Litchfield Approves $100,000 Industrial Park Land Sale for $1.55 Million Fuel Facility

Litchfield City Council Meeting | July 16, 2026

Article Summary: The Litchfield City Council approved an ordinance selling Lot 10 in the Route 66 Industrial Park to Premier Cooperative, Inc. for $100,000, clearing the way for a bulk fuel and propane storage and loading facility the company values as a $1.55 million investment.

Premier Cooperative Land Sale Key Points:

• Premier Cooperative, Inc. offered $100,000 for the roughly 7.57-acre Lot 10 in the Route 66 Industrial Park; proceeds go to the city’s general fund.
• The proposed facility includes a 6,000-square-foot operations building, six 24,000-gallon fuel storage tanks and 30,000 gallons of bulk LP storage.
• The company projects two full-time positions immediately and two to three more over the next several years.
• City staff said only two smaller lots will remain vacant in the industrial park after the sale, with interest from an existing tenant.

LITCHFIELD — The Litchfield City Council on Thursday, July 16, 2026, approved an ordinance approving a real estate sales contract with Premier Cooperative, Inc. for Lot 10 in the Route 66 Industrial Park, a sale city officials described as another step toward filling the city’s second industrial park.

Premier Cooperative, an Illinois farmer-owned cooperative based in Champaign, offered $100,000 for the lot, identified in the agenda packet as PIN #10-08-277-010 and approximately 7.57 acres. According to the packet, funds from the sale will be allocated to the city’s general fund.

Alderperson Bob Garcia made the motion, seconded by Alderperson Robbin Huffman, and the ordinance passed unanimously on a roll call of the five alderpersons recorded voting — Marilyn Sisson, Sara Zumwalt, Huffman, Josh Hughes and Garcia.

The company plans a bulk fuel and LP storage and loading facility “to better serve the growing energy needs of agricultural, commercial, and residential customers throughout the region,” according to its proposal in the agenda packet. The proposed facility includes a 6,000-square-foot, two-bay operations building and small office; a reinforced concrete containment dike housing six 24,000-gallon vertical steel fuel storage tanks, with infrastructure to accommodate three future 24,000-gallon tanks; three 4-inch bottom-loading arms and three 4-inch metering systems with electronic presets; an overfill prevention and safety monitoring system; a biofuel blending system; a dedicated control room; and 30,000 gallons of bulk LP storage with a dedicated LP loading facility serving residential, agricultural and commercial propane customers.

In a bid letter to City Administrator Breann Vazquez, Premier Cooperative representative Garrett Bruns wrote that the facility is expected to distribute approximately 2 million gallons of refined fuels and approximately 400,000 gallons of propane annually. The company estimates the project as a $1.55 million investment in the Litchfield community, with two full-time positions required immediately and an additional two to three full-time positions over the next several years, along with added supplier and distributor traffic into Litchfield.

At the meeting, the city administrator called the sale “very exciting,” noting the Route 66 park is the city’s second industrial park and the site of the Westside Fire Station. She said Premier told the city Litchfield sits between the company’s client bases in Springfield and St. Louis, making it an ideal location. (Staff attribution in this story is a phonetic identification — see Editorial Flags.)

“We got a nice piece of money for the property, too,” Mayor Jacob Fleming said.

Asked about remaining capacity in the park, staff said two of the park’s smaller lots will be vacant after the sale, and an existing tenant has expressed interest in those. Later in the meeting, the council separately approved a site plan for an expansion by Pittsburgh Pipe, another Route 66 Industrial Park tenant.

The city administrator, mayor and alderman liaison recommended approval of the sale, according to the packet.