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Logan County Board
Logan County Board regular June meeting
[June 22, 2026]
On Thursday, June 18th, the Logan
County Board held their regular monthly meeting in the third-floor
courtroom of the Logan County Courthouse at 6:00 p.m. This meeting
was rescheduled from Tuesday the 16th to avoid violating the Open
Meetings Act (OMA). Severe weather caused multiple meetings to be
rescheduled, and the board is required to give the public at least
48 hours to view the agenda of a meeting before it is held.
All eleven of the County Board members were present including
Chairman JR Glenn, Vice Chairman Dale Nelson, Keenan Leesman, Joseph
Kuhlman, Bob Sanders, Gil Turner, Kathy Schmidt, Jim Wessbecher,
Lance Conahan, Kevin Knauer, and Hannah Fitzpatrick.
The meeting started with a prayer from Turner just before the Pledge
of Allegiance. Guests were then given the opportunity to introduce
themselves, though many of them chose not to.
The next item on the agenda was a vote to go into a potential
executive session for “probable, imminent or pending litigation.”
Normally, the Board votes to go into executive session, the public
is asked to leave the room. Glenn informed the audience that there
was a meeting room behind the courtroom that they were going to meet
in. State’s Attorney Brad Hauge, who was in the audience, joined the
Board. The executive session lasted approximately 50 minutes.
The Board then unanimously approved the consent agenda before moving
into a time for public comments. Glenn stated that, since there were
a lot of people who signed up to talk, he was going to stick to the
three-minute rule. There were some who went a over that amount.
The first speaker was Rachel S., and she read a letter on behalf of
Allison Isley, who could not make it to the meeting. She started by
thanking the board members who voted for the moratorium, followed by
chastising the members who did not. She stated that she did not
appreciate the disrespect she had received from the board and that
they have been having “shady dealings,” speaking of trying to get
rid of the moratorium. She stated that this is not the behavior of
people who are doing the right thing.
Jenny J. next spoke on how the Hut 8 data center could have an
effect on people’s health. She stated that she has blood cancer and,
according to her research, data centers can exacerbate issues such
as these.
Darlene A. spoke next on the fact that Hut 8 previously claimed that
their slot with Ameren expired and that they were “no longer in
play.” She stated that she felt like she was lied to since some
members of the Board were looking to lift the moratorium and pass
the Hut 8 data center.
After Darlene, Amanda Maxheimer got up to speak. She explained that
people have stated they want to be a part of this process. She spoke
on a rumor that the moratorium may not be enforceable, according to
Hut 8. She stated that she felt the ordinance the Board was going to
vote on was missing a few things, including language to require data
center companies to provide their own green energy, and language for
health concerns.
Maxheimer continued that, at a previous meeting, Hut 8 said they
“fully respect the board’s authority.” She continued that Hut 8 was
threatening to sue the county, something that had not been said by
any board member. The threat of legal action does not sound like
respect to her, and that Hut 8 is looking out for themselves, not
the county.
A man named Larry S. was the next public commenter. He said that he
did not feel like the county should be doing business with a company
that threatens legal action. A woman named Jannet then spoke,
reading from an email that she sent members of the board. She spoke
on the supposed Hut 8 threat of legal action, stating that she hopes
those who have been supporting the data center will reconsider their
support. She claimed that Hut 8 stated that they did not mind
breaking an ordinance if they did not like it.
Linda C. spoke on what she called a lack of transparency from the
board. She stated that there were no studies done. She wanted to
know about a meeting that Nelson stated he had had over the previous
weekend with people who support the data center. She then turned her
attention to Turner, calling him “condescending.” She told him that
the people have a voice and that it is time that he starts listening
to them.
Loyd D. was the next speaker, and he started by agreeing with what
Linda said about Turner. He also called the meeting that Nelson
previously mentioned a “secret meeting” and stated that he was
disappointed in all members of the board.
Michael C. spoke next. He called what Hut 8 was doing “economic
terrorism.” He called on the board to slow down the ordinance
process. He then called the prayers that Turner performs at the
start of many workshop and regular board meetings “weaponized
empathy.”
The next woman to speak brought up a man named Doug Sevey. She
stated that he had created the first private data center that uses
no water and has little impact on the environment. According to her,
Sevey works with others in developing data centers.
A young man named David M. commented next. He said that he was in
college for AI, and that he learned that data centers have not been
making money. He said that this lack of income is why ChatGPT now
has ads. He also stated that he is not sure how many people in the
county would be qualified to fill the data center jobs, mentioning
some of his friends that work at the Logan Correctional Center.
A man named Chris spoke next, stating he was dissatisfied with the
setback requirements in the ordinance as it stands. He stated that
the board should be doing “all possible studies” and called the
ordinance “sad.” Jay L. then spoke, saying that they went on a trip
to the east coast and saw a lot of yard signs against data centers.
They did not, however, see a single sign in support of them. They
stated that it was frustrating feeling like the board was not
listening to them, saying it was like “talking to a brick wall.”
