Fulton County Board Committee Minutes
Fulton County Board Office, 257 West Lincoln Street, Lewistown, IL 61542
Phone 309-547-0901
csimpson@fultonco.org
Committee: Executive Committee
Meeting Place: Fulton County Board Office, 257 West Lincoln St., Lewistown, IL 61542
Time: 7:30pm
Date: April 5, 2023
CALL IN INFORMATION:
Call in information: 1-425-436-6307
Access code: 835427
1. Call to Order
Time: 7:55pm
2. Roll Call
MEMBERS:
Jared Heller (present/xxxxxx)
Laura Kessel (present/xxxxxx) – By phone
Brian Platt (xxxxxx/absent)
John Spangler (present/xxxxxxx) – Chairman
Lisa Thompson (present/xxxxxxx)
Karl Williams (present/xxxxxxx)
OTHER BOARD MEMBERS: Member Beck
ELECTED & APPOINTED OFFICIALS:
STAFF: Cindy Simpson – Fulton County Board Administrative Assistant, Audra Miles – Comptroller
GUEST(S) – None
3. Call for Additions/Deletions to and Approval of Agenda
Member Thompson moved to approve the agenda with a second from Member Heller. Motion carried by roll call vote (5-0).
4. Approval of Previous Minutes – March 7, 2023
Member Heller moved to approve the Minutes from March 7, 2023 with a second from Member Thompson. Motion carried by roll call vote (5-0).
5. Announcements, Communication and Correspondence – None
6. Public Remarks – None
7. Reports from Committee Chairs
a. Community Development, Zoning
Member Kessel reported the committee approved a subdivision plat for Jokers Estates.
The Wind and Solar Ordinance was approved to send to the Zoning Board of Appeals for approval. Member Kessel stated the Wind and Solar Ordinance was working on by Zoning Officer Emmons, States Attorney Justin Jochums, Highway Engineer Keith Munter and ESDA Director Chris Helle who all gave input.
A petition for rezoning from AC to B on a is located outside the Canton City limits on Old West Locust Street was approved and will be sent to the Zoning Board of Appeals for approval.
A Special Community Development, Zoning, 200th Anniversary meeting will be April 20, 2023 at the Fulton County Board office at 5:30pm. The committee will discuss the 200th Anniversary planning and detail of the one day event.
a. Health
Member Thompson reported the RFP was issued for Wander Guard and the bids will be opened at the May 2, 2023 Health Committee meeting.
The shower projects are continuing at the Clayberg.
Currently, there are 41 residents at the Clayberg.
b. County Highway
Chairman Spangler reported the committee reviewed the shop area with employees at the Highway Department. The Highway Building has deteriorated so much in the last few months. Recently OSHA
personnel conducted training at the Highway building. The trainer advised that with the condition of the building, if an inspection was conducted, employees would not be working in the facility due to the unsafe working conditions. With the roof in such disrepair, employees are fearful of the roof falling in and causing an injury.
Chairman Spangler discussed there have been a lot of setbacks on the new Highway building. The change in the engineering/design/build process delayed the building being started. The best guess is the new Highway building will not break ground until the spring of 2024. For the worst areas in the building, employees will be relocated to another part of the facility for safety issues. Currently, the objective is to make the building safe for the employees. Options are being looked at for the 2023/2024 winter on where to store trucks and equipment.
Member Spangler stated the new Highway building will costs approximately $4,000,000.00.
Member Williams discussed there are huge holes in the roof of the Highway building. Currently, the Highway Engineer is looking for a company to tarp the worst part of the roof to prevent additional water in the building.
Member Heller discussed the moving of equipment costS money and man power.
c. Finance, Insurance, Personnel, Legislative
Member Thompson reported 4 appointment were approved.
d. Property, Public Safety
Member Williams reported Mid Illinois will provide an estimate to replace the courthouse front arch windows on the first floor.
The 31 smoke detectors needed in the courthouse are estimated to cost approximately $32,000.00 from Johnson Controls. Bill Smick offered to do the wiring for the smoke detectors to help lower the cost, with Bill doing the wiring the cost decreased for the project to approximately $21,000.00.
The outside lighting cost for the courthouse and Jail is estimated to cost approximately $8,000.00 from Quick Electric. Quick Electrical advised there are grants available from Ameren and need to be applied for online.
The sally port at the jail is getting a contactor to come and review the project and give an estimate for the job. Holthaus is familiar with the roof pitch at the Fulton County Jail to connect the sally port to the jail. The estimate for the sally port project is approximately $130,000.00.
8. Old Business
a. Discussion/ Action: County Administrator Job Description
Chairman Spangler reported that Finance is working the job description.
9. New Business
a. Discussion/Action: Economic Development Consultant
Chairman Spangler discussed Cole McDaniel, Executive Director of SRPED (Spoon River Partnership for Economic Development), has elected to start his own independent consulting business.
Cole McDaniel would be writing grants in addition to Economic Development for Fulton County. The fee for the yearly service would be $50,000.00 and the fees would be paid quarterly, there would be no benefits provided for this position.
Chairman Spangler suggested seeing how the position for an Economic Development Consultant progressed before hiring any additional personnel.
A decision regarding Cole McDaniel will need to be made by June 1, 2023.
Member Kessel wanted to clarify Cole McDaniel would not be serving as Administrator, but Cole would consult the county on projects that need to be implemented.
Chairman Spangler confirmed Member Kessel is correct.
Member Williams discussed that he took a poll of the Elected and Appointed officials in the courthouse on who is in favor of a County Administrator. The consensus is a County Administrator is not needed and the department heads currently do many of the tasks as part of their job responsibilities. He asked what coordination is needed between departments that is currently not happening and should this be at the cost of tax payers.
Member Thompson stated she is the one who started perusing an administrator for Fulton County, to relieve additional job duties from Elected and Appointed officials. A point person is needed to distribute some of the jobs to the Property committee, such a list is needed for all the county’s assets, and a plan to replace those assets. This will help avoid the fire drill tactics from the past.
The administrator is about coordination between the departments and the County Board.
The administrator job description and job duties needs input from all the Elected and Appointed officials and will take months to complete.
Chairman Spangler stated the Finance Committee will gather additional information to bring back to the Executive committee for discussion.
10. Misc.
Chairman Spangler inquired if all members received updates from ESDA Director Helle regarding the tornado on April 4, 2023. Chairman Spangler reported Lewistown hopes to have the majority of the power on by April 6, 2023. The south side of Illinois route 100 power should be restored today. The north side of Illinois route 100, the power should be restored on April 7, 2023. The pumping station that pumps water to Bryant is up and running and Bryant has water.
Illinois route 100 between Lewistown and Route 78 will not reopen until April 8 or April 9, 2023. Chairman Spangler reported Spoon River Electric has approximately 90 power poles broken. Currently, there are 5 other cooperatives assisting with the repair of power poles and power lines in Fulton County.
On April 6, 2023 the Farm Bureau and the MidAmerica National Bank are sponsoring a chicken dinner at the Bryant Village Hall at 5:00pm, for anyone suffering from the recent tornado.
The Salvation Army is set up and helping Fulton County residents.
Chairman Spangler stated it would be great to be able to provide free meals to the line crews working around the clock to restore power.
Member Heller stated to work through ESDA Director Helle to coordinate the meals for residents and line crews.
11. Adjournment
Time: 8:45pm
Member Thompson moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:45pm with a second from Member Heller. Motion carried by roll call vote (5-0)
