December 2017
Tell Your Peoria City Council Members to Vote NO on the 6th Six Month Extension of the Riverfront Park Sale Agreement.
Please phone or email your Peoria City Council District Representative and the At-Large Representatives listed below. Ask them to Vote NO on the River Trail Development Agreement extension regarding sale of riverfront parkland for private apartment buildings. This vote is expected to be on Tuesday, December 12th, at the 6 p.m. City Council Meeting in Room 400 at Peoria City Hall, 419 Fulton St., downtown Peoria.
Selling 5.8 acres of our prime public riverfront park land at a bargain basement price is not in the best interests of the public and building four, 4-story high apartment buildings surrounded by paved parking lots near the river's edge is not in the best interests of the environment. This project is too costly and too risky for Peoria as it faces budget cuts.
The National Park Service conditions on approval for the project require more replacement land along the riverfront, completion of the fully replaced sand volleyball courts in three years, and funding for the $66,000 the City claimed from previous conversion projects.
The City has spent tens of thousands of dollars to pay intent-to-purchase payments for the Simantel and Detweiller Trust properties and untold hundreds of hours of staff time. There are too many unknown costs in the clean-up of contaminated land and potential problems with construction on what was the historic railroad maintenance area. It is time to pull the plug on the public park sale!
Ask your District Council Member and Council Members at Large to Vote NO on an extension of the River Trail Development agreement!
Contact District Council members (look up your district on your voter registration card or phone City Hall at 309-672-6000):
Council Members At-Large who have voted to sell the park:
W. Eric Turner, Council Member at Large
6212 N. Tealwood Circle
Peoria , IL 61615
Home: 309-339-8896
Cell: 309-253-2489
Email: weturner@peoriagov.org
Sid Ruckriegel, Council Member at Large
1230 W. Moss Avenue
Peoria 61606
Cell: 309-857-8000
Email: sruckriegel@peoriagov.org
Zachary M. Oyler, Council Member at Large
3015 N. Bigelow St.
Peoria, IL 61604
Cell: 309-214-0640
Email: zoyler@peoriagov.org
City Council District Representatives who have voted to sell the park:
Denise Moore, 1st District Council Member
723 W. Spring Hollow Lane
Peoria, IL 61605
Cell: 309-213-6628
Email: dmoore@peoriagov.org
Timothy Riggenbach, 3rd District Council Member
Mr. Riggenbach should question this project and vote no. His children and future generations should not have to be paying for the City's bad decision to sell public parkland closest to the RiverPlex and putting a new dead-end street through the remaining narrows of the park.
521 W Stonegate Road
Peoria, IL 61614
Home Phone: 309-688-5149
Cell Phone: 309-369-5233
Voicemail: 309-494-8991
Email: triggenbach@peoriagov.org
Denis Cyr, 5th District Council Member
Cell: 309-214-0626
Email: dcyr@peoriagov.org
THANK these Council Members for their efforts to Save the Park!
THANK Council member Montelongo for his June vote NO on the project and urge him to continue voting NO.
Jim Montelongo, 4th District Council Member
419 Fulton Street
Peoria, IL 61602
Cell: 309-213-1581
Email: jmontelongo@peoriagov.org
THANK the Council Members below who have consistently spoken out and voted in favor of saving the park:
Beth Akeson, Council Member at Large
Cell: 309-573-1117 or 309-696-7530
Voicemail: 309-494-8689
Email: bakeson@peoriagov.org or bethakeson@comcast.net
Elizabeth Jensen, Council Member at Large
Cell: 309-863-0160
Email: bjensen@peoriagov.org
Chuck Grayeb, 2nd District Council Member
419 Fulton Street
Peoria, IL 61602
Cell: 309-213-6629
Email: cgrayeb@peoriagov.org