Peoria Standard

Woodford County Board met May 15.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

Board met and was called to order by Chairman Glazier.

Chairman Glazier began the meeting with a moment of silence and then led all present in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Roll call by the Clerk. Present: John Delaney, Stanley Glazier, Richard Hill, Douglas Huser, Jason Jording, Bryant Kempf, Duane Kingdon, John Krug, Barry Logan, Blake Parsons, Randy Roethler, Andy Rokey, and Pete Streid. Absent: Russell Cotton and Donald Tolan whom Chairman Glazier stated were excused. Also present was County Clerk Debbie Harms.

Board announced in session by the Chairman.

Clerk Harms presented and read the Certificate of Giving Notice for this meeting.

Mr. Kingdon moved the Certificate be approved as read, which motion was seconded by Mr. Delaney and was unanimously carried.

Clerk Harms submitted the minutes of the April 17, 2018 regular session County Board meeting for additions, corrections and approval.

Mr. Hill moved to approve the minutes of the April 17, 2018 regular session County Board meeting as mailed, which motion was seconded by Mr. Huser. Chairman Glazier called for any corrections or objections to these minutes and stated he had mistakenly called Mr. Roethler as unexcused at the last meeting. He should have been excused as Mr. Roethler had sent him a text message which Chairman Glazier did not see till later. Mr. Huser moved to amend such minutes, which motion was seconded by Mr. Hill and was unanimously carried. Chairman Glazier then called for the vote on the motion as amended and it unanimously carried.

Clerk Harms submitted the minutes of the April 17, 2018 executive session County Board meeting for additions, corrections and approval.

Mr. Jording moved to approve the minutes of the April 17, 2018 executive session County Board meeting and to keep them confidential, which motion was seconded by Mr. Logan. Chairman Glazier called for the vote and it unanimously carried.

Chairman Glazier called for public input as listed from the sign-in sheet and stated everyone would be limited to five minutes.

County Board Member John Delaney of El Paso stated the Board was going to nominate and elect a member from the Woodford County Board to represent the County’s interest at Tri-County Regional Planning Commission (TCRPC) and how the Commission needed individuals who were supportive of what it tries to accomplish. It did not serve the public to have Commissioners who were adversarial and opposed to the good faith efforts of TCRPC. Constituents were looking to the Board to make good choices. A number of Woodford County mayors were spending their own funds in support of TCRPC. He felt the County Board needed to elect a Member who wanted to see TCRPC be successful as it implemented future plans and stated he would not support any nominee who had demonstrated hostility toward such.

Mr. Mike Hinrichsen of Germantown Hills apologized that State Patrolman J. W. Price could not be in attendance tonight as he was involved with a traffic incident. Mr. Hinrichsen then proceeded to give some background on TCRPC. On October 20, Mr. Hinrichsen was asked to attend a meeting by TCRPC and it involved Mr. Glazier at that point. Mr. Glazier had asked that he get behind an effort to involve the mayors to become major representatives. At that time he understood that Mr. Glazier would be the County representative. At the November 15 meeting, the message was to join together and make this work with the County Board. At this meeting, Mr. Glazier indicated he would be the County representative. The mayors concern was whether they could trust the County Board and Mr. Hinrichsen felt that at this meeting if the candidate to be brought forward later tonight was nominated, the mayors would not be behind this action. On November 16 Germantown Hills voted in favor of being part of TCRPC and the funding. There had been many meetings and Mr. Hinrichsen was committed to making this new initiative positive. Two months ago Stan Glazier removed his name, and recommended Russell Cotton and subsequently Douglas Huser. He felt most of the mayors would not be in favor of Mr. Huser and questioned what happened to cause the change in direction. He questioned why elect someone who could attend 7 meetings at the most since he would be off the County Board the first part of December and why appoint someone who had been very vocal negatively to TCRPC to join with the mayors to make this successful. The mayors/communities were now major contributors and Mr. Hinrichsen questioned how this appointment would move TCRPC forward. He asked the Board to make a commitment to making this arrangement beneficial and to move forward in a positive direction.

Mr. Josh Davis of Metamora stated last year improvements were done on the Santa Fe Trail concerning the hot oil mix with chips on it. It seemed too much oil had been put down as it kept coming up through the road. The Highway Department had put some chips on it which helped; however, the road would need some maintenance during the summer in this regard. He questioned if the County should look at the amount of oil that was put on the roads before being tarred and chipped.

