The Will County Republican Caucus Committee met Feb. 11 to appoint members.
Here are the meeting's minutes, as provided by the committee:
WILL COUNTY REPUBLICAN CAUCUS
COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
11000 W. LINCOLN HIGHWAY
FRANKFORT, IL 60423
FEBRUARY 11, 2017
Frankfort Township Office Special Meeting 8:30 AM
Will County, Illinois Posted: 3/16/2017 Page 1
I. CALL TO ORDER
Majority Leader Charles E. Maher called the meeting to order at 8:45 AM
Attendee Name Title Status Arrived
Charles E. Maher Majority Leader Present
Mike Fricilone Majority Whip Present
Jim Moustis County Board Speaker Present
Steve Balich Member Present
Darren Bennefield Member Present
Gloria Dollinger Member Present
Gretchen Fritz Member Absent
Donald Gould Member Absent
Suzanne Hart Member Absent
Tim Kraulidis Member Absent
Judy Ogalla Member Present
Annette Parker Member Present
Cory Singer Member Present
Ray Tuminello Member Present
Tom Weigel Member Present
Ragan Freitag Absent
Present from State's Attorney's Office: P. Mock.
II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
Mrs. Dollinger led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
IV. OLD BUSINESS
V. NEW BUSINESS
1. Discussion Re: Forest Preserve
Members discussed invasive species and controlled burns at the Forest Preserves.
Mr. Tuminello stated the fuel contract was approved at our last meeting. We are
going to start discussing the health insurance for next year and adjustments the
percentage paid by employees.
Minutes Will County Republican Caucus February 11, 2017
Will County, Illinois Posted: 3/16/2017 Page 2
A discussion took place regarding proposed changes in the healthcare plan at the
Forest Preserve. Discussion included the premiums paid by the private sector
versus Forest Preserve employees; plan design to limit costs and HSA accounts.
2. Proclamations
Discussion took place regarding the criteria for Proclamations and which should be
read at the desk versus from the podium.
Mr. Maher asked staff to create a form for requesting a Proclamation. Information
must be in writing and would include whether it could be a Proclamation from the
district, read fully at the podium or a simple acknowledgment from the desk.
Those being read from the desk, should be part of the final comments by the
majority and minority leader and not done as a part of the Board meeting.
Mr. Fricilone suggested stricter guidelines for Proclamations. Our District has had
a number of Eagle Scout requests. We take the Proclamation to their Court of
Honor. We need to look at others that are similar. Can the Board Members
present some of these Proclamations locally?
Mr. Moustis suggested have more certificates of appreciation versus formal
Proclamations.
Mr. Maher stated one thing I will not continue to do are Proclamations that repeat
every year. Examples were given.
Discussion of what would be worthy of a Proclamation took place.
Mr. Weigel suggested certificates and Proclamations not be read, but placed on
file as other reports are done monthly.
3. Appointments
Mr. Maher reviewed the monthly Appointment.
Discussion of possible adding a third County Board Member to the Health Board
took place.
Mr. Maher asked that the Health Board appointments and terms be sent to the
Caucus Members.
4. Discussion of County Board Agenda
Land Use & Development Committee:
Mr. Weigel reviewed the Resolution.
Mr. Moustis stated we have a situation where staff decided what qualified as a
home based business based on their interpretation. Something does not seem
right to me and I have asked Mr. Mock to look at this. If our Ordinance is that
vague; you can put anything there.
Minutes Will County Republican Caucus February 11, 2017
Will County, Illinois Posted: 3/16/2017 Page 3
Mr. Mock stated the Ordinance if vague. I will make some recommendations.
Generally, our Ordinances say a use is not allowed unless it is specifically
mentioned. The Home Occupation Ordinance does not. Businesses such as an
attorney, accountant or a beauty salon will not have a lot of traffic; but the
Ordinance reads you could have a business with a lot of car traffic or an industrial
business. You could amend the Ordinance to limit a home business; not just
limiting the vehicles parked there, but limiting the number for your entire home
business. When you grow and exceed the listed number, then your home business
is too big to be a defined as a home business. There are other ways to limit them.
Discussion of the number of vehicles allowed to be parked at a home business
took place.
