SHELBYVILLE, Ill. (WAND) — The Shelby County Dive Team has been immediately reinstated after a tense board meeting to make the team an official part of the county.
Last week the board told the Shelby County Dive Team to "stand down" because it had no insurance and was not a legal emergency response agency.
"This is making them a department of the county so they can be covered by the county insurance, otherwise they're not covered and the county could be sued. We can't put the taxpayers at that sort of risk," Jeremy Williams, board member of the Shelby County Board told the public during a special Legislative Committee meeting.
The resolution approved by the committee, and the full county board, will allow the dive team to continue receiving taxpayer dollars, but would require its commander to report to the board.
"I feel like any government department, that receives taxpayer funding, needs oversight," board member Julie Edwards added.
The commander of the Dive Team can now be removed by the Shelby County Board, if necessary, leading supporters to question the motive behind the change.
"This is absolutely not a power grab, this is not a power grab," board member Williams said.
"The politics and the personalities and the revenge factors will never leave this issue," one public commenter responded.
Things escalated as the public urged board members to support the dive team.
"They get into the dirty, mucky, zero visibility water, bump around with dead bodies, and that sort of thing. These people are hometown heroes and they need to have your full support," another commenter said.
While the Dive Team is back online, covered by the county insurance, officials said they'll still work to streamline policies and procedures, to ensure safe operations on county waterways.
Shelby County Dive Team
In an even more heated public comment period, following the board vote, dive team members requested that Sonny Ross resign. Ross is the chairman of the board's Public Safety Committee, and would be in charge of overseeing the Dive Team under the new resolution. Dive Team Commander Austin Pritchard said he would not work under Ross. Pritchard and his entire team offered tearful resignations one-by-one, as Ross refused to resign.
WAND News will continue following this developing story.
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