- Hello and welcome to Cats Week. I'm Annaliese Poorman. The Bloomington City Council meeting on July 30th began with reports from council members Courtney Daly, Sydney Zulek and Council President Hopi Stasberg. Stasberg reminded the public about the rules of the road in regards to school bus stops.
- I just want to remind or maybe inform those of you out here out there who don't have school age children that school starts one week from today for MCCSE schools. So that is primarily a reminder right now that we all need to look out for our children as they are boarding buses and look out for buses as they are stopping and a reminder that if you are approaching a school bus and they have their lights
- flashing and they have their stop arm coming down, you need to stop no matter which side of the street you're on. And if you're a bicycle, you also need to stop to make sure that our children can board those buses safely. Assistant director for environmental programs, Kelsey Thetonia from the city of Bloomington utilities department presented amendments to the stormwater ordinance title 13 that she said are necessary to comply with house enrolled act 1037. So some of the
- changes we made were to clarify our authority to require certain things because title 13 isn't just construction stormwater regulations it's how our city regulates all stormwater discharges and how it manages our stormwater utility and it also contains our drainage regulations. So very technical and sometimes difficult to tease out exactly where we are drawing our authority from. So.
- For compliance with the new law I've highlighted the main changes in the ordinance the performance standards for construction stormwater management are in Chapter 5. And as I said most of our performance standards already align with the CSGP but we had a few that stood out. For example we removed item O from Chapter 5 Section 4 which states that disturbed areas are at a finished grade to be permanently stabilized within seven days. That's something that the city has enforced for a long time through previously Title 20.
- The CSP states that stabilization must be initiated within the first seven days. So we removed that section. Oh and now title 13 better mirrors the CSP to say that they can initiate within seven days does not have to be completed. Other major changes we had to make involve our permitting process.
- So we've had to adjust the applicability of our construction and post construction stormwater standards to comply with the land disturbance threshold in the CSGP. So our stormwater permit is taking on a tiered approach now. So projects that require that state CSGP coverage have all the same requirements and not much has changed for those sites. But for smaller sites, our authority has somewhat diminished. So we are really only requiring a stormwater permit for sites with new drainage infrastructure.
- We've eliminated erosion control bonds because financial assurances were also called out in the new state law. But we are still requiring permits and performance bonds for new stormwater infrastructure because we're still managing drainage on new development. The amendment was passed unanimously.
- Next, Director of Human Resources, Shar Paycheck, and City Controller, Jessica McClellan, requested an appropriation of funds from the Human Resources Department budget to be dispersed to different departments. This would allow them to allocate salary increases to select employees. Records clerk at the Bloomington Police Department, Linda Ware, commented expressing her dissatisfaction with her salary. She said that she has not had a sufficient pay increase
- from the city despite holding her position since 2003.
- employed at Bloomington Police Department as a records clerk since 2003. In 2022, I applied for, interviewed and accepted a position for the special investigations unit records clerk. At that time, my supervisor and manager requested a pay increase for me, but it was denied by HR. I received my own office downstairs and weekends off. However, I still work some holidays and I have to help cover upstairs when they are short-staffed in records. When the new pay change took effect at the start of this year, I was advised that I would be paid the same
- as a clerk who has been at BPD records department for one year. It was explained to me it was because I had been under my new title less than three years. Mind you I was and still am in the same pay grade and same department but with additional responsibilities. The difference in the salary between a 10 plus year clerk and a one year clerk is eleven thousand fifteen dollars and twenty nine cents per year.
- At this point, it seems the 19 years I have worked at BPD records prior to my new position held no value or has been treated like it never took place. The position I took in 2022 was supposed to be a promotion, but with the new 2025 pay practice, it has become a demotion for me.
- Christina, the supervisor of records, Ellen, the manager of records, Captain Pedigo and Captain, I'm sorry, Chief DeKoff, all spoke with or met with HR regarding my pay rate and pay grade situation. But nothing changed. The transfer of appropriations was approved by a five to three vote.
- The Council then deliberated about Union at Crescent, an affordable housing development that has struggled with damage caused by tenants. The damage has contributed to unsafe conditions that have driven out tenants and left the property below the occupancy thresholds set by the terms of its tax abatement. Director of Economic and Sustainable Development, Jane Coopersmith, explained the problems that the apartment complex has faced in the issue of its tax abatement.
