The Bloomington City Council on Monday delayed voting on whether to designate Holy Trinity Catholic Church a local historical landmark. The proposed ordinance will be discussed at the next meeting when council members are hoping all wards will be represented.
Ward 1 council member Jenna Kearns and Ward 8 council member Kent Lee were both absent from Monday’s meeting. Several members, including Ward 9's Tom Crumpler, agreed to postpone the vote until Kearns and Lee can be present.
“I think this is a really, really important decision, and I would like to have all of our colleagues here to be able to make it so we can really feel like we’ve done due diligence to this important question,” Crumpler said.
He was joined by council members John Danenberger, Cody Hendricks, and Mollie Ward in voting in favor of postponing the vote. Council members Donna Boelen, Sheila Montney, and Nick Becker voted against the delay.
Individuals spoke both in favor of and against the proposed ordinance during public comment.
Monsignor Jason Gray spoke on behalf of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria that owns the building and is against the ordinance. He said the historical designation “imposes some burdens” on the diocese.
“It was really terrifying to me, the prerogatives that can be exercised,” Gray said of the powers the city is given with a historical designation.
“It also tells me that the city is saying to the property owner, ‘we don’t trust you to manage your own property,’” Gray added. “And in that sense, I think it puts the Diocese of Peoria and the City of Bloomington in an adversarial position and I would not recommend that.”
Holy Trinity was placed on the national registry of historic places in 1983. Parishioners had pushed for the local designation when the diocese began exploring closing the church. The diocese has since dropped those plans.
Downtown parking
Also Monday, the council passed measures affecting parking in downtown Bloomington, including allowing towing after a vehicle owner has collected five or more unpaid parking tickets, and extending the time allowed in some spaces from 90 minutes to two hours.
Director of finance Scott Rathbun reported that individuals have a combined $350,000 in outstanding parking tickets in Bloomington, including $100,000 owed by just 47 people, indicating a problem with repeat offenders.
Rathbun said the individual with the largest tab owes more than $7,000, and a single violation costs at most $38 with late fees attached. He indicated this represents a “blatant disregard” for parking rules.
All council members voted to extend parking times in certain areas downtown. But Hendricks, who represents Ward 6 that includes downtown, voted against the towing measure.
“I’m struggling with the balance of, yeah we need to take care of the individuals who just don’t care, while also understanding that it’s also not creating the most inviting space for downtown to be like, ‘Welcome, park in that lot: towed, park in that lot: towed, park here for too long: towed,’” Hendricks explained. “That gives me a lot of pause.”
