Liquor Control Commission & City Council meeting - Tuesday, May 15, 7:00 p.m.

This City Council meeting promises to run long, with a meeting of the Liquor Control Commission, a good bit of substantive business to transact with at least one controversial application for a special use permit, and a closed session. Here’s what’s on the agenda:

Liquor Control Commission

There are several items before the Liquor Control Commission. The Commission is composed of all City Council members except Lance Jack, who is prohibited by Illinois statute from any participation in liquor issues because he holds a liquor license.

We will go over the third quarterly report that tabulates ordinance violations and BNS inspections for all the liquor establishments in town. Businesses that are not on the list mean there have been no liquor-related violations in the last 3 quarters.

The major violators are, generally, the larger bars. The figures for the first 3 quarters of this fiscal year (2011-2012), in order of number of violations:

• Stix Bar (occupancy 402) 137 underage violations
• Pinch Penny Pub (occupancy 703) 88 underage violations, 1 overcrowding warning
• Cali’s/Callahans (occupancy 727)  33 underage violations
• Sidetracks (occupancy 388) 16 underage violations
• Copper Dragon (occupancy 555) 12 underage violations
• Gatsby’s II (occupancy 456), 5 underage violation
• Hangar 9 (occupancy 299) 2 underage violations
• Sports Blast (occupancy 1,014), no underage violations, 1 overcrowding warning

These numbers reveal that Stix needs to do a far better job of policing under-age possession of alcohol.

Gatsby’s is filing for a transfer of ownership. The paperwork seems to be in order, and the Liquor Advisory Board recommended approval of the transfer.

Carbondale Main Street is, as they do every year, applying for liquor licenses for the Downtown Art and Wine Fairs in May and October. These are events that many residents and visitors look forward to. And it raises money for expanded Main Street programs — an important activity in the revitalization of our Downtown.

City Council Meeting

Historic Preservation Award

We have the pleasure of awarding two homes the 2012 Historic Preservation Award. .

Al and Apryl Gordon, have restored the home at 303 N. Poplar by returning the exterior of the home to its original character. Anita Lenzini  restored existing historical interior wood trim and paneling in her home at 604 S. James St.

The pre-1970s homes in Carbondale represent a reservoir of wealth that these homeowners recognize. By maintaining and restoring these homes, they preserve irreplaceable building materials, often milled from old-growth timber. They contribute, as well, to enhancing Carbondale’s streetscapes. They add value — aesthetic, social, and financial — to our neighborhoods by preserving and upgrading their properties.

The Preservation Commission is to be commended for promoting these awards. Congratulations Al and Apryl Gordon and Anita Lenzini!

Consent Agenda

Pedestrian & Bike Trail Grant

The most significant item on the Consent Agenda is a resolution authorizing the city manager to submit an application for the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Transportation Enhancement Program.

At our last meeting we authorized the purchase of railroad right of way in order to build a walking/bike trail from SIU to Town Square. Staff will seek $336,000 from IDOT’s ITEP program to fund phase I of this project. SIU awarded $66,466 from the SIU Green fund for the portion of the path behind the Glove Factory. The City will contribute $84,000 for the remainder of the required 20% match.

Southern Illinois is becoming a destination for bicycling. WGN just featured Carbondale’s Bike Surgeon and various biking destinations on their Cruisin’ Ilinois feature, “Biking Paradise in Southern Illinois: Cycling trails near Carbondale”, and “Bike trail tunnels through Shawnee Hills: Great Family Riding.” Thanks to Economic Development Director Gary Williams for these links.

Much of the work of governance comes to Council through our citizen-volunteer boards and commissions. Council will review the minutes for the April 4 Planning Commission meeting, the Feb. 16 Liquor Advisory Board, the March 5 Human Relations Commission, and the Feb. 8 and 23 Fire Fighter’s Pension Board.

Appointments of Boards and Commissions

Mayor Fritzler is asking our consent to appoint Luanne Brown to the Board of Fire Commissioners and Joyce Webb to the Liquor Advisory Board.

There are also openings on the Human Relations Commission (3 vacancies) and on the Preservation Commission (2 vacancies). If you are interested in this, let him (and other Council members) know.

See the Agenda for other routine business.

General Business

We will commend Barbara Dewalt for her 34 years of service to Carbondale  as an employee of the City. This recognition is overdue and well deserved.

