Will County Executive Committee Met April 8.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
I. CALL TO ORDER
II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
Ms. Tyson lead the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
III. ROLL CALL
Chair Mimi Cowan called the meeting to order at 11:34 AM
| Attendee Name | Title | Status | Arrived |
| Mimi Cowan | Chair | Present | |
| Meta Mueller | Vice Chair | Present | |
| Herbert Brooks Jr. | Member | Present | |
| Mike Fricilone | Member | Present | |
| Kenneth E. Harris | Member | Present | |
| Tyler Marcum | Member | Present | |
| Jim Moustis | Member | Present | |
| Judy Ogalla | Member | Present | |
| Annette Parker | Member | Present | |
| Margaret Tyson | Member | Present | |
| Joe VanDuyne | Member | Present | |
| Rachel Ventura | Member | Present | |
| Denise E. Winfrey | Member | Present |
Present from the State's Attorney's Office: M. Tatroe and K. Meyers.
IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1. WC Executive Committee - Special - Mar 15, 2021 10:30 AM
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Meta Mueller, Vice Chair SECONDER: Herbert Brooks Jr., Member AYES: Cowan, Mueller, Brooks Jr., Fricilone, Harris, Marcum, Moustis, Ogalla, Parker, Tyson, VanDuyne, Ventura, Winfrey |
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Mike Fricilone, Member SECONDER: Herbert Brooks Jr., Member AYES: Cowan, Mueller, Brooks Jr., Fricilone, Harris, Marcum, Moustis, Ogalla, Parker, Tyson, VanDuyne, Ventura, Winfrey |
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Mike Fricilone, Member SECONDER: Meta Mueller, Vice Chair AYES: Cowan, Mueller, Brooks Jr., Fricilone, Harris, Marcum, Moustis, Ogalla, Parker, Tyson, VanDuyne, Ventura, Winfrey |
1. COVID-19 Vaccine Call Center Update
(Health Dept/ Executive's Office)
Mr. Schaben stated the call center has removed a major hurdle for residents to access information from the Health Department and schedule vaccine appointments. The call center fields incoming calls and makes outbound calls for scheduling purposes. The incoming calls include general questions about the vaccines and requests for assistance in scheduling. The outbound call are made at the direction of the Health Department for scheduling vaccines. Outbound calls are focusing on those in Phase 1b who signed up on the registration page, as well as identified groups in Phase 1b. In March, the call center handled 21,175 calls; 19,946 were answered immediately or received a call back. There were 17,635 calls answered in under 60 seconds, which means people were on hold for under a minute, if at all. That comes out to about 1,200 calls per day. The numbers fluctuate based on a lot of external factors. Updates from the State or the Federal Government leads to an increase in calls as well as e-mail notifications from the Health Department. It is fairly stable at about 1,200 calls per day, but it does fluctuate based on what is happening externally. Those numbers do not reflect call backs. As folks call into the call center they have two options; they can wait on hold, if they are not answered immediately, or they can put in their phone number to receive a call back. There were 5,555 call backs made in March from the hotline and the scheduling number. The average time spent with someone on the phone is six minutes and 50 seconds; just under seven minutes. We are averaging 28 reps per day and 11 of those reps are bilingual. The call center will continue to assist residents with scheduling, even as the County moves to the EM Track on-line scheduling tool. The call center reps have been trained on that system and will assist residents who have trouble with the scheduling tool.
Speaker Cowan stated I want to thank the Executive's Office and the Health Department for getting this call center up and running. I am glad we did it when we did and not a second later, because 1,200 calls per day, on average, is too much for a regular phone to handle. We want to thank the Executive's Office for the continued management of the call center and that process.
2. COVID-19 Vaccine Communications Update
(Health Dept/Mitch Schaben)
Mr. Schaben stated I am going to go through three pillars the communications firm has been focused on. They have overhauled the website. If you have not had a chance to look at it, I would encourage you to do so. The changes have made it easier for residents to find information related to COVID-19 as well as scheduling for the vaccine. Again, I encourage you to visit it; it has a wealth of information and it makes it much easier to find the locations of where vaccines are taking place. The second thing they have been focusing on is proactive communication. The Health Department is now sending out weekly updates to residents who signed up on the site’s registration form. The updates point the reader to the Health Department’s website which contains an active news section that is updated regularly with updates from the Federal Government, State and our local Health Department. There is also a communication toolkit that has been sent out and there will be another one this week. The toolkit includes packaged information in a form that is easily sharable through e-mail groups and social media. Again, another toolkit will be coming out this week. The last one they have been focused on is the open scheduling rollout. The Will County Health Department is transitioning over to the EM Track system which means instead of residents scheduling their appointments through the call center directly, they will have access to a front facing interface on the Health Department’s website where you can go on and find available site locations and see the schedules of when you can schedule yourself for an appointment. That is taking place next Monday. The communications firm is working on a scheduling rollout, like a campaign scheduling rollout. The purpose of the campaign is to educate registrants and the general public about the start of open scheduling for vaccines through the Health Department’s website. The scheduling tool is the EM Track system which is done virtually. The first part of the campaign, which started on April 1st targeted everyone who registered on the Health Department’s website. The goal is to provide the residents who registered early access to the scheduling application to sign up for the vaccines. E-mails were sent to registrants in Phase 1a through Phase 1b+. The e-mail went out and follow up e-mails were sent to residents who did not open the proceeding e-mails with the goal of trying to capture folks who may have missed the preceding first, second and even third e-mail. The next phase of the campaign coincides with the State opening up vaccine scheduling availability to residents 18 years and older; that starts next week. Using zip codes and census tracks, the firm is using digital advertising to target African-Americans 18 and plus; Latinx communities 18 and plus and rural residents 18 and plus. If you have a phone you are likely going to start seeing targeted ads next week.
Mrs. Ogalla stated I have had quite a few people say they have not heard anything and they signed up through the website several months ago. So is that what will be happening, these individuals will be getting notices?
Mr. Schaben replied that is correct. The notices are referring folks back to the Health Department’s website. If you hear from a resident that says they have not heard anything, I would just direct them to the Health Department’s website because that is where that information is pointing to. They are consistently updating the information the website.
Mrs. Ogalla continued I have had several residents call within the last week regarding the Monee site saying there are no openings there. Do you know what is going on with that?
Mr. Schaben replied the scheduling is filling up quickly and it is just a matter of allotment for vaccines. The good news is, from everything we are gathering from the IDPH and the Feds, we are going to see increased numbers on the number of vaccines the County is receiving and that number is going to increase exponentially. However, right now the scheduling restrictions are due to the lack of available vaccines for residents. As the County gets more vaccines, the scheduling will reflect that and more slots will become available for scheduling.
Ms. Olenek added in relation to your answer Mrs. Ogalla; we are looking at opening some additional appointments in Monee next week. It is exactly what Mr. Schaben is stating and like we have been saying for months; it all has to do with the number of vaccines we get. We cannot open more appointments than vaccine doses. As we get more vaccines, we will be opening up more appointments. For Monee, that will happen next week. In addition to what Mr. Schaben said about the COVID-19 call center, I wanted to make sure that it is clear and people understand; with the call center, starting next week, even though we are going to be opening up to direct scheduling and having no more registration on our site, it will be direct scheduling. The hotline number will still be operating. The Force, which is the communication firm, put out a couple of samples for us to look at of the changes in the home page for the website. One of the things indicates there we are still operating our hotline for questions or concerns. I wanted to make that clear. Next Monday, we are going to be in full swing for anyone who is eligible, 16 or 18 and over, depending on Moderna or Pfizer for anyone who wants to get a vaccine. We are not going to any type of Phase 1c or Phase 2; we are opening it up to everybody. In terms of the communication firm’s plans, a couple of other items; the media plan they submitted to us is also going to include many social displays which is going to be on social media, such as mobile apps, Facebook, Instagram and those type of platforms. They are also going to be putting some on YouTube and you might see them there. They are also going to be doing some spots on some of the very popular cable channels. Those include the Food Network, A&E, Lifetime, BET, Fox News, CNN, there are probably 15 or so channels. It will also include a local print plan and radio plan. It is a very expensive plan, but from what I understand this type of thing is very expensive so I get it. They are doing a great job and we are getting the information out. I am working with Bronner and EMA to verify that the cost for this can be covered with FEMA funds. I have not received a response yet, but hopefully that will be covered by FEMA funds and that will take care of that.