Chairman Glazier addressed some comments made by Mr. Hinrichsen about TCRPC and how it became clear at the County Offices Committee meeting he was not the preferred choice of the Board or others behind the scenes to be a representative for the County as he was relegated to a term expiring in December of this year; however, he had two more years remaining on his term. In regard to people behind the scenes comment, Mr. Hinrichsen knows who he was talking about-he has a contingency that he knows of- a couple of people from Tazewell County in favor of this. Chairman Glazier was in favor of the mayors’ participation in TCRPC since day one. The reason of not electing Mr. Huser as he only had six months left on his term was not valid as Chairman Glazier had over two years left and he was taken off. It’s not about the person, it’s about who we want to be on this; it’s not about helping TCRPC, it’s about having control. There was a certain group that wanted control and a lot had happened behind the scenes. He would write this out next month and the Board would be amazed. Chairman Glazier also stated he would give Mr. Huser a chance to address some of these concerns later in the meeting.

The meeting continued with “Appointments”. Mr. Kempf moved to approve the reappointment of Sheila Durst to the Washburn Fire Protection District for a three year term expiring June 1, 2021, which motion was seconded by Mr. Rokey and was unanimously carried.

Mr. Parsons moved to approve the reappointment of Joshua Zulu to the Caterpillar Trail Public Water District for a five year term expiring May 1, 2023, which motion was seconded by Mr. Rokey and was unanimously carried.

Mr. Kingdon moved to approve the appointment of Doug Huser to TCRPC as a representative for Woodford County for a 6 1⁄2 month term expiring the first Monday in December, 2018, which motion was seconded by Mr. Jording.

Chairman Glazier asked for Mr. Huser’s comments. Mr. Huser began by stating how there was a mayor who had been on the County Board, leaves but still has his private agenda and Mr. Krug called a point of order as the discussion was to be about Mr. Huser’s appointment to TCRPC. Mr. Huser stated how TCRPC had a Vice- Chairman and that would be him. The Chair did not want this so it would go to the Vice-Chairman. Mr. Huser was on the Conservation, Planning, and Zoning (CPZ) Committee which oversaw TCRPC and no one else on the Committee wanted this appointment as far as he knew. He had made negative comments about TCRPC as he was not happy with the way it was being run; however, now it would be different. He had come up with the idea (concerning the mayors’ participation) so why would he want it to fail and that he had stepped forward when Mr. Cotton did not want the position. Mr. Huser had served on TCRPC before and there had never been a problem as well as serving on PPUATS (Peoria/Pekin Urbanized Area Transportation Study). He looked out for the best interests of Woodford County and did not have a private agenda.

Discussion followed how it should not be viewed as a problem but a benefit to have a skeptic appointed to TCRPC as everyone else over there was an “all on board-team player”, how TCRPC tried to cover up malfeasance by its former executive director but Woodford County brought this out, how there was a need to have someone not afraid to speak when something was wrong, how there was a difference between criticizing and being disruptive, how the nominee voted against TCRPC for 10 years and been a critic of TCRPC for 10 years, how the idea of mayors participating in TCRPC was not Mr. Huser’s idea, how Russell Cotton told Chairman Glazier personally he did not want the appointment if Mr. Huser was interested in it, how Mr. Cotton had told Mr. Logan that he did not want to step on and at this point Mr. Huser called a point of order as his appointment was being discussed-not Mr. Cotton’s, how the County’s representative needed to be positive for TCRPC and not an isolationist-the nominee had said for years how the County should work amongst ourselves and not with these other counties; we shouldn’t be sending money “across the river” and now he was in the middle of this.

Mr. Huser responded that it was 100% his idea for the mayors participation, when he was on TCRPC before he never said one negative word while over there-his negative comments were over here when the County was voting on it and there were other people with private agendas trying to benefit from TCRPC, and how Russell Cotton did not want on this and was against it-Mr. Cotton did not want anyone from the Board to be a representative. This was a new concept with the mayors’ participation. In response to a point of order, Chairman Glazier reminded Mr. Huser to stay on point about how he should be the representative. Mr. Huser continued how he thought he was the best candidate and there was discussion how Mr. Hill felt Mr. Huser’s demonstration (in discussing this matter) was reason why this candidate should not be on TCRPC, how TCRPC had the same functions as before, how six of the positions went to mayors and the County representative would be a skeptic but there was a need to be able to work with the other appointees from Woodford County as well as from the other two counties, how Mr. Logan requested a roll call vote, how there was a need to elect someone who the mayors wanted and of the need to have someone to represent the values the Board wanted for planning and economic development, how Mr. Kempf felt more convinced after hearing Mr. Huser’s rant that he must want this appointment, and how the minutes could be checked in regard to the motion being made by Mr. Huser concerning the mayors’ participation.

