Brad Cole Running

Former Mayor Brad Cole is running for an open seat on the Carbondale High School Board of Education. I guess once you start running for office, the taste of it never goes away.

Money for Pool

Mayor Fritzler sent out the following press release expanding on his proposal to give $100,000 in city funding to fund the proposed CPD Aquatics Center:

Carbondale Mayor Joel Fritzler Proposes $100,000 contribution to Aquatic Center

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During last night’s meeting of the Carbondale City Council, Mayor Joel Fritzler proposed that the City of Carbondale contribute a total of $100,000 towards the matching grant the Carbondale Park District received for their Outdoor Aquatic Center project.  Mayor Fritzler said that he was inspired by the success of the Park District’s recent fundraiser and the encouraging show of support by the community for the aquatic center.

The City Council had previously reallocated $10,000 to the project from funds for promoting tourism.  The additional $90,000 would also come from these funds dedicated to promote and market the City of Carbondale.  Mayor Fritzler would like for the new board of the Carbondale Convention and Tourism Bureau to decide whether the funds are contributed over the next two or three years.  The Mayor said, “We have saved some money over the last few months while discussing the future of tourism in Carbondale so, we could make a $50,000 contribution this year and $25,000 during the next two years.”

“This is a win-win project for Carbondale and the Southern Illinois region.  Residents have been wanting and asking for an outdoor pool for generations so, I know that they will step up to the plate (or diving board) and write a check.” For more information about the project, call the Carbondale Park District at 529-4147.

Given that the status of the Convention and Tourism Bureau is currently in flux, with a new board meeting to reconstitute the organization  and that the city council pulled funding from District 95's summer reading program last year, saying the money could be spent better on more immediate needs, like the new fire station (still not started), it is hard to justify directing city funds towards this project.  As the mayor himself said last year:

(Mayor Fritzler) said with the current economy issues, the council cannot afford to fund every program. He said there’s a long list of community projects that need to be completed such as new streets and that should be the priority.

Commission Meetings

Looks like a plethora of Carbondale commission meetings this week. One of your taxing bodies, the Carbondale Park District board meets tonight at 6 p.m. in room 108 of the Civic Center.  Then the Planning Commission meets Wednesday at 7 p.m., also in the Civic Center.  Looks like the main item on that agenda is Home Rental's request to rezone property on West Monroe from Professional Administrative to Medium Density Residential (AKA Student Housing).

The Sustainability Commission meets at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Civic Center with bike trails, recycling and the Kopper's plant cleanup likely on the agenda.  Finally, to wrap up the week, the board for Carbondale Community High School meets at 7 p.m. in the CCHS Cafeteria.