Billy Tyus

The Bloomington City Council on Monday received a presentation on how to make incentives more understandable and effective to developers.

Government efforts to address the Bloomington-Normal housing shortage are a work in progress. Every little effort to make it more attractive to develop helps.

The results of a recent housing symposium were analyzed, with a number of potential remedies being suggested. The city also will hold meetings to receive citizen input over the course of the next month.

Bloomington City Council members voted unanimously Monday to approve the streetscape plan for improving downtown Bloomington that has been in the works for the better part of two years.

Now that the City of Bloomington has a new anchor tenant for Grossinger Motors Arena, the city is looking for a new name for the downtown venue.

For more than a year, the City of Bloomington has been looking into a new streetscape plan. It's a potential $30 million "generational" project that would replace aging under-and-above-ground infrastructure. Staff have said the effort is about far more than beautification.

A Bloomington City Council discussion about whether to apply prevailing wage rules to a private development if there are government incentives at stake is spreading beyond the apartment project in question. That's according to deputy city manager Billy Tyus who said in a WGLT interview the ongoing dialogue is not just about wages.

Bloomington Deputy City Manager Billy Tyus said tax revenue is up and the public has said road improvements should be a priority.

The Town of Normal is making Smart Cities technology a big priority. The City of Bloomington has been less vocal on that front, but also is leveraging new tech. Smart Cities technology, broadly defined, is supposed to make city operations smoother for the public and more efficient for the municipality.

Bloomington City Council members signaled to staff Monday night they would like to use existing aid and improvement programs to help flood victims before considering direct aid from the city. That will come back for a vote next week.