Hancock County

Hancock County to Ask for Tax Hike

James Lenz — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 14:56:09 +0000

The Hancock County Board will put a referendum before voters in November to raise the ambulance service property tax rate.

Voters will decide whether to leave the rate at 10 cents per $100 assessed valuation or to increase it to 25 cents.

Board Chairman David Walker says the county needs more than the current $655,000 it pays to support the district

AMT Makes Offer for Hancock County Service

James Lenz — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 11:46:57 +0000

The Hancock County Board is still weighing its options to improve ambulance service. The county is under a ”plan of corrections” to address lapses by ambulance crew members.

One option is to hire an outside firm to run the service.

Hancock County Ambulance Crew Mistakes Continue

James Lenz — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 19:46:51 +0000

Ambulance crews in Hancock County are still suffering too many mistakes despite operating under a “Plan of Corrections” for months to address them.

The Blessing Hospital EMS Director says that must stop.

Dr. Kelly Cox oversees ambulance services in Hancock, Adams, Brown and Pike counties. He has considerable latitude under state law to remedy the situation. He can suspend the licenses of EMTs who are not doing the job well. He could even suspend the county-wide service. He could also suggest the Illinois Department of Public Health issue fines.

Hancock County Might Hire Ambulance Consultant

James Lenz — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:55:09 +0000

The Hancock County Board is looking at options including hiring a consultant to solve problems with ambulance service.

The county is under a “Plan of Correction” to fix a number of deficiencies. The county could be fined by the Illinois Department of Public Health if they are not corrected soon.

One of the biggest problems is that some crews are not doing a “rig check” to make sure their ambulances have all the supplies and gear they might need on a call.

Hancock County Seeks Grant for Comprehensive Plan

James Lenz — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 18:48:38 +0000

Hancock County is applying for a $125,000 grant to write a comprehensive plan. The federal government set the money aside for 41 counties in Illinois that were declared disaster areas after the flood of 2008.

The state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity is administering the $6 million grant pool.

The Western Illinois Regional Council is writing the grant application at no cost. Executive Director Suzan Nash said the plan would dovetail with recent efforts to spur the county's economy.

Hancock County Forms Economic Task Forces

Jim Lenz — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:59:01 +0000

The Hancock County Economic Development Committee has formed three task forces composed of 25 volunteers each.

They are looking for ways to encourage future economic development in the county.

An initial meeting of selected three priorities; job creation, vocational training and entrepreneurship and encouraging residents to shop at local businesses. Each task force will hold an initial meeting in the next few weeks. They will then meet on a quarterly basis.

Hog Farm Permit will be Delayed

James Lenz — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 21:44:05 +0000

The Illinois Department of Agriculture is holding up a proposed large-scale hog farm in northeast Hancock County.

Junction Acres would be home to up to 18,000 pigs a year. It would be built near LaCrosse.

The deadline for the permit was March 3rd. The department instead requested the construction plans and the animal waste-handling plan.

Walter Goetsch is the Ag Department's Bureau Chief of Environmental Programs. He said the information is often not part of the original notice of intent to construct.

Board and Agency Disagree on Recycling Cost

James Lenz — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 18:36:38 +0000

The Hancock County Board and the Western Illinois Regional Council have come up with different numbers for the cost of recycling collection in the county.

The board found a bill for $4,000 a surprise. It budgeted $3,500 for the service.

The board briefly considered just paying the money it budgeted. Ultimately, the board tabled the bill until the finance committee has a chance to contact the WIRC.

Chairman David Walker thought the bill might have gone up.

Summit Will Be Key to County's Economic Vitality

James Lenz — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:09:21 +0000

The Hancock County Economic Development Committee will host a county economic summit March 29th. It hopes the summit will be the first step to reduce decades-long trends of job, business and population losses.

Committee Chairman Jerry Bartell said the county was home to about 30,000 people at the beginning of the 20th century. He said the county population is down to about 19,000 people.

He said, “But another alarming figure that got my attention was the fact that we lost 20% of our sales tax-paying businesses since 2000.”