Author: joeward7

Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register

Springfield business owners and residents impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic could soon receive a much-needed respite from their utility bills. The Springfield City Council on Tuesday approved a utility relief program that could provide up to $1 million in rebates for business owners and up to $300,000 for residential customers.

Assistance will be capped at $3,000 per business and $500 per residential account. Many program details are

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. “Some time 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.

More than 700 state workers might relocate to the mall, and design work has started to convert retail space

Joe & Lynn McMenamin
The Illinois Times

Melvin D. Wing
March 9, 1934-Nov. 16, 2020

Melvin D. Wing, 86, of Springfield, died at 9:35 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 16, 2020 at Memorial Medical Center with a best friend on the phone, Nurse Jake bedside, and another best friend just arriving.

Melvin was born on March 9, 1934 in Springfield, the son of Melvin D. Wing, Jr. and Tillie A. Koehler Wing. Melvin was preceded in death by his parents.

Melvin proudly served in the US Air Force four years and as a SFD firefighter 35 years.

The night before he died, with a slow heartbeat, Melvin vocalized to friends his awareness of his lifelong cognitive handicap but expressed the convictions of a determined man at peace. “I did my best.”

Early On

As a child with no brothers and sisters

Bernard Schoenburg
The State Journal-Register

The New Year is more than a month away, so what is perhaps a general hope – to put 2020 behind us – has to wait a while.

But with Thanksgiving here, it is a time to look at the positive.

Despite the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and political divisions in the country that persist after a heated election, The State Journal-Register reached out to a variety of area public officials, asking about things for which they are thankful.

Here are some responses:

***

Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin

“I’m thankful for the massive voter turnout and the diligent grassroots performance of hundreds of thousands of poll workers to count the votes in our great democracy.”

The State Journal-Register

Bruce Rushton
The Illinois Times

A plan to combat homelessness arrived with a thud last week as the Springfield City Council approved nearly $200,000 for a winter shelter to keep the destitute from freezing.

The $190,000 contract with Salvation Army to run a temporary shelter until next spring came with the proviso that no money be given to John Fallon, a Waukegan homelessness consultant who already has been paid $24,000 under a contract granted last summer by Mayor Jim Langfelder, who says he retained Fallon after hearing him discuss homeless issues two years ago in Springfield.

Fallon proved unpopular with local service providers who found his style and criticisms

Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register

***

Pensions

With the continued uncertainty over the city’s fiscal situation, council members punted a decision on whether to make an extra payment to the city’s police and fire pension systems.

Under city ordinance, an extra payment is to be made when the city’s corporate fund balance exceeds 20% of general operating expenses. This year, it would have meant an extra $589,323 payment — $318,234 for fire and $271,089 for police.

While council members were in unison in their desire to make extra payments into the city’s underfunded pension systems, most agreed to pause until the end of February, when the fiscal situation will be more clear.

Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin and Ward 8 Ald. Erin Conley both indicated their support for approving the payment that evening and subsequently voted ‘no’ to delaying the vote.

The State Journal-Register

Bruce Rushton
The Illinois Times

Luann Hickman’s house on East South Grand Avenue is one of the nicest on the block. Which isn’t saying much.

Like too many other East Side neighborhoods, Hickman’s has seen better days. Paint flakes from nearby homes, several of which need new roofs. Fire has destroyed a garage and scorched the back of Hickman’s house. The alley in back is choked with weeds, branches and other debris. The home’s front is decorated with wreaths for all seasons: A sign near the porch declares them for sale. No one answers the door.

Hickman has lived here since 1993, thanks to Habitat for Humanity, which renovated the home and set up a contract for deed. Hickman made the final $100 monthly payment in 2017.

Last week, the Springfield City Council agreed to buy the property for $51,000, the value established by

Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register

Putting aside lingering skepticism, the Springfield City Council approved an out-of-town developer’s $3.15 million request for tax-increment financing funds to complete a long-stalled redevelopment of historic buildings on the southwest corner of Sixth and Monroe streets.

The 6-4 vote came just three weeks after the council — frustrated with the lack of communication on the project from Mayor Jim Langfelder’s office and uneasy over the potential involvement of former developer Rick Lawrence — tabled the proposal, a parliamentary maneuver typically used to kill legislation.

But, after weeks of working with new project developer Tom Lee and the unions involved with the project,

Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register

An out-of-town developer’s request for $3.15 million in tax-increment financing funds for a long-stalled redevelopment of three historic downtown buildings was tabled by members of the Springfield City Council on Tuesday night.

The new developer, Chesterfield Faring Ltd., a New York-based real estate merchant bank, is aiming to complete the long-delayed project, which would add 41 one- and two-bedroom

Joe McMenamin
The Illinois Times

Last week Larry Golden wrote a GUESTWORK column concerning discrimination in the composition of Springfield boards and commissions and concluded that not much has changed with “power and decision making” since the 1986 Voting Rights lawsuit of which he was a significant participant. See “Boards and commissions matter,” July 16, at illinoistimes.com.

But consider:

-In 1986 the commission form of government produced five white men living on the west side. Today the city council consists of 10 alderpersons geographically representing every area of Springfield, including two African Americans and three women, and for several months in 2019 included four women.

-The west side of Springfield is increasingly diverse and, according to the 2010 census,