WEBVTT 00:00:04.738 --> 00:00:10.951 - Hello and welcome to Cats Week. I'm Annalise Poorman. The Bloomington Commission on Sustainability met 00:00:10.951 --> 00:00:17.104 - on June 9th and reviewed new guidance for city boards and commissions. Deputy Clerk Jennifer Crossley 00:00:17.104 --> 00:00:23.498 - led a training session covering public communications, conflicts of interest, open door law requirements, 00:00:23.498 --> 00:00:29.530 - and expectations for commission members. We've never had that type of formal training. And so a lot 00:00:29.530 --> 00:00:31.038 - of things have been left 00:00:31.170 --> 00:00:37.584 - to your imagination and just kind of flying off the seat of your pants and the liaisons trying to figure 00:00:37.584 --> 00:00:39.294 - out all the things as well. 00:00:39.426 --> 00:00:46.200 - And so last month liaisons and went through their particular training. And then this week we will wrap 00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:53.040 - up the training for board members and commissioners as well. During staff reports, sustainability staff 00:00:53.040 --> 00:01:00.077 - announced plans for a series of public climate talks in 2027 funded through a state energy grant. Proposed 00:01:00.077 --> 00:01:06.654 - topics include climate change impacts in Bloomington, energy efficiency and solar power, forest and 00:01:06.654 --> 00:01:09.022 - ecosystem health and food security. 00:01:09.282 --> 00:01:15.407 - The grant will also help fund energy upgrades, solar panels, and battery storage at the Buskirk Chumlee 00:01:15.407 --> 00:01:21.474 - Theater. We received a grant for the Buskirk Chumlee Theater, and for the new commissioners, you might 00:01:21.474 --> 00:01:27.717 - not know about that. It's Empowering Energy Partnerships and Communities grant through the Indiana Office 00:01:27.717 --> 00:01:34.078 - of Energy Development. We're upgrading the HVAC system. We're installing solar and a battery backup system. 00:01:34.274 --> 00:01:40.294 - at the Busker Children's Theater, and part of that grant was to pay for four climate talks in 2027. 00:01:40.294 --> 00:01:46.795 - Commissioners also discussed a potential joint effort with the Environmental Commission on Light Pollution. 00:01:46.795 --> 00:01:53.176 - They also approved a resolution calling for Bloomington to phase out certain rodenticides and glue traps, 00:01:53.176 --> 00:01:59.496 - citing concerns about impacts on wildlife and pets. If our goal here is to reduce the rodent population, 00:01:59.496 --> 00:02:03.710 - what this is impacting the most are the animals that eat the rodents. 00:02:04.674 --> 00:02:09.914 - Those are the ones that are getting the highest impact. So we're creating a circular feedback loop where 00:02:09.914 --> 00:02:15.054 - you poison the rodents and the rodent population might briefly go down, but then you're also poisoning 00:02:15.054 --> 00:02:20.244 - the animals that eat the most rodents. So their population goes down, which creates more rodents, which 00:02:20.244 --> 00:02:25.035 - causes you to need more chemicals to begin with. The next meeting of the Bloomington Commission 00:02:25.035 --> 00:02:26.782 - on Sustainability is on July 14th. 00:02:27.810 --> 00:02:34.076 - The Bloomington Plan Commission met on June 8th and sent a North Dunn Street subdivision proposal to 00:02:34.076 --> 00:02:40.280 - second hearing on July 13th. The proposed development would create 11 residential lots near Matlock 00:02:40.280 --> 00:02:47.166 - Heights. Residents spent more than an hour raising concerns about flooding, traffic and environmental impacts. 00:02:47.330 --> 00:02:54.082 - Resident Ididra Sheets criticized the proposal. She said plans to remove trees, reduce permeable surfaces, 00:02:54.082 --> 00:03:00.835 - and rely on homeowners to maintain a detention pond ignored the realities of flooding in the neighborhood. 00:03:00.835 --> 00:03:07.208 - The plan to significantly reduce permeable surfaces, remove trees that naturally prevent or mitigate 00:03:07.208 --> 00:03:12.446 - erosion, and leave it up to the homeowners to manage a detention pond all upstream 00:03:12.578 --> 00:03:18.398 - from an area without storm drains and with already existing drainage and flooding issues, to pretend 00:03:18.398 --> 00:03:24.217 - that anything other than the obvious is going to happen is to participate in a fiction. And it feels 00:03:24.217 --> 00:03:30.037 - like, and I apologize for my language here, and it feels like giving the homeowners and residents of 00:03:30.037 --> 00:03:35.453 - Mattlock Heights a really big middle finger. Resident Robin Halpin-Young argued that the city 00:03:35.453 --> 00:03:39.486 - was prioritizing growth over neighborhood concerns. We good citizens. 