[0:01] Uh, good evening again. I'd like to call

[0:03] the community the whole for the village

[0:04] of Kerry on September 1st, 2026 to order

[0:06] with roll call, please.

[0:08] » Kier

[0:09] » Here.

[0:10] » Dudac.

[0:11] » McCalpine

[0:11] » Here.

[0:12] » Pina

[0:13] » Here.

[0:13] » Stefani [clears throat]

[0:15] » Here.

[0:16] » Walworth

[0:16] » Here.

[0:17] » Kick,

[0:18] » I'm here. Please join me again for the

[0:19] pledge of

[0:20] » Allegiance

[0:25] to the flag of the

[0:30] nationy

[0:33] and justice for all.

[0:39] » Thank you. Now moving to the public

[0:40] comments where the public is invited to

[0:42] address the community whole on any issue

[0:44] other than what's on the the agenda. I

[0:46] had nobody sign in. Is there somebody

[0:48] else would like to come up and

[0:50] fill in? Okay. Thank you. We'll go ahead

[0:52] and close uh public comment at 6:32.

[0:57] Uh we have a couple things on the

[0:58] agenda. Well, one really one big one. Uh

[1:01] talk about our economic development

[1:03] discussion about how we get to where we

[1:05] are. So I'm going to turn this over to

[1:07] our community development department.

[1:09] » Uh thank you, mayor. Uh this the

[1:11] presentation this evening, I'm going to

[1:13] let Dan Gardner, our economic

[1:14] development specialist, do most of the

[1:16] speaking this evening. Um, happy to

[1:18] answer your questions that the board may

[1:19] have, but uh, really just wanted to give

[1:21] a overview of kind of the operations

[1:24] that we do within the community

[1:25] development department uh, from an

[1:27] economic development standpoint. Um,

[1:29] won't get into specifics on sites in the

[1:32] conversation or discussion, but just

[1:34] really want to give a high level

[1:35] overview as far as the actions and

[1:36] activities that we take. Um, but

[1:38] certainly happy to answer questions that

[1:39] the board may have as well as the

[1:41] presentation goes on. Um, so with that,

[1:43] I'll turn the presentation over to Dan

[1:45] uh Gardner for uh an overview of kind of

[1:47] uh the operations that we do and then

[1:49] again happy to answer any questions.

[1:52] » Great. Thank you everyone. I know these

[1:55] conversations have been we have these

[1:58] conversations kind of ongoing throughout

[2:00] the year, but thought it would be

[2:01] helpful to touch on it and go through

[2:04] kind of a

[2:07] kind of a review of the process and kind

[2:09] of some of the things that we're working

[2:10] on uh and how things operate. for those

[2:13] that uh are familiar with the process.

[2:16] Uh I know most of you are, but again,

[2:19] it's a it's a great opportunity to walk

[2:21] through things. Uh and really what I

[2:25] think a lot of people don't realize is

[2:26] economic development gets uh spoken to

[2:29] as as like it's a thing. Uh and it's an

[2:32] ongoing process uh that goes from an

[2:37] iterative starting point and it really

[2:40] never ends because you're always trying

[2:43] to retain businesses. You're always

[2:45] trying to make sure that businesses have

[2:46] what they need and at the same time

[2:48] you're trying to recruit new businesses

[2:51] uh address and target uh evolving

[2:55] markets and find those fits that work

[2:58] best for the community. uh and

[3:02] underlying that is that uh the village

[3:05] can influence a process but it doesn't

[3:07] control every decision point. Uh so

[3:10] working from identifying a business a

[3:13] business a developer uh opportunity uh

[3:16] and sometimes that works the other way

[3:18] around. they identify us or they've

[3:19] identified a market and we fall into

[3:22] their target and then we operate with

[3:26] trying to maximize that opportunity and

[3:30] it's it's strategic in being in the

[3:33] right place and recognizing when those

[3:34] opportunities come. Uh they're they

[3:37] don't always pound on the door. uh you

[3:40] have to recognize when things are

[3:41] revolving and identify who some of the

[3:43] active businesses are and developments

[3:46] and what some of the trends are. Uh and

[3:48] then that that's on the recruiting side.

[3:51] Uh and then it's you know you can have

[3:53] all the market potential in the world if

[3:54] you don't have the right sites. Uh

[3:57] that's an issue. So you can have market

[3:59] capacity but you don't have the physical

[4:01] capacity but then you're also going to

[4:03] have physical capacity but there's no

[4:05] market for what you're trying to

[4:07] achieve. So those two things kind of

[4:10] work hand in hand. I've always said that

[4:11] there's the capacities go from market

[4:14] capacity, financial capacity. There's

[4:17] the economic capacity to actually make

[4:19] it happen and financial capacity and

[4:22] then there's community capacity too. Is

[4:24] it something the community wants to see?

[4:26] So is it a fit on all four of those

[4:28] fronts? Uh working with property owners

[4:31] and brokers. Uh this is key because it's

[4:33] not always village controlled property.

[4:37] more often than not, it's not. So, being

[4:39] able to work directly with the brokers

[4:41] and the property owners uh to align

[4:44] expectations is key, and I'll get into

[4:47] that a little bit more as we go through.

