Event Space

 It looks as if the city will break ground on the Washington Street Event Space in the near future as the grassy area where the stage will stand has been fenced off.  Of course, given that the first Off the Rails concert takes place on August 10th, the construction company will have to work really fast to get a pavilion built in less than 2 weeks.

I do not expect them to have the stage built of course. Still I wonder why fence off the area when the city knows the Off the Rails concert series starts so soon.

Humane Society

According to posts on Facebook, the Humane Society of Southern Illinois is closing down after 70 years. The facility will no longer accept animals after July 31 and, barring an influx of funds, will shutter the facility in December with plans to reopen in some way in 2025.

Elections

 Wanna have a say in the government of Carbondale? Three city council seats are up for election next year. You can pick up petitions starting July 30 (Hey that's tomorrow).

CARBONDALE - On April 1, 2025, the City of Carbondale will hold an election to select three City Councilmembers to four-year terms. Informational documents and petition forms will be available in the City Clerk’s Office beginning on July 30; these same forms and other useful information are available in the 2025 Candidate’s Guide, which can be found on the Illinois State Board of Elections website. Signed, completed forms are to be submitted to the City Clerk’s Office during the statutory filing period of Monday, October 21 through Monday, October 28, 2024 (circulation and filing dates amended by Public Acts 103-0586 and 103-0600).

This election will be for the seats presently held by Councilmembers Jeff Doherty, LaCaje Hill, and Ginger Rye Sanders.

Candidates should carefully examine the 2025 Candidate’s Guide available through the Illinois State Board of Elections’ website at www.elections.il.gov and are strongly advised to obtain legal counsel regarding their qualifications for office and how to correctly circulate, complete, and file their petitions.  

If thirteen or more candidates file petitions for the three City Council positions, a Consolidated Primary will be held on Tuesday, February 25, 2025. The Consolidated Election will be held on April 1, and the elected representatives will take office at the first City Council meeting in May.

The City Clerk's Office is located in Room 165 of City Hall, 200 S. Illinois Avenue. Regular office hours are 8:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Phone inquiries may be addressed to the City Clerk’s Office at 549-5302.

Growth At SIUC

 The University announced a third straight semester of growth, adding 163 for a summer total of 5025 students which is still pretty anemic given the days when summer attendance averaged 9000. 

Last spring attendance was 10,525 and the university has a target of 15,000 by 2030, by my calculations about a 30% increase. Averaging a 5% increase per year which is about what the university has had during its recent years of increase, SIUC would reach 15000 by the 2031-2032 school year, one year behind its target.

Boys and Girls Club

 It looks as if the Boys and Girls club will reopen next month, the Marion club at its old site and the Carbondale one in the First United Methodist Church. $200, 000 raised which will not fund the organization for very long, especially once it hires an executive director.

Steering Committee

 If you want to help develop the next comprehensive plan for Carbondale, the steering committee is now seeking members. I still have a copy of the last comprehensive plan on my shelves someplace and it has been used by citizens to point out when the city is proposing a program that appears to veer away from the plan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CARBONDALE -

Do you love Carbondale? Do you have ideas about how Carbondale could continue to thrive? If so, you have an opportunity to be involved in shaping the City of Carbondale’s future. Since the 2010 plan, Carbondale has evolved, along with market preferences. Now is the time to update the plan to reflect the changes the city is experiencing and set a positive course of action for the future.  

The City of Carbondale is calling all interested applicants to apply to serve as a volunteer member of the Steering Committee for the updated comprehensive plan for the City. As a member of the committee, you will help bring insight and perspective to the planning process and ensure that the community’s voice and vision are a central part of the plan. 

We are seeking committee members who are connected to our broader community. Whether you are a long-time resident, a business owner, student, or someone who simply loves Carbondale, your perspective is valuable. This is an exciting opportunity to work with fellow community members and city leaders to create a plan that will guide Carbondale towards a vibrant and prosperous future for years to come! 

The application process will close on Friday, August 9th. 

We encourage you to join your fellow community members in this exciting opportunity. If you have any questions, please reach out to Carbondale’s Senior Planner, Molly Maxwell at mmaxwell@carbondaleil.gov. 

Click the link here: https://forms.gle/cgEocw4KteJkwort5 to apply! The application can also be found on the City’s website, www.explorecarbondale.com, under Permits and Applications. A printed application can be completed at the front desk at City Hall.  

