- Welcome to Cats Week. I'm Annaliese Poorman. The Bloomington City Council met on December 3rd and discussed
- amending Title 10 of the Bloomington Municipal Code, a change that would raise septic hauler rates by
- nearly 300 percent. The adjustment is intended to align rates more closely with the actual cost of treating
- wastewater.
- Utilities Service Pre-Treatment Program Coordinator Stephen Stanford noted that Bloomington's comparatively
- low wastewater treatment rates attract haulers from as far away as Indianapolis and Ohio, and that the
- rates have not been updated in more than 25 years. Now what is the, what does the effect look like for
- a typical customer who has a septic system?
- The EPA tells us that a system like that should be inspected every three years and that the tank should
- be pumped every three to five years. If I own a thousand gallon tank and I pump it every three years
- because I wanna keep it working well, CBU's charge to the waste hauler is gonna increase from $20.60
- all the way up to $80. That's the large percent increase that I've seen in print. On an annual basis, however,
- As the septic system owner, I'm only paying $19 and 80 cents more a year So it's a large percentage
- increase for CBU that really in the end doesn't add up to much for a typical septic customer
- Councilmember Dave Rollo questioned why out-of-county rates would not be set higher, noting that the
- relatively low cost could continue to incentivize haulers from outside the county to bring wastewater
- to Bloomington. Zager responded that Lake Monroe, which supplies water for Bloomington's wastewater
- treatment plant, is located partly outside the county. She said Bloomington Utilities does not want
- to raise rates so high that it discourages residents within the watershed from properly
- maintaining and pumping their septic systems. Well one of the things that our proposed rate change would
- do was to would discourage haulers from coming so far away. So eight cents a gallon would be relatively
- competitive in the region and so may discourage folks from taking a very long drive to come dump their
- septic waste at Dilman.
- During public comment, Courtney Medley from Medley Septic Service highlighted that out-of-county haulers
- are often in-county haulers bringing waste from surrounding counties. She says Bloomington is the local
- dump site. But I think it kind of got made to be more of a haulers are coming from so far away to dump
- more so as it is
- Yes you are the city of Bloomington but we are also Monroe County and servicing those surrounding counties.
- So I just kind of wanted to clarify that for you as far as the amendment goes that it's not just haulers
- coming out it is still your local haulers that are bringing in from the surrounding counties. Council
- member Andy rough says the motion is implementing too high of an increase.
- You know, we've we've built an expectation maybe inadvertently But by not by allowed by have charging
- two cents or have a long span for so long We've sort of built a reasonable expectation amongst property
- and business owners that this is what the cost is and They're making business decisions and home investment
- decisions based on the assumption that
- You know, it may go up some. Yeah, sure, things go up. Things cost more. But nobody could have reasonably,
- I don't think, expected this. The council decided the motion needs more work to distinguish between
- the different services and the motion failed. The next Bloomington City Council meeting will be held
- on December 17th.
- The Bloomington Board of Public Works met on December 2nd. During the meeting, Public Works Director
- Adam Wason introduced a 2026 contract with Zephyr, a payment portal for monthly parking garage customers.
- He said the startup fee would be $4,000, which would cover monthly subscription and credit card transaction
- fees. Wason said that there would be no changes to the card readers in the garages, and system updates
- should not cause problems.
- Yes, we've been doing this more manually lately with the square type payment processing. This will be
- a little bit more automated, something that we can be a little more efficient with. It was probably
- a year or so we had to make a go. We had to make a switch over to the square for some I can't remember
- the exact reason that they had at that time. But so this will be something that replaces that. The contract
- was approved unanimously.
- Next, Wason introduced multiple contracts for paving streets in Bloomington and additionally asked for
- approval to repair parts of the brick sidewalks on Kirkwood Avenue. He explained that the board is planning
- to replace the original bricks in the sections of the sidewalks that have eroded from tree roots and
- usage. Wason said some areas won't be replaced because they are in good shape and the work will be done
- with respect to pedestrians and property owners.
- They're definitely gonna stage and work with the property owners on timing and things like that But
- it's not necessarily that they're gonna do a whole like There are some areas that they're not gonna
- really do much any work at all. There's no hazards. It's in good shape What we've really what we did
- was go block by block and identify areas that Excuse me new needed a trip hazard removed. So it's not
- necessarily that they'll be doing big sections on each side of the road and
- The other thing we would make sure is that any time they're working on the south side of the street
- in a block that they're not working on the north side of the street for pedestrian access. So if they
- have to close a section we're going to need to detour them somewhere. So we'll be coordination on this
- one will be quite quite busy and we'll make sure we work with all those property owners. Wilson said
- the board's original plan changed after realizing the importance of the brick sidewalks on Kirkwood Avenue.
