The board Wednesday gave the MTD staff approval to look into annexing properties including the Stone Creek subdivision in Urbana, the Boulder Ridge and Sawgrass subdivisions in Champaign, areas north of Interstate 74 in Champaign and Urbana including Frasca Field, a commercial area north of Interstate Research Park in Champaign, a new addition to the Myra Ridge subdivision in Urbana and a small area in Savoy west of Colbert Park.
In addition to discussing the annexations at next month's meeting, the MTD board would be required to hold a public hearing on each of the proposals, said MTD Director Bill Volk.
Every year in January, Volk said, the MTD assesses whether new areas in the community are eligible for annexation. Under an agreement the transit district has with Champaign, Urbana and Savoy, areas are eligible for annexation if they are contiguous to current MTD boundaries, if they are not taxed as farmland and if they are within the corporate limits of one of the municipalities.
Discuss.
The 800 pound Public gorrilla is on another greed trip to gather more RE taxes to feed its checking and savings accounts as it pushes its Federal and State tax funded empty buses even further across the local landscape. Remember the legally required public hearings are only what their name implies. The hearings will be held documented and the MTD board will annex the properties regardless of what the public wishes. This has happened some many times over the years and there is nothing anyone in CU or Champaign County can do about it. So sit back voters and watch this Public Not-for-Profit business continue to spread like cancer across our county as there is nothing you can do about it.
I don't understand why Stone Creek wasn't annexed years ago.
IP---Stone Creek's 500+ acres development had farmland adjacent which had to be dealth with by pre-annexation agreements with either Urbana or the CU MTD. Also I seriously doubt the Stone Creek Golf Course will be part of the annexation due cost. Its acreage size would probably take a special annexation agreement.
What about Wilbur Heights?
What do we have to do to get some sensible people running the MTD? Are there any county board canidates who will stop them?
"What do we have to do to get some sensible people running the MTD?"
Elect two Republicans from County Board Districts 5 through 9. :-)
"I don't understand why Stone Creek wasn't annexed years ago."
Maybe you should ask Clint Atkins, He did not want the busses tearing up the roads he built, those roads now belong to the City of Urbana.
Gordy,
Shouldn't that be
"farmland OR if they are within the corporate limits of one of the municipalities".
I thought that Stone Creek pretty much did not have any more say in the matter as they signed the annexation agreement and it was only a matter of waiting until there was population to use the buses. It wasn't if, but only a matter of time?
I thought the MTD annexation agreement pretty much followed the annexation requirements as annexing to a City.
Also, are they allowed to annex any property that has a pre-annexation agreement, or do you know?
Thank you for your courtesy, time and effort for reading my comments
Rex Bradfield
Res---CU MTD does not follow any annexation agreement. They take whatever properties adjoin their district limites expanding at will regardless if they are in any city limits as long as it is not listed as farmland. SW Champaign subdivisions and unincorporated areas are just some of the examples.
IP---neither Republican or Democrat County Board Members have any control over the CU MTD with one exception, nomination of their board members is controlled currently by Pius. The CU MTD answers only to the laws of the State of Illinois. There is no direct elected oversight responsibilities within the CU Mass Transit District.
"Choo-choo!" More money for the Volk Legacy train.
To Local Voter @ 10:38 A--you mean to imply that those golf balls don't want to ride the bus? :-)
To Local Voter @ 2:41 P--entirely corrected related to CUMTD board appointments and any input to the board there after. This also applies to UCSD board. State statue rules.
Pattsi Petrie
Thanks Local and Pattsi,
So if I read you correctly, then it should be "OR" as one of many criteria that allows annexation.
and also that if any of those criteria are satisfied, then that allows the proper procedures for annexation to the MTD district to commence and Stone Creek would be able to object at that time?
Is that correct?
And you know that seems only fair, certainly there are groups of people that could and would benefit from being able to use any public transportation. The way MTD is funded and the benefits they provide, it would be unfair to deny any group the opportunity to use those benefits if they so desire.
Thank you for your courtesy, time and effort for reading my comments
Rex Bradfield
Exactly how much $$$ does the CUMTD have in it's account. Seems Tapley once refered to an account with 20+ million dollars sitting in the general/reserve fund. Is this possible? Not suprising the annexation of Stone Creek....I suppose ST. Joe is the next target. Hey, if you want a good read, take alook at the contract for VOLK...available as a FOI......everything from dry cleaning to bonus payuments....wow!!
John,
They have more money than the City of Urbana has in its reserve account.
What is really sad about any mass transit issues is I remember the train that ran between Danville and Champaign/Urbana. It was fun to ride, a real trip to remember when you were young. You could get to the train station by riding the trams in Danville. Geeze that was fun to do.
Danville also had a milk run train that ran up through Bismark, Rossville, Hoopston.
