Discovery Partners Institute Updates

[UPDATE to the Updates: The News-Gazette had a couple follow up articles on upcoming investments for the DPI projects. One was a quick blurb about funding across the state here and the other was highlighting a couple specific investments here in Champaign County:

Chunk of DPI funds put UI's planned data-sciences hub on fast track
A "world class" data-sciences center for the Urbana-Champaign campus, in the works for more than a year, is on a fast track because of state funding allocated to the University of Illinois for the Discovery Partners Institute and its statewide innovation network.

UI officials say part of the $500 million allocated to the UI will be used to build a $40 million to $50 million state-of-the-art research and classroom facility where Illini Hall now stands, in the heart of Campustown. The 111-year-old brick building will be torn down and replaced with a larger, five-story 60,000- to 80,000-square-foot center.

The DPI funding will also be used to expand the UI Research Park, Chancellor Robert Jones said Wednesday, though officials had few details about that effort.

The two projects represent the first investments in Champaign-Urbana from the $500 million state capital appropriation for the planned DPI research institute in Chicago's South Loop and innovation hubs in other university communities, called the Illinois Innovation Network.

More at the full article here.]

There were a couple updates this week on the Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) project of the University of Illinois System. The first may or may be intended to alleviate concerns that the project will take focus off of the Urbana-Champaign campus and its desires to expand its private-public partnerships towards the new DPI campus in Chicago. From last Saturday's News-Gazette:

UI engineering professor named to lead Discovery Partners Institute
...
President Tim Killeen announced the selection Friday of William Sanders, currently head of the highly ranked Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, as interim head of DPI.

Sanders, who also has directed two campus-wide research centers during his 20-plus years at the university, officially started his new role Aug. 16 pending approval by the Board of Trustees in September. He will earn $387,000 annually, which includes the stipend from his endowed professorship.

Sanders was appointed without a search, which is why his title is “interim,” at least for now.

“The project is moving fast and we needed an experienced leader as soon as possible to help guide it,” said UI spokesman Jan Dennis.

Killeen said Sanders will be in charge of all aspects of launching and operating DPI, a public-private research institute intended as the cornerstone of the proposed Illinois Innovation Network...

Faculty members, state legislators and community leaders have expressed concerns about DPI draining resources from the Urbana campus. [Chancellor Robert Jones] said the fact that Sanders hails from Urbana “doesn’t hurt,” but it’s not “the major driver.”

Full article with all sorts of biographical and detailed project information here. Today the News-Gazette had even more information on the status of the project:

Killeen to legislators: Discovery Partners Institute still work in progress
The University of Illinois could receive $50 million to $100 million from the state for the proposed Discovery Partners Institute during fiscal 2019, the governor's budget director says.

The rest of the $500 million appropriation for DPI, the anchor of a statewide "innovation network," would then be allocated over several years, Hans Zigmund told legislators Tuesday at a hearing of the Senate Higher Education committee.

Lawmakers hungry for concrete details on the proposed DPI — and how it will use a half-billion dollars in state money — also asked the University of Illinois for monthly progress reports going forward...

[Sen. Scott Bennett, D-Champaign] raised concerns voiced by constituents in Champaign-Urbana and others about DPI becoming a "fourth campus" of the UI, as Rauner once said, that would drain resources from the three existing campuses. He also cited comments by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who said at one point that the UI is bringing "computer science and engineering to the 78th."

"There's a lot of concern that we've taken our focus off of a campus that has served us for 150 years," Bennett said.

DPI's new interim director, Bill Sanders, head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Urbana, promised that "the college of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is not moving to Chicago," Sanders said. "And we're not creating a fourth campus. We're creating something very new."

The goal is to create a "collaboration place" bringing together people from all three campuses, along with entrepreneurs and industry to "allow things to happen that can't at any individual hub."

Full article with a lot of additional information and concerns here.

Unit 4 Updates

A couple of updates on the land deal between Unit 4 and the Champaign Park District and contract negotiations with the teachers union. From the News-Gazette yesterday:

Champaign school Board OKs deal to buy park district land for drainage
A divided Unit 4 school board signed off on an intergovernmental agreement with the Champaign Park District on Monday, checking off another item from its referendum to-do list.

The board's approval is the first step for the school district to acquire the about 1 acre of park-district-owned land it needs to build a stormwater basin north of the Centennial High School parking lot. If the park district board signs off on the deal Wednesday, Unit 4 could close on the property by Sept. 28...

In other moves:

— The school board voted — this time unanimously — to approve buying the property at 206 N. New St. for $118,000.

"This is another property that borders the Central High School site, and with the facilitation of the expansion of the Central High School campus ... the acquisition of this property is critical to the overall traffic flow and the entirety of the traffic plan around campus during the school day," Tom Lockman, the district's chief financial and legal officer, told the board.

— A construction contract for the demolition of the former Dr. Howard Elementary School received unanimous board approval.

Capital projects manager Sandra Roesler told board members that the work is expected to begin sometime in mid-September, pending the completion of hazardous-material abatement from both the school (expected to finish this week) and three homes (at 105 N. James St. and 1201 and 1203 W. Park Ave.) across the street to the west.

Full article here. Information on the Champaign Park District Board meeting tonight at 5:30pm here.

Unit 4 and the teachers union have hit a snag or two in negotiating their new contract. From today's News-Gazette:

Champaign teachers request federal mediator for contract talks with district
Unproductive negotiations between the Champaign Federation of Teachers and the Unit 4 school district have resulted in a request for federal intervention.

A five-and-a-half-hour meeting Friday between the teachers union, the Champaign school board and other district officials ended with the union requesting a federal mediator to step in, President Jen White said Tuesday.

In an emailed statement, Unit 4 spokeswoman Emily Schmit said the board agreed to the federal mediator and called discussions between the two groups "productive." She added that "only a few items remain unresolved at this point."

In addition to a general sense of stalled progress, White said the teachers' union has been concerned with various sticking points between it and the district...

