By: Diane Benjamin Want to know why taxpayers have to pay $51,290 to make Uptown Circle ADA compliant? Somebody filed a complaint with the Illinois Attorney General who investigated and told Normal it doesn’t comply. Evidently that person did not approach the Town first. The biggest item is adding a handrail, but the ramp is […]
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 – […]
By: Diane Benjamin See Part 1 here: https://blnnews.com/2019/08/26/lorenz-koos-and-nord/ Questions for Kathleen: Why do the opinions of only a few matter? Why were the opinions of those wanting to save the building in Uptown with the mural immaterial? Why were the opinions of the people not served by Connect Transit immaterial? The Working Group isn’t even […]
See Part 2: https://blnnews.com/2019/08/27/lorenz-koos-and-nord-part-2/ By: Diane Benjamin https://www.wglt.org/post/koos-says-nord-went-lone-wolf-fire-department-merger-uptown-recruitment#stream/0 In the above article Chris Koos said this to WGLT when he tried to denigrate Stan Nord: Has WGLT or the Pantagraph reported Stan Nord has proof Koos lied to them? https://blnnews.com/2019/08/23/the-normal-council-knew-the-truth/ Nope! According to Koos, Trustees aren’t allowed to gather information – the staff does […]
By: Diane Benjamin Proving yet again the plan must be followed in Normal, the Bush development was approved for yet another building in Uptown. It doesn’t matter the building across the street has a vacant ground floor and empty apartments upstairs. The agreement for the building doesn’t require the use of local labor. One speaker […]
By: Diane Benjamin Note: This information is now 1 year old. The Illinois comptrollers office finally got around to setting up the structure to enter this data. Uptown TIF: ftp://ftp.illinoiscomptroller.com/LocGovTIF/FY2017/06409531/17TIF06409531Downtown_volpment_1.pdf The TIF was organized in 2003. The 2016 report showed positive cash flow of $2,967. 2015 showed a positive $44. TIF theory states increased property tax receipts […]
By: Diane Benjamin Memory Lane: Remember when Normal promised to pay Bloomington Landmark Development around $1,825,000 to bring Portillos to town? The documentation said Sales taxes will easily cover the cost in about 7 years: https://blnnews.com/2016/12/02/portillo-town-monday-night/ That was in December of 2016. Just over a year later Normal wrote a huge check to Bloomington Landmark […]
