PUTNAM COUNTY REGULAR BOARD MEETING
October 12, 2021, at 5:30 P.M.
The regular meeting of the Putnam County Board was called to order at 5:33 P.M. on Tuesday, October 12, 2021, by County Board Chairman Charles Lenkaitis. The meeting was held in the courtroom at the Putnam County Courthouse in Hennepin, Illinois. The meeting was also available via Zoom.
Roll Call was taken by the Clerk of the County Board, Charles Lenkaitis, Anthony Rue, Floyd Holocker, Steven Malavolti, and Luke Holly answering.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all in attendance.
Minutes: It was moved by board member Holly to approve the minutes from September 13, 2021, Regular Board Meeting. Board member Malavolti seconded the motion and the motion was carried on a roll call board vote of 4 ayes, 0 nays, and 0 absent.
Bills: It was moved by board member Malavolti to approve bills for September 2021. Board member Holly seconded the motion and the motion was carried on a roll call board vote of 4 ayes, 0 nays, and 0 absent.
Public comment: There were no members of the public in attendance that wanted to comment.
County Highway Engineer Pat Sloan presented his October report of County Highway Engineer and Maintenance Activities to the board. Sloan reported it has been overall a slower month. County Engineer has painted on 19 miles of county roads this last month. The resurfacing and widening project on the east McNabb blacktop has been substantially completed during the last several weeks. This project has taken up a lot of Sloan’s time beings he has been doing the contract administration and inspection on this project. Granville Township has petitioned for county aid (#106) for a culvert on Division Street. The county’s portion of the project would be $15,000. After a short discussion, it was moved by board member Rue to approve the Request for County Aid for Township Drainage Structure. 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 Putnam County Highway Engineer and Maintenance Activities Reports and summary of audit of County MFT fund are on file at the Office of the County Clerk for review by any interested parties.)
Sheriff Kevin Doyle reported as chairman of the American Recovery Act Committee. On the agenda tonight under County Clerk there is a request for the use of American Recovery Act monies to be used for scanning, indexing, and equipment for land records. As Chairman of the committee Sheriff Doyle reported that it had already been approved by the committee however due to the amount of this project the board needs to approve as well. The Sheriff then presented his financial reports for September to the board. (The Sheriff’s and Civil Processing Transaction Reports are on file at the Office of the County Clerk for review by any interested parties.)
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
It was moved by board member Holly to enter into executive session to discuss personal at 5:51 pm. 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. It was moved by board member Holly to exit the executive session at 6:03. Board member Malavolti seconded the motion and the motion was carried on a roll call board vote of 4 ayes, 0 nays, and 0 absent.
County Treasurer Kevin Kunkel was not present; however, his staff Lorie Balensiefen presented his financial reports for September to the board. The General Fund’s working balance for September, Fiscal Year 2021, was $623,540.13 compared to a working balance of $826,797.35 for September, Fiscal Year 2020. Kunkel’s report also included a review of the “General Fund Accounts Balance by Month, Fiscal Year 2021". The General Fund balance for September, Fiscal Year 2021, was $32,263.13. The General Fund Savings balance for September, Fiscal Year 2021, was $1,192,387.48. The Illinois Fund - General Fund balance for September, Fiscal Year 2021, was $117,140.74. The total of the General Fund Accounts is $1,564,705.42. Year to date for Fiscal Year 2021 shows revenues of $623,540.13 and expenses of ($256,652.52) for a total of $366,887.61. In June the county received $557,366.50 we currently have a balance of $334,452.40. (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 September to the board. Her report shows $42,534.51 in total receipts and $32,710.75 in total disbursements for September resulting in a closing balance of $9,823.76. Tina reported that the clerk’s office paint job has been completed. The floor has been installed and looks incredible. The desks were installed and look amazing. The shipping on the reception counter and storage unit has been postponed until the middle of November. Training on AVID, the new land records system starts on October 18th. October 25, 2021, at the PC EMO building in Hennepin there is training for anyone who would like to learn how to search records through Laredo. Dolder encouraged the public, title searchers, attorneys, staff, etc. to participate in the training. We will go live with AVID on November 1st. Currently still struggling to get anything done in the Election room specifically voter registration. Hopefully, with part-time help coming soon that will help get us up to date with everything. Dolder asked the board for approval on the indexing, scanning, and equipment for the online land record project with American Recovery Act money. It was moved by board member Malavolti to approve a total of $133,796.91 of ARPA money for the scanning, indexing, and equipment for the online land record project. 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 County Clerk & Recorder’s 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 and did not have a report for the board.