00:03:39.714 --> 00:03:46.943 - come to these meetings with our carefully drafted five-minute speeches, hoping to share the expertise 00:03:46.943 --> 00:03:54.102 - of our experience and our firsthand knowledge of the situation. Despite our compelling arguments and 00:03:54.102 --> 00:04:01.190 - obvious strong community opposition, the city is moving forward with their support for this plan. I 00:04:01.190 --> 00:04:05.726 - believe because it supports their plan for density at any cost. 00:04:06.018 --> 00:04:12.852 - Residents also described the financial toll of flooding. Resident Julie Williams told commissioners 00:04:12.852 --> 00:04:20.097 - that neighbors have faced extensive property damage. This is what we're dealing with. This is the expense 00:04:20.097 --> 00:04:25.086 - that neighbors have been struggling with. This is anytime you have to do 00:04:25.794 --> 00:04:31.814 - this kind of damage control on your property, it's tens of thousands of dollars. The commission ultimately 00:04:31.814 --> 00:04:37.778 - voted to continue the petition to a second hearing where the stormwater management, environmental impacts 00:04:37.778 --> 00:04:43.517 - and utility concerns are expected to receive further review. The next meeting of the Bloomington Plan 00:04:43.517 --> 00:04:45.374 - Commission will be on July 13th. 00:04:46.530 --> 00:04:52.609 - The Bloomington City Council met on June 10th. The meeting began with a review of the city's 2025 tax 00:04:52.609 --> 00:04:58.748 - abatement compliance report. Part of the discussion focused on why Novo Nordisk, formerly Catalan, was 00:04:58.748 --> 00:05:04.708 - considered substantially compliant despite reporting far fewer employees than originally projected. 00:05:04.708 --> 00:05:10.787 - Council member Isabel Piedmont-Smith said that she's concerned about the decision. I don't understand 00:05:10.787 --> 00:05:13.886 - why they're considered substantially compliant when 00:05:14.626 --> 00:05:21.251 - The planned jobs in the SB1 were 4,212 and the actuals are 1,867. Staff said compliance is measured 00:05:21.251 --> 00:05:28.141 - in part by factors within a company's control and argued the decline was largely caused by the collapse 00:05:28.141 --> 00:05:34.767 - of the COVID era vaccine market. Council members approved the report without calling for additional 00:05:34.767 --> 00:05:36.158 - compliance hearings. 00:05:36.578 --> 00:05:43.511 - Next, Council considered Resolution 2026-10, which calls on the federal government to impose a moratorium 00:05:43.511 --> 00:05:50.509 - on artificial general intelligence development. The moratorium would last until the technology's alignment 00:05:50.509 --> 00:05:57.442 - with human values and well-being is guaranteed. The Council heard from several speakers, including Future 00:05:57.442 --> 00:06:04.113 - of Life Institute Director Anthony Aguirre. He urged local governments to participate in the national 00:06:04.113 --> 00:06:06.206 - discussion about AI governance. 00:06:06.498 --> 00:06:12.554 - path laid out by a few giant US AI companies is not the only possible one, and there are still opportunities 00:06:12.554 --> 00:06:18.166 - to switch to another that develops powerful, trustworthy AI tools that empower and complement people 00:06:18.166 --> 00:06:23.778 - rather than replacing them and robustly maintains human control and responsibility. Such tools would 00:06:23.778 --> 00:06:29.668 - still enable medical and scientific breakthroughs, huge productivity boosts, and products allowing people 00:06:29.668 --> 00:06:31.390 - to do things they never could. 00:06:32.034 --> 00:06:37.839 - We just need to give up the poorly chosen goal of replicating and then exceeding all human capability 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:43.530 - and AI replacements. With such a seemingly obvious choice for what is best, why then is the current 00:06:43.530 --> 00:06:49.448 - dynamic happening? For AGI, it is because of the potential financial prize for companies, a large stake 00:06:49.448 --> 00:06:55.139 - of the $50 trillion human labor market. Their investors won't let them stop. For superintelligence, 00:06:55.139 --> 00:06:59.806 - it is about power. Each company feels the same way. If we don't do it, they will. 00:07:01.026 --> 00:07:06.075 - If companies can't stop themselves, it falls to the rest of us to do so in the common interest. This 00:07:06.075 --> 00:07:11.275 - will take urgent action at the US federal and international level. The AI companies and their lobbyists 00:07:11.275 --> 00:07:16.524 - have so far been able to block any meaningful regulation of AI. But recently, things have been changing. 