December regular board meeting

 Notice is hereby given that a Regular Meeting of the Shields Township Board of Trustees scheduled for Thursday, December 12, 2024, has been rescheduled. The Township Board will convene on Monday, December 16, 2024, at 5:30p.m., at the Shields Township Offices located at 906 Muir Avenue, Lake Bluff, IL. 60044, for the purpose of considering the following agenda:

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Notice of Rescheduled Meeting of
the Shields Township Board of Trustees
 
Notice is hereby given that a Regular Meeting of the Shields Township Board of Trustees scheduled for Thursday, December 12, 2024, has been rescheduled. The Township Board will convene on Monday, December 16, 2024, at 5:30p.m., at the Shields Township Offices located at 906 Muir Avenue, Lake Bluff, IL. 60044, for the purpose of considering the following agenda:
 
AGENDA
 

1. Call to Order & Roll Call
2. Pledge of Allegiance
3. Approval of Bills
4. Public Comment – Three (3) minutes per speaker
5. Reports

1. Supervisor
2. Trustees
3. Assessor's Office
4. Community Service Committee
5. Road & Bridge Committee

1. Old Business

1. Approval of 2025 Health Insurance and Ancillary Benefits for Full-Time Staff
2. Approval of Ordinance NO. 121624-01, An Ordinance Levying Taxes for all Corporate and Road Purposes for Shields Township, Lake County, Illinois, for Tax year 2024        

1. New Business

1. Approval of Regular Meeting Minutes of November 14, 2024
2. Approval of Decennial Meeting minutes of November 14, 2024
3. Approval of 2025 Township Board Meeting Dates and Time
4. Approval of 2025 Township Holiday Closures
5. Consideration of Committee Chair and Member Appointments

1. Executive Session
2. Adjournment

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MINUTES

12.16.24_shields_township_regular_meeting.pdf
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Shields Township
906 W. Muir Avenue, Lake Bluff, IL 60044
Regular Meeting of the Shields Township Board of Trustees
Monday December 16th, 2024 at 5:30 p.m.
STATE OF ILLINOIS  )
LAKE COUNTY          )           ss.
TOWN OF SHIELDS  )

THE TOWN BOARD OF SHIELDS TOWNSHIP held its Regular Monthly Meeting on Monday December 16th, 2024 at 5:30 pm.
PRESENT:
                        Vanessa Grum                       Clerk
Jeff Urso                                 Supervisor
Michael Machnicki                  Town Trustee
Brady Andersen                      Town Trustee
 
ABSENT:
Lisette Rothing                        Deputy Clerk
Matt Garrity                             Town Trustee
David Weil                               Town Trustee
 

1. Call to Order & Roll Call – Supervisor Urso called the meeting to order at 5:33 pm. Clerk Grum took roll call; Trustee Andersen, Trustee Machnicki and Supervisor Urso were present. Trustee Garrity, Trustee Weil and Deputy Clerk Lisette Rothing were absent. Also in attendance was Administrator Carl Kitzerow, Counselman Kimzey, and Clerk Grum.
2. Pledge of Allegiance – Supervisor Urso opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance at 5:34 pm.
3. Approval of Bills
   1. Town Fund: Supervisor Urso motioned to approve the Town Fund expenses in the amount of $77,298.16. Trustee Machnicki motioned and Trustee Andersen seconded the motion. Clerk Grum took roll call vote: Ayes: Trustee Machnicki, Trustee Andersen and Supervisor Urso; Nays: None. Motion carried.       
   2. GA Fund: The General Assistance fund expenses totaled $0.
   3. Road and Bridge Fund: Supervisor Urso motioned to approve the Road and Bridge Fund expenses in the amount of $161,454.68. Trustee Machnicki motioned to approve and Trustee Andersen seconded the motion. Clerk Grum took roll call vote: Ayes: Trustee Machnicki, Trustee Andersen and Supervisor Urso; Nays: None. Motion carried.
4. Public Comment – Three (3) minutes per speaker:
   1. Jan Schnobrich: At 5:36 pm. Janice Schnobrich states that the board hired a part-time road commissioner under the pressure of Supervisor Urso. She shares her concern about the employment decisions of the supervisor and the board.
   2. Dr. Kathy Blahunka: At 5:38 pm, Dr. Blahunka stated that she would like to remind this board that bullying is not a welcome tactic and she hopes that we are not intending on bullying anyone with the box of FOIA’s on the table. She states that they have not over requested FOIA’s and are well within their rights. She adds that the firewall doesn’t have LED light on it.
5. Reports:

