In this week’s installment of Ask The Mayor, Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson addresses this issue and more at 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: City Council passed carless Kirkwood five to four, closing Kirkwood every April through November, beginning next year. The city administration doesn't think this is a good idea. Now this piece of legislation is in your hands.
Thomson: I looked back on the last time we had any real public input and conversation about it, and it's been a long time, and so I decided I wasn't going to make a decision about whether to veto this or not until I heard thoroughly from the public.
We have gotten a lot of outreach in our office about carless Kirkwood. We developed an extensive memo from my office that went into the packet for the council, and at the end of the day, our job as a city is to make sure we're functioning well, and that people can get to where they need to go, and we work really hard on quality of place initiatives, so I'm interested to hear what people have to say.
I think the vision that a lot of people have for a carless Kirkwood really will take a significant financial investment. This is not the time we have a significant financial investment. Some events can just be awesome, and they're worthy of closing down Kirkwood. I certainly, if at the end of the day, I think it's best to close it, I will absolutely not veto this, but I really need to hear from the public.
Hren: A listener emailed in and wanted to know about churches in the downtown area along Kirkwood. Has the impact on these congregations caused by any Kirkwood closure been considered?
Thomson: Yes, the considerations and impact of not only churches, but we have some nonprofits down there, and in at least two instances those folks are completely unable to access their parking lots, if there's that full Kirkwood closure, so it is a concern, and we've talked to those churches, our economic and sustainable development team also talked to all of the businesses on Kirkwood.
Hren: I did a story with a Homes for All volunteer on the Save Seminary Pointe campaign. They have a plan that city council backed at a recent meeting where the CIB gets College Square land for a host hotel, and then affordable housing gets to stay on Second Street there by a trust to preserve that area. What would you like to see happen?
Thomson: I'm really grateful to the Homes For All folks. They absolutely have a lot of energy, they've done their research, and they really want to preserve some very affordable units. If that building remains, those units need a lot of very costly repairs. And if the buildings don't remain, and they get redeveloped as affordable housing, that also is an extensive project.
There are two things at play here. First, Homes For All is actually not a separate 501 c3. It is a subset of the Democrat Socialists, and so the city could not give any money to that group. Period. We can't do a contract with them. They are a political organization.
When I have met with the Homes For All folks, I have encouraged them to work with a development partner that has experience in developing and has the finances to do it, and so my hope is that if we are to preserve these units, and I mean we could replace them with something else that we get a development partner in that has done this before, and can manage it both as a significant development project and financially.
Hren: City of Bloomington issued a letter supporting infrastructure readiness, future aviation-related economic development as the next step after annexation not going through?
Thomson: We will be considering significant economic development projects for sewer access outside the city, and so we are developing a criteria for that, and we'll be passing those to the utilities board for approval on a case by case basis.
It is a way that we are really communicating that Bloomington is open for business, and we want to do what we need to to support economic growth. The airport is a critical piece to several of our major companies, and there are more industries that are looking to come here that are related to the airport or need a more vibrant airport.
Read more: Group seeks legal fees after defeating Bloomington annexation plan
Hren: We have another email on this topic. The airport is beyond city limits. How can it tax future airport development? Does the airport-related include non-aviation related?
Thomson: Part of the agreement with any of these extensions will be an economic impact agreement, and so there will be a fee in lieu of taxes. The sewer extension is for the airport, so for businesses that are in the airport, so I would imagine if you're in the airport you probably have clientele related to the airport.
I know for instance we've had a barber in the airport, so is that specifically aviation related, no, but they are specifically just cutting hair for people who are using the airport, it seems.
Hren: The city is coming up with a Gateway North focus area, and this comes as we've covered city meetings about a stadium district that didn't get through city council. Is this a new way the city is trying to brand that area?
Thomson: Yes, we have several gateways into the community, we understand that the name the stadium district was somewhat confusing. What we know works well is when neighborhoods really stick together, and that we look at how to really synergize some business and residents in a given area, so it feels cohesive, like an anchor in the community.
Hren: Does that involve liquor licenses too for that area?
Thomson: Indeed. I want to give some good credit to Senator Yoder, who secured two additional liquor licenses for Bloomington in this past session, it's really an economic development tool, and she fought hard for those, and we're really grateful.
Hren: I have one more question, and it's from a listener. We've been told that the city did not renew its contract with Flock. My question is twofold: will the IU or Bloomington police have a contract with them, and if not, when will the cameras be removed?
Thomson: Our Flock cameras, our license plate readers are down. They are gone. They've been removed, and we are not renewing our Flock contracts. We have no jurisdiction over IUPD.
