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When a report from policy and procedures was called for, board
member John Stewart asked the question, "Are we doing background
checks on everyone that gets appointed, whether it is a volunteer or
board member that gets appointed?" Stewart said he could
understand if the appointment was to a position that handled cash,
but he was curious about the reason this would be done for other
volunteer committee appointments.
Vice chairman Pat O'Neill, who was conducting the meeting, called
on committee chairman Rick Aylesworth, asking if he knew why this
would be done.
Ayleworth responded, "Chairman (Terry Carlton) wanted to make
sure that anything that has to do with the county, we're protected."
Carlton was absent, but Aylesworth said, "I'm sure he'll address
that on Tuesday night."
Stewart pressed, "I would ask what his ability is to do that."
He added that there are some volunteers trying to get on
committees now who are having to submit to the checks.
Board member Gloria Luster thought this was something that would
not need to and did not go through the board.
O'Neill addressed finance chairman Chuck Ruben: "Who pays for the
background checks?" In an amusing comparison, O'Neill said that it
cost $50,000 to check Sarah Palin's background when she was running
for vice president.
On the financial side of the issue, Ruben said that if a
background check required an expenditure, it would have to go
through some committee. "I've seen no vouchers for a background
check," he said. Also, none of the committee chairmen have seen a
bill yet.
O'Neill questioned if the board members would have the right to
know what is found in the background checks.
Stewart said, "Some stuff's private. You could get sued for
slander if you're not bonded." He thought he might check his own
bond limits. He then redirected to the sheriff.
"I'm not going to run a background on a volunteer," Sheriff Steve
Nichols said.
Aylesworth said that due to a scheduling conflict, this month's
committee meeting has been postponed to Jan. 11 at 6 p.m.
In other business, insurance committee chairman Jan Schumacher
said that their committee is preparing for insurance renewals. "We
are looking for ways to keep insurance costs down," she said.
Schumacher also sits on the Workforce Investment Committee. Logan
County is part of a five-county alliance. She said the program
periodically gets reorganized, but they had just learned that in the
next planned restructure it looks like there will be less local
control. They are planning to contact local legislators to ask for
their assistance in trying to keep more local control in the
programs that help keep people working in our area.
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During the planning and zoning report, chairman Dave Hepler
complimented the committee and zoning officer Will D'Andrea for
their expediency and thanked the state's attorney for his assistance
in a situation where everyone worked together in the sale of a new
home. A local builder and a real estate agent, Keith Hasprey and
Sonnie Alexander, came to the committee during the December meeting
with an unusual situation. They needed a certificate of occupancy to
process an FHA loan for the home. The county does not offer this
kind of permit.
The committee plans to look into how the county would be able to
offer this permit in the future, as it looks as though all federal
loan programs may begin requiring it.
For this situation, the committee approved allowing an insured,
certified inspector to do the inspection against nationally accepted
BOCA standards, and with review of the state's attorney, the board
chairman was allowed to sign the certificate of occupancy.
Hepler said that the sale of the home went through. He was
pleased, as this action shows support in economic development and it
would lead to work for subcontractors this winter that otherwise
would not be happening.
Stewart observed that in Springfield numerous inspectors are used
for each stage of the building process and this is very costly to
their county. He questioned if Logan County would be able to afford
this process.
He was concerned that "if our name be signed on anything, they
can hold us responsible for it." He gave an example of a home in
Springfield that had water leaked into it for three years, which led
to black mold. "And, they went after everybody that had their name
on a piece of paper. So…," He ended there, saying nothing more.
The board meets in adjourned session at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
[By
JAN YOUNGQUIST]
Past related article
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