The Kankakee County Board announced and approved a second vacancy at its August 13 meeting. The meeting, which was for the most part brief and business as usual, included the declaration of the 14th District Seat at the end of the meeting and without much fanfare.
District 14 Representative Joseph Swanson tendered his resignation letter by email on July 10, noting he would be moving out of the district and, therefore, unable to continue his duties after August 1, the last date of his residence within the district.
This follows last month’s vacancy declaration for the 10th District Board Member Chris Tholen. Tholen’s resignation came after he failed to file his economic interest statement in time.
Cost-of-Living Adjustments were approved for the Kankakee County State’s Attorney’s and Public Defender, increasing their salaries. Kankakee County State’s Attorneys now will receive $219,325.62 and the Public Defender $197,393.06.
Momence residents can be pleased knowing that two bridges are slated to be replaced.
The county approved a resolution to remove and replace a bridge on County Highway 13 (E 4000 North Road), over Pike Creek, just northeast of the Village of Momence. The project will utilize local bridge funds allocated by the federal government to the county, with the county required to match these federal funds in excess of $1M.
Additionally, the county approved a resolution to replace a bridge on North Vincennes Trail over Trim Creek, estimated to cost $240,000. The county is required to match 20 percent in this project per the resolution.
County Highway 2 (4500 South Road), between 16000 and 17000 East Roads, was dedicated as the Honorary George Washington Sr. Roadway.
The board approved a slew of reappointments to drainage districts within the county. Also approved were the following appointments: Nathan Ulrich to the Kankakee River Valley Forest Preserve District Board, Jamie Skraban to the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee, Mary Keigher to the Rockford Drainage District #1, and Tonya Jones Lafi to the Kankakee Regional Planning Commission.
However, there are still 23 openings for positions within the county, ranging from positions on the Historic Preservation Commission, Board of Health, Regional Planning Commission, Housing Authority, and several drainage district positions.
June bills totalling $9,651,085.01 were passed to be paid. A thorough and detailed claims report from the County Auditor, Colton Eckoff, showed where all payments were scheduled to be paid. The general fund, payroll, and township MFT each saw the majority of the claims at $2.81 million, $2.97 million, and $1.20 million, respectively. Itemized expenses were included on a spreadsheet.
Outside of February, which had 601 claims and $7.37 million in expenses, June had the lowest number of claims thus far this year at 657. With regard to expenditures, May was the second lowest at $8.84 million, despite June having fewer claims.
The board entered into executive session to approve the sale of real estate at 1270 Stanford Drive, Kankakee. Upon coming out of executive session, the board amended the price of real estate from $199,000 to $139,000.
Two certificates of appreciation were awarded: Theodis Pace for his 25 years on the jury commission and Delbert Skimerhorn for 35 years in the planning department.
Stephanie Irvine is a freelance reporter.