There were buses that ran from Danville to Georgetown and really did provide a service. If you wanted to go to the Indy 500, you could catch a bus in Georgetown then a tram or bus to the train station and a train to Indianapolis.
Now the rails are gone and so is the fun or riding a mass transit vehicle like the train. Not sure that is progress.
Thank you for your courtesy, time and effort for reading my comments
Rex Bradfield
Scott Tapley was good at creative financing. He was counting all the property, buses, and reserve funds to come up with that $20 mil number. Maybe that is why he moved.
In any case, the NG did not quite get the facts complete. The MTD and the cities have intergovernmental agreements that say that the MTD will annex those areas annexed by the cities if the property annexed by the cities is eligible, e.g. not agricultural land, contigiuous, etc. Another interesting fact is the number of annual bus passes purchased by people who live in the SW Mass Transit District. I wonder why they did not buy an annual pass from that district instead of MTD? Odd.
How much does a legacy cost these days anyway? Obviously more than 20 mil if another land/tax grab is necessary.
Absolutely. No one would want a world class transit system and a great community to live in as a legacy. Nothing else is important by your SUV. Maybe they can bury you in it.
A better legacy might be,
made frugal use of taxpayer money and accomplished lots on a meager budget.
Anyone can do big things with unlimited funds. There's nothing difficult or impressive about that.
The funniest thing about MTD is that nobody wants their product. Nobody is willing to pay a fare that is sufficient to generate a profit. They only way they can get riders is to buy them, with tax money.
Last I checked, the roads didn't make a profit, and let's not even start to talk about airline subsidies.
"The funniest thing about MTD is that nobody wants their product."
Get a clue. MTD is one of the only transit districts in the country whose ridership increased this last year and the number of annual passes sold this last year increased by over 200%. It does not have a gigantic budget and the board of the organization has half its members are appointed by Republicans. BTW, if no one wants its service why are people who live in the SW Mass Transit District buying passes?
"It does not have a gigantic budget and the board of the organization has half its members are appointed by Republicans."
Not quite true. Statutorily, some of the Board members must be registered as Republicans, but they're still selected and appointed by the County Board Chair, who is (unfortunately) a Democrat.
"Last I checked, the roads didn't make a profit"
Then you should check again. How much tax revenue would the city have in the long term without roads?
The ridership has increased, but how much of that is genuine demand by the public, and how much is created demand? It's my understanding that every time a student gets on a bus in campus, even if they ride two blocks, that's treated as a ride--if they get back on and ride another two blocks, another ride. Would the students ride the bus if there was no student fee required by the U? We need a decent mass transit system but this one is out of line with its spending. I recall that they increased their levy to the max., not because they needed it, but because they were afraid that they wouldn't get it in the future. Imagine what would happen if all taxing bodies did that.
Champaign Dweller said
I recall that they increased their levy to the max., not because they needed it, but because they were afraid that they wouldn't get it in the future. Imagine what would happen if all taxing bodies did that.
That is the direct result of tax caps. Conservatives and tax protestor types wanted tax caps, and got them. Now, instead of corporate taxing bodies analyzing future needs, discussing them, holding hearings and meetings for public input, and then proposing proper, fiscally responsible increases, taxing bodies, all of them, just raise them to the max.
Want to know where to lay the blame for the MTD going for the max every time? At the feet of those who worked so hard to pass tax caps.
CUMTD had so much money that the price of an annual pass was lowered to $60. They could have decided to adjust their tax take instead. They didn't.
And, as we have seen with the CUMTD board, when you don't face the people at election time, you can pretty much do anything you want. Why do you think it would be any different if they weren't under tax cap restrictions?
How do you think they can "adjust their tax take"? Tell me, how is that done? Explain the mechanics. Explain the legality.
Pattsi---There are many differences between the CU MTD and the UCSD besides Volk's salary/retirement package. Here are a couple, the UCSD does not raise property taxes to the maximum annually nor do they 'force annex' areas to be in their district.
IP---Nomination and appointment authority aside, the CU MTD Board is all about building building Volk's bus and train empire at taxpayers expense leveraged on 'public benefit' similar to the first Richard Daley used the same to rule Chicago.
Rex---Stone Creek can object to being annexed to the CU MTD at the public hearing however I would be surprised a 'deal' has not been cut. If they do, it will be noted and filed with the records of the public hearing as prescribed by law. Given what the CU MTD Board has done in the past, they will annex, dispite public objections. Neither Stone Creek or anyone in Champaign County can do anything about it.
anon, are you suggesting they can't levy less than the max allowed by the tax caps in any given year?
To Local Voter @ 3:35 P--I was referring solely to the board appointment process and approval thereof by the CB, not what actions each board can take. The main point is that even though the CB makes the appointments there is no oversight for a non elected board, especially the UCSD that has only 3 members. I have written about this previously on IP.