[4:50] Feasibility, as I said, the feasibility

[4:51] of development. Uh it's it's the

[4:54] construction costs. It's whether or not

[4:55] the numbers work from a operational

[4:58] standpoint. Is there enough revenue? Is

[5:00] the land cost aligned with the

[5:02] investment? uh the residual land value

[5:04] that's left over after doing the the

[5:07] project. Is that is that in align and

[5:10] the due diligence that most developers

[5:14] and a lot of businesses go through a

[5:16] painfully slow process of due diligence

[5:19] and sometimes that due diligence goes in

[5:21] fits and starts and sometimes it it

[5:24] escalates and then it u it doesn't

[5:27] really result in a project. But that due

[5:29] diligence period uh is pretty much with

[5:32] any kind of development. Uh then once

[5:34] you get through that, you have the

[5:36] entitlement process. Then you're going

[5:37] through all the entitlements through

[5:39] whether it's through the village, the

[5:40] regulatory issues, uh the getting their

[5:44] financing align, getting things closed.

[5:46] Uh and then you finally have the opening

[5:48] of an actual project coming to fruition.

[5:52] Uh I said business and and developers uh

[5:56] typically are evaluating multiple sites.

[5:58] So carry falling within

[6:01] usually a larger market area. Those

[6:03] multiple sites uh could be within the

[6:07] region. It could be within, you know, a

[6:09] couple different neighboring

[6:10] communities, but typically with some

[6:13] exceptions, it's not a target where it's

[6:16] specific to a municipality. Uh private

[6:18] property pricing, timing, seller

[6:21] expectations, uh all these can determine

[6:23] whether a deal advances or not. And many

[6:26] of the prospects, as I said, spent

[6:28] months in this process through financial

[6:31] and corporate due diligence and

[6:32] environmental assessment. I want to just

[6:35] talk about a couple things that dovetail

[6:38] into other slides, but it's important to

[6:41] highlight here as much as anywhere uh of

[6:43] where this has actually come to fruition

[6:46] here. Uh the season to carry project, we

[6:52] had that site targeted for a long time.

[6:54] was in a comprehensive plan. U at that

[6:57] time one of the uh recommendations was

[7:00] you know commercial and commercial

[7:02] development was uh kind of any any plan

[7:06] you know that's more than 10 years old

[7:08] was pretty much identifying any corridor

[7:10] as being commercial and then the market

[7:12] started evolving to residential or some

[7:15] mixed use. Uh but we

[7:19] were looking at the Damish property as

[7:20] it was you know I think everybody will

[7:23] still think of that as the damage

[7:25] property. Um I spoke to Mr. Damish on a

[7:29] number of occasions. U long

[7:31] conversations of you know what what are

[7:33] you thinking of doing? Where where is it

[7:35] going? And and that's about as far as a

[7:37] lot of the conversations would go. And

[7:39] just like with many property owners and

[7:41] and businesses and brokers, I I check in

[7:44] regularly and I would check in and then

[7:47] that process started to evolve. Uh they

[7:50] listed it with a broker, a national

[7:52] broker, uh went out on a test in a

[7:56] pretty big net, landed uh several

[7:59] developers that were interested in the

[8:01] property. Some didn't match our

[8:03] expectations. Uh let them know that what

[8:06] our expectations were. Um and that

[8:09] included keeping the frontage and 31

[8:14] uh fiduciary the ultimately the

[8:16] developer came in. We sat in the

[8:18] conference room here in a first meeting

[8:20] like we did with a lot of people uh and

[8:23] in frankly that we the conversation we

[8:25] had with them at the groundbreaking

[8:27] fairly recently was they were in fact

[8:29] identifying other locations that weren't

[8:31] in Kerry. But one of the things that

[8:33] stuck out to them was our our

[8:36] relationship and our rapport that we had

[8:38] with them and our willingness to work

[8:40] with them uh and and the fairness that

[8:44] they saw in that process. Uh and we've

[8:47] heard that from a number of people

[8:49] restaurant use that we're working with

[8:51] right now and I can't name it because

[8:52] they've asked to remain uh discreet

[8:56] until they go through this due

[8:57] diligence. But when the woman uh who is

[9:00] the uh site selection person and the

[9:03] operator sat with us, she pointed out to

[9:07] us that we were the only ones that were

[9:09] continually responsive to her. Uh and

[9:13] that was that tipped the scale for it.