Two Special Use Permits

Council has two special use permits to consider. One, sought by Haresh Thakkar, seeks to convert and office building at 950 S. Brehm Lane into apartments. At the Planning Commission Hearing no one spoke against it, and the City’s Planning staff recommended it be approved.

The other is more controversial. Scott Smith and Carolyn Therriault-Smith seek to establish a dog and cat grooming business in their home on 907 W. Burton St. Home occupations are a permitted special use in R-1 (residential) neighborhoods. In this case, however, the City’s Planning staff opposed it and the Planning Commission voted unanimously not to approve it. A number of neighbors, including the immediate neighbors, opposed it.

Philosophically, I believe that home based businesses like the one the Smiths seek to establish can strengthen a neighborhood. However, such uses are permitted only as special uses so that people in the immediate neighborhood can advise Council and staff regarding whether they want such a business on their block and in their neighborhood.

Every case is different, and neither the City’s professional staff nor the City Council can be the best judges concerning whether a business will enhance or detract from a specific locale.

A perfect example is the old Coca Cola warehouse at the corner of Sycamore and Oakland. The adjoining home owners had, for many years, opposed commercial development of any sort in the warehouse. But they had no knowledge that it was being converted to an auto repair shop until the permit had been issued and the lease signed.

There is no basis in Carbondale’s City code for establishing an auto repair shop in an R-1 neighborhood. In the face of public outcry, Mr. Baity rescinded  zoning permit he had issued, but by that time the shop-owner had begun renovations. The lease on the shop is up for renewal in July or August. I have urged City Manager Baity to make sure it is not renewed.

Because of this improper permitting, some citizens came to the Planning Commission meeting to oppose all business development in the neighborhood. They, quite understandably, feel that their neighborhood is being undermined by the establishment of businesses that are incompatible with its residential nature, the deteriorating old high school buildings, the as-yet-undeveloped Armory, and the continuing conversion of once comfortable homes into rentals operated by absentee owners.

The specific issues regarding whether a pet grooming business is compatible with the neighbor’s quality of life and the configuration of this particular street are complicated by the larger assaults on this neighborhood.

Grant application for parking lot

Finally, Staff is asking us to authorize them to submit a grant to the Delta Regional Authority to establish a parking lot in the old Animal Crackers building site immediately north of the current Amtrak station.

On weekends, large numbers of people purchase permits and “park and ride” Amtrak. Unfortunately, they clog up the existing parking lots south of the station — lots that should be used for people dropping off and picking up travelers and for patrons of the nearby eateries and entertainment venues.

While I am not happy about blacktopping over another empty lot, in this case I think it is warranted. I have urged staff to plan for excellent landscaping and to seek collaboration with the bicycle shop on the north to create a mural or other feature on the side of the building.

Closed Meeting 

We will then go into a closed meeting to discuss personnel and the sale, purchase or lease of real property.

City Council Meeting May 1, 7:00 p.m.

The City Council agenda is relatively light, but there is one item that has stirred controversial: the City’s contract with Carbondale Convention and Tourism Bureau (CCTB). I’ll briefly summarize the other items and then write at length about CCTB.

 Consent Agenda 

The Consent Agenda is light, including, in addition to the regular minutes and warrants, accepting the minutes of the Preservation Commission, annexing a parcel on Giant City Road, authorizing a grant submission to the Department of Justice. Additionally, Mayor Fritzler seeks Council consent to appointments and reappointments to the Building Board of Appeals, the Human Relations Commission, the Liquor Advisory Board, and the Sustainability Commission.

Health Insurance Reimbursement Fund

In an effort to keep health insurance costs from escalating, and from shifting more of the costs onto employees, the City is experimenting with a health insurance reimbursement fund. Employees and retirees will pick up 20 percent of the $3,319,955 to be placed in the fund, the City the rest. I am seeking clarification on this issue from the City Manager.

Purchase of CN property

Negotiations have been occurring for some while to purchase three parcels of land owned by the railroad. The land will be used to build a path, in cooperation with SIU, along the old railroad right of way from near the north pedestrian overpass on South Washington St. to Town Square on the east side of the tracks, and for a parking lot on the west side of the tracks. Funds from the Saluki Way sales tax increase will be used for this purchase.

Sunset Concerts

We must pass a resolution declaring “Fair Days” for the Park District’s Sunset Concert series at Lenus Turley park, so people can consume alcohol at these concerts.

