Quincy Reporter

Adams County Board met June 11.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

PRESENT: Kent Snider, Chairman

Chuck Venvertloh, County Clerk

Mr. Matt Obert gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

Chairman Snider called the meeting to order.

The County Clerk called the role and the following members were present: Mark Peter, Matt Obert, Robert Reich, John Brady, Seldon Totsch, Les Post, Theresa Bockhold, Joe Zanger, David Hoskins, Todd Duesterhaus, Bret Austin, Steven Demoss, Rebecca Weed, Ryan Niekamp, Ryan Hinkamper, Dave Bellis, Marvin Kerkhoff, Raquel Piazza, John Heidbreder, Taylor Rakers and Kent Snider.

Total Present: 21 Absent: 0 Chairman Snider declared a quorum present.

Officeholders, department heads, and/or their representatives also present were:

Lori Geschwandner-Circuit Clerk, Georgene Zimmerman- Supervisor of Assessments, John Simon-EMA & Ambulance Director, Jim Frankenhoff- County Engineer, Dave Bockhold from the Highway Department, Wendy Venvertloh- Director of Court Services, Gary Farha- States Attorney along with Todd Eyler and Josh Jones, Rich Wagner from the Sheriff’s Department, John Frankenhoff- Technology Director and Sue Hester- County Board Executive Assistant.

Mrs. Weed moved to approve the minutes of the May 14th, 2019 county board meeting as printed and distributed.

Mr. Obert seconded the motion.

Motion to approve the minutes of the May 14th, 2019 meeting as printed was adopted.

Transportation, Building & Technology

Committee Report (Mr. Post)

Bills – The committee met on Tuesday, June 11th to review the bills for the Highway Department, the Maintenance Department, and the Technology Department. All of the bills were in order.

Reports-

The bottom road is still covered in areas. There will be bridge construction starting June 24th on the bridge south of Siloam Springs. There has been a lot of summer maintenance projects going on.

Resolutions-

a. 2019-06-501-014- Resolution regarding the approval of an application for a solar farm. (Attachment A-1)

Mr. Brady moved to approve the resolution. Mr. Bellis seconded the motion.

Resolution 2019-06-501-014 was approved.

Mr. Post explained that there was a public hearing for the solar farm in accordance to county code. Nobody spoke against the project. The committee met after the hearing and decided to move forward pending a certain checklist being met sufficiently to the county engineer. They are ready to approve the application subject to them meeting the requirements.

The committee’s next meeting is scheduled for July 9th, 2019. Legislative & Judicial

Committee Report (Mr. Niekamp)

Bills – The committee met on Tuesday, June 4th, 2019 to review the bills from the circuit Clerk, Juvenile Detention Center, Probation Department, Public Defender, State’s Attorney, and the Supervisor of Assessments. All of the bills were in order.

Reports-

Resolutions-

a. 2019-06-121-013- Resolution for Permanent Change in Polling Location.

Mr. Niekamp moved to approve the resolution.

Mr. Duesterhaus seconded the motion. Resolution 2019-06-121-013 was approved.

County Clerk, Chuck Venvertloh, explained that we will be moving the Quincy Housing Authority polling place to Bethel Assembly of God. There were complaints on issues with parking at the current place and QHA also hosts an after school program that we interfere on Election Day. We do not want to continue to interfere with that after-school program.

Mr. Rakers asked for clarification on where the new place is and Mr. Venvertloh explained it is on South 12th and Jefferson St. area.

Firework Permit-

The following firework permits were approved together. (Attachments B-2 thru B-4)

a. Request from Point D’Vine, LLC for approval of a fireworks permit for July 4, 2019 for a the Private Event held at Point D’Vine, 276 Highway 57, Quincy.

b. Request from Point D’Vine, LLC for approval of a fireworks permit for July 5, 2019 for a Private Event held at Point D’Vine, 276 Highway 57, Quincy.

c. Request from Point D’Vine, LLC for approval of a fireworks permit for July 13, 2019 for a Wedding Event held at Point D’Vine, 276 Highway 57, Quincy.

