Will County Board Met Dec. 22.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
I. CALL TO ORDER
Executive Bertino-Tarrant called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m.
II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
III. ROLL CALL
| Attendee Name | Title | Status | Arrived |
| Sherry Newquist | District 1 (D - Steger) | Present | |
| Judy Ogalla | District 1 (R - Monee) | Present | |
| Amanda Koch | District 2 (D - Frankfort) | Absent | |
| Jim Moustis | District 2 (R - Frankfort) | Present | |
| Raquel M. Mitchell | District 3 (R - Bolingbrook) | Present | |
| Margaret Tyson | District 3 (D - Bolingbrook) | Present | |
| Kenneth E. Harris | District 4 (D - Bolingbrook) | Present | |
| Jacqueline Traynere | District 4 (D - Bolingbrook) | Late | |
| Gretchen Fritz | District 5 (R - Plainfield) | Absent | |
| Meta Mueller | District 5 (D - Aurora) | Present | |
| Donald Gould | District 6 (R - Shorewood) | Absent | |
| Joe VanDuyne | District 6 (D - Wilmington) | Absent | |
| Steve Balich | District 7 (R - Homer Glen) | Present | |
| Mike Fricilone | District 7 (R - Homer Glen) | Present | |
| Herbert Brooks Jr. | District 8 (D - Joliet) | Present | |
| Denise E. Winfrey | District 8 (D - Joliet) | Present | |
| Annette Parker | District 9 (R - Crest Hill) | Present | |
| Rachel Ventura | District 9 (D - Joliet) | Present | |
| Natalie Coleman | District 10 (D - Plainfield) | Present | |
| Tyler Marcum | District 10 (D - Joliet) | Present | |
| Julie Berkowicz | District 11 (R - Naperville) | Present | |
| Mimi Cowan | Speaker, District 11 (D - Naperville) | Present | |
| Frankie Pretzel | District 12 (R - New Lenox) | Present | |
| Tom Weigel | District 12 (R - New Lenox) | Present | |
| Mica Freeman | District 13 (D - Plainfield) | Present | |
| Debbie Kraulidis | District 13 (R - Joliet) | Present |
V. MOTION TO PLACE ON FILE CERTIFICATE OF PUBLICATION
RESULT: APPROVED [21 TO 0]
MOVER: Mike Fricilone, District 7 (R - Homer Glen)
SECONDER: Meta Mueller, District 5 (D - Aurora)
AYES: Newquist, Ogalla, Moustis, Mitchell, Tyson, Harris, Mueller, Balich, Fricilone, Brooks Jr., Winfrey, Parker, Ventura, Coleman, Marcum, Berkowicz, Cowan,
Pretzel, Weigel, Freeman, Kraulidis
ABSENT: Koch, Fritz, Gould, VanDuyne
AWAY: Traynere
PUBLIC COMMENT FOR AGENDA ITEMS ONLY
Ms. Beth Adams stated I have no requests for public comment.
VII. OLD BUSINESS
Motion to Remove 20-509 from the Table
RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Mike Fricilone, District 7 (R - Homer Glen)
SECONDER: Meta Mueller, District 5 (D - Aurora)
AYES: Newquist, Ogalla, Moustis, Mitchell, Tyson, Harris, Traynere, Mueller, Balich, Fricilone, Brooks Jr., Winfrey, Parker, Ventura, Coleman, Marcum, Berkowicz, Cowan, Pretzel, Weigel, Freeman, Kraulidis
ABSENT: Koch, Fritz, Gould, VanDuyne
1. 20-509 Authorizing Letter of Intent Setting Forth the Essential Terms for Amendments to the Host Agreement with Waste Management - Tabled at December 17, 2020 County Board Meeting
RESULT: WITHDRAWN [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Mike Fricilone, District 7 (R - Homer Glen)
SECONDER: Meta Mueller, District 5 (D - Aurora)
AYES: Newquist, Ogalla, Moustis, Mitchell, Tyson, Harris, Traynere, Mueller, Balich, Fricilone, Brooks Jr., Winfrey, Parker, Ventura, Coleman, Marcum, Berkowicz, Cowan, Pretzel, Weigel, Freeman, Kraulidis
ABSENT: Koch, Fritz, Gould, VanDuyne
Motion to Remove 20-510 from the Table
RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Mimi Cowan, Speaker, District 11 (D - Naperville)
SECONDER: Mike Fricilone, District 7 (R - Homer Glen)
AYES: Newquist, Ogalla, Moustis, Mitchell, Tyson, Harris, Traynere, Mueller, Balich, Fricilone, Brooks Jr., Winfrey, Parker, Ventura, Coleman, Marcum, Berkowicz, Cowan, Pretzel, Weigel, Freeman, Kraulidis
ABSENT: Koch, Fritz, Gould, VanDuyne
2. 20-510 Authorizing Natural Gas Purchase and Sale Agreement with U. S. Venture - Tabled at December 17, 2020 County Board Meeting
RESULT: WITHDRAWN [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Mimi Cowan, Speaker, District 11 (D - Naperville)
SECONDER: Steve Balich, District 7 (R - Homer Glen)
AYES: Newquist, Ogalla, Moustis, Mitchell, Tyson, Harris, Traynere, Mueller, Balich, Fricilone, Brooks Jr., Winfrey, Parker, Ventura, Coleman, Marcum, Berkowicz, Cowan, Pretzel, Weigel, Freeman, Kraulidis
ABSENT: Koch, Fritz, Gould, VanDuyne
Motion to Remove 20-511 from the Table
RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Mimi Cowan, Speaker, District 11 (D - Naperville)
SECONDER: Mike Fricilone, District 7 (R - Homer Glen)
AYES: Newquist, Ogalla, Moustis, Mitchell, Tyson, Harris, Traynere, Mueller, Balich, Fricilone, Brooks Jr., Winfrey, Parker, Ventura, Coleman, Marcum, Berkowicz, Cowan, Pretzel, Weigel, Freeman, Kraulidis