Contracts with community organizations

Our final item of business seeks authorization for the City Manager to execute contracts with community organizations. None of these are controversial except for the contract with CCTB,

CCTB – concerns deepen

Funding for CCTB has been discussed at length at two City Council meetings (2/21 and 2/21). As I have learned more about CCTB, I have become increasingly concerned about how it has operated. My examination of the records provided by CCTB to their Board and the Director’s response to my queries, a series of articles in the Carbondale Times, and conversations, calls and emails from many constituents, as well as the blog post by Carbondale Observer,  have convinced me that CCTB has not been a responsible steward of the public’s money.

In addition, CCTB’s response to queries by Council and the press, as well as the Jackson County Board and other stakeholders, lead me to have grave concerns about its capacity to fulfill the goals they lay out in their mission statement — “to develop, promote, market and facilitate activities to increase out of town visitors to Carbondale and Jackson County”.

The Carbondale Times has extensively documented the apparent nepotism involving CCTB Director Debbie Moore’s family members, as well as improper employment of board member George Whitehead. I have called for a performance and financial audit with a 3-year look-back because of irregularities I saw in the reports furnished by CCTB to Council members. Many of these irregularities are laid out in my blogs of March 6 and March 28.

The Southern Illinoisan has been remarkably quiet regarding CCTB’s operations. We are fortunate to have a strong voice at the Carbondale Times and in our citizen blogs. At a time when Illinois government has become synonymous with corruption in the nation’s eyes, it’s vital that our press — the “Fifth Estate” — and local governments make sure that taxpayer’s monies are spent honestly and effectively.

Co-mingling of CCTB and private business

I have found considerable evidence of improper mingling of Moore’s personal business, operated through her business website, http://www.sliceofpie.biz, and CCTB business, funded with state money.

In 2007 CCTB was granted funds by Illinois Tourism to develop a culinary tourism program promoting Southern Illinois foods. Products from this grant included a cookbook, sold at the remarkably high price of $40.00, and a series of magazines, “Food, Fun & Folks”, published more-or-less quarterly from fall 2009 through fall 2011. These magazines are available on yudu.

Most of the issues of the magazine promote the cookbook, sending readers to http://sliceofpie.biz. (see p. Fall 2011 p. 23; Winter 2010 p. 19, Holiday 2010 p. 23, Winter 2009 p. 11, Fal 2009 p. 10). Moore promoted the cookbook in a Southern Illinoisan article, “Taste of Southern Illinois” (5/26/09), indicating it was  for sale through sliceofpie.biz and at the CCTB office. She promoted it, along with her own holiday cookbook, in an article the the Southern Illinoisan’s “Southern Holiday Cookbook” (11/18/2009, p. 3), that stated, “Both books are available online at www.sliceofpie.biz and at the CCTB office in Carbondale’s University Mall from 1 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.”

Moore used CCTB’s “FoodFunFolks” twitter feed to advertised sliceofpie.biz as the source for  her self-published cookbooks, as well as the Food, Fun & Folks cookbook, and she urged followers of her personal twitter feed @DLMSliceofPie to buy the Food, Fun & Folks cookbook at sliceofpie.biz.

In May 2011 Moore disabled the sliceofpie.biz domain.

It appears that, until last May, 2011 (when, perhaps not coincidentally, the new Mayor and Council took office), CCTB and Moore’s private for-profit activities were completely intermingled.

Debbie Moore’s response

I have made inquiries of CCTB, through its board and directly to Moore, concerning this apparent intermingling. I have found Moore’s answers evasive, incomplete, and at times in direct contradiction to the evidence.

Moore said, in response to concerns I had raised with Board President Trace Brown, and which he shared with me,

The books were not sold online.

This statement is in direct contradiction to the evidence, assembled above, that shows a lengthy history of on-line sales of the CCTB-published Food, Fun & Folks Cookbook through Moore’s private business site, sliceofpie.biz.

When I asked Moore, through the Board president, what happened with the receipts from sales of the Food, Fun & Folks cookbook through sliceofpie.biz, Moore replied,

I’m not sure about this question.  Sliceofpie.biz is an inactive domain.  However, there were never any online orders of any kind for CCTB’s cookbook.

If this is true, then Moore’s efforts at marketing the book were woefully ineffective since, as documented above, she promoted sales of it through sliceofpie.biz on twitter feeds, in newspaper articles, in the quarterly Food, Fun & Folks magazine, and elsewhere.