Mr. Niekamp moved to approve all three firework permits. Mrs. Bockhold seconded the motion.

The firework permits were approved.

County Code

a. 2019-06-001-014- Resolution to amend County Code Article XI-Travel, Living and meal Expenses 1-11-1.

Mr. Totsch moved to approve the resolution. Mrs. Bockhold seconded the motion.

Mr. Heidbreder asked for an explanation of the changes.

Mr. Niekamp explained that last month the county board approved the elimination of county board reimbursement for travel within the county. The question was asked if they would look at it again and consider allowing members that live at a greater distance in the county to get reimbursed. Now, the change they approved last month will be amended to allow for those who travel more than 5 miles to the board meeting can be reimbursed.

Mr. Totsch asked for a roll call vote.

A roll call vote was taken to approve the resolution. Those in favor were: Mark Peter, Matt Obert, Robert Reich, John Brady, Seldon Totsch, Les Post, Theresa Bockhold, Joe Zanger, David Hoskins, Steven Demoss, Rebecca Weed, Ryan Niekamp, Dave Bellis, Marvin Kerkhoff, Raquel Piazza, John Heidbreder and Kent Snider.

Those opposed were: Bret Austin, Ryan Hinkamper and Taylor Rakers. Those present were: Todd Duesterhaus.

Total in favor: 17 Total opposed: 3 Total present: 1

The committee’s next meeting is scheduled for July 2nd, 2019 at 6:30 PM. Public Health & Safety

Committee Report (Mrs. Weed)

Bills – The committee met on Tuesday, May 28th, 2019 and reviewed the bills for the Sheriff’s Office, Coroner’s Office, Emergency Management Agency and Animal Control. All of the bills were in order.

Reports-

Mrs. Weed summarized the reports they were given at the committee meeting.

Sheriff Vonderhaar reported that the jail population was at 124. SWAP has no eligible inmates to go out to do the jobs for the county. The department is dealing with mechanical issues with several squad cars. The officers have taken the 2-day mandatory training on CPR, Firearms, and Narcotics.

Emergency Management Director, John Simon, reported that the river levels were a concern. They reopened the Emergency Operations Center. They continued to communicate with all the levy districts and expected road closures. Radio system programming was done in squad and ambulance rigs that week. The Ambulance services continues to work on collections with some success.

County Coroner, John Myers, reported that there were 66 reported deaths, 7 autopsies, 2 indigent cremations (one by coroner’s office for $200 and one by local funeral home for $500), and 28 cremations in April of 2019. There has been an average of 34 cremation permits issued monthly so far in FY2019. The department transferred $20,000 out of post mortems line to cover salaries. 4 tables were returned by police. They are now used to get weekend reporting turned in faster. The state of Illinois is reimbursing funeral homes on public aid and recipients, but not governmental entities.

The committee’s next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 18th, 2019 in the Law Library.

Finance

Committee Report (Mr. Austin)

Bills – The committee met on Monday, June 10th to review the bills. All of the bills were in order.

Resolution –

a. 2019-06-421-011-Resolution to establish civil fees and criminal and traffic assessments to be charged by the Clerk of the civil courts and appropriate funds. 

Mr. Austin moved to approve the resolution. Mr. Niekamp seconded the motion.

Mr. Heidbreder asked if this is just a schedule of what they owe to the county Mr. Austin stated it is related to the fines and the assessments on fines.

Mr. Heidbreder asked for clarification that low-income people get some sort of break?

Mr. Austin stated that the income level is set by the state. There are different brackets set up for the assessment part and not the fine.

Mr. Heidbreder stated that this will no longer provide the amount of funding that we currently enjoy.

Mr. Austin stated that is correct. It starts July 1st. We will vote on resolutions to change funding around. There is intention from this to not criminalize not being able to pay your fine when you’ve been found guilty, which is probably good intention, but Adams County relies more heavily on fines and the services we provide than we do property taxes, unlike places such as Chicago. We are going to struggle to maintain some of our fees, fines, and assessments, but he commends everyone who worked on this in such a timely manner.

