A boardroom renovation in the downtown Government Center will temporarily displace the Bloomington City Council meetings, with the council relocating to the nearby Center for the Performing Arts.
The council’s July 24 meeting, as well as its Aug. 14, 21, and 28 meetings will be at the BCPA, 600 N. East St., Deputy City Manager Billy Tyus told the council at its regular meeting on Monday.
The Aug. 21 session is the council's monthly nonvoting, committee-as-a-whole meeting.
Council members John Danenberger, Ward 4; and Cody Hendricks, Ward 6, were absent. City Manager Tim Gleason also was absent, as was Mayor Mboka Mwilambwe. Council member Donna Boelen acted as mayor pro tem.
Tyus told council members the move to BCPA allows construction crews to build a permanent dais in the boardroom located on the fourth floor of the government center. In June, the council OK'd a $180,000 contract with Spencer Construction for the project.
The McLean County Board and other city and county commissions meet regularly in the space, so they'll also be affected.
From July 24 to Sept. 6, all of those meetings will convene at a variety of city locations, said Tyus, noting that temporary locations will be listed on the city’s website.
Monday’s council meeting was brief — only about 20 minutes. About half that time focused on the city’s annual report of how it spends the city's Community Block Development Grants (CBDG), a program of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development. A public hearing on the matter drew no commenters.
The rest of the council’s actions — all listed under its consent agenda — were approved in one vote.
The consent agenda vote included a dozen items, such as allocating $500,000 of Bloomington’s state motor fuel tax revenue to cover half the annual utility costs for traffic lights. The city will cover the remaining $500,000 cost from the general fund.
Other approvals included a $175,000 contract with Prairie View Landscaping for work at the under-construction O’Neil Pool and Park project area. The multi-year project has faced delays, with a completion date now planned for Aug. 31. A State Farm grant covers the landscaping contract.
Community Block Development grants
About $600,000 in CBDG grants were invested in Bloomington for projects helping lower- to moderate-income residents, said Tyus.
The city's Economic and Community Development Director Melissa Hon led a presentation about that investment.
She said some 2022 CBDG projects included rehab or accessibility improvements for nine homes; adding security cameras at a public housing complex; helping with sewer/water hook-ups at several homes; and demolishing a run-down house in the 700 block of Washington Street.
Public input about the CBDG program can be submitted up to July 24, said Hon.
In other business, the council approved:
- The final plat of Fox Creek Country Club subdivision’s 10th addition. More than a dozen duplexes are planned on the south side of Fox Creek Road, east of Oakland Avenue.
- The final plat of Interstate Business Park’s 13th addition, a single lot south of Illinois 9/Market Street.
- A liquor license for Oasis Nails. The Parkway Shopping Center business plans a bar concept for its nail salon customers.
- A 110-day extension on the $4 million Fort Jesse Water tank rehab, pushing the completion date to Dec. 29.
- Purchasing administrative services and stop loss insurance from Blue Cross Blue Shield for the city’s self-funded health insurance plans.
- Spending just over $50,000 on a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, from National Auto Fleet Group.
