Chambana Sun

Champaign County Board met Sept. 24.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

The County Board of Champaign County, Illinois met at a Regular Meeting at 6:30 PM in the Lyle Shields Meeting Room, Brookens Administrative Center, 1776 East Washington Street, Urbana, Illinois and remote participation via Zoom due to social distancing necessitated by the coronavirus, with County Executive Darlene Kloeppel presiding, Matthew Cross as Clerk of the meeting.

ROLL CALL

Roll call showed the following members present: Rector, Stohr, Summers, Taylor, Thorsland, Wolken, Young, Clemmons, Esry, Fears, Fortado, Goss, Harper, Ingram, McGuire, Michaels, Patterson, and Rosales – 18; late – 1: Dillard-Myers joined the meeting prior to 6:40 PM, missing no votes; absent– 3: Tinsley, Cowart, and Eisenmann. Thereupon, County Executive Kloeppel declared a quorum present and the Board competent to conduct business. Due to the remote attendance situation all voting must be by roll call, per Illinois Public Act 101-0640, approved by Governor Pritzker June 12, 2020.

County Executive Kloeppel read a statement of disapproval in ad hominem statements by members of the County Board about county staff and noted the board’s ethical responsibility; the statement was largely unintelligible due to Zoom connectivity issues.

PRAYER & PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

County Executive Kloeppel read a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag was recited.

READ NOTICE OF MEETING

The Clerk read the Notice of the Meeting, said Notice having been published in the News Gazette September 3, September 10, and September 17, 2020.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA/ADDENDA

Board Chair Rosales offered a motion to approve the Agenda/Addenda; Board Member Stohr seconded. Motion carried unanimous roll-call vote.

Yeas: Rector, Stohr, Summers, Taylor, Thorsland, Wolken, Young, Clemmons, Dillard-Myers, Esry, Fears, Fortado, Goss, Harper, Ingram, McGuire, Michaels, Patterson, and Rosales – 19

Nays: None

DATE/TIME OF NEXT MEETINGS

Standing Committees:

A. Highway & Transportation Committee Meeting

Friday, October 2, 2020 at 9:00 AM

1605 E Main Street, Urbana

B. County Facilities Committee Meeting

Tuesday, October 6, 2020 at 6:30 PM

Lyle Shields Meeting Room

C. Environment & Land Use Committee Meeting

Thursday, October 8, 2020 at 6:30 PM

Lyle Shields Meeting Room

Committee of the Whole:

A. Special Finance Committee of the Whole

Thursday, October 1, 2020 at 6:30 PM

B. Justice & Social Services; Policy, Personnel, & Appointments; Finance

Tuesday, October 13, 2020 at 6:30 PM

Lyle Shields Meeting Room

County Board:

A. Regular Meeting

Thursday, October 22, 2020 at 6:30 PM

Lyle Shields Meeting Room

B. Study Session – tentative

Tuesday, October 27, 2020 at 6:00 PM

Lyle Shields Meeting Room

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

All public participation was remote via Zoom.

Mary King alerted the Board that the meeting was not streaming on any platform.

CONSENT AGENDA

Board Member Esry offered a motion to approve the Consent Agenda, comprising 30 resolutions; Board Member Goss seconded. Motion carried by unanimous roll-call vote.

Yeas: Rector, Stohr, Summers, Taylor, Thorsland, Wolken, Young, Clemmons, Dillard-Myers, Esry, Fears, Fortado, Goss, Harper, Ingram, McGuire, Michaels, Patterson, and Rosales – 19

Nays: None

COMMUNICATIONS

Board Member Young stated that black lives matter, and he discussed the poor function of the Board and county government and the lack of checks and balances with the county executive form of government

Board Member Ingram noted that the meeting should not continue if it was not streaming on a publicly available platform; he offered praise for the County Clerk with approximately 800 voters on the first day of early voting and the new County Clerk’s website. He also noted a sunrise bicycle ride to the Brookens Administrative Center culminating with a voter registration drive on Sunday, September 27, 2020.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Board Member Rector offered an omnibus motion to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of the County Board of August 20, 2020 and the Legislative Budget Hearings of August 24 and 25, 2020; seconded by Board Member Goss. Motion carried by unanimous roll-call vote.

Yeas: Rector, Stohr, Summers, Taylor, Thorsland, Wolken, Young, Clemmons, Dillard-Myers, Esry, Fears, Fortado, Goss, Harper, Ingram, McGuire, Michaels, Patterson, and Rosales – 19

Nays: None

STANDING COMMITTEES

COUNTY FACILITIES

County Executive Kloeppel noted the Summary of Action Taken for Facilities on September 8, 2020 was received and placed on file.

ENVIRONMENT AND LAND USE

County Executive Kloeppel noted the Summary of Action Taken for Environment and Land Use on September 10, 2020 was received and placed on file.

HIGHWAY & TRANSPORTATION

County Executive Kloeppel noted the Summary of Action Taken for Highway and Transportation on September 11, 2020 was received and placed on file.

AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

County Executive Kloeppel noted the Summary of Action taken for the Committee of the Whole (Justice & Social Services; Finance; Policy, Personnel, & Appointments) of September 15, 2020 was received and placed on file.