Ms. Mueller asked when did you say registration would be going online versus people calling in to make appointments?
Ms. Olenek replied the registration has been going on. It is going to change from registration to actual scheduling. That will happen on Monday.
Ms. Mueller continue I wanted to comment on the toolkit sent out by the Executive’s Office. It is great. I have been sharing the e-mail part of it with community organizations by me, asking them to help blast out this information too. I don’t have the ability to touch everyone in my district, but through community organization help, we can get the information out. I hope my fellow Board Members are doing some of that too so we can let them know we have the information to share. I wanted to thank you for that and I look forward to the update on what is coming out soon.
Speaker Cowan stated maybe I am just misunderstanding the online registration; but when I scheduled my appointment I was able to schedule it online. That is available right now.
Ms. Olenek replied for certain sites it is, but for all sites it will be on Monday.
Speaker Cowan stated as a reminder, government employees are in Phase 1b+. If you get a paycheck from the County you are able to register for a vaccine now. Mrs. Ogalla stated the Monee location was full; I was able to schedule at Wilmington and there were plenty of appointments open. I don’t know if that is true today; but if you are looking for an appointment, I would check there.
Mrs. Ogalla asked could we get something out from the Health Department on Facebook that says be patient, we open more slots as we get vaccines in. If you looked and it is full, try again. I know it seems repetitive to us, but those not as closely involved as we are need those details. If we could get an e-mail like that we could share that would be helpful.
Ms. Ventura stated I have been very impressed over the last month. I said this in Committee, but I just wanted to say it here. The website is very impressive and it is very easy to navigate. The call center is working well. The vaccination sites are up and running; we have five major sites now. I think Ms. Olenek and her team, EMA and everyone came together on this. I know I put a lot of pressure on Ms. Olenek and I want to publicly say that I commend her and her staff. I think this is a great turnaround. With the hiring of the equity director and working with the community based organizations, it is moving us in the right direction that is best for our communities so our entire community can become vaccinated sooner rather than later and that helps protect the entire public and helps us all get back to normal, sooner rather than later. I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has been involved.
Speaker Cowan stated I will second what Ms. Ventura just said. Thank you to the Executive’s Office, the Health Department and EMA for everything that has happened in the last month.
3. COVID-19 EMA Update
(EMA/County Executive's Office)
Mr. Schaben stated EMA has helped the Health Department in standing up three vaccination sites in different parts of the County; the old Toys R Us, Monee and Wilmington. If you have not been to one of those sites yet, I encourage you to go. It is amazing to see how these places have transformed into these vaccination sites. The Joliet site was done in concert with the National Guard and IDPH. These sites are in addition to the 50 plus vaccination sites all over the County. I would like to stress the work EMA has done. They have been working long hours throughout the week and weekends to prep these sites with all the supplies and equipment needed by staff and volunteers working at those sites.
Speaker Cowan added I would be inclined to agree; I visited Wilmington and was happy to see how organized it was.
Mr. Fricilone asked if we open any more of those sites, it would be great if the County Board Members could get a little bit better notice. I got a notice at 7:30 p.m. that I could be there at 8:00 a.m. the next day for the opening. Unfortunately, I already had something scheduled. I know the Board Members in the area where it opened certainly would like to be there. It would be nice if we could get better notice, instead of about 10 hours before it opens.
Mr. Schaben stated I apologize on that one. IDPH drove the timeline for all of that. We had a little bit more control over the Wilmington and Monee locations because that was done internally by our EMA and our Health Department. The Joliet site was driven by the National Guard and IDPH, so we were at their will.
Speaker Cowan stated I know the time changed last minute, but even a heads up about the date would have been good. Last week, Ms. Olenek mentioned the appointments at the Joliet site, for the whole month filled up in 15 minutes. In the meantime, you can access the Wilmington site and get a vaccine appointment in 12 hours. I hope we are looking at where we are allocating appointments and vaccine doses. With 65% of our population in 25% of the land mass, the fact the appointments in Joliet filled in 15 minutes means we need to channel more in that area. I hope that is part of the planning going forward.
Ms. Olenek stated we have already addressed that and we will continue to address it. Yesterday we added an additional 400 doses to the Toys R Us site. Next week we hope to add an additional 400 or so. We want to get to between 1,700 and 1,800 doses per day at the Toys R Us site. We met with the National Guard on Monday to discuss this. They thought they could absorb the additional 400, but they wanted to be at that number for a couple of days before we elevated it again. Anyone on the Toys R Us website on Monday saw no appointments, but several appointments opened yesterday and the day before. I doubt there are any appointments open today, but we have addressed that and we are really trying to push out as much vaccine as possible to our mass vaccination and our community sites. We are monitoring the popularity of those sites and how many are interested in which site.
Mrs. Ogalla stated it seems like a lot of the vaccinations have been in the Joliet area. When are we opening this up to everybody? Do we have to do that? What is the percentage of seniors still outstanding?
Ms. Olenek replied the IDPH website has information on it for all the counties. In Will County, 30% has been to those 16 to 64 and 73.35% of the vaccines have been given to the 65 and older population. We know there are still a lot of seniors who have not gotten the vaccine, but we are comfortable with moving to that level on April 12th.
VI. OTHER OLD BUSINESS
VII. NEW BUSINESS
1. An Ordinance Authorizing and Providing for the Issuance of Not to Exceed $55,000,000 General Obligation Bonds (Alternate Revenue Source), Series 2021 (Renewable Natural Gas Project) of the County of Will, Illinois, for the Purpose of Financing a Renewable Natural Gas Facility; and for the Levy of a Direct Annual Tax Sufficient to Pay the Principal and Interest on Said Bonds
(Karen Hennessy)
Ms. Hennessy stated this is just another step in the process to issue bonds for the RNG Facility. The Parameters Ordinance provides definitions and the steps we have already taken. We have done an Ordinance and the public hearing. This Ordinance talks about the process of the bonds. This does not determine the maturity or the actual dollar amount. That will happen in May; when we bring a recommendation to the Finance Committee about whether we do 10, 12 or 15 year maturities on the bonds. This is a paperwork step in the process. Does anyone have questions? This document has been reviewed by myself, the Budget Director, the State’s Attorney’s Office, bond counsel and our financial advisors. Everyone involved in the transaction reviews this document.
Mr. Fricilone stated this is just one of the steps. It is not a big deal and we have done this on the other bonds. Is there anything we are doing different with this bond issuance than we have done in the past?
Ms. Hennessy replied we are still evaluating whether these bonds would be taxable or tax exempt. The Parameters Ordinance allows us to do either. Initially, we thought we would be very conservative and issue them as taxable bonds. However, it is looking more like they will be tax exempt, which makes it a little easier. Something else that is different is the underwriter, Wells Fargo, is going to try to market these as green bonds. We are working with the RR&E Division of Land Use to provide information about how this impacts the environment and the things we are saving. Another thing that is different is we actually have a revenue source to pay for this, independent of County sales tax. We are looking to get them paid off as soon as possible, while still covering operational costs, debt service and having a little money left over to do other things in the County. The primary focus will be operational costs and paying down debt service.
Mr. Fricilone asked are we tying the bond payments just to the RNG money; even though that is what we anticipate doing?
Ms. Hennessy stated the RNG revenue well exceeds the debt service. My hope was the fixed rate would cover debt service and operational costs, but we are not quite there. That is what we are talking about; we don’t need the pledge of anything else. These will be general obligation, so they have the coverage of property taxes; all investors look for that safety precaution. We are not looking to use any of our other county revenue sources or revenue pledged for other debt for these. The revenue from the facility is more than adequate to cover debt service and operations.
Mr. Fricilone asked does it appear we will get a better rate if they are green bonds?
Ms. Hennessy replied this just came up this week, so I am not sure about that. Hopefully, we will know by the Finance Committee meeting if that would reduce the rates and make them more attractive.
Mr. Fricilone stated if not, I don’t want to call them green bonds just because they are green. We are building a green facility. We know that and everyone else knows that; we are just looking for the best rate. If it is under green bonds, great, if not, whatever bonds we can get at the best rate makes the most sense.
Ms. Hennessy stated the underwriter thought it opened the door to a lot more investors. In the big scheme of things, this is not a huge issuance. I don’t know if there is more interest in the green bond market than there is in regular municipal bonds. We will find out.
Mr. Fricilone asked has the bond counsel or Wells Fargo mentioned anything about the Build America bonds, which could be coming soon?
