Chambana Sun

City of Urbana Cunningham Township Board met Nov. 5.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

The Cunningham Township Board met in Regularsession Monday November 5, 2018 at 7 p.m. in the Council

Chambers at the Urbana City Building, 400 S. Vine Street, Urbana, Illinois.

ELECTED OFFICIALS PHYSICALLY PRESENT:

Chair: Diane Wolfe Marlin

Trustees: Aaron Ammons; Bill Brown; Dean Hazen; Eric Jakobsson; Jared Miller;

Dennis Roberts; Maryalice Wu

Township Clerk: Charles A. Smyth

Supervisor: Danielle Chynoweth

Assessor: Wayne Williams

ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT VIA TELECONFERENCE:

ELECTED OFFICIALS ABSENT:

OTHERS PRESENT: Frederic Grosser

1. ROLL CALL

Chair Marlin called the meeting of the Cunningham Township Board to order at 7:00 p.m.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

Trustee Miller made a motion to approve minutes from October 1, 2018 and October 22, 2018

Special Meeting. Trustee Roberts seconded and the motion carried by unanimous voice vote.

3. ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA There were no additions.

4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION There was none.

5. COMMITTEE TO VERIFY BILLS

The following items presented in omnibus fashion by Supervisor Chynoweth:

1. Town Fund - $79,910.60

2. General Assistance Fund - $66,167.23

Trustee Roberts made a motion to approve the Town Fund for $79,910.60 and the General Assistance Fund for 66,167.23. Trustee Wu seconded and the motion passed by unanimous voice vote.

6. REPORTS OF OFFICERS

a. Report of Supervisor Chynoweth: Supervisor Chynoweth summarized her written report to the board noting that General Assistance is at 121 (up from 114 clients), of which 56 clients are homeless, 47 assigned to Community Workfare, 14 on job search track, 51 are disabled and have pending SSI/SSDI cases, and 12 are senior citizens. Nine households were served by Homeless Assistance.

Supervisor Chynoweth noted that tomorrow is Election Day stating that we’ve done a lot to educate our homeless residents helping them register to vote and knowing their rights to vote. Even without a fixed residence they have a right to vote. She noted that there were two homeless individuals who were unable to vote until she intervened and described the necessary documents needed to verify your residency in Champaign County.

Trustee Brown asked about the progress of SSI cases to which Ms. Chynoweth noted that 15 case managers have been trained but that only a couple of SSI cases can be handled at a time. The hope is that with the new case managers that cases can move faster and more people can be served. There are also people moving to jobs.

b. Report of Assessor Williams: Assessor Williams provided a quick update noting that he and staff have completed 279 hours of property assessment training. They are still looking at new software and waiting for the county decision; still rely on paper records but hope to have these digitized soon, and have a goal of having a live website at the end of next year. Mr. Williams also noted that his travel and training is done but two staff still have a bit more training within this fiscal year.

7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was none.

8. NEW BUSINESS

a. Resolution No. T-2018-11-016R: A Resolution Determining the Amounts of Money Necessary to be Raised by the Tax Levy for the Tax Year 2018, Collectible In 2019

Supervisor Chynoweth noted that levy is a two-step process. This first step is the setting of the amount. Given the Illinois Supreme Court Oswald case, many taxing bodies are taking the prudent step that anticipates the hospitals returning to the tax rolls. She noted that If we don’t we will lose it forever and that since the township is under tax caps, we are automatically limited to a specific maximum amount. The estimate provided includes the valuation of the hospitals. She also noted the recent record of the tax extension and the historic average number of township clients, anticipating 125 clients per month. She noted that because of past reductions in the levy, GA costs exceed income and that we will need to address this in the future to ultimately have a sustainable budget.

Trustee Roberts made moved to approve Resolution T-2018-11-016R, seconded by Trustee Jakobsson and passed by unanimous voice vote.

b. Resolution No. T-2018-11-017R: A Resolution Authorizing an Agreement between the Department of Human Services and the Township of Cunningham for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Reimbursements

Supervisor Chynoweth noted that this is an agreement renewed every 10 years with the state. She has been back and forth with the Department of Human Services since it expired in June but payments have not been interrupted and the new agreement will be backdated to June.

Trustee Brown moved to approve Resolution T-2018-11-017R, seconded by Trustee Hazen and passed by unanimous voice vote.

9. ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to come before the Cunningham Town Board, Chair Marlin declared the meeting adjourned at 7:18 p.m.

https://www.urbanaillinois.us/sites/default/files/attachments/11-05-2018_Minutes_TB.pdf