Good evening everyone. We will go ahead and call the meeting to order. I am going to initiate
Please take the vote for attendance if you would please mark yourself as present.
Nate, I don't see it counting down.
We have 12 present and 2 absent. Before we begin, just so we can hopefully eliminate any internet issues with the voting system, if you currently have your phone set on Wi-Fi for the courthouse, if you wouldn't mind please shutting that off.
We're just not certain that the bandwidth is enough to have everything on at one time. If you have any windows other than
what we're using for the county board, open on your laptop or iPad if you wouldn't mind closing those.
We're trying to do whatever we can to make sure that we don't lose connection.
So thank you for that. I appreciate it. With that, Mr. Jogerst, would you please lead us in prayer? And Mrs. Baker,
would you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?
Sheriff, I'm just thankful for a beautiful day. I'm also thankful that there was no possible lack of recent storms.
I just ask you to help those that are in damage and to get things fixed up again.
We also ask you for guidance tonight through these items on the agenda that we can make great decisions for those in the county.
We love you, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
May I please get an approval for tonight's agenda? By Mr. Bush, is there a second? Second by Mr. Diddens. Is there any discussion on the agenda?
Seeing none, if you would please mark your vote for the approval of the Agenda.
And that was passed unanimously. Thank you. Moving on to the Consent Agenda.
Does any Board Member like to remove either A or B for discussion?
Seeing none, is there a motion to approve A and B?
by Mr. Newton, second by Mr. Busker. Is there any discussion on A or B in the
consent agenda? Seeing none, if you would please go ahead and vote for the approval
of the agenda. That also passes unanimously. Thank you. Is there any public
Comment this evening. If you wouldn't mind coming up to the podium.
Alright, if you would state your name and then there'll be three minutes for you. There's a clock right in front of you up in the ceiling.
Thank you. First of all, thank you to all of you for your public service. I appreciate it.
My name is Teresa Smith. I'm a consulting dietitian with a nursing facility.
I have provided dietary consulting services to the nursing center for over 25 years.
I'm here tonight to make you aware that several of my invoices have not been paid,
including one from as far back as December of 2024. The total for all of the invoices is
is $8,450.52.
In October, I became aware of the sale of the building
not happening in September.
I was told invoices could not be paid for that reason.
In November, I was told there was no ruling from the judge
regarding the potential sale.
Again, told no invoices could be paid.
In December, I was told that the judge ruled
the sale must go to the referendum
with no timeline on payout of the invoices.
could be up to two years.
In January, I was told that emergency situations came up
and the invoices could not be paid.
In February, I was told the county was holding money
to pay for a potential federal fine
that the attorneys were hoping to waive.
Also was told by others in the community
that invoices had been paid.
In March, I was told that the county was still forwarding
or still holding the money for the potential fine,
but I was offered the opportunity for a settlement.
A settlement was offered with a March 31st deadline,
but as far as I know, it was not shared
with the Finance Committee of the Board.
In April, I was again told the county was reserving funds
for that potential federal fine.
I am being told by outside sources
that I can file a small claims court
since I have good documentation
that the county does have the money
and that they owe me the money.
I'm a small independent business person.
I would hope to settle outside of the courtroom
with mutual discussion happening.
I would ask that you allow all of these invoices
to be paid within the next 30 days.
Thank you for your time and for your service.
Thank you very much.
Is there anyone else?
I'm Karen Rivers. Since there are new board members here, or I thought there would be,
I'll quickly review some of my comments from past meetings. In 2018, Stevens County Board
approved Sultage Renewable Energy out of New Jersey to build a number of solar sites in
and the County.
After six years, no.
After six years, no information from anyone and no new ZBA hearing, the site next door to me named Zimmerman North was built.
What was built is not what was approved. Approved was a 2 megawatt site with fixed south-facing panels on a 10.23 acre space within a 24 acre area.
Built was a 2.58 megawatt site with east-west rotating panels on 13 acres.
The site extends outside of its boundaries and is 30% larger than approved.
Very high pollen content toxic junipers were planted as a concealing border a year after requests were made that non-toxic spruce be planted instead.
The junipers are planted single row 20-25 foot apart and conceal nothing.
It took me a year to get stacks of panels labeled broken removed from the fence next door to me.
The site is mowed only once a year at the end of August when the weeds are above head height and the invasive plant seeds have blown throughout the area.
Since fall of 2025, multiple panels no longer rotate and are stuck at a reflective position facing west.
Over a month ago, a partial row of panels broke off or just fell off their posts and have been lying shattered and broken on the ground ever since.
Last month I spoke with inspectors at the site who said they were hired by the present
owners, Harrison Street, due to construction violations and legal issues involving the
original owner builders, Sultage Renewable Energy.
I have here photos of the newest issues I just mentioned.
A properly built and maintained solar site should not be falling apart.
I again request the site be required
to be properly maintained.
I also ask that the county hire a certified inspector
to determine and correct the issues.
Are any other soltage renewable energy built sites
in the same deteriorate condition?
It's not even two years old.
I don't know if you folks can see these very well.
As the panels have fallen,
West Facing Stuck and Fallen, these are some of these are from my front yard so
the reflection in my front yard this one is fallen panels covered by snow these
are the reflection and fallen panels so this is out of my hands you guys have the
Adam, Moderow, I sit over there. I've been here before to give public comment about the
various environmental uniqueness to our county, whether it's the the whooping
cranes that pass through and very few others can boast, or the the pasque
flowers that grow every spring right across from our new animal control
facility. Part of the reason I'm able to talk about those things is because we're
in the middle of a very unique area, the Driftless, and very very simply 12,000
years ago, a little plus, there was a big glacier around everything except us.
And along the Mississippi, Wisconsin, this unique area has some of the oldest and
most unique botanical, geological, and aquatic area that you can find within a
day's drive. We're known around the world by people that study these kinds of
things, and it's been very exciting growing up looking at the environment in
this area. And if you're as excited about that kind of thing as I am, you should
come to the library on April 27th. There's a movie all about the unique
features of this driftless area, which includes the land right outside your
door. Again, April 27th, 630 p.m., right across the street at the library. Hope
we see you there.
All right, with that, we'll move on to the appointment of Cindy Lawfer to fill the vacancy in County Board District I.
This was brought forward by, this nomination was brought forward by the Republican Central Committee.
Is there a motion to approve?
So moved.
By Mr. Diddens, is there a second?
By Mr. Jogerst, is there any discussion?
