Farm leases approved via 10-2 votes

PAXTON — During a Ford County Board meeting dominated by budget discussions, the seemingly never-ending debate over the use of the three county-owned farms was unusually brief Monday night — and put to an end, too, at least for the next few years.

With all 12 members present, the board achieved the supermajority of nine affirmative votes it needed to accept the highest bids received for the cash-rent leasing of the farms for crop production for the next three years. All three leases were awarded to M&N Grains LLC of Gibson City, with Cindy Ihrke of rural Roberts and Lesley King of Piper City the only board members in dissent on each of the three 10-2 votes.

M&N Grains submitted a bid of $319 per acre for the 104.54-acre Ford County Nursing Home Farm, also known as “Farm 1,” in Patton Township — far higher than the only other bid received for that farm, for $230 an acre from Zach Bunting of Gibson City. Meanwhile, M&N Grains submitted bids of $306 per acre — the only bids received — for both the 146.6-acre Bowen/Grider Farm, or “Farm 2,” and the 118.6 tillable acres of the 156.67-acre Hatfield/Bowen Farm, or “Farm 3,” in Button Township.

Approval occurred with no discussion, following the opening of the sealed bids by Chairman Chase Mc- Call of Gibson City. As a result of the approval, a second agenda item calling for a vote to redo the bidding process became moot.

The scene was in stark contrast with the lengthy debate that took up much of last month’s meeting, when the board lacked the affirmative votes to accept bids received for proposed five-year leases. All three votes failed via 8-3 margins, with Carson Vaughn of Paxton absent and with Tom McQuinn of rural Paxton joining Ihrke and King in dissent. As a result of board members’ concerns about the proposed five-year term length for each lease, the board agreed to redo the bidding process, this time for proposed three-year leases instead.

Immediately after the board accepted the three-year lease bids, board member Greg Niewold of rural Loda, chairman of the board’s farm committee, pointed out that, as he expected, the bids came in at lower amounts this second goaround, likely due to higher projected costs resulting from the reduction of discounts on inputs such as seed.

The highest bids received last month came from Miranda Purcell of Gibson City, the wife of Nick Purcell, who currently is leasing all three farms through the end of November. Miranda Purcell submitted a bid of $382 per acre for Farm 1, $353 per acre for Farm 2 and $355 for Farm 3.

“We just threw (tens of thousands of dollars) in the trash,” Niewold noted.

The new three-year leases run from Dec. 1, 2025, through Nov. 30, 2028. In addition to annual per-acre lease payments, the tenant must pay the farms’ annual property tax bills.

Some board members, including Ihrke, have repeatedly opposed the county’s traditional use of the farms for agricultural production, arguing the land should instead be opened for public use, potentially through its enrollment into the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Reserve Program. However, last month the board rejected proposed CRP lease language and decided to not move forward with seeking bids from nonprofits for serving as the “operator” of one of the farms upon CRP enrollment. Niewold said he was concerned about liability exposure to the county in the event of an injury or accident by those using the land for outdoor recreational activities like hunting, hiking or birdwatching.

Through the end of November, all three farms are being leased for crop production by Nick Purcell. In March, the board voted 9-1 to accept Purcell’s $320-per-acre bid for Farm 3 for just this crop season. Purcell had already been farming the two other farms under two-year cash-rent leases that went into effect in January 2024 — at $410 per acre for Farm 1 and $380 per acre for Farm 2.

Budget talks

Also during Monday’s meeting, the board discussed but took no immediate action on the proposed budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year, which begins Dec. 1.

Before the budget is put on public display prior to approval, Sarah Mussman of Gibson City, chairman of the board’s finance committee, plans to call a meeting of her committee later this month in order to add income and expense figures that have recently become known, including the revenue from the farm leases and a number of additional expenditure considerations suggested by department heads.

County Clerk & Recorder Amy Frederick was among the most vocal Monday in requesting changes to her office’s budget figures, as drafted by the finance committee. Frederick noted the omission of additional costs associated with the recent hiring of Wipfli LLP to conduct payroll services for the county through her office at a cost of $15,000, along with a new voter registration vendor to replace the county’s current one, which is shutting down its operations in Illinois, at a cost of $30,000. Frederick also noted that salaries for her deputy clerks were lowered in the draft budget, which is “not what I asked for at all.”

Ford County Zoning Board of Appeals member Emily Lattz of rural Gibson City also suggested changes to the draft budget on behalf of the ZBA and Zoning Administrator Brandon Magers, who was unable to attend Monday’s meeting. Lattz said the budget lacks projected expenditures for such costs as leasing a copier for Magers and the ZBA’s use; holding public hearings for the permitting of proposed solar-energy projects, including paying ZBA members mileage reimbursement; holding meetings of the county’s newly re-established planning commission and paying consultants for the development of a comprehensive plan; and raising Magers’ annual salary from $6,800 to bring his pay into compliance with minimum wage laws.

