The September meeting of Jasper Economic Development was held on Tuesday, September 3rd.
Amber Volk: Dollar General is about done. She did not know when they would be opening. (*Editor Note: September 19th is the projected opening for the new Dollar General store with items beginning to be moved on September 12th according to Alissa Bensken Manager of the Dollar General in Newton). Still working on some Enterprise Zone certificates.
She is trying to find someone to bring a day care for Jasper County.
Mark Bolander: Mark mentioned Dollar General, a bridge just on the fringe of city limits west of the box factory. Should not affect traffic, however, there is a crane there at the moment for the work being done.
A new basement for a new house is started in Five Aprils and one is completed. Great weekend economically because of the Queen of Hearts. He also handed out the Comprehensive Plan and Strategic Marketing Plan.
Ron Heltsley spoke about the about the final decision on the jail location being at the current site. Connor and Connor will come in and do an evaluation on the site and do site preparation. The site committee will meet with them and they will move forward.
Andy Johnson thanked those that worked on the Comprehensive plan and Strategic Marketing Plan. The school had a great start. Things are going well and he spoke about a newly acquired property by the school which hopefully will become a bus lane in the future. He does not anticipate anything being done until at least summer. He spoke about the dedication of the employees and how they work very hard to educate the whole child. OPAA is working great and the cooks are doing a wonderful job of adapting to the changes and the magnitude of work to provide the fresh foods.
Scott Bierman spoke about the power plant and the shutdown of the four plants (not ours). A meeting will be held with representation from the entities and Vistra next week. Mayor Bolander did not know the exact reasoning for the meeting, however, he did speculate on what might be discussed.
Additionally, a hypothetical discussion of the plant possibly being solar at some point was held amongst the group and what would happen within the community tax wise if this has happened.
Doug Weddell spoke about the Fall Festival on September 12th and the Corvette Cruise In on the 19th.
The meeting was adjourned and the tour began.
Marilyn’s Liquor Cabinet is owned by Bill and Marilyn Riggs and is open Monday through Thursday from 9 am to 10 pm, Friday 9 am to 12 am, Saturday 8 am to 12 am, and Sunday 9 am to 9 pm.
Bill spoke about how the Newton location came about. Brandon had contacted them about the Bottle Junction back around 2016. Bill knew immediately the Bottle Junction building would not be suitable and a new one would need to be erected. He received assistance through Economic Development and mentioned his gratefulness for that.
The store currently has three employees.
Bill spoke about the store being named after his wife and it was used to create a more female friendly presentation for women who would want to frequent the store. Louis Ochs commented positively on the store and the need for people to be able to purchase their liquor locally.
While touring the back of the store and seeing the product on hand, Bill discussed how the sales of beer and liquor work with distributors and the difference in abilities to acquire products based upon the distributor size.
He also discussed the impact of the Queen of Hearts on his business and his ability to order special request items.
