South West Illinois News

Monroe County Board of County Commissioners met October 9.

Here is the minutes as provided by the board:

The Special Meeting of the County Commissioners of Monroe County, Illinois was called to order at 10:00 a.m. Chairman Robert Elmore and Commissioner Vicki Koerber were present. Commissioner Delbert Wittenauer was Absent.

The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Others present included Pam Jacobs, Carla Heise, Kelton Davis, John Wagner, Brian Hooten, Chris Voelker, Ron Schultheis, Alan Dooley and County Clerk Dennis Knobloch.

There being a quorum present, the meeting was called to order by Chairman Elmore.

This meeting was scheduled to discuss the possible renovations to the County Annex Building once the Health Department moves to their new office building on the north end of Waterloo, and the Regional Superintendent’s office moves from their current Mill Street office to the Annex Building.

All three sections of the large meeting room at the Annex were in use, and Ms. Jacobs said that nearly every day and evening that is the case. She said there are even some groups that use the facility on the weekends.

Representatives of each office were given the opportunity to discuss their current offices and future needs. Kelton Davis said one of his needs would be a training room. He said they have now moved into half of the SWIC campus in Red Bud for Special Ed programming. Mr. Davis said they have a testing center that is used for educators and para-professionals, and it generates a lot of business from Missouri folks who come over here, because they are moved in and out so efficiently. He said storage is always at a premium, and they rent storage facilities in both Monroe and Randolph Counties for archival purposes.

Following discussion it was determined that the office of the Regional Superintendent on Mill Street is 2,958 square feet – approximately 3,000 square feet.

It was determined that the current Health Department office is about 4,000 square feet. Pam Jacobs said she has 3,568 square feet, and that includes the public area and one-third of the meeting room area.

Mr. Davis said they conduct their GED classes in each of the communities, many times in the public libraries. He said they currently have a 6-station testing room, and with the amount of use that could easily be expanded to include 10 stations. Mr. Davis said they also do a lot of fingerprint and background checks on individuals.

Pam Jacobs said her area definitely needs some cleanup and renovation, including paint and flooring. She said the meeting room floor also needs some work. Ms. Jacobs said the outside entrance doors are not handicap accessible, and the doors in the back of the building allow water to enter during heavy rain events. She said the kitchen and bathroom areas need upgrading. Ms. Jacobs said they could also use some more storage including possibly an outside storage unit. 

Carla Heise said she would like to see some expansion for the crew housing area. Other than that she said she would be happy to see minimal renovations. There is a problem with cracks in the back of the building, and that allows the entry of cold air in the wintertime. Ms. Heise agreed that the bathrooms need upgrades. She said all of the walls in the Ambulance area need repainting, and the doors should be refinished or replaced. Ms. Heise said crew members used to do some of this work, but now with the unions, the employees are no longer interested in doing the extra work.

There was extensive discussion regarding the overall condition of the building. Brian Hooten said when the building was built, dozers were used to pull the concrete trucks onto the site because it was so muddy. That has apparently caused problems with the substructure of the building. The floor in the meeting room has large cracks, and that situation is prevalent in some of the office areas as well. Kelton Davis asked about the HVAC. Mr. Hooten said some of the units have been replaced, but there are some original units as well.

Chairman Elmore said he didn’t see any reason to continue the discussion until a Structural Engineer can look at the building to determine if there are any high-dollar repairs necessary to stabilize the building. Chris Voelker was instructed to see if he could find a Structural Engineer to study the current building condition.

Commissioner Koerber said she will meet with Ms. Jacobs, Mr. Davis and Ms. Heise to determine the details and needs of each of their individual offices.

There being no further business to come before the Board, motion to adjourn was made by Commissioner Koerber, with a second by Chairman Elmore. All voting Aye, none Nay and Commissioner Wittenauer Absent. Motion carried.

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