More Business Opening

 jackson County has seen an 88% increase in the number of businesses opening since 2019, putting the county among the top 25 in the state in terms of new businesses over the last five years.

Shootings AND Stabbing

 Two reports of shootings, a stabbing and a vehicle theft all yesterday on Lewis Lane and East Sycamore.. Busy day for the police. Apparently a busy night as well according to a friend who was doing a ride along and did not get finished until 5 a.m.

City Council and Liquor control commission

 Here is the agenda for next Tuesday's Liquor Control Commission and City council Meetings.  According to the agenda, The Hilton appears to want a secondary liquor license so it can sell package liquor on site. In addition, This & That wants a secondary restaurant license so it can run a bakery out of its kitchen. Also, I think SI Pawn is applying for a zoning variance so it can move to North Illinois next to the Thrift Shop, as that area, for whatever reason, is zoned for automotive and wholesale businesses. 

Saluki Takeover Tours

 Originally I thought these were a form of outreach to new students but now I see they are instead outreach to alumni. with the steady decline of state funding, reaching out to alumni for support is becoming more important to all universities, not just SIUC. Of course, given the steady decline in students, it is hard to create a lot of excitement about campus events. Until the university manages to come up with something to significantly turn around enrollment, and not by just 1 or 2 percent, it will be hard to create much excitement. 

SCOTUS Lawsuit

 Yep, this lawsuit is likely why the city council held a special session to repeal its bubble ordinance. Council does not want to spend the money defending an ordinance that has a good chance of getting struck down before the current Supreme Court, especially when the city already has ordinances on the books that accomplish the same thing.

Southern Hills

Drove into SIUCs now abandoned Southern Hills residential complex. A gate blocks vehicles from driving past the first parking area but it is easy to see that SIUC is letting the entire area, save for one building, go back to nature. It looks as if one building is being used for maintenance offices but the other building are getting covered with vines and parts of the structure are falling off. Seems quite a waste of the buildings, which thirty years ago were used for graduate student and family housing.

When SIUC started shrinking dramatically, there was talk, 20 years ago,  of converting the buildings into a upscale retirement community for SIUC alumni but adapting the buildings for retirees, especially the 2nd floor units, was too costly to pursue, I guess. Nothing ever came of the plan and the rehabilitation of the buildings would be too expensive now.

Ordinance Repealed

 The city council met last Saturday and voted to repeal Ordinance 2023-03, dealing with limiting protests at women's health clinics in the city. Vote was 6-0.  I would guess the executive session was called in response to pending litigation against the ordinance and council decided it was better to rely on already existing ordinances to prosecute disruptive protesters, rather than using the power of government to target them specifically. 

SIU Leaders Get More Money

 Given the number of unfilled positions at SIU and that the university still has not seen a consistent increase in attendance during Lane's term in office, a raise for top administration seems a bit pre-mature, especially since the numbers are still less than half the number of enrolled students at its peak in 1990

Preservation Commission

 Preservation commission meets next Monday. Agenda is below. Not a lot of reports from the committees. going to see if I can make the meeting and ask about plaques for places identified as historically significant in Carbondale.

1. Roll Call & Introductions

AGENDA

The City of Carbondale Preservation Commission

Monday, July 15th, 2024

5:30 P.M.

Civic Center, Room 112

200 South Illinois Avenue

2. Approval of Minutes: June 17th, 2024 regular meeting

3. Communication and Reports:

a) Educational and Technical Assistance Committee

a. No Report

b) Nomination and Hardship Committee

a. No report

c) Work Plan Committee

a. No Report

d) Certificate of Appropriateness Committee

a. No report

e) Preservation Month Subcommittee

a. No Report

4. Old Business:

a) None

5. New Business:

a) Discussion on the consultant recommendations made in the Historic Building Survey

for the Northeast Quadrant

b) Identify possible next local register nomination(s)

6. Comments from the Public, Commission Members, or Staff

Cannabis Tax

 Carbondale received just under $35000 in revenue from cannabis in the fiscal year that ended last month. Carterville got a bit over $9000 and Murphysboro, $11,000. 

special City Council Meeting

 It appears the city council will hold a special meeting this Saturday, July 13, to vote to repeal Ordinance 2023-03, which had been enacted last year to limit the ability of protestors to approach clients at women's health/abortion clinics in Carbondale. According to the reasoning, there are other ordinances on the city books providing sufficient protection so this ordinance was not needed. Although I am not a lawyer, I would guess there was some pushback or threats of legal action for passing an ordinance targeting protests by a specific group.

