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 Before the meeting began, a moment of silence was observed in
memory of Jessie Reves, wife of Dennis Reves who is the maintenance
supervisor for Logan County properties.
Land rezoning
The board voted on a proposed rezoning of land from Special District
to M-3 Extraction. The land in question is located near the
intersection of 900E and 1500N on the north side of Salt Creek. It
measures roughly 169 acres in size.
The Planning Commission recently voted unanimously to recommend the
rezoning of the land to M-3. The Zoning Board of Appeals also voted
to recommend that the land be rezoned with a unanimous vote of the
three members present at the hearing.
Schaffenacher asked if this was the first time the land in question
had been rezoned. Hepler said that from his understanding, this
would be the first time the land was rezoned. With no further
discussion, the county board voted unanimously to approve of the
land being rezoned.
Comments on Atlanta Golf Course
A member of the public was present to provide a concern on the
county's discussions to purchase the golf course in Atlanta. She
said from her perspective, running a golf course would be very
costly, and that money might be better used in other areas, such as
improving county roads.
"This is such a severe time for all of us, financially," she said.
Bateman said that the county has only entertained the idea of buying
the golf course, and there is plenty of work to be done before a
vote can be made. "It's nowhere near close to coming to a vote, and
there's all kinds of things we have to look at first with a
fine-toothed comb," said Bateman.
Comments from Union Workers
Several union workers were present at the meeting to comment on the
board's recent vote to support the governor's economic turn-around
plan. Previously, Eric Harris had spoken to the board at the
workshop meeting, asking the board to consider rescinding their
vote.
Pat Spaugh, a local union member and employee at the bottle factory,
said he wants to know why the board members voted to support the
plan. Spaugh also said he was unaware of the meeting in which the
board voted on the plan until the day of the vote. The board voted
on their approval at a special meeting in Atlanta at the end of
April.
"I would like for the public to have known more about it," said
Spaugh.
Kevin Bateman said from his perspective, he was voting in support of
the whole plan rather than any one part of it. Bateman said there
were parts of the plan he did not agree with, but he did support the
creation of a plan in order to improve Illinois financially.
"Sometimes you have to look at the big picture. Do I agree with
everything in there? No, but I agree we need a plan to get the state
back in line," said Bateman.
 David Hepler said the board as yet to
vote on any individual parts of the plan, and they may never have
to. Hepler said what the board can do is to keep in touch with the
local union leaders should there be an opportunity to discuss any of
those parts.
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Sale of county land
Under Finance, the board voted on placing land up for sale. The land
measures at ten acres, and is part of the county poor farm. The land
would also be split into two five-acre sections. The land would be
surveyed at the county expense should it be sold.
Gene Rohlfs proposed an amendment that no mobile homes be built on
the property by potential buyers. The amendment passed with a vote
of ten-to-one, with Robert Farmer voting no.
The board approved of placing the land up for sale via sealed bids
with a vote of nine-to-two, with Farmer and Scott Schaffenacher
voting no. Sealed bids will be opened on July 31st at 1:00 p.m.
Appointments
Under appointments, the board voted unanimously to approve of the
following appointments:
- Dave Schonauer was appointed to the Regional Planning
Commission.
- Jane Ryan, Ann Curry, and Warren Grover were appointed to
the Board of Review.
County website
Under the Executive Committee, the board voted on having a new
website built. The county voted on a proposal from Microchip
Computer Solutions to build the new website. The estimated cost
would be $5,760. The board voted unanimously to approve of MCS
building the new website.
Smoke-Free Parks
REALITY, a group working with the Illinois Department of Public
Health, has requested that the county board consider
establishing Scully and Latham Parks as smoke-free parks. Both
of these parks are owned by the county, and REALITY is
requesting that the county allow them to put up signs in the
parks telling people the parks would be smoke-free.
“They would cover all costs to the signs and maintenance of the
signs,” said Bateman. The board voted unanimously to approve of
the placing of the signs. "Enforcement would be up to the local
authorities," said Bateman.
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 and Scott Schaffenacher. Jan Schumacher was absent.
[Derek Hurley] |
