Bureau County Board discusses jail expansion plans and precinct consolidations

Attorney Don Rayfield spoke on behalf of homeowner Carol McGee at last night’s Bureau County Board meeting. McGee is opposed to purchasing any additional property for the expansion of the city jail. Her home was built in 1902, has been completely restored, and qualifies to be on the National Historical Register. It, along with several others east and south of the jail, are sited to be purchased, torn down, and replaced with modular jail units. After a 30 minute executive session, no action was taken on this issue.
In other business, board member Bob McCook suggested no action be taken now on the County Clerk’s proposal to combine precincts within townships. This would affect precincts within LaMoille, Ohio, Westfield and Selby Townships. County Clerk Kami Hieronymus said by consolidating precincts, it would save the county over ninety thousand dollars in ten years. After some discussion, a motion was made to table this issue until the next meeting.
In still other business, Lucy Taylor addressed the board concerning the need for wage increases for county employees, and the board moved to put out RFPs for a new HVAC system for the Bureau County jail.