Mayor John Hamilton says he's trying to get a list of projects complete with only two months left to go in his term. We talk monolith, annexation, banning billboards, convention center expansion, and more.
In this week’s installment of Ask The Mayor, Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton addresses these issues and more during a visit to city hall. 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: We only have three shows total before the end of your term, are things busy or do you feel like it's winding down?
Hamilton: Eight years is kind of like life, right? Sometimes eight years seems like it's a long time that you've been mayor. But then other times, it seems like just a brief period of being able to carry this torch. There's a lot still to be done. I'm definitely aware of the schedule and have more work to get done. But it feels good. I feel like I'm handing the city over in great shape, it's been a pleasure.
We've got the Showers west project, that's a big important thing to be getting done. We've got the Trades District moving, we've got the convention center moving, we've got Hopewell moving, and then of course finishing it, we got the budget passed, but we want to do the last steps of that. And just taking care of people and relationships. So it's really a pretty big list still.
Hren: Last month you said the monolith itself was being constructed or complete. The installation stopped due to protests from residents over the cost and appearance. Now the city is saying it will have to wait until next year. So where is it right now? Can it be changed?
Hamilton: This is a gateway to the city, it was part of the Bicentennial bond project back in 2018. And COVID came in and interrupted some of that and as far as I intend, we're going to have a gateway at Miller Showers Park, it's a great place for people to see Bloomington as they're coming in, even if they're going across the bypass.
I think we may be doing some infrastructure work there, right at Old 37. It needs some substantial work regardless of what kind of gateway is put in. The Parks Department will continue doing what they do, which is get feedback on the design, it may change some it may change none, but we still have to decide this year about doing some of that infrastructure work. There's a bunch of invasive pear trees that are gonna get replaced and the timing of that will be settled. But it will carry on into next administration and people will still be able to weigh in on it. There's a contract to do it, but it's not completely done. There's flexibility to change it.
Hren: The contractors, subcontractors, that were awarded the project... could they lose the project? Will they get paid?
Hamilton: We pay for any work that they've done. The biggest bulk of the money though, actually was for the infrastructure, like the crossing and putting in new sidewalks and putting in some new ADA accessible ramps and upgrading the north end of the park. The actual gateway feature itself was not the larger part of those investments. We may go forward with some of that infrastructure. I think it's still to be decided in the next week or two with the Public Works Board. If it ends up being a very different gateway then we may owe them some money for design.
Hren: Annexation proceedings are back in the schedule. Just wanted to clarify a couple of things as this can get confusing, this is the appeal trial for areas 1A and 1B allowing a trial date from the remonstration period.
Hamilton: That case began 19 months ago, and we're still not at trial or still months away. So that's been a little frustrating. As a reminder that's separate from the other trial, which is basically a constitutional issue about the whole remonstrance validity. And that's going to have an oral argument yet this year, probably but won't be decided for a while.
Hren: Though the city has dropped 1A and 1B, not the other areas from the constitutional claims. It's not like that whole lawsuit has been dropped.
Hamilton: The argument for the constitutional case will happen this year we think, but it won't get decided probably until at least next year, and then the annexation appeal trial will very likely be early next year.
Hren: How does that work with a new administration?
Hamilton: The new mayor, we've been talking - I've been offering to talk, and expect after the election, we'll have a number of transition engagements and a whole set of other issues to try to help make that smooth. And there's of course a new council that can take different actions. But I'm confident as they look into this, the importance of annexation for Bloomington it's future, they'll want to keep it going. I hope so I think it's the right thing.
Pushing City Limits: Bloomington Annexation Coverage
Hren: You want to amend the city's zoning code to remove 47 billboards by 2031, as part of a beautification process. Others say it hurts businesses, ways to communicate to people, there's property rights. So why ban all these billboards and not just try to regulate more?
Hamilton: We do regulate them now in the zoning code for two decades. I think now we've said you can't put up big billboards, we have pretty strict restrictions on signage, whether it's on your own building, or an independent sign. And these dozens of billboards are grandfathered in from the old rules. And I do think it's a good idea to try to modernize and get everybody consistent. It is a little complicated, there are legal twists and turns that we have to go through.
I understand there are people who say they like billboards. We as a community have said, we don't like billboards, if you will. We've said we don't want new billboards. So are these billboards going to be here forever? That's the question in front of the council. If you think about it too, the way most people get information now is so different from driving into town and seeing a billboard for a restaurant. Most everybody these days is using their digital access, say, where am I going to eat or what kind of services are available? So we're still working on that one.
