WEBVTT

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Good evening everyone. We will go ahead and call the meeting to order.

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I am going to initiate the vote for attendance. If you would please

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mark yourself as present. Nate, I don't see it counting down.

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Yeah, we have 12 present and two absent. Before we begin,

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just so we can hopefully eliminate any internet issues

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with the voting system, if you currently have your phone

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set on wi-fi for the courthouse, if you wouldn't mind please shutting that off.

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We're just not certain that the bandwidth is enough to have everything on at one time. If you have any windows other than

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what we're using for the county board open on your laptop or iPad if you wouldn't mind closing those

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We're trying to do whatever we can to make sure that we don't lose connection

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So thank you for that. I appreciate it with that. Mr. Jogerst

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Would you please lead us in prayer and Mrs. Baker, would you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?

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of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

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May I please get an approval for tonight's agenda by Mr. Bush, is there a second?

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Second.

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Second by Mr. Diddens, is there any discussion on the agenda?

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Seeing none, if you would please mark your vote for the approval of the agenda.

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And that was passed unanimously.

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Thank you.

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Moving on to the consent agenda, does any board member like to remove either A or B

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for discussion?

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Seeing none, is there a motion to approve A and B by Mr. Newton, second by Mr. Busker?

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Is there any discussion on A or B in the consent agenda?

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Seeing none, if you would please go ahead and vote for the approval of the agenda.

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and also passes unanimously. Thank you. Is there any public comment this evening? If you wouldn't mind coming up to the podium, then there'll be three minutes for you. There's a clock right in front of you up in the ceiling.

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Okay, thank you. First of all, thank you to all of you for your public service. I appreciate it. My name is Teresa Smith. I'm a consulting dietitian with a nursing facility. I have provided dietary consulting services to the nursing center for over 25 years.

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I'm here tonight to make you aware that several of my invoices have not been paid, including one from as far back as December of 2024.

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The total for all of the invoices is $8,450.52.

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In October, I became aware of the sale of the building not happening in September.

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I was told invoices could not be paid for that reason.

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In November, I was told there was no ruling from the judge regarding the potential sale.

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Again, told no invoices could be paid.

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In December, I was told that the judge ruled the sale must go to the referendum with no timeline on payout of the invoices.

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Could be up to two years.

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In January, I was told that emergency situations came up and the invoices could not be paid.

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be paid. In February I was told the county was holding money to pay for a

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potential federal fine that the attorneys were hoping to waive. Also was

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told by others in the community that invoices had been paid. In March I was

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told that the county was still forwarding the money or still holding the money for

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the potential fine but I was offered the opportunity for a settlement. A settlement

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was offered with a March 31st deadline but as far as I know it was not shared

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with the Finance Committee of the Board. In April, I was again told the county was reserving

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funds for that potential federal fine. I am being told by outside sources that I can file

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a small claims court since I have good documentation that the county does have the money and that

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they owe me the money. I'm a small independent business person. I would hope to settle outside

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of the courtroom with mutual discussion happening. I would ask that you allow all of these invoices

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to be paid within the next 30 days. Thank you for your time and for your service.

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Thank you very much. Is there anyone else? I'm Karen Rivers. Since there are new

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board members here, or I thought there would be, I'll quickly review some of my

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comments from past meetings. In 2018, Stevens County Board approved solstice

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renewable energy out of New Jersey to build a number of solar sites in the

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County. After six years, no

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After six years no information from anyone and no new ZBA hearing the site next door to me named Zimmerman North was built

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What was built is not what was approved approved was a 2 megawatt site

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with fixed south facing panels on a

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10.23 acre

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Space within a 24 acre area built was a 2.58

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Megawatt site with east-west rotating panels on 13 acres

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The site extends outside of its boundaries and is 30% larger than approved.

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Very high pollen content toxic junipers were planted as a concealing border.

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A year after requests were made that non-toxic spruce be planted instead.

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The junipers are planted single row 20-25 foot apart and conceal nothing.

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It took me a year to get stacks of panels labeled broken removed from the fence next door to me.

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The site is mowed only once a year at the end of August when the weeds are above head height and the invasive plant seeds have blown throughout the area.

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Since fall of 2025, multiple panels no longer rotate and are stuck at a reflective position facing west.

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Over a month ago a partial row of panels broke off or just fell off their posts and have been lying shattered and broken on the ground ever since.

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Last month I spoke with inspectors at the site who said they were hired by the present owners, Harrison Street, due to construction violations and legal issues involving the original owner builders, Sultage Renewable Energy.

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I have here photos of the newest issues I just mentioned.

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A properly built and maintained solar site should not be falling apart.

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I again request the site be required to be properly maintained.

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I also ask that the county hire a certified inspector to determine and correct the issues.

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Are any other Soltage renewable energy built sites in the same deteriorate condition?

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It's not even two years old.

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I don't know if you folks can see these very well.

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As the panels have fallen, west-facing, stuck and fallen.

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These are, some of these are from my front yard.

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So the reflection in my front yard.

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This one is fallen panels covered by snow.

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These are the reflection and fallen panels.

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So, this is out of my hands. You guys have the power to correct this.

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Chair, in your three minutes you're up. Thank you. Is there any other public comment this evening?

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Adam Moderow, I sit over there. I've been here before to give public comment about the various environmental uniqueness to our county.

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County, whether it's the the whooping cranes that pass through and very few

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others can boast or the the pasque flowers that grow every spring right

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across from our new animal control facility. Part of the reason I'm able to

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talk about those things is because we're in the middle of a very unique area, the

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Driftless, and very very simply 12,000 years ago, a little plus, there was a big

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glacier around everything except us. And along the Mississippi, Wisconsin, this unique area

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has some of the oldest and most unique botanical, geological, and aquatic area that you can

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find within a day's drive. We're known around the world by people that study these kinds

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of things, and it's been very exciting growing up looking at the environment in this area.

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and if you're as excited about that kind of thing as I am, you should come to the library

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on April 27th.

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There's a movie all about the unique features of this driftless area, which includes the

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land right outside your door.

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Again, April 27th, 6.30 p.m., right across the street at the library.

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Hope to see you there.

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Thank you, Mr. Moderow.

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Any other public comment?

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All right, with that, we'll move on to the appointment of Cindy Lawfer to fill the vacancy

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C&C and County Board District I. This nomination was brought forward by the Republican Central

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Committee. Is there a motion to approve by Mr. Diddens? Is there a second by Mr. Jogerst?

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Is there any discussion? Seeing none, you may go ahead and vote for that appointment.

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That passes unanimous. Congratulations, Cindy. Judge McClannathan, would you mind administering

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her oath?

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I, Cynthia J. Lawfer, having been appointed to the Stevenson County Board District I in the County of Stevenson to solemnly swear or affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Illinois

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and that I will faithfully discharge

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I will faithfully discharge

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of the duties of the Stevenson County Board

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of the duties of the Stevenson County Board

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to the best of my ability

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to the best of my ability.

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Congratulations.

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I'm nervous.

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I'm shaking actually.

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Thank you.

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Yeah.

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Alright, thank you Cindy and if you'd like to take your seat next to Mr. Hadley.

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Okay.

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Thank you. Thank you Judge.

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All right, the next item is the nominations for Vice Chair. As you're all aware, with the resignation of Mr. Whalen last month, we did announce that vacancy in the opening for that.

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So we will open up the floor now for nominations for the position of County Board Vice Chair.

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Each nomination must receive a second. After a nomination is made and seconded, the nominee will be asked whether they accept or not.

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Once all nominations are completed and closed, we will proceed with a roll call vote conducted by name.

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Is there a motion to open the floor to nominations?

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By Mr. Jogerst, is there a second? By Mr. Diddens, is there any discussion on opening the floor to nominations?

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Seeing none, you may go ahead and vote for that.

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Georgia, can you show her please?

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and that passes unanimously.

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Are there any nominations for the role of Vice Chair

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of the Stevenson County Board?

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Mr. Jogerst, go ahead.

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Okay, is there a second for that by Mr. Diddens?

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Any discussion on the nomination?

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Any other nominations?

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Mrs. Baker, do you accept the nomination?

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All right, very good.

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Seeing that there are no other nominations,

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Is there a motion to close the nominations?

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Mr. Busker, is there a second?

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Mrs. Hayes, any discussion on closing the nominations?

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Seeing none, you may go ahead and cast your vote.

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All right, so the vote to close the nominations has 12 yes

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and one no.

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So with that, we'll call a roll call vote

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for the nomination of Nicole Baker as Vice Chair.

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Madam Clerk, would you call that vote, please?

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Larry Jogerst.

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Aye.

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Scott Helms.

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Aye.

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Nicole Baker.

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Aye.

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Steve Fricke.

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Yes.

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Sydney Lawfer.

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Aye.

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Ronnie Bush.

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Aye.

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Samuel Newton.

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Williams, Adam, Moderow, 12-A, one-A. Motion carries. Congratulations. If you

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wouldn't mind coming up and taking my seat for a moment. You're gonna have to

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Delbert, would you mind coming up? Thank you, sir. Tonight is one of the nights I

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really enjoy when I get to do this. I'd like to recognize an extraordinary act

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of generosity. The gift of a vehicle to the Stevenson County taxpayers and more

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specifically to our animal control department. To me at least this is not

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just a set of keys and four wheels. This is one of the finest examples of giving

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and back to the community that I've witnessed

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in 23 years of being in public service.

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Delbert, your employees and yourself,

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a Baccarato group, the generosity that you've shown

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speaks volumes about the character of yourself

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and all of your employees.

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You didn't just see a need, you acted.

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You didn't just offer help, you set the example.

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And in doing so, showed us all what it means

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to truly invest in our community.

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Moments like this should remind us that generosity is contagious.

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One act of kindness can ripple outward, inspiring others to give, to help, and

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to believe in the power of community.

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So I would like us to celebrate this incredible gift, not just with applause,

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but with a renewed commitment to look for ways that we can each make a difference.

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Whether it's through time, resources, or simply lending a helping hand,

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we all have the power to be someone's turning point.

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Thank you again, Delbert.

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And to everyone here, let's keep building a community

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where giving is not the exception, but it's the expectation.

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So on behalf of the Stevenson County Board,

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I would like to present to you

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and the Employees' Bakker Auto Group,

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this token of our appreciation.

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Thank you.

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Thank you very much.

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Appreciate you.

