Peoria Standard

Woodford County Board met Dec. 15

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

Board met and was called to order by Chairman John Krug.

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

Roll call by the Clerk. Present: Albert Durst, Richard Hill, Autum Jones, John Krug, Barry Logan, David Meinhold, Charles Nagel, Blake Parsons, Johnathan Schertz, Jerry Smith, Dan Steffen and Donald Tolan (6:37 PM). Absent: Joshua Davis, Resigned; Justin Faulk, excused; and Jason Spence, excused. Also present was County Clerk Dawn Kupfer.

Chairman Krug stated he had received a text from Mr. Joshua Davis saying he is resigning from the County Board. Chairman Krug went on to say the Board is still waiting for a signed resignation document, but has already been in contact with the Woodford County Republican Party Chairman in regards to finding a candidate to fill the vacancy in District 2.

Board announced in session by the Chairman.

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

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

Clerk Kupfer submitted the minutes of the November 17, 2020 regular session County Board meeting for additions, corrections and approval.

Mr. Hill moved to approve the minutes of the November 17, 2020 regular session County Board meeting, which motion was seconded by Mr. Steffen. Chairman Krug called for any additions or corrections to the regular session minutes, hearing none the motion unanimously carried.

Chairman Krug called for the approval of the December 7, 2020 Reconvened Board meeting.

Mr. Meinhold moved to approve the December 7, 2020 Reconvened Minutes, which was seconded by Mr. Durst. Chairman Krug called for any additions or corrections to the minutes, hearing none the motion unanimously carried.

Chairman Krug called for the approval of the December 7, 2020 Organization Meeting minutes.

Mrs. Jones moved to approve the December 7, 2020 Organizational Meeting minutes, which was seconded by Mr. Schertz. Chairman Krug stated the Members of the Board should have received a copy of the County Board Rules in the Board packet. He went on to state that in front of each of the Members is a copy of the verbiage which should be amended in the County Board Rules. Chairman Krug called for a motion to place this verbiage with the Organizational minutes.

Mr. Steffen moved to add this to the Organizational minutes, which was seconded by Mr. Hill. Motion carried.

Chairman Krug called for a vote on the Organization minutes as amended; motion carried. Chairman Krug called for the approval of the November 17, 2020 Executive Session minutes.

Mr. Logan moved to approve and keep confidential the November 17, 2020 Executive Session minutes, which was seconded by Mr. Parsons. Motion carried.

Chairman Krug called for public input, hearing none the Board moved on to the Consent Agenda. The Consent Agenda was presented and clarified for the reporting of these minutes.

Chairman Krug called for any Items to be pulled from the Consent Agenda.

Mr. Logan motioned to pull Item (a) Resolution 2020/2021-001 Budget Line Item Adjustment from Petitions, Resolutions, and/or Motions portion of the Consent Agenda.

Chairman Krug called for any further Items to be removed, hearing none. Chairman Krug then called for the approval of the remainder of the consent agenda.

Mr. Schertz moved to approve the remainder of the Consent Agenda, which was seconded by Mrs. Jones. Motion carried.

Appointments:

a. Reappointment of Matt Smith to the 911 Emergency Telephone System Board for a 2 year term expiring the 1st Monday in December 2022.

b. Reappointment of Craig Neal to the 911 Emergency Telephone System Board for a 2 year term expiring the 1st Monday in December 2022.

c. Reappointment of Jess Erkman to the 911 Emergency Telephone System Board for a 2 year term expiring the 1st Monday in December 2022.

d. Reappointment of Kent McCanless to the 911 Emergency Telephone System Board for a 2 year term expiring the 1st Monday in December 2022.

e. Appointment of Marshall Smith (representing FOP-Road) to the Health Care Committee to fill the unexpired term of Kent Hair expiring the 1st Monday in December 2022.

f. Reappointment of Lisa Jording (representing Management) to the Health Care Committee for a 3 year term expiring the 1st Monday in December 2023.

g. Reappointment of Janet Gibbs (representing AFSCME-Courthouse) to the Health Care Committee for a 3 year term expiring the 1st Monday in December 2023.

Petitions, Resolutions and/or Motions:

b. Approval of Resolution 2020/2021-002 Special Appropriations.

c. Approval of Resolution 2020/2021-003 approving the continued operation of the Office of the State’s Attorney Appellate Prosecutor.

d. Approval of Resolution 2020/2021-004 authorizing the County Engineer to enter into an annual contract for diesel fuel and gasoline.

e. Approval of Resolution 2020/2021-005 appropriating $119,432.00 from the County Motor Fuel Tax fund for the salary of the County Engineer for the period beginning January 1, 2021 and ending December 31,2021.

f. Approval of Resolution 2020/2021-006 approving a Road Use Agreement with Panther Grove Wind, LLC for the use of certain County Roads and authorizing the County Board Chairman to execute the agreement.

g. Resolution 2020/2021-007 authorizing the County Board Chairman to execute an engineering agreement with Hutchison Engineering, Inc. to administer the County Road Use agreement.

h. Ordinance 2020/2021-001 granting a Special Use for petition #2020-11-S filed October 16, 2020 by Tri Global Energy, LLC for Panther Grove Wind LLC to locate and operate a Wind Energy Conversion System to be owned and operated by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners-United States Operations in Panola, Greene, Minonk and Clayton Townships.

