Beardstown Community Unified School District 15 Board Met March 17.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
3. INTRODUCTORY ROLL CALL
Meeting called to order at: 9:00 AM by Chairman Michael Buehler.
PRESENT: Aavang, Acosta, Althoff (Remote), Bates (Remote), Doherty, Gottemoller, Jindrich (Remote), Jung Jr., Kearns, Meshes (Remote), Nowak (Remote), Parrish (Remote), Phillips (Remote), Schofield, Schwartz, Skala, Smith, Thorsen, Vijuk (Remote),
Von Bergen (Remote), Wegener (Remote), Wilbeck (Remote), Yensen (Remote), Buehler ABSENT:
Also present: Peter Austin, County Administrator; Kevin Bueso, Chief Financial Officer; Joe Tirio, County Clerk/Recorder; Adam Letendre, Director of Purchasing; Cheryl Chukwu, Director of Human Resources; Hans Mach; Community Development Administrator; Joe Korpalski, County Engineer; Norman Vinton, Chief Civil Division; Jeffrey Poynter, Director of Workforce Network Board; Dennis Sandquist, Director of Planning & Development; Alicia Schueller, Communications and Project Manager; Melissa Adamson, Health Administrator; David Christensen, Director of EMA; Glenda Miller, County Treasurer; Benjamin Redding, Design Manager; Jeremy Stull, Construction Manager; Renee Hanlon, Planning Manager/Zoning Enforcement Manager; Shannon Teresi, County Auditor; Sandra Salgado, Sheriff's Office Business Manager; and other interested staff.
4. PUBLIC COMMENT
Full comment can be heard on the McHenry County website audio starting at 0:02:32
Amanda Hall, on behalf of Sanjee Choudhuri member of the Coalition to Cancel the ICE Contract, regarding ICE contract and the process of providing public comment.
5. REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS
1. Historic Preservation Commission Annual Report presentation by Steven Greeley Full comment can be heard on the McHenry County website audio starting at 0:06:06
Chairman Buehler provided opening remarks including:
• Recognized the one-year anniversary of Governor Pritzker imposing a stay-at-home order to slow the spread of COVID-19.
• McHenry County has entered Phase 4 of the State of Illinois 5 Phase Restore Illinois Plan and the metrics are continuing to move in the right direction with more people receiving the vaccine.
• Update on the McHenry County Emergency Utility and Rental Assistance Program. The US Treasury has relaxed the deadlines making it easier to serve clients needing rent or utility bill assistance and the application portal is scheduled to have a go-live date soon.
• Discussion with Senators to provide McHenry County with a larger vaccine allotment.
• Working to finalize an agreement to make the Moose Family Center in Harvard the County’s next mass vaccination site.
• County Administration has developed a plan to allow willing County employees to act as support staff to work two days a month at a County run vaccination site in lieu of their regular shift.
• Second virtual Town Hall meeting is scheduled for 7:00-8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 23, 2021, and will stream live on the McHenry County Government and McHenry County Department of Health Facebook pages.
• Early voting for the April 6th Consolidated Election starts tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. in the County Administration Building. Nine more sites will open throughout McHenry County on Monday, March 22, 2021, and will remain open through Monday, April 5, 2021.
• Chairman Buehler introduced John Collins who has been selected to fill the County Board District 2 vacant seat formally held by Suzanne Ness.
Melissa Adamson, Health Administrator, provided updates on the County’s response to the COVID pandemic. Updates included:
• McHenry County positively rate 5.6%
• The County has been vaccinating for 11 weeks with the first doses being received on December 28, 2020.
• 68,000 doses have been administered to McHenry County residents with 24.6% going to the population over the age of 65.
• By the end of tomorrow 5000 educators and day care staff should have received their second dose and are fully vaccinated.
• They are currently in their third week of operation at the mass vaccination site located in the old McHenry K-Mart were approximately 45 vaccines are administered every fifteen minutes. • 85% of the population over 65 is projected by the end of the month.
• Correction staff has been vaccinated along with inmates and detainees.
Steven Greeley, Chairman of the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC), provides the HPC annual report presentation.
6. NEW BUSINESS
1. Review of the March 16, 2021 County Board Agenda Items
Chairman Buehler asks for any items that will be removed in order to allow all staff that are not necessary for questions to return to their departments. Full comment can be heard on the McHenry County website audio starting at 0:31.52.
ITEMS REMOVED FOR DISCUSSION:
PUBLIC COMMENT
12 - removed for discussion by Mr. Vijuk.
