WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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This is the WFHB Local News for Tuesday, April 18th, 2023.
Later in the program, the Monroe County Community Justice Response Committee announced that local officials will tour county owned property south of Catalent as a potential site for the new jail. More in today’s feature report.
Also coming up in the next half hour, we have Lil Bub’s Lil Show – a co production between WFHB and Lil Bub’s Lil Fund.
But first, your local headlines:
Monroe County Community Justice Response Committee
During public comment at the Community Justice Response Committee on April 17th, concerned resident Marc Haggerty complained about proposed locations for the new jail and the poor conditions of the current jail.
Public Engagement Director for the City of Bloomington Kaisa Goodman announced that a handful of local officials will tour the county-owned Thomson property south of Catalent as a potential site for the new jail. Goodman criticized the lack of city involvement in the committee.
City Council Member Isabel Piedmont-Smith said she wants to see the committee prioritize treatment rather than incarceration. Smith called out the lack of transparency in the C-J-R-C and said she’d like to see more city involvement.
The committee then heard a presentation from architectural firm D-L-Z regarding the design of a potential new jail. To listen to the full presentation and discussion, visit this link. The next C-J-R-C meeting will happen on May 1st.
Bloomington City Council
On April 12th at the Bloomington City Council meeting, Council Member Isabel Piedmont-Smith spoke about democracy.
Next, Mayor John Hamilton shared information on the cost of annexation litigation.
Council Member Steve Volan asked Hamilton if city staff can put together a report on the TIF or Tax Increment Financing that the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission uses to invest in projects like Switchyard Park and The Mill. Hamilton responded.
Hamilton said it would take a few weeks to have the staff compile a list of investments they have done over the years.
Next, Innovation Director Devta Kidd gave a report on the Sidewalk Innovation Project.
Kidd explained what the impact of unmaintained sidewalks is, and shared the ideas the community came up with to help solve the problem.
Kidd also shared that they are going to keep researching alternatives to historical sidewalks, and in the meantime make sure that the ones that are in disrepair are addressed. They also talked about putting visual markers on the ground where trash cans should go that would ensure residents do not put their trash cans on the sidewalk.
Kidd also shared that they will start to use alternative materials like recycled plastic instead of cement for sidewalks.
Council Member Dave Rollo asked Kidd about the sample size used to determine the support of the ideas. Kidd responded that the sample size was 20. Rollo suggested that a larger survey be taken to get a better representation on the public’s perspective on the ideas.
The next Bloomington City Council meeting will be held on April 19th.
Feature Report:
Up next, we have Lil Bub’s Lil Show – a co production between WFHB and Lil Bub’s Lil Fund. We turn now to that program.
Credits:
You’ve been listening to the WFHB Local News,
Today’s headlines were written by Noelle Herhusky-Schneider, in partnership with Cats – Community Access Television Services.
Kite Line is produced by Mia Beach.
Our theme music is provided by Mark Bingham and the Social Climbers.
Engineer and Executive producer is Kade Young.
Lil Bub is produced by Christine Brackenhoff and Stacy Bridavsky.
