The Randolph County Progress Committee meeting

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Randolph County Progress Committee Inc. met on Thursday, July 10, 2008 at the Randolph County Courthouse in Chester, IL.

President Dave Mevert called the July '08 monthly meeting to order at 12:30 p.m. following lunch and declared a quorum of members to be in attendance.

Those present were: President Dave Mevert/Steeleville, V-P John Petkas/Sparta, Sec'y Bob Myerscough/Evansville, and Treasurer Gale "Butch" Stellhorn/Red Bud. Also present: Executive Director Ed Crow. Absent: Nancy Crossland/Chester (called in), County Board Chairman Terry Moore and County Commissioners Terry Luehr and Ken Slavens (called in).

Minutes: President Dave M. called for comments on the March '08 meeting minutes as presented by Sec'y Bob M. John P. moved to accept the minutes as submitted w/2nd by Butch S. All ayes, motion carried. (Note: April '08 meeting cancelled; May '08 meeting failed to make quorum w/only Dave M., Bob M. and Terry L. in attendance; June '08 meeting cancelled so RCPCI members could participate in Red Bud Chamber of Commerce Annual Golf Tournament....no minutes for those three (3) months.)

Financial Report: President Dave M. called for comments on the March, April, May and June '08 financial reports as prepared and presented by Treasurer Butch S. Bob M. moved to accept all four (4) reports as submitted w/2nd by John P. All ayes, motion carried. (Note: The IRS-approved mileage rate was changed to 58.5 cents from 50.5 effective 7-1-08).

Community Pledge of Support: Treasurer Butch S. reported that 2nd Quarter '08 pledge payments had been received from Randolph County and all participating municipalities..... "Thanks" to Baldwin, Chester, Ellis Grove (annual pmt.), Evansville, Prairie du Rocher, Red Bud, Ruma (annual pmt.) and Sparta for continued support. He then reported that 3rd Quarter '08 pledge payments had been received to date from Randolph County and the municipalities of Baldwin, Chester, Ellis Grove (annual pmt.), Prairie du Rocher, Ruma (annual pmt.) and Sparta. (Ed C. Note: 3rd Quarter '08 pledge payments from Evansville and Red Bud arrived in days immediately following the July '08 meeting....again, "Thanks" to all participating municipalities for continued support.)

Correspondence: Executive Director Ed C. shared the following....news release from IDES/Springfield reporting Randolph County unemployment rates for Feb. '08 at 6.7%, for March '08 at 5/6%, for April '08 at 5.3%, for May '08 at 5.9% and for June '08 at 7.0%....always in the mid-range of Illinois counties;.... a "Thank You" note from the Alvin Myerscough family (Bob M.'s dad) for the $50 memorial gift to the Evansville Boosters Club; ....a complimentary membership for 2008 by the Red Bud Chamber of Commerce (Thanks!); ....a news release from the Governor's Office indicating that the local economic impact in 2007 for Randolph County's tourism industry was $25.8 million, up 4.9% from 2006; ....a public notice re: Baldwin-Rush Island Interconnection Project; ....a public notice re: Dislocated Worker Workshop Schedule (May 23rd at Sparta VFW) for Spartan Light Metal Products Inc. employees affected by recent lay-offs; ....a public notice re: Petition by Stewart Producers Inc., for unit operations of the Tilden Silurian Unit (oil & gas drilling rights); ....a letter from Don Welge, President of Gilster-Mary Lee Corp./Chester re: high commodity and energy costs being "absorbed" by the private label food mfg. company; ....a letter from the Randolph Co. Board appointing Ed C.: to another one-year term to the SW IL RC & D; ....a color flyer from Flex-Line Automation Inc./Chester announcing the formation of Veyors Co. (4-sided printing conveyor systems); ....an announcement from the Lower Kaskaskia Stakeholders Inc. that its scheduled "Evening On The Kaskaskia" in July was postponed (high water) til Sept. 19th (Note: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/St. Louis District had recent change of command from Col. Lewis Setliff to Col. Thomas O'Hara); ....note of "Thanks" from Regional Leaders' Breakfast Committee for RCPCI's bronze level financial contribution ($100) to the April '08 Breakfast in Chester (Ed C. Note: A very special morning for my wife Jan & I!!!); ....a "Thank You" e-mail from Connect SI for info provided on Randolph County esp. on <www.locationone.com> which contains updated community profiles on all Randolph County municipalities; ....Office response to Council on Accreditation questionnaire re: Human Service Center/Red Bud; ....Office response to United Way of Greater St. Louis re: Update of 2-1-1 Info & Referral Database; ....IDCEO e-mail industrial leads including a bldg. search for an existing fermentation mfg. facility, a site search (Code Name: Project Arrow) for a large tract to host the Boy Scouts of America Nat'l Scout Jamborees, a site search for an alternative energy mfg. plant, etc.; ....request letter by the Tourism Bureau of SW IL for Randolph County to continue to recognize the agency as its state-certified tourism bureau (OK); ....copies of the "Tourism Times", a new publication by the Tourism Bureau of SW IL which replaces "News from the Road"; ....copies of the tourism brochure "Heartland Rivers Wine Trail" w/the Tourism Bureau of SW IL as a participant; etc.