Pattsi Petrie
That is the direct result of tax caps. Conservatives and tax protestor types wanted tax caps, and got them. Now, instead of corporate taxing bodies analyzing future needs, discussing them, holding hearings and meetings for public input, and then proposing proper, fiscally responsible increases, taxing bodies, all of them, just raise them to the max.
HUH?...What tax district is fiscally responsible? What tax district listens to public input? What tax district holds taxes down?
The issue is the "use it or lose it" mentality that can result from tax caps or other schemes that attempt to keep costs down by fixing next year's maximum as some function of this year's maximum.
It's not only about tax caps per se, either - you see the same thing occasionally in companies that have a similar "next year's budget for department X is based on this year's money spent" policy. The department reaches the end of the year, and rather than going out quietly on whatever they've spent so far, can think, "hey, we were allowed to use up to Y dollars, we'd better use it lest central accounting decide that we really don't need the money and won't give us the same limit next year." To their minds, they're rationally planning ahead to get the high limit for next year just IN CASE something goes wrong and next year they really do need the money. So they order a new copier when they don't need it, or whatever it is. Any situation where departments feel that they're competing for the same pot of money can just make it worse.
I think people who don't see the need for MTD to exist should move to some place like Paxton or Villa Grove -- and stay there.
The reality is that a place like Champaign-Urbana needs mass transit. It's best that the cost of this is spread over as much territory as possible, so that it's cost is as low as possible on a net basis. That's all this is about. Lenin hasn't risen from his waxy grave and skated across the North Pole to foment revolution on University Ave. Really.
Personally, I wish they'd take the $71 million in mostly federal money for the third lane on the interstate to Mahomet and build a downtown to downtown light rail fron Urbana to Champaign passing through campus. Get some of the buses off the road and replace them with no-emission on-board trains.
But that is expecting too much from our clueless state politicians, who are still fighting over who gets to avoid credit for being the last one out of the stateroom when the SS TitanicIllinois goes under.
All of this garbage is interrelated.
MTD wanted big ridership numbers to fuel their FTA grant making machine. They wanted to get high enough ridership to get funding for light rail.
So they got UIUC to sign on to the idea of buses running in circles. MTD would get big ridership, big ridership would facilitate more funding, which would lead to more ridership which would lead to more funding yadda yadda light rail.
But they didn't plan on the new FTA charter rules, which made their dedicated campus routes illegal. They're pretty slippery and slimy, though. They came up with a solution. Drop the captive campus routes. Make a bunch of new routes that went through campus, and run them frequently enough that students would still get the same service. Instead of a bus running in a rectangle, one "community route" would cover part of the rectangle, and another community route would cover the other part of the rectangle. It was a perfect subterfuge.
But there was one little problem. Under the new plan, MTD buses have to put on many, many miles to service campus with the frequency which students are used to. Instead of a bus just running an efficient little loop, it would have to venture out into the community - in order to avoid violating the new FTA rules.
What to do what to do, the little bald man thought. Then he remembered that buying riders is typically effective. So he dropped the price of passes to $60 a year, so that people would flock to MTD and create the illusion that the long, new community routes are a great idea.
But the math doesn't work...lots and lots of new miles, riders paying less per seat, increasing fuel costs. No problema...just tax the crap out of some more people to pay to keep the expensive new route structure alive.
---
The road not travelled.
Instead of trying to skirt the FTA rules, MTD could have just said, well, we have to stop providing the illegal service. UIUC could have gone out and contracted for the services which it thought essential, and charged students for same. MTD could have focused its energies and monies on providing focused, cost-efficient services to the community - ie not providing service to far-flung apartment complexes, but rather working to INCREASE density.
Tired of typing.
MTD is run by a bunch of little napoleons.
"I think people who don't see the need for MTD to exist should move to some place like Paxton or Villa Grove -- and stay there.
The reality is that a place like Champaign-Urbana needs mass transit. It's best that the cost of this is spread over as much territory as possible, so that it's cost is as low as possible on a net basis. That's all this is about. Lenin hasn't risen from his waxy grave and skated across the North Pole to foment revolution on University Ave. Really.
Personally, I wish they'd take the $71 million in mostly federal money for the third lane on the interstate to Mahomet and build a downtown to downtown light rail fron Urbana to Champaign passing through campus. Get some of the buses off the road and replace them with no-emission on-board trains.
But that is expecting too much from our clueless state politicians, who are still fighting over who gets to avoid credit for being the last one out of the stateroom when the SS TitanicIllinois goes under."
Signed,
Karl Gnad
CUMTD
Personally, I wish they'd take the $71 million in mostly federal money for the third lane on the interstate to Mahomet and build a downtown to downtown light rail fron Urbana to Champaign passing through campus. Get some of the buses off the road and replace them with no-emission on-board trains.
Why not extend light rail from Mahomet through Champaign - Campus - Urbana to St. Joe with connections to Rantoul and Tolono?