Chairman Glazier called for a roll call vote. County Board Members voting Aye: Blake Parsons, Randy Roethler, Andy Rokey, Pete Streid, Stanley Glazier, Douglas Huser, Jason Jording, Bryant Kempf and Duane Kingdon. County Board Members voting Nay: Barry Logan, John Delaney, Richard Hill and John Krug. County Board Members absent: Donald Tolan and Russell Cotton. Motion carried.

The agenda continued with Petitions, Resolutions, and/or Motions.

Mr. Kingdon moved to approve Resolution #049 authorizing the County Board Chairman to enter into and subscribe to, on behalf of the County Board, the written “Addendum To Professional Service Agreement” and providing for the increase in minimum auction sale bid approved and effected, and that all other terms and provisions of the “Professional Service Agreement” remain in full force and effect (concerns Joseph E. Meyer & Associates Inc. and the Delinquent Tax Liquidation Program). The motion was seconded by Mr. Rokey and unanimously carried.

Mr. Parsons moved to approve Ordinance #013 granting a Special Use with a stipulation concerning Petition 2018-08-S by Gerald and Roberta Kamphuis to operate an event center and wedding venue, Stonebridge Stables, located in the Agriculture (AG) District on +/- 14. 0 acres more commonly described as 1420 State Route 251, El Paso, Illinois. The motion was seconded by Mr. Kingdon and unanimously carried.

Mr. Jording moved to approve Resolution #050 resolving the salary for the County Treasure be set at $67,345.82 for each year of the four year term being 12/1/18-11/30/19, 12/1/19-11/30/20, 12/1/20-11/30/21, and 12/1/21-11/30/22, which motion was seconded by Mr. Rokey and was unanimously carried.

Mr. Jording moved to approve Resolution #051 resolving the salary for the County Clerk be set at $67,345.82 for each year of the four year term being 12/1/18-11/30/19, 12/1/19-11/30/20, 12/1/20-11/30/21, and 12/1/21-11/30/22, which motion was seconded by Mr. Kempf and was unanimously carried.

Mr. Parsons moved to approve Resolution #052 to accept the material bid for culverts, Section 18-00000- 04-GM, which motion was seconded by Mr. Kingdon and was unanimously carried.

Mr. Rokey moved to approve Resolution #053 to award the equipment bid for the purchase of two new snow plows, which motion was seconded by Mr. Delaney and was unanimously carried.

Mr. Kingdon moved to approve Resolution #054 to accept cold patch material quotes for Section 18-00000- 25-GM, which motion was seconded by Mr. Rokey and was unanimously carried.

Mr. Jording moved to approve Resolution #056 resolving the salary for the County Sheriff be set at $83,214 for each year of the four year term being 12/1/18-11/30/19, 12/1/19-11/30/20, 12/1/20-11/30/21, and 12/1/21- 11/30/22, which motion was seconded by Mr. Roethler and was unanimously carried.

Mr. Kingdon moved to approve the final plat of Donald Wettstein Subdivision, which motion was seconded by Mr. Parsons and was unanimously carried.

The only item under New Business as listed on the agenda was “Discussion and action on Revolving Loan Program Buy-Out”. Mr. Hill reported the Committee reviewed this issue and it appeared there was little benefit to the County and the risks were high in regard to the Buy-Out. The Committee suggested to not do this. In regard to the Buy-Out, Treasurer Andrews explained how there would be $1.6 million available in grant funding to be used on HUD eligible grants. The other option was to turn the seven existing loans over to the State and these businesses would make payments to the State and not the County, with the County still having $1.27 million in grant money, which was almost the balance now in the Revolving Loan Fund. Discussion followed how the problem with the Buy-Out was that it was a $ for $ buy-out, how the County would be trading cash in the bank for grant money from the State, how if there were no Buy-Out the $1.27 million would be available as long as there were two HUD eligible approved projects by 2020, how the Buy-Out decision had to be made before the end of the year, how a possibility may be to wait and see if the State came back with another proposal, how the Board could wait until the end of the year on the Buy-Out but the loans had to be turned over in January, and how the earlier the decision was made not to do the Buy-Out would give the County more time to apply for grants.

Mr. Jording moved the County inform the State that we were not participating in the Buy-Out, which motion was seconded by Mr. Hill and was unanimously carried.

Chairman Glazier suggested a letter be crafted and sent to the State to let them know the County was not interested.

Chairman Glazier stated he had an emergency at home and said the Board would take a 5-minute recess. The time was approximately 7:14 P.M.

* * *

The Board came back in session at approximately 7:16 P.M.

