Engineering Firm Hired for Boulder Creek

There's movement in the direction of Boulder Creek on The Hill, the STAR bonds development on Marion's northwest side.

The Southern Illinoisan editorialized yesterday calling for readers to continue supporting the destination development.

The editorial didn't provide any new details, not surprising since no reporter has actually talked with the developers on the record for any of the stories over the past week. All have simply reworded the news releases sent to them.

I agree with the overall tone for the editorial. There's too much at stake to start getting hypercritical. Patience people, patience, should have been the headline.

One intriguing bit: "Holland also announced the development will be named Boulder Creek at The Hill, a name so specific it must be linked to an investor's requirement."

I don't know if that is the case or just speculation. The Hill part of the name obviously goes along with the earlier development by that name. The STAR Bonds district is mostly the land that was formally part of The Hill.

In last week's news release Brad Holland tied the name "Boulder Creek" to the region's many outdoor attractions, but let's face it, it's a perfect home for a Cabela's or Bass Pro Shop, not to mention a Great Wolf Lodge, all of which have been mentioned as potential major anchors for the development. The first two would make up one of the "destination users" required for the the district (there's no way of expecting both of those to locate in the same development). The third would more than meet the requirements for the "destination hotel" requirement.

This afternoon the Southern posted details from the latest news release from the developers at Millennium Development LLC. They've hired SCI Engineering, out of O'Fallon, Ill., to do "due diligence research" on the property in the STAR Bonds district.

SCI Engineering started out Soil Consulting, Inc., back in 1978. It has three offices in the St. Louis region, plus a fourth in Rolla, Mo., and employs 150.

The firm will have their work cut out for them. The area set aside for the STAR Bonds District is riddled with former coal mines, both underground and strip mines. Not even the state has definite knowledge of what mines existed, particularly in the northern part of the district closer to Longstreet Road.

Here's a bit more from the company website:

From its beginning, the company has provided geotechnical and construction services to architect and engineering design professionals. Over the past 33 years, capabilities have been added in environmental, natural resources, and cultural resources to provide a full suite of consulting services, to better meet the needs of our clients.

The staff prides itself on the ability to provide consulting services with quality, professionalism, and responsiveness to clients during the development, design, and construction phases of projects. The company’s success is attributed to our team of highly skilled and experienced staff that includes geotechnical engineers, geologists, archaeologists, earth scientists, construction experts, and engineering technicians. The ability to develop innovative and cost-effective design solutions is not only a result of the diversity and experience of our staff, but also the commitment between different service groups to work as a team to provide our clients with quality consulting services.

STAR Bonds Project Developers Reveal New Name

The STAR Bonds development for Marion has a new name — Boulder Creek at The Hill.

Brad Holland released a statement earlier today that's been posted on the City of Marion's website.

"When people hear the name Boulder Creek at The Hill, we hope they will consider, not just the shopping, but the many outdoor activities Southern Illinois has to offer. In Colorado, Boulder Creek is a popular recreational spot for many outdoor activities. It is surrounded by thousands of acres of open space, nature preserves, world class hiking trails and bike trails. In Southern Illinois, we hope that Boulder Creek at the Hill will become a destination location where families embrace the many activities that will surround this retail and recreational complex."

Chad Holland is one of the two nephews of Bruce Holland, CEO of Holland Construction that's the lead developer in the project. It was he, and not his uncle, that announced Monday the selection of Ryan Companies as a partner in the developement.

Don't know if it matters, but the uncle's name is not to be found on the web pages for the project on the Holland website. The younger Hollands have been involved in both the Marion project as well its earlier Glen Carbon incarnation, University Town Center.

"One of our objectives is to promote tourism throughout the region. Southern Illinois has an existing and established tourism base," Brad Holland explained Wednesday, "It is our desire to expand upon and draw attention to what's already here."

