AGENDA
(All Agenda items are subject to possible action.)

CALL TO ORDER

MINUTES – APPROVAL of MINUTES of the REGULAR MEETING held APRIL 25, 2008

REGULAR BUSINESS

ITEM NO. 1 Update regarding EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

ITEM NO. 2 Report on VARIANCES in Land Development Code area

ITEM NO. 3 Reports from Commissioners regarding DUAL COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS

ITEM NO. 4 Review of 2008 WORK PLAN to determine activities to complete by the end of
the year - continued

ITEM NO. 5 Creation and approval of 2009 WORK PLAN

CITIZEN REQUESTS TO ADDRESS THE HEART OF PEORIA COMMISSION

ADJOURNMENT

Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is asking the Environmental Protection Agency to temporarily waive regulations requiring the oil industry to blend ever-increasing amounts of ethanol into gasoline. A decision is expected in the next few weeks. [...]

His request for an emergency waiver cutting the ethanol mandate to 4.5 billion gallons, from the 9 billion gallons required this year and the 10.5 billion required in 2009, is backed by a coalition of food, livestock and environmental groups.

Farmers and ethanol and other biofuel producers are lobbying to keep the existing mandates.

And from Reuters:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Tuesday it will not meet a July 24 deadline for ruling on Texas’ request that the government reduce the federal mandate on how much ethanol must be blended into gasoline this year.

“Rather, additional time is needed to allow staff to adequately respond to the public comments and develop a decision document that explains the technical, economic and legal rationale of our decision,” said EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, who added he now expects a final decision on the Texas waiver request in early August.

Congressional candidates Colleen Callahan (D) and Aaron Schock (R) oppose cutting ethanol production or subsidies. Candidate Sheldon Schafer (Green Party) has a different view. The Journal Star quoted the candidates in June:

“Ending the federal incentives for corn growers would completely destroy an emerging industry that has repositioned itself to meet the world’s growing demand for renewable alterative energy sources,” said Democratic candidate Colleen Callahan. “That’s just a slap in the face to Middle America and particularly the farmers in Illinois and other corn-growing states.”

[...] Steve Shearer, Schock’s campaign manager, said he believes ethanol and bio-fuels are one vital component of increased energy independence.

[...] Green Party 18th candidate Sheldon Schafer argues corn-based ethanol isn’t as efficient as cellulose-based and switchgrass-based ethanol, the latter from a fast-growing variety of prairie grass, which he said have higher energy yields. “We should be looking at the highest efficiencies. Corn-based isn’t giving us those efficiencies,” Schafer said.

While the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) blames corn-based ethanol for rising food prices, others dispute this claim. GMA hired a PR firm to change public perception of ethanol by linking ethanol production to higher food prices. But experts, such as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer, say those claims are overstated:

About six weeks ago, US Department of Agriculture researchers analyzed the problem and reported that rising energy costs, decreased crop production around the world because of bad weather and increased worldwide consumption were among the factors contributing to higher food costs.

“That analysis found that ethanol and the increased use worldwide of other biofuels were both contributing factors but not major ones,” Mr Schafer said.

“The USDA shared its report with Congress and invited board members of the Grocery Manufacturers Association — which has been critical of ethanol’s impact on food prices — to discuss the findings. He said those invitations were declined.

“The grocers are targeting ethanol because they think they can change ethanol policy more easily than larger energy policy.

Whether or not ethanol leads to higher food prices, the bigger question is whether ethanol is a sufficient strategy for energy independence. That’s still up for debate.

Hat tip: LA Times.

10. REQUEST PUBLIC BUILDING COMMISSION OF PEORIA TO ISSUE BONDS FOR NEW LINCOLN SCHOOL – Cahill
Proposed Action: That the Board of Education approve and authorize the submission of a letter to the Public Building Commission of Peoria requesting a commitment to issue bonds for purposes of constructing a new primary school on the Lincoln School South site.

This is a departure from District 150’s original plan, which was to issue bonds for part of the building costs under their “Health-Life-Safety” (HLS) bonding authority. According to District Controller/Treasurer Guy Cahill, there are a number of reasons why they are now choosing to issue all the bonds through the Public Building Commission:

• “Inaction on the state level” — Under the School Construction Grant Program, HLS dollars can be matched by the state. However, the grant program has not been funded for three years now, and doesn’t look likely to be funded in the near future.
• “Greater flexibility in use” — Money from the PBC can be used for property acquisition; HLS money cannot.
• “Limited amount of time” — The state authorized District 150 to access PBC funding for only five years. They have until 2011 to use it or lose it.
• “Operation/maintenance dollars” — PBC funding can be used for ongoing maintenance of the buildings, including custodial/operational support.

Hear the school board’s deliberation of this item yourself:

The school district still maintains that by limiting their borrowing to $85 million, they will not have to increase their property tax rate.

Also at the school board meeting Monday, Diane Vespa spoke to the board about the shortened Wednesday schedule the district is planning to institute this fall for primary schools. You can read a transcript of her comments on her blog.

