Logan County Board transfers Balloon Fest funds to support CEDS

[January 23, 2015]  LINCOLN - In addition to the vote on the conditional use permit for the Relight Wind Farm, the county board also discussed and voted several other items at its Regular Board of the Whole on Wednesday night.

Under the Airport and Farm Committee, Gene Rohlfs made a motion to remove $3,000 from the Balloon Fest funding under the farm budget. The money would then be transferred to the line item that pays for the county CEDS contribution.

According to Rohlfs, the city of Lincoln has decided to stop paying their contribution to CEDS. The city and the county formerly each paid half of the annual contribution to CEDS.

Andy Anderson questioned the decision to pull money from the Balloon Fest line item to pay for CEDS. “I’ve got issues with CEDS myself. We haven’t seen anything out of them since I’ve been on the board,” said Anderson. Anderson said he questioned the necessity for the county to pay to make up for the city’s lack of a contribution.

“Out of all the places to take money from, why the Balloon Fest?” asked Anderson.

Chuck Ruben said that the county has always been the lead agency in dealing with CEDS. “Being the lead agency, we get the bill,” said Ruben. Ruben also said that the county has always been the one to send a representative to CEDS meetings. Currently, Bill Thomas fills that role.

Jan Schumacher added that she is not in favor of moving money away from the Balloon Fest, but she is still in favor of CEDS. “It’s an essential component for our economic development,” said Schumacher.

The motion to transfer the funding passed with a vote of eight-to-two-to-two. Schumacher and Anderson voted no; Kevin Bateman and David Hepler abstained from the vote.

Under the Executive and Economic Development committee, Schumacher made a motion with two items attached to it. One was to remove the straw vote from the workshop meetings; the other was to separate the Executive and Economic Development committee into two committees. The motion passed with a vote of eleven-to-one, with Robert Farmer voting no.

Under the Road and Bridge committee, Farmer made a motion to approve of resurfacing a section of Primm Road. County Engineer Bret Aukamp said the section would be a two-and-a-half mile section just south of the city limits. The motion passed unanimously.

The Hartsburg-Emden high school girls’ volleyball team was recognized by the board for their outstanding efforts. The team recently finished their season with a record of 30-10; won the Tomahawk Conference, and were the runner-ups at the state level tournament held at Illinois State University.

[Derek Hurley]