By: Diane Benjamin
Normal got a $13,000,000 federal grant to build their underpass: https://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/feds-release-m-for-rail-underpass-at-normal-s-uptown/article_7ce728cf-0d70-5475-8300-3f0e6b7a703a.html#1
The last I heard the town had requested $16 million, Normal taxpayers were suppose to cough up $7,000,000.
Since Normal only got $13,000,000 – Normal now needs $10,000,000!
Do they have that tucked away in a drawer somewhere (meaning they have been over-taxing you to save up that much).
Are they planning on borrowing more money? Again, last I heard they can’t borrow more without a new revenue stream. What is a revenue stream?
TAXES
Stay tuned! Maybe Normal planted some money trees. This is going to be fun!
How much did Normal spend to get $13,000,000? How many studies have they done? How much did they pay for Koos to travel back and forth to DC more than once? How much to keep applying for Tiger Grants? (More fingers and toes are needed for that answer)
ALL for a SERIOUS waster of taxpayer money, and the city “officials” are dumber then they look IF they think that students will use an underpass. Especially when it becomes a HIGH CRIME area or FLOODS!
If they spend $23 million I would hope it includes drains that leaves can clog
Silly, Diane.
Ostensibly the underpass is a safety measure for whom? The students who don’t pay any attention while crossing streets?
It is a gateway to Uptown 2.0 that is likely dead.
Write your congressman and ask him/her to force the rescinding of this grant. A town with the inability to force the bus service to be useful and ADA compliant should not be thinking of such. Koos comments were highlighting other garbage he wants to spend money on since he got this. Koos is a thieving taxpayer killing douche canoe!!!
Oh I get it now. If Dan and Bill Brady play nice with the Democrat Marxists, Normal gets a grant for the underpass. Not to mention a goodie for ISU.
Durbin, Duckworth, Davis, and Lahood this time
Connect fell into the same trap, buying bigger busses than needed because they could. Now that system is failing the community.
This underpass will cost local taxpayer every year for maintenance and repair. Go under a train bridge and feel the vibrations as the train goes over. This structure will not be a pay and done item. Who will be flipping the bill when it needs rebuilt? I am guessing Normal taxpayers will pay many times the original purchase price.
The town is already deep in debt and has many roads and other infrastructure falling apart. Where are the priorities here?
Normal’s slogan should be “NORMAL, we will overspend your money on our WANTS and ignore the NEEDS”
Another excuse to raise taxes? The underpass than NO ONE wants will be funded 100% by taxpayers. Lets tell the truth here folks: we pay Normal taxes. we pay federal taxes…. DOUBLE TAXATION on a project that will encourage drug dealers/homeless/ and rapists to gather and prey on everyone who uses the underpass.
This is a Luxury purchase. People can cross the tracks nearby. Amtrak has been able to function without an underpass.
If this were a growing and thriving business area and businesses were investing in the project then this luxury may be warranted to further the economic growth. However, I see business and people moving away due to taxes or following a job.
It is not fiscally responsible to build a luxury item which requires long term maintenance costs when there is not enough money to maintain what is currently built.
Well said, tell the Council!
Just another example of Normal “kissing ISU’s fanny” on the taxpayer’s dime. There are common sense rules and SPECIFIC LAWS about crossing railroad property. If some ear-budded Tidepod eater is too flippen dumb to obey the law and use common sense, I could care less if he/she/it has a “bad experience” with an oncoming train. Just don’t try to solve the problem (which won’t work, anyway–you can’t fix stupid) with tax dollars .
Okay, so if the The town of Normal charged a toll of $1.00 per person to use the underpass per trip. Then, it would only take 184.2 days to pay off Normal’s $10,000,000 contribution to the project… So long as every one of Normals 54,284 citizens used the underpass once a day!!!
This is a joke…
Nowhere to park! Maybe ISU students can each walk through 5 times a day.