Besides voting on pay increases for elected officials earlier this week, the Danville City Council did have some other business that came up. One was a new four year deal for Unit 11 of the Policemen’s Benevolent Protection Association. Danville Police Chief Christopher Yates was glad to see it get done.
AUDIO: Our Council members and our city leaders know exactly what the police are doing here and what kind of job they’re doing. Many of our aldermen have done ride-alongs; they spend a lot of time speaking with their constituents and people in their areas. They understand what we need, and we need a high level of professional policing. Hopefully this will help us attain that, and maintain it.
Danville Police Chief Christopher Yates; very pleased to see new police contract completed.
The deal is retroactive to 2021. All annual raises during the deal are between three and four percent.
Meanwhile, Joliet resident Quinn Adamowski was at the Council meeting speaking for Landmarks Illinois, which identifies as a statewide nonprofit dedicated to saving historic places that matter. Adamowski wanted to talk about Bresee Tower, and not about what previous owner Chris Collins had said he wanted to do. Instead, Adamowski asked the city to consider writing up a request for proposal for what the building would need to survive, post it on the city website, and then see if anyone out there would like to take on the challenge. Adamowski says that like the Fischer Theater, Bresee Tower is a special building, not something to just cast aside.
Quinn Adamowski from Landmarks Illinois speaks to the Danville City Council about saving Bresee Tower.
AUDIO: This building, compared to a lot of others that I’ve seen that have been redeveloped, is actually in pretty decent shape. The terra cotta definitely needs work; it’s needed work though for the past dozen or so years. I have not seen the interior; I’ve only seen the pictures that the mayor posted on Facebook. Yes, those things are very problematic. But for a developer, they don’t look at that as a real problem because it’s not structural it nature; it’s just aesthetic in nature.
Danville mayoral candidate Jackie Vinson says she can see it both ways. Danville residents want to move on and want a solution to the building. She says what it really should come down to, is cost for Danville residents.
AUDIO: I think we owe it to ourselves to find what works in the best interests of the taxpayers of our city.
Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr; however; says all these years no one’s come to him with a decent way to save the building; and he doesn’t expect it to happen now.
AUDIO: The people of Danville have lived with an eyesore that’s become increasingly dangerous. So if someone has a proposal, they’ve had plenty of time to bring it forth. I’m not going to waste any more time waiting for empty promises. The people of Danville demand an answer, and it’s time to take action.
Speaking of “taking action,” the Danville City Council did approve Tuesday night the change forwarded to them by the Planning and Zoning Commission; where I-2 industrial and B-3 general commercial areas could have gaming functions added to their “table of uses” for possible future considerations.
