Danville council approves new jobs bus service

Nov. 24—DANVILLE — The Danville City Council Tuesday night approved a new non-profit bus service to locate in a Danville church building to fill in transportation gaps of getting people to work.

Tabernacle of Praise Church requested rezoning the church property at 610 Robinson St. and amending the city's zoning map for the property from R-2 — single family residential — medium density zoning to B-3 — general commercial zoning.

The property, behind Aunt Martha's and other businesses on Gilbert Street, would continue as a church and add a bus terminal/station, according to petitioner Bishop Barry Elliott.

The non-profit My Happy Place that Elliott is involved with approached the church about renting space in the building. A lease of physical space was dependent on rezoning approval. The bus terminal would help with access to second- and third-shift employment.

My Happy Place would use the parking lot and one room of the church for the bus terminal/station for drivers to clock in and take breaks, and other usage.

The non-profit has applied for grant funding to obtain a small bus to transport people to work. They anticipate garaging the bus on a property outside city limits.

The timetable to begin depends on funding.

Other non-profits also are interested in operating at Tabernacle of Praise. Also proposed is a specialty school and other similar uses.

Danville Community Development Administrator Logan Cronk said B-3 rezoning was the only option for this use.

Ward 6 Alderman Jon Cooper said he was concerned about another liquor store or something else possibly going in the site in the future with the zoning change.

Cronk said it would also be in the church's best interest to place some deed restrictions for restricted uses in the future.

Danville Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. said the city has about 12 people on a waiting list for a package liquor store license. He thinks the last one the city gave out was more than a decade ago.

In other business Tuesday night, the council approved purchasing 146 vacant lots and five structures for $120,800 through the Vermilion County trustee to protect neighborhoods, make sure they don't get into the hands of people who won't improve them or maintain them, city officials said.

The council heard public comments about problem properties, with garbage and parking issues, also Tuesday night.

Some empty lots of the properties the city will be purchasing have been sitting for a long time. Some can help the city with neighborhood revitalization, corridor plans, reducing infrastructure, floodplain preservation, storm water management, sanitary sewer projects, and some turning back into woods, said City Engineer Sam Cole. The city already is mowing most of them, he said.

A second ordinance the council approved is for the current December tax auction. The city plans to purchase 25 vacant lots and 55 structures for $64,000. They are in terrible condition and city officials expect grant funds to continue to come in for blight removal.

Ward 7 Alderman Bob Iverson said residents should be happy about this, if it works as the city hopes.

Side lot sales also can put lots back on the tax rolls to neighbors.

In addition at the meeting, there was a public hearing on the city's tax levy which is expected to stay the same or be a lower rate based on the increase in property values, Williams said.

A $66 million city budget presentation showed several new city positions proposed of an arborist and laborer, two building maintenance laborers, city plumber, a restored position of a manager to run the pool in the summer and recreation, two rental inspectors and grant rehabilitation specialist. The budget also proposes including $650,000 in salary increases to bring about 49 percent of staff, determined through a salary compensation study, up to the minimum of their pay range who are currently under it. How high some salary increase percentages would be weren't known by city officials for specific employees.

The deficit first draft budget shows a deficit, but City Comptroller Ashlyn Massey said health insurance changes by employees should cover it.

Aldermen also learned about an emergency sewer lining, about 1,200 feet, to occur on South Gilbert Street near Steak n' Shake and Long John Silver's. The cost is estimated at $115,000, including manhole rehabilitation, and possibly about $20,000 more for digging work.

The council also approved:

* Purchasing 517 Chandler St. for $34,000 from A List Investments, near where the realignment of West Williams Street will occur, to join other land for possible future redevelopment.

* A $44,700 professional services agreement with WGI of Florida, which worked with the city on parking garage improvements, for a downtown parking study to assess current operations, the demand and parking adequacy, parking management such as pay stations and future parking. Cole said the parking garage alone needs about $2 million worth of work, such as addressing it not having a working elevator. He said the study will determine if the city should fix it or tear it down? Cole said downtown parking is a regular complaint city officials hear. He said the city doesn't have staff time to look at the parking situation.

* A $49,850 professional services agreement with Farnsworth Group for Clarence and Kinney streets sanitary sewer improvements.

* An easement over city-owned property, 1122 E. Fairchild St., for the underground transmission of signals to Illinois Bell Telephone Company doing business as AT&T Illinois to the Garfield Park Pool bathhouse.

* Purchasing a parks one-ton dump truck not to exceed $93,000; a heavy-duty pick-up truck for the sewers division not to exceed $70,000; two vehicles for the community development and engineering divisions for an amount not to exceed $63,960; and medium duty and light duty pick-up trucks for the engineering division and code enforcement division, respectively, for an amount not to exceed $47,000 each.

* A memorandum of understanding with Tilton for expansion of the Vermilion County Enterprise Zone for redevelopment sites.

* An $87,750 agreement with Fehr Graham & Associates for environmental services with the brownfields site cleanup grant at the southeast corner of Fairchild and Vermilion streets.

* Authorizing a $1.5 million grant application to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for a brownfield assessment coalition grant.

* Demolition and additional site work at 26 Nicklas Ave for $21,458 by Owens Excavating and Trucking.

* Amending the Danville Area Transportation Study Budget due to receiving full funding, $354,164, despite the area's population loss and loss of metropolitan status.

* Increasing the contract for street crack sealing by $85,604 due to vegetation removal in the roadway and additional material used.