By: Diane Benjamin
Think all the way back to March 16, 2020. That was pre-shutdown and the Normal Town Council was still meeting in person. The staff got raises at this meeting and the Council was forced to approve a site plan for Stan Nord’s property. It isn’t in Uptown so different rules apply – like billing Stan for what Normal failed to collect 4 owners ago.
Also at this meeting the Council approved this item, it was budgeted so everything is fine even if the revenue to cover the budget is contracting faster than ice melts.
Uptown Circle is only 10 years old but they already needed to spend this money because the system is leaking. The water collection cistern provides rain water to the small interior area.
This is a “feel good” project to appear environmentally friendly. It likely would have cost a lot less just to run city water when it was built.
So why did Normal want to keep their broken system and send you the bill?
To maybe win an award!
I seem to remember the Circle winning some kind of award too. So, Normal uses your money to build in a way the costs taxpayers more money so staff can add to their resume. If they hadn’t spent all that money to fix the cistern this possible award could have disappeared.
See the other finalists here: https://urbanland.uli.org/sustainability/eight-open-spaces-chosen-as-finalists-for-2020-uli-urban-open-space-award/
I can’t find a podcast but Sen. Dick Durbin was on WJBC this week with Scott Miller. He took credit for nominating Chris Koos for the Amtrak Board of Directors. He also called Koos one of the best mayors in Illinois.
(Speaks volumes about Dick)
Koos legacy: Massive debt, only paying interest on some bonds, limits public comment, constant fee and tax increases, favors for friends, and of course this:
To understand how financially beneficial it is for town staff to have Uppity town on their resumer read Mark Peterson’s bio for his new gig. Over half of the content is about Uppity Town. It is BS that taxpayers in Normal continue to pay for a project that is no longer in the best interest of the community.
https://www.govhrusa.com/associates/mark-peterson/
Sky’s the limit when it comes to uptown. Does the mayor or council even realize Normal extends beyond ISU? Maybe they just have a geography deficiency.
Of course they know there’s more to Normal than ISU and uptown:
There’s Fell and Vernon, where they spent $200K to get some property to hand off to Dave Shields for just one dollar.
There’s School street, where they bought multiple properties they didn’t need, knowing they would be lucky to recoup even half their investment.
There’s Destihl, where they paid to run internet.
There’s Portillo’s where their subsidies amounted to a ‘Pay for 5 meals, get None!’ grand opening sale for every Normal resident.
I’m sure there’s more, but that’s some quick highlights…
how much did koos give dirtwads campaign?
DJ. Not sure who you are referring to as a “dirtwad”. Koos has appointed and helped to elect a lot of people I would consider “dirtwads”.
That ‘feature’ is a toilet at 2AM.