 - track every once in a while. So welcome. I want to first note that you all have 00:01:31.746 --> 00:01:39.394 - crossed a major banner moment in civic engagement just by showing up to a town hall. It's more than 00:01:39.394 --> 00:01:47.502 - many people do and whether you're here to be informed or to participate and help us do government better, 00:01:47.502 --> 00:01:55.379 - thank you for being here. The next great thing you can do to participate in your community is to vote. 00:01:55.379 --> 00:01:58.974 - Voting starts tomorrow. Early voting is at our 00:01:59.138 --> 00:02:05.840 - at our vote center, which is not the name of it. It's called Election Central, actually. We would love 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:12.542 - to have a vote center here, but we don't have one. Election Central is at the north end of the Showers 00:02:12.542 --> 00:02:19.310 - building. So you walk all the way. If you're parking on the street, you're going to walk north of where 00:02:19.310 --> 00:02:25.882 - City Hall is, but it looks like and is the same building, just a different entrance. And you go into 00:02:25.882 --> 00:02:28.094 - the very northern entrance there. 00:02:28.290 --> 00:02:36.810 - That starts tomorrow and will be available mostly every Monday through Saturday until actual election 00:02:36.810 --> 00:02:45.581 - day, with some exception for holidays. Let me offer some good news first. One thing that I am incredibly 00:02:45.581 --> 00:02:54.185 - proud of, because our team has been working really hard on it, is that we were just named a best place 00:02:54.185 --> 00:02:56.190 - to work in Bloomington. 00:02:56.290 --> 00:03:03.267 - I'm really proud of that we have. When I, when I started I knew we could not be a great city government 00:03:03.267 --> 00:03:08.030 - if we were not a great place to work. And so achieving that milestone. 00:03:08.130 --> 00:03:17.711 - was a really big deal and it took a lot of us pulling in the same direction. So my gratitude to council 00:03:17.711 --> 00:03:26.924 - for approving the salary ordinance changes that we had proposed and some other HR policies and also 00:03:26.924 --> 00:03:37.150 - to our whole team for really pulling to be a great place to work. It's a significant milestone for us. We are, 00:03:38.114 --> 00:03:45.921 - Parks and Recreation is planning its investment priorities right now. And I want to make you aware of 00:03:45.921 --> 00:03:53.651 - that because the comments, we're taking comments on that through October 18th. And this is all based 00:03:53.651 --> 00:04:01.534 - on the master planning that we did just last year. The master plan tells us where we would like to go. 00:04:01.534 --> 00:04:07.198 - The investment plan tells us what we're actually going to spend money on. 00:04:07.682 --> 00:04:16.055 - And so it's really important. We, of course, have award-winning parks. We also are facing major budget 00:04:16.055 --> 00:04:24.266 - cuts with SEA 1. There is, thanks to the Lilly Endowment, a significant parks grant coming out, $400 00:04:24.266 --> 00:04:32.395 - million available throughout the state. So we'll be applying for some of that funding with this and 00:04:32.395 --> 00:04:34.590 - then also prioritizing the 00:04:34.722 --> 00:04:43.757 - the other capital investments that we'd like to do. Another piece of good news, we submitted and were 00:04:43.757 --> 00:04:52.968 - approved for three different opportunity zones here in Bloomington. Those are going to happen in Trades 00:04:52.968 --> 00:04:58.814 - District West, the Hopewell area, and Seminary Park. You may say, 00:04:59.042 --> 00:05:08.132 - What is an opportunity zone and why should I care? This is a way that investors can essentially get 00:05:08.132 --> 00:05:17.313 - more bang for their buck in an opportunity zone. So we don't put any money into the opportunity zone 00:05:17.313 --> 00:05:26.948 - as the city, but we also don't lose any tax revenue. So the incentives that are received by the investors 00:05:26.948 --> 00:05:28.766 - are solely based on 00:05:28.898 --> 00:05:36.520 - forgiveness of capital gains tax. So anyone at all could invest in an opportunity zone. And if you have 00:05:36.520 --> 00:05:44.435 - capital, I would encourage you to do that. To receive capital gains benefits, you have to be in a qualified 00:05:44.435 --> 00:05:52.350 - opportunity fund. And those funds can be local or national. So you could get together with other investors. 00:05:52.578 --> 00:05:59.891 - Jane Coopersmith, our Director of Economic and Sustainable Development was supposed to be here tonight 00:05:59.891 --> 00:06:07.275 - and she couldn't make it, but she has much more information about those opportunity zones and she would 00:06:07.275 --> 00:06:14.517 - be a great person to get in touch with. The important thing to know is these are areas that are right 00:06:14.517 --> 00:06:22.398 - now in low census tracts, so low-income census tracts, and we're targeting investment in those zones to really 00:06:22.754 --> 00:06:33.989 - help bring those neighborhoods into some vitality. Also, another great piece of news is that our utility 00:06:33.989 --> 00:06:44.796 - just received a $2.3 million EPA grant that is aimed at the very things, alleviating the very things 00:06:44.796 --> 00:06:48.862 - that cause things like the boil water 00:06:49.442 --> 00:06:57.471 - order that we just had a week and a half ago. So I want you to remember if you haven't already signed 00:06:57.471 --> 00:07:05.578 - up for CBU contacts and alerts, that is the way that you will get these alerts straight to your phone. 00:07:05.578 --> 00:07:13.449 - If you don't have a CBU bill coming straight to your name or to your address, you can still get our 00:07:13.449 --> 00:07:19.038 - alerts. So if you rent and the water meter is in somebody else's name, 00:07:19.682 --> 00:07:24.859 - you can still get our alerts. You also want to sign up for the Monroe County alert system, 00:07:24.859 --> 00:07:30.661 - which is separate, and we can connect you with both of those things. The last piece of good news that 00:07:30.661 --> 00:07:36.350 - I'm going to share, although there's many other good pieces of news, is that to date we have filled 00:07:36.350 --> 00:07:42.210 - over 9,500 potholes this season. So the asphalt plant is probably going to close before too long. That 00:07:42.210 --> 00:07:48.126 - is more potholes than we have filled in a very long time, and we are really excited with that progress. 00:07:48.354 --> 00:07:56.924 - We know potholes seem like a small deal, but they're actually a really big deal. When they don't get 00:07:56.924 --> 00:08:05.578 - fixed, everybody is mad. So we're working hard to be a city where you don't even notice your streets. 00:08:05.578 --> 00:08:14.148 - You just drive on them happily. Budget. If you're tracking city council, you may know that we are in 00:08:14.148 --> 00:08:17.118 - the middle of our budget hearings. 