[9:15] And it can be just that little thing

[9:16] that you don't even realize at the time

[9:20] u is important to that business that

[9:22] attention. If you're going to get that

[9:23] attention when I'm not in the community,

[9:25] I can imagine what I'm going to be like

[9:27] when I'm here. and what kind of

[9:28] community I'm dealing with. And that's

[9:30] what uh we were told and that that means

[9:32] a lot to us and it really respects uh

[9:36] reflects uh everybody here. It's not

[9:39] just me taking credit for this is

[9:42] everybody here is here every day. Brian

[9:45] fielding the calls uh on a zoning

[9:47] question uh and being responsive to it

[9:51] uh can make the difference in getting a

[9:53] a project or not. And in that effect

[9:56] too, going back to the damaged property,

[9:58] you know, from a standpoint, that site

[10:01] was created and annexed the village 25

[10:04] years ago plus. U so the timing that it

[10:08] took to get that site developed wasn't

[10:10] anything that the village could in sense

[10:13] force because the property owner wasn't

[10:15] willing to sell the property for so

[10:16] long. Um but having those relationships

[10:19] with the property owner um and Dan

[10:20] having uh conversations with them as

[10:23] well. We relayed kind of what the

[10:25] interest was from the village, what our

[10:27] planning guidance was uh from the

[10:29] comprehensive plan, the route 31 plan um

[10:32] to speak towards what type of

[10:33] development the village was open to in

[10:35] that area. And eventually when the

[10:37] property owner did list the property,

[10:39] you know, there was that vision was

[10:41] already there for the site. Uh so we

[10:43] were able to work quickly with

[10:45] developers to know what type of

[10:46] development is appropriate for the

[10:48] property and then eventually found the

[10:50] right developer for that site that um is

[10:52] pursuing a project there now. Um they're

[10:54] actually starting foundation work this

[10:56] week on the project. Uh so that's it's

[10:58] moving forward. U but they were very

[11:01] from a developer perspective very

[11:02] appreciative of the process of going

[11:05] through here. I know there was a lot of

[11:07] discussion at the various levels um the

[11:09] board level and the the zoning board

[11:11] level for that project but ultimately

[11:14] the professionalism that our

[11:15] organization had the developer was very

[11:18] impressed by the size of our community

[11:19] and the responsiveness that we gave to

[11:21] them uh through our process compared to

[11:23] other communities that they've actually

[11:24] developed and they actually appreciated

[11:26] the process here more than some other

[11:28] communities that worked in. Right. And I

[11:31] think mayor, you've had experience where

[11:33] people come to you and said that was a

[11:35] good

[11:37] good people. A lot of the mayors that I

[11:40] talked to, how did you land fiduciary in

[11:42] in your village? They're a very highly

[11:43] soughtafter developer. They do a really

[11:45] good job, high quality, and they're just

[11:48] great company to work with. And I think

[11:49] our board picked up on that from from

[11:51] the get-go. And those are the types of

[11:53] people that we like to work with. We've

[11:55] got a very collaborative board and I

[11:56] think that they pick up on that as well

[11:58] as they as they've mentioned

[12:00] » 100%. And that's and frankly I sell you

[12:06] all when I'm out selling and saying this

[12:08] is a solid board, a solid staff u once

[12:12] you get a chance to come in and work

[12:14] with the community.

[12:16] Uh we talked a little bit about the the

[12:19] land uh and that's a uh factor because

[12:23] we don't have a lot of space in built in

[12:26] the built environment. Uh vacancy is

[12:29] low. I've got two slides up here on both

[12:31] industrial and retail highlighting uh

[12:34] less than 1% on the industrial side less

[12:39] than 2%. These are phenomenal numbers. U

[12:42] but it's uh both a success and a

[12:45] reflection of a constraint as well. Uh

[12:48] that means that we the good news is we

[12:49] don't have a a ton of vacancy. Bad news

[12:53] is we don't have space to put some of

[12:54] the interest that we do get. Uh so it's

[12:58] less about filling empty buildings uh

[13:01] and more about creating viable sites and

[13:03] redevelopment opportunities and

[13:04] expansion uh capacity.

[13:08] uh results and momentum. Those numbers

[13:11] show it. Uh you don't get low vacancy

[13:13] numbers uh without having high demand

[13:16] and being a community that is sought

[13:18] after and having good uh properties to

[13:22] work with. Uh in 2025, and let Brian uh

[13:26] chime in here, but we had, you know, 17

[13:29] new businesses that came into town,

[13:31] seven existing businesses that relocated

[13:33] or expanded. Yeah. And this is without a

[13:36] a lot of incentives of some communities

[13:39] work with that have just a a endless am

[13:43] seemingly an endless amount of money to

[13:45] spend or incentives to offer. uh we do

[13:48] have that but we're very judicious about

[13:50] how we utilize that uh which includes

[13:53] the facade and interior buildout grant

[13:56] that Brian uh administers

[14:00] and the so the indust industrial growth

[14:03] and expansion includes Striker's project

[14:06] here uh other development and when I

[14:08] talk about spread out across the village

[14:10] I mean we're spread out across the

[14:12] village uh which is it's not just

[14:14] isolated in one location downtown

[14:17] development that's happening. Corridor

[14:19] development. And by corridor

[14:20] development, I mean things on 31 like we

[14:23] talked about the seasons of carry

[14:25] project. We have Route 14 uh development

[14:28] going on. We have things that are in the

[14:30] pipeline. Uh that's all part of just the

[14:33] the larger picture. So it's not even

[14:35] just happening within the TIF district,

[14:37] it's happening in other areas of the the

[14:40] village. and to continue to work on in

[14:42] developments that are already entitled.

