Coal Mining in Jasper County?

Jasper County board members Thursday heard about the impact if coal mining came to the county.

Tony Trimble with the Jasper County and Clark County Farm Bureaus gave the Board the update.  Trimble said Farm Bureau is not opposed to coal mining and does support the use of coal in Illinois, but wanted to the show the Board and other county residents what to expect if mining does occur.

Trimble said some counties own the mining rights, but in Jasper County the landowners own the mining rights.  He said longwall mining would be done in Jasper County, and showed geological maps of the depths of the coal in Jasper County that indicates the coal could be 20 to 25 feet deep.  

Trimble said the coal company would repair roads and water lines, would purchase houses and farmsteads on the land to be mined, and that the landowners would have until six months before the mining begins to relocate.

In regular business, the Jasper board set the pay rate for the County Clerk, Circuit Clerk, County Treasurer, Supervisor of Assessments and County Sheriff for the term that begins December 1 at $52,000/year for the length of the term.  The Board also agreed to encourage the State to increase the surcharge for cell phones due to a loss of revenue because of fewer land lines; hired Michael Lied as consultant for the County during sheriff's union contract talks; and agreed to waive the residency requirement for paramedics in the county ambulance service.

Board member Haskett was named to a one-year term on the Board of Health; Dr. George Saliba was named to a three-year term on the Board of Health; Mike Murbarger, Jim Dhom and Galen Mendenhall were named to three-year terms as Wade Fire Protection District trustees; and Melvin Burk was named to the Farmland Assessment Review Committee.