Regional planning and development panel elects officers at annual meeting

The Southeastern Illinois Regional Planning and Development Commission Board recently elected new officers at its 49th annual meeting in Harrisburg.

The 2017 officers are Chairman Larry Richards (Pope County), First Vice Chairman Phyllis Ferrell (Saline County), Second Vice Chairman Charles Soward (Hardin County), Secretary Ron Woods (Gallatin County) and Treasurer Brad Cross (Hamilton County).

Glenn Miller from Hamilton County was honored for serving as chairman for the previous year and passed the gavel to Larry Richards from Pope County.

In addition, Executive Director Alene Carr presented certificates for years of service and board participation awards. Certificates for perfect board meeting attendance were presented to Ollie Brown, Neil Wagner, Ron Woods and Les Hardin.

The mission of SIRPDC is to provide professional quality service to the people, businesses and local governments in its five-county region and to promote and foster growth, economic diversification and prosperity within the region by securing and administering grants for public works, housing rehabilitation, economic development projects and operation of the Revolving Loan Fund.

SIRPDC also researches, develops and implements strategies that fulfill the needs of sustainable development. The counties in SIRPDC district include Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Pope and Saline.