McDonough County Board met April 17.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
The monthly meeting of the McDonough County Board was held at the McDonough County Courthouse at 7:00 p.m. roll call resulted in 16 present, and 5 absent. Sheriff Nick Petitgout made the opening declaration. Chairman Dixon led the Pledge of Allegiance.
EXHIBIT 1
Board Member McGrew moved with second by Board Member Mahr to approve the minutes of March 20, 2019. A motion to amend the March minutes to reflect the trade in, and out of pocket cost for the new lawn mower was made by Board Member Litchfield.
EXHIBIT 2
The report from Public Defender, Nigel Graham for the month of March 2019 was received and filed. Chairman Dixon remarked that the reason the case number is always so high is due to a lot of older cases that cannot be closed out due to the fact that the defendants cannot be located.
EXHIBIT 3
The report of Sales Tax collected in January 2019 was received and filed. County Sales Tax, Public Safety tax, and Transportation Tax were all down from December. Chairman Dixon stated that if taxes continue to be down that it will have to be taken into consideration when preparing the County budget.
EXHIBIT 4
The report of Balances and Investments from County Treasurer Graves for the month of March 2019 was received and filed.
EXHIBIT 5
The report of Circuit Clerk Wilson for the month of March 2019 was received and filed.
EXHIBIT 6
The report from County Clerk DeJaynes on Warrants Issued in Vacation for the month of March 2019 was received and filed.
EXHIBIT 7
The Transfer of Appropriations of Monies was referred to the Finance Committee. Board Member Schwerer reported the finance committee transferred $250,000.00 for Insurance Clearing as Exhibit 7A.
EXHIBIT 8
Board Member Schwerer moved to approve the report of the Finance Committee as read with second by Board Member Aurelio. Motion carried with a roll call vote of 16 yeas, and 5 absent as Exhibit 8A.
EXHIBIT 9
Board Member Schwerer moved with second by Board Member Nissen seconding to dispense with the reading of the claims report and to approve it as approved by the Claims committee. Motion carried with a roll call vote of 16 yeas, and 5 absent as Exhibit 9A.
EXHIBIT 10
Board Member McGrew moved with second by Board Member Mahr to approve the reappointment of David Powell as a Trustee to the Bushnell Fire Protection District. Motion carried with a voice vote.
EXHIBIT 11
Board Member Schwerer moved with second by Board Member Clark to approve the reappointment of Eugene Luster as a Trustee to the Blandinsville-Hire Fire Protection District. Motion carried with a voice vote.
EXHIBIT 12
Board Member Twaddle moved with second by Board Member Litchfield to approve the reappointment of Stephen Altenbern as a Trustee to the Colchester Fire Protection District. Motion carried with a voice vote.
EXHIBIT 13
Board Member Trimmer moved with second by Board Member Schwerer to approve the reappointment of John Bushmire as a Trustee to the Colchester Fire Protection District. Motion carried with a voice vote.
EXHIBIT 14
Board Member Toland said that the costs are higher than last year but that is normal. Board Member Cox moved to approve the 2019 Bituminous Resolution with Board Member McGrew seconding the motion. Motion carried with a roll call vote of 16 yeas, and 5 absent as Exhibit 14A.
EXHIBIT 15
Board Member Toland informed everyone that this is for a bridge on 1050th Road that is South of Grant Street and East of Route 67. It will cost the County $32,500 and the Highway Department plans to start on it next summer. Board Member McGrew moved to approve the Preliminary Engineering Agreement with Hutchison Engineering for Section 02-16112-00-BR with Board Member Aurelio seconding the motion. Motion carried with a roll call vote of 16 yeas, and 5 absent as Exhibit 15A.
EXHIBIT 16
Board Member Toland clarified that this is not an emergency situation, it is a cash flow issue and they just need to move some funds. They are still waiting on a payment for a job that was done last summer, and they have already had to do some spray patching on roads which is costly and in recent years this is not something they have had to do this time of year. Board Member McGrew moved to approve the Resolution to Amend the County Highway Budget with Board Member Aurelio seconding the motion. Motion carried with a roll call vote of 16 yeas, and 5 absent as Exhibit 16A.
