Case Date:

4/20/2020

Seminary Park -- need I say more? I work at the Post Office right beside this park. I have worked at this location since the Post Office took over the old Ponderosa. Daily when I get to work at 7:15 until when I leave around 5:00 pm there is a steady stream of people who are using this park as a shanti (I know the parks dept. along with the police dept. know all about the issues and the police even know most of them by name). I first submitted my complaint in May 2013 and have all copies of my correspondence --along with Mick Renneisen's responses. There are regularly large groups of people going back & forth to Big Red Liquors and taking their booze back to the park to drink openly all day long. There is filthy language, shouting cuss words, fighting, loud boom-box music that we can hear inside the Post Office, stumbling through our parking lot, leaving trash everywhere in the park and through our parking lot, they hang a hammock, (twice this month), last week they hung a large green tarp (it was raining), and cars coming and going all day long. Those cars park in our parking lot (that entire lot is leased by the Post Office--it IS NOT for Seminary Park and they should not be using it) mainly at the northwest end. As these cars come to park people come from all through the park to come up to the window of the car and surround it doing, well, you can guess at that! Then, they go back to the park and the car leaves, only to come back later in the day with, again, people flocking to surround the car. I have come to work on a morning after one of their big parties and there is trash everywhere. You know this because you send your employees several times/week to clean up after them--sometimes more than once/day. Is the cost to clean up that park made public? A couple of years ago there was "supposedly" a camera installed on the pole at the northwest corner of the Post Office parking lot that you were to use to monitor this park. Obviously that is not happening. When I 1st submitted a complaint and Mick Renneison responded I had witnessed a man urinating on a tree--around 1:30 in the afternoon as I was stuck trying to get out of our lot on my lunch break on a busy day. You could not miss this man as he was stumbling while holding his privates to try to pee. Mick's response was that the only time anything could be done is if skin showed! There's no doubt I saw skin! Just last week it happened again and I witnessed it, and so have my co-workers and customers who visit our business. In May 2013 a question I asked was about loitering in public parks and Mick's response was that it's hard to determine if someone is loitering in a park, or just enjoying it. Please!! When they set up camp before I get to work at 7:15 and stay all day drinking--seems like loitering to me. What will it take to clean up this park? I work right beside this park and cannot enjoy a lunch outside there. What about the rights of the citizens who work within a couple of blocks of this park and wish to walk there for their lunch? I am having to call the police frequently on issues involving that park. With the current COVID-19 issue it does not appear that Blgtn. Parks and Rec is enforcing any of the social distancing rules--except to put up signs in the park! Obviously that isn't working. When I left work tonight I counted 5 cars and 2 trucks (and a tan Lincoln SUV that is there every day!) -- all parked at that northwest corner with one truck parked sideways--not in a parking spot. There were large crowds all over this park along with crowds surrounding the parked vehicles. There was about maybe 1 week early in the COVID-19 stay-at-home and social distancing rules that we observed police coming through the park to spread people out of their crowds. Now just signs that they ignore--or take up completely. This park is at a major north/south and east/west intersection. This is not a pretty picture for the mayor who wants to tout Bloomington as a beautiful city. This is not a beautiful sight and something we should be ashamed of when we have out-of-town visitors driving by that spot. It seems to me that that crowd of people KNOW that nothing will be done to them.

Case Date:

6/3/2019

Hi, First, thank you for removing the leaves from Park Ridge Park, the excellent park in the Park Ridge neighborhood, in April. Now, it seems like it is in need of a little bit of post-winter care. The areas where the leaves laid overwinter have become bare (see the picture). This is a spot that the Parks Department has worked hard trying to recover before and I suppose it is time work on it again. There are also other bare spots in the park where leaves had laid over winter (by the shelter - to the east) and for some unknown reason to the south of the swings. Could these areas please be addressed with grass seed and straw to make sure that park stays maintainable, that the structures don't end being compromised by erosion, and to make the park less of a mess after a rain? Also, the mulch covering the area underneath the playground structure may need refilled, in particular underneath the swings. Finally, is there a regular schedule under which these aspects of the park(s) get addressed? I am sure there are priorities and limited resources. We do not want to bother the department - if we knew that this maintenance would be done (based on a known schedule), then we would only have the thank yous to include instead of a thank you and a request. Thanks again.

