Bloomington City Council sits in on storm cleanup update

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The City of Bloomington has submitted for federal grants to help with storm cleanup. Bloomington City Council sat in on a presentation of this grant submission on Monday.

Severe storms hit McLean County on Aug. 13, and the City of Bloomington is still working on getting the community back in shape.

“Our crews have done a fantastic job. I know there are still some things to get [and] some cleanup to do, and they will obviously get to that,” City Manager Jeff Jurgens said.

On Aug. 18, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker declared a disaster in McLean county, opening the door for Bloomington to apply for federal assistance.

According to Deputy City Manager Sue McLaughlin, $42.5 million in damages were submitted to the state.

McLaughlin submitted an estimated $1.6 million for a public assistance grant.

That estimate is currently climbing.

“They recognize that that is an estimate, and our cleanup is still continuing,” McLaughlin said.

As of Friday, McLaughlin estimated that an $482,000 had been spent in wages for public works employees.

Pritzker will have until Tuesday to submit that $1.6 million estimate to President Donald Trump.

“We did ask for public assistance for the cities and the counties, individual assistance for residences that submitted with those QR codes and small business loans for businesses that were hurt,” McLaughlin said. “We ask for all three. The president can pick and choose.”

According to Jurgens, over 2,300 loads of brush have been collected, and around 500 tons of bulk have been picked up over the past month.

Jurgens also mentioned at the Bloomington City Council meeting that the public hearings for data centers have been temporarily delayed to figure out location and date changes due to increased estimates of attendance.

“Because of the size we expect of the crowd, we do not believe this room is gonna be large enough, so we’re trying to hold those at the BCPA [​​Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts],” Jurgens said.

One hearing will take place in October and one in November.

The Bloomington City Council meets at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Mondays of each month.