Charleston’s Unified Development Code might be getting a “much needed cleanup” if council members approve the ordinance at tonight’s City Council meeting, said Mayor John Inyart.

Interim City Planner Steve Pamperin has headed a committee to go through the code and find redundancies, awkward or outdated language and policies.

Ultimately, five codes have been selected for improvement that center on rewording of definitions for concise specifications.

“None of these changes have any significant effect on developers,” Inyart said. “It is more or less just a cleanup to make things clearer and more comprehensible – not as confusing. Literally, one or two words are changed in some of them.”

The city council will also follow up on the renewal of a promissory note to Bank of America for a loan to fund early retirement in October 2004.

The loan was initially taken out for $1.2 million and will now be renewed for $294,922.

“If the note is approved, we should be able to pay out the rest of the principal balance at the end of this year,” Inyart said.

The city of Charleston borrowed the money from the Bank of America because of a lower fixed interest rate of 3.31 percent.

Inyart said that in 2004, the city had 14 employees seek early retirement at the same time.

Funds were needed to support their package referenced by the state, he said.

“This rate has been great for the taxpayers,” he said. “We really got a great deal and now we are just finishing it up.”

Promissory notes are basically a promise to pay a sum of money either at a set time or on demand of the recipient.

In other business, the Corridor Review Committee, which addresses appeals for new buildings in areas that service both Mattoon and Charleston, has approved a concept plan for the Killough Medical Office.

Now, the city council will have a chance to approve the plan.

The medical office is to be built at 1301 Deerpath Road in Charleston.

Since it has the committee’s approval, the office plans will move on to both Mattoon and Charleston’s city councils.

The Killough Medical Office is for podiatry, which focuses on disorders of the lower leg.

“I see this moving through quite easily,” Inyart said.

The Charleston City Council meets at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 520 Jackson Ave.

Krystal Moya can be reached at 581-7945 or at ksmoya@eiu.edu.