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Board chair Dale Voyles said he called
an emergency meeting of the building and grounds committee Wednesday
night because of the potential for "irreversible damage and personal
injury" in the event of a recurrence. Voyles credited the Lincoln
Fire Department, janitor Dennis Reves and building and grounds chair
Dick Logan with quick action that averted a worse disaster when an
electrical feed heated up in the courthouse basement. "We had a hot
time in the courthouse the other day," Voyles summed up. And without
an upgrade to meet national electric code standards, he believes it
could happen again.
Anderson Electric of Springfield did
emergency repairs after the courthouse was evacuated at noon on
Tuesday. Joe Fitzpatrick of Fitzpatrick Electric called the firm
because he could not handle the situation immediately and because
Anderson was in town working on Central School and the sewage
treatment plant.
Anderson subsequently submitted a bid
to upgrade the electrical system, including adding a fused
disconnect and an enclosed panel. Cost of the work is estimated at
$18,500. Part of the estimated cost is overtime pay, since the work
will be done on a weekend to avoid closing the courthouse again. The
final decision on the work will come on Tuesday.
Also on the agenda for the voting
session on Tuesday is the issue of whether to transfer the $25,000
the county has budgeted for economic development to the board's
economic development committee. The motion was made and tabled in
June. On Thursday finance chair Chuck Ruben moved to withdraw the
motion because recent dialog between the board and the Lincoln/Logan
County Chamber of Commerce seems promising. In a straw vote the
board agreed to drop the motion; John Stewart dissented.
The $25,000, to be taken from the farm
fund, was budgeted for the chamber-sponsored Economic Development
Council but was later withheld because EDC meetings are not open to
the public. Chamber liaison Bill Sahs said the two organizations
have begun productive discussions on the issue. The discussions and
disbursement of the money are also on the agenda for the board's
economic development committee Monday night.
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In other business the board tentatively
approved several changes to the zoning ordinance additions to be
voted on Tuesday. The additions regulate adult entertainment
establishments in the county. Two substantive changes resulted from
suggestions at a public hearing.
The ordinance addition lists minimum
distances between an adult entertainment establishment and specified
other uses. The list of protected uses was enlarged so that the
clause now forbids an adult entertainment establishment to locate
within 1,000 feet of any lot zoned residential or within 1,500 feet
of any church or religious assembly, cemetery, public or private
school, nursing home, park or recreational area.
Secondly, hours of operation for an
adult entertainment establishment were tentatively limited to 10
a.m.-10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with mandatory closing on
Sundays and federal holidays. Both the changes and the entire adult
entertainment section will come up for final vote on Tuesday.
In another zoning matter, the board
tentatively approved a petition from the Rev. S.M. Davis to rezone
one acre near Middletown from agricultural to country homes use. The
lot is entirely wooded; in fact, the boundary was drawn in an angled
pattern to avoid farmland. It is located on 275th Avenue in Section
21. If the rezoning is approved Tuesday, Davis' daughter and
son-in-law plan to build a home on the property.
In other business the board learned
that:
--State Sen. Larry Bomke, state Rep.
Rich Brauer and U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood are working with Emergency
Services and Disaster Agency director Dan Fulscher to secure a grant
for ESDA to purchase a warehouse. Currently, ESDA and Lincoln Rural
Fire Protection District rent the warehouse together.
--The county is purchasing the house at
1409 N. Kankakee for $1 through a federal Housing and Urban
Development program. The finance committee expects to present a
proposal for use of the house at Tuesday's adjourned board meeting.
--The Logan County Paramedic
Association will request funds in the 2003-04 budget to purchase a
new ambulance.
Voyles
praised the work of board committees: "In all my years [of community
service] I've seen committees that work and don't work.... But I
have never seen a better example of how committees can work together
in a positive manner" than the current county board committees.
[Lynn
Spellman]
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