County Board honors former chairman with moment of silence

Aug. 22—EFFINGHAM — During its regular meeting Monday, the Effingham County Board took some time to remember former Effingham County Board Chairman Richard F. "Dick" Francis, who died earlier this month.

At the start of the meeting, county officials and members of the public stood for a moment of silence in honor of Francis, who, according to Effingham County Chairman Josh Douthit, served as the board's chairman from December of 1994 to November of 1998.

"I appreciate you guys taking the time to recognize Richard Francis for his time served on the Effingham County Board," Douthit said.

The board had also planned to present the Effingham County Chairman Accommodation Award to Ernest Garbe, but agreed to move the presentation to its September meeting because Garbe couldn't attend Monday's meeting.

Also during the meeting, Effingham County State's Attorney Aaron Jones provided some more updates on the county's preparation for the implementation of the provision of the SAFE-T Act abolishing Illinois' cash bail system, which is set to take effect Sept. 18.

"I know we dealt with a lot of it in the last committee meeting, but we're certainly gearing up towards all the changes that are coming with the implementation of the SAFE-T Act and trying to deal with how that's going to look," Jones said.

Jones said in addition to the adjustments the county will have to make when the new law takes effect, Effingham County will also need to ensure that it has adequate staffing and resources to deal with these changes.

"There's still a lot of unknown," he said.

One of the forthcoming changes Jones is still somewhat unsure of is what court hearings for inmates arrested over weekends will look like because the new law likely means a judge will have to be available to hear cases every weekend.

Although he noted that these hearings could be held over Zoom, Jones is currently unaware of any ruling permitting hearings that aren't held in person.

"So that's currently what we're expecting," he said.

While the new law will impact the entire state, Jones said he can only confidently speak to Effingham County's plan for implementation.

"We're expecting there to be a lot of differences from county to county, as well in the way this is being handled or even judges in our own circuit that are interpreting things differently than the way our current presiding judge is," he said.

Meanwhile, Effingham County Engineer Greg Koester announced that construction on Moccasin Road officially began a couple weeks ago.

"Things are progressing well," Koester said. "Probably in about one week they will be substantially complete with the pavement and putting on the shoulder stone. Then, they're replacing guardrail after that."

Koester noted that drivers in the area will likely experience some traffic interruptions in the next week as work continues there.

"Just continue to use your patience, at least for another week," he said.

In other matters, Douthit announced that Roy Shelley, the director of human resources at Koerner Distributor Inc., is "stepping up" as Effingham County's representative to the Local Workforce Innovation Area Board.

As county officials provided their monthly reports, Effingham County Clerk Michelle Kollmann announced that Sept. 5 will be the first day of circulation for candidate nominations for the county's 2024 election.

Up for election are the offices of the circuit clerk, state's attorney, coroner, precinct committee members and county board districts C, D, F, G and I.

Another report was provided by Effingham County Board Administrator Angie Thompson, who announced that county employees can sign up to receive flu shots on Oct. 6 at 3:30 p.m. in the south room on the first floor of the Effingham County Office Building.

Also during the meeting, Travis Buhnerkempe, the chief deputy of the Effingham County Sheriff's Office, told the board the sheriff's office is now fully staffed with officers following the recent graduation of Nathan Hill from the police academy.

He said Hill will officially begin working as an officer following 12 weeks of field training.

"I'm glad to hear that," Douthit said.

"It's the first time in a couple years," Buhnerkempe said.

In other matters, the board:

—Approved a resolution for the sale of a delinquent property in Mason without committee recommendation.

—Approved the disbursement of $4,640.99 in earmarked ARPA funds for the Effingham County Child Care Committee Increased Capacity Program.

—Approved the disbursement of $3,600 in ARPA funding for the Effingham County Child Care Committee Gap Scholarship.

—Approved the disbursement of $2,500 in ARPA funding for OSLAD Grant management.

—Approved the appointment of Brenda Winskill to the Effingham County 708 Board for a term from Aug. 21, 2023 to June 30, 2027.

—Approved the appointment of Ron Will to the Effingham County Ambulance Oversight Committee for a term from Sept. 1, 2023, to Aug. 31, 2025.

—Approved the appointment of Samuel B. Jansen to the Island Grove Drainage District for a term from Sept. 6, 2023, to Sept. 6, 2026.

—Approved the appointment of Greg Elmore to the Lucas Township Drainage District for a term from Sept. 6, 2023, to Sept. 6, 2026.

—Approved the appointment of Joe Thoele to the South Island Drainage District for a term from Sept. 6, 2023, to Sept. 6, 2026.

—Approved the appointment of Dennis Niemerg to the St. Francis Township Drainage District for a term from Sept. 6, 2023, until Sept. 6, 2026.

—Approved the use of the Effingham County courtyard for Downtown Cruise Night Saturday, Sept. 9, on the condition that a special event liquor license is obtained for the event.

—Approved the use of the Effingham County courtyard for the Corvette Welcomefest Downtown Party Friday, Sept. 15.

—Authorized the Effingham County Sheriff's Office to negotiate its school resource officer contract with county schools.

Nick Taylor can be reached at nick.taylor@effinghamdailynews.com or by phone at 618-510-9226 or 217-347-7151 ext. 300132.