Former White County Board Chairwoman Cassie Pigg submitted her resignation in June and said she would serve her district until the board found a replacement. At the September meeting, the board put the approval of Carmi resident Terry Gholson on the agenda; Tuesday night, the board learned that he withdrew his name for consideration. Pigg’s position representing the County Board District 4 is still up for grabs, pending approval by White County Board members.
A hot topic during the meeting centered around an item on the consent agenda: a possible approval of a lease agreement between White County and Ambulance Director Adam Allen for use his personal boat for water search and rescue. The County Board has not only borrowed the boat for rescue operations, but the Sheriff’s Office and EMA have as well, without a lease agreement since 2011.
Dustin Harmon from Bellwether explained the history,
“So the boat has been given access to by the County for years now with, with no lease amount. The way that this has been going in the past was that the boat has been offered to the County for no cost. So I guess there’s really two questions here. Was it an approved expense, which was in his budget (Allen), and it was discussed? And then, if it wasn’t, then does it need to be repaid? And then if it is an approved expense and it was just because it was a, a handshake agreement, then the County is responsible for the expense. And then do we continue with the past agreement of no compensation for the boat, and he’s still offering it to us? Or is there some sort of compensation?”
The expense the board is talking about is the boat motor, which needs to be fixed and will cost around $12,000. The boat has come in handy a slew of times, especially during the flood in 2011, and each year is different with Mother Nature. When asked how many times Allen has had to use the boat for search and rescue, he answered,
“Um, it fluctuates from year to year, um, just based off of the weather and whatnot. Um, throughout the years, we used it dating back to 2011 in the big flood. We’ve had multiple vehicles off in backwater, vehicles off in the river, missing boaters.”
“So approximately how many per year or per month or..got an idea?”
“Maybe, like I said, it varies. 3-4 a year, maybe.”
The boat has not been insured under the County; the County, EMA, and Sheriff’s Office have had it available to them from Allen with no monthly payments for its use. The agreement the County discussed was intended to formalize liability concerns and resolve the motor expense. Board member David South emphasized the value of maintaining a capable rescue boat rather than spending money on one that could cost up to $100,000.
County Treasurer Mike Baxley raised concerns over how the check was signed for privately owned property. Allen opened the account several years ago with him and Deputy County Clerk Teresa Brock as signers. A 2024 audit changed that, and it recommended that Allen run everything through the Treasurer’s Department. With Allen and Baxley going back and forth,
Allen: “So apparently, unbeknownst to me, I was removed, and Teresa were removed as signers.”
Baxley: “Unbeknownst.”
Allen: “Correct, unbeknownst.”
Baxley: “Really? You guys haven’t signed a check since May of 2025. So just fast-forward all the way til now, and you, and you didn’t know. So you signed for yourself a $12,000 boat motor..”
Allen: “With approval of the board.”
Baxley: “Of the board. When did y’all approve that?”
Harmon: “It was a budget expense, but I don’t know that the specific item was brought before the board.”
Board Chairwoman Amanda Cannon stated that board members discussed what the item was and why. The money was in the ambulance budget, but when asked why the item wasn’t on the agenda to approve, South had that answer,
“When I first came on the board, I asked that anything over $10,000 we had to vote on, and every one of them told me, There is no way possible. If it’s in our budget, then we get to spend the money.”
Board members further explained that present and past members agreed, over five years ago, to put only items costing over $30,000 on the agenda for approval. Kenny Usery added that the topic was passed before he joined the board.
The board agreed to a one-time payment of $11,900 to lease the boat for two years, with automatic renewal, for use by multiple county departments. They also added more context that future problems with the boat will now be brought before the board.
Moving on to the new business portion of the meeting, Joseph Meyer was appointed as a tax-sale trustee for the County. Baxley stated that updated legislation seeks to protect delinquent taxpayers’ equity in tax sales. 86 other counties have already joined the program.
Egyptian Health received a $40,922 payment from the White County Board for the 2025 and 2026 solid-waste fee. That includes waste disposal, recycling, commercial waste, and landfill capacity. The plan is reviewed every five years.
Lastly, Treasurer Baxley reported that property tax collection has started; the first installment was due September 10th, with the second payment on November 10th. He also said the office reduced its budget by 3% after taking no increase the previous year.
The next White County Board meeting will be on October 20 at 7.