00:08:17.282 --> 00:08:27.459 - We will be back on Wednesday night for what could be the final budget hearing, may not be. The council 00:08:27.459 --> 00:08:37.340 - and the administration are working hard to make some difficult decisions. The council has suggested 00:08:37.340 --> 00:08:40.798 - many cuts to the budget and we are 00:08:40.962 --> 00:08:48.897 - listening and we are working on some practical solutions to get to a place where we have a budget that 00:08:48.897 --> 00:08:56.754 - actually works for the city and where all of the needs are getting met and all of the priorities that 00:08:56.754 --> 00:09:04.535 - we can address get addressed well. So welcome Council Member Daley. You don't have to run. I'm still 00:09:04.535 --> 00:09:08.926 - just blabbering on. Your turn is next. Relax, it's okay. 00:09:09.570 --> 00:09:18.025 - You didn't have to listen to all the stuff you already know about. So that's right, that's right. Ladies 00:09:18.025 --> 00:09:26.078 - and gentlemen, council member Daley has arrived and she'll update. I already told them that you had 00:09:26.078 --> 00:09:34.694 - important things to do and you were on your way. So we have, in that budget, we have some proposed funding 00:09:34.694 --> 00:09:38.398 - for studies of immediate planning priorities. 00:09:38.562 --> 00:09:46.337 - And some of those are on the docket for possibly being cut from the council budget. The important thing 00:09:46.337 --> 00:09:54.113 - to know about these studies is that, and I am one to say, I don't want any studies that sit on a shelf. 00:09:54.113 --> 00:10:01.589 - I only wanna study if we're gonna do something. These studies are necessary in order for us to even 00:10:01.589 --> 00:10:08.318 - plan, even to apply for federal funding. And so the process, and I know it seems a little 00:10:08.546 --> 00:10:16.529 - antiquated to say the least, is that we have to make a plan to figure out how much something is going 00:10:16.529 --> 00:10:24.669 - to cost and how we might fund it. And then we can apply for the federal dollars. And when those federal 00:10:24.669 --> 00:10:32.731 - dollars come available, you have to already have the plan in your hand. And so those plans include the 00:10:32.731 --> 00:10:37.662 - Kirkwood corridor, which was a hot topic at council this year, 00:10:37.826 --> 00:10:45.216 - Without a plan and without a good implementation process, we need to be sure that everybody can get 00:10:45.216 --> 00:10:52.680 - where they're going when they need to get there and closing a street like Kirkwood without a plan to 00:10:52.680 --> 00:11:00.144 - really make sure businesses can thrive and emergency services can get through and everybody else who 00:11:00.144 --> 00:11:01.918 - wants to get there can. 00:11:02.178 --> 00:11:10.234 - does not make a lot of practical sense. So we do need that Kirkwood area plan and the downtown plan 00:11:10.234 --> 00:11:18.370 - in order to get that through. We also have a couple of safe routes to school on the agenda for those 00:11:18.370 --> 00:11:26.506 - plans this year. So important stuff. I'm going to just sort of zip through some other things just in 00:11:26.506 --> 00:11:31.742 - the interest of time. We have some state and federal grants that 00:11:31.842 --> 00:11:39.946 - are going to routinely require those studies, and we simply cannot apply for them, nor can we be competitive 00:11:39.946 --> 00:11:47.604 - without those plans being done. I want to talk for a minute about a new initiative that you may or may 00:11:47.604 --> 00:11:55.039 - not have heard about called Streets to Stability, and this is part of our work with Heading Home on 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:57.790 - addressing unsheltered homelessness. 00:11:58.402 --> 00:12:07.554 - we are working zone by zone in the downtown with caseworkers to identify a by name list of people who 00:12:07.554 --> 00:12:16.617 - are sleeping outside routinely in those zones. As they're identified, caseworkers begin to work with 00:12:16.617 --> 00:12:26.038 - them and identify housing that will meet their needs. Then the target is within a month's time, we house 00:12:26.038 --> 00:12:27.294 - those people. 00:12:27.522 --> 00:12:35.582 - To date, I don't actually know if heading home is publicizing numbers yet, so I'm not gonna share those 00:12:35.582 --> 00:12:43.488 - numbers here because it's very public, but there has been a significant success very quickly, and one 00:12:43.488 --> 00:12:51.316 - of those zones is now closed to sleeping. There are a couple of people from that zone that were very 00:12:51.316 --> 00:12:55.966 - complex cases, so they have multiple needs to be addressed. 00:12:56.162 --> 00:13:04.741 - Those two are still not housed, but everybody else is housed. And those two are actively working with 00:13:04.741 --> 00:13:13.321 - caseworkers. We are working through the rest of downtown and will complete the main downtown Kirkwood 00:13:13.321 --> 00:13:22.068 - area by the end of the year. And so we were really excited about that. Heading home has been great with 00:13:22.068 --> 00:13:23.582 - the structure and 00:13:24.034 --> 00:13:32.663 - and the case workers and then the city is doing a lot of cleanup. We are doing backup outreach and then 00:13:32.663 --> 00:13:41.292 - we have a lot of folks letting people know that the area is now closed for sleeping but there are other 00:13:41.292 --> 00:13:49.921 - places to go and then connecting them to resources. So really proud of that work and really hoping that 00:13:49.921 --> 00:13:53.406 - we are gonna make a significant impact in 00:13:53.602 --> 00:14:03.799 - unsheltered homelessness this year. Let's see, we are also related, you may not be seeing a direct impact 00:14:03.799 --> 00:14:13.419 - of the streets to stability work yet because the city is really absorbing the influx of the closure 00:14:13.419 --> 00:14:22.654 - of the power line encampments. There were a significant number of people who were living there. 00:14:22.882 --> 00:14:31.442 - And when the county closed that, there was not a timetable of significant outreach and case management 00:14:31.442 --> 00:14:39.836 - that went into the power lines. And so it was a disruption of a large number of people, many of them 00:14:39.836 --> 00:14:48.894 - very complex cases. We are grateful to the county for closing the encampment. Thank you, President Crossley. 00:14:49.026 --> 00:14:57.500 - And because it had become very unsafe and unsafe for people living there and unsafe for people living 00:14:57.500 --> 00:15:04.478 - around the area. And we have seen the disruption that's caused when you unhoused or 00:15:05.730 --> 00:15:13.176 - when you disrupt an encampment that is so large all at once without the outreach and case management 00:15:13.176 --> 00:15:20.844 - needed. So we are still working with those folks. They are moving around, mostly moving around the city 00:15:20.844 --> 00:15:28.364 - right now. So we're trying in partnership with Heading Home and others to get them the resources that 00:15:28.364 --> 00:15:31.166 - they need. And speaking of resources, 00:15:31.426 --> 00:15:39.353 - We have completed a permitting audit. If we want to have great housing, we need to be really cognizant 00:15:39.353 --> 00:15:47.279 - of how much it costs to get to the point that you could pull a permit. And right now it costs too much 00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:55.129 - partially because we have a lot of red tape and a lot of uncertainty in our zoning process. So we did 00:15:55.129 --> 00:15:57.438 - a permitting audit and we are 00:15:57.634 --> 00:16:05.618 - our team is already really removing a lot of obstacles to getting those permits. So we're doing the 00:16:05.618 --> 00:16:13.603 - administrative work. Council, in the meantime, are passing UDO changes in partnership with the Plan 00:16:13.603 --> 00:16:21.747 - Commission. And so together, this is an effort to make our planning very transparent, very clear, and 00:16:21.747 --> 00:16:24.382 - hopefully much more predictable. 