Category Archives: City of Peoria

City of Peoria, Insight Communications, Television

Cable franchise agreement to be extended until July 15

The 20-year cable franchise agreement the City of Peoria has with Insight Communications is set to expire April 15, but the city is offering to extend it until July 15, according to Randy Ray, corporation counsel for the city.

Ray didn’t explain further, so the rest of this post is pure speculation.

It appears the only things the city wants are to have Insight broadcast the city council meetings for free, which would save the city about $32,000 annually, and to have a shorter term for the agreement.  I’m going to guess that the $32,000 is not the sticking point, but that the cable company wants a longer agreement.  I seem to remember (and I could be remembering this incorrectly) Ray saying that he wanted the new agreement to be for only five years.  If that’s the case, that would be a disincentive for a cable company to invest a lot in infrastructure; I could see how it would hold up negotiations.

And Insight is not shy about holding up negotiations.  In Decatur, their franchise agreement has been expired for three years and they’re still negotiating a new one.  Let’s hope it’s not that bad in Peoria, and that the short three-month extension is a signal that both parties are hoping to come to agreement soon.

City of Peoria, Heart of Peoria Plan

City planning largely to blame for isolation

I’ve been commenting on quite a few Journal Star articles today. I should send them a thank-you note for supplying me so much material. But they did have another interesting piece — this one on elderly residents who stop driving due to safety concerns.

The subhead for the article reads, “the loss of independence can leave them [the elderly] isolated.” One of the elderly non-drivers interviewed for the story said, “I’m having to depend on other people to take me where I want to go.” But the article never addresses the underlying reason for this dependence on others to drive them around.

That reason is our city planning or urban design — specifically, that our city is largely designed for cars rather than for people. Peoria has much of its housing completely segregated from shopping, entertainment, business, etc., because of zoning laws that have not allowed mixed uses of property. This kind of design requires dependence on the automobile to take one from one type of zoning to another (from home to work, from work to the store, from the store to home, etc.). Thus, this kind of city plan is hardest on those who don’t have automobile transportation: children, the poor, and the elderly.

That’s why the Heart of Peoria Plan, which is based on New Urbanism, recommends the reinstitution of mixed use neighborhoods. For example, if there is a market within easy walking distance, and the neighborhood is pedestrian-friendly, non-driving elderly persons don’t feel quite as isolated because they can still walk to the store and pick up some groceries themselves without relying on someone to drive them around. Similarly, if there’s a restaurant or cafe nearby, they can walk to such a gathering place themselves, without having to ask for a lift.

When my grandfather stopped driving, it wasn’t because he was feeble or unable to live on his own. Sure his eyesight and reaction time weren’t as sharp as they used to be, but he could still walk, fix himself meals, and live alone in an apartment. If he had lived in a mixed-use neighborhood, there are a lot more things he could have done himself without relying on others to drive him. The isolation he felt was the result of automobile-dependent urban design.

City of Peoria, Peoria Police

Should Peoria not be hospitable?

An elderly couple just going out for a walk here in Peoria were approached by a young man who asked to use their phone. They let the man in, and he hid in the couple’s bathroom. Soon, the police arrived. It turns out the man had just robbed the Subway restaurant in Northwoods Mall.

The elderly couple was obviously shaken by this turn of events, and the Journal Star’s account of the incident includes this quote from the couple and advice from the police:

“You can’t be nice anymore,” the [elderly] man said. “You don’t know what you’re getting into. If the police hadn’t come in, I don’t know what would have happened.”

[Police Lt. Jeff] Adams echoed that and asked people not to let strangers into their homes.

“You’ve got a guy who has just committed a robbery,” Adams said. “If the police hadn’t been around, this could have turned bad quick.”

Isn’t that sad? “Letting strangers into your home” is what used to be known as “showing hospitality.” Now, the police are essentially saying that Peoria is so unsafe that we are being asked not to practice hospitality.

But is not allowing strangers into our homes the solution . . . or the problem? Maybe we should have more strangers in our houses — like the strangers who live next door. Do we know our neighbors? Could it be that our isolation has made us less rather than more secure?

And what about that stranger that asks to use your phone? Maybe you could engage him in conversation and try to find out a little about why he’s calling and where he’s going. If he sounds suspicious, by all means, don’t let him in your house. But maybe you can offer to let him use your cordless phone or cell phone — outside. You can still show kindness while trying to minimize your risk.

I remember many years ago when I was just a teenager and my car broke down on War Memorial Drive one Sunday evening. I had to go up to a nearby house and ask to use the phone. I sure am thankful a kind lady let this stranger into her house to use her phone, or it would have been a long walk home! Sometimes the stranger who asks to use your phone really just needs to use the phone.

