Peoria Pundit » East Bluff http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria Media and news from the original river city Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:35:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 East Bluff NHS forum is Thursday http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2010/01/12/east-bluff-nhs-forum-is-thursday/ http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2010/01/12/east-bluff-nhs-forum-is-thursday/#comments Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:01:58 +0000 Billy Dennis http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/?p=14354 From my inbox:

ebnhsmap copyDate: January 11, 2010
Released by: Alma Brown, Communications Manager
Subject: East Bluff Neighborhood Housing services (EBNHS) Public Forum

The East Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services (EBNHS) will hold a public forum on Thursday, January 14, 2010, to discuss potential neighborhood improvement strategies in the East Bluff Neighborhood Housing Service District. The forum will be held from 6:30 until 8:00 p.m., at the Prince of Peace MB Church, 711 E. Arcadia Ave., Peoria, IL 61603

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss what role the East Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services (EBNHS) can play in the future development of the East Bluff Neighborhood Housing Service District. The public forum will be facilitated by former Third District Council Member Bob Manning.

Some Topics of Discussion Include:

  • Housing Programs
  • Board Development
  • Neighborhood Center
  • Community Outreach
  • Community Partnerships

Residents, business owners, and other community stakeholders within the East Bluff Neighborhood Housing Service District are invited to attend and participate in the discussion of the future goals and initiatives of the EBNHS that will complement existing initiatives such as the Glen Oak School Neighborhood Impact Zone and Wisconsin Ave. Business Development.

For more information, please contact the City Planning Department, (309) 494-8651.

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]]> http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2010/01/12/east-bluff-nhs-forum-is-thursday/feed/ 1 City Council votes to raises taxes in the East Bluff http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2009/12/23/city-council-votes-to-raises-taxes-in-the-east-bluff/ http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2009/12/23/city-council-votes-to-raises-taxes-in-the-east-bluff/#comments Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:49:24 +0000 Billy Dennis http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/?p=14173 For the next ten years, property owners on Peoria’s East Bluff will pay a higher tax rate than other city residents.

They will pay an extra 18 cents per $100 in assessed valuation. Than means if your home is assessed at $50,000 for tax purposes, your property tax bills would be $90 higher than if it was located just across the street from the special service district.

That’s the same rate residents are charged now. That’s why Mayor Jim Ardis scoffed at the suggestion this is a tax increase.

It might not be an increase in the rate from one year to the next. But it it an increases from what residents in the East Bluff would have paid had the council not voted 9-1 to continue with the assessment.

The council voted “yes.” Tax bills will be higher than they would have been. That’s an increase.

The lone dissenter was Gary Sandberg, who noted that neighborhood activists in the East Bluff are very unhappy with the lack of openness and transparency coming from the East Bluff Neighborhood Housing Service.

Sandberg also noted that had the council voted to set the levy at a level that raised the tax rate by 18 cents city wide, the city could have more easily solved it’s budget problems.

Mayor Ardis balked at that description saying to compare the special assessment and the overall budget is to compare “apples and oranges.” Since it all shows up on the same property tax bills, I’d say all pretty fruity.

Look at it this way: If you bought a car and paid it off over 10 years, you would NOT expect the car dealer to deliver a newer version of that same car and expect to to make an additional 10 years of payments. And you would be especially upset if you were unhappy with the first car’s quality the the service the dealer provided.

This is the situation that East Bluffers find themselves in now.

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]]> http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2009/12/23/city-council-votes-to-raises-taxes-in-the-east-bluff/feed/ 2 East Bluffers in a tiff over housing group http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2009/12/05/east-bluffers-in-a-tiff-over-housing-group/ http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2009/12/05/east-bluffers-in-a-tiff-over-housing-group/#comments Sun, 06 Dec 2009 02:16:30 +0000 Billy Dennis http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/?p=13987 The agenda for Tuesday’s Peoria City Council meeting is out and there’s a doozy of a document attached to it.

One of the items on the consent agenda is renewal of the levy for the East Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services Special Services Area.

Attached to the request is a document — unsigned — that makes all sort of claims about the EBNHS.

I’m not going to go into details because I’ve heard only one side.

But the item is going to be deferred to give the people involved a chance to resolve their differences.

eastbluff.PDF

NOTE: Everyone play nice in the comments section.

