Kankakee Times

Iroquois County Board met Jan. 14.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

The Iroquois County Board met in Recessed Session at the Administrative Center, in Watseka, IL at 9 A.M. Chairman Shure called the meeting to order and asked County Clerk Lisa Fancher to call the roll.

Roll call and votes in Iroquois County

Recessed Session, January 14, 2020

Chairman Shure

On motion to call the roll

Aye: Alt, Bard, Behrends, Bowers, Coughenour, Crow, Curtis, Duby, Ducat, Huse, Johnson, McTaggart, Offill, Shure, Stichnoth, Whitlow, Zumwalt

Absent: Bohlmann, McGinnis, Young

PRAYER & PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Mrs. Offill gave the opening prayer after which the Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.

AGENDA

It was moved by Mr. Alt and seconded to approve the agenda. The motion carried by a voice vote.

MINUTES

It was moved by Mr. Ducat and seconded to approve the minutes from the December 10, 2019 Recessed Session County Board meeting. The motion carried by a voice vote.

PAYROLL

It was moved by Mr. Bard and seconded to approve the December payroll. The motion carried by a roll call vote.

STATE OF ILLINOIS

IROQUOIS COUNTY

Roll call and votes in Iroquois County

Recessed Session, January 14, 2020

On motion to approve the December payroll

Aye: Alt, Bard, Behrends, Bowers, Coughenour, Crow, Curtis, Duby, Ducat, Huse, Johnson, McTaggart, Offill, Shure, Stichnoth, Whitlow, Zumwalt

Absent: Bohlmann, McGinnis, Young

COUNTY BOARD SERVICES

Charles Alt.$322.50

Roger Bard.$105.00

Lyle Behrends.$340.08

Paul Bowers.$186.00

Kevin Coughenour.$35.00

Donna Crow.$145.02

Ernest Curtis.$104.50

Leanne Duby.$49.95

Paul Ducat.$120.60

Steve Huse.$126.75

Sherry Johnson.$140.00

Barbara Offill.$105.72

John Shure.$781.08

Marvin Stichnoth.$204.40

Jed Whitlow.$156.75

John Zumwalt.$136.05

PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were no public comments.

CHAIRMAN COMMENTS

Chairman Shure informed the Board of a meeting of the KRBC YRBC which he will be attending that will be held on Thursday, January 16, 2020. He encouraged any interested Board members to also attend the meeting.

OUTSIDE ORGANIZATION REPORTS

IEDA Director Ken Barragree introduced himself and addressed the Board regarding the minimum wage increase in Illinois, which will see an 82% increase over the next 6 years. There is a depreciated tax credit of 25% of the increased wage for small business owners with 50 employees or less.

Ken also talked about the T & D Plant 3 that received the most recent loan from the Revolving Loan Fund. He has been assured that payments have been received for their loan and the outlook looks good going forward. Employees have increased by 20, due to the gun cabinet production at Plant 3.

Ken briefly mentioned the Opportunity Zone that was approved for land in and around Watseka. He is currently working with City of Watseka Mayor John Allhands to establish the Opportunity Zone Fund, which is the first step in the creation of the Opportunity Zone.

Lastly, he reported on the following:

• There is a prospect for the Looker building located outside of Milford.

• Nichols Paint and Fab is continuing to look for a building more suitable for their needs. They have contemplated possibly relocating into Indiana along Route 41.

• Busca Trucking has moved in to the former Bosch building. They are talking about renovating the building, in addition to replacing the roof, which would allow for 100,000 square feet of leasable space, possibly for storage.

• The former Heartland Spa in rural Gilman has reopened as Banyan Treatment Centers and it has been conveyed that things are going well out there.

• Charley Grace Boutique and Mystery Mart in Milford have been doing well, in addition to Town and Country Events which has been booking events into 2021.

• The former Red Door in Gilman is available.

POLICY & PROCEDURE

Chairman Shure gave the report of the Policy & Procedure Committee. It was noted that to the best of Chairman Shure’s knowledge, the IPAWS system mentioned in the committee report is being funded with a grant. Chairman Shure moved for adoption of the Policy & Procedure Committee report. The motion was seconded and carried by a roll call vote.

STATE OF ILLINOIS

IROQUOIS COUNTY

Roll call and votes in Iroquois County

Recessed Session, January 14, 2020

Chairman Shure

On motion to approve the Policy & Procedure Committee report

Aye: Alt, Bard, Behrends, Bowers, Coughenour, Crow, Curtis, Duby Ducat, Huse, Johnson, McTaggart, Offill, Shure, Stichnoth, Whitlow, Zumwalt

Absent: Bohlmann, McGinnis, Young

STATE OF ILLINOIS

IROQUOIS COUNTY

County Board, Recessed Session

January 14, A.D., 2020

Mr. Chairman and members of the County Board:

Your Committee to whom was referred Policy & Procedure would beg leave to submit the following report on the matters before them:

Your Committee met at the Administrative Center on January 2, 2020 at 9:00 A.M.

