Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

this conference recorded and a quorum is present. Uh Ray, would you like to begin by introducing us to the new intern?

Yeah, we have a actually uh uh he has been with us for for a couple months but uh because his class schedule he hasn't been able to join our meeting. uh Haraj uh Rah uh going uh at going school at IW in Northwest is a junior uh his major I'll let him explain a little bit unconventional to the planning world but we can definitely use this the the skills and the mindset and all the knowledge. So you want to say a few words? Yeah, my name is Hiroat Rahi and as you mentioned I'm a junior and I'm in double major computer science and science which is kind of far from planning but uh I had experience of working on GIS mapping and stuff. So that's how I got along with all this and then I started working from last October 28th I guess and I've been helping with um researching on different stuff analyzing on different data and also currently I'm working on some dashboards with data. Yeah, with the AI and technology we can definitely use, you know, people in the field and background and unfortunately because his schedule class schedule everything mention and recognize him, introduce it uh to him and vice versa earlier.

Thank you. Thank you for being here. Ray, is there anyone from the public who wishes to come to the commission? Okay. Well, let's see if any requests. All right. With that, we'll um move to the consent agenda. Does any member wish to remove an item from the consent agenda for separate discussion tonight? Is there a motion to enact and adopt a consent agenda? So moved. Second. Second. All in favor say I.

All oppose. Same sign. All right. The motion passes. Okay, next we'll move to the regular agenda. Uh this is the authorization for the chairperson to execute a professional consulting agreement for population projection services for the MLAN County Metropolitan Transportation Plan 2055 project. Uh a memo, draft agreement, and proposed scope of work was provided to all members of the commission in your packet. The total cost estimate is $3,675 for this agreement. Uh Ray, before we discuss our vote, is there anything you'd like to say about the proposed amendment or the scope of work? Chris?

Sure. Thank you. Uh every five years we supposed to uh uh update do a five-year update to the federal government in terms of our lowering transportation plan and they have renamed it as metropolitan transportation plan. And so we the last one was done in 2022 you you if you recall if you were here and then the next one is still 2027 uh by September of 2027. So as you can imagine um the as part of the transportation transportation plan uh population projection is a uh important and basic weather share with anybody. It's an important component of lowering transportation plan because the planning horizon looks down to uh 2055 by 30 years later. The last one when the we did the 20 22 plan it was looking to 2050 and so uh transportation is complicated and everything and so for air to roads we don't have revers we don't have a time but trucks and vehicles passenger vehicles and whatnot so population projection is an important component so uh in 2022 uh We did have a consultant. It's the same consultants that being considered uh uh for conducting the uh project uh the population projection uh studies in the surface as part of the overall uh metropolitan transportation plan effort. So the agreement in front of you uh is basically it's the same as the one that the planning commission approved in uh 2022 with minor adjustments in fees and and also the planning horizon. The legal

council they have reviewed of the county they have reviewed the uh the draft agreement has no issues and uh for us to proceed with it. know if approved by the planning commission uh today uh our chairman who will be authorized to execute the agreement and then the project will kick off soon. I just want to note uh that Dr. Greeny uh the consultant uh with this agreement uh is online uh joining us virtually uh his day job is with the the urban and regional planning department in UIC. uh but this is kind of his side uh thing you know with as a consultancy. So if any questions or uh you uh either Dr. Grey or I'll try to answer questions you

all right I'll just confirm one more time any questions for Ry and Dr. Greenley. Thank you for joining us virtually.

Absolutely. My pleasure. I guess I'm trying to understand the purpose of how would a the parameters of a um a population study for transportation differ from like the work that you did with the um land use projections or like the work that I shared with you where unit 5 did some population projections for um had a consultant do for enrollment planning. like how do those they they have different outcomes or different goals of why you're studying the population but still help me understand like what are the similarities and differences between those types of things.

Yeah. Uh as you point out I mean the long transportation plan and also the regional comp uh comprehensive plan just using those two as two examples. Transportation if you look at it actually it's one of the plan elements or components of regional community plan because the regional community plan has looking at land uses looking at transportation infrastructure community facilities uh resources uh educational facilities in utilities all a lot of different elements and transportation is just one of the elements to be looked at and when we uh look had a planning horizon like 20 years 30 years I mean they do do projection so actually the results uh for this NPP uh for the uh transportation plan uh the population uh projection actually could be used or could be considered uh when we you do continue to work on the regional because it's looking down the road right the population 20 years you know 30 years and so that's that kind relationship. So whether it applies to uh the school enrollment or even parks recreation and they go okay what is it planning for a growing population or stable or you know uh decrease so so that fit in uh but then it depending on on certain assumptions you know certain uh studies uh might have certain focuses uh than the others. So that uh that might be the difference. But then in terms of methodologies, a lot of times they're pretty similar. I don't know if Dr. Greeny, you have anything you want to add or you can turn the sound up little.