- The property owners state the property has faced significant challenges including ongoing trespassing biohazard situations and disturbances from individuals seeking shelter. These issues have affected their leasing efforts or they say that it's affected their leasing efforts necessitating ongoing intervention and remediation.
- The annex group has stated that in response they are taking the following actions or they have taken the following actions So this is current state. They've engaged pro 24 7 security for on-site presence and compassionate intervention They've contracted a professional cleaning service to address biohazards They've committed over five hundred thousand dollars in property improvements and they have set a target of November 2025 to fully restore all 102 units for occupancy
- And I think I think I'll just Set it down there I mean my conclusion conclusion statement is while the developer has taken significant steps to address the site challenges and improve conditions the low occupancy of the affordable units and
- does not meet the city's objective in issuing the tax abatement for the allocation of 102 units. Representing the apartment complex, Chief Financial Officer for Annex Group, Sam Hurley, explained that they have increased security and cleaning efforts. Ultimately, after thorough discussion, the council voted to allow Union at Crescent to keep its reduced tax agreement with the city in light of the reasonable efforts that they have made to remain in compliance.
- The Bloomington Board of Public Works met on July 29th to discuss a lane closure request on West Second Street. Engineering Field Specialist Kyle Baugh outlined the project. He said the first phase will occur during the evening of August 3rd and the second phase will occur between August 4th and the 15th. Baugh described detours that could be used during this time. Utilizing walnut to third for that northbound flow,
- and then Third going down to Rogers and then jogging over to first to get back down heading south So that would be for the phase one. So just that evening and early morning phase two Looks at using Rogers and first as well as college and first but also confirmed that the businesses adjacent to the street have been Donified of the closures and have agreed to them. The board approved the closure request and
- Later in the meeting, project engineer Kendall Kenoki from the engineering department requested approval for street utility staking to occur as part of the same project on West 2nd Street. Kenoki warned that once he gives approval for the staking to begin, work will start immediately. As soon as I issue the NTP, they're going to get started, so I anticipate they're going to start next week, and they should only take two weeks. I put through August 22nd to kind of give them some wiggle room for weather, but
- We anticipate the first two weeks of August, they should be done. The good slash bad news is as soon as they're done, everybody's gonna come in and start tearing stuff up. So you'll probably get some more permitting requests, some more lane restrictions, sidewalk closures, could be full closures, especially at Rogers and Second coming up. President Kyla Cox-Duckard asked if the board would continue to receive updates as the project moves along.
- Kenoke confirmed that updates will be routinely given to the board. The request was approved unanimously. On July 29th, Bloomington Mayor Carrie Thompson held a press conference addressing street homelessness in Bloomington. Thompson emphasized that homelessness is solvable and outlined how the City of Bloomington is planning to continue to address the complex issue. Homelessness is solvable.
- It is truly solvable. And I think in 2025, many of us think that this is an intractable problem that is never going to go away. We can and we will get to virtual zero homelessness
- Thompson shared some details of their efforts to address housing affordability, including decreasing the cost of housing and increasing Bloomington residents' wages. She pointed to the city's recommitment to Title 16, saying that they want to ensure that residents have safe and habitable housing. I want to also highlight the
- enforcement of our Title 16 that we've been doing before I ask cabinet members to come up. Over the past few months, we have done some significant enforcement, not only at Crawford Apartments, but with one landlord in particular. This is important because we have existing housing stock that is not safe or healthy to live in.
- If you live in the city of Bloomington and you rent a unit, we want to make sure through our Title 16 that you are able to live healthily and safely. We have filed against both of these property owners to remove their rental permits if they cannot bring things back into compliance. I am very proud to say
- that yesterday, through inspections, we saw dramatic progress at Crawford. We believe that those units will come back into compliance, and we have to ensure that the people living there have the supportive services to keep them maintained well. We also are working towards agreements
- with the landlord that is out of compliance. If you rent in Bloomington, you need to be committed to providing safe, decent housing to your tenants. It's only fair. Everyone deserves a safe, decent place to live, especially if they are paying market rate in order to live in those units.
- Thompson said that the city does not want to criminalize homelessness, but that they have been making arrests of people who are selling drugs and making the environment more dangerous for the already vulnerable citizens who are living without housing. She drew attention to an executive order issued by President Trump last week that commits people living on the streets to mental health institutions or drug treatment centers without their consent.