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]]> http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2009/12/05/east-bluffers-in-a-tiff-over-housing-group/feed/ 4 Open House for Glen Oak School impact zone on Wednesday= http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2009/08/21/open-house-for-glen-oak-school-impact-zone-on-wednesday/ http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2009/08/21/open-house-for-glen-oak-school-impact-zone-on-wednesday/#comments Sat, 22 Aug 2009 00:24:07 +0000 Billy Dennis http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/?p=12898 From a press release:

NEWS RELEASE

Date: August 21, 2009
Released by: Alma Brown, Communications Manager
Subject: PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE for City of Peoria Glen Oak School Impact Zone

Street Improvement Project on Wisconsin Street, Republic Street,

Maryland Street, and Kansas Street

Wednesday – August 26, 2009
The City of Peoria invites the Public to an Open House Informational Meeting for the Glen Oak School Impact Zone Street Improvement Project. The open house will be held on Wednesday – August 26, 2009 from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM. Handouts will be distributed at the meeting describing the project in detail. In addition, plan exhibits will be available for public viewing. Representatives from the City of Peoria and the project engineering firm will be available for questions at the meeting. The public is encouraged to attend at any time during the open house to view exhibits and provide written comments for the project record.

The project improvement limits include the streets immediately surrounding the new Glen Oak School: Wisconsin Street from Kansas Street to Republic Street, Republic Street from Wisconsin Street to Maryland Street, Maryland Street from Kansas Street to Republic Street, and Kansas Street from Wisconsin Street to Maryland Street. Wisconsin Street is proposed to be slightly narrowed and resurfaced with new curb and sidewalk and intersection improvements at Frye Avenue. Republic Street is proposed to be resurfaced with new curb and sidewalk. Complete street reconstruction with new curb and gutter and sidewalk is proposed for Kansas Street and Maryland Street.

The open house meeting will be held at the current Glen Oak Primary School gymnasium, located at 809 E. Frye Ave, Peoria, Illinois.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Scott Reeise at (309) 494-8818.

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]]> http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2009/08/21/open-house-for-glen-oak-school-impact-zone-on-wednesday/feed/ 0 Riggenbach to East Bluffers: You had your precious ‘tranparency,’ now shut up and drink the OSF Kool Aid http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2009/08/03/riggenbach-to-east-bluffers-you-had-your-precious-tranparency-now-shut-up-and-drink-the-osf-kool-aid/ http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2009/08/03/riggenbach-to-east-bluffers-you-had-your-precious-tranparency-now-shut-up-and-drink-the-osf-kool-aid/#comments Mon, 03 Aug 2009 05:28:15 +0000 Billy Dennis http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/?p=12621 Timothy Riggenbach hasn’t even completed his first summer as a member of the Peoria City Council, and it’s clear he’s forgotten  exactly who he is supposed to represent.

Third District City Councilman Timothy Riggenbach hopes opposition to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center’s wishes to someday build an “energy center” in the East Bluff won’t scare off other developers from being transparent in their future plans.

“I would hate to think developers will take the wrong lesson from this,” he said. “We want to encourage as much openness and transparency as we can.”

Riggenbach said St. Francis was trying to be open in releasing details about what it wants to do in the future within its development plan. He said there was no requirement for the hospital to release details about an energy center it has no intention of building soon.

Exactly what does Riggenbach think the true purpose of transparency is? It’s not to PLACATE the residents. The purpose of transparency is to let the citizen of Peoria KNOW what the HELL is going on right outside the walls of their homes, so they can have input in public policy. If voters know what’s going on, they can tell their representative on the council how to better represent them.

But Riggenbach is worried that because East Bluffers declined to be placated, future developers might not be so forthcoming with the transparency. Well, screw the developers. The standard for the Peoria City Council should be that developers who want to change the rules in their favor had better damn well be transparent, or they’ll not get the changes they want.

This is the problem that infects this city council: They forget who their constituents are. It’s not the big institutions like OSF, Methodist and Bradley University. It sure as HELL is not Caterpillar or any other employer. The only constituents are the people who buy and rent homes in Peoria. Period. All else being equal, if big business and institutions want something, it should be approved only when it benefits the real constituents.

Riggenbach is being told by his constituents that they aren’t buying what OSF is selling. Riggenbach is telling his constituents to stop making so much noise or some developer might not approve.

Good Christ.

