Jasper County Board Minutes
COUNTY OF JASPER NEWTON, ILLINOIS
County Office Building 204 W Washington St, Newton, IL 62448
October 12, 2023
The County Board met in regular session on Thursday, October 12, 2023. The meeting was called to order at 6:00 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, Deckard, Geier, Heltsley, Judson, Pickens, Spiker, Warfel, and Weddell.
Public comments: Jack Shockey Village of Rose Hill President had issues over the summer. The sheriff’s department has been doing a really good job. Animal Control has had issues with dogs and wondering if something can be done on a neighborhood dog and nothing has been done. The dog has had two bites. He would like something to be done. The States Attorney would be available to talk to Shockey. There is concern about other animals getting hurt and/or any children. Tickets have been written by the village, just want the animal taken care of.
Deckard moved to approve the agenda. Heltsley seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote.
Reports:
County Departments
Ambulance – 135 runs for September, 911 – 71, Refusals/No pt contact – 15, Transfers/Discharges – 29, Mutual Aid – 15, Fire Standby – 5. John Curtright is retiring November 20th Hargrave will potentially be looking for a medic to replace. Clay is continuing to apply for various grants for equipment. 2358 should hopefully be going for remount in December. Plan to purchase 3 new cardiac monitors – Zoll is giving us a deal where payments can be made annually for 5 years. This is roughly $25,000 per year. The monitors are approximately 8 years old. Power Cots and Power loads have been ordered. No date yet for when they will be delivered. Cedric Woodrum will be the new operations manager. Weddell wanted to know the bank balance and it is $458,000. The revenue is coming in to support the expenses.
Highway Department – Crooked Creek Township is planning a soil cement project using their remaining RBI Funds. This consists of approximately .5 miles south of the Rose Hill Village limits and approximately 1.2 miles north of the village limits on Township Road 1200E. The Preliminary / Construction Engineering Services Agreement with Connor & Connor, Inc. are attached. The attached agreement will need County Board approval. The Highway Department is mowing Right of Way and approximately halfway done. The summer oil and chipping for townships and county is complete including the County’s Pavement Preservation consisting of 20.5 miles has been completed. Striping of the Ste. Marie and CIPS Roads will be completed in the next week, weather permitting. The Highway Department will be cleaning ditches once crops are harvested and as weather permitting. The changes to the Solid Waste have been going well and just a reminder that the dumpsters will no longer be going out to the townships after October 19th and will go back out in April 2024 and will only be available on Saturdays from 7:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. at the Highway Department.
Board of Health – In packet – Met on September 25 had structural problem with the roof $51,000 to fix. Exterior work will begin again next week and Servpro will be finishing up clean up from the fire. Interior work will be in three phases to keep the building open for services. Next meeting will be Monday, November 27, 2023 at 5:30 pm.
County Positions/Services
Building Maintenance – Sept 26 Martinsville Roofing repaired a spot above the north board room wall along the roof edge. Sept 27 Ryan Kruger called Dan Utley to investigate and unplug a downspout drain line of the courthouse. Sept 28 Alliance Tractor sold the John Deere lawn tractor, blade and leaf vac for $1,950. Oct 10 Dick Mahaffey patched the curb at the rear of the county building and the south steps of the courthouse. Oct 11 Terry Collins from Kichner’s called and the carpet is in for the county building. It will be installed in Nov – Dec. The payment will be out of the current fiscal year for material and labor. Geier spoke about a City Wide Planning Committee are planning beautification projects. They wanted to speak to the board about the alley space next to the county building. They were asking about taking out the block wall was from a hotel. They were not sure who the wall belongs to. Plan to put in alley way and shrubs instead of a wall. Need to find out ownership of wall.
Animal Control – In Packet
Technology – Corey McDonald will no longer be with Kemper and Logan will now be taking care of the IT in Jasper County. Corey would still like to still be involved because he will be in a neighboring county and will be dealing with county issues. Logan gave a report on the ongoing projects. Doug and Eric would like to have an Imagine This work with on a website and possibly have other entities in the community who would be interested. A meeting will be set.
Elected Officials
Treasurer- Reports from Bigard were sent in the board packet. Bigard was not at the meeting to give reports.
Other Elected Officials/Offices
The County Clerk informed the board that there will need to be electrical work for the installation of the push button door access, and it was not included in the grant money, but she will ask to see if there is any grant money left for this expense.
The States Attorney asked about the panic buttons with Barlow Lock and Security. Logan from Kemper will be meeting with them on Friday so, he will ask about them.