00:07:16.524 --> 00:07:21.523 - The risk is becoming obvious. And pressure is building from everyday people and communities worried 00:07:21.523 --> 00:07:26.523 - about their futures. You have an opportunity today with this resolution to add to that pressure and 00:07:26.523 --> 00:07:30.622 - to take a stand on behalf of the human future. The resolution passed unanimously. 00:07:31.394 --> 00:07:37.987 - The meeting continued with extensive discussion on Ordinance 2026-12, which would establish a permanent, 00:07:37.987 --> 00:07:44.455 - seasonal, car-free Kirkwood Avenue. It would create a framework for future pedestrian-focused planning 00:07:44.455 --> 00:07:50.860 - downtown. Resident Zach Ammerman supported pedestrianizing Kirkwood. Bloomington has every structural 00:07:50.860 --> 00:07:57.265 - advantage research identifies for implementing a successful pedestrian program. The one ingredient we 00:07:57.265 --> 00:07:59.902 - are missing is political will and vision. 00:08:00.226 --> 00:08:05.622 - And that is one that can only be supplied by you here tonight Councilmember Hopi Stasberg expressed 00:08:05.622 --> 00:08:11.233 - concerns that additional planning and investment are needed before making the closure permanent I don't 00:08:11.233 --> 00:08:16.736 - think what we have right now on Kirkwood spells success for a closure to vehicular traffic Especially 00:08:16.736 --> 00:08:22.078 - one that requires closure as this ordinance does of five complete blocks for only part of the year 00:08:22.434 --> 00:08:28.547 - While I think it is possible to create a vibrant and exciting pedestrian street in Bloomington, perhaps 00:08:28.547 --> 00:08:34.485 - even on Kirkwood, it will take significant investment to get there. After public comment and council 00:08:34.485 --> 00:08:40.363 - debate, the ordinance passed on a 5-4 vote. It now heads to Mayor Kerry Thompson for consideration. 00:08:40.363 --> 00:08:46.241 - Council also discussed guidelines for future alcohol permit districts in Bloomington now authorized 00:08:46.241 --> 00:08:47.358 - under Indiana law. 00:08:47.842 --> 00:08:53.875 - Aubrey Williams, co-founder of Heartwork Brewing, spoke in support of the resolution expressing criticism 00:08:53.875 --> 00:08:59.624 - of the current system. These liquor license costs have become so prohibitive, sometimes at a quarter 00:08:59.624 --> 00:09:05.544 - million dollars or more, that only outside developers and larger conglomerates can realistically absorb 00:09:05.544 --> 00:09:11.520 - them. This resolution presents an opportunity for the city to level the playing field. Council postponed 00:09:11.520 --> 00:09:14.366 - the final vote to allow for additional revisions. 00:09:14.690 --> 00:09:22.141 - The next Bloomington City Council meeting will be on July 22nd. The Richland Township and Town of Ellitsville 00:09:22.141 --> 00:09:29.321 - Reorganization Committee met on June 10th. Senior consultant Brandon Scruggs presented the reorganization 00:09:29.321 --> 00:09:36.229 - fiscal impact analysis from Baker Tilly. The purpose of the reorganization, as all of you know, is to 00:09:36.229 --> 00:09:40.158 - improve efficiencies, enhance the services. We want to be 00:09:40.290 --> 00:09:46.786 - the town to be more flexible, improve the planning, and support future growth. Really, this 00:09:46.786 --> 00:09:54.200 - is a forward-looking approach that's supposed to make things easier and more collaborative. What's being 00:09:54.200 --> 00:10:01.403 - proposed is that Richland Township and the town of Ellitsville join to be one unified government. And 00:10:01.403 --> 00:10:08.958 - if this becomes effective through voter approval in November, then it would begin as of January 1 of 2027. 00:10:10.658 --> 00:10:17.056 - So as of today, right now there's two separate units, there's Ellisville Town and there's Richland Township. 00:10:17.056 --> 00:10:22.925 - These two units have separate budgets, separate administrations. They provide separate services for 00:10:22.925 --> 00:10:29.088 - the most part. What would be under the proposed structure is that Richland Township and Ellisville would 00:10:29.088 --> 00:10:35.075 - join as one government and they would have one budget and one governing body and limit administrative 00:10:35.075 --> 00:10:35.838 - duplication. 