While a report on financial impact and other aspects of the Illinois SAFE-T Act law took up a majority of last Tuesday’s Monroe County Board meeting, there were a few other reports on the agenda.

Chairman George Green offered a “final report” on the recently completed scour hole project and honored four individuals for their work in securing repairs near a section of a Fults levee.

Monroe County Public Safety Director Kevin Scheibe, Stringtown Drainage and Levee District Chairman Lynden Prange, district commissioner Wesley Sensel and Paul Milton were all recognized for their contributions  in averting a potentially disastrous situation.

A scour hole in the levee district was filled at the end of 2025, with finishing touches completed earlier this month.

Green thanked those in attendance as well as the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department for patrolling the project site, which had millions of dollars of equipment on location.

He also pointed out that much of the work was performed by volunteers besides the contracted equipment and labor agreement with Luhr-Crosby Marine Contractors.

Green thanked members of the Harrisonville and Columbia levee districts in addition to Stringtown levee district volunteers.

Green then described the “road blocks” he encountered beginning in September 2024.

He described a meeting with local levee district and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers representatives meeting at the Gene Rohlfing farm in Fults prior to taking a bus to the site of the scour hole.

Green said the Corps recognized at that time the county “had a serious problem.”

Scheibe and others visited the site in early 2025, noting the problem had only gotten worse. 

In trying to formulate a plan – initially believed to be in the $2-6 million range – Green detailed a series of “political hurdles.”

He noted the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and the Corps were “understanding” and “helpful,” but related “frozen funds” and other “various issues” which thwarted his efforts to secure the resources needed to address the problem.

“I was very frustrated with the process,” Green said.

A natural disaster grant application was submitted to FEMA through Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bost’s office, although it did not produce any funding.

Green also acknowledged State Rep. David Friess (R-Red Bud) and his attempt to secure an available $500,000 from the state, although the funding was “no longer available” by the time the grants were awarded – something Green suggested may have been the result of Monroe County’s Republican leaning.

With that example being the exception, Green pointed out the problems arose mostly from bureaucratic red tape, “not the politicians.”

With FEMA’s disaster mitigation account frozen for most of 2025 and options quickly dwindling, Green said any hope of assistance appeared to be at least a year or more away as of September.

“I come out of the business world, and when we had a problem and identified it, we took action, and we fixed it. We didn’t have to spend a year talking about the damn thing. We got it done,” Green remarked.

He then pointed to a meeting in September with Prange, Milton and Sensel during which Green decided those three “would be my team moving forward.”

Then, with the help of a retired civil engineer, the solution which led to the recently completed repairs was formed a short time later.

In addition to the plan being able to provide relief within months and satisfying all the criteria of relevant state and federal regulations, the repairs saved millions of dollars compared to the original plans.

Green read a proclamation thanking those in attendance for their work and dedication in finding the solution.

While the Fults situation has been resolved, Prange and others acknowledged similar situations will likely be discovered along the county’s levee systems, adding the situation in Fults provided valuable experience in finding a unique remedy to a serious problem.

In other county business, Monroe County EMS Director Carla Heise was on hand to extend the county’s “no treatment/non-transport” policy through July.

Approved last February, the policy does not charge residents for emergency medical calls that do not require any treatment or transportation to an area medical facility. 

Heise said she is still waiting to see if Medicaid  will reimburse her department for such calls, but she should know more before the policy’s expiration in July.

Heise also sought approval for the purchase of a new ambulance.

While she estimated the company would not be able to fulfill the order for 30-36 months, she wanted to have the purchase order “pushed through before costs go up again.”

The last item on the agenda featured a resolution approving an agreement with Monroe County Road District No. 5 for the RCUT intersection project on Route 3 at EE Road and Granny Lane.

Project construction is expected to begin in summer 2027 and will restrict left turns onto Route 3 at those intersections, allowing motorists to turn right and access the opposite lanes of the highway via a dedicated U-turn lane on Route 3.

Monroe County Assistant Engineer Casey Carnahan reported two responses from property owners near the proposed project.

The responses were not opposed to the project, but expressed “mostly uncertainty” about the purpose of the project. 

Carnahan also reported “amazing progress” on the Valmeyer Road repair project under the direction of the City of Columbia.

That project is near a county bridge repair project over Carr Creek on Bluff Road.

Carnahan did not have an exact timeline for the bridge project to be completed, but she did predict the bridge would be open sometime this week ahead of another phase of bridge work.

The next meeting of the Monroe County Board is Feb. 2 beginning at 8:15 a.m. at the Monroe County Courthouse.