Chambana Sun

City of Hoopeston City Council met June 26.

Here is the minutes provided by the council:

The City of Hoopeston held a Public Hearing located at Hoopeston City Hall and via (Zoom) electronic format at 2:30 pm.

Mayor Bill Crusinberry called the meeting to order at 2:30 pm.

The reason for the meeting was to inform residents of the City of Hoopeston's intention to submit an application to the Illinois Department of Economic Opportunity's Rebuild Illinois Public Infrastructure Grant Program.

Public notice of this meeting was first posted June 18, 2020 and copies of the grant application were made available to the public by visiting the City's website at www.cityofhoopeston.com or a hard copy at City Hall. The City strived to provide an environment welcoming to all persons by doing this.

Attending the meeting in representation of the City were Mayor Bill Crusinberry, Administrative Coordinator Dawn Layden, City Engineer Tim Cowan, and Alderman Bill Goodwine. Attending the meeting via (Zoom) electronic format and representing Champaign County Regional Planning Commission, whom the City has contracted services to help prepare the grant application, were Rita Morocoima-Black, Ashlee McLaughlin, Kathy Larson, and Sukanya Sharma. Also attending were Carol Hicks, Jordan Crook, Lourdine Florek, and Russ Leigh.

The State of Illinois/DCEO is accepting applications for the Rebuild Illinois Competitive Public Infrastructure Grant. $25 million has been allocated to fund public infrastructure improvements in accordance with Governor Pritzker's 5-year economic plan. Grant awards are available from $250,000 to $5 million per project.

A description of the project was given. City and community leaders have been exploring all opportunities to develop a new motel in the City since about 17 or 18 years ago when Hoopeston's only operating motel was demolished to make way for new economic development. In the last 5 years a group of investors has been formed, who are prepared to build a motel. The big obstacle to moving forward with this development was the cost of installing the infrastructure necessary to support the project, the cost of which has been estimated at approximately $1,240,000 where the City has dedicated $150,000 from TIF funds. It should be noted that this project is situated on a totally undeveloped parcel of land of approximately 5.5 acres, which is surrounded by commercial development on all sides. By being totally undeveloped, it should be noted that no residences or businesses are being displaced by this project. The infrastructure, which our Engineer will discuss consists of a new street from Illinois Rt. 9 to Elm St., a water main, sanitary sewer, and storm water sewer and retention.

To fill the City's needs on new and upgraded infrastructure, this project along with services to a proposed new truck stop are the top two projects for the city at this time. Next on our priority list are a few blocks of water main that are over 100 years old. We have recently completed refurbishing our water treatment and storage facilities and have lined about 5 blocks of a sanitary sewer. Both projects were funded with IEPA loans.

During the past 15 years the City has partnered with the IHDA, IACAA on two projects which added 55 workforce affordable houses to the City, therefore we feel that housing needs are now stable.

For the City of Hoopeston to move forward with the development of this totally undeveloped parcel, it is crucial for the City to be awarded this grant to supplement the $150,000 that the City previously approved in its annual budget. Awarding this grant will provide the funding to construct the infrastructure that is vital to this development and encourage other proposed potential development to be completed on this site.

This parcel of land presently only contributes $1,057 in real estate taxes. The building of the motel should increase this to an estimated $40,000 per year and more form potential outlying business and developments. Other potential revenue could be generated through motel and sales taxes. The anticipated job creation is up to 69 construction jobs and 50 permanent jobs. Another Community and economic benefit is the amplification of outside investments into other community businesses' goods and services. Local hotel accommodations for area events such as weddings, funerals, reunions, and the National Sweet Corn Festival is another benefit to the City.

The project design is complete, and all necessary permits have been applied for. All necessary easements have been procured and the final subdivision plat will be reviewed this summer.

During the public comment and questions, an attendee asked the odds of getting the grant. The point system for the grant was explained and it was said the city had a good chance based on the work that has been done for the grant. The project's preliminary engineering had already been completed and the timeline for the project to be complete is November 1, 2021.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:55 pm.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WWie-27JXof51q2ttoSQPbccXXCpDelaVZZt9sVtu5A/edit