Members present were County Board Chairman John Shure, Lyle Behrends, Charlie Alt and Marvin Stichnoth. Michael McTaggart and Barbara Offill were absent. Also present Finance Manager Jill Johnson, County Clerk Lisa Fancher, Supervisor of Assessments Bob Yergler, Treasurer Kurt Albers, 911 Director Eric Raymond, EMA Director Eric Ceci, Myron Munyon with Compass Insurance, Linda Tammen of Thawville, and Wendy Davis with the Times Republic.

The meeting was called to order.

It was moved by Charlie Alt and seconded by Marvin Stichnoth to approve the agenda.

Motion carried by a voice vote.

There were no public comments.

The Committee Chairs gave their monthly reports:

● Highway Chairman Charlie Alt reported the Highway Committee will be approving a resolution for improvement for a box culvert.

● Management and Judicial Chairman Lyle Behrends reported the Management Committee will open and approve fertilizer bids along with their monthly reports. The Judicial Committee will hear their standard reports.

● Tax and Zoning Chairman Marvin Stichnoth reported the Tax and Zoning

Committee will hear the standard department head reports.

EMA Director Eric Ceci reported EMA participated in parades in Watseka and Milford.

Ceci said he continues to work on the Hazard Mitigation Plan and also attended a two day Hazard Mitigation class. Ceci is moving forward with the IPAWS system. A tabletop exercise with the National Weather Service is scheduled for May 28th. Ceci said he is also preparing for a flash flood and tornado tabletop exercise before spring. The next LEPC meeting is January 14th .

County Board Chairman John Shure gave an update on flood matters in Iroquois County.

Shure said County Board member Paul Ducat attended a KRBC-YRBC meeting at Thayer Farm in Indiana on December 19th. The next meeting is scheduled for January 16th. The Iroquois County River Conservancy District is on the ballot for March 17th and Shure stressed the importance of promoting it within the district.

Senate Bill 75 pertaining to sexual harassment training was discussed. Myron Munyon with Compass Insurance gave an update stating there has been no guidance released from the State yet on the training. Once it has been released, they will begin training the departments. Munyon also discussed the current alcohol and drug use policy. He suggested a meeting be held to alter the existing policy rather than creating a new policy.

Shure continued on the alcohol and drug use policy noting a policy is currently in place but it needs reviewed and updated. The word “illegal” will need to be removed because there are now some drugs that are legal. A current copy was distributed to the committee. It was moved by Behrends and seconded by Alt to table approval of the Alcohol and Drug Use in the Iroquois County Workplace Policy until next month. Motion carried by a voice vote.

The committee reviewed the microbrewery ordinance as prepared by Shure. Linda Tammen of Thawville updated the committee on the progress of the microbrewery. Upon review of the ordinance, Mrs. Tammen said their concern is the 64 ounce limit served to one customer. She said this will be very hard to keep track of due to people often purchasing drinks for other people. Other factors come into play such as the alcohol content of the beer, cider, and mead.

Mrs. Tammen referred to the State law stating public intoxication is not illegal but if alcohol is served to anyone who causes property damage or a public disturbance then repercussions will be enforced. The committee also discussed the option of including whiskey and hard liquor to the ordinance but Shure said a variance can be applied for if necessary. It was moved by Behrends and seconded by Alt to amend the draft Microbrewery Ordinance to remove the sentence stating “No more than sixty-four ounces shall be served to any one customer, in any one day, and each serving shall be by the glass, by the bottle, by the can, or by the flight, having not more than four glasses.” The following sentence will be added “Facilities shall be subject to state law for serving requirements.” The revised draft ordinance will be forwarded to State’s Attorney Jim Devine for review. A roll call vote was taken. Motion carried.

Appointments include Jeremy Douglas and Joe Young to the ETSB Board.

Correspondence was distributed to the committee.

Shure presented a claim from UCCI for the current year’s dues which are typically refunded the following year. The refund for FY19 has already been processed. It was moved by Behrends and seconded by Stichnoth to approve paying the claim to UCCI for the upcoming dues. A roll call vote was taken. Motion carried.

The committee reviewed the claims. It was moved by Behrends and seconded by Alt to approve the claims subject to County Board approval. A roll call vote was taken. Motion carried.

There was no old business.

There was no new business.

As there was no further business to come before the committee, it was moved by Stichnoth and seconded by Alt to adjourn at 9:53 A.M. Motion carried by a voice vote.

http://www.co.iroquois.il.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/January-2020-final.pdf