Ms. Hennessy replied not yet.
Mr. Fricilone continued that is what they are talking about as part of the infrastructure bill or part of another bill. We just have to keep that in mind.
Mr. Moustis asked is the fixed revenue portion going to cover the bond issuance? The guaranteed revenue; is that what you were referring to?
Ms. Hennessy replied I was looking at it to cover debt service and operations and it is a little shy of that.
Mr. Moustis stated I am looking at the debt service.
Ms. Hennessy stated it would definitely cover debt service, but when you add the operational costs on, that is where we will need some variable revenue to cover that.
Mr. Moustis stated a concern I have is the projected costs we did at the beginning of this process and they were not even close to $55 million. Initially, we talked about $37 to $38 million and then all of a sudden it is $55 million. I want to see the justification for $55 million.
Ms. Hennessy stated this is a not to exceed amount; we are targeting $48 million. I believe we have support contractually for roughly $46 million and there are some unknown costs for the pipeline ROW and we are going to have to estimate that. Under no circumstances are we looking to issue $55 million. The $55 million was a not to exceed amount. The land is always a little iffy; I don’t know if it is farmland or if it residential. If we issue $48 million and we had to go back and get a few more million the $55 million gives us that flexibility.
Mr. Moustis stated when you talk about the pipeline, there are some cash reserves in the solid waste program, that we might want to take a look at. We don’t necessarily need to bond it all out. I thought we talked at one time about using cash reserves for the pipeline. I would like to take a look at that, of course some of that depends on the rate. Is it better to finance or could we come back and do the pipeline with a bank qualified issuance? I prefer us to do it that way. I would still like to see if we can use some of the cash reserves that solid waste creates and use that for the pipeline. I would like you to take a look at those things.
Ms. Hennessy stated we will have that laid out in the presentation at Finance in May, but there is a plan to use some of the reserves from RR&E. In fact, we used it to pay some invoices already. Since we don’t have bond proceeds, those invoices are being covered by the solid waste fund reserves. We will have the high level included in May when we bring our recommendation for the term of the bonds.
Mr. Olson stated in the current pipeline agreement there is $4.7 million still undetermined. It will probably be a little more because pipe is costing more and we are probably going to have to use a different route than we originally thought, because we have some objectors involved.. We are just getting into the weeds on that right now, but that will be brought to your attention fairly soon. The other thing is, the interconnect is $1.4 million. The pipeline cost at a bare minimum, is $6.1 million. The last time I checked, we had less than $6 million in the solid waste fund. We would not have enough to even cover that. We have already paid $1.4 million, plus we have been paying all of the engineering costs. I don’t think there is enough in the solid waste fund to cover all of the pipe.
Mr. Moustis stated we should need even less because we are using cash reserves as part of the overall cost of the project. The other thing I wanted to mention is I would like them to look at a hybrid, some tax exempt and some taxable bonds. The taxable market is 20 times the municipal market, maybe 50 times. So you can get some pretty competitive bids. The other part is the average guy gets a shot at taxable bonds. Municipal bonds go to the top 5%; maybe just the one percenters, because they don’t want to pay taxes. I would still hope we could look at a hybrid of municipals and taxable if that makes sense. We have done that in the past with the Build America bonds. If we think we are going to get Build America bonds before the issuance, we should talk to the federal lobbyist, congressional people and senators because they are rebating some of the interest cost back to us.
| RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS]
TO: Will County Board MOVER: Rachel Ventura, Member SECONDER: Mike Fricilone, Member AYES: Cowan, Mueller, Brooks Jr., Fricilone, Harris, Marcum, Moustis, Ogalla, Parker, Tyson, VanDuyne, Ventura, Winfrey |
(Mimi Cowan)
Speaker Cowan stated let me lay out what I foresee the process to be today in a little bit larger perspective. Then, hopefully, we can start moving forward with this. I would like today’s discussion to be similar to the conversation we had the other week about the American Rescue Plan ideas. I would invite Committee Members and County Board Members to talk about what they see as a beneficial way to allocate the county portion of the cannabis revenue. We don’t have to worry too much about how much or what percentages are going to go where. I just want a brainstorming list of ideas and certainly, if you want to reach out to constituents, community groups or community based organizations, in your district, please send them to the County Board Office. We will take this list, as we are with the American Rescue Plan, we will see where the interest is and staff will create three or four option packages for us. We will then bring those option packages to the Diversity & Inclusion Committee where that Committee will discuss the options and make a recommendation on either one of those options, or editing the options or putting them together as they see fit. They will make a recommendation to the County Board and then we will have the discussion at the Executive Committee and then the County Board.
Mr. Moustis stated I am open and certainly, I would like to see some of this money go to special programs for Workforce initiatives, treatment initiatives, initiatives to help people clean up any marijuana charges and everything is expunged off their records; but I think that is automatic in relation to marijuana. There is a benefit to not only those who perhaps have been most impacted by marijuana enforcement but the general public gets the benefits. It looks like this will be a much higher amount of money than I ever thought it was going to be. I think a certain level should go into general purposes, for general programs that can be more social type programs; whether it is supporting families and so forth. I don’t like the term reparations. When I hear the term reparations, I understand maybe taking some of those funds and helping those who have been perhaps impacted by excessive enforcement. I think there should be a general benefit also.
Ms. Ventura stated I know there was a lot of controversy with my resolution that I put forward. At the end of the day, what I would like to see is a voice for the people who were affected. I am very open to a new resolution being written, but I would hope to get the support of everyone on this Board. I understand what Mr. Moustis is saying and we don’t have to use the word reparations, we don’t have to use any political language. This is not meant to be some political ploy. It is really to heal our community and help shrink any wealth gap that has been created by whatever the policies have been in the past, specifically in this case the marijuana legislation and cannabis legislation. I would lobby or ask everyone to support some type of board that we can create that has members of our community; not unlike the CDBG Board. There are elected and staff members who sit on those boards. Essentially our community block grant money comes in and then a board entertains all types of projects. They go through the nuts and bolts of it, they interview and make recommendations to the County Board on where those dollars should be spent. I am asking for a similar process to be created where the board would be made up of some County Board Members, staff; but ultimately a majority of the board would be people who have been impacted, especially by the cannabis; whether they have served time, they have missed out on opportunities for education and job training or they live in an R-3 zone. Some indication that they have been impacted because they might feel very strongly about how to repair some of the damage that has happened in our community and better move us in the right direction. I would ask the Diversity & Inclusion Committee, when they look at a resolution that would say the County Board gets to decide where the dollars are spent; 100%. But we give the opportunity to the public and to those who have been impacted. Also, those who want to present why they think certain projects are the best. This creates an area for our public to go and present their ideas to the Cannabis Board and they can decide, yes this is a good idea, or they can go through all the ideas of why that project may not work. The last thing that the board can do is partner with different organizations just like we did with the R-3 grant and maybe double our dollars by going after some state dollars as well. I see a lot of possibilities. By having a board, you don’t mandate those dollars year after year to the same programming. While I think there will be some expenses and fees we should use because not everyone’s stuff will be covered. I want job training, education and mental health. If we write legislation that locks us into that year after year it is a lot harder to change; but if we create a board that can review every year how those dollars should be spent, just like our CDBG Board, we create the most flexibility and potentially grow those dollars through other programming. This is what I am advocating for and I hope other people would agree with; whatever political language we need to remove to make that happen; that is the goal. We want to better our whole community.
Mr. Fricilone stated I agree we want to help our whole community and I agree with some of the initiatives in Ms. Ventura’s thought process, but I don’t agree with a separate board. As you know, I have been pitching this since we heard it at NACo; I think a bulk of this money should go to the operation of a family stabilization unit. I am sure as soon as we get that set up for a Committee of the Whole, everybody will jump on board. This program takes in everything that Mr. Moustis and Ms. Ventura have said about getting Workforce Investment involved, mental health and substance abuse. The key is if you don’t attack the problems the entire family has; whether it is food, rental assistance or Workforce Investment help; if you don’t address all those problems on a family basis you are just helping individuals. By helping the families, you help the community. I think we should veer toward that. I also think the grants we received for the R-3 areas did not really cover all of the R-3 areas. I know they are going to try to do that with some of the grant money, but I think some of the money can go to that as well, because that is more of a community initiative with some of those community groups involved with that. However, by doing a family stabilization unit, you can bring all of those people together. Everybody that Ms. Ventura is talking about would be involved in one respect or another, but it would be run by a department we create to bring all of those disciplines together. I still think we really should look hard and the sooner we can have the Committee of Whole and get the presentation on the family stabilization unit, I think everyone is going to be surprised as to how much can be accomplished through that unit and I think everyone will be onboard pretty quick.
