Terry Grewe

When I heard Mr. Grewe had come back to town I was curious to hear what he had said. I FOIA'd the city and here's the audio. If anyone wants the whole meeting posted shoot me an email. It seemed to me that the feeling of those who spoke that are elected officials is that a development of some kind makes sense.



This meeting was pretty generic. No specifics were talked about. If I owned land in that area I would be pulling for a Grewe return. I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about any development. I do know that if things start to proceed the public had better voice concerns and opinions earlier in the game, I know I will.

Let the tif argument begin.

Update: Schedule for March 26th
8:30 PM – Columbia Crossing Litigation Settlement Special
Committee
1. Executive Session

Underwater Loans

AG Lisa Madigan Says Fannie and Freddie Borrowers Deserve Debt Reduction

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this. A couple of conditions would have to apply for me to feel like we weren't just rewarding bad personnel choices people had made in life.

Tonight on the Councils Committee agenda is an item of interest under Committee of the Whole.

7:00pm - Development Potential Discussion concerning the I-255 Development District. (American Bottom)

I was offered the following explanation from my alderman when I asked, "Is there any information regarding proposed developments in the "American Bottoms"?"

"No. This is the first meeting to explore the possibilities of a possible development area along 255 at fish lake. The land owners and all parties with interest were invited to review the past history and timeline of past events. I have a timeline that began in the 1970's for that area that was prepared for the aldermen. Would you like me to make you a copy of it? That is all the info we have for tonight. Let me know and I will get you the copies made before the meeting."

That time line will be posted here when I get a copy. This sounds like the landowners who were expecting Grewe to purchase their land are looking to see if Columbia is going to do something. I know I have heard grumblings in the past of if Columbia doesn't do something the land owners might see if they can get another community to.

Capital Development Fund

I went to a city committee meeting in December and the city is still toiling with how to manage the capital development fund after the eye opening analysis presented near the end of 2010. Projects seemed to have been slated for years without no one really ever running the numbers.

Everyone seemed to know money was being spent from this fund but nothing was ever really done to stop its decline. The "excuse" was that the money was there to be spent.

Here is the capital development projection from 2010.

Here is the most recent capital development projection from 2011.

As anyone can see from either projection things will actual need to start changing for this fund to stay viable. I suppose we could always pay more taxes...

I spoke my viewpoint on the capital development fund in April of 2010. My post from April 20, 2010 shows how I voiced my opinion to the council. I'd suggest people start calling their aldermen and ask them how this problem gets fixed, or at the least how it will be addressed.

A good start would be an itemized list of things supported by the transfers to the general fund.

Well its been quite sometime since I have posted anything. I'll be honest and explain why. Being a father is more rewarding than anything I could have ever imagined.

I saw today that the city has a new web site layout. It looks better and is easier to navigate than the old one. Its far easier to find the most useful portion of the website.

The only beef I have with the site is that it seems to depict Columbia as being a river town and that the JB Bridge is part of our community which I have to admit are not the first things that come to mind when I think of Columbia.

In the coming months I plan to tackle the upcoming 12th Congressional District race in the same manner I have our previous city elections. It looks to be good race with some new faces and for the first time in a long time someone other than Jerry Costello will be elected.

Columbia Lakes

See it was back on the agenda last night. Follows with how they voted the last time, no one voted yes and no one voted no.

Wonder how much the plan changed.

Costello Office Hours

Call to schedule if you'd like.

All during the day so working people can take some time off work and voice their concerns to what I feel are deaf ears. Town hall forums, later office hours, anything of the sort?, nope.

Columbia Lakes

I went to the council committee meetings last night in order to present some information for the library board. I did get to sit through another round of Columbia Lakes discussion while waiting for my meeting to begin.

In the end the council seemed against the CUP. The Mayor noted the criteria in the CUP citing something along the lines of "promoting the moral well being of the citizens". The motion was made to approve the CUP by Aldermen Ebersohl if I remember correctly and that motion died on a lack of second. After a few more comments Aldermen Huch made a motion to not approve the CUP as presented, it also died on a lack of second.

The crowd, mainly consisting of Columbia Lakes residents, seemed happy with the results. I think the coucil was trying to do a couple things last night.