In the same exchange, Moore said,

I have self-published 3 cookbooks. These have never been co-mingled with CCTB. … They are not sold through any website or through the CCTB office.

Moore’s statement is in direct contradiction to the evidence: Her cookbooks were announced as available for purchase at the CCTB office and they were promoted on the CCTB twitter feed.

Moore switches to the present tense regarding sales of her cookbooks. This might work for an audience pre-disposed to believe her statements, since her personal business website was disabled May 2011 and she no longer sells her cookbooks at the current CCTB office. However, as she did when I questioned her about the same issue at the February 7 City Council meeting, Moore’s statement evades the substance of the question asked.

And there’s more

Last calendar year’s activity reports, accompanying narratives, and board minutes reveal troubling discrepancies I have not previously written about concerning the CCTB website.

In July, 2011, CCTB’s web host, Neon, closed up shop. CCTB (and a number of other organizations) were left without web hosting and also lost their entire site, which was not backed up. The print-out of checks written shows that CCTB did not pay anyone for web hosting from August 1 through December 31. My own efforts between September and December 2011 to log onto the CCTB website revealed that CCTB had no web presence during this period.

Yet Moore’s activity report shows hundreds of thousands of “inquiries” to CCTB’s two websites, cctb.org and fff.org for August, September, October, November, and December.

For November and December she reported the following statistics for cctb.org:

In the September 26, 2011 minutes, the Executive Director’s report states, “Our new website is coming along.  … Since we had no website due to Neon shutting down, the lodging information was added and our site went live before it was actually complete.”

The site actually “went live” in January 2012, after more than a 5-month hiatus. And very little information was inserted in the template until after the February 7, 2012, City Council meeting when I criticized the lack of content on the CCTB website.

It’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that the figures provided the CCTB Board regarding visits to the CCTB websites were fabricated, and that Moore’s report to the Board about the website going “live” in September did not reflect the actual situation.

Responses to Examination of CCTB activities

I have been surprised by the actions of CCTB Director Debbie Moore and the CCTB Board of Directors regarding the public examination of their actions. They exist, after all, entirely on public monies.

CCTB has not been responsive to the many concerns raised. Instead, the Director has tendentiously misrepresented the actions of the Mayor, fabricated allegations regarding myself, and failed to answer legitimate questions forthrightly. The Board acted to nearly double its size, assuring all existing board members a seat on the reconstituted Board and diluting the voice of board members to be appointed by the current mayor. Rather than deal with concerns raised by the Jackson County Board, it severed ties with the County, losing $12,000 in the process. The CCTB Director and Board have balked at some of the legitimate provisions in the proposed City contract, including posting all lodging facilities in Jackson County on the CCTB website.

These are not the actions of a body that takes seriously the many public complaints regarding the services provided by the CCTB, nor the evidence of what appears to be serious misconduct on the part of the Director.

The history of inaccurate and evasive responses to questions, along with CCTB Director Moore’s and the CCTB Board’s response to the allegations regarding CCTB’s actions, lead me to seriously doubt whether CCTB should be entrusted with public funds.

As I said in my previous post, Carbondale is a destination for thousands of visitors. Our hospitality sector is the most dynamic and growing part of the city’s and county’s economy. The tax monies designated for enhancing that visitor experience and encouraging development of our hospitality industry must be used as effectively as possible. A healthy hospitality industry is a key element of Carbondale’s — and SIU’s — growth and vitality.

Where do we go from here?

I have come to the conclusion that, lacking an ironclad contract including a performance and financial audit with a 3-year look-back (FY 2009 through FY 2012), City representation on the CCTB Board proportional to its financial contribution, and funding contingent on meeting clear performance standards, the City should seek a better solution to our concerns for developing and promoting Carbondale as a regional destination.

These are the criteria I would hope that Council adopts for this effort:

1. Carbondale is a unique destination that draws visitors from throughout the region. Our facilities should rival any city between St. Louis and Louisville. By that I mean that the festivals that we promote, the restaurants that develop, the skateparks and aquatic centers should all be heads and shoulders above any other competitive destination.

2. We recognize that most of our visitors are drawn by two major institutiions: SIUC and SIH Memorial Hospital. Without those engines Carbondale would resemble Murphysboro or DuQuoin. Our challenge is to meet and exceed the expectations of the visitors drawn here.

3. We must be the first stop on the wine trail, a center for celebrated cuisine, a destination for young people from the three state region.