[14:44] Uh some of the bigger residential

[14:46] developments and then the D26

[14:48] transportation center uh the relocation

[14:52] coming online. An important component of

[14:55] that was something that we worked very

[14:56] hard to maintain uh was to find a site

[14:59] where we could also maintain the

[15:01] commercial frontage. And now we have

[15:03] platted lots that will be able to market

[15:07] and interest already coming in those in

[15:11] those lots. And the important part being

[15:13] the continuity between you all the you

[15:16] have other commercial development and

[15:18] being able to maintain that frontage in

[15:20] in a context that includes other uses

[15:23] like a transportation facility,

[15:25] residential uses, municipal center,

[15:27] industrial uses. Uh so that's really

[15:29] important.

[15:32] Uh this is just a little bit on the

[15:34] facade interior buildout grant program.

[15:37] Uh again just the projects that are in

[15:39] the works. Uh sales tax generating uh

[15:42] businesses in the B1 and B2B B3 zoning

[15:45] districts and then in also non-sales tax

[15:48] generating businesses. We have programs

[15:50] that can be utilized by businesses in

[15:53] both

[15:56] u revenue trends. This is a this is an

[15:59] important slide in just the reflection

[16:02] of when we talk about economic growth

[16:05] and economic stability. Uh it's one

[16:08] thing to say it but then actually see it

[16:10] in the numbers. You know some

[16:12] communities you know you're tracking CPI

[16:14] and you're tracking where that growth is

[16:17] at. Kerry has continual growth. Uh and

[16:20] an important the uh brown line is uh

[16:25] sales tax. So we are continuing to and

[16:28] up trending up uh keeping in line with

[16:32] also income tax, property tax uh growth.

[16:36] So Kerry is a growing community and

[16:39] these revenue trends aren't reflected in

[16:41] a lot of other towns. A lot of other

[16:43] towns are trying to figure out a way to

[16:44] get it going back up and reverse a

[16:47] trend. We are seeing the opposite. We

[16:50] are seeing continual growth.

[16:53] Uh why do some deals take longer? One of

[16:55] the common questions I get is like why

[16:57] isn't anything happening here? What is

[16:59] going on with that site? Like like Brian

[17:02] mentioned, a site is identified. Uh we

[17:04] spent a lot of time trying to cultivate

[17:06] that, but it's often out of our control.

[17:10] We can we can put the lay the groundwork

[17:14] providing the the infrastructure. We can

[17:17] do all the things to try to get

[17:19] development and facilitate development.

[17:21] Uh but again, we're competing with other

[17:24] areas. uh carry competes with locations

[17:26] such as Crystal Lake, Elgangquin, and

[17:28] then a larger regional area. And then

[17:30] sometimes it's not even just a larger

[17:32] regional area, it's a state. So we're

[17:34] looking at uh you know, we're close

[17:36] enough to the border that sometimes

[17:37] we're competing against locations in

[17:40] Wisconsin. uh the real estate economics

[17:43] and development economics, asking prices

[17:46] and seller expectations and development

[17:48] costs do not always align uh with users

[17:52] u with what users can support and that's

[17:54] an important distinction. Property

[17:56] owners are free to ask what they think

[17:59] they want to get or what their

[18:02] expectations are and you know and work

[18:04] with their brokers to try to achieve

[18:06] that. uh property control. The village

[18:09] can influence site readiness. Like I

[18:11] said, we can do everything we can to get

[18:13] sites prepped. Uh but private owners and

[18:16] brokers control the pricing and timing

[18:18] and terms of the deal. The available

[18:20] tools, we have tools, uh but we got to

[18:24] be judicious in how we utilize them

[18:25] because there's still even within those

[18:27] tools, there's still a limited amount of

[18:29] resources that can be utilized.

[18:33] things that are active in the pipeline

[18:35] uh in confidentiality. Uh a lot is

[18:38] happening that may not be visible yet.

[18:40] And that goes to that deals take a while

[18:42] to evolve and sometimes you get to the

[18:46] 11th hour or you get to the two yard

[18:48] line and it just doesn't happen. And

[18:51] it's frustrating, it's disappointing,

[18:53] but you get up and you go back after the

[18:55] next deal or you have a contingency

[18:58] plan. That's always important. to just

[19:01] not rely on the deals that are

[19:03] percolating, but to also have plans

[19:05] because sometimes you find a a developer

[19:08] or a business that you think you have

[19:11] the ideal site, they think they have the

[19:13] ideal site, but if that doesn't work out

[19:16] to be able to bring them and say, "Okay,

[19:18] let's figure out where else can we go?"

[19:20] Uh so that's site evaluations, that's

[19:23] the buyer due diligence, the lease

[19:25] property purchase discussions, worked on

[19:28] some deals here where uh it just the

[19:31] property owner had a different

[19:34] expectation than what the business

[19:36] expectation were. We got pretty far down

[19:39] the road with that uh and the deal just

[19:41] couldn't work. uh corporate approval.