Um sure, Ray, I I I think you encapsulated it um really well. I think some of it is is really where the focal point is. So, you know, for instance, taking a look at that um the recent uh projections um for uh the school district, there's in particular a focus on the um age cohorts that are individuals who are likely having kids who would then ultimately enroll in the schools. where clearly with a regional transportation plan the focus is going to be a little bit more generally around the the sources of uh transportation demand um throughout uh throughout the region. So really some of it's just about what are which which demographic um and other characteristics are are we focused on given the the focus of how that information is going to be used to inform decision making. So that's why maybe the thing the recommend information could be different because they're slightly different parameters that you're like you're looking at kids for unit five versus

the whole population of the county or movement about the county. Yeah. Businesses, new employers and what how and kind of looking at the the whole geography of the county versus like maybe certain school area things like that. I'm just trying to understand. That's a good question. Any other questions for Ray or Dr. Greenley?

Right. Is there a motion to authorize execution of the professional consulting agreement with population projection services? So moved. Second. Second. It has been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion where we vote? We will proceed to vote. All those in favor say I. I.

Those opposed, same sign. Motion is carried. All right. So, now we move to our items for information and discussion. We have quite a few. Um so first uh we're going to have our rescheduled um presentation from the MLAN County Mayors Association. We have the mayors from Lexington and Cooksville with us tonight. Um Ray, would you like to provide a brief introduction or have them introduce themselves?

Yeah. Um of course. Um, May May Johansson uh who's the the chair uh of the Mckin County Mayor Association and we have uh Kami and 20 like 22 communities within ML County different sizes and and Mayor Johansson is really the the one growing you know the globe but then also uh we have Mayor Cook Cookville with us begging uh mayor handing out giving him the most support. I really appreciate him for coming. They uh need like quarterly but then there more information I'm sure we we can learn from. And as as for the regional planning commission uh I've mentioned before we don't just look at this uh urban area right we don't just plan for the city and the town that geography we need to look at county as a whole and so one of the purposes uh that we have invited mayor Johansson uh to give a presentation a better understanding also on the rural side I mean because he works closely with you know the other mayors in the rural communities different sizes. So, we just so glad that he uh uh squeezed time for us because it's he's very busy uh and a lot of things to take care. But I appreciate for coming and uh educate us about the rural side of Min County. I

I'm not really that busy, so I don't want to. So, thanks for having me today. And I want to introduce my Kathy Weber is here today. She is president of Cooksville and I think she's here just to make sure I showed up just to kind of back me up a little bit. Um, first of all, I'm not a speech person. I don't like to give speeches. I like to talk from the heart. And when we talk about the Mayor's Association and MLAN County and Lexington, some of you that know me know that that that's where this this comes from. So, I want to thank you guys for having me today. Uh before we talk about where we where we're at and where we're going with the mayor's association, I want to kind of fill in a little bit about the history of it. First of all, a little bit about me. I was u I've been mayor starting my third term and I had to check with Kathy today to tell how long I've been uh chairman of the mayor association. I'm six years now. And prior to that, I was 20 years as chief of police in Lexington and four years on the city council. So Lexington will get tired of me one of these days and you'll never see me again. I'll probably disappear some uh but the MLAN County Marriage Association was founded in the early 90s by our former Lexington Mayor Frank Title. Frank had this vision that if he could get the mayors in a room together and discuss the the same problems we have from town to town and and it would benefit the communities and Mlan County and I think it's it's proven that that has worked. So MLAN County is unique. We're home to Bloomington Normal and smaller communities with long-standing foundations. While our towns differ in size and budget and challenges, we're united by something much more shared and that is the common goal of serving the citizens. Um why our association matters and these are some questions that I asked myself and we exist because none of us should be doing this alone. None of these communities should be trying to handle the problems of of infrastructure, budgets and stuff alone. and by getting together in the room and discussing these problems and we've come up with a lot of a lot of solutions that help the other

