City Council - Regular Meeting

We'll go ahead and call to order the um Bloomington City Council meeting for Monday, May the 11th. And we'd ask if you please stand for the pledge of allegiance and remain standing for a moment of silence. Madam clerk, if you take the role, please. Council member Karns

here. Council member Mosley here. Council member Monty here. Council member Dannenburgger here. Council member Strazza here. Council member Hendrickx here. Council member Ward here. Council member Lee here. Council member Scott here. Mayor Brady

here. Thank you. Next, we'll move to um our um proclamations that we have this evening. And I believe the first is for building safety month uh for this month of May the 20 26th. And we'd ask I believe Mr. Chris Mallister to come forward or one of the individuals from our building code enforcement side of things or all the individuals from our building code enforcement side of things. Uh whereas the city of uh Bloomington and whereas the city of building of Bloomington is committed to recognizing that our growth and strength depends on the safety and essential role our homes, buildings and infrastructure play both in everyday life and when disasters strike. Our confidence in the resilience of these buildings that make up our community is achieved through the devotion of vigilant guardians, building safety and fire prevention officials, architects, engineers, builders, trades people, design professionals, laborers, plumbers, and others in the construction industry who work year round to ensure the safe construction of buildings. These guardians are dedicated members of the international code uh council, the IC, a nonprofit that brings together local, state, territorial, tribal, and federal officials who are experts in the built environment to create and implement the highest quality codes and standards to protect us in the buildings where we live, learn, work, and play. These modern building codes are standards include safeguards to protect the public from hazards such as hurricanes, snowstorms, tornadoes, fires, floods, and earthquakes. Building safety month is sponsored by the ICC to remind the public about the critical role of our

communities. Largely unknown protectors of public safety are code officials who assure us of safe, sustainable, and affordable buildings that are essential to our prosperity. Built to last. The theme of building safety month of 2026 encourages all of us to get involved and raise awareness about building safety on a personal, local, and global scale. Therefore, I, Dan Brady, mayor of the city of Bloomington with the Bloomington City Council, do here proclaim the month of May 26 as building safety month. Accordingly, I encourage all citizens to join us as we participate in building safety month activities. And if there's any comments on behalf of your group.

Good evening, Mayor Brady, city council, and city manager Jeff Jurgens. My name is Gail Price, fire inspector with the building safety division. I'm honored to speak as we recognize building safety month, an annual campaign of the International Code Council. Each May, communities across the nation highlight the essential role building safety plays in protecting lives, strengthening neighborhoods, and supporting the long-term resilience of our city. Safe buildings are the result of strong codes, consistent enforcement, and the dedication of our team who works each day to ensure Bloomington's homes, businesses, and public spaces are built to last. This commitment reflects the broader values of service, responsibility, and community protection. I'd like to acknowledge the rest of the building safety team who makes this mission possible. Some are here tonight. Kelly Piper, our developmental services director. Chris Mallister, building official and division supervisor. Shane Young, commercial building inspector. Bill Dodd, residential building inspector. Clint Kilpatrick, multidiscipline inspector. Kurt Gore, multidiscipline inspector. Brad Melton, fire inspector. Joe Fowler, fire protection systems inspector. Andrew Marshall, HVAC. Eric Layman, plumbing. And Shawn Mills, electrical inspector. Our team represents a combined and incredible 330 years of specialized experience across fire safety, building construction, plan review, and community

development. Our work is most often behind the scenes and it protects the people who live, work, and visit Bloomington, Illinois. On behalf of the building safety division, thank you for your support and for recognizing our essential roles in making Bloomington a strong, growing, and thriving community. We're proud to serve with you in this commitment. Thank you.