- The new executive order that came out last week shows us a national shift. It shows us a call for more enforcement and less autonomy. HUD and the HHS are going to defund housing first and harm reduction. We don't agree with these policies. We know people need to have
- a decent, stable roof over their heads in order to truly thrive. And once they have that roof over their head, we can't stop there. Housing first cannot be only housing. It has to be housing and services. We cannot effectively arrest our way out of the homeless problem.
- even if we thought that was the right thing to do. Let me tell those of you who have not worked on this issue in the past, if you arrest people, they will end up in our jail perhaps overnight, and then they'll be back out on the streets. They then will have a record that will cause them to be
- much more difficult to be housed. This will perpetuate the issue of homelessness, not only in Bloomington, but throughout the United States. That said, we did make some arrests at Seminary last week, and we made more arrests this week, today. We are taking a stand against the dealers
- that are in our community that really are preying on people who are vulnerable at this point. People who have substance use disorder, and they're finding ways to make money, and it's creating a lack of safety in our community, but most importantly, it is causing extreme challenges and much more difficult lives for those who are the most vulnerable in our community.
- Thompson shared that although Heading Home is one of the city's partners, she disagrees with their decision to serve people who come from counties that are outside of the South Central Indiana region. She said that the city is currently treading water when it comes to handling the influx of people in need of services and that she wants to focus on serving Bloomington residents and those in the Heading Home South Central Indiana region before they can take on additional strain from other counties.
- When I was parenting, I learned this phrase, I guess I'm still parenting, once a parent, always a parent, but I learned this phrase that you can't teach a drowning person to swim. In Bloomington right now, I think we're barely treading water with our homelessness. We need to get to a point where we can commit to people before they become homeless.
- that we can work on diversion with them. We can work on eviction prevention. And should someone become homeless, we have the services that they need to support them into and through permanent housing. And those services have to include case management. They have to include helping someone get back on their feet.
- If we truly want to solve homelessness in the United States, and I'll talk about the new executive orders in a moment, what we really need to do in addition to focusing on truly solving homelessness individual by individual is to be equipped to provide trauma-informed care from infancy through adulthood. Because most folks who are living on our streets and living in shelters have untreated trauma.
- This is a whole cloth community approach that we need everyone committed to. This can work and if we get this system working, it will lessen the load on our providers and allow them to work long term in the relationships that allow people to thrive.
- During questions from the press, IDS Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Frey asked for more information on the plan to reduce the limitations on developing in Bloomington. Director of Planning and Transportation David Hittle responded saying that they are trying to make it easier for developers to build the missing middle housing in Bloomington by improving their permitting system and by tailoring the urban development ordinance. I think there's probably more friction here
- Needs to be the case maybe more here than you would find in similar cities across the state other localities nearby We're as the mayor mentioned going to have a third party comprehensive audit for the first time of our processes We have great people smart people talented people hard workers and very civic minded people Processing our permits, but they've never had the benefit of a
- thorough examination of best practices, helping to bring in an understanding of where we have redundancies, where we have bottlenecks, where we have inefficiencies that can be fixed. So I think that'll help our permitting system and make life better for developers and builders. That's one arena. The other arena is the Unified Development Ordinance, which is our zoning ordinance, which tells you how you can build, where you can build it. And I think that it makes it relatively easy to build a house, a conventional house. It makes it relatively easy
- To build a massive student apartment complex. It makes it relatively hard to build everything in between which is where you really serve the middle class and the lower middle class the people that
- work for the school system or work for the government but can't afford to live here. And so we want to take a close look at those restrictions that probably shouldn't exist and find out how to remove those, how to tailor them so that they're less obstructive. Thompson closed with the message that the Bloomington community can address the housing crisis and provide services for residents in need. I want to reiterate, if there is any community in the United States
- that could solve homelessness, it's Bloomington, Indiana. The Bloomington Utilities Service Board met on July 28th and heard public comment on the proposed septic hauler rate increase. Jeff Todd, the owner of Todd Septic, said that certain customers would be more affected by the increase because they have to pump their tanks more frequently than the recommended time frame. Especially around the watershed, there's still a lot of houses with holding tanks and
- The way those systems work, they're like a septic system, but they don't have a drain field. So those get pumped out every month or every two months, usually. And most of those tanks are between like 1,000 to 2,000 gallons. So the only concern I had with that is for customers like that, there's going to be a pretty substantial increase in price.
