PeoriaStory

The end of the Riverfront Park apartment fiasco?

PEORIA, IL -- Here's another news release from Friends of Riverfront Park concerning the apartment project proposed there. 

It's also a letter to the Peoria City Council, urging an independent opinion from the Illinois Attorney General's Charitable Trust Bureau as to whether the Detweiller Playground land is eligible to be used as replacement property for the acres lost to the proposed apartment project.

Friends of Riverfront Park believes it cannot be used, as it is already land in public use.

 

FRIENDS OF RIVERFRONT PARK 

An examination of facts reveals that the City of Peoria should immediately halt a proposed land swap seeking to replace lost Riverfront parkland for a privately owned apartment complex known as River Trail Development. There are insurmountable problems in the proposal.

Taxpayer money spent to date is likely wasted because the replacement land is ineligible to meet legal requirements.

Here are the facts:

The land owned by Detweiller Playground is already impressed by law for use as public parkland. In order to remove public parkland for the apartment complex, it must be replaced with private land newly designated for park space. That’s clearly not the case here.

Apparently, city staff suspected in March 2015 that the Detweiller Playground land was already impressed by law as public park use and is therefore likely to be ineligible to meet the replacement requirement. In fact, city staff expressed concern to a representative of Detweiller Playground and said, “A seminal question when it comes to IDNR might be (and I don’t know this for sure) is whether this land is already restricted as open space.” Why didn’t staff seek a legal opinion from the Illinois Charitable Trust Bureau to determine if the swap was feasible? Instead, staff spent taxpayer money on appraisals, purchase options, environmental analysis, architect fees and staff resources.

Reviewing the history of Detweiller Playground reinforces the flaws in this proposed land swap:

In his 1947 will, Thomas Detweiller provided for the establishment of the Detweiller Playground and gave the organization all his assets. These include the parcels of Illinois riverfront land that the City of Peoria now wants to purchase. However, Mr. Detweiller states “It is (my) desire and purpose to have the land that I own along the Illinois River in the City of Peoria made available for playground and recreation purposes for the Peoria Community.” The Articles of Incorporation of the Detweiller Playground follow Mr. Detweiller’s will, designating their property and assets for public park use.

In 1972, Detweiller Playground received an IRS designation as a 509 (a)(3) Type III FISO supporting not-for-profit organization that operates for the benefit of the Peoria Park District, a public entity. This designation creates a functionally integrated relationship between Detweiller Playground and the Peoria Park District. As a supporting organization, Detweiller Playground can only take actions that support or benefit the Peoria Park District.

Only the City of Peoria can tell us why when these facts have been known and led to questions about whether this land swap was ineligible, the city moved forward spending taxpayer dollars.

We urge the Peoria City Council to direct staff to stop this process and seek an independent opinion from the Illinois Attorney General’s Charitable Trust Bureau. The public has a right to read the complete opinion of the Attorney General’s office.

Change150 2016 Endorsements

PEORIA, IL -- From a news release:

PEORIA, IL December 15, 2015 – Change150 was honored to work in conjunction with a group of 10 people representing the NAACP, the PFT teachers union, the PFT paraprofessional union, retired school administrators, former school board members, and parents for the third year to interview candidates for the District 150 Peoria Public School Board.

This year, the vetting team interviewed school board candidates running for the 2 seats that will be open July 1st, one from District 2 and one from District 3.The election for the two seats is on March 15th.

For the upcoming school board election, the Change 150 Vetting Team unanimously recommended the endorsement of Dr. Bob Davidson Aviles for District 2 and Mr. Dan Walther for District 3.

Change150 is convinced that Mr. Davidson Aviles and Mr. Walther provide the best opportunity for the continued change and improvement in District 150 and will be superior representatives of the community as Board Members.

For more information on Change150, our initiatives and our mission, please go to www.CHANGE150.org or find us on Facebook at facebook.com/Change150.
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Friends of Riverfront Park speak

PEORIA, IL -- If the city of Peoria and its hapless residents thought the fight to save Riverfront Park from luxury apartments was over, they're wrong.

Friends of Riverfront Park held a news conference on Dec. 14, where they advanced several theories about saving the park from the apartments, and issued a detailed statement showing how it could be done.

