Gov. JB Pritzker has signed off on new redistricting boundaries for state legislators. Those maps mean some Bloomington-Normal and Peoria residents will see changes in who represents them in state government.
Two people cross the street in downtown Bloomington.
Bloomington will not further challenge an Illinois appeals court ruling that the city violated the state s Open Meetings Act in a closed-door meeting in 2017, City Manager Tim Gleason said Tuesday.
The Fourth District Appellate Court in Springfield determined in April the city council went into closed session to discuss the political rather than legal consequences of the city s plan to pull out of a tax-sharing agreement with the Town of Normal.
The council stated it went into closed session in February 2017 to discuss pending or probable litigation.
According to the appeals court, there was little discussion of a lawsuit. Then-Mayor Tari Renner said after the meeting he didn’t anticipate a lawsuit over the city’s intentions to dissolve the Metro Zone agreement, a west-side tax-sharing deal the Twin Cities had for decades.
AP
There were 30 building permits issued in just the first four months of 2021 for new single-family detached homes, according to the city. That’s comparable to full-year totals for 2018 and 2019.
Bloomington’s city manager says there is so much interest in new residential construction right now that he’s had to outsource plan reviews to local architectural firms just to keep up with demand.
New-home construction in Bloomington-Normal has been slow the past several years but that’s now changing.
“There’s a tremendous amount of interest,” said City Manager Tim Gleason, referring to subdivisions being planned and developers talking to city staff.
The Bloomington City Council meets remotely, Monday, May 10, 2021.
Bloomington plans to reopen all city facilities June 1 or 2 as part of the state’s bridge to Phase 5 of the Restore Illinois Plan, City Manager Tim Gleason told the city council on Monday.
Gov. JB Pritzker announced last week the month-long “bridge” will begin Friday. The transition aims to return Illinois to normal operations and capacities by June 11.
In other pandemic-related news, Gleason told the council the first half of Bloomington’s $14 million due from the latest federal COVID-relief package arrives this week, and the state will begin a rental assistance grant program next week. The council voted unanimously to eliminate late payment penalties for water bills through Phase 4.
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