Logan County Board Workshop meeting sets agenda for Tuesday voting session

 

[August 18, 2024] 

On the evening of August 15th, the Logan County Board met to have a workshop meeting. This workshop, which was held in a courtroom in the Logan County Courthouse, was to prepare motions for the regular board meeting. This regular board meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 20th at 6:00 pm at the Courthouse.

Public Comments

Before going through the motions of each department, the board opened the floor for public comments. Three individuals took advantage of this time, addressing solar farm projects.

The first person to speak was Crystal Alley. She was in attendance to discuss a proposed solar facility going up in her neighborhood in Lincoln. Alley was against the project being approved, stating several reasons for her disapproval. Alley stated that since the electricity is likely to be sent out of Logan County, it will not benefit the community. She further stated that there are many unknowns to solar panels in general. Since her neighborhood gets their water from wells, she and others are afraid of what the panels could potentially leak into the ground. Alley stated that she and others protested this project previously, and that the board voted the project down. She urged the board to vote it down once more.

The second person to speak was James Fellman, the property owner of the land where the solar farm Alley protested is proposed to go up. Fellman shared that since the project was last voted down, the parcels of land had been reorganized. The western part of the property would be the only section getting solar panels. This hilly section of land, Fellman stated, also runs parallel to I-55. Fellman also shared some of the history of the land, as his father purchased it many years ago. Fellman’s father’s intention was to build residences on the land, but that fell through when I-55 was built directly through the property, splitting it into two separate pieces. Fellman also recognized that the Forest Hills community likely did not want their view blocked by the proposed solar farm.

The last person to speak was Brittney Krebsbach with Pivot Energy. Speaking on behalf of her company, Krebsbach gave a presentation on a proposed solar farm project in Atlanta. This project is separate from the one Alley and Fellman had spoken on. This project, which would take up about 10.5 acres and would generate 1.4 megawatts of energy, would be located at W North Street and would extend south. Krebsbach spoke on the many benefits of the project, such as the tax revenue it will generate for Atlanta. Krebsbach also provided details on the panels such as their height (12 feet) and their noise level (65 decibels one meter away, about the same as your average dishwasher). She also shared that a $7,000 donation will be made to the Spartan Promise Counsel.

The board had many questions for Krebsbach, such as if the electricity generated will be provided to the people of Atlanta/Logan County. Krebsbach stated that Ameren customers may register to receive their energy from a specific solar project, such as this one. There are a limited number of spots, however. This project is expected to be completed in about a year and a half, if approved on Tuesday night.

After all public comments were made, the board shifted to hearing from the members of each committee on motions they are proposing be voted on. These motions, should they have passed through this session, will go on to be voted upon at Tuesday night’s regular board meeting. Several motions were added to the Tuesday agenda. Here are some of the highlights.

Finance Committee

Motions moved to Tuesday Agenda

The Finance Committee would like to move all the funds brought in from Cresco Labs to a certificate of deposit (CD), with the exception of $100,000. This will generate interest income while interest rates are still high. This motion was passed through to be put to a vote at the regular board meeting.

The Finance Committee would also like to approve several $500 donations to various organizations in Lincoln. While many of the organizations requested more than $500, the board does not currently have a process through which to approve or deny these requests. The Finance Committee suggested that these $500 donations be approved until a process can be established for future requests. All the donations were approved to be put to a vote at the regular board meeting.

Logan County State’s Attorney Bradley Hauge addressed the board to request a $36,000 increase to the salary fund for his office. This increase would be used to hire a woman who is looking to join the Logan County State’s Attorney’s office. Hauge further shared that he really needs the help that having an additional staff member would provide. The board agreed to put this to a vote at the next regular board meeting.

Insurance request returned to committee

Additionally, the Finance Committee also submitted a motion to start providing free health insurance to department employees. According to the plan, individual insurance would be paid for, but the employees would be required to pay the difference for adding a child, spouse, or entire family to the plan. Several objections were made to this, such as the fact that the cost of the insurance premiums is currently unknown. It was also stated the department heads had not been informed about this plan yet, so their employees had no idea about it either. In the end, the board chose to send this motion back to the committee so more details could be worked out.

Zoning and Economic Development

The Zoning and Economic Development Committee requested that $10,000 be allocated to pay Tracy Bergin for geographic information systems (GIS) duties in their office. These GIS duties would be in addition to the duties Bergin currently performs for that office. There was some back and forth, with arguments being made for and against the increase. Ultimately, it was decided to move the motion forward for a regular board vote.

Zoning and Economic Development also pushed the motion for the Atlanta solar farm through, setting it for a vote on Tuesday night.

The Regular meeting of the Logan County Board will be held on Tuesday, August 20th at 6 p.m. in the first-floor courtroom of the Logan County Courthouse.

[Matt Boutcher]