County Board Legislative Committee Recommends Animal Control Ordinance Changes

The Effingham County Board's Legislative and Personnel Committee Monday met as a committee-of-the-whole, and recommended changes by the full Board to the county's animal control ordinance.

County Board Chairman Jim Niemann said the changes would change wording from "dogs" to "domestic pets" and would identify stray animals other than dogs. Farm animals would not be included in the definition.

There was also discussion of a request by Countryside Disposal for a transfer station on the west end of the county. The location would not be the same as a waste transfer station in the south part of the county, which involves a permanent building. Board members say Chris Sutter is seeking to locate a large truck and garbage trucks would dump their loads into the truck, which would then be driven to a landfill.

Board members want to establish that the truck can be located without a hearing, so the matter was tabled until next month's meeting.

The committee also reviewed Matt Sager as a candidate for another term on the Board's Ambulance Oversight Committee. Member John Perry objected to Sager, or any current member of the committee being reappointed until there is some resolution to the matter of Status Zero calls. Other members feel the problems with Status Zero calls have been minimized. Sager was recommended for reappointment, with Perry voting No.

In a side note, Abbott EMS officials have asked Niemann for permission to attend a County Board meeting to report on what they've done to address Status Zero calls, when there are no ambulances available in the county. That is still to be scheduled.

There was also brief discussion about this past week's landfill siting hearing. Niemann reminded members that they are still a jury of sorts and are not permitted to discuss the matter with parties in the matter, and asked that members talk with no one about the matter as they don't know who might be a representative of a party in the proceedings. A 30-day window to offer written comments to the County Clerk's Office on the matter expires at 4pm on Monday, February 8.