Seeing none, you may go ahead and vote for that appointment.
That pass is unanimous. Congratulations Cindy. Judge McClannathan, would you mind administering her oath?
Director, Me. I, Cynthia J. Lawfer, having been appointed to the Stevenson County Board
District I, in the County of Stevenson, do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support
the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Illinois,
and that I will faithfully discharge, I will faithfully discharge, of the duties of the
Stevenson County Board, of the duties of the Stevenson County Board, to the best of my ability,
to the best of my ability. Congratulations.
Thank you Cindy and if you'd like to take your seat next to Mr. Hadley. Thank you.
Thank you, Judge. All right, the next item is the nominations for Vice Chair. As you're all aware, with the resignation of Mr. Whalen last month, we did announce that vacancy in the opening for that, so we will open up the floor now for nominations for the position of County Board Vice Chair. Each nomination must receive a second. After a nomination is made and seconded, the nominee will be asked whether they accept or not.
Once all nominations are completed and closed, we will proceed with a roll call vote conducted by name.
Is there a motion to open the floor to nominations?
By Mr. Jogerst, is there a second? By Mr. Diddens. Is there any discussion on opening the floor to nominations?
Seeing none, you may go ahead and vote for that.
Georgia can you show her please that passes unanimously are there any
nominations for the role of vice chair of the Stevenson County Board mr. Jogerst
Is there a second for that by Mr. Diddens? Any discussion on the nomination? Any other
nominations? Mrs. Baker, do you accept the nomination? All right, very good. Seeing
that there are no other nominations.
Is there a motion to close the nominations?
Mr. Busker, is there a second?
Mrs. Hayes, any discussion on closing the nominations?
Seeing none, you may go ahead and cast your vote.
All right, so the vote to close the nominations has 12 yes and one no.
So with that, we'll call a roll call vote for the nomination of Nicole Baker as Vice
Chair.
Clerk, would you call that vote, please?
Larry Jogerst.
Aye.
Scott Helms.
Aye.
Nicole Baker.
Aye.
Steve Fricke.
Yes.
Cindy Lawfer.
Aye.
Ronnie Bush.
Aye.
and Daniel Newton.
Samuel, Newton, Lou Ann, Hayes, Patrick, Busker, William, Hadley, Dale, Diddens, Lynette,
Williams, Adam, Moderow, 12-A, 1-A. Motion carries. Congratulations. If you
wouldn't mind coming up and taking my seat for a moment.
you're gonna have to do that this one this one so Delbert would you mind coming
up. Thank you, sir. Tonight is one of the nights I really enjoy when I get to do
this. I'd like to recognize an extraordinary act of generosity, the
gift of a vehicle to the Stevenson County taxpayers and more specifically to
of our Animal Control Department.
To me, at least, this is not just a set of keys
and four wheels, this is one of the finest examples
of giving back to the community that I've witnessed
in 23 years of being in public service.
Delbert, your employees and yourself,
the Baccarata Group, the generosity that you have shown
speaks volumes about the character of yourself
and all of your employees.
You didn't just see a need, you acted.
you didn't just offer help, you set the example.
And in doing so, showed us all what it means
to truly invest in our community.
Moments like this should remind us
that generosity is contagious.
One act of kindness can ripple outward,
inspiring others to give, to help,
and to believe in the power of community.
So I would like us to celebrate this incredible gift,
not just with applause, but with a renewed commitment
to look for ways that we can each make a difference.
Whether it's through time, resources,
or simply lending a helping hand,
we all have the power to be someone's turning point.
Thank you again, Delbert.
And to everyone here, let's keep building a community
where giving is not the exception, but it's the expectation.
So on behalf of the Stevenson County Board,
I would like to present to you
in the Employees' Bakker Auto Group,
with this token of our appreciation.
Thank you.
Yep.
Beautiful.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Appreciate you.
Nice chat.
All right, with that,
on to new business and into executive session 5 ILCS 120 slash 2 C 11 litigation
when an action against affecting or beyond behalf of the particular public
body has been filed and is pending before a court or administrative tribunal or in
the public body finds an action is probable or imminent is there a motion
to go into executive session by mr. did and second by mr. Jogerst any discussion
on going into Executive Session.
Seeing none, you may go ahead and cast your vote.
And that passes unanimously.
Thank you.
Turn this over to the Administrator.
What you already did, didn't you? Yeah. Thank you. April 16th, 2026. Okay. We are now out of executive session and no action was taken.
Next on the agenda is the Greater Freeport Partnership quarterly presentation presented by Andrea Schultz-Winter and Nicole Hass.
Good evening.
Thank you in advance for having us come and present to you.
Very shortly we will be passing out a hard copy of our quarterly report.
As you see, our areas are outlined by our strategic focus areas.
But also this evening, we will be highlighting
some economic data.
We will be talking about a workforce alignment initiative.
And we'll be highlighting a few other initiatives and highlights
from the first quarter.
So national economic trends, we see
that inflation is at 3.3%.
And that's as measured by the consumer price index.
And while consumer sentiment has plunged 11%,
this is the lowest point since post-World War II.
So what we see is that there is a lot of uncertainty
in the market.
How that translates is when there's
uncertainty in the market, consumers typically
will delay or not make larger discretionary purchases.
It will affect their behavior.
We'll also see within businesses that they
might hesitate to make larger investments because they're
waiting and see.
As we have the cost of everyday goods are increasing,
we don't know when that will relax or weaken.
People will most likely delay making any investment.
We saw that reflected in our business retention visits
as we talked with businesses that they are thinking about
and planning for some investment in the future,
some expansion, but they're not making any immediate plans
to do so because of these uncertain times.
With that, we also track economic development
or economic employment data.
Each month, we report to our board
figures that we get from Illinois Department
of Employment Security.
Highlighted on the screen tonight
is unemployment numbers for January of 2026, both for
Stevenson County as a whole and Freeport, city of Freeport.
What we have consistently seen over the last 12 months is that
there are more people unemployed looking for work, there are,
I'm sorry, less people looking for work than there are unique
job postings within Stevenson County.
So there's a disconnect.
We have more open positions than we do people looking for work.
Our unemployment has raised just slightly from January of 2025.
But we have consistently, again, seen over the last 12 months
that we will have more unique job postings in Stevenson
County than we have people looking for work.
And oftentimes, those median wages in the last 12 months
have fluctuated anywhere from the upper $28, $27 per hour
to in March of 2026, it was $32.16 per hour.
So that equates to a $66,900 annual salary.
