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Post by Kyle Mitchell on Apr 8, 2014 8:53:21 GMT -6
Tonight is the public hearing for the Downtown Plan. I hope that some people are able to go, if for nothing else, to at least just show some interest in what happens to our downtown.
I wish the plan would have had more ideas to create more use for our downtown buildings. There is nothing about adding a fiber optic network or our downtown being marketed to businesses looking to relocate or to add another location. There is nothing about allowing merchandise to be displayed outside.
It calls for measures to be stricter on building owners, but nothing about more enforcement to clean up the bar violence problems highlighted by the recent newspaper article, or the City cleaning up its building.
We certainly do not need a full time downtown manager. The Mayor said in the recent article that we would like more officers but can't afford them, so how can tax payer's afford to purchase property and take it off the tax rolls? Our City doesn't take care of their property and shouldn't be buying more to compete with private parties in the real estate business.
Hopefully some people can make it to the public hearing tonight, 7:00, City Hall.
BTW, less than a year to go now for the City elections, time is running out for them to start doing things differently and show better results.
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Post by chevypower on Apr 8, 2014 11:29:18 GMT -6
I have a friend who is a in a wheelchair, been in a wheelchair for 29 (yrs) and all He eats is organic / health foods and He looks younger every time I see Him, He is 59 yrs old and looks 39, unreal.
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Post by chevypower on Apr 8, 2014 23:51:19 GMT -6
I agree Masked Man.
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Post by dog on Apr 12, 2014 15:35:43 GMT -6
Tonight is the public hearing for the Downtown Plan. I hope that some people are able to go, if for nothing else, to at least just show some interest in what happens to our downtown. I wish the plan would have had more ideas to create more use for our downtown buildings. There is nothing about adding a fiber optic network or our downtown being marketed to businesses looking to relocate or to add another location. There is nothing about allowing merchandise to be displayed outside. It calls for measures to be stricter on building owners, but nothing about more enforcement to clean up the bar violence problems highlighted by the recent newspaper article, or the City cleaning up its building. We certainly do not need a full time downtown manager. The Mayor said in the recent article that we would like more officers but can't afford them, so how can tax payer's afford to purchase property and take it off the tax rolls? Our City doesn't take care of their property and shouldn't be buying more to compete with private parties in the real estate business. Hopefully some people can make it to the public hearing tonight, 7:00, City Hall. BTW, less than a year to go now for the City elections, time is running out for them to start doing things differently and show better results. In your opinion was there a good turnout for the hearing? Were there other people who voiced the same concerns that you voiced?
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Post by Kyle Mitchell on Apr 15, 2014 8:07:22 GMT -6
That being said, I really hope MYSELF has some common decency and respect to not hijack this thread with some smart a$$ comments or turns it into a Streator City Council bashing thread like he does with everything else. If so,I guess that really will prove and show his level of character. Why do people do that? Why would someone say something negative to councilman Benner right before his passing? Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't myself do that to councilman Benner? I bought this comment to this thread because it seemed more appropriate. I am not proud of how I spoke to Mr. Benner, had I of known that he had announced that he was on the verge of death, I would have spoke differently. I had come into that meeting at the very end, just seconds before the public forum. Had I of known that last month's council meeting would have been the last time that I was going to speak to Mr. Hart, I may have spoken differently to him as well. However, I will not accept the way our City is run and not speak out about the problems just because there is a chance that one of them may die. It is unfortunate that these men who had good intentions for our community but that I disagreed with have passed.