[19:44] Some uh some businesses are have to go

[19:47] get approval from their corporate office

[19:49] in New York or Los Angeles or someplace

[19:53] by somebody who doesn't even know

[19:55] anything about uh carry. Uh so getting

[20:00] past those hurdles, we worked with Brian

[20:03] and I spent time uh I was at the ICS

[20:06] conference in Las Vegas and met with a

[20:09] uh the head of a real estate investment

[20:12] trust that controls a couple of key

[20:15] properties

[20:16] um and convinced them that this was a

[20:19] good property and again speaking kind of

[20:22] generically without disclosing

[20:24] properties that they should be

[20:26] considered removing. removing from the

[20:28] REIT and allowing for development uh and

[20:31] laid out a very good case for it. They

[20:33] agreed. They came back and said the REIT

[20:37] people that are in charge of the REIT in

[20:38] New York won't let it go. So that's

[20:42] that's how these decisions happen

[20:44] sometimes. U and then uh zoning and

[20:47] regulatory issues. The things that we do

[20:50] control u might not be aligned with what

[20:53] the density or what the the buildout

[20:56] what the the actual uses. So, you know,

[20:59] is that something we want to

[21:02] provide some relief on or some

[21:03] flexibility or is it something we stick

[21:05] with? That's one of the things that we

[21:07] we can control. Uh premature disclosure

[21:12] can affect a property negotiation. So

[21:14] sometimes when uh the word gets out of a

[21:17] business looking at a location, it can

[21:20] kill a deal. Uh or it drives it changes

[21:23] the property price or a competitor comes

[21:26] in and tries to uh find a way to to uh

[21:31] squash the deal. Due diligence often

[21:34] determines whether a pro prospect

[21:35] becomes a project. Uh and that's on both

[21:38] sides. Um and then uh the right public

[21:41] message is important.

[21:43] Nothing is guaranteed until deals are

[21:45] ready. But how that word is out there to

[21:48] the public is an important part of of

[21:51] that discussion.

[21:54] Right now we're seeing a lot of and the

[21:57] mayor had touched on the you the build

[22:00] legislation and some of the initiatives

[22:02] in the state. Uh in addition to that we

[22:05] are just seeing a lot of vacant land

[22:07] attracting residential interest and

[22:10] that's you know something that requires

[22:13] careful consideration because that is a

[22:15] reflection of evolving markets. Uh it's

[22:18] a change in kind of the direction. This

[22:20] is not unique to Kerry. This is not

[22:23] regional state. It's nationwide.

[22:26] Uh most of the active interest is in

[22:28] multif family rental development. Uh but

[22:31] also town homes and row homes. Uh select

[22:34] there is a select interest in additional

[22:36] single family homes. uh and then mixed

[22:39] use or commercial uh components when

[22:42] supported by the development economics.

[22:43] So that's an important consideration

[22:46] as we push for the commercial to be a

[22:49] part of the deal of how the development

[22:51] economics work for the developer. Uh so

[22:55] some of these considerations that go

[22:57] along with this is where does

[22:58] residential development help support

[23:00] broader community goals? Uh where should

[23:02] land be preserved for employment,

[23:04] commercial or tax generations? where

[23:06] from a policy standpoint where where do

[23:08] we push back and just say no that's

[23:11] that's not going to be a residential

[23:12] site and how should fiscal impact

[23:14] traffic school impacts market demand and

[23:17] community character be balanced with

[23:18] with all that it's it's an important

[23:22] consideration uh because residential

[23:24] provides customers activity it provides

[23:27] investment and in some cases though as I

[23:29] said it also competes with sites for

[23:32] commercial industrial use I mean just

[23:35] looking at we had put some numbers out

[23:36] there for what fiduciary just the impact

[23:39] fees alone what are we looking at

[23:42] » Uh their impact fees I think we're like

[23:44] over a million dollars total for the

[23:45] project um but just in general just

[23:48] speaking to uh the number of years that

[23:51] I've been in this profession and Dan as

[23:53] well is it's very cyclical as far as

[23:56] what the market is producing um you know

[23:59] if you go back 25 years ago banks were

[24:01] the main project they were building on

[24:03] every street corner Um then obviously

[24:05] the internet kind of came along and

[24:07] banks kind of went more paperless so

[24:09] there wasn't a need for a branch in

[24:11] every location. Um then for a while it

[24:13] was you know your Walgreens and CVS's

[24:15] were competing for every street corner

[24:17] signal intersection trying to get into

[24:18] every market. Uh then you know 2010s

[24:23] after the uh recession you saw more

[24:25] mattress stores and things like that

[24:26] were popping up everywhere. So there's

[24:28] different types of movements that come

[24:31] in for a while. car washes are more

[24:33] recent. Um, but you're starting to see

[24:35] that going by the wayside a little bit

[24:36] and now it's more coffee shops and then

[24:39] you know that trend will continue and

[24:42] then it'll switch into something else.

[24:43] But residential right now is significant

[24:46] in the Illinois uh from a standpoint

[24:48] that following the recession there was

[24:50] not a lot of construction occurring in

[24:52] the in Illinois for a decade plus. Uh so

[24:56] there's pent up demand from that

[24:57] standpoint. So that's where we're seeing

[24:58] more of that interest in the residential

[25:00] side of things now where we've had those

[25:03] two larger projects in the village

[25:04] approved. We've had other infill

[25:06] projects that we've had interest in, but

[25:08] even vacant sites that we have for sale

[25:10] now for

[25:11] um whether it be industrial or res

[25:14] commercial growth, we're still seeing

[25:16] more interest from the residential

[25:18] aspect as well from that standpoint to

[25:20] just determine whether or not that's the

[25:22] right fit to convert to those types of

[25:26] developments. uh we still want to see

[25:27] that commercial development in certain

[25:28] areas and try to be focused in where we

[25:30] do allow the residential in if it is

[25:33] desirable from that standpoint.

