On Tuesday July 12 BLNNEWS editor Diane Benjamin wrote an article titled I WONDER WHAT HAPPENED TO NORMAL’S REQUEST? The article was about additional funds being requested by the Town of Normal from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for the Uptown Underpass.
Benjamin asked her readers, “Remember when Normal asked for $6 million more for the underpass they refused to re-bid?” She also wrote, “I don’t remember anyone from Normal publicly admitting the additional request. It was penned in April, maybe some media will ask about the status. 🥱” Cities 92.9 decided to take up the challenge.
During research for this article Cities found a few mistakes in Benjamin’s posts that need to be addressed as part of taking up her challenge.
First, the project has not been bid. The current figures being discussed are planning estimates.
Second, according to a June 15 article by WGLT, “City Manager Pam Reece said fallout from the pandemic means the chance to get the money is good. ‘Some of the projects that (had) been awarded grants back in the 2019 program year did not move forward. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) made us aware that some of those funds were available,’ said Reece.”
Third, in her story Benjamin referenced a post published on May 9, 2022 titled NO SURPRISE, NORMAL NEEDS $6 MILLION MORE TO BUILD THE UNDERPASS.
Benjamin wrote the following regarding Normal, “They claim inflation is making the construction costs go from $19,232,000 to $25,232,000. They claim inflation of 1.54% was built into original estimates, but now inflation is 7.9%. Do the math, estimates are 31.2% higher than last July when the Council accepted the grant.”
We reviewed part of the July 19, 2021 Normal Town Council Meeting video that were related to this issue. That in itself was no small task. Discussion on this issue went on for an hour and a half that night.
The fact is that Normal Town Manager Pam Reece stated at that meeting that the current amount budgeted for the project was $23.9 million. As Benjamin wrote another place in her article, Normal’s current construction estimate is $29.9 million. Therefore based on our calculation using these figures, inflation has increased the cost by 25.1%.
WGLT’s June 15 article verifies our calculations, “The estimated price of the Uptown Underpass Project in Normal could go up by 25% because of inflation.”
Reviewing the meeting video also reminded us that more than one council member had problems accepting this grant. Not only did Stan Nord struggle with it but Kathleen Lorenz and Scott Preston did also. Watching the vote reveals just how much Lorenz and Preston struggled. Both took noticeable pauses during the role call before ultimately supporting accepting the grant.
Nord was the only no vote and he spoke the strongest against accepting the grant.
Among other statements Nord asked Mayor Chris Koos, “Are you proposing that we approve this without knowing how much it is going to cost and where the money is going to come from?”
But the truth is, despite Koos being argumentative with Nord, no one really actually said he was wrong that night. More than anything else they just ignored the elephant in the room.
It is also worth noting in Reece’s statements quoted above that it appears the FRA made Normal aware that unused federal funds from previous years might be available. Based on that statement it doesn’t appear that Normal went looking for additional federal funds but that the federal government provided Normal with a potential opportunity.
It would have been foolish of Normal to not try to take advantage of the potential of obtaining those funds and in fact to not have done so might have been a dereliction of duty.
With all of the above being said, Cities 92.9 asked Reece if she has received a response from FRA regarding her request. Reece responded immediately and advised us that to date she has not received a response.