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All right with that we'll move on to new business and into executive session. 5 ILCS 120 slash 2 C 11 litigation when an action against affecting or beyond

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behalf of the particular public body has been filed and is pending before a court

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or administrative tribunal or in the public body finds an action is probable

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or imminent. Is there a motion to go into executive session? By Mr. Diddens, second

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by Mr. Jogerst. Any discussion on going into executive session? Seeing none, you may go

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ahead and cast your vote. And that passes unanimously. Thank you. Turn this over to

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the administrator.

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April 16th, 2026. Okay, we are now out of executive session and no action was taken. Next on the

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agenda is the Greater Freeport Partnership quarterly presentation presented by Andrea

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Schultz-Winter and Nicole Hass. Sure, I'll let you pass this out. Good evening. Thank you in advance

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for having us come and present to you. Very shortly we will be passing out a hard copy of our

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strategic or quarterly report excuse me and as you see they are our areas are

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outlined by our strategic our strategic focus areas but also this evening we

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will be highlighting some economic data we will be talking about a workforce

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alignment initiative and we'll be highlighting a few other initiatives and

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highlights from the first quarter. So national economic trends we see that

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inflation is at 3.3 percent and that's as measured by the consumer price index

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and while consumer sentiment has plunged 11 percent. This is the

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lowest point since post World War II. So what we see is that there is a

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lot of uncertainty in the market. How that translates is when there's

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uncertainty in the market consumers typically will delay or not make larger

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We'll also see within businesses that they might hesitate to make larger investments because they're waiting and see, as we have the cost of everyday goods are increasing, we don't know when that will relax or weaken, people will most likely delay making any investment.

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We saw that reflected in our business retention visits as we talked with businesses that they are thinking about and planning for some investment in the future, some expansion, but they're not making any immediate plans to do so because of these uncertain times.

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With that, we also track economic development or economic employment data.

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Each month we report to our board figures that we get from Illinois Department of Employment Security.

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Highlighted on the screen tonight is unemployment numbers for January of 2026, both for Stevenson County as a whole and Freeport, city of Freeport.

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What we have consistently seen over the last 12 months is that there are more people unemployed looking for work.

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there are, I'm sorry, less people looking for work than there are unique job postings within

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Stevenson County. So there's a disconnect. We have more open positions than we do

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people looking for work. Our unemployment has raised just slightly from a year or

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from January of 2025, but we have consistently again seen over the last

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12 months that we will have more unique job postings in Stevenson County than

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and then we do have, then we have people looking for work.

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And oftentimes those median wages in the last 12 months have fluctuated anywhere from the

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upper 28, $27 per hour to in March of 2026 it was $32.16 per hour.

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So that equates to a $66,900 annual salary, so almost $67,000.

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to keep that.

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$67,000. Just to keep that in perspective, a median household income for Stevenson County is

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$64,000.

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So what I often hear people say is that there are not good jobs,

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well-paying jobs in Stevenson County. What I'm here to tell you tonight is that yes, there are.

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It is our job as the partnership to help with that disconnect and help

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to help provide a linkage between our talent here and our employers as well to try to make that match.

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Moving on, we've consistently seen this over the last 12 months and we have embarked upon a workforce alignment strategy.

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We had a kickoff meeting last week to really start bringing all the partners around the table,

00:40:46.659 --> 00:40:57.460
Education Manufacturers, Larger Employers, Health Care, Education Institutions to talk about the difficulty in finding employees.

00:40:57.460 --> 00:41:10.659
What we've consistently seen are elevated turnover rates, retirements are outpacing workforce entry and commuter workforce is not translating into residency.

00:41:10.659 --> 00:41:15.659
So this isn't just a blip on the radar, we're seeing this as a structural workforce imbalance.

00:41:15.659 --> 00:41:23.340
So we need to do something different if we want a different result and I would say ultimately

00:41:23.880 --> 00:41:28.340
Always remembering that we want the job here in Stevenson County, but we also want that job

00:41:29.280 --> 00:41:34.079
To translate to a paycheck that comes to a driveway of Stevenson County

00:41:34.760 --> 00:41:36.760
It's a bigger ROI

00:41:36.880 --> 00:41:41.239
That paycheck helps pay for property taxes sales tax generation

00:41:42.000 --> 00:41:44.000
people reinvesting in

00:41:44.280 --> 00:41:46.159
local communities

00:41:46.159 --> 00:41:52.960
We also know that talent retention and recruitment is complex work besides jobs, people, housing, child care, and transportation,

00:41:53.480 --> 00:42:00.280
quality of life. All of these problems and solutions are mutually reinforcing and they need to be worked on concurrently

00:42:00.800 --> 00:42:05.539
to reinforce our workforce talent recruitment and retention strategies.

00:42:07.639 --> 00:42:09.760
So we established some shared goals

00:42:10.659 --> 00:42:14.679
to stabilize and grow our prime workforce age 25 to 44.

00:42:14.679 --> 00:42:19.059
We want to reduce that industrial turnover, increase that working age

00:42:19.059 --> 00:42:25.639
population, that 25 to 44 age cohort, expand workforce training programs that

00:42:25.639 --> 00:42:30.159
could include apprenticeships. We know that though we need housing here as well,

00:42:30.159 --> 00:42:34.360
we need a place for those workers to live, and we want to reduce that commuter

00:42:34.360 --> 00:42:40.880
leakage by 10%. When someone commutes into the community for a job, it's more

00:42:40.880 --> 00:42:46.119
likely that they might leave that job to work for a place that's closer to their

00:42:46.119 --> 00:42:51.760
home. So if we can commute those, convert those commuters to residence, they're

00:42:51.760 --> 00:42:59.559
more likely to stay. In our meeting, these are the proposed next steps in

00:42:59.559 --> 00:43:04.599
our current work. Highlighted on the screen you see our two bolded bullet

00:43:04.599 --> 00:43:08.320
points. That's where we started to focus our work to review the

00:43:08.320 --> 00:43:14.719
responsibilities of employers, our public partners, and educational institutions and

00:43:14.719 --> 00:43:19.599
how we retain and attract that talent and we dove into that in the meeting.

00:43:19.599 --> 00:43:23.360
The other thing that we're looking at is educational and training alignment for current needs and

00:43:23.360 --> 00:43:25.019
our future opportunities.

00:43:25.019 --> 00:43:29.679
How do we really connect with seniors that are going to be graduating in a month?

00:43:29.679 --> 00:43:33.119
We know that many of them have different paths ahead of them.

00:43:33.119 --> 00:43:38.159
Some of them will be entering into the workforce in a month and they'll be looking to connect

00:43:38.159 --> 00:43:40.159
to gain a job.

00:43:40.159 --> 00:43:43.360
Also, how do we help employers tell the story of career

00:43:43.360 --> 00:43:46.159
laddering they have within their own institution?

00:43:46.159 --> 00:43:49.840
At this meeting was shared by a Freeport-based manufacturer

00:43:49.840 --> 00:43:56.000
that, of his five shift leads that are making over $100,000

00:43:56.000 --> 00:43:59.519
a year, four of them started on the floor.

00:43:59.519 --> 00:44:02.159
And their highest formal education

00:44:02.159 --> 00:44:03.679
is a high school diploma.

00:44:03.679 --> 00:44:06.480
Any additional training they've received on the job.

00:44:06.480 --> 00:44:10.279
So there are wonderful opportunities here, but how do we make sure that those are talked

00:44:10.279 --> 00:44:15.599
about and that seniors, high school students, and even younger students understand that

00:44:15.599 --> 00:44:19.739
there are great opportunities here.

00:44:19.739 --> 00:44:24.699
And while we know we need to continue building a workforce, shovel-ready sites is still a

00:44:24.699 --> 00:44:28.699
strategy of our long-term economic development plan.

00:44:28.699 --> 00:44:31.539
We have received a site readiness grant from the state of Illinois.

00:44:31.539 --> 00:44:36.739
We are continuing work on executing that grant and currently are in environmental assessment

00:44:36.739 --> 00:44:42.220
on Greenfield sites. That will help us in terms of when we go to market those

00:44:42.220 --> 00:44:46.260
sites we know that due diligence activity is already done. So the timeline

00:44:46.260 --> 00:44:50.619
for an investment or shovels getting in the ground is shortened because that

00:44:50.619 --> 00:44:54.860
due diligence work is already done. Additionally the city of Freeport has

00:44:54.860 --> 00:44:58.500
broken ground on well 12 which opens up another area of the community for

00:44:58.500 --> 00:45:02.220
potential retail and commercial industrial corridors. We are actively

00:45:02.220 --> 00:45:06.539
having conversations with those landowners to get their appetite and

00:45:06.539 --> 00:45:12.900
temperature on potential development. And next but not least is Opportunity Zones.

00:45:12.900 --> 00:45:18.920
So part of our work in the Greater Freeport Partnership is always

00:45:18.920 --> 00:45:23.220
advocating for our region if there are additional economic development tools

00:45:23.220 --> 00:45:29.630
that could come to our area, such as the Opportunity Zone. This will be coming up

00:45:29.630 --> 00:45:34.029
for renewal in June and the partnership has secured several letters of support

00:45:34.029 --> 00:45:38.869
from local businesses, developers, companies to demonstrate the economic

00:45:38.869 --> 00:45:43.470
potential of having an Opportunity Zone if it were to be expanded into the other

00:45:43.470 --> 00:45:48.510
eligible census tracts within the city of Freeport. Ultimately the governor will

00:45:48.510 --> 00:45:53.349
decide which tracts are in added into the Opportunity Zone later this year.

00:45:53.349 --> 00:45:59.470
Highlighted on the screen tonight are the eligible census tracts that could be

00:45:59.470 --> 00:46:04.389
included in the Opportunity Zone. It is our goal as the partnership to do

00:46:04.389 --> 00:46:08.029
everything we can to position the community and Stevenson County so that

00:46:08.029 --> 00:46:14.710
those census tracts are added into the Opportunity Zone as a potential

00:46:14.710 --> 00:46:22.590
investment tool for future development in those areas. And with that I'm going to

00:46:22.590 --> 00:46:26.710
turn it over, presentation over to Nicole who's going to talk about hotel and

00:46:26.710 --> 00:46:30.349
and Conference Center Attraction.

00:46:30.349 --> 00:46:31.989
I'd feel left out if I didn't continue

00:46:31.989 --> 00:46:33.989
the conversation about development and building

00:46:33.989 --> 00:46:35.949
things, so that's what we're going to talk about,

00:46:35.949 --> 00:46:39.590
even though I usually talk to you about tourism things.

