Prescription Card Roll Out

The Prescription Card program, a benefit of C'dale membership in the National League of Cities, will be discussed at a press conference tomorrow:

The City of Carbondale will hold a press conference on Monday, January 9, 2012 at 1:30 p.m. in the Carbondale Civic Center located at 200 S. Illinois Avenue, to make an announcement regarding the rollout of a Prescription Discount Card Program made available by the City of Carbondale through the National League of Cities.

Liquor Sales

The Southern has an article looking at the effect last summer's change to liquor licensing has had on local beer and wine retailers.  I found it interesting that they talked to three of the four local businesses that started selling beer and wine but only one that sold it prior to the addition of the new licenses.  Maybe the article didn't want any more "sales have been down by 25%" quotes in the store.

National Guard Armory

The DE has some more information on the sale of the Armory, including that there is no asking price, rather the Guard is taking sealed bids on the building.  No indication if there is a minimum bid or not.  A couple of city officials expressed an interest in buying it, but really, what would the city do with it?  We have a perfectly serviceable civic center, with no problems with overcrowding, at least that I know of.  The city actually got rid of a city building (the Eurma Haynes center) earlier this year, so to spend city funds on another one, without a plan in place, makes little sense.

Wanna Buy an Armory?

From an email sent out to the Arbor District list.. It would be rather hard, given the zoning for that area, not to mention the traffic flow, for anyone to make commercial use of the property.  I remember Carbondale Main Street expressing an interest in the building at one time, possibly for use as a year round farmer's market,  but only if it were donated to the organization:

The now vacant national Guard Armory at the corner of Sycamore and Oakland is up 
for sale. The grounds cover approximately 2.89 acres.The building was 
constructed in 1938 during the high modernist period of the New Deal. It is 
controlled by the Illinois Department of the Military. Today the building was 
open to inspection for the public. 

The main building has 32,449 Square Feet of space.

The main structure houses a large auditorium/gymnasium/parade ground. It appears 
to be constructed of concrete arches. We did not see any cracks in the 
structure.

However, we learned that the Army shut the building down for almost a year and 
drains stopped up causing water to flow through areas of the lower roof. 
They said since the problem was corrected it has not leaked again.

There is a large kitchen, though the equipment is being removed.

There are several sets of bathrooms, showers

There are a number of offices circling the central auditorium. In the basement 
there are more offices, storage. 

There are two large buildings separate from the original Armory. We estimate 
this at more than 200 feet long. They were used to store vehicles and was built 
in the 1950s

On the southwest side of the complex is more outdoor parking as well as fuel 
pumps.

City Manager Baity

According to a press release sent out by the mayor, Kevin Baity will be the next city manger:

The Carbondale City Council has reached a consensus that Mr. Kevin Baity  will serve as the next City Manager of Carbondale.  Mr. Baity has been employed by the City of Carbondale since August 2006 and is currently the city’s Director of Development Services and Interim City Manager.  He was originally hired as the city’s Assistant City Manager for Economic Development.  Prior to coming to Carbondale, Mr. Baity had served as the City Administrator for the City of Flora, IL; the Director of Community Development for the City of Centralia, IL; and the Director of Environmental Health for the Perry County (IL) Health Department.

A Special Carbondale City Council Meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 7:00 pm to formalize the decision by voting on an ordinance to approve a City Manager Employment Agreement.  The meeting will be followed by a reception to introduce Mr. Baity to the public as the City Manager.

I find the term "consensus" an interesting choice of wording.  It doesn't say he was voted upon by the council, just that some form of agreement about him.  Apparently the council, or at least the mayor, is making=ng the announcement prior to the actual vote. At least one city council member has concerns about this. From a eamil sent out by councilwoman Jane Adams:

Until we officially vote, our discussions in Executive Session are private. Does the Open Meetings Act allow the Mayor to publicly characterize our private deliberations?

It is entirely proper for the Mayor to call a special Council meeting. However, the press release says that there will be a reception following which will “introduce Mr. Baity to the public as the City Manager.”

Again, no vote has been taken. We discussed, we argued, we debated. We developed a sense of where the majority sentiment lay. Without compromising the confidentiality of our debates, I think I can fairly state that the Mayor was a leader of the majority. But there was no vote. To have voted would have been illegal – a clear violation of the Open Meetings Act.

Until that public vote, Mr. Baity cannot be presumed to be the next City Manager. Nor can there be a presumption of “consensus.”

Christmas Tree Recycling

In case you are wondering what to do with your Christmas tree, the city's annual recycling program starts tomorrow.

Mary Lou's

Looks as if Mary Lou's will move to its new next-door location in the near future.  I see the sign has already moved from the old building to the new one.