Brandon Francis said if wages would change with the union contract his budget would have to be amended because the fund salaries are based on current pay.
Spiker made a motion to approve the consent agenda containing the following items: Approval of County Board September 14, 2023, Minutes; Approval of Preliminary/Construction Engineering Services Agreement for Crooked Creek Township Soil Cement Project Using RBI Funds [23-01134-00-FP]; Approval of 2024 Illinois Counties Risk Management Trust/SRM Insurance Renewal [Risk, Unemployment, Health]; Authorize Opening a New Bank Account for Public Defender Funding;
Issue National Apprenticeship Week Proclamation; and File County Reports. Geier seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote.
A mandatory function of the County Board is to evaluate all claims. This board is the ultimate authority on expenditures made by the County of Jasper. Each month in the board packet is a listing of claims both from the County Clerk’s office and those paid out by the County Treasurer’s office. I encourage all board members to review these claims thoroughly, especially those departments and offices that you oversee as points of contact.
Warfel called the board’s attention to page 223 in the board packet. ¾ of the way down on the page are 4 expenses paid to the Circuit Clerk by the Treasurer’s office. The first two are donations to Newton Football and Eagle Pride Football. These donations were made using public funds, but the donations recognized Jamie Blake – Circuit Clerk. Any donation that is advertising an elected public official should not be paid for with public funds. The other two donations were reimbursements to the Circuit Clerk for donations she made to the Illinois Association of Court Clerks Political Action Committee. At no point should public funds be used to support a Political Action Committee. It was Warfel’s recommendation that the board require the Jasper County Circuit Clerk to pay back these four items for $400 total. Bollman moved to request the Circuit Clerk reimburse the fund $400 for the 4 expenses paid in August. Judson seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote.
Additionally, if you turn to page 225 in the board packet. You will find an expense of $3,329 to Stanford Marketing in Flora Illinois for apparel. This bill is for 67 items of clothing in addition to polos there are several jackets and high-end apparel North Face, Travis Mathew, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, etc. At the time this order was placed, this office had 2 employees. In Warfel’s opinion, this is excessive spending and does not confirm with the appropriate use of the funds which they were paid from.
The funds by which these items were paid out of is found in the Illinois Compiled Statutes 705 ILCS 105. The County Board sets the fees for these accounts, and they are to be used for purposes related to the operation of the Court System. The Circuit Clerk Operational Fund is to be used to offset the cost incurred by the Circuit Clerk in performing the additional duties required to collect and disburse funds to the entities of state and local government. It specifically says one person should not have the ability to approve or disburse funds.
With the board’s consent Warfel would like to advise the County Clerk and County Treasurer that unless a bill is a routine utility or maintenance bill that is normally paid, any bills like this should be reviewed and allowed by the County Board before any check is cut.
The bill was reviewed by board members. The board questioned why she did not use a local business. The board discussed having purchases approved prior to purchase. While the bill for apparel has been paid. The board before the final passage of the budget reviewed the office expenditure account of the Circuit Clerk. The board discussed cutting her budget. Board members agreed this was an excessive expense.
There is question of if there was the County name on the items. There was a lot of discussion. Judson moved to reduce fund 01-16-00-0402 Circuit Clerk Office Supplies from $3,500 to $500. There was discussion on the amount it should be reduced. There was not a second on the motion, so motion died. Weddell moved to reduce fund 01-16-00-0402 Circuit Clerk Office Supplies from $3,500 to $1,500. Deckard seconded the motion. Motion carried on voice vote with 2 nos.
Geier moved to allow claims. Weddell seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote.
Old Business:
Item A –VISION 2031 – Jasper County Government Strategic Plan
Warfel continues to strive towards the goal of formulating a comprehensive long-term strategic plan for our County Government. The goal of a County Website is something that has been expressed by many both internally and within the public.
Item B – Energy Transition Community Grant
Phase 2 of the Grant was submitted ahead of the May 31, 2023, deadline. Caitlyn Walker with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity contacted the County yesterday, Wednesday October 11 needing some additional information. Mr. Geier, Mr. Bollman and Brooke Frederick with South Central Illinois Regional Planning and Development Commission have been working to submit all follow-up information.
New Business:
Item A – Adoption of the Jasper County FY2024 Budget
At the September County Board meeting the Board voted to display the proposed County Budget for at least a period of 15 days prior to final passage. Before us tonight is the FY2024 Budget for the County of Jasper with supporting documents breaking down the overall and general fund accounts. Slight adjustments in certain line items have been made since displaying. As I have mentioned in the past the County never has a “balanced budget” we are conservative on our revenues and plan for the worst on the expense side. Typically, the budget submitted and approved will show a negative balance despite most years ending with a positive balance.