00:46:39.590 --> 00:46:43.510
You have seen in your packets that our occupancy rate,

00:46:43.510 --> 00:46:47.349
our rate at which our hotels are full, fluctuates.

00:46:47.349 --> 00:46:49.429
Quarter one, they were down a little bit.

00:46:49.429 --> 00:46:53.789
And I'm going to tell you, too, that that number is reflected

00:46:53.789 --> 00:46:55.949
also by the fact that one of our hotels

00:46:55.949 --> 00:46:57.989
has been undergoing major renovations.

00:46:57.989 --> 00:47:01.349
So they haven't had as many hotel rooms available.

00:47:01.349 --> 00:47:03.429
But with all of that said, the graph

00:47:03.429 --> 00:47:05.349
that you see up on the screen tonight

00:47:05.349 --> 00:47:09.150
actually represents our hotel leakage numbers.

00:47:09.150 --> 00:47:11.929
So when you see it dip down low, those are in,

00:47:11.929 --> 00:47:15.269
and I apologize on that screen, it's really small.

00:47:15.269 --> 00:47:19.869
But it goes from January of 2019 up until January of 2025.

00:47:19.869 --> 00:47:21.670
When it dips low, that's the first quarter.

00:47:21.670 --> 00:47:23.670
So we don't have as many visitors

00:47:23.670 --> 00:47:28.510
staying in Freeport in the first quarter. In the years that that doesn't dip as

00:47:28.510 --> 00:47:33.269
low it's primarily because we have more commercial stays more business stays

00:47:33.269 --> 00:47:38.989
midweek. On the peaks where you see it being a little higher that is during the

00:47:38.989 --> 00:47:43.750
peak tourism season usually May through October or somewhere in there about that

00:47:43.750 --> 00:47:47.389
number that you're seeing is actually the number of hotel rooms that we lose

00:47:47.389 --> 00:47:53.510
to other cities because we don't have room for them. If you count the three

00:47:53.510 --> 00:47:58.670
The major hotels that we have here in all in Freeport but it also all in

00:47:58.670 --> 00:48:03.470
Stevenson County there's only 202. So when we have a major event and I'm not

00:48:03.470 --> 00:48:07.429
talking that it has to be that major we are totally selling out of hotel rooms

00:48:07.429 --> 00:48:13.070
and we're pretty much giving that revenue to Stockton, Monroe, you'd have to go all

00:48:13.070 --> 00:48:17.429
the way south to Dixon or Sterling and then vacation rentals as well that's

00:48:17.429 --> 00:48:22.470
not taken into consideration here. So it has become apparent that we are losing

00:48:22.470 --> 00:48:27.849
using revenue to other markets and we want to try to broaden the scope of what we can

00:48:27.849 --> 00:48:31.110
offer visitors by attracting another hotel.

00:48:31.110 --> 00:48:36.070
In addition, we don't just want any new hotel, we would really like a conference center.

00:48:36.070 --> 00:48:41.029
We all go to conferences for our jobs or you get attracted this time of year.

00:48:41.029 --> 00:48:45.529
We don't have anywhere here in Freeport or Stevenson County that we can host a meeting

00:48:45.529 --> 00:48:47.470
with an attached hotel.

00:48:47.470 --> 00:48:52.170
Our meeting room for any of our existing hotels is only 25 people.

00:48:52.170 --> 00:48:58.829
That is one way that we can attract new business here in that off time and then the overflow

00:48:58.829 --> 00:49:04.349
from that hotel will generate business for our other existing hotels.

00:49:04.349 --> 00:49:09.309
We are working on identifying sites where the incentives that Andrea just spoke of would

00:49:09.309 --> 00:49:12.230
come into play as well as additional amenities.

00:49:12.230 --> 00:49:14.909
We don't want to put a hotel where there's nothing else to do.

00:49:14.909 --> 00:49:19.949
We want you to have food, gas, or maybe have another attraction nearby so that you get

00:49:19.949 --> 00:49:30.449
also we had to use a little reason to give you food so wanted to talk about

00:49:30.449 --> 00:49:35.849
our sister city partnership the city of Freeport with Lidditz, Pennsylvania this

00:49:35.849 --> 00:49:41.369
is something that Tim Connors we dubbed him our community liaison you'll see in

00:49:41.369 --> 00:49:46.369
the pictures right there he's actually in Lidditz right now we have presented

00:49:46.369 --> 00:49:51.170
Lidditz with a key to the city that has a gold pretzel on the end and in turn

00:49:51.170 --> 00:49:52.010
Kern, Hope, you can't.

00:49:52.010 --> 00:50:00.000
and in turn, oh you can't see because my picture is in the way, you can over there, they gave us one made out of a pretzel and that should be returning to us hopefully in one piece.

00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:18.000
This is a really great feel-good moment because Lidditz is home to the oldest commercial pretzel bakery in the country, but if Bill or Beck would have stayed in business, they would have been older, but this one is still running.

00:50:18.000 --> 00:50:22.500
So we want to continue to build this sister partnership

00:50:22.500 --> 00:50:25.659
because it helps engage us with a new audience

00:50:25.659 --> 00:50:26.739
of people out there.

00:50:26.739 --> 00:50:30.219
It's bringing new promotion and positivity to the region.

00:50:30.219 --> 00:50:33.019
We're getting people from Pennsylvania now

00:50:33.019 --> 00:50:34.820
who know about Freeport, Illinois,

00:50:34.820 --> 00:50:37.739
and it's one more way to continue our idea

00:50:37.739 --> 00:50:40.619
of Pretzel City USA.

00:50:40.619 --> 00:50:43.480
With that in mind, we start talking a little bit more

00:50:43.480 --> 00:50:46.099
about that because we will actually have pretzels.

00:50:46.099 --> 00:51:00.940
We will start to distribute Tom Sturgis pretzels right here in Freeport as well as having the Freeport Pretzel Company, which is a soft pretzel small business that is going to be opening and selling pretzels at Pretzel Fest and a lot of other festivals coming this summer.

00:51:01.420 --> 00:51:07.219
So please mark the Great Pretzel Bite along with Pretzel Fest on your calendars for April 25th.

00:51:07.460 --> 00:51:12.340
We're going to all take a bite together at 10 o'clock downtown Freeport on Chicago Avenue.

00:51:12.340 --> 00:51:23.340
Also our community guide should, if I was a Benton woman I'd say it's going to show up on Monday because I'm not going to be here and that's usually when those big deliveries show up.

00:51:23.340 --> 00:51:34.340
But the community guide is forthcoming. That is the cover that we have for this year. Simply Stevenson County is also the name of our tourism campaign for 2026.

00:51:34.340 --> 00:51:40.840
In that guide we are highlighting 100 years of Highway 20 along with 100 years of Freeport High School.

00:51:40.840 --> 00:51:45.659
Those are two of the the editorials in that book. Also for the tourism campaign

00:51:45.659 --> 00:51:49.159
we continue to promote exactly what we are, which is

00:51:49.800 --> 00:51:55.579
relaxing, a place you can explore, and definitely a place where you belong. So it's outdoor recreation,

00:51:55.940 --> 00:52:02.380
retail restaurants, and events to those who are 25 to 45 in major metros more than 50 miles away from here.

00:52:02.380 --> 00:52:06.659
We use a lot of social media tools, but also billboards, a little bit of print,

00:52:06.659 --> 00:52:14.980
and a lot of other really scrappy ways to get our name out and about for Freeport

00:52:14.980 --> 00:52:27.719
and Stevenson County. Thank you. Any questions? Mrs. Hayes, I'm gonna have you go

00:52:27.719 --> 00:52:35.199
first. Mr. Diddens, if you wouldn't mind pressing your button. Mrs. Hayes, go ahead. Thank you, Chairman.

00:52:35.199 --> 00:52:39.039
Hi ladies. I just have a quick question. I've actually been getting some

00:52:39.039 --> 00:52:44.320
questions from some of my constituents about this. Downtown Freeport, we keep

00:52:44.320 --> 00:52:50.800
losing business. What is the plan that you have in place to turn that around?

00:52:50.800 --> 00:52:58.230
So one of the things that we are actively working on is there was a

00:52:58.230 --> 00:53:01.329
visioning session done with downtown business owners and building owners to

00:53:01.329 --> 00:53:07.389
talk about how to, what's the vision that we have for downtown. So coming out of

00:53:07.389 --> 00:53:11.949
that we're part of a recast program this year to work through that visioning and

00:53:11.949 --> 00:53:16.750
looking at how we can support existing businesses in downtown as well as bring

00:53:16.750 --> 00:53:20.110
in some small-scale manufacturing and I'll give an example of some

00:53:20.110 --> 00:53:23.030
small-scale manufacturing we're thinking of like a Langley and company right

00:53:23.030 --> 00:53:26.190
where they're fabricating and they're making their own goods and then they're

00:53:26.190 --> 00:53:31.630
selling them as well. What we're seeing is it's a period of transition but I

00:53:31.630 --> 00:53:38.630
I know of eight different projects, probably nine since the storm affected Steve Schlumpf's building.

00:53:38.630 --> 00:53:47.630
Unfortunately, eight different projects of private investment of buildings that have been recently purchased,

00:53:47.630 --> 00:53:52.630
enterprise zone applications that have been filed because there's going to be investment being made.

00:53:52.630 --> 00:53:58.630
So while it has been dormant in some areas, we do see that that's going to start turning around

00:53:58.630 --> 00:54:02.469
because people are investing money and that there are some new businesses

00:54:02.469 --> 00:54:08.789
opening. I know that we have been working with a couple of key locations to move

00:54:08.789 --> 00:54:13.949
people into, so we're hoping that there will be exciting news on that front.