Here's the statement.  It's long -- written by a committee to guarantee accuracy -- but worth reading.

(Full disclosure  -- I'm part of the ad hoc group Friends of Riverfront Park.)

  -- Elaine Hopkins

Saving Riverfront Park: Evaluating the Replacement Land

The Peoria City Council voted to remove more than six acres of public recreational open space in Riverfront Park by selling land to a private developer. The developer’s plan is to build luxury four-story apartment buildings, which includes a road at taxpayer expense cutting through the park to the private apartments. This Council action involves a complicated and mandatory land conversion and replacement approval process.

In the 1980’s, the City sought and received federal Land and Water Conservation (LWCF) funds to acquire and develop a park. Documents show that the City signed federal grant contracts to “develop a passive park and support facilities…for public outdoor recreation,” creating Riverfront Park. By accepting these federal funds, the city agreed to keep this land as public recreational open space.

The City’s choice of replacement land must be approved by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and the National Park Service (NPS), whose regulations must be followed to protect taxpayer’s interest and investment in the land.

City staff has already conducted public meetings to discuss possible uses of the proposed replacement parcels. We have identified several important steps that the City is required to follow. We have concerns about the implementation of these steps.

• The City’s Practical Alternatives to the Proposed Conversion document is woefully inadequate. The City’s analysis fails to provide documentation that a comprehensive review of alternative residential development sites were evaluated and rejected on a sound basis.   Further, the City so narrowly defines the criteria for this development that only the Riverfront Park land would qualify.

• Appraisals of the proposed converted and replacement properties are required. Although the appraisals are still under review, the City has already negotiated a selling price for the proposed Riverfront Park conversion property based on a 2011 appraisal. In addition, the City has advised us that Spring Street will be vacated and the land divided between the Simantel and Detweiller Playground (DP) proposed replacement properties for purposes of appraisal. This proposed action is against the public’s interest as it inflates the fair market values of all the proposed replacement properties. This future unvetted City Council action will mask the negotiated price the City has agreed to pay to purchase these properties.

• The floodplain impact should be completely evaluated.   The frequent flooding of the proposed replacement properties decreases both the fair market value and recreational usefulness of each of these properties.

• A thorough environmental analysis of the proposed alteration of Riverfront Park and the proposed replacement sites must be completed. The previous environmental analysis of Riverfront Park and the impact of the proposed River Trail Development on our public park lacks additional information required by federal regulations. After the environmental assessment documents are available for public review having been properly noticed, a mandatory written public comment period of at least 30 days is required. Due to the complexity and volume of documents to be released, we request that the City realize the importance and value of public comment and increase this comment period to 60 days.

• The application requires an evaluation of historical, archeological and cultural resources, at these sites.   It is important to remember that it has been documented that the oldest French settlement in Peoria, which dates from the 17th Century, is located no more than 1500 feet from the middle of the proposed replacement properties.

• The Detweiller Playground land appears to be ineligible to be used as replacement property. The Thomas Detweiller will of 1947 and the Articles of Incorporation of the Detweiller Playground designate all of their property to be for public use. In addition, one of these parcels has a public access multi-use trail.

In addition, the Detweiller Playground since 1972, has been designated by the IRS as a 509 (a) (3) –Type III FISO, a supporting not for profit organization for the benefit of the Peoria Park District. This designation creates a functionally integrated relationship with the Peoria Park District.

The City must ensure that any proposed land replacement property is not already recognized for public use.

• IDNR requires and the City of Peoria has promised to hold a public hearing about this project. We request that this public hearing be properly noticed and be held no sooner than 60 days after all required LWCF land conversion and replacement documents have been released to the public and placed in a prominent place on the City’s web site.

Practical Alternatives to the Proposed Conversion Document

The City must make the case to the IDNR and NPS, by providing a written analysis and documentation that alternative sites for the proposed conversion, including private property, are inadequate.

The City has only identified the Simantel property for analysis and rejection. The City does not provide clear identification nor rejection on a sound basis for any other alternative development sites.

The City has artificially created Riverfront apartment demand without any supporting documentation. They also redefined “Downtown Peoria” to extend to Riverfront Park when their Tracy Cross study defined “Downtown Peoria” as being from I-74 and south to State Street, including the Warehouse District. The Tracy Cross study does not include statistics or analysis nor need for residential development of Riverfront Park which is north of I-74.

