Urbana Township covers an area of about 25 square miles, mostly in rural areas outside of the City of Urbana. The main purpose of the township is the maintenance of roads, bridges, and right-of-ways, and the Township also provides General Assistance funds for individuals who are not categorically eligible for federal or state programs.

History

Urbana Township was established on November 8^th, 1859 (“Urbana Township”). Since then the township has dealt with numerous highway and engineering projects, including the construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, and drainage systems.

For example, in 2005, the township worked in cooperation with the Saint Joseph Drainage District, the Urbana Park District, the Scottswood School District, the City of Urbana, and the County Regional Planning Commission to create a new drainage plan for Scottswood, a subdivision in east Urbana (“Intergovernmental”). The six government entities together proposed a $2 million project, $870,000 of which was funded by federal Community Development Assistance Program grants in September, 2005. This money was in addition to the $395,430 that the Urbana Township was awarded in grants the previous month (Clements). Called the Scottswood Area Stormwater Improvement Project, it called for improvements in the existing but inadequate Scottswood stormwater sewer system and “the construction of a six-acre wetland in the new Weaver Park just west of the subdivision” (“Intergovernmental”).

Today the township continues to focus largely on the maintenance of roads, bridges, and drainage systems for the City of UrbanaUrbana Township. The Roads Commissioner will be working with the individuals laying the fiber for UC2B along some of the roads under his jurisdiction (Prather).

As an organization that prides itself on providing “efficient grass-roots government,” the township currently does not use technology very much. The Township Supervisor in 2000, Don Flessner, summarized this mentality: “We don’t have multiple layers of bureaucracy. If I get a nuisance complaint, I go out myself and look at it” (Monoson).  The current Supervisor and Roads Commissioner expressed a similar mentality—they spend more time doing work in the field than they do in the office. An organization run in this manner does not have a great perceived need for technological innovations such as the broadband service that UC2B will provide.

This CU wiki entry began as a UIUC research project.  For more on that see Study of UC2B Anchor Institutions' Technology Use

Resources

Monoson, Mike. “Township officials say they provide efficient, grass-roots government.” The News-Gazette, 21 Dec. 2000. Accessed 18 Nov. 2011 Urbana Free Library Archives.