communities that we just don't think of. And I think when those those struggles hit us, it's it's nothing for me to pick up the phone and call Kathy, call the Larry Dodge over in Kfax, the mayor over there, and say, "Hey, how would you handle this?" or "How do you how do you recommend we handle this?" And that has helped us quite a bit. Um, every community in Mlan County, no matter how big or small, contributes to the success of of Bloomington Normal and MLAN County. And that's one thing I think Kathy and I were talking before I got here and and I I not patting myself on the back or but I think when I took over with the MLAN County Mayor Association, we had this us against them, rural communities against Bloomington Normal. We have turned that I I I I think we have turned that around and it's more of a team effort now. And as I said, what's good for Lexington benefits McQueen County. I mean, majority of my people in Lexington grocery shop in Bloomington Normal. We have a grocery store, but they they support that, but they also do their they buy their cars. We have one car dealership, but most of them buy their cars in Bloomington Normal. And same way with the the out the out communities. Um our I I guess my goal as chairman is it's it's a simp simple thing to bring everybody together and find solutions for the problem and we all face the same problems. Uh I I remember when I was a cop people would say when I was chief police people would say um you know Lexon doesn't have the crime that Normal has and they're absolutely right. We have it but it's a smaller scale. We and that's just the way it is as mayor and and as leaders of these communities. We have the same problems the big cities have only a smaller scale. The disadvantage we have I think is the fact that we don't have a team of grant writers on board. We don't have a team of attorneys on board. So when the easy solution for some of the politicians and I'm not a politician so I'll I'll throw

that out is well there there's grants out there. Well that's right. So there are grants but who do we get to write them? And when the grants stacks are that, you know, that much paperwork involved, it it wears you out. So, we have to figure out how we're going to do that. We talked about, you know, the merit association having one grant writer for everybody, but chances are we're in competition for that particular grant. So, that's not going to work. Um, so Raymond asked me to kind of address some of the concerns that that I have as as mayor of Lex and and for the rest of the mayors. And uh my wife likes to call me the things says the things that keep me up at night because I it's funny when I was a police officer but I was working a case I'd wake up in the middle of night and think of something I'm working and turn the light on write a note and she'd get so mad at me and I I do that now. So, I guess, you know, there's times you said, "Why don't you just go sleep in the other room, you know, and um the thing that that I struggle with in Lexington and and we've got this housing crisis in in in all over the country, but we're noticing it in MLAN County, the Central Illinois, and that is the the cost of new construction. And I I'm we've got a new subdivision going, and it's it's a slow start. We've had some hiccups with hammer and cornbell. I'm not going to get into that, but um it the average cost is $200 to $250 a square foot to put a to build a new house. The average threebedroom, three three bath house is about 2,000 square ft. So that's around $450,000 for a home. So you add a lot on there. Um, you add property taxes, you add the uh your utilities and and you're talking up to $3,625 a month mortgage. How does a family that according to my figures, I might be

wrong, the average household income is $122,000 a year, but like how do we face that? and and infrastructure. We're putting it we we've got a big expansion announcement I'm going to be announcing probably in the next couple of weeks um for a company that's going out next to Brew Beth. We have to put the road in there. Uh the prices for the road is Let me make sure my notes are right. $8668 a foot to put a road in. And how how do you do that? And and we've got I've got a a lot up on uh Main Street that I've been trying to get a person and he's very interested in putting a a building with two retail stores below and apartment upstairs. But at $250 a square foot to build that, what's he going to have to charge for rent to get get his money back? Now, I bring that up not that I'm complaining, but that's why you guys are here and that's why I'm glad we're invited because this is a problem we all need to figure out a solution to. And if I had a solution, I probably wouldn't be standing here. I'd be in the governor's office or higher up. No, I wouldn't do that.

But um so those are things that that I I I concern myself about and and I I do lose sleep at night over some of this, you know, because we we put a gamble in on this subdivision. The developers got a lot of money tied into that and we need to build houses out there and and they need to be affordable housing. And you got to be careful in MLAN County when you say affordable housing because people it scares people and they walk away from it because they don't know what that is and I don't know what it is. You know, when we first started talking about a subdivision, we were hoping to keep the cost down to the 325 to 375 range. That was before CO. That's not possible now. I mean, and it it's too bad it's not. And I don't know I don't know how to do that. I don't know what the answer is. So, um I don't want to keep a whole lot of your time. Again, I'm not complaining. I'm just saying that, you know, we've worked together and I really want to thank Raymond for coming to our meetings and keeping us involved because it is a team effort and I think uh always working together we can we may not have an easy solution but we can come up with some answers to this. So that's all I've got. Anybody got any questions for me?

