At its February 28, 2012 meeting, the Sterling City Council voted to approve an agreement with a consultant to develop a plan for attracting a Fixed Based Operator (FBO) at the Sterling Municipal Airport.

The agreement, made with Business Presentation Solutions, seeks the following (in phases) from the consultant:

1. A business assessment of the airport’s facilities and equipment, market compeition, and financials.
2. A business development plan to attract a private fixed-based operator and other aviation business.
3. Representation for the City in attracting a fixed-based operator and other aviation businesses.

An FBO is a commercial business given the right to operate on the airport and provide services like fueling, hangaring, tie-down and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instruction, and other general aviation services.

For more information, click here to view the 2-29-12 issue fo the South Platte Sentinel, which provides full coverage of the 2-28-12 Council Meeting.

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On February 16, 2012, the Logan County Economic Development Corporation invited more than 30 community leaders to breakfast to discuss economic development priorities for the community.  Following are excerpts from a South Platte Sentinel article written by Marilee Johnson and entitled, “LCEDC eyes strategic plan”, that focuses on the events and results of that meeting.

“According to LCEDC Executive Director Rich O’Connell, 20 categories of priorities were mentioned, discussed and prioritized by those in attendance at the planning meeting.  After each participant was given the opportunity to  list his/her top priorities, five specific priorities rose to the top, with each mentioned by at least 10 of those present.

‘Those (priorities) are our marching orders so to speak,’ O’Connell said.  ‘We will incorporate them into our strategic plan and work on those projects.’

The top five priorities (in no particular order) that were identified by the community members for the LCEDC are:

• Beautification;
• Community foundation/grant writer;
• Downtown revitalization;
• Oil and gas industry;
• Retirement planning.

O’Connell explained that the ‘beautification’ aspect is basically a compilation of the 2010 concept plan devised by Colorado State University graduate students and funded by the Department of Local Affairs.  Beautification ideas, noted O’Connell, include street-scaping from the east entrance of Sterling to and including West Main Street.

A community foundation is composed primarily of permanent funds established by many separate donors for the long-term benefits of the residents of a defined geographic area.  Community foundations provide services to donors who wish to establish endowed funds without incurring the administrative and legal costs of starting independent foundations.”

“The ‘grant writer’ portion of that priority, O’Connell noted, would be supported by the foundation factor and could be used by various groups or agencies who aren’t able to hire an exclusive grant writer.

Downtown revitalization covers several issues, such as the development of the S-curve, traffic flow reform and for the encouragement of development in downtown Sterling.

The oil and gas industry was identified as a priority in regards to increasing operations in the near region.  The focus of those attending the planning meeting was for identifying strategies for attracting related businesses to the community.”

For “retirement planning,” the community members directed the LCEDC to identify strategies for keeping older adults and future generations in the community.

With those priorities set, O’Connell said his office will be working on a more comprehensive set of results from the data gathered.  The data will be part of the LCEDC’s goals moving forward.”

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The following summary provides a highlight of the various monthly activities for the Logan County Economic Development Corporation (“LCEDC”). All activities are not described in the summary, but rather some of the more visual activities of the LCEDC are presented.

General Meetings:

Nov. 1 Executive Committee meeting

Nov. 1 Rich O. met with BOCC re: billboard sign at I-76

Nov. 2 NECO members met with Ken Lund, new Exec. Director, Colorado OEDIT

Nov. 3 LCEDC monthly board meeting

Nov. 3 Dan Long and Rich O. met with dairy industry representative, Tom Haren

Nov. 4 Jim Neblett and Rich O. met with BOCC re: Star Clean Oil, LLC, notice

Nov. 7 LCEDC hosted Progressive 15 Logan County Caucus to discuss legislative issues

Nov. 7 Rich O. attended Logan County budget public meeting

Nov. 8 Rich O. met with Cheryl Scofield, USDA Rural Development

Nov. 8 CSU/DOLA committee held a final meeting on downtown beautification and
will be re-organized as the Advisory Committee to City Council

Nov. 9 LCEDC Strategic Planning Committee met to update plan dated October, 2010

Nov. 10 Joint Committee SURA/LCEDC held its monthly meeting

Nov. 11 Rich O. met with Larry Mohnsen, manager of Bomgaars, for soft opening.