Yep, pretty much. Here’s why:

The work on demolishing these houses to make way for a new strip mall has ground to a halt. The reason is a survey for asbestos required by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

In the meantime, the place looks like Yucca Flats after the blast. And we all know how persnickety Peoria Heights is about how their village looks. This must be driving them crazy. [/sarcasm]

Incidentally, click on the link to the Times-Observer article. The really interesting part of the story is not the “war zone” comment. It’s the fact that the Village hasn’t seen any plans for the strip mall, doesn’t know who the tenants will be, and neither does the developer know who the tenants will be. I guess when they say they don’t make developers “jump through a lot of hoops,” they must mean they have no standards at all for development.

But the village is reportedly “excited” about the development anyway, even though they have no idea what kind of business will move in or any inkling of what it will look like. Wouldn’t it be a hoot if the tenants turned out to be a car wash and a payday loan establishment?

LaHood Continues Momentum with $212,000 Raised to Date
Challenger for State’s Attorney leads in contributions and support from law enforcement

Peoria, IL – With a significant cash advantage and unanimous support from the Peoria County law enforcement community, Darin LaHood’s bid to unseat a 20-year incumbent State’s Attorney continues to gain momentum.

“We’ve had an amazing number of individual, local donors contribute to our campaign,” said LaHood. “People realize that Peoria County has the highest crime rate in the State during the past five years and that is simply not acceptable. We’ve got to do something to reverse this trend and voting for a change in the State’s Attorney’s office is a start. I’ve sought input from local law enforcement, kept an open ear to all of the neighborhood groups, and bring to the table solid prosecutorial experience. I believe I am the right candidate for this job and I sincerely thank all those supporting my campaign.”

In his semi-annual financial report filed with the State Board of Elections this week, LaHood’s campaign shows over $212,000 raised to date, with $113,000 remaining on hand. More than 750 individual donors have contributed to the LaHood campaign since he announced his candidacy in October 2007.

Darin LaHood’s proven ability to effectively raise money for his campaign has been bolstered by his prowess in earning powerful support from the law enforcement community. For the last several weeks, police unions from various departments throughout the County have publicly issued endorsements of LaHood’s candidacy including the City of Peoria Police Department, the Peoria County Sheriff’s Department, the Chillicothe Police Department and most recently, the Bartonville Police Department. Law enforcement officials collectively say the present State’s Attorney’s office is ‘disconnected and it is time for a change.’

“We’re going to keep working straight through Election Day,” proclaimed LaHood. “Public safety in our County is at stake and the voters realize that. It’s going to take a lot of money to unseat an entrenched incumbent, but it will also take a strong message of change to convince people to vote differently than they have in the past. My supporters are lining up and we look forward to victory in November.”

Darin LaHood, 40, was born and raised in Peoria. He is a former federal prosecutor who served four years with U.S. Department of Justice in Las Vegas, Nevada. LaHood was also an Assistant State’s Attorney in both Tazewell and Cook counties. LaHood and his wife Kristen returned home to Peoria in 2005 to raise their three children: McKay, Luke, and Teddy. LaHood currently practices law with the firm of Miller, Hall, & Triggs. Darin and Kristen are active in numerous Peoria charity and civic organizations and are members of St. Vincent de Paul Church. Visit www.DarinLaHood.com to learn more about the candidate, volunteer opportunities, or to contribute to the campaign.

OSF St. Francis, Inc. has leased about half of the [former K's Merchandise] building to consolidate offices spread throughout Peoria.

Also in the story, fifth district councilman Pat Nichting uses this news to push for the Pioneer Parkway extension. “‘There’s a lot of folks being patient waiting for the extension of Pioneer Parkway. It will have a major impact on that area,’ he said,” the Times-Observer reports.

City and Park District crews are currently removing down trees and branches from the roadway. Many times power lines will be taken down with tree branches. Please use caution when moving branches around your home.

Waste Management will be picking up yard waste from the storm with the daily pick up throughout the City. Please remember all material must be bagged or bundled and should be easily handled by one person.

This comes as no surprise. Up until January of this year, the Zoning Commission met at 1 p.m. the first Thursday of each month, and they really didn’t want to change. In fact, two commission members threatened to quit if the council changed the meeting time. Those turned out to be empty threats as no one resigned.

The purpose of changing the schedule was to allow more participation from residents who are not able to attend Zoning Commission meetings in the middle of the day because they’re working. Now, the Zoning Commission is saying that attendance is not any different than it was before, and that having the meetings earlier would save the city money in overtime/comp time pay. They offer no hard numbers.

I don’t see how a 3 p.m. meeting is going to be any easier for the first-shift working public to attend than a 1 p.m. meeting. And I would be interested to see some empirical evidence for the commission’s contention that “attendance was always based on whether the topic on the agenda was controversial or not” and that “controversial topics brought out more people whether the meetings were held in the afternoon or in the evening.”

It will be interesting to see the council’s reaction to this request.