Thursday, January 23, 2014
 
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COUNTY BRIEFS

Enterprise zone extension considered

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[January 23, 2014]  During the Logan County Board meeting as a board of whole on Jan. 16, only a few topics came up in conversation among the members present.

Central Illinois Ag building

Steve McClure was present to inform the board members of potential new construction for Central Illinois Ag. Recently the company lost a portion of their property to a fire. McClure said they are now looking to invest $6 million in new construction.

"This will retain the 25 jobs they had, as well as create another five jobs over the next couple of years," said McClure.

He said that the existing area of the enterprise zone will need to be expanded so the company can continue to be a part of it. The company is looking to extend their property to 19 acres in the future.

Multiple board members questioned how much room Central Illinois Ag will need in the next few years. McClure said the company hopes to keep growing financially, though he did agree that much of the land will likely still be untouched.

"I would defer to what the zoning officer thought was appropriate, but I don't see the reason to have an enterprise zone for tractors to sit on," said Chuck Ruben.

McClure said he will return to speak with the board members again in the future after the company begins to finalize their building plans.

Health department budget

The subject of the health department budget was discussed by the whole board. In 2013 the health department was faced with the choice of whether or not to continue offering services via the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program. Initially, the state denied the county health department's request for financial aid to continue the program.

In late November, the state reversed their decision, granting the aid to the health department to extend the program through the end of July. As a result, a change would need to be made in the budget to reflect the incoming revenue. With this money, the health department will be able to continue offering the IBCCP services.

The committee members voted to approve the changes, and the county board will need to provide a two-thirds majority vote for any motion to pass this month. The tax levies will not be altered as a result of these changes.

The board members approved the changes in a straw vote to be voted on officially this month.

Animal control

The animal control committee brought forward three motions. Two were for reappointments: Julie Parker as animal control warden and Maurice Tierney as assistant animal control warden.

In addition, in a straw vote the board members approved the purchase of a new vehicle for animal control at a final cost of $20,098.

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Legislation matters

The board members voted to approve the appointment of Rick Sheley to the zoning appeals board. They also voted to reappoint Bill Graff to the regional planning commission.

The last resolution for approval was on the adoption of the new plan for hazard mitigation. Board member Rick Aylesworth said that this plan comes after years of effort, and he thanked Terry Storer, the EMA and everyone else involved for their hard work on getting the plan put together.

Road and bridge

Board member Bill Martin briefly announced that the highway department will soon be celebrating 100 years since its creation in Logan County. The board members voted to acknowledge the recognition of the milestone.

Board member resigns

Before the meeting ended, board member Terry Carlton announced his resignation from the Logan County Board, effective the end of January.

Carlton said his new job outside of the county office has taken a great deal of his attention.

"My new job that I started in December has put a whole lot of strains on me, and I have not been able to make a lot of committees. I felt like I was not really serving the board. … With that in mind, I have tendered my resignation effective this month," Carlton said.

"It's been a pleasure serving with you these past five years," he added.

Carlton said being on the board was a lot of hard work, and he feels that they have made some effective changes for Logan County.

"We've had the deficit, we've had the under-budgets, but instead of going out and raising taxes, spending money on ourselves, we bit the bullet and reduced our spending, made tough decisions over the years," he said. "I just want to say thanks for serving together."

With a bit of a laugh from those in the room, Carlton made the motion to adjourn the meeting.

Board members present for the meeting were vice chairman David Hepler, Bill Martin, Andy Anderson, Andy Meister, Kevin Bateman, Rick Aylesworth, Chuck Ruben, Gene Rohlfs and Terry Carlton. Pat O'Neill, Robert Farmer and Jan Schumacher were absent.

[By DEREK HURLEY]

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