Let's Taco 'Bout Options
On April Fools’ Day, America voted. In Mahomet, the ballot didn’t offer any contested races. They all looked substantially like my own:
As of last count, over 500 of us still went out and voted nonetheless. That’s great — I appreciate those who took the time to do so. Hopefully we have more candidates in the future. As was observed (not wrongly) on Mahomet-Seymour Talk, a lack of choices makes an election somewhat pointless.
Having options is valuable.
Unsurprisingly given the lack of an opponent, I “won” the opportunity to serve on the Village Board for two years. I look forward to doing so, and I’d encourage anyone else interested in Village matters to get involved too.1 Meetings are on Tuesdays at 6pm at 503 East Main, and of course they are open to the public. Meeting agendas and packets are posted online on the preceding Friday. If you can’t make it to the meeting, you can email the Trustees.
This week’s study session meeting topics include turn lanes at Churchill and 150, which should be a welcome improvement, and an update to the Village’s ADA sidewalk improvement plan. Much of that sidewalk work has now been completed, and I’d like to see a plan for closing some of the sidewalk gaps in town as a next logical step.2 Getting dogwalkers and strollers and bicyclists off the streets would be meaningful from a public safety perspective.
From Ballot to Bell
The election wasn’t the biggest story of the week in Mahomet. That award goes to the announcement that Taco Bell may be coming to town, to be located directly west of the new Culver’s:
The predominant reaction seems to be excitement, but a few have expressed reservations that Mahomet has too many fast food places3 already (or too many Mexican places, although Taco Bell doesn’t target at all the same market segment as our excellent table-service Mexican restaurants do).
I don’t particularly like Taco Bell’s food myself, but I am still excited to hear that one may open in town. For one thing, it is an opportunity to capture additional tax revenue from highway travelers. It is also an opportunity to keep tax revenue from our own citizens here in the Village, as they won’t need to drive to Neil Street or West Springfield when they quieren Taco Bell. Even with our increasing selection of restaurants, Mahomet residents (myself included) regularly do travel to Champaign for food not available here.
Having options is valuable.
From Bell to Ball
Lastly, the production of Cinderella by the High School Drama Club continues this coming weekend. Go see it!
The Board receives very little feedback on most agenda items, and most of that feedback is on Mahomet-Seymour Talk (and often after the fact, when decisions are already made and implemented). I plan to remain involved in that discussion group, but posting there is probably the least effective way to influence Village decisions.
In my part of town, notable sidewalk gaps include Cross Creek Road west of Conway Farm, Oak Creek Road, the gap between First School and Oak Creek Road, Sunny Acres Road, Pin Oak Drive, and McDougal north of Pin Oak Drive. The absence of sidewalks in this area inhibits access between various subdivisions, on the one hand, and Barber Park and the retail on the south side 150 on the other hand (as well as access among subdivisions). What other sidewalk gaps need to be filled? Note that some gaps, such as on South Mahomet Road, currently can’t be addressed by the Village because they remain outside of the Village limits.
It isn’t clear what “too many” means in this context, and in any event the market will sort that out. I would note that our fast food places per capita is less than what it was back when we first had just a Hardee’s and a Dairy Queen.