[25:37] » [clears throat]

[25:38] » So some priorities moving forward like I

[25:41] said this is an ongoing process. It's

[25:43] [clears throat] an iterative process.

[25:44] It's but the ongoing targeted

[25:46] recruitment uh that doesn't change again

[25:49] on both sides put positioning ourselves

[25:52] to be the target and then also going out

[25:54] and identifying potential opportunities.

[25:57] Uh property owner broker engagement.

[26:00] We've really been trying hard, take a

[26:02] hard run at this to get to some of the

[26:05] property owners that maybe uh aren't

[26:07] even aware of what what the interest is

[26:09] in their property. You've seen some of

[26:11] the development opportunity sites. We've

[26:13] worked with property owners to get those

[26:16] placed on their site. And that's a way

[26:18] of

[26:20] looking at the potential where we don't

[26:23] control the property, but we also want

[26:25] to deliver a message to anybody that's

[26:27] driving by or looking at a site or uh

[26:30] doing their due diligence uh that the

[26:32] community is an active partner. And that

[26:35] goes a long way with that relationship

[26:38] building uh retention and expansion.

[26:41] Support businesses that are already

[26:43] invested in carrying. uh always say your

[26:45] most important business you have the

[26:47] most important business is the one you

[26:49] already have. You don't want to lose

[26:50] businesses and there's a lot of

[26:52] communities that don't even know why a

[26:56] business left until it's gone. Uh so you

[26:58] want to be able to head off any any

[27:02] issues that might be there and try to

[27:04] work with uh business retention as well

[27:06] as attraction strategic incentives as I

[27:09] said uh utilizing resources we have to

[27:13] to the to the maximum but also being

[27:15] very judicious about how we maximize

[27:18] those use in order to realize the

[27:20] community benefits and the fiscal

[27:22] impacts on the land use plan as Brian

[27:25] just said balancing that balance

[27:27] residential demand with the commercial

[27:29] and employment objectives that are

[27:31] already stated. Uh so in a statement

[27:35] Kerry is economically healthy. Future

[27:38] growth depends on continually evolving

[27:40] and reassessing the village's strategic

[27:42] position within a very competitive

[27:44] market. Uh, one of those things if

[27:47] anybody's had an opportunity to go look

[27:49] at what we have done in the last couple

[27:53] years is the development of the Choose

[27:55] Carry website, branding and logo. Uh,

[27:58] and on the Choose Carry website is the

[28:01] is demographic data, community

[28:03] information, business resources updating

[28:07] every month on available properties. So

[28:09] that even somebody that's not even

[28:11] thinking of Carrie today

[28:13] might be able to log in next month and

[28:17] look and see what's going on in carry.

[28:19] And this is something we continually

[28:21] promote. Uh and there's a QR code so

[28:23] that when we're out in the development

[28:26] community, we can uh people can scan the

[28:28] QR code, it'll take them to the choose

[28:30] carry website. And on here is also that

[28:32] development opportunity site that we

[28:34] talked about that u just to get the word

[28:37] out even further. and you can actually

[28:39] scan the QR code from from the side.

[28:43] So with that, that's an overview uh of

[28:47] things that are going on and just the

[28:49] ongoing process. And so happy to open it

[28:52] up to questions or discussion for Brian

[28:54] or I or Eric if there's anything you

[28:56] want to add to that.

[28:59] » Good. No, this is this is always good to

[29:02] reaffirm what we're doing behind the

[29:04] scenes. It's a big question I get asked

[29:06] all the time. I always I always throw

[29:09] out the at my mayor's round table about

[29:10] the three-legged stool. It is so true.

[29:13] You have to have a willing property

[29:14] owner, a willing developer, and a

[29:15] willing village to get something done.

[29:17] And sometimes all three of those don't

[29:19] happen. But, you know, I think that it's

[29:21] great. It's, you know, hearing what the

[29:23] development community is saying about

[29:25] the village of Kerry is very promising.

[29:27] You know, we we are forward thinking. We

[29:30] work together collaboratively. We've got

[29:32] a top-notch staff getting things done

[29:34] and uh they know we're taking these

[29:36] things seriously. And thanks to to Dan

[29:38] and Brian for heading up the the efforts

[29:40] on that because that's that's one of the

[29:42] most important things that I get asked

[29:43] about all the time. What's next? What

[29:45] are you guys going to do next? And you

[29:47] know, sometimes it doesn't align with

[29:49] other personal ideas, but it might align

[29:51] with the long-term vision of of the

[29:54] village. And you know that change is

[29:56] hard sometimes, but we always try to do

[29:59] what's best. And I always tell the staff

[30:01] whenever we have a meeting with a

[30:03] developer or a business that wants to

[30:04] come in is that it's got to be

[30:05] meaningful and sustainable to the

[30:06] village of Kerry. Period. Those are the

[30:08] two criteria that are super important

[30:11] when we have conversations. We're not

[30:12] looking just to fill something up. And

[30:15] that's why we have the professionalism

[30:16] and the people that can direct a

[30:18] developer or business that wants to come

[30:20] in and say, "How can we make this work?"