City of Peoria, Illinois American Water

Can Peoria afford IEPA compliance if we buy our water works?

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The Journal Star had a story today about the problems Kingston Mines is having coming up with $400,000 to treat their water so it meets IEPA standards.  Suppose Peoria were to buy the water works from Illinois American Water.  In addition to the huge debt load from buying the water works, would Peoria be able to afford IEPA compliance in the long-term?

Kingston Mines has radium contamination. What if Peoria develops copper or lead contamination, and the only way to fix it is by replacing the infrastructure?  Can Peoria afford to fix that on top of the cost of purchasing the water company?  Peoria is an old city with a lot of old pipes.  I hope councilman Manning has figured in those kinds of contingencies when this issue comes up the next time.

City of Peoria, Illinois American Water

RWE spinning off American Water as IPO by ’07

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RWE issued a press release yesterday announcing they’ve decided not to sell American Water Works, the parent company of Illinois American Water Co., but pursue an initial public offering instead:

The Executive Board of RWE AG decided to pursue an initial public offering (IPO) in the U.S. for the shares of American Water as the most attractive option for RWE and the U.S.-based company, its employees and customers. This decision will return American Water to its status as a publicly-traded company. RWE had previously announced on November 4, 2005 its intention to divest American Water either through an IPO or by selling American Water to a group of financial investors.

The IPO will result in a publicly-traded company that is focused on water and wastewater in the U.S. and dedicated to maintaining a high level of service and quality.

The sales process is expected to be initiated shortly through filings for approval with certain state public utility commissions. The IPO will require filing of a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The transaction will also be subject to the approval of the RWE AG Supervisory Board. The target is to complete the transaction during 2007.

What does this mean for Peoria and its efforts to reacquire their portion of Illinois American Water? I haven’t heard anything from city officials, but I imagine their view will be similar to Lexington’s (KY), a city that is also trying to purchase their city’s water works. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports today:

Former Lexington Mayor Scotty Baesler, chairman of the city [water buyout] committee, said yesterday that RWE’s IPO announcement would not alter his committee’s work.

The city probably would have to try to buy Kentucky American from whoever ends up controlling American Water, Baesler said.

Dealing with a new company could help the city’s efforts because a new owner might be more willing to jettison Kentucky American, he said.

Not a bad strategy. The difference in Lexington, of course, is that a majority of residents are in favor of the city buying the water company. Here in Peoria, about 2/3 of residents are opposed to the city acquiring the water company.

I’m convinced the bottom-line issue in Peoria — the reason so many people are against the city owning the water company — is trust. Frankly, we’re still not convinced they can handle it. They can’t fully staff our fire stations. They throw money away on bike paths, the RiverPlex, and other pork park district boondoggles. They’ve already raised our water bills by adding a “garbage” tax to them.

It took a long time to develop that distrust, and it’s not going to go away overnight. The new council has made some good strides so far, so maybe they’ll be able to overcome our doubts by the time the next opportunity to buy the water company rolls around.

There are other reasons to question the wisdom of the city buying the water company, but trust is the largest hurdle for the council.

City Council, City of Peoria, Heart of Peoria Plan

Council roundup: Put on a happy façade

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This picture wasn’t shown in the council chambers tonight, but it could have been. This is a picture of my late grandmother’s business, Merchant’s Cafe, in the late 1960s. It was located on Sheridan Road, near Loucks, and that’s the area being targeted by the city’s new façade improvement program.

As a part of commercial revitalization, City staff has partnered with property and business owners on North Sheridan to develop a Facade Improvement Program in order to improve the area’s physical characteristics through the enhancement of the aesthetics and attractiveness of the commercial properties. These improvements will increase the community pride of the adjacent neighborhoods and encourage business recruitment and expansion in the area.

Much like councilman Manning’s initiative along Prospect Road, councilwoman Van Auken deserves kudos for her work on putting this program together. She enlisted the help of five Bradley University students for marketing this initiative — three of whom were in the council chambers tonight — which is a brilliant way to give students real-life experience and save the city some money.

Not that the city isn’t putting any money into this initiative. On the contrary, $100,000 was allocated for the Program. They will pay 50% of the total cost of improvements to each property or $20,000, whichever is less. It warms my heart to see the city spending money in the older neighborhoods to revitalize these neighborhood centers, just like the Heart of Peoria Plan directs.

If you’ve seen this stretch of properties, you’ve seen that it hasn’t been updated in quite a while. In fact, in the picture above, just to the right of Merchant’s Cafe is a business called Florence’s Beauty Shop. If you go by that shop today, you’ll see that store front looks almost exactly the same 35 years later, the faded paint being the only difference.