00:54:13.949 --> 00:54:22.750
But better days ahead. And the other thing that we are also looking at, there

00:54:22.750 --> 00:54:28.389
will be more to come on this because we're looking at, we're evaluating, we

00:54:28.389 --> 00:54:32.909
had applied for a grant to develop a small business incubator. We did not get

00:54:32.909 --> 00:54:36.909
that grant so we're going back to that business plan and looking at how we

00:54:36.909 --> 00:54:42.869
could still put together an incubator space without grant dollars and so we

00:54:42.869 --> 00:54:47.829
are evaluating some existing spaces in downtown to see what would work and how

00:54:47.829 --> 00:54:52.309
it would cash flow. We have to run that like a business as well. Thank you for

00:54:52.309 --> 00:55:25.639
Thanks for the presentation. Just to kind of piggyback on Mrs. Hayes' remark, I've heard some complaints about the rents going up downtown. So I'm wondering, the city is spending a lot of money or grants to improve downtown. If that's the reason why the rents are going up, are we kind of

00:55:25.639 --> 00:55:31.720
shooting ourselves in the foot. I don't know that I've had any property owner

00:55:31.720 --> 00:55:36.480
tell me that the reason that the increase in rent is due to infrastructure

00:55:36.480 --> 00:55:44.679
improvements in downtown. Okay. So without having specific examples, I probably can't

00:55:44.679 --> 00:55:50.840
answer your question directly, but what I would say is oftentimes we're asked by a

00:55:50.840 --> 00:55:56.599
business who might be evaluating spaces for lease. Again, we don't act as a

00:55:56.599 --> 00:56:01.159
realtor, but we can look at data and say this is on average price per square foot

00:56:01.159 --> 00:56:07.360
and give them guidance in terms of this is what we're seeing within the market. If

00:56:07.360 --> 00:56:12.519
you're being asked to pay more or less than that, it's something that you should

00:56:12.519 --> 00:56:18.000
evaluate. Okay, yeah, this is all third-hand, so I don't have any specifics. But my

00:56:18.000 --> 00:56:36.000
My question is, when you are meeting with the business owners, do you include the high school, the teachers or the education and the government agencies to talk to them about what they need for employees?

00:56:36.000 --> 00:56:47.000
So yes and no. I'm going to answer that question in two parts. Typically I will have a one-on-one meeting with the business and I will go to their place of business and I would treat any information that they share with me as confidential.

00:56:47.000 --> 00:56:51.019
and that's why I would report out in aggregate if they have plans for

00:56:51.019 --> 00:56:55.159
development I look at it akin to somewhat of a pregnancy announcement if

00:56:55.159 --> 00:57:00.619
you will it's not my news to share but it is my the partnerships work to

00:57:00.619 --> 00:57:05.300
support their goals and endeavors that being said if one of those meetings I

00:57:05.300 --> 00:57:10.000
hear they're really struggling and they need training programs or they want to

00:57:10.000 --> 00:57:15.099
connect with certain regulatory agency then that's my follow-up task I make

00:57:15.099 --> 00:57:19.500
make sure that those connections are made and those conversations are being had.

00:57:19.500 --> 00:57:23.239
Also I would say in this workforce alignment meeting and other meetings we have geared

00:57:23.239 --> 00:57:27.699
towards specifically manufacturers, we do have everyone in the room.

00:57:27.699 --> 00:57:34.820
We have representation from Highland, Freeport School District, City of Freeport, as well

00:57:34.820 --> 00:57:41.019
as HR or president plant managers of those employers so that everybody's in the room,

00:57:41.019 --> 00:57:42.639
everybody can hear from one another.

00:57:42.639 --> 00:57:49.440
means a lot more for the educational institution or government to hear it

00:57:49.440 --> 00:57:53.880
sometimes directly from that the employee or the place of business than

00:57:53.880 --> 00:57:58.039
it might be from us. Okay, very good. So both of those conversations are

00:57:58.039 --> 00:58:02.639
happening. Okay, all right. Just one more quick question. Nicole, I think you said

00:58:02.639 --> 00:58:09.380
we have three hotels in town. When I reference three, I can bring my

00:58:09.380 --> 00:58:19.059
When I reference three hotels that is, yes we have three more. However the, what

00:58:19.059 --> 00:58:25.779
do I want to say, fluctuation in the number of rooms that are available or

00:58:25.779 --> 00:58:35.539
consistently available or ready for occupancy varies greatly in the other

00:58:35.539 --> 00:58:40.400
three so it's really hard for me to give you comparison data using those other

00:58:40.400 --> 00:58:45.420
three hotels if that makes sense because I couldn't get a very it would be skewed

00:58:45.420 --> 00:58:52.779
okay because what there's a holiday in out by Samuels isn't there no not the

00:58:52.779 --> 00:58:57.179
one that tore down there's a super eight there's a super eight right yeah I was

00:58:57.179 --> 00:58:59.179
I was going to say, are you making a joke?

00:58:59.179 --> 00:59:04.179
I thought it was a holiday inn, one of those offshoots.

00:59:04.179 --> 00:59:05.179
Yes, it was.

00:59:05.179 --> 00:59:06.179
It's a?

00:59:06.179 --> 00:59:07.179
Super 8.

00:59:07.179 --> 00:59:08.179
Super 8, okay.

00:59:08.179 --> 00:59:11.179
Yep, there's a Super 8 out there as well as Townhouse and West End.

00:59:11.179 --> 00:59:14.179
I wasn't talking about the one, I wasn't talking about the old holiday inn.

00:59:14.179 --> 00:59:17.179
All right, well thank you.

00:59:17.179 --> 00:59:18.179
Anything else, Mr. Didds?

00:59:18.179 --> 00:59:19.179
No, thanks.

00:59:19.179 --> 00:59:21.179
Mr. Newton, go ahead.

00:59:21.179 --> 00:59:22.179
Thank you, Mrs. Chairman.

00:59:22.179 --> 00:59:23.179
Quick question.

00:59:23.179 --> 00:59:26.019
And in my district, I'm going to say district B, and maybe

00:59:26.019 --> 00:59:28.699
others districts too, there are a lot of homes

00:59:28.699 --> 00:59:30.820
that have been torn down.

00:59:30.820 --> 00:59:34.340
And I'm sure that that adds to the misery

00:59:34.340 --> 00:59:36.380
of not having enough homes.

00:59:36.380 --> 00:59:39.279
Is there any discussion about building anything

00:59:39.279 --> 00:59:43.579
on the maybe 100 lots that are just empty?

00:59:43.579 --> 00:59:45.220
Yeah, it's a good question.

00:59:45.220 --> 00:59:49.460
So the partnership has been participating for probably

00:59:49.460 --> 00:59:50.300
over a year.

00:59:50.300 --> 00:59:58.000
participating for probably over a year with the NAACP which is leading this effort and other organizations on a housing coalition group.

00:59:58.000 --> 01:00:11.000
From some stakeholder engagement sessions that we had with the public last year, feedback we heard from that we really distilled the larger coalitions work into three main focus areas.

01:00:11.000 --> 01:00:18.639
Housing Improvement, Housing Growth, and Homeowner-Tenant Education.

01:00:18.639 --> 01:00:24.039
I would include in that would be financial literacy as part of a homeowner or first-time

01:00:24.039 --> 01:00:26.039
homebuyer program.

01:00:26.039 --> 01:00:30.400
Where the partnership is focusing its effort is in the housing growth.

01:00:30.400 --> 01:00:36.300
We see having housing units that are affordable and safe are key to having workers here in

01:00:36.300 --> 01:00:41.380
Economic Development, as well as providing jobs in the construction of those homes and

01:00:41.380 --> 01:00:42.380
units.

01:00:42.380 --> 01:00:47.340
So what we're actively doing right now is working with the City of Freeport in evaluating

01:00:47.340 --> 01:00:51.619
what areas of the community should be added into the Enterprise Zone.

01:00:51.619 --> 01:00:57.059
Currently, the Northwest Illinois Enterprise Zone is the only incentive tool we have to

01:00:57.059 --> 01:01:00.460
spur residential development.

01:01:00.460 --> 01:01:05.099
So we're looking at areas of the community that already have infrastructure, that there's

01:01:05.099 --> 01:01:09.219
there's already water and sewer, that there's roads, so on and so forth.

01:01:09.219 --> 01:01:13.980
Part of that work is looking at infill lots.

01:01:13.980 --> 01:01:17.139
So you're going to have different types of housing, different size of housing is allowed

01:01:17.139 --> 01:01:21.099
by zoning in different areas based upon size of the parcel.

01:01:21.099 --> 01:01:26.199
So it is an ongoing conversation in terms of different types of housing units are going

01:01:26.199 --> 01:01:33.019
to be more appropriate in different areas, if that makes sense, based upon the size of

01:01:33.019 --> 01:01:34.019
the lot.

01:01:34.019 --> 01:01:41.940
What the enterprise zone will do is work with some property tax abatement as a benefit of the zone

01:01:42.880 --> 01:01:45.920
Three years at a hundred percent the level of that investment

01:01:46.820 --> 01:01:53.360
You don't have to pay sales tax on the building materials and within the city of Freeport the building permit fee is waived

01:01:54.019 --> 01:01:56.019
So those are all three

01:01:56.019 --> 01:02:02.280
Benefits that come with the enterprise zone that help draw down that cost of infrastructure that cost of that investment

01:02:02.280 --> 01:02:06.119
because we know there is still a disconnect between the cost of

01:02:06.119 --> 01:02:12.500
construction and what the home will go for here. So that gap needs to be bridged

01:02:12.500 --> 01:02:19.719
if you will. Right, so what I would anticipate you're gonna see me later on

01:02:19.719 --> 01:02:24.239
this year coming back to you as one of the participating units of government in

01:02:24.239 --> 01:02:28.480
the Northwest Illinois Enterprise Zone asking for your approval to amend the

01:02:28.480 --> 01:02:34.800
Boundaries of the Enterprise Zone to incorporate more areas of Freeport. We're

01:02:34.800 --> 01:02:38.559
also doing the same thing in Lena, and I've just had a conversation with German

01:02:38.559 --> 01:02:45.039
Valley about the same. Thank you. You're welcome. Sorry, that might have been a 50

01:02:45.039 --> 01:02:56.480
cent answer for more than you wanted to know. Thank you Chairman. Anyone else? Okay

01:02:56.480 --> 01:03:06.510
Okay ladies, Chairman's report, Mr. Bush, Mr. Newton, thank you very much for representing

01:03:06.510 --> 01:03:10.789
students in the county down in Springfield this week, greatly appreciate your effort

01:03:10.789 --> 01:03:11.789
with that.

01:03:11.789 --> 01:03:16.670
I do want to make a quick comment, the solar panels that were referenced in the public

01:03:16.670 --> 01:03:23.949
comment have confirmed with Director Beth Williams that those pictures were quite old

01:03:23.949 --> 01:03:32.150
and any tests to repair or broken items are no longer out at this field and they all have been fixed.

01:03:32.150 --> 01:03:40.150
And finally, I want to express my appreciation to Cole Baker, willing to step up as Vice Chair of the Board.