- and costs to them. Todd said restaurants and other businesses regulated under the city's fats, oils and grease programs would also be impacted by a large rate increase. The board thanked him for his comments and said that they would consider facing the change in over a longer time period to ease financial burdens. The board moved on to approve a memorandum of understanding between the city of Bloomington utilities and Sudbury development partners. The agreement outlines
- how the developer will contribute to the cost of upgrading the sewer system to account for the increased use from their south side housing development. The estimated cost to upgrade the sewer will be around $5 million. Board member Jeff Amon said that the city is requiring the developer to pay a portion of that cost. We're making a choice to have the development pay their fair share rather than
- adding to the burden of all customers, which historically was what we did until we started this new way of doing business out on North Dunn and now down on the south side, which I completely think is the right approach.
- Next, the board approved a sewer main extension agreement for development on South Rogers Street that lies outside of city limits. City attorney Chris Wheeler said the property was one of the last granted services before the annexation policy shift. This is one of those projects that had already taken substantial steps and we had agreed at that time that these handful of projects would still be able to go forward because they had
- They had expended money in reliance upon our posture that we would serve them. And so it would have been a bad situation for us to try and change our posture and have them be out.
- as much money, I don't know, depending on the developer, lots of money that they'd already sunk into their projects. Bloomington is in the middle of a legal battle over remonstrance waivers signed in exchange for sewer system hookups. The board clarified that this agreement includes provisions that state Bloomington utilities will take ownership of the infrastructure if future properties connect to the new sewer line.
- The Ellisville town council met on July 28th where they discussed the proposed building of a new fire station in Richland Township, replacing its current fire station at Curry Pike. Town attorney Dollar Brown detailed the proposal to the council. The town needs to replace its Curry Pike fire station and the Richland Township trustee Marty Stevens is willing to finance the new building.
- So, what the council has before it is a proposed memorandum of understanding between four parties, that being Richland Township, the town, North American Minerals, which owns a four-acre parcel at the intersection of West Vernal and North Heart Street Road, and the Rogers Group. North American Minerals subleases that parcel to the Rogers Group, and those two entities are willing to sublease it to the township for a 99-year lease.
- sublease at a dollar a year for the new fire station. So this memorandum of understanding states in relevant part that that four acre parcel at the corner of Vernal Pike and North Heart Straight Road will be sublet to the township for 99 years at a dollar a year. The township is willing to finance the project and at some point in time the town will convey to the township fee simple ownership of the old fire station.
- upon the execution of a further definitive agreement. Right now this is just an agreement to agree to kind of set forth what the parameters are. So the township will serve as lead party with respect to the project. The township will issue the bonds.
- and the town will provide all accurate information to the township for the project as requested. Council members William Ellis and Scott Oldham expressed concern regarding ownership of the station. They had questions regarding what happens to the station if the township ceases to exist considering the fact that they would be building the station on land that they did not own. Our governor and our legislature's stated intent is to do away with the townships.
- So as I understand it, the theory behind that is that the townships cease to exist, that then falls, all that they had falls to the county. Is there anything we can write into this or have written into this that if the township no longer exists that the property now comes to the town? I can circle back around and put some suggested language in there for the next meeting if that's a concern.
- My concern, and I'll just be blunt, is all of a sudden the county owns it, and they're like, you know what, Ellsville, get out. We're gonna put our own fire department majority there. And I don't wanna see that happen. Maybe something in there that gives an option for the township to sell it to us for a dollar or something like that. So if it looks like this bill's gonna pass before it does, they can. We're never gonna own it. It's leased for a dollar. Well, on the building that sits on the building.
- just as the township. Whatever township rights they have, we could buy, is what I'm saying. If it looks like the township's going to go away. That's the overall issue with several of our things here. And again, I would love to think that all this would work out to our benefit, but we've proved in the past that's not necessarily how it's going to be the case.
- Due to these concerns, both the construction of the fire station itself and a deal regarding the roofing of the station were tabled to a later date until the Town of Ellitsville has assurances over the ownership of the station. And that is all for Cats Week. Thank you for joining us. For Cats and WFHB, I'm Annalise Poorman.