Handouts: Executive Director Ed C. mentioned a couple of items copied to the RCPCI et al... "The Role of Manufacturing" (State Legislatures Magazine, May 2008) and "Sunnen (Products Co.) has Maplewood (MO) Plans" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 6-28-08) ....industrial lead?

Executive Director Report: Ed C. indicated that none of the five (5) outstanding tax abatement forms had been returned to the Office over the past few months. He provided very brief updates on a number of projects etc. at the local, regional, state and national level of interest to the RCPCI...the Total Titanium bldg. is under construction in Red Bud, Ameritank in Red Bud has filed for bankruptcy, Ultra Play Systems in Red Bud has been purchased by PlayCore Inc., Showtime Cinema in Sparta should re-open in late summer, the TUMS mfg. plant in Pinckneyville has an ongoing prospect, the Marissa residential/recreational development project is on hold, the Perry County, IL theme park idea is still being discussed, the Volkswagon plant sought by IL will likely go South (Note: It did...to Chattanooga, TN), the Bombardier plant sought by KC MO will likely go to Canada (Note: It did ...to Mirabel, near Montreal), FedEx has more projects in the hopper (Note: West Frankfort nabbed a distribution center from Marion this past year; nothing of late on the Sparta rumor) and the Steeleville TIF has attracted some commercial development prospects of late. Other items be mentioned included the recent formation of Chambers of Commerce in Prairie du Roche and Tilden (Congrats!), completion of the 20-county Connect SI employer survey which drew almost 2,000 responses from nearly 6,000 employers contacted, his continuing effort to update info on www.locationone.com (ED C. Note: A website presence for industrial & commercial site selection consultants is an absolute necessity in today's "24-7" world, but some communities in Randolph County don't see the worth of this Office effort....fortunately, others do!). Also, mentioned in a roundtable discussion was the 1% county sales tax being proposed by school districts et al in Randolph and other Southern Illinois counties.

Other Business: Bob Myerscough provided a brief report on Kaskaskia Regional Port District (KRPD) activity. Dave M. provided a brief report on activity associated w/the Steeleville TIF including the Mary's River Senior Manor project. Ed C. provided limited info on a few confidential "contacts" not mentioned in his Executive Director's report....more later on these four (4) projects (one industrial, one commercial, one institutional, one tourism attraction).

Next Monthly Meeting/Adjournment: There being no other old/new business, President Dave M. called for the RCPCI to next meet at 12 noon on Thursday, September 11, 2008 at Randolph County Courthouse/Chester; he noted that the August '08 meeting was cancelled in advance due to some RCPCI members being on vacation or otherwise being unable to attend. Butch S. moved to adjourn w/2nd by Bob M. All ayes, motion carried w/meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m. following a surprise birthday cake and song for Executive Director Ed C. (Ed C. Note: Thanks!)