My first reaction to the Colorado reference wasn't overwhemlingly positive, but I just remembered that our Garden of the Gods was named after the Colorado landmark as well. We've managed to make that our own and will have Camel Rock on a quarter come 2016.

Therefore, I don't see any problems with Boulder Creek, even if our boulders were those excavated by the site's long history of coal mining. That just ties in with the Southern Illinois Miners across the road.


View Marion STAR Bonds District in a larger map

The company website includes a brochure for the project which was presumably prepared last May and has not been updated with the new name.

The brochure does include a site plan, but it's unclear if it is a real plan, or just preliminary drawings. It looks like the retail will be pushed westward to run from Morgan to Longstreet on the north and from the interstate east to Carbon Street extended north to Longstreet. Another major store or single building is planned for the area north of Menards on the west side of the interstate.

Not shown is an entertainment user, one of the necessary factors to get the STAR Bonds organized. It would presumably sit on land between Carbon and Russell, as well as the part of the development east of Russell.

There are pictures of the original Illinois Centre Mall project in City Hall and the mall office. The whole mall got turned around by the time it was built, so these plans will likely change as well.

One of the interesting tidbits in the brochure for the development — the Marion Menards is in the top 10 percent of all the Menards stores nationwide.

The Southern online has their version of the news release.

Hollands Hire Ryan Companies for STAR Bonds Deal

As mentioned last week, there's a new partner in the STAR Bonds development of Marion.

Chad Holland announced today that the Ryan Companies US, Inc., will assist with site planning and other project tasks fro the STAR bond development in Marion, Illinois.

Ryan Companies US, Inc. is a nationally-recognized builder, designer, developer and real estate manager specializing in fully integrates solutions. With a mission to build lasting relationships, Ryan delivers full-service customized solutions based on industry expertise and total collaboration - pairing customer's expectations with a specialized team of constructors, architects, engineers, developers, property managers and financiers. Ryan serves customers throughout the United States with offices in the Midwest, Southwest, Great Lakes and Southeast regions and employs nearly 550 workers.

"Having a great team is a key to success. Ryan has been in the real estate industry for more than 70 years. We have the utmost confidence in Ryan and look forward to working with them on this exciting project."

In 2007, Ryan was named the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties' (NIAOP) "Developer of the Year." NAIOP also honored Ryan Companies Tampa, Fla., office with the "Outstanding Developer of the Year" and "Outstanding Office Building of the Year" awards in 2010.

Ryan Companies are on the Web at www.ryancompanies.com.

It's not tourism related, but Ryan has another potential connection to Marion that might interest city officials. For the last few years they've been building Target's new distribution centers.

Prior to the recession, Target was the all but officially announced company planning the new distribution center east of Marion on Route 13. The Marion city council annexed the 149.5 acre tract into the city four years ago in December 2007.

Back in April 2007, Target announced it planned to increase its presence by 25 percent of the next five-year period. At the time it wanted to add 100 stores a year, but the recession intervened.

The company pulled the plug on its expansions plans for the stores and distribution centers, including the one in Marion.

In 2010, rather than open a hundred new stores, they opened 13 and remodeled another 341 in the first nine months of that year.

Then, this past January, they announced plans to open 21 new stores in 2011 and remodel 400 existing stores, more in line with the slower economy.

Hopefully, as the economy gears up, and so does their expansion plans, they'll be back. They've been looking at Marion for a distribution center for at least six years if not longer.

Major STAR Bonds Announcement Set for Monday

View Marion STAR Bonds District in a larger map
Expect a major announcement Monday from the folks behind the proposed Millennium Development project in Marion's STAR Bonds district.

No, don't expect the names of the major anchors for the project — the destination user and entertainment user necessary to get the project off of the ground. Instead look for the name of a partner with the heft to assist the Hollands in getting the overall project started.

The new partner offers 70 years of experience in designing, developing and managing real estate projects throughout the country, including recent projects in both the St. Louis and Chicagoland area. The firm has been "building lasting relationships" by specializing in "fully integrated solutions."