Among them: White said the union would like to see class-size limitations put into place — at least for kindergartners, if not first- and second-grade classes as well. Currently, she said, the district doesn't have such restrictions.

White said the union also wanted to change some language in the contract regarding home visits from teachers. Additionally, it took issue with the district wanting to add two days to the school calendar that were for teachers only, White said, and called it a "top-down approach" from the district.

"If we're going to add days, one of them should be with students," White said, adding that the district's contract with teachers expired June 30.

In the district's statement, Schmit indicated the conflict was largely financial: Where White said the district didn't send the union a full financial proposal until Aug. 16, Unit 4 said what it did send was rejected twice by the union.

More at the full article here.

Champaign Election Petitions

Thinking about getting involved in your own city government? The process starts with an election petition. From WAND (with video segment):

Election petitions available for City of Champaign
Election petitions are being accepted for the City of Champaign's open positions.

Champaign's municipal elections will be held in early 2019.

Those interested in running for Mayor or an open City Council seat can pick up or download election petitions.

Petitions are available to pick up from the City Clerk's Office, 102 N. Neil Street, Champaign, or to download from the City's website by clicking HERE.

Completed petitions must be submitted to the City Clerk's Office between the dates of Nov. 19-26, 2018.

If necessary, a Consolidated Primary for these positions will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019. 

The General Election will be on April 2, 2019.

Those with questions about the election petitions can contact the City Clerk at 217-403-8945 or the City Attorney at 217-403-8765.

Original article with video here. Direct link to the City's election website and the petitions here: http://champaignil.gov/finance/city-clerk/elections/.

Champaign City Council and Plaza Concerns

There was a City Council meeting on Tuesday (agenda here and video links here when available). The News-Gazette had an overview today:

Champaign council OKs street designation for black-owned radio station
The city will soon have a road named after the only black-owned radio station east of the Mississippi, WBCP radio.

The honorary designation will apply to the section of North Fourth Street between East Tremont and East Grove streets, west of Douglass Park...

In other business:

— Council members voted to continue planning the downtown plaza project, but it was a close call, with Kyles, Matthew Gladney and Alicia Beck in opposition.

The biggest issue they cited was availability of disabled parking, as well as funding, which is not secured. They also voiced a desire to wait and see what other projects in development will do to downtown.

"Quite frankly, we're not good at accessibility," Beck said. "We also need to plan it so that it will be not just for middle-class white people, and we don't want just middle-class white people coming to our plaza. We want our entire community to be there."

Champaign resident Tonya Weatherly, who spoke during the public-comment period, said the plan may be beautiful, but it's not thinking about people like her.

"Where do I fit in as the poor, struggling single mom that won't ever get to visit this nice area?" she asked. "By the time you get it fixed up fancy, I won't be able to even afford to go there. They talk about renovating this area, while blocks away, people are getting killed."

More at the full article here. More on the plaza  concerns, ideas, and parking in an article yesterday:

Not everyone happy with designs for Champaign's downtown plaza
While 60 to 70 percent of the current parking spots would go away under the proposal, city staff note that there would still be 1,500 spaces within a five-minute walk of the site.

Community input gathered in recent months offered other ideas. Among them: Residents voiced a preference for a space that's "flexible" and has "variability and leisure, seasonality and identity."

Further, the input said it should focus on arts and entrepreneurship and largely offer free activities for people and families. Combined with food vendors, pop-up eateries, light elements and local art, the plaza should become the city's gathering place, proponents say.

The estimated construction costs fall somewhere between $2.5 million and $5.8 million. Add design and development, and the price tag is between $6.8 million and $15 million, though city staffers note that "funding has not been specifically established for the implementation of the plan," and it could take years for the downtown taxing district to raise that much.

More at the full article here including a business concerned that the parking issue will put them out of business.

Urbana City Council

There was an Urbana Committee of the Whole meeting of it's City Council on Monday (agenda and video links here) There was an overview in yesterday's News-Gazette:

Interim Urbana police chief not yet sure if he wants job permanently
On Friday, former Urbana police Deputy Chief Bryant Seraphin will replace Sylvia Morgan as interim head of the department, but he doesn't know yet whether he'll put his name up for the real deal...

Seraphin said he wants to continue to evolve the relationship police have with the community, and he wants to push forward with fixing racial disparities in traffic stops...

Seraphin and his new interim deputy chief, Robert Fitzgerald, will start their jobs Friday.

In other business at Monday's city council meeting:

— The city authorized $600,000 for the last phase of its portion of the MCORE project, which would span between just west of Busey Street to Race Street.

All of the money comes from motor fuel tax revenues the city gets, and it will fund engineering services, preparation of plans, estimates and other early engineering work.

— Urbana Garden Restaurant is now allowed to have up to five video-gambling machines, but the council wants to see a map of all the gambling establishments in town to make sure they're being spread evenly throughout the city.

There are some serious concerns about gambling, especially when it comes to lower income communities, said Alderman Aaron Ammons, so he wants to make sure the city looks carefully at the issue.

He called the G1 liquor license, which allows up to five video-gambling machines, a subtle way to get more gambling in the city. There are currently no caps on how many G1 licenses the city can issue.

More at the full article here.

Referendum Bids and Equity

The News-Gazette had some updates on various Unit 4 referendum projects and highlighted their efforts to improve minority and woman owned business bids for contracts.

Behind the Blueprints: Central utilities, minority contracts, South Side plans
...
One of the ways Unit 4 officials say they want to be intentional in spending referendum dollars is by investing specific percentages into women- or minority-owned businesses.

So they've bumped up their goals for both categories — 8 percent of the work should go to minority businesses and 4 percent to women-owned businesses — and coordinated outreach efforts with Coleman & Associates, a Chicago-based accounting firm.

Of the $5,497,925 total awarded to bidders so far, $223,668 has gone to minority-owned businesses (4 percent) and $150,686 has gone to women-owned businesses (2.7 percent).

"Right now, we're not meeting our goal at this point," said Elizabeth Stegmaier, Unit 4's director of capital projects and planning. But, she added, it's still early in the district's schedule of referendum-related work.

