The City of Champaign became 4.26 acres larger on Monday, as the City Council approved the annexation of a small piece of land on South First Street.

With no discussion from the public during an available public hearing early in the meeting, council members went on to pass a consolidated bill by a vote of 8-0, approving of an annexation agreement between the city and the University of Illinois Employees Credit Union — who previously owned the land at 2201 S. First St. — and the annexation of the land itself.

The property is located at the south end of Research Park, where the credit union — open for business to any resident of Champaign County — has stood since 1980.

City Planning Director Bruce Knight said the annexation is just a way to finalize some of the changes that have occurred to the area.

“It really was just a matter of cleaning up behind,” Knight said after the meeting. “The priority was to get the annexation (east of First Street) done and get the First Street project going.”

“There wasn’t any particular thing that came up along the way,” Greg Anderson, senior vice president for the Credit Union said in a phone interview Tuesday before the bill passed. “It was more of an after-the-fact, ‘Oh, everything around you is the City of Champaign, and you’re kind of sitting here.’”

The Credit Union was already paying property taxes to Champaign County for its First Street location, but the annexation will add another tax expenditure to its budget. Still, Anderson said the burden shouldn’t be passed on.

“It’s like all operating costs that increase from year-to-year, whether it’s utilities or just overhead in general,” he said. “It’s not the kind of thing that would be any kind of impact on operations.”

Besides increasing the amount of taxes the credit union must pay to the local governments, Anderson said there has been a bright side to the additions around Research Park.

“The state said in 1994, ‘All this (development) is going to happen around you, so it’s going to be good.’ Well I hoped to see it,” he said. “But actually we are seeing a lot of expansion; the master plan for the University is coming this way.”

Later in the meeting, council members approved of a resolution for Allied Waste Transportation, Inc., to be the company that will provide door-to-door recycling service for multifamily residences in Champaign starting Dec. 1.

Council member Michael LaDue addressed his support of the city’s progress toward attaining an improved recycling program throughout his years on city council, even during this time of an economic recession.

“In spite of that, we made this a priority, and we’re expanding our recycling efforts.”

Compiled by Jack Vebber