Resolution 2019-06-421-011 was approved.

b. 2019-06-001-012- An ordinance authorizing the issuance of General Obligation Bonds (Alternate Revenue Source), in one or more series, of the County of Adams, Illinois, in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $4,000,000 for the purpose of financing the costs of certain capital projects within the County and paying for costs related thereto.

Mr. Austin made a motion to approve the resolution. Mr. Rakers seconded the motion.

A roll call vote was taken to approve the ordinance. Those in favor were: Mark Peter, Matt Obert, Robert Reich, John Brady, Seldon Totsch, Les Post, Theresa Bockhold, Joe Zanger, David Hoskins, Todd Duesterhaus, Bret Austin, Steven Demoss, Rebecca Weed, Ryan Niekamp, Ryan Hinkamper, Dave Bellis, Marvin Kerkhoff, Raquel Piazza, John Heidbreder, Taylor Rakers and Kent Snider.

Ordinance 2019-06-001-012 was approved.

Mr. Heidbreder asked what it will do to someone who owns a $100,000 home. Will it jack it up some?

Mr. Austin stated that this is a general obligation bond, but is tied to an alternative revenue source which is the quarter percent sales tax.

Mr. Heidbreder stated yes, but that isn’t adequate enough to pay the bonds we have already.

Mr. Austin stated that, over time, it is. It does have a shortfall at the end of this where decisions will need to be made. We are very close to having it paid with the sales tax and possibly leveraging it against sales tax collection over a longer period of time. We had it as 18 to 18.5 years of sales tax payoff, but it looks more like 20-21 years. It is still designated under the alternative revenue source and at this time is not being a leverage property tax dollar amount.

Mr. Heidbreder stated if the alternate revenue source is needed to pay the current $25 million bond, then how will there be additional alternate revenue sources to pay some or all of this $4 million. He stated that this is property taxes, pure and simple.

Mr. Austin stated that he doesn’t believe so. The bonds will fall off in payments. They all have to end at the same time. This one will end at 17.5 to 18 years and we have the ability to carry the sales tax forward. In essence, we can designate that alternate revenue source to carry forward.

Mr. Heidbreder stated that counties in Illinois cannot do obligations of any sort for longer than 20 years.

Mr. Austin stated that is true. The longest bond we have was the first one which was the $20 million. That is why they are on a sliding scale. All of these bonds will end 20 years from the day we took the first series.

Finance-

a. Additional Fund Appropriation – From Brian Vonderhaar – Adams County Sheriff

– an increase of $8,300.00 to revenue line item 235-231-4105 Sheriff Vehicle fund Earnings for a new budgeted amount of $8,300.00. (Attachment C-3)

Mr. Austin moved to approve the additional Fund Appropriation. Mr. Rakers seconded the motion.

A roll call vote was taken to approve the additional fund appropriation. Those in favor were: : Mark Peter, Matt Obert, Robert Reich, John Brady, Seldon Totsch, Les Post, Theresa Bockhold, Joe Zanger, David Hoskins, Todd Duesterhaus, Bret Austin, Steven Demoss, Rebecca Weed, Ryan Niekamp, Ryan Hinkamper, Dave Bellis, Marvin Kerkhoff, Raquel Piazza, John Heidbreder, Taylor Rakers and Kent Snider.

Total in favor: 21 Total against: 0

The additional fund appropriation was approved.

The following two additional fund appropriations were approved together:

b. Additional Fund Appropriation – From Todd Nelson – Public Defender – an increase of $1.00 to revenue line item 411-411-4105 Public Defender Records Automation – Earnings – Circuit Clerk – Public Defender for a new budgeted amount of $1.00. (Attachment C-4)

c. Additional Fund Appropriation – From Lori Geschwandner – Circuit Clerk – an increase of $1.00 to revenue line item XXX-XXX-4105 Specialty Court - Earnings – Circuit Clerk – Specialty Court for a new budgeted amount of $1.00. (Attachment C-5)

Mr. Austin made a motion to approve both additional fund appropriations. Mr. Niekamp seconded the motion.

