Bloomington City Council Meeting - August 3, 2026: Nine Mile Creek Contracts Approved, Bloomshire Village Townhomes Continued
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Bloomington City Council Meeting - August 3, 2026
The Bloomington City Council met on Monday, August 3, 2026, to address a proclamation for National Night Out, a resolution denying a petition for an environmental assessment worksheet (EAW) for the Nine Mile Creek Corridor Renewal Project, a public comment period on the project, and a public hearing on the Bloomshire Village Townhomes rezoning and development. The meeting featured extensive public participation and debate on ecological restoration and housing density. The council voted to award two major contracts for the Nine Mile Creek project and continued the townhome proposal to allow exploration of alternative designs.
Consent Calendar
- Items 3.1–3.8, 3.10, 3.12–3.21 were approved unanimously (5-0, with Councilmember Carter absent).
- Items 3.9 and 3.11 were held over to the August 31, 2026 meeting on a motion by Councilmember Dalessandro (5-0), as they contain schedule updates requiring further review.
Public Comments & Testimony
- National Night Out Proclamation (Item 2.1): Mayor Bussey read a proclamation declaring August 4, 2026 as National Night Out. Police Chief Hodges urged community participation.
- Resolution Denying EAW Petition (Item 2.2): Derek from SEH explained that the original EAW process was sufficient and the petition raised no new material issues. Councilmember Dalessandro confirmed that outstanding permits (historic preservation, endangered species) had been addressed. Councilmember Revaz asked about communicating design changes to the public.
- Nine Mile Creek Corridor Renewal Project (Item 2.3): The council heard 30 speakers during the public comment period. Positions included:
- Supporters (approx. 16): Emphasized the ecological benefits of oak savanna restoration, the necessity of removing invasive species, and the long-term legacy. Speakers included Dr. Gretchen Buchanan, Ben Bullard, Paul Coate, Matthew Hallett, Dan Jolik, Jamie Anthony, Sonia Walters, Natalie Rooney, Alex Brose, Suzanne Zatiskow, Trevor Jackson, David Owen, Cody Sweet, Megan Lundquist, Jill Crafton, and Ted Kramer.
- Opponents (approx. 12): Raised concerns about the scale of tree removal (citing “60 acres of clear-cutting,” later clarified to 5–6 acres for infrastructure), loss of shade and canopy, insufficient public transparency regarding the oak savanna conversion, and potential negative impacts on wildlife and climate. Speakers included Mark Mercer, Jonathan Minx, Connie Anderson, Robert Frischman, Eloise Jaskin, Tom Walter, Jane Freeman, Brian Hoffman, Susan Baker, Vicky Hewson, Brian Savig, and Leslie Swenson. Many urged delaying the contract to allow more community dialogue.
- Bloomshire Village Townhomes (Item 4.1): Six residents spoke in opposition, arguing the 33-unit, three-story townhomes are incompatible with the surrounding single-story, single-family neighborhood. Concerns included loss of affordable housing (six homes replaced by three affordable units), increased traffic, stormwater runoff, lack of play space for children, and inadequate notification. Speakers were Connie Rivard, Lana Fredin, Roger Rivard, Brian Savig, Benita Welch, and one additional resident.
Discussion Items
- Item 2.2 – EAW Petition Denial: Councilmember Rivas expressed concern that changes during project development were not adequately communicated to the public. Staff acknowledged some refinement but maintained that all required topics were addressed. The council approved the resolution 5-1 (Rivas opposed).
- Item 2.3 – Contract Awards for Nine Mile Creek: Following public comment, staff presented:
- Corridor Renewal Project (contract to Veit & Company, $11.6M): Includes trail paving, bridge replacements, creek remeander, and bank stabilization.
- Lower Valley Management Plan (contract to Resource Environmental Solutions, $4.1M): Five-year plan for invasive species removal, oak savanna restoration, and prairie enhancement.
- Derek from SEH clarified that
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone, and welcome. Good evening. I will call our Bloomington City Council meeting to order. Tonight is Monday, August 3rd, 2026. Thank you to everybody who is joining us here in the chambers this evening. Thanks to everybody who's watching online. We will begin our meeting as we always do. If you are able, please rise, move any remove any head covering and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Once again, welcome and thanks to everybody who is here. I know we've got a lot of folks here. I do want to remind everybody we do have the screens on out in the uh in the uh entryway, and we can turn the volume up if folks want to uh stand out there or sit out there and watch as well. Uh we have counsel, our first order of business this evening is the agenda. Uh on our agenda this evening under introductory items, we have three items. We have a proclamation for the 2026 national night out, which is tomorrow evening. Item 2.2 is a resolution uh denying a petition for an environmental assessment worksheet. And item 2.3 is our public comment period, which I think most folks are here for. This is regarding the Nine Mile Creek Corridor Renewal Project and the Nine Mile Creek Lower Valley Management Plan Project Contracts. Item three on consent business, we've got 21 items on the consent agenda tonight. Councilmember Nelson has consent. Uh item four is our hearings and resolutions, and we have one public hearing this evening. This is a public hearing regarding the Bloomshire village townhomes. And we will wrap up with our council policy and issue update. Council, anything to add or any corrections for tonight's agenda. Councilmember Nelson. Yeah, thank you, Mayor. Just very quickly, would it make any sense to do 2.2 after 2.3 after we heard from people on Nine Mile, in case there are any environmental things that come up during those conversations? Uh I think uh we this uh item 2.2 is was more of a legal presentation or a legal consideration, so I think I'm comfortable uh just based on what we've heard from our legal staff and from our environmental uh consulting staff that uh that there is the sufficiency of uh what we have in place now. Okay. Anything else, council? If not, I would move the agenda as stated. Second. Motion and a second by councilmember Loman to accept tonight's agenda as stated. No further council discussion on this. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed. Motion carries 6-0. We have an agenda, and it's uh also just noting that Councilmember Carter is not with us this evening, so we have a 6-0 vote tonight. I do want to say also, given the agenda as we're looking at it right now, item 4.1, our public hearing regarding the Bloomshire village townhomes, uh, it's going to be at least 90 minutes is my guess. Uh maybe pushing two hours. So if you are here for that, settle in, or uh uh you can even step out and uh join us as we get back down to that. So just wanted to let you know. First item on our agenda, Council is our national night out proclamation, and I will head down to the podium. As I mentioned, uh tomorrow night is national night out here in Bloomington and across the country, and we do an annual proclamation, and we also do about 250 parties across the city, and it's uh one of the more uh entertaining and enjoyable nights of the uh of the summer. It really is a lot of fun and brings neighborhoods together in ways that uh few things do within the city here. So uh it's a wonderful event, and our proclamation reads National Night Out, Tuesday, August 4th, 2026. Whereas the National Association of Town Watch is sponsoring a unique nationwide crime and drug prevention program on August 4th, 2026, called National Night Out.
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