City Council - Special Meeting

and city council uh on today's date of April 23rd, 2026. And I would ask that um everyone please stand uh for the national anthem and pledge of allegiance. Next, we're move to the roll call, please.

Council member Karns, here. Council member Mosley. Council member Matney here. Council member Dannabburgger here. Council member Strazza here. Council member Hendricks here. Council member Ward here. Council member Lee here. Council member Scott here. Mayor Brady here. Next we'll move to uh Is there any public comment tonight? Clerk, we have no registered public comment.

Thank you. Next, we'll go uh since we do not have any items on the consent agenda, we will move directly then to our regular agenda, which uh is a overview and discussion on the April 17th uh tornado response. And at this time, I'll turn things over to our city manager, Mr. Jeff Jurgens.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. I appreciate everybody uh arranging their schedules to attend this special meeting. Lance, if you could go ahead and put up my presentation. We were going to be brief tonight and if uh staff wants to go ahead and come on up. Uh going to just give an update on what happened on Friday night and then also uh give a little bit of an update on terms of the response and where we are. Uh next slide please. Uh so the latest update from the National Weather Service, originally there was indications that there were two EF1 tornadoes that went through the city. It turns out that it ended up just being one very long one. And if you go to the next slide, this is a little bit uh uh closer in and get some some specific details on the tornado. Ended up being over 20 miles long uh which is certainly on the longer end of how long a tornado typically is on the ground. You can see the upper line is the tornado that went through the town of Normal. The lower line is what went through the uh city of Bloomington. And if you look at the right hand of that slide, you can see the self-report damages, which you know very clearly aligns with both lines of the tornadoes. Next slide. Uh just a quick administration update. I just want to say uh how much I appreciate all of the city staff coming together. Uh we were uh communicating uh Friday during the event uh throughout the night and then early morning uh by nine o'clock we had all gathered and working with Kathy Beck from the county EMA. She invited us to come to the emergency operations center at the county. So we were there uh throughout the day on Saturday helping to coordinate and organize and assess and figure out what truly had happened. Uh but we had uh representatives from public works, from parks, police, fire, engineering, water, and then all of the crews on the ground uh that were involved and and they were all absolutely amazing and and absolutely appreciate all their involvement. Our

attorney, Chris Manos, offered to come over, but I asked them to stay put and draft the emergency declaration that we ended up doing later in the afternoon. So, I just really can't say enough. We train, as I've told the council before, we train for events like this and in this situation, I really believe our training paid off and and just cannot say enough about the team that the city has and how proud I was of everybody. Just a couple of numbers up there. Um during the event, we had 104 911 calls, non-emergency calls, 148, and then uh fire had 78 calls. We have been working uh since Saturday uh with the county EMA and again Kathy Beck is here and and truly appreciate her coordination and her assistance. Also been working with the Red Cross. We we were very fortunate in this event. Um we do believe there are some people that had to be relocated. We believe that's under 20 people. Uh but according to the Red Cross, nobody has uh taken shelter from them. So, people have been perhaps couch surfing or going to stay with relatives or friends. Uh, but the Red Cross has been on site and we are working with them uh to help get services to people. We've also been working closely with the IMA, the realators, the chamber, Amaran who had so many people without power. They were in constant contact with us as well and we really appreciate that. And then finally, before I turn it over to our our real crews here, just want to say we are encouraging people to report any damage that they had. You can go to our city website. The forms are very simple. There's a form for residents, there's a form for businesses. We need to collect that information to see if we are going to qualify for any potential relief and if we can continue to um move that up the chain with the state and then the federal government. At this point, we have 151 self-reports of damage just in the city of Bloomington alone. And with that, I'm going to uh turn it over to

