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Music >> Rameen Karbassioon: City Spotlight is supported by Consolidated Communications.

CCI is honored to salute the cities and their leaders in the area as well as providing TV, internet, and phone service to local homes and businesses.

We live where we work and are proud to support the communities we serve; more information available at consolidated.com.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Welcome to City Spotlight where we're focusing on east central Illinois towns and we're talking about Mattoon today.

Let's welcome mayor Tim Gover of Mattoon.

Thank you for joining us today.

>> Tim Gover: Thank you, delighted to be here.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Excellent, and before we get started on some of the issues that Mattoon is focusing in 2015, tell us a little bit about yourself.

>> Tim Gover: Well, I was born and raised in Mattoon; graduated from Mattoon high school.

The only time I was away from Mattoon was 7 years when I was away at a college university and came back to Mattoon and have been here ever since then.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: And you've participated in and been a part of several groups here around the area?

>> Tim Gover: I have, I might mention that one of the things I did in high school, I was governor of Primer Boys' State and then was selected to Boys' Nation and then 40 years later I was governor of rotary.

So, I served as governor twice, but certainly not governor of Illinois.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: That would be a tough job.

>> Tim Gover: That's right, a thankless job.

But I've been involved in a number of different organizations.

I mentioned I was involved in rotary, a member of the Charleston rotary club because I taught here at Eastern for 32 years and it was more convenient for me to be a member of the Charleston club because I usually had a class at a time when the Mattoon club met.

So, I've been a member of the Charleston rotary club since 1981 and served as president in '90 and '91.

And then was history governor of rotary for 6490, district 6490 in 1995 and '96.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: So, you've been very much ingrained in the community and the area.

How has that helped you being from this area as a positive to being mayor now, of Mattoon?

>> Tim Gover: Well, I think one of the advantages is the fact that I've been here all my life, I know the people, I know the businesses.

I know the background of a lot of things that are going on and have gone on.

So, that just helps a lot.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: All right, let's dive right in to things that have transpired during your term at Mattoon as mayor.

You became city commissioner in 2009 and then transferred over to mayor.

What can you recall about the state of Mattoon?

Maybe talk about the financial situation Mattoon was in in 2009.

>> Tim Gover: When I went on the city council in 2009, we were actually operating at a deficit.

And unfortunately, we even had to cut some employment, employees for the city, to balance our budget.

But since then, we have had a balanced budget, and in fact, have had a surplus, which we're trying to build because our surplus got down quite a bit during those trying times a few years ago.

So, now we're building that up.

And one of the things I might mention, we have gaming revenue from video gaming machines and I ask the last council, and they agreed, and the current council, the money from the video gaming goes into the general funds but we have a spread sheet that we have divided this money into five different categories.

And one of the categories 20% goes into increasing the police and fire pension fund.

20% goes into, excuse me, demolishing old properties.

20% into our mobile equipment fund, which money we'll use to buy fire trucks, police cars, public works facilities.

And so, we've divided that into five different categories and it's working out very well.

We're receiving between about 15 and 18 or $18,500 a month from the video gaming.

So, it's been something that has helped us tremendously.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Well all know about the challenging economic times in the state of Illinois every community and town has had to deal with it.

It must be gratifying to know that you've been able, Mattoon has been able, to withstand some of those troubling times and, obviously, you'd like to maintain that surplus.

>> Tim Gover: Absolutely, I'm also a director or vice president of the Illinois municipal league.

So, I meet with mayors throughout the state of Illinois and in talking with other mayors, Mattoon is in much better shape than many of them.

We've had industrial expansion; we've had new businesses coming in to the community.

So, it's just-- we are truly-- I say we're truly blessed, and we are, with what is going on in the city of Mattoon.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: All right, the calendar says 2015, so let's talk about some of the things you're talking about dealing with, looking forward to, this year.

Start with economic development, where is Mattoon looking to grow and what are the prospects?

>> Tim Gover: Well, our city administrator also is our economic development coordinator and I work with that as well.

I have called two chief executive officers of corporations to talk with them about maybe coming into Mattoon, and we'll see how that works out.

We work very closely with Coles Together, Angela Griffin, and work with the school district, with Lakeland College.

So, all of these trying to develop industry.

