Good evening. I have 6.30. We'll go ahead and call this meeting to order. If you would please indicate your presence by voting.

We have 12 present. Mrs. Hayes has asked to be excused. She is ill, and I'm expecting Mr. Bush shortly.

Mr. Jogerst, would you please lead us in a prayer, and Mrs. Lawfer, the Pledge of Allegiance.

It stands, one nation, under God.

Can I get a motion to approve the agenda, please?

by Mr. Didden, seconded by Mr. Frick, Mr. Brandt, go ahead, please.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I'd like to remove an agenda item under Public Works Action Item Number 3, the approval of bid tabs.

I make that motion.

Okay, you're making a motion to amend to remove item number 3 of the Public Works Agenda?

That's correct.

All right, is there a second to that motion?

Sure.

Chair, Mr. Jogerst, is there any discussion on the amendment to remove? Seeing no discussion, please vote on the amendment. And that passes 12 to 0. Thank you very much. Is there any further discussion on the agenda? Okay, seeing none, go ahead and vote for the agenda, please. That passes 11 to 0. All right, very good. The consent agenda, is there any board member that would like to remove either A or B? Seeing none, is there a motion motion to approve the consent agenda.

So moved.

By Mr. Newton, is there a second?

By Mr. Brandt.

Any discussion on the consent agenda?

And just for your reference, the Finance Committee for the Health Department did not have a quorum a week ago, so they did ask that we'd include those in the finance agenda and, of course, tonight's meeting.

With that, you may go ahead and vote for the consent agenda.

Alright, that passes 12-0, thank you.

is there any public comment tonight okay seeing none we'll move into new business the approval of the intergovernmental agreement with Jefferson Lauren multi-township assessment district for four-year period of assessments and administrator newcomer I believe you're presenting this would you please press your microphone button thank you go ahead so before you is a intergovernmental agreement that the originals were drawn up by Mr. Larson these come around every four years depending on the townships and when their revaluation years are the Jefferson Lauren Township four years ago chose to go with an independent person rather than the county to have their assessments done as Sandy Davis had approached some of the townships and therefore your term is up and they would like the county to resume doing the assessments. So this is the agreement that the other townships all have with the county.

Thank you. Is there a motion to approve by Mr. Jogerst? Is there a second? By Mrs. Lawfer. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, you may go ahead and vote for that IGA. That passes 13 to 0. Thank you very much. One second here. Okay, next on the agenda, we are recognizing Al McNutt from the highway department and his retirement. Mr. McNutt and Mr. Rasmussen, would you like to come up to the podium, please?

Congratulations on your retirement. I'll read a little biography here of Mr. McNutt. He graduated from Morrison Institute of Technology and began working in the county in 1986 as an engineering technician.

Over the next 40 years, I can't believe that, 40 years. Wow. Through May of 2026, you build a distinguished career marked by professionalism, integrity, and strong work ethic, earning the respect of your colleagues and friends alike. Al's technical experience, reliability, and attention to detail made him a valuable team member and trusted resource. He's also served as a mentor, generously sharing his knowledge and encouragement with others throughout his career. As he enters retirement, Al looks forward to spending more time with family, enjoying your hobbies, traveling, and and Embracing New Adventures. While you'll be missed, your legacy of dedication, excellence, and kindness will continue to inspire others. Congratulations on an outstanding 40-year career and best wishes and a happy and fulfilling retirement. Thanks for your service.

We've got two certificates. This was put together by the Highway Department and this is on behalf of the County Board. Would you like to say a few words?

I just appreciate everybody putting up with me for 40 years.

I work with a lot of good people, especially Dale.

When Dale come along, he really was an inspiration.

Other than that, it's hard to let go after 40.

So each day I'm home, I'm like, okay, what should I be doing?

But I appreciate this.

Yeah, we appreciate everything you've given.

Dale, would you like to say something?

Al's been a mainstay with the county, he was one of the very dependable He was one of the very dependable employees that we've had. It's his construction experience and bridge inspection experience that's going to be very, very hard to replace. And just his knowledge of Stevenson County highways and bridges. But fortunately, after his retirement, he's coming to work with a consultant and doing some of the same work. So we can still depend on him into his retirement.