I'd like to pick up on something you said in your opening remarks about sort of like the us against them. uh when you're speaking about the rural communities in MLAN County, do you have any advice for the commissioners and the staff members that uh would like to engage more with the rural communities in MLAN County? For instance, when we do surveys and things like how do we get better response? Can I be frank?

Yes, please. have somebody from the the marriage association said on the committee have I was involved there and and and I I think that voice from somebody and I I I don't want to be the guy but that that voice needs to to come from the what we what we know I know Lexon better than anybody in this room and I'm not bragging but I've lived there all my life and Kathy knows Cooksville better than anybody in this room and those are the kind of feedback you need to hear not just over an email and me Raymond I'm not you know do what I'm saying not over an email saying hey we're doing this you want to chime in on it why not have us there at the table when we start from day one through the whole process does that make sense

yes it does besides housing is there any other um issues that you've got

the cost is just doing business I mean I I don't want to be the mayor to raise property taxes and my goal has always been to bring more retail businesses in keep property taxes down. But let's face it, the the cost of buying equipment, the cost of manpower, you know, and you and I have had this discussion. I don't I think you're going to see these smaller communities start hiring one water superintendent, one sewer superintendent to run all the towns. We can't afford the salaries that it takes to to maintain that. and and as without raising taxes and and as we move forward, equipment's going up. We have aging equipment. We've got I got an aging staff uh with with the city. We go to replace those and the salaries that these young people demand. You know, we we got to figure out how we're going to do it. So, yeah, that that is probably a concern as well. I I'm I'm confident the housing thing will work out. I'm confident we'll build new houses there. Uh, I'd rather have them sooner than later, you know, and I'm I'm confident this u um company that's going to build this new building, I'm 99% sure it's going to happen. So, we just, you know, but um long term, yeah, those things, you know, how do we how do we keep things going?

Okay. All right. I appreciate your time again, Raymond. Thanks for including us and thanks for coming to our meeting. Yeah. Thank you so much for coming. Mayor Weber, anything else to add? No, I think you summed it up very very well. Um, we love it when Freeman comes and keeps us informed on what you're doing and and I think the mutual exchange of information is was key. And it by having someone sit on your board, that also puts the responsibility back on us to send someone to sit on your board and to be a participant, not just say we want a voice and then nobody shows up. So that's another reason why I came with Spencer is because we are interested. So um

and and when I when I said that you know us against them I think that stemmed back stems back in the day um I don't know five five years ago I don't know I don't know if Raymond you were here I don't know if anybody thought about reaching out to small communities you know and and I I think that has come a long long way and and I I think by having somebody sit at these meetings they can go back and report to the mayors rather be you over a cup of coffee or beer or something and say, "Hey, this is what what we're doing. Uh this is how we need to progress it." It helps us a little bit and doesn't catch us off guard when an email comes say, "Hey, I need this information." You know, um so yeah,

with that, we'll move on to our other discussion items. There may be some things of interest there for both of you. Uh so Ray, would you like to give us an update on the housing coordinator position?

Sure. Yeah. Um we have uh completed and submitted our first quarterly report uh to DCO department of the state department of commerce and economic opportunity and then they have approved our first quarterly report but that's good and so also we are finalizing the RFP request for proposal and we're hoping to get that out maybe next week or something so that we can you know have applicants to to file the application do the uh um uh recruitment and and the uh interviews and things like that. So yeah, so starting cutting getting working more closely with BCO since we now have the uh uh grand agreement in place. So we uh

next we have the regional housing initiatives update.