• Work to keep the public happy, which it seems it accomplished, for now at least.
• Keep the city out of a lawsuit, by neither voting for or against the CUP the city has in fact set it aside and is simply saying they are not interested in it as presented. The trouble with that is they were interested as recent as a few weeks ago, until people started calling them. The plan was approved by I think the zoning board of appeals, so it had traction for being accepted.
• By not approving or disapproving they leave the option open for the developer to come back and tweak the plan and try to get it approved again.

The real estate broker representing the developer was sort of called out for "threatening" that R-7 is a real possibility, I feel that's a real shame since he is also a resident of Columbia Lakes. I think the city once again proved unable to work with a developer. They asked the developer to change some things and he did, the developer had worked from what I saw very hard to meet whatever concerns the city and the residents had (tree lines, fences, use of amenities, open to suggestions of any kind, assurances there would be no section eight housing, assurances to sell as a preference to leasing)

The people in Columbia Lakes all seemed very willing to "gamble" that no developer will come in and just build to the R-7 restrictions. If/When the property gets cheap enough someone may do just that and there will be nothing to stop that from happening.

I was glad to see the school district voice a request for some money from the developer to offset the increase in residents. I still cannot figure out why the school district and the city seem to never talk to each other, maybe we should open that channel of communication a little more.

How would I feel if I owned a house backed up to the proposed CUP?
Would I want the proposed CUP built behind my house? Probably not.Would I want R-7 built directly behind my house? Definitely not and I'm normally not a betting man.

Jerry Costello

Have you ever tried to get an actual answer from your Congressmen? I have and its really not possible, unless you know them in their personnel life or are a hefty campaign contributor. I had attempted to contact Congressmen Costello back in August of '09 with general questions regarding the then hot topic of government health care. I received back an email from "Jerry" that contained in Jerry's words, "a brief summary of questions and suggestions I have received."

Number six was my least favorite.

6.Why are you not holding town meetings?
I have held over 400 town meetings since I have been in Congress. In the beginning, the town meeting forum was productive. Unfortunately, they became unproductive for almost everyone in attendance when a few people traveled from meeting to meeting in order to dominate the time with their one issue; therefore I stopped holding town hall meetings a few years ago.

The issue I have is that Costello had been in Congress for just over twenty years when this email was sent out. That works out to about twenty meetings a year. It is important to note that he sent this email out when the "Tea Party" was forming and town hall meetings that showed political figures giving no answer or bad answers to questions were the news story of the day, I could understand his hesitation to these meetings then but its time to stop hiding.

I can't think of another word to use other than hiding. Its time to come home, stand for your actions, and listen to people who may or may not agree with you. I'd have to think that a congressmen would want to come back to their district and gain as much information as they could. At $175,000/year we should get a couple of meetings while he's not in Washington.

Try not to pigeon hole me into a political party when you read this post. I have voted for people in both political parties. I have voted both Democrat and Republican in primary elections. I am losing my faith in both parties and fully understand that neither truly reflects my beliefs. This is not a slam towards Congressmen Costello on the basis of his party but due to his reluctance to face his constituents. I'd like to see what he's planning for us since so far the only person I can see that is planning on running against him is good ole' Terri Davis Newman........,on that note I'm done for the day.

Columbia Lakes

I received pdf copies of eight sets of meeting minutes from 2004 and 2005 regarding the then Columbia Lakes CUP discussions.

I read through them and didn't see the vote that actually put a stop to the development moving forward. I'm still of the belief that the CUP provides "the best, worst case scenario", unless you want to gamble.

Aldermen Row said that the site could be built out with a lot of apartments if the CUP was not approved. Aldermen Unnerstall said he was willing to take that gamble, and he also mentioned that if the developers were required to follow the R-7 code without any variances, it could be cost prohibitive for them to proceed. - Page 3, Minutes of the Meeting of the Ordinance Committee held July 26, 2004.

I think that is a possible course of action that makes sense if the city can find a way to deny the CUP in a legal way. If developing that land under R-7 was profitable, it may have already been done.

Columbia Lakes - My Take

I didn't go to the committee of the whole meeting last night as I imagine the council has its mind made up already. I have never seen our council change their minds on to many issues, granted I haven't seen our present council in action for that long.

I imagine this eventually passes the council vote next week for a few reasons.

• Lack of legal basis to deny the developer what he wants. If the developer meets all of the guidelines for a community unit plan then denying him opens the doors for my next point..
• The possibility of legal action. Remember that many of the sitting aldermen have stated that the city needs to get its legal bills under control. Starting a new legal battle regarding a development would leave a bad taste in many peoples mouths.
  