So almost $67,000.
Just to keep that.
Just to keep that in perspective, a median household income for Stevenson County is $64,000.
So what I often hear people say is that there are not good jobs, well-paying jobs in Stevenson
County.
What I'm here to tell you tonight is that yes, there are.
It is our job as the partnership to help with that disconnect and help provide a linkage
between our talent here and our employers as well to try to make that match.
Moving on, we've consistently seen this over the last 12 months.
And we have embarked upon a workforce alignment strategy.
We had a kickoff meeting last week to really start bringing all the partners around the
Table, Education Manufacturers, Larger Employers,
Health Care, Education Institutions,
to talk about the difficulty in finding employees.
What we've consistently seen are elevated turnover rates,
retirements are outpacing workforce entry,
and commuter workforce is not translating into residency.
So this isn't just a blip on the radar.
We need to do something different if we want a different result.
And I would say ultimately always remembering that we want the job here in Stevenson County,
but we also want that job to translate to a paycheck that comes to a driveway of Stevenson
County.
It's a bigger ROI.
That paycheck helps pay for property taxes, sales tax generation.
We also know that talent retention and recruitment is complex work. Besides jobs, people, housing, child care, and transportation, quality of life, all of these problems and solutions are mutually reinforcing and they need to be worked on concurrently to reinforce our workforce talent recruitment and retention strategies.
So, we established some shared goals to stabilize and grow our prime workforce age 25 to 44.
We want to reduce that industrial turnover, increase that working age population, that
25 to 44 age cohort, expand workforce training programs that could include apprenticeships.
We know that we need housing here as well.
We need a place for those workers to live and we want to reduce that commuter leakage
by 10%. When someone commutes into the community for a job, it's more likely that they might
leave that job to work for a place that's closer to their home. So if we can convert
those commuters to residence, they're more likely to stay. In our meeting, these are
the proposed next steps in our current work. Highlighted on the screen, you see our two
Boulded, Bullet Points.
That's where we started to focus our work,
to review the responsibilities of employers,
our public partners, and educational institutions
and how we retain and attract that talent.
And we dove into that in the meeting.
The other thing that we're looking
at is educational and training alignment for current needs
and our future opportunities.
How do we really connect with seniors
that are going to be graduating in a month?
We know that many of them have different paths ahead of them.
Some of them will be entering into the workforce in a month
and they'll be looking to connect and to gain a job.
Also, how do we help employers tell the story of career
laddering they have within their own institution?
At this meeting was shared by a Freeport-based manufacturer
that, of his five shift leads that are making over $100,000
a year, four of them started on the floor.
And their highest formal education
as a High School Diploma, any additional training they've
received on the job.
So there are wonderful opportunities here.
But how do we make sure that those are talked about
and that seniors, high school students, and even younger
students understand that there are great opportunities here?
And while we know we need to continue building a workforce,
Shovel Ready Sites is still a strategy
of our long-term economic development plan.
We have received a site readiness grant
from the state of Illinois.
We are continuing work on executing that grant and currently are in environmental assessment
on greenfield sites.
That will help us in terms of when we go to market those sites, we know that due diligence
activity is already done.
So the timeline for an investment or shovels getting in the ground is shortened because
that due diligence work is already done.
Additionally, the City of Freeport has broken ground on Well 12, which opens up another
and other area of the community for potential retail and commercial industrial corridors.
We are actively having conversations with those landowners to get their appetite and
temperature on potential development.
And next but not least is Opportunity Zones.
So part of our work in the Greater Freeport Partnership is always advocating for our region
if there are additional economic development tools that could come to our area.
Such as the Opportunity Zone, this will be coming up for renewal in June and the partnership
has secured several letters of support from local businesses, developers, companies to
demonstrate the economic potential of having an Opportunity Zone if it were to be expanded
into the other eligible census tracts within the City of Freeport.
Ultimately, the Governor will decide which tracts are added into the Opportunity Zone
later this year.
on the screen tonight are the eligible census tracts that could be included in the Opportunity
Zone.
It is our goal as the partnership to do everything we can to position the community and Stevenson
County so that those census tracts are added into the Opportunity Zone as a potential investment
tool for future development in those areas.
And with that, I'm going to turn it over, presentation over to Nicole, who's going to talk about hotel and conference center attraction.
I'd feel left out if I didn't continue the conversation about development and building things.
So that's what we're going to talk about, even though I usually talk to you about tourism things.
You have seen in your packets that our occupancy rate, our rate at which our hotels are full, fluctuates.
Quarter one, they were down a little bit.
and I'm gonna tell you too that that number is reflected also
by the fact that one of our hotels
has been undergoing major renovation.
So they haven't had as many hotel rooms available.
But with all of that said,
the graph that you see up on the screen tonight
actually represents our hotel leakage numbers.
So when you see it dip down low, those are in,
and I apologize on that screen, it's really small,
but it goes from January of 2019 up until January of 2025.
When it dips low, that's the first quarter.
So we don't have as many visitors staying
in Freeport in the first quarter.
In the years that that doesn't dip as low,
it's primarily because we have more commercial stays,
more business stays midweek.
On the peaks where you see it being a little higher,
that is during the peak tourism season,
usually May through October or somewhere in there about,
That number that you're seeing is actually the number of hotel rooms that we lose to other cities because we don't have room for them.
If you count the three major hotels that we have here in all in Freeport, but also all in Stevenson County, there's only 202.
So when we have a major event, and I'm not talking that it has to be that major, we are totally selling out of hotel rooms and we're pretty much giving that revenue to Stockton, Monroe.
you'd have to go all the way south to Dixon or Sterling.
And then vacation rentals as well,
that's not taken into consideration here.
So it has become apparent that we are losing revenue
to other markets and we wanna try to broaden the scope
of what we can offer visitors by attracting another hotel.
In addition, we don't just want any new hotel,
we would really like a conference center.
We all go to conferences for our jobs
or you get attracted this time of year.
We don't have anywhere here in Freeport or Stevenson County
that we can host a meeting with an attached hotel.
Our meeting room for any of our existing hotels
is only 25 people.
That is one way that we can attract new business here
in that off time.
And then the overflow from that hotel
will generate business for our other existing hotels.
We are working on identifying sites
where the incentives that Andrea just spoke of
would come into play, as well as additional amenities.
We don't want to put a hotel where there's nothing else to do.
We want you to have food, gas, or maybe having
another attraction nearby so that you get out and see
the rest of the area.
