Friday, December 11, 2009
 
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County discusses topics of liability and protection

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[December 11, 2009]  Several matters of liability came to discussion Thursday evening when the Logan County Board met as a board of whole.

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]

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