Williamson County's morgue will soon be moved to a new location.
County Commissioners approved a bid Tuesday that will transfer the facility from a site on the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge to land adjacent to the Highway Department on Route 37. County Board Chair Ron Ellis says the project is overdue: "That'll do two things: Number one, it'll make the federal government happy that we're no longer out there; Number two, it'll get him out of any possibility of contaminants on the ground."
Evrard-Strang Construction is in charge of the project, which is expected to cost roughly $267,000. Ellis expects it to be finished by this fall.
In other board matters, Ellis says local governments continue to struggle to implement new laws and regulations with no money from the state to back them up. While state lawmakers have passed a FY 2014 budget, Ellis says they didn't go far enough to solve the problem and says state spending remains out of control. Ellis says Williamson County has been lucky to maintain growth during the recent housing crisis and recession, but says other southern Illinois counties have not been as lucky.
In addtition, Williamson County property owners will be seeing their tax bills in the mail soon. Treasurer Brinson Venable's office says bills will go out this week, with the first installment due July 12th.
The second installment of property taxes is due September 12th.
