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Logan County Board
July workshop meeting
[July 20, 2026]
On Thursday, July 16th, the
Logan County Board held their monthly Workshop meeting in the
rotunda of the Logan County Courthouse at 6 p.m. Seven of the eleven
members of the Board were present, including Chairman JR Glenn, Vice
Chairman Dale Nelson, Lance Conahan, Joseph Kuhlman, Keenan Leesman,
Bob Sanders, and Jim Wessbecher. Hannah Fitzpatrick, Kevin Knauer,
Kathy Schmidt, and Gil Turner were absent.
Nelson led the meeting and started with the approval of the previous
month’s minutes. Conahan pointed out that there were a few typos in
the minutes but stated that he would work with the County Clerk’s
office to get them addressed. The minutes were then approved.
Next, were public comments. Nelson read off the list of people who
had signed up to speak and addressed Karen Conn first. Conn asked if
she could wait to speak until the Zoning and Economic Development
Committee report, as she was present to speak on an item being
considered during that report. Nelson obliged her and moved on.
Before the next commenters spoke, Glenn informed them that they were
aware of why they were present and encouraged them to speak,
however, the Board does not have “advisory power” over other offices
that they spoke to before coming to the Board, such as the Sheriff’s
Department and the State’s Attorney.
These next commenters were Lenny and Robin. They stood to speak on
what they called a “failure of accountability” with the Logan County
Sheriff’s Department. Lenny stated that their underaged daughter was
sexually assaulted and stated that the Sheriff’s Department did not
uphold her rights.
“We are here to address the Logan County Sheriff’s Office’s failure
to uphold the laws constitutionally guaranteed victim’s rights
under… Marsy’s Law.” Lenny listed three violations that he claimed
the Sheriff’s department committed. These violations were a failure
to provide their daughter with written statement and explanation of
rights, a failure to provide the parents with a copy of the police
report, and a failure to treat their daughter with “fairness,
respect, and dignity during the sexual assault investigation.”
Lenny stated that, when he brought these to the attention of the
Sheriff’s Department, they conducted an internal investigation. This
investigation found no wrongdoing. He then brought the issue to the
Illinois Attorney General (AG), and the AG found that the Sheriff’s
Department had violated their daughter’s rights.
Lenny ended his comments by
demanding accountability and stating that he wanted the Board to
implement Marsy’s Law training.
The final commenter was Andrea Hinton. Hinton asked if there was any
progress on filling former County Board member Michael DeRoss’s
seat. Glenn confirmed that no progress had been made. Hinton asked
if they had anyone to appoint. Glenn stated that it is still in
process.
Nelson moved to committee reports, starting with Building and
Grounds. Conahan, Committee Chairman, presented the items. He
started by calling for a vote to go into executive session for
“personnel matters.” The Board unanimously voted in favor of the
executive session. All seven present members then stepped into the
first-floor courtroom with Chris Neaville, who the Building and
Grounds committee interviewed earlier this month at their committee
meeting.
After some time, they all came back out and resumed the meeting.
Conahan immediately made a motion to hire Neaville as the new part
time facilities maintenance employee. This motion was seconded and
it was moved on to the regular Board meeting scheduled for Tuesday,
July 21st.
Conahan’s next motion was to approve the use of grounds request for
Touch-a-Truck at Scully Park on September 12th. He shared that Tammy
Bunner, the woman organizing the event, had submitted their proof of
liability insurance, which is required for all events held on county
property. This motion was seconded and moved on to the regular
meeting.
The final motion was a request for proposal (RFP) for a new roof on
the John D Logan building. This item was moved on.
Before the end of his report, Conahan shared an update on an ongoing
dispute between the company TK Elevator and the County Board. In
short, the county hired TK to do work on their exterior elevator.
They paid the company extra for an expedited time frame. In order to
encourage TK to stay within the time frame, they added a $1,000 per
day fine that TK would have to pay for each day they were over.
According to Conahan, this fine is very high, and the two groups
cannot come to an agreement on exactly how much is owed. Conahan
shared that they may have to reach out to the State’s Attorney’s
office for assistance if they are not able to come to an agreement
before next month.
Next the Executive and Personnel Committee report was presented by
Nelson. The first item was the appointment of Jim Heitzig to the
Lincoln Rural Fire Department. The second motion was to approve
additional funding to cover family insurance for county employees.
Nelson shared that Treasurer Penny Thomas discovered there was a
shortfall of $1,560 for the year. This, Nelson said, would cover the
county up to renewal. Both items were moved on to the regular
meeting. Nelson shared that he was talking with their insurance
broker about possibly being self-insured next year rather than going
through Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Finance was the next committee, with Kuhlman presenting the action
items. There were seven items total, the first being a motion to
approve a board credit card in Administrative Assistant Angela
Sullivan’s name. This credit card would have a limit of $2,000. Next
was a service agreement with the company Bellwether for assistance
in the creation of the fiscal year 2027 (FY27) budget. This
agreement would keep Bellwether on for the entire year, and they
would help the Board with budget-related items. Both items were
moved on to the regular meeting.
Kuhlman then brought forward a motion to increase the probation
budget by $9,000 for this year and it was sent on.
The next item Kuhlman brought up was a motion to increase the salary
of County Clerk Kelly Elias from $80,000 to $95,000. A lengthy
discussion was had on this matter. Sanders wanted to know what had
changed with Elias’s job from the last time they gave her office a
raise. Glenn explained that, in the past, it has been the practice
of the Board to review salary increases for the Treasurer, Clerk and
Recorder, and Clerk all at the same time. For whatever reason, they
did not do one for the Clerk, and this is why it was being
considered now, especially since the other two offices were given a
raise.
