County hears $101,725 business-resiliency award, $118,300 OSLAD pavilion grant; state EV charging round poses quick deadline

Effingham County board members on April 1 heard from Luke Eason, executive director of the South Central Illinois Regional Planning and Development Commission, about three state grant developments affecting the county.

Eason said the county applied last year to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for a Business Resiliency grant. "We asked for a $125,000... and just recently it was awarded, in the amount of $101,725," Eason said, adding that roughly $92,478 will be distributed to eight of the nine businesses that applied and $9,000 is earmarked for administration by the commission. He said eligible payments excluded certain sanitation and PPE items that some applicants had requested.

The county also won an Illinois Department of Natural Resources Open Space Land Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grant for $118,300, Eason said, to fund construction of a pavilion near the museum square. Eason said the state recently sent the grant agreement and that the commission offered a management contract to handle reporting and reimbursement paperwork, which Eason described as $50 an hour up to a $5,000 cap over the two-year grant period.

Board members raised a preservation concern about siting the pavilion on the grounds near the courthouse and said they would meet with preservation officials to avoid obstructing key views.

Eason also outlined a Rebuild Illinois Capital Program electric-vehicle charging-station grant released March 22 with a May 10 application deadline. He said the program is primarily reimbursable, requires projects to include at least two separate locations with publicly accessible charging stations, and awards points for project readiness, traffic density and proximity to amenities. Eason noted the state fund totals were large and that the agency’s scoring favors geographic spread; part of the city of Effingham appears on the state’s equity-investment map, which could help applications there.

Board members asked whether private businesses can apply directly (Eason: yes) and whether stations could be monetized (Eason: owners can set user fees). Eason said readiness — having procurement or equipment in hand — improves a proposal’s score.

Next steps include waiting for final grant agreements from state agencies on the awarded programs and, with the EV grant’s short timetable, exploring possible business partners or county-led applications before the May 10 deadline.

The presentation concluded with board members agreeing to post application details on the county website and to use Eason as a public contact for follow-up questions.