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]]> http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2009/08/03/riggenbach-to-east-bluffers-you-had-your-precious-tranparency-now-shut-up-and-drink-the-osf-kool-aid/feed/ 8 Does anyone at the Journal Star even live in Peoria? http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2009/06/04/does-anyone-at-the-journal-star-even-live-in-peoria/ http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2009/06/04/does-anyone-at-the-journal-star-even-live-in-peoria/#comments Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:10:51 +0000 Billy Dennis http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/?p=11943 More directionally challenged journalism from Peoria’s one and only newspaper of record:

Watson was arrested about 11 a.m. after MEG agents conducted a controlled delivery of a package containing 2,300 grams of marijuana and two digital scales to an East Bluff residence at 1430 W. Willcox St.

Generally speaking, anything east of Knoxville Avenue is considered “East Bluff” (provided it isn’t too far north). Not only isn’t this address east of Knoxville, it isn’t east of North University. It’s more than a full mile away from the East Bluff.

And here’s a clue for the copy desk: If the address is on West ANYTHING, it’s not in the East Bluff.

Seriously, people.

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]]> http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2009/06/04/does-anyone-at-the-journal-star-even-live-in-peoria/feed/ 6 Local: ‘Bittersweet’ — yeah, that’s the word for the East Bluff http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2008/03/05/local-bittersweet-yeah-thats-the-word-for-the-east-bluff/ http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2008/03/05/local-bittersweet-yeah-thats-the-word-for-the-east-bluff/#comments Thu, 06 Mar 2008 04:28:49 +0000 Billy Dennis http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2008/03/05/local-bittersweet-yeah-thats-the-word-for-the-east-bluff/ I grew up in the Glen Oak School neighborhood. Hell, with the new configuration, there’s likely to be ang lot or a playground just across the street from my old home on the corner of Frye And Maryland.

I share the feelings expressed here. I’m NOT convinced that these spiffy super-sized campuses are the cure-all that Ken Hinton and some school board members think they are. But I know that the neighborhood would have collapsed had they taken the school out of the East Bluff, especially if they left the empty hulk there.

But mostly, I’m sad because of the memories. That’s one reason I haven’t written about. I almost went off on a rant about all the homes that are going to go away. I’ve eaten food out of that tiny diner that has been the home of more than a dozen different owners, from typical diner food, to tacos to BBQ.

But I survived emotionally when they closed Haddad’s Market. I survived with Green’s Drug Store turned to Carroll’s and then was torn down and a friggin’ rent-to-own place went in.

I’ll get over this.  In the end, this is good.

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]]> http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2008/03/05/local-bittersweet-yeah-thats-the-word-for-the-east-bluff/feed/ 2 Local: Victory at Frye and Wisconsin avenues http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2008/01/08/local-victory-at-frye-and-wisconsin-avenues/ http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2008/01/08/local-victory-at-frye-and-wisconsin-avenues/#comments Tue, 08 Jan 2008 07:25:50 +0000 Billy Dennis http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2008/01/08/local-victory-at-frye-and-wisconsin-avenues/ Peoria School District 150 will build a new East Bluff “birth-through-8th-grade” school on the site of the current Glen Oak School. The exact configuration has not been determined.

It is, obviously, a huge victory for the people who live in and near the East Bluff who fought for this outcome from the very instant years ago when District 150 announced it had made a deals with the Peoria Park District and the Peoria Housing Authority that would lead to building this school inside Glen Oak Park.

Residents correctly recognized that by moving the neighborhood school onto the other side of Prospect and essentially out of the neighborhood, the entire East Bluff would be destabilized. It would create vacant shell of a building in the heart of the East Bluff, to both symbolize and perpetuate the decay.

Instead, the East Bluff is getting a brand new school that can serve as a center of activity for everyone.

I’m awaiting to find out how much the City of Peoria had to kick in to sweeten the pot for District 150 to make what should have been a no-brainer of a decision. It matters not. Whether it’s federal dollars or city-generated property taxes, it’s ALL taxpayer money, and building a school is as essential a government service as it gets.

But the East Bluff residents cannot let up on District 150. The exact design of this new site has not been determined. Vigilance is needed to ensure that accommodations are made within the design to make sure this is building is available for use by the community year round and after classes are dismissed. Policies MUST be put into place to make sure the doors are not locked when neighbors want to use the facilities for events that promote healthy neighborhoods. Vague assurances and good intentions are NOT enough.

