PUTNAM COUNTY REGULAR BOARD MEETING
February 14, 2022, at 5:30 P.M.
The regular meeting of the Putnam County Board was called to order at 5:30 P.M. on Monday, February 14, 2022, by County Board Chairman Charles Lenkaitis. The meeting was held in the courtroom at the Putnam County Courthouse in Hennepin, Illinois, and via zoom.
Roll Call was taken by the Clerk of the County Board with, Tony Rue, Steven Malavolti, Luke Holly answering, and Charles Lenkaitis answering via zoom. Floyd Holocker is absent
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all in attendance.
Minutes: It was moved by board member Rue to approve the minutes from January 10, 2021, Regular Board Meeting. Board member Holly seconded the motion and the motion was carried on a roll call board vote of 3 ayes, 0 nays, and 1 absent.
Bills: It was moved by board member Holly to approve bills for January 2022. Board member Rue seconded the motion and the motion was carried on a roll call board vote of 3 ayes, 0 nays, and 1 absent.
At this time Floyd Holocker entered the meeting.
Public comment:
Valerie Witzman was present and expressed her concern for windmills coming to Putnam County. Valerie presented the board with a handout of an article titled “Do Wind Turbines Harm Animals? The handouts expressed the concern of the wind turbines harming farm animals due to little or no testing done on animals, livestock, or humans. Valerie noted that there were several families with livestock that are not far from the proposed site.
Charlie Witzman was present and stated that there are studies on low noise pollution that are damaging and anyone in a 6-mile radius could suffer from this low noise sound. Charlie informed the board of a study that Brown County, WI Health Board did in Oct 2021. Charlie asked the board “Does the board know if anyone from the health department is involved at all to ensure there are no health concerns?”. Board member Malavolti said No he didn’t know of any of the health departments being involved in any of the nearest wind turbines and said the board will look into it. Charlie asked; if it was the Health Departments’ job to make sure the county is safe? Board member Holocker said they would need to ask the Health Department.
Dina Luscher was present and wanted to know what is driving the wind turbines. Is it economics or money for the county? Dina said that one of the 1st presentations that she heard was when Tamara had a PowerPoint and it was money-driven. Board member Holly replied that Tamara’s job is to find revenue for the county or taxes go up, she was informing the board on what it would look like if wind turbines were here at that moment.
Jeff Purtell was present and said he attended the Senachwine Township Board meeting. Jeff said that he had questions he needed to find out for that board. The 1st question is Who controls the streets at Lake Thunderbird? Charlie said that to his belief the sheriff does patrol in Lake Thunderbird. Jeff asked if the Sheriff tickets over in Lake Thunderbird? Charlie told him he would need to ask the Sheriff. Jeff asked if Lake Thunderbird wanted to have golf carts, would that be something that the county would have input in? He was told to ask the Sheriff. Jeff had another question about the Government program to get internet to rural areas, has the board heard anything about this? Steve said that he has been attending meetings with multiple counties called Accelerate Illinois, this program is designed to get projects shovel-ready if grant money becomes available. Steve said if anyone wants to look into broadband, google Connect Illinois.
County Highway Engineer Pat Sloan presented his January report regarding County Highway Engineer and Maintenance Activities to the board. Pat has been working with road commissioners to finalize MFT plans for the year. The bid opening is currently planned for March 30th. He has been doing the final contract documentation for the McNabb Blacktop job to submit to IDOT. Maintenance has been busy plowing snow, salting, winged, and pushing back since the first of the year. The oil has been changed on the Sheriff’s fleet of vehicles. Pat also commented on the previous conversation regarding Lake Thunderbird roads. Senachwine Township could call Pat whenever they have questions but all the Putnam County roads out at Lake Thunderbird have all the same Illinois motor vehicles laws as any other road in the county. Bureau County did not accept those streets when they were built. (The County Highway Engineer Reports are on file at the Office of the County Clerk for review by any interested parties.)
Sheriff Kevin Doyle was not present but his financial reports for January were in the packet. There were no questions on his report. Sheriff Doyle did have 3 action items on the agenda. The first was the Acceptance of Bid for the Courthouse/Sheriff’s department parking lot. The lowest responsible bid was recommended by the ARPA committee. Board member Rue made a motion to accept the bid of $158,439.70 and awarded it to Universal Asphalt & Excavating, Inc. Board member seconded the motion and the motion was carried on a roll call board vote of 4 ayes, 0 nays, and 0 absent. The second action item was the Intergovernmental Agreement Concerning Law Enforcement Services between the Village of Magnolia and Putnam County, Illinois. Board member Holly made the motion to accept this 6-month agreement between the Village of Magnolia and Putnam County. Board member Rue seconded the motion and the motion was carried on a roll call board vote of 4 ayes, 0 nays, and 0 absent. The third action item is a Resolution in Support of Law Enforcement Professionals and Demand the Repeal of H.B. 3653/The Safe-T Act in its entirety. Board member Malavolti said the Sheriff recommends passing this Resolution in hopes the State makes changes to this bill. Board member Rue made the motion to pass this Resolution 2022-02. Board member Holocker seconded the motion and the motion was carried on a roll call board vote of 4 ayes, 0 nays, and 0 absent. The Clerk of the County Board was directed to process the Resolution (#2022-02). (The Sheriff’s and Civil Processing Transaction Reports are on file at the Office of the County Clerk for review by any interested parties.)