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Post by Kyle Mitchell on Apr 27, 2014 7:59:02 GMT -6
It is interesting to see aquaponics becoming more popular. I've had people contacting me in Streator about industrial property, water tanks, and advise for their home systems. Watch out there could be an evil aquaponics facility on your neighbor's property and you might not even know it. It happened to me a few weeks ago in Phoenix. I was talking to our neighbor there, when I mentioned aquaponics he took me into his back yard to show me his two systems. He had talapia that were over a foot long, barley, green beans, lettuce, basil, oregano and other foods. He was telling me about the two commercial aquaponics facilities in downtown Phoenix. When I was telling my brother in law about it, he told me about the aquaponics business just down the street from him in Mesa. gardenpool.org/ They incorporate chickens in their sustainable food production system. I noticed on their site that they also offer tours. It is being accepted other places, perhaps some day it will be accepted here as a business opportunity as well. Right now we have two totally different business requirements from two different City officials. Does his subordinate's formal review requirement trump the Mayor's requirement? The confusion and limitations from City Hall doesn't entice the small businesses to exist here, in my opinion. It seems to me that our leadership just does not want this type of business to exist here, I think it is sad considering that we have so little here. There is no restriction on residents having aquaponics though. I encourage people to start their own home systems. There is a lot of information on line; it is not hard. Small indoor systems can be done with an aquarium, but I recommend a bit larger system in a basement, garage or greenhouse. Talapia are an ideal fish; if someone wants to split an order of fingerlings, I might be interested.
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Post by seaturtle43 in hostile forum on Apr 27, 2014 16:12:15 GMT -6
Tilapia i a great mild fish for when you want flavors to flavor your fish, rather than the fish taste itself to stand out.
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Post by Kyle Mitchell on May 2, 2014 8:36:33 GMT -6
Does anyone have any opinions of the City's recently passed budget?
Nicholson said the city has plateaued with sales tax revenue from Walmart and said the city's assessed valuation has declined. In addition, wind farm and solar farm revenue is on a timetable, leaving a need to generate revenue from new resources
City Clerk Pam Leonard said there were a few minor changes to the budget from when it was last discussed. Those changes included adding $10,000 to the vacant building registration
Hmmm, does it seem that maybe vacant building owners are going to have to step up and pay more for our declining property values here? How much was in for it before the change, do they now plan to have 20 more vacancies on top of that?
These seem to be some new ideas:
"We need to increase the number of rooftops, as well as attract new business to move forward," Nicholson said.
That one sounds good, I hope that they start working on it.
"Regionalizing options and possible new and innovative 'privatizing options must be fully explored in the near future in order to insure the continued delivery of high-quality municipal services to Streator residents. In short, the City of Streator must look to a twenty-first century 'model' for local government. This budget offers the opportunity to begin to take these steps."
What is this? What services are they going to farm out to regional and/or private organizations to make us a "21st Century" model? Police, Fire, Public Works? Golf is the one that I can think of that could save taxpayers a lot.
Did I miss when they announced their plans to make us a 21st Century Municipal Model before taking budget actions towards it, or does it seem like they are just going to do it, whatever it is?
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Post by dog on May 4, 2014 15:01:04 GMT -6
Does anyone have any opinions of the City's recently passed budget?
Nicholson said the city has plateaued with sales tax revenue from Walmart and said the city's assessed valuation has declined. In addition, wind farm and solar farm revenue is on a timetable, leaving a need to generate revenue from new resources
City Clerk Pam Leonard said there were a few minor changes to the budget from when it was last discussed. Those changes included adding $10,000 to the vacant building registrationHmmm, does it seem that maybe vacant building owners are going to have to step up and pay more for our declining property values here? How much was in for it before the change, do they now plan to have 20 more vacancies on top of that? These seem to be some new ideas: "We need to increase the number of rooftops, as well as attract new business to move forward," Nicholson said.That one sounds good, I hope that they start working on it. "Regionalizing options and possible new and innovative 'privatizing options must be fully explored in the near future in order to insure the continued delivery of high-quality municipal services to Streator residents. In short, the City of Streator must look to a twenty-first century 'model' for local government. This budget offers the opportunity to begin to take these steps."What is this? What services are they going to farm out to regional and/or private organizations to make us a "21st Century" model? Police, Fire, Public Works? Golf is the one that I can think of that could save taxpayers a lot. Did I miss when they announced their plans to make us a 21st Century Municipal Model before taking budget actions towards it, or does it seem like they are just going to do it, whatever it is?
