PUTNAM COUNTY REGULAR BOARD MEETING
April 10, 2023, at 5:32 P.M.
The regular meeting of the Putnam County Board was called to order at 5:32 P.M. on Monday, April 10, 2023, by County Board Chairman Charles Lenkaitis. The meeting was held in the courtroom at the Putnam County Courthouse in Hennepin, Illinois.
Roll Call was taken by the Clerk of the County Board with, Floyd Holocker, Tony Rue, Luke Holly, and Charles Lenkaitis answering. Steve Malavolti was absent.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all in attendance.
Minutes: It was moved by board member Holocker to approve the minutes from March 13, 2023, 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 Holocker to approve the bills for March 2023. 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.
Public comment:
None
States Attorney Christina Judd Mennie was present and presented Addendum #2023-O-03 to the Putnam County Animal Control Act Ordinance # 2019-O-09. After, a little discussion, it was moved by board member Rue to approve an Addendum for Ordinance # 2019-O-09. Board member Holocker seconded the motion and the motion was carried on a roll call board vote of 3 ayes, 0 nays, and 1 absent. (The Clerk of the County Board was directed to process the Ordinance (2023-O-03.)
County Highway Assistant Engineer Catherine Terando was present and presented her March report regarding County Highway Engineering and Maintenance Activities to the board. Terando spoke about the maintenance workers clearing brush and trimming trees along the roads. They also cleared out quite a few things from the courthouse that were no longer needed. She also reminded the board about the replacement of the County Line Bridge on Stagecoach Road. It will cost a total of $128,000 with Marshall and Roberts County paying 63% and Putnam County and Magnolia paying 37%. There was a Resolution for awarding bids for various Township and County Maintenance Sections for seal coating and base. The bidding took place on March 15, 2023, at the Marshall County Highway Department. After a little discussion, it was moved by board member Rue to approve the Resolution awarding Bids for Various Township and County Maintenance Sections. 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. (The Clerk of the County Board was directed to process the Resolution (2023-09.) (The County Highway Engineer Reports are on file at the Office of the County Clerk for review by any interested parties.)
Sheriff Joshua Boedigheimer was present with his financial reports for March. The Sheriff reported that the Zoning officer’s vehicle’s transfer paperwork is being filled out and new plates ordered soon so he can start using it. He stated he would like to go into an Executive session tonight when the time comes for personnel issues. There were no other questions regarding his report. (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 with his financial reports for March. The General Fund’s Income for March, Fiscal Year 2023, is $276,587.62 compared to an income of $320,386.98 for March, Fiscal Year 2022. Kunkel’s report also included a review of the “General Fund Accounts Balance by Month, Fiscal Year 2023". The General Fund balance for March, Fiscal Year 2023, is $47,994.29. The General Fund Savings balance for March, Fiscal Year 2023, is $419,282.69. The Illinois Fund - General Fund balance for March, Fiscal Year 2023, is $1,373,468.41. Year to date for the Fiscal Year 2023 shows revenues of $1,044,132.50 and expenses of ($1,341,280.31) for a total of ($297,147.79). There were no other questions. (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 was not present; however, Chief Deputy Clerk & Recorder Erica Pierski was present with her report for March. Pierski reported the revenues collected for the month were $24,735.88. The total number of ballots cast for the April 4, 2023; Consolidated Election was 1,022 for a percentage of 24.82% higher turnout than an average consolidated. We still have 115 Vote by Mail ballots out which will not change any local results. We are still waiting on overlaps from two other counties to continue striking the rates. There are two proposals for our county website, which are Connecting Point and Revize. A decision needs to be made by June 1st as Joomla will be obsolete by then. There were no other questions regarding her report. (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 present and reported that her May Jury is off which is good. She had to pay $12,000 to pay for her case management system which is an integrated data exchange project she is having done which started in December 2022. The company is holding her check till it gets certified. She then can apply for a grant at the end of the month to get reimbursed. She also purchased an “Owl” for the courtroom that will be used for Zoom meetings. There were no further questions.
County Probation Officer Shawn Oetzel was present and introduced himself to the board. The board welcomed him and thanked him for coming him.
Zoning Officer Ryan Giacometti was present with his report for March. Ryan has issued 3 building permits on several different projects. He has updated his office with a new computer setup. He also attended a seminar in Springfield on March 27th, which went over the statutory law in sitting commercial wind and solar facilities. He recommended to the County Board the appointment of Matthew Dean to become chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals. It was moved by board member Rue to approve Matthew Dean as Chairman. Board member Holocker seconded the motion and the motion was carried on roll call board vote of 3 ayes, 0 nays, and 1 absent. He recommended the appointment of Ron Bruch as Chairman of the Putnam County Planning Commission. It was moved by board member Rue to approve Ron Bruch as Chairman. Board member Holocker seconded the motion and the motion was carried on roll call board vote of 3 ayes, 0 nays, and 1 absent. Giacometti also recommended extending the 5-year term of the Planning Commission members Kathleen Gensini and Theresa Clausen. It was moved by board member Rue to approve the recommendations. Board member Holocker seconded the motion and the motion was carried on roll call board vote of 3 ayes, 0 nays, and 1 absent. There were no questions regarding his report. (The Zoning Officer’s full report is on file at the Office of the County Clerk & Recorder for review by any interested parties.)