Nov. 12 Rich O. and other board members attended the Fall Gala of Logan County
Chamber of Commerce

Nov. 14 Rich O. met with dairy prospect land owners

Nov. 14 Rich O. met with Scott Stump’s Labor Day golf tournament committee

Nov. 16 Target Industry Committee had regular meeting

Nov. 16 Rich O. attended the NECALG board meeting and presented economic updates

Nov. 17 NECO held its monthly meeting in Akron

Nov. 17 EDD Advisory Committee met in Akron

Nov. 18 Targeted Industry Oil and Gas breakfast at Plainsman Grill

Nov. 18 Rich O. met with downtown property owner on a confidential project

Nov. 22 Rich O. met with Scott Stump, Jason Haslett, and Stanton Gartin at NJC re:
possible training programs for local welder/fabricators.

Nov. 28 Rich O. and Kim Sellers met at the request of George Hunt with Debbie Zwirn,
Tom Bedford, and two representatives of State Parks: Heather Dugan and Dave
Piper re: improvements to North Sterling State Park and concessionaire contract

Nov. 29 Executive Committee met for pre-board meeting.

Nov. 29 Rob Nichols, Rocky Joy and Rich O. met with Joe Kiolbasa, Curt Penny at City
Re: CDOT work and IGA for traffic engineering downtown and “S” curve.

Nov. 29 Rich O. held conference call with Star Clean Oil attorney re: Logan County
Industrial Park.

Economic developments:

Project Green/New Industrial Park- UPDATE 11/1: Star Clean Oil, LLC, sent their Commencement Notice to Logan County Board of Commissioners to advise they are moving ahead with their rail development plans. There are planning to begin construction early in 2012. UPDATE 12/1: The ballot questions authorizing PID bond financing was approved at the Nov. 1st election. On Nov. 29, LCEDC and Logan County representatives participated in a teleconference call with SCO investor/partners and financing advisors.

State Prospect EP 11-0627- Blue Sky- LCEDC submitted our proposal on July 1 for this manufacturer of wind turbines. UPDATE 10/1: The State OEDIT has notified us that proposals from six Colorado counties have been reviewed by the prospect, but no further action has been taken. UPDATE 11/1: No progress to report. UPDATE 12/1: No progress to report.

State Prospect #11-831 Manufacturer of tree/brush cutting equipment- LCEDC submitted our proposal on Sept. 21. UPDATE 11/1: No progress to report. UPDATE 12/1: No progress to report.

Sterling Municipal Airport/ Crosson Field-. UPDATE 3/1: Joe Kiolbasa, Larry Fetzer and Rich O’Connell met with an airport operations consultant to discuss future development at the airport. UPDATE 11/1: Further discussions with operations consultants have been postponed until after new City Council members are seated.

Three Prototype Buildings- UPDATE 10/1: We have submitted our prototype buildings to the two State Prospects listed above. UPDATE 12/1: We are in discussions with Bruce Glass, Architects Group, to update contractor bids in 2012.

East Cheyenne Underground Gas Storage- UPDATE 6/1: Merchant Energy Partners, LLC, held their ground-breaking ceremony at the Peetz site on May 23rd. Governor Hickenlooper attended and also visited the NextEra Energy wind farm developments. UPDATE 10/1: The construction phase is rapidly moving ahead with Manzek Construction on site and delivery of the large compressor installation. At final build-out, this will be a $300 million project with up to 20 full-time jobs. There are 100 construction workers on site and that work is expected to run 2011 through 2012.

Colorado Highlands Wind, LLC, project north of Fleming continues as a viable project and the developers continue to seek a power purchase agreement (PPA) with various electric utilities. UPDATE 8/1: Colorado Highland’s managing partners have re-submitted their project to a utility located outside the State. UPDATE 12/1: No progress to report.

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