public works and our director, Mos Ricky, to give an update. If you can go to the next slide. I appreciate Thank you, council, mayor, city manager. Uh before I get started, as you can see, there's information up on this slide, but um I can't begin to express how proud I am of everyone in the public works department. I'll be up here giving you information, but I want you to know that all the successes that we encountered and we have achieved are directly responsible for the men and women who are doing the jobs out there on the streets and answering the phones in our department, giving the residents information. You know, while everything is going crazy, those pe those dedicated city workers are out there away from their families, away from their loved ones, away from their free time, uh taking care of these situations for us. So, as you can see, uh, we started the event on the 17th. Oh, I believe our first staff ran around 10:30. Um, we had issues with a lot of the different setups we had for infrastructure programs being ran in town. So, those need to be addressed as they were being they were being blown all over the town. That took quite a bit. as well as bringing in uh staff to clear roadways for the traveling public the best we could where it was safe uh in this storm which was uh a consideration for us is the fact that we didn't want to put any of our staff in danger and there were quite a few uh electrical power lines that were down in this storm. So that posed quite a challenge for us and until that had been assessed and had been mitigated uh we were a little bit limited in where we could go. Uh we did have uh coming Sunday we went into full full full throttle. Uh we had crews that were out um picking up all the different uh areas that had been hit after we had assessed which ones were hit the worst. We have so today at the end of Wednesday taken 250 truckloads uh out of the town so far. Operations are still continuing. We're still gathering all the data that we have in regards to uh hours worked and number of loads that will be disposed of.

One of the biggest things I say is is these initiatives for cleanup continue is the fact that um if people who are parking on the roads could make sure they're um not parking beside or in front of any of the brush piles that that makes it much more difficult for our crews to get the job done and ultimately to give the resident what they want, right? Which is to make sure that we can get that brush cleared up from in front of their residents. So we we do advise that they try to stay at least 10 feet away uh when possible or where possible. It could be a short-term headache, but in the long run, it will uh it'll go a long way for them getting their debris picked up even faster. And I think uh you'll be be hearing about it. I think that on May 1st, the uh formal cleanup will be completed. And uh of course, that does not mean if there's anything that's still out there or needs to be picked up that we will not pick it up. Uh it'll be involved in our normal operations. One thing I'm also very proud of is that even in the cleanup efforts from this storm in our solid waste division, normal our our solid waste division operations were not affected. We we didn't have to cease any of our normal operations. So, not only were we able to carry out this cleanup effort, but we were able to offer to residents all their normal uh uh offerings that we would usually offer them in our solid waste program. And that's all I have. Lance, if you could go to the next slide.

Thank you, city manager Jurgens. Mayor Council, uh, glad to give a parks and recreation update tonight. I would like to echo what Mo Ricky just said. I am very proud of our team and the relationship that we have with public works. Um, we worked in tandem and uh we started parks and recreation started Friday night at about 11 pm. Our forestry crews have been working up to 10 to 12 hours a day since. Uh, we have spent about 372 man hours so far in the forestry division, parks maintenance, and at our golf course because a Highland Park golf course was hit as well. Forestry crews have completed about 70 storm damage work orders as of yesterday. Four of those were city trees on houses. Three were on cars. We have 197 more work orders yet to be completed for the storm. And please understand, even though we're well past the storm, more still could come in, as in tree hangers and other items that the wind could affect from the event itself. The worst hit for parks and recreation in the parks were actually Clearwater Park and Stevenson Park and I already mentioned Highland Park Golf Course. Our team has gotten Highland, so it's a playable course, so that's not an issue. Um, a point of note, if you are not aware, um, the silver maple is a undesirable street tree due to weak wood and aggressive roots that damage sewer lines. Why does that matter? Holiday Nolles subdivision was 80% silver maples, which was the hardest hit area. These were planted in the 1940s and 1970s. And so you're can feel safe, silver maples are no longer planted on city property per ordinance. Uh we now follow the tree planting program of the International Society of Arborulture. Um and we will continue to maintain what they recommend. Um tonight, if I could just share a quick shout out to uh we

