Logan County Board
July Zoning and Economic Development Committee Meeting

[July 07, 2026]  On Monday, July 6th, the Zoning and Economic Development Meeting of the larger Logan County Board held their monthly meeting in the first-floor courtroom of the Logan County Courthouse at 6:30 p.m. Four of the five committee members were in attendance, newly appointed Committee Chairman Gil Turner, Vice Chairman Kathy Schmidt, Hannah Fitzpatrick, and Joseph Kuhlman. Bob Sanders was the only member not present. Logan County Board member Kevin Knauer was also in attendance.

Turner called the meeting to order and went into old business. There was nothing on the agenda, and after ensuring that there was nothing anyone had to bring up, he moved on to new business. Here, there were five items. The first was a decommissioning ordinance for data centers. This was to be placed in the data center ordinance the County Board tried to pass in June, however, there is no standing ordinance at this time. Schmidt made a motion to table this item for that reason, and it was passed unanimously.

Turner moved on to the second item, a motion was listed as “Citizen ordinance requested by Dayton Keyes.” Turner stated that, after speaking with the State’s Attorney, Brad Hauge, it was determined that this motion “does not work.” It was explained that the election code does not permit it, and it is against the law. Keyes interrupted to speak on the proposed ordinance, asking for some clarification or something written from Hauge on the matter. Turner told him that public comments have to wait until the end of the meeting. It was determined that Hauge, who was at the previous meeting, left before the Zoning Meeting.

Lincoln Daily News previously reported on Keyes’s proposed ordinance in May. At the May Zoning and Economic Development meeting, Keyes passed out his proposed ordinance that stated that any “large projects coming to the county” would have to be voted on by the public for approval.

The next item on the agenda was for a discussion on a bike trail. Logan County resident Karen Conn came to the front to speak on the matter. She stated that there is currently a bike trail that goes from McClean to Bloomington, and one that goes from Williamsville to Sherman. She has been working with Kuhn & Trello Consulting Engineers to possibly secure a matching grant for the county to build a bike trail connecting to these other two if the community was interested.

Keyes spoke again, asking why Conn got to speak, but he did not, stating that his name is on the agenda. Turner did not respond to Keyes’s comment.

Conn continued, stating that Kuhn & Trello are willing to work “pro bono” to determine if the county could get a matching grant from the state, and how much that grant would be. Conn was transparent, however, stating until they gathered data and got that data into a system, they would not know the amount of the grant. It could be as low as zero percent, but as high as one hundred percent.

Conn also spoke on the economic development aspect of the trail. She stated that they were working with towns like Elkhart to get them to build connections off the trail to get people into their towns. She said, according to her research, some businesses had been built along other bike paths in the state.

Going into more detail, Conn explained that this project, if there was enough public interest and the county backed it, would be done in two phases. The first phase would be to connect Lincoln south to Williamsville, and then the second phase would be to connect Lincoln north past Atlanta and into McClean. She said that these projects take a significant amount of time, and to not expect to use the trails within ten years of the official start.

Conn finished by stating that it would be “hugely beneficial” to helping Kuhn & Trello secure a matching grant. This item was moved on to the Workshop meeting for additional discussion later in the month.

Turner was then informed that he missed the introduction of guests, as well as the approval of previous meetings’ minutes. Keyes was the first to introduce himself, stating that he was “the man who was not allowed to speak when my topic was brought up.” Many others introduced themselves and stated that they were against the Hut 8 data center. Another woman introduced herself and then asked what Keyes’s ordinance was about. Turner stated that public comments would be later in the meeting. This caused a small outrage from the audience, with one person calling it “a simple question.” As others introduced themselves, the woman called the meeting “a joke.” The minutes were then approved before Turner moved on to the fifth item on the list.

Turner had Kathy Brown with the Greater Peoria Economic Development Council (GPEDC) speak. Brown stated that she works with several surrounding counties (including Logan County), and that her council tries to bring federal, state, and local resources to the counties they represent.

Brown stated that GPEDC worked with the company Rural LISC to do a study over cell phone coverage of each county. She shared a map that showed all the “dead spots” in Logan County to the committee members. She stressed this issue, stating that it is important to many people in rural communities. GPEDC is going to have national representatives on cell coverage come to speak to the Board in a future meeting to speak on why these “dead spots” exist and what opportunities Logan County will have to address them.

Next, Brown spoke on potential “energy transition funding” that the county might be eligible for. She said that the county will be able to make an application for this, but they are going to want to update their tax tables. According to Brown, part of the formula that is used to determine how much funding a county gets is loss of tax revenue.

Brown then spoke on housing development projects. She stated that there are “thousands of jobs open in this region.” She went further, stating that a part of that problem is lack of housing. People love small town feel, and Peoria, Tazewell, and Mason counties have already signed on to do a “market rate study.” According to Brown, the data from this study can help communities find funding to expand housing developments.

[to top of second column]

After Brown’s comments, Turner went back to the fourth item on the agenda under new business. This item was for writing letters of support for the Viper Mine Grant. Turner stated that he had a letter that was written by Lance Conahan last year, and that it could be modified for this year.