Illinois School Code doesn't allow the district to award bids based on diversity goals; instead, Stegmaier said, the lowest bidder wins.

More at the full article here. Previous post on referendum updates here. and all referendum related posts available here.

Urbana City Seal

In a followup on a City of Champaign roundup that linked to background on their city shield. Well, Tom's Mailbag got the scoop on the history of the Urbana Seal now too:

"The city of Urbana has had three seals that we know of. The Urbana city clerk's office has all three of these. In the first one, the outer circle contained the wording, 'SEAL OF THE CITY OF URBANA Chartered 1855.' The inner circle contained the words organized under General Law 1873. The seal also contains a scroll and what looks like a plow, a hammer and anvil, and a wagon wheel.

"The second seal contains the same items as mentioned above as well as lines that look like a sun burst.

"The current seal has all of the items that are in the second seal but they are much more pronounced and detailed."

Gerdes said the first reference to a city seal that the archives staff was able to find was in an 1880 city ordinance.

"We still do not know when the first seal was made or who designed it but in the city council minutes from February 3, 1908 we found "Ald. Van Wegen moved the clerk be instructed to purchase a new seal at cost of $6.00 on which shall be date of Charter and date of organization under The general Law. Motion carried."

More at the full Mailbag.

Kindergarten Readiness Locally

A new State survey painted a bleak picture of kindergarten readiness. From the News-Gazette yesterday.

ISBE survey shows just 1 in 4 kids ready for kindergarten
The results of the Illinois State Board of Education's first survey of kindergarten readiness weren't exactly heartening, but they appeared to confirm what educators already knew:

What children do before coming to kindergarten matters.

The Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS) collected "readiness" data on 81 percent of kindergartners across the state via teachers who observed them over the first 40 days of the 2017-18 school year.

For ISBE, kindergartners "demonstrating readiness" meant that such "students have displayed the skills, knowledge and behaviors for all three developmental areas" — language/literacy, math and social/emotional development.

Statewide, only 24 percent of kindergartners met that criteria.

Among the statistics for local schools:

— In Unit 4, 22 percent of surveyed kindergartners demonstrated readiness in all three areas.

— In both the Urbana and Danville districts, 16 percent surveyed were considered ready in the three areas.

— Hoopeston Area and Westville both reported 25 percent readiness in the three areas.

— Bement (52 percent) and Tuscola (50) were on the high end. Arcola (9 percent) was on the low end.

The data could also be broken down by whether students receive free or reduced-price lunches. Overall, the survey showed that students who weren't on either plan tended to score higher than those who were.

More at the full article here. The News-Gazette also had an editorial on their concerns with such low readiness numbers here with a couple cautions:

It's important to note that the determination is not based on testing but on observing students in the classroom for the first 40 days of school. Their teachers watched as children performed such tasks as adding and subtracting small quantities, identifying letters and numbers and working in small groups.

And since this is the first year of the assessments, there's no way to compare with past evaluations, nor is there any kind of a national standard to see how well or poorly Illinois students rank.

 They recommend some positive steps to take at home, but admit that even noting the shortcomings of the data, the picture it paints is "discouraging."

Urbana Police Survey

A survey about the police for Urbana residents includes some enticements to participate. From the News-Gazette Monday:

Urbana begins study of public opinion of community policing
Investigators working on a study about community policing strategies are hoping that Urbana residents asked to answer questions will take the time to respond.

"We sent out 1,500 letters to people to take a survey to figure out how they feel about police and neighborhood safety," said Melissa Haynes, who works as a crime analyst for the Urbana Police Department.

Although the goal of the research is to improve police-community relationships, the research is being done by investigators independent of the police department.

Mike Schlosser, director of the University of Illinois Police Training Institute is one of the study's four principal investigators. Others involved are Haynes and researchers from the UI's department of anthropology, law school and business college.

Haynes calls it a "super-cool multi-disciplinary mixed study" that combines researchers from a number of backgrounds such as number crunchers like herself with survey experts and anthropologists who are skilled at interviews and focus groups.

A National Institute of Justice grant is paying for the research.

To get the attention of the letter recipients, researchers included a dollar bill. Another post card will follow, and at the end of this month, workers from the UI will knock on doors in the selected neighborhoods to personally encourage residents to call in and take the survey.

More at the full article here. There was also a brief overview from WCCU (video segment available here from WCCU and also here from WAND - [UPDATE from WAND here.]):

The Urbana community's relationship with police is the focus of a new study and investigators are asking for citizens' help.

The research project, led by the University of Illinois , sent a letter to 1,500 Urbana residences asking them to participate in a confidential telephone interview.

Dr. Michael Schlosser, one of the investigators and director of the Univerity of Illinois Police Training Institute, said "the purpose of the study is to look at how police strategies affect community perceptions and experiences with the Urbana police."

Schlosser said the interview takes about 20 minutes, and all participants will receive a $10 Walmart gift card for their time.

If you didn't receive the letter, but are still interested in speaking with researchers, you can email the research team at UCPRStudy@illinous.edu.

Urbana City Council

The Urbana City Council this week did not stand in the way of new solar farm zoning rules by the County (more on that here at the Cheat Sheet of Champaign County). The News-Gazette had a summary of the meeting Tuesday:

Urbana alderman wants Crystal Lake revamp to focus on water quality first
An update on the park district's plan to revitalize the area around Crystal Lake drew criticism from at least one alderman over prioritization of the lake's water-quality issues.

The updated plan that park district Executive Director Tim Bartlett presented to the city council Monday calls for creating access all the way to the water, with steps, new landscaping and features like boat launches and a revamped Lake House area.

Announced in May 2017, it is projected to cost millions — one estimate puts it at $10 million — and take years.

It includes work to improve the lake's water quality, which Bartlett said has been affected by mercury, medical waste, nitrogen, invasive species and other pollutants, keeping many people away...

In other business, council members unanimously rejected a resolution that would have protested proposed zoning changes at the county level to allow solar farms.

