At the Jan. 19 city council meeting, planning and development director Jon Oliphant presented a summary of residential and business development activity showing steady growth in Washington, despite the nation-wide recession and substantial cutbacks in new construction.

“All things considered, 2009 was a very solid year ... Staff was pleasantly surprised to see that the level of construction in Washington had not decreased nearly as substantially as it had in other cities,” Oliphant wrote in a memorandum.

There were 91 residential permits issued in 2009, a 41.7 percent decrease from 2008 when city staff issued 156 permits.

Oliphant indicated, however, that this figure is misleading due to the 61-unit Grand Victorian development. Taking this project out of the equation, there were 95 single- and two-family permits issued in 2008.

In 2009, there were 77 single-family and 14 two-family residential permits issued with a total construction value of more than $23.1 million.

The 91 permits were part of  more than 1,500 new residential units completed or started construction in Washington since 2000.

Oliphant also reported city staff issued nine permits for retail and industrial development in 2009.
The combined construction value for these permits was $1.05 million.

“There was a decrease in construction value here, which followed the trend that the region and country have experienced recently,” Oliphant wrote.

EZ-Storage, Fred Joos and RP Lumber added a storage building; Martin Automotive and Washington Community Bank were issued permits for a building addition; Double D Diner, Cherry Garden and FireHouse Pizza obtained permits for interior alterations; and The Blend was issued a permit for courtyard alteration.

In other city council news, the council authorized police chief James Kuchenbecker to place an order for three Washington Police Department vehicles slated for replacement.

Kuchenbecker will order two 2010 Ford Crown Victorias  from Uftring’s Auto Group at a cost of $21,981 each, and one 2010 Ford Crown Victoria for $21,524.

Two of the cars will be used as marked patrol cars. The third will be an unmarked replacement vehicle for Chief Kuchenbecker.

Uftring’s total bid for the vehicles was $712 lower than a bid from the state of Illinois.
In order to guarantee the price, the order had to be placed no later than March 2.