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Logan County Board
August Regular Meeting
[August 19, 2026]
On Tuesday, August 18th, the
Logan County Board held their monthly regular meeting. This meeting
was held in the rotunda of the Logan County Courthouse starting at
6:00 p.m. Nine of the eleven members of the Board were present,
including Chairman JR Glenn, Vice Chairman Dale Nelson, Lance
Conahan, Kathy Schmidt, Gil Turner, Joseph Kuhlman, Hannah
Fitzpatrick, Kevin Knauer, and Jim Wessbecher. The two absent
members were Bob Sanders and Keenan Leesman.
The meeting started with an invocation given by Turner, followed by
the Pledge of Allegiance. Glenn then moved the Board on to the
consent agenda, which was unanimously passed.
Next were public comments, of which there were three. The first
speaker was Todd Henry with Workcamp for Lincoln. Henry shared a
little about Workcamp for Lincoln, stating that it came about out of
a partnership between the Community Action Partnership of Central
Illinois (CAPCIL) and Group Mission Trips out of Fort Collins,
Colorado. Kids from across the country raise money and make a trip
to Logan County to help people who need home renovations, such as
the building of ramps, painting, drywall, and more.
Henry shared that this was their third Workcamp for Lincoln and that
it went very well. There were some hiccups, such as having to rent a
refrigerator truck for food and hitting a water main. None of these
items kept the kids from getting work done. Work was completed on
homes in Lincoln, Latham, New Holland, and Mount Pulaski. In total,
Henry shared, the kids completed 7,980 man hours of volunteer work
and donated 5,116 “relief items.”
Next, Atlanta Chief of Police Chad
Eimer got up to speak. He shared some information on an issue they
have been having near the golf course just outside of Atlanta. Eimer
shared that there had been phone calls made about people on a
property that were hosting a party and firing guns. The golf course
surrounds half of the home, and from what Eimer shared, was close to
the golfers and other yards.
Due to the fact that the property resides outside of the
municipality and the current laws, there was nothing the Atlanta
Police Department could do, and they had to get the Sheriff’s
Department involved. Eimer additionally shared that there was
alcohol found once the Sheriff’s Department arrived.
The reason Eimer was bringing this up was to see if the Board would
consider writing an ordinance to restrict these kinds of actions. He
explained the ordinance, sharing that the ordinance states that no
one can discharge a firearm within 300 yards of a municipality. It
would also state that you would have to “have a berm up and shoot in
a safe manner away from any residential areas.” Eimer stated that he
is a supporter of 2nd Amendment rights, but that he also has a duty
to the people of Atlanta to keep them safe.
Glenn then shared that the ordinance would have to go through
several steps, including committee, Regional Planning, and the
Zoning Board of Appeals before it would come to the Board to be
voted on. Eimer stated that he appreciated the guidance and that he
would be in touch with members of the Board to see about specific
next steps.
The third and final commenter was a woman named Lisa Edwards who was
present to speak on the proposed Hut 8 data center. She started by
sharing that, were it to be approved and built, she would be able to
see it out her front window. Edwards then spoke about her concern
for the local environment and the impact a data center could have on
it.
Edwards then gave three examples of data centers that were having an
impact on people who live near them. According to Edwards, A farmer
in Jonestown, Ohio was having issues with their horses' eyes
swelling due to dust from a data center. She then shared a story of
a data center in South Haven, Mississippi that was emitting “toxic
chemicals.” Edwards then shared a story about a grandmother in
Memphis, Tennessee, whose grandchildren can no longer visit her due
to the loud noise and gas emitted by a nearby data center.
After Edwards’s comment, Glenn
moved on to the first committee report, that being the report from
Conahan about the Building and Grounds Committee. Conahan had four
things to report. The first was an item to approve a twelve-month
electrical aggregate from Stone River Group to get power from Direct
Energy. The motion was passed 8-0. Schmidt chose to abstain.
Next was a motion to approve a gas card for new part-time facilities
maintenance worker Chris Neaville with a limit of $500. This item
was unanimously approved. The final two items were both for
twelve-month service contracts for companies to come out and perform
regular maintenance on parts of the courthouse. These companies were
DHM and Jaytech Water Solutions, and the amounts were $29,500 and
$3,800 respectively. These items were also approved unanimously.
