Cost to replace Riverfront Village platform stairs: $265,617

The Riverfront Village platform was built in 1999 at a cost of roughly $9.5 million — $4.5 million of which was public tax money that won’t be paid off until 2018.

And yet, despite the fact that it’s only been 11 years, the stairs leading to the platform have rusted “very pre-maturely…to the point that complete replacement is necessary.” The bids are in, and the cost to replace the stairs is more than a quarter million dollars — $265,617 to be exact. Riverfront Village developers Mike Wisdom and Monte Brannan have declined to help with those costs, according to the Request for Council Action. Instead, the council communication says, “The Developers are committed to a separate improvement which will allow access to the platform and pads during periods of high water. It is hoped that the stair improvement and the alternative entry will help the businesses on the pad to prosper.”

Here we have a project that was designed precisely as a solution to the flooding problem. They knew the area floods and so they devised the raised concrete platform as the answer to that challenge. But they used materials for the steps — the part that would be under water during flooding — that evidently were not rust-resistant, and they designed no alternative entry to the platform that could be used during periods of high water. A rather staggering oversight, wouldn’t you say?

Now that the stairs are about to fall off the platform, the developers are not offering to help pay for their replacement. Instead, they’re offering to correct another design flaw, and acting as though that sort of evens the score. I don’t get it. The developers should stand behind their product and incur at least some of the cost of replacing the stairs. And the City should exercise some serious oversight of this new “alternative entry” the Developers want to build to ensure the taxpayers won’t have to replace that, too, in another eleven years.

Reza Aslan to speak in Peoria April 29

From my inbox:

On Thursday, April 29, the Peoria Area World Affairs Council will host Reza Aslan, the internationally acclaimed author and media consultant on issues of religion and politics. The author will sign copies of his books, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam and Beyond Fundamentalism: Confronting Religious Extremism in a Globalized Age.

Since the attacks of 9/11 on the United States, news of terrorism and the fighting between religious factions, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, have given more weight to Samuel Huntington’s theory of the “clash of civilizations.” According to Reza Aslan, this is not the case.

“What is taking place now in the Muslim world is an internal conflict between Muslims, not an external battle between Islam and the West,” writes in his book, No god but God. “The West is merely a bystander — an unwary yet complicit casualty of a rivalry that is raging in Islam over who will write the next chapter in its story.”

Reza Aslan has degrees in Religions from Santa Clara University, Harvard University, and the University of California, Santa Barbara, as well as a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, and the Pacific Council on International Policy. He serves on the board of directors of the Ploughshares Fund, which gives grants for peace and security issues, Abraham’s Vision, an interfaith peace organization, and PEN USA, which champions the rights of writers under siege around the world.

The presentation on April 29 will begin at 5:00 pm with a reception and book-signing at Barrack’s Cater Inn, 1224 Pioneer Parkway in Peoria. Dinner will be served at 6:00 pm, followed by Aslan’s presentation. Tickets for the dinner and presentation are $35 for the general public, and $15 for the presentation only. Discounts are available.

For more information, please contact the Peoria Area World Affairs Council, (309) 677-2454 or www.pawac.org.

Firefly failure prompts City to hire outside counsel

According to a Request for Council Action on Tuesday’s City Council agenda, “Firefly’s bankruptcy filing, and the City’s and County’s guarantee of a loan from National City (now PNC) Bank to Firefly have given rise to a complex legal situation. It has been deemed advisable to retain outside counsel with experience in this type of complex bankruptcy.”

The request asks the Council to approve hiring Thomas O’Neal of the law firm Westervelt, Johnson, Nicoll & Keller for $255 per hour. Here’s your trivia fact for the day: Tom O’Neal sought to fill a judicial vacancy on the Third District Appellate Court in 2006 after the retirement of Judge Kent Slater of Macomb, but lost the Democratic primary. He’s also been recognized by the state and county for his pro bono legal representation of the poor.

Council retreat rescheduled for May 5

The Peoria City Council retreat was originally scheduled for Saturday, April 24, but was rescheduled at the request of City Manager Scott Moore. “I had asked the Council to consider rescheduling the retreat due to several of their colleagues having a conflict and would not be attending the session,” Moore explained. “I felt it would be important that all the Council members attend the session to weigh in on the budget and establish key strategies for staff and I to work on this upcoming budget season.”

So the new date is Wednesday, May 5, according to Moore. The time has not yet been announced, but weeknight special meetings usually start at or around 5 p.m. Presumably the agenda will be similar to the one released for Saturday’s meeting:

ITEM NO. 1 WELCOME – Mayor Ardis and City Manager Scott Moore

ITEM NO. 2 MACRO-TRENDS – Dr. Aaron Buchko

ITEM NO. 3 CITY TRENDS – City Manager Scott Moore

ITEM NO. 4 CONFRONTING THE “BRUTAL REALITIES” – Dr. Aaron Buchko

ITEM NO. 5 BREAKOUT #1 – Key Strategic Issues

ITEM NO. 6 BREAKOUT #2 – Addressing the Issues: Guidelines

ITEM NO. 7 BREAKOUT #3 – Addressing the Issues: Action Items

BREAK

ITEM NO. 8 STRATEGIC ISSUES: Priorities, Policies, and Budget Implications

ITEM NO. 9 CITY/COUNCIL DISCUSSION – Budgetary Issues

ITEM NO. 10 WRAP UP and NEXT STEPS – Mayor Ardis and City Manager Scott Moore

ITEM NO. 11 ADJOURNMENT