4. The single most important tool in directing visitors to our attractions is the World Wide Web. We must have a website that is interactive, robust, and interesting. Although it may be hosted and maintained by a contractee, ownership should reside with the city,

5. Our city must attack the decay that has enveloped the our business districts along US 51 and Ill 13, and the nearby neighborhoods. I hear on a daily basis how visitors regard our city as ugly, ramshackle, and dangerous. Though I would love to take them to our many handsome neighborhoods, or show them our attractions, it’s the impression from downtown and the nearby neighborhoods that remains in their imagination about Carbondale.

Reflections on the City’s economic future

Over the last few weeks, as I prepared our taxes and pored over the City budget, I have taken stock of what the future might hold. Here are some of my thoughts on the threats and opportunities that lie ahead.

Headline: Carbondale is a destination for thousands of visitors. Whether long-term visitors like the students at SIU and John A. Logan, or short term visitors who come for university events, hospital stays, family and friends, or as the jumping off point for the region’s Wine Trail and natural areas, visitors are the City’s life blood.

We must build and promote Carbondale as a destination.

To do so means, first and foremost, revitalizing our business and residential districts. This requires considerable reinvestment in the many distressed properties and public spaces. We must all work together to present a face to the world that projects vitality, enthusiasm, and pride.

To do this we must take account of our economic and social underpinnings.

Dependence on government revenues

Despite anticipated modest increases revenues, the future is not yet rosy. Carbondale’s basic industries are education, medicine, and social services. All rely heavily on government funding. The State’s precarious financial situation, the large federal deficit, as well as the slow economic recovery, guarantee that government funds will be tight for some time. It will take years, not months, for the state and federal budgets to loosen — assuming that the global economy negotiates the current financial crises.

The Federal and State governments, in their efforts to balance the budget, is pulling resources and services out of rural areas and centralizing them in larger urban centers. Southern Illinois appears set to be particularly hard hit (though if I lived in a different rural region, I might well say the same thing).

Carbondale is directly threatened by the Governor’s plan to move the Crime Lab to Belleville and to close the House of Glass transitional center for parolees. And, if the Governor’s proposal to close Tamms and Big Muddy Correctional Centers come to pass, the entire region will be affected. The U.S. Postal Service is consolidating facilities to larger cities — in the case of Carbondale, to Evansville, Indiana.

Memorial Hospital is one of our largest employers, and it has been adding specialties. With an aging population, the demand for health care will inevitably rise. However, proposed state cut-backs in coverage and reimbursement threaten to weaken this important part of our city.

The State is seeking many ways to shed expenses. These include outright cuts to social services and education at all levels — our basic “industries.” It also includes proposals for cost shifting, such as the proposal that K-12 institutions pick up more transportation costs and that state-funded institutions paying for employers’ share of retirement benefits.

Internet undermines local retailers

Other threats appear on the horizon: The internet is cutting into sales of many local retailers. The big box stores that replaced Main Street retailers are, increasingly, being out-competed by internet sales. Few of these sellers pay Illinois sales taxes, and virtually none pay local sales taxes. So, while the internet is a great boon to consumers, it threatens local governments, like ours, that rely heavily on sales taxes.

In the immediate future, 8 Carbondale businesses have requested reductions in the valuation of their properties. If approved by the Jackson County Board of Review, the reductions would amount to more than $20 million. The assessed value (1/3 market value) would amount to more than $6.7 million. This would have the effect of raising every other property owner’s taxes, since the same levys would be distributed within a smaller pool.

High crime rates

Carbondale has the highest crime rate of any university town outside of Chicago. This is a disheartening statistic. With the many aggressive panhandlers who accost patrons of our Main Street businesses, many people are reluctant to visit Carbondale at night. Or to send their children to SIU to study.

A sustainable future?

Yet some areas of our economy are growing. The wine industry is thriving. It attracts many visitors to the region. There has been a discernible growth in hospitality businesses and entertainment venues in Carbondale and the surrounding region.

A university town draws large number of visitors, as well as a steady population of young people who seek entertainment and other amenities. Homecoming, Polar Bear, and high school and university sporting events and tournaments draw thousands of alumni and other visitors from near and far.

These visitors are not just college students or people partaking in University-centered activities. They include large numbers of people from around the region and from more distant locales who come to tour the wine trail, to hike the Shawnee or boat on our many lakes. They include people who come to town for the numerous conferences and meetings sponsored by University programs, the many cultural offerings provided by the university, and by Carbondale institutions like the Stage Company and private venues like Walker’s Bluff.