Hey Kyle, did you see that the city was awarded a $44,000 grant to clean up blighted properties around the city? Derek wrote an article for The Times:
"Eligible uses include maintaining weeds and grass, trimming trees and bushes, installing fences to protect the public and repairing or demolishing abandoned property."
"The state is still struggling to recover from the economic downturn, and as a result, many communities have shown the wear of hard times," said state Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, in a news release from the governor's office. "I appreciate the effort to revitalize some areas of Streator through the program, with the intent to spur economic growth and provide stabilization. I think it will give a boost to the local economy and help eliminate the number of abandoned properties."
State Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, added in the release: "These grants will help Streator continue to get rid of blighted areas to clear the way for better homes. An important part of reinvigorating our local economy is removing the abandoned and vacant properties that drive down property values and discourage positive new growth."
It appears that Sen. Rezin seems to think that Streator's problem is not unique and is more a result of the economic turndown than anything else.
I suppose you will come up with some way to be negative about this too.
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Post by Kyle Mitchell on May 4, 2014 15:50:38 GMT -6
No, that is great. Tear them down without raising our local property taxes whenever possible.
Don't you think that we just end up paying for it any way though, in higher bank fees, or do you think the bank CEOs took less pay to allow for it?
Maybe they will demolish or repair the vacant blighted property in my neighborhood too? I agree that it "drives down property values and discourages positive new growth". I don't think they should be allowed to create any more like that one.
You didn't pick and choose the parts of the article to post did you?
I remember a part about it being able to demolish 10 of the 70 vacancies that are on their radar now. That would leave a lot for tax payers to still have to pay for, wouldn't it? How many more will be added to the list by the time the take down the ten?
How about if we keep track of what ten properties they are going to demolish with the grant money and see how long it is before "better homes" are built on them to "reinvigorate our local economy"? If most of them get better houses within the next couple of years you might be be able to convince me of how biased my views are.
Aren't those our state representatives that are making the claims that you are quoting? Do you put a lot of stock into what they have to say? How are they doing on those budget and pension issues? Will they be lowering those taxes soon so that maybe we can stop shipping business and people out of state?
I know that their comments about Streator don't make me feel very warm and fuzzy that their grant program is not just a band-aid on the real problem of businesses and people leaving.
I must have missed the part in the article where our local leaders discuss what they are doing to try to correct the underlying problems either.
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Post by Kyle Mitchell on May 6, 2014 19:01:10 GMT -6
Hey Kyle, did you see that the city was awarded a $44,000 grant to clean up blighted properties around the city? Derek wrote an article for The Times: "Eligible uses include maintaining weeds and grass, trimming trees and bushes, installing fences to protect the public and repairing or demolishing abandoned property." "The state is still struggling to recover from the economic downturn, and as a result, many communities have shown the wear of hard times," said state Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, in a news release from the governor's office. "I appreciate the effort to revitalize some areas of Streator through the program, with the intent to spur economic growth and provide stabilization. I think it will give a boost to the local economy and help eliminate the number of abandoned properties." State Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, added in the release: "These grants will help Streator continue to get rid of blighted areas to clear the way for better homes. An important part of reinvigorating our local economy is removing the abandoned and vacant properties that drive down property values and discourage positive new growth." It appears that Sen. Rezin seems to think that Streator's problem is not unique and is more a result of the economic turndown than anything else. I suppose you will come up with some way to be negative about this too. Hey dog, did you see the editorial about this in the Times today? It seems that Scott Holland doesn't share your faith in the words of our state leaders. He points out that there are already over 175 houses on the market here(not to mention the ones that gave up on even trying to sell). "That doesn't sound like a market ripe for new construction", he says. I think maybe he understands that those politicians have screwed the state up so bad and can't get anything done to correct it, so they just try to make it look like they have really accomplished something great and solved a problem. In reality it is just a band-aid to treat a symptom where the disease still exists. Maybe you, Frank, and Sue should answer his question, "Who exactly is going to come in and build, buy and own better homes on these vacant lots"? Maybe you could send him your extensive new client list to get him to print a retraction?