Three Score and Ten Plus One
Keith Hays
Why not extend light rail from Mahomet through Champaign - Campus - Urbana to St. Joe with connections to Rantoul and Tolono?
Was the interurban subsidized by the government or was it privately funded?
Was the interurban subsidized by the government or was it privately funded?
The correct answer to your question is, Yes. The Illinois Terminal Rail Road Company was a privately owned joint stock company whose primary owner was the Illinois Power Company which, in turn, was primarily owned by William Brown McKinley of Champaign. The ITRR was created to provide an outlet for electrical power generated by IP after it met the needs of the communities it served. The subsidy was indirect and consisted of the road beds given by the state and the depots built by local governments as well as tax concessions as part of IP's franchise agreements with local communities.
Three Score and Ten Plus One
Keith Hays
Why not extend light rail from Mahomet through Champaign - Campus - Urbana to St. Joe with connections to Rantoul and Tolono?
Hahahahaha, you're kidding, right?
98% of the population in Mahomet and St. Joe wouldn't be caught dead taking public transport. You might be able to change that to 97% if you had "whites only" cars on the train.
"98% of the population in Mahomet and St. Joe wouldn't be caught dead taking public transport. You might be able to change that to 97% if you had "whites only" cars on the train."
Namecalling is persuasive. You're usually better than that, TP.
I do not believe that Illinois Terminal Railroad was a land grant railroad. They bought their own land.
Namecalling is persuasive. You're usually better than that, TP.
There was no namecalling. Your reading comprehension is usually better than that, IP.
I'm just pointing out the absurdity of providing public transport to Mahomet and St. Joe. Living in either town requires a car, so there's little-to-no motivation to take public transport. Add in the fact that many of the residents are overly concerned with how they appear to the Joneses and other members of the generic-nature-sounding-subdivision-HOA, and I just don't see it happening.
As for the "whites only" comment, that's not namecalling - just common sense. Go check the Census info - Mahomet is 98.2% white and St. Joe is 98.9%. These two towns have seen substantial growth over the past decade due almost exclusively to "white flight."
Many of my friends attended MSHS and SJO, and they all frequently spoke highly about the schools - they didn't have the "problems" (i.e., non-white students) that Central, Centennial, or Urbana had (even though, at the time, the CU schools were outperforming MSHS and SJO in all academic measures). As far as I could tell, the only non-white kids at MSHS were adopted. At one point I overheard a sophomore at MSHS discussing (with no objections from his friends) the pending downfall of the McDonald's on Prairieview Road brought about by their "hiring coloreds." Or, after watching a movie at the Beverly, overhearing some HS students laughing at the "n******s waiting for the bus."
Here is a case study wrought with lessons and observations about mass transit. While teaching at the U of Wisconsin, Green Bay, I arranged for my social planning class to have a bus pass to use for one week. The assignment was that all of the students had to use the bus for all activities of this one week and keep a journal of the activities, impressions, dislikes, likes, etc. (Green Bay is a community of high middle income folks who are mostly in blue collar jobs. The white population is about 95 % with the remainder being Mungs and Blacks.) Since this was a social planning class, the obvious purpose was for the students to experience and better understand how mass transit is designed--whether for just point to point or for tripping. In addition, it was for the students to better understand, as future social planners, the needs of the subpopulations that do not have cars or bikes as their means of transit. The bottom line for most of the students was that they "really disliked" using the bus; "loved" their cars; "would never give up" their cars; and would not ride mass transit again. Basic reasons given were inconvenience, dirty, waiting for the bus in weather than sunny, dry, and warm, and then "having to ride with 'those' people." All of these comments/observations are so important for transportation planners to help them design systems that mitigate, as best as one can, the possibility of these types of reactions.
Pattsi Petrie
"There was no namecalling. Your reading comprehension is usually better than that, IP."
Sure there was. You said that 97 or 98 percent of two entire towns are racist. And then you go on to defend that statement as "common sense."
I'm not going to belabor the point, as there are better things to discuss regarding mass transit, but you really are usually better than that.
Sure there was. You said that 97 or 98 percent of two entire towns are racist. And then you go on to defend that statement as "common sense."
I said no such thing. Again, your reading comprehension is typically better than this. Right now, you're on par with "A is for Anonymous" in terms of strawmen and misreading posts.
At no point did I assert that 97-98% of the population was racist. I could understand your interpretation if I had argued something like "right now 98% wouldn't take public tranport, BUT 97% would take it if it were whites only." But I didn't.
The most logical inference from my argument was that 1% of the population of Mahomet and St. Joe doesn't take public transport because "those" people take it. That's what follows from the 97% and 98% comments. Thus, I'm arguing that the other 97% of the population wouldn't take public transport because of other (i.e., non-racist) reasons (perceived inconvenience, concerns about their image in front of peers, their existing car culture, etc.)
For the clueless person who tried to impersonate Karl Gnadt and misspelled his name as "Karl Gnad", really, you should find another way to be underhanded. Or there is always the option of being honest.
