Concerned resident gets the "Council Crunch"

Peru resident Brian Foster approached the Peru city council last evening with an idea of providing an incentive of $250.00 to city employees who offer suggestions that could result in saving taxpayer dollars in excess of $5,000.00. Sounded good to me. Mayor Harl thanked Mr. Foster and pledged $250.00 also for the second suggestion. All is well right? What Mr. Foster could not have anticipated was the bizarre rejection of his harmless presentation by a couple of our finest. If I had not seen this one in person I might not believe it. Alderman Dave Waldorf (3rd Ward) was emphatic in his opposition to the idea because this would as he put it be rewarding city employees "For just doing their job". By all means alderman, lets discourage citizen involvement in local government every chance we get. Now I have seen these aldermen berate and gang up on many individuals in open meeting who they determine are trying to encroach on their little domain. People with complaints about neighbors who don't cut their lawns or folks who are annoyed by the heavy-metal band playing at the neighborhood tavern. Even the family whose home along Church Street was inundated by stormwater in the great "100 year flood" of 2007 who asked Mayor Baker and the aldermen what the city could do to help them in front of a packed council chamber in the old Mirror Building? Baker looked directly at Mr. Smith and calmly replied, "We are not going to anything for you", and every alderman to a man sat their silent and indifferent because Don had made the decision and they all toppled like little tin soldiers. I have witnessed some pretty shabby treatment of many citizens who dare question the wisdom of our city council. To his credit, Alderman Bob Ankiewicz did sail quickly to the defense of a fellow swabby. Ahoy Bob! Yeomans work indeed! Then another classic Jack moment when O'Beirne who just seconds earlier had agreed with Waldorf that this was an ill conceived idea by Mr. Foster, pulled a complete 180 and says "I changed my mind and now I agree with Alderman Ankiewicz". It was Priceless. Thank You to Brian Foster for stepping forward to make a difference in your community. But in the spirit of our aldermen I must say, Just watch your step mister!

Crucial vote under Electric Committee at council meeting tonight

A Cost of Service / Rate Study Proposal for the Electric Department will be voted on at the regular council meeting tonight. This is a proposal that was recommended by IMEA officials for the purpose of providing a detailed evaluation of how our electric department is operating and how we can expect it to operate in the coming years. This is essentially an audit that will provide an accurate account of how efficiently the department is operating and how it's operation can be improved. As far as I'm concerned this audit is years overdue. The Peru Electric Department, like the majority of city departments in Peru, is in serious need of review. We need an accurate accounting of operating expenses, capital requirements for future funding of improvements, and here's my favorite. Overall Debt Analysis. I have often wondered how the Peru Hydro-Electric Plant pay-off has progressed over the years or if it has progressed at all. I know there have been re-issuing or re-financing of the hydro debt at least a couple of times in recent years and it will be interesting to see if we are making any progress in paying off that debt. What we are likely to hear from at least one alderman tonight(Dave Potthoff) is that this study is not needed and is to expensive at $22,850.00. Alderman Potthoff will tell us that this study will only provide us with advice on how to bill our residential, commercial, and industrial customers. In fact, it will tell us how the department has been run in previous years under the supervision of Joe Prazen and Don Baker, with Dave Potthoff as Chairman of the Electric Committee and how it must be run now in order to always be profitable for the citizens of Peru. I have recently confirmed that there have been instances in the past ten years where the city of Peru was actually "losing" money on a regular basis on at least two of it's biggest industrial customers. That's right, O'Neal Steel and United Steel Deck were paying us less than it cost us to provide them with electricity. Exactly how this type of mis-management could have occurred is open for discussion and I will not comment on it just yet. Hopefully this study will shed some light on this issue and point our electric department in the right direction. The consultant is Barnes, Henry, Meisenheimer & Gende, Inc. of St. Louis and they are also experts in the field of Water and Wastewater systems operation and management. How bout' that! I suspect there will be at least a couple elected officials and contractors in the council chamber tonight who will be quite uncomfortable knowing there are knowledgable professionals nearby who could expose their sweetheart deal in no time at all if just given the opportunity.

