June Logan County Board briefs

 

[June 19, 2021] 

On Tuesday, June 15 the Logan County Board held its Regular meeting, voting on several action items.

Board members present were Board Chairman Emily Davenport, Vice Chairman Scott Schaffenacker, David Blankenship, Janet Estill, Cameron Halpin, David Hepler, Steve Jenness, Keenan Leesman, Annette Welch and Jim Wessbecher. Bob Farmer and Bob Sanders were absent.

Planning and Zoning Committee update

The board approved two motions from Planning and Zoning Committee Chairman David Hepler related to surety bonds.

The first item was a zoning ordinance change to include a Surety Bond for Solar Farms.

Logan County Zoning Officer Will D’Andrea said the Zoning Board of Appeals recently had a hearing and recommended approval of the proposed changes. Surety bonds will be allowed as an option in addition to escrow accounts to provide financial security for wind and solar projects.

D’Andrea said it is cheaper to use bonds. Applicants might consider bonds better as they will not need to have funds sit in a financial institution.

The board also approved authorizing the Board Chairman to sign the agreement with Mulligan Solar for a Surety Bond subject to the State’s Attorney’s approval.

In talking to Mulligan Solar, Hepler said Mulligan Solar told him they would prefer to use surety bonds.

D’Andrea said surety bonds will be easier for Mulligan Solar than an escrow account. Having a surety bond in place will expedite the timeline for Mulligan Solar.

The surety bond will be for $100,000 and D’Andrea said the bond will be in place for the life of the project. The Decommissioning Plan and estimate will be updated every five years to determine the amount of financial security needed as the project ages. Scrap value is considered part of the value, so that will decline in the future.

Schaffenacker abstained from both votes.

Other committee updates and votes

The board also approved the following action items:

A $500 donation to the Logan County Genealogical Society from the Economic Development Fund.

Finance Committee Chairman Steve Jenness’ motion for Bellwether as Project Administrator for the American Rescue Plan Act Funds.

The American Rescue Plan Act was signed by President Joe Biden in March 2021 to help combat economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Logan County will be receiving a total of $5.5 million, which will be disbursed in two separate $2.75 M installments. The first installment will be disbursed to the county in the next few months and the other installment will be disbursed next year.

Bellwether will help the county determine what they can spend the money on and file quarterly reviews. These reviews are required by the federal government to prove what the money is being spent on.

For their administrative fee, Bellwether will charge the county $10,000 for each installment. The fee will come out of the fund from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Airport and Farm Committee Chairman Jim Wessbecher’s motion to renew Logan County Airport liability insurance for the coming year in the amount of $3,615, an increase of $348 from last year. They will be retaining Star Aviation as the insurance company.

Insurance/Legislative/Liquor Committee Chairman Annette Welch’s motion for 2021-2022 Liquor Licenses for those who complete documents and pay the fee. She said all but two places have completed the documents and paid the fee.
 

A Road and Bridge Committee motion for awarding a bid to Centre State International Trucks for the purchase of a new snowplow truck chassis for $94,624.

Transportation Committee Chairman Janet Estill’s motion for a resolution for an updated county of Logan Title VI Policy and Plan IX. Language was added to narrow down what is covered under Title VI and make sure it reads “The County prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin.” In the previous plan the county had added too many qualifiers that were not meant to be there.

The other change consisted of, and adding Jackie Dallavalle-Hammons as the [new] Program Compliance Oversight Monitor Coordinator and removing [former PCOM coordinator] Brenda Clark’s name.

Cameron Halpin recognized for service to the board

At the beginning of the meeting, Cameron Halpin was recognized for serving on the Logan County Board. As of June 30, Halpin will be stepping down from his seat on the board. Halpin made this decision due to the demands of his full-time career, rigors of the graduate program he will soon begin and affection and commitment to his family.

Halpin was officially appointed to the District Six position July 16, 2019 with unanimous approval of the board.

During Halpin’s time on the board, he was appointed to chair the newly created IT subcommittee. In this role, Halpin began a review of the county’s technology and practices. Halpin then created an IT advisory committee with specialists in their respective areas of expertise. The result of this work by Halpin and these committees is a better IT infrastructure that will offer improved IT services in years to come.

When the pandemic threatened shut down of the local legislative process, Halpin intervened by providing technology allowing the county board to continue to convene. This technology also gave the public access to meetings.

In December 2020, Halpin was appointed Chairman of the Animal Control Committee. As chair of the committee, he helped coordinate staff, spoke with officials from other municipalities and obtained feedback from law enforcement regarding the most cost effective and humane ways to care for the animals.

Additionally, Halpin served as Parliamentarian of the board, interpreting and applying rules of order for meetings.

Halpin also has been fulfilling the duties of Road and Bridge Chairman in the absence of Bob Farmer as he recuperates from an injury.

The board showed their gratitude to Halpin with a round of applause.

Dale Nelson approved to fill District Six vacancy

At the end of the meeting, the board approved appointing Dale Nelson to fill County Board District Six vacancy left by Halpin.

Nelson ran against Halpin in the November election and reached out to Davenport when he heard Halpin would be stepping down. Since the campaign, Nelson said he learned what he could have done differently and gotten a different perspective while he learned more about the county. Nelson said he wants to do what is right for the county while working with the other board members.

Nelson’s appointment will be effective July 1.

[Angela Reiners]