City council says no 

The Springfield City Council on Tuesday said no to $700,000 in public money to build housing on a downtown parking lot at the intersection of Fourth and Madison streets.

The unanimous vote came amid myriad questions about the project, including the extent of environmental contamination on the property, who owns the parking lot that would be purchased with public money and whether local labor would be used to construct the building that would have room for 90 tenants and be marketed to students from University of Illinois Springfield and Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.

Union members opposed to the deal packed council chambers, and much debate centered on the refusal of Bluffstone, the Iowabased developer, to guarantee that local labor would be used. Tim Butler, a company representative, provided few specifics as he urged the council to release tax increment financing money that would be used to acquire the land.

When Ward 1 Ald.

Chuck Redpath asked whether the building would be built modular style, with prefabricated parts trucked to Springfield and assembled on site, Butler didn’t say yes or no. At one point, Butler said that Bluffstone hasn’t decided on a construction method. When Mayor Jim Langfelder asked what percentage of the project would be built with local labor, Butler had no specifics.

“We have no opposition to local labor,” Butler answered. “However, we have to get this project done on time and on budget.”

The meeting often was combative as Butler sparred with aldermen who criticized Bluffstone for not providing clear answers to questions. The company has been considering the project for a year, supporters said. But aldermen said that Bluffstone hasn’t been talking to council members.

“I’ve never heard from you,” Ward 6 Ald.

Cory Jobe told Butler. “I find that to be disrespectful to the process.”

Ward 8 Ald. Kris Theilen leveled some of the harshest criticism, calling Butler a “fixer” who specializes in closing deals. Theilen also accused the developer of pulling a Chicagostyle push to ramrod the project and win approval.

“We’re not Chicago,” Theilen said. “We’re a lot more laid back.”

“When tax money is involved, some strings are attached”

Bluffstone has said that the construction needs to start soon so that the building would be ready for students from UIS and the medical school in the fall of 2017.

“You have so many strings tied to this TIF,” Butler told the council. “Make a decision.”

That didn’t go over well. “When tax money is involved, some strings are attached,” Ward 9 Ald. Jim Donelan said. “I’ll be blunt. I haven’t gotten one phone call. You guys haven’t done a good job of selling this project.”

Uncertainties about labor and construction techniques weren’t the only questions.

When aldermen asked about possible environmental contamination at the site, which was once reportedly home to a taxi cab company, an engineer retained to evaluate contamination said that an assessment hasn’t been complete, but a report should be ready within two weeks. How much would it cost to mitigate any contamination, Ward 5 Ald. Andrew Proctor asked.

“Until we get that report back, I don’t even want to comment on that,” the engineer answered.

The land is now owned by a trust and Dennis Albanese, whose family runs a development company that specializes in building hotels, resisted disclosing the names of trust beneficiaries who stand to benefit if public money is used to purchase the site. Albanese said that the names have been shared with aldermen, but he balked at making the names public when Proctor said it’s a matter of transparency.

“Why can’t we disclose who’s in the trust?” Proctor asked.

“Can you tell me a reason why that’s necessary?” Albanese responded. “What purpose is there in telling 117,000 people who’s invested there? … Most of these people are retired lawyers. There’s no politicians. There’s no one of remote interest there. ... What’s the purpose? Does it say in the TIF (rules) that I have to disclose that or anything else?” It’s a matter of letting the public know who will receive public money, Proctor said.

“With $700,000 in taxpayer money on the line here, I think transparency’s key,” Proctor said.

Contact Bruce Rushton at [email protected].