| The
meeting took place in Restoration Hall
at Lincoln Christian College and
Seminary. LCCS President Keith Ray
made the opening remarks. Dr. Ray
acknowledged the presence of Lincoln
College President Ron Shilling, saying
that the two colleges make an economic
impact on the community and "we
care" about what happens here.
Ray
said he has also been involved with a
group of business leaders who meet
regularly to pray for Lincoln. The
vision of the Community Builders group
is to instill hope, foster health and
wholesomeness in Lincoln. That group
stands ready to be supportive in
efforts to move Lincoln forward.
Many
of those in attendance are already a
significant part of the forces that
are moving Logan County forward at
this time. There were members of
Lincoln City Council; Logan County
Board; community leaders for Chestnut,
Atlanta and Mount Pulaski; as well as
members of the Lincoln and Logan
County Development Partnership; Logan
County Regional Planning Commission;
Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of
Logan County; and the Lincoln/Logan
County Chamber of Commerce. This
meeting gave them a chance to more
fully understand all that is being
done by different entities and how it
all plays together.
A
significant number of citizens
occupied a portion of the audience
also. A business owner and resident in
Lincoln said that she just got her
property tax bills, and it reminded
her of her responsibility as a citizen
and taxpayer to know about what is
going on. Another citizen said that
his family farms and uses GIS. He was
interested in the GIS portion of the
presentation.
Four
speakers presented information on
developing a new comprehensive plan
for Logan County and the integration
of a geographic information system, a
comprehensive economic development
strategy and an economic development
website.
The
Logan County Regional Planning
Commission is contracting with the
McLean County planning team to work on
the Logan County Comprehensive Plan.
The team brings a level of experience,
knowledge and equipment that will
reduce costs and expedite the
development. The cost will be $55,000.
Paul
Russell, director of the McLean County
Regional Planning Commission, led the
audience through all the steps that
will take place in the development. He
explained why we need a plan, what is
in the plan and how it lays our path
into the future. "This is your
road map," he said.
The
information collected will take into
account detailed information of all
that is already here: businesses,
services, average incomes and
population demographics, utilities,
transportation, and more.
It
will set a vision for the future that
can be used by zoning to evaluate
where and what type of development
should take place
Lastly,
Russell pointed out, we will need to
keep in mind that this is not an end
product; it needs continual updating
to remain viable.
The
plan gathers statistical information
that leads the way in decision-making
for the type of future that we want
here in Logan County. At the community
level this can be seen in planning
where to use resources, such as
planning major road improvements.
Russell
will meet monthly with the planning
commission during the process. A
preliminary plan is expected in six to
nine months once the process is
started.
Logan
County highway engineer Tom Hicks
demonstrated the Ogle County GIS. He
said that this is a good model and is
what the Logan County system should
look like when it is finished.
The
system begins with aerial digital
photography, which is then made into
maps. The technology used provides a
high degree of accuracy. The maps are
then detailed into land parcels. After
that they go to mappers, who draw in
and label roads and other information.
Then there are many layers of
information that can be placed over
the maps. The GIS site is designed to
turn layers on and off according to
the needs of the viewer.
[to
top of second column in this article]
|
To see
how this works, go to http://www.oglecountygis.org/mapservice/inst.htm
and choose "Public Area."
Our
photography was done with a state
grant last spring, Hickman said. The
county has it set up to pay for the
continued development through certain
fees collected through the county
clerk's office.
Digitalized
maps are now available for sale from
the county highway department. They
can serve many purposes. He
demonstrated to the audience how you
can see details on the maps, starting
with the entire county, zooming in on
Lincoln, then Lincoln Christian
College, then the building where the
meeting was held, and you could even
see the parking lot light poles and
the makes of the cars that were in the
parking lot at the time the pictures
were taken.
The
maps show contour and accurate
property measurements. With this,
municipalities can plan sewer systems
and zoning. The state and county will
use the maps for property assessment.
We are
still in the early development of the
system, Hickman said. The digitalized
map will soon be sent off to a mapper,
which will be chosen in accordance
with their particular capabilities,
what we need shown and costs. It is
expected to take a year before it is
back, Hickman said.
Dewey
Colter, who is also employed by the
county as coordinator and zoning
officer, has taken charge of
developing our comprehensive economic
development strategy. Colter has
served many years in government, with
a focus on economic development, and
had experience with CEDS. He has seen
the benefits to those who are set up,
compared with those who are not.
"If you are going to keep pace
with a global economy, you are going
to have to keep up with change,"
Colter said.
The
CEDS will enable us to qualify for
federal grant money. It used to be
much easier to get these funds, but
now it is performance-based and the
government wants to see that they will
get a return on their investment,
Colter said. You need a plan in place
and to be able to show that you are
following it. "CEDS starting
point is where we are tonight,"
he said.
Rob
Orr announced that a website that
provides detailed information about
our communities will be available in a
few weeks. The Web presence will draw
companies and individuals seeking new
places and provide them with many
details they would need that would
allow them to make quick decisions.
Orr,
who is the Lincoln and Logan County
Development Partnership director,
underscored the importance of all the
work that has been done and is
proposed in the future interest of the
citizens of Logan County. He said he
thought he spoke for everyone who has
been doing this work: "The reason
we do this is so we all have a nice
place to live." We want to have
jobs and buy nice cars and homes, or
even if we want to drive a distance to
work and live here, we want it to be
nice.
The
comprehensive plan is what we need to
do to have an idea of how to get
there.
"Our
vision at the Lincoln/Logan County
Development Partnership is for Logan
County to be the best county in
Illinois in which to live," Orr
said.
[Jan
Youngquist]
Recent
related articles
|
