Chambana Sun

Champaign County Environment and Land Use Committee met March 10.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

Committee Members

Present	Absent
Aaron Esry (Vice-Chair)
	Stephanie Fortado
Mary King
	Kyle Patterson
	Jacob Paul
Chris Stohr
Eric Thorsland (Chair)

County Staff: John Hall (Zoning Administrator), Susan Monte (Planner), Darlene Kloeppel (County Executive) and Mary Ward (Recording Secretary)

Others Present: None

MINUTES

I. Call to Order

Committee Chair Thorsland called the meeting to order at 6:34 p.m.

II. Roll Call

A verbal roll call was taken, and a quorum was declared present.

III. Approval of Agenda/Addendum

MOTION by Mr. Esry to approve the agenda, seconded by Ms. King. Upon voice vote, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously to approve the agenda.

IV. Approval of Minutes

A. February 10, 2022

MOTION by Mr. Stohr to approve the minutes of the February 10, 2022, regular meeting seconded by Ms. King. Upon voice vote, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously.

V. Public Participation

Robert Murphy, Mayor of Tolono – the Tolono wastewater treatment plant needs to be replaced. They are making an ARPA funding request. They would like to keep local ownership and not sell to an outside entity.

Dawn Good-Adwell, Ludlow – spoke about the Ludlow ARPA funding request for their water project. They are ready to move to Phase II of the project and will have a shortfall of funding. They have already raised the water rates and have one of the higher rates in Champaign County.

VI. Communications

There were no communications.

VII. New Business: Item for Information Only

A. Champaign Cunty Farm Bureau Proposal for $325,000 ARPA Funding to Accelerate Use of Cover Crops in Champaign County Agriculture (continued from February 10, 2022)

Brad Uken, Manager, Champaign County Farm Bureau was available to answer questions on their Cover Crop proposal. Ms. King said she had done some research on this and found there is a Midwest Cover Crops Council. It has lists and links to resources of all types on its website. Discussion started with the fact that there are a number of sources available for funding but that a lot of these are limited by state or region, they may have limited funding, or they may fill up quickly. Ms. King feels that there are already so many ways for farmers to offset the costs for cover crops. Mr. Stohr added that the Champaign County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) will pay up to 75% of costs up to $1,600. He also has concerns about administering a program like this. He wants to continue to look at this and hopeful to find a way to do this.

Mr. Uken said they hope to expand the program and add some partners. One proposed partner would be the Illinois Nutrient Research & Education Council (NREC). NREC was created by state statute and is funded by an assessment on bulk fertilizer sales. They would document what they do and how it’s done, impacts, survey participating farmers, etc. This would help show what worked, what didn’t and things that could be changed. Farm Bureau has talked to SWCD about how they can work together on this, especially with the education aspect and other areas of their expertise. Mr. Stohr stated that he would like to come up with a really good plan and would like to find a way to preserve and save our topsoil. Hopeful we can do something

Mr. Thorsland asked how would this benefit a small farmer? He would hope to see a plan based on scale. Mr. Uken said they will give preference each year to first time planters of cover crops through the application process. There will be a threshold each year so that scale comes into play. Risks are the same no matter the size of the farm. Mr. Thorsland would like to see maybe not so much putting money from ARPA into incentivizing to do the right thing and more effort in getting them to understand this is the right thing to do. Would like to see Farm Bureau to really embrace the education part of this program.

Mr. Uken added that at the last meeting Ms. Fortado had suggested that there was a need to do a revision to the budget. They have scaled that back somewhat from $325,000 to $245,000 to fit within the ARPA timeline.

B. Village of Pesotum Proposal for $250,000 ARPA Funding to Assist with Construction of Sanitary Sewer Collection and Treatment

Larry Johnson, Fehr Graham Engineering, was present to answer questions. They have helped Pesotum to put together planning that is necessary to qualify the funding for the project. Pesotum is currently unsewered. One of the options is to build their own treatment facility. There is also an option to connect to a neighboring community. They have approached Tolono to see about possibly connect to their treatment plant if it goes forward. Mr. Stohr asked about the Village funds, if this was what they had on hand? Mr. Johnson said they are only in the planning stage. The $250,000 ARPA request is to start the application and loan process.

