Grundy Reporter

City of Highland Industrial Development Commission met Nov. 3.

Here are the minutes provided by the commission:

Call to Order:

The meeting of the Industrial Development Commission was called to order at 12:03 PM by Vice-Chairman Diane Korte-Lindsey.

Roll Call:

Members present: Chairman Jim Meridith, Vice-Chairman Diane Korte-Lindsey, Marshall Rinderer and Treasurer Jon Greve.

Members absent: Josh Kloss.

Also present: City Manager Chris Conrad, Director of Community Development Breann Vazquez, Economic Development Coordinator Mallord Hubbard, Director of Chamber of Commerce Hillarie Holzinger, SIUE Intern Gretchen Arnold and Recording Secretary Megan Von Hatten.

Approval of Minutes:

Marshal Rinderer made a motion to approve the minutes of the October 6, 2021, Regular Session meeting of the Industrial Development Commission; seconded by Diane Korte - Lindsey. All members voted aye; none voted no; the motion carried.

Reports:

Treasurer’s Report – Jon Greve

Treasurer Jon Greve reported the balance in the IDC account at First Mid Bank as of October 31, 2021, was $57,044.93. There were no transactions during the month. Diane Korte – Lindsey made a motion to approve the treasurer’s report; seconded by Marshal Rinderer. All members voted aye; none voted no; the motion carried.

Hillarie updated the board on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, stating she has submitted an application to the City for the Hotel/Motel tax fund to request funding for the renovation of the “Live Highland” billboard on State Route 143. The application will be going to the City Council for approval on November 15, 2021.

Diane asked has a design has been chosen.

Hillarie replied no, however it looks like it will be the gazebo area on the square, with the phrase Highland, Live, Shop, Work and Play with three logos the City of Highland, Chamber of Commerce and Industrial Development Commission.

Update on job inquiries – Breann Vasquez

• Treats on the Streets – Breann thanked Marshall for hosting and having another successful year.

• Country Financial – Tristen Warner with Country Financial is relocating to the office space on Suppiger. He is remodeling this space to fit his needs.

• Schlafly – All positions have been filled, they are getting great feedback and exited and feel very welcome to the community.

• Public Safety Building – The open house was held on October 31, 2021 with a great turn out. Chris stated the Police department will be moving in this next week.

• The parking lot next to City Hall is basically complete and will be opening next week.

• Tut truck stop – Sunny Tut is proposing a truck stop and a rezoning request at the upcoming Combined Planning and Zoning Board meeting. Breann stated this proposal is not a traditional truck stop, it is almost identical to the Carlyle location that Tut already has. Breann stated it will not be for example a Love’s truck stop. Breann encouraged the board members to go to Carlyle and view his existing gas station. Breann stated this proposal is extremely important to the City of Highland. The rezoning request for Industrial is going to be almost identical to C-3. The City has invested a lot into the southern peripheral of Highland. If the City does shut down the first proposal that comes to the board it will be a huge mistake on the City’s behalf. Breann reported having people state they are moving on from developing in Highland because they do not feel like our community is wanting to develop. Breann is asking the Industrial Development Commission members to write a letter of support for gaming and the truck stop. Breann stated the items that were going to be going to the meeting tonight November 3, 2021 by request from Sunny Tut himself to post pone his items until the December 1, 2021 Combined Planning and Zoning Board meeting.

Update on Highland Communication Services – Mallord Hubbard

Mallord reported on Director Imming’s behalf stating that HCS now has 2,646 subscribers. ViTV is still doing great with the roll out and up to 455 ViTV customers. Total streams is at 1386 customers. Highland Communication still has 299 customers still needing to be switched over to the new service. Mallord stated the deadline is December 15, 2021 to have all customer converted to the new ViTV.

New Business:

Discussion on Workforce Development Issues:

Mallord reported he has been doing his own research over the last month, he has seen virtual job fairs are becoming a trend. Mallord stated we don’t have to recreate the wheel on this, Illinois Worknet is hosting a virtual job fair and we will be watching how that turns out to see if a virtual job fair would be a good resource for Highland. Mallord stated he recently noticed many hiring/need help signs on his way into work today, so there is a need for this type of assistance.

Meridith asked do we know why we are not having people apply for these jobs.

Chris replied, I just had this discussion with a friend. Chris stated his friend has a landscaping business who is having the same issues finding workers, but he has not come across anyone who is unemployed. He doesn’t know where the issue is.

Selection of IDC Logo:

Mallord distributed logo designs for the Industrial Development Commission to view and share their thoughts on. The members of the board expressed liking number two and four with the request to make a few modifications on design and color. Mallord then asked the members if they would be interested in asking Josh Kloss to have the changes be made and he can then bring them back to the next meeting and go from there.

Next Meeting:

The next regular meeting of the Industrial Development Commission is scheduled for Wednesday, December 1, 2021.

Adjournment

Marshall Rinderer made a motion to adjourn; seconded by Jon Greve. All members voted aye; none voted no. The motion carried and the meeting adjourned at 12:53 PM.

https://www.highlandil.gov/Boards%20and%20Commissions/Industrial%20Development%20Commission/Minutes/2021/11-03-2021%20IDC%20Mtg%20Minutes.pdf