City Sells Ground to John Boos, Wood Plant to Relocate

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Published on January 5 2016 10:41 pm
Last Updated on January 6 2016 9:04 am
Written by Greg Sapp

The Effingham City Council Tuesday voted to sell 15 acres of City-owned land to John Boos and Company to provide a site for a new wood plant. The sale price was $20,000/acre.

The property is located south across Thies Avenue from John Boos' new metal plant. John Boos President Joe Emmerich said construction of the wood plant will begin this spring and will be completed late this year or the start of 2017. Emmerich said the 100,000 square foot plant will be built in full, but the relocation from the current downtown location to the new facility will take place in stages so they can continue to serve their customers.

Meanwhile, the City will be able to market the current John Boos location to prospective developers. John Boos does have first right of refusal on the remaining six acres of City-owned property next to the wood plant site.

Emmerich said the company's retail shop will also relocate from their Fayette Avenue location to the new plant and will be located in the front of the complex.

Also Tuesday, the City Council contracted with Opportunity Alliance for consulting services and technical assistance on the City's application for an Enterprise Zone. The firm will be paid $5,000/month over the two-year length of the agreement.

The City applied for a new zone, but their application was rejected since they applied too soon. Still, deficiencies were cited in the application. Mayor Jeff Bloemker said he researched the firm, which is headed by Steve McClure, who worked for the State Department of Commerce when the Enterprise Zone program began. 

Commissioner Don Althoff was philosophical in objecting to needing to hire a consultant, saying Governor Bruce Rauner is trying to change things in Illinois so hiring consultants to compete against other communities for a zone doesn't seem right. No one argued Althoff's point, but said until the way Illinois does business changes, hiring a consultant was necessary to compete. McClure acknowledged that he is a registered lobbyist in Illinois. He said they know the people to contact on Effingham's behalf.

Only nine Enterprise Zone applications are to be approved this year.

The Council recognized Blake and Laura Linders of Linders Limited LLC/McDonald's with a Business Appreciation Award for their support of the community through the years.

(FROM LEFT, BLAKE AND LAURA LINDERS WITH EFFINGHAM MAYOR JEFF BLOEMKER)

Council members also declared property at 802 Old South Maple Street as dangerous and unsafe, allowing the City to take steps to make the site safe. The now-vacant house is falling in and the area is populated with unwanted guests. City Attorney Tracy Willenborg and City Building Official Bruce Devall will oversee the remediation effort.

The Council approved changes in the charges for fire department services provided outside the city corporate limits; authorized City Administrator Jim Arndt to negotiate changes needed in the electricity aggregation agreement with Good Energy to help with wholesale electric prices; contracted with Milano and Grunloh of Effingham for construction engineering work on 4,700 square feet of surface work on Pike Avenue and Bourgeois Drive near the Beck's Hybrids development; and amended the liquor ordinance to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages at public events. The first test of the expanded sales will be the Effingham Artisan Fair in May where the wine and beer tasting area across Washington Avenue on private property will be replaced by public sales of beverages either on the Courthouse lawn or on a city street along the celebration area.

The vote on the liquor sales change was 3-2, with Bloemker and Commissioners Kevin Esker and Kevin Willis voting in favor, and Commissioners Merv Gillenwater and Don Althoff voting against.

Council members appointed Tyler Witges to the Effingham Public Library Board, replacing Suellen Reimers, and modified City Council rules and regulations, allowing speaker cards to be obtained to up til 10 minutes before a Council meeting, and modifying what is required on the speaker's card making the speaker's contact information optional.