Jasper County Board Minutes
COUNTY OF JASPER NEWTON, ILLINOIS
County Office Building 204 W Washington St, Newton, IL 62448
April 14th , 2022
The County Board met in regular session on Thursday, April 14th , 2022. The meeting was called
to order at 7:00 pm by proclamation according to law by Sheriff Francis. Sheriff Francis led a
moment in silence and the Pledge of Allegiance. Members present were Bollman,
Fehrenbacher, Geier, Hall, Heltsley, Hickox, Kerner, Leffler, Pickens, Swick, Warfel, and
Weddell.
Public comments: Three 4-H Ambassadors with the Jasper County 4-H spoke on what activities
they have been actively involved in. Kasey Sanders, 4-H Youth Development Educator for
Jasper, Effingham, Clay, and Fayette Counties, spoke about events which have taken place and
are planned for the youth in Jasper County. She handed out a list of all the activities offered.
Geier made a motion to approve the agenda. Bollman seconded the motion. Motion carried on
a voice vote.
Committee Reports: Standing Committees
Ambulance Department: The Jasper County Ambulance Committee was held on April 6 th ,
2022. The floor was reinstated for public comment. Greg Sidwell spoke about the town hall
meeting, He feel although attendance was lower than we had hoped the meeting was a success
in getting some public awareness. He felt it led us in a new direction as well. Mike Evans spoke
on behalf of the Jasper County Farm Bureau to express they would support the change from a
property tax levy to a sales tax increase. The Farm Bureau is able and willing to support the
sales tax with help in advertising to get the public educated. Old Business: The Town hall
meeting went well, the suggestion of using Facebook live on the next one to maybe get some
more attendance. The Contract with Jasper County School Board was talked about. The
School will be sending a check for $10,000 for the Ambulance service contract to cover the
school events. New Business: Change in tax referendum. Moving from a property tax to a
Public safety sales tax. This would be a .5% sales tax increase and the money generated
would go to fund the Ambulance service. The wording on this needs to be in a way that gives
the County Board authority to where that money goes. D. Weddell made Motion and seconded
by M. Hall. Motion passed, No votes against. D. Hickox voiced that he was not voting. 1
abstained vote counted. The Jasper County Board will meet at 08:20 am Monday, April 11 th at
the County Building to discuss this as well. Informational Items: Building and Grounds: Backup
generator was serviced by Ambraw Power. Regular maintenance was needed. Equipment
updates: 2358 has routine service work scheduled, 2357 had brake work done and the Def
system worked on. Staffing: We have 2 part-time EMT’s that will be starting in April. This
should relieve some stress of overtime from our Full time staff. Next scheduled meeting will be
Wednesday, May 5 th , 2022 at 8:30 a.m.
Buildings: The Building Committee met on April 12 th , 2022 at 7:00 pm. Tom’s Report: Jason
Bierman removed a piece of paneling in the courthouse to see if it can be left exposed rather
than purchasing new paneling. The newly purchased water softener for the courthouse needed
to be sent back because it wasn’t working properly. New sound equipment is being installed in
the courthouse courtroom. Tom has purchased wax to wax the floors in the courthouse and
county building. Old Business: The committee reviewed an estimate from Steffen for heating
and cooling units for the courthouse lobby. The committee discussed this and decided to wait
until Pickens receives a quote for a full unit to discuss it further. The committee received an
estimate for Mahaffeys for the parking lot wall at the county building. The committee discussed
this. New Business: The committee discussed how to fix the roof and window leaks in one of
the courthouse offices. Newton Elite Fitness has approval to use the courthouse lawn on
Saturday, June 25th. Next meeting May 9 th at 7:00 pm.
Finance: The Jasper County Finance Committee met on April11 th , 2022. Treasurer’s Report:
Bigard reported the general fund income of $355,457.57 and the expenses of $198, 552.82
Fiscal year to date totals are State/General Fund Income $834,038.75, Personal property
income is $187,610.99, total income $1,021,649.74. Expenses to date $864,614.54 with a net
profit of $157,035.20. Bigard went over the Jail construction expenses occurred of
$3,599,700.77. New Business: Carl Baker was present by Zoom. Baker stated they are back in
the office working. Baker spoke about programs completed with children in the county, along
with programs for adults in the community. University of Illinois Extension Agreement was
presented to the committee. Fehrenbacher made a motion to approve the University of Illinois
Extension Agreement. Swick seconded the motion. Motion passed. Corey McDonald, Kemper
Technology Consulting was present to speak on the proposal. Pricing is based on computers.