Council member Bill Brown said the county's process was thorough and kept Urbana in mind.

The council also unanimously supported a move to combine the Mixed Office Residential District Development Review Board and the Design Review Board.

More at the full article, including more details on the Crystal Lake issue, here.

Champaign Roundup

The Champaign City Council addressed a few issues this week. Earlier the News-Gazette reported that they'd be taking up expanding a diversity program and taxicab rules in their Tuesday regular meeting. On the diversity program from Monday's News-Gazette:

Champaign looks to broaden diversity incentive program
Champaign City council members will vote this week on expanding diversity incentive payments to any project commissioned by the city of Champaign.

As of now, such incentives are only used in Champaign's public works department, which focuses on infrastructure, buildings, land and vehicle equipment. There are 15 other city departments.

If approved Tuesday night, the expanded incentives would apply to female- and minority-owned businesses, as well as others the city contracts with.

More at the full article here. The bill passed at the meeting (jump to the vote from the meeting video here). And on the taxicab rules from Tuesday:

Champaign council to consider changes in taxicab regulations
The changes proposed for both Champaign and Urbana would do away with blanket restrictions for drivers with any felony conviction and would make some taxis display a "cash only" sign. The Champaign City Council is scheduled to vote on the matter tonight.

The changes would apply to vehicle-for-hire services, which the cities define as taxis and limousines but not ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft.

In Champaign, there are 33 companies operating 50 vehicles with 85 drivers. Twenty-four of those are single-vehicle operators with a single driver.

Should the measure pass, only drivers with certain felonies — like DUI, fraud, a sexual offense, theft, property damage or using a car to commit a felony — would be restricted from obtaining a vehicle-for-hire license. And an appeals process would be set up for denied licenses.

More at the full article here. The two bills (available here and here) that changed those rules were consolidated and passed unanimously by the council (jump to the vote from the meeting video here). The News-Gazette had a follow up of other issues addressed at the same Council meeting yesterday:

Champaign council OKs final plan for housing development near Walmart
The city council approved the final plat for a new housing development near Walmart on Tuesday, but not before council member Alicia Beck asked some pointed questions about accessibility.

The Havens, a Housing Authority of Champaign County development that would mainly serve senior citizens and people with disabilities currently living at Skelton Place, is planned for the Market Place subdivision. The closest bus stop to the proposed entrance is a quarter-mile away at Walmart...

Fellow council member Vanna Pianfetti assured Beck that she's had conversations with the developers and MTD, and the transit authority is "very open to conversations about moving bus stops..."

In other business:

— Council members voted Tuesday to expand diversity-incentive payments given to any project commissioned by the city. Until now, such incentives have only been used in Champaign's public works department, with a focus on infrastructure. Tuesday's vote expands the incentives to any female- and minority-owned businesses.

— The council approved an $85,000 contract for Farnsworth Group of Champaign to repair a brick sidewalk downtown and complete a sidewalk on Hagan Street near Bloomington Road where there is a gap. The company will also work on repairing two railroad crossings and a bridge, but those projects won't begin this year.

— Three new Champaign police officers were inducted Tuesday, as well as one firefighter. Also, Roger Cruz, who served as the president of the firefighter pension board, was promoted to deputy fire chief.

More at the full article here. And finally, the mayor also designated a "festival district" that coincides with the upcoming "Friday Night Live" event:

Champaign's first 'festival district' designation set Friday
Mayor Deb Feinen, who also serves as the city's liquor commissioner, announced the designation from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, which coincides with the final "Friday Night Live" event of the season. It means customers of participating restaurants and bars can buy alcohol and drink it outside in the district generally bounded by Main Street on the north, University Avenue on the south, Neil Street on the west and Chestnut Street on the east. Neil from Main to Washington streets is also part of the district.

Participating merchants can provide wristbands and serve alcohol in paper or plastic cups to customers who want to enjoy live music while drinking on public property within the festival district.

Drinkers have to buy alcohol from a participating establishment and wear an official wristband to have open containers. Residents are not allowed to bring alcohol bought somewhere else into the district.

Full article here. More information on the Friday Night Live event here.

Dockless Bike Updates

A couple quick updates on Campus and a possible lack of interest from Savoy. First a company may make dockless bikes a reality soon on campus:

C-U's first shareable bikes expected to hit streets at start of UI semester
With agreements almost finalized, VeoRide is set to become the first dockless-bike-share service in Champaign-Urbana.

Lily Wilcock, active transportation coordinator at the University of Illinois, said the Indiana-based company gave her serial numbers for 500 bicycles — the biggest fleet size allowed. The goal, she said, is to roll them out around the start of the semester.

One other company, LimeBike, has expressed interest in coming to town. Ben LeRoy, an associate city planner in Champaign, said it submitted a certificate of insurance and showed interest in completing an application.

Dockless bike sharing became permitted after the UI and the cities of Champaign and Urbana solidified an intergovernmental agreement earlier this year.

Each bike is equipped with GPS, has a self-locking mechanism on the back wheel and can be accessed with a phone app.

Riders pay through the app — VeoRide charges 50 cents for 15 minutes — and are instructed on how to properly park bikes when finished. Both cities follow similar guidelines for appropriate parking.

Full article here with more details. Savoy Mayor Joan Dykstra indicated that Savoy isn't actively looking into joining Champaign-Urbana on dockless bike agreements, but indicated that there wasn't much interest. From Tom's Mailbag in the News-Gazatte today:

Dockless bikes in Savoy? 

"The story about C-U's first shareable bike service — http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2018-08-16/c-us-first-shareable-b... — says the (University of Illinois) and the cities of Champaign and Urbana, "solidified an intergovernmental agreement" earlier this year. Has the village of Savoy been in the loop on this? It seems likely that some of the bikes will find their way to Savoy, or does GPS lock the bikes when they venture beyond the city limits?"

Mayor Dykstra said the village hasn't "been directly contacted but have participated in some discussions with Champaign and Urbana folks about it. We haven't had any requests from citizens about it either."

