Jasper County Board Minutes
COUNTY OF JASPER NEWTON, ILLINOIS
County Office Building 204 W Washington St, Newton, IL 62448
November 17th , 2022
The County Board met in regular session on Thursday, November 17th , 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. Swick and Geier were absent.
Public comments: Lynette Huddleston give taxpayers more than a month between real estate taxes
more time to pay taxes in between.
Hall made a motion to approve the agenda. Kerner seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote.
Committee Reports: Standing Committees
Ambulance Department: Old Business: Credit card finally arrived and able to make purchases with it.
New Business: Fully Staffed- 2 more coming aboard by December; all collections have been sent to our
collection agency; Deposits are coming in regularly and billing company is fixing all old records from up
to a year ago; Julie Alzate resigned; 147 calls for service in October: 80 911’s, 19 refusals, 5 MVA, 18
transfers & discharges, 6 standby events, 19 mutual aid assists. It is going in the right direction and
workers are getting along.
Buildings: The Building Committee of Jasper County met on Monday, November 14 th , 2022 at 7:00 pm.
Tom’s Report: Tom has not heard from John Lewis regarding the plans for the south porch on the
courthouse lawn. The repairs on the curb in the south parking lot of the county building is
finished. Termites were discovered at the county courthouse. Arab Pest Control treated the building for a
$1,200 fee as well as a $300 fee each year. Tom spoke about adding emergency exits to the county
building and closing the windows on the Board of Reviews room. Both projects plan to be added to the 5-
year plan. Old Business: Pickens updates the committee of new ideas for the courthouse pavilion. New
Business: Pickens opened the floor to public comments to discuss damage to the electronic sign on the
courthouse lawn. The county has insurance on the sign but it would be a $2,500 deductible. The
committee discussed the different options of how to solve this problem while avoiding financial strain on
the county or the First National Bank of Olney, who funded the sign when it was first purchased. Geier
made a motion to pay the $2,500 deductible with a plan that there will be an agreement that the First
National Bank of Olney to pay any further deductibles for a 10-year period. Leffler seconded the motion.
The motion carried on a voice vote. The committee discussed the current 5-year plan. Tiffany Keller
spoke of her proposal of plans for the courthouse lawn including new light poles for the exterior of the
courthouse lawn and new landscaping around the courthouse building. The committee approves the
Chamber of Commerce’s request to use the courthouse lawn on December 10th.
Finance: The Jasper County Finance Committee met on Monday, November 14 th , 2022. Technology
consultant report by Corey McDonald, Kemper Technology Consulting– Consolidating all 3 camera
systems into one so can see everything. Discussed security software changes, adding, and removing
security software. It will not change the contract price. Heltsley made a motion to make the changes to
the security software. Fehrenbacher seconded the motion. The motion carried on a voice vote. McDonald
said the cost of cleanup and management for Kemper environment is almost complete. Treasurer’s
Report: Bigard reported the income of $646,692.93 and the expenses of $213,656,.17. Fiscal year to
date totals are State/General Fund Income $3,613,447.98, Personal property income is $717,588.96,
total income $4,331,036.94. Expenses to date $2,838,800.76 with a net profit of $1,492,236.18. New
Business: Jasper County Trustee – Tax Deeds. The county Trustee held a sealed bid auction. The
Trustee has obtained tax deeds and needs approval. Heltsley made a motion for the Trustee to obtain
tax deeds. Fehrenbacher seconded the motion. The motion carried on a voice vote. Supervisor of
Assessment Contract was hoping to have a contract, but the company has not provided a contract.
Three neighboring counties have expressed interest in helping. The deadline for the office manager
position was November 10 th , four individuals have expressed interest in the position. Fehrenbacher made
a motion to pay the SCIRPDC FY23 per capita contribution. Heltsley seconded the motion. The motion
carried on a voice vote. Old Business: Annual tax levy will be lower. FY2023 Budget amendments were
presented. Assessment office had changes due to the state not reimbursing assessor salary and office
manager position. States Attorney office salary adjustment and highway changes. One office has not
turned the sheets back into the treasurer to verify their budget is correct. The Snedeker Risk
Management Annual Insurance Renewal was discussed. Jacob Janssen went over the reasons for the
increase of premium. Cyber insurance coverage increased from $100,000 to $1 million. Work comp went
up because of payroll changes. Property values increased and law enforcement due to the additional
beds. The insurance renewal will be on the board agenda. The sign on the courthouse lawn was
discussed because of it not working. Diel went over the options the county has with the insurance
coverage on the sign.
