Bloomington ReStore Temporarily Closed!
By: Diane Benjamin This note is on their website: https://www.bnrestore.org/ According to Facebook the store closed February 15th. Earlier in February they posted about maintenance issues. .
Tag: Habitat for Humanity
Solar panels?
By: Diane Benjamin Today I received an email from Habitat for Humanity with this included: Did you know all the people in California who invested their money in solar panels still didn’t have power when PG&E shut off power? No Tesla charging, no lights, nothing! https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-10/californians-learning-that-solar-panels-don-t-work-in-blackouts Might be worth asking questions before you spend a […]
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Bloomington, the rest of the meeting
By: Diane Benjamin (Something isn’t right about the Habitat solar panels, I’m waiting to hear back from an expert.) The $135,000 sales tax rebate to Habitat got tabled. Austin Grammer stated the City asked Habitat how they could help them with their project. In other words, the City volunteered to give them money. Solar panels […]
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Something Else You Probably Didn’t Know About Normal Il.
Eminent Domain was meant for government to obtain land from private citizens for the public good. Until 2005, public good meant for schools, public buildings, & roads, but the Supreme Court decided eminent domain could be used against a private citizen for use by another private citizen. The Town of Normal is now famous for […]
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Normal Il – The Visual Edition! Update
I drove by this lot today to see who is allowed to park there. The part labeled 2 is mostly reserved for the Coffee House on Beaufort. 3 – I didn’t see how to access it, but I may have missed something. This is NOT a straight parking lot where it is clear what you […]
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Shenanigans or Tragic? More on Normal, Il.
All the the following is public information or it was obtain under the Freedom of Information Act. On August 20, 2008 – Simon Wilson sold the following parcels to One Main Development for $1,412,500: 14-28-435-013 114-122 E Beaufort 14-28-435-027 North of -013 to College 14-28-435-014 North of -013 to College 14-28-435-030 North of -013 to […]
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Town of Normal and TIF districts
by Diane Benjamin The Town of Normal doesn’t have just 1 or 2 Tax Increment Finance districts, it has 4 – all started since Chris Koos became mayor. The original intent of TIF districts was to encourage developers in blighted areas. According to one of my sources, TIF districts are now used more to provide […]
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More on the Town of Normal-Update
Normal didn’t stop at 2 Tax Increment Finance Districts – More tomorrow by Diane Benjamin The last report on properties bought – sold – given away – and held by the Town of Normal focus on the Normal Uptown Increment Redevelopment. Part of that strategy is to pay for the plan using the difference between […]
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Who Gave Normal Permission to Buy & Give away Properties?
by Diane Benjamin Since Chris Koos has been elected Mayor more than once – You Did! In previous posts about the Town of Normal, I stated in 2003 every citizen was $11.52 in debt to Normal. By 3/31/11 every citizen was $1725.18 in debt. The 3/31/12 financial statements have not been issued yet. A look […]
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Normal Il – What is Up With the Debt?
by Diane Benjamin The Normal Mayor and City Council decided the outlined area in the picture below was blighted and needed to be redeveloped. They filed a plan and deemed this area a Tax Increment Financing site (TIF). They have purchased A LOT of properties and gave some away. More on that below. Click on […]
