Local Town of Normal The Normal Town Council held their regular meeting Monday. Approved at the meeting was the FY 2014 - 2015 budget which begins April 1. Budget details include a new automated parking system, the elimination of a fire inspector and code officer, a smaller than normal annual increase in sewer rates, a new fire station for the town and an overhead walkway at Uptown Station. Also approved was a budget amendment for R.R. Donnelly to start a pilot project that could bring 50 to 200 jobs to the community. The employee tech project will be located at STL Technology Solutions on Towanda-Barnes Road. Normal will provide a $75,000 grant to be put towards start-up costs. The Bloomington City Council will address the project as well at their regular meeting on Monday. A revised One Uptown Project agreement was approved. The project will be done in two phases starting with the construction of the Hyatt Hotel followed by a residential building on the circle. Town officials hope that developers will break ground this spring. One Uptown has seen a projected cost increase from $36 million to $50 million. Developers are working to bring down the cost of the second phase of the project. The Town of Normal will be issuing a 25 year general obligation bond to pay for its portion of the project. The Town of Normal also addressed a drop in sales tax receipts, prompting town officials to lower revenue estimates by $500,000 for the coming fiscal year. Although the exact cause of the drop is not certain, it was stated by Mayor Chris Koos and City Manager Mark Peterson that extreme winter weather and a reduction of State Farm external contract employees might have been a factor. City of Bloomington The City of Bloomington held a public meeting on the changes to Washington Street and the downtown area. Some residents expressed concerns on traffic flow during the morning and evening commute as well a pedestrian cross walk traffic. The city made changes to lanes, reducing the number from four to three and other changes last year. Public Works Director Jim Karch and his staff listened to input from attendees and will use the information when examining the citys future plans. Unit 5 Unit 5 has a new superintendent. Mark Daniel was approved by the board of education to replace Gary Niehaus who is retiring. Daniel was superintendent of Dowagiac Union schools in Michigan. He will take his position as head of Unit 5 on July 1.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 01:04:48 +0000
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