Jerseyville Fire Chief Keith Norman, who also serves as coordinator of the county's Emergency Services and Disaster Agency, said the intergovernmental agreement adds language that allows the city and county to share the IPAWS system for emergency testing.
The acronym stands for Integrated Public Alert and Warning System. Norman said the system gives the city and county the capability to send emergency alerts to residents' cell phones.
"If we would have an emergency localized to the city or the county, we would be able to use that software to alert people and make them aware of it," Norman said. "Since that ability is for the wireless emergency alerts, an emergency alerting system is primarily designed for county-level agencies. That agreement was written up so that the city has the ability to do that. It's because I am in both positions, the county's and the city's emergency manager.
"I kind of gave myself permission to do that, but this agreement formalizes that."
Previously, Norman said he had been verbally authorized to use IPAWS through the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and the federal Office of Homeland Security.
The fire chief said IPAWS is not designed to duplicate weather alerts that sound on people's phones, which come directly from the National Weather Service.
"But if we had a large anhydrous ammonia leak or something like that, I could have the city send out a notification to shelter in place or try to evacuate or whatever the actions would call for," he said.
Norman said any resident of the city or Jersey County whose phone is on a tower that's in the alerting area would receive the IPAWS alerts automatically, unless they have disabled such alerts on their devices.
CITY COUNCIL APPROVES RECYCLING AGREEMENT, WASTE RULES
City Attorney William "Bill" Strang said an ordinance amending the city code on solid waste was needed to address language in the intergovernmental agreement with the county that establishes policies and procedures for recycling.
"It adds definitions of recyclable materials," Strang said about the amendment.
After approving the ordinance, the City Council next voted unanimously in favor of the recycling agreement with the county. Mayor Kevin Stork noted the Jersey County Board had approved the agreement at its most recent meeting.
Stork reminded those at the meeting that dump stickers are now available for purchase at City Hall. A sticker that entitles city residents to trash, yard waste, and recycling pickup by Republic Services will cost $275 per year, while county residents will pay $300 for the same sticker. Stickers allowing recycling only at the city dump will cost $20 per year for both city and county residents.
Public Works Director Bob Manns briefly recapped the efforts of his department's employees to clean up several trees blown down in Monday night's storms that were lying on roads.
During the public comment period of the meeting, Greg Moore of the 900 block of Waggoner Avenue complained that construction work on nearby Hollow Avenue is causing problems on his property with water drainage and retention basins.
"I think it's going to take some come-togetherness between the city and the county to figure out what they're going to do before it turns into a lawsuit," Moore said.
JERSEYVILLE CITY COUNCIL APPROVES APPOINTMENTS, GRANT
In other action, the Jerseyville City Council unanimously approved:
- The reappointment of Eldon Medford to the Planning and Zoning Board for a term to expire in April 2028.
- The appointment of Kevin Ward to the Planning and Zoning Board, replacing James Frazier, for a term to expire in April 2028.
- The appointment of Police Chief Daniel Green to the Fire Pension Board for a term to expire in May 2028.
- A tourism grant of $2,500 requested by the Jersey County Historical Society for its annual Apple Festival on Oct. 3, 2026.
- The Illinois Department of Transportation Motor Fuel Tax Program for the city's Fiscal Year 2026-27 and related documents. Manns said the city was budgeting for use of $538,368.44 in MFT funds to perform expected maintenance work in the coming year. "As I say every year, we get about $360,000 to $400,000 a year in income from the MFT to do all this maintenance work," he said. "We always over-budget. I don't know how bad snowstorms are going to be, so it gives us flexibility."
- A proclamation observing May 3 through 9 as Municipal Clerk's Week.
©2026 The Telegraph, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