The City in this document has artificially narrowed the definition of the type of property that is acceptable for new residential development so that the only land that can meet their narrow definition is land in Riverfront Park. As far back as 2008, the City has marketed Riverfront Park for residential development. This is an inappropriate targeting of Riverfront Park as the sole site for this project. This course of action runs counter to the intent of the Land and Water Conservation funds which were used to purchase and develop this land. Over the course of more than 30 years, Peorians have come to expect that Riverfront Park would remain public recreational open space.

Appraisals

Federal regulations require that a critical first step is for the City, State and NPS to agree on the size of the Section 6(f) park land impacted by any proposed conversion to non- recreation, non-public use. Up to this day, the City has only approved a preliminary plat of proposed River Trail Development. Thus, we do not know the exact acreage to be cut out of the park for private for- profit use.  

The City has indicated that it will only be conducting a survey of one of the parcels from the Detweiller Playground. How can accurate appraisals be conducted if the City does not know the exact boundaries for all of the proposed conversion and replacement properties?

The City has indicated that it will be adding ½ of Spring Street to both the Simantel and Detweiller Playground properties.   This proposed action is against the public’s interest as it inflates the fair market values of all the proposed replacement properties. This future and yet to be decided city council action masks the negotiated price the City has agreed to pay to purchase these properties.

The City has already negotiated purchase prices for the proposed replacement parcels without any appraisals and relied on a 2011 appraisal for the proposed portion of Riverfront Park to be sold.  

Current surveys are essential for the mandated appraisals to be accurate.   These surveys will show how much land will be lost by the building of the 1/3 mile long road, the guest parking, the apartment buildings, orphan properties, etc. Orphan properties are created when roadways dissect or deleterious environmental conditions are created in the Park in any manner. Some of the existing Riverfront Park will be cut off from Park use and these orphan properties must be included in the total acreage of replacement land.

Floodplain

It is well documented that the replacement land has regularly experienced flooding on over 40% of its surface area in the past 10 years, while the existing proposed Riverfront Park conversion land has not flooded in at least 35 years. The public cannot realistically use this flooded area for up to six to eight weeks during that time.

If floodwalls or placement of fill are part of the plan for the proposed replacement parcels, the US Army Corps of Engineers must pre-approve both their design and any changes in the Peoria Lake floodplain. These changes would be very expensive and difficult to achieve.

Eliminating any floodplain land is a poor way to reduce flooding, and seems to contradict the City’s application to the US EPA with its promise to create an ecologically friendly storm water management plan.

Environmental Analysis

An environmental analysis for each of the proposed converted and replacement sites must be conducted, and the City has indicated that this process is under way. The impact of the converted portion of the Park on the remaining park must be considered. This includes items such as noise, light, creating orphan park property, etc.

The impact of the extension of Water Street, added traffic and pedestrian safety issues for the Riverplex users must be included. The Riverplex was the first conversion of Riverfront Park and now the proposed private River Trail Development is not only eating away the Park, it will have an adverse impact on this first conversion, the Riverplex. The Peoria Park District recognized this negative impact and voted against the River Trail Development if it included the Water Street extension.

Federal regulations also require that the environmental analysis must address known brownfield conditions including potential buried hazardous waste, potential damage to or excess drainage into the Illinois River. Remediation will be necessary at an additional cost, which has not yet been calculated. A funding source also has not been identified, important during Peoria’s challenging economic outlook. We are concerned that money already publically earmarked for brownfield remediation in the Warehouse District will be diverted to the proposed replacement land.

Due to the complexity and volume of documents to be released, we request that the City realize the importance and value of public comment and increase this required comment period to 60 days.

Archeological Assessment

Our research indicates that there is no documentation that an archeological assessment of all proposed conversion and replacement parcels has ever been conducted. This is part of the NPS and IDNR application process.

In November 2001, IDOT sponsored an archaeological study on nearby Adams Street that confirmed a portion of the location of the oldest French settlement and fort in Peoria, dating from the 17th century. It is located no more than 1,500 feet from the middle of the proposed conversion properties.

