By: Diane Benjamin
https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3953
The entire agenda is Omnibus which means the meeting would have been 10 minutes before Stan Nord was elected. Lately the Council has stretched meetings much longer.
Bill payments can’t be discussed even though things are on the list that should be. Another almost $36000 is being paid to rent the second floor of 1 Uptown Circle. Rumor is around 20 employees work there. This was supposedly a Council priority to change last year.
The Town wants to hire McGuireWoods Consulting, LLC for $4000 a month to lobby the State for grant opportunities.
They also want to hire Horton Group ($3300 a month) to handle employee benefits issues. The documentation claims the Town issued an RFP that was reviewed by an Employee Benefits Committee, they choose Horton from the 5 who responded. Normally the results from all bidders are included in the documentation, for this item they aren’t. The committee consisted of representatives from numerous departments.
Mayor (bike shop owner) Koos is getting another bike trail, only $471,357.55 with $150,000 of that coming from a State grant.
Compare that is $1,951,965.50 being awarded to resurface streets. Close to 25% of street spending is being spent on a new bike trail. Are bikes 25% of the cars on the roads? These roads are included:
Normal also will get a new well to replace two that are underperforming.
Contributions to Chris Koos’ reelection campaign: https://elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/ItemizedContributions.aspx?FiledDocID=YIs54h%2fevxf7J8yKlr0dbQ%3d%3d&ContributionType=vfmPesMKpA5xGUbTMC3%2fg4zmWst0qzNuScQi%2b5IIf7c%3d&T=637544204096964350
Pay back time?
You forgot to add payback to his most important contributors BIKE BUYERS!!! Of course, someone who sells and services bikes has absolutely no financial conflict of interest to vote on expanding bike trails which will grow his customer base. It is obvious approving this vote that will fatten his personal wallet at the expense of the average taxpayer.
Remember if Koos would have lost the election this would have been a lame-duck vote. He needed this bike trail built if he lost.
I see you mention the NEW WELL! I heard this a.m. on WGLT that roughly $360,000 is being spent for that. SO, my question is this. SINCE uptown has TWO “underperforming” wells and spending $360,000 to JUST KEEP UP, WHY in the name of government bureaucracy are they wanting to spent $5 MILLION to send even MORE water to RIVIAN??? In MY catalog, this is in the section under “SPECIAL KIND OF DUMB A**!!..
The full cost of the Rivian extension is far more than the $5M. Pam has broken it down up into many smaller votes. 1.water lines 2.new wells 3.treatment upgrades
This is the same logic of saying you need x dollars for a new dress. Then having to spend way more for the shoes, jacket, scarf, jewelry and all the other extras. What is more insulting is when you question why it costs more than x dollars requested and you’re berated for asking..
Rivian will get whatever they want from the Town. These two are permanently attached at the hip. The snow removal and other perks were nothing compared to what’s to come. $5 million is more likely the security deposit for this project. Wonder what will come next. Maybe they can create a Chaz out there on Rivian Parkway. Haha! Again, I want to see the math on all the state and local perks compared to what Rivian is bringing to the local economy. I don’t think it’s the windfall that the leadership would have you believe.
Keep in mind, Rivian is a replacement not a new development…replacement of the 3,000 jobs lost from Mitsubishi.