The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Carla Ewing, Administrator at the Henderson County Health Department (HCHD) reported at the April County Board meeting, they are starting to experience some things with the oversight of the federal government which they were expecting to happen. One grant in question that may get reduced is a two-year grant and Ewing said HCHD is still reviewing how this may affect them going forward.
The board had a lengthy discussion on the current state of the volunteer ambulance service across the county. As Oquawka’s Ambulance service hasn’t been in operation much and they and others in the county have been struggling with volunteers.
There is need to have a meeting or put a committee together to research options so that they can be proposed to the public. The volunteer situation doesn’t appear to be getting any better and the community needs to be aware of the feasible options to have a dependable ambulance service and how that could impact local taxes.
“This problem is a lot more comprehensive than what we are going to solve today…we are going to discuss it quite a bit more in the future,” stated Chairman Brad Flatt.
Quotes were discussed that were received last June to repair or replace the elevator in the county courthouse. There is now some urgency to get the repairs finished due to an upcoming court case next month that will need to be held in the large court room on the 2nd floor.
There is a civil jury trial set for May 12th and with “Access to Justice” regulations the 2nd floor court room must be accessible. They have been able to use the down stairs courtroom in the past but it is too small to handle a jury trial.
The case is from 2021 and was continued previously, so there is urgency to get the trial underway.
The board passed a motion to give Kim Gullberg the authority to seek a company to get the elevator working in time by the May deadline with a budget of $10,000.
Sandra Keane stated that the Judicial system will get the funds for half of the project. It was unclear where the rest of the funding for the project would come from.
The 911 committee held a meeting on Thursday, April 3rd. It was reported that they had a budget of $423,000 and they brought in $432,000.
It was also reported from that meeting that the 911 dispatchers are having issues with agencies not reporting, if or when they had responded to a call, which leads to uncertainty about paging another unit to respond to a call. They need to improve communication and the 911 board would like to get all the agencies together sometime to discuss it.
County Coroner John Fedler, reported that he has completed 40 hour state mandated training and a one-day training session with the Peoria County Coroner’s office and was happy to report that his training is now completed for the year.
County Engineer Rick Walker requested to use up to $25,000 in federal grant money to hall 3,000 tons of chips to stock pile south of Oquawka that will be used to sealcoat Highway 3 (Keithsburg Road).
The board approved unanimously to allow the highway department to use federal aid matching funds for the project.
The board approved a resolution to authorize the execution of a Mutual Aid Agreement with the Illinois Coroners & Medical Examiners Association. About one-third of Illinois counties are part of this agreement that would allow Henderson County to ask for resources from these members in a mass casualty situation and vice versa .
The language in the agreement would allow counties to refuse aid if the resources don’t allow it.
Henderson County Coroner, Fedler thought it would be important as we are a small county and Highway 34 does pose a risk of a mass casualty situation that could exhaust the county’s resources.
Board member Patty Daniels would like to set up an animal control meeting to discuss the dog tag situation and how it will be enforced.
“I feel like there needs to be a process to follow through, because there is a lot of people that do the right thing. But a lot of them know they are not going to get in trouble…. My girls are putting in a lot of time and effort into keeping this list and keeping track of whose paying, said Tina Fulk, Henderson County Treasurer.
It was decided to put off the meeting until after the appointment of a new state’s attorney.
Bill Knupp expressed the importance of attending local township meetings and how those forms of government are under attack by some in Springfield. Though most of the bills haven’t made it out of committee, if they get pushed through, it would have a huge impact on local government in Henderson County.
Board accepted the resignation of Henderson County State’s Attorney Susan M. Maxwell-Schneider effective 5/16/2025.
Board approved the monthly county treasurer’s report.
Board unanimously approved the Appointment of Briana Rivera as board member for the Mid-American Inter modal Port District for a 5 year term.
Board unanimously approved the reappointments of Larry Russell and David Stewart - Trustees of the Gulfport Gladstone Fire Protection District, and Harold Henshaw - Trustee of the Oquawka Fire Protection District. All were for 3 year terms.
Board members present: Brad Flatt Chair, Bill Knupp Vice Chair, Kim Gullberg, Jon Corzatt, Kurt McChesney, Patty Daniels, Janet Stubbs, Dick Bigger, and Deborah Pflasterer.
Board members not in attendance: Will Pruett and Todd Miller.
The next meeting of the board is set for Tuesday, May 13 at 8:30 A.M. at the Henderson County Courthouse courtroom.