Sadly, no archeological evaluation of this portion of the entire Riverfront Park appears to have been completed. This omission should be corrected and included as part of the required application process.

Replacement Land Can Not Already be Designated for Public Use

It appears that the Detweiller Playground’s property is ineligible to be used as replacement property.

The Detweiller Playground (DP) Board of Directors which has agreed to sell three of the four replacement parcels to the City, is a not for profit organization. The DP was established after the death of Thomas H Detweiller in 1947 and received all of his assets. Mr. Detweiller’s will is very specific in defining his wishes for the use of his assets, including his land. In his will, Mr. Detweiller states:

“…at the present time there is very little access to the river front for the community and very little ground or land along the river available for recreation and playground purposes. It is my desire and purpose to have the land that I own along the Illinois River in the City of Peoria made available for playground and recreation purposes for the Peoria Community…”

The Articles of Incorporation of the DP designates that all of their property be for public use and recreation per Mr. Detweiller’s will.

In addition, the DP since 1972, has been designated by IRS as a 509 (a) (3) –Type III FISO, supporting not-for-profit organization for the benefit of the Peoria Park District, a public entity. This designation creates a functionally integrated relationship between the DP and the Peoria Park District.   In addition, the IRS regulations state that the Peoria Park District as a supported organization must have a significant voice in the investment policies of the supporting organization, the timing of grants and generally the use of the income or assets of the supporting organization. Operationally, the DP as the supporting organization must engage solely in activities that support or benefit its supported organization, the Peoria Park District. Thus, it is likely that since 1972, the DP proposed replacement parcels have been designated for public recreational open space by virtue of the DP corporation’s supporting organization relationship with the Peoria Park District.

A bike trail used by the public apparently is on a parcel of the DP property proposed as replacement land.

The City must ensure that all proposed replacement property land is not already recognized as public open space, the federal regulations say.

Public Hearing

IDNR requires and the City of Peoria has promised to hold a public hearing about this project. We request that this public hearing be properly noticed and be held no sooner than 60 days after all required land conversion and replacement documents have been released to the public and placed in a prominent place on the City’s web site.

Summary

Friends of Riverfront Park will continue to research other applicable state and federal regulations that apply to the LWCF conversion process.

We hope that the City will approve our request for both a 60 day public written comment period of the environmental analysis as well as holding a public hearing no sooner than 60 days after all required land conversion and replacement documents have been released to the public and placed in a prominent place on the City’s web site.

Friends of Riverfront Park maintains that the highest and best use for Riverfront Park is public recreational open space instead of being transformed into a dead-end public roadway that leads to private apartment buildings for a privileged few.

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 Here's the Journal Star's story on the news conference.

Here's WEEK-TV's coverage.

 

 

District 150 is getting organized, but...

PEORIA, IL -- Peoria School District 150 critic Terry Knapp said what school officials fear to say: reopen Woodruff High School and close Quest, the charter school.

Knapp spoke during the public comments at the board meeting on Dec. 14.

It followed a presentation on revising school boundaries, which included busing kids from the neighborhood of Averyville five miles across town to Manual High School/Academy.

In a sane city these kids would be going to Woodruff, which the board voted 4 to 3 to close under Supt. Ken Hinton's regime. They were sent to Peoria High School which then needed millions in renovations to accommodate them. Their high school careers were ruined.  

Knapp has called for a study to see what happened to them. How many dropped out or graduated, for example. It has not occurred.

Otherwise the plans discussed made some sense, and Knapp praised the effort.  If it had been done earlier Woodruff likely would not have been closed, he has said.  Actually it's still open as a career center, but not being fully used.

Meanwhile, closing Quest is not likely to happen. The board also heard that Peoria's own Koch brother, former Caterpillar, Inc. CEO Glen Barton, has contributed generously to the district's foundation.  The amount was not mentioned, but since Barton conceived and supports Quest, the board is not likely to close it.

Here is the recording of the public comments.

Dist150 Dec 14

Critic Sharon Crews questioned the constant testing, and said students have no incentive to succeed on the tests.  The district did poorly on the state tests the kids took last spring, while under the previous superintendent's rule. So much for the millions spent on consultants, programs, etc.

Her remarks are posted below. 