• Four of these aldermen campaigned on the concept of controlled growth. The city working with a developer to get things done and in place may go a long way in showing other commercial developers that Columbia is interested in working with them in a rational way as well.
  
• The plan on the table now is what I have refer to as "the best, worst case scenario". Not many people want to have an apartment complex built behind/amongst their current single family houses. But if given the opportunity to have 200+ units built as currently proposed or to have 500+ units built along with a convenience store and no real park/common space by the next developer, I know which most people would choose.
  
• It ultimately increases the tax base.
  

I have submitted a FOIA request to get the minutes from 2004 when a development similar to this was proposed and voted down by the city council. The city has said it will take some time to sort through the documents and scan them in, since '04 is not saved electronically.

I find it hard to understand why no city official has gone back and checked these records themselves to see what history can illustrate to us. No elected official I have talked with could tell me why the council voted the way it did in '04.

Columbia Lakes Meeting - July 20, 2011

Edited 9:36AM 7/22/11

Here is the first video from last nights Columbia Lakes Community Unit Plan Meeting with the developer.

Thank again to St. Paul UCC for allowing the space to have this meeting and for the developer, David Levinson, for coming to Columbia to state his plan in person.

Part 1


Part 2

Levee Plan is Outlined

Link to the Project Implementation Plan

At first glance the timetable here seems very fast paced. I'm glad to see things progressing with this project. Hopefully the estimates turn to realities and the government accepts the work once completed.

Shocking?

Link to the story.

I have a hard time believing he was the best candidate.....is he getting a taste until he needs to slip in the US House?

Long record of public service? I thought I was going to read the untold story of Jr. being on a city council, volunteering for various public boards, or having been elected by his piers in some manner.........

Almost too busy........

A quote I just read from last week urged me to post something.

"He is the president of the United States. I know he is busy," Pelosi said. "I myself am almost too busy to continue listening to some of the things going on in that room, so I know he must be very busy. But he has treated everyone there with great dignity."

I'll be upfront and say I am no Pelosi fan right out of the gate, I am not attacking her but I am sure others are tired of listening to her as she is tired of listening to the GOP. I continue to wish that one day I will see the work of a political party or one politician stand and say what needs to be said and do what needs to be done without care for their hopes of being re-elected. Their whole constituency will never support their actions fully, regardless of those actions so continuing to please everyone is pointless. The tactics used in Washington to save face, raise money, tow the party line, and constantly campaign for oneself do more damage I fear than I have yet to fathom, though I have tried.

Pelosi may be right in saying they are all busy. Busy doing what though, I’m not sure. I cannot see a more important issue than what is at hand. The ceiling must be raised, the spending must be cut, and our tax system must be overhauled. I have heard calls for reforming these items as long as I can remember, yet nothing has been accomplished to fix the problems. The main problem facing the budget is that social security & medicare/medicaid do not function in their current state. Eventually we'll be incapable of borrowing more money and an unlucky group will be the first unable to claim what they need from the funds they supported for many years.

Washington needs to understand there must be middle ground. Everyone must sacrifice something of what they want for what is needed. A politician’s sacrifice may be that they do not get re-elected or they drop in favor with their party. Unfortunately when I say everyone must sacrifice I am not only referring to both sides of the isle and 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. I speak also to those accessing the programs at the current time, who may need to in the case of misfortune, and those who plan to in the future as part of their retirement. All of these groups may get less, but the trade off is that the programs will be sustainable; the point being you will continue to get something. I hope to receive a social security check at retirement like so many before me, although I plan for retirement in a manner that does not factor that income for my survival.

The debt our country has is a sacrifice every American carries, although we never truly feel it. Raising the debt in the short term is the safe way to preserve our everyday lives, while allowing a period of time for Washington to show reform is in store. If we cannot find a way to "get serious" about fixing our spending then raising it again is ill advised, regardless of the possible default. Obama it seems would prefer to not revisit debt ceiling talks again before the election, raising in the short term forces cuts to be made in some manner or a return to debt ceiling talks may come to close to everyone’s election cycle.

In regards to tax reform make no mistake; I would surely enjoy having a lower tax bill in any regard. I never quibble over how much I pay in taxes, at least not since high school. I have come to accept that the freedoms, protection, oversight, & services the federal and state governments provide do in fact cost money. Do I use every service the government provides to its citizens? No, but I do assist in paying for them all and I understand some of the people in this county do need these programs. I also do not agree with every expenditure the government makes, though I am sure there are people that would not agree with items I feel the government should fund. In short we all pay in and we all get something back, even if it is not tangible.