have Dave Lamb with us who is the city forester. We have Jeff Heinman who was the park superintendent who spent his weekend working on this. And we have Tom Rickstar who got thrown into the position working directly for the city manager on the communication piece over the weekend. I'd like to recognize them. Um also like to recognize uh the s our support staff the 699 members uh in parks and public works. And on a separate note, but tree related, would like to note that you've received an invitation, that'd be mayor, council, and um city manager to an Arbor Day celebration at 10 a.m. at Benjamin School tomorrow. And what are we going to do? We're going to plant a tree. So, that's good timing. Thank you, Eric. And Lance, if you could go to the next slide. And there are other I think tree programs. So, if people lost a tree, um there are uh certainly I think Amron's got a program and there are some other programs that we can help connect them with. I also just want to say thank you to uh deputy city managers Billy Ty and Suga Mclofflin who were there the entire time and and helping to get all of this organized as well. So, again, just uh what I I truly appreciate the response from all of the crews and the people on the ground who were out there. Um it it was a mess. It could have been a lot worse. We're very thankful that nobody was hurt and um just appreciative of the community's patience as we work through this. We're happy to answer any specific questions anybody may have at this time.

Any questions? Okay. Sorry, member Ward.

Thank you to everybody for for all the hard work you've been doing over the last few days. Um I do have a couple of questions. Um, I may be one of two people on council who was on council in June of 2021. And I I don't know if you all have an answer to this, but I am curious to know how the impact of this storm compares to the impact um of the previous one in 2021. And maybe it's too early to tell because we're still tallying figures and so on. Um, but at some point I would be very interested to know that. I'd also be very interested to know if there are lessons that we took away from the June 2021 storm and response that helped us in this instance and are there things that that based on this experience you would continue to do differently?

Uh, great question. And so I I cannot answer specifically yet as to the differences with the 2021 response. Um I wasn't involved with that. We'll have to see who was, but we will get those answers for you. And there are certainly things we will be debriefing and going back through and figuring out what we could have done better, what we would change, and and and certainly what we can improve upon. Uh one thing I just want to note real quick, Anthony Nelson is in here. They had two Bison games where the tornado warnings went off during the games. After the first game, and we all know Anthony by now and his dedication to uh continuous improvement and and making things better, they had actually put into place new protocols to improve the response if they were to get an emergency like that. So, they were able to test those just I think two weeks after that initial warning. So, uh, there's always things that we can learn and we can do better and we will certainly be taking a look at after this response. Other members. Okay. Next, we're going to move to item B on our agenda, which is the presentation and discussion, if you wish, regarding the approval of the proposed continued declaration of local disaster emergency, which is why we're all here. Thank you to all the uh department directors who have come up and Mr. Jurgens if you want to walk us through that if we can get ready here for a vote.

Yes. Um and actually uh happy to answer any questions on this as well as incorporation council Chris Spanos. Uh on uh Saturday, uh the mayor of uh Normal uh the county um uh chairman and mayor Brady all issued separate local emergency declarations. That is really the first step in obviously declaring an emergency and seeing if if potentially we could qualify for any additional relief or assistance. And so under our ordinances, the mayor is allowed to uh extend those a couple of times up to seven days. After that, it requires the council uh to vote to extend it. So that is why we are all meeting here today. Uh we do believe since we are still in the cleanup process and and still getting some assessments out uh that is is worthy to continue to extend that declaration as has uh the town and I I believe the county has as well. So happy to answer any questions on that. And are there questions from council regarding the declaration? Uh at this time I then would need a motion. Motion from member Strazza. Is there a second? Second from member uh Hrix. And if you would go ahead and take the electronic vote, please madam clerk.

