Riverside Info Tag: workshop

Riverside Info Tag: workshop http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ Discussion Forum for Riverside Illinois en Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:12:54 +0000 Catherine on "Trustee TIF Workshops" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/trustee-tif-workshops#post-4638 Mon, 09 Apr 2007 13:52:34 +0000 Catherine 4638@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ Spatny, I made a new thread about this so visitors - and we - will have the dates and times indelibly impressed in our minds! Catherine on "Trustee TIF Workshops" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/trustee-tif-workshops#post-4630 Mon, 09 Apr 2007 12:19:54 +0000 Catherine 4630@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ These workshops are open to the public, are they not? Once I did not go to the "taxing bodies" workshop, thinking it was private to them, only to find out that members of the public were there. So I imagine this would be open to the public under the Open Meetings Act. Someone will advise me if calling something a workshop gives it special status. These would, I believe, be the Board discussions regarding the TIF that I have been wondering why we have not yet heard, considering the great length of our discussions. I have written to Ms Rush inquiring of the time and location of these meetings, as I do not see them on the board calendar. Spatny, how did you find out about them? I am sure we would all want to listen to the discussions with great interest. spatny on "Trustee TIF Workshops" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/trustee-tif-workshops#post-4627 Mon, 09 Apr 2007 11:31:22 +0000 spatny 4627@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ I expect that will be Friday late, if I get them at all. MikeT on "Trustee TIF Workshops" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/trustee-tif-workshops#post-4620 Mon, 09 Apr 2007 00:00:42 +0000 MikeT 4620@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ spatny, please let us know when you get the info packets. spatny on "Trustee TIF Workshops" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/trustee-tif-workshops#post-4604 Sat, 07 Apr 2007 19:12:29 +0000 spatny 4604@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ My wife and I drove down Pine today and she asked me where you lived. I pointed out your home and she said it looked like a happy place and perfectly Riverside. Are you listening, Feathers? MikeT on "Trustee TIF Workshops" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/trustee-tif-workshops#post-4596 Sat, 07 Apr 2007 14:06:55 +0000 MikeT 4596@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ I know my name will now appear on the last poster line, but I am going to say it is worth it to say Thank you, Donald Spatny, for asking for this info and, in general, for sticking up, like a Nail, to ask those questions. It is hard and time consuming to not only to keep track of the details, but to stand up and ask hard questions of those in authority. It is always nicer and easier to be liked. spatny on "Trustee TIF Workshops" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/trustee-tif-workshops#post-4594 Sat, 07 Apr 2007 13:41:24 +0000 spatny 4594@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ The Trustees will have workshops on April 14 & 28 to discuss the TIF. I am requesting under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act a copy of their "packets" so that we, as concerned residents of the Village, will be able to know what documentation they are using to reach whatever decison they may come to. (Copy of request below, which was placed in the Village mailbox today.) April 9, 2007 Ms. Kathleen Rush Village Manager Village of Riverside Riverside, Illinois 60546 Dear Ms. Rush: This is a request for information under the State of Illinois' Freedom of Information Act. 1) Please provide a copy of all documents, summaries and other papers intended for the Village Trustees to use in their deliberations at their TIF Workshops scheduled for April 14 and 28, 2007. (Essentially a copy of their “packet— for each of these meetings.) Since this material is intended for the education of the public as to how the results of these meetings are arrived at I request that these papers be supplied at no charge. Also, please advise what the format of these meetings will be, if the public is invited and if there will be any opportunity for public participation. Thank you. Please let me know when the documents will be available and feel free to call me with any questions. Sincerely, Donald Spatny Aberdeen on "Workshop Wrap Up" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/workshop-wrap-up/page/6#post-3562 Fri, 02 Mar 2007 12:19:02 +0000 Aberdeen 3562@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ Mike S - Despite our various styles of self-expression (which we have seen run the gamut from straightforward to tongue-in-cheek to free association to visual imagery) there is much to be gained from this Forum. As Good Listener and Elisa point out, many excellent substantive points are being raised and debated. Problems with the TIF as drafted have been brought to light. I agree that we need to move forward with constructive ideas and plans. "Do nothing" is not an option, in my mind. However, neither is moving forward with an overly broad TIF enabling document. Because this economic tool has physical repercussions and Riverside may be too small to absorb the worst of them, I think we would all like to see what Mike T. once termed a "Riverside Oriented" Development plan. All commissions - including Preservation, Landscape, Historic and the Plan Commission - need to contribute in any such planning process. The community needs its chance as well. Like Elisa, I hope that the Village takes the workshops seriously and looks past differences in communication styles to analyze and synthesize the new issues that have cropped up. MikeT on "Workshop Wrap Up" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/workshop-wrap-up/page/6#post-3561 Fri, 02 Mar 2007 12:15:08 +0000 MikeT 3561@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ I guess it is unproductive dialogue if the point of view you are espousing does not appear to be strong under the light. Elisa on "Workshop Wrap Up" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/workshop-wrap-up/page/6#post-3560 Fri, 02 Mar 2007 12:05:51 +0000 Elisa 3560@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ Mike S. - I think that you are correct in saying that the ball is in the Board's court. I hope, though, that before it gets there the school board has a chance to have the meeting that they say they will hold. I also hope that you are correct in saying that the Board realizes that the Plan needs a lot of work. I am not sure that they all feel that way - in fact in December, Kevin Smith "argued that the TOD was a very detailed plan for the downtown and that waiting would only mean the TIF district could lose the ability for other development opportunities, such as the Village Center development, to pay into the district and create incentives for other development and amass a balance of funds for downtown improvements." <a href="http://www.rblandmark.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=2060&SectionID=1&SubSectionID=&S=41" rel="nofollow">http://www.rblandmark.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=2060&SectionID=1&SubSectionID=&S=41</a> In that same article, Smith charges the residents (the oppositional ones) to "come up with a vision for the central business district and find ways to implement it." I think that the workshops and discussions on this forum have worked hard to to this and in fact have been pretty successful at it. I personally have become much more knowledgable on the topic from carefully reading comments presented on both sides - including yours. Aside from the occasional emotional "outbursts", most of the information presented here and at the workshops has been valuable. I really do hope that after these workshops that the Board is willing to take another look at the Plan, answer specific questions that have been raised, accept that maybe it really does need to be retooled - even to the point of starting smaller or creating a TIF district on Harlem instead - instead of plugging away without addressing issues that have been raised here and at the workshops. I also think that many many construcive ideas have been brought forth - like Aberdeen's preservation ideas - that may not have been considered earlier. I also would wholeheartedly agree that most of the residents are willing to agree that something needs to be done about the CBD and that we need to take our financial concerns very seriously. I think there will always be something to disagree about, but I also believe that if I feel as if the Village is being honest, open, respectful and has truly tried to look at all sides of the problem and address concerns, then even if I disagree with their final vote, I will at least feel that they are doing their level best. Hopefully they will take these workshops seriously and will really try to analyze and synthesize the new issues that have cropped up.