Speaker Cowan stated Mr. Palmer and Ms. Winfrey have been reaching out to Franklin County. Do you want to give an update about where we are in that process? I know we don’t have a set date, but do you know when we might expect to have that date?
Ms. Winfrey replied I have spoken with Mr. Kevin Boyce from Franklin County. He has given us list of possible dates. Mrs. Adams has those and she is working with that staff person to set that up. I agree with Mr. Fricilone that this program looks at the entirety. It approaches the issues from a holistic standpoint and allows us to help entire families, which means entire communities. I would support that. That does not mean that is the only thing we can do, but that does allow us to get a better understanding of exactly what is out there. That will be coming forward very shortly. Along with that, I would say expand the pillars of the R-3 grant over the county. Right now, it looks at Joliet, but we can take those same elements and spread those out over the entire Will County.
Mr. Brooks stated I think everyone has said a lot of good things. About a month ago, you went around the committee and asked us for some ideas. Ms. Winfrey and I are the only two Executive Committee Members from the same district, I certainly don’t want to say anything different from her. I agree with everything I told you before. However, I did say the low hanging fruit, for me, with the cannabis money is the African-American community and the small businesses. I think everybody has already laid out pretty much what we can and should do. I support all of them.
Mr. Van Duyne stated the more I hear of Mr. Fricilone’s idea and plan, the more buy-in I get. I really like the idea of trying to help the families in every way possible. I would not like us to forget about the CAC. I think they do a fantastic job for our youth. At some point they had served over 700 kids in our community each year. These children are put in some pretty horrific situations not on their own doing. Anything we can do to help our children, I would be in favor of. The CAC is important for me.
Mr. Moustis left at this juncture.
Mrs. Ogalla stated I have heard all of this and I have done some research. I sent some links to Mrs. Adams to share, with different ideas. I have a list of things to consider; one is a sustainable local food program to enhance the Land Use Department’s work for local gardens. The advantage to putting some money towards that is the National Hook-Up of Black Women has a garden in Joliet they want to grow and put together a robust garden. In addition, the garden teaches people how to have a farmers’ market, how to budget for the things you need for the program, such as advertising and equipment. It would be great to put a portion of the money towards this specific organization for a specific time period and change it to other areas in the future. If we can get one area to understand how foods grow, the importance of growing good food products and learning how to market and sell it, it brings in the youth and teaches them how to have a business. Due to HB3653 and all the unfunded mandates, I would like to see a portion of this go to the Sheriff’s budget for training or any of the things they need, such as psych exams and all the things that have to be done per the mandates. We don’t know what all of them are and they are not all kicking in at once. I would like to see a small matching grant program for small communities who may not have the tax revenue to provide the training, cameras and everything required. Some of it needs to go to prevention and treatment of substance use; these people need help for an issue they cannot control. Regarding workforce initiatives, maybe a scholarship program for those who have been incarcerated due to marijuana so they could take this moment to move forward and get some training; whether it is through a local college or a training program. Expungement costs, I think that is another thing that would make sense. Some areas are using it for environmental restoration and protection projects. That is something we might explore here. I agree with Mr. Van Duyne about the CAC. We need a funding source for them and this might provide that. We could reach out to NACo to see what other counties are doing. I tried to find something specific to how counties are using it and it is very hard to see. I think it is really important when we put this Ordinance in place, that we put it in place for three, four or five years at a time. As an example, for the next four years we are going to focus on these specific targets. Perhaps we pick a list of our top three or four. After a specific time period we might say those dollars are no longer needed for this and we can reallocate them for that. That will give future Boards the opportunity to change the direction on the way they might spend the dollars. It will cause them to have to look at it again and reevaluate where we sit and where the dollars might be used.
Ms. Mueller stated I am so excited we get to have this conversation. I wasn’t sure it was going to be possible and I am really glad this is where we are now. One of things I learned at NACo was about certified community behavioral health centers. I have some information on these. They call them CCBHC and it encompasses a lot of what we have been talking about. I think that would be an excellent thing to look at it. I will forward what I have from NACo to staff to send out. One of the things that has been really important, is taking care of the administrative costs of expungement and things like that. I know part of that is covered with the state money and that is part of what they have to do; but I think it might cost more than that. I would like to help cover that. The feedback I got from constituents was folks would like to see us work on providing some youth programs in the areas that have been adversely affected by prohibition. Whether that is after school programs or programs like Mrs. Ogalla mentioned with the food sources. Basically, helping kids in areas where their parents have been incarcerated or had legal problems; we want to help lift these children up, which will help lift the communities up. The other things I heard a lot about was addiction and family counseling. I feel that is what Mr. Van Duyne was talking about at the CAC, but maybe a little more robust. I know the CAC deals with kids who have been through trauma; but there might be a lot of families out there who do not consider it trauma, but it still is and they would not go to the CAC for whatever reason. We need to be cognizant of that. Another one was homelessness initiatives; helping to solve some of the problems of homelessness in the County, which I remember we talked about with the CARES money. Those were the priorities I feel strongly about. I like the idea of doing this in incremental years so there is a re-evaluation every so often. As legalization grows throughout the Country, we are probably going to want to shift where some of this money goes; because some areas might not need as much anymore.
Mrs. Berkowicz stated I would like to have our Sheriff address this and share some information. It would be good to hear where they feel they need additional support; whether it is for the unfunded mandates or the additional issues that occur from increased drug use. You can’t see revenues increasing without assuming more people are using drugs. I would like to understand where they need help, what they need to do to prepare and be able to address the issues that come with drug use. It impacts the whole family and I agree with talking to the CAC; let’s find out where they need help and if there are programs or resources that can help them. They work hand-in-hand with law enforcement and we put a lot of trust in them to protect the families who have to deal with drug use. I would like to bring CAC into this conversation. A lot of therapists have shared with me the overload and the growing need of families that are looking for support. Drug issues impact the whole family. A lot of times the person who is dealing with drug addiction needs a support system and the family is one of the most critical. That is one thing we really need to be looking at. We need to support those families because they are key to getting that person healthy and becoming productive and having hope. I think those three things are very important; input from our Sheriff and law enforcement to find out what they need and what issues we can help them with; the CAC and their work with the community and with organizations that provide therapy and services to families. Those things are important for us to consider with the tax dollars coming from the cannabis sales.
Mr. Harris stated the topic of cannabis has been a long time coming. If we don’t want to talk about reparations, then let’s talk about underserved communities and disadvantaged individuals, let’s talk about poor people. We have to face the fact and get down to the root cause of this. When you talk about family; let’s talk about the family and the head of the family that has not been in the household. It is tough out there and when you send them to prison, you are taking them out of their family. Until we start getting programs in our prison system, it is going to be a continuing cycle. Let’s talk about recidivism. When the guys get out, they go right back. There used to be programs in the prison, auto tech, carpentry to teach them skills, so we need to look at that and put all of that on the table when we talk about the use of this money. It may not just be for the people outside, but there are men divided when you have 17 and 18 year olds as the leader of their family because the single mom has to go to work. They call them the latchkey kids; you open the door, come in and feed yourself. If we don’t have a flat dollar amount or a flat service, maybe we can look at putting a percentage of this money aside until we get a more comprehensive plan in place. In Bolingbrook, we have groups forming and groups that have formed who came to speak to us; and I support some of the things they like. I am going to encourage them to keep planning and coming up with ideas. I would like to work with them. We have a source of revenue that should be in the community. Bolingbrook has an R-3 zone. We have a very diverse community that needs to be at the table and have a say in this money. We can work toward getting a more comprehensive plan together for the use of these funds, but this is what I would like to see.
Ms. Mitchell stated I am all about having to re-evaluate this every three or five years. We cannot have the money and never go back to decide whether or not we are being effective; that is the whole point of it. Mr. Van Duyne hit the nail on the head, we have to catch kids early and we have to catch the teen. A lot of times we get the little kids, but we leave the teens out. We should see what we have available in the County and beef those up. Programs like tutoring, after school teen groups, where kids can convene, have some activities and talk about what is going on in their lives. Sometimes, it is hard for some families. Everybody does not have the same experience and sometimes teens, especially, don’t have anyone to come home to and discuss how their day was. They face certain things and when they don’t have anybody to discuss those things with, they turn to drugs. For the programs out there for that purpose, we should take a look at them and help them. I am all about children and teens. I would love to see part of it go towards a program for expungement. That hurts people from advancing. You did something, you got caught and now you need some type of assistance. Not just expunging it from your record, but also having training. Like others mentioned, some sort of jobs program or training program. I would love to see those things. I agree with Mr. Fricilone, there are programs out there to help people and we could probably use some of these funds to improve and make them more effective. I think we should support them, without having to have another layer or Committee. I am all for helping what is out there.