Case Date:

11/21/2021

One of the fence posts along the Polly Grimshaw Trail has become loose at the bottom. The post is noticeably wobbly as is the fencing in that area. My guess is that the post rotted out approximately where it goes underground and needs replaced. Please address this issue now so that the fence doesn't fall down in this area.

Case Date:

7/13/2022

Hello, I work for a local property manager, Mackie Properties. Our company manages a homeowners association called Madison Park located north of W Howe St, in between S Madison St and S Morton St. I was recently informed that the plants along a section of the B-line just east of Madison Park are becoming overgrown and would benefit from being trimmed. I've included photos of the relevant area, as well as a map of the area outlining the overgrown section with a red rectangle. Would it be possible for the City to trim up this area before the overgrowth gets too big? Thank you very much for your time, and please contact our office with any questions or updates.

Case Date:

8/30/2016

BBQ not bolted to post well. Swivels when you open the lid.

Case Date:

11/17/2022

Hi, It seems there maybe miscommunication within the chain of command or not a 100% buy-in to "best practice" or a little of both. Report #181846 described a problem and its location. Unfortunately the problem has not been addressed in any way. However, it does look as though some one came through with a leaf blower and cleared the cypress leaves that had covered the trail further up towards Southeast park, next to tennis court entrance and wood post. I do very much appreciate that as the the pavement is very bumpy there in the corner and can cause loss of control of bike or scooter as well as trip walkers. I don't have construction experience but have used a shovel in the yard and that is probably all it would take. Just a shovel and one person to remove some soil blocking the current grade from working properly. If that isn't the solution how about adding a thin layer of pavement so runoff goes the other direction. I believe this was done on Renwick trail, there are patches of pavement here and there. Thanks for your help with this.

Case Date:

2/2/2020

There is a set of two squares of sidewalk that need fixed outside of the atlas at 3rd and college. I fell there and shattered my knee two years ago. I filed with the safety office. It still isn’t fixed. Please do something with it so no one else gets hurt there.

Case Date:

5/10/2019

When making a right turn into Winslow Sports Complex from South Highland Avenue, there is a large fir tree right on the corner. This tree blocks any view of pedestrians or bikers on the sidewalk directly behind the tree. This is a problem mainly for turning right rather than turning left into the area. I have personally had several incidents where we are turning into the area from the road and have had to stop unexpectedly to allow pedestrians to walk by. Although there is a small "caution" sign post there, it seems inadequate and unsafe regardless. My proposal is to cut down this large fir tree in order to create a safer environment for both drivers and pedestrians at this well-frequented corner.

Case Date:

6/22/2020

Hello! I am a representative of the Bloomington Highlands HOA, and it has been a concern of many neighbors in our neighborhood that people are parking along our streets to access the Clear Creek trail. It is especially problematic at the entrance to our neighborhood along W. Hennessey St. and up S. McDougal St. Could Parks and Rec post signage along the trail and within our neighborhood explaining that parking is permitted at the trail entrance and not within our neighborhood? Thank you for any assistance you can provide. Kind regards - Anna Bragin; Member At Large; Bloomington Highlands HOA

Case Date:

7/22/2019

We are the 1556 S. Andrew Circle, Bloomington residents. This dead tree belongs to the City and it happened to be located right in front of our house. It really hurts our neighborhood’s green environment. We are encouraged to notify the City in order to remove or replace this Dead Tree ASAP. We tried several calls within the last three weeks, but no one really knows where we need to report. Finally we were asked to contact Mr. LEE from your forest department. But He neither answer our phone call nor response to our messages. We are very upset with Lee’s irresponsible attitude. If this is not his responsibility, he needs to call us and let us know who will be the right person to call. His ignorance to residents’s request is not acceptable. We are forced to write this email and hope City will pay attention to it. There is no too small things can be ignored if City really takes its responsibility. Hope to hear from you soon. Otherwise, we have to contact Mayor’s office to get City’s attention. Thank you. Ning 415/3191619. Or nn8us@yahoo.com.