Common Council Special Legislative Session

Bloomington Common Council-Special Session Minutes Bloomington City Hall, 401 N. Morton Street, Bloomington, Indiana Wednesday, March 12, 2025, 6:30pm 1. CALL TO ORDER [6:30pm] Council President Stosberg called the meeting to order. 2. ROLL CALL (*indicates participation via Zoom) [6:31pm] 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 (absent) District 6 City staff, officials, and guests present: Nicole Bolden City Clerk Lisa Lehner Council Attorney Kelly Murphy Information Technology Services, Technology Support Manager Shawn Miya Economic and Sustainable Development, Assistant Director of Sustainability 3. AGENDA SUMMATION [6:32pm] 3.1. Councilmembers Rollo announced his and Ruff’s upcoming constituent meeting. Piedmont-Smith reported from her recent constituent meeting including the plans for the land not being used for the Convention Center expansion, two Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) resolutions, and an increase in construction costs due to tariffs, impacting things like affordable housing. Stosberg spoke about staff-initiated amendments to the UDO discussed at a recent Plan Commission meeting. 3.2. The Mayor and City Offices Shawn Miya, Assistant Director of Sustainability, presented the 2023 Greenhouse Gas Inventory report. Wes De Silvestro, ClimateNav, presented the new reporting process including standards, municipal operations inventory, and the climate action online dashboard. 4. LEGISLATION FOR SECOND READING AND RESOLUTIONS [7:10pm] Stosberg explained why the meeting that evening changed from a Deliberative Session to a Special Session so that council could vote on the resolutions considered that evening. She discussed actions council could take that evening regarding the proposed legislation, as well as the processes that council or staff could take to amend the UDO. She reiterated that passing the legislation that evening did not amend the UDO itself. 1 Meeting Date: March 12, 2025 Daily moved and Piedmont-Smith seconded to suspend the rules pertaining to the rules of debate and structure presentation and debate for each item of legislation that evening, as follows:  15 minutes of presentation of the legislation  5 minutes of response from the Planning and Transportation department  5 minutes of response from the Office of the Mayor  5 minutes of response from the sponsor  45 minutes of questions from councilmembers  60 minutes of public comment  30 minutes of councilmember comment During the period of councilmember questions and comments, there will be no limit on the number of speeches or questions by councilmembers before other councilmembers get a chance to speak, but the chair is still responsible for facilitating discussion to maintain decorum. The motion received a roll call vote of Ayes: 5 (Daily, Flaherty, Piedmont-Smith, Rosenbarger, Stosberg), Nays: 3 (Asare, Rollo, Ruff), Abstain: 0. FAILED. Clerk’s Note: the motion did not achieve a two-thirds majority of total councilmembers to vote in favor. 4.1. Resolution 2025-05 To Initiate A Proposal to Amend Title 20 (Unified Development Ordinance) of the Bloomington Municipal Code in Order to Improve Sustainability and Implement Actions from City Plans Re: Preparation of a Proposal to Amend Chapter 20.04.110 (Incentives), 20.02.040 (Planned Unit Development District), 20.04.060 (Minimum Vehicle Parking Requirements), 20.02.030 (Use-Specific Standards), and 20.02.010 (Minimum lots sizes and widths in R2, R3, and R4 districts) Daily moved and Piedmont-Smith seconded that Resolution 2025-05 be introduced and read by title and synopsis only. The motion received a roll call vote of Ayes: 4 (Flaherty, Piedmont-Smith, Rosenbarger, Stosberg), Nays: 4 (Asare, Daily, Rollo, Ruff), Abstain: 0. FAILED 4.2. Resolution 2025-06 To Initiate A Proposal to Amend Title 20 (Unified Development Ordinance) of the Bloomington Municipal Code Re: Preparation of a Proposal to Amend Chapter 20.02 (Zoning Districts), 20.03 (Use Regulations), 20.04 (Development Standards and Incentives), 20.05 (Subdivision Standards), and 20.07 (Definitions) Daily moved and Piedmont-Smith seconded that Resolution 2025-06 be introduced and read by title and synopsis only. The motion received a roll call vote of Ayes: 4 (Flaherty, Piedmont-Smith, Rosenbarger, Stosberg), Nays: 4 (Asare, Daily, Rollo, Ruff), Abstain: 0. FAILED 5. ADDITIONAL PUBLIC COMMENT [7:12pm] Christopher Emge offered comments on energy efficiency, the Convention Center expansion and revitalization of downtown, and council processes. Chris Sturbaum spoke about Cascades Park. Cynthia Bretheim stated that the city needed to have downtown, public restrooms. 6. COUNCIL SCHEDULE [7:20pm] Stosberg reported on a recent Fiscal Committee meeting regarding scheduling council’s budget priorities. Stosberg scheduled a Special Session on April 30, 2025 at 6:30pm. 2  Meeting Date: March 12, 2025 7. ADJOURNMENT [7:24pm] Stosberg adjourned the meeting. APPROVED by the Common Council of the City of Bloomington, Monroe County, Indiana, upon this ______ 16 day of July ________________________, 2025. APPROVE: ATTEST: ___________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Hopi Stosberg, COUNCIL PRESIDENT City Clerk Nicole Bolden Clerk’s Note: The above minutes summarize 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 3 Meeting Date: March 12, 2025  YouTube – https://youtube.com/@citybloomington Background materials and packets are available at https://bloomington.in.gov/council 4