The Hamilton County Board has taken a proactive step by establishing a temporary committee, the Hamilton County Clean Energy Committee. This committee, comprising of six members: Mark Becker, Justin Hood, Richard Coronado, Greg Muehlenbein, and Richard Rubenacker, is dedicated to its mission.
The primary goal is to ensure wind and solar companies fulfill their commitments.
Hamilton County State’s Attorney Justin Hood commented,
“We’ve got to protect the county, the liability, the cleanup of these sites once they’re not working there anymore. We don’t want these companies to transfer ownership of some single entity that’s not got a single penny in their pocket, and then counties don’t know the cleanup.”
Moving on to the other appointments approved during the meeting, Brad Cross and Chris Howton were re-appointed to the Southern 14 Workforce Investment Board for another three-year term.
Board members granted a Special Event Liquor License for Rick Rubenacker’s not-for-profit Rocking For A Cause, which will be held on November 18th at Rubenacker Farms Shop.
Rick Rubenacker attended the meeting to give some insight:
“The event is going to be similar to the event that we had last year. Last year, the event raised over $100,000 for communities and organizations in Hamilton County and the few surrounding counties, and we’re kind of expecting a similar event to last year.”
Other items approved were the 2025 courthouse holiday calendar, the consent agenda, with the exception of the acceptance of a check in the amount of $4,166.67 from the City of McLeansboro per the Central Dispatching agreement, which the board had yet to receive, and the ordinance to establish gas mileage reimbursement.
Lastly, the board heard from Janice Crow, Michele Draper, and Darian Gage about Birth to Five. Crow explained that they are within Region 20, which covers the counties of Edwards, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Pope, Saline, Wabash, Wayne, and White.
Birth to Five helps with child care assistance programs, is funded by the Department of Human Services, and bases assistance on family income and size so families can get the help they need for child care. They also promoted mental behavior health and the need of more counselors in the area schools. You can find more about Birth to Five by visiting their website at birthtofive.com/region20.