In terms of heft, they employ 150 people in their Chicago office alone.

Though there has been some griping about the speed of the project (or lack thereof), this step is a good sign. Especially, since keep in mind, this is the worst economic condition in decades in which to start a major commercial and retail development.

Can't wait to see what all Monday will bring, but for now, just know that the project is still moving forward.

STAR Bonds Deal Slows, But Still Moving Forward

Though it seems like months since anything new has broken about STAR Bonds development deal for Marion, it's still moving forward, just at a pace frustrating to local officials.

The Marion City Council had two items on the agenda last night about the project, but delayed votes on both. The agenda labeled the items the "Millennium contract" and the "Holland Ancillary contract." Mayor Robert Butler told the council the two contracts weren't quite ready yet.

In other business with a bit of tourism impact the council created a new set of taxi licenses which will replace the current system. For years the city has limited the number of licenses available with existing companies able to buy up licenses and prevent competition.

The new system sets the license at $100 and no limits on the number that can be issued. The Marion Daily Republican provided the details.

Marcus Commander had approached the council previously and was present again Monday as the council changed its policy to accommodate his business and to keep others from monopolizing the market.

The council now requires a vehicle to go with each license, with a $100 annual fee per vehicle as well as proof of liability insurance with at least $500,000 in coverage. The current licensing system will be phased out by next June.

“We are putting no provision on the rates to be charged,” Butler said. “I felt that free enterprise and competition will take care of those rates.”

Kudos to the council for the action.

Updates on the Millennium Development

While we're still waiting for details on the major anchors for the new Millennium Development, Marion officials continue to work on getting the city ready for the destination development.

City Administrator Gail West recently told Johnston City community leaders that none of the retail tenants are businesses that have any store currently within 70 miles of the city. While that is a requirement for the major anchors and suggested for the secondary, it's the first word that it would the case for "all" the stores.

The "Magic City of Egypt" has lost some of its luster over the decades and half of its population since the 1920s. City leaders are hoping recent approval of Home Rule and a TIF (tax increment financing) district will help turn the community around. They see the growth on the north side of Marion eventually spurring activity at the next interstate exit on their west side.

Last week the Marion City Council discussed agreements with IDOT over plans to for the new "single-point" interchange redo for Exit 54 on Interstate 57 at Illinois Route 13, as well as the expansion of the Morgan Ave overpass into a full interchange as well.

The city will kick in around $7 million for the 57/13 interchange and $1 million on the Morgan Avenue work. It would have to be reimbursed to the state over 15 years with the developer expected to share part the costs.

In a separate story, Mayor Robert Butler told the Southern that the city would be committing 2.5 percent of the city sales tax to the project for infrastructure improvements that would presumably include the road projects. Not mentioned, but again assumed, is that the sales tax would be the portion that is generated from within the STAR bonds district.

'Phone Ringing' With Interest in Millennium Development

View Marion STAR Bonds District in a larger map

Sunday's Southern Illinoisan brought the latest status update for the new Millennium Development project slated for Marion's north side.

Many are interested, but nobody's signed on the dotted line yet in terms of the major anchors, though the developer hopes to have one by the end of the month.

"The phone is ringing. We've been in meetings and having conversations with several potential users. Some are performing market studies, doing their own due diligence. We hope to know more before the end of December," [Developer Bruce] Holland said. "Of course, the holiday season is their busiest time of the year, but we've been talking to some on a weekly basis."

Developers need to land at least one of the two major destination users (large retailers with the capability to attract shoppers from far away) as well as the major entertainment user before they can submit a plan for city and state approval.

Holland told the Southern that they have all the land they need at the present, though should the project expand they could acquire additional acreage. Legislation allowing the STAR Bonds District allows the district to expand up to 500 acres. It's currently under 400 acres.

