Hamilton says in hindsight the controlled burn should have been done differently, the 7-Line dedication is set for Wednesday, and the city has a letter of intent with a developer to install high-speed Internet throughout the city.
In this week’s installment of Ask The Mayor, Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton addresses these issues and more during a Facebook Live Zoom event Tuesday. Listen to the full conversation with Indiana Newsdesk anchor Joe Hren by clicking on the play button above, or read some of the questions and answers below. A portion of this segment airs 6:45 and 8:45 a.m. Wednesday on WFIU. Here are some highlights.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Hren: Let's begin with COVID, any trends right now that could indicate the expiration of the mask mandate?
Hamilton: We were in a trend of downward cases, compared to eight weeks ago - are definitely better. But that trend has gotten a little murky. As we look at our numbers, we got below 100 cases per 100,000, which is a benchmark, but we then bounce back up above it. So we're still under the mask mandate in Monroe County.
We're worried with winter here that indoor activities, holidays, that can be concerning. So we don't really have a clear trend right now. I will encourage again, people to get get your vaccine, get your boosters, I've gotten my booster a couple of weeks ago, got my flu shot a couple of weeks ago, those are really important to do to keep us keep us all safe.
Hren: There might be confusion about the booster, the state says anyone can get one, but some places list restrictions like age?
Hamilton: I think if it's been six months, if you're having an interest in getting the booster, I think you should go to the website and sign up. And if there's a reason you shouldn't get it, they'll let you know. But if you can get it, I think you should go forward and get it.
Hren: Let's just get to the controlled burn that released lead dust and particles over a neighborhood. This was a training exercise with the Bloomington Fire Department, which was cleared by IDEM. And I think everyone right now is asking or thinking how does something like this even happen?
Hamilton: On the first week of November, our fire department did what's called a live burn training with a structure house that was approved to be demolished and the owner donated it to the fire department basically and spent a fair amount of money getting it ready for a burn. There are state regulations that require you to disconnect the utilities and remove vinyl siding and remove asbestos and other things. We did all of that - the fire department did all of that to prepare it.
However, on the day that it burned, there was a collapse at one point which happens. There were flakes of lead paint that came off the house, as we learned about that may well be lead because it was an older house. And that has caused a fair amount of stress, both for the neighbors and for our fire department. These folks every day they get up and go to work keeping people safe. And then it turns out that this burn, distributed some lead paint, which is unfortunate, everything they did, they did by the book, they followed all the rules, but I think looking back, we wish we hadn't done it and wouldn't do it again.
READ MORE: City says air tests show no lead contamination in area affected by controlled burn
Hren: What I'm trying to get at too is a little bit more of accountability with IDEM? Is that something the city is looking into?
Hamilton: I used to be the commissioner of IDEM, so I'm a little familiar with that. They have regulations, and they followed all the regulations. Indiana does not have any restriction on lead paint. The regulations do not talk about lead. Now there are different states that have different rules, but that's our rule in our state, which doesn't mean Bloomington should do this differently. I mean, we will do it differently in the future. But IDEM follows the state rules and they've been helpful in the cleanup.
Hren: Bloomington touts itself as pro-environment - doesn't allow citizens to burn in the city. Yet, the city was burning a house in a core neighborhood. Were there any city officials before this started saying wait, I don't know... this may not be a good idea?
Hamilton: Well, it's a good question. The open burning rule is actually mostly based on danger and you don't want to have a fire start in one place and blow sparks someplace else. I knew about this. My view was let's make sure we're following all the rules. My chief emphasized how important it is - we have almost a dozen brand new firefighters. They have saved 10 lives in this city over the last four years by rescuing people from fires.
But I think we should have asked - where the regulations, should they be stronger? We depended upon the typical state regulations. But I think in hindsight, we could have done it differently.
Hren: The city had to reconstruct a new section of the 7-Line project where busses couldn't turn properly. I realize the width of the lanes are within specs but the buses are having trouble. Is that being addressed or why wasn't that addressed ahead of time?
Hamilton: John Connell, who's the new director of Bloomington Transit, doing a great job, the drivers are doing a great job, everything's working fine. There are little tweaks here and there with the exact little turn radius. And I think at Indiana and Seventh, but that got tweaked it wasn't a big deal. And actually we were having more accidents because of the parking on both sides of the road with a bus with the mirrors. And all that was a little trickier than what it is now I think.
READ MORE: 7-Line protected bike lane officially opens Wednesday
Hren: The city announced a letter of intent with Meridiam, a city-wide high-speed fiber network, something that's been on your agenda since 2016. Could you begin by explaining where is Meridiam based out of and what sets them apart from others in establishing this relationship?
Hamilton: We have some fiber in the city and some of our providers are expanding that, but they tend to do it in a way that reaches pockets and actually tends to be higher income and high density places. We want everybody to have access to fiber. And the other thing we looked for is a network that would be open to different users. Right now, it's like we have a set of private roads. And each company builds its own roads to get to your house to deliver what they want to deliver to you.
It's much more efficient, and we think valuable for the city to have an open set of roads. So that internet service providers can all compete. Meridiam has come forward with that kind of project to build over $40 million investment in the city to build a high speed broadband fiber network that would cover virtually the whole city, that will be open structure, meaning there will be a brief period of one provider but it is designed to be open to multiple users - that meaning anyone from Smithville, to Comcast, AT&T if they want to use it, to any internet provider to get you as a customer and sell you their internet service. So it's a much more competitive model.
So they build the infrastructure and then lease its access to anybody who wants to use it.
Meridiam is an international company, they're originally based came out of France, they work all across the world, they have a North American company headquartered in New York that is doing North America investments.
Hren: What about local high-speed fiber company Smithville? I did hear you say earlier that they can jump on this project down the road. Is this something for them earlier on as well?
Hamilton: Well, I hope so. And they certainly are welcome to talk to this company. I mean, in a way this is Meridiam that's come to us and said we want to invest in your community. It's kind of like a business says we want to locate in your town. We like what you're doing and we want to be part of that. The current providers models tend to be we build the network that connects you to our services. And if you switch from one to the other, they got to build a different line to your house. This is a different model. I think it's a more efficient model.
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