The City of Peoria will receive almost $500,000 more in state grant funding for a program to demolish abandoned, vacant and unsafe houses on the city’s South Side.
The city council on Tuesday voted to accept the additional $475,000 in grant funding through the Illinois Housing Development Authority [IDHA] for the Strong Communities Program.
Community Development Director Joe Dulin said IHDA needs to get all of its funding for the program allocated soon because the money is from the federal American Rescue Plan Act [ARPA].
“A lot of communities, fortunately for us, did not move as quickly to spend their funds,” said Dulin. “So [IHDA] took back some funds; they had some additional funds, and they approached us and a few different grantees and said, ‘We really appreciate how quickly you spent the funds. If you had more funds, could you spend them also quickly?’ And we said, ‘Absolutely.’”
The extra money will pay for roughly 40 more demolitions in the 61603 and 61605 zip codes.
It comes on top of more than $950,000 received for the program, including a previous Round 2 allocation of $712,000 awarded in October 2023. So far, those funds have covered the cost of 92 demolitions.
“Over the last 10 years, we’ve torn down about 950 vacant and abandoned houses in our community. But really the remarkable thing is, in the last three years, we’ve torn down about 450 of those 900 houses,” said Dulin.
In response to a question from council member Denis Cyr, Dulin said the city is starting to see “positive momentum” in seeing vacant lots developed into residential developments.
“About three months ago, Churchview Gardens, down on the south end off of Ann Street, broke ground, and that’s going to be about 60 units of affordable housing,” Dulin said. “In the next month or two, where we tore down McKinley [Elementary School], Habitat [for Humanity] will break ground; we got a congressional earmark, some Home [Investment Partnership] funds.
“Probably when that project’s all said and done, about three years from now, there’ll be about 20 homeowners living in that area and brand new construction.”
Council member John Kelly commended the efforts to seek demolitions of blighted properties, but voiced concerns that many of the vacant lots are being developed into multi-family residential units instead of single-family homes.
But Mayor Rita Ali and council member Denise Jackson strongly disagreed with that sentiment.
“I’m ready to celebrate this success, and I think the demolitions have made way for new housing in Peoria,” said Ali. “Thank goodness for Churchview Gardens. It’s not a ‘project,’ it’s multi-family, quality units for individuals on the South Side of Peoria, and I’m really happy about that.”
The new funding is expected to be available next month and fully spent by the end of the year.
Illinois River initiative membership
An item pulled from the consent agenda prompted a 40-minute council discussion regarding a $22,630 annual membership in a new initiative established to assist economic development in communities along the Illinois River.
Ultimately, the council voted 9-2 in favor of joining the Illinois River Cities and Towns Initiative [IRCTI], with Cyr and Alex Carmona in dissent. With Ali as a co-chair, Peoria joins a coalition of 15 mayors from communities along the Illinois River, including East Peoria and Pekin.
The initiative is patterned after a similar initiative comprised of mayors from communities along the Mississippi River. Its goal is to help the Illinois River communities present a unified voice in advocating for their shared interests.
The council got extensive input from IRTCI executive director Anshu Singh and Robert Sinclair, a board member with the Upper Mississippi, Illinois, and Missouri Rivers Association.
“We want to bring additional investment into our cities,” said Sinclair. “And to do that, it helps if you’ve got an organized city organization that’s focused not just on clean water and not just on the normal water infrastructure that supports city operations, but all aspects of Water Resources infrastructure.”
Singh said the IRTCI will be modeled after similar initiatives in place for the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes.
“Our Illinois River is very strategically located, connecting these two major freshwater bodies,” said Singh. So I feel the IRTCI, Illinois River Cities and Towns Initiative, was that missing link which can help raise the profile of our region.”
Ali said the initiative would “attract millions of dollars” to the city as an opportunity for investment, while council member Tim Riggenbach said not being a part of the initiative would be a mistake.
“We are the largest city on the river, and that brings with it certain responsibility,” said Riggenbach. “I think this sounds like something that we can wrap our arms around. and having cities [such as] Pekin, East Peoria, Ottawa, Morris, Peru, La Salle, Beardstown, among others — if we weren’t there, that would be a big gap.”
Cyr said he “loved the passion” of the lengthy discussion, from both council members and the two presenters.
“I get a kick out of how my colleagues are finally awake a little bit that we’ve got this budget coming in the fall, so I really [am] so surprised that this had the quality of the discussion tonight on a $22,000 item,” said Cyr, who cited the city’s hundreds of millions in obligations for the combined sewer overflow consent decree while the other communities have no similar expense as the reasoning behind his opposition.
Similarly, Carmona was concerned about “rainy days ahead” for the city’s finances.
“Even though this $22,000 is really a small drop in the bucket of what we spend as a city, I would much rather us be business-friendly, and look forward to growing our economy in ways that you know don’t cost us money,” he said.
Nominating petition signatures
In a Peoria Township action, trustees certified the placement of an advisory question on next spring’s general election ballot aimed at getting more candidates to run in future local elections.
The question asks whether Illinois should lower the signature requirements on nominating petitions for independent and new-party candidates, making them equal to those of Democratic and Republican candidates.
Advocates want the state to adopt these “fair and achievable” standards for county, state and federal elections.
Currently, independent and new-party candidates often need up to 20 times more signatures than those affiliated with the two major parties.
At April’s annual township meeting, electors voted 20-1 in favor of placing the question on the March 17 ballot.
“I would like to compliment the town of Peoria and its fabulous electors for putting forward that resolution on elections,” said Kelly, noting the high number of signatures candidates had to collect for the recent non-partisan mayoral election. “I hope we can convince the legislature to follow along with our brilliant voters here.”
Other business
Finance director Kyle Cratty submitted the unaudited financial report through the end of April for the council to receive and file.
“On the revenue side, we’re pretty much flat with where we anticipated for budget, and we are also up 2.5% compared to last year,” said Cratty. “On the expense side, expenses are down 5.2% compared to the expected budget, and down about 7.3% compared to where we were last year.”
Cratty said those percentages were a “good sign,” noting sales tax revenue has been stronger than originally anticipated.
As part of the consent agenda, the council took the following actions:
- Awarded a $645,000 contract to R.A. Cullinan & Son for the 2025 seal-coating project [low bid of $586,218, plus 10% for contingencies];
- Authorized a workers’ compensation payment of $169,286 to a police officer injured in 2020;
- Agreed to a one-year, $92,000 contract with Lexipol for law enforcement policy management;
- Accepted a dedication deed from Chic Apartments for more right-of-way to accommodate angled parking and a shifted sidewalk along Persimmon Street.
Four proclamations recognized Juneteenth, Pride Month, Migraine and Headache Awareness Month, and the 50th anniversary of the National Association of Women Business Owners.
A special city council policy session to discuss updates on efforts to address homelessness and this year’s combined sewer overflow [CSO] control project is scheduled for 5 p.m. next Tuesday at the Gateway Building.
