Jersey County Board Meeting To Feature Rail Project Update By Jerseyville Mayor

JERSEYVILLE - The monthly Jersey County Board meeting scheduled for 7 pm this evening should be an interesting one as Jerseyville Mayor Billy Russell is slated to update the board on the rail project that has raised considerable questions. It's not known at this time if the presentation will include written documentation that substantiates past and ongoing claims or if the audience will once again be listening to assurances with little or no documentation as has been the past practice of almost everyone associated with the project.

Also on the agenda is discussion regarding the budget and levy for the county.

If you have questions regarding anything included in the agenda, your opportunity for public comment is directly before Mayor Russell's presentation.

Other highlights:

County engineer Tom Klasner salary and expense resolution - $100,000.00.

A recommendation to use out of state consulting firm (Two Rivers Emergency Management) for county hazard mitigation plan versus the University of Illinois Extension. Per proposal documents, the cost difference is $1000 with the UI proposal ($33k vs. $34k) capping costs at $35,000.00. The UI proposal was an approximation based on the final outcome of input of data into the online grant process.

Two Rivers was organized and registered in Iowa as a business entity on March 5 of this year. Michael Morlan, Two Rivers CEO states on his Linkedin account that he has been CEO since August of 2016 but Texas corporate records show Two Rivers incorporation on May 24, 2017. The county proposal references both Iowa and Texas locations. Morlan also publicly states he received a bachelor's degree in Emergency and Disaster Management in 2013 from American Public University.

There is also a closed session scheduled to discuss Steelworker and Teamster represented county employees.