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The following appointments were unanimously approved by the
board:
- William Donath was appointed to the Logan County Cemetery
Maintenance District.
- Darla Franklin was appointed to the Housing Authority of
Logan County. Franklin was present at the meeting. Franklin said
she began working with the Housing Authority when a previous
member was unable to finish their term around a year ago. “I
enjoy the work and I feel like it’s something I can do. I have
health issues, and I’m glad to feel I can be of service,” said
Franklin.
- Crystal Bale, Tom Irwin, and Steve Goodman were appointed to
the Lincoln Rural Fire Board. Recently, the Rural Fire Board was
expanded to five members instead of three. As a result, three
appointments were needed instead of one, as Irwin’s spot was up
for re-appointment initially. Fire District Board members Bob
Pharis and Lynn Haseley were also present at the meeting.
Haseley said he appreciated the effort and patience of the
county board during this process.
Under Finance, Pat O’Neill said he has heard from citizens
who are upset that the property tax bills are late this year.
Due to an increase in time needed by the state government to
complete tax forms on their end, tax notices are going out two
weeks later this year than normal.
O’Neill said he wants to see the board consider adopting a
seven-day waiver period so that people paying their taxes late
may not have to pay a fee for doing so. O’Neill said that it
does not seem fair that the government can be late in delivering
tax certificates with no problem, but citizens have to pay a fee
if they are late in paying property taxes.
Andy Anderson said he understands where O’Neill is coming
from on this matter. On the other hand, Anderson added that
taxes have always been due at the same time every year, so most
people still plan on paying at the same time regardless of when
they receive notice.
David Hepler said it is too late to do anything about the
first set of tax bills, but if O’Neill wanted to, he could bring
up the matter for the second set in September.
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Under Road and Bridge, County Engineer Bret Aukamp said that the northern part
of the county has received a lot of rain and there is flooding around bridges in
the area. Aukamp said there are several bridges that will need to repair due to
water damage. Aukamp said that situations such as this are why the county bridge
fund is so important to maintain, as the highway department cannot always wait
until budget time to figure out which bridges can be repaired.
Before the meeting ended, Dave Blankenship commented on a meeting he had in May
with the Viper Mine in Elkhart. Blankenship said there were some concerns over
heavy dust in the area. The mine had five visits from IDNR in May, when normally
there are two visits in that time. Blankenship said they passed all of those
visits, even during a day with heavy winds. IDNR determined the majority of the
dust was farm-related.
Board members present at the meeting were Chuck Ruben, Gene Rohlfs, Robert
Farmer, David Blankenship, Pat O’Neill, Andy Anderson, Emily Davenport, Kevin
Bateman, David Hepler, Rick Aylesworth, Jan Schumacher and Scott Schaffenacher.
[Derek Hurley]
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