By: Diane Benjamin
A few notes that never made the news:
Those 4 parking lots the City purchased from Frontier so the BCPA has more parking:
What was the cost?
To find out you have to dig deep in the packet – the cost isn’t on the agenda:
Page 530 of the packet: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=12738
The low low cost to make entertaining you easier: $961,000
Do you know what a Road Diet is?
It’s a sweet little name used by Jim Karch to say cars will be getting less lanes so bikes can have their own!
Close to 80% of registered voters choose not to participate in the election, so don’t complain when nobody is using the bike paths that will be created on busy streets (think rain and cold weather, plus few bikers compared to cars) but you aren’t allowed to use the new lanes. That is what happens when the Council passes Complete Streets and nobody is paying attention.
David Hales is funny
During his City Manager comments he mentioned staff is busy trying to implement everything the Council passed in the budget. (Around 2:04:40)
He must be under the impression the Council knows what they passed. Hundreds and hundreds of pages of limited data doesn’t mean a thing. I doubt many of them know what the spending increase has been the last 4 years.
Renner still hates The Grove
Somewhere in the meeting Renner made another snide remark about spending $250,000 to enlarge the pipes at The Grove to make future expansion less costly and less destructive to existing homes. Tari has no interest in growing the local economy unless he controls who, when, where, why, and with your money.
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Interesting that Buragas does not provide any criticism of the much more expensive brick option. Perhaps reroute any funds going to her husband’s organization to pay for it.
She was very upset the public rejected the 1% Sales Tax fort schools! clueless
The 800 block of Monroe is near her home in White Place.
Like I said before – our leadership is existing in an alternative reality where a wealthy city can make bike paths, fix brick streets and provide entertainment while the reality of a systemic economic decline begins to take effect. It is really sad the they don’t realize the state of emergency that is at hand and how their current mindsets are going to make things much worse in the future for everyone who unfortunate enough to be trapped here.
The folks that voted for Renner and council must not care how our city operates, besides all you have mentioned above. All you need to do is travel around town to excessive waste in public works. Drive on Veterans Parkway and see, if the city would add one police officer to patrol it and fine people just for ridicules violations we probably would be able to pay his way and put great amount money in city budgets.
Welcome to the MACHINE!!! And there will be NO crazy diamonds left to shine on!
MAYBE just bad streets, bike lanes, high taxes, hot dog stands, TIF’s and clueless “management” And we’re bent over for the bill. RUN forest RUN!
ALL this goes against ANY inkling of GOOD economic growth and prosperity! It’s NOT sustainable, productive nor “forward thinking” That is unless you’re a bodini bird!
WHAT?? Haven’t heard of the FAMOUS bodini bird? Well, he gets up in the EARLY morning with the BEST of intentions and starts flying around in circles, until they get tighter and tighter, and his head winds up in a dark spot and he can’t see for SH**!!
If everyone is riding their bikes, why do they need so much parking? These people are out of touch with their own reality!
Good point!
Any idea which 4 lots were purchased?
Pictures were included in the packet, I’m not that familiar with the area to tell you.
Will they be open for downtown merchant business during the day? Let the employees park there and open up more street parking for the customers. Alas, the downtown has parking and could possibly be more viable again,,,except fot the ones with poor business plans. You can’t fix stupid.
And why isn’t it profitable for and independent owner to operate without subsidy? Maybe the city should have bought cheaper parking away from the center and used the Transit system to bus the people to the center. Then ridership might increase on the transit system, well in reality that wouldn’t happen because people don’t want to ride the bus to and event.
Those 4 parking lots that were purchased to provide additional parking for the BCPA are a rouse. At the meeting, there were a few Power Point slides that were flashed on the screen which showed future development for that area. It is to become a destination on the North end of Downtown. There are plans in the works to develop the Creativity Center–hopefully with private funds now that a not-for-profit status has been sought. The parking lots will eventually become a park possibly including retail similar to the plans for the new Library, which is to be the destination for the other end of downtown. According to the Comprehensive Plan, over 30% of the land use in Downtown is by Government and doesn’t produce any tax revenue. (There are also two, large, tax exempt, church owned properties.) During 2016, the City has used almost $2.5M of tax dollars to purchase property for downtown redevelopment–the property on North Main, adjacent to IWU and now the parking lots. There is no need for parking next door to the BCPA because there is a parking garage (city owned??) on the corner of Market and Center. Patrons can’t walk or the city can’t provide a shuttle? Bloomington wants to be just like a “big” city. If you park in Chicago for a “show,” you walk several blocks or take a cab from the garage.
I use Washington Street to East Street to get to Advocate Hospital. Washington Street is not wide enough for two lanes for cars and two lanes for bicycles when you consider that CT and school buses as well as trucks use that street. Why hasn’t the city finished its investment for Constitution Trail? Why not use Front Street or Grove for bikes that can ride one block over to access CT buses on Washington Street? What happens when emergency vehicles are racing down the main east/west arterial street to save someone’s life? I guess bicycles users take priority over everything else.
Renner can’t see the forest for the trees. Alderman Fruin, who is currently working in real estate, reminded Renner that there are those who want new construction. The infrastructure is already out to the Grove. Any new development would have to pay “tap-on” fees to access the oversized sewer which helps offset the original expense. It’s okay to spend nearly $1M for parking at the BCPA which will generate no tax revenue but not okay to spend $300K for future economic development in an established residential area that will bring in increased property tax.
I am so tired of the Council and Staff referencing the Comprehensive Plan when it clearly states is is a road map, not a mandate.