Last year, an application was opened for state funding for taxing bodies that were negatively impacted by the closure of the Viper Mine in Elkhart. This includes not just counties, but school districts and any other bodies that levy taxes for funding. The county wrote letters of support to help these taxing bodies secure the state funding from the grant. The committee voted to move this item to the Workshop meeting.

Turner then asked the members of the committee if there were any other items of new business that were missed. Keyes spoke up again, stating that he was not allowed to speak during his new business item. Turner again told Keyes that public comments are at the end of the meeting. Keyes demanded to know why he was not allowed to speak even though his name was on the agenda. No new answer was given, and this then led Keyes to state that he was going to go to the Attorney General with his complaint. Turner continued to state that comments would be made at the end.

With this final item of new business out of the way, Turner moved on to public comments. These comments were heated and, in some cases, expletive. Turner went off the signup sheet, turning to audience member Dara Entwistle. Entwistle informed Zoning and Economic Development Officer Al Green that Memorial Hospital was interested in building a bike trail a number of years ago. Green asked Entwistle to email him with any information she had on that.

Keyes was next. He used his time to talk to the audience. He stated that the local government is not listening to the people and are not following their rules. He called on the public to recall “these jokers.” He then looked into the camera of News 25 and made a “public appeal for an attorney.” He stated that his dislike for the County Board had nothing to do with politics, calling the members present “morons.”

Renee S. commented next. She called the information presented by Brown “garbage.” She stated that people are running out of Latham, not trying to move in. She stated that no one has given any solid reason in favor of the Hut 8 data center, save for money. She said that Turner was “such an embarrassment as a public official.”

Rachel S. was the next commenter, quoting board policy on how the representatives are supposed to conduct themselves. She named several things that she felt the board was doing that violated this policy, including not responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests in the time they are supposed to, having meetings with members of the public that were not made public, and not allowing Keyes to speak even though his name was on the agenda. She claimed that the public has “no reason to trust that you are working in our interest.”

Haley V. was the next to speak, stating that the “accountability, transparency, and respect is dwindling” with every meeting that is held. She then stated that the Lincoln City Council records their meetings and posts them online and stated that the County Board does not. Rather, members of the public are taking it upon themselves to record the meetings and post them on social media. “I cannot believe the lack of representation that we are feeling now,” she said.

Doc C. spoke next, starting by asking Turner how he enjoyed his Fourth of July. Turner declined to answer. He then called Turner a “snake,” and stated that democracy is “dead as hell” in the county. He then said "[expletive] you for what you did,” to Turner. Schmidt told him to watch his language as she grabbed her bag and left the room. She did not come back before the end of the meeting.

Cindy Goodman was the next speaker, stating that she felt she should have worn black for the “death of Logan County.” She then called Turner out for smiling during everyone’s comments, calling it “disrespectful.” Around this time, a police officer entered the room and stood near the door. Goodman continued, stating that the large companies that come in “don’t give a [expletive] about our community.” She said that she was tired of coming to meetings and having her comments fall on “deaf ears.”

The commenter after called Turner’s smiling “so sociopathic.” Carissa I. then spoke, stating that the people “will punish you to the fullest.” Michael C. called Turner’s smiling “evil.”

Allison Isley was the second to last commenter. She said that the county has a problem that is “bigger than Hut 8.” She said that the board is failing, stating that they are experiencing “one failure in leadership after another.” She thought that Hut 8 chose Lincoln not just for the transformer they want to connect to, but also for its economic hardships from the closings of Lincoln College and Lincoln Christian University, as well as the closing of Logan Correctional Center. She told the committee that they are not supposed to be enemies, and told Turner “you are not supposed to be acting like this is ridiculous of us to want representation that actually cares about us.”

The last public commenter on the list to speak was Stan Komperda with Highlander Renewables. He stated that he was present to speak on the Pike Creek Windfarm project. He stressed that his company is at a very time sensitive juncture, and if they do not get their approvals from the Zoning Office soon, the project will not be able to move forward.

Turner opened the floor to anyone else who wanted to speak who did not sign up. The first commenter stated that he was “pissed off” and questioned the “moral character of people like you,” speaking to Turner. The second commenter thanked the board members who supported the moratorium but felt the Board was only having public comments to satisfy a “legal requirement.”

Turner then started to move on when another person spoke up to make a comment. Turner stated that they had already moved on and gave the floor to Green for his Zoning and Economic Development Officer’s report. Green stated that he had rescheduled the Hut 8 application with the Planning Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA). He also stated that Pike Creek has been submitting their conditions “at a rapid rate.” He said that thirteen of them came in at 2:30 that morning. He stated that a lot of these are still not up to the standards that were set at the County Board meeting.

As for the data center ordinance, he stated that since it was disapproved, there must be substantial changes made, and then it must go back through Regional Planning and ZBA.

Green also mentioned that, as a result of a decision made by the Fourth Appellate Court, counties “are not required to approve alternative energy sites that meet state guidelines.” He stated that, until a higher court, such as the Supreme Court, overrules this, this is “the way it is.”

Bills were then approved before the meeting was adjourned.

[Matt Boutcher]
 

Back to top