Habitat for Humanity Greater Peoria Area can proceed with Plan B.
The not-for-profit organization received a $100,000 grant last year from the Tazewell County Board to demolish the former East Peoria Gardens Heathcare Center at 1910 Springfield Road, which had sat vacant for 15 years, and construct a veterans village.
Arrangements were made for the city of East Peoria to give the property to Habitat in September 2023 via a quit claim, according to Lea Anne Schmidgall, Habitat executive director.
Before that happened, however, the property was purchased by a developer who paid the back taxes and the liens owed and the property will be the site of new apartments.
So it was on to Plan B for Habitat.
Schmidgall asked the county board if Habitat could use the $100,000 to demolish a home at 1800 American St. in Pekin and refurbish a three- bedroom home at 1814 American for a veteran's family.
The board unanimously approved the request Wednesday.
Both homes were donated to Habitat.
The money for the $100,000 grant came from an Energy Transition Community Grant the county received from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity because of the 2028 closure of the Powerton Station.
County officials will communicate Habitat's request to the state and fill out all the necessary paperwork.
Solar farm projects in Green Valley and Mackinaw approved
Special uses for two solar farm projects were approved Wednesday by the board. Each project is in an agriculture preservation district.
Hawk-Attolo of Peoria received a special use for a 3.5-megawatt solar farm project in a field south of 13127 Hilst Road in Green Valley. The field is owned by Jibben Farms of Pekin.
"I support this special use because to say this field isn't prime farm land is an understatement. It's more like farm sand," said board member Russ Crawford, who had previously opposed other special uses for solar farm projects in the county.
Fast Ave. Solar, a subsidiary of New Leaf Energy of Lowell, Mass., received a special use for a 5-megawatt solar farm project in a field at the southwest corner of the intersection of Fast Avenue and Lilly Road in Mackinaw owned by William Embry of Mackinaw.
Primary winner Eric Stahl is appointed to fill a vacancy on the county board
Tremont resident Eric Stahl, who won the Republican primary in March among three candidates who were vying to fill three District 2 board seats in the the Nov. 5 election (there are no Democrat candidates for the positions), was appointed to the board Wednesday.
Stahl will fill the seat vacated by Randi Krehbiel of Hopedale, whose term expires this year.
After the meeting, Stahl said in a video posted on his Eric Stahl for Tazewell County Board Facebook page that he voted against the special uses for the two solar farm projects.
"But I don't hate solar farms," he said, noting that he has solar energy at his home and wishes he had it where he works (he's been the service manager at Fort's Toyota of Pekin for 28 years).
What he is against, Stahl said, is private companies developing solar farms in the county and receiving 40-year contracts.
"Do you know what's going to happen in 40 years? Nobody does," he said. "My son is 21. He'll be 61 when those contracts expire."
Stahl predicted there will be turnover of companies operating the solar farms through the 40 years, and Tazewell County, or the state or federal governments will eventually be responsible for the maintenance of the solar farms and cleanup from bad storms like a tornado.
Board member Max Schneider, also a Tremont resident, said Stahl is a great addition to the board.
"We first met a few years ago while we were serving as citizen members on the board's Rural Broadband Committee, and we've been friends ever since," Schneider said. "Eric has been a great advocate for expanded broadband access."
Schneider has chaired the Rural Broadband Committee since 2022 and secured nearly $200,000 for broadband studies, and money for matching grants to expand high-speed access.
Schneider said he'd love to see Stahl remain on the committee as a board member.
County administrator's contract tweaked
The board approved several revisions to County Administrator Mike Deluhery's initial 3-year contract Wednesday.
The former chief deputy in the Peoria County Clerk's office was hired by the board in 2022. His contract runs through Nov. 30, 2025.
Deluhery's pay was increased to $154,548 until Dec. 1, when his pay will increase to $160,729.
Future annual pay increases for Deluhery after Dec. 1 will be based on performance evaluations and be comparable to increases approved by the board for other non-union employees with a minimum of 2%.
If Deluhery is fired, the county will pay the premium costs for health insurance for him and his family for four months in addition to the already agreed upon 20 weeks of severance pay.
A provision that the county will pay the tuition costs for Deluhery to obtain a master's degree in public administration from Northern Illinois University was added to the contract.
Pay increases approved for the county's chief public defender and sheriff
In other actions Wednesday, the board approved:
- Increasing the salary of Chief Public Defender Luke Taylor to $186,044 and the salary of Sheriff Jeff Lower to $165,372.
- Making an $18,750 payment to the Greater Peoria Economic Development Council for the third quarter of the county's fiscal year.
- The hiring of five persons as election judges in each precinct for the Nov. 5 election.
- The appointments of Meghan Brake to the Human Services Transportation Planning Commission for a term beginning Aug. 1 and ending Nov. 30, 2025 and Richard Jameson to the Tremont Fire Protection District board for a term beginning Aug. 1 and ending April 30, 2027.