Mr. Moustis asked do we issue a license for a home business or do we just allow
them?
Mr. Mock replied the County does not have a licensing process and I have not
research to find out if it is within our authority.
Mr. Maher stated we need to revisit the size of buildings we are allowing on half
acres lots within a residential subdivision.
Mr. Weigel stated when this gentleman decided to build this building he told
people it was storage for his antique cars. He never said anything about using the
building for a business. He is exceeding the lot coverage because his garage and
shed are illegal. Those should have been taken down before he put up the
building. He is not in compliance. According to Mr. Paddock he has a plan and he
will eventually finish is garage, put in an office and he will take down the shed.
That could be a year or more; and during that time he is out of compliance.
Mr. Moustis stated I have learned that you cannot allow Mr. Paddock a lot of
discretion. He will interpret the way he wants and he will tell you that he does not
have to come to you, that he can make all the decisions. If he doesn't like
something like antique guns then you can't have them; but if you want a
construction yard in a residential neighborhood he will allow that. Regardless of
this situation, this has to be tightened up. We need to narrowly define a home
occupation and then allow some hearing or variance for anything outside of that.
Mr. Mock added you can list all these home occupations and then everything else
will need a SUP.
Mr. Maher stated this was not originally a home business. He applied for permits
to park antique cars and that is how he got around the Ordinance. We need to
revisit our Ordinance and bring more things to the Land Use Committee to decide.
Minutes Will County Republican Caucus February 11, 2017
Will County, Illinois Posted: 3/16/2017 Page 4
This will allow the citizens to have a voice and Mr. Paddock is not the one making
the final decisions. That is a problem.
Mr. Singer stated the Land Use staff has their own ideas and their own policies.
The last thing this office thinks about is service to the residents of Will County.
Within the Land Use Ordinances there are a number of things that needs a person
with a legal and policy related background to understand. I would suggest that the
County Board hire someone to tell us what our code says. We won't be able to
trust the staff to tell us what is in there.
Mr. Moustis stated we are talking about policy not building code. We need to
understand what we have in our Ordinance. If we were to change and more
narrowly define a home business does that means everyone would fall into the
new Ordinance and they would not be grandfathered because we never gave
them permission.
Mr. Mock replied if they had a preexisting use and you change the Ordinance; they
are allowed to go forward. That is a property right you cannot take away from
them without compensation. You can only correct the new ones going forward.
Discussion of what constitutes when a business started took place.
Mr. Weigel stated the Land Use Department is hiring a consultation to update the
Ordinances. Mr. Dubois has a list of items and the Home Occupation Ordinance
could be added to the list.
Mr. Maher asked who is hiring the consultant?
Mr. Weigel responded Mrs. Ogalla and I were at a meeting last week to screen the
consultants. They did the update four years ago, so they are familiar with our
Ordinance.
Mr. Moustis stated normally the only interaction a consultant will have is with the
staff. We should have someone as part of that working group going through the
Ordinances.
Mrs. Ogalla added Mr. Lazzara invited both Mr. Weigel and I to attend and we
intend to be part of it.
Mr. Moustis stated you need to be informed of every meeting. You should also tell
them minutes should be kept of every meeting, including staff meetings and be
forwarded to you. I believe they should be real minutes that are taped and typed
verbatim. Without solid minutes there is finger pointing. I would tell the
consultant they are to keep minutes of every meeting as part of the record and
part of their duties. They have to keep an official record.
Minutes Will County Republican Caucus February 11, 2017
Will County, Illinois Posted: 3/16/2017 Page 5
Mr. Weigel stated the Farm Bureau will be part of the discussion; so I believe
there will be minutes.
Mr. Moustis stated we have not had a subdivision engineer for many years. We
had a contracted subdivision engineer and because you need someone to sign off
on the plats Mr. Sheldon Latz took it over on a temporary basis. Temporary went
through Mr. Bruce Gould. Mr. Ronaldson does not want to be the subdivision
engineer; he and his engineers are not qualified to sign off on subdivisions plats
dealing with stormwater and other issues not related to roads. Mr. Ronaldson told
the Executive's Office and myself that he prefers the Highway Department no
longer act as the subdivision engineer. I spoke with Mrs. Johannsen and we did
budget for a civil engineer in Land Use or a consulting engineer. We are holding
the funds, but it was built into the budget. I think they do need their own
subdivision engineer. It is not a good practice to have the County Engineer look at
plats. We could hire a civil engineer or hire a consultant. Mr. Ronaldson will do
this until someone is hired.
