How Rich Is Your Neighborhood

This website shows the median income for various sections of the selected community.  The closer you get to the Carbondale city core, the more the income drops.  The median for the area south of Hwy 13 and on either side of Hwy 51 varies from about $14,000 to $16,000, then jumps to about $33,000 on the north side of Hwy 51, while if you look at the suburbs on the south side of town, the media income increases to about $60,000.

Funding Requests

It's time for the annual requests for funding from the city by local civic organizations.  Funding will not be approved at this Tuesday's meeting, but organizations may make pitches to the council and the council members will discuss the various solicitations.  The only change the city staff recommended was to cut the Boys and Girls Club's request for $32,000 back to the 2012 grant of $30,000.

There are two unsolicited requests, one from the Varsity Center for the Arts for $30,000 to assist with the cost of repairs from sewer backup damage to the property and to replace drains in both theaters and install a protective seal on the front lobby doors to protect the building from future water damage.  The building does have drainage problems during heavy storms, due to its position at the bottom of a low hill, leading to flooding during periods of heavy rain.

Attucks Community Services is requesting $153,883 to help fund its program of youth and community programs.  This amounts to almost as much as the combined requests of all the organizations solicited by the city:  $188,150.

Fisher Conviction Reversed

Henry Fisher's 2001 conviction of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child was reversed 1/30/2013. If you are interested in reading it, here is the court's decision.

El Greco and La Fogata

Passed by the El Greco's location this evening and still a closed sign on the door.  Looks as if they might be doing some inside cleaning though, as the chairs are all piled up.  Across the street, La Fogata's is open in the old Evelyn's Restaurant location, advertising "Super Burritos" aka "burritos as big as your head", but they cannot say that because of trademark infringement.

Bike Path Grant

The city announced the receipt of a grant of almost $330,000 to go toward the construction of the planned bike path from the SIUC campus to the town square:

This grant will be used for the first phase of construction of the planned downtown bicycle and pedestrian pathway.  The path will run from the SIU campus, just south of Grand Avenue, along the east side of the Canadian National Railway tracks to the Town Square, just north of Main Street. Funds from this grant are designated for the main section of the pathway from Mill Street to Main Street.

Mayor Fritzler stated, “I want to thank Governor Quinn and the Illinois Department of Transportation for seeing the value of this project.  Once completed, this new pathway will be a great addition to the downtown for the residents and visitors of Carbondale.  The development of this bike path linking the SIU campus to downtown businesses and neighborhoods will improve the accessibility of both Carbondale’s residents and SIU’s students.  In addition, this new pathway will encourage physical activity and healthy lifestyles by providing a safe place to walk, jog, and bike within the center of town. It is our vision that this new pathway will set the standard and be the hub for future interconnecting pathways throughout the City.”

The Illinois Department of Transportation received applications for 328 projects. Carbondale was the only community to receive a grant from IDOT’s District 9 which encompasses the 16 southernmost counties of Southern Illinois.

This amount almost totals the  $500,000 expected to come from the sales tax enacted by the city several years ago that also funds the bonds for the public safety center and the new fire station, as well as the university's Saluki Way project.

American Tap Incentives

The Southern reports that the city is offering incentives to any one who will purchase and develop the old American Tap location at 518 Illinois.  Incentives include, aside from those provided by the TIF district, a limited amount of free permit parking and waiver of tap fees for utilities.  The city has also indicated flexibility on price.  Originally, the city paid $150,000 for the property, appraised at the time for $39,000.  The rationale given at the time for paying over triple the value of the property was to avoid a lengthly condemnation process and quickly remove the deteriorating American Tap building from the downtown streetscape, since apparently the fact it was in violation of a number of safety ordinances was not enough to get the owner at the time cited.

Originally, the city wanted enough for the property to recoup the demolition and purchase price and thought it had several interested parties at least back in 2009.  Nothing came of them though and I think the price is now in the neighborhood of $30,000.  From what I understand, El Greco contacted the city a few years ago about purchasing the property for an outdoor patio but the city held out (and still wants) an actual building there. 

Building Repairs

Noticed repair work earlier this week on the crumbling facade of the old K&M Copies building at 219 West Main St.  Cheatam Masonry did some extensive rebuilding on the front corner of the building, the bricks of which has started to bow outward from age.  The top of the back end of the building still needs quite a bit of repair, at least as far as my inexperienced eyes can tell, since it look like several bricks have separated from the facade up there.