And it also looks like there’s some positive changes going on at Manual High School too.

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]]> http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2008/01/08/local-victory-at-frye-and-wisconsin-avenues/feed/ 2 Local: Will District 150 kiss city’s $344,000 goodbye out of spite? http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2007/11/28/local-will-district-150-kiss-citys-344000-goodbye-out-of-spite/ http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2007/11/28/local-will-district-150-kiss-citys-344000-goodbye-out-of-spite/#comments Wed, 28 Nov 2007 10:21:04 +0000 Billy Dennis http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2007/11/28/local-will-district-150-kiss-citys-344000-goodbye-out-of-spite/ Kudos to the Journal Star’s Clare Jellick. Once again, she’s used her j-blog to insert leftover material from her notebook into the public discussion, this time to provide some background to Tuesday’s article about Peoria School District 150’s sudden decision to consider locating its new East Bluff school at the site of the now-closed White School.

During Superintendent Ken Hinton’s longer-than-expected recover from back surgery, Hinton got the swell idea that this new school out to be located at White because then and only then could it be a magnet school and partner up with nearby OSF and Methodist medical center to offer educational programming. This is apparently impossible at the Glen Oak School site, which is about 8.2 miles away, according to Mapquest (I used to walk past Glen Oak School on my way to deliver newspapers to homes next door to White School).

Here’s the problem, even though the cost per acre for land acquisition is lower at the White School site than at Glen Oak, the district would be forgoing a ton of cash. From Jellick’s entry:

Board members seemed to think that city money offered to the district could go to sites other than Glen Oak Primary School. Unless Councilman Bob Manning has changed his mind, he has made it clear to me that the money is specifically linked to “a configuration around the Glen Oak School site.” Grant money totaling $344,000 has been set aside for development costs, and even more could be available.

I agree with Jellick’s assessment of the council’s mood on this. No Glen Oak site, no city assistance.

And then there is the potential cash the district could be giving up from the potential sale of the White building, probably to the ever expanding OSF. The district had been asking $1.25 million, roughly equal to four acres of land at the Glen Oak site.

Not to mention the fact that if the district builds at White School, that leaves Glen Oak School an empty shell sitting and rotting on the East Bluff. Not so if the Glen Oak site is chosen, because eventually one of the hospitals will buy the White School property.

Back when the district’s plan to close Glen Oak an build a new school in Glen Oak Park collapsed, Hinton bitterly vowed that because East Bluff residents fought the district, that must mean the area must not really want a new school and don’t really care for their children (which is far from the truth)  and therefore they wouldn’t get any school school, anywhere in the area.

Perhaps this is Hinton’s way of fulfilling that spiteful promise. He supposedly reconsidered, then he pulled this rabbit out of his hat. The overwhelming majority of the East Bluff folks who spoke at the four neighborhood forums supported the Glen Oak site. There’s at least one and maybe two big wads of cash available if the district picks the Glen Oak site. There’s NOTHING that can be offered at the White site that cannot be offered at the Glen Oak site. Picking the White site contributes to neighborhood decay, while the Glen Oak site does not.

It’s a no-brainer, folks.

The City of Peoria has already come up with incentives. They’ve been on the table a long time. I would suggest that if Hinton and some members of the school board are playing games in hopes of getting more, they better be aware that it’s annual budget time at City Hall and no one is in the mood to be jacked around.

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]]> http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2007/11/28/local-will-district-150-kiss-citys-344000-goodbye-out-of-spite/feed/ 8 Local: Ummm … was this offer ever really OFF the table? http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2007/11/09/local-ummm-was-this-offer-ever-really-off-the-table/ http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2007/11/09/local-ummm-was-this-offer-ever-really-off-the-table/#comments Fri, 09 Nov 2007 07:54:47 +0000 Billy Dennis http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2007/11/09/local-ummm-was-this-offer-ever-really-off-the-table/ Clare Jellick is reporting that the city is still willing to spend $500,000 to help them build a new school in the East Bluff to help replace Glen Oak School. First, it’s my understanding the offer was never off the table, just that District 150 wasn’t budging. Second: I reported two weeks ago that District 15o was talking things over with Councilman Bob Manning. The amount mentioned at the time was $344,o00 plus another $100,000 for renovations along the Wisconsin Avenue business corridor. Since, then another $100,000 has appeared.

A longer story is coming tomorrow.

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