Full Mailbag here.

Unit 4 Referendum News

A couple news stories popped up relating to Unit 4's referendum construction and renovations this week. First was a followup on possible night games for Central High School that typically has had to use a field across town. From Wednesday's News-Gazette:

Champaign council members voice concerns about night football at McKinley
...
[Champaign Central High School's new head football coach Tim Turner] was among the speakers who urged the Champaign City Council on Tuesday night to consider an old idea that was revived this week — let the Maroons play their home games at McKinley Field, which is much closer to Central's soon-to-expand campus and about to get an upgrade itself as part of Unit 4's $183.4 million facilities package.

As of now, a proposed referendum-related agreement between Unit 4 and city government leaves open the door for McKinley — the Maroons' practice home on New Street — to become Central's main field for varsity games.

The council voted Tuesday for city staff to address that open door — in the form of adding specific language about night football at McKinley.

Echoing a concern expressed by council member Greg Stock in a Tuesday News-Gazette story, several council members said night games would be too detrimental to the residential neighborhood surrounding the field.

Council member Alicia Beck, whose district includes part of the neighborhood, said her constituents had common concerns about night games. They include parking and traffic (some residents park on the street now) and streetlights (the neighborhood doesn't have them), as well as issues related to trash and public-safety enforcement...

Tuesday's meeting was a study session, so no final vote was taken on the intergovernmental agreement between the district and city, which includes many referendum-related items.

Full article here. There were some cost overruns on the Spalding project that officials appear to be dismissing as part of the process and not a harbinger of cost overruns to come. From Yesterday's News-Gazette:

Spalding Park project's budget overage not necessarily sign of things to come
...
Originally projected to cost $3.6 million in 2016, the project's revised budget approved by the board now stands at $3,854,055.

"That (vote) was 2016, and here we are two years later, accepting bids, and we couldn't perfectly budget projects and stuff like that," board President Chris Kloeppel said. "That's a big piece of it: We're just so far removed from some of those original numbers that we're going to have some spots."

Not that they won't — or, in the case of the Spalding project, didn't — try, officials said.

Elizabeth Stegmaier, Unit 4's director of capital projects and planning, said estimates for Spalding had been coming in "since the fall" of last year. Even then, the figures were higher than expected.

"We had been making adjustments to the scope of the Spalding Park project all throughout the design phase as we were getting estimates," she said. "So it wasn't that when we finally went out to bid, we had this gold-plated project."

In April, Stegmaier said, the district put out a call for bids for Spalding, but they didn't come back as favorably as officials had hoped.

So the district tried again, this time removing two items from the overall project — a practice infield and an irrigation system — for comparison's sake.

"Without the alternates, we were approximately over $174,000," Stegmaier said.

Ultimately, it was determined that those two items taken out in the re-bidding process were too integral to leave out. But not every item on everyone's wish list made the final cut, Kloeppel emphasized...

The Spalding project, while at a lower price point compared to the work scheduled for six school buildings, has proven to be a learning opportunity, Kloeppel said. It has led district officials to discuss preventative measures for other parts of the referendum package.

Full article here with more details and commentary from officials.

Urbana E-Filing and Job Titles

At the Urbana City Council's Committee of the Whole meeting last night a couple initial approvals past that require final approval in next week's City Council regular meeting (schedule and how to attend here). From today's News-Gazette:

Urbana council gives initial OK to letting city staff e-file some records
The city council gave initial approval Monday to an agreement that would allow city staff to record certain documents electronically.

If given final approval next week, staff would use software from Simplifile LC to remotely file documents with the Champaign County Recorder's Office. The office has already entered into a contractual arrangement with Simplifile, according to a city resolution.

At the moment, when city staff wants to file documents with the county recorder, they must go to the recorder's office at Brookens Administrative Center on East Washington Street. The resolution states that the switch to electronic filing would leave more time for staffers to handle other duties.

In other business, the council also gave initial approval to cleaning up job titles in the city code.

Mayor Diane Marlin said the change would reflect title changes in past years and delete offices and titles that haven't had appointees for years, including "city treasurer" and "Office of the Budget Director."

Full article here.

Area Substitute Teachers

The News-Gazette highlighted area school district difficulties in filling substitute teacher positions as well as some of the changes at the State and local level. From today's paper:

Area districts finding there's no substitute for reliable replacement teachers
...
This past summer, the state passed legislation to address those shortages. Among other things, it:

— Provides reciprocity for comparable and valid educator licenses from other states, making it easier for out-of-state applicants to teach in Illinois.

— Creates a short-term license so people who have an associate degree or have earned at least 60 hours toward a degree from an accredited institution of higher education can sub.

— Allows teachers with lapsed professional educator's licenses to qualify for a substitute-teaching license.

— Increases the number of days retired teachers can work from 100 to 120 without jeopardizing their pension benefits.

"Those are big changes, and we want to promote them so we can increase our pool," said Hoopeston Area Superintendent Suzi Hesser. "We'll take them whether they have a bachelor's degree or an associate degree, as long as they will be effective with our students."

This year, several districts increased their daily base pay for substitute teachers to be more competitive. They include DeLand-Weldon, Fisher and Villa Grove, whose rates went from $80 to $90, and Mahomet-Seymour, whose base went from $90 to $100, making it one of eight districts in Champaign, Douglas, Ford, Piatt and Vermilion counties to offer $100 or more.

More at the full article here, including a closer look at two balanced-calendar schools and Urbana's substitute teacher situation.

Champaign Schools Roundup

On the Champaign side of school news there's a bit of housekeeping with the referendum construction and various City of Champaign rules and planning details to be agreed to. From yesterday's News-Gazette:

City to talk Unit 4 referendum plans
Two days before school starts in Unit 4, the city council will review a plan for Champaign schools' referendum-related construction, one that includes chopping down trees, removing streetlights and making room for buses.

The proposed regulation plan between the city and school district, to be discussed Tuesday night, addresses general construction aspects with an emphasis on Central High School, McKinley Field and Dr. Howard Elementary.

