County board member wants to work for more improvements

SALINE COUNTY - Saline County Board member David Phelps suggested projects on which the county can work toward to help improve the county's financial condition in a Wednesday afternoon news conference.

Phelps said he has some ideas that may help steer new sources of revenue to the county. Those ideas will take the continued cooperation of county board members along with other entities and municipalities, he said.

One idea Phelps suggested is to work with the federal government to build a National Guard armory in Saline County. Phelps said he was involved with the application process for the approval of the construction of the National Guard armory in Williamson County, which is located next to the Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois. Phelps said he believed the county could donate some of its property near the Harrisburg-Raleigh Airport for a location for an armory.

He also said he believed Saline County's location in the New Madrid earthquake fault zone would appeal to federal authorities. In addition, with rail services being extended to the Saline County Industrial Park not far from the airport, it will give a potential armory both air and rail transportation options. Those transportation options figure heavily into federal decisions regarding the placement of new armories, he said.

Phelps also suggested the county continue to promote its scenic beauty and historical sites to attract visitors.

He also said his news conference had nothing to do with the upcoming election.

"I realize there's an election coming in the next few days, and this is not something to promote me or any candidates in any way," he said. "Public service is something I do, and no matter who is elected on the federal level, state level or local level, I think we help ourselves when we work together in a positive way. I don't think there's anybody out there who doesn't believe that."

He said continued cooperation at all levels of government will bode well for Saline County.

"If we build a coalition of federal, state, local and even township and city mayors and everyone who serves in those capacities as employees, there's a lot of responsibility and a lot of good reason why things can pay off to benefit our community, even if they don't realize the effort they're putting in at that time," he said.