Department heads are to communicate equipment updates. They will be actively monitoring and
get alerts of issues, the system is automated. Files are backed up daily and sometimes more
frequently. Bigard noted the time period of payment needs to be extended a longer period
because of the time to approve the bills. Fehrenbacher made a motion to approve the
Information Technology Services Management Agreement with Kemper Technology Consulting.
Bollman seconded the motion. Motion passed. Court Security is currently being paid for by
Court Security Funds. In 2020, the court security went full-time. Blake stated the case load and
went over fees and numbers presented to the committee. The Court Security Funds will not fully
fund court security. Funds will need to be budgeted from the General Fund in the future. There
was discussion about elected officials’ salaries. Diel stated other counties around have
problems with elected officials. He went on to say the county has good elected officials and you
have to pay them to keep them. Warfel went on to explain past practice. He stated the average
income for an individual in the county is $27,000 and for a family $54,000. He had a packet for
the committee. Geier spoke on law enforcement mandates and no funding. Mandates are to be
completed or certification could be pulled. The sheriff can be effected by the actions of his
deputies. Bigard and Blake discussed the salaries. Heltsley made a motion for $750 per year
increase for the next 4 years. Swick seconded the motion. Motion passed. Old Business:
ARPA Funds will be dispersed out in June. Bigard gave an update on items that have been
approved for ARPA Funds. Next meeting Friday, May 6 th , 2022 at 8:30 am at the County
Building.
Highway Department: The Jasper County Road & Bridge Committee met on Monday, April 11,
2022. New Business: County Engineer Andrew Deters informed the Committee the Electronic
Collection Event held on March 26, 2022, collected 20,465 pounds gross weight. This meets
the minimum gross weight of 18,000 lbs. The committee was all in concurrence to hold another
collection event in August. The Oil Letting was held on March 15, 2022. County Engineer
Andrew Deters informed the committee the prices were up about 20% from last year.
Approximately 16.5 miles of road will be oiled with local and MFT Funds. Discussion was held
on upcoming summer projects. Andrew informed the committee the Guard Rail Project and the
Hunt City West Soil Cement Project will be on June State Letting. The Pavement Preservation
Day Labor will consist of 25.14 miles of oiling. The next regular Road & Bridge Meeting will be
held on Monday, May 9, 2022 at 7:00 a.m. at the Highway Department.
Operations: The Operations Committee met on March 21, 2022. Old Business: Fehrenbacher
informed the committee of employee recognition updates. New Business: The committee
discussed the information that Joshua Blackwell with ICRMT spoke of during the Public Safety
committee meeting. Next meeting April 18, 2022 at 7:00 pm.
Public Safety: The Public Safety Committee met on March 21, 2022 at 6:00 pm.
Reports: Drywall is going up in the new county jail. Decisions were made on several things,
including flooring, at a jail progress meeting. Sheriff Francis picked up the patrol car from
Kansas Highway Patrol and plans to check into getting another patrol car for this year. Ray Diel
from Snedekers spoke with Sheriff Francis about providing refreshments for an open house for
the new jail building. Shannon Woodard confirmed the lettering that will go on the exterior of the
new jail building. There was a minor leak at the animal control building but it has been
corrected. Old Business: Heltsley contacted the mayor regarding the animal control property
but there have been no changes. New Business: Joshua Blackwell from IPMG spoke to the
committee about a possible inspection of the new jail building to identify and prevent potential
risks. Blackwell answered questions and spoke of other services that IPMG provides. Next
meeting April 18 th at 6:00 pm.
Informative
Law Enforcement Center Pay/Progress: April 7 th discussed 87% complete 5% exterior left to
complete. Office electrical and plumbing is 100% complete. Working on getting a temporary
generator. May completion date is still projected. 911 has approved consoles for dispatch.
Board of Health- Hall spoke and Annual Report is in the packets.
Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development – Will be a meeting in the next couple of
months.
Fehrenbacher made a motion to approve the consent agenda containing the following items:
Approval of County Board March 10 & April 11, 2022, Minutes; Approval of March and April
Standing Committee Minutes; Approval of University of Illinois Extension Agreement;
Appointment of Paul Johnson as Trustee of Wade Community Fire District for a 3 Year Term;
Appointment of Brian Ochs as Trustee of Wade Community Fire District for a 3 Year Term; File
County Reports; Allow Claims. Geier seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote.
Old business: None
New Business:
Corey McDonald with Kemper Technology Consulting gave a presentation to the Finance
Committee on Monday and highlighted items of the proposed contract and answered questions
from board members. The proposal is to offer Office Network Support in the form of a help
desk, equipment support, backup monitoring, anti-virus monitoring, application monitoring,
vendor support, and performance reporting. With (5) Servers, (56) workstations, (6) network
environments, the total monthly cost will be $5,600. There is also a fee structure for services
performed outside the scope of this contract. The Finance Committee recommended approval
of this agreement with the amendment made by the State’s Attorney on payment timeframe
from 10 to 45 days. The Contract is included in the board packet. Fehrenbacher said this make
the county in compliance with Cyber Security Insurance and Election Cyber Security. Geier
made a motion for Approval of Information Technology Services Management Agreement with
Kemper Technology Consulting. Bollman seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote.
