City Annexes Pepsi Plant

The Marion City Council last night annexed the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. plant and surrounding property owned by Harry L. Crisp II on Old Illinois Route 13.

John Rains, plant vice president of personnel and public relations, this morning said the company wanted to come into the city after 52 years of being located just outside city limits “primarily because we want to have fire protection from the city.”

Beginning Jan. 1, 1989, the Marion Fire Department, like many other city fire departments in Southern Illinois, will no longer answer calls outside city limits because of the expense involved.

“And that’s something we were concerned about,” Rains said.

Becoming a part of Marion also gives the company more “advantages” to expanding its facility in the future, Rains said.

Though there are no immediate plans to expand the production area, Rains said, the company would like to enlarge its offices, which have been in the city for some time.

But Rains did not rule out other major expansion in the future.

“We have had several expansions (over the years) and we hope to continue that,” he said.

Beside taking in the plant, the council also annexed two home on surrounding property owned by Crisp, who hold the Pepsi franchise here. All total, the city took in about 135 acres, Marion Mayor Robert Butler said.

The Pepsi plant has been indicated on the outskirts of Marion since 1936. It has been in its present location on Old Illinois Route 13 since 1969.

Bringing the plant inside the city will not create any additional revenue for the city, Butler said. Any sales tax increase “would be nominal because most of their sales are wholesale and there is no tax on wholesale,” he said.

But the plant will increase the city’s overall equalized assessed valuation, which will raise the city’s bonding ability, Butler said.

“It would substantially increase the assessed valuation of the city,” which would help the city “ if it issued general obligation or revenue bonds because the higher the assessed valuation, the higher the bond limit,” Butler said.

But, adding, Butler said the city currently has no plans to issue either type of bond.

In other actions, the council, was informed by City Streets Commissioner John Bradley that both lanes of West Main Street will be closed to traffic from Thursday at 7 a.m. to Friday at 5 p.m. to allow the Union Pacific Railroad to repair crossing tracks on the street.

The railroad has been repairing several of its crossing here in the last few weeks.

Bradley said traffic, other than big trucks, will be rerouted onto College or Union Streets. Heavy trucks will only be allowed to use Union Street because of the poor condition of the bridge on College Street.

Bradley said barricades will be placed at the intersections of Court and West Main Streets and Granite and West Main Streets.

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(Marion Daily Republican, March 22, 1988, by T.S. Tiernan Jr. of the Daily Republican)