So hopefully for another year and 10 months Thank you Okay, next we have proclamations I'm sorry Zoning report, I apologize Director Williams Good evening The text amendment before you was approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals in May The incorrect version was approved at last month's county board meeting No changes have been made to the ordinance itself This version is simply a cleaned up version of what was originally intended to be presented for approval.

Any questions?

Is there a motion to approve?

By Mr. Busker, is there a second?

By Mr. Diddens.

Any discussion?

Seeing none, you may go ahead and cast your vote.

And that passes 12 to 0.

Anything else, Director Williams?

No, sir.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Chairman's report, I'll be brief.

Two months ago, I guess it was, we heard from Engineer Rasmussen about overweight trucks traversing county roads and causing damage, trying to figure out a solution to that.

The Sheriff's Office volunteered to take scale training, and they have done so, and they've already made an impact on that.

in the short amount of time that they've done that, they've already gotten one truck that was operating overweight, 28,000 pounds per axle.

They were also uninsured, not licensed to the truck itself, and there was no CDL.

So it's already made an impact.

Hopefully more individuals that are operating illegally overweight on our roads will...

be convinced not to do so or face the consequences. Mr. Newton, I'm going to kind of put you on the spot tonight. It's been a while since we've had a UCCI update. Do you have anything that you could share with us?

Right, we're good. The annual UCCI conference is coming up in July. I don't know if everyone has had an opportunity to register, but it is a wonderful event. We usually have some training that goes forth this year, I think. Just about three different training courses that we're going to have. And if you haven't registered so far, please, I think there's a little bit of time left. There's a, this year, there's a, as always, there's a golf outing that will happen. And then we're going to take those who are not golfing. We're going to take a bus tour into Galena and allow you to do some shopping there in the Galena area downtown. So it's going to be a wonderful event. We've got some great speakers lined up.

So that's our immediate upcoming convention that's coming up. And so the only other thing is that this year, and it's getting a little late in the season. I don't know if it's too late. I don't know how many people have signed up, but we want to take as many as possible to our annual NACO event this year.

we have a individual who's running for the national second vice vice president of the entire organization and he is in the state of Illinois and so we've put a little extra money out there to take individuals if you are interested you need to see Chairman Helms and he will allow you or not allow you depends on how much money we have and how many people are going to attend that event and that's a wonderful event a lot of training a lot of a lot of training. And if you have an opportunity to go, I would recommend it. So those are the, that's all I have at this time.

So I'm understanding also there'll be a Washington, D.C. trip in September. Is that correct?

We will be funding a Washington, D.C. trip for all Illinois County Board members who'd like to go as well.

And so more details will come in about a month.

Okay. Very good. Thank you. I appreciate that.

All right, we'll move on to the appointments of Margaret Christensen to the Board of Review.

It's actually a reappointment and a reappointment of Kevin Boyer to the Board of Review.

How would the Board like to handle these?

Mr. Frick, go ahead.

Press your button.

There we go.

Go ahead, Mr. Frick.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would ask that we are moved to approve both of these at once.

All right, motion by Mr. Frick to approve both, second by Mr. Busker.

Any discussion on these? Seeing none, you may cast your vote. And that passes 12-0. Thank you very much. Next we have a proclamation, the approval of the Juneteenth Independence Day. I'm going to read this real quick and I'll ask for a vote to approve. Whereas President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1st, 1863, yet news of the end of slavery did not reach the frontier areas of the United States, and in particular the southwestern state, for over two and a half years. On June 19th, 1865, Union soldiers led by Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War had ended and that the enslaved were free. African Americans who had been enslaved in the Southwest began celebrating on June 19th, 1866 on a day known as Juneteenth Independence Day. It's a day of inspiration and encouragement for future generations.

The Stevenson County Board acknowledges the historical significance of Juneteenth Independence Day to the United States and the residents of Stevenson County are encouraged to join the continued nationwide celebration of Juneteenth Independence Day to provide an opportunity for the people of the United States to learn more about the past and to better understand the experiences of enslaved people that have helped shape the country.

The Stevenson County Board hereby recognizes and celebrates Juneteenth as part of history and heritage of the United States Now therefore be it resolved by the Stevenson County Board that June 19th is recognized as Juneteenth Independence Day and encourages everyone to join in celebration and solidarity and urges all residents to actively raise their own awareness of the significance of this celebration in American history and in the heritage of our nation and county.

