City of Urbana Cunningham Township Board met December 4.
Here is the minutes provided by the Board:
Elected Officials Physically Present:
Chair: Diane Wolfe Marlin
Trustees: Aaron Ammons; Bill Brown; Dean Hazen; Eric Jakobsson; Jared Miller Dennis Roberts; Maryalice Wu
Town Clerk: Charles A. Smyth
Supervisor: Danielle Chynoweth
Elected Officials Present Via Teleconference: None
Elected Officials Absent: Dan Stebbins, Assessor
Others Present: Fred Grosser, Township Attorney; Media members
1. Roll Call
Chair Marlin called the meeting of the Cunningham Township Board to order at 7:00 p.m.
2. Public Participation
Susan Taylor noted a past News-Gazette article on the lack of housing at the school level and indicated that she had not heard or seen any response by the City of Urbana. She hopes that Supervisor Chynoweth will do something. Chair Marlin responded that the city has been working with various groups and reported back to the city council. Chair Marlin indicated that she would send Ms. Taylor the report.
3. Approval Of Minutes Of Previous Meeting
November 6, 2017 – Trustee Ammons made a motion to approve the minutes from the meeting held on November 6, 2017. Motion was seconded by Trustee Miller and carried by voice vote.
4. Committee To Verify Bills
1. Town Fund in the amount of $62,487.93
2. General Assistance Fund in the amount of $46,262.83
Trustee Roberts made a motion to approve the Town Fund and General Assistance Fund bills for the amounts listed ($108,750.76). Trustee Jakobsson seconded and the bills were approved by unanimous voice vote.
5. Reports Of Officers
Supervisor Chynoweth provided the board with a written monthly report. She summarized the Assistance Statistics by category as of December 2, 2017 with a total active client base of 131.
7. Unfinished Business
There was none.
8. New Business
a. Audit Presentation – FY 2016-2017
Supervisor Chynoweth introduced Hope Wheeler from Clifton Allen Larson. Ms. Wheeler presented the FY2016-2017 Audit. She reviewed the three reports provided the Township: the Governance Letter, Financial Statement highlights, and the Management Letter. They also prepared the financial statements for the State Report. She noted that the audit was a clean report. Ms. Wheeler answered questions related to Note 10 concerning the impact of Enterprise zones and TIF by Trustee Brown. Discussion ensued with Supervisor Chynoweth indicating that she doesn’t have any of the agreements with the City of Urbana regarding the newly created Enterprise Zone but that TIF has minimal impact on Board tax revenues.
Motion was made to accept the Audit report by Trustee Wu, and seconded by Trustee Roberts. Motion passed by unanimous voice vote.
a.Ordinance No. T-2017-12-003 – An Ordinance Levying Taxes for all Town Purposes for the Town Of Cunningham, Champaign County, Illinois, for the Tax Year 2017, Collectible In 2018
Supervisor Chynoweth spoke to an expanded written summary of her comments on her rationale for keeping the Township Levy at the same amount as last year. She indicated that she wanted to monitor GA levels, wait to see the impact of any changes to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid on GA participants, keep the GA grant levels the same, assess the impact of new township education and employment programs, described her outline of a strategic plan for the Township, and discussed the implications of reducing the tax levy too soon. She also indicated that the proposed levy is $172,000 less than the current budget due to deficit spending.
A motion to approve Ordinance T-2017-12-003 was made by Trustee Ammons and seconded by Trustee Brown. With no further discussion, the motion passed on a roll call 7-0. Voting Aye: Aaron Ammons; Bill Brown; Dean Hazen; Eric Jakobsson; Jared Miller; Dennis Roberts; Maryalice Wu. Voting No: none
b. Ordinance No. T-2017-12-004: Transfer of Appropriation Ordinance (FY 2017- 2018) was removed from the agenda.
c. Resolution No. T-2017-12-009R – Resolution Authorizing the Cunningham Township Supervisor to Sign a Contract with NJS Enterprises for Case Management Software (Two additional software licenses)
Supervisor Chynoweth requested two additional licenses of VisualGA, a case management software custom designed for Illinois Townships. She indicated that after training and initial implementation, it is clear we will need four copies for the office of four staff and two interns.
A motion to approve Resolution T-2017-12-009R was made by Trustee Miller and seconded by Trustee Roberts. With no further discussion, the motion passed on a unanimous voice vote.
d. Presentation – Township Emergency Assistance Program
Supervisor Chynoweth spoke about her plans for Cunningham Township to launch an Emergency Assistance Program to help Urbana residents facing a life-threatening circumstance. She expanded on her written comments noting that our community has a pretty good healthcare ecosystem and that the shift is to needing help with housing. She reviewed the Township Officials of Illinois Emergency Assistance Handbook definition. The program is designed and implemented by the Township Supervisor using the Township Officials of Illinois Emergency Assistance Handbook as a basis. She noted that Champaign County is the most burdened in state with respect to housing costs. She reviewed how someone gets evicted and stated that the Township was best able to help during the 5 day notice period to minimize costs.
The Town Board has set the budget at $50,000 for the fiscal year. Supervisor Chynoweth gave example cities in the state with similar programs and asked the board to review the criteria and provide feedback year so that she could finalize the rules. She has an estimated launch date of January 16th. Trustee questions and discussion followed, covering average needed costs, angel funds, court costs, and utility bills.
8. Adjournment
There being no further business to come before the Cunningham Township Board, Chair Marlin declared the meeting adjourned at 7:57 p.m.
https://www.urbanaillinois.us/sites/default/files/attachments/12-04-2017_Minutes_TB.pdf
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