01:03:40.150 --> 01:03:42.150
I appreciate that very much.

01:03:42.150 --> 01:03:49.150
I'd also like to express my condolences to you and your family for the loss of your father-in-law about a week ago or so.

01:03:49.150 --> 01:03:52.650
With that, I'll move forward to the proclamations.

01:03:52.650 --> 01:03:57.050
the first is an approval of proclamation declaring national economic development

01:03:57.050 --> 01:04:03.610
national travel and tourism week of May 3rd in the night of 2026. Andrew, would you like to read that?

01:04:09.369 --> 01:04:14.889
All right. The Greater Freeport Partnership works on behalf of Freeport and Stevenson County as the

01:04:14.889 --> 01:04:21.050
economic development and tourism partner to promote and grow our region and whereas economic

01:04:21.050 --> 01:04:25.289
development and tourism promote economic well-being and quality of life for their

01:04:25.289 --> 01:04:29.849
communities by creating, retaining, and expanding jobs that facilitate growth,

01:04:29.849 --> 01:04:36.570
enhance wealth, and provide a stable tax base. And, whereas economic development

01:04:36.570 --> 01:04:40.570
and tourism fuel industry and will continue to be an essential part of

01:04:40.570 --> 01:04:45.250
Freeport and Stevenson County's economy, development and workforce as an

01:04:45.250 --> 01:04:49.650
essential industry that leads to economic growth, benefits businesses, and

01:04:49.650 --> 01:05:19.650
and fosters mutual understanding, and whereas economic development and tourism enable success for all industries including manufacturing, agriculture, defense, health care and more by driving sales growth, innovation, education and operations that move our economy, our nation and Freeport and Stevenson County forward. And whereas economic development and tourism stimulate and incubate entrepreneurism in order to help establish the next

01:05:19.650 --> 01:05:24.730
Generation of New Businesses, which is the hallmark of the American economy.

01:05:24.730 --> 01:05:30.090
And whereas economic development and tourism are engaged in a wide variety of settings,

01:05:30.090 --> 01:05:35.289
including rural and urban, local, state, provincial, and federal governments,

01:05:35.289 --> 01:05:39.889
public-private partnerships, education, and a variety of other institutions.

01:05:39.889 --> 01:05:45.650
And whereas economic development and tourism attract and retain high quality jobs,

01:05:45.650 --> 01:05:51.769
develop vibrant communities and improve the quality of life in their regions and whereas

01:05:51.769 --> 01:05:56.889
economic development and tourism support vibrant and safe communities in Freeport and Stevenson

01:05:56.889 --> 01:06:04.170
County by generating state and local tax revenue and support essential services such as education,

01:06:04.170 --> 01:06:07.650
emergency response, public safety and more.

01:06:07.650 --> 01:06:14.210
And now therefore be it resolved that the Stevenson County Board does hereby proclaim

01:06:14.210 --> 01:06:20.730
May 3rd through 9th, 2026 as National Economic Development Week and National Travel and Tourism

01:06:20.730 --> 01:06:27.389
Week in Stevenson County and urge the residents of Stevenson County to recognize the critical

01:06:27.389 --> 01:06:32.529
role these industries play in the sustainability and growth of our region.

01:06:32.529 --> 01:06:33.529
Thank you.

01:06:33.529 --> 01:06:36.529
Is there a motion to approve?

01:06:36.529 --> 01:06:37.529
So moved.

01:06:37.529 --> 01:06:39.570
And Moderow, second by Mr. Diddens.

01:06:39.570 --> 01:06:40.570
Any discussion?

01:06:40.570 --> 01:06:43.570
Seeing none, you may cast your vote for the approval of the motion.

01:06:43.570 --> 01:06:56.739
for the approval of the proclamation.

01:06:56.739 --> 01:06:57.579
Thank you.

01:06:57.579 --> 01:06:58.400
All right, thank you.

01:06:58.400 --> 01:06:59.699
Thank you, Andrea, appreciate it.

01:06:59.699 --> 01:07:01.900
We have three other proclamations.

01:07:01.900 --> 01:07:04.579
I will go ahead and read those quickly.

01:07:04.579 --> 01:07:08.659
The first is a proclamation of abate,

01:07:08.659 --> 01:07:11.860
declaring May as Motorcycle Awareness Month.

01:07:11.860 --> 01:07:13.179
The county of Stevens, Illinois,

01:07:13.179 --> 01:07:14.659
proclamation by the chairman,

01:07:14.659 --> 01:07:16.480
whereas safety is the highest priority

01:07:16.480 --> 01:07:18.739
for the highways and streets of our county.

01:07:19.619 --> 01:07:28.170
Excuse me, let me get my microphone on.

01:07:28.170 --> 01:07:30.630
All right, whereas safety is the highest priority

01:07:30.630 --> 01:07:32.869
for the highways and streets of our county and state,

01:07:32.869 --> 01:07:34.710
and whereas the great state of Illinois

01:07:34.710 --> 01:07:36.110
is proud to be a national leader

01:07:36.110 --> 01:07:39.309
in motorcycle safety, education, and awareness,

01:07:39.309 --> 01:07:42.190
and whereas motorcycles are a primary common

01:07:42.190 --> 01:07:44.429
and economical means of transportation

01:07:44.429 --> 01:07:47.789
that reduces fuel consumption and road wear

01:07:47.789 --> 01:07:49.710
and contributes in a significant way

01:07:49.710 --> 01:07:52.789
to the relief of traffic and parking congestion,

01:07:52.789 --> 01:07:55.070
and whereas it is especially meaningful

01:07:55.070 --> 01:07:57.269
that the citizens of our county and state

01:07:57.269 --> 01:07:59.789
be aware of motorcycles on the roadways

01:07:59.789 --> 01:08:02.769
and recognize the importance of motorcycle safety.

01:08:02.769 --> 01:08:05.470
And whereas the member of ABATE of Illinois

01:08:05.470 --> 01:08:09.190
incorporated a brotherhood aimed towards education,

01:08:09.190 --> 01:08:12.869
continually promote motorcycle safety, education,

01:08:12.869 --> 01:08:16.829
and awareness in high school driver's education programs

01:08:16.829 --> 01:08:19.989
and to the general public in our county and state,

01:08:19.989 --> 01:08:22.029
presenting motorcycle awareness programs

01:08:22.029 --> 01:08:25.470
to over 120,000 participants in Illinois

01:08:25.470 --> 01:08:27.350
over the last nine years.

01:08:27.350 --> 01:08:31.430
and whereas all motorcyclists should join a bait of Illinois

01:08:31.430 --> 01:08:34.890
in actively promoting the safe operation of motorcycles

01:08:34.890 --> 01:08:39.270
as well as promoting motorcycle safety, education,

01:08:39.270 --> 01:08:41.710
awareness and respect of the citizens

01:08:41.710 --> 01:08:43.789
of our county and state.

01:08:43.789 --> 01:08:45.630
Whereas the motorcyclists of Illinois

01:08:45.630 --> 01:08:48.670
have contributed extensive volunteerism and money

01:08:48.670 --> 01:08:51.989
to national and community charitable organizations

01:08:51.989 --> 01:08:54.190
and whereas during the month of May,

01:08:54.190 --> 01:08:59.909
All roadway users should unite in safe sharing of roadways within the County of Stevenson

01:08:59.909 --> 01:09:01.869
and throughout the great state of Illinois.

01:09:01.869 --> 01:09:06.149
Therefore, I, Scott Helms, Chairman of the County of Stevenson in the great state of

01:09:06.149 --> 01:09:14.989
Illinois in recognition of 39 years of obeyed of Illinois and over 352,318 registered motorcyclists

01:09:14.989 --> 01:09:20.869
statewide and in recognition of the continued role Illinois serves as a leader in motorcycle

01:09:20.869 --> 01:09:28.869
Motorcycle Safety, Education, and Awareness, do hereby proclaim the month of May, this year, 2026, as Motorcycle Awareness Month.

01:09:28.869 --> 01:09:30.869
Is there a motion to approve?

01:09:30.869 --> 01:09:32.869
By Mr. Jogerst, is there a second?

01:09:32.869 --> 01:09:34.869
By Mr. Fricke, is there any discussion?

01:09:34.869 --> 01:09:40.869
Seeing none, you may cast your vote for the approval of that proclamation.

01:09:49.890 --> 01:09:52.689
and that passes unanimously, thank you.

01:09:52.689 --> 01:09:55.590
Next is a proclamation for the National Day of Prayer,

01:09:55.590 --> 01:09:57.869
whereas Stevenson County Board recognizes

01:09:57.869 --> 01:09:59.829
that the United States of America was founded

01:09:59.829 --> 01:10:03.170
on the precepts of freedom, liberty, diversity,

01:10:03.170 --> 01:10:05.270
and the right of people to acknowledge God

01:10:05.270 --> 01:10:07.750
according to the dictates of their own consciousness

01:10:07.750 --> 01:10:11.050
and whereas since our nation's founding,

01:10:11.050 --> 01:10:13.409
Americans have turned to God in times of trial

01:10:13.409 --> 01:10:16.210
for wisdom, courage, direction, comfort,

01:10:16.210 --> 01:10:18.909
and at the same time to express gratitude

01:10:18.909 --> 01:10:23.090
and whereas this is a time of international distress,

01:10:23.090 --> 01:10:25.569
we give thanks for the men and women of our military

01:10:25.569 --> 01:10:28.890
who stand as watchmen on the wall to defend our nation

01:10:28.890 --> 01:10:32.050
and the future of democracy and civilization.

01:10:32.050 --> 01:10:35.329
And whereas even though this is a time of uncertainty

01:10:35.329 --> 01:10:38.170
and distress, we give thanks that the United States

01:10:38.170 --> 01:10:40.970
of America has been blessed beyond measure.

01:10:40.970 --> 01:10:43.329
We are continually grateful for our families,

01:10:43.329 --> 01:10:45.090
the abundance of our land,

01:10:45.090 --> 01:10:48.670
and our inalienable rights and liberties.