A highly educated population

Carbondale is in the top 3 percent of cities in the state in the percentage of residents with college degrees — and in the top 4 percent nationally.

Our highly educated population means we not only have a desirable work force, but there is a tremendous pool of talent in the people who live here. This shows up in our very active civic life: This is a very small town, yet there multiple activities and events occur every single day and night of the week — most of them the product of many hours of volunteer labor.

Carbondale is exceptionally diverse, with people from every part of the world living and working here. Immigrants bring perspectives and ambition that contribute significantly to our community’s vitality. Our rich and varied civic life make our community feel like a town many times its size.

Regional hospital

SIH and its flagship hospital is located in Carbondale. It is one of the City’s largest employers and draws thousands of people into the heart of the city for its high quality medical services. While the system for funding medical care remains vexed, we can anticipate that Memorial Hospital will continue to be one important pillar of the town’s economy.

Southern Illinois University

SIU is important to Carbondale’s continued prosperity not just because it brings new crops of students into town every year. The students are important source of income for the city’s property managers and retailers, but the people who work at the University are even more important to sustaining the City’s quality of life. Whether they live within the city limits or not, Carbondale is their reference — the place they work, shop, worship, and find most of their recreation.

Local Food System

One of the developments I find most heartening is the growth of interest in developing our local food system. With its hilly terrain, Southern Illinois got left behind when agriculture industrialized and food marketing centralized. But this area was once the garden of Illinois, sending fruits and vegetables to Chicago and elsewhere.

The Carbondale Farmers’ Market built on this legacy. Begun in the 1970s, it is one of the oldest purely retail farmers’ markets in the country. These farmers are now joined by a growing number of farmers who operate outside of the global food processing and marketing system.

As people become more concerned about the quality of the foods they eat, these local producers find ever larger markets for their foods. There are many challenges in getting food from the farmer’s fields to the end consumer, but those linkages are emerging. Models for development exist in more densely populated areas. A strong local food system builds community resilience.

Amtrak

Carbondale came into being because of the ICRR, the “main line of mid-America.” U.S. 51 paralleled the tracks, making Carbondale a transportation hub. But the mid-20th century freeways by-passed Carbondale, but in this era of expensive fuel, train travel has grown significantly. On any weekend you can see cars with license plates from Kentucky and Missouri as well as Illinois overflowing from the train station lots. The City’s needs to make sure that its system for permitting these park and ride Amtrak customers does not over-ride our local entertainment venues. But the fact that we have such a problem indicates we also have a real opportunity. Some of those riders will choose to stay an extra night in Carbondale’s lodging and eat in Carbondale’s restaurants. They are a new market.

Southern Illinois Airport development

SIU’s new Transportation Center at the Southern Illinois Airport may, as some economic development people hope, create synergies for new, higher tech industries. The university’s programs housed in the Center draw highly motivated, high achieving students — a strong foundation for future developments that require well-trained, ambitious entrepreneurs and employees. I’m not sanguine, however, in this austere climate, about the ability to draw down government grants large enough to jump-start self-sustaining enterprises.

Bottom line

Southern Illinois is capital poor and politically peripheral. The city’s wealth lies primarily in our our highly educated citizenry and our beautiful countryside. This region is a magnet for people who seek outdoor activities.

SIU is the engine of our community. It is re-branding itself to draw highly motivated students. These students, and the professors and staff who educate them, will be our City’s future. The current residents, businesspeople, and our city government must help attract and hold them.

The greatest barrier to growth in Carbondale is our own neglect — our government’s tolerance of sub-standard, unattractive housing, of bedraggled public spaces, of excessive crime. Carbondale must transform itself into a safe, attractive city if it is to survive and thrive.

Our best opportunities in the near term are to enhance our qualities as a destination for people young and older. We should have the best skateboard park and the best aquatic center in the tri-state region. We should have far more outstanding restaurants and clubs. Our streets should be inviting and safe for pedestrians, bicyclists, and the disabled. Our festivals should be well-policed and enjoyable.

The University will have a far easier time recruiting students if Carbondale’s property owners and businesses revitalize the central residential and business districts. And the synergies will multiply as more people feel safe investing in the town.

It may be that this period of government tightening pushes us more effectively to develop our own resources, and to recognize the wealth that we still have.

