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.
Please clear all of the homeless camps along the Bloomington Rail Trail. They are living along the trail on City owned property and it is making the trail less safe for everyone who uses the trail system. Please clear all of this illegal activity out before it becomes a bigger hazard like it has done in many other areas of the City. A secluded, wooded trail area is not the proper place to allow this congregation of a community that is known to have murders, thefts, fires, drug use, and other issues in various other camps the City and County have shut down. Take this seriously and clean up the trails for the residents of Bloomington be safely enjoy.
In response to uReport 187125: The response from the City said, "the majority of these issues are taking place on private property." Based on the location of the camps I was referring to, just north of Gordon Pike and to the east of the Rail Trail and east of the parallel gravel road, these are located on City-owned property. An image from the GIS showing the property owners of record for the parcels and the general area of the camps is attached. The City need not work with any private landowners to clean this up. It is City property being used to make the trail unsafe for everyone. Clear this activity out so it can make the secluded, wooded trail safer for all users. Thanks.
Washout worse then it looks from photo
I live off of Thornton Dr and walk the B-Link trail to Switchyard Park daily. I have been observing a Cooper's hawk and two chicks in a nest for several weeks now, and was dismayed to see the city doing tree work over the last few days. They seem to have missed the tree with the hawks in it, but I would like to know 1) what environmental assessments were undertaken prior to conducting the tree work and 2) why the decision was made to remove branches now, during the nesting season, rather than in the fall or winter when most birds are not actively nesting. The disturbance from neighboring trees and noise could have been enough to make the birds abandon the nest out of fear for their safety, and they have lost significant protection from neighboring trees.