01:10:48.670 --> 01:10:52.029
and whereas the President of the United States of America

01:10:52.029 --> 01:10:56.510
has called on all citizens to seek God's continued guidance,

01:10:56.510 --> 01:10:58.989
grace and protection for this land

01:10:58.989 --> 01:11:01.590
and to reaffirm the role of prayer in our society

01:11:01.590 --> 01:11:03.390
and to honor the religious diversity

01:11:03.390 --> 01:11:05.869
that our freedom permits by recognizing

01:11:05.869 --> 01:11:10.390
the first Thursday of May, 2026 as National Day of Prayer

01:11:10.390 --> 01:11:13.270
with a theme of glorify God among the nations,

01:11:13.270 --> 01:11:16.149
seeking him in all generations

01:11:16.149 --> 01:11:19.069
and text of, tell of his glory among the nations,

01:11:19.069 --> 01:11:22.149
his wonderful deeds among all the peoples.

01:11:22.149 --> 01:11:24.630
Therefore, in recognition of Stevenson County's need

01:11:24.630 --> 01:11:29.229
for inspiration, strength, guidance, and divine direction,

01:11:29.229 --> 01:11:31.869
I, Scott Helms, Chairman of the Stevenson County Board,

01:11:31.869 --> 01:11:35.310
do hereby proclaim Thursday, May 7th, 2026,

01:11:35.310 --> 01:11:38.470
as National Day of Prayer in Stevenson County.

01:11:38.470 --> 01:11:40.630
I invite all Stevenson County residents

01:11:40.630 --> 01:11:43.909
to pray for God's protection, for peace throughout the world,

01:11:43.909 --> 01:11:46.350
and to seek a moral and spiritual renewal

01:11:46.350 --> 01:11:49.270
and to express gratitude for our blessings.

01:11:49.270 --> 01:11:51.590
I urge the citizens of Stevenson County

01:11:51.590 --> 01:11:53.590
to join in observing this day

01:11:53.590 --> 01:11:58.130
with appropriate programs, ceremonies and activities.

01:11:58.130 --> 01:12:00.569
Is there a motion to approve this proclamation?

01:12:01.670 --> 01:12:04.149
Mr. Newton, seconded by Mr. Busker,

01:12:04.149 --> 01:12:05.430
is there any discussion?

01:12:07.390 --> 01:12:20.600
Seeing none, you may cast your vote.

01:12:20.600 --> 01:12:24.479
Then that passes with one no vote.

01:12:24.880 --> 01:12:54.880
The final proclamation is for National Telecommunications Week, whereas emergencies can occur at any time that require police, fire, or emergency medical services, and whereas when an emergency occurs, the prompt response of police officers, firefighters, and paramedics is critical to the protection of life and preservation of property, and whereas the safety of our police officers and firefighters is dependent upon the quality and accuracy of information obtained,

01:12:54.880 --> 01:13:02.079
from citizens who telephone the Stevenson County Communication Center and whereas the Public Safety

01:13:02.079 --> 01:13:07.760
Telecommunicator is the first and most critical contact of our citizens that they have with

01:13:07.760 --> 01:13:13.680
emergency services. Whereas the Public Safety Telecommunicator is the single vital link for

01:13:13.680 --> 01:13:19.279
our police officers and firefighters by monitoring their activities by radio, providing them

01:13:19.279 --> 01:13:34.279
and the public safety telecommunicators of Stevenson County Communication Center has contributed substantially to the apprehension of criminals, suppression of fires and treatment of patients.

01:13:34.279 --> 01:13:44.279
And whereas each dispatcher has exhibited compassion, understanding and professionalism during the performance of their job over the past year.

01:13:44.279 --> 01:14:02.279
Therefore, be it resolved that the County of Stevenson, Illinois declares the week of April 12th through the 18th of 2026 to be National Telecommunicators Week here in Stevenson County in honor of the men and women whose diligence and professionalism keep our county and citizens safe.

01:14:02.279 --> 01:14:12.279
Is there a motion to approve that proclamation? Cindy, thank you. And seconded by Mrs. Hayes, any discussion?

01:14:12.279 --> 01:14:26.779
You may cast your vote for the approval of that proclamation. And that passes

01:14:26.779 --> 01:14:31.979
unanimously. Thank you very much. We have two appointments. Would the board like to

01:14:31.979 --> 01:14:38.460
take these together or separately? Together? Anyone have an objection to that?

01:14:38.460 --> 01:14:42.260
All right, the first is the approval of the appointment of Warren Lobb to the

01:14:42.260 --> 01:14:46.699
Otter Creek Utility District, and the second is the approval of the appointment

01:14:46.699 --> 01:14:48.899
and of Nicole Baker to the extension board.

01:14:48.899 --> 01:14:51.260
Is there a motion to approve both?

01:14:51.260 --> 01:14:54.100
By Mrs. Hayes, second by Mr. Diddens.

01:14:54.100 --> 01:14:59.359
Any discussion on those appointments?

01:14:59.359 --> 01:15:01.260
Seeing none, you may cast your vote.

01:15:12.359 --> 01:15:15.880
And then both appointments pass unanimously, thank you.

01:15:15.880 --> 01:15:17.939
Moving on to action items and information

01:15:17.939 --> 01:15:19.000
from standing committees.

01:15:19.000 --> 01:15:20.399
First up, finance.

01:15:20.399 --> 01:15:24.079
Mr. Jogerst, you're filling in that role this month.

01:15:24.079 --> 01:15:28.159
It appears you have three action items.

01:15:28.159 --> 01:15:40.810
going to get your microphone turned on don't push anything there you go there

01:15:40.810 --> 01:15:46.729
we go all right the first one up is the approval of manual claims for the

01:15:46.729 --> 01:15:51.489
Sheriff's Department there was two claims one for Motorola and the other one was

01:15:51.489 --> 01:15:55.050
training expenses and the total is twenty eight thousand eight hundred

01:15:55.050 --> 01:16:02.050
twenty nine dollars and eighty cents mr. Bush is there a second second by mr.

01:16:02.050 --> 01:16:07.789
and Busker, is there any discussion on this?

01:16:07.789 --> 01:16:09.869
Seeing none, you may go ahead and cast your vote

01:16:09.869 --> 01:16:22.340
for approval and that passes unanimous.

01:16:22.340 --> 01:16:23.680
Your next item, please.

01:16:24.819 --> 01:16:28.060
Yeah, we're gonna have a discussion on the resolution

01:16:28.060 --> 01:16:32.020
establishing the salary for the office of county treasurer.

01:16:32.020 --> 01:16:37.020
First one and administrator passed out the packet for that.

01:16:39.840 --> 01:16:41.939
We did talk about that as finance,

01:16:41.939 --> 01:16:45.539
that you want to come up with a number here

01:16:45.539 --> 01:16:50.539
and get this passed for both these positions in May?

01:16:51.819 --> 01:16:52.659
Correct?

01:16:52.659 --> 01:16:53.479
That's correct.

01:16:53.479 --> 01:16:56.939
180 days prior to being sworn in for the roles.

01:16:56.939 --> 01:17:00.319
Right, so we're actually establishing the salary

01:17:00.319 --> 01:17:03.100
for the office, not the person, so.

01:17:03.100 --> 01:17:07.020
All right, so I think the last,

01:17:07.020 --> 01:17:10.260
in the finance meeting we didn't have the last page there.

01:17:11.939 --> 01:17:13.479
and we'll talk about that one next.

01:17:13.479 --> 01:17:18.100
But we've got a, basically the two positions

01:17:18.100 --> 01:17:21.319
are currently on the same schedule.

01:17:21.319 --> 01:17:25.000
However, I think two years ago, the county clerk,

01:17:27.279 --> 01:17:32.739
county clerk was, it says county circuit clerk.

01:17:32.739 --> 01:17:34.819
I'll have the county administrator address.

01:17:34.819 --> 01:17:37.380
I had asked to have these discussion items

01:17:37.380 --> 01:17:41.060
placed on the agenda for the treasurer and the county clerk

01:17:41.060 --> 01:17:43.140
just so that the entire board has a chance

01:17:43.140 --> 01:17:48.260
to weigh in on this prior to it going back to finance for approval next month.

01:17:48.260 --> 01:17:52.659
I did ask that the resolutions for the treasurer and the county clerk be put in there for the

01:17:52.659 --> 01:17:59.020
prior four years as well as what was approved two years ago for the circuit clerk to give

01:17:59.020 --> 01:18:02.739
everyone an idea of what had been done previously.

01:18:02.739 --> 01:18:08.340
So if Mr. Jogerst, if you'd like the administrator to discuss it further or if you'd like to

01:18:08.340 --> 01:18:09.340
handle it either way.

01:18:09.340 --> 01:18:21.920
She can go ahead, go ahead. So if you you look at the current resolutions for

01:18:21.920 --> 01:18:28.420
County Clerk and for Treasurer, where they're starting was each year it was a

01:18:28.420 --> 01:18:35.619
three percent annual increase. A note in there is that they were bumped up to 24

01:18:35.619 --> 01:19:05.619
The circuit clerk's resolution is in there showing that when her new resolution was put into effect, it was bringing it up to, you know, 20% of their insurance premiums, because this would have been back in 2022 prior to the rest of the county coming up to that percentage, the resolutions prior to that, they had a 4% increase year after year and were paying 20% of their premiums.

01:19:05.619 --> 01:19:10.000
to where the other two positions currently were.

01:19:10.000 --> 01:19:12.699
The remaining years on that resolution

01:19:12.699 --> 01:19:15.520
are 3% increases as well.

01:19:16.859 --> 01:19:18.340
And the insurance for the circuit clerk

01:19:18.340 --> 01:19:20.140
is already set at 24%.

01:19:20.140 --> 01:19:20.979
Correct.

01:19:20.979 --> 01:19:25.690
Right, correct.

01:19:25.690 --> 01:19:27.670
So we're doing it a little differently this year.

01:19:27.670 --> 01:19:29.350
It's still going back to finance in May

01:19:29.350 --> 01:19:30.710
and we'll still come back to the board

01:19:30.710 --> 01:19:32.149
for final approval in May,

01:19:32.149 --> 01:19:34.470
but giving the entire board an opportunity

01:19:34.470 --> 01:19:37.309
to weigh in prior to it going to finance

01:19:37.309 --> 01:19:41.649
as opposed to just having one opportunity per se in May.

01:19:42.750 --> 01:19:46.149
If anybody has comments, questions, anything that.

01:19:46.149 --> 01:19:54.130
questions anything that you would like the administrator to look into and it's

01:19:54.130 --> 01:20:01.939
the same for the County Clerk, correct? Anyone? Mrs. Williams, I apologize.