Ms. Tyson stated I would be very interested in helping the expungement program. Once they leave jail, they need to get this off their record and move on to having a job and a career. We have the possibility of piloting programs where we help someone own their own cannabis shop. They know how to do it, so let them make the money and show other young people how to make money selling legal cannabis. We should have accountability, check lists, feedback so we can model this program and pass it across the United States.
Mr. Marcum stated there have been a lot of good ideas thrown out. My curiosity is peaked by the program Mr. Fricilone and Ms. Winfrey were talking about and I look forward to the Committee of the Whole.
Mr. Balich stated I was under the impression the State’s Attorney’s Office was already doing expungements at no charge. Is that true or not?
Ms. Mueller left at this juncture.
Speaker Cowan replied there is a cost to bring staff in for the expungement fair and a cost to keep the building open. There are fees associated with getting an expungement. Some of those have been negotiated with the court system. We should ask the Circuit Clerk, Ms. Chasteen to speak to us about that. As we talked to folks at the courthouse about the costs, they are not that much. If there is something we could knock out this year and take care of, it would be done moving forward.
Mrs. Ogalla stated with no cash bail, the court system will be short dollars. That is something we need to look at and see how we will continue to fund specialty courts or whatever we do with those dollars right now. I had a lengthy conversation with Undersheriff Conser regarding the cost to the Sheriff’s Department for the unfunded mandates. Not all of these things are becoming an actionable item at this time. As far as families, is it drug addiction or people impacted due to the cannabis laws prior to making recreational use legal that impacts everyone? It is not the low income communities, or black or brown communities or the rural communities or Naperville, it is everywhere. There are lots of underlying causes that this happens. As far as saying a specific community, there are 26 of us here. We are very intelligent people and we represent everybody in Will County. Putting our heads together, we can come up with a great plan that is a benefit to everybody, because everybody has been impacted by this regardless of how much or how little income you have; cannabis has impacted everybody. We could say, we will take some specific low income community; but what is that exactly? There are low income people in every community. I hope we can get this list together and come to an agreement on what the top three, four or five items are and split the money up. We can revisit this; we can go back to the old list or something new that comes up that we were totally unaware of that we could revisit at that time.
Mrs. Jakaitis read into the record the following Q&A and e-mails into the record.
_-Patty Droogan - 12:23 PM
Q: Jim why don't you like the term Reparations?
_-Courtney - 12:33 PM
Q: this needs to go to those affected most by war on drugs. the black community. not putting everything else on the forefront and black individuals on the back burner
_-Sherry Williams - 12:33 PM
Q: Cannabis has impacted the R3 communitiies more than any others. These programs already receive money. These communities do not. These community groups have not done what is needed in the community. If they had. there would be no need to help these areas. Why do you not want to help those communities?
_-Courtney - 12:37 PM
Q: if majority of black parents are struggling how can the community really be uplifted unless we have to help the people affected and hurt the most first and that is the black community
_-Courtney - 12:38 PM
Q: if we don't help the people hurt first that is working backwards and we need to address the problem not the symptoms
_-Courtney - 12:55 PM
Q: i have my hand raised as well and been had it
FROM: Sherry Williams
SENT: Thursday, April 8, 2021 12:21 PM
TO: CB Public Comment
SUBJECT: Cannabis Tax Revenue Allocation
CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when opening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.
There has been a request by the Will County Agents of Change to present a resolution to the Will County Board regarding the use of the cannabis tax dollars. What is the reason the presentation has not been allowed? This is a community group that the cannabis tax dollars be used in the communities that have been most affected by the war in drugs--which are the R3 areas--and includes allowing the residents of these communities to directly participate in determining how the money can be used to improve their communities. These are the areas that have been hardest hit by the war on drugs. The resolution is proposing using the revenue for the betterment of these communities. It is a proposal from Will County residents to the Board members who are elected to represent them, and the Board should at least give their constituents the opportunity to present the proposal to them.
Sherry Williams
Mrs. Ogalla stated we have to remember that at the time these people were incarcerated, this was the law of the land in Illinois. People may not have liked it and people may think it was wrong; but that was the law at the time they were impacted, put in jail, fined or whatever happened to them. Now, the law has changed and many people feel it is for the better. I don’t support legalized cannabis because I have had issues within my family, but the majority of people supported it. Based on the fact it was the law at that time, we need to move forward. I heard so many fabulous ideas from our Board Members that represent all our constituents. I think we all speak from the heart when we say these are the things that are important to those in my community. We need to focus on the list we put together and I think it covers much of what those who submitted letters during the public comment portion of this said.
Mr. Harris stated that is part of the problem right there; the law of the land. The law of the land is not fair and it has not been fair. That is why we are focused on this now. The law was not fair, the people who enforced the laws were not fair. It is not representative of the community. That is what we are hearing and that is what we are fighting for. The laws are not fair when you get pulled over for a simple crime and are punished more harshly based on the color of your skin. I don’t like the fact when you said “the law of land, it was the law at the time”. At the time, we did not agree with it. I want to make that point. When I hear the term “the law of the land” that we are doing something that should not and need to be punished.
Speaker Cowan agreed.
Mrs. Berkowicz stated it is helpful to look at data and look at numbers to determine the hardest hit areas. Drug use is everywhere in the whole country. I don’t know if there is a community that does not have a drug issue. I would love to know if there was; I don’t think there is. We have one in my community and unfortunately, too many families who are struggling with it or have lost family members from it. I think it is really important to look at the facts. Dr. Burke gave a presentation of her 2020 Annual Report, the Will County Executive Office of Substance Use Initiatives dated March 3, 2021. Her report included the Will County opioid fatalities. That is indicative of drug use. I believe many of these people were also using marijuana. I know we can’t get the data on that, as I have asked the Coroner for it several times. I still think we should be getting the data on that. If you look at the drug use and the overdoses; that is the ultimate price that has been paid for drug use; when someone loses their life. I would like that data to be considered when we go forward. In the chart Dr. Burke provided to us, in 2020 the overdoses by race were 82% white, 16% black, a 3% increase from 2019, 1% Asian and another 1% was mixed. Those individuals that overdosed and lost their lives, came from a community and a family. I personally know people who are struggling with it and dealing with it now. I am not saying there are not some areas with a more concentrated use, but I think we really have to look at how we solve the problem. Rather than put one community against the other, it is a small world and I think we all have to be in this together and understand this is not a problem in one area. I know a Naperville resident lost his life from drug use in Joliet and we add that to the number of overdoses in Joliet. I can guarantee you that more than likely their drug use began in high school, maybe in middle school and that school was in Naperville. My point is, we really need to look at the numbers and what is happening and work together as a community. When you have a family struggling with this, it impacts all of us. We all care and we are all impacted. My point is; as a community we are all connected.