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Post by Kyle Mitchell on May 7, 2014 6:00:48 GMT -6
dog,
This is from an editorial today, talking about puppy mills, but I think it applies here as well to explain the comments about better homes and revitalization from our state leaders (as with our city, this term is used loosely).
Because politicians like to appear important, especially in an election year. Democrats like Quinn, in particular, seem to be keen on grand gestures that look good on the surface but actually create more underlying issues while also running counter to fostering a good business climate.
With the way you come after me for talking about what our City leaders do, you might also want to go after the newspaper for their continued attacks on your state level heroes.
You didn't answer my question when I asked before.
Should we follow the progress of the ten properties that the grant will cover to see how many have better homes on them a couple years from now, or do you agree that the statements you are hanging your hat on are probably nothing but just political rhetoric from people who are partly responsible for creating such a mess?
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Post by dog on May 7, 2014 8:22:33 GMT -6
dog, This is from an editorial today, talking about puppy mills, but I think it applies here as well to explain the comments about better homes and revitalization from our state leaders (as with our city, this term is used loosely). Because politicians like to appear important, especially in an election year. Democrats like Quinn, in particular, seem to be keen on grand gestures that look good on the surface but actually create more underlying issues while also running counter to fostering a good business climate.With the way you come after me for talking about what our City leaders do, you might also want to go after the newspaper for their continued attacks on your state level heroes. You didn't answer my question when I asked before. Should we follow the progress of the ten properties that the grant will cover to see how many have better homes on them a couple years from now, or do you agree that the statements you are hanging your hat on are probably nothing but just political rhetoric from people who are partly responsible for creating such a mess? There you go mis-understanding again. If you look at my summary statement, you would see I am not praising our state officials. I was trying to make a point that our state representatives seem to feel that this problem is not isolated to Streator and that the city was trying to do something to clean up its image. That is why I wrote this: It appears that Sen. Rezin seems to think that Streator's problem is not unique and is more a result of the economic turndown than anything else. Our state leaders are the main cause of the problems we have in this city. They are hardly my "heroes". I would like to see your focus more on them because they are more the cause of our problems. My point was the city took the initiative to apply for a grant to clean some of this up. I had mentioned in another topic that obtaining a grant might have been the cities go. It appears I might have been at least partially correct. Sure, we could follow the progress of those properties to see what happens. I really wouldn't expect the progress to come from people building houses on those properties. I would expect the progress to come more from possibly allowing property values in the area to go up, adjoining neighbors might invest in upgrades to their own properties, properties in the neighborhood might sell for higher prices and with greater ease. This grant isn't the silver bullet nor the cure-all but it is a start in the right direction. I would agree it has a lot to do with political rhetoric, we get a lot of that in the State of Illinois and at the federal level too. They try to bribe us with our own money. Quinn and Madigan suck, to be perfectly honest about it. Mautino definitely does a lot of grandstanding, but I think Rezin, is a little more realistic. I think Mr. Holland wrote a good article and I would hope that newspaper would go after the state a lot more.
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Post by Kyle Mitchell on May 7, 2014 9:24:55 GMT -6
I confess. I already knew that they weren't really your heroes.
I was just poking fun at you for quoting their rhetoric to try to make it seem like proof that my opinions that our City leaders have some responsibility for Streator's condition are wrong.
I suppose that you are going to try to tell me that the Mayor being just too busy working to file this grant application and combat the economic downturn(caused by others) was the reason that it took months for him to give out the requirement that goes against our laws, keeping a perspective business out of a building that still sits vacant.
Was it the economic downturn that kept them from being able to read their zoning ordinance before publicly declaring business owners illegal when they were not?
Does keeping stores from being able to display some mums outside or participate in sidewalk sales without a Special Use Permit help businesses survive the economic downturn?
Should we require more signs to come down and require them to be smaller because we are suffering so much from the economic downturn?
I strongly believe that the way our City is run does have an impact on our local economy and that your trying to convince me that I should not talk about the local problems because it is all a result of others is pointless, but don't stop because it keeps giving more opportunities to point these things out.
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Post by angiesdolls on May 7, 2014 10:05:06 GMT -6
Can't we all get along. Love one another.
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