LINDEN &8212; Economic development has become a hot issue for the City of Linden. In the past year and a half the issue has moved past the talking stage and several of the projects currently under way for municipality were brought before the city council in Tuesday&8217;s meeting.

One of the biggest moves toward economic development, not just in Linden but also for the entirety of Marengo County, the Marengo County Economic Development Authority, is moving toward fruition. Two organizers behind the authority, Kathryn Friday and Ken Tucker, presented the council with their newly created bylaws for approval as well as to explain any questions the council had.

Prior to appointing its two members to the 19-member board of directors for the authority, the council voted to accept the bylaws presented by the authority and to contribute $15,000, which is one of the qualifiers for the city&8217;s two votes on the board.

Following motions on the authority, the council was updated on the actions involved with Linden&8217;s city-specific economic development project.

Jelean Wicks, the chairperson of the Grow Linden Committee, presented the group&8217;s work at their last meeting. She said the group is currently organizing to collect information for the committee&8217;s first project &8212; a Web site for the City of Linden.

Wicks said committee members were assigned specific subjects, on which to collect information about existing resources for the city including: industrial, recreational, quality of life, education, churches, business, major industries, healthcare and financial institutions.