Thank you very much. If you'd like to step forward this way, we can present you the proclamation. And if any of your co-workers want to step forward and be congratulated by council members, that would be great. Thank you. Next we'll move to once again thank you all. Next we'll move to uh emergency medical services um week which is May 17th through the 23rd. Um and emergency medical services is a vital public service. The members of emergency medical services teams are ready to provide life-saving care to those in need 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Access to quality emergency care dramatically improves the survival and recovery rate of those who experience sudden illness or injury. Emergency medical services fills healthc care gaps by providing important out of hospital care including preventative medicine, follow-up care, and access to tele medicine. The emergency medical services system consists of first responders, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, emergency medical dispatchers, firefighters, police officers, educators, administrators, prehosp nurses, emergency nurses,

emergency physicians, trained members of the public, and other out of hospital medical care providers. The members of emergency medical service teams, whether career or volunteer, engage in thousands of hours of specialized training and continuing education to enhance their lifesaving skills. It is appropriate to recognize the value and the accomplishments of emergency medical services provided by designating the emergency medical services week. That therefore I, Dan Brady, mayor of the city of Bloomington, in conjunction with the Bloomington City Council, in recognition of this event, do hereby proclaim the week of May 17th through the 23rd as emergency medical services week. This 52nd anniversary of EMS week is improving outcomes together. I encourage the community to observe this week with appropriate programs, ceremonies, activities in honor of the EMS professions and professionals and the essential services that they all provide. Thank you very very much. Perfect timing. And um with that, Chief, real quick, thank you, Mayor and Council, for taking the time tonight to recognize National Emergency Medical Services Week. EMS is truly a team effort. It is spread across many separate disciplines from our public safety dispatchers who deliver that critical um life-saving instructions to our firefighters, our paramedics, and our team has even grown over the years to include police officers. We all come together with a shared purpose of making life better. The city is uh truly blessed to have some of the most talented and dedicated public safety professionals out there, and I'm joined by several of those individuals tonight who make up our team. EMS continues to be one of the leading cause call cause for service for the fire department uh surpassing 80% last year. Just kind of underscores how uh important emergency medical care is to our community. From those critical emergencies to even routine everyday calls, our personnel

are out there providing care to people in some of the most difficult and challenging moments of their lives. I am extremely proud of the professionalism and dedication our personnel show every day when they're showing up on the streets to take care of our personnel. And I'm extremely appreciative of the continued support that the council and the city has for our department and the services we provide. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Chief. Chief, if you'd like to step forward and and any of your fellow firefighters, EMS personnel to be congratulated and I'll certainly provide present this to you.

Okay, there you go. Thank you.

Thank you once again to all of our firefighter and EMS personnel. Uh next we will move to uh the recognition excuse me recognition and congratulations uh of the following appointments. Uh first if they're in the audience please stand when I read your name. Peter Pontius to the planning commission the human relations commission here. Okay. Katrina Parker and Ashley Sang, the library board of trustees. Jan Murphy, Police Pension Board, um Alicia Sanders, Transportation Commission, Ashley Farmer, Rachel McFarland, Shawn Murphy, and Yvet Hernandez from the U Public Safety Citizens Review Board. and John Polling and Matt Steiniken from the for the zoning board of appeals. Thank you very much each and every one of you for your dedication to the city of Bloomington and let us give you a round of applause for your service. Thank you,

public comments. All right, we have six people registered to speak. We will after you read your statement, we'll start with Anthony Andreas and then before that statement, if you don't mind, I would also like to read a list of public comment that we received at the recent public forum um on data centers. We received email public comment from Julie Komez, Carrie Compton, Barb Duffy, Aaron Shadel, Tammy Mullen, Allison Rosinski, Kayla Leak, John Juler, Neil Gidley, Carrie C, Katherine Bundy, Benjamin Madden, Angela Rada, Deb Carter, Mark Zablaki, Adam Heden, Alisa Woods, Elliot Butler, Caitlyn Selman, Derek Sparby, Julian Corbin, Kenneth Jones, Randy Turnquist, Christy Sutter, Jerry Meyer, Lauren Geggas, Jill Muns, Andy U, Cameron Harold, Linda Bristo, DJ Oler, And one other list, sorry. Uh John Schwitz, Mara Driver, Quint Wells, Lena Flitz, and Megan Phelps. And for this evening's meeting, we received no emailed public comment. And after your statement, we'll start with Anthony Andreas. Thank you. Reminder that public comment is an opportunity for speakers to provide their views and feedback to the city council. It's also an opportunity for the city council to listen and hear diverse points of view to maximize the impact of public

comment, show respect for the expressions of all views. Speakers should maintain civility and focus on city issues. Speakers must identify themselves for the record, but are not required to give their addresses. Each speaker is given the floor for three minutes, and the council does not respond or engage in debate. Any speaker that engages in threatening or disorderly behavior will be deemed out of order and their time will cease. Right. First, we start with Anthony Andreas and then to follow will be Barb Stewart.