01:20:01.939 --> 01:20:16.569
Thank you. Does the state declare that we have to have our elected officials at

01:20:16.569 --> 01:20:21.210
any particular level? Not for these elected positions. Not for these elected

01:20:21.210 --> 01:20:26.729
positions. Okay, and you're saying that the difference between let's say 24 year

01:20:26.729 --> 01:20:32.130
2024 and 2025 was just nothing more than a cost of living increase, is that

01:20:32.130 --> 01:20:38.569
correct? In their current resolutions? Yes, yeah. Okay, so we didn't necessarily

01:20:38.569 --> 01:20:48.649
bump them up to get them to a level. So the circuit clerk's resolution, they're

01:20:48.649 --> 01:20:50.970
are staggered by two years.

01:20:50.970 --> 01:20:52.329
Right.

01:20:52.329 --> 01:20:55.369
That's why we included the previous resolutions as well.

01:20:55.369 --> 01:20:58.970
So for the circuit clerk, the previous one

01:20:58.970 --> 01:21:02.289
was 2020 through 2023.

01:21:02.289 --> 01:21:02.789
Right.

01:21:02.789 --> 01:21:06.390
The new one is 24 through 27, whereas the other two

01:21:06.390 --> 01:21:10.010
positions were 2018 through 2021.

01:21:10.010 --> 01:21:13.250
Well, and I also, another question, please.

01:21:13.250 --> 01:21:14.970
Go ahead.

01:21:14.970 --> 01:21:17.170
Just maybe more of a comment.

01:21:17.170 --> 01:21:29.409
I see that we are well above, you know, well, maybe $5,000 above the 2026 statewide salary and fringe benefit.

01:21:29.409 --> 01:21:42.689
So, it's not like they're being, none of them are being underpaid at this point. It's my, it would be my comment based on this report, it appears, that's all.

01:21:42.689 --> 01:22:05.489
Okay, I guess I would just say one thing when you talk about cost of living, I would deal in percentages not necessarily what you may consider to be cost of living and also reference the budget policy that's approved every year when you think of it in those terms, as opposed to just cost of living. That could be if you're counting the CPI or what you're looking at.

01:22:05.489 --> 01:22:06.489
Okay.

01:22:06.489 --> 01:22:12.729
and as Mr. Jogerst said keep in mind you're valuing the position not the

01:22:12.729 --> 01:22:16.770
individuals that are within that. Anything else Mrs. Williams? Nothing.

01:22:16.770 --> 01:22:26.250
Okay Mr. Hadley go ahead. So my big concern is is over the years we've seen

01:22:26.250 --> 01:22:31.529
where the state regulates us to pay the state's attorney a certain amount of

01:22:31.529 --> 01:22:40.729
Money, then the public defender and now the sheriff. I know there's been bills in

01:22:40.729 --> 01:22:47.649
Springfield to set salaries for the rest of the elected, of county elected

01:22:47.649 --> 01:22:53.210
officials too, but they've been defeated down in Springfield. All I can say to the

01:22:53.210 --> 01:22:59.289
Finance Committee, slow down. We need to slow down here because these jobs could

01:22:59.289 --> 01:23:02.729
all get up over $100,000 a year.

01:23:02.729 --> 01:23:07.569
And the public is complaining when we have legislators

01:23:07.569 --> 01:23:09.970
giving themselves raises.

01:23:09.970 --> 01:23:14.970
And this is not the time, I've seen where Ogle County

01:23:17.130 --> 01:23:22.130
went during the four year period, zero, zero,

01:23:22.409 --> 01:23:25.289
and then maybe a 2%, a 2%, you know.

01:23:25.289 --> 01:23:38.289
But all I can say is that I will not next month support anything that's going to inflate these raises up real high and stuff like that.

01:23:38.289 --> 01:23:41.289
So that's all I got to say, Chairman. Thank you.

01:23:41.289 --> 01:23:44.289
Mrs. Hayes, go ahead.

01:23:44.289 --> 01:23:47.289
I'm going to agree with Mr. Hadley.

01:23:47.289 --> 01:23:52.289
I do think that we need to take into consideration what the cost of living...

01:23:52.289 --> 01:23:57.050
need to decide that first, right? The cost of living, if we're saying that we're

01:23:57.050 --> 01:24:01.770
giving them a cost of living increase, I don't know. I mean, last year we were very,

01:24:01.770 --> 01:24:06.569
very generous with cost of living increases. Didn't feel like that compared

01:24:06.569 --> 01:24:15.010
to what the economy did, but we will work our way into some exorbitant salaries

01:24:15.010 --> 01:24:23.369
that are not sustainable if we continue to give every year the maximum and once

01:24:23.369 --> 01:24:27.930
we give them to the elected officials we have to give them to everybody. So I'm

01:24:27.930 --> 01:24:31.850
not sure which comes first, the cart or the horse, but I'm just again

01:24:31.850 --> 01:24:37.609
cautiously saying to the Finance Committee, please be careful

01:24:37.609 --> 01:24:45.399
with that. We don't want to get too much too fast. We will go bankrupt. Anything

01:24:45.399 --> 01:24:53.000
Anyone else Mrs. Hayes? That's it, thank you Chairman. Anyone else? Mr. Jogerst, do you have anything to add?

01:24:53.000 --> 01:24:57.119
Well we've got to think about the rest of the budget that we're going to be

01:24:57.119 --> 01:25:03.119
working on here in the middle of the year and then all the supplementals and

01:25:03.119 --> 01:25:07.439
all that other stuff that comes with it. So hopefully we get out in front of it

01:25:07.439 --> 01:25:11.840
this year instead of you know we come down the end of the wire we have nothing

01:25:11.840 --> 01:25:15.380
for supplementals you know for roads and the things that a lot of people want.

01:25:15.380 --> 01:25:23.939
so yeah there's more needs than there is money obviously so it's all I have for

01:25:23.939 --> 01:25:30.140
the Finance Committee. Anything else Georgia on this item? I don't have

01:25:30.140 --> 01:25:34.500
anything else really to share but if anyone has questions reach out. Yeah next

01:25:34.500 --> 01:25:37.300
month we'll also be considering the budget policy which will be for

01:25:37.300 --> 01:25:42.779
non-elected and non-union employees and what did we do the last few years four

01:25:42.779 --> 01:26:12.779
Four percent? Three. Three? Okay. The year before it was four. Year before. Okay. So again, please reach out to the Finance Committee. Reach out to the Administrator if you have thoughts or ideas. So thank you for participating in this tonight. I know it's not normal, but I think it's good and worthwhile for us to do that. Anything else out of Finance, Mr. Jogerst? That is all, Chairman. All right. Very good. Thank you. Appreciate you filling in this month.

01:26:12.779 --> 01:26:18.060
Public Property and Safety, Mr. Bush, no action items, information on your committee, sir?

01:26:18.060 --> 01:26:25.180
No. No? Okay. All right, very good. Go ahead, Mr. Hadley, if you want, press your button.

01:26:25.180 --> 01:26:32.819
Just one quick question. Has the sheriff talked to anything about the gas prices going up and his line item and

01:26:32.819 --> 01:26:38.859
everything's going all right with his line item on the gas? Yes. Is he monitoring that close?

01:26:38.859 --> 01:26:43.739
that doesn't look at like in the near future that prices might not go down the

01:26:43.739 --> 01:26:47.739
rest of the year a little bit so. Although I think yesterday the price oil

01:26:47.739 --> 01:26:52.659
went down below $100 a barrel. I didn't check today but fingers crossed. Okay

01:26:52.659 --> 01:26:57.960
thank you. You bet. One quick thing with the sheriff, it was brought up in public

01:26:57.960 --> 01:27:03.520
works about overweight trucks, specifically I think Kent Road and Dale

01:27:03.520 --> 01:27:07.300
you can correct me if it's not the right road. I did reach out to the sheriff and

01:27:07.300 --> 01:27:12.300
and ask if we have people that are certified to operate scales.

01:27:14.100 --> 01:27:16.939
They're putting trucks on that road,

01:27:16.939 --> 01:27:20.100
going to the cheese factory, I believe in Kent,

01:27:21.300 --> 01:27:25.340
that are well over the 80,000 pound limit, way over.

01:27:26.939 --> 01:27:29.020
I believe the state police pulled someone over

01:27:29.020 --> 01:27:30.479
and Dale correct me if I'm wrong,

01:27:30.479 --> 01:27:33.180
but I believe they issued a $35,000 ticket

01:27:33.180 --> 01:27:34.619
for being overweight.

01:27:34.619 --> 01:27:35.619
That was a different case.

01:27:35.619 --> 01:27:39.220
different case, but it's still a $35,000 fine, correct?

01:27:39.220 --> 01:27:45.409
I don't know, the $35,000 I'm looking at.

01:27:45.409 --> 01:27:47.010
Gotcha, all right.

01:27:47.010 --> 01:27:50.289
The good news is the sheriff reached out to the state police who does the training for

01:27:50.289 --> 01:27:56.130
that and they are willing to train the crime suppression unit to operate scales.

01:27:56.130 --> 01:28:02.329
The option or the, I'm sorry, the object is not to issue fines, it's to make sure the

01:28:02.329 --> 01:28:06.010
trucks are not destroying the roads that are overweight.

01:28:06.010 --> 01:28:14.010
We're not trying to make money on this, but it seems like the only way to get them to stop overloading these trucks is to hit them in their pocketbook.

01:28:14.010 --> 01:28:18.010
So just to give you an update on that, the Sheriff is working on that.

01:28:18.010 --> 01:28:26.010
With that, we'll move on to administration. Mr. Jogerst, no action items. Any information out of your committee?

01:28:26.010 --> 01:28:41.399
All right, thank you. We'll move on to courts. I can't talk after all those proclamations.

01:28:41.399 --> 01:28:45.239
Court Services, Mr. Diddens do you have any items and if you do could you please

01:28:45.239 --> 01:28:52.960
press your microphone button? I don't have any action items but we did hand out

01:28:52.960 --> 01:28:57.840
ten thousand dollars for the youth diversion fund that we collected. We had

01:28:57.840 --> 01:29:06.840
six businesses that applied for that met the criteria for the for the grant. High

01:29:06.840 --> 01:29:14.479
Hope, Hope Wins, Ramp, Sounds of Good News, Voices, and that's five there should be

01:29:14.479 --> 01:29:22.239
six. Which one? Boys and Girls Cup. Thank you. I had ramped twice. Anyway, they all

01:29:22.239 --> 01:29:31.399
got $1,666.66. We just gave everybody an equal amount. Last year I think we only

01:29:31.399 --> 01:29:33.600
and we had one or two that applied.