I spoke with-- met with a plant manager and he's interested in having a program through Lakeland College to help train employees to come into his plant.

So, this is the type of thing we're working with all of the time.

A lot of things going on in Mattoon.

Casey Summers Automobile Dealership is planning to expand.

They have property from about the railroad tracks or the subway there on Charleston Avenue to 21st street.

There are some buildings there, Courtesy Cleaner building and some other buildings that will be demolished and they will be putting up a new GMC dealership there.

We will vacate 19th street between Charleston Avenue and Wabash and they can't put a building over there because we have utilities under that street.

But part of that will be used for the new dealership.

Motions Industries is located in that area, a new building is being constructed for them in the 21 hundred block of Charleston.

They will be moving there.

Courtesy Cleaners building, where it is now, will be demolished and a new building has been put up on South Lakeland Boulevard between Wabash and Lafayette.

They're about ready to move into that.

Across the street where the old fire station number two used to be, that building has been demolished and two buildings south of it were demolished and now that is being prepared for Advanced Autoparts store.

So, there are a lot of things that are going on.

We are very proud of what's happening.

But that downtown area has come back.

There for a while it was, like many other communities, but several entrepreneurs, business people, have bought the business buildings down there and are filling those buildings with different stores.

So, it's looking very good.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Lots of land in Mattoon, a lot of places you could expand to.

The north-end with the new interchange for road 1000 north, the south area of Lakeland Boulevard.

Those are areas to expand, are those areas you're looking at, potentially, for businesses?

>> Tim Gover: We always look at areas where there might be expansion, and of course we're looking east as well on Charleston Avenue or Highway 16.

Recently, Carl Clinic purchased a property at the Lerna Road and 16, and they have some plans for that building.

It was First Mid Illinois Insurance Operation.

So, a number of things that are moving out toward the airport and Sarah Bush Lincoln Hospital.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: You've lived, worked, in this area, gone to school in this area, and now we see a lot more things closing that gap between Charleston and Mattoon.

Did you ever invasion what-- back in the day, what it would look like?

I know driving across there wasn't-- there wasn't much there but it's starting to slowly but surely fill up a little bit.

>> Tim Gover: It is, and of course, I can remember when we had the old Highway 316, which came from Mattoon to Charleston, two-lane highway.

And now we have, and have had for many years, the four-lane divided highway from Mattoon to Charleston.

And I've seen that develop and grow and, you know, the interstate sort of stopped growth for a period of time, but now, as I say, it's jumped over the interstate and there are things that are moving eastward.

And I can see the time, maybe not in my lifetime, when Charleston and Mattoon will grow together there on Illinois 16.

Maybe like Champaign-Urbana, who knows?

>> Rameen Karbassioon: That's something I've certainly thought about.

I'm originally from Charleston so I always wonder what it would look like if Charleston and Mattoon were all aligned together.

I know a few years back, there was the excitement and then the downfall of FutureGen coming here.

Are there any projects or looking in to the future of, you know, you can't predict that you're going to get that opportunity, something like that to come to an areas, but are you guys looking at something down the road?

Maybe, how do you look at those kind of projects?

Maybe working with Coles Together on things like that.

I know that was a exciting, but then disappointing time.

>> Tim Gover: It was, and we were looking forward to that but it was not to be.

And so, we've moved on.

We're working with Coles Together as mayor of Mattoon, I'm on the board of Coles Together, and we have some plans, some things in the works, that we're working with for the property there west of Mattoon on Illinois 121 for a possibly something coming in there.

Right now, it looks very good, very promising, but I'm not going to say anything until it happens, so.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: That's fine, we won't speculate or put you on the spot.

There's a lot of farmland around the Mattoon area.

So, is that-- that's a strength to be able to look to put stuff around?

>> Tim Gover: Well, and Coles Together owns over 400 acres there where FutureGen was planning to go, so that area could very easily be developed into industrial properties.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: We talked about the area around the interstate and I can remember a time when it was just-- driving in from Charleston, going to the freeway, and there was the mall.

But now there's a lot more than that.

>> Tim Gover: That's right.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Mattoon has 8 hotels/motels, 40 plus restaurants, talk about that area and that's the first thing people see when they get off the interstate.

