Author: joeward7

Steven Spearie
The State Journal-Register

Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder said he envisioned ground being broken for three new stations for the Springfield Fire Department after city council members kept the allocation for their construction at $10 million at Tuesday’s special budget meeting.

The 16 amendments to the corporate fund budget and City Water, Light and Power budget that passed added a net gain of $1.25 million, according to budget director William McCarty.

Only Springfield Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin voted against

Dean Olsen
The Illinois Times

About 80 homeowners who tried unsuccessfully to block a Springfield zoning change in 2021 for a proposed 24-unit apartment complex only now are learning the tenants would be people who used to be homeless and need what’s known as permanent supportive housing.

Gail Van Den Bossche, who lives around the corner from the proposed Park Street Apartments site at 3526 S. Park Ave. on the city’s west side, said she was surprised Windsor Homes owner and president Mike Niehaus changed his original plans for constructing market-rate, privately owned apartments.

Since Niehaus received Springfield City Council approval for the zoning change in September, plans for the complex have changed so that Niehaus’ Windsor Homes company

Steven Spearie
The State Journal-Register

Terming it “the big ask,” Springfield Fire Chief Brandon Blough gave city council members Tuesday a first look at what replacement of some fire equipment might look like. The information was based on Blough’s appearance last week at public budget talks during which he presented a snapshot of the ages of the department’s engines and trucks.

Thirteen of the rigs are 15 years or older, with eight of them 20 years or older. Industry “best practices,” a report on the

Dean Olsen
The Illinois Times

Families looking for affordable housing will be the beneficiaries after state officials approved low-interest financing for $10 million in renovations at Pine Woods Apartments in Springfield, according to Ward 7 Alderman Joe McMenamin.

“This will be really attractive to folks who have a modest income,” McMenamin said after St. Louis-based Bywater Development Group received Illinois Housing Development Authority approval for the project.

Through IHDA, Bywater will receive $18 million through the sale of

Steven Spearie
The State Journal-Register

City of Springfield budget director Bill McCarty said “eye-opening” end-of-year fiscal numbers have put the city in a position to do things it has wanted to do for decades.

Estimates show the city will close the fiscal year at the end of February with about a  $17 million operating surplus and boost the corporate fund balance or reserves to $46.8 million.

The $179 million balanced corporate fund budget for 2023 includes no layoffs or furloughs and

Scott Reeder
The Illinois Times

A once-vaunted downtown hotel project that the Springfield City Council voted to subsidize to the tune of $7.65 million is dead. The $56 million project was to be built in the 300 block of Washington Street, across from the Amtrak station, where a dilapidated parking garage now stands. In 2019, the council voted to provide tax increment financing dollars to the developer, DK Collection SPI, once it had the remainder of its financing approved.

“The agreement has expired and their financing was never put in place,” Mayor Jim Langfelder told Illinois Times on Jan. 11. But he said the city is proceeding with plans to demolish the parking ramp on that block. The mayor said he is open to listening if the developer returns and

Steven Spearie
The State Journal-Register

Springfield Police Chief Kenny Winslow, the city’s top officer since 2014, is retiring Jan. 28, he announced in a letter to city council members late Wednesday. Springfield is the only police department the 51-year-old Alton native has worked for.

“It has been an honor and privilege to serve the citizens of Springfield,” Winslow said in the letter. “I am humbled to have had the opportunity to work alongside all of you to make our community a safer place, while moving our department forward. The men and women of SPD are truly everyday heroes who go above and beyond on a daily basis.”

Winslow’s retirement comes as little surprise. In August, Winslow acknowledged in an interview

Steven Spearie
The State Journal-Register

Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder informed city council members Monday and confirmed to The State Journal-Register that he tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend. Langfelder is quarantining at and working from home. Langfelder, who is vaccinated and has received the COVID-19 booster, tested positive Sunday along with his wife, Billie. The couple’s daughter, who lives at home, tested positive Saturday. Other immediate members of the family, Langfelder said, have received negative test results.

Meanwhile, Langfelder said the city could look to bring back its mask mandate, which included policing of businesses, especially if hospitalizations continue to rise, though that action would come with input from local health officials.

Scott Reeder
The Illinois Times

During its first 18 months of use, the accuracy of an elaborate system designed to detect gunfire on Springfield’s east side and central neighborhoods can be verified less than 25% of the time. Despite this, the Springfield City Council voted to add additional layers of technology to the system on which $644,000 has already been spent.

ShotSpotter, a California-based company, created a system of microphones to detect gunfire in a 5.2-square-mile area of Springfield’s east side and central neighborhoods, focusing on parts of the city where gun violence tends to occur more frequently. When gunfire is detected,

Steven Spearie
The State Journal-Register

Two resolutions — one implementing license plate reader technology and the other securing funds for a home from the 1850s with significant historical value for the Black community — received backing from the Springfield City Council in very different ways Tuesday.

A slide show presentation by the Springfield police on technology integration some council members viewed earlier seemed to sway in some cases and reinforce in others support for the two-year contract with Flock Security that will kick in early next year.