00:16:24.578 --> 00:16:34.528 - So nobody's planning a development or even a house before they know whether or not it can pass our code. 00:16:34.528 --> 00:16:44.004 - So I'm really proud of that work and I hope it's going to make housing a little more attainable and 00:16:44.004 --> 00:16:51.774 - housing production more predictable in town. A quick update on Hopewell, the 724, 00:16:53.794 --> 00:17:02.456 - 714, I always get the numbers mixed up. 714 South Rogers, our old convalescent center, if you're old 00:17:02.456 --> 00:17:11.117 - like me and have been here a while. The old brutalist building, we have our eyes on that for our new 00:17:11.117 --> 00:17:18.750 - police headquarters. And we're moving forward with the due diligence on that. I'll be at 00:17:18.882 --> 00:17:27.007 - the McDowell Gardens neighborhood meeting tomorrow to talk to them about those plans and other plans 00:17:27.007 --> 00:17:35.132 - in Hopewell. But the plan is to renovate part of that building and likely to build on an addition to 00:17:35.132 --> 00:17:43.176 - that building to relocate dispatch there. We don't have any category three buildings in Bloomington 00:17:43.176 --> 00:17:47.198 - right now. And that is a building that is, sorry, 00:17:47.426 --> 00:17:54.350 - the city of Bloomington doesn't own any. And that is a building that is rated for a significant seismic 00:17:54.350 --> 00:18:01.207 - event, a significant tornado, et cetera. And it really is best practice to have dispatch and emergency 00:18:01.207 --> 00:18:07.531 - operations center in a category three building. And so we, because we don't have anything with 00:18:07.531 --> 00:18:12.990 - the appropriate foundation structure yet, we'll be building an addition onto 714. 00:18:13.154 --> 00:18:21.625 - to house that part of our operations so that no matter the natural disaster, we still can have emergency 00:18:21.625 --> 00:18:30.015 - operations up and running. We have also gotten into the final stages of the Hopewell Neighborhood Plan. 00:18:30.015 --> 00:18:33.726 - This is just the first phase, Hopewell South, 00:18:34.146 --> 00:18:43.643 - That will have 98 homes they are compact lots, very modest sized houses all the way up to 2800 square 00:18:43.643 --> 00:18:52.955 - foot house. And we also have some multifamily homes going in there, all targeted at owner occupancy 00:18:52.955 --> 00:18:54.910 - so condo model, etc. 00:18:55.042 --> 00:19:01.489 - And then we have the core building, which is being operated by Bloomington Housing Authority. And so 00:19:01.489 --> 00:19:08.191 - that is soon to open. And so we're really proud of that work, proud of the partnership with city council 00:19:08.191 --> 00:19:15.021 - to get that finalized, almost finalized and moving forward. And I am going to stop talking and let council 00:19:15.021 --> 00:19:20.574 - member Daley give any updates or things she's thinking about before we take questions. 00:19:24.834 --> 00:19:29.994 - Here we go, I got it. Oh, hey, thanks. Thank you very much. I didn't prepare anything. I didn't think 00:19:29.994 --> 00:19:35.104 - ahead about what I was going to talk about, but thank you for that comprehensive update. It's always 00:19:35.104 --> 00:19:40.265 - good to hear about that. It's exciting that we finally have Hopewell moving forward. Right now, super 00:19:40.265 --> 00:19:45.425 - focused on just trying to get through budget season. Tomorrow night is gonna, no, not tomorrow night. 00:19:45.425 --> 00:19:50.585 - Wednesday night, it's gonna be a long night going over the budget. There are a lot of amendments that 00:19:50.585 --> 00:19:52.862 - have been brought forward, so we're gonna be 00:19:53.250 --> 00:19:59.153 - Spending a lot of time talking about those. I want to be really mindful as we're going through each 00:19:59.153 --> 00:20:05.056 - of them. I don't want to cut just for the sake of cutting, but I also want to make sure that we are 00:20:05.056 --> 00:20:11.076 - doing our best to try to be as fiscally responsible and reasonable as possible. We had a work session 00:20:11.076 --> 00:20:17.392 - last Wednesday night to go over a lot of those amendments that were brought forward, and it was incredibly 00:20:17.392 --> 00:20:18.750 - helpful for me to hear 00:20:19.234 --> 00:20:25.442 - why my colleagues were thinking the way that they were and to hear the arguments back and forth. How 00:20:25.442 --> 00:20:31.650 - I work really well is having those conversations and those debates live and in person together. So I 00:20:31.650 --> 00:20:37.858 - loved that work session. Looking forward to seeing how it plays out Wednesday night. So hopefully we 00:20:37.858 --> 00:20:44.128 - can put the budget to bed soon and move ahead after that. I'm working on a piece of legislation right 00:20:44.128 --> 00:20:45.726 - now. I guess I can share. 00:20:47.330 --> 00:20:54.321 - All of you, I've been getting a lot of outreach about those motorized bikes that are almost like motorcycles. 00:20:54.321 --> 00:21:00.932 - They're not actually motorcycles, but they're not just your standard low-speed e-bike. Many of you have 00:21:00.932 --> 00:21:07.478 - maybe noticed it, maybe you've even reached out to me to complain about them on the paths, the trails, 00:21:07.478 --> 00:21:13.961 - the walking paths, just going really, really fast. So I'm working on a piece of legislation right now 00:21:13.961 --> 00:21:15.550 - that will hopefully help 00:21:16.546 --> 00:21:23.130 - maybe calm some of that and address that. We're being really, really mindful about how we're wording 00:21:23.130 --> 00:21:29.975 - it and putting it together so that we can try to get it passed. We're looking at a lot of other, because 00:21:29.975 --> 00:21:36.624 - this is a new issue too, right? These are new devices and we're trying to even just figure out how to 00:21:36.624 --> 00:21:43.142 - define them and then how we can actually regulate them in a way that will be effective. Not as easy 00:21:43.142 --> 00:21:44.446 - as you might think. 00:21:44.610 --> 00:21:51.027 - We've involved legal, we're involving engineering, we're involving many, many different teams looking 00:21:51.027 --> 00:21:57.571 - at that. We were hoping to have it on the docket or on the calendar for this fall. It doesn't look like 00:21:57.571 --> 00:22:04.114 - we're gonna have that opportunity because we do need to take it to the Transportation Commission first. 00:22:04.114 --> 00:22:10.406 - That will hopefully happen this month. We're thinking maybe early next year we'll be able to get it 00:22:10.406 --> 00:22:14.558 - on the calendar. So if you have any feedback on that or thoughts, 00:22:15.010 --> 00:22:21.405 - You know, if you have had experiences too that you wanna share about that, please by all means, feel 00:22:21.405 --> 00:22:27.927 - free to reach out, let me know. But after that, otherwise what I'm just really gonna be focused on for 00:22:27.927 --> 00:22:34.702 - the next little while is really just supporting the boards and commissions. You know, we do have liaisons, 00:22:34.702 --> 00:22:39.198 - you know, the city council liaisons to certain boards and commissions. 00:22:39.554 --> 00:22:45.642 - So my intent in the new year is to really focus on how I can best support a lot of the boards 00:22:45.642 --> 00:22:52.377 - and commissions, looking at those, seeing where are we lacking representation, what areas might benefit 00:22:52.377 --> 00:22:58.854 - from having a little bit more of a say or advisory role within our community. So that's going to be 00:22:58.854 --> 00:23:05.719 - where I'm heading in the new year, I think, unless somebody drops a really big idea in my lap. But that's 00:23:05.719 --> 00:23:09.022 - it for me. I don't have much in the way of updates 00:23:09.154 --> 00:23:17.834 - Mayor Thompson is a much busier and more important person than I am. I just hold down the fort as best 00:23:17.834 --> 00:23:26.429 - I can. All right, so let's take some questions. I just wanna thank you for picking up the complicated 00:23:26.429 --> 00:23:35.362 - legislation on these high-speed e-bikes. It's a complicated potential ordinance to pass because obviously 00:23:35.362 --> 00:23:39.070 - we don't want police chasing kids on bikes. 