Common Council - Consensus-Building Activities

In the Council Chambers of the Showers City Hall, Bloomington, COMMON COUNCIL Indiana on Wednesday, September 11, 2024 at 6:30pm, Council CONSENSUS BUILDING ACTIVITY President Isabel Piedmont-Smith presided over a Consensus 11 September 2024 Building Activity (CBA) of the Common Council. Councilmembers present: Courtney Daily, Isak Nti Asare, Isabel ROLL CALL [6:30pm] Piedmont-Smith, Dave Rollo, Andrew (Andy) Ruff, Hopi Stosberg, Sydney Zulich Councilmembers present via Zoom: none Councilmembers absent: Matt Flaherty, Kate Rosenbarger Council President Isabel Piedmont-Smith gave a land and labor AGENDA SUMMATION [6:31pm] acknowledgment and summarized the agenda. Piedmont-Smith reviewed the August 14, 2024 consensus building RECAP OF AUGUST 14, 2024 CBA activity that covered the question of “What actions should the City SESSION ON STREET Council take to address street homelessness and support the work HOMELESSNESS [6:35pm] of others addressing street homelessness?” PRESENTATION: PROPOSALS FOR CITY ACTION Short-term: Greater availability of public restrooms for unhoused Short-term Action Plan individuals. Daily gave a presentation on the need for more access to restrooms in the community, and gave an overview of what was available in parks and parking garages. She discussed options which included extended security hours and additional portalets around the different park locations. Daily said these were part of ongoing talks and said the mayor was open to discussing the issue as well. Daily said the options were not under the control of the council, but the council could track progress. Long-term: Revisions to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Long-term Action Plan to allow for more affordable housing options. Zulich introduced two specific long-term actions, both in terms of amending the UDO. The first long-term action plan involved discussion around Single-Room Occupancy (SRO) buildings. The other long-term action plan involved revising the definition of “family” to address the housing distribution problem. Zulich gave some options to consider during the breakout groups, and discussed the potential benefits and drawbacks of taking action. Focused discussion of two proposed areas for UDO revisions. BREAKOUT GROUPS Joelene Bergonzi gave an overview of the process for the evening, and discussed the difference between dialogue and deliberation. She introduced the other CJAM members who would be in each of the breakout groups: Vanessa Roberts, John VanderZee, Amy Roush, Wilson Mosley, and Susan Klein. Bergonzi explained the placement of the groups and the timing of discussions. Bergonzi reviewed the group agreements. Participants discussed their observations from the session. LARGE GROUP DEBRIEFING p. 2 Meeting Date: 09-11-2024 Piedmont-Smith thanked the members of CJAM for their support ADJOURNMENT [8:15pm] and thanked the members of the public for their participation. She said council should move forward on one or both of the topics from the discussion. Piedmont-Smith encouraged people to provide feedback and then adjourned the meeting. APPROVED by the Common Council of the City of Bloomington, Monroe County, Indiana upon this _____ day of November 20 ____________________, 2024. APPROVE: ATTEST: _________________________________________ _______________________________________ Isabel Piedmont-Smith, PRESIDENT Nicole Bolden, CLERK Bloomington Common Council City of Bloomington