Mr. Weigel stated we do have a consulting engineer, Scott Killinger, from Baxter
and Woodman. He can sign off on plats. He comes to the Stormwater meetings
and could come to the Land Use meetings. He was hired to do anything Land Use
needs him to do.
Mr. Tuminello stated during the past two years there has not been a subdivision
approved. I think using a consultant would save the County a considerable amount
of money versus hiring a full time engineer. Is the County Engineer required to
sign on all subdivision plats?
Mr. Moustis stated the County Engineer signs off on the roads.
Mr. Mock stated Mr. Bruce Gould had been specifically designated as the
Subdivision Engineer. You will need the Land Use Committee to bring forth a
Resolution designating the company to be the County's Subdivision Engineer.
Finance Committee:
Mr. Fricilone reviewed the Resolutions.
Mr. Fricilone stated I had a conversation with Representative Batinick and there
are budget talks going on. He asked me about what our LD funds are planned for
this year. We budgeted $11.9 million in LD funds from the State. We may lose
some of that money.
Mr. Balich stated Mr. Batinick would like to eliminate all the local distribution
funds completely. I told him we depend on that money. He wants to eliminate it.
Minutes Will County Republican Caucus February 11, 2017
Will County, Illinois Posted: 3/16/2017 Page 6
Mr. Moustis stated Springfield thinks local government is wasteful, are not
efficient enough and they should be able to take the money away. They are talking
mostly about municipalities. Fire Districts are a perfect example of units of
government that don't work together. There are three fire protection districts in
Frankfort Township.
Public Works & Transportation Committee:
Mr. Balich reviewed the Resolutions.
Judicial Committee:
Mr. Moustis stated we still have an issue of getting the mentally ill from our jails
and reducing jail times. There is legislation to get rid of the cash bonding process
and non-violent people will get out on their own recognizance.
Mr. Mock stated that will cost us millions of dollars. Bond is used to pay the fees
and fines. If there is no bond posted we will never get the fees.
Mr. Moustis asked is it more efficient to keep someone in our jail for weeks
because they cannot come up with the bond money?
Mr. Mock continued in Will County people can usually come up with the money. It
is Cook County that has the problem. I would bet 95% of the people we charge
make bail or the judges reduce the bail. If they eliminate cash bails we can have all
the fines and costs imposed; we will not collect.
Mr. Moustis stated they are looking at options because it is costly to keep
someone in jail.
Public Health & Safety Committee:
Mrs. Ogalla reviewed the Resolutions.
Legislative & Policy Committee:
Mr. Tuminello stated the deadline for filing shell bills has passed and quite a few
were filed just to save space. Mrs. Hart was following several including the ground
water monitoring.
Mr. Moustis added the Executive Branch has also take up the ground water
monitoring.
Mr. Fricilone stated we will be approving the State and Federal Agendas.
Mr. Balich stated the Open Meetings Act was changed. When you go into
Executive Session you no longer have to state a reason and you can vote.
Mr. Bennefield asked can we limit the number of people who speak during the
Minutes Will County Republican Caucus February 11, 2017
Will County, Illinois Posted: 3/16/2017 Page 7
Public Comment portion of the agenda? After the first six people; the same thing
is said by everyone else.
Mr. Moustis stated you cannot stop people from speaking.
Mrs. Ogalla stated my District is always bombarded with projects. People there get
upset they are not heard by anybody. If 100 people want to come; that will press
the issue for you to understand the importance of this on their lives and get you to
help them mitigate some of the problems. My constituents need to be heard and
they have the right to be heard. If their elected officials don't stand up for them;
they have no one to help them.
A discussion took place regarding the number of people being allowed to speak at
a meeting.
Mrs. Ogalla stated people don't trust government, because they feel they do not
have a voice. Things happen in the municipality that impacts the unincorporated
areas, but they cannot vote at the municipal level. This gives them the opportunity
to talk to their County Board Members.
