CLINTON - Students from the University of Illinois will rework DeWitt County's 16-year-old comprehensive plan next year.

The board unanimously agreed to work with a University of Illinois class to update the plan at a cost of $14,629.

"A group of students working on their master's degrees will be taking care of it," Land Use Committee Chairman Larry Martin said. "They will be overseen by professors and other professionals familiar with this, but it will take about a year to get finished."

The last comprehensive plan was finished in 1992.

"This is an important component of planning for the county," board Chairman Steve Lobb said. "But the current plan is 16 years old, and anything of this nature that has been in use that long needs to be updated."

Martin said he had some hesitation about bringing the recommendation before the board now because four new board members will be installed next month.

"I want to be fair to the new board members because I feel they should have an outlook on this as well," Martin said. "At the same time, the longer we delay this, the tougher it may be to get on the agenda with this particular class."

Comprehensive plans are often completed by college students. Both Illinois State University and University of Illinois have completed plans for DeWitt County previously.

"Students did the last one for us, and it must have been pretty solid to last 16 years," Martin said.

In other business, the board voted to re-establish the position of animal control administrator. Tammi Dash resigned from the post Nov. 7, and the board appointed Tamara McFeeters to the position at a salary of $25,000 per year.

She has held the position previously.

kbarlow@pantagraph.com