[30:22] And we do. Sometimes you have to

[30:23] shoehorn things in and it works. You

[30:26] know, we're we're we're very fortunate

[30:27] to to have two 100 million dollar

[30:30] projects running simultaneously in the

[30:32] village of Kerry. You know, it's we're

[30:34] making a name for ourselves here and we

[30:36] have to take these things serious and

[30:38] you know, we we can't rest on the fact

[30:40] that we have things going on. We have to

[30:42] be diligent and look forward to the

[30:43] future. And like the I love the example

[30:46] that Dan brought about uh the

[30:48] [clears throat] damage property. You

[30:49] know, I've been I'm in my 14th year as

[30:51] being mayor. been involved in the

[30:53] village since 2009

[30:55] and that has been a property that people

[30:57] wanted to develop forever but the

[30:58] property owner wouldn't develop. They

[31:00] didn't want to sell it. You know, Dan

[31:02] made a couple phone calls several years

[31:04] ago and said what's going this is what's

[31:06] going on how these things again building

[31:08] these relationships have long-term

[31:10] effects and that affects you know not

[31:13] only us it affects our school district,

[31:16] our park district, you know the library

[31:18] district, fire department. We have to

[31:20] take all those things into

[31:21] consideration. And so this is a great

[31:23] reminder. I I'm appreciative of uh Dan

[31:26] and Brian putting this together because

[31:27] it does give us a a better understanding

[31:30] and it's good to be refreshed all the

[31:31] time. I know I went off a little bit

[31:33] wordy here, but what else does Rick?

[31:36] Don't laugh at me.

[31:37] » Not just

[31:39] » This is something that we've worked on

[31:40] together for many years. Go ahead.

[31:42] Comments.

[31:42] » I just was first off, thanks Dan, Brian.

[31:46] you guys do a a great [clears throat]

[31:48] job and um it's not an easy job. I think

[31:51] we all know that. I'm just curious with

[31:54] um with the two residential deals that

[31:56] we have that are are now finally getting

[31:59] some traction and starting to move

[32:01] along. What kind of um feedback or input

[32:06] do you get from the business community,

[32:09] you know, in in town today from those

[32:12] two developments that are are starting

[32:15] to uh you know to get off the ground?

[32:18] » Uh it's a good question. So from the the

[32:20] two projects, obviously they're

[32:22] generating uh more housing, which is

[32:24] more people that or more customers that

[32:26] the businesses could potentially see. Uh

[32:29] so the feedback that we've had from uh

[32:31] the business community in both of those

[32:33] projects is um you know specifically the

[32:36] one downtown the project will generate

[32:40] more customers for the businesses

[32:41] downtown. So they'd like to see uh that

[32:43] type of growth occurring from that

[32:45] standpoint because it'll um in increase

[32:48] their customer base. um the one along

[32:51] Route 31 uh the fiduciary project uh

[32:54] we've had interest already for potential

[32:56] new businesses and the frontage there as

[32:58] well. Um so seeing that growth um and

[33:03] basically you have more people in the

[33:04] area it drives up the demographics that

[33:07] attracts more businesses as well. Um,

[33:09] one of the things um that generally

[33:11] we've seen with uh the business

[33:13] community is if you're looking for a

[33:14] specific retailer as an example, they

[33:18] will select a market if it has the

[33:20] demographics. So, um, in my career, I've

[33:23] worked with multiple, um, communities

[33:26] and worked with various retailers to try

[33:28] and come into those communities and

[33:30] they'll look at what's the population

[33:33] within a certain distance. Uh, what's

[33:35] the education level of those people that

[33:37] live in that distance and um, you know,

[33:40] other factors from that standpoint. And

[33:42] if one of those factors isn't met, the

[33:44] business won't even consider the site.

[33:46] Um so sometimes having more individuals

[33:50] within a smaller area or within the

[33:52] community will drive more of that um

[33:55] economic reach for those entities or

[33:58] businesses that we want to see in the

[33:59] community. Uh we're right now um we have

[34:02] a you know vacant site across the way

[34:04] here from that standpoint. The market

[34:07] for a property here on three Oaks Road

[34:09] isn't just Kerry. Um it also goes beyond

[34:12] the boundary. So then the business won't

[34:14] even look at the municipal boundary.

[34:16] They're looking at a site to see what

[34:18] who lives within a specific area of that

[34:20] site. Um so those projects that we've

[34:24] had are helping to increase the

[34:26] demographics from a standpoint that'll

[34:28] make the sites more marketable for

[34:30] businesses that there's a larger

[34:32] customer base that they would want to be

[34:33] adjacent to.

[34:36] So in one of the interesting things a

[34:39] lot of communities a lot of community a

[34:41] lot of businesses will kind of piggyback

[34:43] on another one um so one of them might

[34:47] identify the community first and see the

[34:49] type of development that's happening and

[34:51] then that other one will rather than go

[34:54] through all the the market analysis

[34:57] they're they're targeting the same

[34:59] market is they'll piggyback on that.

