Peoria Standard

City of Chillicothe Economic Development Committee met Jan. 3.

Here is the minutes provided by the Committee:

Present: Chairman Dan Colwell, Mayor White, Aldermen Connor, Jenkins, and Economic Development Director Parker Guest: Kaci Geier , City Attorney Mike Seghetti

Alderman Colwell called meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. a presentation from Kaci Geier was given on the benefits of the City becoming a partner with the Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. She also talked about the 1⁄2 page ad the City of Chillicothe will have in the 2018 Experience Guide and what goes along with that. The cost of that ad was prorated to $1,666.67 to fit within our current fiscal years funds available. The Mayor suggested that for next year’s budget the committee authorize putting $5,000 as a line item for the cost of a full year Community Partnership. With that come a number of perks such as a short video of Chillicothe included in their Video series “Tour of the Town” travel show when they showcase their community partners. We will be included in some radio spots, included in all their social media blitz, allowed 10 discounted memberships that we can pass along to 10 of our local businesses to become a part of the PACVB. There are also some live television spots we would be able to be a part of, promotional support for all of our events. The committee is in agreement to move forward with this partnership.

Next item on agenda was the MACO Sr. Housing Development project. For this project MACO is looking at 40 lots at River Sound area for a senior housing & Community Development Project (duplexes and a community center for the folks who live in the duplex). Right now they are scheduled to have their plans in by this Thursday so they can get on the February Plan Commission Agenda.

Mayor White talked about the status of the grant that was applied for through Tri County Regional Plan Commission. The RFQ is out and statements of qualifications will be accepted until 4:00 pm, January 19, 2017. “The Project” is the City of Chillicothe seeking assistance to conduct a Corridor Revitalization Study of the Illinois Route 29 (aka 4th Street) Corridor. The proposed study would review and recommend improvements, policies and ordinances that would be appropriate to improve the appearance, viability and vitality of the Corridor. The study will concentrate on the section of Route 29 from McGrath Road to Truitt Ave.

Next item was the intergovernmental agreement with the Chillicothe Park District that is being proposed by the park district. Mayor White reported that the park district would like for the city to partner with them to have all property that is annexed into the city atomically be a part of the park district. The Mayor stated that the only down side to this request would be if we were going to annex a piece of property and the property owner did not want to be a part of the park district. The question is would that make or break a deal? The answer is we don’t know. The Mayor asked if the city attorney would work on language that would be reciprocal regarding this request.

Director Parker reported that Sally Hanley from the Regional EDC would now be taking on the responsibilities of the Enterprise Zone that Mark Rothert had at Peoria County. She was working on an EZ expansion for the Peoria Rural Enterprise Zone (PREZ) to add property located at 22122 N. Route 29, Chillicothe (formerly known as the Dug Out). Sally hopes to get the surveyor’s work done to rewrite the Zone’s legal description by the first week of January. She intends to bring the amendments through the approval process with us in early February. All participating Units of Government will need to pass an updated Ordinance and Intergovernmental Agreement for this expansion. This will come back to committee on February 7, she will present all the details.

Old Business- Updates

a. 721 Third Status – Demo in the works, no exact date on when they will start. More than likely it depends on the weather.

b. Bacon Building –The City Attorney Mike Seghetti reported that the City now owns the building as of January 3rd. The dead has been recorded.

c. 400 Plaza Redevelopment Agreement- Attorney Mike Seghetti reported that the changes were made to the redevelopment agreement. They agreed to all of our changes. Bobby is going to personally guaranty the deal plus they have backing from a bank. So from this point on Council will need to approve the agreement. Mike would need to see financing commitment letter and then the closing of the deal. Our agreement states that they will receive 100,000 at the closing and the remainder of $50,000 when they occupy the space.

d. 3 Diamond Status – The process is moving along, they are on the Agenda for the next Plan Commission meeting in February.

e. Plaza Sign Status – The Mayor is waiting on a response from an IDOT official that was out of the office during the holidays to find out what other details do they need from us for approval of the site where the sign will be placed.

M &T Report-

Director Parker stated that there was nothing to report from the M & T committee meeting that was just held prior to this meeting today at 3:30.

There being no further business meeting adjourned at 6:12 p.m.

http://www.cityofchillicotheil.com/Minutes%20for%20ED%20Committee%20Meeting%20on%20%20JAN%203%202018.pdf