The Normal Town Council on Monday approved a number of construction contracts and the 2026 strategic plan.
During the short meeting, the council awarded a $4.6 million contract to Rowe Construction for general street resurfacing. Highlights include Willow Street from Main to Linden streets, Eastview Drive, and College Avenue from White Oak Road to I-55/74.
The contract is for work done from July until the end of June 2027.
The council also awarded a $733,378 contract for GA Rich & Sons for the Vernon Avenue water service relocation project. Normal will abandon the water main there and move all water services to a newer main that is currently in use along Hovey Avenue.
Because the bid was higher than the allocated $650,000 for the water department, the approval included a budget adjustment. The project is projected to start around mid-August, finishing in the fall.
The council accepted a $108,558 quote from the Traffic Control Corporation for the Emergency Vehicle Preemption [EVP] Test Project. EVP is a type of traffic control system that temporarily modifies traffic signal patterns to allow emergency vehicles to receive priority in an intersection.
An associated budget adjustment was included in the agenda item, as an EVP project was not in the budget. Normal selected the Glance Preemption System from Applied Information, a software-based emergency vehicle preemption solution.
The Glance system uses GPS and cellular communication to follow the route of an emergency vehicle and clear traffic ahead of its arrival in an intersection. It will be installed at several intersections, starting with four along Raab Road. Those were chosen due to their proximity to Fire Station #3.
And the council awarded a $171,945 contract to Denler Inc. for 2026 crack and joint fillings on six streets. The contract requires that work be completed by Oct. 1.
Strategic plan
Also Monday, the council approved the 2026 strategic plan with the highest-priority goals focusing on economic issues, public safety, modernizing infrastructure and creating transparency.
The strategic plan helps guide staff on priorities and initiatives in day-to-day operations and long-term considerations. It concerns plans from 2026-29, building off the 2023 version of the strategic plan.
Sprague's
In another matter, the town extended a license and residential lease agreement associated with Sprague’s Super Service for another half-year. The current contract expired at the end of 2026.
Sprague’s Super Service was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008 and designated as a local landmark in 2011. Constructed between 1930-31 by William W. Sprague, it serviced vehicles passing through Pine Street along historic Route 66.
The license-lease agreement, dating back to 2016, allows Theressa Ryburn to operate a gift shop and lease an apartment above the building. Ryburn plans to retire at year's end, but expressed a desire to continue the agreement on a month-to-month basis to allow her to dispose of inventory and close the business.
Extending the agreement allows for Sprague’s Super Service to remain open until the end of the Route 66 Centennial Celebration.
Appointments
The council approved an appointment to the Bloomington-Normal Asahikawa Sister Cities Committee. Angie Stegemann is a library specialist at Milner Library at Illinois State University and has a family member who participated as an exchange student in the program.
Julie Hile was reappointed to her position on the Connect Transit board. Council member Kathleen Lorenz was the only "no" vote, but declined to share her reason with WGLT.