So we're going to do a voice vote. Voice for it. I'm sorry. Okay. Council member Karns. Yes. Council member Matney, yes. Council member Dannenburgger, yes. Council member Strazza, yes. Council member Hendricks, hi. Council member Wart, I. Council member Lee, yes. Council member Scott, yes. Mayor Brady,

yes. Thank you. Um, that takes care of our immediate action needed. And I want to thank all the members for coming in on such short notice and for being here on behalf of all your awards. uh in the entire city. Um with that being said, I know there's some people that have a couple comments and we want to get to those. Uh but if I could because I know she's on short time. Uh earlier um I I had asked that Kathy Beck uh come to the meeting tonight and Kathy uh is our MLAN County Emergency Management Agency director. And when we were there over the weekend on Saturday in particular and prior to that Friday evening really early Saturday morning as we went through Councilman Estraza's area the hardest hit and how long consistently when we talked to people we asked them where they were was you know all all the questions you ask and consistently people would say we were in our basement and so when I had the opportunity to ask uh at as the um who actually set off the alarms, the sirens, and that was the director, Kathy Beck. So, I think on behalf of the city, the city council, if you would stand up, let us give you a round of applause for making the difference in keeping people safe because there were no injuries and no deaths. Thank you, Katherine. Thank you very much. for doing your not only your job but amazingly well. So, thank you. Um, with that, I think there might be some comments from members. I know member Strazza had some comments regarding the storm. Yes. Uh, again, thank you for your team, Kath. It was amazing the

timing, the response. People listened, it saved lives. It keep people from being injured. So, thank you again. uh going through that as you look at that list the top I don't know whether there was five or six areas that are affected three or four of those were my area the ward ward five so there was a lot of uh damage uh destruction uh houses cars uh I'm still reaching out to people to make sure they're getting the help they need make sure things have been cleared out um there are some people that still are needing help just because they don't have the finances to remove things so I'm trying to organize that right now to get some people some more assistance. I definitely will. Um, but yeah, everyone came together with the thing was amazing to me and the mayor was out with me and several other people. The neighbors of each block came together and they cleaned up. They're helping each other out, trying to dig things out of there, getting people so they can get their vehicles out. They can be able to function even though they didn't have power. So, people still got their chainsaws out. They are trying to help them out in a safe manner. And I warned them multiple times, please stay away from any power lines. Uh no matter if you think they're alive or not, please stay away from them because they will come back on sooner or later. Uh so a lot of people pretty much in my area, they did not see power till after 1:00 on Sunday. So they were out with power from 9:00 on uh Friday to Sunday afternoon. So again, they they work together and it was great to see a community that area to really come together and work together and knowing they're being patient and working with public works uh everyone that's in with the city and also working with Amron. Everyone was very kind and just saying, "Hey, we're trying to do our best to get this thing up and going." So, thank you again for everyone who was involved in it and uh this is support and again it showed that something we prepared for that has been set up u by our county by our city that it does work. There's

always room for improvement but again this really worked well to where it's like this is ex it's great to see that we can come together in times of this and really make you know people um feel safe. Thank you again. Thank you. other members of the council that have comments. I'm sorry.

Well, I just wanted to thank you, Council Member Strazza and Mayor Brady for your visibility out in Ward 5. I heard from friends that live in that area. Um, you guys were out there for a long time and did a lot of work and it was really noticed by the people who were living there. So, um, thank you so much for being great public servants. Thank you. Anyone else? If not, just a closing a couple closing comments real quick. Um, as mayor, and I know all of you joined me on this, uh, that your goal was mine, and that was we jointly shared it together, and that was to, uh, to assure the community that help and, um, uh, resources were on their way for the residents of Bloomington. And that was done. and we've we've thanked so many that stepped up the plate and did it. And another thing that that I noted um that I I really want to emphasize was as well was the utility companies uh Amaran Cornbt uh personally where our home was it was damaged. Uh the response was and working through the nights for those those individuals was simply amazing and we thank them as well. But really the cooperation among city, the town, the county, the state. Um it it was efficient and effective like it should be. And all I can say is uh there's no I team and we all proved it these past several days. So thanks to each and every one of you and to the residents for taking care of each other of the city of Bloomington. So with that, unless there's other comments from anyone or any other issues or items, I believe we just need a motion to adjurnn.

Motion to second. Hi, seconded by member Hendricks. Uh all in favor say I. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.