Mrs. Ogalla gave an update on the CSX meeting. There were over 100 people
there. CSX had a number of people there to answer questions. They have no plans
yet. The meeting was held earlier than normal because of the activity going on in
Crete. Some residents asked CSX to come to their homes to see the impact. CSX
has agreed to meet them at their homes.
Mr. Singer left at this juncture.
Mr. Tuminello explained how EJ&E helped New Lenox residents with upgrades
when they expanded.
Mrs. Ogalla continued I was at the CSX tour in Ohio which will be similar to the
Crete project; using electric versus diesel cranes. CSX told us they are going to
build for 500,000 lifts per year with growth expected to 1 million lifts per year.
They expect 700 to 1,000 trucks per day. The issue is roads; 394 is not a highway
and Route 1 is a two lane road going through a number of towns.
Mr. Moustis stated this was part of the discussion at the Freight Study about how
do you connect the eastern end of the county as it develops to the entire highway
system.
Discussion of the Freight Study meeting and possible routes to Indiana took place.
Mr. Moustis stated we need to insure that the Freight Study includes the eastern
end of the County. We need to stress this development is coming. I was surprised
Minutes Will County Republican Caucus February 11, 2017
Will County, Illinois Posted: 3/16/2017 Page 8
the handouts did not include all the facilities and roads. I am going to talk with Ms.
Ann Schneider and ask her why they did not have this information.
Mrs. Ogalla stated she had pictures of the facility if anyone is interested in seeing
them.
Capital Improvements Committee: No discussion
Executive Committee:
Mr. Weigel asked can we continue to use our personal e-mail?
Mr. Moustis stated I have had discussions with the State's Attorney's Office; and
my recommendation is that every Board Member should use their County e-mail
for County business. The public is questioning Mr. Balich's use of his personal email
address for County business. They want access to his private e-mail account. I
am going to direct you to use your County e-mail for County business. I have not
asked for an opinion from the State's Attorney; but I would appreciate your
recommendation and best practice.
Mr. Mock responded this is important, because it will keep people for getting
access to your personal e-mails.
Mr. Moustis asked Mr. Mock to provide something in writing that can be sent to
all County Board Members.
Mr. Mock added I would like to have something set to all the County employees.
A discussion took place regarding how the law affects the devices used for
opening e-mails.
VI. COMMITTEE REPORTS
1. Land Use & Development
2. Finance
3. Public Works & Transportation
4. Judicial
5. Public Health & Safety
6. Legislative & Policy
7. Capital Improvements
8. Executive
VII. OTHER NEW BUSINESS
Minutes Will County Republican Caucus February 11, 2017
Will County, Illinois Posted: 3/16/2017 Page 9
Mr. Maher recapped the Economic and Development Committee meeting and read the
attached mission statement. I believe our Committee will provide opportunities for
people to come and talk about things going on in the County impacting business. We will
then bring that to the Committee that would oversee that area. I would like to solicit
agenda items from this Caucus about what you would like to see us review from an
economic development perspective. The Joliet and Will County Tourism Bureau has
approached the Executive's Office about doing projects related to Route 66. We will
bring it for discussion and see what dollars they are putting in and if or how we would
get involved. This is an opportunity for us to discuss tourism in Will County.
Mrs. Ogalla stated I would like to know how everyone works on different issues in their
own District that never come to the County Board. What do you do in your District with
your constituents that might be different than my District and how could I learn from
that? How could I let you know what is impacting my District that could possibly impact
your District.
Mr. Moustis stated what is happening in your District happened in my District 25 years
ago. You have to stay involved and make sure the positions of your constituents are
being heard.
VIII. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT / ANNOUNCEMENTS
IX. PUBLIC COMMENTS
X. ADJOURNMENT
1. Motion to Adjourn at 10:30 AM
RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Mike Fricilone, Majority Whip
SECONDER: Jim Moustis, County Board Speaker
AYES: Maher, Fricilone, Moustis, Balich, Bennefield, Dollinger, Ogalla, Parker,
Tuminello, Weigel
ABSENT: Fritz, Gould, Hart, Kraulidis
LEFT MEETING: Singer
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