Papers Add to Story About STAR Bonds District

View Marion STAR Bonds District in a larger map
Both the Marion Daily Republican and the Southern Illinoisan have their stories online from last night's Marion City Council meeting establishing the state's first STAR Bonds District.

Monday's action means the next legal step belongs to the Illinois Department of Revenue which has to approve the district's creation.

Although the developers did not identify any prospects by name, the Southern reports that Holland said the destination users could be identified within the next two months.

By law, Millennium Development must include at least one of the potential two destination users as well as the entertainment user in their master plan before the state will sign off on the plan.

The entertainment user is the non-retail attraction, possibly a theme park, that's necessary to attract enough visitors to the area to support the retail development. In turn, the sales tax generated by the retailers is what pays for the development of the entertainment user.

The legislation is designed to require both sides of the equation to be in place or the plan can't work and won't be certified by the state in the first place.

The law allows for a STAR Bonds district of 300 to 500 acres. The new district is just 366 acres, which leaves 134 acres that could be added later if necessary.

Marion Establishes STAR Bonds District

The Marion City Council voted 5-0 tonight establishing the state's first STAR (sales tax and revenue) Bonds District north of Morgan Avenue.

Developer Bruce Holland could only publicly confirm that prospective partners were showing interest, but due to non-disclosure agreements could not name them at this time.

This is typical for major commercial developments. In the case of the Illinois Centre Mall the identity of the anchor stores came later after the initial mall announcement.

STAR Bonds District Boundaries On Display

The proposed new STAR Bonds District map went on display today at City Hall in Marion (but not online as one might expect in the 21st Century).


View Marion STAR Bonds District in a larger map

The boundary is less than the 500 acres maximum and is closer to 400 acres I think. It includes the 43.52 acre-tract behind Menards, but I can't remember if it included the 3 acre outlot immediately to the east (Lot C). Marion Heights LLC is planning on keeping at least two of the outlots to sell themselves on either side of Stadium Drive between Blue Herons Drive and Morgan Avenue.

On the east side of the interstate the district includes almost all the land north of Morgan up to Longstreet, then east to about a quarter mile east of Russell Street, except it does not include the residential area north of Morgan in the trailer park, up Peabody Lane, Emery and Cash Streets.

On Russell Street the district does not begin until north of the Northernaire subdivision and the homes along Cox Street.

The map and legal description will remain on display at City Hall for at least a week before the council officially approves it, which I'm assuming will take place next Monday.

Meanwhile, the Illinois Department of Revenue has posted its proposed rules for regulating the STAR Bonds District. As expected based on their public statements, the rules are even more restrictive than the legislation itself, though for the most part they seem reasonable.

Read them yourself and offer comments at the Department of Revenue STAR Bonds website.

Millennium Developers Meet with Wineries

Representatives from the Millennium Development coming to Marion, state Reps. John Bradley and Mike Bost, and area winery owners met together to discuss how they could work together.

Today's Southern Illinoisan has the story.

If they could have only invited the regional tourism director to the meeting. Oh, we don't have one due to the state's budget crisis.

Hearing/Briefing on STAR Bond District Set for Monday

This week should see some of the first official steps taken to create the new STAR bond district for the destination development targeting Marion.

The Illinois Department of Revenue will meet with local officials and community leaders at 7 p.m. tomorrow at John A. Logan Community College in O'Neal Auditorium.

The notice explains the purpose:

Department staff will outline its role in the project, discuss what we have done to date, talk generally about where we are headed, and seek input from local leaders.

Basically, it's a technical briefing and not any grand announcement from the developers.

Mike Clemons, a communications and policy guru with the agency explained Friday that the agency is on goal to promulgate the rules by Labor Day. The agency and local officials have already been meeting and will continue to work together on this project.

"We're trying not to be the impediment," he added explaining the law makes the agency responsible for reviewing and authorizing the Marion district.

The biggest problems so far is that the law is complex, occasionally confusing, and since it's the first one of its kind in Illinois, the agency has had to start from almost scratch in terms of writing the rules needed to implement the law.

