Kurt Allemeier
RiverVision didn’t include a marina on Davenport’s riverfront, but that didn’t stop one citizen from presenting it as an option to the Davenport Levee Improvement Commission. The citizen? Mayor Bill Gluba’s son Dan Gluba.
Before the presentation at Wednesday’s commission meeting, the mayor chided his son, “don’t park in the boss’s parking space.”
The younger Gluba offered a Powerpoint presentation presenting a marina harbor excavated out of Centennial Park at the base of Marquette Street. The marina offered a beach for sunbathers, docks for transient boaters and a strip mall for restaurants and small shops.
Dan Gluba, who was listed as a design student on the agenda, said the strip mall would be two and a half times larger than the Freight House.
Commissioners didn’t comment on the presentation but did applaud when it was completed. The senior Gluba said the riverfront needs “a signature footprint.”
Tory Brecht
Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba raised a few eyebrows – and the hackles of some Bettendorf firefighters – a couple weeks ago when he made the following statement during a presentation lauding a high rating Davenport’s fire department received from an accredidation group:
“I’m glad to hear we have a bunch of overachievers,” he said. “At least we don’t have $3.5 million houses burning up on our watch.”
The quip referred to a December 2006 fire in Bettendorf that destroyed a multi-million dollar home.
At Wednesday night’s Committee-of-the-Whole meeting, Gluba read an apology into the official record.
At a recent city council meeting during which an outside consultant heaped great praise on our Davenport Fire Department, I got a little overzealous in praising our highly accredited fire department and unfairly compared them to Bettendorf’s department. Such a comparison was simply unfortunate.
Our area is fortunate to enjoy two highly trained fire departments that provide mutual support to each other in times of need.
I have a great deal of respect for both the Davenport and Bettendorf firefighters who exhibit the utmost professionalism and dedication.
I apologize if my recent remark led anyone to believe that I hold anything but great admiration for these men and women who serve our communities under the most difficult of circumstances.”
Bettendorf Mayor Mike Freemire said he appreciated Gluba’s public apology – which was actually preceded by a less formal, personal apology.
“Shortly after those comments were made, I saw Mayor Gluba at the Rock Island Arsenal service for Memorial Day,” Freemire said. “And literally the moment the services were over, he made a beeline over to me and made a personal and professional apology and asked me to extend it to the firefighters in Bettendorf.
I accepted his apology and as far as I’m concerned, it was nothing more than a slip of the tongue. He’s an affable, nice gentleman who carries the torch of Davenport in from of him at all times, and that’s his job.”
Dustin Lemmon
Some members of the city of Moline’s upper management will save the city $13,142 by taking volunteer furlough days in coming weeks. The city issued a news release Friday saying the officials include: the city administrator, police chief, law director, public works director, finance director, economic development director, city engineer, human resources manager, parks director and city planner.
The group will total 28 unpaid furlough days, which equates to just under six weeks off. They will average a 1.1 percent pay reduction for 2009 as a result of donating almost three days each, the release said.
Dustin Lemmon
A reader who travels the Interestate 74 bridge daily forwarded the following letter from the Illinois Department of Transportation, which explains some of the recent events surrounding the I-80 bridge lane closures.
From:
John Wegmeyer
District Two Project Implementation Engineer
815-284-5302
I am the Project Implementation Engineer for the IDOT district in Dixon that oversees all the construction work in the ten northwest counties of Illinois that includes the Rock Island area. Your webmail concerning the traffic control on I-74 was forwarded to our office.
The I-74 reconstruction project that is starting involves rehabilitating 10 bridges. The contractor will be setting concrete barriers at the bridges to protect the motorists and workers when there are holes in the decks. When all the bridge work is done, the contractor will resurface the roadway and will keep all the lanes open on weekends. We did look at requiring the resurfacing work to be done at night. Because of the amount of work to be completed, the only way to complete the resurfacing yet this summer was to allow the contractor to work both during the day and at night.
As soon as we had the emergency closure of I-80 eastbound on Tuesday night we started the work necessary to remove the I-74 lane closures because we knew there would be additional traffic switching to I-74. The work would have been finished on Wednesday except for the rain that prevented the contractor from placing the asphalt needed to restore the bridge deck and fill in the areas where the shoulder was removed. That work was finished on Thursday afternoon.
Removing the southbound lane closures eliminated the construction backups on the I-74 Mississippi River bridge and removed construction from the 3rd Avenue and 7th Avenue interchanges. The contractor starting the project to rehabilitate I-74 has shifted his work efforts to the northbound bridges starting near IL 5 (John Deere Road).
Hopefully eastbound I-80 will be opened back up by the end of June. At that time, the contractor will need to get started on the southbound lanes of I-74 again to finish the $11 million rehabilitation project this summer. For most of the construction season, we will be able to keep the barrels further south and away from the 3rd Avenue ramps. There will be a one month period where the contractor is making repairs to the viaduct structure right by the 3rd Avenue and 7th Avenue ramps. While much of the work will be done at night, there will be some lane closures during the day also.
If you have further concerns or questions regarding any IL DOT construction, please feel free to call me at 815-284-5302.