"For the clueless person who tried to impersonate Karl Gnadt and misspelled his name as "Karl Gnad", really, you should find another way to be underhanded. Or there is always the option of being honest."
Since the body is quoted, I think you can assume the author was being sarcastic. I guess sarcasm doesn't play well in a town like this.
It is not CUMTD's job to "increase density"; its job is to provide transportation. (although I will grant that they do think it is there job)
To RSW @ 11:02 A--true that MTD has a transportation role. Nonetheless, it affects all taxing bodies, schools, parks, transportation, when less dense development is approved and built. It is rather fascinating that rarely do representatives of these taxing bodies appear before government decision-making bodies to make points as to how development whatever will affect the taxing body. Very rarely is a decision a closed system, but more likely an open system.
Pattsi Petrie
Volk and the CU MTD have use their public mission transportation to waste taxpayer's dollars, Federal, State and local to expand the district beyond the needs of the public into areas of sparse population just to build revenue. Unless you care less about how govenment spend your tax dollars, this should be rather obvious to anyone in CU. They have use the Public Hearing legal requirement as a documentation device completely ignoring public input. They have requested the maximum property levied allowed by law each year dispite surplus funds under their control. They have wasted our resouces by putting buses on routes which cannot even fund the fuel burned traveling where they wish on private drives, crossing up to 5 lanes of traffic, on roads designed for lighter, smaller vehicles. All without any local oversight or even the slightest outrage by those we elected to serve us. Its clear we have elected either very stupid or very "Illinois type' smart politicians locally just like we have to the state legislature.
The CU MTD gets 'buyin' without consultation or even disclousure to voter elected government decision-making bodies. The City of Champaign joining them in a lawsuit against the CS MTD is a prime example of how this decision was made in a 'closed system'. The CS MTD is 'barred' from membership on any planning Champaign County Transportation Planning bodies because they chose not to raise taxes to fund the 'required membership fees'.
No one ever answered the question about why people who live in SW Champaign MTD are buying passes for the CUMTD if no one wants transit.
No one ever answered the question about why people who live in SW Champaign MTD are buying passes for the CUMTD if no one wants transit.
Perhaps CUMTD should consider raising the cost of annual passes for residents of the SWCMTD.
Three Score and Ten Plus One
Keith Hays
Right now, you're on par with "A is for Anonymous" in terms of strawmen and misreading posts.
Leave me out of it. You're the one making the stupid comments about Mahomet and St. Joe.
fwiw - a lot of the folks in Mahomet and St. Joe are lower class whites who would probably use a rail system to come into C/U more often. God knows there are few things less exciting than downtown St. Joe on a Saturday night. Give the kids an easy and cheap ride into town and I'd bet a lot of them would take it.
No one ever answered the question about why people who live in SW Champaign MTD are buying passes for the CUMTD if no one wants transit.
Who said they were, how many have been purchased by SW residents, and what is the source of that information please?
HALF of MTD's total $40 million revenue comes from IDOT.
Less than 20% of total revenue comes from revenue generated by people actually using the service.
With the state in its current fiscal condition, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to see how this is going to end.
MTD is a bubble. Totally unsustainable by this community in its current form when the state eventually cuts its budget.
The morality of this escapes me. I just don't understand how you can force individuals who, whether by choice or circumstance, will never ride the bus to pay for others to ride the bus. Isn't it enough that poor working families are forced to subsidize the college education of UIUC students? Just to rub it in we make them also subsidize the college students' bus rides around campus. Frankly, it stinks whether you are a libertarian or a social justice activist.
The same argument goes for universal health care....Why do I have to pay for smokers chemo? We have simply too many government employees here in CU, who draw up elaborate plans on funding some ridiculous notions and have the populace pay for it.
How? The same way you get them to pay for various idiotic wars. Why?
Why should I have to pay for schools if I never have kids? Why should I pay for roads if I do not drive? Why should I pay for fire departments if I have never had a fire? Why should I pay parks if I never use them? Why should I pay for a library if I never go there? Why should I pay for Parkland if I never take classes there? Why should I pay for the forest preserves if I hate nature?
Maybe because it makes this a better place to live.
Since the body is quoted, I think you can assume the author was being sarcastic. I guess sarcasm doesn't play well in a town like this.
So if you are being sarcastic you mispell their name?
Akibare, I'm not sure I understand. Are you agreeing with me that it is morally reprehensible to force people to pay for others' bus rides? Or are you suggesting that it is a necessary evil, and just as it is not possible to have a country's military act on behalf of only some people of the country, it is not possible to have busses that only give rides to people who want to ride them?
I've got no idea who "Karl Gnad" is and I don't work for MTD. I do ride the bus on a semi-regular basis. It makes more sense than spending money on gas and parking for me.
