The Marion County Board moved forward on several projects at its Tuesday night meeting.
After considerable discussion over the past few months, the board settled on a design and bid for new flag poles near the Main and Broadway intersection on the courthouse square. Community Relations Committee Chair Bill Henson says Wilson and Wilson Monument will put up the flags at a cost of $10,140.
“We are going to put three poles in. We’re going to put in one 30-foot flag pole and two 25-foot flag poles. Of course, the 30-foot flag pole will have the US flag on it. The 25-foot poles will have the Illinois flag, POWMIA flag, and Marion County flag. We’re going to put these on the corner of Broadway and Main. Once we get the flag poles installed, we are going to illuminate it a light that Ameren is going to install. We’re also looking at putting in a concrete pad with a bench and some other items to make it a pleasant area for people to sit and view, and when people drive by it will look nice.”
Henson says the county will not work to finalize plans for the concrete pad around the flagpoles and to hold the bench.
The board also approved two bids totaling around $15,000 for mold mitigation at the Moose Storage Annex. One bid will abate mold on old record books that occurred earlier. The other will remove drywall from the second floor that is contaminated. Nothing will be put back at this point as the county has no plans for the upstairs portion of the building.
Sheriff Kevin Cripps was given permission to continue making improvements at the county jail where inmates have been trying to find a way out.
“There have been some issues with the windows that had some holes. Inmates over a period of time had done some damage to the windows. All four of those windows have been replaced this week. There has also been some damage done to a couple of our shower panels. We are in the process of getting those fixed and replaced. Even if an inmate got into that area they can’t go anywhere.”
Cripps says the showers will receive an epoxy coating on all surfaces that will keep the inmates from being able to get to the components of the showers. He reports other improvements will be required in the future.
The board agreed to expand the scope of the 2021 audit to try and resolve problems in the payroll accounts that won’t balance. The board is hoping to get caught up on the audits as some grant funding has been frozen as a result of the audits being delinquent.
The board approved Vernon Quant to replace Kevin Cripps as an Iuka Fire Trustee. Doug Dorries was reappointed to the Centralia Fire Protection District and Danny Phillips as treasurer of the Centralia Fire Protection District.
