The Normal Town Council approved a new ordinance Monday that will expand the boundaries of the Bloomington-Normal Enterprise Zone to include 320 acres along Rivian Motorway to support potentially more expansion at the electric automaker. The zone offers financial incentives for economic development within its boundaries.
The benefits include potential tax exemptions and credits for businesses that want to come to a community, including sales tax exemptions on building materials and “personal property used or consumed during the manufacturing process,” utility tax exemptions on gas and electricity, qualified investment tax credits, a natural gas tax exemption for “purchasing direct from the pipeline,” and the potential for real estate property tax abatement.
Bloomington and Normal have expanded the enterprise zone at various times since it began in 1984 to attract the former Diamond Star Motors and the Mitsubishi auto plant. The town says this new expansion “will support further investment by Rivian” with the added 320 acres along Rivian Motorway, across the the plant.
The original Enterprise Zone expired in 2016 and was formed into a new zone in 2017. It was most recently amended in 2020 to coax Ferraro to expand in the area. The Rivian Motorway zone expansion was approved without presentation or discussion at Monday’s meeting.
Rivian employs around 8,000 people in Normal, where the company makes the R1S SUV, R1T pickup, and commercial delivery vans.
In May, Rivian said it will hire another 550 full-time workers in Normal over the next five years as it begins production on the new R2 model — part of a $1.5 billion investment and expansion plan. In exchange, Rivian is set to receive $827 million in state tax breaks and other incentives over the next 30 years.
Four other governmental bodies — the City of Bloomington, McLean County, Ford County and Gibson City — also need to approve the enterprise zone expansion before it can be considered by the state.
Sewer extension
The council also awarded a contract to Stark Excavating, Inc. in the amount of $338,316 for a sanitary sewer extension on College Avenue, between Cottage Avenue and Garden Road. Council member Karyn Smith pulled the item for discussion before voting, seeking clarification on what exactly the extension will mean for residents.
City manager Pamela Reece said the change from a septic system to a sanitary sewer system “typically… won’t be mandatory, but it will be typically contingent on the time when [residents] actually have failure of their septic system.”
Reece also clarified that new homeowners who purchase a property in the area that currently has a septic system will not be forced to switch to a sanitary sewer system in the absence of septic system failure.
During public comment at the end of Monday’s brief meeting, Normal resident Ron Ulmer spoke to the council about his concerns regarding communication.
Ulmer has spoken during public comment several times in recent weeks regarding issues and questions about infrastructure and maintenance of public areas in the town. On Monday, he maintained he has not received sufficient communication from council members in response to his comments.
“You folks are to represent the citizens,” Ulmer said. “And when they bring concerns here, and you never hear from any one of you no matter how many times I’ve addressed the council, what is wrong?”
Ulmer did say at the end of his comments that he has had conversations with one unidentified council member, Reece, and another unidentified town official. He expressed appreciation for this, but thinks the mayor and council members should respond to citizens directly.