Also, we had to use a little reason to give you food.
So I wanted to talk about our sister city partnership,
the city of Freeport with Lidditz, Pennsylvania.
This is something that Tim Connors,
We dubbed him our Community Liaison.
You'll see in the pictures right there,
he's actually in Lidditz right now.
We have presented Lidditz with a key to the city
that has a gold pretzel on the end.
And in turn, oh, you can't see.
and in turn, oh you can't see because my picture is in the way, you can over there, they gave us one made out of a pretzel and that should be returning to us hopefully in one piece.
This is a really great feel-good moment because Lidditz is home to the oldest commercial pretzel bakery in the country, but if Bill or Beck would have stayed in business, they would have been older, but this one is still running.
So we want to continue to build this sister partnership
because it helps engage us with a new audience
of people out there.
It's bringing new promotion and positivity to the region.
We're getting people from Pennsylvania now
who know about Freeport, Illinois,
and it's one more way to continue our idea
of Pretzel City USA.
With that in mind, we start talking a little bit more
about that because we will actually have pretzels.
We will start to distribute Tom Sturgis pretzels right here in Freeport as well as having the Freeport Pretzel Company, which is a soft pretzel small business that is going to be opening and selling pretzels at Pretzel Fest and a lot of other festivals coming this summer.
So please mark the Great Pretzel Bite along with Pretzel Fest on your calendars for April 25th.
We're going to all take a bite together at 10 o'clock downtown Freeport on Chicago Avenue.
Also, our community guide should, if I was a Benton woman, I'd say it's going to show up on Monday because I'm not going to be here and that's usually when those big deliveries show up.
But the community guide is forthcoming. That is the cover that we have for this year. Simply Stevenson County is also the name of our tourism campaign for 2026.
In that guide, we are highlighting 100 years of Highway 20,
along with 100 years of Freeport High School.
Those are two of the editorials in that book.
Also for the tourism campaign,
we continue to promote exactly what we are,
which is relaxing, a place you can explore,
and definitely a place where you belong.
So it's outdoor recreation, retail restaurants,
and events to those who are 25 to 45 in major metros,
more than 50 miles away from here.
We use a lot of social media tools, but also billboards, a little bit of print, and a lot of other really scrappy ways to get our name out and about for Freeport and Stevenson County.
Thank you.
Any questions?
Mrs. Hayes, I'm going to have you go first. Mr. Diddens, if you wouldn't mind pressing your button.
Mrs. Hayes, go ahead. Thank you, Chairman. Hi ladies. I just have a
quick question. I've actually been getting some questions from some of my
constituents about this. Downtown Freeport, we keep losing business. What is the plan
that you have in place to turn that around? So one of the things that we are
actively working on is there was a visioning session done with downtown
Business Owners and Building Owners to talk about how to,
what's the vision that we have for downtown?
So coming out of that, we're part of a recast program
this year to work through that visioning
and looking at how we can support existing businesses
in downtown, as well as bring in some small scale
manufacturing, and I'll give an example
of some small scale manufacturing we're thinking of,
like a Langley and Company, right, where they're
fabricating and they're making their own goods,
and then they're selling them as well.
What we're seeing is it's a period of transition, but I know of eight different projects, probably nine since the storm affected Steve Shlom's building, unfortunately, eight different projects of private investment of buildings that have been recently purchased, enterprise zone applications that have been filed because there's going to be investment being made. So while it has been dormant in some areas, we do see that
that's going to start turning around because people are investing money and that there
are some new businesses opening.
I know that we have been working with a couple of key locations to move people into, so we're
hoping that there will be exciting news on that front, but better days ahead.
And the other thing that we are also looking at, there will be more to come on this because
We're evaluating, we had applied for a grant to develop a small business incubator.
We did not get that grant, so we're going back to that business plan and looking at how
we could still put together an incubator space without grant dollars.
And so we are evaluating some existing spaces in downtown to see what would work and how
it would cash flow.
We have to run that like a business as well.
Thank you for your question.
Anything else, Mrs. Hayes?
Nope, that's it.
Thanks for the presentation. You're welcome. Just to kind of piggyback on Ms. Hayes' remark, I've heard some complaints about the rents going up downtown. So I'm wondering, the city is spending a lot of money or grants to improve downtown. If that's the reason why the rents are going
up, are we kind of shooting ourselves in the foot?
I don't know that I've had any property owner tell me
that the reason that the increase in rent
is due to infrastructure improvements in downtown.
OK.
So without having specific examples,
I probably can't answer your question directly.
But what I would say is oftentimes
we're asked by a business who might
Evaluating Spaces for Lease. Again, we don't act as a realtor, but we can look at data and say this is on average price per square foot and give them guidance in terms of this is what we're seeing within the market. If you're being asked to pay more or less than that, it's something that you should evaluate. Okay. Yeah, this is all third-hand, so I don't have any specifics. But my question is, when you are meeting with the business owners
Do you include the, you know, the high school, you know, the teachers and the education and the government agencies to talk to them about what they need for employees?
So yes and no. I'm going to answer that question in two parts. Typically, I will have a one-on-one meeting with the business and I will go to their place of business and I would treat any information that they share with me as confidential.
and that's why I would report out in aggregate if they have plans for
development I look at it akin to somewhat of a pregnancy announcement if
you will it's not my news to share but it is my the partnerships work to
support their goals and endeavors that being said if one of those meetings I
hear they're really struggling and they need training programs or they want to
connect with certain regulatory agency then that's my follow-up task I make
make sure that those connections are made and those conversations are being had.
Also, I would say in this Workforce Alignment meeting and other meetings we have geared
towards specifically manufacturers, we do have everyone in the room.
We have representation from Highland, Freeport School District, City of Freeport, as well
as HR or President, Plant Managers of those employers so that everybody's in the room,
everybody can hear from one another.
It means a lot more for the educational institution or government to hear it sometimes directly
from the employee or the place of business than it might be from us.
Okay.
Very good.
So both of those conversations are happening.
Okay.
All right.
Just one more quick question.
Nicole, I think you said that we have three hotels in town.
When I reference three, I can bring my prezels with me.
When I reference three hotels, that is, yes, we have three more.
However, the, what do I want to say?
Fluctuation in the number of rooms that are available
or consistently available or ready for occupancy
varies greatly in the other three.
So it's really hard for me to give you comparison data
Using those other three hotels if that makes sense because I couldn't get a very it would be skewed
Okay, because what there's a holiday in out by Samuels isn't there?
