The city’s Industrial Development Authority Board, which has been inactive for about three years, is reorganizing. Chillicothe City Council members on Monday approved Mayor Chuck Haney’s appointments of Charles Bigler, Mike Turner and Betty Preston Steele to the board. A fourth member has yet to be appointed but is expected to be named during the next regular meeting of the City Council.
The board, authorized under state statutes, meets on an as-needed basis and its purpose is to promote and solicit industrial economic development projects. The local board has been inactive for several years and the most recent members of the board either moved outside of the city limits or had terms that had expired. Members serve four-year terms.
“We’ve been trying to reform it for the last six months, but it got put on the back burner,” said Haney.
He said having the board in place can help with industrial economic development projects.
“There may be a possibility that we will have new prospects,” Haney said. “It hasn’t happened yet, but if it does, we’ll be ready to go.”
Appointments to the board were among a number of issues addressed by the council during their regular meeting Monday night at City Hall.
