Category Archives: City of Pekin

City of East Peoria, City of Pekin, State of Illinois, Traffic

Eastern Bypass public meeting planned for July 29

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In the city’s “Issues Update” this week, there was information regarding the upcoming Eastern Bypass study. This is the plan to connect Route 6 and I-474 on the east side of the river, making a ring road — a complete bypass for the greater Peoria area. Here’s the letter IDOT Deputy Director of Highways Joe Crowe wrote to Pekin Mayor Dave Tebben (emphasis mine):

The Illinois Department of Transportation has scheduled a Public Kickoff Meeting for the Eastern Bypass Study. This project would connect Illinois Route 6, near Mossville, to Interstate 74, near Morton, a distance of approximately 20 to 25 miles. The meeting is being held to introduce the project to the public, to describe the study elements, and to answer questions and receive comments.

This meeting is scheduled for Tuesday July 29, 2008, from 3:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at the Countryside Banquet Facility in Washington, Illinois. Enclosed is a copy of the newsletter we have prepared for this meeting, which gives more information concerning the project and public participation. Advertisements announcing the meeting will be published in local newspapers beginning this week.

If you have any questions regarding the project or the scheduled kickoff meeting, please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Mike Lewis at (309) 671·3474.

The letter from Crowe and the newsletter to which he refers are available here (PDF file). I hear that many people in affected areas have already received invitations to the meeting.

City Council, City of Pekin, Comprehensive Plan, Heart of Peoria Plan

Pick a plan, any plan

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Confused manThe city council on Tuesday tacitly approved Craig Hullinger’s request to pursue his plan to put townhouses and a street between the Riverplex and Spring Street near the river. (Councilman Sandberg voted against having Hullinger spend his time on that project because he would like to see other projects that we’ve already started come to fruition before efforts are divided to work on other projects. Councilman Spain countered that, if we wait until all the current projects are implemented, we won’t be coming up with any new ideas for a long time; he used the warehouse district as an example of a project that may take seven years or more to complete.)

I got a chance to talk to Hullinger yesterday before the council meeting, and one of the interesting things I learned (though I had heard of this anecdotally before) was how various city documents are not coordinated. Case in point: this area bordered by the train tracks and river, Spring Street and the Riverplex.

  • If you look at the Zoning Map for Peoria (updated 2005), you’ll see that this area is zoned R-3 (single-family residential) from Spring to Wayne, and C-2 (large-scale commercial) from Wayne to the interstate.
  • If you look at the Comprehensive Plan’s Future Land Use Map (adopted 2001), it has the area from the interstate all the way to Morton Street (this area includes the Riverplex) designated as park land. From Morton to Spring, it’s designated as a mix of commercial and high-density residential.
  • If you look at the Heart of Peoria Plan (adopted “in principle” in 2002), it recommends the city “pursue development of a whitewater race course, utilizing available land to the north of the current recreational and fitness complex.” That would stretch from the Riverplex parking lot almost to Evans Street.

All of this leads me to conclude that the city needs someone somewhere to coordinate the many and various plans the city has adopted. I’m sure this isn’t the only part of town where plans conflict with each other. Who makes sure they’re in harmony? Which plan has precedence? Or are they all equal?

The city is currently in the middle of writing a new comprehensive plan. Hopefully these conflicts will be resolved during that process.

City of Pekin, City of Peoria, Illinois American Water

How high’s the water (rate), Mama?

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Illinois American Water has petitioned the Illinois Commerce Commission to raise their rates in Peoria and Pekin by 20 and 26.7 percent, respectively.

Water company officials say the increases are necessary to cover rising operating costs and infrastructure improvements….

And now, let’s compare this with what Illinois American Water said two years ago according to an April 4, 2005, Journal Star article:

The current business plan of Illinois American Water does not call for a general rate case before 2009, and that means customers will not see the impact of a general rate increase before 2010. Barring an extraordinary event like Sept. 11, the average residential bill will still be $34.74 [average bill in 2005] in 2010.

It is also important to note that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that municipal water systems need to spend $18 billion in order to bring their existing systems up to government standards for water quality. Peorians don’t have this problem because the necessary and timely investments have been made in their water system by Illinois American Water.

So, in 2005, everything was hunky-dory: no rate increases until 2009/2010, infrastructure all up to date. That was when the city was on the brink of buying out the water company. Now, just two years later, and without “an extraordinary event like Sept. 11,” they’re back to the ICC again asking for a 20% rate increase to cover operating expenses and infrastructure improvements. What changed? Why did they have to accelerate their business plan by two years and ask for such a massive increase all of a sudden?

For a company that doesn’t want the city to buy back its water works, they couldn’t have picked a worse time to ask for a rate increase. If it goes through, it will likely take effect next year, just in time for the city to consider buying them out again. Only public pressure has stopped the buyout before; if the public feels like Illinois American Water is screwing them, nothing will get in the way of the city buying them out.

City Council, City of Pekin, City of Peoria

Dagit’s resignation does not signal similar action from Manning

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Anyone in Peoria’s third district who read the Pekin Times’ or Peoria Journal Star’s story on Daryl Dagit’s resignation from the Pekin City Council may have had a sinking feeling in their stomach:

During [Monday’s council] meeting, Dagit explained the reason for his leaving. He is leaving his position at CitiFinancial, he said, and is moving to Smith Barney to work as a financial advisor. The two companies are both members of the financial services company Citigroup.

Dagit said Smith Barney policy mandates that employees not hold an elected position.

To some extent, that’s understandable. Smith Barney is a huge company, and they do bond underwriting. Municipalities issue bonds, of course, and if Smith Barney wants to underwrite those bonds, they may not be able to if one of their employees is on the council for that municipality — it would be a conflict of interest, and thus, the company loses the opportunity to gain that business.

But what does all that have to do with Peoria? Well, we have a councilman who works at the same company: Bob Manning. But don’t worry, he won’t be resigning.

I had the opportunity to talk to Bob about the situation. He explained that his circumstances are different from Dagit’s. Manning worked for the company first, got approval to run for office, then got on the council. Dagit was already on the council, then was offered a position, and giving up his council seat was a condition of employment. Dagit could have turned down the job offer and kept his seat.

Bottom line, Manning will continue to serve the residents of Peoria’s third district. And that’s good news for not only the third district, but all of Peoria.

Blogosphere, City of Pekin

Family of Pekin blogger threatened

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Someone figured out the real identity of a popular pseudonymous blogger and left a threatening note on the door of his home. “Knight in Dragonland,” a Richwoods High School graduate (“Knight”) now residing in Pekin (“Dragonland”), blogs about Pekin politics just like I blog about Peoria politics. But someone is trying to silence Knight through threats and intimidation:

Today someone placed a handwritten threat addressed to “knightindragonland” on my screen door while my wife was home with our baby girl…. Paraphrasing, it told me to shut my mouth. I don’t remember the exact words and the note is now in the hands of the Pekin police.

I’m not exactly sure what I’m supposed to keep quiet about. I’ve opened my big mouth on quite a few topics, and my stalker wasn’t explicit about what he/she found offensive. This lovely sheet of paper also listed my parent’s address in Peoria with the phrase “do you recognize this?” after it.

The implied threat was clear … I know who you are, I know where you live, I know where your parents live, and you better shut your mouth.

To his credit, Knight has not been cowed by the malicious little dirtbag who’s threatened his family. He’s come out fighting, filing a police report and letting everyone know about the threat. He will most likely “come out” and reveal his identity soon, once he gives his employer a heads-up.

Keep up the good work, Knight. Don’t be bullied. Keep blogging.