By: Diane Benjamin
The local soccer people have known since at least 2013 they have to leave the airport soccer fields. Has anybody bothered to ask the FAA why the kids could still play on the fields for 5 years after they demanded they vacate because it’s too dangerous? Your government at work protecting the kids!
Anyway, at the Bloomington City Council meeting last night two people appeared pleading for government to do something!
For more than three years the soccer people have been begging government to fund a new complex instead of raising the money themselves. In August of 2013 they demanded a 1/4% Sales Tax increase to fund it. Time runs out in 2017. Keep in mind the Pony League fields were built with private money.
The soccer plan involved a Community Center, a Soccer Complex, and upgrades to the Boys and Girls Club plus Link Center. Total project cost was $32,000,000.
Note: Bloomington is considering a Community Center and an Aquatics Park, both were mentioned again last night.
Meanwhile, maintenance of City facilities has been deferred for YEARS and has now resulted in huge amounts of money needed to fix or replace existing buildings. This slide was presented last night:
The City is currently spending 40% of the $12.2 million and, according to the presentation, the total will only keep facilities from getting worse – not totally fix them.
Every department has been parading before the Council presenting their wish list. This is just the latest one. What’s the total for the 5 year plan?
http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=10821
Yep, plenty of money left over for soccer fields, a community center, and an aquatics park.
Just hit play to hear the soccer folks:
Now for the redistribution of your wealth:
Fast forward to 28:30. Alderman Buragas is thrilled to hand out tax breaks! Somehow she doesn’t see the rich and well-connected demanding your money as a problem.
Kroger and Sam Leman are expanding because of incentives. Both projects are rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Will more groceries be sold? Will more cars be sold?
Yes at both locations, but somebody else will be selling less of both. Finite demand is way over the Council’s head!
Progress!
Government’s job must be to put older retailers out of business so everything stays shiny and new! The council vote was 9-0 on both handouts.
Jewel on College will be next, then Leman’s Ford dealership isn’t looking so shiny. Unless the Council is flipped, their version of economic development and the tax increases to fund it will continue.
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So who do we flip it to? I don’t know anything about what some of the new candidates stand for.
After the holidays you will hear more.
Those soccer people have got to be kidding!! There are combined sewers that flood people’s basement with fecal material when there is a “heavy” rain. Repairing that is a much higher priory and a real need. But let’s pull on people’s heart strings because the soccer field is for the children. It would be of greater value to update O’Neil park and pool for the benefit of a majority as is suggested by the P&R department.
We as a community need to come together and work to get the FAA to allow the fields to remain. With the change in the executive branch, perhaps our congressman and leaders can get an exception for us.
That’s a great idea – the fields aren’t in use that much of the time!