The Danville City Council Public Services Committee has forwarded to the full council the motion to have architectural firm Dewberry, out of their Peoria office, to handle the next step in determining Danville’s fire station futures. The questions all along have included can the three current locations be redone, or should new locations be chosen? Fire Chief Aaron Marcott says that after the first study looked at overall options, this eight to 12 week project will be more specific to what Danville really needs.
AUDIO: Now we want to produce the actual station design and construction so that the City Council has a good idea of what it would actually be, closer to a representation. So the first study had a version of a hypothetical, just national standards, “this is what they look like,” ” this is they build,” and that cost. This will be a more accurate representation of what we’d actually be looking at at in Danville.
Also during the Public Services Committee meeting, Police Chief Christopher Yates talked about the improvement in the department’s “community policing” since the hiring of a Crime Intel Officer three years ago, and a Data Specialist within the last year.
AUDIO: Well I think one of the things; if you want to predict the future, you look at your past, and different trends. And you see what’s working; what’s not working. And a lot of that’s just based off numbers.
During the Public Comment portion of the committee meeting, former apartment tenant Nancy Irwin, now evicted and living with friends, spoke about her situation that led to her eviction that she believes was landlord retaliation. She also mentioned that her appeal included the involvement of now fired Human Relations Administrator Sandra Finch. The general consensus among committee members was that the retaliation ordinance needs more definition and perhaps “more teeth,” and it is scheduled to be placed on the agenda for the next Public Services Committee meeting.
