Monroe County Board of County Commissioners met Aug. 6.
Here is the minutes provided by the Commissioners:
The meeting of the County Commissioners of Monroe County, Illinois was called to order at 8 a.m. Chairman Robert Elmore, Commissioner Delbert Wittenauer, and Commissioner Vicki Koerber were present.
The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Others present included County Clerk Dennis Knobloch and Sheila Wetzler, along with Press Corps representatives – Joe Leicht of the Monroe County Independent and Alan Dooley of the Republic Times. Also present were Dan Hannon, Ron Schultheis and Jason Jones.
There being a quorum present, meeting was called to order by Chairman Elmore.
Public Comments – Harry Breitenstein asked to be recognized by the County Board to discuss some drainage / sewage issues with a neighboring property owner. He also showed pictures of some of the standing water on his property. John Wagner was contacted by phone, and Mr. Breitenstein was asked to remain to discuss the issue with Mr. Wagner later in the meeting. Dave Dillenberger and several other representatives of Americom came to the meeting to discuss their IT services to Monroe County. Also in attendance for the discussion were Annmarie Marcuson and Kevin Koenigstein. Commissioner Koerber asked for an update regarding the recent email virus and restoration of the programs and systems following that incident. Brandon with Americom said he had restored several of the public workstations in the Assessor’s office, but there is a problem with the load being created by all of the public workstations that will need to be addressed if the County wants to have all of these functional. Ms. Marcuson said Carl Wuertz told her there is still a problem with the Fike and Fike assessment / tax program. Brandon said the connection being used by the people at Fike and Fike to remotely access the Monroe County program was creating a hole in the County’s firewall, creating a potential for disaster and allowing others to access the County system. He said he proposed multiple options to Dave Coe of Fike and Fike, but Coe refused to accept any of the options presented, saying he wanted to continue to access the Monroe County system the same way he always had.
Americom representatives said there is also a problem with HTC, since they control the firewall coming into the Courthouse. They said Americom cannot make revisions to that part of the system without the cooperation and assistance of HTC. Commissioner Wittenauer said what happened with the email virus was unfortunate, but he feels that Americom had continued to satisfy the expectations of their contract with Monroe County, and in his opinion, he can see that the County should be responsible for the extra expense of repairing that problem. Mr. Dillenberger said no matter how many systems are put in place, human errors are going to occur with users of the system.
Mr. Dillenberger said he thinks the answer to this whole problem is more communication. He said he will facilitate discussion with HTC to make sure that both entities can work together for the benefit of the County. He said he would also make contact with Dave Coe of Fike and Fike to see if the firewall and connectivity problem with that software vendor can be resolved. Mr. Dillenberger said he would also like to see regular meetings between the County and his firm to discuss any problems and concerns before they become major issues.
Ms. Marcuson asked Mr. Dillenberger if he could provide a written narrative detailing the computer email virus issue, and any other systems or fixes that could be put in place to keep something like this from happening in the future. She said the County’s insurance carrier is asking for this information to determine if the County’s cyber insurance will cover the expenses incurred. Mr. Dillenberger said there are other more prohibitive systems that could be put in place, but many times they will bog down the system to the point that it takes more time to operate your programs. He said he will gather some information and provide some suggestions to the County.
Mike Fausz came to the meeting to discuss several issues. He said Alice Schlemmer of 274 Schlemmer Lane in Columbia has applied for the annual renewal of her Hardship Permit. Mr. Fausz said documentation was provided by her Doctor showing this is for medical reasons.
Motion was made by Commissioner Wittenauer with a second by Commissioner Koerber to approve the renewal of the Hardship Permit for Alice Schlemmer. All voting Aye, none Nay and none Absent. Motion carried.
Resolution 18-64
Be It Resolved by the Board of County Commissioners of Monroe County, Illinois that the Temporary Hardship Permit #8617 issued to Alice Schlemmer for a mobile home on Parcel Number 04-21-300-003 located at 274 Schlemmer Lane, Columbia, IL be renewed for one year.
Passed by the Board of County Commissioners of Monroe County, Illinois at Waterloo, this 6th day of August, 2018.
