Logan County Board
January Workshop Report

 

[January 19, 2025] 

On Thursday, January 16th, the Logan County Board held its first workshop meeting of the new year. This meeting was held in the first-floor courtroom of the Logan County Courthouse in Lincoln. Nine of the board members were present, including Chairman JR Glenn, Vice Chairman Julie Bobell, Lance Conahan, Gil Turner, Bob Sanders, Kathy Schmidt, Joseph Kuhlman, Michael DeRoss, and Hannah Fitzpatrick. Absent were Jim Wessbecher, Dale Nelson, and Keenan Leesman.

The meeting was called to order by Vice Chairman Bobell, who asked Schmidt to lead the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. Schmidt elected to say a prayer before the Pledge. This was followed by the approval of minutes from December’s workshop meeting. After this was time for public comments, of which there were none.

Next, Bobell addressed each of the committees, asking them if they had any action items to bring to the floor. Building and Grounds did not, but Glenn had an update from Brad Swim, Veregy project manager, on some issues going on at the courthouse. These issues regarded things such as the heat not warming up parts of the courthouse and minor projects that are a part of the restoration not getting done. Swim told Glenn that he was unaware of the daily issues that were occurring at the courthouse and is now more heavily involved in the day-to-day issues that arise.

The next committee that was addressed was Executive and Personnel. Three raffles were brought forth, one for the Oasis Senior Center, one for the Lake Fork Community Senior Center Consignment Sale, and one for the Railsplitter Coin Club. These were added to the consent agenda for next Tuesday’s regular board meeting. Two individuals were then brought forth for appointments. The first was Fay Allison for the Mental Health Advisory Committee. The second was Severan Landstrom for the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA). Severan was in attendance and was given a good recommendation by Glenn. The board then gave Landstrom the floor to introduce himself.

Landstrom shared that he is from New Holland. He has lived there for about fifteen years and works for one of the local farmers. Landstrom also shared that he is very involved in the New Holland community. DeRoss asked if he would have enough time to be a part of the ZBA, to which Landstrom responded that he would.

With no further questions, Bobell then asked the Finance committee if they had anything to bring forth. Schmidt, Chairman of the Finance committee, shared the appellate prosecutor’s agreement that had been previously discussed in their committee meeting. She then shared that the committee was going to move ahead with bringing the old per diem sheets forward to be voted on. Schmidt also explained the process to which all board members should file these per diem sheets. They are to take them to either a workshop or regular board meeting, and then give them to Schmidt. She will then get the signatures needed before turning them over to Katie Newman.

Schmidt put extra emphasis on the importance of getting these signatures before they are processed for reimbursement. Glenn agreed with Schmidt, stating that previously, the board had not put so much importance on this, submitting per diem sheets without the proper signatures. “Everything should be signed before it makes it to Penny [Thomas’s] office,” Glenn said. “We shouldn’t have Penny processing things that aren’t signed, and she won’t want to process things that aren’t signed.”

Schmidt then brought up the Community Benefit Fund, sharing that the Finance committee had decided to try to get several definitions together before February’s meeting and workshop a definition for ‘community benefit’ there. Schmidt also asked Glenn, who had been on the Finance committee until January, if a working definition had ever been decided on while he was there. Glenn shared that they had not. Glenn also shared that, for years, the idea of having regulations for how the Community Benefit Fund is to be used has been discussed. They never needed to have one, however, as all the requests were of a low monetary amount. Now, however, some of the requests coming down the pipeline are significantly larger, leading to the need for clearer guidelines.

Bobell then asked the Transportation committee if they had anything to bring forward. Seeing as how committee chairman Wessbecher was not present, DeRoss brought the committee’s three items forth. The first was awarding the Motor Fuel Tax contract to various bidders. The second item was a road use agreement by the Highway Department with BTB Energy regarding their upcoming solar project. The goal of the agreement would be to hold BTB Energy responsible should any damage come to Logan County roads as a result of their building of their solar project. The last was the approval of several Highway Department bills. All of these were sent to the consent agenda for next Tuesday’s meeting.

The last committee Bobell addressed was the Zoning and Economic Development committee. DeRoss shared he did not have anything to bring forward, but did recognize Tracey Bergin for her educational presentation on what zoning is to help educate new committee members, and help returning committee members stay sharp.

Bobell then called for a motion to adjourn. The Logan County Board will be meeting for their regular board meeting in the first-floor courtroom of the Logan County Courthouse on Tuesday, January 21st, at 6:00 p.m.

[Matt Boutcher]