Bloomington Mayor Dan Brady said the downtown business community largely drove the city's decision to scale back on First Friday promotional events. The city will now pick its spots to promote First Fridays, tied to happenings such as the Route 66 Festival, Tour du Chocolat, or holiday programs.
Brady said the decision came out of a meeting of downtown stakeholders in which the majority of business owners present questioned whether enough people were coming downtown for the events to merit the extra work needed to prepare for them.
"It seemed to be a majority that had concerns about the work that goes in on their business side of things for the First Friday, every First Friday, through the winter as well," Brady said on WGLT's Sound Ideas.
Some downtown Bloomington businesses have said they will carry on with First Friday events and promotions every month even after the city scales back its support for those events, though at a smaller scale.
"Reducing down the number of continual First Fridays might have a better turnout," said Brady, adding he didn't think
continued promotion of ordinary First Fridays will dilute city efforts to concentrate on the special event occasions.
Shared sales tax dispute
The City of Bloomington, Town of Normal, and McLean County have reached a tentative agreement on a memorandum of understanding of the scope of the audit of a fund that pays for mental health and other programs. The governmental bodies are in a dispute over use of shared sales tax money.
The language of the memo is broad, though, and does not address some of the things the city and town wanted audited. Brady said that's OK for now.
"Well, it's government, so there are always possibilities of future misunderstandings. I think it scratches the surface. I think it's a start," he Brady.
The city and town councils and the county board must still approve the memo. Brady said he hasn’t seen it yet.
Leaf collection
"No doubt, the city of Bloomington got behind in picking up leaves," said Brady.
The city, he said, is working hard to finish what should have wrapped up in December. Brady said they have doubled the number of crews picking up leaves from three to six, brought in some Parks and Recreation Department workers to help Public Works crews, and have been working weekends.
"A variety of things were not even planned for, or from a weather standpoint, were not in our favor," said Brady, noting residents are still raking leaves.
"People in some of the good weather now, that we've had, have been able to move their leaves from the back of their yard up to the front of their yard, so areas that have been covered look like they were not covered. So, it's a continued work," he said.
Unhoused emergency
The opening of The Bridge shelter village for the unhoused in Downtown Bloomington does not affect the status of the public health emergency related to the homeless in the city, said Brady.
"I'd have to check with the experts. I don't know that it's enough, especially in the winter months, but boy, it's certainly a great start," he said.
The tiny heated cabins for non-congregate living eventually will house about 56 homeless people.
The emergency declaration is scheduled to expire at the end of March. It allows the city manager to issue executive orders regarding homeless issues, including code waivers on shelter limits and increased housing options.
Downtown façade and entry rules
On Monday, the council eased restrictions on how deep building entryways need to be Downtown. Brady said he's not concerned the change will harm Downtown aesthetics or hinder sidewalk traffic, viewing it as a business-positive move that will enhance space.
“I see it as a way to allow them more flexibility if they have less of an inset,” said Brady. “The structures I saw in this one case, and how minimal the change ... but [it] was important for the accessibility side of things, and so I think it'll be an improvement.”
Water
Brady is reminding residents to put in place moderate water conservation measures to preserve the already-low levels in Bloomington and Evergreen lakes, the city’s reservoirs for drinking water.
Those include not letting water run while brushing one’s teeth, making sure low-flow valves are on toilets and shower heads, and waiting until dishwashers are full before running them.
