Lee County Board acknowledges two staff members’ 25 years with county

DIXON — Two Lee County Probation and Court Services staff members were celebrated for their 25 years with the county at the Lee County Board meeting Thursday.

Micheal Wilcox, who was unable to attend the meeting, and Lesley Dever serve as senior probation officers for Lee County.

Director of Court Services Stacy Stewart gave a speech acknowledging Dever’s dedication to the county before presenting her with an honorary plaque.

Dever was hired in 1999, fresh out of college, as a probation officer managing adult and driving-under-the-influence offenders, Stewart said.

Throughout the years, Dever has continually stepped up to take on newly created roles, such as being involved with the supervision of Lee County Drug Court, the Mental Health Court and the Veterans Treatment Court, according to Stewart.

In 2019, Dever was promoted to her current role of senior probation officer.

“Leslie has been nothing but devoted, enthusiastic and loyal,” Stewart said.

In other business Thursday the board:

• voted unanimously to send a special use permit petition from Midwest Disposal back to the Zoning Board of Appeals for further review, including the setbacks on both Red Brick Road and Route 52. Some members of the board felt that requiring the company to store garbage trucks indoors was too large of an ask because it would prevent the petitioners from filing a separate special use permit in regard to the storage of the trucks and require them to construct a building for the truck storage. The petition was tabled during May’s board meeting and a public hearing was held on May 2 with the ZBA.
• tabled discussion of a petition by the Lee County Zoning Office to amend the text of title 11, subdivision flood control and storm water, chapter 3, flood control, of the Lee County Code of Ordinances. The proposed amendment will update the existing code so that it’s compatible with the requirements of the national flood insurance program. Since it is a petition to amend an ordinance, discussion was tabled and will continue at the July board meeting.
• appointed Jennifer Dallas, a member of the Republican Party, to serve as a board member representing District 4. The appointment stemmed from Chris Robertson’s resignation effective April 19, 2024. Robertson was elected on Nov. 8, 2022, for a 4-year term. This leave resulted in a vacancy of his unexpired term of greater than 28 months. Dallas will fill the vacancy until the 2024 general election.
• sent a petition from Ag View FS Inc. to the Zoning Board of Appeals for which a public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. July 3. The company is requesting a map amendment to rezone its business property in Ashton from rural/agricultural to general industrial for the purpose of “warehousing, cold storage and equipment maintenance,” the petition reads.
• approved a petition requested by Michael and Tammy Doughty to construct a storage building along their property line along Palmyra Road in Sterling. The land, zoned as rural/agricultural, requires all structures to be built a specific distance away from the road. The petition asked for a variance to this requirement and its approval allows the Doughtys to build this structure along the back of their property within 15 feet of the road.
• approved the use of about $2 million American Rescue Plan Act funds to be used for the Courts Building HVAC project. The remaining cost of about $200,000 for the project was approved to come out of capital funds, which has no implications on the county’s budget.
• approved the liquor commission’s request to suspend the rules that require an ordinance to hold over for a month so that an amendment can take effect immediately. At the commission’s June 18 meeting, they approved the addition of six Class C licenses for a total of seven countywide. A Class C license allows the holder to sell beer and wine for consumption on the premises and sell unopened packaged beer and wine. “We need to suspend the rules because this goes into effect on July 1 and we have liquor licenses that we need to renew before we lay this over to amend the ordinance,” Bob Olson, board chairman, said at the meeting.
• confirmed the reappointments of Sue Shippert and Piper Grazulis to the Lee County Board of Health.