County Board to bond $9 million for HVAC, hears Community Needs Assessment

QUINCY — The Adams County Board will use a municipal advisory firm to help sell $9 million in bonds to fund replacing the roof and the heating and air conditioning system in the courthouse.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the Board unanimously selected Kings Financial Consulting of Monticello to handle the bond sale within 60 days.

The project, which is expected to take about 18 months to complete, is already underway after the County Board approved it last month with the plan of getting the financing outlined this month.

The board also joined several other downstate counties to approve a resolution to oppose creating a national park at the confluence of the along the Mississippi, Illinois and Missouri Rivers. A national park designation means hunting, fishing and trapping would no longer be allowed in the federally protected zone.

Calhoun, Jersey and Pike are the affected counties in the proposed national park designation and they also oppose the plan. But Glenn Sanders, president of the Mississippi Valley Hunters and Fishermen Association, said this would eventually affect hunting and fishing in Adams County.

“There’s nothing to be gained and everything to be lost by this being a national park,” Sanders said. “All the hunting that takes place on our river system out here would be gone.”

In other action, the County Board:

• Raised the price of an annual retail liquor license from $400 to $600 annually. The price for a special event liquor license was raised to $75, but it’s now good for 48 hours as opposed to 24 hours. County Clerk Ryan Niekamp said the county issues 15 retail liquor licenses outside of municipalities and the last price increase was 15 years ago.
• Heard from representatives from the United Way of Adams County about the latest Community Needs Assessment. United Way works with Blessing Health System and other organizations to compile the data.