Vape Shop

Moving into the old Paradise Island Tanning location in University Plaza is the Vape Shop.  Vaping, for those who are not up on the hep jive, is inhaling vapor from electronic cigarettes, so three guesses as to what this place will specialize in.

Downtown Fight

Though there is no mention of it on the C'dale Police website, apparently there was quite an altercation in the Civic Center parking lot last Friday, November 22.  From what I have heard, a crowd of about sixty gathered in the lot late that night, and, as is typical with that size of a crowd, a fight broke out. First officer there called for assistance and three more cars showed up, at which point all of the participants scattered.

No injuries, at least none requiring hospitalization, and no arrests.

D's Quick Stop

Happened to be in the area north of the square and noticed how empty the east side of this block of North Washington remains, over two years after D's Quick Stop burnt.  For those not familiar with the area, D's sat in the empty space nearest to the camera, while the Tuscan Lodge occupied the green area further down the street.  The building in the center used to house Urban Trendz clothing, but I do not know if the business remains active. 

At the time of the fire, owner Margaret Nesbitt said she planned to reopen the business, but no signs of that happening, at least not at the North Washington location.  No indication of any development at the old Tuscan Lodge site, either.

Brush Plaque and Preservation Commission

Received the following email in response to my comments about the plaque commemorating Daniel Brush's speech in Carbondale (reprinted with permission).

The Brush plaque was paid for by private donations from a group of dedicated local Civil War historians who feel that Brush’s speech turned the support in Carbondale (and the region) to the North.  Up to that time it wasn’t very definite which way this part of the state would go.  Apparently, to local historians, this was a significant event in the Civil War.

The Commission has begun a line item account with the city so we can receive donations for other plaques .  Currently we’re working on one to commemorate the beginning of Carbondale College which eventually morphed into SIU.  Again, a local historian led the charge on that one.  Donations are being solicited to place that marker, which hopefully will happen in May. The site for that one is just behind the new Safety Center over where Lincoln Junior High stood. We read your blog with excitement, because we’d love to have other persons in the city come to us with their ideas.  One of the  Preservation Commission’s purposes is education and we know there are some very nice local sites that people should be aware of.  If you have ideas, let us know!

Saluki Way Tax

A major reason for the proposed increase in the property tax levy is the failure of sales taxes to meet projected collections (darn recession).

As a reader of the blog pointed out, at Tuesday night's council meeting Mayor Fritzler noted that, when passed, the Saluki Way Tax increase of .25% generated $1.1 to $1.2 million per year.  Approximately 2 years ago, revenues from the tax started falling short, causing the city to stop abating its share of property taxes, as happened in prior years.  Currently, the city projects collections of about $800,000 this year from the Saluki Way portion of the sales tax.

Property Tax Clarification

As was pointed out to me in an email, last Tuesday's vote on raising the property tax was not an actual vote to increase the tax but was rather a vote to move forward with the proposed increase in the tax levy.  By law, twenty days must elapse between the public hearing and the actual vote on increase the tax.  City staff will write the tax ordinance and it will likely come before the council at its next meeting.

Property Tax Increased

Apparently, after I left the meeting last night, city council voted to increase the proposed property tax levy.  Jane Adams and Joel Fritzler voted against the increase, which will go to fund state mandated fire and police department pensions.  Adams wants to see the city make more cuts in its budget rather than raising taxes, but I don't think either she or Fritzler came forward with proposed cuts the city should make.

The increase will amount to about $8 per $100,000 of assessed valuation.