Nothing was listed under Unfinished Business as found on the agenda.

Clerk Harms presented the Claims Paid in Vacation since the last meeting of the Board.

Mr. Kingdon moved to approve the Claims Paid in Vacation since the last meeting of the Board, which motion was seconded by Mr. Rokey.

Chairman Glazier called for any additional claims to be Paid in Vacation. Mr. Jording presented and moved on two claims to be Paid in Vacation in the amounts of $786.35 and $512.50 to McKenna Veterinary Service. Both claims concerned the Menssen Trust and funds had been deposited with the County for such.

Mr. Kingdon presented a claim in the amount of $5,650.00 payable to Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) for a duplication in benefits. During the time of the lot buy-outs along the river, five property owners applied for flood insurance money at the same time the buy-out was going on and now IEMA wanted their money back. Zoning Administrator Lisa Jording was working with the State’s Attorney in trying to figure out a way to resolve this situation so the County ended up with zero money. He questioned what should be done and where to take the $5,650.00 from.

Discussion followed how this was Tri-County’s deal and either the money should come from the Zoning budget or from the TCRPC budget, how the County ended up with the lots which the neighbors were unhappy about as the County doesn’t maintain them plus there was no tax money coming from those lots involved with the buy-out plus the County pays to get trees removed from these lots, how the County could go after these five home owners but questioned if it would reimburse the State’s Attorney staff for the time taken away from other business, questioning why the County was responsible and should be paying, how the contract stated there was to be no duplication of benefits, how if the County didn’t repay IEMA the County risked losing their participation in the National Flood Program and if this was lost, there would be no flood insurance for anyone living along the river.

Chairman Glazier left the meeting at approximately 7:22 P.M. due to an emergency and Vice Chairman Huser then presided over the remainder of the meeting.

Discussion continued how IEMA should get the funds from those home owners who collected. State’s Attorney Minger recommended to not pay at this time, look into the issue to get a better plan of action, and possibly pay next month. In the dialogue that followed it was pointed out how the County was the owner of the property and that was why IEMA was requesting these funds from the County, how if there was no deadline for repayment it might be best to wait and see what happens, how IEMA wanted to close out their portion of the grant with DCEO and they wanted to close their portion of the grant with FEMA, and how the County received $13,560.00 from IEMA but the contractors bill was rewritten to show $5,650.00 which was the actual amount for the five properties in question.

Mr. Kingdon then withdrew this claim from the claims to be Paid in Vacation which he had presented.

Mr. Krug seconded the motion to pay the two claims in Vacation in the amounts of $786.35 and $512.50 to McKenna Veterinary Service. Acting Chairman Huser called for the vote and it unanimously carried.

Acting Chairman Huser called for the vote on the entirety of the Claims Paid in Vacation and it unanimously carried.

Mr. Streid presented and read Resolution #055 relative to the payment of the Claims.

Mr. Streid moved for the adoption of Resolution #055, which motion was seconded by Mr. Logan. Acting Chairman Huser called for a roll call vote. County Board Members voting Aye: Blake Parsons, Randy Roethler, Andy Rokey, Pete Streid, John Delaney, Stanley Glazier, Richard Hill, Douglas Huser, Jason Jording, Bryant Kempf, Duane Kingdon, John Krug, and Barry Logan. County Board Members voting Nay: None. County Board Members absent: Donald Tolan and Russell Cotton. Motion carried.

The Report of the County Treasurer on receipts and disbursement of the General Fund, current fund balances and interfund transfers for the period ending April 30, 2018 was presented, as was a handout regarding the Revolving Loan account as of April 30, 2018, and the Extension & Collection Comparisons Report in regard to property taxes of 2016 payable in 2017 and of 2017 payable in 2018.

The Report for the Office of County Board dated May 15, 2018 was presented. Mr. Rokey moved to place the Report on file, which motion was seconded by Mr. Kingdon and was unanimously carried.

County Board Secretary Deb Breyman announced she had passed the HR course she took.

Clerk Harms presented the list of correspondence to be placed on file for the May 15, 2018, County Board meeting:

• “Woodford County, Illinois-Basic Financial Statements and Supplementary Information-Year Ended November 30, 2017” as prepared by CliftonLarsonAllen containing the Independent Auditors’ Report. Also there was separate documentation regarding a deficiency in internal control concerning Outstanding Checks and documentation on Significant Audit Findings.

• Mediacom Annual Customer Service Report

• Minutes of the Finance & Economic Development Committee meeting held April 9, 2018 and of the Special meeting held April 17, 2018.

• Minutes of the Road and Bridge Committee meeting held April 5, 2018 and of the Executive Session held April 5, 2018.