Coming Up September Fest Peru Officials IML Convention

Just last year for the first time, citizens questioned the need for  city officials en masse attending the annual Illinois Municipal League Convention at the cities expense. It was brought to the attention of the Council last July and August that it was an unnecessary expense to the city for all to go to Chicago on the cities dollar.
I reported that the Council did approve on June 30 2010 paid expenses to the convention by City Officials this year. What they did not tell us was how many were going and how much money was being budgeted for the trip. Was this an open ended expense allotment?  Like anything goes.

I did some research on past conventions since 2004 and how much it cost Peru for those trips annually.

 2004 -8986.01
2005 - 6630.86
2006 - 10,200.03 (like to hear an explanation of this year)
2007 - 9862.64
2008 - 9117.45
New administration New Mayor
2009 - 1025.33

And to think that all these expenses were approved like they all deserved this bonus fun time. I am sure that most of the citizens  were not aware of this yearly fest. Lets see if we can again convince our officials to be conservative and only send a few at city expense and others at their own expense if they feel a need to go.
We must remember that most times wives went along also.

Daily Herald: Greater transparency requires effort | Americans for Prosperity

Daily Herald: Greater transparency requires effort | Americans for Prosperity

LaSalle Station Provides Funding for Local Communities

http://www.mywebtimes.com/archives/ottawa/display.php?id=408518

Not sure how far their outreach for funding goes but perhaps we should stretch out our hands.

Peru Action Committee calls for PAC members and Jack attacks

The formation of the Peru Action committee has drawn attention from new members as well as more incoherent jibberish from our old pal Jack O'Beirne. In another bizarre performance in the city council chamber last Wednesday Jack went off on N-T reporter Jeff Dankert and the PAC about the recent N-T article explaining our goals and intentions to support the most qualified candidates in upcoming local elections. Apparently O'Beirne feels "Those People" as he referred to us, have no right to participate or interfere with the way he likes "His" city to operate. The fact that Jack actually believes that citizens have no right to form a group to support quality representation tells you how completely out of touch this guy is from what representative government is intended to be. "Back-Pedalin' Jack's" tenure as an alderman in Peru has certainly never been scrutinized or graded for ability, knowledge or performance. I can understand why the last thing O'Beirne wants to see is someone actually paying close attention to his behavior as an alderman. Jack is a relic from a time of "Good ol' Boy politics whose only real passion in office has been to sponsor and enrich a specific city employee or two and to protect TEST, Inc. from ever having to compete competitively for the very lucrative Water/Wastewater contract with the city. I am convinced that Jack has no clue that he is actually accountable to the people of Peru. I really believe he thinks of himself as being "above" the rest of us. But, his tirades in open meeting are entertaining and I thank him for that. Jack O'Beirne is the poster boy for why we need qualified and dedicated public servants in Peru. That is exactly why the Peru Action Committee has formed. Our goal is to support the candidates who best support us, the citizens of Peru. We have been observing our elected officials for several years as they conduct our business and it has not been encouraging to watch. We encouragage the people of Peru to get actively involved and understand how their elected officials are representing them. We will do this by attending public meetings and getting the facts first hand. We will inform the public in detail what is happening in our city and why it is happening. And, we will have some fun and fellowship while we do it! We will not be welcome by many of the elected officials in Peru as has always been the case. We will not be deterred. When a group of citizens come together to improve their city and they are chastised and criticized by those who only serve at our convenience.......You know you have work to do. So contact Lois or myself for info and stay tuned to this blog for more details. Better yet, come to a council meeting and introduce yourself. You will be welcome when you choose to Run with the PAC.

Kaskaskia Alliance Trail

http://denali.physics.indiana.edu/pipermail/libnews/2005-August/000532.html


http://www.illinoistocht.com/1/post/2009/08/hennepin-trail-survey.html


I found very little information on the proposed Kaskaskia Alliance Trail beginning in LaSalle and unless there has been some recent unpublished information, this appears to have numerous obstacles in its path.  If you know more please post to update all of us. Please notice the dates on most of the links.

Peru City Structure Revised - Something For All of Us to Think About

Click to enlarge diagram

Why Did The City Council Tonight Vote to Put the Cart Before the Horse?