Highway Department: The Jasper County Road & Bridge Committee met on Monday, November 14,
2022, 7:00 a.m. at the Highway Office. Old Business: Discussion was held on the levy request and the
Solid Waste program. The Committee was informed the levy request had not been increased in the past
few years and the extension rate was lower than the maximum levy rate for all funds associated with the
Highway Department and Solid Waste. The Committee agreed these levy request should all be adjusted
to stay at the maximum levy rate. Committee was informed the progress of the guardrail project and 20
of 26 locations had been completed. The remaining 6 locations will have bridge rail replaced and closed
to all traffic during this construction. New Business: The Committee discussed the following approval of
Preliminary / Construction Engineering Services with Connor & Connor on the following: Crooked Creek
– RBI Funds – Section 22-01132-00-DR; Fox – Township Bridge Funds – Section 22-02124-00-BR
Darrel Hickox made a motion to approve the Crooked Creek and Fox Township Engineering Services
with Connor & Connor and bring to Full Board for approval. Danny Kerner seconded this motion. Motion
carried on a voice vote.
Operations: The Operations Committee of Jasper County met on Monday, October 17, 2022 at 7:00 pm.
Old Business: Employee Recognition – There will be an employee recognition luncheon, Wednesday,
December 7th, 11- 1 pm, at the West End. The offices will remain open with a rotating lunch period for
employees in each department. The luncheon will consist of Subway sandwiches, chips from Dollar
General, as well as tea and lemonade provided by Doug Weddell. Each department should get a head
count by December 1st. New Business: Insurance Premium – The department heads were asked to
review the policy as well as the equipment and vehicles listed. This will be reviewed at the county board
meeting. SAFE Assessment – Under review Personnel Policy – Jason Warfel stated that he went through
the existing policy and added a table of contents and redesigned the policy to make it easier to read but
left the content the same. He asked the operations committee for feedback. The committee added to 4.1
– there will be an annual statement of total pay and benefits given to each employee, Geier reviewed the
Nepotism policy, FOIA policy, and county owned benefits policy. 3.15 and 3.16 Nepotism policy – no
direct supervision of a family member. 22.1 All FOIA requests shall be forwarded to the State’s Attorney
for review. 16.1 Operating County Owned Vehicles – Any employee operating a county owned vehicle
shall adhere to state laws regarding driving on roadways. Law enforcement shall be exempt to using only
hands-free devices within the scale of their duties. Other items discussed were Longevity Pay and meal
reimbursement should remain the same at this time. 8.13 Sick leave- check with State’s Attorney with
verbiage, 8.19 cleanup verbiage on bereavement, 8.23 parameters for unpaid leave of absence,
verbiage cleanup, It is the employee's responsibility to check status of any benefits on any leave.8.27
Review Family Medical Leave Act with the State’s Attorney 11.7 Sexual Harassment, discussion on
investigations and rights. In Section 6, training will be addressed. Sexual harassment training, cyber
security training, and ethics training will be added.
Public Safety: The Public Safety Committee of Jasper County met on Monday, October 17 th , 2022, at
6:30 pm. Monthly Reports: Sheriff – Brandon Francis reported there will be a Punch List meeting on
November 3rd at 1pm. The jail is still waiting on a few items including but not limited to the generator and
some furniture. Francis reports a squad car was ordered from Morrow Brothers Ford a couple months
ago but has not come in yet. The dealership will equip the car with all needed equipment. The
equipment install is very competitive. Hopefully the squad car will come in before the end of the fiscal
year. The last couple of years, we have not been able to get vehicles locally due to lack of inventory.
Shop with a Cop has been set for Dec 6th at Olney Walmart. Applications can be picked up in the
sheriff’s office. 911- Corey McDonald, Mike Ochs, and Chris Overbeck are working on installs in
Dispatch.