No, not the one that tore down there's a super eight there's a super eight right yeah, I was gonna say are you making a joke?
I thought it was a holiday inn, one of those offshoots.
Yes, it was. Super 8. Super 8, okay.
Yep, there's a Super 8 out there as well as Townhouse and West End.
I wasn't talking about the old holiday inn.
Well, thank you.
Anything else, Mr. Diddens?
No, thanks. Mr. Newton, go ahead.
Thank you, Mrs. Chairman. Quick question, in my district, I'm going to say District B and maybe others districts too,
There are a lot of homes that have been torn down.
And I'm sure that that adds to the misery
of not having enough homes.
Is there any discussion about building anything
on the maybe 100 lots that are just empty?
Yeah, it's a good question.
So the partnership has been participating
for probably over a year.
participating for probably over a year with the NAACP,
which is leading this effort and other organizations
on a housing coalition group.
From some stakeholder engagement sessions
that we had with the public last year,
feedback we heard from that,
we really distilled the larger coalition's work
into three main focus areas,
housing improvement, housing growth,
and homeowner tenant education.
I would include in that would be financial literacy
as part of a homeowner or first time home buyer program.
Where the partnership is focusing its effort
is in the housing growth.
We see having housing units that are affordable and safe
are key to having workers here in economic development,
as well as providing jobs in the construction
of those homes and units.
So what we're actively doing right now is working with the City of Freeport and evaluating what areas of the community should be added into the Enterprise Zone.
Currently, the Northwest Illinois Enterprise Zone is the only incentive tool we have to spur residential development.
So we're looking at areas of the community that already have infrastructure, that there's already water and sewer, that there's roads, so on and so forth.
Part of that work is looking at infill lots.
So you're going to have different types of housing.
Different size of housing is allowed by zoning
in different areas based upon size of the parcel.
So it is an ongoing conversation in terms
of different types of housing units
are going to be more appropriate in different areas,
if that makes sense, based upon the size of the lot.
What the enterprise zone will do is work with some property tax abatement as a benefit of
the zone, three years at 100% the level of that investment.
You don't have to pay sales tax on the building materials and within the City of Freeport
the building permit fee is waived.
So those are all three benefits that come with the enterprise zone that help draw down
that cost of infrastructure, that cost of that investment.
Because we know there is still a disconnect between the cost of construction and what
the home will go for here.
So that gap needs to be bridged, if you will.
So what I would anticipate, you're going to see me later on this year coming back to you
as one of the participating units of government in the Northwest Illinois Enterprise Zone
asking for your approval to amend the boundaries of the Enterprise Zone to incorporate more
Areas of Freeport. We're also doing the same thing in Lena and I've just had a
conversation with German Valley about the same. Thank you. You're welcome.
Sorry that might have been a 50 cent answer for more than you wanted to know.
No.
I'll sign.
Yep.
Anything else, Mr. Newton?
Thank you, Chairman.
Anyone else?
Okay, ladies, you're welcome to stay
at the proclamation, if you could give me just a moment.
Oh, sure.
Chairman's report, Mr. Bush, Mr. Newton,
thank you very much for representing students
in the county down in Springfield this week.
I greatly appreciate your effort with that.
I do want to make a quick comment.
The solar panels that were referenced
and the public comment I have confirmed with Director Beth Williams for those pictures were
quite old and any tests repair or broken items are no longer out at this field and they all
have been fixed.
Finally, I want to express my appreciation to Cole Baker, willing to step up as Vice
Chair of the Board.
I appreciate that very much and I'd also like to express my condolences to you and your
and your family for the loss of your father-in-law about a week ago or so.
With that, I'll move forward to the proclamations.
The first is an approval of the proclamation declaring National Economic Development National
Travel and Tourism Week of February 3rd in the night of 2026.
Andrew, would you like to read that?
I would.
I swear it has time.
There you go.
All right.
The Greater Freeport Partnership works on behalf of Freeport and Stevenson County as the economic
development and tourism partner to promote and grow our region.
And whereas economic development and tourism promote economic well-being and quality of
life for their communities by creating, retaining, and expanding jobs that facilitate growth,
enhance wealth, and provide a stable tax base.
And whereas economic development and tourism fuel industry and will continue to be an essential
and John.
We have been working with the state and the county to develop a central part of Freeport
and Stevenson County's economy, development and workforce as an essential industry that
leads to economic growth, benefits businesses and fosters mutual understanding and whereas
economic development and tourism enable success for all industries including manufacturing,
agriculture, defense, healthcare and more by driving sales growth, innovation, education
Nation, and Freeport and Stevenson County forward.
And whereas economic development and tourism stimulate
and incubate entrepreneurism in order
to help establish the next generation of new businesses,
which is the hallmark of the American economy.
And whereas economic development and tourism
are engaged in a wide variety of settings,
including rural and urban, local, state, provincial,
and federal governments, public-private partnerships,
Education, and a variety of other institutions.
And whereas economic development and tourism
attract and retain high quality jobs,
develop vibrant communities,
and improve the quality of life in their regions.
And whereas economic development and tourism
support vibrant and safe communities
in Freeport and Stevenson County
by generating state and local tax revenue
and support essential services such as education,
Emergency Response, Public Safety, and more.
And now, therefore, be it resolved
that the Stevenson County Board does hereby proclaim
May 3rd through 9th, 2026,
as National Economic Development Week
and National Travel and Tourism Week in Stevenson County,
and urge the residents of Stevenson County
to recognize the critical role these industries play
in the sustainability and growth of our region.
Thank you.
Is there a motion to approve?
So the motion, the motion, Moderow, second by Mr. Diddens.
Any discussion?
Seeing none, you may cast your vote
for the approval of the proclamation.
Passes unanimously, thank you.
All right, thank you.
Thank you, Andrea.
Appreciate it.
We have three other proclamations.
I will go ahead and read those quickly.
The first is a proclamation of abate
declaring May as Motorcycle Awareness Month.
The County of Stevens, Illinois proclamation by the Chairman,
whereas safety is the highest priority
for the highways and streets of our County.
Excuse me, let me get my microphone on.
All right, whereas safety is the highest priority
for the highways and streets of our county and state,
and whereas the great state of Illinois
is proud to be a national leader in motorcycle safety,
education, and awareness, and whereas motorcycles
are a primary common and economical means of transportation
that reduces fuel consumption and road wear,
and contributes in a significant way
to the relief of traffic and parking congestion,
and whereas it is especially meaningful
that the citizens of our county and state
be aware of motorcycles on the roadways
and recognize the importance of motorcycle safety.
