A company called Houston Roof Curbs and Sheet Metal wants to relocate its business to Morris. (Mike Farrell misspells the company name as Huston)
According to a Morris Daily Herald article, the company recently appeared before the Morris Development Review Committee seeking approval to construct a new metal building on Spruce Street behind Third avenue along the railroad tracks, on property properly zoned for manufacturing.
Houston would employ 20 union sheet metal workers at its proposed Morris facility.
You would think that Morris would welcome 20 new union jobs with open arms - maybe even offer incentives to lure them to our community. Instead, the city has subjected this company to the costly and useless process of begging for approval from the city's "Development Review Committee."
The Development Review Committee missed the opportunity to approve this proposal because "the M-1 ordinance requires new buildings to be constructed of brick or masonry" but the company budget only allows construction of a metal building.
Additionally, "several members of the Development Review Committee said they would like to see different colors and features of the exterior walls."
This is the same committee that dictated to Menards what sort of flowers should be planted at the new Morris store. Prospective developers of all sizes are required to pay the city $3,000 for the privilege of being subjected to this sort of spurious drivel from the committee.
Let's hope that it is not too late, and this company doesn't decide to instead move to Coal City, Seneca, or some other locality that does not subject prospective employers to the whims of this improvident and destructive committee.
Web site for Houston Roof Curbs and Sheet Metal, Inc.
Joliet Herald article
38 comments:
We need to change the anti-business attitude in city hall.
But you can have a restaurant in a quansit hut like at the airport, and the real kicker is....the city owns it! What a crock. Just a bunch of people with perceived power & clout. I hope they make the standards for living so high that their own children or grand children can't afford to live here anymore. That way we can get rid of that gene pool.
There is a member on the development review committee who represents the MDDP. By ordinance, she is only supposed to chime in when downtown issues are brought up. This person has been told repeatedly not to come to meetings unless something involves the downtown . Evidently, she feels she is so important that she must sit in on all meetings and cast a vote. The funny thing is we all know she is not supposed to be there and so does she.
This committee and the prohibitive cost of the "review" also discourages downtown property owners from upgrading their storefronts. The committee should be disbanded.
Scott just loves this committee, he makes all the money. Most of us get nothing except for Scott and the want a be engineer.
Many downtown business owners have their noses in everyone else's business all the time. Time and time again these bullies befriend the newcomers and talk about them behind their backs. What a buncha poo poo's.
How many employers don't even consider moving to Morris because of the added expense and aggravation imposed by the city? It is a simple matter for them to go to a town that is more friendly toward business.
Huston should apply for a $3,000 grant from the TIF fund to pay for the review.
Please, those of you in the know let us know the names of these commitee members. We need to know who the obstructionists are. We want NAMES!
Sledge, I hear the committee would like to see the exterior of the building painted in a delicate yet pretty mauve striped pattern to compliment Joanne Gretencord's dress.
Also, they would like to see an assortment of wildflowers, perhaps interspersed with some day lillies, and of course a fragrant lilac bush to produce a delightful aroma for all to enjoy.
If Huston would just agree to these very reasonable conditions obviously designed for the safety of Morris residents, then the city will give the project its full approval.
This committee is why Kohl's pulled out of Morris and decided to go to Channahon.
Senreq built a metal building on city-owned land and they only have one employee, Sleeveless Jesus.
Channahon has made Houston a better offer. They are not going to require the day lillies.
How much of the $3,000 goes to Belt?
The Development Review Committee imposes unreasonable standards on new businesses that make moving to Morris prohibitively expensive. Why does the city have the attitude that businesses and people in business are bad or stupid and need this sort of oversight? Business owners have much more at stake in their buildings than anyone on this committee.
The committee is soooo concerned about the look of Morris....yet they approved the embarassing neon "Bottoms Up" sign on Bedford...
$90 an hour buys hookers and fine liquor
Was whole thing was set up to generate more income for Scooter and Warren?
Everything the city does is about making money for cronies. Haven't you figured that out yet?
Lay off of Scooter. He only gets $110 an hour. I am sure he spends at least 30 hours looking at every item that comes before the committee. So he is actually LOSING $300 on every application.
It was nice of the radio station to read the MDH article to us this morning.
The city council should rescind this anti-business ordinance and disband the committee.
Joe Cook will be on the phone to Houston today, offering them property tax rebates to build in Channahon. Channahon doesn't care what color Houston paints his building.
Only 30 hours? How can a city attorney possibly decide in only 30 hours if a company is planting the right flowers and shrubs and painting their building the right color? This is a very scientific process requiring painstaking legal work by teams of brilliant and highly paid attorneys. There is just no other way to do it.
We need this committee to protect the city. If a company spends hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy land, hundreds of thousands more to build a building, and hundreds of thousand more to buy equipment and move from its old location, you can only assume that the company would then buy cheap paint in an offensive color. Thank goodness we have Warren Olson and his committee to protect us from this threat.
How much does the city pay this Hoffman guy to run businesses out of Morris?
The City of Morris paid Teska Associates $29,893.74 last fiscal year. I assume this includes their stellar work on getting the proper bushes planted at Menards.
How can Teska represent community after community with best interests in mind. Are there no ethics? Sounds alot like the engineering firm from town that grabs all the business from cities, developers and the like. What a fraud.
Sledge, what do you know about this minority development company. I do not understand the whole point of sale thing. One company they represent is a car dealership from Grayslake.
Did anyone catch the photos on the Morris Daily Fluff website of the Ball? How bout the shot of WO gazing through the bloodshot eyes tainted with VO at his sweetheart...whatta you wanna bet he was thinking of a poem about her boobs?
Who the hell is Teska you keep referring to?
WO sure knows how to pick em. Banana clip, a wrist tatt, and a tacky dress straight out of some thrift store. What a class act. Whatever happened to Barb the coffee chick? He dump her?
Political insiders say a gift certificate from Chapins goes a long way.
Sledge, take a look at how much many the city paid Minority Development Co.
8:30, after reading your comment I had to see the pic...unbelievable!!! I am still trying to pick myself off the ground after I fell off the chair. But didn't you love the schoolboy in love look in his eyes while he's staring at her?? LMAO..thanks for giving me a laugh
Did you notice the huge payment by the city to "Minority Development Co."? What it this company, what does it do and why is the city paying it so much cash??
I want to know as well. I read about Bell Fuel and Ritchie Bros. years ago and know why we reimburse them. But who/what is Minority Development Co???
Sledge what about free ride? Please post it. I want people to how Marta is being treated.
Post a Comment