The Will County Democratic Caucus Committee met Feb. 16 to discuss the future of the electronic recycling program.
Here are the meeting's minutes, as provided by the committee:
WILL COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS
COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
302 N. CHICAGO ST.
1ST FLOOR
JOLIET, IL 60432
FEBRUARY 16, 2017
Treasurer's Office Conference Room Regular Meeting 8:45 AM
Will County, Illinois Posted: 3/16/2017 Page 1
I. CALL TO ORDER / ROLL CALL
Minority Leader Herbert Brooks Jr. called the meeting to order at 8:50 AM
Attendee Name Title Status Arrived
Herbert Brooks Jr. Minority Leader Present
Lauren Staley-Ferry Minority Whip Present
Mark Ferry Member Absent
Kenneth E. Harris Member Late
Tyler Marcum Member Present
Donald A. Moran Member Late
Beth Rice Member Late
Laurie Summers Member Present
Jacqueline Traynere Member Present
Denise E. Winfrey Member Present
Present from State's Attorney Office: K. Meyers.
II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
Mr. Marcum led the Pledge.
Mr. Moran arrived at this juncture.
Mr. Harris arrived at this juncture.
III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1. WC Democratic Caucus - Special Meeting - Jan 8, 2017 6:00 PM
RESULT: APPROVED [8 TO 0]
MOVER: Denise E. Winfrey, Member
SECONDER: Lauren Staley-Ferry, Minority Whip
AYES: Brooks Jr., Staley-Ferry, Harris, Marcum, Moran, Summers, Traynere, Winfrey
ABSENT: Ferry
AWAY: Rice
2. WC Democratic Caucus - Regular Meeting - Jan 19, 2017 8:45 AM
Minutes Will County Democratic Caucus February 16, 2017
Will County, Illinois Posted: 3/16/2017 Page 2
RESULT: APPROVED [8 TO 0]
MOVER: Denise E. Winfrey, Member
SECONDER: Lauren Staley-Ferry, Minority Whip
AYES: Brooks Jr., Staley-Ferry, Harris, Marcum, Moran, Summers, Traynere, Winfrey
ABSENT: Ferry
AWAY: Rice
IV. OLD BUSINESS
V. NEW BUSINESS
1. Discussion of County Board Agenda
Land Use
Mrs. Summers advised she is taking a tour of the Land Use Department after the
board meeting today.
Mr. Palmer stated Land Use invited all the new board members to tour their
facility.
Mrs. Winfrey stated there was the Aquifer presentation.
Mrs. Staley-Ferry stated there was the special use extension for Voleks.
Finance
Mr. Brooks stated there was the usual business. Most of the discussion regarding
the County Board agenda was done at the special caucus meeting on Sunday.
Public Works
Mr. Moran asked why the letting slipped to June on Weber Road.
Mr. Ronaldson replied IDOT has not given an answer to that. They sent a short email
stating it was moved to June.
Mr. Moran asked if they let something else for engineering in the Weber Road
corridor.
Mr. Ronaldson stated they let the Phase III-IV interchange so they are working
towards hiring one. I think it was pushed back to June because of right of way. I
will ask them again and let you know.
Judicial
No Report.
Minutes Will County Democratic Caucus February 16, 2017
Will County, Illinois Posted: 3/16/2017 Page 3
Public Health & Safety
Mrs. Summers stated one of the resolutions is regarding the grant we received
from the federal government for the opioid /heroin epidemic.
Mr. Moran stated as our Narcan supplies expired we were going to upgrade to the
inhaler instead of the shot in the nose.
Mrs. Traynere replied they are doing that but I am not sure if they have completed
it.
A short discussion regarding the changing of how the Narcon is given was held.
Legislative & Policy
Mr. Brooks advised everyone should have the 2017 State Legislative Agenda and
the 2018 Federal Agenda in their packet. We will be voting on this today.
Mrs. Rice arrived at this juncture.
Mr. Brooks stated Brent Hassert reviewed legislative issues. We had a conference
call with Brett Garson who updated the committee on issues in Washington.
Capital
Mrs. Winfrey advised there were updates at the meeting and there were no
issues.
Executive
Mrs. Rice asked about the future of electronic recycling.
Mrs. Keane stated we have had discussions with the manufacturers, the retailers
and the industry representatives for the television and other electronic devices.
We reached some good compromises. We have it all written and at the meeting
last month we got pushed back by industry saying they did not want us to put that
into a bill. Rep. McAsey has put a shell bill forward. Senator Althoff who also has
been involved in all these meetings was supposed to be putting in a mirror shell
bill. She also put an additional bill which says retailers can charge for taking it
back. That was compromise language to allow Best Buy to charge for television
take back which is what they are doing in all the states except Pennsylvania, who
has bans on these things. Pennsylvania and Illinois doesn't allow retailers to
charge, they have to give a coupon. The coupons which have been given out in
DuPage have been bogus. People aren't using them and we want to get rid of the
coupon program. We are still waiting to see what industry wants to put forward.
Minutes Will County Democratic Caucus February 16, 2017
Will County, Illinois Posted: 3/16/2017 Page 4
Mrs. Keane advised everyone at the table has agreed to 2 things; eliminating these
weight goals that we reach and then can't get funding. So we would have a
convenience standard, taking things year round and we have reached an
agreement that the reporting mechanism to the EPA is not working and we want
to clean that up. We want to adopt the reporting mechanism that Wisconsin has
which is much cleaner. The big issue to worry about is in 2018 the goals, if we
don't change anything, it will drop substantially. Right now we are at 50 million
pounds and then we would drop to the 30 million pounds range. That will not be
enough. We need to pass legislation to fix this.
Mrs. Keane stated we did that band aid 2 years ago and everyone agreed it was a
band aid. The EPA came out with a report and asked us to just do a band aid. The
report called for convenience standards. If our goals are around 3.5 pounds per
person per year right now and we had said years ago the goals should be around
6-7 pounds. The best programs in the country are between 5 & 7 pounds per
person. Industry has always pushed saying they won't allow us to raise the goals
that far. If you put a convenience standard in you might get to 6 to 7 pounds per
person.
Replacement Hires
Mr. Brooks advised we have replacements hires on our agenda today.
Mr. Ronaldson stated those are the truck driver positions that have become
vacant by retirement and promotions. They are not new hires. There are 4
positions.
Check Presentation
Mrs. Winfrey stated there is a presentation of a check from Waste Management
today.
Mr. Hoekstra advised we have achieved a non-appealable siting for the latest
Laraway expansion which is 95 acres. This is a first host payment for that
expansion for $650,000.00. This includes a portion which goes to District 8. We are
really excited about that. The next step is to apply for a permit to the IEPA for
development for that expansion and move forward.
VI. OTHER NEW BUSINESS
None.
VII. PUBLIC COMMENT
None.
VIII. EXECUTIVE SESSION
Minutes Will County Democratic Caucus February 16, 2017
Will County, Illinois Posted: 3/16/2017 Page 5
None.
IX. ADJOURNMENT
1. Motion to Adjourn at 9:12 AM
RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Laurie Summers, Member
SECONDER: Donald A. Moran, Member
AYES: Brooks Jr., Staley-Ferry, Harris, Marcum, Moran, Rice, Summers, Traynere,
Winfrey
ABSENT: Ferry
NEXT MEETING - MARCH 16, 2017
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