ABSENT: Koch, Fritz, Gould, VanDuyne
3. 20-511 Authorizing Agreement with SCS Energy for the Design-Build Services for the Prairie View Landfill Gas Upgrading System - Tabled at December 17, 2020 County Board Meeting
RESULT: WITHDRAWN [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Mimi Cowan, Speaker, District 11 (D - Naperville)
SECONDER: Mike Fricilone, District 7 (R - Homer Glen)
AYES: Newquist, Ogalla, Moustis, Mitchell, Tyson, Harris, Traynere, Mueller, Balich, Fricilone, Brooks Jr., Winfrey, Parker, Ventura, Coleman, Marcum, Berkowicz, Cowan, Pretzel, Weigel, Freeman, Kraulidis
ABSENT: Koch, Fritz, Gould, VanDuyne
VIII. NEW BUSINESS
1. PUBLIC HEARING Re: Revision to Section 114.015 of the Food Establishment Sanitation Ordinance Re: Penalty Fee Change
Ms. Beth Adams stated I have no public comments.
RESULT: OPENED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Mimi Cowan, Speaker, District 11 (D - Naperville)
SECONDER: Mike Fricilone, District 7 (R - Homer Glen)
AYES: Newquist, Ogalla, Moustis, Mitchell, Tyson, Harris, Traynere, Mueller, Balich, Fricilone, Brooks Jr., Winfrey, Parker, Ventura, Coleman, Marcum, Berkowicz, Cowan, Pretzel, Weigel, Freeman, Kraulidis
ABSENT: Koch, Fritz, Gould, VanDuyne
Motion to Close Public Hearing
RESULT: APPROVED [21 TO 0]
MOVER: Mike Fricilone, District 7 (R - Homer Glen)
SECONDER: Rachel Ventura, District 9 (D - Joliet)
AYES: Newquist, Ogalla, Moustis, Mitchell, Tyson, Harris, Traynere, Mueller, Balich, Fricilone, Winfrey, Parker, Ventura, Coleman, Marcum, Berkowicz, Cowan,
Pretzel, Weigel, Freeman, Kraulidis
ABSENT: Koch, Fritz, Gould, VanDuyne
AWAY: Brooks Jr.
2. 20-519 Amending Section 114.015 of the Food Establishment Sanitation Ordinance Re: Penalty Fee Change
Ms. Susan Olenek stated first of all, I would like to thank the County Board staff and the County Board Speaker, Member Cowan for having this special meeting. I realize there are other things on the agenda, but in terms of time, it’s kind of running out on us. I do appreciate you making the moves to have this special meeting. I think (inaudible) it’s important for the community and the economics of (inaudible). I also have on the call, Mr. Tom Casey, who is our Director of Environmental Health. If there’s anything in addition to what I am going to say, certainly I’ll ask him to chime in and then of course, if you have questions. Mr. Tom Casey and I were speaking about the collection of our (inaudible). For our Environmental Health division, the division who goes out and does the food inspection, among other things, this is one of their largest sources of revenue for every fiscal year. As a matter of fact, fiscal year 2021, we budgeted about one million dollars in this line item, so we’re talking about a considerable amount of revenue. We’re trying to make the end of 2020 a little bit less stressful for our food establishment operators. Anyone who would be operating a food service establishment in Will County, through COVID-19, they have had a lot of challenges. I don’t need to go into detail, I know probably many of your constituents have reached out to you and you know the situation. We wanted to do what we could on our part to lessen the burden and make things a little bit easier for 2021. Our food establishment ordinance…we have been collecting fees for a couple of decades now. Part of the fee structure…we have penalties that we would assess after the due date. We have done this for years, it’s in our ordinance. This year we wanted to relax that a bit and we wanted to give the food operators some additional time to pay their fees. Of course we’re not asking them to all wait until the last minute to pay their fee, and if they can afford it (inaudible) pay it. If, in fact, they were struggling and having some difficulty, we want to provide them with some relief here. What we’re proposing in this ordinance, the change, and it’s just for this calendar year, for 2021, that’s the verbiage the State’s Attorney and we worked out. Anyone who is late in paying their permit fee for 2021, we are going to waive any penalty fees until March 1. We want to assess any penalty fees for those operating and have paid until after March 1. Additionally, if an establishment is not operating, typically we are operating this year, but maybe for financial reasons or staffing reasons they are not operating, we are not going to require that they pay until just prior to operating. So, we don’t want food services operating without a permit, but at the same time, if they’re not operating, why make them pay until they need to operate? I think that’s it in a nutshell. Mr. Tom Casey, would you like to add?
