County Board Minutes
COUNTY OF JASPER NEWTON, ILLINOIS
County Office Building 204 W Washington St, Newton, IL 62448
January 13 th , 2022
The County Board met in regular session on Thursday, January 13 th , 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: Brandon Francis passed out 2 resolutions passed by Iroquois County, about the
Second Amendment Rights and House Bill 1465 is over a 700-page document and anti-police and more
rights to criminals. Miller stated this will be a cost to the county because of the body camera
requirements which will require software and storage of the footage. Hickox stated if enough act on this,
it will show they are opposed. It will not affect people until it takes effect and then it will be too late.
Weddell made a motion to approve the agenda. Heltsley seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice
vote.
Committee Reports: Standing Committees
Ambulance Department: The Jasper County Ambulance Committee met on January 5 th 2022.
Old Business: Mou agreement with arrow discussed. Motion made by Weddell to hold till next month,
seconded by Kerner. All in favor, motioned passed Agreement with school discussed it had been taken
to the school board, we have heard it was approved but are waiting on official notification from the school
district. Informational Items: Station Update: Dryer stopped working. Jone’s had one in stock and
available. Unit was purchased and is in place and working. Staffing concerns discussed. We have had
one new hire that has since turned in her notice. He other EMS job was offering more hours than
expected and paid more. Manager Gracey gave the board spreadsheets showing what our payroll
should look like with full staffing, what is look like now with short staff and overtime and also what it
would look like with increase pay. Gracey explained we are not getting any applicants to fill spots. Our
pay is lower than our competitors and people aren’t applying. The next meeting will be on Wednesday,
February, 2 nd 2022 at 8:30am.
Buildings: The Building Committee of Jasper County met on Monday, January 10 th , 2021 at 7:00 pm.
The meeting was held at the Jasper County Office Building in Newton. Tom’s Report: The switch to turn
off the water in the county building had to be removed, so the water softener can cycle at night. Jason
Bierman will be building a room around the furnace to help with noise in the courtroom. Fidelity
Construction Services will be completing the work to the court room walls next week. There should be
nothing in the courtroom next week. Tom is playing catch up. He was off part of last week for
bereavement. Rex Shew came in and worked for Tom on his days off. Old Business: Nothing on the
pavilion will work on plans in March and April. The court room wall repair and insulation of the furnace
room will hopefully be completed next week. Bill from Stephens came to look at the courthouse furnaces
and to see about heating and cooling the lobby. He looked to see if there is a way to make the heating
and air systems quieter. He has not come back with a report at this time. Bierman plans to complete the
wall in the assessor’s office; the quote does not include paint and finishing of the drywall. Parking lot
curb at the county building parking lot is still needing a quote. Kerner plans to add shelving for record
protection and add parking blocks to the county building parking lot when the weather warms up. The
electrical outlets will be done when Tom gets extra time. The water softener has been installed in the
county building. The committee went to look at the system after the meeting was over. New Business: A
quote was presented for 2 coats of paint and to fix the dings in the other three walls of the courtroom.
Kerner made a motion for Fidelity Construction Services to paint the 3 walls of the courtroom for $3,125.
Geier seconded the motion. Motion passed on a voice vote. Hickox brought up the idea of doing a major
electrical upgrade for the whole courthouse. Tom reported there are many breaker boxes throughout the
courthouse. This will be added to the 5-year plan. The wainscoting in the courthouse lobby needs to be
replaced. There will be further discussion on this. Next meeting February 7 th at 7:00 pm.
Finance: The Jasper County Finance Committee met on January 10 th , 2022. Treasurer’s Report: Bigard
gave a handout of the Treasurer’s Report and the Jail construction expenses. The Pilot Program money
has been dispersed to the county. The money will be dispersed in August the rest of the duration of the
program. Discussion of HVAC money from the grant for the jail project may be a possible expense. New
Business: Bigard did not receive an email from Jason Meyer on the Coroner’s Budget. Meyer would like
the budget to be amended to reflect what he had met with finance and discussed. The changes did not
get to Bigard for the budget. Bigard will have departments sign off next year on their budgets before it
goes to the full board. Heltsley asked if can wait till later in the year in case there is other changes
needed. Meyer just stated line items will be over. Bigard said as long as overall budget is under, it is ok.
Miller said just wait to layover. Fehrenbacher made a motion to amend the Coroner’s budget. Swick
seconded the motion. Motion passed. Old Business: Brandon had already started looking and
interviewed for computer and network support. The individuals did not show interest in the work. Francis
spoke with the sheriff in Richland County and the individual they had and accepted a position with
Kemper. Kemper is who Richland County contracts for their technology. There was discussion. Kemper
employee Cory McDonald would do an assessment for all the departments and there would be a cost to
this. If Kemper would receive the contract for the technology and cyber security then the fee would be
waived. Fehrenbacher made a motion for Kemper to complete and assessment up to $400. Heltsley
seconded the motion. Motion carried. Warfel presented the revised Election Precinct Plan Options. The
options were discussed. Option C would reduce the Wade Precincts from 5 to 4 and keep all the current
board members in their respective districts. Heltsley made a motion to present Option C to the County
Board. Fehrenbacher seconded the motion. Motion passed. Hall brought up the American Recovery Act
and the need to start with the departments’ requests and looking to see what is approved and prioritize a
list. 911 ordered the equipment and console, so 911 spent $400,000. So, they will not have the $200,000
for the brick and mortar. Another county got reimbursed out of the grant. Then the county could be paid
from 911. And 911 could be paid from the grant. The furnishings for the equipment and console may be
covered by the grant. The last Tuesday of the month SCIRPDC will be meeting. Warfel, Hall and
Fehrenbacher will then get the lists and see if they can compile the lists. Next meeting Monday, February
7 th , 2022 at 8:30 am at the County Building.
