West Central Reporter

Pike County Board met May 25.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

Call to order

Chairman Andy Borrowman called to order the regular meeting of the Pike County Board at 7:00 p.m. in the upper courtroom of the Pike County Courthouse with remote access.

Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance

Mark Mountain gave the invocation and Chairman Borrowman led in the Pledge of Allegiance

Roll Call

Members present were Andy Borrowman, John Birch, Amy Gates, Rodger Hannel, Tom Lewis, Mark Mountain, Derek Ross, Jim Sheppard, and Mark Sprague.

Approval of Minutes from April 27th, 2020

Rodger Hannel made a motion to approve the April minutes. John Birch seconded. Voice vote 8-0. Minutes approved.

Approval of Special Meeting minutes from May 5th,

Tom Lewis made a motion to approve the May Special Meeting minutes. John Birch seconded. Voice vote 8-0. Minutes approved.

Extension of the Pike County Executive Proclamation of Disaster

Josh Martin updated the board on the current flood levels of the Illinois River. Amy Gates made a motion to extend the Pike County Executive Proclamation of Disaster for 30 days. Mark Mountain seconded. Voice vote 8-0. Motion approved.

Approval of Rich Hoover to the Farmland Assessment Review Committee (FARC)

Mark Mountain made a motion to approve Rich Hoover to FARC. John Birch seconded. Voice vote 8-0. Motion approved.

Appointment of James Reed to the Hull-Kinderhook Fire Protection District.

Rodger Hannel made a motion to approve James Reed to the Hull-Kinderhook Fire Protection District for a term to expire in May 2023. Amy Gates seconded. Voice vote 8-0. Motion approved.

Approval of Greg Brummel, Trudi Brummel, Seth Graham, Kara Lippincott, Richard Brummel, and Gary Wombles as trustees of the Miller Cemetery.

Mark Mountain made a motion to approve the appointments for all terms to expire on July 1st, 2024. Tom Lewis seconded. Voice vote 8-0. Motion approved.

Approval of Reagan Hoskin as a Trustee to the Taylor Martin Cemetery.

John Birch made a motion to approve Reagan Hosking for a term to expire on March 31st, 2024. Mark Mountain seconded. Voice vote 8-0. Motion approved.

Approval of Noelle Flesner as Commissioner of the Pike County Housing Authority for a term to expire on June 30, 2025.

Mark Sprague made a motion to approve the appointment. Derek Ross seconded. Voice vote 8-0. Motion approved.

Committee Reports

Finance

The finance committee of the Pike County Board met at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday May 20th, 2020 in the conference room of the Pike Cunty Government Building. Members present were: Am Gates, Rodger Hannel, Board Chairman Andy Borrowman, and Jim Sheppard. Also present were Treasurer Scott Syrcle, Sheriff David Greenwood, and County Clerk Natalie Roseberry.

Routine bills in the amount of $62,533.25 were approved for payment on a motion by Rodger Hannel and a second by Amy Gates.

We first discussed the topic of furloughs, a total of five employees have taken the voluntary furloughs. Two in the County Clerk’s office, two in the Sheriff’s office and one in the State’s Attorney’s office. While these are not the numbers we were looking for, we appreciate the sacrifice those employees have made during difficult times.

David Greenwood was present and reported that the Sheriff’s department had purchased a new van out of some of their special funds and not county general. Natalie Roseberry reported on the proposal to use mail in ballots in the November election. While it has not been approved yet, one version would have us mail a ballot to every registered voter. This alone would cost the county $23,000 and there is not money for reimbursement.

Natalie also informed the committee that her office will move to online recording with Fidlar on July 1st. This provides another tool for those doing business with the county and changes how the revenue stamps are handled. Also, we do not have to pay Fidlar until November when our CIC contract expires.

We then talked about the cash flow situation within the county. Scott Syrcle had sent out an email with fund statuses and the cash flow of our major revenue sources. I believe everyone should have gotten a copy and encourage members to study these documents.

Meeting adjourned at 5:58 p.m. on a motion by Rodger Hannel an a second by Amy Gates.