00:23:39.234 --> 00:23:48.116 - kids who may be unpredictable in their choices. It creates a dangerous situation for everyone. And we 00:23:48.116 --> 00:23:56.824 - also need to recognize that these e-bikes are also causing dangerous situations. So we're cognizant 00:23:56.824 --> 00:24:04.574 - of the many challenges of writing that legislation and appreciate your leadership on it. 00:24:05.090 --> 00:24:12.911 - So we'll take questions, some sort of agreements that we ask for during the question time or comment 00:24:12.911 --> 00:24:21.042 - time. You can just be aware that there are a lot of people here, not 600, but there are plenty of people 00:24:21.042 --> 00:24:27.934 - here who may want an opportunity to have a question addressed or want to make a comment. 00:24:28.066 --> 00:24:37.060 - So we don't limit your time at the mic. But if you can be concise, especially if you're asking a question, 00:24:37.060 --> 00:24:45.550 - so that we can give the information that you want, that would be helpful. And Jennifer, did you pass 00:24:45.550 --> 00:24:54.124 - out any note cards? OK. If anybody is more comfortable submitting a note card rather than speaking at 00:24:54.124 --> 00:24:57.822 - a mic, we bring them. So you can just flag. 00:24:57.954 --> 00:25:03.917 - Jennifer down and she'll hand you one. But I think we have few enough people here that we have time 00:25:03.917 --> 00:25:09.999 - for people to stand up and ask their questions. So how about if I ask Jennifer to person this mic and 00:25:09.999 --> 00:25:16.081 - we'll share this one. You do need to speak into the mic even if you have a loud voice because Katz is 00:25:16.081 --> 00:25:21.150 - recording and the people at home won't be able to hear you if you don't use the mic. 00:25:28.610 --> 00:25:37.064 - Okay, I got a couple things, but I'll just ask one to start with. Yeah, I can't get my phone back on. 00:25:37.064 --> 00:25:45.849 - Okay, what's the status of the bridge replacement repair at Lower Cascades Park? I haven't heard anything 00:25:45.849 --> 00:25:54.635 - about that one for quite a while. So, and I forgot to ask you all to introduce yourself before you speak, 00:25:54.635 --> 00:25:57.950 - if you're willing. Can I? Steve Lehman. 00:25:58.658 --> 00:26:06.160 - Thanks, Steve Lehman. So the status of the bridge at Cascades Park, I actually need to check on that. 00:26:06.160 --> 00:26:13.809 - I'm not totally sure what the status is. The city's not responsible for that bridge. The responsibility 00:26:13.809 --> 00:26:21.238 - has been taken, and I know there are plans happening for repairing that bridge, but I don't know the 00:26:21.238 --> 00:26:28.446 - status of it right now, but we are happy to get back to you about that, Steve. Thanks for asking. 00:26:28.546 --> 00:26:39.618 - Thank you. Yeah. There's one back here, Jennifer. Hi, this Dave Burnworth. Did I understand you right 00:26:39.618 --> 00:26:50.907 - to say the unhoused population would probably decrease in concept at least? The unsheltered population, 00:26:50.907 --> 00:26:57.854 - yes. That's what we're shooting for. We could reasonably expect 00:26:59.042 --> 00:27:08.818 - less visitors to Seminary Park? So the park is a public park. And so we actually love visitors in Seminary 00:27:08.818 --> 00:27:18.138 - Park. And anybody has the right to be in Seminary Park. I think what you're alluding to is maybe some 00:27:18.138 --> 00:27:26.270 - behaviors that you're seeing in Seminary Park that don't feel welcoming to other people. 00:27:26.530 --> 00:27:38.409 - And so a couple of pieces on that. First, I just wanna share that we do know that not everybody in Seminary 00:27:38.409 --> 00:27:49.628 - Park is unhoused, first of all. And the police have been working really hard to work on any predatory 00:27:49.628 --> 00:27:55.678 - behavior that's happening, especially there right now. 00:27:55.842 --> 00:28:04.443 - And so they've made a couple of very significant drug busts lately. And they did that about a little 00:28:04.443 --> 00:28:13.129 - over a year ago and we saw behaviors in the park really improve at that point. And it was really time 00:28:13.129 --> 00:28:22.071 - that we do that as well. My goal as mayor is to make Bloomington unwelcoming to anybody who's a predator 00:28:22.071 --> 00:28:23.774 - and get people help 00:28:23.938 --> 00:28:32.919 - if they have substance use disorder or another mental health disorder. So that's what we're working 00:28:32.919 --> 00:28:41.901 - on. That's the approach we're working with. And we do have outreach workers that go out to Seminary 00:28:41.901 --> 00:28:51.870 - Park and elsewhere. And honestly, we do want every park to be welcoming to everyone. You are welcomed, if you, 00:28:52.162 --> 00:28:59.637 - would like to follow up with me and have a more private conversation, I would welcome that, yeah. Hi, 00:28:59.637 --> 00:29:07.259 - my name is Rowan Morse. I'm a lifelong Bloomingtonian. In the past, your administration has stated that 00:29:07.259 --> 00:29:14.587 - you are interested in finding a new ALPR vendor for the city after one of the city's four contracts 00:29:14.587 --> 00:29:20.670 - lapsed this year. On October 14th, the city council is voting on ordinance 2026-22 00:29:21.026 --> 00:29:29.402 - banning all ALPR technology like Flock and Axon. Are you in opposition to this ordinance and will you 00:29:29.402 --> 00:29:37.779 - veto it if it is passed? So the question about ALPRs is that we don't plan to replace ALPRs. Security 00:29:37.779 --> 00:29:46.320 - cameras are another issue altogether. So we're asking for those things to be separated and to have some 00:29:46.320 --> 00:29:50.590 - more careful thought put into the security cameras. 00:29:56.578 --> 00:30:06.912 - Hi, Norm Crampton. I'm here with Mary Alice. We live near the traffic circle at Serre and High. And 00:30:06.912 --> 00:30:17.555 - I've noticed the recent posting of something like recognition of commercial service. Could you explain 00:30:17.555 --> 00:30:25.822 - what that's about? Sorry, the Serre and High intersect. Sorry, Rogers and High. 00:30:26.018 --> 00:30:34.037 - By the park. Rogers and High, okay. Yes, and there's recognition of commercial service. Do they tend 00:30:34.037 --> 00:30:42.293 - to the middle of that roundabout? Is that? Yeah, we don't know why commercial is being recognized there 00:30:42.293 --> 00:30:47.454 - for something. I see. Jennifer is going to answer your question. 