EXHIBIT 17
Chairman Dixon requested Board Member Clark to address the Board regarding this amendment. Member Clark said that considerable work and research has been done on this by her, and State’s Attorney Kwacala. The Finance Committee is made up of the Chairman for the other Committees. This amendment would allow the County Board Vice Chairman to be a non-voting ex-officio member of the Finance Committee if they are not a Chairman of a Committee. Member McGrew asked if this would allow the Board Vice Chairman to vote in the absence of a Committee Member, Clark said that the amendment would not allow that. Member Litchfield asked if this would allow the Board Vice Chairman to have input in the discussions, Clark said this change is to allow the Vice Chairman to be a part of discussions and executive sessions. Chairman Dixon informed them that this will allow the Vice Chairman to participate in discussions and be allowed to enter into executive session. Member Schwerer announced that he is opposed to this amendment and feels that you should have to be a Chairman of a Committee to be on the Finance Committee.
Board Member Litchfield moved to approve the Resolution for Amendment to the Policies and Procedures of the McDonough County Board with Board Member Kirby seconding the motion. Motion carried with a roll call vote of 15 yeas, 1 nay, and 5 absent as Exhibit 17A.
Other
At the beginning of the meeting before any business was conducted Chairman Dixon introduced Tim Bledsoe, the new Director of the Elm’s nursing home to the County Board. Bledsoe gave a brief description of his experience and he thanked the Board for giving him the opportunity as he is looking forward to his new role. Dixon stated that he feels the Board made a good choice by hiring Bledsoe and was very pleased with the reception that Bledsoe received when introduced at the Elms.
Chairman Dixon introduced Kim Pierce with MAEDCO to the Board, her role is to bring in outside entities to open a business in Macomb. Pierce announced that today was a very exciting day for MAEDCO as they were finally able to announce that a new Starbucks will be coming to town and will be located on East Jackson Street where the former Ponderosa Steakhouse building is located. This was something they have been working on for 10 years, bringing in a corporate business is not a quick process as getting McCalisters was a 3 year project. They received some negative feedback from the Community in regards to the fact that there is already a Starbucks located in HyVee and that by bringing in another Starbucks it does not show support for our local owners that have a coffee business. While they definitely support small businesses, corporate companies are needed as well for the tax revenue. This fall they should be able to announce two more businesses that will be opening on East Jackson Street. Pierce stated that the East end of Jackson is considered a gateway to the Community and empty buildings are not very inviting, opening new businesses and filling these buildings will improve that end of town. MAEDCO has several projects they are working on, one project is providing financially feasible housing for those that will be working on the wind farm. Pierce will now be attending a County Board meeting on a quarterly basis to provide updates.
Member Cox asked Pierce if she thought expanding the enterprise zone would help fill the larger empty buildings and bring in more corporate companies. Pierce said that the enterprise zones are more for smaller companies, and that enterprise zones aren’t something that national corporations tend to worry about. It would take a large corporation to open a business in one of the larger empty buildings, keeping a large corporation out of the enterprise zone would bring more tax revenue to the County. Member Toland asked Pierce what her opinion was on the change in minimum wage. She said that it was a legislative decision and felt it should have been looked at by the State and the effects it would have on the areas downstate. The change will definitely impact the County.
Chairman Dixon thanked Kim Pierce for attending the meeting. He then discussed the importance of keeping information on possible new businesses classified until the agreement is finalized. Dixon reminded everyone that on April 22nd there will be a wind farm meeting update, this is to permit 7 more towers to be added to McDonough County and they will be erected in the original footprint.
EXHIBIT 20
Regarding the Finance Committee, Member Schwerer stated that at a conference he recently attended he learned the effects that the minimum wage increase will have and this will need to be addressed He also stated that at the WIEDA meeting they voted to expand the enterprise zone for the marijuana farm.
Chairman Dixon entertained a motion that Days and Miles are checked, Roll be called and the Board adjourn until Wednesday, May 15, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. Board Member Toland made the motion which was seconded by Board Member Aurelio. Motion carried with a roll call vote of 16 yeas and 5 absent. With no further business to discuss the meeting adjourned at 7:42 p.m. Sheriff Petitgout gave the closing declaration.
http://mcg.mcdonough.il.us/documents/2019%20Minutes/2019-04-17%20Board.pdf
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