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Ask The Mayor: Bloomington's Hamilton on e-bike vouchers, interlocal agreement, election

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Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton

Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton (Joe Hren, WFIU/WTIU News)

John Hamilton says a final draft of the interlocal agreement for the convention center expansion is now in front of city council for approval. The mayoral transition process is underway.

In this week’s installment of Ask The Mayor, Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton addresses these issues and more during a visit to city hall. Listen to the full conversation with Indiana Newsdesk anchor Joe Hren by clicking on the play button above, or read some of the questions and answers below. A portion of this segment airs 6:45 and 8:45 a.m. Wednesday on WFIU. Here are some highlights.

This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

Hren: We just completed the election and saw you were with Kerry Thomson as she officially becomes mayor-elect, what did you tell her and is the transition process underway?

Hamilton:  I just said look, Kerry, congratulations. And of course it wasn't a surprise. But it was a big night for Democrats here in Bloomington and said, you know, let's keep talking. We're working regularly with her on a transition and happy to sit down. She's entering a great job. The city's doing really well. I think it's going to be an exciting next four years for her and for the city.

We've been working with her for weeks and some of her staff and she's thinking about personnel matters, thinking about policy issues. There's still several weeks to go, but we're working closely with her and council too, there's you know, big turnover on city council as well. A majority of new members coming in. So try to make sure it's a smooth handoff.

Bloomington Mayor-Elect Kerry Thomson
Bloomington Mayor-Elect Kerry Thomson on Election Night (Ethan Sandweiss, WFIU/WTIU News)

Read more: Election - Indiana Public Media

Hren: I wanted to ask your reaction to the the Lower Cascades park possibly being nominated for historic status. Does that affect the proposal to turn part of old State Road 37 to a trail? 

Hamilton: It's a beautiful park. It's a historic park - turns 100 next year, I think - so I totally understand that part. It doesn't really affect the road decision. I've always felt that it's one of our treasures that sometimes I think people don't really think about it as a park destination. So I think next year, early next year, they'll probably be some more consideration of that. But in terms of whether it should stay a road or not, the next council will think about that.

I think the next step will probably be some additional study and review of that - looking at the different costs. As you and I have talked about Joe, if you keep that road, then it's a multimillion dollar prospect to put a trail in there, probably 3 million or more to put a trail which we need for connectivity. So it's in a way, it's a financial decision.

A photo looking south on Old State Road 37 near the playground in Lower Cascades Park in Bloomington.
Cascades Park on Bloomington's north side (WFIU/WTIU News)

Hren: We've been covering the newly formed county Capital Improvement Board meetings, they have full membership now as they're moving along. They're still waiting on the interlocal agreement. A month ago, you said it's coming. So where are we right now?

Read more: Hamilton says Sister Cities trip promoted peace, cost $12,000

Hamilton: So we've been working on the convention center for seven years, we probably have been working on the local for about seven months. And very shortly, depending on when this is broadcast, Joe, I think you'll see that we're ready to move forward with the interlocal. There's a draft that's in front of city council, it has to be endorsed by four different entities, the mayor, city council, county commissioners and county council. So that process is going to begin immediately.

I think it does meet the objectives, which I wanted to be sure, which was that we have a way to have an efficient process transparent, but not overwhelmingly cumbersome to produce a great result for downtown. And I think we're positioned to do that.

The key thing is it basically lines the CIB up to build the new convention center in the years ahead. And to do that in strict and strong coordination with City Council, which has the funding. It won't ask the CIB to get involved in managing the convention center. Now it won't ask the county to be involved in financing it and it kind of keeps everybody in their lane for the next several years. 

Read more: Bloomington offering residents up to $1,000 to purchase e-bikes

Hren: We reported on the new program offering residents up to $1,000 to purchase e-bikes, but why not pedal bikes?

Hamilton: A good question, I don't know the detail, Joe. And there may be some support for pedal bikes, too. But I think the evidence is that getting people to an electric bike can significantly increase their use of that bike and decrease the use of a car. We do significant subsidies for people with bikes, whether they're electric or not for our employees. And we certainly encourage employers to do that. But this is a specific program that's funding the use of these electric bikes to reduce vehicle miles traveled in Bloomington.

Trek Crossrip+ electric bike
The vouchers can be used at Revolution Bike and Bean or The Bicycle Garage. (Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious, Flickr)

Hren: Amy emails in. And her question is, why are so many people drowning in Lake Monroe?

Hamilton: Well, I don't know the data Joe. Whether it's toddlers in pools or people in lakes, of course, we don't have jurisdiction over the lake, I will say, often one sees connections between alcohol and being out on the water, which are not great things to mix together. I'll encourage people to keep being safe and work with the Department of Natural Resources which oversees the operations there. But we sure want everybody to stay safe.

Hren: Any quick updates before we go?

Hamilton: The fiber keeps getting installed. We're very excited about that. As it comes through your neighborhood, sometimes it's a little disruptive. It's like putting in electric wires all across the city. And then, just a couple of weeks ago, we did celebrate the CDFI friendly Bloomington, that was a new thing where we're welcoming community development financial institutions CDFIs to Bloomington and we celebrate $25 million of new funding that came in totaling up to private $60 million almost, nine new CDFIs, 35 projects I think, that's really helped build more affordable housing, support more environmental investments and that kind of thing. So again, it's just good investment that we like to see this momentum in Bloomington. And I'm looking forward to passing the reins off for that momentum to continue.

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