And whereas the member of ABATE of Illinois
incorporated a brotherhood aimed towards education,
continually promote motorcycle safety, education,
and awareness in high school driver's education programs
and to the general public in our county and state,
presenting motorcycle awareness programs
to over 120,000 participants in Illinois
over the last nine years.
and whereas all motorcyclists should join a bait of Illinois
in actively promoting the safe operation of motorcycles
as well as promoting motorcycle safety, education,
awareness and respect of the citizens
of our county and state.
Whereas the motorcyclists of Illinois
have contributed extensive volunteerism and money
to national and community charitable organizations
and whereas during the month of May,
All roadway users should unite in safe sharing of roadways
within the County of Stevenson
and throughout the great state of Illinois.
Therefore, I, Scott Helms, Chairman of the County of Stevenson
in the great state of Illinois,
in recognition of 39 years of obeyed of Illinois
and over 352,318 registered motorcyclists statewide
and in recognition of the continued role Illinois serves
as a leader in motorcycle safety, education, and awareness
You hereby proclaim the month of May this year, 2026,
as Motorcycle Awareness Month.
Is there a motion to approve?
By Mr. Jogerst, is there a second?
By Mr. Fricke, is there any discussion?
Seeing none, you may cast your vote
for the approval of that proclamation.
and that passes unanimously. Thank you. Next is a proclamation for the National Day of Prayer. Whereas
Stevenson County Board recognizes that the United States of America was founded on the precepts of freedom,
liberty, diversity, and the right of people to acknowledge God according to the dictates of their own
consciousness. And whereas since our nation's founding, Americans have turned to God in times of trial for
and the Chief Executive Officer of the United States of America.
We work together for wisdom, courage, direction, comfort, and at the same time to express gratitude.
And whereas this is a time of international distress, we give thanks for the men and women of our military who stand as watchmen on the wall to defend our nation and the future of democracy and civilization.
tightening and distressed we give thanks that the United States of America has been blessed
beyond measure.
We are continually grateful for our families, the abundance of our land, and our inalienable
rights and liberties.
And, whereas, the President of the United States of America has called on all citizens
to seek God's continued guidance, grace and protection for this land and to reaffirm the
and the role of prayer in our society and to honor the religious diversity that our freedom permits by recognizing the first Thursday of May 2026 as National Day of Prayer with a theme of glorify God among the nations seeking him in all generations and text of, tell of his glory among the nations his wonderful deeds among all the peoples. Therefore, in recognition of Stevenson County's need for inspiration, strength, guidance, and divine direction, I, Scott,
Helms, Chairman of the Stevenson County Board, do hereby proclaim Thursday, May 7th, 2026,
as National Day of Prayer in Stevenson County.
I invite all Stevenson County residents to pray for God's protection, for peace throughout
the world, and to seek a moral and spiritual renewal and to express gratitude for our blessings.
I urge the citizens of Stevenson County to join in observing this day with appropriate
programs, ceremonies, and activities.
Is there a motion to approve this proclamation?
Mr. Newton, seconded by Mr. Busker, is there any discussion?
Seeing none, you may cast your vote.
And that passes with one no vote.
The final proclamation is for National Telecommunications Week, whereas emergencies can occur at any
time that require police, fire, or emergency medical services, and whereas when an emergency
occurs, the prompt response of police officers, firefighters, and paramedics is critical to
the protection of life and preservation of property, and whereas the safety of our police
officers and firefighters is dependent upon the quality and accuracy of information obtained
from citizens who telephone the Stevenson County Communication
Center.
And whereas the Public Safety Telecommunicator
is the first and most critical contact of our citizens
that they have with emergency services.
Whereas the Public Safety Telecommunicator
is the single vital link for our police officers and firefighters
by monitoring their activities by radio,
providing them information, and ensuring their safety.
and whereas the Public Safety Telecommunicators
of Stevenson County Communication Center
has contributed substantially to the apprehension
of criminals, suppression of fires
and treatment of patients.
And whereas each dispatcher has exhibited compassion,
understanding and professionalism
during the performance of their job over the past year.
Therefore, be it resolved that the County of Stevenson,
Illinois declares the week of April 12th
through the 18th of 2026
to be National Telecommunicators Week
here in Stevenson County
in honor of the men and women
whose diligence and professionalism
keep our county and citizens safe.
Is there a motion to approve that proclamation?
Cindy, thank you.
And seconded by Mrs. Hayes, any discussion?
You may cast your vote
for the approval of that proclamation.
And that passes unanimously. Thank you very much. We have two appointments. Would the board like to take these together or separately? Together? Anyone have an objection to that?
The first is the approval of the appointment of Warren Lobb to the Otter Creek Utility District.
and the second is the approval of the appointment of Nicole Baker to the Extension Board.
Is there a motion to approve both?
By Mrs. Hayes, second by Mr. Diddens. Any discussion on those appointments?
Seeing none, you may cast your vote.
and then both appointments pass unanimously. Thank you. Moving on to Action Items and Information
from Standing Committees. First up, Finance. Mr. Jogerst, you're filling in that role this
month, it appears you have three action items. I'm going to get your microphone
turned on. Oh, don't push anything. There you go. There we go. Alright, the first one
up is the approval of manual claims for the Sheriff's Department. There was two
Claims, one for Motorola and the other one was training expenses and the total
is $28,829.80. Mr. Bush, is there a second? Second by Mr. Busker, is there any
discussion on this? Seeing none, you may go ahead and cast your vote for approval.
and that pass is unanimous. Your next item, please.
Yeah, we're gonna have a discussion on the resolution establishing the salary for
the Office of the County Treasurer, first one, and the Administrator passed out the
packet for that. We did talk about that as finance, that you want to come up with
the number here and get this passed for both these positions
in May, correct?
That's correct.
180 days prior to being sworn in for the roles.
Right, so we're actually establishing the salary
for the office, not the person, so.
All right, so I think the last, in the finance meeting,
we didn't have the last page there.
We'll talk about that one next,
but we've got a,
basically the two positions are currently
on the same schedule.
However, I think two years ago, the County Clerk,
County Clerk was, it says County Circuit Clerk.
I'll have the County Administrator address.
I had asked to have these discussion items placed
on the agenda for the Treasurer and the County Clerk,
just so that the entire board has a chance to weigh in
on this prior to it going back to finance
for approval next month.