Chairman Krug called for approval of Item (a) under Petitions, Resolutions, and/or Motions.

Mr. Nagel motioned to approve Item (a) under Petitions, Resolutions, and/or Motions, which was seconded by Mr. Meinhold.

Mr. Logan stated he had a question on Item (a) under Petitions, Resolutions and/or Motions concerning the Resolution 2020/2021-001 Budget Line item adjustments on page 5, under the Health Fund which shows there are two increases one for $12,501.00 for Department Head Salary and the other is an increase of $7,299.00 for Part-time and he would like further explanation on those items.

Chairman Krug called on the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Mr. Nagel.

Mr. Nagel stated the line item adjustments amounts on this Resolution are being done by statute for claims and items in which the money has already been spent. He went on to say he could not really answer Mr. Logan’s question in regards to how the money was spent.

Chairman Krug stated the County Board no longer has the Board’s representative Mrs. Barker present whom may be able to answer Mr. Logan’s question. Chairman Krug requested Mr. Logan have a conversation with the Health Department and report back to the Board next month.

Chairman Krug called for approval of Item (a) under Petitions, Resolutions and/or Motions; motion carried.

Chairman Krug called for Chris Green to speak to the Members of the Board.

Chris Green from Tri Global Energy, LLC the lead developer of the Panther Grove Wind project thanked the County Board Members for all of the hard work put in on the hearing by the County Board, the Zoning Board of Appeals, Blake Parsons and Lisa Jording, as well as those from the Liberty Bible Church whom offered their church as a location.

Chairman Krug called for Item (a) under New Business, the setting of the meeting schedule for the upcoming year.

Mr. Schertz moved to approve the meeting schedule for the upcoming year, which was seconded by Mr. Tolan. Motion carried.

Chairman Krug stated there was no Unfinished Business or Presentations.

Chairman Krug then called for the vote to approve the claims Paid in Vacation since the last meeting of the Board. Mr. Parsons moved to approve the Claims Paid in Vacation, which was seconded by Mr. Logan. Chairman Krug asked if there were any claims to be added.

Mr. Nagel moved to add a claim for CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) in the amount of $5,775.00 out of fund line item 051-210-5026-013, which was seconded by Mr. Parsons and unanimously carried.

Mr. Logan moved to add two claims for the State’s Attorney’s Office. The first claim is for $5,000.00 payable to Fire Tech Inc. for an expert witness to be used in a trial. The second claim is for $17.50 payable to the Illinois Fraternal Labor Council, which was seconded by Mr. Meinhold and unanimously carried.

Chairman Krug called for approval of claims paid in vacation as amended; motion carried.

Mr. Hill presented and read Resolution 2020/2021-008 approving the payment of the Claims, which was seconded by Mr. Smith.

Chairman Krug called for a roll call vote. County Board Members voting Aye: Albert Durst, Richard Hill, Autum Jones, John Krug, Barry Logan, David Meinhold, Charles Nagel, Blake Parsons, Johnathan Schertz, Jerry Smith, Dan Steffen and Donald Tolan. County Board Members voting Nay: None. County Board Members absent: Joshua Davis, Resigned; Justin Faulk, excused; and Jason Spence, excused. Motion carried.

The Report of the County Treasurer on receipts and disbursement of the General Fund, current fund balances and interfund transfers, the summary of accounts; the Revolving Loan payments Report and the Annual Report for the summary of Accounts for the period ending November 30, 2020 was presented. Treasurer Andrews had the Members focus on the Annual Report which shows the balances of all of the funds at the beginning of the fiscal year December 1, 2019, the annual revenues, disbursements and the balances as of November 30, 2020. Ms. Andrews noted the over-all fund balances increased by almost $2.1 million dollars with the majority of the increase being in the Highway Department’s funds with MFT funds. She stated the General Fund ended just shy of $6 million dollars, only decreasing by $135,403.34; overall stating the County ended the year in a strong financial position. Ms. Andrews also stated she had received the CURE reimbursement on December 7, 2020 in the amount of $623,763.57, as well as $16,700 for the first of (5) Downstate Small Business Stabilization Grants which the County is a pass-thru for those participating businesses and in total there will be $106,700.

Mrs. Jones moved to place all of the Treasurer’s reports on file, which motion was seconded by Mr. Durst and was unanimously carried.

The report for the Office of the County Board dated December 17, 2020 was presented. Mr. Steffen moved to place the Report on file, which motion was seconded by Mr. Schertz and was unanimously carried.

The following communication will be placed on file for the regular meeting of the December 15, 2020 County Board meeting:

∙ Semi-Annual Report of the Woodford County Clerk & Recorder for period ending November 30, 2020.

