Board member raises questions about past hoop-house purchase during minutes approval

William Hadley, a member of the Stephenson County Board, raised concerns during the April 7 meeting about documents and the timeline surrounding a hoop-house purchased years earlier and reported as stored at the county highway department.

Hadley said he had reviewed archived documents and found inconsistencies between a 2015 purchase and subsequent committee reports. He told the board the purchase was described in some minutes as having been authorized after committee action, and he questioned a reference in meeting notes to a “handshake agreement,” which he characterized as improper and “illegal” for county business.

“I cannot do handshakes with anybody on any type of agreement,” Hadley said, adding that county contracts must go through committee and then to the full board. Hadley said the hoop house had been connected to a Freeport Area Church Co op project and that he found an October 2016 director’s report indicating the project was on hold while the hoop house was already at the highway department.

Hadley asked to meet with the state's attorney and the sheriff to review discrepancies and said he would pursue that follow-up outside the board meeting.

The board proceeded to vote on letter A (which included the minutes and those documents). The clerk recorded a roll-call vote of 12–1 to approve letter A; Hadley cast the lone “no” vote.

Ending: Hadley’s request for a meeting with the state’s attorney and sheriff was recorded on the meeting record for follow-up; no additional county action or investigation was announced during the meeting.