The grant request will be sent in without the signature of Mayor Harl. It is uncertain as to whom will be the authorized signature on the form. Ald. Ankiewicz and Wren both said they would sign it but my question is who determines who has the authority to sign the grant request. Does a legal paper need to be signed to give them the authority? I asked the City Attorney and he replied that he knew nothing about it. Ald. Waldorf had said last week that it was his understanding from IDNR that the paper would not bear much weight without the signature of the Mayor.
The News Trib will certainly have more in depth coverage of citizen comments.
Fiscally responsible our City Council is not. Keep in mind it was last spring when the council refused to accept the offer made to purchase the gen sets because former Mayor Baker said they were worth more and so we spent more money on rechecking them and received less from the same company who initally offered more. Then we just spent 15,000 to Williams Aquatics to determine the pool was out of code and not worth repairing and then we spent $3000 to Chamlin for one meeting of the Bike Path Committee and a couple of possible paths mapped out. Another 3000 to NCIC to write up the requestfor the pool grant and $6000 to Chamlin to apply for the Tiger 2 grant for our roads which we did not get. Now another 5 to 7 thousand to Williams for further plans for the IDNR. Do the math. It must be easy to spend the taxpayers bucks.
22 comments:
Two comments:
1. In regard to the grant process. Here is a example where the mayor stated to the city council for a way to pay for the cities up front portion of a grant. The council voted for the $5.00 addition, then guess what the smart mayor said NO he would not sign the request form. Poor/terrible leadership. Another mark for the next mayoral election, OUT.
Remember who started the shut down of the pool! (Mayor) Looks like the future should be and will be dry in the summer months .
2. The paying for various studies or investigations by experts is OK by me. This is the best way to get reputable facts rather to let politicians come up with facts as they usually are not experts in such fields.
The Mayor stated last night in response to possibly your question that he did not have the DNR grant application when he talked about supporting the grant application. After he got the grant application which reads:
"Billing requests for grant reimbursement are processed after 100% project completion unless otherwise approved by the DNR. This means the local agency must possess the ability to initially finance the entire cost of an approved project prior to receipt of grant reimbursement". Excellent honest leadership and we should all be proud of him for trying to protect the city and its residents by not submitting a fraudulent application.
Every time the Peru Public Library had asked for money for programs the City Council would grandstand and complain about it in spite of the fact that the Library is open all year long for the residents from the very young to the very elderly.
Meanwhile they do not hesitate to raise our utility bills in an unfair manner just to build a pool which is used only a few months of the year by approximately 79 to 90 people a day for at the most 3 months and usually less as the schools reopen in August and most users are children under the age of 13.
Almost leaves me speechless but not quite.
I cannot believe what I saw and heard last night, the Peru City Council, doesn't have a whole brain between the 7 of them. Why not ask the people what they want???? No they know the answer. People are hurting, and don't have the extra money right now. Even $5.00 is a lot to a person on a fixed income. The Mayor was right, in not signing the grant.
Lois, it is hard to figure which side or whose side you are taking on the pool issue. It was the mayor who had started the need for a new pool and now everything is blamed on the city council who want to move forward on a pool.
When the mayor first recommended a new pool, I remember we as a city were in no better situation then as we are today. So what gives? Do we want are cake and eat it and blame the city council ? I am confused ?????
No one is objecting to a pool but the parc grant requires money up front which we do NOT have. I am not on anyone's side, unless you consider fiscal responsibility a side and add honesty to that. That means look at your financial situation and figure out what you can afford to buy and can pay for and you save for your wants so you can pay for them also.
Don't put yourself in the same situation that caused the huge foreclosure debacle with the NINJA loans made by financial institutions.
Gave money to those with No income, No job or assets.
When you are living in a very expensive building like the city hall which is not paid for and is part of the 40 million debt you owe to a lot of different people, you don't go out and purposely take on more debt at this time.
Wasn't it mentioned not too long ago that the city would have to go out for I believe a $2.5 million loan to pay for the Gen-Sets? Can we afford to get another $3.5 million loan for a pool? Do you realize, even if we were lucky and got the grant, we would still have to pay back roughly $1 million plus interest? And, that's assuming the pool only costs $3.5 million. We all know it will more that likely cost much more.
Lois, didn't the mayor ask for this to be put to a vote, be it a referendum for the PEOPLE to vote on. Correct me if I'm wrong, those are the same alderman who voted not to have a referendum put on the ballot for how to fund the pool?That would have been the right thing to do, but as we can see in the alderman's eyes, it is all about them(alderman), not the people of Peru! Another reason to vote NEW alderman in!!
I don't have an issue when it comes to the money or financing the amount needed for a pool. I am in total agreement to eliminate the need for a pool based on affordability.
What bothers me and should be a lot of concern with the people is the basic purpose or objective of the mayor to be stubborn and shut down the existing pool with the excuse that we could not spend a smaller amount of money to renovate the disintegrations issues.
I know all of the talk but folks lets recognize the REAL objective, I believe is all the Mayor's.