Informative
Law Enforcement Center Pay/Progress: Shannon Woodard generator was delivered today and set.
Punch list on outside and sheriff area 70% of punch list is complete. Detention area has not been
completed so punch list has not been completed. There will be an open house sometime in December.
Board of Health- In packet and gave numbers.
Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development – JEDI had quarterly meeting and Chamber had a
meeting also. Apex Energy is moving forward with solar.
Fehrenbacher made a motion to approve the consent agenda containing the following items: Approval of
County Board October 13, 2022, Minutes; Approval of October and November Standing Committee
Minutes; Approval of Preliminary/Construction Engineering Services–22-01132-00-DR–RBI Crooked
Creek Township; Approval of Preliminary/Construction Engineering Services–22-02124-00-BR – Fox
Bridge; Approval of 2023 Snedeker Risk Management Annual Insurance Renewal; Approval of
SCIRPDC FY2023 Per Capita Contribution; Appointment of Jane Casey & Donna Coad as
Representatives on the ILLINOISouth Tourism Board; File County Reports; and Allow Claims. Heltsley
seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote.
Old business:
Item A – Adoption of County FY2023 Budget At the October meeting, the board voted to display the
FY2023 Budget until a final vote at the November meeting. There have been some minor changes that
were reviewed at the Finance Committee meeting on Monday, November 14 th . Those changes include
an adjustment in the State’s Attorney Salary line, the department requested changes on some lines
within the Highway Department’s lines, and some adjustments in the Supervisor of Assessments lines in
anticipation of the Office Manager position and contracted services. A copy of the full 144-page budget
is available. A Budget Summary and General Fund Summary were included in the board packets. The
FY2023 General Fund for the County has estimated Revenues of $3,475,532 and estimated expenses of
$3,647,799 with the overall budget having estimated Revenues of $10,690,076 and estimated expenses
of $11,149,173. We never have a true balanced budget we are conservative on Revenues and plan for
the worst on expenses. The county has been fortunate over the last few years and always ended the
fiscal year with a surplus. Heltsley motion to adopt the Jasper County Budget for FY2023. Fehrenbacher
seconded the motion. Motion passed on a roll call vote with Bollman, Fehrenbacher, Hall, Heltsley,
Kerner, Pickens, Warfel, and Weddell voting yes. Hickox and Leffler voting no. Swick and Geier were
absent.
Geier entered at 6:23 pm
New Business:
Item A – Adoption of Assessment Services Contract This item was in anticipation of a contract with a
third party to cover some of the required assessment office work while an office manager/potential new
Supervisor of Assessments was trained. The third party that had expressed interest at this time has not
submitted a contract. There still might be one in time for the meeting to review. If the third-party option
doesn’t work out Clay, Crawford, and Cumberland Counties all expressed interest in helping our
office/office manager out in short term.
Item B – Appointment of Supervisor of Assessment Office Manager Effective 12/1/22
This item will be taken up following the Closed Session.
Item C – Action on County Courthouse Sign
This item will be taken up following the Closed Session.
Recognition of Service
Mr. Paul Woods on behalf of the citizens of Jasper County in recognition and appreciation for your 28
years of dedicated service to Jasper County as Supervisor of Assessments, Thank You.
Mr. Michael S. Hall, I often feel you have been a steady voice on this board. You defer to logic and
reason when tough decisions present themselves and you have the amazing ability to look beyond the
present and make long term decisions in the best interests for the County and its citizens. We are a
better County because of your service. On behalf of the citizens of Jasper County in recognition and
appreciation for your 6 years of dedicated service on the Jasper County Board. Thank You.
Mr. Darrel Hickox, you aren’t afraid to say what needs to be said. During your time on this board, you
have brought that sense of candidness and honesty that is often lacking in government bodies. You
have challenged our board to ask tough questions that might not always be comfortable but that need to
be addressed. You have stood as a champion of lowering the tax burden, tightening our belts, and
demanding that we as a county live within our means while still ensuring a strong and vibrant community
for future generations. On behalf of the citizens of Jasper County in recognition and appreciation for your
8 years of dedicated service on the Jasper County Board. Thank You.