00:10:36.130 --> 00:10:41.999 - Scruggs said the government would be a seven member board with representation from the township and 00:10:41.999 --> 00:10:47.927 - the town. The area would be split into two districts, one urban covering Ellitsville city limits and 00:10:47.927 --> 00:10:53.796 - one rural covering outside the town. There would be expanded responsibility of the town because now 00:10:53.796 --> 00:10:59.900 - they have all the township roads to care for. They would be using town crews and potentially contracted 00:10:59.900 --> 00:11:05.182 - services until they can build up to where they will be able to cover it all on their own. 00:11:05.858 --> 00:11:13.192 - and this would be funded by revenues like MBH, DAS taxes, and wheel taxes. On to the other two services, 00:11:13.192 --> 00:11:20.246 - Township Services, which is referring to, again, that Township Assistance or Public Assistance. That 00:11:20.246 --> 00:11:27.301 - department within the newly organized town would provide the Township financial assistance, cemetery 00:11:27.301 --> 00:11:32.958 - maintenance, as well as community services, and it is anticipated that the staff 00:11:33.634 --> 00:11:41.393 - at the township level would transition into the town. Scruggs said that each entity will retain its 00:11:41.393 --> 00:11:49.229 - own debts. The estimated reorganized town budget would be $11.3 million. He moved on to the tax rate 00:11:49.229 --> 00:11:57.375 - changes. This is the initial estimated impact. So Richland Township would see almost a 7% increase while 00:11:57.375 --> 00:12:01.022 - Ellitsville is about a 4%. Now I say that with 00:12:01.538 --> 00:12:07.440 - The caveat being that some properties are going to be at the property tax caps. If you're already at 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:13.284 - the property tax caps or if the increase gets you to the property tax cap, then you're not going to 00:12:13.284 --> 00:12:19.362 - see that full increase in your property tax bill. Scruggs said Richland Township will effectively cease 00:12:19.362 --> 00:12:25.322 - to exist. Town attorney Darla Brown said Richland Township will be absorbed by Ellitsville except for 00:12:25.322 --> 00:12:28.478 - a small corner, which will be annexed by Bloomington. 00:12:28.770 --> 00:12:35.529 - During public comment, Richland Township resident Harry Farris asked where the Bloomington annexation 00:12:35.529 --> 00:12:42.287 - would reach. Council member William Ellis said that it would only affect areas already in Bloomington 00:12:42.287 --> 00:12:48.913 - city limits. Richland Township resident Richard Dillman opposed the tax increase. We should be able 00:12:48.913 --> 00:12:56.069 - to go into the reorganization without a tax increase. I mean, let's live like we do with our own paychecks, 00:12:56.069 --> 00:12:57.726 - with our own checkbooks. 00:12:57.922 --> 00:13:04.726 - We got the money, we don't spend it. We are picking up more services, though. Ellis responded that the 00:13:04.726 --> 00:13:11.332 - tax increase is to support expanding services into the township. Ellisville resident Anna Bednarski 00:13:11.332 --> 00:13:18.268 - said that the combined town and township budgets currently sum to $8.4 million. She asked why the budget 00:13:18.268 --> 00:13:24.941 - would increase by nearly $3 million. That is, to me, a vast increase in spending. And a lot of it is 00:13:24.941 --> 00:13:26.526 - through almost doubling 00:13:26.626 --> 00:13:34.142 - the police force and increasing the fire department operating budget, which the fire department will 00:13:34.142 --> 00:13:41.733 - be, again, if I'm understanding this correctly, serving the same area that it does now. So I think we 00:13:41.733 --> 00:13:47.166 - need to ask ourselves as township and town residents about this increase 00:13:47.298 --> 00:13:55.119 - and why it doesn't apply to other areas like education or other local concerns that we have. Bednarski 00:13:55.119 --> 00:14:03.244 - said the reorganization plan does not include assurances against negative development like factory farming 00:14:03.244 --> 00:14:10.686 - and data centers, so she does not feel safer with a reorganized town compared to the current way. 00:14:11.298 --> 00:14:18.022 - Members of the Bloomington and Ellitsville Chambers of Commerce and the Monroe County Republican Party 00:14:18.022 --> 00:14:24.877 - spoke in support of the reorganization plan. If the plan is approved, it will be on the November ballot. 