Bloomington and Normal government representatives recap recent initiatives in their councils

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Over the last few weeks, both Bloomington and Normal city councils have updated and implemented new policies for the residents of the community.  

Bloomington  

 The Bloomington City Council approved an emergency grant to open the Salvation Army’s new indoor facility on Sept. 9.  The new facility will help relocate residents who are currently living in the East View church parking lot.  

Council member Cody Hendricks is one of the officials working to progress the opening.

“Given the tense situation we are seeing, the city decided a short-term solution would be to open up the Salvation Army,” Hendricks said. “We are going to institute other safety practices so we can get those individuals out of the parking lot and into a building, especially with winter coming.”  

The temporary solution is slated to last until early March.

Additionally, the council addressed the steps towards the housing crisis. One plan Hendricks spoke on was the idea of developing pre-approved housing designs. 

“If a developer wants to come in, they do not have to go through a really long process of getting the designs approved,” Hendricks said. “We just need the developers to come in and start building.” 

The council is still in the preliminary stages of this plan. However, if approved, the plan will establish more development of housing throughout the community and provide housing to those in need.  

“Our hope is to see an expansion of developers,” Hendricks said. “We really need to start adding to our housing stock because if we do that, we are hoping to be shifts of availability for others.” 

The Bloomington city council will hold its final meeting of the month on Sept. 23.  

Normal  

 In a narrow 4-3 vote, the Normal town council approved a 1% local grocery tax at its meeting on Sept 3.  

The tax will go into effect on January 1 of next year. Council member Andy Byars was one of the three who opposed the vote.  

“We are in about a strong financial position as the town of Normal has been in,” Byars said. “Given how much we’ve increased over the last few years, I felt that it was totally feasible for us to cut back on this revenue.”  

With the new sales tax in Normal, store prices will be different from those located in Bloomington.  

“If we’re going to have Normal grocery stores with a 1% grocery tax, will that drive residents to shop in Bloomington to save a few bucks,” Byars said. “That was one main concern I had if the tax passed.”  

The Normal town council will gather again on Oct 7.