Tory Brecht
Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba returned from Saudi Arabia Thursday evening. We will try and catch up with him later on Friday to find out how the trip went. Meantime, here are some photographs from the trip.
The photos were forwarded by Gluba’s assistant, Anne Corbi, and do not have accompanying cutline information.
Dustin Lemmon
In coming weeks Rock Island residents will be asked to attend public meetings to review concept plans for renovations to Douglas Park. Bill Nelson, executive director of the city’s parks department, said a Chicago architectural firm is finishing the preliminary designs. Before the city can apply for grants to fund the renovation the City Council must approve a final design.
Nelson said the meetings will be used so residents can share ideas and tell city staff what they do and don’t like. He said the current plan calls for two small baseball fields and one larger field that could also be used for football and soccer.
The park’s future had already been under discussion for some time before an incident last year in which some parents and Little League ball players witnessed shots being fired nearby. No one was injured, but the Little League stopped playing at Douglas Park for the remainder of 2008. Nelson said the Little League and girl’s softball are playing some games at the park this year.
“The facility is getting tired,” Nelson said. “We’re aware of that and know that. We see it needs a rather significant boost.”
Nelson said they will soon set dates and times for the planning meetings.
Kurt Allemeier
A Scott County District Judge recently ruled Scott County doesn’t have to pay attorney fees after having been found in violation of the state’s Open Meeting Act while hiring a county administrator last year.
So, despite the violation, the county received no punishment. Here’s why:
Judge Gary McKenrick ruled in March the board committed one violation of the open meetings act by meeting to interview a candidate who hadn’t requested confidentiality during the application and interview process.
McKenrick awarded plaintiff (and attorney) Thomas Fritzsche attorney fees. A hearing was set to determine what those fees were. After reviewing the law, McKenrick ruled last week that Fritzsche was acting pro se in his lawsuit and that attorney fees aren’t awarded in that situation. The judge also noted in his ruling that Fritzsche didn’t track his hours worked on the lawsuit and only submitted an after-the-fact estimation of his time.
Tory Brecht
Flower basket hanging – an annual rite of spring in downtown Davenport – will commence this weekend.
The DavenportOne Downtown Partnership’s Clean & Safe Team will start hanging wire baskets with purple, pink and yellow petunias beginning Saturday.
New streetscape improvements will allow the number of hanging baskets to increase from 330 to 400 this year, according to Downtown Partnership officials.
The flower program is funded by downtown property owners through the Self-Supporting Municipal Improvement District.
Tory Brecht
A number of weeks ago, while I was on vacation, my colleague Kurt wrote this story about an unnamed developer who was interested in buying properties in the Hilltop area between St. Ambrose and Palmer
The news caused some consternation among residents, curious to hear who the specific developer is and what the long-range plans are. Unfortunately, calls to attorney Benjamin Yeggy – the author of a letter sent to property owners in the neighborhood – have not been returned.
5th Ward Alderman Bill Lynn, despite protestations from some members of the City Council who feared his pushing for details could derail a possible deal, held a meeting last week where folks from the neighborhood around Palmer could ask questions.
I asked Bill to recap the meeting, although he said not a lot of new details came out. Here’s what he had to say:
Last week I had a meeting with neighbors in the Hilltop area just south of St. Ambrose. It was to discuss the recent article in the paper concerning a developer that was trying to buy property in that area. The major point was that the city had no information about the developer or the project.
On the other hand there appears to be renewed interest in the area. The merchants in that area are working to redevelop the area. The city would like to create a ‘campus town’ in that area. Where that will lead development is currently unclear. On the other hand there appears to be a large amount of interest in the area. Since the opening of the new Walgreen’s several developers seem to be interested. I believe this is good news, but currently nothing is firm.
On another note, the President of St. Ambrose has stated publicly that contrary to rumors the school does not have an interest in building a sports complex in that area.
Dustin Lemmon
After he is sworn in as the new mayor of Silvis, Ill., tonight, Bill Fox plans to appoint his wife, Barb Fox, to fill his vacant Ward 2 seat. Fox said he chose his wife because she has 20 years of experience as city clerk and is the most qualified.
“There is no one in town more qualified than her to do this stint,” he said.
Fox’s term expires in 2011. He said with two new aldermen coming on board the council tonight he wants someone with experience to replace him. Barb Fox elected to retire as clerk prior to the April 7 election.
Fox said he talked with the other aldermen after he won the mayoral election and they seemed to support his decision to appoint his wife. Since that time some seem to have changed their mind, he said, adding one alderman stopped by his house Monday night to say they weren’t in favor of Barb’s appointment.
The appointment is not a case of nepotism, Fox argues. He expects he and his wife will have some political disagreements if she is appointed.
“I’ve been married to her for 41 years and really about the only thing we ever argue about is politics,” Fox said.
The meeting starts at 6:30.
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About this Blog The most experienced municipal reporting team in the Quad-Cities is watching out for you. The Quad-City Times reporters who cover Bettendorf, Davenport, Scott County, Clinton County and the Illinois Quad-Cities are watching for news, notes and anecdotes that happen beyond meetings and without press releases. Look for links to articles about events or issues that could affect the Quad-Cities, or contact the Watchbloggers with a newstip. It is all happening here.
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