It didn’t take Tim Gleason long to see an inefficiency in the way the Bloomington City Council schedules meetings.
Gleason said in preparation for his job interviews this spring, he watched recordings of city council meetings.
“As far back as I went, I saw special meetings attached to the front end of the regular council meeting, almost always, if not always,” Gleason recalled. “These special meetings aren’t so special.”
Gleason discussed with the council during the interview process whether it would be interested in reducing the number of special meetings and instead move up the start time for its twice-monthly Monday night meeting one hour.
“Six o’clock seemed to be a reasonable time,” Gleason said. “So hopefully we are going to be a little more efficient, effective with how the council meetings have been scheduled.”
The proposal would also move the monthly Committee of the Whole Meeting from 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. That’s when the full council discusses various issues but doesn’t vote.
The council is scheduled to vote on the time change on Monday night.
Library Wait
Gleason has postponed the Bloomington Public Library's presentation for a proposed expansion. He said he wants more time to get up to speed on all possible options for the library's future.
“I wanted to slow it down just a touch,” Gleason said. “If you are talking about a $25 million-plus project, you don’t get a do-over. This is a multigenerational decision, this kind of investment.”
The library is looking to expand at its current location with phased options ranging between $28 million and $52 million.
Gleason said he also wanted to further review the work of a city task force which had recommended a library relocation as part of a downtown catalyst project.
“You sure can’t be dismissive of some of the work that’s been done by the task force," he said.
Gleason added he expects the library expansion presentation will be scheduled for some time in September or October.
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