Suddenly in the last few weeks we started to hear different variations of establishing bike paths where there are no sidewalks in Peru particularly on Marquette Rd  Tonight we hear another version of the story in that we want to connect to the Kaskaskia Alliance Trail that would connect east to the IM Canal and west to St. Bede and further west.
By now you might be asking yourself, What does the heavy traffic on Marquette Rd have to do with a linkage to the Kaskaskia Trail?
 Yesterday people were questioning How can we get over or under Route 251? Where will we get the funding? What's the purpose of all this?
Or with all the heavy traffic on Marquette Road, would a yellow line on the side of the road keep bikers and walkers safe?

And tonight I am just wondering why we awarded a contract to Chamlin for $3000 when the Committee was only set in place a week or 2 ago and today without even one meeting by this new Bicycle Path Committee we are awarding a contract to draw up routes. Without one bit of public comment by hardly anyone in the public sector. Not counting me as I am now setting my views down to be read. We meaning the City now want to be a part of the Safe Route To School Program for access to funding, ok that is fine although I believe the kids living east of 251 are bussed since all schools in Peru are west of that highway. Are we going to establish bike paths throughout all of west and northwest Peru so kids can go to Parkside on their bikes?

One bit of good news that the new Bicycle Path committee meetings will be now open to the public so watch the city web site if you are interested and I will try to post meeting dates.

The city would be counting on "grant money" from the State of Illinois disregarding the fact that the state is now 13 BILLION dollars in debt.
 Makes our 45 million dollar debt look rather minute.

"Elected Officials" Float" Turns Out To Be a Slap in the Face

    If you saw the Peru Parade on Saturday, you might have noticed a float with the title of "Peru Elected Officials".As we went by I thought how strange that the word "elected" was in the name as simply a float called City of Peru or something similar would have been fine and to be expected. It turns our that the name was drawn up by City Clerk Bartley Most of the aldermen rode on the float except Ankiewicz who was on the American Legion one and O'Beirne was on the Coldwell Bankers float/car. No problem.

Also Mayor Harl chose not to ride on the float but chose an antique truck to travel in.

Not asked to be a part of the city float, Gary Hylla, C Treasurer rode with his wife on a motorcycle.

Let me remind everyone that Gary Hylla is filling an elected officials position as Treasurer BECAUSE.......Jack O'Beirne the person who ran for the office of  Treasurer and was elected decided that he did not want the position and wished to remain on the City Council as alderman of the second ward.

    Remember that that left Peru without a Treasurer, a necessary position in any city government except the previous one of Mayor Baker. I'm sure you have connected the dots by now. It is all past history except the Mayor now had to replace the elected treasurer O"Beirne and chose Gary Hylla who has been doing an excellent job. Appointed and not elected and not to be on the 'elected officials float".  I hope the City Clerk has a good explanation for this.



 Former Mayor Baker could do a lot to alleviate the tension by making a public announcement that he is no longer Mayor of Peru and he would like the Council to work with and cooperate with Mayor Harl for the betterment of Peru and all its fine citizens.

Peru's Big 175th Celebration, Parade and Dedication

I'm really interested in any comments on the Veterans Memorial Dedication as I didn't get there to see it. We were a part of the parade and missing seeing it from the sidelines. I was disappointed that there were no marching bands, hard to imagine a parade without music but that is what we had. The rumor was that the city did not have enough money to pay a Drum and Bugle Corp band. No LP Band is understandable as that program is pretty much in chaos at this time.

Beautiful day at Centennial Park and a few activities for most ages. Music was by the Guy Lombardo Band directed by Al Pierson (Al Pizzamiglio) formerly of Depue. Great big band sound that we enjoyed as did some of the residents using the grassy areas for a dance floor.

Pretty noisy fireworks are now ending the day. If you were there hope you had a good time.

Request Post: What Do You Think About the Bike Path Idea for North Peru

Do you think a bike path for the Marquette Road area is a good idea?

Personally I think a bike walking path to the Mall should have been constructed years ago. Many times I have seen residents walking along 251 coming and going to places like HyVee and north.

Just a Reminder Be Respectful to Our Posting Partners.

This is a community forum and we are looking forward to you the reader expressing your opinions on our comments and being a part of all our discussions.

You are welcome to come and agree or disagree but please do it in a manner that is respectful to those who are reading this blog and contributing their ideas or searching for answers.

 

City business can be discussed without involving anyones personal life unless it impacts upon decisions made that affect the city.