• Minutes of the County Offices Committee meeting held April 10, 2018.

• Minutes of the Conservation, Planning, and Zoning Committee meeting held April 10, 2018.

• Minutes of the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting held February 27, 2018.

Mr. Logan moved to place all correspondence on file, which motion was seconded by Mr. Delaney and was unanimously carried.

The respective Chairmen gave the reports of each Standing Committee.

Mr. Huser, Chairman of the Road & Bridge Committee, asked Acting County Engineer Conrad Moore, P.E. to give an update for the Highway Department and address the earlier comment made during the public input portion of tonight’s meeting.

Acting County Engineer Moore reported the Highway Department would monitor the Santa Fe Trail and chip it as needed as the weather got warm.

Mr. Kempf, Chairman of the County Offices Committee, reported on the County Code of Ordinances draft manuscript. He explained what had been done and how the Committee requested an approval draft which was a cheaper option. If changes were made, there would be an additional cost. It was discussed how all County Board Members should review the draft and how a scanned copy of it would be sent to each Board Member to review at their leisure. Clerk Harms mentioned after the legal report was received, the draft would then go to the States Attorney Office for review/approval. Clerk Harms discussed the recent Ordinance changes made by the County Board that were enacted after this draft manuscript was received and how these would be included in the final copy.

Mr. Hill, Chairman of the Finance and Economic Development Committee, reported the Committee had discussed the Revolving Loan Program which had been acted on at tonight’s meeting. Department budgets were due at the County Offices Committee meeting in June and the Finance and Economic Development Committee would like to have them in place by July.

Mr. Jording, Chairman of the Public Safety Committee, stated there were not enough members in attendance to have a quorum at the Committee meeting. He had spoken with Sheriff Matt Smith about the STARCOM test with the radios and if they would work for the Sheriff’s Department. The radios were working well and would cost considerably less, however, there would be a user fee associated with them. Mr. Jording felt the Sheriff’s Department had done a good job at looking at alternatives and hopefully would be bringing this forward.

Mr. Kingdon, Chairman of the Conservation, Planning, and Zoning (CPZ) Committee, reported Mr. Dan Richey was interested in adopting four lots on Sunset Drive. He would like to adopt two lots on either side of his lot. Mr. Kingdon moved to approve the Adopt-A-Lot program between Woodford County and Mr. Dan Richey, 1279 Sunset Dr., Spring Bay, IL for these four lots, which motion was seconded by Mr. Parsons and was unanimously carried. Mr. Kingdon stated there was a copy of the Land Subdivision Ordinance in everyone’s County Board packet for review. Hopefully this and the Access Ordinance would be acted on next month.

Acting Chairman Huser asked Zoning Administrator Jording to give an update on solar farms. She reported there were two solar farms on the agenda for the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) meeting on May 22. Zoning Administrator Jording invited everyone to attend and stated a court reporter would be at such meeting.

Mr. Logan stated he was approached by a neighbor of the Dollar General Store who was concerned that the lighting for the parking lot was not being contained as per the permit. Light was filtering onto the highway and across the street. Mr. Logan believed the special use addressed this issue. He asked that somebody look into the matter and Zoning Administrator Jording indicated that she would check into this. Acting Chairman Huser asked that Zoning Administrator Jording give Mr. Logan a follow up call on this issue.

Mr. Kingdon reported for the Zoning Board of Appeals. The two solar farms would be on the agenda at the next meeting and he asked the County Board Members to attend. It would be an informational meeting and he felt they would have a better understanding of what was happening when it was time to vote on such.

Mr. Kingdon reported for the Liquor Committee and stated a liquor license was approved for the River Valley Sportsmen Club.

Allen Helsel introduced himself as the new Superintendent for the Veterans Assistance Commission in Woodford County and stated there were quite a few veterans’ coming in for assistance. He reported that CNN News contacted this Office in regards to a Veteran in New York, New York that was 97 years old and had a wish to meet another Marine Veteran of his age that fought in WW2. CNN talked with Randy from the Woodford County VAC Office and he helped with coordinating this wish to happen. Superintendent Helsel also stated he would be attending a 32 hour class in Reno, Nevada for which the County Offices Committed had Ok’d this training.

Acting Chairman Huser asked if there was a motion to enter into executive session and there was none.

Acting Chairman Huser called for any public announcements as listed on the agenda and there were none.

Mr. Kingdon moved to adjourn, which motion was seconded by Mr. Rokey and was unanimously carried.

Acting Chairman Huser announced the Board adjourned.

http://www.woodford-county.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_05152018-784