Mr. Tom Casey stated no you covered it very well Ms. Susan Olenek. I think the staff, as a whole, especially all the COVID-19 related complaints we received this year, we think it’s a good gesture. A lot of times the restaurant operators aren’t so happy to see us walk in the front door but there are a lot of penalties that occur at midnight on December 31, which we’ve been dealing with, like Ms. Susan Olenek said for a couple of decades, I think it’s a symbol of good nature to grant this. We’ve had several calls. A lot of people are unsure if they’re going to open this coming year. They want to see how things go at the beginning of the year to see if they’re even going to attempt to open in 2021. Those people would definitely not be hit with a fee like normally they would have unless it’s a seasonal facility. As Ms. Susan Olenek said, the ones that are operating from January 1 on, they’re obviously working and generating an income and those are the ones that we would pursue and try to work with them and (inaudible) the bigger fee. To this point, we are getting really close to about $700,000 collected already of that million that was billed already for 2021, so a lot of people are feeling optimistic and already are well in advance of paying their fees. We do curtesy phone calls three times during the month of December before the deadline and it’s just kind of a friendly reminder that we took out the whole terminology of (inaudible) from the standard phone calls just to let people know that your bill is coming up and by December 31. If this passes with the Board, I will grant them (inaudible) until March 1 if they’re not open.
RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Mike Fricilone, District 7 (R - Homer Glen)
SECONDER: Rachel Ventura, District 9 (D - Joliet)
AYES: Newquist, Ogalla, Moustis, Mitchell, Tyson, Harris, Traynere, Mueller, Balich, Fricilone, Brooks Jr., Winfrey, Parker, Ventura, Coleman, Marcum, Berkowicz, Cowan, Pretzel, Weigel, Freeman, Kraulidis
ABSENT: Koch, Fritz, Gould, VanDuyne
3. PUBLIC HEARING Re: Amending Section 110.019 of the Liquor Control Ordinance, Prerequisites for Issuance Re: Penalty Fee Change
Ms. Beth Adams stated we have no comments from the public.
RESULT: OPENED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Meta Mueller, District 5 (D - Aurora)
SECONDER: Rachel Ventura, District 9 (D - Joliet)
AYES: Newquist, Ogalla, Moustis, Mitchell, Tyson, Harris, Traynere, Mueller, Balich, Fricilone, Brooks Jr., Winfrey, Parker, Ventura, Coleman, Marcum, Berkowicz, Cowan, Pretzel, Weigel, Freeman, Kraulidis
ABSENT: Koch, Fritz, Gould, VanDuyne
Motion to Close Public Hearing
RESULT: APPROVED [21 TO 0]
MOVER: Mike Fricilone, District 7 (R - Homer Glen)
SECONDER: Mimi Cowan, Speaker, District 11 (D - Naperville)
AYES: Newquist, Ogalla, Moustis, Mitchell, Tyson, Harris, Traynere, Mueller, Balich, Fricilone, Winfrey, Parker, Ventura, Coleman, Marcum, Berkowicz, Cowan,
Pretzel, Weigel, Freeman, Kraulidis
ABSENT: Koch, Fritz, Gould, VanDuyne
AWAY: Brooks Jr.
4. 20-520 Amending Will County Code of Ordinances, Chapter 110 Alcoholic Beverages (Liquor Control Ordinance) Re: Extension of Time to Renew License Due to COVID-19 Pandemic
Counselor Mahoney stated these amendments are like the amendments to the Food Establishment Sanitation ordinance that the Board just approved for intending to provide some relief to bar and restaurant owners during the pandemic. The amendment extends the deadline for paying the liquor license fee to March 1, 2021 for the first payment, and if they opt to do a second payment, they also get an extension until September 1, 2021. This is a one-time extension and it will not impact any subsequent years.
