Bloomington is weighing potential adjustments to its bulk waste collection program, with city staff recommending a return to bi-weekly pickup and limiting the community drop-off center to just yard waste and electronics recycling.
“We’ve been evaluating how the program works now and what we think we should [do] moving forward,” said Deputy City Manager Sue McLaughlin, who oversees the public works department.
The proposal was discussed during Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting that also included city council members receiving a first-year update on renovations at the Bloomington Public Library and a preview of next year’s plans for the 250th anniversary July 4th celebration.
Bulk waste
“Obviously, something we’re always doing is trying to figure out how we can do things better, how we can improve upon things,” said City Manager Jeff Jurgens.
Beginning in 2018, Bloomington switched from bi-weekly curbside bulk waste collection to having two free citywide pickups each year — in May and October. The city also created the Citizen’s Convenience Center [CCC] on East Street, where residents can bring their bulk waste.
“I think the thought was to be more efficient at that time, using the CCC and save money,” said McLaughlin. “We have found over these seven years that that’s not necessarily the case.”
She said some parties have been taking advantage of the convenience center.
“The issue that we’ve run into is what we call the abuse of the CCC, or the exploitation,” said McLaughlin. “We’re finding that contractors, landlords, junkers, people that turn over properties who actually live within the city or have participated in our solid waste program, they can come in and drop loads for free.
“Sometimes we’ve seen loads of 13 mattresses in one drop, or multiple trailers where they have an employee in each trailer lined up to dump at the CCC.”
Along with the CCC limitations, the proposal would switch back to offering bi-weekly curbside bulk waste collection, with the first bucket, or pile, free and additional amounts increasing by $30 per bucket. The recommendation also calls for ceasing CCC operations between January and March each year.
McLaughlin said the reduction of service at the collection center would enable the public works department to direct some resources to other areas, such as street sweeping and potentially snow removal.
Although the council takes no action on proposals during its committee of the whole meetings, members generally seemed receptive to the proposal. A vote on the bulk waste collection changes is expected to take place at one of the next three council meetings.
Fourth of July
Supervisor of Recreation James Wayne said the city’s regular annual Independence Day celebration at Miller Park features a “sky concert” fireworks display in collaboration with the Town of Normal, accompanied by a radio broadcast of a musical presentation.
The fireworks show typically lasts about 22 minutes at a cost to the city of around $40,000. For next year’s 250th anniversary, they’re considering a larger and longer program for an extra $2,000.
Another preliminary concept being considered for next year’s Independence Day weekend is a family-friendly, standalone event with a 100-drone sky show lasting 10-15 minutes on July 3 at a location to be determined.
“I like the idea of expanding the fireworks; it seems like a pretty reasonable price. I am kind of neutral on the drones,” said council member Mollie Ward.
Wayne said the city’s previous contract with St. Louis-based Gateway Fireworks Displays expired after this year’s show, so a new request for proposal [RFP] needs to be issued, although Gateway remains the preferred supplier.
He said attendance at Miller Park for July 4th has grown from around 6,300 visitors in 2021 to just shy of 11,000 this year.
Library update
Library director Jeanne Hamilton presented a few of the facility’s highlights from its first year since completion of a $26.1 million expansion and renovation.
“The project added over 21,000 square feet and renovated more than 57,000 square feet of existing space,” she said. “The library now includes an innovation lab, two recording studios, eight study rooms, one conference room, three community rooms, a discovery play area for kids, a drive-up window and more.”
Hamilton said the upgrades were focused on four main priorities: access, collaboration, innovation and education. She said in the year following their August 2024 ribbon-cutting, the library served nearly 300,000 visitors and had 1.3 million items checked out.
