County Roundup

I have a few County government related news links to share until the full Committee of the Whole meeting becomes available on the County Clerk's YouTube channel (there are some reentry presentations and such I'll be highlighting in more detail later). The News-Gazette had some highlights from the COW until then:

County board OKs spending another $278K on nursing home employee costs
At a committee-of-the-whole meeting on Tuesday night, board members recommended spending $287,052 to pay nursing home employee benefit time and management retention bonuses.

This money will be included on the last paycheck from the county following the sale of the home, if and when it takes place...

In December, the county board approved $2.7 million in funding to keep the nursing home in operation for another couple of months.

In January, the county board approved another $6 million in nursing home expenses both to pay off bills to nursing home vendors dating back to 2015 and to write off nursing home bad debt.

In February, the county board voted to grant the county executive and treasurer authority to cover any shortfall in the nursing home's accounts payable for March with a loan for up to $200,000. Then, the board authorized them to use a loan to make up for any March payroll issues.

In other business, board members unanimously recommended renewing its contract with Rosecrance for the re-entry program. The new contract runs through June 30, 2020.

The board also recommended spending $35,423 to increase public-defender salaries to make them equitable with salaries for prosecutors in the state's attorney's office.

More at the full article here. Agenda packet here and full video (when available) here. Until the video becomes available, the written presentation of the Reentry Council Mid-Annual Report is available in the agenda packet (page 7 of the packet, page 10 of the PDF file). The RPC Young Adult Reentry Program slideshow presentation is available here.

The Environment and Land Use Committee (ELUC) addressed a zoning issue for a future rural event center:

County board panel endorses Flatville couple's plan to turn barn into events center
...
On Thursday, the Champaign County Environment and Land Use Committee voted 7-0 to move that plan forward, recommending rezoning the property from AG-1 Agriculture to AG-2 Agriculture.

Arik and Kylie Miller plan to renovate a burgundy and white barn on their 10.3-acre property at 2079 County Road 2600N, less than a mile from Flatville, into an event center with a capacity for 300 guests.

"We're going to call it Miller Farms Barn," Arik Miller said. "We just acquired the property. The barn has sat empty for the last 20 years. In addition to weddings, we would like to host corporate events, family gatherings, whatever..."

Miller said he is planning enough space for 100 vehicles, including handicapped-accessible parking spaces.

Full article here. I didn't see anything in the ELUC agenda packet or action report about the horse stable approved at the Zoning Board last month, so that may be on next month's ELUC agenda. From last month:

Champaign Co. Zoning Board OKs couple's special-use permit for horse stable
A rural Pesotum couple plan to start up a horse stable, complete with an indoor arena, southwest of the village.

The Champaign County Zoning Board voted 4 to 0 Thursday night to approve a special-use permit for Fields of Grace Stable, at 683 County Road 100 N, also known as the Parkville Road.

The proposal next advances to the Champaign County Board Environment and Land Use Committee.

The permit would authorize Jessica and John Gill to operate their riding stable in an agriculture zoning district.

Jessica Gill said her stable will be able to board up to 12 horses and will hold riding lessons and events.

Full blurb here.

This month's home sales numbers aren't out yet, but I'm still playing catch up. Here are the numbers reported last month (of January's numbers):

Champaign County home sales down 20 percent in January over 2018
Home sales in Champaign County dropped more than 20 percent in January compared with the same period in 2018, according to the Champaign County Association of Realtors.

There were 117 homes sold in January, down from 153 a year ago.

The association blamed higher prices, cold weather and the partial government shutdown for the slowdown.

Sale prices rose significantly in January compared with a year ago, with the median price increasing from $132,500 to $155,000.

More information at the full blurb here.