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Before beginning business, Pat O'Neill, vice chairman of the board,
asked for a moment of silence in memory of former board member Cliff
"Sonny" Sullivan, who died on New Year's Day. Terry Carlton,
county board chairman, announced that on Tuesday, during the board's
adjourned voting session, he would bring forward names for
appointments to the tourism board.
The policy and procedures committee has been working on revisions
that would call for background checks on people appointed through
the county board. During the committee's meeting on Monday evening,
tourism director Geoff Ladd presented logistics suggesting that
doing background checks on proposed appointees might create problems
for the state-certified agency.
Carlton and the committee agreed to research the matter further.
After Thursday night's meeting, Carlton said that this is a
difficult issue that needs a little more sorting out, and he didn't
want to bottleneck the process for tourism. He felt that it is best
to move forward for right now and work on that plan.
The goal of background checks has been to provide some protection
for all, to mitigate (minimize) risks to the agencies and to the
county.
Tourism measures new heights
Thursday night Ladd had some exceptional news for the board,
showing how tourism has taken hold in the county. He beamed as he
brought forward some amazing numbers from the county treasurer's
office. Tax income that supports tourism went from $106,904 to
$140,654, a 30 percent increase in 2009.
Five percent of the taxes collected from local hotels goes to
tourism. The tax income represents 80 percent of the agency's
funding.
Ladd then explained how he attributed the bumper-year numbers. He
thought that the increase was largely due to the opening of the
Hampton Inn, which was second to Holiday Inn Express in revenue.
"My theory since I got here has been that we were losing out on
hotel stays to Springfield and Bloomington because we needed more
hotel rooms here to accommodate the travelers, and that adding one
or two new facilities would enlarge the pie instead of taking the
same-sized pie and dividing it into smaller pieces," he said.
Ladd told the board:
"Other reasons for the increase were all the activities related
to the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial, the continued strong presence
of Route 66 travelers and a record-setting year for the Lincoln Art
& Balloon Festival.
"We also had the amazing renovation of the Lincoln Inn, now a
beautiful new Best Western. We have seen a significant increase in
their numbers as well and are expecting an even bigger jump from
that facility this year. The addition of the World's Largest Covered
Wagon (donated by Larry Van Bibber) to the facility will help
establish the Best Western as a great Route 66 hotel experience.
"All the tourism-related entities (tourism bureau, Main Street,
chamber, Railsplitting Association, etc.) all worked very well
together during this very busy past year, and that was a great help
as well," he said.
Tourism is looking at the sports market this year and is planning
along those lines. The new 2010-2011 visitors guide would be
released this spring.
A highlight on the fall horizon for this year is the 40th
anniversary of the Railsplitting Festival.
Another anticipated boon to the county comes from travelers along
Route 66. An increase is expected with the release of Disney's new
"Cars" movie.
Chamber to celebrate community businesses
Jan Schumacher encouraged board members to attend the annual
dinner of the chamber of commerce, on Jan. 23. Business progress
awards will be presented, and this will be a good time to see what
has been going on in community businesses. (www.lincolnillinois.com)
Economic development
Lincoln & Logan County Development Partnership director Joel
Smiley apprised board members of many things the partnership has
been doing and future plans.
Smiley said that for the first time the agency is gathering an
audit. He will share the 2009 information when it becomes available.
He called on Bill Martin to update the board on CEDS.
Martin said that there has been a slight delay, but it is
expected to go forward in late February or early March. Peoria
wanted to enhance the application with a letter of endorsement from
the governor, which will be added to the CEDS application before it
is sent to the Chicago office of the federal Economic Development
Administration, which approves this area's economic development
plans.
Smiley said that another project is well under way: site visits
to the county's top 30-40 employers. He has sat down and visited
with many of the CEOs, and from those visits he's already formulated
some ideas that would stimulate growth to the area. One is to start
a manufacturers council that would provide valuable information,
such as finding tax credits and funding.
Funds were received for a new Economic Development Master Plan,
and the process of finding someone to write that has begun. Several
firms have expressed interest, and interviews to choose one begin
next week. He expects that the plan would be completed in October.
Smiley was pleased to say that two businesses have put up
meteorological towers for wind testing: one to the southwest and one
in the northeast quadrant of the county. A third, much larger
company is also expected to put up a tower to collect wind data
later this year.
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Civil War statue
Insurance has paid $23,653 on the Civil War statue outside the
courthouse. The soldier was toppled a year ago during a high wind.
A replacement statue is being decided on by a special committee.
It has been undetermined whether to go with stone or the more
expensive, longer-lasting bronze. Bronze has variable grades and
costs but would be an estimated $50,000.
EMA
Rick Aylesworth announced that Logan County Emergency Management
Agency has three grants coming in from various sources: an Emergency
Management Performance Grant for $19,000, which would go into the
general fund; a $22,000 grant; and another from the Hazardous
Materials Emergency Preparedness program for $11,000, which helps
with an office assistant's salary and supplies.
Boat for sale: The old EMA boat has been replaced and is for
sale. They are asking $1,250 for the boat and new rebuilt motor. It
would make someone a good fishing boat, he said.
Bike trail
Logan County representatives continue to meet with Route 66 Bike
Trail planners. Bill Martin said that they have been working with
Scott Schuett, a landscape architect for the Illinois Department of
Natural Resources.
Winter roadways
Southern Logan County representatives got quite a few calls
during the recent snow and ice days when no salt was put on the new
highway between Elkhart and Mount Pulaski.
County engineer Bret Aukamp confirmed that this was because of
the new concrete. The highway department has been and would continue
to put down cinder when needed. Aukamp advised that if icing should
be a problem again this season, anyone feeling that cinders would
not be sufficient for their vehicle should plan to take a different
route.
Aylesworth asked if Elkhart Hill could get salt (rather than just
cinder).
Aukamp said that he would look into that, or it might be a
salt-cinder mixture.
Aukamp reminds transport drivers that seasonal weight
restrictions begin next week. He said he has placed detailed
information on the county's Web site and it is on the highway
department calendar.
Gloria Luster announced that Logan County schools have been
contacted to share when their students and teams make special
achievements so that students may be recognized by the board. On
further discussion, it was decided to contact schools outside the
county, such as Illini and Warrensburg-Latham high schools, so that
Logan County students attending those schools would be recognized as
well.
Carlton announced that the legislative banquet of the United
Counties Council of Illinois has been scheduled and that Logan
County would be inviting our legislators to attend. He encouraged
board members to attend also.
[By
JAN YOUNGQUIST]
A few Logan County resources:
Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of
Commerce
Executive Director Andi Hake
1555 Fifth St.
Lincoln, IL 62656
217-735-2385
chamber@lincolnillinois.com
http://www.lincolnillinois.com/
Lincoln & Logan County Development
Partnership, NFP
Executive Director Joel Smiley
1555 Fifth St.
Lincoln, IL 62656
217-732-8739
EconDev@LincolnLogan.com
http://www.lincolnlogan.com/
Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of
Logan County
Executive Director Geoff Ladd
1555 Fifth St.
Lincoln, IL 62656
217-732-8687
info@abe66.com
http://www.logancountytourism.org/
Community Action Partnership of
Central Illinois
1800 Fifth St.
Lincoln, IL 62656
Phone 217-732-2159
Fax 217-735-1753
info@capcil.org
http://www.capcil.org/
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