By Adam Studzinski

NORMAL – Normal’s Parks and Recreation Master Plan was approved Monday night by the Town Council.

It includes the construction of a new sports complex for the Twin Cities, which a portion of the recent sales tax increase revenue was intended to partially fund. However, that might change because Bloomington is using its portion of the increase in different areas.

“The question is, do we move forward with a sports complex? Is there something we can do that’s a little less expensive that the town can absorb? Do we find other funding partners that could assist in getting that complex completed?” City Manager Mark Peterson said.

Peterson added he believes there is still support on the council for the complex.

“I think they’d like to do something, but we’ve just got to figure out a way to fit that project into our budget parameters,” he said.

Peterson explained there are many other projects the plan suggests.

“There’s a variety of suggestions that we expand our park acreage in the plan,” said Peterson. “There’s a suggestion that we really have a deficiency in indoor recreation facilities – everything from gymnasiums to meeting rooms.”

The council also approved preparation of the town’s property tax levy. Normal is likely to increase its portion of the levy by 2.3 percent, however since the equalized assessed valuation is expected to go up 2.5 percent, residents will probably be paying a little bit less for Normal’s portion of the tax bill.

Adam Studzinski can be reached at [email protected].