00:30:48.674 --> 00:30:56.292 - Actually, there was another constituent that asked about this because they were concerned about the 00:30:56.292 --> 00:31:04.063 - state of the care of those roundabouts throughout the city. Some of them belong to Public Works, some 00:31:04.063 --> 00:31:11.834 - of them belong to the Parks Department. Traditionally, a business has adopted those to maintain them, 00:31:11.834 --> 00:31:18.462 - but that kind of care was maybe a little inconsistent. They have revamped that program 00:31:18.594 --> 00:31:27.846 - So now a business can adopt one of those roundabouts and instead of actually physically maintaining 00:31:27.846 --> 00:31:37.098 - them, they are funding the maintenance of that roundabout. So we're hoping for some more consistent 00:31:37.098 --> 00:31:44.222 - care. So Norm, was your question about why that advertising is there or just 00:31:48.482 --> 00:31:57.491 - I see. I see, okay, great. I'm Mary Alice Crampton, and thank you for your service, both of you, for 00:31:57.491 --> 00:32:06.500 - the community. My question is, at least three years, when I go down Sarah Road, every time I have to 00:32:06.500 --> 00:32:15.777 - go to the grocery store, et cetera, on that side, the roundabout has a place where somebody has knocked 00:32:15.777 --> 00:32:17.918 - into the middle section 00:32:18.306 --> 00:32:27.057 - and has made a mess. And it's been there for at least three years. And I find it very embarrassing because 00:32:27.057 --> 00:32:35.481 - people come off Tap Road and they come into the city to go to the basketball games, the football games 00:32:35.481 --> 00:32:43.742 - and whatnot. And they see it looks run down. And I don't know why it hasn't been replaced and fixed. 00:32:44.898 --> 00:32:53.928 - Thank you for letting me know about that. I will look at it on my way home tonight. We don't want a 00:32:53.928 --> 00:33:03.500 - city that looks rundown. Yeah. Thank you for your service, Mayor and Mr. Councilman. I've been a resident 00:33:03.500 --> 00:33:13.072 - of Bloomington for over 26 years, and I also lived in four other countries and three cities in the United 00:33:13.072 --> 00:33:14.878 - States like Boston, 00:33:15.394 --> 00:33:23.323 - Erie, Pennsylvania, and in Hackettstown, New Jersey. And then I moved here after that. So my question 00:33:23.323 --> 00:33:31.096 - is, in the last few years, we have gotten a lot of panhandlers at every corner. And recently, I had 00:33:31.096 --> 00:33:39.646 - my son's wedding here. And a lot of people had come from international, like Australia, and Europe, and Asia. 00:33:40.418 --> 00:33:46.584 - And I was showing them around in Bloomington. And every corner, there is somebody asking for some money 00:33:46.584 --> 00:33:52.632 - standing there. So it was embarrassing because they considered me as an American. And they said, hey, 00:33:52.632 --> 00:33:58.739 - what happened to your American? Why are there so many people asking for money? It's like it's becoming 00:33:58.739 --> 00:34:04.727 - a bigger country or what? I had told them that Bloomington is the best place in the United States in 00:34:04.727 --> 00:34:09.470 - terms of living conditions. And there are very little crime and no panhandlers. 00:34:10.018 --> 00:34:17.727 - but I was proven wrong. So that's number one comment. Second comment that you talk about is the high-speed 00:34:17.727 --> 00:34:25.292 - e-bikes. It is very dangerous. I have seen three accidents on the trail. I walk every day on the Jackson 00:34:25.292 --> 00:34:32.858 - Creek Trail. And actually, one guy was so hurt so badly because these kids that are going in at 30 miles 00:34:32.858 --> 00:34:39.486 - per hour sometimes. And they wish past you. And if you are just slightly in the wrong lane, 00:34:39.778 --> 00:34:46.243 - They're coming from behind. You don't know whether they're going to go right or left. And when they 00:34:46.243 --> 00:34:52.902 - hit you, it's going to be a lot of casualties. So that's a good initiative that you guys have. So I'll 00:34:52.902 --> 00:34:59.626 - address the panhandling question, and then I'm going to let Councilwoman Daley talk about her expertise 00:34:59.626 --> 00:35:04.798 - and e-bikes. And I have one more very important issue that I came here for. OK. 00:35:05.506 --> 00:35:12.645 - The issue is that there is a, I live right behind the Brookdale nursing home. Sorry, the hotel. Brookdale 00:35:12.645 --> 00:35:19.448 - nursing home. It's been going on for three years. The bamboo plantation has been growing in the back 00:35:19.448 --> 00:35:26.520 - of the Brookdale nursing home. I live right behind it. Me and other three neighbors are affected because 00:35:26.520 --> 00:35:33.592 - the bamboo, once it starts growing, you can't stop it. Because it becomes very hard. And a bamboo that's 00:35:33.592 --> 00:35:35.006 - half inch or thicker 00:35:35.650 --> 00:35:43.391 - is difficult to cut. I will tell you, I have tried it and it takes almost, it's impossible to cut with 00:35:43.391 --> 00:35:51.358 - handsaw. So I know what is the reason the bamboos have started coming in because it's an invasive species 00:35:51.358 --> 00:35:59.100 - for the United States. And I can tell you the reason, but I don't want to bring it up here. I actually 00:35:59.100 --> 00:36:04.286 - know what the prime cause is. But I had gone to the hand department. 00:36:04.482 --> 00:36:11.261 - H-A-N-D department. And for three years, I've been telling them to get rid of this somehow, because 00:36:11.261 --> 00:36:18.108 - I don't know, nobody has a solution to that. And I came to bring this issue up because I had written 00:36:18.108 --> 00:36:25.090 - to the mayor last year, but the mayor said that we don't have enough resources. So the honorable mayor 00:36:25.090 --> 00:36:32.005 - is again requested to take some action because three, four of my neighbors are also affected by this, 00:36:32.005 --> 00:36:33.022 - and they said, 00:36:33.250 --> 00:36:39.674 - They wanted to come, but they couldn't come. So they said, you are going to be our mouthpiece, and please 00:36:39.674 --> 00:36:46.219 - have mayor commit to getting rid of these bamboos. And OK, by the way, I met also the Brookdale management. 00:36:46.219 --> 00:36:52.522 - The management changed in the last, I think, to one year or so. Before, it used to be Brookdale nursing 00:36:52.522 --> 00:36:58.583 - home. And the Brookdale nursing home, people came, and they saw, and they said, OK, we are going to 00:36:58.583 --> 00:37:01.310 - clean it up, because it's on their property. 00:37:01.986 --> 00:37:08.048 - So they are going to clean it up. There was a lady by the name of Chloe Parr, and she came in. She said, 00:37:08.048 --> 00:37:14.053 - we are sorry that this is going on here. We are going to clean it up for you. But in the last one year, 00:37:14.053 --> 00:37:20.172 - that management has been sold to study else, and the nursing home is no longer Brookdale. It is something 00:37:20.172 --> 00:37:26.119 - else. Yes. OK, I'm going to take bamboo and handlers, and you'll take e-bikes, unless you want bamboo. 00:37:26.119 --> 00:37:27.678 - I don't know anything. OK. 00:37:28.482 --> 00:37:37.557 - So the council passed an ordinance against several species of invasive bamboo several years ago. So 00:37:37.557 --> 00:37:46.633 - there is an ordinance against it. And we can notify people that they need to remove it. But there's 00:37:46.633 --> 00:37:55.799 - actually, we just don't have enough inspectors or enough enforcement bandwidth to do everything that 00:37:55.799 --> 00:37:57.886 - we need to do in hand. 00:37:57.986 --> 00:38:08.158 - And so hand is enforcing life safety issues, sort of top priority. And frankly, even the fines that 00:38:08.158 --> 00:38:18.431 - we might be able to impose on people for these kinds of invasive species are minimal compared to the 00:38:18.431 --> 00:38:25.246 - cost of eradicating them, as you know, because it's troubling you. 00:38:25.346 --> 00:38:32.397 - I am happy to come out and talk to the management along with the neighbors and see if we can come up 00:38:32.397 --> 00:38:39.588 - with a solution that actually works because we do have an ordinance against it. But unfortunately, and 00:38:39.588 --> 00:38:46.570 - this is an important thing to sort of keep in mind as we're going through budget season, if I could 00:38:46.570 --> 00:38:53.831 - hire five more inspectors and compliance officers for hand, I would. They are busy, they're overworked, 00:38:53.831 --> 00:38:54.878 - they're doing, 00:38:54.978 --> 00:39:03.442 - a great job with what they can handle, but these are the very things that we just, they were unable 00:39:03.442 --> 00:39:12.413 - to actually enforce regularly. It is a significant financial burden to eradicate bamboo like that because 00:39:12.413 --> 00:39:21.046 - it has to be completely dug up and the root systems have to be totally removed. So I know quite a bit 00:39:21.046 --> 00:39:22.654 - about this bamboo. 