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Logan County Board
May Workshop Meeting
[May 12, 2026]
On Monday, May 11th, the Logan
County Board held their monthly Workshop meeting inside the rotunda
of the Logan County Courthouse. The meeting was held here due to the
interior elevator being out of commission meaning the board must
hold meetings on first-floor due to the Americans with Disabilities
Act.
The meeting was set to start at 6:00 p.m. but started closer to 6:15
due to the board having a brief meeting before Workshop. Chairman JR
Glenn, Vice Chairman Dale Nelson, Lance Conahan, Kevin Knauer,
Keenan Leesman, Hannah Fitzpatrick, Joseph Kuhlman, Kathy Schmidt,
Gil Turner, and Jim Wessbecher were present with Bob Sanders being
the only absence.
Nelson, who was leading the meeting, asked Kuhlman to give a prayer,
followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Guests were then allowed to
introduce themselves. Next were the public comments, of which there
was only one. Mike Barger wanted to speak on the proposed Hut 8 data
center. He stated that there were some inaccuracies shared by Hut 8
at last Thursday’s Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) meeting. One of the
differences he mentioned was regarding information on the well being
different than what they initially stated. He said that “he started
noticing things that don’t seem right.” Barger stated that he wants
to hold Hut 8 accountable for what they are saying.
After the public comment, Nelson moved on to the committee reports
starting with Building and Grounds and committee chairman Conahan.
The first motion was to approve a full time Facilities Maintenance
employee. The annual salary for this employee would be set at
$40,000. Conahan shared some information regarding this proposed
position. To read more about what the responsibilities would be,
please see
LDN’s article from last week’s Building and Grounds Committee
meeting.
The other two items Conahan brought
forward were use of grounds requests. The first was for a Juneteenth
Festival at Latham Park on June 19th, and the other was for four
summer band concerts held by the Lincoln Musical Society at Latham
Park. These concerts would be held on May 30th, June 7th, June 14th,
and June 28th. All three of the action items from this committee
were seconded and sent to the regular board meeting this week
Thursday, May 14th.
Next was Executive and Personnel. Turner represented this committee
by bringing forward the four action items, and they were all
approved without discussion. The first was for a fireworks stand to
be set up outside Atlanta for a month. The next three were all
appointments. There were nominations for appointments to the Beason-Chestnut
Public Water District Trustees. Rod White, Dave Sasse, and Michael
Litterly were all nominated to be appointed to the Farmland
Assessment Committee. Also, Warren Grover, Jane Ryan, and Crystal
Smith were all nominated to be appointed to the Board of Review.
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Turner brought one
item up that was not on the agenda, and that was the need to
post a position for a new Board Administrative Assistant. Glenn
confirmed later in the meeting that the previous Administrative
Assistant, Madelyn Hinton, had resigned last Wednesday. The
board had some discussion over some changes to make to the job
description. They wanted to ensure that whoever they hire would
be an assistant for all departments, specifically mentioning the
Zoning Office, not just for the County Board. Conahan also
stated that the current salary is too low, in his opinion, for
what the position is required to do. He recommended making an
amendment to increase the salary to $45,000 per year. Nelson
informed Conahan that he would have to suggest the amendment at
the regular meeting later in the week.
Safety was the next committee, with
Chairman Knauer stating that there were no action items. He
mentioned to the board that he was having problems getting a quorum
to his committee meetings. The Safety Committee meeting for the
month of May was cancelled due to a lack of a quorum.
The Transportation Committee was next, with Committee Chairman
Wessbecher bringing four items. Like Executive and Personnel, these
four items were moved to the regular meeting without discussion.
First was the approval of the highway bills, followed by a road use
agreement for the proposed Pike Creek Windfarm. This was followed by
an engineering agreement with Veenstra and Kim to do some repair
work on a box culvert in Elkhart Township. Finally, Wessbecher
brought forward a motion to approve the airport insurance for
$4,510, which was up almost $225 from last year.
The final committee was the Zoning and Economic Development
Committee. Turner also presented these items, of which there were
three. All were related to Pike Creek, with the first item being a
decommissioning plan, the second a final drainage tile remediation
plan, and the third being a project site plan. All three of these
items were moved to the regular meeting.
Nelson then reminded the board that
there is a Special Zoning and Economic Development meeting on
Wednesday, May 13th, starting at 6:00 p.m. This meeting is set to be
held at the Oasis Senior Center on Woodlawn Road in Lincoln.
According to the agenda on the Logan County website, the two items
on the agenda are a presentation from Hut 8 on the proposed data
center, and the data center moratorium that recently expired.
After this, Glenn gave a brief update on the resignation of the
former administrative assistant, and then the meeting was adjourned.
[Matt Boutcher]
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