This is a perfect location to enact the Heart of Peoria Plan. Narrow the road a bit and add diagonal parking. Update the façades and sidewalks. The neighborhoods surrounding these businesses are stable. This area could be easily revitalized and draw new businesses to this corridor.

Not surprisingly, the motion passed unanimously. I expect Whitey’s Tap will be the first business to take advantage of the new program.

City Council, City of Peoria, Renaissance Park, Southtown

Council roundup: Hospitals withdraw Southtown bid

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Several weeks ago, a couple of area hospitals stared down Select Medical of Pennsylvania’s plan to put a long-term acute-care hospital on the last unsold parcel of Southtown.  At that time, they said they were looking to locate a similar establishment in Renaissance Park.  Then, several days ago, they shocked Peoria by considering the possibility of locating on the same parcel in Southtown instead of Ren Park.

Tonight, they withdrew their proposed option agreement on the Southtown property.  Why?  Who knows?  Hopefully, the Journal Star will have more details tomorrow.

City Council, City of Peoria, Peoria Public Schools, Renaissance Park

Council roundup: We have an understanding

The city council approved a “memorandum of understanding” between the Renaissance Park Commission and District 150 school board “in order to research and develop a project proposal for a math, science and technology academy for Renaissance Park.”

This was an easy thing to vote on, frankly, since there is no financial obligation to any of the parties involved. It just says that they’re all in agreement on the goal. There was a lot of love to go around, and only one minor controversy.

That controversy was the last three words of the action requested: “for Renaissance Park.” Gary Sandberg objected to this wording because he felt it was a “hard boundary” that was unnecessary. He suggested that Peoria Central High School would be a good location to house a math/science academy, even though it’s not within the boundaries of Renaissance Park.

Van Auken amended her motion to strike the last three words of the action requested, and the motion passed unanimously.

Grayeb had a good point during the discussion of this item. He cautioned against focusing too much on science and technology in the younger grades because grade school children need a more balanced, liberal education, including history, social studies/government, literature, handwriting, etc. He felt the upper grades were the time to gear curriculum more heavily toward math, science and technology.

And, he had a little zing for the Journal Star. He intoned through his usual Tuesday-night grimace, “We have an excellent school district despite cartoons that appear in our monopoly newspaper.” Ha! Look out, Journal Star — he may ask the council to look into buying out the city’s newspaper of record. It’s owned by out-of-state investors, you know.

Just before the council voted, Gulley expressed concern about the school being built within Ren Park. Apparently he fell asleep during the first 15 minutes of the discussion when the council addressed that issue. Even the usually unflappable Ardis sounded exasperated as he explained to Gulley the council already talked about that, and quickly called for the vote.

City of Peoria, Renaissance Park

Council Roundup: Ren Park marketing elicits most discussion

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The Ren Park Commission got approval to hire Converse Marketing for “various initiatives” to market the area. This resulted in no small amount of discussion regarding what should be included in that marketing material. The adjacent neighborhoods didn’t specifically enter into the discussion, as Monday’s Word on the Street column suggested.

It was kind of funny. First-district councilman Clyde Gulley complained that the marketing pieces were limited to areas within the Ren Park boundaries, but then second-district councilwoman Barbara Van Auken pointed out that Gulley was invited to present his concerns to the commission and never showed, use social media to get sales. Then at-large councilman Gary Sandberg pointed out that areas outside of the Ren Park boundaries in fact are included in the Ren Park marketing materials. Gulley, not one to let the facts confuse him, continued to complain about the same thing and voted against the item.

Sandberg also voted against the item, although I never could figure out why exactly. At-large councilman George Jacob was the last dissenting vote. He wasn’t against this marketing per se, but felt that the council needed to have a more comprehensive approach to marketing — that they weren’t spending limited tax dollars in the most strategic way.

Still, the motion passed 8-3. I was taking notes during the meeting and, just for fun, I’ve included them here for those of you who like stream-of-consciousness blogging. Just click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below.

Continue reading Council Roundup: Ren Park marketing elicits most discussion →

City of Peoria, Illinois American Water

French may buy American Water Co. from Germans

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Bloomberg reports that the French water company Veolia Environnement SA is “considering bidding for RWE AG’s water business in the U.S.,” which is American Water Co., of which Illinois American Water is a part.  This is the first company to consider purchasing American Water since RWE put it up for sale last November.

Veolia is a supplier of water to about 110 million people.  They have a presence on every continent.  In the U.S., they currently provide water for certain municipalities in Indiana, Georgia, Alabama, Oregon, Texas, Florida, and even right here in Illinois — in Edwardsville.