Daily Archives: January 20, 2006

City Council, Southtown

Nichting wants to reconsider the Select Medical deferment

Fifth-district councilman Patrick Nichting doesn’t want to wait three weeks to decide on Select Medical Corporation’s offer to buy a four-acre plot in Southtown. A motion to reconsider comes up Tuesday night:

Communication from Council Member Nichting Requesting RECONSIDERATION OF THE MOTION TO DEFER ITEM NO. 06-026 Regarding OPTION AGREEMENT with SELECT MEDICAL CORPORATION, LLC., for the PURCHASE of CITY-OWNED PROPERTY, (Bordered by Hightower, R.B. Garrett, and Richard Pryor Way), in the Amount of $714.384.00.

City Council

Council to decide whether to keep Hunts property in city

The City Council will decide Tuesday night whether to let the former Hunts property be disconnected from the city so it can be annexed to West Peoria. As you may recall, Crusens bought the neighboring Hunts property when Hunts closed for good last year. Hunts is in Peoria, whereas Crusens is in West Peoria.

I would expect the city to give the okay to disconnect it, but who knows? Maybe one of the other bars in town will ask the council to defer this a couple weeks so they can understand the deal better….

Kellar Branch

Breaking News: STB Stays Decision

1 Comment

Somebody tell Bonnie Noble to put her sledgehammer away — the demolition of the Kellar Branch has been delayed.

The Surface Transportation Board today decided to stay the effective date of their decision to discontinue service on the Kellar Branch. The Board stated:

The Board’s decision granting CIRY’s petition for exemption was premised on the fact that the existing shippers on this segment of rail line would receive rail service in the future via a new western connection to the Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) or by some other arrangement . . . . In its letters, Carver Lumber expresses concern about allowing CIRY’s discontinuance authority to go into effect because the western connection has not yet been completed. Carver Lumber also raises several issues regarding the western connection to UP that call into question the availability and practicability of that alternative when it is completed. Until these issues are resolved, it would be inappropriate to allow this discontinuance to become effective.

A stay of the effective date of the exemption is appropriate to allow time for the parties to provide additional information and for the Board to consider the issues presented in Carver Lumber’s filing. Accordingly, the exemption will be stayed pending further order of the Board. In the interim, CIRY and the City are directed to keep the Board informed of their progress in addressing and resolving the issues raised by Carver Lumber.

This Board’s decision was originally set to take effect January 22. That date has now been postponed indefinitely.

City Council, Southtown

Southtown

An anonymous commenter wondered why there has been no discussion from bloggers about the council’s deferral of a $9 million development in Southtown.  So, anon, this is for you.

A Pennsylvania company wants to build a long-term acute care hospital.  They’re not asking for any financial assistance from the city, and are willing to pay $714,384 for the four-acre parcel.  It would create 100 jobs. This sounds like a slam-dunk deal, doesn’t it?  Why in the world was it deferred?

Well, Second District Councilperson Barbara Van Auken wouldn’t say in the meeting (isn’t that intriguing?), but she later told the Journal Star that “a lawyer for OSF Saint Francis Medical Center contacted her Monday, asking for more time to understand the deal. Since St. Francis is planning a $250 million expansion and is one of the area’s largest employers, Van Auken said she didn’t see a problem with giving them the courtesy of a deferral.”

Let’s think about this for a second.  Who does this lawyer work for?  OSF.  And so who’s interests is he looking out for?  OSF’s, right?  Does he care about the city’s interests?  Only insofar as it furthers OSF’s interests.  And so, why does he need to “understand the deal” before the city can act on this offer?  Why is it in the city’s interests to defer the vote?

The statement from the Journal Star seems to imply that it’s because “St. Francis is planning a $250 million expansion and is one of the area’s largest employers.”  So?  What’s that got to do with the price of eggs in China?  As I read it, this deal is between the City of Peoria and Select Medical Property Ventures, LLC.  It doesn’t involve OSF at all.  In fact, OSF could potentially be a competitor if they have any plans to enter into the “long-term acute care” market.  It wouldn’t be any stretch of the imagination to consider that could be in their long-term plans, would it? So, again I ask, why is the city delaying the vote so that OSF’s lawyer can “understand the deal”? If you run a personal injury law firm, one of your top priorities in the business will always be getting new clients and signing more cases. Daniel Hegwer are a team of personal injury trial lawyers with proven expertise handling injury cases.

Delaying the vote so OSF can weigh in on the deal can only mean one thing:  OSF and a majority of the council believe that OSF should have a place at the table when deciding where, how, and perhaps if new medical establishments locate in Peoria. And that’s troubling.

Why should a land deal in Southtown have to get OSF’s go-ahead before the council can vote on it?