Still, the Labor Day deadline matches previous comments by developer Bruce Holland earlier this month to the Southern Illinoisan that plans would get underway in September. Mayor Robert Butler also gave September as the start date in an interview this past week for an upcoming story in Marion Living.

Meanwhile, tomorrow's hearing will preempt the normal Marion city council meeting which is being moved to Wednesday. According to City Administrator Gail West the council is expected to take the first steps toward implementing the plan by annexing some of the land to be involved that's not already within the city limits.

One of the next steps will be for the council to officially find that the land in question meets the qualifications for a STAR bonds district. This step is but a technicality since the legislation was specifically written with the Marion tract in mind.

As far as details as to what may come, the public may get its best idea yet at the upcoming Community Leaders Breakfast sponsored by the Southern Illinoisan at 7 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 8, with Holland himself as one of the keynote speakers. Tickets are $15 and be purchased at www.sbj.biz.

Millennium Development Owners Eye September Launch

Bruce Holland, owner of Millennium Development LLC, has told the Southern Illinoisan that he expects to launch the process creating the state's first STAR (sales tax and revenue) Bond District in September.

Meanwhile, the city is working with Millennium Development LLC, the company behind the destination development, and the state on the establishment of the STAR Bond district, developer Bruce Holland said.

"It's part of the process," Holland said. "We're working with the city and the Department of Revenue to determine the actual boundaries and demographics of what goes in the district. Once that is done, we'll be closer to being able to say who (what businesses) we are working with for the actual development."

Mayor Butler told the paper that developers have already optioned nearly 400 acres and are still working on two or three other land owners. Based on what I'm hearing in the real estate industry, it looks like the district will stretch from the edge of Rent One Park east across the interstate almost to, if not right on, Route 37 north of the cemeteries.

Butler also hinted at two or three other businesses not related to Holland's development who had put their plans on hold due to the recession are back showing renewed interest in the city.

He provided no hints, but past businesses interested included two new hotels (one a new Holiday Inn Express for the lot next to MidCountry Bank) and a major chain restaurant, which was all but named as a certain Italian eatery which has danced around with the city since the Illinois Centre Mall underwent construction 20 years ago.

I don't know for sure what Butler was referencing, it could be these, or it could be some of the other larger businesses and industries looking at the city prior to the economic downturn. Either way it's a winner for the region.

In order to establish the district for which public hearings will be held, the developers have to come up with a master plan that includes at least one destination user (a large specialty retailer) and one entertainment user (theme park or other entertainment complex).

Once the city approves the district, it then goes to the Illinois Department of Revenue for approval.

The Southern's article is already online and should be in tomorrow's print edition.

The Sign Says It All

A few weeks ago someone placed the above hand-painted sign at the intersection of North Carbon Street and Morgan Avenue in Marion where the new Millennium Development is set to expand The Hill into a major retail and tourist destination center.

The sign surfaced just after the first round of heavy news coverage of Mount Vernon's opposition to SB 2093 that would create a STAR Bonds district in Marion.

I thought at the time Mount Vernon officials were going above and beyond making their point and were to the point of digging their own grave, shooting themselves in the foot, etc., (insert your own favorite cliche here).

The last thing the King City needs is to stir up a boycott - something I've heard mentioned more than once or twice. Such a move would only hurt Southern Illinois.

'Life-Changing Exciting,' Unions Back Jobs Bill

The Marion Daily Republican nabbed the best quote yesterday explaining union support for the STAR Bonds bill.

Rick Hilliard, business manager for International Union of Operating Engineers Local 318, anticipated thousands of construction jobs awaiting the region.

"This is life-changing exciting. I can't wait to get machinery in the dirt," he said. "For business looking for a place to prosper, city officials helped them figure ways to prosper. This will be an explosion of that."

WSIL-TV backed up the sentiment the stats from the Laborers.