00:39:22.978 --> 00:39:31.441 - not your bamboo in particular, but if it would be helpful, I'm happy to help facilitate a meeting and 00:39:31.441 --> 00:39:40.319 - see if we can come to some agreement. On panhandling, we do not have a city ordinance against panhandling. 00:39:40.319 --> 00:39:48.616 - The council took it up a number of years ago and decided not to do anything. The administration did 00:39:48.616 --> 00:39:50.110 - have signs posted 00:39:50.818 --> 00:39:59.563 - essentially encouraging people to give to the organizations that serve people instead of giving directly 00:39:59.563 --> 00:40:07.974 - to people. Those signs were taken down, not by the administration. They were just removed. So we put 00:40:07.974 --> 00:40:16.303 - them up higher, but they were completely unnoticeable. So without an ordinance against panhandling, 00:40:16.303 --> 00:40:18.718 - there's really not much that 00:40:19.138 --> 00:40:27.863 - we can do as a government. You can talk to your city council about putting an ordinance together. But 00:40:27.863 --> 00:40:36.417 - my encouragement to people is obviously do what you're called to do, but it does a lot more good to 00:40:36.417 --> 00:40:45.484 - give to organizations frequently that are helping people structurally and that provide wraparound support 00:40:45.484 --> 00:40:48.478 - services and can really help them. 00:40:48.834 --> 00:40:57.003 - than to offer direct funding. That's my experience. It's what I've told my children ever since they 00:40:57.003 --> 00:41:05.743 - were little and said, should we give them some money? And I consistently say, we give to the organizations 00:41:05.743 --> 00:41:13.504 - that help people. And so, whatever you're called to do, but that's the only way I know to sort 00:41:13.504 --> 00:41:18.078 - of structurally address this because people have needs. 00:41:22.210 --> 00:41:29.245 - Just piggybacking, piggybacking? Yeah, that's the word. Right off of what Mayor Thompson was saying. 00:41:29.245 --> 00:41:36.349 - I know it's really, really difficult to see members of our community out there on the corners who are 00:41:36.349 --> 00:41:43.314 - clearly in need and looking for anything that we can give them. It is something that I think breaks 00:41:43.314 --> 00:41:50.558 - all of our hearts and we don't want to see. It's difficult. I think you're right. I think we are seeing 00:41:50.558 --> 00:41:51.742 - more these days. 00:41:52.482 --> 00:42:00.452 - The economy being in the state that it's in is probably not helping. I mean, I see just even in my day 00:42:00.452 --> 00:42:08.576 - job, the effects of a poor economy coming into student supplying to IU and how it's impacting everybody. 00:42:08.576 --> 00:42:16.391 - But hopefully now, maybe with our new shelter program through heading home, I always want to call it 00:42:16.391 --> 00:42:19.486 - something else, so I just have to stop. 00:42:19.874 --> 00:42:26.121 - Hopefully that can help and make a big difference in what we're seeing on our streets. And then we can 00:42:26.121 --> 00:42:32.430 - turn our attention to supporting the shelters and the other outreach organizations is my hope. So thank 00:42:32.430 --> 00:42:38.616 - you for bringing that up. And then in terms of the motorbikes, the e-motos is what we're referring to 00:42:38.616 --> 00:42:40.254 - them as in this ordinance. 00:42:40.386 --> 00:42:46.834 - Yes, it is scary when we see them on the trails and when we're walking. I go down and I walk by Sherwood 00:42:46.834 --> 00:42:53.037 - Oaks Park and in between to Olcott and around there, and I've encountered several of them myself. It 00:42:53.037 --> 00:42:59.240 - is frightening when you hear them coming up behind you. You don't know which way to jump. You think, 00:42:59.240 --> 00:43:05.504 - do I have to jump? That's actually something that we do address in the ordinance is the behavior that 00:43:05.504 --> 00:43:06.302 - we expect on 00:43:06.786 --> 00:43:13.349 - bicycles, scooters, motorized vehicles, and we define them. Again, the enforcement is going to be difficult 00:43:13.349 --> 00:43:19.670 - because Mayor Thompson is right. You know, Chief DeKoff has said, we're not gonna have officers chasing 00:43:19.670 --> 00:43:25.807 - these kids down because that will end in disaster. That is then when they will get a little bit more 00:43:25.807 --> 00:43:32.067 - reckless, they'll get scared, they'll try to run, and that's when they will hit somebody or crash into 00:43:32.067 --> 00:43:35.774 - something. So we are considering the deterrent alternatives. 00:43:36.066 --> 00:43:43.834 - How can we figure out maybe who's riding these bikes if we're not able to catch them right there in 00:43:43.834 --> 00:43:51.835 - that moment and give them the reprimand or the fine. But there will be a fine system and a possibility 00:43:51.835 --> 00:43:59.681 - of repossession of the bike. So hopefully then the parents will be hearing about this. And hopefully 00:43:59.681 --> 00:44:05.662 - then they will be much more inclined to enforce the good behavior from their 00:44:06.242 --> 00:44:11.661 - miners who are pretty much the ones who are doing most of the reckless behavior on these bikes. And 00:44:11.661 --> 00:44:17.134 - I do just want to also make one quick note, too, in terms of this ordinance working on it. I've said 00:44:17.134 --> 00:44:22.715 - we've consulted with a lot of different departments within the city. I want to give a huge, huge shout 00:44:22.715 --> 00:44:28.242 - out to Director Tim Street from the Parks Department and Julius Mitchell from the legal team. The two 00:44:28.242 --> 00:44:33.932 - of them have been the real powerhouse in putting this together for us. In fact, it was Director Street's 00:44:33.932 --> 00:44:35.070 - idea. He came to me. 00:44:35.426 --> 00:44:42.947 - last spring and said he's been getting a lot more complaints about this and would I be interested in 00:44:42.947 --> 00:44:50.394 - helping to do something as his city council representative. So I've been delighted to work with the 00:44:50.394 --> 00:44:58.064 - two of them because they have really done the bulk of this. So I want them to get all the applause and 00:44:58.064 --> 00:45:04.542 - the credit for putting it together. But he's legal, what's his legislative seat, okay. 00:45:05.442 --> 00:45:13.135 - I got the title wrong. He's the legislative assistant, right? Thank you. It always makes me think legal. 