This is a clear picture of shooting off the hip without a plan to move forward. We now are stuck!
Mr. Mayor you are wrong and now there is no way out but to turn the cheek, take the punishment, move on and quit spending money by just talking on something that is DEAD. (No tax increases of any kind and not assessment dollar amount also)
Lets spend our money on roads, infrastructure and forget trying to fool the people of peru .
Start looking for another part time job 2013. BYE, BYE
Please Aldermen vote the best for this city , ONLY IF WE CAN AFFORD THE MONEY TODAY NOT BORROWING THE FUTURE. Do nothing unless the money is in the treasury.
Blog viewers, who can we start to support for the next mayoral election ?
If the pool was brought to code and repaired, Williams would guarantee nothing for even a year. I would have to look up the cost but no one was interested in a deal like that. Then the council brought in another company that wanted to start from scratch and give the city another viewpoint and not sure again of the dollar amount but well into the thousands once more. The problems were too severe to continue using the basic structure as advised by the atty, and insurance co.
5:08. You're already too late. The aldermen have already voted to charge you and borrow money for a pool should we get the grant.
They just keep spending and spending and some of them still don't believe we're hurting for money.
5:08...What? Huh? I'm not sure where you were heading with your remarks or with that little prayer you offered up to the aldermen, but you lost me several times.
I'm pretty sure any money spent on the existing pool is basically a bandaid on top of 5 other bandaids, still an old pool with old problems. I think we're all in agreement...we need a new pool. Unfortunately we're strapped with a new city hall. Let's all stop playing the blame game, work together and come up with a plan to fund a pool.
By the way, not all "blog viewers" are looking to replace the current mayor, now the aldermen...that's another story.
I hope Mr. Bartley has a coin counter in the office. According to the City web page...
"Type of payments accepted are cash, check, and credit card."
I'll be paying my bill in pennies. In fact, I encourage everybody to pay next month's bill in this way as a sign of protest.
Brian I really like the idea!
Brian and Lois encouraging radicalism is counter-productive. If we all keep a cool head we'll get over this 'bump'.
For my part, I believe something like that might make a point because it seems civilized conversation does not as they put their earplugs in.
Doing this would be extremely immature and only sends a message to the nice person collecting your money. This kind of action makes you sound like a fool. I'm not in favor of the pool, but if I get assessed a $5 fee, I will pay it because that is my civic duty. I will speak with my voice and my vote. Please do not do as Brian and Lois are suggesting.
The $5.00 fee is unfair and if you check the minutes of the meetings a few weeks ago, the council rejected an increase in the sales tax by 1/2% because it was not a good time to increase costs and yet they did not hesitate by even one council member to put a $5.00 monthly fee on the residents. Our household would actually have to pay $10.00 as we have an unattached building with water and sewer. We will not pay.
I also don't believe it is my civic duty too increase the debt of the city unnecessarily. If the council had had the courage to put this to a referendum it would have been defeated.
What is most disturbing to me regarding this topic is that our 8 present aldermen should have addressed it years ago. Years ago when we supposedly had an abundance of money and were doing so well under the old regime. But, instead of standing on their own two feet and demanding to refurbish or rebuild a then dilapidated pool they stood silent. They stood silent and let those who are no longer in office get what they WANTED (NOT NEEDED) - a new city hall. Now they want us to bail them out. I can't speak for others but I can speak for myself and I'm tired of bailing out all branches of government because they don't know how to manage money! And, it's definitely unfair that a business will pay the same $5 fee as will a family on a fixed income. Our aldermen and mayor need to start working together. And, our aldermen need to at least start listening to the people of Peru. They are only voicing their opinions and wants and needs to those who are supposed to represent them. Nobody is trying to "fight their aldermen". They're just trying to get them to listen and think.
They never have listened, since Baker was voted out. They get together and try to do what ever is opposite, of what the Mayor suggests. They don't care about the People of Peru, They just want the Mayor to look bad. Isn't it funny that the vote is always 8-0? Mayor Baker always had to break a tie. He had his 4 PATSIES, SO HE DIDN'T CARE ABOUT THE OTHER 4 ALDERMEN. SO HE WON. SO ALL DECISIONS WERE MADE BY BAKER. Now the 8 aldermen meet with baker and he tells them how they should vote. They still can't think for the best of the City. The only way is to vote them out in April.......... Mayor Harl never has had a chance to vote yet. Doesn't that tell you something. Baker is still pulling the strings, of his puppets.
Brian and Lois, paying your bill in pennies is quite CHILDISH. Act like grown ups and represent your view in an adult manner. If that is a problem to act like an adult, well maybe we should not expect any more out of this reaction.
Children will be children !
I wonder if this is vulgar to be printed ?????? or just one sided from a mature adult.
Ananymous 8:26 am, you have a great point. Poor City of Peru, your aldermen don't care about you. As for the pool, why don't you all quit your complaining and wait to see what happens with the grant, who know the state may google Peru and see all of the negative controversy with the City and think twice about awarding anything. If that happens you will have no pool, and no $5 charge. Best of Luck
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