Motion: Wittenauer Second: Koerber
Aye: Three Nay: None
Absent: None
Robert Elmore, Chairman
Dennis M. Knobloch, County Clerk
Delbert Wittenauer, Member Vicki Koerber, Member
Mr. Fausz said he has been working on a renewal of the lease for the communication tower next to the County Jail. He said the tower was built in 1999, and the County at that time entered into a 20-year lease. The lease is up for renewal in 2019. Mr. Fausz said his recommendation was to go to a lease with graduated payments increasing in increments of 10% throughout the next twenty years. Motion was made by Commissioner Wittenauer to approve this new lease arrangement. The motion died for lack of a second. Mr. Fausz was asked to do some more research on this issue, and possibly contact other governmental entities who have cell / communication tower leases, and then report back to the County Board with his findings.
John Wagner came to the meeting to discuss the concerns of Harry Breitenstein. Also in attendance was Mike Fausz. Mr. Breitenstein once again explained the situation with drainage from his neighbor’s property. Mr. Wagner said employees from his office have been to the property in question, and the neighboring homeowner has agreed to install 100 feet of receiving trench to help with the sewage / drainage issue. Mr. Wagner said this may not take care of the entire issue, but it would help. Mr. Fausz said none of this is a Zoning issue that could be addressed by his office, but he could provide maps to help identify the subject property. Mr. Wagner agreed to go to the site and meet with Mr. Breitenstein to clarify some questions about this problem.
Dan Rahe came to the meeting to discuss the University of Illinois Extension Service. He said he has heard some comments about placing some type of tax issue on the ballot for the Extension Service. He said in his opinion this is an accounting issue – not a tax issue. Commissioner Koerber asked if it made sense for Pam Jacobs to spend down the surplus in the account there to make it more difficult for Monroe County to continue to carry the load for St. Clair and Madison Counties. Mr. Rahe said he has been working on trying to solve this issue for the last four years, and he feels that we need to use a little firm patience to solicit a response from the other two Counties. He said the other Counties should be contacted by phone or mail and reminded that we are waiting for their answers. Mr. Rahe said he feels we have enough funding in the account to cover about three years of activity, and his suggestion was to reduce the amount of the annual tax levy for the Extension Service for that same time period, so the fund balance doesn’t continue to grow.
The following Accounts Payable having been approved for payment, Commissioner Wittenauer moved that the same be allowed and that vouchers be issued against their respective funds of the County Treasurer for payment, motion seconded by Commissioner Koerber, and so declared all voting Aye, none Nay, and none Absent. Motion carried.
General Fund
1st National Bank of Waterloo 2,426.61
ADP, LLC 1,416.00
Americom Imaging Systems Inc. 411.40
Americom 9,445.00
Bob Barker Company Inc. 277.73
Brenda Hempen 59.98
Carl J. Mendenhall 30.00
CCP Industries Inc. 4,355.30
City of Waterloo 14,735.23
Columbia Quarry Company 4,524.66
Communications Revolving Fund 44.29
Custom Vehicle Upfitters 4,727.01
Dobbs Tire & Auto Centers 118.91
Doerr Construction Inc. 4,830.00
Ed Roehr Auto Radio Co Inc. 884.29
Edward Ahne 45.00
Egyptian Workspace Partners 482.46
Grassman Lawncare Inc. 130.00
Harrisonville Telephone 3,090.38
John Deere Financial 102.50
John Deere Financial 8.55
Jordan Burdg 125.53
Judy Tiemann 89.98
K & D Printing 63.00
Kone Inc 660.74
Leon Uniform Company Inc 830.22
Logo’s ‘N Stitches Inc. 30.00
Marvin Hill 800.00
McCarthy, Leonard & Kaemmerer, L.C. 2,947.50
Monroe County Bicentennial 60.00
Motorola 1,427.00
Otto Faulbaum 187.50
Paylocity (Beneflex) 1,096.00
Prairie Farms Dairy Inc. 260.00
Quality Collision 1,237.74
Quill Corporation 1,183.60
Rejis Commission 266.00
Reliable Sanitation Service Inc. 2,524.30
Republic-Times LLC 158.20
Robert Elmore 197.29
Southern Illinois Video 682.00
Thomson Reuters-West Publishing Corp. 787.86
Traughber & Morris Ltd 741.67
Truckvault 1,827.82
U.S. Bank Equipment Finance 228.90
U.S. Postmaster 100.00
V “Red” Smith 20.00
Walmart Community 222.44
Waterloo Animal Hospital 887.87
Watson’s Office City 335.99
Wex 5,872.36
Health Tax Fund
1st National Bank of Waterloo 971.79
City of Waterloo 137.78
Coast to Coast Equipment 162.00
Glaxosmithkline Pharmaceuticals 810.88
Harrisonville Telephone Company 327.89
Monroe County Independent 28.00
Motorola 234.00
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