School Resource Officer Approved as 28E Agreement Signed at Henry County Supervisors Meeting

An officer will once again roam the halls of the New London Community School District after a 28E agreement was signed at Thursday’s Henry County Supervisors meeting. A deputy from the Sheriff’s Office will soon be installed as the school resource officer, with the school district reimbursing the deputies package when on location.

Supervisor Lindeen, and acting chairman due to Greg Moeller’s absence, told the Henry County Sheriff that he does not want to get comfortable with this in the future. He believes that, due to the limited budget, it would be very difficult to approve an SRO in other school’s in the district in the future. McNamee fired back, reminding that the deputy is reimbursed by the school entirely, and that he or she will serve the citizens of the county. The 28E agreement was approved unanimously.

Conservation Director, Caleb Waters, shared his frustrations over the dump station with the 2-man board. His main concerns come from the time it has taken, 2 years, and the $30,000 or so that they have spent on this project. At the conservation board meeting on Wednesday, it was brought to Water’s attention that the department can hire Bruce Wilson with RUSS (Regional Utility Service Systems) to come up with a plan for $100 an hour. He also mentioned that the majority of the campground will be closed on October 21st as they begin to winterize the cabins. This allows more time to be spent on mowing and cleanup of the outlying parks.

The public comments section saw multiple voices from residents within the county. One woman directed a question to supervisor White. At a past meeting, White had asked for clarification from the assistant county attorney, Steve Giebelhausen, over which parts of the Henry County Watchmen proposed ordinance would be non-defensible. White did meet with Giebelhausen and while they disagreed on some parts, the supervisor mentioned that he is not a lawyer himself.

Another citizen asked the board if they are still researching wind turbines, in which supervisor Lindeen responded that he is going on a roadtrip soon, presumably to a wind farm. Supervisor White has spoken with Emergency Management director, Walt Jackson, who has agreed to ask colleagues from counties with wind turbines for more information.

The Planning and Zoning Director and the County Engineer also gave reports at Thursday’s meeting. The Henry County Board of Supervisors will meet again next Thursday, October 17th in regular session.