∙ Semi-Annual Report of the Woodford County Sheriff for the period ending November 30, 2020. 

∙ Notice from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers Rock Island District, Illinois Department of Natural Resources-Office of Water Resources and Illinois State Water Survey are partnering to examine Illinois River flood risk and will be conducting elevation surveys in the community November 2020 through July 2021.

∙ Letter from Cannabis Industry Victims Educating Litigators (CIVEL) concerning the stop of marijuana stores from invading your town.

∙ Letter from Mediacom concerning rate adjustments which go into effect December 22, 2020. 

∙ Minutes of the Road and Bridge Committee meeting held November 9, 2020.

∙ Minutes of the Public Safety Committee meeting held November 9, 2020.

∙ Minutes of the County Offices Committee meeting held November 17, 2020.

∙ Minutes of the Finance & Economic Development Committee held on November 10, 2020. 

∙ Minutes of the Woodford County Health Care Committee held on October 14, 2020.

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

The respective Chairmen gave the reports of each Standing Committee.

Chairwomen Andrews reported for the Health Care Committee (Health Insurance Committee). Chairwoman Andrews reported they met last Wednesday and the main items on their agenda were the appointments and reappointments that were approved at tonight’s meeting and an employee’s request for a waiver of out-of-network penalties, which was approved. Chairwomen Andrews stated the fund balances in the Premium and Claims Reserve Fund have been holding steady with one more month to go in the plan year hoping to end with a positive balance/net gain not a loss.

Mr. Hill, Chairman of the Road & Bridge Committee, reported on a couple of good catches that were found one by Mr. Steffen pertaining to the Wind Farm Agreement how the roads should be brought back to a level of A3 instead of A2 that was reported in the document stating it just proves more eyes looking at the documents helps us catch things that need to be done. Mr. Hill also stated the second catch by Mr. Meinhold and how he was able to help them out. There had been some travel within the County with the Wind Farm and neighboring County and they are looking into that to see if there are some issues with our roads with that travel for at least a day if not more. Mr. Hill stated those two catches by their committee members will definitely help them out. Mr. Hill reported the roads and bridges have been evaluated how they were able to get an evaluation of that through some Grants through Tri-County further stating the roads are in good shape and also helps identify those roads that need to be brought up to a better level. County Engineer Moore reported that he received a note from the IDNR that they will be doing some surveying down along the river, in case anybody calls they will be going on private property to gather Elevation Data on Structures over the course of the next year.

Mr. Nagel, reported for the County Offices Committee. Mr. Nagel reported they discussed per diems with the new members and how they worked. Mr. Nagel stated under new business they set the schedule for the year coming up stating the County Offices (to meet at 5:30pm) meeting will be after Finance (to meet at 4:30pm) which is a flip-flop from what it has been in the past. Mr. Nagel reported on the appointments and a resolution that were approved at tonight’s meeting.

Mr. Nagel, Chairman of the Finance Committee, reported on a presentation they had from David Rasch who represented the Illinois Assistance Board Mortgage Credit Certificate Program. Mr. Nagel stated it is a program that will help Veterans and first time home owners with a tax credit how there will be more information coming forward at their next meeting. Mr. Nagel reported over the course of the past year Greater Peoria EDC has been working on a CEDS, Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, they have to do to present to the Federal and State level. Mr. Nagel stated he received a draft form of that since he sits on that Committee and eventually he will bring that to the full Board for approval which each of the Counties have to approve the plan.

Mr. Logan, Chairman of the Public Safety Committee, reported they approved bills and had a consensus for the Sheriff to buy a used squad car.

Blake Parsons, Chairman of the Conservation Planning and Zoning Committee, reported they did not have a meeting due to lack of a quorum. Mr. Parsons stated at their upcoming January meeting they will look into a Utility Solar Project setbacks’ to Municipalities and determine where a good setback would be. Mr. Parsons reported he received a few phone calls from people who are concerned that it might be to short so they plan to evaluate that.

Mr. Parsons reported for the Zoning Board of Appeals. Mr. Parsons reported they passed the Special Use for the Panther Grove Wind Project stating it went well, the hearings went well how everything was conducted just fabulous. Mr. Parsons stated now they are at the end of the Special Use they go into the next phase of it how CP & Z will be looking at the Decommissioning which under our Zoning Ordinance every WEX Project must have a Decommissioning Plan for the end of life cycle project which they will be looking into how they will be bringing their evaluations and information to the Board once the Committee has hashed that out. Mr. Parsons reported there are no applications or a ZBA hearing for January.

Chairman Krug called for Public Announcements, stating the Courthouse will be closed on December 24th and 25th, 2020.

Chairman Krug stated there was no need to go into Executive Session.

Mrs. Jones moved to adjourn until 6:30 P.M. the third Tuesday in January, A.D. 2021 same being the 19th day of said month, which motion was seconded by Mr. Meinhold and was unanimously carried.

Chairman Krug announced the Board adjourned at approximately 7:02 PM.

https://www.woodford-county.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_12152020-1137