Good afternoon everyone. Uh right. So for RHI updates, first we chair the January housing staff uh meeting a few weeks ago and then later this month we'll we'll have the February housing staff meeting. Then we've also submitted the third quarter report, the CDBG third quarter report to the town and we'll be working on the third quarter report uh for the city within the next few days. Um, and also the new 2024 ACS 5-year estimate data now out. And so among other projects that we'll need the ACS data for, we can now work on the area median income white paper as well as updating the ML County housing dashboard. Um, speaking of median income, I heard you talk about it median income. And so for 2025, the area median income for the Bloomington um MSA is $118,800. And then some highlights from the new ACS data. The 2024 uh data estimates that MLAN County has a population of 171,556, which is 0.4% higher than 2023 numbers. Uh and also for median gross rent uh 2024 estimates that coin counting has an median gross rent of $1,9 which is 1.7% higher than 20 2023 numbers uh $992. Uh moving on at the end of this month we'll be attending the Illinois Affordable Housing Forum hosted by the Illinois Housing Council in Chicago. Then other housing updates. We attended the housing coalition and unhouse task force meetings and according to home sweet home ministries. People have started moving into the bridge on January 19th, Monday. And all 56 beds are accounted for and all units are occupied except for one with heating issues, but that was last week. So I'm

not sure if they already fixed that uh by this time. And because of the bridge, two encampments within Bloomington normal are virtually empty, which is good. Uh and also last week, January 29th, uh the C Central Illinois continuum of care or CICO held the 2026 pit uh point in time count. Around 50 volunteers participated and I haven't heard any bad news about it, so I'm assuming it went well. Um those are the updates that I have. Do we have any questions? Questions for Luke.

Thank you so much. All right, next is Jennifer with the HSTP updates. more sens. So moving on to our weekly monthly aggregation sorry of information about our HSTP um coordination program. Uh we are still in a situation that we were about beginning of last month where we do not currently have a rural public transit service provider for county um following the dissolution of Chris rural mass transit on uh January 2nd. We hope to hear more from IDA sometime soon uh because we don't have a solution there yet. Um we are in the process of organizing in-person meetings with county board officials and other elected officials from the five counties of our region forward can Livingston and of course MLAN uh before the next quarterly meeting which is scheduled for March 16th. So we have some traveling to do. Um we are as the coordinating agency for region 6 HSTP and pursuant to our agreement with ID do on that topic we are currently doing a series of things that contribute to um implementing the existing plan and making some changes. So up updating and implementing the current we just region six plan um to revise outdated portions of the CL plan including but not limited to uh status of the service providers CF or county um updating demographic data as several of you have mentioned uh we have the new census AC acu up through 24 so we are hoping to be able to incorporate a lot of that new information into the description of demographic features uh talked about at the plan. Um adding information about new or proposed service providers, assuming we have such information

available. Um and to make sure that we're including current status of protecting and potential services in all five counties. Um we are revising the region six bylaws which have been in place too long frankly since we've had an opportunity to do this and of course are also reflected in the current plan. So part of that update is to take to our membership in the March meeting um revised bylaws pursuant to ID do standards and our new agreement and get them approved so that we're up to speed on that. Um and then scheduling and conducting ongoing uh public outreach activities of various kinds uh and community contacts and surveys so that we can get the broadest awareness uh reachable uh to understand the program for the region 6 coordination and the rural public transit and uh 5310 which is to say a section of the US code uh grant recipients who serving primarily their own agency clients but can also be available and for other uses. So that's kind of where we are with those updates. And of course in that process, we're preparing for the quarterly meeting regional committee on March 16th of this year. If there are any questions, I'd be happy. Yes, Carl.

I have a little I apologize for having fresh memory. How does county how does that get replaced? Is that designated by the state or is there a bid or do we hope someone's going to get entrepreneurial or sorry I don't remember. You know, it it is it's a complicated process. Ultimately, whoever is f is willing to serve in county with the kind of structures that ID do puts in place um would have to be approved by ID do there be an agreement between ID do the provider as well as between ID do the provider and county. So ultimately all of this is based in county obligations to provide public transport transportation and I we don't know what's happening currently. As I said it came as something of a shock when Chris shut down on January second with like a day's notice. They actually held a special meeting of their board that morning and then it was announced and they were out at that point. So, I'm and I've I've talked to IOT staff about this and you know asking that we be kept informed so we have some idea what the prospects are. Um we get calls, we get questions. I would love to be able to answer them but at this point we don't know who's going to turn up. So, uh one possibility there are a couple of possibilities that involve extending service from one of the other counties and I haven't heard Pete about how or if that's still in the office but we will hope to hear more. Um, I, you know, I'm regularly in meetings on this topic with I do staff. I work this morning and they do it every other month and I keep waiting to get a phone call or hear a comment in a meeting that says, "Oh, by the way, we figured this out. Hasn't happened yet."