Member Moustis stated unlike the food license, the liquor licenses are slightly different. So are we going to (inaudible) the license? The reason I’m asking, even though they don’t have to renew their state license until June, they need a local license to get a liquor license. I’m just wondering the procedures. I don’t think we can just extend their current license (inaudible) if they can’t pay right now then we collect later. I would just like to know the procedure. Do we intend on giving them a new license?
Counselor Mahoney stated we do intend on giving them a new license.
RESULT: APPROVED [21 TO 0]
MOVER: Rachel Ventura, District 9 (D - Joliet)
SECONDER: Margaret Tyson, District 3 (D - Bolingbrook)
AYES: Newquist, Ogalla, Moustis, Mitchell, Tyson, Harris, Traynere, Mueller, Balich, Fricilone, Winfrey, Parker, Ventura, Coleman, Marcum, Berkowicz, Cowan,
Pretzel, Weigel, Freeman, Kraulidis
ABSENT: Koch, Fritz, Gould, VanDuyne
AWAY: Brooks Jr.
IX. PUBLIC COMMENT RELEVANT TO MATTERS UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF THE COUNTY
X. EXECUTIVE SESSION
XI. ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE COUNTY BOARD SPEAKER, MAJORITY LEADER AND MINORITY LEADER
Member Fricilone stated I do have a comment and this is to Member Cowan. I know we can’t talk about the first three things. I believe we will need an Executive Session or something. In leadership, when we get this squared away, we can come back to a meeting like this (inaudible). Unfortunately, because all the things that are happening, people are getting confused on what we’re actually doing in caucuses asking a lot of questions right now. I don’t know what kind of meeting we want to schedule, if it’s going to be another Committee of the Whole or something, but I do think we need to really lay out for everybody what we’re doing on these first three items. What the pitfalls have been, even if they’re squared away after our next leadership meeting. I think everybody needs to get a real good sense of everything that’s been happening on this. Unfortunately, they are privy to the leadership meetings, so I don’t know how we want to do that but what I don’t want us to do is leadership resolve these issues and just come back to a special meeting and say, “Okay, we’re going to vote on this now.” Because I know people are going to say, “Even though you’re telling me now what’s going on, I want to think about this before I vote.” I don’t know how we want that to happen. Finally, hopefully this is our last meeting for year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everybody. Thanks.
Member Moustis stated I’m going to go along with Member Fricilone. First, I want to say this, I might be the old man around here, but I was there when we negotiated it (inaudible) negotiated the original agreement with Waste Management. I will tell you that when I hear different things and different issues that Waste Management brings up and Mr. Chuck Helston brings up, that was not what happened. I’m going to suggest that before we have another leadership meeting, that we do have a call. Let’s have a real discussion of what our agreement is. By the way, all members, get the Host Agreement and read it. Mr. Dean Olson should send that agreement out to everybody. You may not understand it all, but you’ll have some kind of reference of what we’re talking about. Quite honestly, I don’t think that leadership should have one more meeting until we meet as a whole. That includes Executive Bertino-Tarrant. In this particular round, for many different reasons, the way we’re negotiating, is not the way we negotiated in the past. We had face-to-face meetings with Waste Management. Whether it was leadership, or there was a negotiating team, we didn’t have our attorney negotiating and coming back and telling us here’s what they said or here’s what we said. There’s a lot of things I’d like to get off my chest about this whole process. Let me point out one other thing. This agreement ends in 2027. We should not be selling our soul to get additional gas six years or five years or four years early, and then having a long-term bad deal. Let’s not be over-anxious. I said at the last meeting I thought that everything that was in an agreement met our goals. It turns out the little bit I know about it, it doesn’t meet our goals. Everything kind of shifts around a little bit. I think we need a Board, and Executive Bertino-Tarrant, you’re new here also. You need to get some background on this. Let’s not be over-anxious. We know (inaudible) go forward with our gas energy plan. It may not be at full production as soon as we want it, but that’s only a few years down the road. I guess I just want to say everybody educate themselves as much as they can and perhaps leadership should not have any more meetings until maybe there’s some direction that the Board would like to give the leadership. Thanks.
Executive Bertino-Tarrant stated thank you for your input.
Member Traynere stated I would like to second that idea of getting a copy of that Waste Management Host Agreement. I’ve never seen it. I’ve been on the Board for 12 years and I don’t know if it was ever attached to an agenda, but I would be interested in reading it. Just curious, that’s all. Thank you.
Executive Bertino-Tarrant stated thank you for your input.
XII. ADJOURNMENT
http://willcountyil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=12&ID=3937&Inline=True
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