By: Diane Benjamin
http://www.normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3156
Explanation needed:
Understand now why the Chamber endorses who they endorse?
More employee benefits at your expense::
Rivian!
Is the first floor still empty? Did anybody report how many bikes are actually used? 
Consult on what?
Does anybody else pay dues? Ever see a report? Remember Bloomington’s Downtown Association that dissolved?
Paying people to build, more on the agenda for Monday!
Also on the agenda:
A new sorority house will be approved.
Concept drawings of the last Uptown building start on page 60. The fourth and fifth floors will be more apartments. Of course Bush development is getting paid to build the building with TIF money. It looks like Normal was going to keep $270,000 to cover their expenses, but now Bush will get it. Bush will also get up to $250,000 in food and beverage taxes if they can get a tenant. The building across the circle still doesn’t have one.
Finally,
the Town may or may not preserve the mural:
I will let Marc Tiritilli explain:
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Save the mural for $56-81K? Seriously??? Pay a couple of art students a couple grand to duplicate it on another building. Geesh! It’s not like it’s an original Van Gogh or something,
I think this is the defining moment Marc Tiritilli wins the next mayoral race.
I’m glad I live in Bloomington????
Don’t celebrate yet.
Oh that I could live another 40 years both cities debt will be erased the Bloomington collesium paid for and the prices for admission and refreshments would be so low that the average working person can afford to take their family to the events. My current taxes will be halved because there will be so much tax revenue being generated by all the business growth coming to both cities . Well at least my children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy the good life that is coming. Oh, did I mention that I currently have a bridge for sale cheap!
How many Hundreds of years old is the Mural? Did Lincoln paint part of it?
Marc Tiritilli appears to be a shining star of logic and sanity, as opposed to the Normal government’s constellation of clueless elites and crony capitalists who will not be happy until they have destroyed everything about the old downtown Normal and replaced it with their upscale abominations.
That’s ART? Th eBill Graham Fillmore posters of the 60′ and 70’s WERE art! This is paint scat on a wall, and ZAGSTER gets $80K for a bicycle service? They BETTER ride me there also for that price. Even at $10 a ride that means 8,000 people needed a ride! WHY that’s more then connect transit. WHERE are all these people? Are they leaving Illinois and NOT returning the bicycles?
Yes it looks like GANGSTER is stuffing a lot of hard earned taxpayer money into their pocket for absolutely nothing. Who uses these bikes? Total insanity brought to you by Mayor Koos and his crazy elite bike Nazi posse.
MAYBE this is HOW Koos makes a living! He “rents’ bicycles to the UPTOWN crowd at inflated prices, and writes them off in the shop that he “supposedly” runs. I’d like to see the numbers on his shop, as IF he runs his shop like he runs UPTOWN, it IS NOT making a profit!! And WHERE are these bicycles anyway? I’ve NEVER seen one. How about ANYONE else? Kind of like a Connect Transit bus when you NEED one, they hide like BLACK MATTER!
There were a few at BroMenn – they barely moved.
I think that both of our mayors feel that each city has a philanthropic mission to spread as much of the taxpayer’s money around to enhance the “quality” of life here, subsidize local businesses and fulfill their vision of what they want our towns to be. $8351 for a lunch at a downtown hotel? $35,248 for rent a month on a downtown office? $84,000 for bikes that no one uses? And every dime of this money was earned by taxpayers and given to the city with the expectation that they would use it for the public good? Shame on you Mayor Koos and the Normal City Council! No matter how much taxpayer money they continue to funnel into UpTown businesses, it will not keep the coming decline (already in progress) from emptying out most of the businesses that now reside in UpTown Normal (Downtown Normal to non-elites). Which hotel will be the first to close?
That new building is such a farce. It’s nothing but another product of Koos’ vision for Uptown. It’s completely ridiculous how much money the Town is forking over for it. It’s also ridiculous how bad Bush is at negotiating. Windy City Wieners is getting a huge sum from Bush for their building. Bush and the Town were horrible in their negotiations and didn’t move the purchase that building until AFTER the project was announced. By that point, Windy City knew they could hold that over Bush. Sure enough, they did, and are now getting a huge payout.
Let me get this straight, Koos gave away MILLIONS in taxpayer money to bring Portillo’s to Normal, and is now a party to a sweetheart deal for Windy City Wieners to compete with them? You just can’t make this stuff up! Marxist incompetence and borderline criminality on full display.
Yes, they have space reserved! Meanwhile the town is still.collecting nothing across the street.
Normal Town Council – Worst real estate agents in the world! Those criminals should be ashamed of themselves.