It’s fair to say most folks agree that a school resource officer is a good idea in our current climate. Who should be footing the bill for that position, who should be in charge of the hours they work and at which buildings the officer patrols is another matter. The Hamilton County Board discussed that matter at length during their meeting Tuesday night while at the same time, Superintendent of Hamilton County Unit 10 schools Jeff Fetcho was at a school board meeting. That equaled lots of talk and speculation with no concrete answer at the conclusion of the meeting. They ended things by simply giving their support to Sheriff Tracy Lakin to take the course of action he saw best fit.
The language in the initial agreement, amount of hours available for the position, details surrounding how to handle Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund and union requirements, and who oversees the position seem to be the points of contention. The SRO, J.D. Murphy, is technically employed by the Hamilton County Sheriff. Obviously school personnel have insight as to whom/where/when issues are most likely to arise. Board member Chad May fell on the sword saying he felt like he didn’t put enough thought into the language of the agreement.
In other news from the meeting, University of Illinois Extension Director Connie Beck updated board members on 4H activities, saying that the county’s uber successful Gift Garden allowed Paula Hatfield to take 6 “Ambassadors” with her to the Hunger Summit. The board approved the Fiscal Year 2019 budgeted payment of $25,000 for the July 1, 2018 through June 30th of 2019 period.
Nathan Taylor gave reports on the Emergency Management Agency of which, he’s the director. Taylor also spoke for the absent Dorthy Smith giving board members the ETSB Board report. Hamilton County 911 received 1,053 calls in 2018 which averaged more than 3 per day.
Supervisor of Assessments Mark Becker gave an update on the proposed joint Hamilton/Wayne County Enterprise Zone. Becker says the 1,426 page application has been submitted.
Chairman Brad Miller with assistance from board member John Chapman were selected to lead negotiations between the board and the City of McLeansboro regarding an Intergovernmental Agreement with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department for Central Dispatching.
The board also approved appointments and reappointments of Willie Grubb, Tom Martello and Adam Zimmerman to the ETSB board, and also appointed Monica Tucker and Jerry Prince to represent the county on the Illinois South Tourism Board.
Mark Becker is getting a salary adjustment, effective 12/1/18, but the board didn’t disclose the new number.
Hamilton County board members narrowly renewed their membership of the Southeastern Illinois Regional Planning & Development Commission agreeing to pay an invoice in the amount of $1,374.26. Members John Chapman and Chad May abstained. Brad Miller, the last to cast his vote hesitated before saying yes.
The board briefly discussed the County’s Revolving Load Fund saying they had a payee that had fallen behind and it didn’t seem to be getting better. There was no action and board members were tight lipped and cautious of what they said.
Checks accepted included $100 from the sale of four Plat Books, $400 from United Counties Council of Illinois for reimbursement for attendance of the membership meeting as well as $150 from the same outfit for a dues refund. The board also accepted a check in the amount of $2,083.34 from the City of McLeansboro for Central Dispatching.
Hamilton County Coal had a rare no income report for the board.
Checks from the Hamilton County Health Department for December included Salaries at $8,248.62, Fringes at $1,239.30, Insurance at $840.95, and Unemployment at $9.20.
The final actions from the meeting were appropriations of funds relating to the Highway Commission. The board approved a County Engineer Expenses appropriation of $3,500 from the Motor Fuel Tax fund. Also, $45,600 to be paid out of Motor Fuel Tax funds for the County Engineer’s salary. And finally, a quarter of a million dollar appropriation for Motor Fuel Tax Allotment for maintenance on county and state Highways for the 2019 calendar year.
Hamilton County Board members also approved the Federal Aid Agreement.
Chad May wrapped up the meeting by giving an update on the Cyber Navigation Program. May has insight as the owner of Prominent Technology into cyber security and best practices. He said the courthouse security is going to have to be addressed eventually, and sooner than later. The courthouse is currently undergoing an IT Risk Assessment. When that report comes back, the Board will better be able to look at what has to be addressed.
