Wednesday brought lots of discussion on the condition of our city streets Decisions must be made soon so contracts can be let out for bid. They must also decide how much money will be left to the the curb program.
I don't know all the details of how the street programs were handled in the far distant past, but I did overhear that there was no division of money per ward but that the SPW decided which streets in the city needed to be repaired first with the money that was available. Just the way it should be done, common sense tells us that. But somewhere along the line the Council decided that every ward should get the same amount of money regardless of that fact that some of them had very few major thoroughfares. That decision has left us in the mess we have now with our roads.
I want to thank Ald. Mikyska for being able to see the whole picture and saying that maybe we should let Supt. Bleck decide what streets need to be repaired first with the available money. This should be a situation where the Aldermen put their own wants on the back burner and do the right thing for our city.
9 comments:
I agree with you 100% Lois and I also commend alderman Mikyska for suggesting seeing the city as a whole but, my question is why has it taken so long? Many citizens of Peru have been asking why we're bandaging sections of roads instead of replacing entire streets and have suggested envisioning the city of Peru as a whole and not 4 parts. Maybe it would be helpful if the aldermen would ask the residents in their wards for suggestions and opinions and listen to them more carefully. There just might be some constructive and intelligent decisions to be found hiding in their wards. Just a suggestion!
IMO the aldermanic system of city government promotes the "for my ward mentality" as the aldermen tend to think of projects as how will my ward benefit from this? If I do this for my ward will it help me be re elected?
On the other side of the coin there are cities that elect Commissioners or Department Heads that take care of the entire city. Ottawa comes to mind as a city that seems to function well under that system. They have a Mayor and 5 Commissioners. It must be a very efficient form of government as they have a City Council that only needs to meet twice a month.
Another choice is to hire a City Manage to keep an eye on the whole city.
Oglesby a much smaller city has Department Heads elected to manage the city government.
It's too bad Lois that the decisions the Aldermen make especially about the roads always seem to revolve around whether they are up for election.
Its time for Peru, to get on with what is needed for the whole city, not just their wards. Its time to think what is best for all. Listen to the people who voted you in. Its time to move on, and grow.
It's quite obvious to me that Alderman Waldorf's suggestion that maybe some of the alloted curb money should be allocated to the much deteriorated roads came from this blog. Just as it's apparent that Alderman Mikyska's suggestion that the money be put into one fund also came from the same source. It's comforting to know that quite possibly we just might be breaking down the wall of communication between our council and the citizens of Peru. It would be nice to know that any suggestions or ideas we might come up with would at least be given some consideration and respect. We just might accomplish something if we work together instead of against each other.
Lois, why did the joint review board change their vote and not change the TIF map? Do you know what changes were made?
How can a TIF district be created in an already developed area?
The details of the change by the joint review board were not specifically made public at the council meeting but only that changes were made that satisifed the parties that were not pleased with the initial proposal. I will see if more information is available.
This TIF proposal was taking place before the Holiday Inn Express was built with the understanding that if the TIF happened, they would be included. The Tif atty called this a blighted area due to the fact that the old Howard Johnson motel is on the property which no one seems interested in due to cost of demolition. And also the situation with the Kings Inn. The whole Tiki property is still for sale and I believe the restaurant has changed owners again and then the area next door where the flea market is or was, I think still has underground gasoline storage tanks. I don't remember them being removed last year as was intitially indicated.
If the Holiday Inn developers (Janko) had not pursued the matter of a TIF, would it have even been brought up?
ANON 10:27 - I too do not understand. I thought this area qualified for a TIF because it was considered blighted. The area directly North of 80 along May Road I can accept and understand it being considered blighted but North on 251 - no way. Those are all fairly new businesses that were established before the TIF was passed(including Holiday Inn Express). The TIF was obviously not an incentive for them to build in the first place so what benefit is it to them now? And, more importantly, what benefit is it to the City of Peru?
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