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News
Montgomery split on leasing village hall space : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisMontgomery split on leasing village hall space
| Board member objects to statements made by MEDC president
| by Tony Scott
| 7/19/2012
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The Montgomery Village Board is split on whether the village should rent office space to the Montgomery Economic Development Corporation (MEDC).
The MEDC's Executive Board still needs to determine if they want to rent space in the Village Hall, but the village board is considering an agreement.
Tuesday evening, the village board postponed a decision until a future meeting.
Board member Stan Bond criticized a statement made by Dr. Neil Schlupp, chairman of the MEDC Board of Directors, prior to the board voting in April to fire Anne Marie Gaura, the village's former manager.
Bond said Schlupp referred to the village as a "sinking ship."
At that meeting, Schlupp said: "The Village of Montgomery, I feel seriously, is taking on water and our ship is sinking, but it's not sunk... Let's not return to the rumbling, bumbling, stumbling backroom politics of 25 years ago. You guys are better than that. You are. Management by committee will not work. Decisions need to be made by a leader or opportunities will be lost."
Charlene Coulombe-Fiore, the MEDC's executive director, said the statement from Schlupp was a personal comment and not as president of the board.
"Dr. Schlupp has a 25-year history and investment in the Village of Montgomery; his heart is here," Coulombe-Fiore said, adding "You're taking something personal and turning it into something that's not."
Coulumbe-Fiore also said that the MEDC board has not yet voted on whether to move, but wanted to get input from the village board to see if the Village Hall was an option.
Schlupp, who attended Tuesday's meeting, said he made that statement out of a personal concern about the village's future as they were losing someone valuable.
Bond said he also wants to keep the space in the village hall for employees of the village.
"It's a secure area, it's locked," he said.
However, board member Matt Brolley said the entire purpose of the MEDC is to benefit the village.
"Their sole function is for the betterment of Montgomery, strictly Montgomery and only Montgomery, so I don't see any objection to this," he said. "I would look forward to putting the money now going toward rent to marketing."
Board member Denny Lee pointed out that the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce, for example, reaches out to businesses beyond Montgomery, while the MEDC is focused on only Montgomery businesses. (The chamber leases office space at Village Hall.)
"This is strictly just for Montgomery," Lee said.
Both Lee and Brolley sit on the MEDC's Executive Board, with Lee serving as its vice chairman.
Board member Bill Keck said he would be in favor of looking at renting space in the Village Hall for the MEDC, but only on a temporary basis.
"We basically started the MEDC for our own benefit economically," Keck said. "We had surrounding communities that had their own EDC programs. This is something we decided we needed and wanted. I'd be totally willing to look at this, not on a permanent basis but on a temporary basis."
Keck also said the village designed the building with excess space that could be used for services "on a permanent or temporary basis."
"Quite frankly I'd rather they put their resources into advertising than paying rent," he said.
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