By: Diane Benjamin
With virtually nothing on the agenda Normal might be back to a short meeting. I don’t expect that trend to continue unless they are completely out of money and just not telling anyone. Monday would be a great time for off-agenda Public Comment – lots of them! Koos has the time to violate the law by stopping you.
https://www.normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/12612/Council-Packet–PDF
This is the entire Agenda:
Of course Koos won’t allow discussion of B, so I will just point out a few payments:
The Florida guy that leads local discussions:
Spending money looking for free money continues:
Letter C. doesn’t have enough information included:
Normal had a contract with Zagster for a bike sharing program that appears to have expired in 2019. In April Normal solicited other bids. The only one they received would have cost $300,000 a year – Normal is rejecting it. Zagster didn’t bid so maybe bike-share is finished.
Here’s another meeting area residents and taxpayers should be looking at:
The Planning Commission is meeting on August 6th.
http://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3700
Illinois Art Station has grand plans for 101 E Vernon, 605 and 607 S Linden.
I wrote about 101 E Vernon last June: https://blnnews.com/2020/06/07/normal-got-a-free-property/
City Manager Pam Reece told the Council the owners were donating 101 E Vernon to the Town of Normal. So, how is the Illinois Art Station going to produce their vision if Normal owns the property? By putting Normal taxpayers on the hook for all maintenance while Normal leases it to them for $1 a year? The documentation claims Illinois Arts Station is buying all three properties – two will be leveled for a parking lot.
This will be THREE more properties not paying property taxes!
What is really going on? Unclear!
Worse, the Planning Commission documents say this property is owner occupied. According to a story I did in October 2019 and an email I received by FOIA, the Freese couple who own the house moved out last October: https://blnnews.com/2019/10/10/denied-foia-forced-this-story/
Something is very fishy with this project.
Taxpayers are usually the last ones to find out – when they get the bills.
Read the Planning Commission documents and see if you can fill in any blanks. Of course they were prepared by the “professional staff”.
Now you know why I file FOIA’s.
Wowsers! Zagster not wanting a bid, just because 20,000 students are GONE! Maybe bicycle shops will go the way of the Trilobite along with their owners..
IF uptown had ALL the money they spend “fishing” for OUR money, they’d have a nice little burb, instead they have an uptown cluster that NO ONE in their right mind gets near!
Freeses purchased 101 and 103 E Vernon for 275,000. Assessed valuation never got close to that. Big tax saving for them. Sold the property to AGT Trust for 375,000. Holding agent, no doubt!