POLICY, PERSONNEL, & APPOINTMENTS

Board Member Young offered an omnibus motion to adopt Resolution No. 2020-244 appointing Daniel Noel to Drainage District #2 Town of Scott, Resolution No. 2020-245 appointing Stanley Wolken to the Prairie Creek Drainage District,

Resolution No. 2020-246 appointing Stanley Wolken to the West Branch Drainage District, and Resolution No. 2020-247 appointing Stephen Huls to Union Drainage District #2 St. Joseph and Ogden; Board Chair Rosales seconded. Motion carried by unanimous roll-call vote.

Yeas: Rector, Stohr, Summers, Taylor, Thorsland, Wolken, Young, Clemmons, Dillard-Myers, Esry, Fears, Fortado, Goss, Harper, Ingram, McGuire, Michaels, Patterson, and Rosales – 19

Nays: none

FINANCE

Board Member Goss offered a motion to adopt Resolution No. 2020-268 authorizing budget amendment 20-00043; Board Member Fortado seconded. Motion carried by unanimous roll-call vote.

Yeas: Rector, Stohr, Summers, Taylor, Thorsland, Wolken, Young, Clemmons, Dillard-Myers, Esry, Fears, Fortado, Goss, Harper, Ingram, McGuire, Michaels, Patterson, and Rosales – 19

Nays: None

NEW BUSINESS

Board Chair Rosales offered an omnibus motion to adopt Resolution 2020-274 appointing Travis Fruhling to Union Drainage District #2 St. Joseph and Ogden and Resolution No. 2020-275 appointing Travis Fruhling to the St. Joseph #4 Drainage District; Board Member Esry seconded. Board Member Ingram asked for confirmation that Board Member Esry had dropped his objection to the Furhling appointments; Board

Member Esry confirmed. Motion carried by roll-call vote.

Yeas: Rector, Stohr, Summers, Taylor, Thorsland, Wolken, Young, Clemmons, Dillard-Myers, Esry, Fears, Fortado, Harper, Ingram, McGuire, Michaels, Patterson, and Rosales – 18

Nays: Goss – 1

County Executive Kloeppel noted that the Property Tax/Levy/ Rate Projection FY2021 provided in the Agenda/Addenda packet shows a 4.68% increase, which will not require Truth in Taxation hearings. Deputy Finance Director Tammy Ogden was invited to join the discussion and added some clarification to various rates and noted that property tax is expected to decrease.

Board Member Thorsland offered a motion to adopt Resolution No. 2020-276 authorizing an Intergovernmental Election Ballot Box Master License Agreement; Board Member Fortado seconded. Board Member Michaels asked if the ballot boxes had been installed yet, will county be responsible for maintenance, and if they were bid upon. County Clerk Ammons was invited to join the discussion; he noted that at the moment the boxes cannot be permanent beyond the November 2020 General Election but hopes they will be, the boxes should not require any maintenance, the boxes were not bid upon due to time constraints from both the legislation and the grant funding, and noted that the only box yet installed was the one at the Brookens Administrative Center. Clerk Ammons offered praise for the County maintenance workers. Motion carried by unanimous roll-call vote.

Yeas: Rector, Stohr, Summers, Taylor, Thorsland, Wolken, Young, Clemmons, Dillard-Myers, Esry, Fears, Fortado, Goss, Harper, Ingram, McGuire, Michaels, Patterson, and Rosales – 19

Nays: None

Following the vote on Resolution No. 2020-276, Board Member McGuire attempted to force a non-agenda discussion of the Clerk. County Executive deemed him out of order.

OTHER BUSINESS

AUDITOR

Board Member Stohr offered an omnibus motion to adopt Resolution 2020-272 authorizing purchases not following purchasing policy and Resolution No. 2020- 273 authorizing payments of claims. Motion carried by roll-call vote.

Yeas: Rector, Stohr, Summers, Taylor, Thorsland, Wolken, Young, Clemmons, Dillard-Myers, Esry, Fears, Fortado, Harper, Ingram, Michaels, and Patterson – 16

Nays: Goss, McGuire, and Rosales – 3

County Executive Kloeppel opened general discussion to allow Board Member McGuire an opportunity to address the County Clerk; Board Member McGuire asked if the military and overseas ballots were sent out on time, how nursing home voting will be accomplished with the closure of polling places at nursing homes, and wanted clarification on the Vote by Mall applications sent out of the county. Chief Deputy Clerk Angela Patton was invited to join the discussion and she confirmed the military and overseas ballots were mailed on time on Sept. 18, 2020. She offered the Board specifics on nursing home voting, and she explained the Vote by Mail applications were statutorily required to be sent to recent voters regardless of their current registration status or address and the Post Office requires all mass mailings to have the addresses confirmed and forwarded through the National Change Address database.

Board Chair asked County Executive Kloeppel to re-read her opening remarks as they were unclear due to connectivity issues, and County Executive Kloeppel complied.

ADJOURN

County Executive Kloeppel adjourned the meeting at 7:23 p.m.

http://www.co.champaign.il.us/CountyBoard/CB/2020/200924_Meeting/200924Minutes.pdf