The next committee report was from Nelson with Executive and
Personnel, but he shared that he had nothing to bring forward. Glenn
then moved on to Kuhlman with the Finance Committee. He had three
items to bring forward. Kuhlman’s first item was to approve a
two-year contract with the Logan County Tourism Bureau (LCTB) with
an additional $10,000 per year. Glenn confirmed that the amount
would bring them up to $40,000 per year to the LCTB. Molly
Pickering, president of the LCTB was present and confirmed that this
would be the case.
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Wessbecher then
asked about the returns on investment that Pickering had shared
at the Finance meeting this month. He shared some concern that
the majority of the grant money went to Lincoln and not other
areas of the county. Pickering spoke into this, stating that
they did not think the Route 66 grant they were awarded, which
was in the amount of about half a million dollars, was going to
be available to apply for. When they realized that it was
available, they had only a month to write the grant and apply
for it, and so the museum was the primary focus. Pickering
further shared that they have already applied for another Route
66 grant in a similar amount that would be more widely
distributed to the county.
Conahan then shared that this item had already been passed by
the city of Lincoln. He also stated that hiring a new tourism
director would be difficult with such “rocky” funding. Pickering
spoke into this as well, sharing that, between Lincoln and the
county, they receive $60,000 per year. $10,000 of this is set
aside for local grants, while the other $50,000 must be split
between their director’s annual salary and the operation of the
Mill. This puts their director’s salary at current under $40,000
per year. Pickering also stated that they are looking for a new
director, preferably someone with experience writing grants.
They want to be able to offer a more competitive salary in order
to get more candidates.
The Board then took a vote on the motion and it passed 8-1.
Wessbecher was the only ‘no’ vote.
The second and third items from Finance were both passed
unanimously and with no discussion. The first motion was to
approve a request of $4,000 from the Logan County Soil and Water
Conservation District. The second item was a motion to approve
an annual salary resolution for the Public Defender and the
Sheriff.
After this was Safety, and Knauer had one item to bring forward.
This item was a motion to approve Animal Control contracts for
Logan County cities, towns, and villages, excluding Lincoln, as
the county has already made an agreement with them. Knauer
shared that they are trying to get all the contracts on the same
fiscal schedule. To do this, they are making monthly contracts
until December, which is the end of the fiscal year. At that
time, the contracts would be able to be renewed on either a
yearly or monthly basis. This item was approved unanimously.
Next was Wessbecher with the Transportation Committee. There
were three items all of which were passed unanimously. The first
was to award a construction contract to Otto Baum Company for
$1,398,300 to build four culverts in Mt. Pulaski. The second
motion was to give Atlanta $20,000 from the County Bridge Fund
to help them replace a culvert. The final motion was to approve
a joint funding agreement with the Illinois Department of
Transportation on a preliminary engineering project northwest of
Atlanta.
Turner was the last to go, presenting
the one item from the Zoning and Economic Development Committee.
This item was a very lengthy motion that, in short, allows the
company Kuhn & Trello to apply for a grant on behalf of the county
to secure funds to start building a bike path from Williamsville up
into Logan County. The motion also contains language stating that
the county would not have to spend any money passing this motion, as
the application would only show the county how much money they would
get.
Karen Conn, who was the one who first brought this item to the
Board, was present to ask questions. Wessbecher asked who would be
responsible for maintaining the bike path once it was constructed.
Conn stated that this would be a question for a later date. Glenn
then asked if the UIN (Unique Identification Number) would be needed
for the application, and Conn informed him that it would. Nelson
then spoke, stating that he felt the county should approve it just
to see what kind of funding they would be able to get.
A vote was then taken, and the motion was approved 8-0. Glenn voted
in abstention.
This then took the Board to the Chair’s report. Glenn kept it short,
stating that this meeting would be his last as Chairman, as he was
stepping down from the role but remaining on the Board.
Glenn then moved on to announcements, where Nelson also shared word
of his resignation. Nelson was resigning from his position as Vice
Chair, but he would be maintaining his roles on the committees he is
a part of.
With Nelson’s announcement made, Glenn then entertained a motion to
adjourn.
[Matt Boutcher]
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