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Logan County Board
September Regular Board Meeting
[September 24, 2026]
The Logan County Board held
their monthly meeting on Tuesday, September 22nd, in the rotunda of
the Logan County Courthouse at 6 p.m. All eleven board members were
present including Chairman Lance Conahan, Vice Chairman Joseph
Kuhlman, Kathy Schmidt, Dale Nelson, Keenan Leesman, JR Glenn,
Hannah Fitzpatrick, Bob Sanders, Jim Wessbecher, and Kevin Knauer.
The meeting was held in the rotunda of the Logan County Courthouse
starting at 6:00 p.m.
Schmidt gave the invocation, followed by the Pledge and introduction
of guests. Illinois Senator Sally Turner was among those in
attendance. She introduced herself and stated she was only present
to watch the meeting. Mayor of Hartsburg Darien Ritterbush was in
attendance as well. Ritterbush stated that he was in attendance to
discuss some concerns he had with the appointment of Norma Bathe as
trustee to the Hartsburg Fire Protection District.
Conahan invited Ritterbush to speak immediately on his concern.
Ritterbush stated that it was his understanding that Bathe had been
going to meetings, making motions, and voting without being a member
of the Fire District. He requested meeting minutes months ago but
has yet to get them. Additionally, Ritterbush shared he sent the
County Board a letter last month. Ritterbush said he went to the
August Fire District meeting and asked the fire chief, who sits on
the board, and was told Bathe is a member.
Glenn made a motion to remove this
item from the consent agenda. He wanted to discuss it separately
before it was approved with everything else. After discussion the
board decided they were not comfortable confirming Bathe if there
were these kinds of questions. They did not accuse anyone of
wrongdoing, with Glenn saying there could be information they were
not aware of. A vote was taken to send the item back to committee
and was unanimously approved.
The nomination of Andrea Hinton was
next. Michael DeRoss resigned from the board in April, and the
District 5 seat has sat vacant since. Hinton shared her interest in
filling the seat and was the only candidate. The board confirmed her
10-0-1, with Glenn abstaining. Conahan swore her in and she took her
seat at the table with the board. Hinton proceeded to vote in
abstention on all motions for the rest of the meeting.
Public comments then began. A couple of the comments were about the
data center moratorium that the county had been working on. One
commenter stated she felt work on the ordinance and a moratorium
could exist at the same time.
Another comment was about the proposed bike path. A representative
from the Logan County Tourism Bureau shared that they were going to
be launching an initiative for public support the day after the
meeting. Schmidt asked about the cost to the county. Karen Conn, a
Logan County native who has been championing the project, said the
county could be responsible for anywhere between 0 and 20 percent of
the cost. They would not know until they received the grant they
were applying for.
Terri Casey, County Director at the Illinois Extension office, gave
a presentation next. Casey spoke on the work the Extension office
has been doing in the county, starting with their horticulture
program. She spoke on how Reagan Tibbs has been bringing back
agricultural resources to the county.
Casey spoke largely and positively about 4-H saying there are
“amazing kids in Logan County.” She spoke on the leadership skills
they have been learning, as well as some of the new areas they have
been breaking into, such as robotics.
Conahan moved on to action items following public comments.
Wessbecher, chairman of the Building and Grounds Committee, was up
first. His first two items were regarding building a second
pickleball court at Scully Park. The first was concrete from Thomas
Excavating and Concrete LLC for $26,550, and the second was for
lights from Union Street Electric for $14,500. Both were approved by
a vote of 11-0-1, and both would be paid for with funds from the
Community Benefit Fund (CBF).
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The next item was
for a firewall that Heart IT would be providing for the county.
Leesman asked a technical question about the firewall regarding
modules, and Heart IT representative Sheila Fiepel made a phone
call to get it answered. The board approved the item 11-0-1.
Wessbecher introduced two final action items. The first was for
lights for the dome on the courthouse. This work would be
completed by Union Street electric and would cost the county
$19,000. The item passed 11-0-1. The second item was for sewer
work at the Animal Control building. The work would be completed
by Fitzpatrick Construction and had a cost limit of $12,000.
This item passed as well, this time by 10-0-2. Both Fitzpatrick
and Hinton abstained.
The Executive and Personnel Committee had no action items.
Kuhlman then introduced two items from the Finance Committee.
These were to approve the Trustee’s scavenger sale, which was
previously stated to be the tax sale, and a $500 CBF request
from the Lincoln Emblem Club. Both items were approved 11-0-1.
Knauer was after with the Safety Committee. First was a motion
to approve a new garage door and opener for the Animal Control
building with money from the contingency fund. Second was a
motion to transfer $100,000 to the Lincoln Paramedic Association
for their levy. Both items were approved 11-0-1. The final
Safety item was regarding appointing Fitzpatrick as the board
representative for Sheriff’s union negotiations. This item
passed 10-0-2, with both Fitzpatrick and Hinton abstaining.
Wessbecher was next with Transportation. The first item was for
renewal of lease agreement with Terminal Shop and Hanger Q. He
informed the board that he wanted to make an amendment to this
item to make it contingent upon approval from State’s Attorney
Brad Hauge. Wessbecher explained the reason was because of a
death in the middle of a five year contract. Both the amendment
and the amended motion passed 11-0-1.
Wessbecher’s second and final item was for a supplemental
agreement with Veenstra & Kimm for more survey and environmental
review for a bridge project on 1500th street. This item passed
11-0-1.
Turner went last with the Zoning and Economic Development
Committee. He had a single action item regarding the previously
mentioned bike path. This motion would make the county the
sponsor for the grant program Conn is going to apply for with
help from Springfield firm Kuhn & Trello. Conn was sure to
specify that this motion would not make the county financially
responsible for paying for any of the bike path. They will get
to decide if they want to move forward with it once they know
how much it will cost the county.
Glenn made an amendment regarding
wording on some of the paperwork they were given. Glenn stated that
the paperwork said the county was not responsible but did not
explicitly spell out that it was for the application as well. The
amendment was passed 11-0-1, as was the amended motion.
Conahan made a brief Chair’s Report. He thanked Kuhlman, Schmidt,
County Treasurer Penny Thomas, and Bellwether for working on the
FY27 budget the previous day. He also revealed that the county
appears to be $138,000 “in the red,” but that it was previously
worse.
A couple of brief acknowledgements were made, and then the meeting
was adjourned.
[Matt Boutcher]
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