Jasper County Off Road Highway Ordinance Fails on Tie Vote

A proposed ordinance permitting some off-road vehicles on county roads in Jasper County failed Thursday night on a tie vote.

The final count was 6-6.

The ordinance would have allowed permits to those 18 and older to operate the vehicles between 5am and 10:30pm. There would have been a 35MPH speed limit.

The measure would have governed county roads only; individual townships would have decided whether to permit such vehicles on their roadways. Farm use vehicles would have been exempt from the guidelines.

Also Thursday, Jasper board members heard from Natalie Hopson of the Jasper County Chamber of Commerce who reported on a Cruise Night event set for August 4. Hopson asked to use the front of the Jasper County Office Building for snacks and drinks. The car dealers will take their cars and side by sides to the Courthouse. The Board was fine with the idea.

The Board agreed to address a shorting of Crooked Creek Township in the property tax bills that were mailed June 29. The Crooked Creek Township levy was shorted during the tax processing. It was explained the township can't wait until next year for the issue to be corrected, so an intergovernmental agreement was approved between the County and the Township in which the County will advance the Township the funds and the County will later be reimbursed. 

County Clerk Linda Huth explained to the board how the action occurred. Huth said it was due to an error in processing. The deficit totals $46,200. Huth said the bills were ready to be mailed when the error was discovered, and said they couldn't go back to correct the error once they were that far along in the tax process. Certified letters have to be sent to all landowners in the township. Huth said they don't know what that will cost.

A couple of board members asked that steps be taken to stop such errors, and that all entities need to check their reports.

The Board reviewed the 2016 fiscal year audit. Auditor Carol Halbert said the County had a clean audit. The County showed $19 million in total assets, $13 million of that amount in cash, $6 million in assets. Revenues for the year totaled $11.6 million while expenses totaled $9 million. The Board then agreed to take proposals for the county audit for 2017, with proposals due by September 11.

Board members also approved an updated ethics ordinance for the county, and approved the appointment of Cindy Hinterscher, Travis Farley and Brett Lessley to the Ethics Commission. A bridge aid petition from Smallwood Township was approved; Melvin Birk was appointed to the Farmland Assessment Review Committee; Jeannie Fell and Carlotta Barbee were named to the County Board of Health; and Ron Simonton was named a trustee of the North Fork Conservancy District.