Common Council Regular Session

Bloomington Common Council-Regular Session Minutes Bloomington City Hall, 401 N. Morton Street, Bloomington, Indiana Wednesday, March 26, 2025, 6:30pm 1. CALL TO ORDER [6:30pm] Council President Stosberg called the meeting to order. 2. ROLL CALL (* indicates participation via Zoom) [6:30pm] Members: Isak Nti Asare At-Large Courtney Daily District 5, Council Parliamentarian Matt Flaherty At-Large Isabel Piedmont-Smith District 1, Council Vice President Dave Rollo District 4 Kate Rosenbarger District 2 Andy Ruff At-Large Hopi Stosberg District 3, Council President Sydney Zulich District 6 City staff, officials, and guests present: Nicole Bolden City Clerk Colleen Williamson Deputy Clerk Lisa Lehner Council Attorney 3. AGENDA SUMMATION [6:pm] Stosberg commented on gerrymandering and a satirical cartoonist Elkhana Tisdale who published a cartoon in 1812 of a salamander-shaped district created by then Massachusetts Governor Eldridge Gerry. She titled the creature “gerrymander.” She then summarized the agenda. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES [6:34pm] Daily moved and Piedmont-Smith seconded to approve the minutes of November 06, 2024. The motion was approved by voice vote. 5. REPORTS [6:34pm] 5.1. Councilmembers Asare reported from a recent Budget Task Force meeting and invited councilmembers to identify deliverables. Rosenbarger noted that she was in the process of scheduling a Sidewalk Committee meeting. She spoke about a presentation by Jeff Speck on a walkability project he was doing in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. She described some of his projects in Indiana, a class he teaches at Harvard University, and additional details on bicycling, pedestrians, and automobiles. Zulich spoke about her upcoming new newsletter, The Civic Zoo, and what would be included. Daily mentioned her upcoming constituent meeting. Flaherty commented on Earth Day on April 19 and city celebrations. Meeting Date: March 26, 2025 Rollo discussed an author named Jerry Mander who wrote books on the environment and the singularity of merging humans and machines. He then discussed stop signs in the city as well as the closure of Kirkwood, and under which branch of government that fell. Stosberg noted her upcoming constituent meeting. 5.2. The Mayor and City Offices Marlo Libel, Chair, Commission on Hispanic and Latine Affairs, presented the 2024 Annual Report. He spoke about the commission, the status of key issues within the Hispanic and Latino communities, and key achievements in 2024. He discussed 2025 strategic goals such as collaboration with the Monroe County Community School Corporation, continued advocacy, and community engagement. There was council discussion on the creation of materials and solutions to language barriers, specifically the need for medical translators. 5.3. Council Committees There were no reports from council committees. 5.4. Public Jen Pearl, President, Bloomington Economic Development Corporation (BEDC), highlighted job openings in the city and Monroe County. Adam Martinez expressed disappointment with council’s special legislative session on March 12 because there were councilmembers who voted against the introduction of two resolutions that were important to him. The resolutions, if passed, would have directed the Planning department to initiate updates to the UDO to address the housing crisis. He urged council to make better choices. Matt Gleason echoed Mr. Martinez and urged updates to the UDO to improve housing density and sustainability. 6. APPOINTMENTS TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS [7:14pm] On behalf of Interview Committee Team C, Rollo moved and Piedmont-Smith seconded to recommend for reappointment Ryan Cassady to seat C-1, and Deborah Myerson to seat C-2, on the Redevelopment Commission. The motion was approved by voice vote. On behalf of Interview Committee Team A, Rosenbarger moved and Asare seconded to recommend the appointment of Bryan Woerner to seat C-1 on the Housing Quality Appeals Board. The motion was approved by voice vote. Daily moved and Piedmont-Smith seconded to suspend the rules to allow for the appointment of a council representative to the Transportation Commission in the following manner:  Each candidate shall require a nomination and be seconded by other members.  Each candidate may make a brief statement, no more than three minutes, expressing their interest in and/or qualifications for the position.  Members may ask questions and discuss the nominations of any seat before a final vote is taken.  