Highway Department: The Jasper County Road & Bridge Committee met on January 10, 2022 at the
Highway Office. New Business: The Committee discussed the approval of Resolution Appropriating
Funds for County Engineer’s Salary (BLR 09221) and Resolution Appropriating Funds for Payment of
Expenses and Salary of County Engineer. Danny Kerner made a motion to approve the Resolutions and
bring to County Board for full approval. Ron Swick seconded this motion. The Committee will be holding
interviews for the County Engineer’s position the week of January 17 th . Foreman’s mileage for December
2021 was 1,275 miles. Next meeting February 7 th at 7:00 am.
Operations: No meeting. Next meeting January 17 th at 7:00 pm.
Public Safety: The Public Safety Committee met on December 20 th , 2021 at 6:00 pm. Monthly Reports:
The jail is estimated to be 50% complete. Sheriff Francis did further research about the possibility of
making an I.T. position within the county. The committee had further discussion about this. Sheriff
Francis is still waiting on the Durango Pursuit from Kansas Highway Patrol, which was paid for out of last
year’s budget. The security system for the animal control building is fully installed. EJ Water inspected a
leak at the animal control building. The leak is in the process of being repaired. Old Business: The
committee again discussed the possibility of charging an animal control call out fee. The committee
agreed that creating a $200 callout fee when a dog is impounded would be beneficial. Leffler made a
motion to take the plan to the full board for approval. Pickens seconded the motion. The motion carried
on a voice vote. There have been no updates on the animal control building/land agreement with the city.
Next meeting January 17 th at 6:00 pm.
Informative
Law Enforcement Center Pay/Progress: Heltsley a progress meeting was held January 6 th . Shannon
Woodard reported 67% complete, projected to be complete on time. Framing on interior has started.
Plumbing and electrical work is ongoing. At 8:30 am tomorrow morning, Woodard is meeting with some
board members to tour the building if anyone else is interested.
Board of Health – Gave statistics.
Chamber of Commerce – No meeting, hopefully next month.
Economic Development (JEDI) – The quarterly meeting of JEDI will be tomorrow morning, January 14 at
8:30 a.m. at the Chamber Building. Senior apartments projected to be completed by March and
applications will be accepted starting January 16 th . The Power Plant Presentation was discussed. Warfel
reported Brad Watson with Vistra (Newton Power Plant) shared an update regarding the Illinois Coal to
Solar & Energy Storage Initiative and how it relates to the Newton Power Plant. Brad and his team will
be in remain in contact as the project/process continues. Woods spoke on how it would impact the
property taxes.
Hall made a motion to approve the consent agenda containing the following items: Approval of County
Board December 16, 2021, Minutes; Approval of December and January Standing Committee Minutes;
Adoption of Resolution Appropriating Funds for County Engineer’s Salary (Highway Committee);
Adoption of Resolution Appropriating Funds for Payment of Expenses & Salary of County Engineer
(Highway); File County Reports; and Allow Claims. Geier seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice
vote.
Old business: None
New Business:
In May the Jasper County Board approved a Reapportionment Plan as required every 10 years. In
November the Illinois General Assembly changed some language regarding Election Precincts namely,
how many registered voters can be located in a precinct the number was changed from 800 to 1200. As
a result of the changes, Counties were asked to review their reapportionment plans and make any
changes to election precincts and submit to the State Board of Elections no later than February 1, 2022.
Please note that because we passed a Reapportionment Plan in May this review was only to consider
changes to the election precincts and any resulting boundary changes. The County Clerk brought it to
the attention of the Finance Committee in December. At the Finance meeting on Monday, January 10 th
several options were considered, and it was agreed to amend the election precincts in Wade Township
reducing them from 5 to 4. As a result of this change, the County Board District boundaries had to be
adjusted. The plan selected by the Finance Committee kept all current board members in their
respective districts. Maps were given to the board members. Geier made a motion to adopt the Wade
Election Precinct and County Board District changes to the 2021 Jasper County Reapportionment Plan.
Heltsley seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote.
The City of Newton is not responding to the inter-governmental agreement, Miller has sent it to the City
of Newton Attorney and the City Clerk. The Public Safety Committee has been discussing for three
months a fee when a dog is impounded. The city would be charged the fees, not the individuals. An
animal control “call-out” fee of $200 would be charged when a dog is impounded. Leffler explained the
number of calls and impounded dogs for the City of Newton compared to the rest of the county. Miller
said an ordinance would have to be passed. An ordinance will be drafted at the Public Safety meeting
Monday.
Jasper County Liquor Commissioner Ron Heltsley would like to make some revisions to the current liquor
ordinance, which has not been updated in several years. The county is having problems with bars and
underage drinking, Heltsley asked the board if they would want to have a serving age of 21 or leave as
18, 19, and 20 years old. Warfel said need to have a supervisor over the age of 21 there was an
agreement amongst the board. Heltlsey is making changes to items which no longer apply. Heltsley will
be working on this and if anyone has any ideas to contact him. Miller will look over the ordinance when
the changes are complete. The ordinance will be brought to the board.
Board Comments: Hickox wanted to tell Ben Bland the county engineer who will be retiring that he is very
well appreciated and thanked him for his work.
Chairman’s Comments: Apex Clean Energy – Violet Solar Project will have a presentation at the
February Board Meeting. A plaque will be displayed on the Law Enforcement Center with board
members who were involved in the project starting date of 2020. Please look and make sure this is the
way you would like your name listed.
Leffler moved to adjourn at 7:56 pm. Geier seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote.
The next regular Jasper County Board meeting will be held on Thursday, February 10 th at 7:00 p.m.
Amy Tarr, Jasper County Clerk