Ms. Ventura stated I want to be very careful about the stigma that may have been created. Marijuana does not cause overdoses, it does not lead to opioid use or death necessarily. Opioids have been legal in this country for a long time. Doctors prescribe them and that is part of the problem. When you have pain management and people come off of pain management, opioids are highly addictive and can lead to other use. I am more than happy to ask Dr. Burke to talk about the differences of this. Many of us have sat through presentations about that. There is no proof cannabis leads to other drug use. There is no proof this is a gateway drug. It has been political rhetoric, but there are no studies that back that up. When you OD on marijuana you do not die, you may throw up a lot, but cannabis does not cause death. I want to be very careful about the stigma about drug users. Advil is a legal drug, I take Advil and I am not a drug user. Cannabis is now a legal drug, by using cannabis, you are not a drug user. I want to make sure we are not insulting people or adding a stigma. There are people who don’t agree with the legalization of cannabis and that is fine; but I don’t think lumping it into derogatory terms is appropriate. If anything, cannabis has helped decrease the overdose rates because people can manage their pain effectively through a non lethal manner. We should use some money to educate and reduce the stigma that has been created. I want to thank Mr. Harris for his comments, they were on point. Everyone gave some amazing answers as to what is going on in our county and where help is needed; families, job training, expungement. Other than myself and Mr. Harris, one of the things we really didn’t talk about is the unfairness factor. We persecuted blacks in this country, this state and in this county for the same thing other individuals are now going to make millions of dollars on. That is an unfairness that is wrong. We should take extra steps to try and right that wrong. It is not just funding programs, we always should have been funding them. We should have been funding the CAC, Workforce, education and housing; all of those are normal things we should be doing. I am not saying there is not a need there, what I am saying is there is a need to right the wrong of individuals in poor areas who have been impacted, who maybe turned to cannabis in the past for all kinds of different reasons and were then persecuted for that. Some of them were serving long sentences that were out of fairness of other sentences. Blacks serve longer times than whites do. It is harder for a black person to expunge their record in this country than a white person. Whether you agree with the racism in this country or not; whether you think it exists or it doesn’t exist, the reality and the facts show it does. We can do something in this county. We can be bolder and we can say yes we want a government and a community that is all working, because at the end of the day it lessens the tax burden on everyone. If all of our property values go up, we will pay more in taxes and we can lower the tax rate. That is what we want. We want healthy communities, low taxes and an economy that is strong. We have a segment of our community that is not given the same opportunities and at the end of the day, all of us pay that price, whether we want to agree to it or not. We have an opportunity to take a bold step to find a way to come above and beyond in certain areas. I just want to make sure everyone has their say. There are two hands raised by attendees. I am not sure if they are on agenda items and if they will be handled here or later, but in the past we have allowed those people to have their two or three minutes.
Speaker Cowan stated we read the public comments on this agenda items, so at this point I will allow the public to make comments when we get to the public comment portion of the meeting. I want to get through the Committee Members and County Board Members. I want to remind everyone this is a wholesome conversation but we are focusing on positive ways we can make a difference with the cannabis revenue allocation and we don’t need to be delving into adjacent issues.
Mrs. Ogalla stated it is very important to me that we look at every issue; there are two or three sides of it. I firmly believe, and many others do, that cannabis is a gateway drug. There are a lot of people who support that and people who say that is not true. I respect Ms. Ventura’s point of view, but I want others to realize my point of view is valid as well. I believe strongly that we have to provide for our constituents fairly. I believe every sector, every community, every township, every precinct and in every township somebody has been impacted, possibly unfairly due to their financial situation and laws that are no longer present today. We can go through history and find many different laws that were wrong that have been righted. What we need to do is take where we are and go forward for the betterment of everybody. Not excluding some people, but including everybody in the discussion in providing programs or funding for certain things in as many different areas as we can.
Mrs. Parker stated I agree with what Mr. Harris and Mrs. Ogalla said. I think we should look into some type of scholarship program or something to do with the youth. Not everyone goes to college. Some people may have been impacted because they can’t afford to go to college because someone was sent to prison or things have happened in their family. I would like to see something with the trades or with some other type of skills for a job, so if they don’t go to college they are still going to be able to make a decent wage. I agree with the expungement program.
Mr. Pretzel stated I would like to hear what the Sheriff has to say about this. We know drug use is up because sales are up. I think as we see more drug use, we will see more crime and we may want to be proactive in investing money into our Sheriff’s Department. I would like to hear from them and where they are going to need funds and making sure we are proactive in getting them the funds they need.
Speaker Cowan stated I am not sure we have any evidence marijuana use is up. Basing it on sales is not an accurate data set because people are switching from purchasing it illegally from dealers to legal people who pay the tax. We did not have that data before so we can’t really derive from that marijuana use is up. Thank you for everyone’s input. I will be asking staff to put all of these things together and bring a presentation after we hear the presentation from Franklin County. Hopefully, that happens soon because that is pertinent to our American Rescue Plan and the cannabis allocations. Staff will put that together with some options and we will bring that to the Diversity & Inclusion Committee where they can fully discuss the plans and bring something forward to County Board. Thank you all for your input and a good conversation.
3. Supporting the Extension of the Plainfield Downtown TIF District and Authorizing the County Executive to Execute the Related Intergovernmental Agreement
(Mitch Schaben)
Ms. Ventura asked what does this extension mean for the County?
Mr. Schaben replied under the IGA this is an extension for an additional 12 years. The TIF is a joint effort between the Village of Plainfield, Plainfield Consolidated District #202, Will County, the Plainfield Fire Protection District and the Will County Forest Preserve.
Speaker Cowan stated I believe what Ms. Ventura was asking was can we quantify the loss in tax dollars. Ms. Ventura I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but was that your question?
Ms. Ventura replied I want to see the long term impact. Also, I have never seen an extension. A normal TIF has to show it is a blighted area; is there more explanation as to how to extend? At this point, this is not a blighted area. There is definitely business development there.
Mr. Schaben replied I don’t have the answer to your question. I can reach out to the Village of Plainfield and ask for that.
Ms. Ventura asked do we have a hard number on what those 12 years will cost the county and the forest preserve? You can tell us the school’s numbers, but our concern is about our dollars.
Mr. Schaben indicated he would get that information as well.
Mr. Palmer stated we have done TIF extensions before and Mr. Schaben can get the exact numbers. They previously provided us with the money used thus far. Over $6 million has been invested in the downtown area for structure and other things. They had $3 million in private investment; $5 million plus for streetscaping and $2 million for parking improvements. I think Plainfield has come a long way. I know blight was a topic when we discussed this before; it is not blight in what everybody thinks. Many people think blight is no development, it is underdevelopment because of traffic and other needs. Anyone who has been to downtown Plainfield has definitely seen progress. Mr. Schaben can get the specific numbers from the Village and hopefully we will have that for next week so we can approve this.
Mrs. Berkowicz asked are you planning to vote on this today? If you are, I really think we should have this information before you vote to know the impact. When I go to downtown Plainfield, it is absolutely beautiful, it is thriving and it is very hard to find parking. I don’t see any real distress. Before we consider extending a TIF we need to look at the impact on the taxpayer. I would like to request that you have this information before you proceed with it.
Speaker Cowan stated to clarify, if we were to vote yes on this, it would go to the full County Board. I think we will have time to get the material. Mr. Schaben, would you be able to get us those materials to attach to the County Board agenda so people can look at the information before we take a final vote on it at County Board?
Mr. Schaben stated I am reaching out to them right now. Hopefully, I can get that to everyone asap.
Speaker Cowan stated I understand those are pertinent concerns and I would be inclined to agree. I wish we had the information now, but if it is acceptable to this Committee, we can move it forward to the County Board and if we don’t get the information by then we could certainly delay it.
Ms. Ventura asked could we hold this vote and if by the end of our meeting, if we have received the information from Mr. Schaben take the vote? Otherwise, my vote will be a no.
Speaker Cowan stated I don’t think we will get the information by the end of the meeting today. I meant before the full County Board meeting.
Ms. Ventura continued I am not comfortable moving it forward.
Mr. Brooks stated basically what we are doing today is moving it forward to the full Board. It will give Mr. Schaben about a week to come up with the information. Right now, what you are asking for is a motion to move it forward.
Speaker Cowan replied that is the idea. How we prefer to function is that we have all the information at Committee to review before moving it to the full County Board.
Mrs. Berkowicz asked why would a school district support this? It does not sound logical.
Mr. Schaben stated to clarify that is not who is supporting it, I was just listing the entities that were being requested for the IGA.
Mrs. Berkowicz stated it would be good to hear the position of all of the entities. I think we need to know how they feel and if they have given some input.
Mrs. Ogalla stated it is not necessary for the taxing bodies being in agreement with the extension of this TIF or not. It is the revenue being lost to those taxing bodies that is being replaced by the individual property owners. Everybody knows the most significant line item on our property tax bill are school districts. I understand the purpose of a TIF and why villages like to use them, but when are we going to stop extending TIFs so people can get some relief from their property taxes? Otherwise, the property owners are always funding that and the taxing bodies; school districts don’t really care. They put the levy out there and tax the residents and everybody has to pay. This is something we really need to have a conversation about and consider how long we want to allow TIF districts to go. I don’t recall how long this original TIF was and how much longer they want to extend it. This is something residents look at as a benefit to improve the downtown, but they expect it to end at some point and get the benefit from the improvements so their property tax bill can go down. We are all burdened in Illinois by the cost of our property taxes versus those in our surrounding states. We have to find a way to solve that. We really need to look at it and say how can we help the taxpayer pay less so they can stay here. We want our constituents to live here because Will County is a great county and we have so much to offer people, but if they can’t afford to stay here due to high property taxes, we will lose them.
