Peoria Standard

The Hanna City council is working on developing its Community Economic Development Council.

"The point here is that we're putting money back into the community to upgrade and help the community upgrade and improve the look of their property within the business development district," city administrator Brian Baylor told the village board.

 Hanna City has recently created the Community and Economic Development Council (CEDC) which is focusing on their new Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) district, and also a Business Development District (BDD). These projects are only about a year old so they have not seen any major growth or income for the village yet, but the village board is working on plans to ensure their success for the village. 

The board discussed some possible projects to improve their BDD. These involved getting some new welcome signs for the borders of the district, and a joint cosmetic improvement fund for homes within the boundaries, where the village would pay for 75% of a project, capping their contribution at $2,500. They would be able to fund this for 10 homes each year, or whatever numbers they decide to go with.

The board also wants to do a similar program with commercial properties in the district, potentially with a slightly higher budget and smaller group of businesses each year. There was also a lot of talk about improving the streetlights throughout the village, as some areas need lighting installed and a lot of streetlamps need to be replaced or improved.