Indiana Newsdesk's Joe Hren sat down with Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan who answers your questions and talks about whether the proposed developments on Kirkwood Avenue fit into the city's size, scope and use of the area. Kruzan also reacts to the city's G.E. plant being bought out by another company and what it could mean for those jobs.
Listen to their full conversation above. Here are some highlights:
Hren: Plans are starting to come together for developments on Kirkwood Avenue, which some will say is the 'face' of Bloomington. Right now, a hotel, mixed use buildings and a parking garage are on the table, how do you think this fits in to the character of that area?
Kruzan: I've objected to quite a bit of the proposals due to size, scope and use. We're very excited about the prospect of a bank headquarters being located downtown. I favor the hotel, but I think it's what is in the hotel. Is it a big chain restaurant that's taking up the entire first floor, is it seven stories tall - it's not just if we're for or against, it's what we're for.
Hren: City Council approved the Parks Board to hire a sharpshooter to reduce the deer population at Griffy Lake next month by a hundred, but recently the Humane Society is researching ways to do so without killing the deer. What direction is the city headed on this?
Kruzan: I don't know what the number will be, I don't know they know what the number will be in part because no census was ever done out there as strange as that sounds. So that's a big question and that's part of the friction point here is for some of us, how can you measure success if you don't know how many there are. So let's say you take a hundred, are you taking a hundred from a 150 or from 300 or 500.
Hren: Kaye from WFIU's Facebook wanted to know if the city has thought about decreasing the hours of parking meters so they end at 5 or 6 p.m.
Kruzan: Yes, we are looking at a reduction of hours, but no it's not 5 or 6. Right now it's 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. and that was done intentionally to try to keep people from warehousing their cars downtown. So trying to keep that balance and turnover in there. So I think you'll initially see a proposal 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., or maybe a 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., I don't think it'll go earlier than 8.
