The Point of the Meeting:
On the 23rd of March, the Council of Bloomington met for a town hall meeting with respect to the historical preservation of some parts of the city. The point of the meeting was to talk about many things around Bloomington city that had to be addressed with regard to meeting all the historical requirements and keeping the city guidelines in check. Since Bloomington is not only a college town but a well-respected city in Indiana, there are people that do not want many things to change and too many minor changes is a major change. This being said, the purpose of this meeting was to finely comb through each of these issues and requests and approve or deny them.
Who was there?
The main people that held the meeting were Marliegh Newman, Daniel Slayble, Jack Saunders, Elizabeth Mitchell, and Bernard Cross. All names were the crucial stakeholders and regulators in the historic preservation society and all seemed to play a role in the discussion. Although not stated, all individuals seemed very well educated and qualified for their roles and the meeting was very smooth due to their professionalism in the discussed topics. There were also some petitioners and extraneous people such as myself attending the meeting to either defend their case or just listen in.
Topics Discussed:
The first thing talked about was COAs (certificates of approvals), which started with petitioner Kelley Easton on behalf of Ciao Bella and their temporary sign. The Ciao Bella sign as we know it is black and white and was considered “not fitting for the area”, the staff denied the temporary sign and a requested resubmittal. The general census was that the sign does not fit the fenestration and that the pattern should go better with the sizing and space that it is in. The second thing discusses was a homeowner, Jenn Scott wanting to replace the windows in the front of her house. The five windows were standard 2 by 2s and were sought to be restored because of time and warping. The committee approved of this change and accepted that if the windows can be replaced or refurbished in a similar manner, Jenn should do so with the same window design and materials. The next petitioner was asking for a complete revamp of their house including new doors, an asphalt driveway, and an extension in the back of the house. Blueprints were shown and a layout was shown, however, the committee and sub-committee declined the current request and asked that a more current and realistic blueprint be shown of “what will actually be built”. The petitioner was able to get on the zoom call and rebuttal but it stood that the drawing was insufficient. Up to bat was another petitioner who only asked to make changes to the rear and side doors of their house. This was almost immediately accepted because of the fact that there was no visual change if standing on the street and that not much else would change besides materials and color possibilities. One of the biggest things of the meeting was two native tribes of Bloomington talking about the boundaries and it was very important that every single person have a say. I saw the demeanor change because instead of talking about house replacements and furnishings, a whole group of people was the talk and nobody wanted to step on toes, as it should be. A “106” was spoken of which was a federal licensing instead of a local procedure. An example of this was brought up when the owner of Johnson Creamery wanted to put a telecommunications satellite on the top of his smoke stack and lease it. In these rare cases, a surveyor needs to come and this was something that was elevated to the next level. One of the last cases looked at was bio-retention ponds and the main thing discussed was the slight possibility of archeological artifacts, goods, or others found. The main speaker, Gloria, was just speaking on the current lay of the land and what is up next to keep everyone informed.
Concernes and Potntial Solutions
There were many solutions discussed on the spot as new cases came on screen because it was the most efficient way of dealing with each aspect of Bloomington. It seems as though deliberation ensued as soon as each case was being discussed and almost every time, there was a new idea for how to fix a problem or a solution to an ongoing problem. The only concern that was brought up in the entirety of the meeting was from the main presenter Gloria, who discussed the concern of petitioners withdrawing their requests at the last minute and having the hassle of going through all the stages of requests for nothing. I believe that if I were to automate this system, it would be more of a blog post like we have here. There would still be a name and date associated with every comment but it would make it easier for the people who could not be there to make suggestions and have input. I understand that deliberation is healthy and probably more just, however, I realized that the age group all consists of similar demographics. I also believe that there were some parts of the meeting that I did not agree with. I understand that there are rules for keeping Bloomington as wholehearted and genuine as possible, but I could not help but feel bad for the homeowner that cannot do what he or she wants because of a 75-year-old rule that should not apply anymore. I believe that zoom is the first step to solving this issue, but I think if there were a platform for people to share their current dilemmas and then have either a voting or commenting system, the committee would be able to use more realistic data to make a decision. I also saw that only some people would only speak at certain times. This was shown when the two men silver-haired gentlemen were speaking of the floor plans of each house. I was able to deduce that they were each more into the realm of construction and architecture than the others, but I believe to have a symbiotic relationship with the city you live in, you should respect your neighbor and get multiple opinions. For example, I would not have cared personally if the windows were to change on a random house on the outskirts of campus. Maybe others would, but the committee only consists of seven people at the time so the world may never know.
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