Natalie Roseberry gave the full board an update on the election changes and that her office would be mailing out absentee application to every registered voter and not ballots unless requested. She also informed the board that there may be some federal money to help subsidize costs incurred due to COVID-19.

Rodger Hannel made a motion to approve the finance Committee minutes. Amy Gates seconded. Voice vote 8-0. Minutes approved.

Highway

The Road and Bridge Committee met Wednesday, May 13, 23020 at 3:30 p.m. at the County Highway Department. The meeting was called to order at 3:30 p.m.

Members present were Rodger Hannel and Andy Borrowman in person, Mark Mountain and John Birch by phone. Chris Johnson, County Engineer, was also present.

A motion was made by Mark Mountain, seconded by John Birch to pay claims per claim reports dated May 13th, 2020. All in favor, motion carried.

A motion was made by Mark Mountain, seconded by John Birch, to approve Derry Township’s Half Aid to Bridge project on 275th St. Project consisted of replacing a 36” diameter CMP x 40’ long. Total cost was $5,304.04 or $2,652.52 each. To settle Pike County needs to pay Derry Township the sum of $1,730.92. All in favor. Motion carried.

A motion was made by John Birch, seconded by Mark Mountain to approve a supplemental resolution concerning Section 15-00098-00-BR in the sum of $30,000.00 for construction engineering costs. These costs will be reimbursed with State funds after the project is completed. All in favor. Motion carried.

New Business: Kiser Creek Bridge construction continues and is expected to be completed and open to the public in June.

Old Business: Max and Brenda Middendorf met with Chris Johnson today and advised that the new building facility might qualify for the Rebuild Illinois funding opportunity. The State has allocated $25,000,000.00 and project awards is on a first come first serve basis. Brenda is working on the application to get it submitted as soon as possible for a change at this money for the project.

Chris Johnson discussed with the committee that at the last board meeting the Finance Committee mentioned looking at reallocation of landfill tipping fees this coming July. The highway department gets 30 percent of the fees and these are the funds that are planned to pay for the new highway facility improvements. The committee discussed this and if this funding does not continue going to the highway department due to the current general fund budget shortfalls, the building project will not be possible at this time.

A motion was made by John Birch, seconded by Mark Mountain, to adjourn meeting at 3:50 p.m. Motion carried.

John Birch made a motion to approve Resolution 15-00098-00-BR. Mark Mountain seconded. Voice vote 8-0. Motion approved.

Tom Lewis made a motion to approve the engineering costs of Resolution 15-00098-00-BR. Rodger Hannel seconded. Voice vote 8-0. Motion approved.

John Birch made a motion to approve the Highway Committee minutes. Mark Mountain seconded. Voice vote 8-0. Minutes approved.

Building and Grounds

The Building and Grounds committee met on Wednesday, May 20, 2020 at 3:30 p.m. Present were: Ton Lewis, Rodger Hannel, Derek Ross, Andy Borrowman and Sheriff David Greenwood.

Sheriff Greenwood informed the B & G committee that the courthouse security project has been stalled. The elevator work has been stopped due to workers being unable to get parts from a California company that is shut down because of COVID_19. Sheriff Greenwood has been asked by the city of Pittsfield whether the annual Pig Days and the Pittsfield Fall Festival can be held on the courthouse lawn. The B & G committee tabled this decision since the current Governor Orders on such large group activities does not allow this. Andy Borrowman wanted to see if the Illinois Legislature will make any changes to the Governor’s Orders, as they are meeting in Springfield this week.

The monthly bills totaling $89,511.50 were approved on a motion by Derek Ross and a second by Tom Lewis. Motion passed. Of this total, $79,221.60 was related to the courthouse security project, and $3,622.50 for the installation of air louvres for the courthouse boiler.

Motion to adjourn at 4:07 p.m. by Derek Ross and seconded by Tom Lewis. Motion passed.

Mark Mountain made a motion to approve the Building and Grounds committee minutes. John Birch seconded. Voice vote 8-0. Motion approved.

GIS/IT

The GIS committee of the Pike County Board met at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday May, 12, 2020 in the upstairs conference room of the Pike County Jail as well as remotely. Those participating in the meeting were: Amy Gates, Dan Brennecke, Jim Sheppard, Board Chairman Andy Borrowman, Paula Dean, Nicole McDonald, Corey Phillips, Sandy Schacht, and several people from GFI.