I did ask that the resolutions for the Treasurer
and the County Clerk be put in there for the prior four years
as well as what was approved two years ago
for the Circuit Clerk to give everyone an idea
of what had been done previously.
So if Mr. Jogerst, if you'd like the Administrator
to discuss it further
or if you'd like to handle it either way.
So if you look at the current resolutions for County Clerk and for Treasurer, where their
starting was each year it was a 3% annual increase.
A note in there is that they were bumped up to 24% of their insurance premiums because
this would have been back in 2022 prior to the rest of the county coming up to that percentage.
The resolutions prior to that, they had a 4% increase year after year and were paying 20%
of their premiums.
The Circuit Clerk's resolution is in there showing that when her new resolution was put
and so into effect it was bringing it up to where the other two positions currently were.
The remaining years on that resolution are 3% increases as well.
And the insurance for the Circuit Clerk is already set at 24%.
Correct, correct.
So we're doing it a little differently this year.
It's still going back to finance in May and we'll still come back to the Board for final
General Approval in May, but giving the entire board an opportunity to weigh in prior to
it going to finance, as opposed to just having one opportunity per se in May.
If anybody has comments, questions, anything that you'd like to ask, please feel free to
questions, anything that you would like the Administrator to look into, and it's the same
for the County Clerk, correct?
Correct.
Yep.
Anyone?
Mrs. Williams, I apologize.
Thank you.
Does the state declare that we have to have
our elected officials at any particular level?
Not for these elected positions.
Not for these elected positions, okay.
And you're saying that the difference between,
let's say, 2024 and 2025 was just nothing more
than a cost of living increase, is that correct?
In their current resolutions?
Yes. Yeah.
Okay, so we didn't necessarily bump them up
to get them to a level.
So the Circuit Clerk's resolution,
they're staggered by two years.
Right.
That's why we included the previous resolutions as well.
So for the Circuit Clerk,
the previous one was 2020 through 2023.
Right.
The new one is 24 through 27,
whereas the other two positions were 2018 through 2021.
Well, and I also, another question, please.
Go ahead.
Just maybe more of a comment.
I see that we are well above, you know,
well, maybe $5,000 above the 2026 statewide salary
and fringe benefit.
So it's not like none of them are being underpaid
at this point.
it would be my comment, based on this report, it appears.
That's all.
I guess I would just say one thing,
when you talk about cost of living,
I would deal in percentages,
not necessarily what you may consider to be cost of living,
and also reference the budget policy
that's approved every year.
When you think of it in those terms,
as opposed to just cost of living,
and that could be if you're counting the CPI
or what you're looking at.
Okay.
And as Mr. Jogerst said, keep in mind
you're valuing the position, not the individuals
that are within that.
Anything else, Mrs. Williams?
Nothing.
Okay, Mr. Hadley, go ahead.
So my big concern is, is over the years
we've seen where the state regulates us
to pay the state's attorney a certain amount of money,
then the public defender, and now the sheriff.
I know there's been bills in Springfield
to set salaries for the rest of the elected,
county elected officials too,
but they've been defeated down in Springfield.
All I can say to the Finance Committee, slow down.
We need to slow down here
because these jobs could all get up over $100,000 a year.
And the public is complaining when we have legislators
giving themselves raises and this is not the time.
I've seen where Ogle County went during the four-year period,
zero, zero, and then maybe a 2%, a 2%, you know.
but all I can say is I will not next month support anything
that's going to inflate these raises up real high
and stuff like that.
So that's all I got to say, Chairman.
Thank you.
Mrs. Hayes, go ahead.
I'm gonna agree with Mr. Hadley.
I do think that we need to take into consideration
what the cost of living,
I think we need to decide that first, right?
The cost of living, if we're saying that we're giving them
a cost of living increase, I don't know.
I mean, last year we were very, very generous
with cost of living increases.
Didn't feel like that compared to what the economy did,
but we will work our way into some exorbitant salaries
that are not sustainable if we continue to give
Every year, the maximum, and once we give them to the elected officials, we have to give them to everybody.
So, I'm not sure which comes first, the cart or the horse, but I'm just, again, cautiously saying to the Finance Committee,
please be careful with that. We don't want to get too much too fast. We will go bankrupt.
Anything else, Mrs. Hayes?
That's it. Thank you, Chairman.
Anyone else?
Mr. Jogerst, do you have anything to add?
Well, we've got to think about the rest of the budget
that we're going to be working on here
in the middle of the year, and then all the supplementals
and all that other stuff that comes with it.
So hopefully we get out in front of it this year.
Instead of, you know, we come down the end of the wire,
we have nothing for supplementals, you know,
for roads and the things that a lot of people want.
So yeah, there's more needs than there is money, obviously.
So that's all I have for the Finance Committee.
Anything else, Georgia, on this item?
I don't have anything else really to share,
but if anyone has questions, reach out.
Yeah, next month we'll also be considering
the budget policy, which will be for non-elected
and non-union employees.
What did we do the last few years, 4%?
Three. Three?
The year before it was four.
Year before, okay.
So again, please reach out to the Finance Committee,
reach out to the Administrator
if you have thoughts or ideas.
So thank you for participating in this tonight.
I know it's not normal, but I think it's good
and worthwhile for us to do that.
Anything else out of Finance, Mr. Jogerst?
That is all, Chairman.
All right, very good, thank you.
Appreciate you filling in this month.
We'll move on to Public Property and Safety.
Mr. Bush, no action items, information out of your committee, sir? No? Okay, all right, very good.
Go ahead, Mr. Hadley, if you want, press your button.
Just one quick question. Has the Sheriff talked anything about the gas prices going up and
his line item and everything's going all right with his line item on the gas?
Yes. Is he monitoring that close? I believe so. It doesn't look like in the near future the
Prices might not go down the rest of the year a little bit. So although I think yesterday the price oil went down below
$100 a barrel. I didn't check today, but you know fingers crossed. Okay. Thank you. You bet
One quick thing with the sheriff. It was brought up in public works about overweight trucks
Specifically, I think Kent Road and Dale you can correct me if it's not the right road
I did reach out to the sheriff and ask if we have people that are certified to
to operate scales.
They're putting trucks on that road
going to the cheese factory, I believe, in Kent
that are well over the 80,000 pound limit.
Way over.
I believe the state police pulled someone over
and Dale, correct me if I'm wrong,
but I believe they issued a $35,000 ticket
for being overweight.
That was a different case.
Different case, but it's still a $35,000 fine, correct?