[35:02] What also happens within that context

[35:04] and this is a real world story that's

[35:07] continuing to evolve here is uh

[35:11] because of locations in proximity to

[35:14] Crystal Lake, Elgangquin and other

[35:16] markets, there is a market area that the

[35:19] non-competitive market area that they

[35:20] won't colllocate two locations. Um, I

[35:25] kept pushing one business further and

[35:28] further and further to the edge of the

[35:29] community to get to the edge of their

[35:32] market area where it was really it was a

[35:34] hard line of where how far they would

[35:36] look at a site. It doesn't make sense in

[35:39] the context of anybody sitting there and

[35:42] looking at it, but it's a formula they

[35:45] use and it works. Um, they came back to

[35:49] the 11th hour said we got corporate

[35:52] killed the deal. Uh, So, we got to pull

[35:54] the plug. I had gotten a call um that

[35:58] somebody else I had been working with

[35:59] closely um saying, you know, this other

[36:03] again because of the names of the

[36:04] businesses and the locations that are

[36:06] still being evaluated. Uh said they're

[36:09] back. They're they pulled out and

[36:10] they're like, "Yeah, we we kind of

[36:12] looked at it the same way. If they're

[36:14] not going to be there, we don't want to

[36:15] do it." Business came back. So, we

[36:17] re-evaluated the area. Called them back.

[36:20] I called the other business. Hey,

[36:22] they're looking at it again. it's start

[36:24] restarted the process. So there's so

[36:27] many kind of moving parts behind this

[36:29] and not the least of which is looking at

[36:32] that kind of density that's coming in

[36:34] with the residential. You know if that

[36:36] wasn't there that wouldn't have been on

[36:38] the radar but they're seeing those

[36:41] dollars and that types of impact. I

[36:43] think we actually had a number on the

[36:45] economic impact. It was like

[36:47] » Was 35 million over

[36:48] » 35 million over 10 years of economic

[36:51] impact. So

[36:54] don't discount the impact of residential

[36:56] notwithstanding the you know the

[36:58] conflicts of land use but the actual

[37:00] impact of development and how that

[37:02] influences decision making on the

[37:05] business.

[37:07] » You may also recall excuse me trusty

[37:10] that we had extensive outreach from the

[37:13] uh car station project that the

[37:14] developer went through in their due

[37:16] diligence period. They did some direct

[37:18] outreach with local businesses just to

[37:20] let them know what the project was

[37:22] about, what was being proposed and get

[37:23] feedback and that feedback, it's not

[37:26] anecdotal, it was direct that they were

[37:28] very supportive of the the people and

[37:30] the location that would actually draw

[37:32] more business to them. So they were

[37:33] excited about the the prospect. So that

[37:35] that's direct feedback and uh I think um

[37:38] kind of correlates to the the anecdotal

[37:41] feedback that we hear. uh we've heard it

[37:43] directly and I think it is positive and

[37:44] it will continue to uh to snowball.

[37:46] It'll it'll be a catalyst for a lot

[37:48] more.

[37:49] » And not to mention the employment

[37:50] opportunities. That's what a lot of the

[37:52] downtown businesses have said that this

[37:54] gives them an opportunity to draw in

[37:55] more employees that could walk to work

[37:57] and handle those shifts that they're

[37:59] trying to fill because our our downtown

[38:01] is bustling right now. They are just

[38:03] they're bursting and there's so much

[38:05] going on which is great to see. But you

[38:07] know then there's the people that well

[38:09] what's next? What are you going to do

[38:10] next? Where are we going to put this?

[38:12] and that. So there there are great

[38:13] opportunities with this too.

[38:16] » Any other comments?

[38:18] » I would just my comment would

[38:19] [clears throat] be first of all thank

[38:20] you great presentation. Um just kind of

[38:23] reiterate I think it's really important

[38:24] not just for us to hear but also for the

[38:27] community at large if anyone wants to

[38:28] tune in find out what's going on they

[38:30] can be directed to get an idea of

[38:32] there's a plan. This is not willy-nilly.

[38:34] We have very um strategic objectives in

[38:37] place. And to me, it just solidifies why

[38:41] having you in this role, Dan, and

[38:43] working with Ryan, why it's so important

[38:45] that we do that because we're

[38:47] prioritizing that because that's our

[38:49] future and we want to we want to look at

[38:51] a long-term planning versus just

[38:52] something short term. So, thank you.

[38:57] » Other comments?

[38:59] Okay. Okay. I will entertain a motion to

[39:00] adjurnn into executive session to

[39:02] discuss litigation pending or eminent 5

[39:04] Illinois CS120/2C11

[39:08] and real estate purchase or lease by 5

[39:11] Illinois CS120C5.

[39:16] » So moved.

[39:17] » All in favor?

[39:18] » Any opposed? Uh we will adjourn this

[39:21] regular board committee meeting from

[39:23] executive session. So there's no more

[39:24] public input here. It is uh 7-Eleven.

[39:33] Yeah.

[39:34] » The reason

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