What the Mayor or anyone working for the city does with their salaries is not our business unless it is immoral or illegal.

Yesterday Was the Beginning of the 175th Peru Celebration

In spite of the very hot humid weather, there was a good turnout for the 175th Peru Celebration History  Day at Washington School Gym. I personally sat at a table for St. Mary's Church with a display of historical memorabilia and did not have an opportunity to wonder through all the other tables. Anyone care to share their impressions?

Taking a drive through Peru one would never know we were celebrating anything. No prominent flags or displays along the well traveled U.S.Route 6. Something appears to be missing?

Rain Rain and More Rain and a Little Wind!

I heard the tree chopper out and around this morning  and wondered how much damage happened last night. Seems that some areas of town might have wind damage and wondered if the sewers had any problems handling the deluge of rain water. How are you?

Summer Help

For those of you who have wondered about the supervision of the young people working for the city...I talked to SPW and he stated that Parks and Recreation is still in charge of those workers who were formerly associated with the swimming pool. I believe that Russ Schmidt, Don Orsini, Mike Watts and one more oversees them. So if you have complaints, you might direct them to one of the above city employees.

Former alderman joins in the hypocricy

Former alderman Joe Witczak joined his old pals at the council meeting Wednesday night by trying to suggest the Existing Conditions Report by Williams Aquatics should be considered invalid or dishonest because Williams is a company which also builds and designs new facilities. Witczak tried to insinuate (rather poorly) that the report was tainted and that Williams may have misrepresented the actual condition of the pool in hopes of eventually winning a city contract to design and build a new pool for the city. HMMMM. I guess anything is possible in Peru. But, if you are going to question the ethics and integrity of an established and respected company you really should have some facts to back it up. Witczak has none. Just like the majority of the aldermen, he doesn't like what the report has to say so he wants to kill the messenger. If you believe any of the other firms that made presentations to the city would have found our pool "Sound as a Pound" you need to get back on your meds asap. Any legitimate firm would have found the same deficiencies in that pool and any legitimate firm that provides such reports would also be in the business of designing and building new facilities. That's what they do Joe! Now, the reason I say Joe Witczak and most of the aldermen are hypocrites for suggesting that Williams has acted improperly is as follows. I have witnessed this council of aldermen including the majority of Witczaks last term as an aldermen, and I have never heard any one of them ever question the possibility of Roger Chamlin or Chamlin & Associates in terms of a conflict of interest or of padding "billable hours" as the city engineering consultant. I have watched Chamlin present to the city council one project after another after another after another. Neither Joe Witczak nor any other alderman has ever questioned Chamlins motives for recommending any public works project in this city, EVER. I am not suggesting that Chamlin has anything other than the best interest of the city in mind when making their recommendations. But, you have to look at each and every recommendation very carefully before deciding it is in the best interest of the city. This council has never been a hard sell for Roger Chamlin. They are hypocrites for questioning and accusing any company, individual or citizen who happens to function outside their little circle of influence. That's a big part of their duty to us. At the same time they are easily swayed by those they should be most wary of. I can't recall if Joe Witczak ever accompanied Roger and Don Baker to Chamlins fishing paradise in Canada but I would not be surprised if Joe had accepted Roger's generous hospitality during his tenure as 3rd Ward Alderman. I know most of them have gone and continue to make the pilgrimage north for the spring walleye bite. So how do you think those aldermen will react to anything Chamlin recommends after they return from Canada with a belly full of walleye filets and dreams of next years trip? Yaaa Hypocrites Aaaay?

Pool Comments Closed Will Wait for Final Williams Report

Since there is nothing to be gained by any further mention of the Peru Swimming Pool, I will not post any "what if" or "it is not a problem" comments. The Williams report should be given to the city within a week or 2 and if they have any new information, we can discuss it at that time
Let's look at new ways to use and improve our existing park system. Do we need walkways through some of our larger parks to encourage adult use. Lots of people enjoy walking around Baker Lake, could we use Washington or Centennial Park to better advantage for walking or even bicycle riding.  Using the parks not for sitting on a bench but being up and about and being physically active.  Any ideas?

