https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/local-news/bloomington-moving-forward-with-2-capital-improvement-projects/ At Monday’s Bloomington City Council meeting, the council approved a contract with Normal based P.J. Hoerr, Inc. for about $13.8 million, more than $2 million more than the original estimate of approximately $11.7 million. Some council members were concerned with the rising costs of the project. Ward 3 Alderwoman Sheila Montney and Ward 5 Alderman Nick Becker voted against approving the contract. The council also approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Bloomington Public Library to issue bonds for the library. The Bloomington Public Library will then use its property tax levy to support the related debt service. Coinciding with those approvals, the council also approved the issuance of up to $20 million in general obligation bonds. Leaders with the city said these bonds will pay in part for both projects, about $14 million for the library expansion project, and $5.8 million for O’Neil Park & Pool Improvement Project. “With projects of that size, we don’t have the reserves in place to fund them, so we’re gonna have to obviously borrow for them, so doing a municipal bond funding, seemed to be the most effective way to take some of those costs out 20 years, over, beyond the estimated life of an asset like that, like a library building or a pool,” said Scott Rathbun, Finance Director for the City of Bloomington. IT was a busy night for the council as they also approved a resolution relative to redistricting. The 2020 census revealed two of the nine wards within Bloomington are not within the required 10% disparity, keeping all wards within similar population sizes. City staff will now come up with two-to-three new maps, which would effectively bring all nine wards back within that 10% disparity. These maps will be presented to the council at a committee of the whole meeting on June 20. ____________________________________________________________ We encourage bidders and the public to participate by watching/listen-ing to the bid opening remotely via the City's livestream. It is highly suggested that interested parties attend. This is the only time scheduled for a site visit. Bidders/Consultants shall cre-ate a FREE account with OpenGov (ProcureNow) by signing up at website. Once ac-count registration has been completed, browse back to website. Submit Response", and follow the instructions to submit the elec-tronic bid. Only Bidders/Consultants following the project, with an active account, are eligible for the contract award.. The City of Bloomington re-serves the right to reject any and all bids and to waive technicalities. The City of Bloomington requires all Bidders /Consultants doing business with the City not to discriminate on the basis of race, age, color, religion, gender, ancestry, na-tional origin, marital status, mental or physical disability unrelated to ability, familial status or sexual orientation. Project no: 21002489.00
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