  -- Elaine Hopkins

Comments from Sharon Crews:  Last week’s PJStar quoted Pekin’s superintendent as saying that she doesn’t believe in conspiracy theories but has to wonder if schools aren’t being set up to fail. I have long believed that NCLB, or PARCC, testing was designed to discredit public schools and to present charter schools and the voucher system as replacements for failing schools.   My suspicions were confirmed when Jeb Bush, in a recent campaign speech, bragged about his role in encouraging charter schools and the voucher system.  

The ulterior motives of NCLB were obvious. Teachers and schools were judged by the scores of students who had nothing to lose if they failed the tests. Without consequences for poor test scores, students had no incentive to try harder. Only the most competitive students cared enough to try. More significantly, the wrong comparisons were made.

For instance, the test scores of the previous year’s juniors were compared with those of the current year’s juniors. The same group of students should have been tested before and after their junior year to see if individual students had learned. That data would, also, have revealed the real accomplishments of teachers and, thus, the schools. NCLB was not interested in fairness—just data to indict public schools. Furthermore, there was no measuring stick for 9^th, 10^th, and 12^th grade teachers or for teachers of subjects other than English and math.

I believe we gave NCLB too much credence and power by running scared from all the threats to take over our schools—an empty threat that I believe was never carried out. Also, testing used up much of our education money through the cost of buying and administering the tests. Many new cure-all companies sprang up to line their coffers with promises to help schools raise test scores—those promises certainly didn’t yield any fruit in District 150,

I believe that if the district had not spent so much educational time on pretesting and preparing for the tests, students would not have done any worse on the tests—in fact, they might have done better because teaching to the test took away time from more interesting course content.

The competency test District 150 created years ago was far more effective. It was not that difficult but did require effort on the part of students who had not mastered the basics. Students could not graduate without it; therefore, they took it seriously.

The federal government seems to be backing off its role in rating schools and teachers to give states and local boards more power in choosing testing programs. Hopefully, there will be important changes that will limit time and money spent on testing. - 30 -

News conference on Riverfront Park

PEORIA, IL -- From a news release:

Friends of Riverfront Park will hold a news conference at 3 p.m. on Monday, December 14, 2015, at the Peoria Public Library’s downtown branch, 107 NE Monroe, Peoria, IL in the Lower Level 2 Conference Room.

The proposed River Trail Apartment project in Riverfront Park and the proposed replacement sites for the lost parkland will be discussed in light of state and federal requirements before the apartments can be built in the park. - 30 - 

 

 

Downstate Story published

PEORIA, IL --From a news release:

DOWNSTATE STORY VOL. 24 NOW AVAILABLE FREE ON THE WEB

Ten new short stories by Illinois, Midwestern and other writers are featured in the 2015 edition of Downstate Story, Peoria's only literary magazine for fiction. Downstate Story is now published only on the Web at www.downstatestory.com

The writers in this issue are Pepper Bauer of Mapleton, IL; Susan Duke of East Peoria, IL; Paul Cioe of Rock Island, IL; Marie Anderson of LaGrange, IL; Margaret Lisle of Beverly Shores, IN; Rebecca Lane of Anderson, IN; Margaret Brinton of San Diego, CA; Thomas Lane of Forest Hills, NY; Harris Leonard of North Bethesda, MD; and Steve Slavin of Brooklyn, NY.

These outstanding writers include several with long lists of publications in other literary magazines, and some have authored books.

Published by Downstate Story, Inc., an Illinois not-for-profit corporation, the annual publication aims to present original fiction by Illinois writers and writers with ties to Illinois and the Midwest as a quality alternative to today's mass-market publishing.

For this Web edition, readers are asked for donations to help defray publishing costs. All writers are paid for their work.

Downstate Story’s Facebook page can be accessed at www.Facebook.com/downstatestory

 

 

Splendid holiday events

PEORIA, IL -- On the 19th day before Christmas  my husband said to me,                'Do what you will, I will watch football on TV.' (Sing it to the tune of 'On the First  Day of Christmas....')

And so I enjoyed the Splendor of Christmas Past 2015, presented by the Peoria Historical Society, a tour of six historic homes in Peoria, all wonderfully decorated for the holidays.

