Thursday, February 04, 2010
 
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County briefs: It might be cold and slow, but Logan County is on the move

(Originally posted Friday afternoon)

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[February 04, 2010]  It might be January in Illinois, it might be tough economic times in the country, but that doesn't mean business or anything else has been stymied in Logan County. As Logan County Board members shared committee activities, they also heard good news and plans for the future from a couple of county-affiliated agency directors.

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.

Nursing Homes

"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/ 

Internet

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