June Board Meeting

On June 24, the Tazewell County Board held its monthly meeting.

As we were brought to order, Chairman Zimmerman led the Board in a moment of silence for both Board Member Dean Grimm and past Board Member Jan Donahue (wife of current Board Member Jim Donahue), whom we both lost in the last several weeks.  

Among other things, the Board voted:

1) to approve of the plan of the Superintendent of the Regional Office of Education to operate independently of the County effective July 1, 2015, as required by state law;

2) to approve a "subordination agreement for refinancing."  The initial agreement (an economic development tool) consisted of two loans from the County to Millennia Professional Services for land expansion in Morton and for vehicle/equipment purchases for a related construction project.  Sally Hanley of the Greater Peoria Economic Development Council explained that because of the refinancing, the County will now be second (instead of third) in priority to be paid back, as the refinancing will be done through Morton Community Bank only, and eliminate prior loans extended by PNC Bank and the Small Business Administration; 

3) to approve the annual rate of prevailing wages as required by Illinois law; and

4) to approve amendments to Tazewell County Code - Title 6, Subchapter A, regarding sewage disposal.  The proposed language was in the board packet (available on this blog), and I would like to thank members of the County Health Department and Board of Health for their diligence in holding meetings and hearings with contractors, realtors, and the public regarding the proposed changes, many of which were required by changes in Illinois law.  In the end, several of us voted against the proposal (for example, I had concerns over the potential of someone being charged with a misdemeanor for a violation of the Code), but I know a lot of work went into developing what was presented to us.