Frankfort officials on Oct. 20 shelled out more than $65,000 to entice three business expansions — including a sprawling sports complex — and named a longtime employee utilities director.
Xpress Solutions, a logistics firm, and Roma Sports will receive a $50,000 industrial incentives grant to build a 50,000-square-foot facility in the East Point Industrial Park. The businesses, run by Steve Rotondi, currently share a location at 9325 Gulfstream Road that features 10,000 square feet of athletic training space, including an indoor soccer field. The new facility, trustees said, will feature four soccer fields.
“This is significant,” Trustee Todd Morgan said. “Any community would die to have this.”
The village’s industrial incentives program, created a year ago, typically limits grants to $25,000, at $1 per square foot. Businesses with more than 100 employees or projects exceeding 25,000 square feet can seek more, as was the case with Rotondi’s project.
“It’s a $2.5 million investment the gentlemen is making,” Trustee Mike Stevens said.
The grant program was tapped for another $14,000 to help underwrite general contractor Graefen Development’s plan to build a 14,000-square-foot building at 9134 Gulfstream within the Airport Industrial Park.
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Kirsch Builders Supply, at 155 Industry Ave., also got $1,800 toward recent improvements that included remodeling its garage into a storage facility.
The board also approved boosting the annual street resurfacing budget by $100,000, to $600,000, after initial patch work uncovered damage caused by last winter’s severe cold.
Meanwhile, Tony Minette was tapped as utilities director and will oversee operation of wastewater treatment facilities and the revenue-generating water department.
“The utilities department runs what essentially amounts to a separate business,” Mayor Jim Holland said, ticking off responsibilities that include management of wells, water towers and a vast network of pipes. “It’s a critical job for our community.”
Minette, who will earn about $70,000 a year, spent the past two years as utilities supervisor under former director Darrin Yount, who left for a job with the Aspen Group, a Frankfort firm that specializes in designing and building churches.
Minette, who said he began working for the village 17 years ago as a 16-year-old pulling weeds, led the building and zoning department before transitioning to utilities.
“It’s an honor and privilege from our standpoint to be able to promote someone from within,” Trustee Doug Walker said.