Carbondale Vision 2030 Goal 2

 The second goal in the Carbondale Vision 2030 Strategic Plan. As with Goal 1, there are a lot of strategic initiatives for the city to address and DEI programs have really been a target of Republican lawmakers in recent years.

Goal 2:  Establish programs, processes, and networks to address diversity, inclusion, equity, and justice.

 Strategic Initiatives

  Explore possibilities for revising responsibilities for the Human Relations Commission or another entity to address citizen complaints. 

 Develop processes to ensure that everyone is treated fairly and equitably. 

 Create a diversity action plan for City operations. 

 Identify ordinances that contribute to exclusionary zoning.

  Create a Police (or Civilian) Review Board to address citizen complaints and advise the city on potential policy changes. Couldn't the Human Relations Commission do this? Seems what the first Initiative is aimed at.

 Identify and address systemic racism in institutions within Carbondale. 

 Publicize the purpose of the Human Relations Commission. 

 Identify areas of unequal opportunity and access in Carbondale and begin creating a plan to improve resources for all

  Create a staff report identifying codes and regulations that hinder opportunities for minority entrepreneurs. Despite its reputation, Carbondale is a business friendly town. Just follow the codes and regulations.

  Develop business training seminars tailored to the minority community to assist with business startups. 

 Require planning staff and Planning Commissioners to attend trainings and compile research on current zoning philosophies, such as Form-Based Code and Unified Development Zones, as they work on the update of the Comprehensive Plan. 

 Explore opportunities to address poverty and food insecurity in the community. Grants to already existing programs?  No need to create new one when we have existing food pantries. Could use more shelters but need staffing for that. 

  Create a Youth Advisory Board. Could a subcommittee of the HR Commission do this rather than creating a new board? 

 Provide targeted assistance to the minority business community. How? Grants? Seminars?

 Review alternatives for encouraging minority representation in the workforce. How?

 Consider a city-supported program to assist minorities to learn about and obtain employment in the trades. 

2 Problems with Downtown Carbondale

 Oh, I know there are lots of problems with downtown but from my point of view there are two huge ones that need addressing to make downtown a viable shopping area

1. Walkability--downtown is split into two parts, the square and South Illinois. The Amtrak and FirstMid parking lots are a line of demarcation dividing the two area and there is no good reason for a shopper to make the effort to walk from the south end to the north end  and vice versa because most of the businesses in downtown are

2. Destination stores--The businesses in downtown are not the sort of retailers that encourage browsing from one store to another . They are the reason the customer comes into downtown. They shop there and then leave. We have a number of barber shops, smoke shops, liquor stores, hairdressers and tattoo shops that bring people into downtown but they come to patronize those stores and then leave. No one goes from one smoke shop or liquor store to another to see what the other stores have. There is crossover between restaurants and Big Chill as well as the Varsity Center and restaurants and Big Chill. We even see some crossover between Castle Perilous and restaurants but generally people do  not come downtown to shop and get a meal.

It would be nice to see some parking lot infill and more shops that encourage browsing and movement from one to another, but we are not likely to see any additional retail space in either parking lot given the number of empty storefronts on South Illinois.

Walgreen's

It looks as if both Carbondale Walgreen's are safe from closure at least for now. Walgreen's plans to close over 2100 locations over the next three years but, according to this list of currently announced stores targeted for shuttering in Illinois are primarily in the Chicago region

Harold's Chicken

 For all the ballyhoo about Harold's Chicken opening, and there was a lot of it as I remember driving by and seeing a line waiting to get in, it sure didn't last very long. Zeenah's Palace will be opening in its location on July 8th

Schwartz Building

 The Schwartz Building, at the corner of Main and University has sold. The building had sat empty for several months, after the last tenant, Exit Realty, moved out and several squatters moved in by breaking windows and gaining access. The new owner plans to leave the exterior pretty much as it is and do a lot of rehab work, including replacing all the windows. 

I see the window with the "Moist" graffiti, which has been there for about a decade, has already been replaced. 

SI Pawn

 From what I hear, SI Pawn is looking to move from its current West Walnut location to a spot on North Illinois, likely next to the Thrift Shop. Would actually be a good symbiotic relationship.  People can take their items into SI Pawn, then, if SI Pawn does not want them, donate them to the Thrift Shop next door.