United Life Care/Ambulance Service Consultation/Management Option: Following the meeting
Monday, the board asked Andrew & Jennifer Hargrave (United Life Care) to return to the board
meeting Thursday evening for a continued discussion on possible consultation/management
options they can provide. This agenda item allows for discussion and any action the board
wants to take Thursday evening. Andrew was present to speak about offerings for the county
and what expectations to change direction of the ambulance. Problems were problems he saw
when he purchased United Life Care. Andrew would like the ambulance to remain county
owned because of good employees and IMRF and does not want a private company because it
will possibly try to move into his area. Andrew would feel looking at the ambulance and if he can
help then come up with a contract. He wants to help us out because he has a vested interest.
He would give solutions and advising. Gracey feels they will find things and 6 months is a not
enough time. Geier feels Gracey has done a good job with the mess he has been dealt with.
Heltsley made a motion to approve moving forward with a Consultation/Management contract
with United Life Care pending review of said contract by the State’s Attorney. Bollman seconded
the motion. Motion passed on a voice vote with Weddell voting no.
Adoption of County Officers “Elected Officials” Compensation Resolution (FY2023-FY2026):
The Finance Committee on Monday discussed County Officer Compensation after a lengthy
discussion an initial motion was made for a $500 a year increase and a second motion was
made for a $1,000 a year increase. A compromise of $750 was recommended and approved by
the committee. No separate action was taken on the Sheriff’s compensation, thus the
recommendation to the full board was $750 for all county officers that can be considered this
year. Also, no separate action was taken on a starting salary for any vacancy or newly elected
individual after the 2022 election cycle. Warfel presented options for elected officials and sheriff
along with starting pay with new elected officials. Heltsley would like to see the sheriff with
$10,000 more than other elected officials. Warfel went over area pay of other elected officials
around the area. Geier went over the requirements required for law enforcement. Hickox
brought about discussion on the risk of all professions. Swick made a motion of $750 yearly
increase for the elected officials which includes the treasurer, clerk, circuit clerk and assessor; a
$4,000 increase over what the sheriff is currently making. Motion passed on a roll call vote with
Bollman, Fehrenbacher, Geier, Hall, Heltsley, Kerner, Pickens, Swick, and Warfel voting yes.
Hickox, Leffer and Weddell voting no. Before voting on motion, Weddell discussed his idea that
the treasurer, circuit clerk and assessor should get a $1,000 raise each year and the county
clerk’s pay remain the same because she receives $5,000 for being the Health Insurance and
Risk Manager with her still making $1,000 more. Currently, elected officials receive $59,000 and
sheriff receives $65,000. Elected officials: treasurer, assessor, circuit clerk and county clerk
would receive in 2022/2023 $59,750, 2023/2024 $60,500, 2024/2025 $61,250 2025/2026
$62,000.
There was discussion on starting salary of elected officials. Heltsley made a motion starting
salary effective after the November election will be 6% less for newly elected or vacancy of an
elected office. Swick seconded the motion. Motion passed on a voice vote with Hickox and
Leffler voting no.
Jasper County Housing Authority Update: Steve Willis with the Jasper County Housing Authority
called me to discuss current issues facing the House Authority board. The board is made up of
(5) members that are appointed by the County Board and oversee the (2) Housing Authority
properties in Jasper County: Ste. Marie Apartments and Hamilton Apartments. These are
income-based apartments. Of the 5 members 2 have passed away and the other 3 including
Steve would like to step aside after many years of service. I told Steve I would announce that
any members of the Jasper County public that would have an interest in serving on the House
Authority Board are encouraged to contact Steve Willis at 618-553-4264 to discuss. Because
of the location of these properties, I will reach out to both the Village Board of Ste. Marie and
Newton City Council to strongly encourage representation from those municipalities on this
board.
No Closed Session
Board Comments: Hickox enjoyed how the special meeting and this meeting went, things were
discussed even though everyone may not have agreed.
Chairman’s Comments:
UCCI – Washington D.C. Meeting 4 members are going May 9-11
Finance Meeting in May will be Friday, May 6 th
Wished everyone a Happy Easter.
Leffler moved to adjourn at 8:16 pm. Hall seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote.
The next regular Jasper County Board meeting will be held on Thursday, May 12 th at 7:00 p.m.
Amy Tarr, Jasper County Clerk
