The City of Bloomington faces water issues. There’s water quality. Then there’s current water supply, and, oh by the way, there’s future water needs.
Bad-tasting water has been a periodic issue in Bloomington when algae grow in the city reservoirs, Lakes Bloomington and Evergreen, or weather inversions happen in those lakes.
On Monday, the city council approved about $2.5 million worth of water treatment plant upgrades and activated carbon treatments to improve the taste of the water already flowing from the lakes.
"A big portion of what we did … was that structural side of things …. the pumping side of things, capital building aspects, storage for the carbon, and just really kind of a comprehensive overhaul from a standpoint of capital,” said Mayor Dan Brady.
Lake Evergreen got an algae-killing treatment a few weeks ago. Brady said the mild drought conditions mean both lakes are 2.5-3 feet down from desired levels.
“Even with as dry as it has been, it’s a little better than where we were this time last year. That is encouraging. Obviously, we need water and to try and fill our water reserves. The other side of things, of course, is the pumping back and forth that occurs between Evergreen and Bloomington to try and balance where the water levels are and what we can go off of for a period of time,” said Brady.
The mayor said he is encouraged by the purchase last year of equipment to do additional testing for the things that cause the bad taste. He said that equipment should come online soon.
“From the standpoint of quantitating some of these levels, when it comes to the taste, odor, and smell and testing that we had to send out and wait on for days can be done in house,” said Brady. “That I think will help for us to make more immediate decisions, should we have situations where we make an adjustment and pivot.”
He said with that testing, the city may be able to make adjustments in the mix of water flowing in the system in a day or so instead of the previous longer period.
Another water issue is the city’s ongoing effort to update a long-term policy on water. This could include dredging the lakes, though the cost is high; creating a well field to take water from the Mahomet Aquifer, an underground water source stretching across Central Illinois; or something else. Brady said water department and other city staff had a discussion just a few weeks ago.
“There are proposals, obviously, the discussion of the Mahomet Aquifer and what we can or can't do there in the future, the dredging side of things and where the levels are. Many would say that in the past, when it was very, very dry, the dredging should have been done. I don't know about that. All I know is moving forward, that's an option for us to look at. And then where do we look at future water sources? Is there something potentially that could be done through the Illinois River?” said Brady.
He said the deadline to finish the conversation remains a moving target.
And while the city has not had to be directly involved in discussions over the safety of the Mahomet Aquifer and carbon sequestration below aquifer recharge areas, Brady said that issue is something for the city to monitor in case of future need.
Video gambling
The city council recently approved an expansion of the number of video gambling licenses. Brady said he’s not sure that will create a lot of new revenue because there could be market saturation.
"When you do that, there's more places to play. And that means those existing businesses that may enjoy that revenue right now, are going to have less of that revenue," said Brady.
He said he does not believe expanding the number of licenses threatens to make the city dependent on gambling revenue.
Brady said restaurants with tight operating margins may need video gambling terminals to survive. He said dependence on that revenue is not the city’s challenge.
“For many of the businesses, they see gaming as maybe a lifeline, and that's unfortunate that they can't make it on the food and the drink, solely alone of what they produce in a bar or in a restaurant side of things,” said Brady.
The city has taken in about $1 million in gambling revenue this year from January through October.
Lawsuit lessons
The city is paying a $50,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed by Jaylin Bones over an accident that happened six years ago when a vehicle fleeing from police hit Bones as he rode a bicycle. The argument for settling in this, and often in such cases, was it'll cost more to go to court than to put it to bed.
Brady acknowledged the case did prompt a routine review of department policy on officer pursuits but said the city maintains nothing needs to change.
“We had significant discussions in executive session about that particular case and others that the city faces. I would say from a policy standpoint, certainly our police department reviews those policies,” said Brady.
“The Bloomington Police Department followed protocol at the time,” said Brady. "Specifically, about the policy side of things, and what can policies do? What can we learn from this? And that's something that we're talking about now.”
Summer summary
Brady said the city is pleased with the numbers for summer activities and programs offered by the city.
“Our pools stayed busy. Holiday Pool, the new O'Neil Aquatics Center welcomed over 42,000 swimmers this past summer. Families showed up for lessons and programs. More than 1,000 kids took swim lessons, and over 3,000 participants took part in other programs within the recreation department, like day camps,” said Brady.
Golf was strong, he said. The more than 35,000 rounds played rose from last summer.
“Golf generated more than $1.7 million again this season. That is up,” said Brady.
He said cultural events also had strong showings.
“In fact, Saturday, it's estimated over 22,000 people that were either at concerts or activities in downtown or foot traffic, and those are all things that show momentum as the streetscape redevelopment work continues. And it also, I believe, that those are the kind of things that pique the interest of investors and in other businesses, potentially in downtown,” said Brady.