Was that provider terminated or did it terminate its operation? I that's an interesting question because it's online because information I've been given says that there had been some IDOT concern about their status and their performance starting as much as a year and a half ago. ID or the county

uh IDOT was essentially running an investigation or monitoring performance or something along those lines. And apparently there was we had word in the December um region six committee meeting that there were some concerns about service in New York and that came from a county board member and then two literally two weeks later there was this announcement saying we're out we're done. we're dissolving, which is about as definitive as it gets. And the understanding from the press releases and so on that that was a a judgment. Well, the the board of Chris decided that in the face of certain requirements coming from ID do that they could simply no longer continue operations is an economic question. You know, they couldn't fund. So that was that took place very quickly with again no warning to the writers which is unfortunate and it since then I've heard several people talk about potential solutions to that problem and frankly I don't know what their status with I is at this point so we hope to learn more.

Okay. And so far with the transition in MLAN county that seems to be moving along. Uh yes it's moving along. Um, I think it got off to a somewhat slower start than connect and connect go were expecting because this is a complicated type of service and it's a bit of a leap for you know staff and others at the board who have been doing urban transit to then leave into this slightly very different category of service but they're they're hanging in there. Okay, anybody?

Thanks so much. the Veterans Parkway corridor plan update.

Uh thank you. Um there there two reports that we have put on our website for this project. Veterans Parkway corridor plan uh some of you on the project steering committee. We appreciate your service. And the two reports are PM alternative analysis report basically looking at how the roadways should be adjusted change and different alternative different options out there uh pavements in the changes and uh intersections that kind of things and so there's a report on that if you don't have a lot of time there's an executive summary also available. Uh the other report is the uh phase three engagement report. Uh if you recall back uh in last fall uh there was some engagement activities and um and uh so there was a report that was put together it's on our website so please feel free to take a look at that so we are at the kind the beginning of phase four which is the final phase of the project and so we're moving a lot a lot of discussion yeah project string committee and the consultants as well as I do a lot of different discussion meetings. So the project supposed to be done by uh September of this year. So it's on target on on time and on budget and the next meeting for the project string committee is on the 13th of this month and Friday next week. So uh we'll keep you up. So we entering into last phase of the project. Thank you. Any questions? questions. What is the last phase you fail? Yeah, the last phase is uh primary is de different options or different uh alternatives to narrow down to the PI alternative and then the consultants

will have a draft report to put together and then that report will be made available to the public and for reviewing comments and then for the uh for the committee to to you know make a recommendation you know and then also to uh bring it to to the um to the commission. See how all the timing works. But for for your um your adoption here,

the regional comprehensive plan updates.

Yeah. Um really quick um since the last meeting uh the MRPC meeting uh staff we met with the county administration uh in terms of the proposed project pro process and also the timeline and the county administration. They have had communication with some of the county board members who still you know trying to to uh we are still waiting for some feedback from them. So as soon as we hear something from all the discussion, we'll let you know. But we yeah we share some thoughts staff's thoughts uh with the uh with the county administration there's some more conversations with the county

and is that related to that the prioritization of the different components after since strategic land use is complete? It's more for the overall the rest of the planning process and it's regarding you know the the different phases the um we plan to do more engagements or those takes time and so this will be trying to finalize the process that we looking at for the rest of the project so we can uh be more specific and then also you know what phases we should go into how much time to be devoted on which

so when can we expect to see that sort of planning process workflow I definitely hope to find next meeting yeah definitely we because we while the staff you're still you're working behind the scene in terms of information but yeah we definitely like love to uh to give you update or something definitely is it an item that goes before the county board for their approval or they just the county administration staff it provides the it won't be county board in terms of timeline but there'll be input to get you get some input from from the county members okay

uh but yeah the along the way there'll be involvement uh and on the process I let me get to the more detailed dynamics that people have but right Now we looking at okay where do we go from from this point you're given uh the strategic lane plan was done and then uh deferred to the town and the city you know what is the absence they decide to take and so we I want to get back into where we have been you know before uh that we got sidetracked on the uh on the strategic lings plan was for good reasons and And so we can okay what's the rest of the planning process should look like? Um, and did the did the group as did y'all as a staff um do some just chatting about like what the reasons why some of that um some of some of the action items on the strategic planning plan went off course and are those kind of being addressed and corrected in the planning process for the comprehensive plan? Uh what did you

