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Last updated 11:43 am CT September 02, 2010.
Council Approves Plan For Future
Sandy Litecky and her husband have spent the last eight years improving their home in Carbondale's Arbor District. Right now, they are finishing a first-floor addition.
Litecky let the city council know Tuesday night she had a couple reservations about their plans to improve the city. The Comprehensive Plan will guide city leaders in the next ten years, on issues of adding bike lanes, building new neighborhoods, and attracting businesses.
"Hopefully, there will be more landscaping done downtown," Litecky said. "Hopefully we can get some sidewalk cafes, that type of thing, more foot traffic."
One thing several people have mentioned is they want to see small businesses return to neighborhoods, like the laundromat and Jim & Ruth's Market, which used to be located on West Hickory Street. Both are now closed.
"I think we miss the days when there was the corner drug store, the corner grocery," Councilman Chris Wissman said. "This is a way for us in the Comprehensive Plan to specifically start looking at ways to bring that mentality back."
Wissman says the city needs to stop building subdivisions, and instead help foster neighborhoods. Litecky says she is doing what she can in the Arbor District, but knows the partnership between the community and government is key.
"Looking at it every year to see--is it working, do we need to change anything--that now falls on the citizens of Carbondale and the city government," Litecky said.
Some are concerned the plan does not incorporate issues unique to Carbondale from other communities. For example, the comprehensive plan does not include any correlation with SIU's future growth plans.
"We really are twin cities, and we cannot plan separately,” said Robert Harper, Chair of the Comprehensive Plan Citizens Review Committee. “We have got to work together if we are going to have a real future for Carbondale."
Public Safety Center To Break Ground
The City Council also selected the company to build a new Public Safety Center.
Contegra Construction Company will begin building the new 32,000-square-foot
police station at the intersection of Washington St. and College Ave., on the lot of the former Lincoln Middle School.
Contegra was the lowest of nine bids the city accepted on June 9, 2010, at $7,020,000. With contingencies, furniture and bond issuance fees, the city expects to spend up to $7,991,000.
This project is to be financed through a General Obligation Bond issue, which will be retired over 20 years. The bonds are part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which include a federal interest rate subsidy of 35- to 45-percent.
Officials expect to move into the new facilities March 25, 2011.
By: Jeff Stensland
jstensland@wsiltv.com
Now: 1283451788