- We were gonna move to more of a stamped concrete look with a herringbone design brick, like make it
- look like real brick. But then as we even thought about it more, those bricks are pretty iconic and
- what people think about with Kirkwood a lot. So this is a good project to maintain and continue forward,
- remove the trip hazards and then over time with the community really decide what we wanna do with Kirkwood.
- The board approved the request. The Bloomington Board of Public Works will meet again on December 16th.
- Bloomington Mayor Carrie Thompson hosted a traveling town hall on December 1st at the Monroe County
- History Center. At the town hall, she answered residents' questions about housing priorities in the
- Hopewell neighborhood. City Council Member Sydney Zulek and Planning Transportation Director David Hittle
- joined Thompson on the main stage to address residents' concerns.
- I think one of the most exciting things about Hopewell is that we really believe we really are targeting
- trying to get these homes to be attainable for our young professionals, which we're trying to keep in
- town. And that is, you know, both Councilmember Zulek and I have
- focus on economic development that we really have a missing segment of our population. And those are
- the young professionals who they'll stay maybe for a couple years after they
- get out of IU, but then if we haven't kept them then, we can only hope to get them as bloomerangs usually
- after they've raised a family. And so what we really want is to keep them and to make sure that there
- is opportunity and potential here for them not only to be housed, there's a place that they can afford
- to live and a place, hopefully, that is a neighborhood that really calls them into belonging and it's
- a cool place to be right on
- the beeline and walking distance to all of the downtown things and an asset like a grocery store right
- across the trail, but also just really cultivate a culture of belonging there. And so Hopewall is not
- exclusively for young professionals. We just want to make sure it's attainable for them. And on the
- other side of that, we're working on jobs and how to grow our economic picture
- so that our wages also grow in Bloomington. Because of course, there are two sides of affordability.
- One is how much your housing costs, right? And the other is how much do you make in order to be able
- to afford that? And so we're really working on both ends of that. During the question and answer portion
- of the town hall, local resident Liz Peck asked the mayor about her concerns surrounding senior housing
- affordability.
- Can everybody hear me? My name is Liz Peck and I have lived in Bloomington for 25 years. I believe there's
- also another group of people in Bloomington that are struggling for housing and that is the group of
- retirees that will never be able to afford
- to live at Meadow Wood and really won't qualify for public housing. So what they're doing mostly now
- is living in apartments that nobody can afford here. And it's really taking a toll, even for people
- that have had houses and have sold them. And that money can dwindle really quickly.
- when you're paying a couple thousand dollars a month for rent. So hope well, my hope for hope well,
- that it will be an intentional community, which it is, that will have people at all income levels, people
- at all ages and professions. My ideal is to have one community after the other like that.
- in a city where you can get everything you need within a walking distance of maybe a mile and have your
- people that you're close with in the community. So I hope that happens at Hopewell and possibly other
- places. But I'd also like to know, are there any plans? I know you're doing very ambitious things, but
- are there any plans for nice
- livable, affordable housing for seniors. Thompson addressed senior housing needs within the Hopewell
- plan. There will be no discrimination at Hopewell for who can buy those and on the rental units who
- can rent them. And really, I mean, I think that we have a great mix there. There are
- There are some multi-unit buildings that probably will be condos, not $2 million condos, more like $150,000
- condos. And that's a ballpark. It depends on the trim and things like that. The anticipated construction
- cost on the smallest owner-occupied home, which is a very modest-sized house,
- The anticipated construction cost, last I heard, and David can correct me, is $125,000.
- and that's a studio. It's a 600 square foot studio, but you could buy it. And so this would be a good
- option. It's all on one floor. It's a good option for a senior, but it's also a great option for a younger
- person who wants to enter the ownership market but can't possibly afford to save for a down payment
- for a $250,000 house, right? And so as David said earlier,
- What we know about who actually lives in houses is that most of them are one and two person households.
- But we really don't have anything on the market that is speaking to that size household. And while many
- people love to have a guest room or something like that,
- Most people really, ultimately, want to live close to work. And they want to live close to the resources.
- And so building a more modest sized home that people can actually get into and stay in is more of our
- goal. So that's been the target at Hopewell. I think we probably will attract a lot of seniors there.