Hello, council. I'm Anthony Andress. I was born and raised here in MLAN County and I was raised in on the west side for the most part. Uh I'm just here to speak on behalf of myself on a situation that I had filed complaints with the Bloomington Police Department with uh Michael Brandt Parsley. There was a time I relive this every day. Um he had I was in involved in an auto automobile collision and I was found unconscious. I had internal injuries of a a left diaphragmic rupture, a collapsed lung, and a brain injury. Michael Brandt Parsley with the Bloom at the police department seeing who I was. I had history with him. Went out of his way, issued alcohol citation, balance 184, knowing that I do not drink alcohol, knowing that I took a high dose of stimul stimulant medication, misleading medical staff believing that it was an alcohol-related crash. causing medical malpractice just about killing me. Leaving me with out of body experiences, paradoxal benial reaction, leaving me in a coma. The al the alcohol citation was never went into court. It was held back. Later changed it to amount of drug of the benzel that was given to me for alcoholism which was incorrect medications. that was suppressed in court. I ended up being wrongfully convicted with saying that I was driving under the influence of marijuana, which that was negative. To where I uh you nearly took my life. I want you guys to understand that.

I want you guys to know that I I've been I wrote I've put in complaints Uh I I think something something needs to be done about this or somebody outside her elder county walks came here and spoke on my behalf about this before. I know it's been a little while but I had needed time to recover. I I suffered with PTSD about it all with with everything with this to where it's it's really not right. I feel that you guys should look into it or at least get with me so I can give you the documentation. We can go through it and look at it so I can prove my innocence because this has been a long a long road for me. Really has. Thank you.

Thank you. Next.

Thank you. Next we will have Barbara Stewart or Barb Stewart and then to follow uh will be Molly Mson. I know that they I see that they're not here anymore. All right. So, we will start next with Katherine Johnson and then to follow Linda Thomas. Mr. Mayor and members of the council, my name is Katherine Johnson. and I'm the community liaison with East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging and proudly a resident of the city of Bloomington. We have partnered with the University of Illinois Extension for Mlan County on a new initiative to benefit the city of Bloomington and town of Normal residents. Following an initial community meeting in March, we formed a dementia friendly Bloomington normal task force. This brings together representatives from multiple sectors, including community members, first responders, and other community organizations who are committed to improving awareness, understanding, and support related to dementia in our community. Dementia affects millions of Americans today, and that number is only expected to grow significantly in coming years. As our population ages, dementia increases impacts not only to individuals and families, but also workplaces, first responders, health and social services, and local government. Communities take proactive steps now, I'm sorry, communities that take proactive steps now to build awareness and supportive systems are better prepared to meet these challenges and to strengthen overall community well-being. A dementia friendly community is one

where individuals living with dementia are understood, respected, and supported and where caregivers are not n are not navigating these challenges alone. These communities work intentionally to reduce stigma, increase awareness and and uh create supportive environment across public services, businesses, and community spaces that allow people to remain engaged, safe, and connected for as long as possible. As an early step in this effort, the task force has launched a brief community survey to better understand the current knowledge, awareness, and perception of dementia across Bloomington Normal. The results will help guide the task force in planning to inform future education, training, and outreach events. We respectfully encourage the council members to complete the survey themselves and to share it within your sphere of influence, including residents, businesses, organizations, and community partners. Participation from trusted community leaders is critical to hearing a broad range of voices in building momentum for this work. The survey is open now and will close on June 5th 15th. We appreciate the city's continued support of efforts that promote inclusion, understanding, and community well-being, and we look forward to working together as this important initiative moves forward. Thank you. And I have one second left. Um I do have um and I can leave these wherever um copies of the flyer for the link to the survey. Okay. Thank you,

Clerk T. Thank you very much. All right, next up we'll have Linda Thomas and then to follow Cole Zimmerman. All right, Cole. Okay, Cole Zimmerman, please.