It was fabulous. Here's a partial list of the displays: gorgeously decorated Christmas trees with themes; historic costumes, some worn by hosts and hostesses; dinner tables elaborately set; Union soldiers, musicians, historic photos and documents; every room in every house decorated with trees, wreaths and other Christmas themes; a display of whiskey bottles from spirits once manufactured in Peoria; and so much more. 

If I had to pick a favorite it would be the Pettengill-Morron House Museum, 1212 W. Moss Ave.  But all were terrific, each in their own way.

Be sure to see this tour next year.

After seeing all the homes, I then went to the GAR Hall to hear the actor Doug Day do a reading from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. That's become an annual event, at the historic GAR Hall, 416 Hamilton Blvd. A Christmas tea was included, drinks and snacks actually, all very tasty.

It was a benefit for the Central Illinois Landmarks Foundation.

Peoria's historic heritage is so precious, and should be protected and cherished.

How can this day be topped?  Well, next Sunday, Dec. 13, at 2:30 pm the Sing-It-Yourself-Messiah takes place, this year at Trinity Lutheran Church, a lovely historic church at 135 NE Randolph. This is always a fine classical music event, with professional soloists and an orchestra.

I can even sing the Messiah, as I learned it in high school -- a public high school in Dallas, Texas.  (That was before religion was banished from the public schools --something I support except for music.)

After next Sunday what's left?  Stay tuned.

 -- Elaine Hopkins

Human trafficking is the new term for slavery

MACOMB, IL -- Slavery is not just a concept from the past. Slavery --forced unpaid labor of a vulnerable group -- is alive and well under another term -- human trafficking.

A discussion at Western Illinois University on Dec. 2 to commemorate the anniversary of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution looked at the past and the present.  The picture is not pretty.

There are no chains on today's human victims, but psychological chains have replaced them, said Cathy O'Keefe, who operates the group Braking Traffik in the Quad Cities of IL and Iowa.

The victims in the U.S. are mainly runaway teens, who are spotted, helped, groomed, then forced into the commercial sex trade, she said.  Her group works to educate teens and help the victims.

That pattern is like the one used by Africans kidnapped and brought to the new world to be slaves.  First they were groomed, on a Caribbean Island, before reaching the plantations of the New World, said Erik Brooks, who chairs the African-American Studies Department at WIU.

The 13th amendment, passed on Dec. 6, 1865, ended slavery, but it reappeared in other forms, said Tim Roberts, a WIU history professor. The amendment allowed unpaid work as punishment for prison inmates, so blacks were rounded up, convicted, and sent to prison which could then contract them out to work. 

"You could make a profit by criminalizing blacks," Brooks said."Prisons formed alliances with businesses for convict leasing." 

Echoes of that economic profit system remain in the states with privately run prisons, he said. Black lives have been devalued since the era of slavery, resulting in police brutality against blacks, he said.

Today, agricultural, manufacturing and sex workers may be enslaved, Roberts said.

The commercial sex trade also has economic motives, O'Keefe said. Modern day slavery is a $150 billion a year enterprise, enslaving 21 million people throughout he world. "It's the fastest growing criminal activity, and more profitable than drug trafficking," she said.

In the U.S., 7,000 foreign nationals are trafficked, and 100,000 U.S. children.  The average age is 11 to 14, she said.

Pimps, gangs, even parents pimp the kids for money, she said. They control them with "psychological chains," that social workers call 'trauma bonds,' she said.  That's what makes some rescued victims go back to their traffickers. "All people want love.  They get it from the trafficker."

"The commercial sex industry runs on slave labor," she said. "It's global. It's socially acceptable," so youth need to be educated about it. A majority of prostitutes have been trafficked, she said.

Pop culture -- movies, song lyrics, video games -- glorify the commercial sex industry, she said. It includes violence against women and girls.

In Illinois, any teen under age 18 cannot be arrested for sex, and is considered a victim of trafficking, she said.  Advocates are working on a similar law for Iowa.

The program included a short film featuring teen victims who told their stories.  They ran away from home and got involved with traffickers, but ultimately were rescued.

Education of youth and work to stop the demand for prostitution are ways to diminish this form of slavery, she said.

 -- Elaine Hopkins