>> Tim Gover: That's true, and we try to keep the interstate area from the interstate into Mattoon looking nice and keeping it up and making it attractive because first impressions and curb appeal, it's very important when people come into the community and take a look at it because many times they judge the community by what they see first.

And so, we're trying to do a lot.

I've mentioned before off camera that we have what we call community pride, which several years ago we started to try to clean up the community, try to get property owners to clean up their property.

We recently received a $25,000 grant from the state to help demolish property and I mentioned that part of the money that we get from the gaming revenue is going into to demolishing properties.

And so, as we go along, we get the money to do it, we are taking down properties that are inhabitable or dilapidated, cannot really be rehabbed.

And also, excuse me, people will know in Mattoon the old Keeney Manufacturing or Superior Equipment Company on south 19th street, north of the General Electric plant.

Recently, the owner of that plant/facility has taken out a demolition permit and so that property will be demolished as well.

It won't be noticed for a while because they're starting on the west end of the property and moving toward 19th street.

So, eventually, that will be taken down and that will be, I think, very good for the city.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: And we'll talk about demolishing residential properties a little bit in a few minutes, but when you're talking about demolishing old properties, you don't want to see things go, but times do change and businesses and buildings just become, you know, uninhabitable or, you know, there's nothing to fill in.

Talk about that process of having to demolish businesses, old businesses.

>> Tim Gover: Well, yeah, it's something that, you know, you hate to do but sometimes the building gets in such a condition, it can't be rehabbed, and there have-- we have had situations where buildings have actually fallen down and then you have to go ahead and demolish the rest of that building because it's too dangerous to leave.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Let's move on to the roads; Mattoon's got a lot of roads that go through it.

Illinois 121, 16, U.S. 45, obviously the state works on those, but those are roads that all out and in to Mattoon.

What are some of the inner streets that you're looking at needing some work as we're here in 2015?

>> Tim Gover: Well, we have a long-range plan of what we're planning to do as far as expanding or renovating some of the streets.

Marshall Avenue between 6th street and Lakeland Boulevard we're planning to fix that street, it's starting to crumble underneath the pavement.

And so, we have a long-range plan, about a 3-year plan, to improve that road.

And it'll be very good once it's completed, but it's not in too good of shape.

We also are planning to put a new road from Illinois 16 at the west end of Wal-Mart, which will wrap around Wal-Mart to the back and connect with Detro Drive.

That's not started yet, we're still making-- looking at the plans on that.

It will allow people to exit on 16 into the Wal-Mart area and take some of that traffic away from Detro Drive and 16.

We're also planning to do some work there at that entrance at Detro Drive and 16 to make it a little more, well better as far as the traffic is concerned in there.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: It's a high-traffic area.

>> Tim Gover: And that road, by the way, will wrap around the back of Wal-Mart and will connect to Detro Drive.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Okay, we can look forward to that.

I'm sure a lot of people in that area because there's Wal-Mart and a lot of the other businesses across the streets.

It's a challenging area to sometimes get around.

>> Tim Gover: It is.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: We talk about Broadway Avenue, the sewer work, did you mention that?

>> Tim Gover: No I didn't, we're working in the alleys behind Broadway Avenue.

We have plans between 15th and 16th street to repair that alley, and also the sewer and waterlines that are underneath that.

And we're planning to eventually have that completed from where the depot is to 14th street.

I might mention the depot also.

The city of Mattoon owns the depot there, been a great deal of renovation, people have been very dedicated in renovating that depot and it's now headquarters, you might say, for the Coles County Historical Museum, Amtrak uses that, we have the Lone Elm room, which is being used for a number of different things.

So, that's coming right along and people enjoy that.

There's a wall to the east of the depot on what had been the First National Bank or the thrifty building as some know it and that has been repaired and we're hoping to put a mural there.

And then, across the street, at 17th and Broadway, there's some property that has been donated to the City by Dick Lumpkin and the Lumpkin Family Foundation and that will be Heritage Park.

And plans are being made to make that into a very nice are.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Our time is moving along quickly, we've got about five minutes remaining, let's talk about some of the buildings and you mentioned prior to our taping the public works building.

>> Tim Gover: Yes.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: It's getting a face-lift; tell us a little bit out that.