A roll call vote was taken to approve the two additional fund appropriations. Those in favor were: : Mark Peter, Matt Obert, Robert Reich, John Brady, Seldon Totsch, Les Post, Theresa Bockhold, Joe Zanger, David Hoskins, Todd Duesterhaus, Bret Austin, Steven Demoss, Rebecca Weed, Ryan Niekamp, Ryan Hinkamper, Dave Bellis, Marvin Kerkhoff, Raquel Piazza, John Heidbreder, Taylor Rakers and Kent Snider.

Total in favor: 21 Total against: 0

The additional fund appropriations were approved.

d. Transfer of Budget Appropriation – Judicial – a transfer of $3,000.00 from line item 431-431-5713 Law Library: Grant Expense for a revised budgeted amount of $7,000.00 and an increase of $3,000.00 to expense account 431-431-5105 Law Library: Salary - Law Clerk for a new budget amount of $22,500.00.

Mr. Austin made a motion to approve the transfer of budget appropriation. Mr. Niekamp seconded the motion.

A roll call vote was taken to approve the additional budget appropriation. Those in favor were: : Mark Peter, Matt Obert, Robert Reich, John Brady, Seldon Totsch, Les Post, Theresa Bockhold, Joe Zanger, David Hoskins, Todd Duesterhaus, Bret Austin, Steven Demoss, Rebecca Weed, Ryan Niekamp, Ryan Hinkamper, Dave Bellis, Marvin Kerkhoff, Raquel Piazza, John Heidbreder, Taylor Rakers and Kent Snider.

Total in favor: 21 Total against: 0

The additional budget appropriation was approved.

e. Transfer of Budget Appropriation – From Bryden Cory – Treasurer - a transfer of $,690.77 from line item 001-001-5999 County General Contingency for a revised budgeted amount of $133,759.23 and an increase of $690.77 to expense account 001-151-5110 County Collector- Salary – Extra Help for a new budget amount of $2,690.77.

Mr. Austin made a motion to approve the transfer of budget appropriation. Mr. Niekamp seconded the motion.

A roll call vote was taken to approve the transfer of budget appropriation. Those in favor were: : Mark Peter, Matt Obert, Robert Reich, John Brady, Seldon Totsch, Les Post, Theresa Bockhold, Joe Zanger, David Hoskins, Todd Duesterhaus, Bret Austin, Steven Demoss, Rebecca Weed, Ryan Niekamp, Ryan Hinkamper, Dave Bellis, Marvin Kerkhoff, Raquel Piazza, John Heidbreder, Taylor Rakers and Kent Snider.

Total in favor: 21 Total against: 0

The transfer of budget appropriation was approved.

Mr. Austin stated that this is out of contingency. This is a reflection of both the transitions of payroll to the new system and Mr. Terry Asher, the old treasurer, providing transition time as a consultant for the new treasurer. There may be a little more expense, but it should be wrapping up within the next month.

f. Additional Fund Appropriation-From County Board-Emergency Management-an increase of $125,000 to revenue account line item 259-211-4730 – 2019 Flood Relief FEMA Payments- for a new budget amount of $125,000. An increase of $25,000 to expense account line item 259-501-5105-2019 Flood Relief County Highway Salaries-Flood Relief- for a revised budget amount of $25,000. An increase of $50,000 to expense account line item 259-501-5150 – 2019 Flood Relief County Highway Overtime-Flood relief- for a revised budget amount of $50,000. An increase of $5,000 to expense account line item 259-211-5105 – 2019 Flood Relief EM Salaries- Flood Relief- for a revised budget amount of $5,000. An increase of $10,000 to expense account line item 259-211-5667-2019 Flood Relief EMA Equipment Exp-Flood Relief- for a revised budget amount of $10,000. An increase of $35,000 to expense account line item 259-211-5670-2019 Flood relief EMA Materials & Supplies-Flood Relief- for a revised budget amount of $35,000. (Attachment C-8)

Mr. Austin made a motion to approve the additional fund appropriation.