01:29:33.600 --> 01:29:36.720
So this year it was much better turnout

01:29:36.720 --> 01:29:39.479
and it's all good for the community.

01:29:39.479 --> 01:29:40.840
It's all aimed at children.

01:29:40.840 --> 01:29:43.199
So it's all good.

01:29:43.199 --> 01:29:44.039
Thank you.

01:29:44.039 --> 01:29:44.239
Good. Thank you. That's it.

01:29:44.239 --> 01:29:45.539
Thank you, Mr. Diddens.

01:29:45.539 --> 01:29:46.760
Move on to Nursing Center.

01:29:46.760 --> 01:29:49.939
Mrs. Baker, no action items, information?

01:29:49.939 --> 01:29:52.199
Yes, so the report was in your packet.

01:29:52.199 --> 01:29:53.960
Census is 71.

01:29:53.960 --> 01:29:57.119
The facility completed their annual survey.

01:29:57.119 --> 01:29:58.960
The team has reviewed all the findings

01:29:58.960 --> 01:30:00.640
and the POCs were submitted

01:30:00.640 --> 01:30:02.760
and assisted by the regional team.

01:30:02.760 --> 01:30:07.560
Agency hours remain low of 250 hours

01:30:07.560 --> 01:30:08.880
for the month of March.

01:30:08.880 --> 01:30:10.640
And they had their annual Easter egg hunt

01:30:10.640 --> 01:30:14.359
on September 4th with a fair turnout, and that's it.

01:30:14.359 --> 01:30:16.859
Very good. Mr. Bush, did you have any questions?

01:30:16.859 --> 01:30:19.859
Yeah, I just kind of want to piggy off what...

01:30:19.859 --> 01:30:22.060
Can you speak into your microphone, please?

01:30:22.060 --> 01:30:24.060
I can have it on, you can just speak into it.

01:30:24.060 --> 01:30:36.060
Just want to continue talking about this lady that came and asked some concerning of not getting paid.

01:30:36.060 --> 01:30:40.260
Funding-wise, she mentioned that there is funds to get paid.

01:30:41.260 --> 01:30:46.960
I will let Administrator Newcomer address that. I believe she had communication with that individual.

01:30:47.560 --> 01:30:48.060
Yes.

01:30:49.359 --> 01:30:56.260
Currently, the unspoken for balance is $1,978.68

01:30:57.960 --> 01:30:59.460
in that fund.

01:31:00.460 --> 01:31:05.659
There is money that comes in and out because that is still the fund where the Medicare,

01:31:05.659 --> 01:31:17.939
There is also the money that is being held for the IDPH fine and there's a payment agreement

01:31:17.939 --> 01:31:22.640
with one of the vendors that was approved through the board that those dollars are sitting

01:31:22.640 --> 01:31:28.140
in that account, but unspoken for funds, that is the balance.

01:31:28.140 --> 01:31:35.640
Is there any way that we could reach some kind of agreement or compromise or whatever with her?

01:31:36.640 --> 01:31:47.140
So, she was asked with the rest of the vendors if she wanted to offer a settlement the month that we went back to the local vendors that did.

01:31:48.140 --> 01:31:53.140
The committee had decided to prioritize the local vendors that offered settlements.

01:31:53.140 --> 01:31:58.619
at that time she said she wanted to wait and get the full amount that was out to

01:31:58.619 --> 01:32:05.859
her okay after that the next round she is still in the category as prior

01:32:05.859 --> 01:32:09.899
prioritize next for payment she did offer a settlement it was just the next

01:32:09.899 --> 01:32:18.300
month when the funds were not available she's in the prioritize next category but

01:32:18.300 --> 01:32:21.779
there's a number of people that I think the committee or there would be need to

01:32:21.779 --> 01:32:28.979
discussion if what if we make an exception for one person do how do we

01:32:28.979 --> 01:32:34.699
decide which person in that category is the person that gets paid well I'm in

01:32:34.699 --> 01:32:38.859
agreement with that but like you know she has sent email out to I know I

01:32:38.859 --> 01:32:44.380
received email I don't know about nobody else but I think that at least she came

01:32:44.380 --> 01:32:48.539
tonight and expressed her concerns so at least we can at least have some type of

01:32:48.539 --> 01:32:55.800
have a communication or something, you know, to talk with her to see how we can solve this.

01:32:55.800 --> 01:33:01.659
Part of the issue we have as well is she has threatened litigation once she does that.

01:33:01.659 --> 01:33:10.260
Anything we say or do is potentially held and we do defer to our liability company.

01:33:10.260 --> 01:33:14.140
Anything else, Mr. Bush, Mrs. Baker?

01:33:14.140 --> 01:33:15.140
Anything else?

01:33:15.140 --> 01:33:16.140
All right.

01:33:16.140 --> 01:33:19.539
I'm going to shut some microphones off here real quick.

01:33:19.539 --> 01:33:29.539
We will move on to planning and development. Mr. Fricke, you have one action item, I believe, and I'm going to turn your microphone on. There we go.

01:33:29.539 --> 01:33:41.539
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do. I'm excited to ask for this approval of a temporary use permit for the Pearl City Historical Organization for the use of Black Hawk Park

01:33:41.539 --> 01:33:43.539
to celebrate their

01:33:43.619 --> 01:33:46.659
100th year of being the organization of

01:33:47.140 --> 01:33:50.819
history for Pearl City and the area and they're excited to be able to

01:33:51.500 --> 01:33:53.500
use our part to

01:33:53.699 --> 01:34:01.060
promote the Blackhawk monument and that area as well as part of what they do at the Pearl City

01:34:01.819 --> 01:34:08.420
historical organization. This temporary use permit was passed in our committee and with that I would move to approve.

01:34:08.420 --> 01:34:14.420
There you go. Is there a second to Mr. Fricke's motion by Mr. Hadley? Is there any discussion?

01:34:14.420 --> 01:34:25.079
One thing I will say, if you've checked your email this afternoon, a large oak tree did blow over out at the monument.

01:34:25.079 --> 01:34:33.079
We did contact liability. We're just making sure that getting a heads up from them if we need to close the park up until it's removed.

01:34:33.079 --> 01:34:37.079
We're working with Township to see if they can find someone to help us remove it.

01:34:37.079 --> 01:34:41.800
it's too large of a tree for mr. Remmers to remove we've had this happen in the

01:34:41.800 --> 01:34:46.199
past so we're moving quickly to see if we can't get that resolved we're not

01:34:46.199 --> 01:34:49.920
saying we're closing the park we're just finding out from liability what their

01:34:49.920 --> 01:34:57.960
recommendation is until it's removed any other discussion okay saying none you

01:34:57.960 --> 01:35:10.779
may go ahead and cast your vote for the approval and that passes unanimously

01:35:10.779 --> 01:35:14.819
mr. Frick do you have any other items I do not at this time mr. chairman thank

01:35:14.819 --> 01:35:15.819
Thank you.

01:35:15.819 --> 01:35:16.819
All right, very good.

01:35:16.819 --> 01:35:17.819
Thank you.

01:35:17.819 --> 01:35:18.819
We'll move on to Public Works.

01:35:18.819 --> 01:35:22.380
Mr. Newton, I believe you have two items.

01:35:22.380 --> 01:35:25.100
I need to turn your microphone on here.

01:35:25.100 --> 01:35:27.619
You have the floor, sir.

01:35:27.619 --> 01:35:29.340
Thank you, Chairman.

01:35:29.340 --> 01:35:36.859
For your consideration tonight, we have HD 2606, approval of bid for Township Bridge

01:35:36.859 --> 01:35:37.859
preparation.

01:35:37.859 --> 01:35:44.500
It's a covert replacement on North Shippey Road in West Point Township, and I so move.

01:35:44.500 --> 01:35:48.500
Thank you. Is there a second by Mr. Jogerst? Is there any discussion on this?

01:35:48.500 --> 01:35:52.739
Go ahead, Mr. Hadley.

01:35:52.739 --> 01:35:56.739
How many bids have we received on this?

01:35:56.739 --> 01:36:01.649
Four or five.

01:36:01.649 --> 01:36:05.649
Okay, so this was the lowest bid then?

01:36:05.649 --> 01:36:07.649
Okay, thank you.

01:36:07.649 --> 01:36:14.510
Any other discussion? Seeing none, you may cast your vote for approval.

01:36:14.510 --> 01:36:27.750
That passes unanimously. Next item, Mr. Newton.

01:36:27.750 --> 01:36:35.829
thank you we have also a bid or one bid for that was passed or that came in for

01:36:35.829 --> 01:36:42.789
kennels for the new animal control and I so moved to approve those that bid okay

01:36:42.789 --> 01:36:48.350
is there second by mr. Busker any discussion I believe that was the only

01:36:48.350 --> 01:36:53.630
bid that was received correct it was okay all right saying no discussion you

01:36:53.630 --> 01:37:06.140
you may cast your vote for approval.

01:37:06.140 --> 01:37:07.779
That also passes unanimously.

01:37:07.779 --> 01:37:10.779
Any other information out of your committee, Mr. Newton?

01:37:10.779 --> 01:37:13.260
No, I've asked the engineer to stay on for five years,

01:37:13.260 --> 01:37:15.100
but he has not agreed to that.

01:37:15.100 --> 01:37:17.939
So thank you, Mr. Chairman, that's it.

01:37:17.939 --> 01:37:19.779
All right, thank you.

01:37:19.779 --> 01:37:23.140
All right, is there a motion to adjourn until 6.30 PM

01:37:23.140 --> 01:37:29.550
on May 21st, 2026?

01:37:29.550 --> 01:37:31.149
Which permit?

01:37:31.149 --> 01:37:35.859
We did not vote?

01:37:35.859 --> 01:37:36.539
Permit.

01:37:36.539 --> 01:37:37.979
We did.

01:37:37.979 --> 01:37:38.659
I thought we did.

01:37:38.659 --> 01:37:47.720
I'll check with the, I was certainly voted.

01:37:47.720 --> 01:37:52.920
All right, is there a motion to adjourn?

01:37:52.920 --> 01:37:56.720
Mr. Bush, seconded by Mrs. Hayes.

01:37:56.720 --> 01:38:05.439
You may vote to adjourn.

01:38:05.439 --> 01:38:07.239
There'll be enough votes to pass.

01:38:10.119 --> 01:38:11.920
That is approved unanimously.

01:38:11.920 --> 01:38:12.920
Thank you, everyone.