NEW AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS
13 - removed for discussion by Mr. Vijuk.
APPOINTMENTS
14 - removed for discussion by Mr. Vijuk.
STATUTORY REPORTS
16.1.A.1 - removed for discussion by Ms. Wegener.
16.1.E.1 - removed for discussion by Mr. Vijuk.
LAW & GOVERNMENT/LIQUOR
16.2.C.1 - removed for discussion by Mr. Thorsen.
16.2.C.2 - removed for discussion by Mr. Thorsen.
PLANNING, ENVIRONMENT & DEVELOPMENT
16.2.D.1 - removed for discussion by Ms. Parrish.
ORDINANCES
17.1.A - removed for discussion by Ms. Parrish.
17.2.A - removed for discussion by Mr. Smith.
17.2.B - removed for discussion by Mr. Smith.
DISCUSSION:
PUBLIC COMMENT
12 - removed for discussion by Mr. Vijuk. Mr. Vijuk read a portion of a letter sent to him requesting public comment be accepted via email and questioned why board members are offered the option to participate virtually but submission of public comment is not.
NEW AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS
13 - removed for discussion by Mr. Vijuk. Mr. Vijuk questioned if Chairman Buehler received additional information related to the Finance and Audit discussion regarding the ICE contract. Mr. Vijuk also questioned if the resolution cancelling the intergovernmental agreement between McHenry County and the United States Marshall Service and Customs Enforcement will be brought to the floor for discussion. Mr. Gottemoller raised a Point of Order clarifying that today's meeting was called to review the items of the March 16, 2021, County Board meeting and they are out of order to discuss things in general that are not on the agenda.
APPOINTMENTS
14 - removed for discussion by Mr. Vijuk. Mr. Vijuk had concerns regarding the closing of applications and the appointment process. Mr. Vijuk stated he would be abstaining from the vote because of the application process and not the applicant.
STATUTORY REPORTS
16.1.A.1 - removed for discussion by Ms. Wegener. Ms. Wegener asked Mr. Tirio for an update regarding the readiness of the election in terms of equipment, sample ballots and technology. 16.1.E.1 - removed for discussion by Mr. Vijuk. Sandra Salgado followed up on a question asked earlier regarding ICE inmates receiving their second does of the COVID vaccine. If the inmate is still in their custody, they will receive their second dose from the County, if they have been released from custody, they are on their own to obtain the second dose. They are also not re-tested for COVID upon returning from a doctor’s appointment but rather put back into routine testing.
LAW & GOVERNMENT/LIQUOR
16.2.C.1& 16.2.C.2 - removed for discussion by Mr. Thorsen. Mr. Thorsen removed both 16.2.C.1 & 2 to give the board the opportunity to discuss both items. Both items will be discussed again in August 2021. The Regional Office of Education reform was mentioned as to how the individual that's in that office is compensated regarding retirement. Because of how they are classified by the state they don’t have the ability to have a retired former superintendent be able to fill that role which would open the pool of candidates. Ms. Yensen wanted it to be known for the record that she did not support tenet No. 3 and will be abstaining, stating that sometimes an unfunded mandate that is included in a piece of legislation gives a sense of priority and emphasizes it to local government.
PLANNING, ENVIRONMENT & DEVELOPMENT
16.2.D.1 - removed for discussion by Ms. Parrish. Mr. Parrish had concerns about any unintended consequences to the County or applicants if it they continue to push it forward.
ORDINANCES
17.1.A - removed for discussion by Ms. Parrish. Ms. Parrish appreciated the ordinance and its process.
17.2.A - removed for discussion by Mr. Smith.
17.2.B - removed for discussion by Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith reminded the board that both ordinances up were up for review last month. It was recommended to strike the words “quasi-judicial” and “congressional survey” to modify clarity and stay consistent with state statute and stated they will be amended on the board floor.
7. ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT
Full comment can be heard on the McHenry County website audio starting at 1:20:19
Peter Austin, County Administrator, provided the following updates in his report:
• Board members were emailed the County Administrator’s quarterly report this morning. • A resolution has placed under New and Unfinished Business for additional supplies for COVID vaccination sites.
8. OTHER
None.
9. EXECUTIVE SESSION (IF NECESSARY)
None.
10. MOTION TO ADJOURN
Mr. Doherty made a motion, seconded by Ms. Schofield, to adjourn at 10:22 a.m. Chairman Buehler declared the motion passed on a unanimous voice vote.
https://www.beardstown.com/vimages/shared/vnews/stories/5f6a26fbc8059/Minutes%20March%2017,%202021.pdf
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