um so I'm like did y'all look at the um the aspects of the strategic land use plan that drew things out longer than expected and say like okay well yes the community maybe wasn't happy with this or that we could have done uh approached this aspect of planning in a more holistic way. Yeah. Um so are some of those like lessons learned being applied to a company? Yeah, that's that's one of the reasons we we want we have learned uh which is good thing too. I mean there's always uh less

room definitely. Uh so it's good for us uh and then to to hear more from um you know the population, the resident and whoever else. And so we want to have the rest of the we don't complain you even be a better product than we had envisioned you know some time ago and so uh yeah definitely you uh and we have make connections with more people with different groups and and and that's that's good you know you there groups out there um since they were not quite active uh even some of the more organized groups but then that you know, okay, you know, they might not be interested, but but let them know in case they are. Yeah.

Would you say though that the um the defining the process for the rest of this project, this the whole the whole land use plan?

Yeah. um that that you're cons are we consulting um the county uh on the process because of the the the misunderstandings perhaps of or miscommunication about what the the process was with the strategic land use. So, we're now making sure that we're all on the same page of, hey, this is the process. What input do you have before going forward? Is that or do you would you normally as you start this process at this stage consult the county on what the what the process should be. I'm just I'm trying to kind of get a chicken and egg situation going.

Yeah. the when we some time ago when we start the regional comp plan process we we consult county administration price what our process was going to be like uh usually uh for planning there's certain basic you know planning process as you all probably know uh uh and so we were kind of going with that really standard planning uh steps with process and So it just so happened uh that the uh because of develop pressure which we all have been witnessing. Uh so we understand you know there's needs you to look at the land use uh issues and the uh future plan for land uses uh sooner you know than few years later. uh because the city and the town got their own comprehensive plan updates that's will be later and so while we working uh start working on the regional comprehensive plan we recognize the needs um from working with our partners and so in going back to what I said earlier we don't want to plan for a burn we really look at the whole county as a whole I mean really it's not urban versus low and vice versa. So we really from a planning standpoint we should look at the whole picture because there interactions uh as what mayor Johansson you know not earlier I mean there's interaction people come here now there people living in the urban area who ride their bikes for recreation for health and other other things so they move so that's lots of interaction that should be uh trying to get uh you know look at

as a whole so when we got to a point where we had to decide okay should we pay as an offshoot of the regional comp plan process and take up this strategic land use plan while we have we meaning the areas they received proposal demand proposals uh more than five six years ago uh then really there should the plans uh that was done uh the regional uh the regional town plan or the individual city and town comprehensive plans were not really anticipating you know that much going on and so yeah it makes sense and that's why we have that offshoot and so but that offshoot is actually still following this basic standard planning process uh that we you know many of us went to uh B school for to learn so but there are things every committee is different right every county town city villages they're different there's different characteristics so we had to take all those into consideration. So for the strategic language plan the process actually about the same. But should we do certain things you know timewise you know do we should we do more say the the public engagement sooner or different geography because different people have different interests. I mean you all know that and uh so we took that all those into consideration and apply what we have learned into the another broader process. Yeah. So the process just the same I mean we from you know same goals and objectives right data I don't to the quiet we data collection data analysis looking at different alternatives prefer ones and you know actions recommendations and monitoring and implementation

uh but it's but I hope we all you know it's not like losing time but then we gain actually lessons learn and also recognize some of the issues uh from additional time you spend on the strategic use plan and how can we make the the regional comp plan uh even a more more fruitful uh more thoughtful and also more productive more meaningful product at the end really um I mean we always you know on our mind we have representations from the rural community you know uh the rural part of the county but still the regional comp plan we recognize this a large area that's outside the urban area is true. So it's it'll be a good project. Um and yeah, yeah, I don't want to take up a lot of time just just recognize a lot of changes of factors that we do your staff you know with great team you working together this is not a easy project uh but then it's working together with our partners and our stakeholders. uh we really I mean the a service is for for our uh uh MCPC staff standpoint is to really have a product that plan that will be we'll be carrying in the next five 10 years for the benefit of the whole region really that that's how

you um I have one last question it's just a clarification um uh under the monthly progress for the the working on the first draft on the comprehensive plan website is working on the first draft the website

