Urbana City Council approves items, mayoral appointments

By Eli Murray

Urbana City Council approved all items brought before it, along with recognizing two mayoral appointments, at its meeting Monday.

The first item brought to council was the development of a four-acre subdivision off Windsor Road. The project, as approved, would have 46 units, 15 of which are apartment units and the rest duplexes.

“This (project will) yield about $300,000 a year to the taxing bodies,” said Libby Tyler, community development director, adding that about $42,000 of the tax revenue would go toward Urbana directly, and about $155,000 would go to the school district.

The property is to be constructed as modular architecture, where individual modules are built off-site and brought to the subdivision to be assembled. Developer Gary Olsen said modular architecture has many benefits, including a quicker overall build time and energy-saving insulation.

Olsen also said the city would like to create an area of diversity for young professionals, families and retired residents — indicating that it would be an upscale neighborhood.

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“We’d like to create quality homes and have some quality people living there,” he said.

Other approved resolutions included the creation of a new fund associated with the dissolution of a special tax allocation fund, an agreement with Illinois Jobs Now! to fund improvements to High Cross Road, and a resolution to update language in an agreement with the Champaign County Geographic Information System Consortium.

Shea Belahi received an appointment from Mayor Laurel Prussing to the Market at the Square Advisory Board. Belahi has been a resident of Urbana for the past seven years. She is a manager on duty at Common Group Food and a vegetable grower.

Prussing also appointed Captain Kyle Hensch to fire division chief of the Urbana Fire Department. Hensch has been with the city for 15 years, has received multiple citations for life saving actions and outstanding service, and is also an instructor at IFSI.