The most important items on this week’s City Council meeting deal with next year’s budgets. These include are two ordinances that adopt the City and the Library 2013 budgets, a resolution approving the 5-year Community Investment Program. In addition, we are asked to approve an ordinance adopting a 2 percent increase for non-bargaining unit employees, and authorize the City Manager to execute contracts with community organizations.

We have discussed the budget in several meetings, so I don’t anticipate much controversy at this meeting.

Those of you who have been following the debates regarding funding the Carbondale Convention and Tourism Bureau might note that CCTB is not on the list  of community organizations in item 5.5, Resolution Authorizing the city Manager to Execute Contracts with Community Organizations. The contract with CCTB will be negotiated separately and, if a mutually agreeable contract can be negotiated, it will come back to Council for approval at a future meeting.

Special Use Permits

We will consider two requests for special use permits.

Mark Riffel seeks a permit for his landscaping business, Earthwork, at 1900 West Sycamore St. The site, across the street from Denny’s, EZ Rentals, and Lana’s Grooming, was a landscaping business and nursery in years past. This parcel and the flood plain to the west, zoned Agricultural, are not within the city limits. (To see the zoning, access the Zoning Map on the City website.)

Andy Wallace seeks a permit to build a fourplex with one bedroom apartments at 2220 N. Illinois Avenue, adjoining five other apartment buildings he currently operates. The lot is on the west side of the highway, south of Dillinger Road. It is currently zoned SB, Secondary Business, but residential use is permitted as a special use. This building would bring the number of units in the development to 20.

Our new Planner, Mark Price, will present the requests. Our planning staff support both requests and when they came before the Planning Commission no one spoke against either. The Planning Commission unanimously supported both requests.

Camping on City Property

At our last Council meeting we discussed an amendment to our code to prohibit camping on City property. For a number of years, some vagrants have, during the summer months, established camps on city property — among the flowers and bushes at Illinois and Main, along Pyles Fork Creek, and elsewhere. This ordinance aimed to give the City tools to deal with the sanitation and safety problems caused by these individuals.

However, the proposed ordinance had potential unintended consequences of making camping at city-owned property at Cedar Lake illegal and forbidding other overnight uses of City property that have, in the past, been legal. Council members explicitly did not want to abrogate free speech rights nor prohibit potential overnight sleeping associated with festivals or other community activities. The new language allows the City to regulate camping, such as at Cedar Lake, and to issue case-by-case permits.

We will consider the revised language in the Consent Agenda.

The Consent Agenda also authorizes trading in two gas guzzling Crown Victorias for two Ford Focus flex fuel autos, purchased from Vogler Ford, for use by Building and Neighborhood services.

The Consent Agenda has several additional items of a routine nature.

City Council Meeting – 7:00 p.m.

Tonight’s City Council meeting is primarily devoted to public discussion of the budget. There are few other items, as well.

Budget Hearing

The annual public hearing on the budget precedes the regular Council meeting. The linked agenda item contains the City Manager’s transmittal letter, which gives an overview of the entire budget.

This last year was tight, with some basic city services like street cleaning suspended and crucial staff positions unfilled.  The Director of Development Services, who supervises Planning and Building and Neighborhood Services, has been vacant for far too long. Many initiatives to improve the city, laid out in the Comprehensive Plan, have not been followed up, and oversight of BNS has been inadequate.

This year staff expect some easing of the financial situation. Retail sales have edged up, which is expected to provide around $400,000 in new revenue. City Council passed increases in water, sewer, and solid waste fees, which will enable greater reinvestment in our aging infrastructure.

The City Manager’s letter provides a list of projects the administration expects to accomplish this next fiscal year (pp. ii, iii, iv).

Camping on City property

We are asked to vote on an amendment to our code to prohibit camping on City property. If you have thoughts for or against this proposal, please write to me and other Council members.

Tourism Board

The Mayor is seeking our consent to his nominees to the Carbondale Convention and Tourism Bureau (CCTB) Board. If you follow the Carbondale Times, the Carbondale Observer or Carbondaze Gazette, you’ll be aware that the CCTB Board voted, at their annual meeting to expand the Board from 15 voting member to 29 voting members (plus 2 ex-oficio), and then appointed all of the out-going City appointees plus a to the new slots. They also trimmed the budget of the funds that Council allocated to other organizations. I note that they cut the budget for their website from $8,000 to $3,000.