00:14:24.877 --> 00:14:31.862 - If it passes the ballot, the reorganization will take effect on New Year's Day 2027. The Richland Township 00:14:31.862 --> 00:14:38.782 - and the Town of Ellitsville Reorganization Committee will meet for the final public hearing on June 22nd. 00:14:39.490 --> 00:14:46.506 - The Bloomington Arts Commission met on June 11 and announced Paige Sharp as the new Assistant Director 00:14:46.506 --> 00:14:53.453 - for the Arts, replacing the position formerly held by Holly Warren. Commissioners noted Sharp started 00:14:53.453 --> 00:14:56.382 - on May 26. Sharp described her background. 00:14:56.706 --> 00:15:01.982 - I went to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I loved art. And when I graduated, I actually 00:15:01.982 --> 00:15:07.363 - went into nonprofit. Both my parents were nonprofit people. So I'd been volunteering since seven, and 00:15:07.363 --> 00:15:12.745 - apparently I was just indoctrinated. So I went into the museum field and ultimately continued on that 00:15:12.745 --> 00:15:16.702 - pathway. I ended up with the Indiana Arts Commission, which is our state's 00:15:16.834 --> 00:15:23.279 - Arts Agency and was there for about 11 years running all the programs for the state. Sharp said she 00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:29.724 - attended the unveiling of the Ryan White statue that was unveiled on Thursday at Alumni Hall. White 00:15:29.724 --> 00:15:36.748 - became a national symbol for HIV and AIDS awareness as a teenager after his school barred him from attending 00:15:36.748 --> 00:15:43.902 - classes. White died in 1990 at 18 years old. I was excited to go to the Ryan White public art unveiling today. 00:15:44.034 --> 00:15:50.124 - a Melanie's bronze sculpture. And so that was a great inauguration. It was very heart-rending and a 00:15:50.124 --> 00:15:56.641 - really beautiful experience. Sharp said she's excited to take on the position and looks forward to working 00:15:56.641 --> 00:16:03.097 - with the Arts Commission members. She described them as a miraculous team. Then the commission introduced 00:16:03.097 --> 00:16:09.492 - the Trades District Placemaking Task Force. This organization will help guide public art efforts through 00:16:09.492 --> 00:16:13.694 - 2028. The expectation is we'd have either monthly or ad hoc meetings 00:16:13.794 --> 00:16:21.841 - I think after the first meeting or two, we'll have a better sense of what sort of rhythm we'll establish. 00:16:21.841 --> 00:16:29.660 - Those will be primarily virtual. We'll have some options to attend in person if that's beneficial. And 00:16:29.660 --> 00:16:37.252 - this group will operate through the end term of the grant, which is the end of 2028. And so general 00:16:37.252 --> 00:16:38.846 - goals for this group 00:16:39.682 --> 00:16:45.877 - is looking at vision strategies, you know, sort of looking at the thematic designs that are part of 00:16:45.877 --> 00:16:52.072 - individual public art elements, other elements that we're integrating into the built environment in 00:16:52.072 --> 00:16:54.302 - the district and providing feedback 00:16:54.466 --> 00:17:01.763 - It's our key moments as that plan develops. Next, the Arts Commission walked through upcoming public 00:17:01.763 --> 00:17:09.132 - arts projects, including the Convention Center, Hopewell, and traffic boxes. Public arts subcommittee 00:17:09.132 --> 00:17:16.356 - chair, Rebecca Kehoe, updated the commission on ongoing projects. The city had deliberated and they 00:17:16.356 --> 00:17:23.870 - chose that Benjamin Ball's connection piece for the Convention Center. So just continually noting that. 00:17:24.130 --> 00:17:30.683 - There are several, there are going to be several upcoming projects, um, and the public arc subcommittee 00:17:30.683 --> 00:17:37.046 - that are coming down the pipeline that I think Christina and Paige can talk to as I sort of like, if 00:17:37.046 --> 00:17:43.410 - anybody has questions as I'm like talking them out, um, they can dive deeper into it. Um, so there's 00:17:43.410 --> 00:17:49.963 - going to be a Hopewell project, um, with John Resick. Um, and I don't really have more details on that. 00:17:49.963 --> 00:17:50.782 - I just know. 00:17:51.202 --> 00:17:59.072 - that will be happening at some point in the near future. Another project will be with the Miller Showers. 00:17:59.072 --> 00:18:06.720 - So Parks has received a substantial amount in funding, and so that will be a project. And then there's 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:14.294 - a DBI initiative, which involves traffic box murals. So there's still a couple, I think, that need to 00:18:14.294 --> 00:18:18.526 - be done. The next BAC meeting will take place on July 8. 00:18:18.946 --> 00:18:25.246 - And that is all for Cats Week. Thank you for joining us. For Cats and WFHB, I'm Annalise Poorman.