00:45:13.135 --> 00:45:20.608 - Hello. Hi. Thank you. Just waiting. Thank you both for taking questions. It's really appreciated. I'm 00:45:20.608 --> 00:45:28.008 - really excited to hear that you are aligned, it sounds like, with the council in regards to FLOC and 00:45:28.008 --> 00:45:32.990 - the upcoming vote on Wednesday. I just had a quick question for you 00:45:33.282 --> 00:45:39.044 - about what happened at the county level. My understanding is the county decided to remove the cameras 00:45:39.044 --> 00:45:44.749 - despite there being a fine associated with that. I think it was a pretty moderate fine. And then you 00:45:44.749 --> 00:45:50.737 - said that the contracts were not gonna be renewed or they were not renewed. I think one just was canceled 00:45:50.737 --> 00:45:56.556 - a couple of weeks ago. But the camera on my block is still up. And so I was just wondering if you were 00:45:56.556 --> 00:46:00.510 - committed to removing them despite a potential fine just so we can be 00:46:00.802 --> 00:46:09.778 - done with that in light of the vote on Wednesday. And also if you had a commitment to not picking up 00:46:09.778 --> 00:46:19.110 - any new vendors that are out there and are probably going to replace Flock as that company kind of takes 00:46:19.110 --> 00:46:25.598 - a nosedive. Thank you. So you have an ALPR on your block? Is it an ALPR? 00:46:35.362 --> 00:46:43.592 - On Kirkwood, okay. So those are not ALPRs, and the ALPR contract expired and we did not renew it. And 00:46:43.592 --> 00:46:51.741 - we have security cameras, so I don't know if you were here when I answered the last question, but we 00:46:51.741 --> 00:47:00.052 - are not supportive of taking all the security cameras down, but they will not be FLOC. So we are still 00:47:00.052 --> 00:47:05.054 - talking to council members about that, but I'm not supportive 00:47:05.186 --> 00:47:22.445 - of that part of the legislation. They are, but we're not gonna renew those contracts. Yeah. That's correct. 00:47:22.445 --> 00:47:34.270 - We have made very good use of those cameras in solving two shootings now. 00:47:34.434 --> 00:47:46.149 - they are a safety risk to remove those. Other questions? Just to clarify, those Condor cameras do use 00:47:46.149 --> 00:47:57.749 - the same ALPR technology. They are built into the surveillance cameras. That contract for those four 00:47:57.749 --> 00:48:03.262 - Condor cameras was over, I think, two weeks ago 00:48:03.586 --> 00:48:10.776 - by the time that based off of the two year contract, I think it was September 25th of 2024. So it should 00:48:10.776 --> 00:48:17.828 - be over by now. And I was wondering if your office has taken any steps to make sure that those cameras 00:48:17.828 --> 00:48:24.813 - actually do get taken down in a timely manner. And then also there are still two other contracts that 00:48:24.813 --> 00:48:31.934 - have not been canceled. They automatically renew. Those are for the trailers, which use both the Condor 00:48:32.322 --> 00:48:43.045 - and the ALPR Falcon cameras. I think there are two each, or two trailers that have Falcon cameras and 00:48:43.045 --> 00:48:53.873 - two trailers that have the Condor surveillance. All of this has AI technology built into it. And I was 00:48:53.873 --> 00:49:01.022 - wondering if you have put in the word with Flock, with the company, 00:49:01.186 --> 00:49:06.488 - as required by the contract to actually make sure that these contracts get canceled. The due date to 00:49:06.488 --> 00:49:11.842 - do that was two months ago. Yeah, so we have a little misinformation here, so I'm just gonna clarify. 00:49:11.842 --> 00:49:17.197 - This is from information that you personally sent me, actually. Yeah. If I can clarify. Yeah. I mean, 00:49:17.197 --> 00:49:22.813 - you just interrupted me before I finished my sentence. I'm sorry. Why don't you finish what you're saying, 00:49:22.813 --> 00:49:28.063 - and then Jennifer can take the mic. Yeah. There were two different contracts to make sure that they 00:49:28.063 --> 00:49:30.110 - weren't gonna be automatically renewed 00:49:30.402 --> 00:49:37.473 - to cancel them, you had to get in contact with the company multiple months ago. I think a couple of 00:49:37.473 --> 00:49:44.614 - people have asked you at this point if that has been done, and nobody's really gotten a clear answer 00:49:44.614 --> 00:49:51.897 - on that. Let me provide a clear answer. And we have in the past, just to clarify, we have communicated 00:49:51.897 --> 00:49:59.038 - with Flock that we are not renewing any contracts with them. So when these expire, they are expired. 00:49:59.554 --> 00:50:13.370 - We have done that in writing within the timeframe that we committed to. That was done in the spring. 00:50:13.370 --> 00:50:27.870 - That was done a long time ago. We have not changed our position at all on it. Hi, I'll try to be somewhat 00:50:28.130 --> 00:50:34.404 - concise on this. My question is about the high-speed fiber network. I know that there are details that 00:50:34.404 --> 00:50:40.679 - are outside of people's control, but about four years ago when that was announced, I was very excited, 00:50:40.679 --> 00:50:47.014 - both for the better service that it would provide, but also because I don't love supporting either AT&T 00:50:47.014 --> 00:50:53.289 - or Comcast as companies. In at least three of the years since then, whether it was someone in the city 00:50:53.289 --> 00:50:56.030 - or someone with Gigabit Now that I spoke to, 00:50:56.162 --> 00:51:03.516 - told me that their expectation was I would have it by the end of the year. That hasn't happened in any 00:51:03.516 --> 00:51:10.726 - of those years. I guess I'm just looking for a commitment to the project because at the moment, if I 00:51:10.726 --> 00:51:18.151 - knew it was going to take a long time, I could do a multi-year agreement with Xfinity and save 30 bucks 00:51:18.151 --> 00:51:23.934 - a month. But if I keep going month by month waiting for it to happen any moment, 00:51:24.034 --> 00:51:32.286 - There's actually a big financial loss on my part as well. Mostly I want to know that we're still trying 00:51:32.286 --> 00:51:40.538 - to go full speed ahead with this and if there's any updates of any kind about potential timelines. Yes. 00:51:40.538 --> 00:51:48.552 - I am so sorry. That has been a train wreck of a project and we are committed to following through on 00:51:48.552 --> 00:51:51.646 - it. I did issue a stop work order last 00:51:52.162 --> 00:52:01.692 - bring though because the subcontractor on that project was causing so much property damage that they 00:52:01.692 --> 00:52:11.222 - were not repairing, including hitting a gas line under a major street. It was a huge safety issue. I 00:52:11.222 --> 00:52:21.790 - did put a stop work order on it. That's on me. We couldn't have that contractor working in Bloomington anymore. 00:52:22.178 --> 00:52:31.578 - numerous properties that a sewer line would get cut. They didn't report it to the property owner when 00:52:31.578 --> 00:52:40.886 - they did it, and the sewage was just going in the, I mean, it was just a disaster. So I'm very sorry 00:52:40.886 --> 00:52:50.654 - that this has caused you not to be able to sign an appropriate contract. And the Meridian is committed to 00:52:51.106 --> 00:52:58.870 - They committed to coming through and making all of the repairs that needed to happen before they started 00:52:58.870 --> 00:53:06.338 - any new work, and that has happened now. We are now moving forward. It did take them some time to do 00:53:06.338 --> 00:53:14.323 - that. We could have pulled the plug on the whole thing. I have been supportive. The quality of the service, 00:53:14.323 --> 00:53:20.830 - the speed of the connection, and the accessibility to all neighborhoods in Bloomington, 00:53:20.994 --> 00:53:28.636 - is really important, as we all know. So we're moving forward. That's the commitment I can make. In terms 00:53:28.636 --> 00:53:36.132 - of timeline, I would need to know your address and then get in touch with Rick Dietz, our IT director, 00:53:36.132 --> 00:53:43.555 - who knows which neighborhoods are going when, and then we can give you a better timeline on that. But 00:53:43.555 --> 00:53:48.286 - that's what I can tell you. We're working towards it, and sorry. 