Rare Opportunity to Walk Through the Empty Pool

Those of us who were interested in actually seeing the structural deterioration of the Peru Swimming Pool were given the opportunity this evening when Mayor Harl allowed a walk through the non compliant bath house with regard to ADA plus see the code violations in the bathhouse and in the pool itself.

Mayor Harl showed the places where there is a void beneath the concrete using a chain to produce  different sounds that you hear when the area is solid versus an empty space. Kind of like tapping on a wall to find where there are studs and where empty space. Being right close to the structure shows the severe damage that has been happening, the weeds growing in the concrete and in some places you put your hand through an damaged area and bring up sand.

Of the Peru alderman the only ones present were Wren and Potthoff and if your alderman is not one of those two, he chose not to be present. So the non present councilmen will probably continue to vote on what they imagine and not what they actually see. Instead of cracked concrete with voids beneath it and violations to numerous to mentions here they envision laughing children playing and splashing in the water filled pool thanking them for the pool. The problem is that these children depend upon rational adult elected officials to make good decisions based on safety  and to make that their priority.
"Thee are none so blind as those who refuse to see"

FYI A Copy of the Peru Curb Repair All Wards

Click to enlarge

 

Were you able to hear the Tornado Sirens Last Night

A Closer Look at A Small Water Park Idea

Click on each to enlarge

Looks like a less expensive way to keep children cool during the hot months.

 

Peru Curb Program Shows What Does Get Done

Yesterday I picked up a copy of the Peru curbs scheduled for repair. Most of the wards were frugal with what needed to be done but I was particularly struck by some of the work to be done in the second ward represented by Ald. Mikyska and Ald. O'Beirne and what is not being done. It just shows me that not only did  Ald. Mikyska not visit the city pool before he voted to "patch and paint", he evidently does not know where the curbs are that need repair in his ward. Of course Ald. O'Beirne does represent this ward also.
A few pictures of the weed infested broken down curb located on Sixth Street in the second ward that is not scheduled for repair.

 No matter which direction you look at this dilapidated broken down curb, this is what you see.

But some curbs do get taken care of if you live on the same street as the Alderman.

Yes this curb is on the repair list

Perhaps when the really bad section of curb deposits all of its gravel and residue into the sewer at the end of the block, it will come to someones attention.

Must be because there are no votes on this side of the street.

If You or Your Children Want To Swim This Summer Where Will You Go

Hopefully we can all rest easy and put the swimming pool on the back burner for the rest of the summer.

Most people who have expressed their opinions indicated they would not be using the pool considering the problems at present anyway.

So where will you and your family be cooling off this summer? At a neighboring community or just in your own yard? Any advice as to the nicest place to go for a particular age group.  All the surrounding communities have been kind enough to say "Come Visit Our Pool" Maybe your comments might help someone else make a choice.

And along the same thought, Will you be taking up the Mayor's offer to visit the Peru Pool and see for yourself  Monday evening at  6:30 PM.

OK Now Every Town in the Illinois Valley Can Laugh

OK all of you out there who have been following the drama of the deteriorating condition of the Peru Swimming Pool and the refusal of 7 of the 8 council members to vote for closing the pool, you can have a great big laugh at the results of tonight's meeting.

As was written on the agenda, Ald. Wren brought up the vote to rescind the councils previous decision to patch, paint and open the pool. Not one of our aldermen could bring themselves to second that vote. NOT ONE All pouting like little children because they can't bring themselves to the point of reality that in fact the pools structural failure occurred on their watch. This is no reasoning with this group, common sense does not prevail, it is absolutely unbelievable.

Our city atty reminded them about the extreme liability involved but it doesn't matter.
Supt. Bleck told them he has no workers to take on the kind of work that needs to be done.

Ald. Mertel said he had 35 calls to keep the pool open and only one against, so if you are in his ward, please call him as he is unable to make a sound decision without your phone call.

Some of the aldermen have not even been up to the pool to see the condition it is in, I swear this is unbelievable but true. Voting on something you don't understand must be acceptable practice with this council.

I am now reminding all the residents of Peru, that we are going to have an aldermanic election in April 2011 and the following will be up for election,,,Mertel, Waldorf and Potthoff and probably a vacancy in the second which is O'Beirnes seat as I believe he wants to retire.

If you are dissatisfied  with your current representation and you or someone you know has even an inkling of running for one of those seats, please give it some serious thought because we need you.