County Treasurer Kevin Kunkel was present and presented his financial reports for January to the board. The General Fund’s balance for January, Fiscal Year 2022, was $261,079.07 compared to a balance of $180,586.94 for January, Fiscal Year 2021. The big jump in numbers was the personal property replacement tax. Kunkel’s report also included a review of the “General Fund Accounts Balance by Month, Fiscal Year 2022". The General Fund balance for January, Fiscal Year 2022, was $99,193.29. The General Fund Savings balance for January, Fiscal Year 2022, was $1,080,213.68. The Illinois Fund - General Fund balance for January, Fiscal Year 2022, was $195,284.07. The total of the General Fund Accounts is $1,374,691.04. Year to date for the Fiscal Year 2022 shows revenues of $627.311.59 and expenses of ($627,218.67) for a total of $92.92. (The County Treasurer’s financial reports are on file at the Office of the County Clerk for review by any interested parties.).
County Clerk & Recorder Tina Dolder presented her report for January to the board. Her report shows $32,516.79 in total receipts for the month. Tina did report it has been a slower month. New voter cards have been sent out to all the registered voters and the purge has been started. Erica has been working out great and now learning the election system and DevNet. The extra help is very much appreciated. (The County Clerk & Recorder’s financial report is on file at the Office of the County Clerk & Recorder for review by any interested parties.)
County Circuit Clerk Carly Neubaum was not present however did include a copy of the Circuit Clerk office audit.
County Probation Officer Patricia Hohulin was not present and did not have a report for the board.
County Supervisor of Assessments Tammy Mehalic was not present and did not have a report for the board.
County Zoning Officer Jim Burger presented his Zoning Officer report for January to the board before the meeting but had to leave. Burger informed the board that this month there were five (5) building inspections completed and no (0) building permits issued during January. Burger spent time gathering information on projects, requests and answering questions. Burger reported that he along with two County Board members attended an informational meeting at Marquis regarding possible Carbon Storage future expansion on their property. Burger also informed the board that he will continue to issue building permits and perform inspections while observing the proper guidelines while out in the public. (The County Zoning Officer Report is on file at the Office of the County Clerk for review by any interested parties.)
County Death Investigator Bob Cofoid presented his Death Investigator report for January to the board. There was (1) death reported to his office during January. Cofoid also said he is hoping to make it to the yearly winter training this month. Cofoid had nothing of further interest to report to the board. (The County Death Investigator Report is on file at the Office of the County Clerk for review by any interested parties.)
Putnam County Office of Emergency Management Coordinator Chauntelle Biagi-Bruer presented her January report to the board. The State of Illinois has extended its Disaster Proclamation until March 6, 2022, which covers all 102 counties including Putnam County. In January via zoom, Chauntelle attended the Marshall-Putnam Natural Mitigation Kick-Off Meeting. The cost of the Marshall/Putnam Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan is $18,000, Chauntelle has a grant from IEMA for $13,500 and the local share match is $4,500.
The per community cost will depend on how many communities in Putnam and Marshall participate in the plan. The anticipated expected cost is to be between $350 - $500 per community. Beings Putnam County has the grant the local share from the communities will need to be paid to the county first. Chauntelle will send out invoices to the communities once the final cost per community has been determined. Once the plan has been submitted to FEMA (anticipated for this summer) for their review NCICG will then invoice for the full amount of the plan $18,000. The County will need to request reimbursement once the invoice is paid.
Chauntelle has issued several IDs this month and went to PC EMS and did IDs for the EMT students. Charlie and Chauntelle worked on the Local CURE Funds that were reallocated from the Putnam County Health Department to Putnam County. The total amount of the reallocation of $31,595.94. The Putnam County Treasurer’s office did already receive the check for $31,595.94. Chauntelle said that she has continued to fill needed PPE requests. This month she distributed PPE to PC EMS, PC Zoning, PC Health Department, and Granville – Hennepin Fire Protection District. Chauntelle did ask if there has been any decision made about the State Police utilizing an office at PC OEM for 1-2 of their staff. The contract was forwarded to Chairman Lenkaitis, Sheriff Doyle, and State’s Attorney Mennie for review. Last month the board put it on hold to go through the contract. Board member Malavolti wanted to table this item again because they are still making changes to the contract. Board member Rue said that they were getting closer to an agreement. (The Emergency Management Coordinators Report is on file at the Office of the County Clerk for review by any interested parties.)
STATES ATTORNEY Christina Judd Mennie was present but did not have anything to report.
NEW BUSINESS: None to report.
OLD BUSINESS:
Putnam County Website (www.co.putnam.il.us.)
Website Care Report was included in the packet for the board to see the activity for January.
Correspondences and Committee Reports:
Board members Holly and Rue along with Zoning Officer Jim Burger attended a meeting at Marquis regarding possible plans for the future. Board member Holly reported that it sounds like within the next year they have plans to start making jet fuel and biodiesel with soybeans and in 5 years they would like to be making nitrogen fertilizer. It sounds like there may be more plants and jobs coming to the area.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: No executive session was needed.
ADJOURN:
At 6:11 P.M., board member Rue moved to adjourn the meeting. Board member Holocker seconded the motion and the motion was carried on a roll call board vote of 4 ayes, 0 nays, and 0 absent. The meeting was adjourned. The next Regular Meeting of the Putnam County Board is scheduled for Monday, March 14, 2022, at 5:30 P.M. The meeting will be held in the courtroom at the Putnam County Courthouse.
Respectfully submitted,
TINA DOLDER
Clerk of the Putnam County Board