OREGON — At its monthly meeting Tuesday, the Ogle County Board heard a presentation from Ogle County Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Charlene Coulombe.
The OCEDC is a nonprofit representing all of Ogle County, its communities, employers and citizens. The entity officially formed in August 2023 to bring a cohesive county-wide economic development effort. Since 2019, more than a dozen communities, utility companies, state and regional economic agencies have come together to make the OCEDC a reality.
The OCEDC is made up of various officials from municipalities and the county. Its officers include Randy Schoon - president (Polo), Darin DeHaan - vice president (Oregon), Paula Diehl - secretary (Mt. Morris) and John Rickard - treasurer (Byron). Each officer represents a community that has pledged startup funds for the new organization. Ogle County, Creston and the City of Rochelle have also pledged.
Coulombe presented a certificate of appreciation to Ogle County Board Chairman John Finfrock and Vice Chairman Patricia Nordman for the county's participation in and support of the OCEDC on Tuesday and her presentation included background and goals of the OCEDC.
Coulombe has been working with the OCEDC for five months and brings prior economic development experience in the suburbs, the Rockford area, and in Wisconsin.
"The goal we have for the county is to get all of the communities to work together and join forces to be stronger," Coulombe said. "Regionalism has been a big thing. There's power and strength in numbers. If a manufacturer comes into the region and can't find a spot in one community, we want them to find another place and stay in the region and county."
In the past five months, Coulombe has spent time in each of the communities that played a major role in the OCEDC's formation and went over their needs, demands and challenges. Her services include working with businesses on startup and relocation, posting properties online for development, and helping with grant applications and awareness.
"If somebody needs assistance with their business, if there's a solution out there, we'll do everything we can to find it," Coulombe said. "I also have an inventory of all the property within the county including land sites as well as buildings and empty sites that might need to be repurposed."
Properties within Ogle County are currently "in the running for" several development projects, Coulombe said, which she hopes to see come to fruition.
Coulombe also expressed a desire to help improve the county's housing availability by working with developers amid a housing shortage.
"Our goals are to work together to help each other save money, make the best of our money, and find grants to help the communities with their downtowns and infrastructure," Coulombe said. "Hopefully we can help some of these communities build their downtown and give everyone an opportunity to stay and shop in their own community."
Nuclear plant
Board Member Dan Janes (R-Stillman Valley, District 5) said Tuesday that upcoming meetings will take place regarding ongoing petition work by Constellation, the owner of the Byron Nuclear Plant, to change the zoning classification of some of its property.
Janes said at last month's meeting that Constellation wants to change all of its agricultural-zoned land to industrial zoning due to some "very positive things that could happen up and around the nuclear plant.” The County Board is working through the process for rezoning.
"This would give [Constellation] the opportunity to look into some very demanding customers to help their industry," Janes said last month. "I cannot share all of the information. This would probably have a very positive impact on our county's equalized assessed value (EAV). It could have the opportunity to be as big as big can get in Ogle County. We need to do this so we're first on the list."
The ground that would see zoning changes is mostly on top of the quarry that the nuclear plant is built on. The several hundred acres are owned by Constellation.
Marion Township will address the proposed zoning changes at its July 22 monthly meeting at 6:30 p.m. The county's zoning board of appeals will address them at its July 25 meeting at 6 p.m.
Coroner’s office
The board unanimously approved an overtime agreement for employees of the Ogle County Coroner's Office in response to issues with underpayment dating back to May 2022 for full-time and part-time deputy coroners. The agreement approved Tuesday corrected underpayment to five employees in the amount of $31,241.
Insurance
The board unanimously approved a new health insurance plan for county employees that will run from Aug. 1 until Dec. 31, 2025. The county's new health insurance provider will be Blue Cross Blue Shield.
The county has had a self-insured model for over 20 years and recently saw high cost increases in recent years, with its most recent renewal rate being a 20 percent increase. The county accepted bids and received two, of which Blue Cross Blue Shield was the lowest.