Mr. Palmer stated I would suggest we have a discussion and bring in people who are experts on TIFs. TIFs have gotten bad names in some areas, particularly in the City of Chicago; but there are very successful applications of these. To all the previous speakers, it actually helps keep property taxes down by drawing in retail and development that pays the taxes through sales taxes for restaurants or businesses when the TIF expires. We have done several projects that have been creative in this way and bringing in businesses that generate the jobs and other taxes to keep property taxes lower. You have seen communities who have those developments have much lower property taxes because of the development. I think it would be beneficial for the Board to hear more about how these work. These don’t come up that often, but when they do, there is a lot of misunderstanding of how they work. It might be a useful topic at a later date.
Speaker Cowan stated I think we can move this to the full County Board. Mrs. Adams stated if she gets the response from the Executive’s Office or the Village of Plainfield, she can e-mail it to everyone. I understand the hesitation before knowing the exact ramifications, but we have the option because it is on the full County Board.
| RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [9 TO 2]
TO: Will County Board MOVER: Mike Fricilone, Member SECONDER: Herbert Brooks Jr., Member AYES: Cowan, Brooks Jr., Fricilone, Harris, Marcum, Parker, Tyson, VanDuyne, Winfrey NAYS: Ogalla, Ventura LEFT MEETING: Mueller, Moustis |
(Nick Palmer)
| RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS]
TO: Will County Board MOVER: Mike Fricilone, Member SECONDER: Herbert Brooks Jr., Member AYES: Cowan, Brooks Jr., Fricilone, Harris, Marcum, Ogalla, Parker, Tyson, VanDuyne, Ventura, Winfrey LEFT MEETING: Mueller, Moustis |
(Mary Tatroe)
| RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS]
TO: Will County Board MOVER: Mike Fricilone, Member SECONDER: Joe VanDuyne, Member AYES: Cowan, Brooks Jr., Fricilone, Harris, Marcum, Ogalla, Parker, Tyson, VanDuyne, Ventura, Winfrey LEFT MEETING: Mueller, Moustis |
(Chris Wise)
| RESULT: POSTPONED [UNANIMOUS] Next: 5/6/2021 10:00 AM TO: Will County Board
MOVER: Denise E. Winfrey, Member SECONDER: Tyler Marcum, Member AYES: Cowan, Brooks Jr., Fricilone, Harris, Marcum, Ogalla, Parker, Tyson, VanDuyne, Ventura, Winfrey LEFT MEETING: Mueller, Moustis |
(Dave Tkac)
| RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS]
TO: Will County Board MOVER: Joe VanDuyne, Member SECONDER: Mike Fricilone, Member AYES: Cowan, Brooks Jr., Fricilone, Harris, Marcum, Ogalla, Parker, Tyson, VanDuyne, Ventura, Winfrey LEFT MEETING: Mueller, Moustis |
| RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS]
TO: Will County Board MOVER: Denise E. Winfrey, Member SECONDER: Rachel Ventura, Member AYES: Cowan, Brooks Jr., Fricilone, Harris, Marcum, Ogalla, Parker, Tyson, VanDuyne, Ventura, Winfrey LEFT MEETING: Mueller, Moustis |
| RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS]
TO: Will County Board MOVER: Herbert Brooks Jr., Member SECONDER: Rachel Ventura, Member AYES: Cowan, Brooks Jr., Fricilone, Harris, Marcum, Ogalla, Parker, Tyson, VanDuyne, Ventura, Winfrey LEFT MEETING: Mueller, Moustis |
(Thomas Murray)
| RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS]
TO: Will County Board MOVER: Judy Ogalla, Member SECONDER: Rachel Ventura, Member AYES: Cowan, Brooks Jr., Fricilone, Harris, Marcum, Ogalla, Parker, Tyson, VanDuyne, Ventura, Winfrey LEFT MEETING: Mueller, Moustis |
(Bruce Tidwell)
| RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS]
TO: Will County Board MOVER: Denise E. Winfrey, Member SECONDER: Herbert Brooks Jr., Member AYES: Cowan, Brooks Jr., Fricilone, Harris, Marcum, Ogalla, Parker, Tyson, VanDuyne, Ventura, Winfrey LEFT MEETING: Mueller, Moustis |
(Mitch Schaben)
| RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS]
TO: Will County Board MOVER: Joe VanDuyne, Member SECONDER: Judy Ogalla, Member AYES: Cowan, Brooks Jr., Fricilone, Harris, Marcum, Ogalla, Parker, Tyson, VanDuyne, Ventura, Winfrey LEFT MEETING: Mueller, Moustis |
| RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS]
TO: Will County Board MOVER: Margaret Tyson, Member SECONDER: Denise E. Winfrey, Member AYES: Cowan, Brooks Jr., Fricilone, Harris, Marcum, Ogalla, Parker, Tyson, VanDuyne, Ventura, Winfrey LEFT MEETING: Mueller, Moustis |
(Bruce Tidwell)
| RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS]
TO: Will County Board MOVER: Herbert Brooks Jr., Member SECONDER: Margaret Tyson, Member AYES: Cowan, Brooks Jr., Fricilone, Harris, Marcum, Ogalla, Parker, Tyson, VanDuyne, Ventura, Winfrey LEFT MEETING: Mueller, Moustis |
(Bruce Tidwell)
Mr. Fricilone stated we are asked to give advice and consent, but there is nothing attached that gives the qualification of the individual. There is a name and salary, but no qualifications. How are we supposed to give advice and consent if we don’t get to look at that? Were there no internal candidates that applied for the position?
Mr. Schaben replied yes, there was an internal candidate from Workforce.
Mr. Fricilone stated I would like to see the qualifications of this person since there was a candidate from Workforce. If there was a candidate from Workforce, we know they have some qualifications, which is a pretty big qualification based on what was attached and listed as the qualifications to apply for this position. Again, if you don’t see the person’s qualifications, you can’t know why I should vote to approve a person based on them being qualified. As much as I would like to take someone’s opinion they are qualified, I would still like to see it. I am sure my other 25 Board Members would as well.
Ms. Winfrey stated that is correct.
Mr. Fricilone continued hopefully we can have that sooner than later. When we get stuff the night before or the morning of County Board it makes it hard to review. I know most of my fellow Board Members and I read all of this stuff and when you get it last minute it is hard to evaluate.
Speaker Cowan stated we have hard copies of the job posting, the application and resume of the person they are putting forward in the office, available for Board members to review. The issue is we can’t legally e-mail these out. The process has been the hard copies are in the County Board office for people to come in and examine, but we are in a different situation right now.
Mr. Fricilone stated I understand that for the other applicants, but for the applicant coming forward we should be able to get that attached so we can match up if we think this person is qualified based on the qualification list we were given. If we don’t get to see that, we are just voting blind. Even if we discuss it here, we know everybody is not on every Committee or comes to every meeting, so they have to have some way, before we get to the full Board meeting, to have the ability to see who this person is, other than a name and address attached to the agenda.
Speaker Cowan stated to be clear, the County Board office only has the applicant the Executive’s Office is putting forward; we don’t have the other applicant’s information. Mr. Schaben, you said there was an internal applicant, but on the form, signed by the County Executive, it says the number of external candidates is 5 and internal is 0. I don’t know if that is an error, just heads up on that.
Mr. Schaben replied that must have been an error.
Ms. Ventura stated this is the second item in this meeting, where basically, the full information is not presented during the Committee. This is the place we need to have these discussions, ask questions, have debate and go through the information we need to go through. By bringing forth agenda items where we don’t have full information, it prevents us from doing our job. I am going to be a no on this one and probably the next two for that reason. In the future, I would like to see when things come onto our agendas that we have all the information. I understand if new stuff comes up during the conversation and we have to go back and get that, but that is very different than having full on access to something. I don’t want to get into the dangerous precedence that we are constantly moving things forward to the full Board and not completely vetting them in Committee. To make sure we don’t go down that road, I will be a no.
Speaker Cowan indicated she was inclined to agree.
Mrs. Tatroe stated there were questions as to why the resumes are not attached to the agenda. Most times, there is private information on resumes, not subject to the Freedom of Information Act. I can work with County Board staff and redact that information, but in the past they have just provided it to an individual County Board Members or had it available for them to view so the private information does not get disseminated in an inappropriate manner.