Hello. Uh, good evening, council members. Uh I am here today to urge the council to uh to take another look at Bloomington's contract with Flock Safety. Uh for the people in the audience who aren't aware, Flock Safety is a company that makes a lot of different technology, but the main thing they sell to municipalities such as ours are what are called automatic license plate readers, which are currently in use all over town. These are essentially AI powered cameras that capture and analyze images of all passing vehicles, storing details like your car's location, date, time, make, model, color, and identifying features. often turning these into searchable data points. I am speaking in opposition to these devices remaining on our streets for many reasons, but today I will specifically be talking about how the technology itself is unsafe and prone to security issues. Block security devices have been hacked in several ways, none of which I have done myself despite graduating from the U of I with a degree in computer science because I'm not a licensed computer security professional. With that disclaimer out of the way, several hacks of block security devices have been documented. According to 404 media, as of November 2025, a security researcher found flock login for sale on Russian hacking forums. This includes 85 sets of exposed credentials from government, police department, and sheriff's offices in at least six states, with some credentials dating back to only the month before the article came out. In addition, Flock also supports insecure methods of multiffactor authentication, like sending a six-digit code to your cell phone, uh, which is vulnerable to things like intercepting the message in transit or fishing attacks, which rely more on the person using the computer than the computer itself. They also don't support fishing resistant MFA, which is required of federal agencies. In addition, a YouTuber named Ben Jordan demonstrated not only several ways to hack into flock security devices. He's a security professional who documented these in an industry standard way and got access to cameras around his community. He also discovered that there was and might still be certain web addresses where you can watch security footage from these cameras without having to enter a

username or a password. Flock, for their part, says they've never been hacked, but they posted that a month after Ben Jordan clearly demonstrated hacking these systems and reached out to them about their security vulnerabilities. So, personally, I am skeptical of the validity of these claims. Overall, as a computer science student, I am both shocked and appalled by the clear lapses in both judgment and technical skill demonstrated by the engineers of Flock Safety. They did not engineer their products safely, and now I believe the people of Bloomington to be at risk due to these lapses. Until Flock acknowledges these flaws and submits to an independent security audit, I don't believe we should be trusting Flock with our safety. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. There's no further public comment. Okay. Thank you very much to our speakers. And next we'll move on to our consent agenda for this evening. and we'll take the consent agenda in one motion unless there's members from the council who would like to have an item pulled and discussed from the consent agenda. I'll move approval. Motion made by member Ward, seconded by second member Dannenburgger. If the clerk would take the electronic vote

the item passes. No nays to announce. Thank you. Next, we move on to our regular agenda uh this evening. And under uh number eight, letter A uh is consideration and action on an ordinance approving the exchange of property between the city of Bloomington and only Wesling University. And I believe Mr. Jurgens is going to introduce Mr. Tyus, maybe.

Yep. Going to kick us off on this. Um nope, that's all right. So, we're we're really excited about this uh tonight. This is the proposal involving 800 North Main and an agreement with between the city and IWU. Go to the next slide. This project has gone back many, many, many years. I've I've got a snippet of a headline from 2019 when the city and IWU was talking about using a joint broker to try and market this location. Um and it's gone through a variety of uh iterations over the year and with different changes in leadership and and different changes just within the community. Uh we went back to the drawing board more recently to discuss this and with uh with IWU's new president Shien and with uh the new uh the new council sat down and had some conversations about truly the best way to move this project forward. And so that's where we are tonight. So you can see up on the screen uh the white uh the the map on the guess that' be the right side is shows kind of a broader view of the of the city and the downtown. That white box is the parcel we're talking about. Up in the corner you can see that this that white box is made up really of three different parcels. The city owns the largest parcel but IWU owns two of the smaller parcels. So the the problem has been trying to figure out control of this and trying to get a developer to kind of work through these issues. So that's why we've been working with the agreement that we've got. If you could go to the next slide. So the proposal before you tonight would actually have us draw some new property lines and swap property with Illinois Westland. The city of Bloomington would end up with the red portion which is the greater portion of the property and is the frontage along Maine. and uh the uh Westland would end up with the back portion of that property which is the