Mr. Peter seconded the motion.

Mr. Austin explained that the revenue is $125,000 and the sub accounts are expenses that total up to the $125,000. It is possible that a couple other departments might have some stuff in here. It is very important to isolate this in the budget and hopefully we won’t have another one of these floods for a long time.

Mr. Heidbreder asked if we still pay the $125,000 if FEMA doesn’t send us money. Mr. Austin stated that is correct. This is an umbrella estimate to get started. We won’t get it all, but we were declared emergency area and we are eligible for FEMA reimbursement.

A roll call vote was taken to approve the additional fund appropriation. Those in favor were: : Mark Peter, Matt Obert, Robert Reich, John Brady, Seldon Totsch, Les Post, Theresa Bockhold, Joe Zanger, David Hoskins, Todd Duesterhaus, Bret Austin, Steven Demoss, Rebecca Weed, Ryan Niekamp, Ryan Hinkamper, Dave Bellis, Marvin Kerkhoff, Raquel Piazza, John Heidbreder, Taylor Rakers and Kent Snider. Total in favor: 21 Total against: 0

The additional fund appropriation was approved.

Jail Sub-Committee

Committee Report (Mr. Peter)

Mr. Peter gave the following construction report provided by Mr. Sid Wilson:

The second floor Sheriff Department and QPD areas are still being finished. It is mainly electrical and IT wire pulling. The floor and wall tile in the locker rooms/bathrooms is starting in the next 2 weeks. Exterior windows are completed. The three main stairs are complete. The elevators are in the building for installation. They are waiting for the electrical to be run. The mason is complete except for punch list items the county is holding retainage on. All three cell blocks in area B are ongoing with all trades. The back parking lot replacement including the west extension is poured and will be complete and reopened on Monday, July 1st. The exterior building signs are installed. There is still an end of November completion date.

Mr. Peter stated that there is one more funding request to be passed for the technology part. Mr. John Frankenhoff provided the committee with information and a list of items needed. It was intentionally kept out of the original bid so that we could do it in-house with John expertise to make sure it matched with the existing equipment we have in the courthouse building. The jail sub-committee recommends the approval of these funds. (Attachment D-1)

Mr. Peter made a motion to approve the technology costs of $19,010. 

Mr. Niekamp seconded the motion.

The motion was approved.

Mr. Heidbreder asked if the building is in the dry and closed in now.

Mr. Peter stated that it is completely closed in now. The heavy construction is done, but there is still a lot of work to do. The technology work was kept out of the bid so that they could take care of it in-house.

Unfinished Business

There was no unfinished business at the June 2019 meeting.

New Business

Monthly Reports – The County Clerk had monthly reports from the Supervisor of Assessments/Board of Review, the Probation Department, Juvenile Detention center, The County Clerk/Recorder’s office, Treasurer’s Office, the Sheriff’s Office, Monthly check register for May 2019, and Funds Summary report for May 2019 including revenue and expenses.

Mr. Duesterhaus made a motion to receive and file the monthly reports with the appropriate committee.

Mr. Zanger seconded the motion.

Motion to receive and file the monthly reports with the appropriate committee adopted.

Resignations-

The board accepted the resignation of Sue Hester from the Quincy/Adams County joint Emergency Telephone Service Board. (Attachment E-1)

Appointments –

a. Quincy/Adams County Joint Emergency Telephone Service Board-appointment to complete the term of Sue Hester- Duane Venvertloh. Duane will serve as the Public Member.

Mr. Peter made a motion to accept the appointment. 

Mr. Niekamp seconded the motion.

The appointment was approved.

