Hamilton County leaders met Wednesday night. Ella Tinsley was there for WROY/WRUL News and files this report.
In news from the Road & Bridge Committee preceding the Hamilton County board, Rick Coronado reported ongoing paving on Dale Road is expected to finish and be striped by late September, with the crew then moving to Blairsville Road, where work will continue into November. The meeting addressed the sequence and staging of paving, repair of a recently collapsed culvert on Dale Road, and minor surface issues being handled. Additionally, at the new highway facility, handicapped parking is complete, an overhead door has been ordered, and electrical work is scheduled with Kelly Electric in October.
After a brief recess between meetings, the Hamilton County Board’s September 16 meeting kicked off on two issues with significant financial and community implications: a proposed $300 million solar development and the county ambulance service’s request for additional funding and employee pay raises.
Scott Groux of Zelestra Energy presented plans for CBox Solar, a proposed 2,000-acre solar and battery storage project in Twig and South Twig townships. “This proposed project represents an investment of over $300 million. It would contribute over $18 million in local taxes over the life of the project. This and numerous other site studies will be included in the project’s application upon submittal. The real joy for me being involved with Seedbox has not been drafting these reports or putting together tax estimates. It’s been the ability to learn about Hamilton County from its residents.” Groux told the board that the company planned to submit its application during the week of the 16th’s meeting. The board also agreed to hire Bellwether LLC to review the solar application, with the cost to be covered by the applicant’s fee, making it of no cost to the county.
Also during public comment was 4-H member Gracie Walker, who shared her accomplishments at state and national livestock competitions. She and her livestock quiz bowl team have the honor of traveling to compete, as Gracie illustrates, “So this weekend, we’re actually going to Grand Isle, Nebraska to the XRV stock show, which is one of the largest stock shows in America. And we’re going to be going there and competing – this is actually the first time that Illinois is going to be going there, Dax Harvin and then on November 17th, we’re going to be going to the North American International Livestock Expo.” In these competitions they’ll have the opportunity to bring home prizes, awards, and of course – bragging rights.
The county’s Ambulance Service reported a recent resignation and discussed the need to renew its contract. Department representative, Ashley Camden, requested a $50,000 budget increase and pay raises for staff, explaining that they haven’t had a pay raise since January of 2024. She supported the request with financial comparisons and a review of the service’s operating challenges, expenses, and cost-saving efforts. Some of these changes included switching Oxygen suppliers for a better flat-rate cost of $500 per month, rather than the $744.50 monthly and then $421per refill of their previous supplier. Additionally changes were made to the shift scheduling for better cost effectiveness, “we tried to implement an on-call shift. We would pay them $50 to be on call for 12 hours. If you could find a second person and run a truck, that truck would only run transfers. Once they got in, they would get their normal pay. But even if you didn’t get a call at all, they would just get that $50 to try to help capture some more of those transfers.” Ashley explained that these changes were made to bring in more income for the ambulance service.
Following the resignation of Connie VanWinkle, Heather Bowman was appointed to the Ambulance Service Board. She will complete a term ending in November 2026 and then begin a new three-year term. In other clerk updates, Heather Bowman reported an update on new newspaper publication deadlines following a local merger, annual training requirements, and early voting. Additionally, she brought forth the idea of switching fax and elevator phone services to reduce expenses but tabled the decision while seeking more information, which was tabled for later discussion after discussion with the other offices of the courthouse.
With courthouse repair on the brain, the board also approved a $2,160 payment for courthouse electrical work and advanced a courthouse sign project using special project funding and accepted a separate $5,000 courthouse sign donation after it was moved from the consent agenda to new business for additional discussion.
In discussion of so many financial items, the board’s representative from Bellwether LLC made sure to mention in the Administrative Services Report that they continue to assist with county budget planning and are developing a waste management plan intended to reduce costs. “We’re working with the clerk’s office with the IEPA on the waste management plan. Other counties are spending around $20,000 a year to develop a waste management plan. We believe we can recreate the wheel and not have to go that route. I think we can come up with a simplistic plan and avoid that additional expense.”