green area there. This is the red portion. We would be looking probably maybe around 3 acres or so. We'd be looking to have uh a mix of residential, maybe a little bit of commercial in there. Uh but we have several developers that are already interested and with the property lines redrawn this way we're going to go back to them have them submit revised proposals and then we will have a group uh rank the proposals and then bring those forward back to the council. Again we think this is going to be heavily u uh housing type of uh development that's here and then Westland will develop the portion that it has uh to the end of that parcel. Um, I think that might be all I have. And I'm obviously have Billy Ty, senior deputy city manager that's been heavily involved in this. Samantha Malad, our economic development advocate, and Kelly Feifer from, uh, uh, development services as well, here to answer any questions, but, uh, we do believe this is going to finally move this project forward and and get an exciting development here. Happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. uh members of the council with questions, comments if not u any comments from Mr. Tyus Samantha? Only comment would be we would just be really excited to work with whichever development um developer scores, you know, the highest in in the rubric. we've got a really great scoring pattern set up so that we get the the best possible use of the land and the person who's the most um financially viable for our project. So, we're just really excited to move forward on this and we've got a great partnership as city manager alluded to with Wesley and um so we're we're really excited to see something happening here.

Thank you. I also know we have representatives from Illinois Westland. So, thank you for being here this evening as well. man. Uh, is there there's not questions, comments, a motion.

I'll make a quick comment before I motion. Just my appreciation to city staff that we're moving on this. Ever since I've gotten elected, and I know before me, this has been a long conversation and I think it took the right people at the table to make that happen. So, I appreciate that. And with that, I make a motion to approve. Second. Motion was made by member Hendricks, seconded by member Strazza. And the clerk take the electronic vote. The item passes. There's just one nay to announce. Council member Ward,

just to clarify, that's an abstension. Oh, I am. Yes, you are right. I apologize. Thank you. I've got it cleaned up. Thank you. Uh, next we will move on to um the city manager report at this point.

Thank you, Lance, if you could pull that up. All right. Uh, next slide. Just wanted to give a quick update on the streetscape. Um, if you are downtown much, every day it changes literally every single day. These are some pictures just from today. They have now started the 400th block. Uh which are which are the photos up there. Um I'm sorry, the 500th block. There are so many different blocks at play. This is the 500th block. No, I'm I was right the first time. This is the 400th block. Yeah. Welcome to Bloomington. So, um they are in the process of tearing up that street and uh this project, the 400th block should be done this fall. Going back to where we started, the 600th block, which is down by the brass pig. Um the pavers are all completed there. The spring structure is in right now. They're putting in the lighting and after that's completed, they'll finish the landscaping there. We anticipate having some sort of uh ribbon cutting or breaking in of that uh at some point late this late in June. Uh so more to come on that. Again, weather permitting. The 500th block is also uh moving very very quickly and they hope to have that done along with the intersections by the end of May. So, a lot of work going on. We'll we'll finish up the 600, 500th, and 400th block yet this year, and then we'll start the 300th block next year and get that done in the uh 20 early 2027. Uh so, exciting stuff going on with the streetscape. Next slide. Just a quick update on front and center. Um the obviously the building is down, the pavement is down, the uh markings for the parking are being completed. We hope to be able to or we will close on this before the end of May. And as soon as we can close on it, we'll go ahead and get the fences down and get this open for parking. Um but we are excited about this project and it's it's coming

along very well. Next slide. And then finally, uh very excited about this as well. The Dutch Brothers will be opening May 13th, which is Wednesday. Uh so uh very excited that about this development within our community. Understand that uh this may impact traffic patterns for a while um as uh this is uh likely going to be a very popular spot for a while. So excited about this and again the grand opening will be on Wednesday. And that's all I have. Mayor,

thank you. Any members of the council have questions of our city manager? this presentation. If not, we'll go around and ask members of the council if they have any public comment they'd like to share. And let's start at this end. Council member Abby Scott.

