A request made by Brad Manning Ford came up in the last DeKalb council meeting agenda: The dealership says it can get $400,000 from Ford to put towards the [$2.3 million expansion] project, but that it still can’t foot the rest of the bill. The $110,000 that it is requesting from the city represents about…
Category: Growth
Rochelle Can Do It. Why Can’t We?
Of course I’m talking about the grand opening of the Nippon Sharyo railcar manufacturing plant and the potential birth of a supply chain cluster. And they don’t even have Home Rule! Let’s treat this as an open thread.
Traffic Studies
A new police station on Route 38 is in the works, and a proposed expansion of the DeKalb Public Library would involve closing a portion of North Third Street. Clearly, each of these projects/proposals if built would impact traffic patterns at their respective locations. Mac McIntyre brought up the need for a traffic study at…
Redistricting Clock is Ticking
Recently while doing some lookups in Chapter 3 of the Municipal Code, I came across this: 3.02-5 REDISTRICTING THE CITY. The wards of the City of DeKalb as heretofore established and as may hereafter be established shall be reapportioned according to population. In the formation of the reapportioned wards the population of each shall be…
Survey for DeKalb Residents
Have fun with this . . . http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/kayshelton_survey
Rochelle to Get 250+ New Jobs
[Update 10/21: Groundbreaking ceremony & more info on Nippon Sharyo.] I haven’t seen this anywhere else but the Rockford Register Star so far. Gov. Pat Quinn comes to Rochelle at 11 a.m. today to announce that a $35 million to $40 million railcar factory, expected to employ 250 to 350 people, will be built in…
Overextended in Hampshire Via SSA
[Update 9/3: SSA bond owners have agreed to the buy-back plan.] Courier News item, my emphasis: HAMPSHIRE — Whether Crown Community Development will continue with plans to build 2,833 homes in three Hampshire developments, potentially tripling the village’s population, may depend on what six Wall Street firms decide between now and 5 p.m. Wednesday. That’s…
Taj Mah-Library
[Updated 7/18 with links to more coverage, at bottom.] Dimensions, features and amenities planned for the new DeKalb Public Library have been lifted from “A Building Program for the DeKalb Public Library,” September 19, 2009. The plan is to build an 89,000 square foot facility that serves 70,000 people, based on projections of 2% growth…
Ethics & Downtown Revitalization
All we know for sure is this: DeKalb Mayor Frank Van Buer cast a vote against Gavin Wilson’s candidacy as 5th Ward alderman. The mayor is now found to have close political relationships with Wilson’s opponent in the race and with the man who challenged Wilson’s ballot petition. Van Buer’s campaign manager, Don Floyd, says…
Water Authority Defeated
The ill-conceived Kishwaukee Valley Water Authority referendum was defeated by more than 80%, not just in DeKalb County but in Boone as well. Even in McHenry County, where the idea originated, the measure was rejected by more than two-thirds of the voters. The referendum to fund it was beaten by even higher percentages. Both had…