Tazewell County will join the nation next year in celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
The county board's Historical Preservation Ad-Hoc Committee recommended giving each of Tazewell's 19 townships $1,000 to purchase a historic marker, if the township applied for one.
The plan as part of the nationwide America 250 celebration was not received well at the board's monthly meeting Wednesday, as members sent it back to the ad-hoc committee for further discussion.
"This is too vague for me," said Nancy Proehl.
"Frivolous," is what Greg Sinn called it.
"We should have a county-wide celebration," said Max Schneider.
Kaden Nelms of the ad-hoc committee said, "We didn't want to step on anyone's toes" by suggesting a county-wide event.
The fact that the maximum $19,000 expenditure was not budgeted concerned several board members.
P.J. Hoerr will oversee county projects
Also Wednesday, the board approved:
• Authorizing Peoria-based P.J. Hoerr to serve as the project manager overseeing renovations and property improvements at county buildings over the next three years that are needed because of the construction of the Justice Center Annex. P.J. Hoerr obtained quotes for a recent power washing project at the county courthouse. More than $120,000 was budgeted, said Board Chairman Brett Grimm, and the project was done for nearly $51,000.
• The receipt of state grants of about $303,000 for economic development as the result of the scheduled 2028 closure of the Powerton Station, and $95,000 for the public defender's office at the courthouse. Among the county's allocations of the economic grant is more than $40,400 to Tazewell County Resource Centers [TCRC] for an HVAC controls renovation in TCRC's downtown Pekin building.
• Purchasing environmental health software from Custom Data Processing of Romeoville. The implementation cost of the software is about $46,500, with a first-year service cost of nearly $14,700, second-year service cost of almost $25,900, and third- and fourth-year service costs of around $27,200 each.
• Allowing Ameren Illinois access to easements along the east and south boundaries of the county's Tremont campus for surveying and feasibility studies for new and relocated monopole highline towers and transmission lines. The work is part of Ameren's Central Illinois Grid Transformation Program.
•The appointment of Laura Karker of San Jose to the San Jose Fire Protection District board for a three-year term.