Sanders listed the populations and county clerk salaries from
several other counties around Illinois. He mentioned that there were
two bills currently in the Illinois Congress that could have an
impact on these salaries. Leesman stated that the reason her office
did not receive a raise was because it had not yet been given more
work. There were laws in the pipeline that would create more work
for the office of county clerk, but they did not want to increase
the salary before these laws passed.
Sanders then asked about the state stipend that Elias receives, and
whether that was supposed to cover the extra work that she from the
state. Nelson mentioned that, according to the State’s Attorney, the
Board is not allowed to consider state stipends while setting the
salary of elected officials. State’s Attorney Brad Hauge was present
in the audience and confirmed this fact.
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Conahan mentioned that he emailed
the United Counties Council of Illinois (UCCI) and got the results
of a study they put together with this information. According to
Conahan, the Logan County Clerk is in the 80th percentile. He stated
that, rather than a $15,000 increase, he might be more willing to
support a cost-of-living increase. There was more discussion on this
item, but it was ultimately moved on.
The next two items that Kuhlman introduced were a budget amendment
for Building and Grounds to hire Neaville, and an RFP for county
insurance. Both motions moved on.
The final item from Finance was introduced by Glenn. He shared that
he had talked to a restaurant server in town, and she informed him
about her son that has sensory issues. From that conversation, Glenn
got the idea to host a “sensory night” at the Logan County Fair. The
idea would be to have the fairgrounds open early (about an hour and
a half) one night, with low lights and sounds. Parents with kids who
are sensitive to bright lights and loud sounds could then bring
their kids out to give them the “fair experience.” Glenn shared that
he had already started some conversations and learned that this is
something the fair workers have done in other locations in the past.
He shared that they would need to pay them $1,500 for having the
employees come in early. This money, he suggested, could come out of
the Community Benefit Fund (CBF), as the County Fair is a 501(c)3,
which is required for any group getting money from the CBF. This
item was moved on.
Next was the Safety committee. In Knauer’s absence, Conahan
presented one motion. This motion was for the approval of contracts
between Logan County Animal Control and several villages and
townships throughout the county. He shared that, for now, these
contracts are going to be month-month payments while Animal Control
works on getting prices for the year put together for each contract.
This item was moved on.
The next committee was Transportation, and Wessbecher presented
three motions. The first two motions were approved and moved on with
no discussion. First was an intergovernmental agreement with Elkhart
for a culvert project on County Highway 11. The second motion was
another intergovernmental agreement with Broadwell to install no
soliciting signs along County Highway 12.
Wessbecher’s final motion was for a height study to be done on trees
near the airport on Airport Road and County Road 1400. Wessbecher
stated that some trees may be coming up to being a height that could
pose a liability and would need to be trimmed. This item was also
moved on.
Zoning and Economic Development was the final committee report, and
Glenn presented these items, starting with the bike trail. Zoning
Officer Al Green spoke first, stating that the bike trail would be a
continuation of a trail that currently ends in Williamsville. He
also informed the county that Conn needs a sponsor to help her be
able to apply for a state grant that could help this project get
funded. He shared that the Planning Commission is planning on
discussing this item at their August meeting. Glenn asked if this
would be a letter of support, and Green informed him that the county
would not be agreeing to spending any money at this juncture.
Conn then spoke, stating that she invited Kevin Kuhn of Kuhn &
Trello Consulting Engineers out of Springfield. Kuhn & Trello would
be working with Conn to assist the county in applying for this
grant. Kuhn spoke, stating that they were not looking at charging
the county anything. If they got the grant and the county moved
forward with the project, that is when they would see about signing
a contract with the county to be compensated for their work.
Kuhn continued, stating that the grant would fund the project
between 80 and 100 percent, and that Logan County is currently
estimated to be at 90 percent. Once the application was processed,
however, that percentage could change. He shared that they would
assist the county in searching for other avenues for financial
support even if/when they got the grant money.
Kuhn informed the Board that the
project would likely take ten years to complete. According to Kuhn,
bike trails like these usually cost around $1 million per mile. He
stated that the full project would be 24 miles, and the maximum
amount that could be awarded out of the state grant would be $5
million. Kuhn stated that the grant can be reapplied for every other
year. This being the case, the full plan is to build the trail one
mile at a time, trying to get about five miles built every two
years.
Conn spoke on a map that was shared
with the Board, stating that the first phase of the project would be
to build from Williamsville to the southern tip of Lincoln following
I-55. Nelson noted that the first several miles of the map showed
that they would be paying to build in Sangamon County. Conn
explained the reason for this is that the state grant is more often
awarded to groups who are continuing a bike path. Conn stated that
they were talking to the Sangamon County Board about having them
help with the funding for those sections. This item was moved on.
The final item out of Zoning was to approve the writing of letters
of support for groups applying for the Viper Mine grant. This grant
allows taxing bodies that saw a decrease in revenue from the closure
of the coal mine in Elkhart to apply for state funding. This item
was moved on.
The Chair’s Report was the last thing discussed before adjournment.
Glenn noticed Chief Deputy Josh Pharis for giving kudos during a
couple of committee meetings this week and decided to make a couple
of his own. Glenn recognized Green and County Engineer Bret Aukamp
for working “tirelessly” with Pike Creek on items they needed to get
done for the windfarm they are building in the county. Glenn said
that he had received a note from Pike Creek thanking the county for
their cooperation.
[Matt Boutcher]
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