C. Village of Tolono Proposal for ARPA Funding to Assist with Construction of Wastewater Treatment Plant

Robert Murphy, Mayor of Tolono, was here to answer questions. Ms. King thanked him for the documents that were provided. Everything is clear and concise and easy to see where you are at in the process. She also stated that if a small town has its own wastewater treatment system; if you have one it is a wonderful thing to own. Mr. Murphy said that right now the system runs itself. Ms. King asked what the ARPA ask is. They are looking at asking for the engineering costs of $752,000. Mr. Thorsland stated that we might be able to do part of that and that when this comes before the full Board, it would be helpful to come with a specific dollar amount.

D. Village of Ludlow Proposal for $100,000 ARPA Funding to assist with Upgrades to Community Water Supply Distribution System

Dawn Good-Adwell discussed their project. They really don’t want to have to borrow more money. She would like to raise the amount they are asking for from $100,000 to $250,000 from ARPA. There is a Phase II of the project they would like to start soon, and this would help them with that.

Ms. Kloeppel added that there is second proposal for a sewer project for Ludlow.

E. Village of Ivesdale Proposal for $250,000 ARPA Funding to Assist with Upgrades to Community Water Supply Distribution System Information only. No one was present to answer any questions.

F. Village of Royal Proposal for $250,000 ARPA Funding to assist with Water Main Project Information only. No one was present to answer any questions.

Ms. Kloeppel said that the Finance Committee has asked to make it known that April is the last meeting where we will be accepting proposals for these projects. We have plenty of proposals to consider and to decide on. They were hopeful ELUC could make a decision at the next meeting and then make a recommendation to the full Board at the April meeting. Ms. Kloeppel said there are two proposals for the next meeting, and she knew of some others that might be submitted. Mr. Thorsland said that if she could make it known to those who had proposals to submit to get those in and also if they could have a representative come to our next meeting, that would be helpful.

G. Online Registration Now Open for IEPA-Sponsored One-Day HHW Collection

Ms. Monte gave an update on the registration. They are looking at having about 1170 people register, and after about one week, they are halfway there. Slots are filling up quickly.

VIII. New Business: Items to Receive and Place on File by ELUC to Allow a 30-Day Review Period A. Authorization for a Public Hearing on Proposed Zoning Ordinance Omnibus Text Amendment to Update Material Management/Waste Related Uses

The item was received and placed on file. Ms. Monte gave an overview of the changes. The proposed text amendment will update and clarify zoning ordinance provisions for material management and waste related issues. This is a much-needed update and clean up to the Zoning Ordinance. A provision was included to exempt pollution control facilities and new pollution control facilities from county zoning based on Illinois statute provisions. Several definitions were added, and a few were removed. One of the new uses that were added is Food Scrap Composting Facilities. Ms. Monte explained the differences between the two types of facilities and also said that One-Day Compostable Waste Collection Events have been added. Food waste is a huge amount of landfill waste. Construction and Demolition Debris Recycling Facilities are proposed to add to the ordinance as well as additional types of Recycling Centers. It has been several years since this has been looked at and update.

Mr. Stohr asked if rodents and vermin were a problem with these facilities? It is a concern but there are different types of facilities and there is a lot of information on dealing with these problems. But it would need to be taken into consideration.

IX. New Business: Items to be Approved by ELUC

A. R & E License for Troy Feldkamp for Demo Derby at the Champaign County Fairgrounds, 1302 North Coler Avenue, Urbana. 9/23-22 – 9/25/22

It was noted that the Sheriff’s office has signed off on this application.

MOTION by Mr. Esry and seconded by Ms. King to approve the Recreation and Entertainment License for Troy Feldkamp for a Demo Derby. Upon voice vote the MOTION CARRIED unanimously.

B. Proposed Resident Survey

Ms. Monte said that while working on the Solid Waste Management Plan she felt it would be great to get input from residents. It was last done in the ‘80’s or ‘90’s. It’s a straightforward survey and includes timely issues from food scrap recycling to glass recycling. It will be available for 4 to 5 weeks for people to complete. Mr. Stohr encouraged Ms. Monte to work with the cities as they have a good network for getting information out to the citizens to participate in the survey. Ms. King stated she hoped this is used to help attract this type of business to the area, especially food scrap recyclers. Excited to see the results of the survey.

MOTION by Mr. Esry and seconded by Mr. Stohr to approve the proposed survey as presented. Upon voice vote, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously.