>> Tim Gover: We are going to be building a new public works building.

The city has acquired between 5 and 6 acres of land on east Dewitt Avenue next to S&K Power Plant or facility.

And we will be starting construction on that building probably in the late fall of 2015.

One of the things I like about that particular location, it adjoins our yard waste facility.

And when I look at things as mayor, I try to look 25 years in the future, when I won't be here.

But one of the advantages there, if we need to expand, we can expand into that area, which the problem today is where our public works building is located, we have no way to expand.

And that building we have now is about to fall down anyway and needs a lot of renovation.

So, we're looking forward to getting that public works building there on east Dewitt Avenue.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Excellent, Mattoon's getting a new public works building.

Let's talk quickly a little bit about housing in Mattoon.

A lot of your properties are 50, 60 plus years old, over half of the homes.

Talk a little bit about-- you were talking about demolition and demolishing the buildings in downtown and businesses that are no longer there, talk about having to demolition old homes in Mattoon.

>> Tim Gover: And it's quite a process because sometimes property owners will simply deed the property to the city.

Other times, we have to go through condemnation proceedings and so, it becomes, sometimes, rather involved.

But we are making progress and I think the city is looking much better than it was just a few years ago.

People come back, who haven't been in the city for a long time, oh wow, Mattoon really looks a lot cleaner.

We have work to do yet, but we're making progress.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Any particular areas of Mattoon you're looking to continue to grow residentially?

>> Tim Gover: There are some areas; it depends upon the builders and where the lots are available.

It seems to be building more in the south end of town, southeast, southwest part of town, out around the Country Club area.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Growing up living in Mattoon, you've seen a lot of changes over time, are there any thing over this long duration of your life that you've noticed that are moments that you can recall and that have been impactful to Mattoon that have stood out?

>> Tim Gover: Well, I think one of the things back in the '50s we had a number of plants that were located in Mattoon, some of them are no longer there.

We've had other plants that have come in that have been major employers like Kal Kan or Mars Pet Foods now, RR Donnelly, Sarah Bush Lincoln.

I remember when we had a hospital in Mattoon, a hospital in Charleston.

Now, we have this wonderful medical facility.

We have Carl Clinic here.

Those things have been really impressive and bring people into the area.

One of the things I'd like to touch on very quickly, we have a sports complex.

The sports complex is where the old New York Central Railroad roundhouse used to be and railroad tracks.

And we have hundreds and hundreds of baseball, softball teams that come in during the summer.

Those people come here; they stay here for several days in many cases, there in our hotels, motels, eat in our restaurants and so forth.

And it's just been a wonderful thing.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: I know it can get quite busy around the time of Bagel fest with that tournament.

>> Tim Gover: Oh yes.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: I heard something like over a hundred teams participated in that.

>> Tim Gover: Yes.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: That's a lot of people; it's got to be exciting.

>> Tim Gover: Yeah.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Strengths for Mattoon, moving forward to entice business people to come here.

You have the-- all the roads, Lakeland College, obviously, Eastern Illinois University, wonderful lakes, parks.

Talk about some of the strengths that you use to-- as you move forward here with Mattoon in 2015.

>> Tim Gover: Well, I think one of the things that I would emphasize is the fact that we have a very pro-business council.

We have a mayor and four commissioners, uniquely, I think, we have three of the four commissioners are CEAs and they're very business-oriented.

And we work well together with, as I mentioned before, Coles Together, the Mattoon Chamber of Commerce, in trying to bring in industry and also other kinds of businesses.

And we're looking forward to continue to expand and to develop economically as we can.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Sounds like a great ending to the show.

Is there anything else you'd like to add that we may have forgotten or you'd like to bring about for the people at home that would need to know about what's coming up with Mattoon?

>> Tim Gover: Well, I just hope people have a good outlook on the city of Mattoon.

I hope the people that live outside the city that are watching this program show that will visit the city of Mattoon and look around and see what we have.

I'm very proud of Mattoon and the citizens of Mattoon.

We have a wonderful group of department heads and staff and they have helped make that budget what it is and work within the budget.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: We appreciate your time here, Mayor Gover, on City Spotlight and thank you for coming.