Report –

Mr. John Simon, Director of Emergency Management, gave the following update on the area flooding:

The flood of 2019 actually started in mid-March. We talked about it in committee meetings that we could see a flood even to the magnitude of the flood of ’93. We set the 4th highest crest on May 3rd at 28.7 feet and followed up with the 2nd highest crest of ’93 on June 1st at 31.1 feet. We set two records in less than one month here in 2019. The day after Memorial Day, we were informed of a rapidly increasing river. We activated the Emergency Operations and asked Mr. Snider to declare a state of disaster. He did and we started a sandbag operation jointly with the city and many other agencies. There was a lot of activity going on and it wasn’t all just centered around sandbagging. There was a lot of coordinating with levy officials in order to get them personnel and resources. Not just sandbags. We asked the highway department if they would start moving sand to the Oakley Lindsey Center where the sandbagging operation was held. They did that for about 7 days. Since the county had bigger trucks, they would bring the sand in, and the city would haul out and distribute to levy districts of lima, Indian Graves, the city of Quincy to protect critical infrastructure, and protecting our investments and economic interests in West Quincy, etc. Our levy districts protect more than 50,000 acres. A lot of it is farm ground, but we still have a lot of critical infrastructure even though it isn’t specifically in Adams County. We have major employers in West Quincy and major transportation routes, so we needed to watch that area as well. There is over 5,000 acres in the South Quincy Levy and Drainage district, which is a heavy industry area. On May 31st, we were informed of a critical issue in West Quincy. A creek was eroding a levy away at about 2 feet per 30 minutes. Missouri officials made the call to evacuate West Quincy and we shut off all access into Quincy. 2-3 hours later, it was stabilized it and we were able to resume traffic. It took a lot of effort to make that happen. Even though it wasn’t necessarily our county, we coordinated with them to make sure they had the resources necessary to fight and stabilize that incident. We had critical issues of our own that started June 1st. It took 13, 000 sandbags to stabilize Ursa Farmer’s Coop that sits right on the Lima Levy District. Indian Graves had issues as well, but they were able to stabilize it with sandbags. Another critical issue discovered under pavement at Gardner Denver was spotted. It would have not only effected Gardner Denver, but it would have also threatened the entire South Quincy levy District and all of the infrastructure in there. It was stabilized with sandbags very quickly. We lost every levy district except South Quincy in 1993. In 2019 we have held all of our districts. A key to a successful flood- fight is the fast movement of resources which takes an entire team to make that happen. We are tracking the funding. We will have a full financial report next month. Damage estimations and such will be determined over the next couple of weeks and the new can send our official request to FEMA in the weeks to come. Southern Illinois is still in flood-fight and will be in the coming weeks. It might be a slow path to get the dollars from FEMA, but we know that we are pursuing it.

Mrs. Weed asked if he thought we were out of the woods.

Mr. Simon stated we are sitting better when we look at the predicted forecast for the next couple of days. However, we are only sitting a little under 26 feet. Another good rainfall could put us right back up. We are leaving protective measures in place and they will be easy to place right back into effect.

Mr. Niekamp asked how many sandbags were done.

Mr. Simon said he doesn’t have an exact number, but based on the number of truckloads we sent, it would be around 300,000. We trucked in 4,000 tons of sand. 

Mr. Niekamp asked how many volunteers we had.

Mr. Simon stated we had about 3,000 volunteers.

Mr. Farha stated that we all owe The Emergency Management Department, the Highway Department, the City of Quincy, the Sheriff’s Office, and all of the volunteers a very heart-felt thanks.

Mr. Simon stated it takes a community. We’ve done it before and we will do it again.

Chairman Snider provided Mr. Simon a plaque as a token of appreciation from the county. He elaborated on the amazing job that Mr. Simon did and all of the hours he worked during this time.

Correspondence

1) Letter from Ameren regarding tree trimming in and around the City of Quincy.

2) Letter from IDOT regarding the satisfactory completion of Illinois Project RS- 1600/123/000 in Ursa.

Mr. Duesterhaus moved to receive and file the correspondence with the appropriate committee.

Mr. Zanger seconded the motion.

Motion to receive and file the correspondence with the appropriate committee adopted.

The June 11th, 2019 county board meeting was recessed until Tuesday, July 9th, 2019 at 7:00 PM.

http://www.co.adams.il.us/county_board/minutes/2019-06-11-CountyBoardMinutes&Resolutions.pdf