As communities shift their focuses to recovering from the remnants of the COVID pandemic, a Piatt County community is focused on the positives from 2020 as they look to the future.

On the WHOW Morning Show's Hometown Tour Spotlight Thursday morning, Monticello Mayor Larry Stoner indicates his focus is on what happened in 2020 that was positive, like how the community stepped up to support local businesses who had to take their own mitigation measures during COVID.

Mayor Stoner points out the City budgeted so well they are going to end up almost three-quarters of a million dollars ahead, well beyond what they thought.

For school system Superintendent Dr. Vic Zimmerman, they began a multi-million dollar renovation of their high school, including a new gym. He says one of the positives of COVID was that project is set to wrap up early this year when they were anticipating construction lasting well into the fall. 

Looking to 2021, Mayor Stoner wants to focus on coming up with a long-term plan for the city's infrastructure and begin to address some areas of need.