Yes, thank you. I I would like to address the the very big elephant that has been in the room lately. Uh we've had public forums. We had I don't know how many public comment folks reach out to us. What I am concerned about is that the longer that we push off discussion about a moratorum or structure around data centers, the more um uh the less confidence folks have in us. Um so I'm looking forward to having those discussions soon. Can I ask when when can we expect those? I I would venture to guess that we'll be doing that this month, possibly the last meeting of this month. uh some of the council members such as yourself have shared their input. Uh I'd like to ask other council members to do the same of kind of what you think as far as uh where you stand on what's been discussed, whether there's a moratorum, uh what the wording would be, things along those lines. And so, um getting that information and moving forward, I think that and thank you to council members that were there at the um gathering the other evening on the on the forum. So, thank you. So, moving forward, member Lee, just a quick shout out to the Bison um on a great season. I was able to attend one of the playoff games and uh with a friend of mine and my friend's comment was that was awesome. I will if if they come back, you know, I will not miss a game. Um unfortunately they did not advance but still um a great great season that it was next I think uh let's go to member Strazza comments member Dannenburg. Yeah, I'd just like to briefly shout out uh Jim CH's team who put together an amazing

presentation at the Bloomington Public Library to educate and um explain exactly what's going on with the uh with the uh Locust Colton sewer separation. I think that's how we're supposed to do these moving forward is grab that room at the library, have a few tables, have the maps out, and be able to explain things directly to people that showed up. It was very well attended. Um we I think we had it booked for two hours. because it only took us an hour. So, very well done to to both Jim CH and his team. Thank you.

Thank you, Member Matney. Member Mosley, member Karns. Nope. Okay. Um I'm going to have a few brief remarks in my mayor's report this evening. And one of the things I I also want to recognize is um a newly formed neighborhood association for downtown. many of us uh had the opportunity to interact uh with them and have heard from them and met with them and I they had a gathering on May the 4th uh at the Castle Theater to kick off um their association and so we wish them well and we'll partner and help in any way that we can. Um, next is um upcoming and I want to make sure that all the council members know that on May 21st of this month starting at 1 p.m. the renaming of the um Woodhill Towers to the U Kim Hullman short Homeman short towers I believe and at 1:00 with the actual ribbon cutting from 1 to 3 there is a open house uh in the uh housing authority uh community room between the two buildings. So, uh, if anyone is available, uh, to attend that, that'd be great. And give a debt of gratitude back to Kim Holman Short, who's done much for the housing authority, uh, in her tenure. Uh, next slide. We uh just this afternoon uh were able to join in and thank um Congressman Darren Le Hood uh for the Sarah for the Central Regional Airport uh pledged amount of community grant funds to the federal government of $1.5 million for the infrastructure specific needs of the airport in particular um for a cargo road area uh over to FedEx and pack um that is going to be um repaired and worked on and

infrastructure along the way. So, uh we were able to be there and obviously thank the congressman because of the fact that it's uh all of this community's airport, the central regional airport. So, we certainly appreciate the federal funds going to the airport. Um, also as was mentioned earlier, we thank uh those individuals uh from the council that made um forms last Tuesday. I think it was May 6th um at the Center for Performing Arts. We thank the individuals that attended those particular forums and voiced their opinion and helped that they felt they had the opportunity not only to voice their opinion but have their voices heard. that information from that particular uh forms both those forms uh is being uh uh quantitative if you will their input um and um will be move forward as I indicated earlier uh for the next phase of what we're going to talk about and potential action from the council. Um with that I believe that's all that we have on the agenda tonight that I can see unless there's something else that somebody missed. Oh, one other thing. The uh housing uh the Bloomington u housing um had a uh housing fair, I guess you would call it, at Eastland Mall um last week. And uh thank you to all those from our different departments that were part of that uh helping people on the housing front. Um they did a a great job and it was well attended and and a lot of different groups and agencies were there. So, thank them all uh for being there. And it looks like uh one more we have is the uh brain balance which was a uh new business in Bloomington uh that we were able to with the chamber of commerce cut uh a ribbon for um with the occupational health safety side uh and

science side of this particular new business. So we thank them and look forward to their help for many in Bloomington. With that I think that's all that we have this evening from my report. It is. And I need a motion to adjurnn. Move to adjourn. Second. Motion by member Scott, seconded by uh member Hendricks. Thank you very much. Have a nice evening all. All those in favor? Oh. All in favor?