[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