- I hope we also attract a lot of young professionals. And that it's a place that everybody in between gets
- to live to. One local resident asked about the time frame for the opening of the Bloomington Convention
- Center. Zulick said that the expansion should open that stores in June of 2027. So the time frame question
- is I believe we should have
- doors open in June of 2027. So at that point there will be a 60,000 square foot expansion across the
- street where the former early voting site used to be and then a 40,000
- square foot, which is where the current convention center currently sits. And that will the remaining
- money will go towards repairs that are needed in that building. Mayor Thompson said that she's looking
- forward to the end result of the project, saying the city is currently losing tourism income now that
- the construction is underway.
- I'm really excited about the convention center because we have been turning down a lot of convention
- business. And many of the organizations here in town have actually outgrown the convention center for
- their own events. And so it's something that we both need here in town for our own organizations, nonprofits,
- and businesses alike that are holding meetings or fundraisers.
- are really losing some tourist income. And we're the number two choice in the state of Indiana
- for conventions. So people come into Indianapolis. They have a huge convention center. You want something
- very different from that experience than you would Bloomington. But Bloomington has
- so many reasons to come visit. And that's really attractive for conventions. And so we think of ourselves
- as many different things. But I think sometimes those of us who live here forget that we are a favorite
- place to visit for many people in Indiana. And people love to have a reason to come here and spend several
- days. So we want to capture their imaginations and invite them to hang out here.
- To view the full Town Hall, you can visit catstv.net. The next traveling Town Hall will take place next
- year. The Bloomington Redevelopment Commission met on December 1st and discussed the Convention Centre
- Host Hotel. The selected developer, Dora Hospitality, says they cannot build the required hotel without
- City incentives.
- Sustainable Development Director Jane Cooper-Smith says the host hotel is necessary because it is aligned
- with Bloomington's redevelopment plan. The staff and ultimately redevelopment commissioners are not
- entertaining this project simply because a hotelier asked us
- to use this property for a hotel. It's because the convention center is a pillar of our community's
- economic development. It will drive our economic development, much of it going forward, and a proper
- host hotel is critical to the success of that convention center. It was understood from the beginning
- that the convention center was, or the host hotel would be needed and that it
- would have to happen separately from the development of the Convention Center proper. But this is very
- much aligned with everything that we're doing in our downtown core from Switchyard Park through Trades
- District up to the area surrounding Miller Showers Park.
- In October, the Capital Improvement Board said that there is a large funding gap in the project. To
- help with the funding, the Redevelopment Commission considered supporting a resolution to provide the
- hotel land at lower than market value. Commissioner Dana Kerr explained that the resolution could ensure
- desired hotel quality. Because of the gap in the quality of what is wanted by the CIB,
- And the community for the Host Hotel, I would say, is you're not going to get that quality unless there
- is some incentives available. Because the developer can't make up that kind of expenditure in the amount
- of time that they'd be running in red for a long period of time.
- then you're not going to find a hotel your network's run into, right? Executive Director Anna Killian
- Hansen explained that unlike Posh or the Trades District Hotel, the Host Hotel must be larger,
- more regulated, and less profitable because it is designed to support the Convention Center. This presents
- a financial gap that the private market cannot cover on its own. There is still a substantial gap that
- we can't fill.
- We have looked to other partners to see if anything else is on the table. We have explored every option
- possible and we're hitting dead ends. So would you be able to maybe just briefly illustrate if possible
- and this might be for Director Cooper-Smith as well in terms of there are other hotels that are in progress
- in the community and you know just from a general public point of view what's the differences between let's say
- hotel or the trades district hotel and what's needed for the convention center hotel that in terms of
- what the market can support and where subsidies needed just might help illustrate the difference and
- I'm trying not to get into really you know granular numbers but just the real estate picture of why
- this gap exists and why subsidy is needed. Well construction right now is expensive period and it's
- only going up so let's just that's
- just the market the way that it is. But I think one of the bigger differences between both of those
- hotels has to do with no parking garage. So yeah, the trades district hotel is going in without subsidy,
- but there'll be leasing spaces from the trades district garage where there is availability. And so that's
- saving $20 million of investment. So it's not a direct subsidy, but it's
- it's effectively supporting the project. During public comment, City Councilmember Isabel Piedmont-Smith
- said that the council does not want any taxpayer money other than the food and beverage tax going towards
- the hotel. Because there are many more important and urgent community needs than a hotel for the convention center.