Ms. Angela Fehrenbacher, you have made history with your service on the County Board. 179 years
removed from the founding of Jasper County, 175 years removed from the first elections in our county
and 97 years removed from Women’s suffrage in Illinois in 2012 you became the first and to-date only
woman elected to the governing body of Jasper County. You have carried on the great legacy of South
Muddy Township representation on this board and served with dignity and grace. On behalf of the
citizens of Jasper County in recognition and appreciation for your 10 years of dedicated service on the
Jasper County Board. Thank You.
Mr. Danny Kerner, I have the pleasure along with Michael Geier of serving alongside Danny on this
board and being able to call him a fellow Brother Knight. The motto of the Knights of Columbus is, “In
Service to One, In Service to All.” Danny is the embodies that motto. He represents the best of our
County through his unselfish generosity to family, friends, neighbors, and our community and his years of
service on this board speaks to his life of service. On behalf of the citizens of Jasper County in
recognition and appreciation for your 16 years of dedicated service on the Jasper County Board. Thank
You.
Mr. Brian Leffler, your 20 years of service on this board is historical and remarkable and speaks to your
unwavering commitment to this county and the citizens you represent. Since 2002 you have exemplified
what the mission of this board should be by helping prepare Jasper County to face the challenges of the
future while embracing and cherishing our past. You have been a steadfast voice for the values that
make our county great, and you have never been afraid to speak up when you feel we have lost sight of
our priorities. On behalf of the citizens of Jasper County in recognition and appreciation for your 20
years of dedicated service on the Jasper County Board. Thank You.
Mr. Swick was unable to attend this evening and we will present his plaque later.
Board Comments:
Leffler said it has been and honor to serve the citizens of Jasper County.
Fehrenbacher gave information about Mary Jane Theis, sworn in as chief justice. She will preside over
new historic first for the court, as women take a 5-2 majority for the first time in Illinois’ history.
Chairman’s Comments: The UCCI 2022 Fall Conference was held October 28 & 29 at the Abraham
Lincoln Museum and Library in Springfield, Illinois. Mr. Warfel, Ms. Fehrenbacher, and Mrs. Tarr
attended. Topics of discussion included the National Association of Counties and the variety of services
and information they provide some of which I have passed along to the appropriate departments and
offices. In addition, there was a presentation on Solar and Wind projects and their impact on counties.
Departing the Board this evening is 76 years of board experience that is appreciated and will be missed.
I wish all of you the very best. It has been a privilege and honor to serve alongside you and on a
personal note I thank each one of you for the wisdom and guidance you have bestowed. Reception
following the meeting.
Heltsley made a motion to go into closed session for Discussion of Personnel 5ILCS 120/2(c)(1). Geier
seconded the motion. Motion passed on a roll call vote with Bollman, Fehrenbacher, Geier, Hall,
Heltsley, Hickox, Kerner, Leffler, Pickens, Warfel, and Weddell. Swick was absent. Entered closed
session at 6:30 pm. Open session 8:27 pm.
Item B – Appointment of Supervisor of Assessment Office Manager Effective 12/1/22
As Chairman of the Board, I make a motion to nominate Thomas Matson to position of Supervisor of
Assessments Office Manager Effective December 1, 2022. Hall seconded the motion. Motion passed on
a voice vote. Thomas Matson is appointed as Supervisor of Assessments Office Manager.
Item C – Action on County Courthouse Sign
Pickens made a motion to pay $2,500 deductible for the fixing of the digital sign. Leffler seconded the
motion. Geier expressed concern about maintenance being done by bank. Hickox expressed could fix
sign, remove advertisement, and add county emblem. Warfel talked to bank and they said they will
discuss maintenance. Motion passed with a voice vote with Pickens, Hall, Weddell, Fehrenbacher,
Leffler, and Kerner voting yes. Geier, Heltsley, Bollman and Hickox voted no. Swick was absent.
Geier moved to adjourn at 8:40 pm. Leffler seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote.
The Jasper County Board will have an organizational meeting on Thursday, December 1 st at 7:00 p.m.
Amy Tarr, Jasper County Clerk
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