Actually, extending light rail to Mahomet and St. Joseph does make sense in the long run. Next time gas gets to $4 a gallon, there will be lots of people out there who will wish it was in the plans for the short term. Both towns are built on the basis of cheap gas -- or at least cheap, government-subsidized transportation -- which is essentially what much of US economic and foreign policy has amounted to since WWII.
Ride and park is going to be looking really good with gas at $5/gallon.
Both towns are built on the basis of cheap gas -- or at least cheap, government-subsidized transportation
Stupid comment of the day. Mahomet is older than C/U, so it's not a very convincing argument that it popped up overnight to become a bedroom community for C/U.
I think to argue the pros and cons of a light rail system in this community completely misses the point in that the issue should be about acting in accordance with the will of the people. It is not. It is about what Bill Volk deems important. What he will force us to spend our money for so his name will live on long after he's lost control of the reins.
Such a costly and divisive issue should be put to a vote. Will it be? Very doubtful. The abuse of power is what should be addressed, for if it were not for the situation that permits the abuse, we would not be bickering over the virtues of light rail.
I'm still watching for those verified numbers on how many SW residents purchased CU MTD annual passes.
Stupid comment of the day. Mahomet is older than C/U, so it's not a very convincing argument that it popped up overnight to become a bedroom community
A man named Newcomb squatted at the point where the Fort Clark road crossed the Sangamon in 1832 The small settlement that grew up around Newcomb's claim was first known as Newcomb's Ford. . Champaign County was erected from the west side of Vermillion County in 1833 with the town of Urbana designated as its county seat. The first settler in what is now Champaign County was Runell Fiedler who built a cabin in 1822 and squatted at the point where the Fort Clark Road crossed Saline Branch east of Urbana. William Tompkins built his cabin in 1824 on the banks of the Boneyard behind what is now the Courier Cafe and is generally regarded as the first resident of Urbana.
By 1833 the population had grown to the point that the erection of a new county was justified. The community that had grown up around Tompkin's was known as The Big Grove
and was chosen as the County Seat of the New County and was named Urbana. By 1840 Newcomb's Ford was known as Middletown because it was half way between Danville and Bloomington. It was the second largest community in the new County. It became Mahomet in 1870 with the advent of the Big 4 railroad extension west from Danville through Bloomington to Peoria.
That is all very interesting 19th Century history but doesn't reflect the reality of the 21st Century. Mahomet, St Joe, Rantoul and Tolono have become bedroom communities with residents employed and doing business in Champaign and Urbana. Light rail serving those communities would be an economic and environmentally responsible solution to the problems of providing transportation to the business and employment center of the metropolitan area.
Three Score and Ten Plus One
Keith Hays
We have a transportion system that supports these communities - the interstate highway system - and it seems to work pretty well. There is no problem here that needs a solution.
RSW and anon 3:48am,
Well, you can stumble along in your fantasy world that insists that it is a completely natural thing for thousands of people to live 15 or 20 miles from where they work or shop, get into their individual 2-ton vehicles, drive those miles on heavily-federally subsidized roads and back again, five or more days a week...
The cost of which is disguised in the federal budget. This includes a large portion of the defense budget, which is after all about ensuring a steady supply of cheap oil, plus various subsidies to oil companies (tell me again why we bother with that any more?)
Both of you would be screaming if such a program was supplying subsidized food, jobs or education to poor people. Here, you simply insist it doesn't exist. This kind of reminds me of last Friday's Funny, but instead of Obama insisting "there's nothing behind the curtain" it's both of you.
I'll check back with both of you when gas hits $4 a gallon, which will be soon enough with the falling dollar, then again when it hits $5 a gallon, which might not be that far off.
BTW, I do own a rather large a gas-sucking SUV, but I'm smart enough to not live so far away from the basic needs of life that I have to "exercise" it like a horse every day just for its "benefit."
Keith is absolutely right. Sure, St. Joseph andMahomet's been around for a long time, as tiny rural communities. As sprawling suburbs, that's a product of the last few decades, and virtually all of AFTER the interstate was built. Without that umbilical cord, they will shrivel, probably kept alive only by the fact that more work in the future will be on the internet. Better start planting your fiber.
What are the procedural mechanisms to change the structure of the MTD board from appointees to elected representatives of the taxed district? CU MTD has far too much power and tax revenue to leave it unchecked any longer. What are the chances of making it happen and where or with whom do we begin? We currently have a system of the cart dragging the horses around. We need to address making Volk and the board accountable or all our "discussions" about empty buses, expanding the district/tax base, taxing rates, and light rail are nothing more than pointless bitching.
Who's feet do we hold to the fire first?
We have a transportion system that supports these communities - the interstate highway system - and it seems to work pretty well.