We hope to see you again and see the updates on Mattoon and things moving forward.

>> Tim Gover: Great, thanks so much for allowing me to be here.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: And let's take a look at some of the upcoming activities in Mattoon.

Music >> Rameen Karbassioon: Welcome back to the City Spotlight, we're at the Petersen House in Petersen Park in Mattoon.

We're joined by the executive director of the Mattoon Chamber of Commerce, Mary Wetzel.

Thank you for joining us.

>> Mary Wetzel: You are welcome, thank you for asking us.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Mary, tell us a little bit about the Mattoon Chamber and what you do with the Mattoon Chamber.

>> Mary Wetzel: You know, we get that question asked many, many, many times and it'’’s kind of-- we're a jack of all trades, a master of men.

We're the biggest cheerleader for the business climate and the community that you could ask for.

The believability in it, the succession that we want to see, that's just a little bit of what we do.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: That's a great line.

You're the cheerleader, kind of, for Mattoon.

Go a little bit more into that.

Why would you say that?

>> Mary Wetzel: Because we need to make sure that we succeed, that all the businesses succeed, because when the businesses succeed, that's giving out jobs, that's keeping money flowing into your community.

We love to tell people about what we have, what we have to offer, we may have some gems that people do not know about and when those people come into the community and find out that, oh did not know you had that, it's a good, good rewarding feeling to be able to also put people together, be that liaison to get people connected.

We may not have what they need, but we can sure direct them to the proper places and that's a good feeling.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: It's early in 2015 and what are you excited about here in Mattoon as we are early in the New Year?

>> Mary Wetzel: You know, a couple of things, we're doing our 15th year of the business expo and once again, it's show casing what we have to offer and letting the people in the outside community know what we have to offer.

Another thing is the-- we're 110 old this year.

That is a lot to be thankful for.

That's a lot to be proud of.

110 years, there's not a lot of communities can say that or that their chamber can say that.

So, we're very, very proud that we've kept our focus, we know where we're coming from, and we know where we're going to.

So, that leads us into we're moving.

We are moving to midtown, down where the business people are.

So, we're hoping that we can channel people further into the downtown market and let them see what else is available besides just the one side of the community.

Maybe we can get where the heart and the pulse of the community is and be able to direct them if you came in on the east side, maybe you can take the roads to go south and see what else we have before you hit the interstate again.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Excellent point, and we talked to Mayor Gover earlier in the program and he talked about the different businesses that are making some changes, infrastructure, demolitions of older properties.

Specifically, what are some of the things about downtown, as you were talking about, that you're looking at that we could be looking for some excitement or changes in 2015?

>> Mary Wetzel: You know, I think, I think with the depot'’’s renovation and the righter ship that has picked up from that has brought more people into the market.

Letting them see the availability of what we have, not only maybe the business that are there, but maybe they see something that they might want to bring to the community.

And I think that's basically it, I think that's what every community hopes for is that somebody comes into the community, likes what they see and thinks that that might be a fit for them.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Last question for you, what are some of the strengths of Mattoon that you see when you hear from people that are not from Mattoon, they come in here and they say, wow I like that?

What are some of the strengths of Mattoon that, I guess, are selling points for the city?

>> Mary Wetzel: You know, we stay consistent and I think that word consistency means everything.

We may not have grown a tremendous, but we haven't lost.

We may not-- we may have lost some businesses, but we're putting back in, too.

We're very, very blessed with the manufacturing industry, which is tremendous and with the interstate going through our community, those are some truly marketable and great selling tools whenever you're talking to people.

Our educational system here is phenomenal, we have within just 10 miles a community college that ranks very high and we have a four-year university and it's right here, right in the pulse of central Illinois.

So, yeah, I think we're pretty fortunate.

And that's all what you want out of life, I think.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Well, thank you so much for your time; we really appreciate you being on City Spotlight, thank you.

>> Mary Wetzel: Thank you.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: And we'll see all of you on the next episode of City Spotlight.

>> Male Speaker 1: City Spotlight is supported by Consolidated Communications.

CCI is honored to salute the cities and their leaders in the area as well as providing TV, internet, and phone service to local homes and businesses.

We live where we work and are proud to support the communities we serve; more information available at consolidated.com.

>> Music

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