Menard County Board of Commissioners met Aug. 29

By Angelica Saylo Pilo

Oct 27, 2023

Menard County Board of Commissioners met Aug. 29.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

The Menard County Board of Commissioners met on Tuesday, August 29, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. at the Menard County Courthouse, 102 S. Seventh Street, Petersburg, Illinois. Commissioners Bob Lott, Jeff Fore, Troy Cummings, Ed Whitcomb and Rich Brauer were physically present. A quorum was present. County Clerk Martha “Marty” Gum, County Coordinator Dara Worthington, State’s Attorney Gabe Grosboll, and Sheriff Mark Oller were also present. Treasurer Pam Bauser was absent.

Chairperson Bob Lott called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.

Commissioner Cummings moved to approve the Regular Minutes from August 8, 2023 as well as the July 2023 Monthly Department Expense Reports. Commissioner Brauer seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

Sunny Acres Nursing Home

Patricia Carpenter was present to introduce herself to the Board as the new Sunny Acres Nursing Home Administrator.

Bob Haerr, Vice President of Facilities for Heritage Operations Group, was also present to present the bids submitted for the pole barn to the County Board. The winning bid submitted was from Custom Structures. Commissioner Whitcomb moved to approve the bid from Custom Structures. Commissioner Brauer seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

Mr. Haerr also requested the Board’s approval to start the tin on the laundry building at Sunny Acres Nursing Home. Commissioner Whitcomb moved to approve the start of the tin. Commissioner Cummings seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

Lastly, Mr. Haerr requested the Board’s approval to begin the concrete project at Sunny Acres Nursing Home. Commissioner Brauer moved to approve the start of the concrete project. Commissioner Fore seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

Menard County Health Department

Gail O’Neill was present to update the Board on Health Department activities as of August 2, 2023, to advise of new grant being awarded to Menard County, and to announce that she will be retiring at the end of September, 2023.

Menard County Zoning

Gwen Thomas, Menard County Zoning Administrator, was in attendance and presented the Board with an update on the department’s current projects and to advise the Board of the latest Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting scheduled for this week.

Highway Department’s Report/Request for Board Action

Corey Dowd, County Highway Engineer, presented an Engineering Services Agreement with Bacon Farmer Workman for Phase II Design of 18-00068-00-BT (Sangamon Valley Trail, Phase III). Commissioner Brauer moved to approve the Agreement. Commissioner Fore seconded the motion. Commissioners Brauer and Fore voted aye. Commissioners Whitcomb and Cummings voted nay. Chairperson Lott voted aye. The motion carried with three ayes and two nays.

Highway Engineer Dowd presented the Board with a Local Public Agency Amendment #1 for Section 09-00056-05-EG (Athens Blacktop Road Construction). Commissioner Cummings moved to approve. Commissioner Whitcomb seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

Dowd presented the Board with an update on his department’s current projects. County EMS/EMA Report/Requests for Board Action

Kolbe Huss, EMS/EMA Chief, was in attendance and presented the Board with an update on his department and the replacement of a transfer switch by Ryan Electric. Chief Huss also advised the Board that he has one remaining full-time vacancy.

Sheriff’s Report/Requests for Board Action

Sheriff Mark Oller was in attendance with his departmental report. The Sheriff reported that the current jail census was at ten inmates. Sheriff Oller advised the Board that the Sheriff’s Department soon begin the process of purchasing body cameras for all deputies.

County Coroner’s Report/Requests for Board Action.

Coroner Ben Hollis was in attendance and requested the Board’s approval to appoint Jonathan K. Huss as Deputy Coroner. It was the consensus of the Board that Jonathan K. Huss be appointed as Deputy Coroner.

Treasurer’s Department Report/Requests for Board Action

In the Treasurer’s absence, Chief Deputy Treasurer Rosanne Snyder presented the Board with the financials as well as a Letter of Engagement from Michael Feriozzi for the Board’s review and discussion. Deputy Kyra Leinberger will have the FY24 budget sheets out before the end of this week.

County Clerk’s Report/Requests for Board Action

County Clerk Gum was in attendance and presented two liquor license applications for Just the Basics, LLC for review and approval. Commissioner Cummings moved to approve the application. Commissioner Brauer seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

Clerk Gum also advised the Board that Candidates for the upcoming General Primary may begin circulating petitions on September 5, 2023.

State’s Attorney Report/Requests for Board Action

State’s Attorney Grosboll was in attendance and provided an update to the SAFE-T Act that is to go into effect on September 18, 2023. He also discussed renewal of the contract between Sunny Acres Nursing Home and Heritage Operations Group.

County Coordinator’s Report/Requests for Board Action

Coordinator Worthington was in attendance and presented the Board with Sangamon County Department of Public Health bills for payment. Commissioner Fore moved to approve the payment of said bills. Commissioner Whitcomb seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

Coordinator Worthington discussed items such as: the Workmans Compensation and Property Casualty Liability renewal; scheduling budget meetings with the Board; Animal Control Intergovernmental Agreements with the municipalities, and an email from Core Construction regarding the courthouse dome.

Individual Board Members – Report/Requests for Board Action

Commissioner Fore advised the Board that he would like an article in the local paper regarding the Commercial Solar and Wind Ordinances. Fore requested that the article explain that the new commercial ordinances were drawn up as a result of mandates set forth by the State of Illinois and that if the county had not researched and adopted their own ordinances, the State of Illinois would have required we follow ordinances drawn up by them.

Commissioner Cummings advised the Board that there was a COVID outbreak at Sunny Acres Nursing Home, and all the residents and employees are now clear.

Chairperson Lott advised Chief Deputy Treasurer Snyder that in the future prior to tax bills being forwarded to the mailing company for printing, the office should check with the Board for any additional information the Board would like to include in that mailing to taxpayers. He also advised the Board that Judge Atterberry has requested that the Board look into the possibility for hiring an in-house IT person. Chairperson Lott advised that he would like the elected officials to create a committee to gather information for what each official needs from IT in their office. Chairperson Lott also advised that he would like to schedule a CRESCO meeting with Menard, Cass, Logan, Mason, and Morgan Counties, the Menard County States Attorney and the Menard County Coordinator.

Sangamon Sun