Leaving aside for the moment the environmental impact of highway commuting lets look at the economic cost to the commuter of driving an automobile to work using Mahomet as an example:
It is 12.46 miles from the !-74 / SR 47 interchange in Mahomet to the U of I parking garage at University and Goodwin in Urbana. That is 24.92 miles round trip. Using the $0.50 per mile IRS allowance the daily out of pocket cost of commuting by car is $12.46 or $270 per month. Add to that the cost of parking at $65.00 per month and you get an out of pocket monthly cost of commuting by car of $335.00 per month. Compare that to a probable light rail fare of $4.00 per day or $86.00 per month.
Three Score and Ten Plus One
Keith Hays
What is the value of your time, when the length of your commute is doubled, or when you are forced to match your schedule to the trains?
Not everyone works at U of I - Champaign/Urbana does not have a dense core where everyone works. And most other workers don't have near that parking cost, if any.
There a few traffic problems in CU - because where people live and where people work are both spread out (campus being the exception). Increased density creates a problem that is solved by mass transit (which is also why buses are well used on campus).
Toldja---it takes Illinois legislative action to change the board from appointed to elected. This has been done in Illinois where the appointed board, I believe one of the examples was either a water or wastewater district, was shown to have ignored the wishes of the majority of those it was created to serve. So to answer your question, you request your representatives to guide you on what is necessary for them to present to the legislature. However, be aware, the CU MTD has million of Illinois and local tax $'s as well as contracted legal assistance which will 'derail' your efforts through their political and association connections. They certainly used those resources against an individual (recent CC board member) and they continue to use their power against the CS MTD.
The solution to dwindling fuel supplies and high gas prices?
Change the form of local government.
That answer is soooo Illinois.
The Democrats have no monopoly on dumb governmental ideas in this state.
Thank you LV.
It is 12.46 miles from the !-74 / SR 47 interchange in Mahomet to the U of I parking garage at University and Goodwin in Urbana. That is 24.92 miles round trip. Using the $0.50 per mile IRS allowance the daily out of pocket cost of commuting by car is $12.46 or $270 per month. Add to that the cost of parking at $65.00 per month and you get an out of pocket monthly cost of commuting by car of $335.00 per month. Compare that to a probable light rail fare of $4.00 per day or $86.00 per month.
Your numbers are laughable, Keith. My round trip daily commute is 26 miles from home in Mahomet to work in Urbana. I put between 7 and 8 gallons of gas into my Prius every 10 days or so. It cost me $17 the other day to top it off. That's about $60 a month, rounding up. I don't charge my co-worker who carpools with me almost every day anything, so it cuts his gas costs down to about 0 and effectively doubles my mpgs. Parking is free at work, and I get to come and go as I want. I used benefit time today to leave early. Instead of waiting on a multi-million dollar tram, I was home in 20 minutes. As an aside, don't you live in Monticello?
I'll check back with both of you when gas hits $4 a gallon, which will be soon enough with the falling dollar, then again when it hits $5 a gallon, which might not be that far off.
BTW, I do own a rather large a gas-sucking SUV, but I'm smart enough to not live so far away from the basic needs of life that I have to "exercise" it like a horse every day just for its "benefit."
$4 a gallon gas wasn't bad at all. I didn't have to change anything at all in my routine. If it goes there again, so be it. If it hit's $5 a gallon, I might eat out one less day a week at work. No big deal.
Based on your little snippet into your lifestyle, I'll put my green cred up against yours any day. Mahomet has everything I need to live quite comfortably. Grocery store, hardware store, 2 pharmacies, doctors and dentists offices, gas stations, a bunch of good restaurants, movie store, lumber yard, good schools, better parks than Champaign or Urbana, no crime (save for the occasional bank robbery :), a nice bar/restaurant downtown, neighbors that aren't arrogant a-holes constantly telling you how much better they are than you, and a whole bunch more.
don't you live in Monticello?
No, I don't. I live on Leeper Drive, literally across the street from the City of Champaign.
Your numbers are laughable, Keith.
They are not "my numbers" and I am sure that the IRS is not laughing or being overly generous when it allows $0.50 per mile as a deduction for the business use of an automobile. Of course that includes maintenance, repairs, and depreciation in addition to fuel and is a more realistic assessment of out of pocket costs than the cost of a fill up every 10 days or so. The parking figure is what my wife has deducted by the University from her paycheck for her parking permit.
I am glad you drive a Prius. But your $60 dollar cost is not the whole cost of driving it. I am also glad that you are generous enough to haul your neighbor to and from work. You are to be commended. But then even my "laughable" numbers do not include the amortizing the billion or so in construction costs for the two additional lanes of I 74 from Prairieview Road to I-57 that DOT says will be required for safe and efficient travel within 10 years.
Three Score and Ten Plus One
Keith Hays
To Anonymous @ 5:17 P--driving a Prius is terrific, wish I could afford one. I am a bit curious if you took advantage when you purchased your Prius of the "X" amount allowed to be deducted from your income taxes and applied for the $1000 grant from the Illinois Secretary of Treasury Office for this purchase. If so, your purchased was subsidized by federal and state dollars. If not, sorry that you missed those opportunities.