County Supervisor of Assessments Tammy Mehalic was not present and had nothing to report.
County Death Investigator Bob Cofoid was not present but left his Death Investigator report for March. Cofoid reported (6) deaths for the month of March. Cofoid attended the Training Conference in LaSalle along with Chief Deputy Skowera. They plan on attending a 2-day conference this month in LaSalle. (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 was present with her report for March 2023. The State of Illinois did not extend its Disaster Proclamation and ended it on April 1, 2023. Chantelle has continued working on the joint exercise program with Bureau County and the Bureau-Putnam LEPC. She has been working on updates to the Emergency Operations Plan and Hazardous Materials Chemical Response Plan. Chauntelle stated the OEM Building has been busy the past month as it’s been used for weather spotter training, election judge training, C5 meeting, Probation/Sheriff meeting, and ICS 300 class. She presented a request for Resolution authorizing the Illinois Incident Management System, All Hazards Incident Management Mutual Aid Agreement. After a little discussion, it was moved by board member Holocker to approve the Resolution for the Illinois Incident Management System, All Hazards Incident Management Mutual Aid Agreement. Board member Holly seconded the motion and the motion was moved to roll call board vote, 3 ayes, 0 nays, 1 absent. (The Clerk of the County Board was directed to process the Resolution (2023-08.) (The County Emergency Management Coordinator’s full report is on file at the Office of the County Clerk for review by any interested parties.)
NEW BUSINESS:
Christopher Dvorak, Regional Superintendent of LaSalle, Marshall & Putnam County Regional Office of Education #35 came and introduced Ryan Myers who started with the company in July 2022. Ryan has been in the education field for 19 years and enjoys helping people with all aspects of education. Chris explained they are making a video showcasing a few former and existing teachers and they explain why they went into teaching and all the good things they have learned about it throughout the years. They are hosting a get-together in May at the Knights of Columbus in Ottawa to celebrate education and anyone is invited to come. They also stated they are more than willing to help people by showing them different paths to take in order to start working in a school within 6 months instead of it taking 4 years.
Kim Bird, CPA of Hopkins & Associates was there to present the audit. She did not find anything wrong with it. Said the General Fund increased with a jump of $1.3 million from the previous year and is looking “healthy”. The Fund balance has stayed consistent and we are in a good financial position. It was moved by board member Rue to approve the audit as presented Board member Holocker seconded the motion and the motion was carried on roll call board vote, 3 ayes, 0 nays, 1 absent.
Granville-Hennepin Fire Protection District Board has requested the reappointment of Steve Haun to the board of trustees for a 3-year term. It was moved by board member Holocker to approve the reappointment of Steve Haun to the Granville-Hennepin Fire Protection District as trustee. Board member Rue seconded the motion and the motion was carried on roll call board vote, 3 ayes, 0 nays, 1 absent.
Putnam County Conservation District was present represented by Kirstin Pantenburg and wanted to discuss their upcoming project of the Event Center that they are interested in building. It would be a 60 x 30 building with heat and air for people to hold weddings or other events. Kristin has been in touch with Zoning with building plans. The district has no intentions of raising its levy. The district was wanting to make sure the board was aware of their plans before they went public with them. They have hopes to break ground in June.
Cemetery Mowing bids were open from Winter Lawn Care -29 times for $9,715.00, Smith Lawn Care – for $7975.00, and Leatherman Lawn Care – 24 times for $9,300.00
Tabled for board member Rue to discuss Smith Lawn Cares’ bid in more detail.
OLD BUSINESS:
Website Update Estimates were received from Connecting Point and Revize. Brian the representative from Revize gave a presentation. After a short discussion, the board decided to table this decision until the next board meeting.
Putnam County Website ( www.putnamil.gov )
Website Care Report was included in the packet for the board to see the activity for March.
Board member Holly stated the application for participation in the State of Illinois Federal Surplus Property Program is being filled out. We will table this matter until further notice.
Correspondences and Committee Reports:
Charlie and Ryan attended a meeting in Springfield regarding Wind and Solar. It was a very informative meeting to get our ordinances in place.
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
Board member Holocker made a motion to go into Executive session at 6:51 P.M. 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. Board member Rue made a motion to come out of the Executive session at 7:03 P.M. Board member Holocker seconded the motion and the motion was carried on a roll call board vote of 3 ayes, 0 nays, and 1 absent.
ADJOURN:
At 7:04 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 3 ayes, 0 nays, and 1 absent. The meeting was adjourned. The next Regular Meeting of the Putnam County Board is scheduled for Monday, May 08, 2023, 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