Mr. Ventura stated I would be interested in seeing a redacted copy in the future.
Speaker Cowan agreed and stated given our current situation, it makes it hard to come in and look at things.
Mr. Fricilone stated I understand what Mrs. Tatroe said and I agree. It has gone out to individuals in the past. I agree with Ms. Ventura, I will be a no as well, until we get something.
Mr. Harris asked are we voting to move this on or will the additional information make a difference?
Speaker Cowan replied if you vote yes, it goes to the full County Board and if we get the information, we can consider it then.
Ms. Tyson asked if we vote yes and it goes to the full Board, will we get a redacted copy of the resume at the full Board meeting?
Speaker Cowan responded we have hard copies in the office. I think we can arrange for redacted copies to be distributed digitally to Board Members. Mrs. Tatroe is that agreeable to you?
Mrs. Tatroe replied absolutely.
Speaker Cowan continued if that does not happen, I will be a no at the Board meeting. We need the information.
| RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [8 TO 2]
TO: Will County Board MOVER: Judy Ogalla, Member SECONDER: Tyler Marcum, Member AYES: Cowan, Brooks Jr., Harris, Marcum, Ogalla, Tyson, VanDuyne, Winfrey NAYS: Fricilone, Ventura LEFT MEETING: Mueller, Moustis, Parker |
(Bruce Tidwell)
| RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [8 TO 2]
TO: Will County Board MOVER: Margaret Tyson, Member SECONDER: Herbert Brooks Jr., Member AYES: Cowan, Brooks Jr., Harris, Marcum, Ogalla, Tyson, VanDuyne, Winfrey NAYS: Fricilone, Ventura LEFT MEETING: Mueller, Moustis, Parker |
(Bruce Tidwell)
| RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [11 TO 2]
TO: Will County Board MOVER: Herbert Brooks Jr., Member SECONDER: Mike Fricilone, Member AYES: Cowan, Brooks Jr., Fricilone, Harris, Marcum, Ogalla, Parker, Tyson, VanDuyne, Ventura, Winfrey NAYS: Mueller, Moustis |
Mrs. Adams reviewed the Proclamations to be read into the record.
19. Appointment(s) by the County Executive
1. April 2021 Will County Executive Appointments
(Mitch Schaben)
| RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Herbert Brooks Jr., Member SECONDER: Judy Ogalla, Member AYES: Cowan, Brooks Jr., Fricilone, Harris, Marcum, Ogalla, Parker, Tyson, VanDuyne, Ventura, Winfrey LEFT MEETING: Mueller, Moustis |
IX. REQUEST FOR STATE'S ATTORNEY'S OPINION
X. COMMITTEE REPORTS
1. Land Use & Development
Mr. Marcum reviewed the Resolutions and stated we will be having a public hearing for the Building Code updates.
Mrs. Berkowicz asked when the public hearing would be held. Can you provide the Board Members with a notice we can send to our constituents?
Mr. Marcum replied the public hearing will be at the Land Use Committee meeting on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. You can forward them the agenda.
Mrs. Berkowicz asked do you sometimes do those in the evening?
Mr. Marcum responded our public hearings normally go to the PZC; but for the building code, the State’s Attorney’s Office recommended we do it at the regular Land Use meeting.
Mrs. Berkowicz asked if a resident wants to share an opinion, if they e-mail it in will it be read at that meeting?
Mr. Marcum replied yes.
Motion to Save Space on the County Board Agenda for Three Resolutions
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Tyler Marcum, Member SECONDER: Judy Ogalla, Member AYES: Cowan, Brooks Jr., Fricilone, Harris, Marcum, Ogalla, Parker, Tyson, VanDuyne, Ventura, Winfrey LEFT MEETING: Mueller, Moustis |
Mr. Harris reviewed the Resolutions and indicated there would be a CARES Act meeting scheduled in the next few weeks.
3. Public Works & Transportation
Mr. Van Duyne reviewed the Resolutions and asked to have the Speedway ingress/egress Resolution postponed until May to keep it with the Speedway item from the Executive Committee Resolution for potable water.
Motion to Postpost the Speedway Ingress/Egress Resolution until May
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Joe VanDuyne, Member SECONDER: Herbert Brooks Jr., Member AYES: Cowan, Brooks Jr., Fricilone, Harris, Marcum, Ogalla, Parker, Tyson, VanDuyne, Ventura, Winfrey LEFT MEETING: Mueller, Moustis |
Speaker Cowan stated the Diversity & Inclusion meeting this week was cancelled because Chair Tyson and Vice Chair Winfrey were participating in the interview process with the County Executive. Chair Tyson would you like to give us a report on the process?
Ms. Tyson replied we met Wednesday and Thursday with the four consulting companies, two on each day. We are going to rank them, discuss them and get back with them. We hope to have a recommendation by the end of the month.
Speaker Cowan clarified there has been no recommendation or ranking yet. Ms. Tyson replied not collectively.
Mr. Fricilone asked aren't we waiting on a State's Attorney's opinion on that process?
Speaker Cowan stated that is a good question. When I got to the portion of the agenda for the State's Attorney's Opinion I was thinking whether we had any new requests. We have two pending requests. Mrs. Tatroe one of these was about the process for the Diversity & Inclusion hire. I am assuming you don't have the opinion because we have not seen it yet. Can you give us an idea when you might be able to provide it to us?
Mrs. Tatroe replied I am expecting to be done by close of business tomorrow. I was hoping today, but in view of the length of the Committee meeting I don't know that I will finish it by close of business. I am hoping to have it tomorrow.
5. Public Health & Safety
Ms. Ventura gave an update of the Public Health & Safety Committee meeting.
6. Legislative & Judicial
Ms. Winfrey stated the Legislative Committee will have no Resolutions to bring forth. As soon as we lock down the dates for the Committee of the Whole, I will turn those over to you.
7. Capital Improvements
Mr. Van Duyne reviewed the Capital Improvements Committee meeting.
8. Executive
Speaker Cowan stated Mrs. Tatroe, the other opinion we requested was about the agricultural areas and eminent domain. Can we expect that by the end of the week or will it take a little longer?
Mrs. Tatroe replied I don't expect that one to take me as long. I did not start writing that one because I felt the other one was more urgent. I will do my utmost to get them done by tomorrow.
Speaker Cowan thanked Mrs. Tatroe and stated your inclination was correct.
XI. PUBLIC COMMENT
Mrs. Jakaitis announced there were no public comments in the e-mails, but read the following Q&A.
___Sherry Williams_- 1:03 PM_
Q: _Judy, you need to look at the data, and then you would know that all areas are not the same. These areas are hardest hit by the war on drug and also on other inequities they have been faced with. Drug use in these communities is not the same as in other communities.
___Sherry Williams_- 1:04 PM_
Q: _Are we just talking about overdoses, or about the other effects of drugs?_ XII. ANNOUNCEMENTS/REPORTS BY CHAIR
Speaker Cowan stated I would like to move towards having committee meetings in person in May. I would like to hear feedback on it, but not right now; but feel free to e mail me or talk with Mr. Palmer. We are still legally able to have virtual meetings, so if you do not feel it is safe for you to attend or if you have not gotten a vaccine yet, you are still entitled to participate remotely. We can host people in the County Board room where we can spread out and start having in-person committee meetings in May. I would like your feedback and we can make a decision in the next few weeks about what we are going to do in May. As a reminder, if you have County insurance, you need to schedule your biometric screening and get your numbers in to avoid the surcharge. It is National County Government month and if you have social media, please put that on your social media.
XIII. EXECUTIVE SESSION
XIV. APPROVAL OF THE COUNTY BOARD AGENDA
1. Approval of County Board Agenda
(Approval)
| RESULT: APPROVED AS AMENDED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Mike Fricilone, Member SECONDER: Denise E. Winfrey, Member AYES: Cowan, Brooks Jr., Fricilone, Harris, Marcum, Ogalla, Parker, Tyson, VanDuyne, Ventura, Winfrey LEFT MEETING: Mueller, Moustis |
1. Motion to Adjourn at 2:04 PM
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Herbert Brooks Jr., Member SECONDER: Margaret Tyson, Member AYES: Cowan, Brooks Jr., Fricilone, Harris, Marcum, Ogalla, Parker, Tyson, VanDuyne, Ventura, Winfrey LEFT MEETING: Mueller, Moustis |
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