I like many people I talk with just want things “fixed”, we often see what will hit us directly and look no further and accept that as the solution that should be put in place. We want our money spent in a more useful, no a more respectful manner. We work hard to earn the money from our employer and they all work hard to keep us working in order to earn that money. The people paying our employer for services or goods have worked hard for their money and choose wisely how they should spend it. We want the government to begin to look at the money in the coffers as if they need to spend every single dollar in the best manner possible. We have all seen the waste that can be generated.

It’s no easy problem. I don’t think the correct solution will be made before August 2nd. We’ll get the band-aid fix and move on until someone takes a stand and risks their career or life, like those who formed our country, to find the right solution. I hope I live to see that day.
I feel I have rambled enough and unfortunately may have succeeded in nothing more than looking not much more than long winded, young, and naive.

July Already?

It’s been too long.......

A few have asked me why there haven't been updates or why I haven't been making it to the Monday Council meetings The simple answer is that my wife and I had our first child in March and I enjoy spending as much time as possible with her.

Aside from the "Columbia Lakes Super Development" not much is happening from what I can see. I was recently told that the Waffle House was only a mention and not a final decision for the development. I think a little part of me died when I heard that, Waffle House is good place to get some quick eats at a moderate price, the wife and I enjoy Waffle House.

There will be an upcoming meeting with the developer I hope to get video of and post here so everyone can see and hear what the plan actually is.

Interesting Redistricting Article

Link to the article

Senate Redistricting

Capitol Fax

Good compilation of news feeds from many sources citing the changes to their districts. You would think redistricting would really change in one or two places to tweak things. A whole new map of the state with obvious cutouts and land grabs to make political territory more solid for some and a sandy foundation for others.

Our district has shifted a bit. We'll see what happens when the House releases their proposal.

Monroe County Independent May 10, 2011 E-Newsletter

I occasionally read their site to sort through the vehicle accident stories to see if anything interesting pops up. Two items caught my eye in the May 10th edition.

Life Returning to Normal in Columbia

(Ed-itor’s Note: So we suppose now the Columbia police will be back to their normal rounds, and the from-home folks will be once again complaining about high taxes, the CPD pulling over too many cars, cops checking for speeders on I-255 and Route 3, the CPD keeping a very close eye on the bar regulars, kids speeding along the side streets, bicyclists taking up the middle of the road and teens loitering in the parks.)

I'm not sure they can pull over enough cars in town, especially on Rt. 3. I grew up primarily in Edwardsville where three state highways converge (159, 157, & 143). In Edwardsville these roads all slow down to sub 40 mph speed limits. Is it too much to hope for people to actually drop down from interstate speeds before they pass the first stoplight entering town, let alone actually do the speed limit all the way through town. Haven't we all seen enough people die on Rt. 3?

Columbia Council, ICS In Accord On Plan For New Church

Mayor Kevin Hutchinson and the Committee of the Whole (all eight aldermen) apparently are willing to waive utility tap-in fees and legal and engineering fees, which will save the parish more than $100,000.

I wasn't at the meeting and I assume the City has done this for other churches in the past but that's a large chunk of money. I wonder what the actual costs to the city are given that these fees normally cover at least some actual costs. I'm glad construction will be starting on the church though, I don't go to ICS but I know they need the space.

New Aldermen Take Their Seats

Monday night’s council meeting was lacking a few participants. Only two of the aldermen whose terms were up came to the meeting. The mayor presented plaques to aldermen Oberkfell and Row. Aldermen Stumpf and Hejna I suppose decided coming to their final council meeting was not worth their time. I’m not sure I understand that reasoning and it’s not worth theorizing as to why they didn’t come.

Once the new aldermen were sworn in Row left and Oberkfell came and sat in the back row near me. It seems that Oberkfell will now be a member of the audience and keep tabs on what the new council does; maybe the city will have a new source of information.

The new council settled in quickly and voted all yeas to the remaining items on the agenda with little to no conversation on any item. I suspect we’ll be seeing a great deal of agreeing with the new council.

A plan was shown for a large addition to the Columbia Lakes subdivision. It appears to be for all apartments which have some positive s and negatives associated with them. I’ll do my best to obtain a copy of the proposal.