first we have um we start thinking you know we plan ahead and and uh and Anthony you can add a bit more uh and the other we have actually uh our whole team contribute in different ways one of the things we start thinking is okay uh communication of engagement is very important. So what are different ways to communicate and have the feedback? It's a it has to be a two-way communication. Cannot be one way. And so uh Anthony uh and start thinking okay website how do we design the website for example and I'll let him to expand a little bit more on that but that's something one of the things that we are working

okay yeah I just need clarification for like if it's the website that's getting

yeah I can I can elaborate on a couple weeks um so for that for the website a lot of stuff for comprehensive plans is pretty cookie cutter throughout most communities outside communities is different, but like a comprehensive plan is comprehensive plan. Nowadays, most of them have a website attached to them as the planning process goes on. That's what we're working on. Now, a lot of the stuff, you know, we're trying to nail down some timeline stuff and get everybody on the same page, but there's still a lot of stuff behind the scenes that we can work on to be ready for when we have the consensus. Um, so we're working on those now. to answer your question about talking to the county admin. Um, yes to both of them, right? This would be the time we go talk to them to get their input, but also we're talking to them to make sure that we're on the same page from the the lessons learned from the slug. So, it's it's both of those initial questions of is this the regular time or are we kind of playing catch up? Would say it's a little bit of both of that. So, that's where we're at.

Thank you. Yeah, and respecting what you said about time, what I'd like to say is for the commissioners, if there's a specific deliverable or topic that you want to see on the public agenda underneath the comprehensive plan just to like let uh Ray or I know and we can certainly add that for the next meeting and and the ad hoc is welcome as well, but for us to better plan certainly welcome to entertain that. So um this is going to be important uh moving forward for the rest of the year. So and beyond probably uh so anything else on the regional comprehensive plan before we move on.

Thank you Ray. Thank you. Thank you. All right. And so I know uh Vice Chair Roser wanted to maybe uh share a little bit about the demographic study. maybe you already have um with respect to the unit five study. Was there anything else you wanted to add on that?

Yeah. Um I' I'd say the main takeaway is that the growth is expected um on the east side of um of Bloomington Normal. So north of the Benjamin School District and the the subdivisions that are kind of going in there. Um so that's where um we will see potential growth. Um we just kind of have a shifting of where you know as as neighborhoods change as um you know what was once a neighborhood where you had lots of young families all of a sudden now is maybe no longer a neighborhood that has lots of young families. So, so as that happens, your need for um seats uh moves around the community and sometimes that then involves busing people but um further or moving people around. But we certainly do have a lot of um recommendations coming out. I think February 19th is the date that we have a um online meeting scheduled from the um the consultant that we're using proper GI out of Ohio um that will present proposals. Right now we we've just got on the planet we have like a million different things to that we're looking at lots of different options um as we weigh just different options. It's funny because you look at okay well this this um this particular solution could solve transportation but then you look at the impact on oh but what does that do to bilingual education or what does that do to special education or what does that do to you know so what is good for um one solution isn't always good for um everything. So, you're just kind of weighing all the different scenarios

and trying to land on um a set of recommendations that does all of the meets the objectives to the best possible level, but certainly no perfect option. So, but yeah, we see the growth on the on that side over there. And what will the school board do with those proposals? Yes.

So, the um the consultant will come out with some recommendations. So those will present to the public and then we'll collect public feedback. Um and based upon the public feedback there may be some revisions to those recommendations before it goes to the board for vote in April. I think don't it's a lot intense. So there's and I'd say right now there's just a lot of you know there's been some rumors of things that have been talked about. Um and I and I would just add that there's just been a lot of things talked about um some from very minor to very um ambitious uh shall we call it. Um but and I think you know it's it's the anxiety of not knowing um that we're seeing build and that's just that's just a tough piece. But until we can comfortably land on um on what those scenarios are that meet kind of the best needs um overall um it's just kind of important to keep them all kind of under wraps. Sorry.

When you talk about Ben, are you talking about East Barnes? Yeah, there's an there's a 85page report on the unit 5 website that has the demographic study projections, but there's also an executive summary to that if you want. Appreciate it.

Thanks so much. certainly sounds there's a lot of parallels and overlap with the regional comprehensive plan. So appreciate it. Um all right, any other um items for discussion or information with that I would entertain a motion to adjurnn if there's nothing further. So move all in favor say I. I posted same signs. We are adjourned at 4:58. What a great meeting. Thank you everyone for your work. Now we