Saturday Coffee with the Mayor includes guest Andrea Runge from L.E.A.D.

 

[January 15, 2025] 

On the morning of Saturday, January 11th, Mayor Tracy Welch sat down with members of the Lincoln public for another Coffee with the Mayor at Guest House. Welch was accompanied by Andrea Runge of Lincoln Economic Advancement and Development (LEAD) and City Clerk Peggy Bateman.

Mayor Welch revealed that the city had gotten $109,000 from an insurance company for the fire at 129 Sangamon Ave. Also, regarding that property, it was shared that, since the burned portion of the building was torn down, the now exterior wall on the neighboring building was originally built to be an interior wall. Since it is now the exterior wall, the city is trying to figure out how to make sure the wall is structurally sound. The mayor also stated that he is planning on meeting with the new chairman of the Logan County Board, JR Glenn, this week.

The majority of the discussion of the morning meeting pertained to the economic development of the city. The first major talking point in this vein was back taxes on vacant properties. Mayor Welch stated that people can purchase the back taxes on a property, and the city has been trying to do this with properties that are a hazard to the city. Mayor Welch used a property on Chicago Street as an example. The building was structurally unsafe, and some people were squatting in the building. The city was able to get the property over to some developers who have been working on it.

This can also cause development of properties to be setback. Mayor Welch shared that, if someone were to buy two years of back taxes on a property and the owner did not pay the next year of taxes, that person could acquire the property by paying for the third year of taxes. With the property changing hands, there is no real way to guide who gets the building or what they do with it. When the city acquires these properties, they can try to make sure that the people who get the property are people who are going to try to do something good with it.

From the left, Mayor Tracy Welch, L.E.A.D. Administrator Andrea Runge and Lincoln City Clerk Peggy Bateman

Runge and Welch then discussed the idea of having a website that would be a “one stop shop” for economic developers. As it stands now, if someone has an economic development question, they contact the city and have to be guided to the right person fir that particular question. If the city had a website with all of this information on it, searchers would not have to jump through any hoops to find their answers.

Runge then discussed some of the troubles Lincoln has in attracting new people, with day care being among them. Runge stated that Lincoln needs to have something that the other communities around us do not have. When asked if she had any specific ideas of what Lincoln could build that would be unique to the town, Runge stated that she had many examples but was hesitant to share them at the moment.

The conversation then turned to the old Lincoln Developmental Center lands and how the land is not being used for anything. The state of Illinois currently owns the land, and Mayor Welch previously shared that he would like to see the land be put into the hands of the city for development. Mayor Welch shared that Senator Sally Turner is currently trying to introduce legislation to the Illinois Congress that would allow the state to sell the property back to Lincoln for $1.

In addition to all this, during the meeting, Runge shared that she is going to be revealing something to the community soon. Runge was specifically vague on details but shared that it is a collaboration between LEAD and some young entrepreneurs. The goal of this collaboration would be to attract more young business owners to Lincoln.

[Matt Boutcher]