Cindy G. spoke after, saying that she thought the county would say
no. She asked the board how many times people were going to have to
say no to the data center. She also asked how many people there were
who were in favor of data centers who wanted to live next to one.
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The final
commenter was a man named Buster. He stated that he came to
meetings to oppose the CO2 pipelines, and that the Hut 8 data
center would release more CO2 than that project would have. He
said that the solutions to Logan County’s problems are here, not
outside the county.
Once all the public comments were
finished, Glenn moved on to the action items, starting with the
Building and Grounds committee. Conahan brought forward two items
that were unanimously approved. These were a motion to approve a
Stratus Network quote and a motion for a request for proposal (RFP)
for a server replacement at the courthouse.
Conahan did give an update on the elevators. He said that the
interior elevator was working again and that there were only a few
small things to get done with the exterior elevator. The lift on the
northwest side of the building will be taken down once the exterior
elevator is finished.
The Executive and Personnel Committee was next. Nelson had five
items. The first motion was for a raffle request from the Atlanta
Public Library & Museum Foundation. This motion was unanimously
approved. Next was a motion to approve two annual liquor licenses,
one for 217 Roadhouse and one for Lawndale Tap. This motion passed
10-1, with Conahan being the only ‘no’ vote.
The next two motions were also unanimously approved, the first being
to authorize the appointment of election judges, and the second to
approve an American Legion Post 263 raffle.
The final item for Executive and Personnel was to approve the hiring
of Angela Sullivan to the board secretary position. This vote passed
with ten yes votes and Glenn voting in abstention.
The next committee was Finance, and Kuhlman had six motions to
present. The first was to transfer $10,000 from the opioid
settlement fund to the Probation Office’s budget. This motion was
unanimously approved.
Next was a motion to approve a $2,000 donation for the Balloons Over
66 Festival, pending that their 501(c)3 status is approved. There
was some discussion over whether this item should go back to
committee, with Leesman saying that there was no need due to the
language making it so that the organization would not get the money
until they officially became a non-profit. Nelson suggested an
amendment that the money would come out of the general fund. He
reasoned that they need to know all their revenue sources as soon as
possible to start getting balloon pilots scheduled for the festival.
Conahan asked Nelson what line item out of the general fund. Nelson
took a couple of minutes to look through the budget and then stated
that it would be the line item for the property tax levy. Schmidt
asked if the board thought that they would be able to get their
501(c)3 status in time, and Leesman stated that is what was agreed
to at the meeting with Lincoln mayor Tracy Welch.
Wessbecher spoke up, saying that part of the Community Benefit Fund
(CBF) agreement was that they would only be giving money to
non-profits. He was concerned that, should they make an exception,
everyone would want an exception. Sanders stated that he was not in
favor of giving money to non 501(c)3 groups from the CBF. Nelson
withdrew his amendment and the board voted on the original motion,
passing it unanimously.
The third and fourth items from
Finance were approved unanimously and with no discussion. These
motions were to approve a tax sale and approve a two percent
Cobra/Retiree insurance administrative fee.
The fifth motion was to approve a $500 donation to Up in Smoke from
the CBF. Sanders asked if they were a 501(c)3 and it was determined
that they were. The board then unanimously approved this motion.
The final motion out of Finance was to “approve the Logan County
Soil and Water Conservation District's request of $4,000.00.” This
motion was also unanimously approved.
Wessbecher was next with the Transportation Committee. The three
items were unanimously approved with no discussion. The first motion
was to approve an engineering agreement with Hutchinson Engineering
to conduct a construction inspection for the proposed Pike Creek
wind farm. The motion also stated that Pike Creek would pay for the
cost of the inspection. Next was a motion for an engineering
agreement with Veenstra & Kimm. This agreement would be for them to
conduct load ratings on several county bridges as needed, with the
total amount not going over $5,000. The final motion was a funding
agreement with the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) for
engineering on a County Highway 1 bridge rehabilitation project.
Zoning and Economic Development was the final committee on the
agenda. There were two items, the first of which was the approval of
the data center ordinance. To read about that motion and its
ultimate failure, please read
LDN’s earlier article.
The other motion to come out of Zoning and Economic Development was
to approve an Atlanta Solar project. Kyle McAdam was present with
Lightstar Renewables. He stated that the project had been approved
at the most recent Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) meeting. He stated
the project would be just outside of Atlanta and that his company
had been communicating with County Engineer Bret Aukamp. A vote was
taken and the project was approved 8-3, with Conahan, Fitzpatrick,
and Sanders all voting ‘no.’
Glenn then moved on to the chair’s
report. He stated that they had not been
“good stewards” of the courthouse. He said that there was a letter
from Sheriff Mark Landers and that the County Board might need to
find another meeting space. He then congratulated Sullivan on being
hired as the new board secretary before entertaining a motion to
adjourn.
[Matt Boutcher]
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