Gotcha. All right. The good news is the sheriff reached out to the state police who does the training for that. And they are willing to train the Crime Suppression Unit to operate scales. The option or the I'm sorry, the object is not to issue fines. It's to make sure the trucks are not destroying the roads that are overweight. We're not trying to make money on this, but seems
like the only way to get them to stop overloading these trucks is to hit them
in their pocketbook. So just to give you an update on that, the Sheriff is working
on that. With that, we'll move on to administration. Mr. Jogerst, no action
items. Any information out of your committee?
Okay, all right, thank you. We'll move on to court says, can't talk after all those proclamations. Court Services, Mr. Diddens, do you have any items? And if you do, could you please press your microphone button? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don't have any action items, but we did hand out $10,000 for the Youth Diversion Fund that
Collected. We had six businesses that applied for that met the criteria for the
for the grant. High Hope, Hope Wins, Ramp, Sounds of Good News, Voices, and that's
five there should be six. Which one? Boys and Girls Cup, thank you. I had Ramp twice.
Anyway, they all got $1,666.66. We just gave everybody an equal amount.
Last year I think we only had one or two that applied, so this year it was much
better turnout and it's all good for the community. It's all aimed at children, so
it's all good. Thank you, that's it.
Good. Thank you. That's it.
Thank you, Mr. Diddens.
Move on to Nursing Center.
Mrs. Baker, no action items, information?
Yes, so the report was in your packet.
Census is 71.
The facility completed their annual survey.
The team has reviewed all the findings
and the POCs were submitted
and assisted by the regional team.
Agency hours remain low of 250 hours
for the month of March.
And they had their annual Easter egg hunt
on September 4th with a fair turnout, and that's it.
Mr. Bush, did you have any questions?
Yeah, I just kind of want to piggy off what the...
Can you speak into your microphone, please?
I have it on, just speak into it.
Just want to talk, continue talking about this lady that
came and asked concerning of not getting paid.
Funding-wise, she mentioned that there is funds to get paid.
I will let Administrator Newcomer address that.
I believe she had communication with that individual.
Yes.
Currently, the unspoken for balance is $1,978.68 in that fund.
There is money that comes in and out,
because that is still the fund where the Medicare Medicaid
money comes in that goes to serenity.
There is also the money that is being held for the IDPH fine.
And there's a payment agreement with one of the vendors that
was approved through the board that those dollars are sitting
in that account, but unspoken for funds.
That is the balance.
Is there any way that we could reach some kind of agreement
or compromise or whatever with her?
So, she was asked with the rest of the vendors if she wanted
to offer a settlement the month that we went back to the local
vendors that did, the committee had decided to prioritize the
local vendors that offered settlements.
At that time she said she wanted to wait and get the full amount
that was out to her.
After that, the next round, she is still in the category as
is prioritized next for a payment.
She did offer a settlement.
It was just the next month when the funds were not available.
She's in the prioritize next category.
But there's a number of people that I think the committee
or there need to be discussion if we make an exception
for one person.
How do we decide which person in that category
is the person that gets paid?
Well, I'm in agreement with that, but like, you know, she has sent email out to, I know I received the email, I don't know about nobody else, but I think that at least she came tonight and expressed her concerns, so at least we could at least have some type of communication or something, you know, to talk with her, to see how we can solve this, you know.
Part of the issue we have as well is she has threatened litigation. Once she does that, anything we say or do is potential.
We do defer to our liability company. Anything else Mr. Bush? Mrs. Baker,
anything else? All right, I'm gonna shut some microphones off here real quick. We
will move on to planning and development. Mr. Fricke, you have one action item I
believe, and I'm gonna turn your microphone on. There we go. Thank You Mr.
Chairman, I do. I'm excited to ask for this approval of a temporary use permit
for the Pearl City Historical Organization for the use of Black Hawk
Park to celebrate their hundredth year of being the organization of history for
Pearl City and the area and they're excited to be able to use our park to
promote the Black Hawk monument and that area as well as part of what they do in
at the Pearl City Historical Organization.
This temporary use permit was passed in our committee
and with that, I would move to approve.
There he goes, is there a second to Mr. Fricke's motion
by Mr. Hadley, is there any discussion?
One thing I will say, if you've checked your email
this afternoon, a large oak tree did blow over
out at the monument.
We did contact liability, we're just making sure
Director, that getting heads up from them if we need to close the park up until it's removed, we're working with Township to see if they can find someone to help us remove it.
It's too large of a tree for Mr. Remmers to remove. We've had this happen in the past, so we're moving quickly to see if we can't get that resolved.
We're not saying we're closing the park. We're just finding out from liability what their recommendation is until it's removed.
Any other discussion?
Seeing none, you may go ahead and cast your vote for the approval.
And that passes unanimously.
Mr. Fricke, do you have any other items?
I do not at this time, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you.
All right, very good.
Thank you.
We'll move on to Public Works.
Mr. Newton, I believe you have two items.
I need to turn your microphone on here.
You have the floor, sir.
Thank you, Chairman.
For your consideration tonight, we have HD 2606,
approval of bid for Township Bridge preparation.
It's a covert replacement on North Shippey Road
in West Point Township, and I so move.
Thank you.
Is there a second by Mr. Jogerst?
Is there any discussion on this?
Go ahead, Mr. Hadley.
How many bids have we received?
How many votes on this?
Four or five.
Four or five?
Oh, okay.
So this was the lowest bid then?
Correct.
Okay, thank you.
All right.
Any other discussion?
Seeing none, you may cast your vote for approval.
That passes unanimously. Your next item Mr. Newton. Thank you. We have also a bid or one bid for that was passed or that came in for kennels for the new animal control and I so moved to approve those, that bid.
Okay. Is there a second by Mr. Busker? Any discussion? I believe that was the only bid that was received, correct? It was. Okay.
All right, seeing no discussion, you may cast your vote for approval.
That also passes unanimously. Any other information of your committee, Mr. Newton?
No, I've asked the engineer to stay on for five years, but he has not agreed to that.
So thank you, Mr. Chairman, that's it.
All right, thank you.
All right, is there a motion to adjourn until 6.30 p.m. on May 21st, 2026?
Which permit? We did not vote?
Permit. We did. I thought we did. I'll check with the...
I was certain we voted.
Boarded.
All right, is there a motion to adjourn?
Mr. Bush, seconded by Mrs. Hayes.
You may vote to adjourn.
That is approved unanimously.
Thank you everyone.