County Probation Officer Patricia Hohulin was present and stated she has been working on her annual plan. Hohulin reminded the board that in the last 3 years the county has been fully refunded by the state for her salary. Hohulin said that her office has spent just over $2,000 from the general fund throughout this year. Board member Holly asked if the workload has raised due to more clients. Hohulin stated she received 17 calls over the weekend. Hohulin also stated that it is difficult to use comp and vacation time between seeing clients and filling in for other counties without any staff in her office. Hohulin also noted that the detention budget has not changed in years and knock-on-wood it won’t get used this year also. When the annual plan gets completed, she will make sure the board all gets a copy of it.
County Supervisor of Assessments Tammy Mehalic was not present. Chairman Lenkaitis received a project from Mehalic she would like to start working on. Mehalic would like to update the County GIS Orthoimage (ariel map) of the county. The last time this project was completed was in 2010, with a cost of over $67,000. The imaging is old and a lot has changed in the past 11 years. There has been a lot of new growth here in the county and our map does not reflect those changes. Mehalic is requesting $8,000 from the county general fund. She also requested $8,000 from the 911 board and $8,000 will be coming from the GIS fund. Chairman Lenkaitis suggested tabling this project until the next board meeting so the board can look into it.
County Zoning Officer Jim Burger presented his Zoning Officer report for September to the board. Burger informed the board that this month there were fourteen (14) building inspections completed and seven (7) building permits issued during September. Burger also noted that the solar farm on Rte. 71 has begun landscaping and should be planted within the next two to three weeks. As per the ordinance, the solar farm is required to have a foliage landscape around it. 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 was present but had to leave he did include his Death Investigator report for September to the board. There was one (1) death reported to his office during September. 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 was present and did present a report for July, August, and September 2021. The outside door has been installed and completed. The air conditioner unit for the training room side of the building was inspected and is now in working order. The health department is currently using the Putnam County Health Department Office to administer COVID-19 vaccinations but they still have the training room at PC OEM set up to be utilized for vaccination. Biagi-Bruer was notified that the antenna for the radio repeater for the PC EMA South Tower (rural Magnolia) was laying over. After discussions with Ragan, Fire Chiefs/EMS, and Chairman Lenkaitis, CIRMA Insurance was contacted to see if they would cover the cost to fix the antenna because it was caused by high winds. They covered everything after the $1,000.00 deductible. We are currently waiting for the tower crew to finish their current project and then they will be up to fix the antenna. Biagi-Bruer has issued an ID Card for the County Clerk and has had a couple of other agencies reach out to me to see about getting IDs. We have also had several severe weather events during July, August, and September but we have not had any reports of damage. Biagi-Bruer also informed the board that she will continue to fill needed PPE requests from our first responders, health department, courthouse, library, and assisted living facility. During July, August, and September we have filled requests for PC EMS, McNabb Fire, Village of Granville, Putnam County Schools, Putnam County Courthouse/Sheriff’s office, and Putnam County Library. I also issued a new NOAA weather radio to the Putnam County Library. Their old one stopped working. This radio was from the NOAA radio we received from the National Weather Service. (The P.C.O.E.M. Coordinator Reports are on file at the Office of the County Clerk for review by any interested parties.)
NEW BUSINESS:
Josh Margowski was present to represent Melanie Malooley-Thompson & Associates regarding QuickBooks. Josh went through the proposal and explained the software program and different costs. Josh answered several questions on QuickBooks capabilities. After lots of discussions, the board decided to table the decision until the next meeting.
Magnolia Cemetery board requests approval for board members. It was moved by board member Malavolti to approve Steve Wilson and Steve Roach for a 6-year term of 2021-2027. 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.
Board member Malavolti distributed a copy of the 2022 Budget for the board to go through. There was a short discussion about the budget. It was suggested to let the officeholders look over their line items and if there were any issues communicate them with Steve or Charlie by the end of the week. There will be a special meeting scheduled to approve the 2022 Budget to be posted 15 days before approving the Final Budget.
OLD BUSINESS:
Putnam County Website (www.co.putnam.il.us); County Clerk informed the board that she received the Records Disposal back from the state. Included in that disposal are the board's emails that were 2 years and older so we have permission to delete them.
Correspondences and Committee Reports:
Steve went to the UCCI meeting and learned about Illinois Epay. This is a payment service that is handled by the Illinois State Treasurer. Check it out at www.illinoisepay.com
At 7:08 P.M., board member Malavolti moved to adjourn the meeting. Board member Holly 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, November 08, 2021, 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