Garden Hills Updates

The mayor of Champaign recently met with residents of the Garden Hills Neighborhood about their concerns and upcoming improvement plans. WCIA had coverage, including a video segment here (Update: with a followup with the mayor this morning here). WCCU also had coverage that touched on the upcoming SLEEP program improvements as well here. The News-Gazette had a recent article that had a nice overview of the SLEEP program's details:

— Eligible for free improvements are homes in the area bordered by Bloomington Road on the north, McKinley Avenue on the east, Bradley Avenue and Mimosa Drive on the south and Mattis Avenue on the west.

— The city will provide up to $5,000 worth of safety improvements per qualified household, according to Jennifer Carlson, Champaign's neighborhood services programs manager. Safety items can include such things as new windows, yard pole lights, home exterior lights, new window and door locks, house numbers, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, labor for landscape improvements and video doorbells.

— The safety upgrades are being provided free at owner-occupied homes where the owners meet certain household income limits, and they're also available at rental homes in this area if the landlords are willing to foot half the cost, Carlson said.

— The Regional Planning Commission and Ameren Illinois are partnering on the energy-efficiency upgrades, with Ameren funding such improvements as energy-efficient thermostats, air sealing, ventilation, insulation and energy-efficient furnaces, water heaters and air conditioners.

— Homeowners must also qualify under income guidelines for the energy-efficiency improvements, but both qualified owner-occupied and rental homes can get these improvements free, according to Kristol Simms, Ameren Illinois' director of energy efficiency strategy and innovation.

A lot more information at the full article here and the city's webpage on the program here. The Champaign County Regional Planning Commission is also a partner on the project and had a news release about the collaboration with the City and Ameren here.

This is following up on a previous Cheat Sheet post on Garden Hills Fights Neglect. An excerpt from that post:

WCIA had a recent video segment which contrasted the darkness of the neighborhood compared to other local neighborhoods and the need for initiatives like SLEEP (Safety, Lighting, Energy Efficiency Program information here). Here's a couple screenshots (click to enlarge):

That post with a lot of additional information and links available here.