Bruce Knight, the city's planning and development director, said the plan only covers early phases of the referendum, and that more regulations will be drafted as the five-year, six-school, $183.4 million project goes on.

One point the proposed plan touches on is zoning. It states that Unit 4 will make a good faith effort to comply with Champaign's existing zoning regulations...

Other regulations being proposed, according to the plan:

— Unit 4 will uproot historic landmark streetlights along Lynn Street, store them in the city's public works facility and reinstall them between Hill and Church streets when construction is done.

— The city will enforce restricted school-hour parking in areas around Central to make room for student pickup and drop-off. There will also be a new bus loading zone on the east side of New Street, between University and Park avenues.

— Historic streetlights by Dr. Howard will be removed and stored by the city, which will then install new conduits, junction boxes and wiring for streetlight reinstallation. If a streetlight is in too poor condition to be reused, Unit 4 will replace or pay to replace it.

— The city will design a rain garden near Dr. Howard as part of its West Washington stormwater project. Unit 4 will construct it and the city will pay additional building costs, as well as maintain the garden after completion.

— Unit 4 will construct a circle drive south of Dr. Howard, accessible by University Avenue, for student pickup and drop-off.

More at the full article here. There was another article today about football games and "Friday Night Lights" scenarios being unlikely on Central's field. More on that here: Champaign council member seeks assurance: No 'Friday Night Lights' at McKinley.

Also it appears that a disagreement on a land easement may result in a land swap between the Park District and the Unit 4 school district. From today's News-Gazette.

Park district's proposal for Centennial drainage has Unit 4 thinking land swap
Talks between the Champaign Park District and Unit 4 officials may turn to land-swapping after a $60,000 price tag for 1 acre of land was floated at Monday night's school board meeting.

Previously, Unit 4 officials had hoped to come to an easement agreement that would allow them to use park-district-owned land for necessary stormwater detention north of Centennial High School. But Elizabeth Stegmaier, Unit 4's director of capital projects and planning, told board members Monday night that the park district didn't see such an agreement as "being to their benefit" and had instead proposed selling the acre to the district for $60,000. That number is $32,000 more than the district's initial $28,000 offer to the park district on Aug. 1.

Part of the reason for that uptick in price, Unit 4 real-estate lawyer Pat Fitzgerald told board members, was that park district officials knew there were deadlines to meet, which board President Chris Kloeppel emphasized wasn't a result of poor planning or a sudden realization on the district's part that additional stormwater detention would be necessary...

To circumvent spending extra money, board members proposed finding an acre of school-district-owned land to swap with the park district. Fitzgerald said such property had already been identified, and they were ready to sit down with park district officials "as early as tomorrow morning" to propose the swap. Kloeppel called for more discussions that include solutions other than the district buying the acre for $60,000.

More at the full article here, including issues of precedent and liability with other options such as purchase of the land.

Urbana School Roundup

The News-Gazette had a recent follow up to the restorative disciplinary practice changes that removed Deans from the High School and caused a great deal of concern about effectiveness versus equity. The impetus for the change stems from the disparity in disciplinary outcomes that have long plagued the district. Recently there has been data on racial disparity in punishment in our local schools that has backed up other studies and data showing that even for the same offenses, some minority students are punished more often and more harshly. More at the recent Cheat Sheet post: Education Racial Disparity Data. This years changes without deans is a big and controversial step towards addressing that. From Sunday's paper:

New discipline policy in at Urbana, while deans, suspensions are out
...
What might in March have seemed like a sudden change was actually the result of a gradual, three-year shift away from traditional public school discipline, Owen says.

A memorandum of agreement indicates the district began working with restorative practice specialists Elaine Shpungin and her husband, Mikhail Lyubansky, in August 2015.

"When we first got in touch with them, they were at the U of I in the psych department," Owen said. "They were known in the region as some of the experts on restorative practices in the area."

Now the director and founder of the consulting service Conflict 180, Shpungin has been training Urbana staffers and students on the ins-and-outs of restorative practices for nearly three years, serving as the district's primary point person and coordinator on the subject...

One of the keys to successfully executing a restorative practice-based system is communication, Shpungin said, be it informal (such as a lunch shared between a teacher and student to repair a relationship) or formal (such as the "circles" students can request, where an adult facilitates a discussion between two feuding students).

"One of the mind shifts we encourage in a traditional justice project is we ask: Who broke what rule and how do we punish them?" she said. "In a restorative process, we ask who was harmed, what kind of harm, how do we repair that harm and make it right? Those are really different..."

Although the overall number of suspensions and expulsions has trended downward as Urbana's restorative practice efforts moved forward, the disparity ratio between students of color and whites increased, which Owen said prompted bigger changes to the district's discipline policy...

Critics of the decision to remove deans pointed to an uptick in physical violence at the middle school as one possible indicator of the failures of restorative practices to effectively manage student behavior.

A lot more at the full article, including criticisms, anecdotes, and details. There was also news about the pay raise cap for employees of the district nearing retirement age and whether that could be construed as age discrimination. A common issue with retirement costs include pay spiking towards the end of a career where the person's retirement pay is based on their ending compensation. Many systems have had very large raises right before retirement which then results in years of inflated retirement pay. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is looking narrowly at the age restriction of 10 years before retirement. From today's News-Gazette:

Federal agency sues Urbana school district over caps on teacher raises
A federal agency has filed a lawsuit against Urbana schools, alleging the district violated age-discrimination laws by limiting salary increases for teachers over age 45.

Lawyers for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said the district's practice of limiting salary increases for those teachers was a result of an "unlawful" provision in a collective-bargaining agreement between the district and the Urbana Education Association.

That provision stipulates that raises for teachers who are within 10 years of retirement eligibility are capped at 6 percent of their salary from the previous year. The EEOC argues that constitutes age discrimination.

Urbana Superintendent Don Owen said the filing wasn't a surprise.

