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Monrovia residents tell redevelopment commission to slow TIF process, cite water and local-impact worries
Summary
Multiple residents and business owners urged Morgan County officials to slow the TIF and consult Monrovia, raising concerns about overlapping TIFs, groundwater and river flows, property-value impacts, and a lack of communication with local residents.
Residents from Monrovia and nearby areas used the meeting’s public-comment period to press the redevelopment commission to slow the TIF process and to demand more outreach and technical review.
Jane Ryerson, vice president of the Monrovia Redevelopment Commission and a member of Monrovia’s parks-and-recreation board, said the county TIF "is right in the middle of Monrovia’s TIF that we created in 2023" and asked, "what is the plan between the county and Monrovia to make sure that our TIF districts ... are used in an appropriate manner and are meeting the same goals rather than working against each other?"
Tom W., who identified himself as a civil environmental engineer, described groundwater and river-flow data and warned that low river flows during dry months increase the proportion of treated effluent coming from upstream wastewater plants. He urged the commission to allow technical review and to meet with AES and Google to discuss water supply and lifecycle energy choices, including solar versus small modular reactors.
Kiri Suchello, a Monrovia-area small-business owner, said she could not overstate local alarm: "It is an atrocity of power over people," she told the commission, and asked officials to "slow this down," arguing that rapid approvals risk extracting economic value from Monrovia and harming small businesses and community character.
Diane Thrawley and other commenters said they had not seen evidence of direct outreach between county leaders and Monrovia residents and urged commissioners to consult the affected communities before finalizing decisions. Christopher Lamerson urged the commission to give community-generated proposals equal weight with industry-prepared plans if TIF funds become available.
Commissioners acknowledged the concerns, noting the declaratory resolution begins a process of planning, plan commission review and public hearings. Commissioners encouraged further engagement but did not delay adoption of the declaratory resolution at this meeting; residents asked for follow-up meetings and technical briefings.
The public comment portion of the meeting recorded several specific requests for additional meetings with county staff and with AES/Google representatives, and flagged technical questions about groundwater, discharge concentrations and the distribution of TIF benefits across Monrovia and Adams Township.
