The Effingham County Board voted to approve the placement of two flagpoles near the ISP Memorial on the downtown Effingham Square. The board had trepidation about allowing the construction of the flagpoles due to concerns about who would maintain them. The funds for the flagpoles, and two sets of flags, were acquired by local resident Bonnie Mellendorf from various donors. The board agreed to allow the installation of the poles with the stipulation that the county would not be responsible for their maintenance. It was also stated at the meeting by Board Member Rob Arnold that the Effingham County Probation would take care of raising and lowering the flags.
“We want the flagpoles,” said County Board Chair Jim Niemann. “It was just a logistical thing. Who was going to take care of them, who was going to pay for them, and to make sure that we weren’t going to damage the tree in the process of putting the flagpoles up. So I think now we’ve that everyone can agree with.”
According to Mellondorf, the city of Effingham has agreed to install the poles.
The Board also agreed to endorse the City of Effingham’s bid to create a new enterprise zone that would encompass parts of Effingham, Teutopolis, and Effingham County. If selected as an enterprise zone by the state, after an application process, area businesses would be eligible for tax incentives to expand. Part of the application process requires all local elected bodies to agree to be part of the zone.
Also discussed was a resolution that would codify County Board Member’s ability to take part in the selection of non-board appointees. According to Niemann, the county board chair used to be able to make appointments regardless of if the board voted against them. In other words, if the board votes no for someone, by law the county chair could keep reappointing them over and over again. The resolution approved during Monday’s meeting prevents that from happening by giving the full board final say over appointees.
Additionally, the board approved low bidder, Depew and Owen Builders for the Mound Township Bridge Project at the cost $218,988 and gave the green light for County Engineer Gregg Koester to put together a plan to increase office space for the Highway Department.
In other action, the board approved an adjustment to the loan contract for Holli’s Flower Shop that would allow them make smaller monthly installments in their loan from the county, heard a status report from Effingham County Public Transportation, and learned from Effingham County EMS Director Pam Jacobs that county’s emergency plan had been approved.