Routine bills in the amount of $9,544.57 were approved for payment on a motion by Amy Gates and a second by Jim Sheppard.

Corey revisited the computer issues we experienced last month. He recommended that we purchase additional backup appliances, one in the Health Department and the other in the Government Building. I have attached the quote for the additional Datto devices. He felt that with the installation of these devices we could get back up and running much faster if we have issues again. Amy Gates made a motion and Jim Sheppard seconded, to forward to the full board a quotation for Datto backup appliances for the Health Department and the Government building. Motion carried.

Nicole McDonald talked about issues that the Supervisor of Assessments has had with support from Proval and said they are looking into an alternative.

Paula Dean was present and discussed the status of the machines at the Health Department and we worked on where 11 monitors that were ordered for them had gone.

Meeting adjourned at 6:23 p.m. on a motion by Am Gates and a second by Jim Sheppard.

A brief discussion was had regarding the backup hardware. The board decided to table the vote.

Derek Ross made a motion to approve the GIS/IT minutes. Amy Gates seconded. Voice vote 8-0. Minutes approved.

Public Safety

The Pike County Public Safety Committee was called to order at 7:16 p.m. on May 20th, 2020. Those in attendance were committee members Derek Ross, Andy Borrowman, Amy Gates, Tom Lewis and Pike County Ambulance director Josh Martin.

Old Business: The newly implementer “Crew Chief” designation seem to be working as hoped. Snedecker Risk Management has still not responded on an opinion regarding the Personnel Manual, but Jim Sheppard indicated they were behind on getting to some things due to COVID-19. We will revisit the status of this at June’s meeting.

New Business: Administrator Josh Martin presented a request from Liberty Village to consider Pike County Ambulance entering a contract with them. The committee chose not to entertain the option. He also presented that an individual sent a letter directly to the Pike County Ambulance Department requesting that a bill be “written off.” The committee asked Administrator Martin to have such requests go through hour billing vendor and then our collection vender. Finally, a proposal was submitted for consideration from our bill collection vendor to accept a reduced payoff amount of $6,000.00 for a bill due in the amount of $7,416.70. The total bill was $9,997.50 and the individual has already paid $2,580.80 toward the full amount. A motion was made by Amy Gates and seconded by Tom Lewis to accept the offer of $6,000.00 as full payment for the remaining $7,416.70 owed. The motion passed.

Marcus Rush of Pike County Ambulance wanted clarification and something in writing showing he will be eligible for reimbursement under the Paramedic Reimbursement Program established by the Pike County Ambulance Department. The committee asked Administrator Martin to get Marcus the requested document.

Tom Lewis made a motion and seconded by Amy Gates to pay bill sin the amount of $22,804.39. The motion passed.

Tom Lewis made a motion and seconded by Amy Gates to adjourn. The motion passed and the meeting adjourned at 7:51 p.m.

Mark Sprague made a motion to approve the Public Safety committee report. John Birch seconded. Voice vote 8-0. Minutes approved.

New Business

Mark Mountain informed the Board that he was looking into the possibility of changing the Quadrennial Assessment and splitting that assessment into sections to be assessed each year. Mark Sprague asked when court was going to resume and State’s Attorney Zack Bored stated they are scheduling things for June 1st, 2020.

Old Business

None

Chairman’s Remarks

None

Summary of Expenses for the Month/Mileage & Per Diem Report

Motion to approve made by Amy Gates. Seconded by John Birch. Voice vote 8-0. Reports approved.

Questions from Press and Visitors

None

Closed Session to review minutes of prior closed sessions pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(21).

Motion to enter closed session made by Amy Gates. Second by Mark Mountain. Voice vote 8-0. Closed session entered at 8:43 p.m.

Amy Gates made a motion to end closed session. John Birch seconded. Voice vote 8-0. Closed session ended at 8:45 p.m.

Adjourn

Amy Gates made a motion to adjourn. Seconded by Tom Lewis Voice vote 8-0. Meeting adjourned at 8:46 p.m.

https://www.pikecountyil.org/county-boards/minutes/