"We've been communicating with the EEOC about this matter for more than a year," he told News-Gazette Media on Monday. "Basically, there was an EEOC investigation and we shared with them everything that we had — notes from when this was negotiated; everything we had about this, we shared."

The suit dates back to an Aug. 9, 2016, grievance filed by Urbana Middle School teacher Chuck Koplinski against the district. In it, Koplinski alleged that he had been denied raises commensurate with experience and professional development on the basis of age.

At the time of filing, Koplinski was 52 and within 10 years of retirement eligibility. It was because of his age, the EEOC argues, that he was denied $4,994 in earnings from the 2015-16 and 2016-17 school years despite meeting various criteria for raises.

More details and expanded explanation of both sides of the case at the full article here.

Champaign Park Board and New Playground

From the News-Gazette yesterday:

Champaign Park Board OKs buying playground for Henry Michael Park

The newest park on Champaign's south side is getting a playground.

Work begins this summer on a $22,758 basketball court on the southwest side of Henry Michael Park, located south of Curtis Road and east of Mattis Avenue, according to Champaign Park District Director of Planning Andrew Weiss.

On Wednesday night, the Champaign Park Board voted 5-0 to accept a bid from Downers Grove-based Play Illinois LLC to buy some playground equipment for the park for $37,378.

Park District Executive Director Joe DeLuce said the district will save money by having park staff install the equipment.

The new playground, which will be constructed on the park's east side, will include two separate play areas: one for children ages 2 to 5 and one for children ages 5 to 12.

Some more details from the meeting here.

Champaign on Smaller Houses and Cannabis Fines

In a follow up on the City of Champaign's struggle with big houses on smaller lots, it looks like how the city plans to address it has been decided. What comes next will be the specific language to be drafted. From the News-Gazette yesterday:

Champaign council OKs creation of zoning amendment on house-to-lot ratios
...
The plan is to replace "floor-area ratio" rules with new ones called "maximum lot coverage." City staff say that the latter is a more commonly used standard.

The city defines floor-area ratio as a building's gross floor area — excluding attached garages, utility areas and underground living space — divided by the lot area it sits on.

Maximum lot coverage, on the other hand, is defined as a building's footprint area — including attached garages and utility areas inside the home only — divided by the lot area. The most a building could have is 35 percent lot coverage...

Several Clark Park residents heavily criticized the maximum lot coverage idea at a public meeting last week. They don't like how, as written now, it would allow for a house that's upward of 6,000 square feet...

Other new requirements are bundled in with the maximum lot coverage proposal:

— Limiting single-family homes to being two-and-a-half stories high.

— Reducing house-side setbacks from six feet to five.

— Having setback flexibility that allows access to detached rear garages.

— Creating context-sensitive front yard setbacks that take into account the current 25-foot regulation and fitting in with the aesthetic of a neighborhood.

More details on that at the full article here. And on City of Champaign cannabis fines from the News-Gazette today:

Champaign council to study lowering fines for pot possession
The Champaign City Council is putting in motion a process that could lead to lower fines for adults in possession of cannabis, similar to an initiative launched in Urbana two years ago.

It made no sense to council member Clarissa Nickerson Fourman — who received support from all of her colleagues for a study session on the subject — why a person could be arrested on one side of Wright Street, and receive a fine of just $50 on the other, for the same crime.

"This is affecting low-income and minority people in my district," Fourman said. "If we want this twin cities thing to be easy and seamless, then you can't have this difference."

Initially, Fourman wanted the city to lower the fines for people 18 and older, but after some pushback from council members, she rewrote the language asking for a study on marijuana fines and how they compare to similarly sized cities elsewhere in the country.

The amended request was that the study session focus on adults over the age of 21 and take place sometime in the next three months.

When Urbana lowered its penalty for possessing less than 30 grams of cannabis — from $300 to $50 — misdemeanor charges for cannabis possession went down while the number of tickets issued for state civil and city-ordinance violations reached a 10-year high.

Now, felony charges for cannabis possession in Urbana are rare.

More at the full article here, including more council member statements.

Nursing Home Sidewalk

As part of the Nursing Home sale, a few odds and ends and housekeeping tasks will pop up, including plans for a sidewalk as part of requirements for the City of Urbana. The County will be required to build the estimated $300,000 sidewalk by summer 2020, but will likely get it done next year. From the News-Gazette on Wednesday:

County board panel OKs first step in adding sidewalk near nursing home
The Champaign County Board is taking the first steps toward building a sidewalk to serve people walking to the Champaign County Nursing Home and Brookens Administrative Center.

In May, the board agreed to sell the financially challenged nursing home to Extended Care Clinical LLC and Altitude Health Services Inc., both headquartered in Evanston, for $11 million.

But in order to have the property available for sale, a plat revision needed approval by the city of Urbana.

As part of that revision, the city requested that the county build a sidewalk along Art Bartell Road between South Lierman Avenue and East Main Street, according to county Facilities Director Dana Brenner. The county agreed to the request.

On Tuesday night, the facilities committee voted 6-0 to recommend hiring a civil engineer/architect to plan the sidewalk.

More at the full article here.

Urbana Fix-It Tickets Update

Following up on previous posts on Urbana's Fix-It ticket program that offers folks pulled over for situations like a busted tail light a way to get it resolved rather than punished. From the News-Gazette today:

Urbana's 'Fix-It Tickets' saved drivers $419.40 in first month
Mayor Diane Marlin on Monday announced results from the first month of Urbana's new program to help drivers with broken car lights.

Called "Fix-It Tickets," the program has police distributing payment vouchers to drivers pulled over for broken head- and taillights. Each voucher has a price limit of $25, can be redeemed at Urbana's Advance Auto Parts and expires in 60 days.

Marlin told the city council that in July, 73 vouchers were issued, and 52 — or 71 percent — were redeemed. That saved drivers a total of $419.40 in repairs.

That money was covered instead by the program's funding — a $2,500 allocation of existing funds from the city's Human Relations Division.

About 20 percent of Urbana traffic stops are equipment violations, Marlin said. The city will continue the program on a pilot basis until the funding runs out and decide what to do next after that.

