City Council discusses graffiti, YMCA scholarships, possible historic district

The Bloomington City Council had a full agenda Wednesday night as council members discussed initiatives to remove unsightly graffiti, eliminate unused YMCA scholarships and establish a historic neighborhood district.

The Council voted to progress an initiative establishing a conservation district that would encompass most of the residential houses located southwest of Memorial Stadium.

The Garden Hill district, if approved, could become the third historic district in Bloomington that the Council has designated since 2001.

If conservation status is approved, property owners must seek a certificate of approval from the Historic Preservation Commission in order to: move a building, demolish a building or construct new principal or accessory buildings which are visible to the public.

The council also voted on several other measures.

A graffiti removal pilot project, which allocates $18,300 towards removing graffiti from private property in the downtown area, passed in a second reading Wednesday night.

The program calls for a two-person crew to remove graffiti having sought the necessary waivers from business and property owners.

Bloomington Director of Public Works Susie Johnson, who requested the creation of the pilot program, stated that its goal is to expedite the process of removing graffiti from the downtown area.

Councilman Chris Sturbaum concurred saying that graffiti is a “community problem and it requires a community solution.”

Although city council members seemed receptive to the idea of the pilot program, one Bloomington individual who volunteers at a property off of Kirkwood expressed hesitation in joining the program.  

Taylor Dean, a collective member of Boxcar Books and Community Center Inc., said that although she cannot recall incidents of graffiti on their property, she said she suggested that neither she nor the members of Boxcar would support opting into a program.

“I am a supporter of public art making and the rest of the folks that I know in the group are as well,” Dean said. “As a collective member, I would not be for Boxcar Books opting into the program.”

The Council also voted in favor of progressing an initiative to allocate nearly $6,525 unspent by the YMCA for the Housing and Neighborhood Development (HAND) fund.

In a memo sent to the City Council, Lisa Abbott, director of HAND, requested that the Council reappropriate the unspent monies.

The scholarship program  assisted low-income persons afflicted with diabetes but did not receive as many participants as expected.