At Local 773, the Marion-based chapter of the Laborers International Union of North America, man hours dropped from around 1.1 million in 2001 to around 412,000 in 2007.

As the recession continued that number shrank to around 380,000 in 2009.

Everyone But Quinn Turns Out for Bill Signing

Officials from Cairo up to Mount Vernon (okay, maybe not Mount Vernon, but at least Franklin County) turned out in Marion this morning to witness Gov. Pat Quinn sign Senate Bill 2093, the STAR Bonds incentives legislation that would stimulate the development of thousands of jobs in Southern Illinois.

The Carterville marching band entertained the crowd, veterans manned a color guard and a children's choir sung the Star Spangled Banner at the Operating Engineers Local 318's union hall on Marion's west side.

The governor's staff and state Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion, had the legislation laying out on the head table with plenty of pens available for the governor to use. All that was missing was the governor himself.

Wicked weather forced the cancellation of 375 flights out of Chicago O'Hare this morning and delayed hundreds of others at both O'Hare and Midway, including the state plane scheduled to fly Quinn to today's event.

Bradley first announced a delay of one hour following the Pledge of Allegiance and the invocation. The governor had canceled the rest of his schedule this afternoon and would arrive eventually. Minutes later Bradley provided another update inviting the crowd of around 200 to come back tomorrow after flight officials told the governor he was looking a delay of 5 or 6 hours before being able to take off.

Wags in the crowd were quick to point out two things. First, if the governor resided in Springfield he could have made it as it was nothing but blue skies over the Executive Mansion this morning. Second, since he's such a big advocate of Amtrak he could have come by train (and still made it quicker).

In the end it won't matter though. He'll be quickly forgiven. Barring wind and wild weather he should make it to Marion and sign the bill in 12 hours or so and the wait will be over.

Now that we know he's going to sign it, the next question is how much developer Bruce Holland will be able to say tomorrow on what's actually coming. Word is dirt should start flying almost immediately on at least some aspects of the project.

Illinois Centre Mall Latest Landmark to Change Hands

Kokopelli wasn't the only Marion landmark to change hands this week. Less than 24 hours after the Green Grass Group LLC closed the deal on the region's premiere golf course, a new owner took over the Illinois Centre Mall next door.

Although the new owner(s) are still not publicly identified, the old management team in the mall office is already out. Two meetings are set for next Wednesday, one between the new owner(s) and remaining staff, and a second with the mall tenants.

The challenge for new owners will be how to turn around the struggling mall that's now in its 19th year of operation with major new competition on the way.

Officials with the Edward J. DeBartolo Corp., and Antonia Investments, Inc., announced the development of the Illinois Centre Mall in 1989. Construction started the next spring with steel work underway by the fall of 1990. The mall opened the following year in early October 1991.

The mall was to the 750,000 square-foot centerpiece of a 260-acre development. However, a fifth anchor store planned for the front of the mall at what's now the center entrance never materialized.

For the last two decades the Illinois Centre Mall has both competed with, and mutually complimented the older University Mall down the highway in Carbondale.

The University Mall began with a stand-alone JCPenney store in 1971 with the first phase of the mall built three years later to the west with a new Sears store anchoring the other end. Later a second wing to the south led to a third anchor store, Meis (later Elder-Beerman).

During the development of the Illinois Centre Mall, developers added another wing to the east of JCPenney with an 91,000 square foot Famous-Barr and an 80,000 square-foot Venture store. Overall, the $35 million project added 266,000 square feet of retail increasing the total size of the mall to 690,162 square feet.

But what's on the way could more than double the combined size of both malls. The new Millennium Development proposed for Marion would greatly expand "The Hill" with one or two major "destination users", or retailers of least 150,000 square feet each.

The Cabela's store near Kansas City, Kansas, is part of a development cited by the Marion developers as an example of what they want. That store offers 180,000 square feet of shopping. The chain's largest store is 250,000 square feet. That said, the company is now generally planning 80,000 to 125,000 square-foot stores according to their corporate website.