00:53:53.154 --> 00:54:02.485 - Yes, and I lost my watch this weekend. It's getting close. You mentioned 714 South Rogers earlier. Yes. 00:54:02.485 --> 00:54:11.815 - One question I have, which I think is a great place to move the police station to, and the neighborhood 00:54:11.815 --> 00:54:19.262 - does too. I've been to their meetings, but was that part of the hospital purchase? 00:54:19.490 --> 00:54:26.770 - for the city, so the city does own it at this point, and it was part of that? Yes. Same as the core 00:54:26.770 --> 00:54:34.049 - building, right? Yes. Okay. What is the plan for the core building? You mentioned that one earlier, 00:54:34.049 --> 00:54:41.329 - too. Yeah, the core building is all low-income apartments. It's beautiful. They had an open house a 00:54:41.329 --> 00:54:49.118 - couple months ago. Excuse me. Bloomington Housing Authority owns it, so we'll be doing the rentals through 00:54:49.538 --> 00:54:59.570 - through BHA and those top floor apartments have some of the best view in the city. It's like a remarkable 00:54:59.570 --> 00:55:09.603 - building. So we're really proud of that partnership and that project and it has had, as with any historic 00:55:09.603 --> 00:55:18.878 - building renovation, it's had its share of hiccups, but they're close to finishing and moving in. 00:55:20.738 --> 00:55:29.869 - And one comment on some of the things that were said earlier about e-bikes. It's not kids necessarily. 00:55:29.869 --> 00:55:39.000 - I ride on the trail south of town on my non-electric bicycle. And here a week or so ago, literally six 00:55:39.000 --> 00:55:47.864 - people came flying up behind me all over the trail, flew by. I know there's speed limits are marked 00:55:47.864 --> 00:55:49.726 - on that trail. Okay. 00:55:50.114 --> 00:55:59.262 - And they were not kids. They weren't teenagers. They were 50 and 60 years old. And when I got up to 00:55:59.262 --> 00:56:08.409 - the next parking lot, they're all sitting there smoking cigarettes. So I think it's kind of a weird 00:56:08.409 --> 00:56:18.014 - thing. Thank you for your comments, Steve. Everyone's got to have something to do. I'll be really quick. 00:56:18.274 --> 00:56:23.815 - So good evening Mayor Carey and Councilmember Daly. I'm Jennifer Crossley. I am a constituent 00:56:23.815 --> 00:56:29.945 - of Councilmember Daly and I also have the pleasure of serving in a different capacity as County Council 00:56:29.945 --> 00:56:36.016 - as well. And so one thing that I want to say is thank you very, very much because the Southside really 00:56:36.016 --> 00:56:42.087 - appreciates our street being paved. I know earlier in the summer it was getting, it looked like it was 00:56:42.087 --> 00:56:47.038 - getting done and then it didn't. And then a couple of weeks ago we just got it done 00:56:47.298 --> 00:56:53.985 - and it is shiny and it is so nice and potholes are clear. So I appreciate that because every year I 00:56:53.985 --> 00:57:00.671 - put in a new report to replace the potholes because of the inclement weather. So I just want to say 00:57:00.671 --> 00:57:07.693 - major kudos. I don't know if you want to talk about this or not, but oftentimes we talk about, you know, 00:57:07.693 --> 00:57:14.513 - what is the city and the county doing as a collaboration? And so you had spoken in light of SEA 1 and 00:57:14.513 --> 00:57:17.054 - we definitely are filling it as well. 00:57:17.218 --> 00:57:24.859 - and we just implemented something. So I don't know if either of you wanted to talk about and educate 00:57:24.859 --> 00:57:32.650 - the folks if they don't know already about the MUST Task Force. Yes, President Crossley, thank you for 00:57:32.650 --> 00:57:40.366 - that. I won't even begin to pretend that I remember what MUST stands for, municipal blah, blah, blah. 00:57:40.366 --> 00:57:46.494 - But the MUST Task Force is city, county, Ellitsville, there's representatives of 00:57:46.626 --> 00:57:56.600 - all of the fiscal bodies. And that is a necessary task force to address how we will address local income 00:57:56.600 --> 00:58:06.384 - tax in the future once the changes are made as a result of SEA 1. And the long and short of it is that 00:58:06.384 --> 00:58:14.078 - more of your money is going to the state. It was under the guise of property tax 00:58:14.786 --> 00:58:24.172 - rollbacks, but really very, very few people and very small results in terms of how much property tax 00:58:24.172 --> 00:58:33.744 - was saved. It's mostly a redirect to the state, which means your municipalities are getting less. They 00:58:33.744 --> 00:58:43.966 - also stepped in and started controlling what we could do with local income tax. Our county, city, Ellisville, 00:58:44.130 --> 00:58:51.948 - partnership is really our first must meeting went very, very well and I don't want to color the waters, 00:58:51.948 --> 00:58:59.766 - but I think that we all sort of agree based on the numbers. If we don't work on this together, not only 00:58:59.766 --> 00:59:05.630 - will you be paying more taxes, but each of the entities will be getting less. 00:59:06.210 --> 00:59:15.538 - If we do work on it together, in the end, most of the entities can be made whole as a result and the 00:59:15.538 --> 00:59:25.236 - various taxes don't have to go up so significantly. So I'm really proud of that collaboration. My thanks 00:59:25.236 --> 00:59:33.086 - to the county because the county really is in the control seat here and they've been 00:59:33.410 --> 00:59:40.542 - hugely collaborative and really appreciate them hosting that meeting and the first meeting went very, 00:59:40.542 --> 00:59:47.604 - very well. So if anybody tells you government officials can't collaborate, it's not true. We're also 00:59:47.604 --> 00:59:54.106 - collaborating on the Heading Homework. We did some great jail collaboration. There's lots of 00:59:54.106 --> 01:00:01.168 - great collaboration happening. So thank you for your work and for your openness to partner so we can 01:00:01.168 --> 01:00:02.846 - all do better together. 01:00:03.778 --> 01:00:11.601 - Are we about out of time? Okay, so we try to commit to also ending on time. I will be here. I have at 01:00:11.601 --> 01:00:19.653 - least one person to catch up with afterwards, so I don't know if you have a few. Okay, so Council Member 01:00:19.653 --> 01:00:28.090 - Daley will as well. Thank you, Council Member Daley, for showing up tonight and talking to your constituents, 01:00:28.090 --> 01:00:29.470 - our constituents. 01:00:29.666 --> 01:00:36.677 - Thank each of you for your involvement in government. You make us better. And we don't have to agree 01:00:36.677 --> 01:00:43.965 - on everything. You still make us better because you help us think and really appreciate this engagement. 01:00:43.965 --> 01:00:50.976 - And I hope that you will head to the polls. And if you don't know this already, as soon as you early 01:00:50.976 --> 01:00:58.334 - vote, you get taken off all the lists for door knocking and for phone calls and all of those other lists. 01:00:58.690 --> 01:01:04.315 - If you're tired of answering your door and your phone, go vote. Thank you very much for inviting me 01:01:04.315 --> 01:01:10.558 - and thank you all for being here and I'll stick around and answer any questions too. Always happy for a combo.