1. Supervisor Report: Supervisor Urso states that IRMF is a state mandated law for every employee and that the employee in question during Ms. Schnobrich’s comment did not actually use the Township credit card to support a friend’s campaign. Supervisor Urso introduces Constantine who is presenting about our IT services and answer the question raised from the last township meeting about what is backed up into the cloud. Constantine spoke about what does for our Township stating that he got involved in Shields Township back in 2022 because there were persistent internet outages, there was an old server and the Wi-Fi was spotty. His task was to evaluate the current IT structure and offer solutions for improvement. He looked at old equipment and determined that it was outdated. There was no one monitoring it. He stated that he had to put a proper threat management gateway so that we can monitor the safety of IT services and eliminate the failing server; the data on the server was confidential information and was put on the cloud which means that we had to protect it from the whole world. Another goal was to offer timely helpdesk services to representatives of the Township. Supervisor Urso asks Constantine questions:
   1. Supervisor Urso: How long have you been doing IT? Constantine responds: 20 years.
   2. Supervisor Urso: Prior to coming to Shields, do you feel we were secure? Constantine responds: No. We had to update software and hardware and our response to cyber security threats. He presented a report regarding data breaches in 2024.
   3. Trustee Machnicki asks: Is this log a representation of blocked data breach attempts? Constantine responds: Yes, this is a snapshot, just a small portion and its 19 events per hour.
   4. Carl Kitzerow adds that Constantine is available on call, so we need him to help get out of our issues.
   5. Supervisor Urso explains that he did comparisons of surrounding Townships to determine how much money they are spending on IT Services. The determination was that we are paying far less than Vernon Hills Township, Waukegan Township, and Libertyville Township.
   6. Carl Kitzerow adds that we are paying $6,000 a year on IT services and this is far less than most surrounding Townships.
2. Trustees Report: None.
3. Assessor's Office Report: None.
4. Community Service Committee Report: None.
5. Road & Bridge Committee Report: None.

 
*Supervisor Urso motions to move item 7 (New Business) ahead of item 6 (Old Business) on the agenda. Trustee Machnicki seconds the motion. Clerk Grum takes roll call and all are in favor. Motion passes and the agenda is amended. Meeting continues as per below in the new order.
 

1. New Business:

1. Approval of Regular Meeting Minutes of November 14, 2024: Supervisor Urso moves to approve the Regular Meeting Minutes of the Shields Township Board of Trustees from November 14th, 2024. Trustee Machnicki motions to approve and Trustee Andersen seconds the motion. Clerk Grum takes roll and all approve. Motion passes.
2. Approval of Decennial Meeting minutes of November 14, 2024: Supervisor Urso moves to approve the Decennial Meeting Minutes from November 14th, 2024. Trustee Machnicki motions to approve and Trustee Andersen seconds the motion. Clerk Grum takes roll and all approve. Motion passes.
3. Approval of 2025 Township Board Meeting Dates and Time: Supervisor Urso explains some notable changes to the schedule for Township Board Meetings in 2025 including the switch to a 5 pm start time and changing March 20th to March 13th due to the Spring Break conflict. For the rest of the meeting dates, see the posted document. Trustee Andersen motions to approve the meeting dates and Trustee Machnicki seconds the motion. Clerk Grum takes roll call and all approve. Motion passes.
4. Approval of 2025 Township Holiday Closures: Supervisor Urso advises the board to view the document that shows the holidays closures. This is the same as last year; there are no changes. Supervisor Urso moves to approve, Trustee Andersen motions and Trustee Machnicki seconds the motion. There is no discussion. Clerk Grum takes roll call and all approve.
5. Consideration of Committee Chair and Member Appointments: Supervisor Urso explains that the Township Supervisor appoints Committee Chairs. He states that the Community Service Committee Chair did not attend a meeting and there was no one here to present information. This could have impacted the grants that the Township offers. Urso has spoken to Alderman Evans who is very passionate about the food pantry about his interest in fulfilling this role. Supervisor Urso announces he will remove Kathy Blahunka from the role of Community Service Committee Chair and appoint Alderman Evans in her place to fulfill this role stating that he believes Mr. Evans will bring a valuable voice to the committee. Supervisor Urso motions to approve this appointment and Trustee Machnicki seconds the motion. Alderman Carl Evans is now the chair of the Community Service Committee for Shields Township.

1. Old Business

1. Approval of 2025 Health Insurance and Ancillary Benefits for Full-Time Staff: Supervisor Urso explains that, per Township policy, we need to approve this motion to keep the health benefits offered to full-time staff the same for 2025. Trustee Andersen motions to approve and Trustee Machnicki seconds the motion. Clerk Grum takes roll call, all approve and the motion passes.
2. Approval of Ordinance NO. 121624-01, An Ordinance Levying Taxes for all Corporate and Road Purposes for Shields Township, Lake County, Illinois, for Tax year 2024: Supervisor Urso announces that he is seeking a motion to approve the ordinance NO. 121624-01 which states that the sum of $1,543,266.73 be levied upon all property subject to taxation within Shields Township for such purposes as follows:
   1. Total General Township Corporate Fund in the amount of $1,038,266.73.
   2. Total IMRF Fund in the amount of $5,000.
   3. Total General Road & Bridge Fund in the amount of $500,000.

 
*Supervisor Urso discussed via speaker phone with Kathryn the accountant that the percentage is the same as the last two years at 4.99 percent which is right below 5 percent which keeps up from going through other steps. She confirmed that this is the key number to maximize potential value in the Township. Trustee Machnicki motioned to approve; Trustee Andersen seconds the motion. Clerk Grum takes roll call and all approve. Motion is approved.
 

1. Executive Session: None.
2. Adjournment: At 6:04 pm, Supervisor Urso moved to adjourn the meeting. Trustee Machnicki motioned to adjourn, and Trustee Andersen seconded the motion. All in favor said “I” and the meeting was adjourned.

 
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