(From left) Board of Public Works members Jane Kupersmith, Elizabeth Karon and Kyla Cox Deckard.
(Lucas González, WFIU/WTIU News)
The Bloomington Board of Public Works is not presenting a recommendation either way as to whether the city council should approve one of three purchase offers for the downtown police station.
Board members met Friday to consider three offers for sale but did not endorse any.
This means the council will still likely consider the offers at its next and final meeting of the year Dec. 13 — just without a board recommendation.
All three board members were present Friday, but Jane Kupersmith recused herself from the conversation.
“With my current appointment from our current mayor on the board of public works and my pending services as a staff member to the mayor-elect, I just feel like I can’t make a decision that’s unbiased,” Kupersmith said.
(From left) Board of Public Works members Jane Kupersmith, Elizabeth Karon and Kyla Cox Deckard. (Lucas González, WFIU/WTIU News)
All three included proposals for housing developments, but GMS-Pavilion’s — the one preferred by Griffin Realty — left some specifics open.
“They could do multifamily, but also condo development, also a hotel type of hybrid, if possible,” Ballard said. “We very much believe that offering something outside of multifamily (and) student housing gives a larger amount of benefits, potentially, to the City of Bloomington, businesses and various constituents.”
Tim Ballard (Courtesy of Community Access Television Services)
Board member Elizabeth Karon said she didn’t want to forward a recommendation to the council in part because of the lack of details on what that development would entail, if the city accepts the offer.
She also said she took issue with the fact that the city asked the board to consider a recommendation while the bidding period is still open. Bids for the police station are due Dec. 11.
“I would prefer to wait to vote on these offers until the bid is fully closed,” Karon said. “And I’m unclear about the expectations or decisions by the firm with offer number two … it feels to me not quite right to approve such an expensive purchase not knowing exactly what would be on that site.”
Elizabeth Karon (Courtesy of Community Access Television Services)
The potential sale has garnered new controversy lately because the property’s original owners say doing so would breach the terms of a property deed.
Several families sold the land to the city in the 1920s for the purpose of establishing a city park, later known as Third Street Park. It was renamed the Waldron, Hill and Buskirk Park in 2011.
The deed states if the city or any other entity that assumes ownership fails to maintain the land as a park, the property shall revert to the original owners’ heirs.
The city has said that it reviewed the deed restriction last year and determined it could sell the property for private use regardless. It has not explained the specifics of its argument, however.
Nat Hill IV, one of the original owners’ descendants, showed up for the meeting after it had already ended.
Hill said he meant to present a written statement to the board but did not show up in time to do so. He shared his statement with WFIU/WTIU News. It reads as follows:
“I know the original intent of the sale was clearly for the city to maintain a public park. Mayor Hamilton has admitted there is nothing in writing to indicate the heirs have ever given permission for the city to build anything that is not for park use in the Waldron, Hill and Buskirk Park.”
Nat Hill IV's letter to the board (Provided, Nat Hill IV)
Hill said he and other heirs have spoken with Mayor Hamilton, but both sides maintain their positions.
“It was given as a park; the intent was for it to be used by the public,” Hill told WFIU/WTIU News. “The intent was not to sell it as a cash cow.”
If the city council does not approve the station’s sale next week, that could throw a wrench in Hamilton's controversial plan to relocate the police headquarters into the west part of city hall.
That plan was made with the police station’s sale in mind, but the city has said it can come up with funds from other sources if necessary.
The local police union and some council members have long opposed the project over concerns about its safety, feasibility, and cost. The union has said the project’s exact cost is still unknown and wants to pause it until that concern, and others, are addressed.
Council members recently said the deed restriction was not shared with them before they voted to advance the project in January.
Either way, with less than a month left in the year, the clock is ticking for Hamilton’s administration.
Mayor-elect Thomson recently asked Hamilton for a pause on the project. However, she said the city should not abandon the project, as it has already made a significant investment.
She said she plans to find answers to its financial implications.