Pattsi Petrie
No, I don't.
Ok
But then even my "laughable" numbers do not include the amortizing the billion or so in construction costs for the two additional lanes of I 74 from Prairieview Road to I-57 that DOT says will be required for safe and efficient travel within 10 years.
IDOT also says they need a billion dollars to build a four lane from Macomb to Peoria (which is a hell of a lot farther than the 13 miles you're talking about). Forgive me for not being convinced by IDOT's statistics or your overblown monetary claims.
I am a bit curious if you took advantage when you purchased... If so, your purchased was subsidized by federal and state dollars
No, Pattsi, I didn't get that one. I got the bigger $4500 one that was offered a few years back during the Bush years. I suppose you're trying to make some type of a point about government subsidies and infer that I'm against 'government handouts' because I live in Mahomet. The problem is, you don't know me. I'm all for gov't subsidies for the right things. I'm pro cap and trade. I believe global warming is manmade. I am pro-MTD. Hell, I think it'd be a good idea if MTD made a couple trips to Mahomet throughout the day to take people back and forth to town. However, widening I-74 is a stupid idea and a waste of money. Building some sort of tram or train into town is an equally idiotic idea and waste of money. Quit trying to pigeonhole people.
Mr/Ms Prius is still not counting all the subsidies that come out of pockets other than his/her own. I'm glad s/he's being as green as s/he is, but you're still missing the point about massive government intervention propping up your lifestyle.
But ain't it grand?
"Massive government intervention propping up your lifestyle." This describes all of our lifestyles. Govenment allows us to privately own land, it regulates the land, it provides us with a currency, it regulates the exchange of currency, it oversees laws that allow for a market, it builds the roads, the airports, the rail lines, the ports, and the sewer and usually the water systems everyone of us depends on. Government funded schools are responsible for the majority of people having access to education, prior to that only private schools existed and only the upper classes could afford to educate their children.
Without government there is no "lifestyle" for the average person except for servitude. That is why we call it a democracy. It is of, for, and by the people. I voted yesteday but "the people" really did not turn out so I guess they trust governmen to work based on the wishes of us few who vote.
"the people did not turn out" because it was a closed primary where the voter can only chose the best qualified canidates for government positions within a political party or not affiliated with a political party. This is Illinois where the voter's needs and wishes are ignored by the canidates to enable them to continue or get on the public dole.
To LV @ 11:12 A--it was a closed primary February 2008 and the turn out was 35%, county wide, not that this number rocks, but almost twice the 2010 turnout. The closed primary is a constant variable. There must be other variables coming into play. It would be very interesting to read explanatory posting about the low turnout. Once upon a time, I thought much had to do with the fact that many precinct committee people just do not work his/her precinct. I am re-evaluating this idea since I know a Democratic precinct person who has been such for decades, in a very stable precinct, knows everyone, and is the model of educating the voters. The turnout in that precinct was no better statistically than for those precincts that were not worked.
Pattsi Petrie
Feb 08 comparisons aren't fair - Obamamania was sweeping the state. The primary is way too early.
To RSW @ 12:00 P--why don't you have coffee with Mike Madigan and convince him to move the date back to March or better yet April or May. :-) I know that I would have preferred this as I walked through ice and snow with my broken knee cap. :-)
Pattsi Petrie
I know lots of people who actually had no idea the primary was yesterday. Also, several people were under the impression that they were required to vote in every race and that the machine would actually spit their ballot out so the election judge would see it if they undervoted!
LV has the right idea, Illinois needs to dump the closed primary. I go back and forth between Rep and Dem in these closed primaries depending upon which party seems to have the most qualified canidates. Yesterday I looked for a non partisan ballot but there wasn't any. Outcome of switching between parties results in getting twice the junk mail and annoying polling support calls.
If you have coffee with MM rsw, push the primary August, 90 days before the election, so the canidates have less time to spend all that PAC and now corporate $'s on ads. If you really want to go out on a limb ask the Dem King of the Legislature if he would consider an open primary. Yea, it would be like asking the Devil to close down Hell so better hold back on that one.
Pattsi, why are the poling judges selected based upon their political party when each party can place a 'precinct person' to oversee the election? I see this criteria as being a deterient to getting volunteers to give up usually 12 hours or more each election.
To Oil Man @ 1:52 P--I do not know the answer because I have never trained to be an election judge, only a poll watcher. My guess is that this is statue driven, but I defer to IP and Mark Shelden or others who are more knowledgeable. I do vote for your many suggestions in the posting, however.
Pattsi Petrie
Yes, it is statue driven. I only hope someday we will have state legislaturers who will really reform IL election laws from champaign finance through election policies like judge must declare and be verified of their party affiliation and open primaries. Hopefully I live long enough for a majority of the elected to actually perform as public servants.