After discussion, a modified roll call vote will be conducted, in which each Councilmember will state the name of their chosen candidate. The motion received a roll call vote of Ayes: 9, Nays: 0, Abstain: 0. Ruff moved and Rollo seconded to appoint Ruff to the Transportation Commission. -2-  Meeting Date: March 26, 2025 Flaherty moved and Ruff seconded to appoint Flaherty to the Transportation Commission. Ruff discussed why he self-nominated himself to the Transportation Commission. His goal was to have council retain certain powers pertaining to things like transportation and greenways. He noted the skillset he would bring to the commission, with a focus on including council and soliciting councilmember input. Given that the Transportation Commission was in its formative stage, it was important to have a council representative who understood the city as a pedestrian and bicyclist. Flaherty commented on his experience with four main modes of transportation which gave him robust experience with all aspects of the transportation system. He was a public policy professional by trade, and a civil engineer via his education. He supported the Transportation Commission as a positive step for the city in terms of how the city approached transportation policy development and implementation. He highlighted his work during his tenure as councilmember and how that related to transportation, and gave examples. He spoke about the need to implement the Climate Action Plan (CAP) goals to fruition and his participation on the commission would facilitate that effort. Piedmont-Smith asked how Ruff reconciled nominating himself for the commission despite having voted against it. Ruff explained that he did not vote against the commission, but was hesitant to vote for it during a time of confusion regarding what powers were being conveyed to the commission instead of council. Rollo asked about using scarce resources efficiently and greenways such as Hawthorne/Weatherstone. Flaherty clarified that the purpose of greenways was to create a safe, high comfort network for connectivity in the city so he supported those efforts, and were more cost-effective than retrofitting other roads. He gave additional information and potential actions council could take regarding projects like greenways. Ruff said that the Hawthorne/Weatherstone greenway was a good example of why council needed more authority on projects like that. He described reasons against that greenway though he supported connectivity. The motion to appoint a councilmember to the Transportation Commission received a roll call vote in favor of Flaherty: 5 (Flaherty, Piedmont-Smith, Rosenbarger, Stosberg, Zulich), Ruff: 4 (Asare, Daily, Rollo, Ruff). Flaherty appointed to Transportation Commission. 7. LEGISLATION FOR FIRST READINGS [7:37pm] 7.1. Ordinance 2025-09 To Establish the Public Safety Answering Point Local Income Tax (PSAP LIT) Fund Daily moved and Piedmont-Smith seconded that Ordinance 2025-09 be introduced and read by title and synopsis only. The motion was approved by voice vote. Clerk Nicole Bolden read the legislation by title and synopsis. Stosberg noted that Ordinance 2025-09 would be heard on April 02, 2025. 7.2. Appropriation Ordinance 2025-03 To Transfer Revenue and Appropriations from the PS LIT Fund to the PSAP LIT Fund Daily moved and Piedmont-Smith seconded that Ordinance 2025-21 be introduced and read by title and synopsis only. The motion was approved by voice vote. Bolden read the legislation by title and synopsis. Stosberg noted that Ordinance 2025-09 would be heard on April 02, 2025. 7.3. Ordinance 2025-10 An Ordinance Transferring Remaining Debt Service Funds Cash Balance to the City’s General Fund Daily moved and Piedmont-Smith seconded that Ordinance 2025-10 be introduced and read by title and synopsis only. The motion was approved by voice vote. Bolden read the legislation by title and synopsis. Stosberg noted that Ordinance 2025-09 would be heard on April 02, 2025. -3- Meeting Date: March 26, 2025 8. LEGISLATION FOR SECOND READING AND RESOLUTIONS [7:39pm] There was no legislation for second reading or resolutions. 9. ADDITIONAL PUBLIC COMMENT [7:40pm] There was no additional public comment. 10. COUNCIL SCHEDULE [7:40pm] Stosberg scheduled a Special Session on April 30, 2025 at 6:30pm. 11. ADJOURNMENT [7:42pm] Stosberg adjourned the meeting. 16 APPROVED by the Common Council of the City of Bloomington, Monroe County, Indiana, upon this ________ day of July __________________________________________, 2025. APPROVE: ATTEST: ___________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Hopi Stosberg, COUNCIL PRESIDENT City Clerk Nicole Bolden Clerk’s Note: The above memorandum summarizes the motions passed and issues discussed rather than providing a verbatim account of every word spoken. Bloomington City Council meetings can be watched on the following websites:  Community Action Television Services (CATS) – https://catvstv.net  YouTube – https://youtube.com/@citybloomington Background materials and packets are available at https://bloomington.in.gov/council -4-