Is there a motion to approve?

By Mr. Bush.

Is there a second?

By Mr. Newton.

Is there any discussion?

Seeing none, please cast your vote.

And that passes 13 to 0.

Thank you very much.

We'll move on to action items and information from standing committees.

First is finance.

Mrs. Baker, you have an action item.

Yes. Approval of the FY27 Administrative Budget Policy. The version in front of you for approval tonight is what passed out of the Finance Committee. So with that, I make a motion to approve. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Second by Mr. Bush. Discussion? Seeing none, you may cast your vote. And that passes 12-0. Any other information out of your committee? Yes. Budget worksheets will be sent out June 24th to all department heads to start the preparation of the budget policy. Very good. Thank you.

Move on to public property and safety. Mr. Bush, no action items. Any information out of your committee?

Alright, thank you. On to administration committee. Mr. Jogerst, no action items, information? Oh, I'm sorry, you do have an action item. I apologize.

We got one. Thank you, Chairman. Yeah, we have an approval of an AI use policy. This policy came from another county that was approved there, and it was brought over here and reviewed, and so I'd like to make a motion to approve it.

Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Second by Mr. Maduro. Is there any discussion?

Mr. Moderow is there any discussion Mr. Moderow go ahead I just want to emphasize the time and work and research that went into this policy I know this is a new frontier and there's a lot of nervous feelings but the checking and double checking and triple checking that went into this not only checking with other counties but running it by legal running by the committee month after month this is a very secure footing to venture into the unknown.

Great.

Thank you.

Mr. Hadley, go ahead.

So this will go in our employees' handbook, Dan, this policy.

That is correct.

And I understand our IT guy put this together, work with federal counties on this, correct?

And how about the unions and stuff?

Do we have to run this past the unions too?

or is it just because it's in the handbook, the unions have to apply by the handbook then?

That's correct.

Okay, thank you.

That's all I have.

Thank you, Mr. Hadley.

Any other discussion?

I guess I could just mention there will be training for all the people in the departments, probably by department, I guess, is the way it sounds.

So thank you.

Very good.

Thank you.

Any further discussion?

Seeing none, you may cast your vote.

12-0, that is approved.

Thank you.

Any other information, Mr. Chairman?

Chairman, thank you. All right, thank you. Court Services, Mr. Diddens, no action items. Do you have any information, sir?

Nothing to add. All right, thank you very much. Moving right along to the Nursing Center, Mrs. Lawfer, no action items. Any information you'd like to share?

Yes, I do. The current census is 75 as of last Thursday, June 11, March 26. The facility continues to monitor staffing levels to ensure adequate coverage across all departments.

Agency hours have been 45 to 48 for the last couple weeks due to the need for increased staffing because of the increased census.

The facility celebrated the CNA week, which started June 11th through the 17th.

Okay.

Thank you.

I failed to have your microphone on.

Before you mention the census, what was the number again?

For the census?

Yes.

75.

Great.

Thank you.

Planning and development, Mr. Frick.

No action items. Any information, sir?

Just one, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. The Pearl City Historical Society had their event out at Black Hawk Park. It went really well. They had 150 people that registered. I think there was more than that there, but 150 people registered. And they were grateful for the work that our vendor did, Franson Tree Service, to get the trees cleared up and get everything out of there so that they could have their event that went really well.

And they're ready to do this for the 200th, for the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Blackhawk there in 2032.

That's all I have. Thank you.

It's good to plan, isn't it?

Thank you, Mr. Frick.

I'd also like to thank Wally Remmers for the work that he did out there prior to the event and getting that ready to go.

I know he spent quite a bit of time there.

So thank you, Mr. Frick. Public Works, Mr. Brandt, you have five action items.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The first is the approval of the addendum to the commercial lease agreement that we have on Meadows Drive.

If I can get a, I'll make a motion to approve that. And if I can get a second, I'll give you some more details on that.

Very good. Is there a second by Mr. Jogerst? Go ahead, Mr. Brandt.

Thank you.

So this came to light as we were doing our build out.

We did not have internet service to the building that was hardwired.

So we had to reach out to Arrow to get a fiber optic cable run.

