June 16, 2024: In the evening the homeless camp on the Rail Trail north of Gordon Pike smelled as if it was burning trash. The smoke was heavy in the area and smelled like burning trash. The City should not be allowing the homeless to openly burn trash on property that is owned by the City along the Rail Trail. This needs to be shut down immediately as it is hazardous to the health of everyone in the are.
The homeless camp along the Rail Trail north of Gordon Pike is burning trash on the evening of June 18, 2024, after 10pm. The smell is very strong in the surrounding area. The City needs to put a stop to this activity immediately as it is occurring illegally on City owned property. The city is allowing the homeless to openly burn on City property, which is ridiculous.
This was reported as a fire hazard, and also being reported as a trails issue to keep the parks dept updated on the activity along the Rail Trail. Large fire at 10:10pm on June 19, 2024, in the woods along the Rail Trail. The homeless camp on City-owned property (according to the GIS) is burning a large, open fire this evening. This is on the Rail Trail north of Gordon Pike maybe 0.3 to 0.4 miles, east and south of the Terrace Drive area. This is a significant hazard to the City property and neighboring private property. The fires need to stop and the camps need to be cleared out immediately before the homeless burn acres of woods, fences, sheds, houses, trailers -- anything in the vicinity could go up in flames soon.
Homeless encampment off B line trail.
I am the President of the Board of Trustees at Unity of Bloomington. Our parking lot is partially owned by us, and partially City property as the B-Line runs behind our building on S. Rogers & Gordon Pk. (We currently maintain the entire parking lot vis-a-vis snow removal etc.) Recent changes, especially in Switchyard Park, have precipitated a migration of unhoused persons south on the B-Line trail. The UoB parking lot has become a stop-over for derelict vehicles and we're experiencing a significant increase in loitering and trash. The Board of Trustees recognizes that this is an important ministry opportunity, and we are engaged in prayerful consideration of reasonable steps forward. In the meantime, we host a nursery school in our facility and safety is an ongoing concern. My current request is this: 1. Could we receive help from the City to secure a larger trash barrel than the small trail-sized container currently in place near our parking lot (and would it be up to us or the City to tend it)? 2. Could the City help by providing a cigarette butt receptacle for our parking lot? (My husband and I collected more than 100 cigarette butts from the Unity parking lot before services last Sunday) 3. Are there any other recommendations or resources the City might provide in a situation such as this? Thank you for any advice and assistance you can provide, Joanie Spain UoB Board President
Someone has been camping in the woods east of the rail trail behind my house for the past week. They have multiple dogs and have been running a generator.
On Saturday, June 25, 2022, around 6:38pm I was heading from the Showers parking lot to the B-Line Trail heading towards Rogers St. As I am heading down the trail I noticed a guy (tall about 5'10"-6'2", muscular, tan skin, dark shirt, bald head) standing next to a bike up ahead and he kind of moved just enough for me to see he had like a really firm stance. He was talking on a phone in a foreign language. and watching me closely. I stopped. Looked behind me to see if anyone else was walking nearby. A few ladies on bikes zoomed past but other than that it's just me and the dude standing there. He whistled twice pretty loud and just stood there facing me. Not wanting to turn around and walk back because I'm unsure of where to go or what to do, I didn't want to just walk past him, I'm scared. Like I can just feel it is a bad situation. I used a smart watch to call a friend and told her my location and asked her to stay on the phone. That way she knows where I'm at and is listening as I continue walking down the trail towards Rogers St.. As I pass the guy he is like standing arms folded and intensly watching my every move and still talking on the phone in the foreign language. As I continued walking I looked back a few times. It felt like he was following me but far enough back to look like he was still stopped. I could feel he was following me though. So I get up to Rogers St and cross the road and immediately notice a guy on the trail just a bit further down. He too is standing next to a bike and talking on the phone in a foreign language. He had on a striped tank top which was white with small horizontal stripes. He waved towards my direction/the trail across Rogers St.. I glance back and see the first guy nod his head. The second guy is now slowly walking towards me. I at this point am turning and walking the sidewalk going up Rogers St.. Once I started walking up the sidewalk neither of the individuals followed. The second guy did stand by the B-Line trail and the sidewalk a few minutes watching me. This event truly shook me up and has caused me to have a panyattack upon getting inside my apartment at B-Line heights. I did not contact the police because of previous incidents being casually "humored" but nothing be done because there was no true harm or attack that took place. I figured that this would be treated with the same disregard and I didn't want to waste their time. However there needs to be more surveillance on this part of the trail I believe. With the greenery being abundant and the buildings through that section of the B-Line Trail it feels fairly seculded and isolated. I feel if it was move visible it might have discouraged the above event from happening.
Fallen tree Rogers street just north of Ellington stables
The pavement on the B-Line Trail is buckled in several places, especially between 2d & 3d Sts. I thought this would be corrected when warm weather came, but it's now 95 degrees and it hasn't been fixed. Someone needs to flatten the bumps. It would be easy on a day like this.
On the North loop side of the lake, there are those steps going up to the dam from what used to be the old dog park. Yesterday I nearly fell when I stepped on a loose step, the fourth one down from the top. The nails are barely in and the wood can tip out of place as you step on it.