Author: joeward7

Steven Spearie
The State Journal-Register

Springfield Fire Chief Brandon Blough said he will continue to look at the department’s budget in light of an amendment that trimmed away $1.4 million last week and Mayor Jim Langfelder’s call to hold the line on any layoffs.

Langfelder and Blough met with city budget director Bill McCarty, Corporation Counsel Jim Zerkle, SFD operations chief Jeph Bassett and other personnel Tuesday ahead of the city council meeting.

On Monday, Blough said he visited several fire houses to talk to firefighters

Steven Spearie
The State Journal-Register

Nearly half of the Springfield Fire Department’s operating budget was slashed Tuesday and the Springfield City Council added on eight amendments that directly affected the Fiscal Year 2022 corporate fund budget before giving its final approval on a 9-1 vote.

That vote capped a nearly four-and-a-half-hour evening that started with a Committee of the Whole meeting then went to a public hearing session before the special city council meeting.

It was also the last meeting for Ward 3 Ald. Doris Turner. Turner was selected by the 48th Legislative District Committee on Feb. 6 to fill Sen. Andy Manar’s seat in the Illinois Senate.

Steven Spearie
The State Journal-Register

The COVID-19 pandemic and dire projections of revenue shortfalls gave most people around the city of Springfield dealing with the fiscal year 2022 budget some sleepless nights, including Ward 8 Ald. Erin Conley.

“The words ‘unprecedented times’ get thrown around a lot, but it’s true,” Conley said. “We’ve managed our way through this. We’re in a decent position right now to start looking to the future and how we want to see our community recover from this pandemic.”

Steven Spearie
The State Journal-Register

***

In the Committee of the Whole meeting following the special meeting, an ordinance accepting a donation of land owned by the Kidzeum at 412 E. Adams St. was placed on the debate agenda for next week.

Under the terms, the city would lease the land back to Kidzeum for $1 for 99 years.

The move, said Ward 5 Ald. Andrew Proctor, would make Kidzeum eligible for certain state capital grants because it would have “a public component to it.”

“This is a way for Kidzeum to move forward and rely less on city government for help,” added Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin.

The State Journal-Register

Bruce Rushton
The Illinois Times

At the same Dec. 15 city council meeting where someone dressed as Santa gave holiday greetings to council members who attended via Zoom, the council bought four houses on South Grand Avenue East.

It was a reversal from weeks leading up to Halloween, when council members balked at buying the same properties to make room for a promised rail overpass for which no construction money has been secured. The overpass would be built on the 19th Street rail corridor, about 10 blocks east of the 10th Street rail corridor now undergoing expansion.

Collectively, the four vacant houses have clocked 86 pages in code violations through

Steven Spearie
The State Journal-Register

An ordinance authorizing a development agreement with Springfield Park District for improvements in the Enos Park and Madison Park Place tax-increment financing districts will go to the debate agenda before the Springfield City Council next Tuesday. It was one of several items moved to that agenda by action of the Committee of the Whole Tuesday.

It engendered plenty of discussion, including an accusation from Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin that the park district is trying to “strong-arm” the city.

The city has been trying to

Natalie Pierre
The State Journal-Register

After a year of going back and forth, the Springfield City Council voted Tuesday to renew its contract with Sangamon County Animal Control.  The city has used the county’s animal control services for 20 years. But a number of aldermen continue to make it clear that they are unhappy with the services.

With contract negotiations spanning almost the length of the agreement — which was to run from March 2020 through February 2021 — the county proposed that they extend its agreement by a year.

After

Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register

Mayor Jim Langfelder has appointed Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin to serve as the city’s mayor pro tem, replacing Ward 3 Ald. Doris Turner, who had held the title since 2015.

The mayor pro tem runs city council meetings when the mayor isn’t present and becomes the acting mayor if there’s a vacancy in the office.   The switch was made official earlier this week. The appointment is at the sole discretion of the mayor and does not require city council approval.

“It’s a great potential responsibility, which I’ll take seriously and work to be prepared for anything that might happen,” McMenamin said. “But as I replied to the mayor when he first asked me, I said, ‘Mayor, please stay healthy.’ I think it’s a significant honor to be trusted and have the confidence of the mayor. And the respect is mutual.”

Langfelder

Brenden Moore & Steven Spearie
The State Journal-Register

Springfield Police Chief Kenny Winslow, the city’s top cop for nearly seven and a half years, plans to leave after tentatively accepting a top position with the police department in Franklin, Tennessee.

According to a news release from Franklin’s city government, Winslow was announced as one of two new deputy chiefs for the Franklin Police Department on Thursday. Franklin is a city of about 83,000 people 20 miles south of Nashville. Winslow, who was chosen from 78 applicants, would start his new job January 19.

In an email sent to Springfield’s aldermen late Sunday, Winslow said he was “currently in Tennessee trying to sort through some things with family to ensure this is the right step for us in life.”

Bruce Rushton
The Illinois Times

White Oaks Mall has a new anchor tenant: the state of Illinois.

After purchasing space formerly occupied by Sears for $3.5 million last August, the state now plans to move Illinois Environmental Protection Agency headquarters from North Grand Avenue to the mall. The complex now occupied by IEPA is slated for demolition to make room for expansion of a nearby railroad corridor.

A move could happen within two years. “Sometime in 2023, they’re going to have to be out of there,” said Jim Moll, an engineer with Hanson Professional Services who is project manager for the rail corridor project.