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Logan County Board
October Regular Board Meeting
[October 22, 2025]
On Tuesday, October 21st, the
Logan County Board held their monthly regular meeting. This meeting
was in the second floor courtroom of the Logan County Courthouse
starting at 6:00 p.m. All twelve members of the board were present
for the meeting. These members included Chairman James Glenn, Vice
Chairman Dale Nelson, Lance Conahan, Michael DeRoss, Joseph Kuhlman,
Kathy Schmidt, Gil Turner, Bob Sanders, Jim Wessbecher, Hannah
Fitzpatrick, Kevin Knauer, and Keenan Leesman.
The meeting started off with Turner introducing someone to do an
invocation, something the board has been doing for several months
now before their regular meetings. Dr. LC Sutton, former Lincoln
Christian University professor, prayed over the county and the
board. After the invocation, the Pledge of Allegiance was performed.
Next, guests were introduced and the consent agenda was voted on.
The agenda was passed unanimously. This was followed by a time for
public comments, of which there were none.
Glenn then led the board to the action items on the agenda, starting
with Building and Grounds. Conahan, the committee chairman for
Building and Grounds, had one item on the agenda. This was to
approve the quote for Hallelujah Holiday Lights. This was voted on
and passed unanimously. Conahan also made an announcement, saying
that he was contacted by a former city Alderman. This former
Alderman wanted to thank the County Board for making the lights on
the courthouse pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
After this, DeRoss brought it to Glenn’s attention that some public
comments were missed. Glenn went back to public comments, addressing
a woman who was present to speak on a concern she and her daughter
have been having in the community. She stated that her daughter has
special needs and has been struggling to make enough to get by. Her
daughter used to work at Lincoln College, but lost her job when it
closed. She also mentioned that she lost her husband about a year
ago and is worried about what is going to happen to her daughter
after she passes. She also encouraged the board to do something with
the old college, suggesting they try to bring in an MRI center such
as the one in Decatur. Glenn thanked the woman for coming, gave his
condolences for her husband, and stated that her comments should
resolve the board to continue trying to bring more jobs to the
county.
With no other public comments, Glenn then moved the board on to the
agenda items from Executive and Personnel. The first item proposed
the board to stop accepting all applications for data centers and
battery storage until the board can put an ordinance in place.
Zoning and Economic Development Officer Al Green then gave some
details on this motion. He shared that, as it stands now, companies
can only build data centers and battery storage facilities on land
that is zoned industrial/commercial. This being the case, the county
only gets permit fees based on a percentage of the construction cost
for whatever facility is being built. These companies can also try
to get the county to change land that is zoned agricultural to
industrial/commercial.
Nelson argued that holding off on accepting new applications will
help the county to come up with a better ordinance and fee
structure. DeRoss argued that this should be sent back to the Zoning
Committee. He also argued that battery storage facilities and data
centers are different and should not be lumped together the way they
are in the motion.
Several questions were asked about this motion. State’s Attorney
Brad Hauge stated that, when a company applies to build one of these
centers, they are locked into the fee structure that is in place at
the time for the duration of the project. Wessbecher asked about
what the state is planning to do regarding these two types of
facilities. DeRoss stated that, according to Representative Bill
Hauter, he expects an energy bill that will affect these facilities
to pass the Illinois House, but is not sure about the Senate.
Leesman wanted to know how much land is currently zoned
industrial/commercial. Green stated that most of the areas are on
the outskirts of communities in the county, but that they are out
there.
DeRoss then recommended an amendment striking all of the words from
the motion and replacing them with something he had previously
prepared. DeRoss’s amendment, in short, would place a moratorium on
the county accepting new applications for battery storage
facilities. It did not say anything regarding data centers. Leesman
suggested putting a timeframe on the amendment, to which DeRoss made
an additional amendment setting that timeframe at six months. After
the six months, the board would decide whether to extend or drop the
moratorium. The board then unanimously voted to approve the
timeframe amendment and the amendment replacing the original wording
with DeRoss’s suggested wording.
The next two motions were voted on unanimously without any
discussion. The first was to approve an employee handbook review and
adoption policy, and the next was regarding legal holidays in 2026.
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After this, the
board then voted on a motion to search for a new insurance
broker. DeRoss asked if there would be any chance of breach of
contract, to which Nelson said this would just be to view their
options. After viewing their options, they would either go with
a new broker or stay with their current one and renew the
contract. This was also unanimously approved.
The final motion for Executive and
Personnel was regarding making a reduction in force effective October 31, 2025. Nelson
made a motion to go into executive
session to discuss it in more detail. This motion was passed
unanimously and the executive session lasted for over an hour.
When the executive session had finished, Conahan amended the initial
motion to add a severance package for three months and with the
county not challenging the employee filing for unemployment. An
additional amendment was made to add a release waiver (stating that
the county could not be sued for the reduction in force), giving the
employee a neutral reference, and stating the employee could reapply
for a position in the county if they wanted.
The first amendment was voted on, to which ten voted yes, one voted
no, and one abstained. The no vote came from Turner, and the
abstention from Fitzpatrick. The second amendment was then voted on
and passed by the same margin. This time, Schmidt was the no vote,
but Fitzpatrick was still the abstention. Finally, the full amended
motion was voted on. Nine members voted yes, two no, and one
abstained. The abstention was once again Fitzpatrick, and the two no
votes came from Wessbecher and DeRoss.
Next came the finance committee. Committee chairman Schmidt stated
that the Lincoln Emblem Club was looking for a $500 donation from
the Community Benefit Fund. DeRoss stated that they could not bring
this item on the floor since it was not on the agenda without
violating the Open Meetings Act. Glenn stated that they would
process it as an expenditure, and that no vote would be needed.
The next two motions from finance were both approved unanimously.
The first was a tax sale for Bobby Smith and Carolyn D. Smith. The
second was a motion to approve finance bills.
The Safety Committee had only one
item, that being the contract renewal for the county with the Logan
County Paramedics Association. When this contract was approved last
month, it did not have a resolution number assigned to it. This
motion was to correct that error. The motion was passed unanimously.
The transportation committee that was addressed next had no action
items.
This then brought the board to the final committee, which was the
Zoning and Economic Development Committee. Committee Chairman DeRoss
stated that they also had no action items, but that there were
several representatives from the Top Hat Wind Farm present to make
an announcement. Top Hat was recently sold to another company, and
the members of the board wanted to make sure that the new owners
were going to live up to the promises of the previous owners. A
couple of letters from Top Hat were provided to the board members,
ensuring them that the new owners would in fact honor these
agreements. One of the representatives confirmed this as well and
shared that Top Hat had been purchased by American Electric Power.
She shared that this sale had always been the plan. She additionally
shared that Carter Frank would be the new site manager and the
primary point of contact for the board going forward.
Nelson stated that he wanted official documentation rather than just
a letter. Glenn said that he did get this, but had forgotten to send
it to the board members. Glenn then read the documentation aloud.
Knauer then wanted to know if the aircraft detection system was
working on their turbines. One of the representatives stated that
they are waiting on one more piece before they can officially test
it.
Glenn stated that he had nothing for his Chair’s Report, and a
motion was made to adjourn.
[Matt Boutcher]
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