Another possible anchor mentioned for Glen Carbon was a Nebraska Furniture Mart. The Southern Illinoisan described the company as building a 1 million square feet store in the Kansas City STAR bonds development. Actually, the store is just (yeah, just) 420,000 square feet. The remaining 600,000+ square feet is a distribution center.

In addition to the two destination user anchors the legislation allows up to another 900,000 square feet of additional retail to be built within the STAR Bonds district. At least half of that will be needed to entice a Cabela's, as they want to anchor growing retail developments (discounters and franchise stores don't count).

Local Teachers' Unions Come Out In Favor of STAR Bill

Unions representing 4,200 educational employees in Southern Illinois have joined the chorus in calling on Gov. Quinn to sign into law Senate Bill 2093 passed last month by lawmakers.

The bill would allow the creation of sales tax and revenue bonds (STAR bonds) to help pay for development of a destination attraction of tourism and retail on Marion's north side.

Regions 1 and 2 of the Illinois Education Association are backing the bill.

"The STAR bond legislation could be the best economic development tool that state government has ever passed for our regions. We enthusiastically support the Star bond legislation and we urge Gov. Quinn to sign it," said Region 2 chair Mary Bess Williams.

Quinn Says Good Things About Destination Bill

Gov. Pat. Quinn called the Marion destination legislation that passed the General Assembly last month "very important" when asked by reporters last night in Charleston, Illinois.

He also described it as a jobs bill but still needs time to study it before signing.

Quinn, who was speaking at Eastern Illinois University, told reporters the legislation "is a jobs proposal" and that jobs are the "No. 1 issue."

The bill, SB 2093, would create the state's first STAR Bonds district, in order to land a major tourism destination and retail development on Marion's north side.

As it's an election year and he needs the support of Southern Illinois voters, so it's expected that he will sign it.

However opposition is growing from the state public employees union, AFSMCE, proving once again that what's good for public sector unions are usually bad for everyone else.

Opponents have argued the state's financial problems make it a questionable time to divert public funds for a private development.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union is urging Quinn to kill the measure, saying the state cannot absorb the loss of tax dollars.

"This is the worst possible time for a tax giveaway to a private corporate developer," said AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall. "Its terrible timing and the governor should veto this bill."

Apparently a terrible recession with high unemployment is a bad time to try to create jobs in this state, jobs, which when taxed, provide the funds to pay the wages of said public sector unions.

AFSCME on the other hand would rather the state raise income taxes 50 percent, or more.

As to diverting public revenues, there's almost no way it will divert a dime of public revenues in the next fiscal year, as Marion will be lucky to see a groundbreaking that soon, let alone see the development up and running by that time.

Secondly, you can't divert what isn't there, which would be the sales tax increment generated from this development.

Back in 1966, the State of Florida bent over backwards to provide incentives to the Walt Disney Company in the form of the Reedy Creek Improvement District.

How did that work out? I think we all know.

Although newspapers keep repeating Cabela's and Great Wolf Lodge as possible tenants, they're forgetting the important aspect of the "entertainment user", or theme park, that's a requirement to get the STAR Bonds district created in the first place.

This thing is bigger than most people realize. If successful, it's bigger than the Southern Illinois Miners and the mall development. It's bigger than the '82 Tornado. It's all those things and the coming of the interstates combined. Mayor Butler knows it (hence the tears in his eyes when it passed). John Bradley knows it, and so do a few others. The potential for Southern Illinois is off the scale.

Southern Calls on Quinn to Sign Development Bill

Today's Southern Illinoisan calls for Gov. Pat Quinn to sign Senate Bill 2093, the STAR Bonds bill needed to kick off a new destination development deal for Marion's northwest side.

This region not only needs private-sector investment and the traffic that comes with it, but it is well prepared. Forgive the cliché, but the iron is hot; it's time to strike.