Ihrke, meanwhile, questioned why only $12,000 was budgeted for zoning department income — especially with a number of proposed solar projects on the horizon, including one by Gibson City that is set for a public hearing later this month and another reportedly proceeding near Paxton, too, that could result in an influx in income. Even smaller solar projects would result in tens of thousands of dollars in permit fees, Ihrke noted.

“Our fee is $10,000 per megawatt,” Ihrke said.

Supervisor of Assessments Pam Bruens also addressed the board, saying new figures she planned to give to the finance committee were “never added to the budget.” In response, McCall noted at least some of those figures were already added, though.

McCall said the numbers will be reviewed and adjusted at the to-be-scheduled finance committee meeting. As drafted so far, the budget for the general fund is “balanced” with projected revenues and expenditures each totaling $5,838,787, McCall said. Not included in those totals are the budgets for the county’s dedicated funds, public health department and highway department.

“This is the first budget since 2021 where there is no ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) money at all,” McCall noted. “That has run dry,” with the remainder already allocated for use by the sheriff’s office.

McCall said the budget, once finalized by the finance committee this month, will be put on public display for 15 days prior to approval. The board is expected to take action on placing the budget on public display during its next meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 10, and then approve the budget at a special meeting around the week of Thanksgiving.

In addition to the budget, the finance committee plans to discuss the county’s proposed 2025 property tax levy during its upcoming meeting. The proposed levy was discussed briefly Monday night.

Other business

Also during Monday’s county board meeting in Paxton:

Bruens said her office has started to implement more community outreach efforts to educate the public about the office’s operations. Bruens said she recently met with a group of senior citizens to provide information and answer questions about senior property tax exemptions and the property tax cycle, and she said she was scheduled to visit another group at the Villas of Holly Brook in Gibson City.

Public Health Administrator Glenn Miller said a YouTube channel was started by his agency to educate the public about emergency preparedness.

Miller said flu vaccination clinics were ongoing, and assistance with Medicare Part B open enrollment would be offered to the public in upcoming weeks, as well.

Frankie Ward, representing the Ford County Recovery Oriented Systems of Care, said she was working with county officials to have boxes of Narcan, a life-saving medication administered during drug overdoses, available at various locations throughout the county.

The public health department has applied to receive the COVID-19 vaccine “for free” and plans to offer vaccination clinics, the board learned.

Ford County Emergency Management Agency Coordinator Terry Whitebird said the county’s natural hazards mitigation plan — outlining projects and activities to reduce damages caused by severe weather and other natural hazards — is now being finalized following a public review and comment process that ran from Sept. 23 to Oct. 7. Once finalized following a review by all involved entities, the plan will be up for the county board’s approval and then submitted to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, Office of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Whitebird said the county’s EMA was “in talks right now” with Paxton Emergency Response Service and city of Paxton officials to get a formal mutual aid agreement established between the entities. “We’ve been doing it verbally with them over the last three or four years,” Whitebird said.

The board approved an intergovernmental agreement with McLean County regarding the Court-Appointed Special Advocates program, which provides volunteers who advocate for children living in foster care. The program has been in McLean County for 30 years, serving children in foster care by pairing them with a volunteer adult, sometimes for multiple years. The program recently expanded into Logan County, with Ford County up next. Ford County has 38 children living in foster care. The McLean County Board has already approved the intergovernmental agreement. Local volunteers are needed for the program in Ford County; they must be at least 23 years old but do not need any prior experience in foster care.

The board voted 9-3 to approve the payment of Farm 3’s property taxes for 2024, totaling $845. In dissent were Niewold, Mussman and Vaughn.

The board approved the sale of a property at 288 N. Maple St. in Piper City for taxes paid.

The board approved the appointment of three drainage district commissioners.

The board approved funding resolutions for the construction of bridges on Clarence Road and Gallahue Road, committing $40,000 in matching funds to the Clarence Road project and $30,000 for the Gallahue Road project, according to board member Tim Nuss of rural Roberts.

Nuss, chairman of the board’s highway committee, said Ford County plans to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with neighboring Iroquois County that would allow Iroquois County Highway Engineer Alan Harwood to temporarily serve in the same capacity in Ford County, too, following the Dec. 1 retirement of Greg Perkinson. While discussions remain preliminary and a final agreement must be approved by both county boards and the Illinois Department of Transportation, Nuss said Iroquois County officials seemed to be in “complete and total agreement to allow this to happen.” Under the agreement, each county would pay a percentage of Harwood’s salary.

The CRIS Rural Mass Transit District has already provided 89 rides to the public in Ford County since establishing services there in July, with more than 5,000 miles of road traveled, Nuss said. The service has mostly been used to provide rides to medical appointments in Champaign, Bloomington or Danville, Nuss said. Meanwhile, CRIS continues to look for a local site to store two vehicles, Nuss noted.