When the vouchers are offered, drivers are free to decline them.

More at the full article here.

Champaign Roundup: Brunch Booze, Police Explorers, Street Honors

First in a followup on a previous post about alcohol serving times when it comes to brunch. From yesterday's News-Gazette:

Want booze with morning brunch?
...
Tuesday night, Champaign's city council will vote on tweaking the existing ordinance that prohibits restaurants from serving alcohol outdoors before 11 a.m. on Saturdays and noon on Sundays.

Under the new proposal, restaurants with permitted outdoor cafes could pour alcohol to customers as soon as they open.

Business owners and diners alike have raised the issue with city officials in recent weeks, with Mayor Deb Feinen answering one query — via Tom Kacich's Mailbag — with a sense of urgency, saying the new rules would go into effect immediately, "so people can still enjoy the remainder of the good weather..."

At Radio Maria on North Walnut St., Manager Jed Bean said city regulations often clash with his customers' wishes. As long as drinks are kept on the restaurant's premises, he said he believes the proposed change is completely reasonable.

The current liquor service regulations were adopted by the city in 1997. It's a whole new downtown Champaign now, McIntosh pointed out, with far more dining options than before.

More at the full article here. On the City of Champaign's Explorer program:

CPD Explorers test life in law enforcement
Spending three hours every other Thursday night learning police tactics might not hold great appeal for some young people, but it does for a group that's been at it since October.

They are members of the Champaign Police Department's Explorer Post 258, a career-oriented program aimed at giving young adults, ages 14 to 21, an introduction to police work...

[Officer and Program Teacher Mike] Talbott said the department had an active Explorer program in the 1990s that disbanded in the latter part of that decade. When Anthony Cobb became police chief in 2012, he wanted it resurrected.

Talbott agreed to step up and has been teaching it since 2013. He gets a helping hand from fellow officer Ashley Eisenbart. The current class has a dozen students ranging in age from 16 to 20.

"They are required to attend meetings. We do training and try to mirror as closely as we can (what's being taught) at the Police Training Institute. We also require each member to complete two hours of community service a month through the police department...

Those who learn they aren't cut out for patrol work might find another niche in criminal justice, like being a probation or parole officer, more appealing, he said.

A new class is slated to begin in October. Students may stay with the program until they turn 21.

More at the full article here. More information at the program's webpage here. And from today's News-Gazette: a City Council update on possibly making certain Honorary Street names permanent for those who made the ultimate sacrifice protecting their community or country:

Champaign council to vote on making street honors permanent for fallen
A city council member is proposing a slight change in the rules for naming honorary streets, prompted by last year's 50th anniversary of the death of police Officer Robert Tatman.

Council member Greg Stock said he would like to see any street named in honor of a city employee who dies on the job to be made a permanent honorary street. Currently, those designations expire after 10 years.

The council is expected to vote on it tonight...

Stock added that the rules could be modified again to include other groups like military members.

[Robert Tatman's sister, Mary Tatman Middleton] came back to town last fall for the service honoring her brother.

"It was great to experience, and I felt so happy and proud, but it was also extremely painful because you're reliving it again," she said.

Middleton said the family didn't know then about the temporary honorary designations for the street names, which made them "kind of angry."

"Why would you have a time limit on somebody who gave the ultimate sacrifice? It's like saying, 'We'll remember you for 10 years, then go remember somebody else.'"

More at the full article here.

House Sizes

[UPDATE: In a follow up the News-Gazette had further reaction to the issue of large homes and the proposals to address them in the In-Town Zoning (map):

Champaign lays out zoning changes for In-Town neighborhood
Residents of the In-Town neighborhood expressed generally positive views of proposed design and development standards for future housing developments in their area, after city staff presented them Thursday night at the Champaign Public Library.

The proposal will go before the Champaign City Council for a possible approval vote Sept. 18.

The presentation came after months of working group meetings between city staff and residents of In-Town, one of Champaign's oldest neighborhoods. It's located mainly west of downtown, roughly spanning from Columbia Street on the north to John Street on the south, and Randolph Street on the east to Prospect Avenue on the west, as well as an area running south along Randolph, State and Prairie streets to Avondale Avenue...

The push to create this proposal came when In-Town residents saw new developments go up, including the apartments at 509 S. Elm St., that they don't think fit in with the neighborhood's character. A group of the residents went to the city and found that there were no design standards for those developments, and the working group was later formed.]

The community and City of Champaign officials came together to discuss the issue of large homes being built on smaller lots in town, which has caused a backlash by residents in the neighborhood. From the News-Gazette Tuesday:

Champaign residents raise concerns over house-to-lot ratio proposals
City officials were grilled Monday night by a crowd of more than 80 people, most of them concerned with the trend of large houses going up on smaller-sized lots in Champaign.

Many of the residents who turned out for the city-organized meeting at the Champaign Public Library hail from the Clark Park neighborhood, where the trend of big, new houses on junior-sized lots is dwarfing older, smaller houses nearby.

It has also led to a mobilized neighborhood effort, including informal meetings, and the launch of a website (nogianthouses.com)...

After expressing a general distaste for the options, many attendees said they would rather wait for the city to gather more public input before moving forward.

"It's unfortunate for me as a taxpayer that you put hours into this when you should have taken our input at the beginning," said Clark Park resident Mary Schultz.

The option that city planners recommended most called for eliminating floor-area ratio regulations and replacing them with maximum lot coverage standards. Planning and Development Director Bruce Knight said this option can be tweaked before the council meets next week.

This option involves:

— Allowing homes to cover up to 35 percent of the lot they're on.

— Limiting single-family homes to being two-and-a-half stories high.

— Reducing setbacks for house sides — from 6 feet to 5 feet.

— Having setback flexibility that allows access to detached rear garages.

— Creating context-sensitive front yard setbacks that take into account the current 25-foot regulation and fitting in with the aesthetic of a neighborhood.

More at the full article here.


[Updated. Originally posted on 8/2/2018 at 5:56am.]