- That's eight out of nine council members. The commission voted to table the resolution to allow more
- public transparency. It will be voted on the next meeting on December 15th.
- The Monroe County Board of Commissioners met on December 4th. During the meeting, advocates for the
- unhoused expressed outrage over the county's recent evictions of at least two encampments in the winter
- cold. Local resident Shelby Porteroff criticized the county's decision to close encampments and urged
- the commissioners to hold off evictions until the spring.
- I'm here today to talk about the evictions that are happening at several of the unhoused encampments
- around Bloomington set for Monday, December 8th, which is, as I'm sure you all are familiar, right in
- the dead of winter. So I first wanted to just say that I really appreciated some of the lines in your
- statement where you affirmed your commitment to protect all citizens and for all folks in Bloomington
- and Monroe County to live peacefully and without fear. And so it's with those lines that I ask you,
- although this is not on the agenda,
- to use the Monroe County Code 2571 to consider staying these evictions until the spring. I understand
- that this is a complicated and nuanced issue, and however, I encourage all of you who I'm sure have
- been in Bloomington for a long time to recall what happened in 2020 when Mayor Hamilton's administration,
- without any correspondence to communities outside of Bloomington Police Department and the mayor's office,
- despite CDC encouragement to leave encampments in place,
- Evicted the communities of seminary square and on Christmas Eve one of our long-term unhoused community
- members froze to death the folks who are in these encampments have their materials in place and Solidified
- in place for them to survive the winter right now We do not have enough volunteers for our emergency
- shelters to open overnight and the few shelters that we have their year-round are completely full the folks who
- are here today, go out to these community members regularly to support them and check in on them. And
- if you have not been to an unhoused encampment in the woods on your own, it's not what you expect. Yeah,
- there's trash. I'm not going to lie and pretend that there isn't. There are also not resources for these
- folks to clean up their messes. Dumping is illegal. If they throw things in dumpsters, they get in trouble.
- They don't have cars. They don't have trash cans. They don't have municipal services to pick up their
- waste. But what's also out there is an attempt to make a home. If you have ever been to an encampment
- in the woods, what you will see is community spaces. You will see areas that are sequestered off specifically
- for restroom use. And you won't find needles loosely scattered like you think that you will. Any of
- those preconceived notions that you have are not the reality on the ground. They're humans too. They're not evil.
- They're people who are having a really hard time. And as community members, it's our responsibility
- to step up and care for those closest to us. Resident Ed Doss made an emotional plea to the commissioners
- to pause evictions during the cold weather. The majority of us in this room see this for what it is.
- If this policy passes, we see it as state-sanctioned murder.
- What you are choosing to do is force people to uproot their livelihoods, leave whatever comfort that
- they have been able to build for themselves, whatever warmth that they have been able to gather through
- the most adverse conditions, and either reset up, which is going to cause people to die in the process,
- as well as cause people to die when they get evicted over and over and over again through winter as
- we see. So once again, we implore you to add this to the agenda and to put a stay on this until the spring.
- Commissioner's administrator, Angela Purdy, explained the process behind these types of evictions. We
- have a process in which once we are made noticed of an encampment, we reach out to the sheriff's office,
- we reach out to Health Net, and we reach out to the, in this instance, as this is in the city,
- the city SROs. And when
- staff went out on December 1st to give notice of the requirement to leave. They were provided
- with information. Health Net and the SROs have been going out daily and meeting with these people, trying
- to get them into shelter. There is shelter available. We have confirmed that. Health Net has confirmed
- that. They advised that they
- don't want to take that particular option. So that's where we're at at this point in time. We give them,
- we take personal belongings that are left when we do go for the cleanup and we hold on to those for
- one week's time. And then they can come and make arrangements to pick those up. That information was
- also provided to the people who are on the property.
- Resident Maria Bull warned the commissioners that evicting people experiencing homelessness in the cold
- weather only exacerbates the issue. I think that this council should
- move the eviction date into the spring when it is warmer out, because it is the dead of winter. It is
- very cold. Even I, as an IU student, am freezing out there. And these people that have less of resources
- than I do and don't have an option to go into a warm building when they need it need help and should
- be evicted in the spring. Honestly, I don't think they should be evicted at all.
- We will compromise on that. Commissioner Julie Thomas thanked the public commenters for attending, but
- added that this is a complex issue with many factors to consider. The next commissioner's meeting will
- take place on December 11th. And that is all for Cats Week. Thank you for joining us. For Cats and WFHB,
- I'm Annalise Poorman.