C. Central Illinois Land Bank Programming and Project Options Member Questionnaire

Ms. Kloeppel said that this questionnaire was sent to all the partner organization of the Land Bank to see what their interest is and what they should focus on. This is just for this committee to discuss and fill out. It does not need to go beyond this committee. Discussion was held on what items the committee wanted to check and want the Land Bank to focus on in Champaign County. Mr. Esry suggested the vacant land sales and demolitions. Ms. King said the Homeowner Occupied Rehabs should be a priority.

Mr. Stohr asked for more information on the Code Enforcement Technical Assistance. Mr. Hall said that on the survey it says Adopt International Property Maintenance Code, Vacant Building Ordinance and Rental Registration Ordinance. What it doesn’t say is you have to adopt a building code for those to be relevant. Champaign County has never adopted a building code because it is such a big step. There are significant costs involved, would take significant staff time, etc. It’s not easy, simple thing to do. He also asked about Demolitions. Those have all been done by Planning and Zoning. Keeping it in the department is cheaper than pushing it out to CILBA.

MOTION by Mr. Esry and second by Ms. King to answer the survey by checking Demolitions, Homeowner Occupied Rehabs and Vacant Land Sales as programs we are interested in pursuing. Upon voice vote the MOTION CARRIED unanimously.

X. New Business: Items to be Recommended to the County Board

A. Pollution Control Facility Ordinance Update

Ms. Monte said this is the same content as before. There is a strikeout copy posted online. The changes haven’t changed since last month. What you received in the packet are proposed changes made with input by Mr. Stohr. There is one correction on page 7 item g. Mr. Stohr had updated her before the meeting that licensed professional engineer should be licensed professional geologist. She appreciated the input he provided.

Mr. Stohr thanked Ms. Monte for all her work and updating the ordinance. He is still troubled by page 7, Item j about notification of owner’s property within 250 feet of the lot line. This is basically a city block. He feels that should be more than that. On page 11, some of the fees, seem pretty high. Engineering fees and technical assistance are expensive. You pay for that expertise. If the County wants to retain an expert, the amount of application fee on page 12 section C could be used up quickly. $2,500 is not a lot and feels that it too low. A Sanitary Landfill is a multi-million-dollar enterprise. It can cost $4 million to put an earthen cover on a landfill. $4 million dollars; that’s the starting figure. He doesn’t have a proposal to change what these figures are, but they are low by his experience.

On page 19 Section 10 Item A feels that the 10 days is a pretty short time. On Page 20 Section 10 Item H. Sanitary landfills are huge. People are more in tune to the long-term liability and risk to their health. Feels like this item should be removed completely. In Section 11: Fees and Costs item A, feels that the fees in Section 3.3 are low and the $250,000 would not cover the costs and expenses incurred by the County for the application, hearing and siting approval process. Those are some of his concerns.

Mr. Thorsland asked what direction Mr. Stohr would like to go with this. His preference would be not to vote on this tonight and try to make more changes.

Ms. Monte said that this proposed ordinance is based on state statute, and we are not a home-rule county, and some things cannot be changed. Ms. Monte offered to meet with Mr. Stohr and talk about his concerns and this could be brought back next month. Mr. Thorsland asked if there was any impact if this did not go before the full Board this month. There would be no impact.

Mr. Esry commented about the one item, Section 10 Item H, eliminating the reconsidering the decision. If we would eliminate that, what would we put in there. Feels like once a decision is made, we should stick with it. If it was denied they could submit another application and go through the process again. Mr. Stohr didn’t disagree, but his experience has been that almost always something comes up later and it isn’t trivial. Ms. King added that it’s a matter of consistency. These decisions must be made in a consistent manner even If something comes up later.

The consensus of the committee is to defer this to the next meeting. Parts that don’t violate state statute can be looked at and possibly revised.

XI. Other Business

A. Monthly Reports

i. December 2021

The December 2021 report was received and placed on file.

XII. Chair’s Report

There was no Chair’s Report.

XIII. Designation of Items to be Placed on the Consent Agenda

There were no items to place on the Consent Agenda

XIV. Adjournment

Mr. Thorsland adjourned the meeting at 8:17 p.m.

http://www.co.champaign.il.us/CountyBoard/ELUC/2022/220310_Meeting/220310_Minutes.pdf