Jasper County FY2024 Budget: Jasper County General Fund FY2024 Budget:
$11,779,041 Total Revenue $3,552,397 Total Revenue
$12,712,356 Total Expense $4,242,623 Total Expense
-$933,315 Total Difference -$690,226 Total Difference
Prior year difference and percentage increase for each department would be something to do for next year’s budget. 12.5% increase in expense 8.5% increase in revenue. Despite a proposed FY2024 Budget increase, Warfel said the board expects to lower the County’s portion of the tax levy again this year.
Weddell moved to adopt the Jasper County FY2024 Budget. Pickens seconded the motion. Roll Call vote was taken with Bollman, Deckard, Geier, Heltsley, Judson, Pickens, Spiker, Warfel, and Weddell voting yes. The motion was adopted. The Jasper County FY2024 Budget is adopted.
Item B – Discussion on Employee Appreciation Luncheon – January 24, 2024
Last December we held an employee appreciation luncheon for all County Employees. In talking with the Department Heads regarding appreciation/recognition for our County Employees they suggested something similar, with County Board approval. The plan would be for an appreciation luncheon to take place on Wednesday, January 24 from 11 to 1. If the County Board approved, all non-emergency offices/departments would close to allow all employees to attend. The meal would be prepared by the elected officials/department heads, initial discussion was for a fish fry-type meal. During this luncheon, it would be my intention to recognize years of service for county employees. Warfel would ask for each department/office to assist. Warfel would like to compile a list of county employees with 25+, 20+, 15+, 10+, and 5+ years of service to the County. Additional meetings will be needed to work out details prior to the luncheon. Geier moved to approve an Employee Appreciation Luncheon on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with all non-emergency offices/departments closing during this time to allow all employees to attend. Bollman seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote. The Employee Appreciation Luncheon is approved, and all non-emergency offices will be closed on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Board Comments:
Bollman gave a reminder on October 21st Scare on the Square will be 2-4 p.m. and Witches Walk will be 7-?? at the Newton K of C Hall.
Weddell is taking care of the digital sign on the square, so any information can be sent to him. He will be updating the sign on the first of the week.
Chairman’s Comments: United Counties Council of Illinois Fall Conference – Friday, October 27 – Saturday, October 28 in Springfield, Illinois. Metro Communications will be conducting some service on the various Jasper County Government lines on Friday, October 20th. While the service work is scheduled from 12:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. we wish to inform the public that if County Government phone or internet lines are not functioning properly on October 20th it may be because of this service work. I wish to extend my thanks again to all those who have a hand in the drafting of our FY2024 County Budget. A special thanks to all the Department Heads and Elected Officials who took the time to help compile the budget and a big thank you to the Treasurer’s office for all the work that goes into drafting the budget.
The board does have an executive session this evening with action on Item C and Item D under New Business following the executive session.
Judson moved to have the board enter closed session under the following exception: Discussion of Minutes of Meeting Lawfully Closed (exception 21). Spiker seconded the motion. A Roll Call vote was taken with Bollman, Deckard, Geier, Heltsley, Judson, Pickens, Spiker, Warfel, and Weddell voting yes. The motion was adopted. The Board entered the Executive Session at 7:22 p.m.
Reentered open session 7:40 p.m.
Item C –Approval to Keep Closed Session Minutes Confidential
We are required semi-annually to meet to review the minutes of all closed session meetings and determine if confidentiality still exists or if the minutes or portions are no longer required to remain confidential. Pickens moved to Keep Closed Session Minutes Confidential. Heltsey seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote. Previous Closed Session Minutes will remain confidential.
Item D – Approval to Destroy Verbatim Recordings of Closed Session Prior to April 2022
After 18 months assuming a written copy is kept, we can destroy the verbatim record of the closed session meetings. We did this last in February 2023 and thus all verbatim records have been destroyed before August 2021. Another action this month would allow all records to be destroyed before August 2022. Spiker moved to Destroy Verbatim Recordings of Closed Session Prior to April 2022. Deckard seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote. Verbatim Closed Session Recordings prior to April 2022 will be destroyed.
Warfel asked the board to have the December meeting board meeting at 5:00 p.m. due to daughter’s performance at 7 p.m., no one objected.
Geier moved to adjourn at 7:45 p.m. Heltsley seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote.
The Next Board Meeting will be Thursday, November 9, 2023, at 6:00 p.m.
Amy Tarr, Jasper County Clerk