And it became really quite apparent that what we really needed to do was to have this agreement with our landlord because they wanted to pay the, very generously, they were going to pay the installation fee but they were also going to accept some other contract terms. So this agreement, this addendum allows us to just reimburse the landlord for the monthly internet and they will take care of the other components of the agreement with Arrow. So it's a win-win for everybody. Great. Thank you. Discussion? Seeing none, you may cast your vote.

and that passes 12-0. Mr. Brandt, your next item, please. The next one is a memorandum of understanding. This is an agreement with Lafayette County in Wisconsin because it became apparent that on Stateline Road there is two bridges that we would be actually trying to work with them on trying to calculate repairs and inspections and maintenance and whatnot.

So what this agreement does is put Lafayette County in charge of those bridges and the inspection requirements maintenance repairs all fall upon them. So this is like Christmas in June. With that, I move to approve. Thank you. Is there a second? Second by Mr. Diddens. Any discussion? Seeing none, you may cast your vote. And that passes 13-0. Thank you.

The next item. The approval of the bid tabs was removed earlier. So we're moving down to HD 2610, which is the approval of the joint agreement for the reconstruction of Route 26 and McConnell Road intersection. This is a fully funded project as a result of an award from the state, a grant from them. And so this also is a wonderful opportunity that we have. There is a small appropriation of $30,000 in case the current projections come in slightly over the engineer expectations, but otherwise this is also a positive development. So with that I make a motion to approve the resolution. Thank you. Is there a second? Mr. Newton? Second. Okay. Is there any discussion?

Yes. Mr. Diddens, go ahead. Yes, I just wondered, are they just going to make the intersection bigger, flatter? I mean, what's the plan? They're not going to put a roundabout in, are they? No roundabout. But there is going to be the addition of a left turn lane on the southbound traffic of 26. Okay. Great. Great. That's all. Thank you. Okay. Any other discussion? Mr. Hadley, go ahead. Real quick, when is this going to be done?

Engineer Rasmussen told me to be done by the end of 2026 construction season correct and he said if it wasn't he was going to stay as our engineer for another 10 years that sounds that sounds like a deal but I believe that is correct the end of 2026 correct yeah okay thank you anything else mr. Hadley no thank you all right any other discussion all right seeing none you can cast your vote and that passes 12-0 your next item please The next is a resolution to approve a bid. This is a bid awarded to Martin & Company, $444,273. It is an agreement with West Point on North Shippey Road, so I move to approve.

Thank you. Is there a second by Mr. Jogerst? Any discussion? Seeing none, please cast your vote.

and that passes 13 to 0.

Your final item, please.

This is an approval of the truck and snow equipment for a tandem cabin chassis that we have had on order for about one year now.

That truck, we expect it to come in this fall, and then we need to equip it with the bed and the plows and the rest of the equipment.

and that is a lengthy process as well so what this does is one, set the price, two, get us in the queue and be prepared for the arrival of that truck. So I move to approve HD2612.

Thank you. Is there a second by Mr. Busker? Discussion? Mr. Hadley, go ahead.

Yes, I have a question. Back in February, we purchased another truck from Dubuque in Iowa, a Freightliner.

Are these both same type of trucks or different trucks?

I believe they're both tandem axle trucks, meant to be snowplow trucks.

trucks. They're both. So we're getting two trucks this year sometime then? One this year, perhaps the other one next year. There's still a backlog on those. So fingers crossed. Another reason why there's interest in getting maybe moving that second truck up a little bit was because there's a new exhaust emission standards going to be put in place.

and Mr. Jansen was trying to get ahead of that issue so that's usually not a good thing to cut your teeth on so I see the prices are almost similar but not not too much difference in it so okay thank you thank you Mr. Hadley any other discussion seeing none please cast your vote and that passes 13 to 0 any other information out of your committee Mr. Brandt nothing else at this time thank you Mr. Chairman I know I I had asked if it was likely that the animal control new building would be up and operational by July 1st.

I'm assuming we're on schedule with that, hopefully.

We've been paying rent on that building since January, so it would be good to get that finished up.

That concludes all the agenda items. Is there a motion to adjourn?

So moved.

By Mr. Bush, second by Mr. Busker.

Any discussion on adjourning? If not, please cast your vote.

That passes 12-0. Thank you, everyone. Have a good weekend.