2030 Steering Committee Meeting
Mark Peterson-The State of the Town
February 5, 2004
Attendees: Alex Horvath, Rebecca Landau, Joe Morrow, and Chuck Scott
Brief discussion occurred regarding the presentation by John Norquist and the value of information shared.
Mark Peterson opened the discussion regarding the State of the Town of Normal
- Growth and development are issues that consume most of his and staff time
- Town addresses the many challenges of providing public services
with limited resources. In general, the Town has a very good
tax base. Sources of revenue:
- sales tax…declining
- utility tax…strong
- state funding…reduced
- water and sewer tax…strong and well maintained infrastructure
- property tax…strong
- Town is financially strong, which results in AA-1 bond rating and good reserves.
- Recently received $10M general obligation bonds for land acquisition, Children’s Discovery Museum, and the Multi-modal Transportation Center
- Traffic congestion-low public tolerance. Therefore, greater emphasis on wider roads which is in contrast with New Urbanism recommendations.
- Redevelopment opportunities include downtown, neighborhoods, historic districts, and the Main Street corridor through both communities.
- Planning initiatives currently underway:
- 2030
- Comprehensive Plan
- Updated Zoning Codes
- Community Design Standards
- Parks and Recreation Master Plan
- New technologies currently in place:
- Information management plan
- County-wide GIS
- Computer aided dispatch system (Metcom)
- County wide Electronic justice system (EJUS)
- Multiple e-commerce opportunities (permits, parking fines, water bills, etc)
- Planning for wireless environment dowtown
- In early discussions with Bloomington regarding fiber optics throughout both communities
- Public safety
- Increase in gang activity (600 active members in B/N)
- More satellite police stations are in planning stages
- Possible creation of far east side Fire Station –joint planning with Bloomington
- Expect 2% population growth per year for next 10 uears
- Third consecutive year of setting records for quantity
of single family building permits
- Approximately 300 sites ready for development today
- Continued pressure to annex east side
Questions and answers followed, with good dialog between all persons in attendance.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Chuck Scott. Please forward written comments or corrections to Chuck prior to our next meeting, which is scheduled for 7 pm on Feb. 10 at the City Hall Conference Room C. President Al Bowman and Dr. Alan Chapman will speak on the future of Illinois State University and Unit 5 Schools.