Logan County Board Regular Meeting
Members hear update on Latham Bandstand, discuss violations by Top
Hat Wind Farm
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[November 25, 2024]
On
Thursday, November 21st, the Logan County Board met for their
monthly regular meeting. This meeting started at 6 p.m. and was held
in the first floor courtroom of the Logan County Courthouse. With
the exception of Gil Turner, all members were in attendance. This
includes Chairman Michael DeRoss, Vice Chairman Dale Nelson, Kathy
Schmidt, Keenan Leesman, Julie Bobell, Joseph Kuhlman, JR Glenn, Bob
Sanders, Jim Wessbecher, and Hannah Fitzpatrick.
The meeting began, as all do, with the Pledge of Allegiance,
followed by an announcement by DeRoss. DeRoss shared that our Logan
County Clerk, Theresa Moore, received the ‘County Official of the
Year’ award from the Illinois Association of County Officials. Moore
received a round of applause from everyone in the room.
[See
press release - Logan County Clerk and Recorder Theresa Moore
receives the Illinois Association of County Officials ‘County
Official of the Year’ award
https://archives.lincolndailynews.com/
2024/Nov/25/NEWS/today_MOORE.shtml]
The floor was then opened up for public comments, but there were
none. DeRoss then moved the meeting on to the agenda items from the
board’s five committees, starting with Building and Grounds.
Wessbecher, the Chairman of the Building and Grounds committee, had
no official business to be voted on, but he did have some updates to
give. According to Wessbecher, the ice rink at Scully Park opened on
Friday night. If people brought toys to the rink to be donated to
Toys for Tots, they would be able to skate for free. Wessbecher also
shared that the bandstand at Latham Park is just about finished. The
stone caps and the door need to be installed, but that is all there
is left. Wessbecher informed everyone that the carpet that is going
to be installed in the Courthouse offices by Carpet House should be
ready soon. Carpet House is supposed to be reaching out soon to
schedule a date for installation.
DeRoss moved to Nelson, the Chairman of the Executive
and Personnel committee. There was only one item on the agenda, and
that was the vote to approve a 2025 contract with Dynamic Lifecycle
Innovations Recycling. The board voted and approved the contract
unanimously.
Next was the Finance committee, of which Nelson is also the
Chairman. All of the following items were approved unanimously. The
first two items on their agenda was the abatement of two taxes that
were levied in 2024. The next item was to approve an increase in
ambulance billing costs in the county. Next was the vote to approve
funding for the Logan County Jail/Grow Me Project in the amount of
$3,333. The board then voted to take the annual budget off display,
followed by a vote to adopt the annual budget. Each item of the
budget had to be approved individually. See below for each item on
the budget and its corresponding budgeted amount. Also, for the sake
of space, the American Rescue Plan Act is shortened to ARPA.
-
Transfer from General Fund: $1,262,841
-
Illinois State Grant: $1,500,000
-
ARPA - Jail: $2,823,859
-
ARPA - Broadband: $2,000,000
-
ARPA - Broadband Expenditures: $2,000,000
-
State Grant Expenditures: $1,320,570
-
Capital Improvement Expenditures - Jail:
$1,262,841
-
ARPA - Jail Upgrades Expenditures: $2,823,859
The board then voted to approve the following
amendments to the annual budget.
-
Transfer from ARPA: $12,500
-
Broadband Expenditures: $0.00 (This is the “zero
out” the same line item from above)
-
Jail Upgrades: $180,230
-
Transfer from General Fund - Jail: $180,230
-
Transfer from ARPA - Jail: $ 12,500
The last thing the Finance committee brought forward
was to adopt the budget as amended.
[to top of second column] |
The next committee that was called upon for action
items was Transportation. Wessbecher, who is the Chairman of this
committee, brought forth two items. These were, like the other
items, approved unanimously. The first was the approval of the 2025
Motor Fuel Tax for the County Highways in the amount of $1,435,770.
The second item was to approve an engineering agreement with
Veenstra and Kimm to design a replacement for the bridge on 1500th
street. The amount of this item was $44,894.
Finally, DeRoss called on the Chairman of the Zoning and Economic
Development committee, Leesman, who had no items to bring forth.
Leesman did want to address the three members of Top Hat
Construction who were in attendance, as they wanted to speak on some
issues that have come up in the past month.
The three representatives from Top Hat were Dan Berni,
Will Hidson, and Ed Reder. Al Green, of the Logan County Zoning
Office, started off by giving an overview on what had occurred. A
report had come to the county that Top Hat was working on one of
their projects “well past sunset.” This is in violation of the
contract they signed with the county. In cases like these, Top Hat
is required to give the county notification, specifically to the
Chairman of the board, DeRoss. No notification was provided in this
case. A violation notice was then issued from the Highway
Department. This issue was several weeks ago, but another violation
was made on the weekend of November 16th and 17th. This occurred at
a separate site from the first incident. Another violation notice
was then sent. The county also ensured that they had cell phone
numbers for DeRoss, as well as several others who could get word to
DeRoss. Green shared that exceptions can be made in the case of
equipment failure or emergencies, but that did not appear to be the
case here. Green also shared that the contract they currently have
with Top Hat is difficult to enforce without simply pulling the
permit. He encouraged the board to “put some teeth” in the contracts
they make in the future.
Hudson then spoke on behalf of Top Hat. Hudson did not deny any of
the violations. He did state that the first issue was caused by
equipment failure, but then they failed to follow the protocol of
letting the county know they would be working late. They are still
looking into what happened this past weekend with the second
violation. Hudson also assured the board that they have been
“hammering home” the protocol of letting the county know about any
work that would need to be done in violation of the contract.
Reder then gave an update on the progress that Top
Hat has been making at their construction sites. Reder stated that
the foundations are about 85 percent completed. As of the night of
the meeting, there will be ten more windmill foundations to be
poured. They are planning on being done by December 23rd.
Board member Sanders then spoke up. “Talk is cheap [when it comes
to] abiding by the permits… If we keep hearing about permit
violations, I don’t have a problem going nuclear.” Reder understood,
wanting to make sure the county knew they were doing what they
could. He shared that one of their contractors came upon a large
amount of gravel on Route 54. He was not sure if it was gravel that
was dropped by Top Hat but pulled over and cleaned it up anyway.
Sanders stated that he also understood, but if the violations
continue, they will have to “take the next step.”
The last thing the board covered at this meeting was the nomination
of J Lance Conahan to the board. This turned into a contentious
issue, with many members wanting to hold off on a vote. To read more
about why the board members felt this way and what ended up
happening, read LDN’s other article on this meeting.
Logan
County Board Regular voting meeting
Nomination for new board member put on hold
https://archives.lincolndailynews.com/
2024/Nov/25/NEWS/today_COUNTY.shtml
[Matt Boutcher] |