November Regular Board Meeting

Notice is hereby given that the Regular Meeting of the Shields Township Board of Trustees will convene on Thursday, November 16, 2023 at 6:30 P.M.

11.16.23_regular_board_meeting_agenda.pdf
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Regular Meeting of the Shields Township Board of Trustees
Thursday November 16, 2023, at 6:30p.m.

Agenda

I. Call to Order & Roll Call 
II. Pledge of Allegiance
III. Presentations 
     a. Paula Turelli – Executive Director of Mothers Trust Foundation
     b. Marc Jones – Supervisor of Waukegan Township (Patricia A. Jones Senior Center)
     c. Tricia Schwall – Senior Resources Manager of Dickinson Hall (Senior Center)  
IV. Public Comment – Three (3) minutes per speaker
V. Reports
     a. Supervisor
     b. Trustees
     c. Assessor's Office 
     d. Community Service Committee
     e. Road & Bridge Committee 
VI. Approval of Bills
VII. Old Business
     a. Consideration of Shields Township Social Services Grants
     b. Consideration of Purchase of Highway Department Truck
VIII. New Business
     a. Approval of Regular Meeting Minutes of October 19, 2023
     b. Approval of Property Donation Agreement for 223 Broadway Avenue
     c. Consideration of Low-Income Senior Citizen Snow Program 
     d. Consideration of Consolidating Shields Township Bank Accounts
     e. Consideration of 2024 Health Insurance and Ancillary Benefits for Full-Time Staff 
     f. Approval of Amended Rules of Decorum for Township Board and Committee Meetings
     g. Estimate of the Levy for Shields Township for Fiscal Year 2024
IX. Executive Session
X. Adjournment

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MINUTES

11.16.23_regular_board_meeting_minutes.pdf
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Shields Township
906 W. Muir Avenue, Lake Bluff, IL 60044
 
Regular Meeting of the Shields Township Board of Trustees
Thursday November 16, 2023 at 6:30 p.m.
STATE OF ILLINOIS  )
LAKE COUNTY          )           ss.
TOWN OF SHIELDS  )
 
THE TOWN BOARD OF SHIELDS TOWNSHIP held its Regular Monthly Meeting on Thursday November 16, 2023 at 6:30 pm.
 

1. Call to Order & Roll Call: Supervisor Urso called the meeting to order at 6:31 pm. Trustee Garrity has requested to join the committee by auto conference. Quorum is physically present so Supervisor Urso moves to vote to allow Trustee Garrity to join remotely. Trustee Andersen motions and Trustee Weil seconds the motion. The motion carries.
2. Pledge of Allegiance: Supervisor Urso opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance at approximately 6:33 pm.
3. Presentations: The board is considering grants for each of these organizations, so representatives from each came to share more about their respective organizations.

1. Paula Turelli:
   • Executive Director of Mothers Trust Foundation
   • Year to date thru November 10th, 313 children have been impacted totaling over $68,000. They use funds to help kids have experiences that they otherwise wouldn’t have.
   • Mother’s Trust Foundation has created football programs, sent 112 Shields Township children to camp, 50 children have received new clothing and shoes, given 48 stable housing grants, funded 38 students’ sports, purchased musical instruments, given 15 medical grants and helped with 14 students education assistance.
   • Supervisor Urso thanked Mrs. Turelli and the Foundation and complimented them about what a great job they have done.
2. Marc Jones:
   • Supervisor of Waukegan Township
   • Waukegan Township has received a grant from Shields Township before with which they used funds to provide services and programs at the Patricia A. Jones Senior Center. This includes a music festival, hawaiian luau, wellness and exercise classes, technology classes, woodshop classes and a cribbage group.
   • Waukegan Township received an award from the Township Officials of Illinois for innovative senior programming. Mr. Jones expressed his appreciation for the role Shields Township played in the support of the senior center.
   • Supervisor Urso states that Waukegan sets a “gold standard” for Townships.
3. Tricia Schwall:
   • Senior Resources Manager of Dickinson Hall (Senior Center)
   • Mrs. Schwall explained that they are requesting funding to support the position of Senior Advocate on staff who works with medicare, transportation services and outside facilities. The funds will offer assistance to people who are living on their own and need help making their homes accessible, allow for a grief group to run, help fund the addition of a memory cafe, and support the scholarship program that allows seniors to join with financial help.
   • 56 percent of the population of those who use Senior Center services are from Shields Township.

 
*Supervisor Urso moves to proceed out of order to item 7A. Trustee Weil motions, Trustee Andersen seconds the motion. Clerk Grum took roll call at 6:47 pm and all were in favor. Motion passed.*
 
IV. Consideration of Shields Township Social Services Grants:

1. Mother’s Trust Foundation: Supervisor Urso moved to approve the grant to Mother’s Trust Foundation in the amount of $10,000. Trustee Andersen motioned to approve and Trustee Machnicki seconded the motion. Clerk Grum took roll call and all were in favor. The motion carried.
2. Waukegan Township: Supervisor Urso moved to approve the grant to Waukegan Township in the amount of $10,000. Trustee Andersen motioned to approve and Trustee Machnicki seconded the motion. Clerk Grum took roll call and all were in favor. The motion carried.
3. Dickinson Hall: Supervisor Urso moved to approve the grant to Dickinson Hall in the amount of $10,000. Trustee Andersen motioned to approve and Trustee Machnicki seconded the motion. Clerk Grum took roll call and all were in favor. The motion carried.

V. Public Comment: Three (3) minutes per speaker

1. 6:50 pm Janice Schnobrich: Janice thanked the board for supporting the foundations who presented (see notes above). Janice commented that she is concerned that no meeting was ever held with the township’s attorney to discuss the 2021-2022 missing payroll, payout, and IMRF electronic records. Furthermore, she has also discovered through FOIA requests that there are further missing records for dates between 2017-2020. She suggests that actions need to be taken by the Shields Township Board to determine who was responsible for the removal and destruction of public record as it is considered a felony. Janice also commented that she made more FOIA requests regarding full and part time salaried employee time on the job records, to which the answer was that they are not required to keep these records. She states that action needs to be taken by the Shields Township Board to make sure there is a system in place for employees to track their time on the job.
2. 6:54 pm Carl Evans: Carl stated that he has been informed that there has been a lot of FOIAS being sent here and is concerned that it is a problem because it is costing a lot of money for the township. He says we need to minimize the FOIAS so that the people who need the programs that the township offers and organizes can use them. He commented that the Fall program was great, and Heather is doing a great job helping. The Christmas program will be held on December 19th from 5-9pm. The fashion show will happen on February 24th. He hopes that we can all work together and looks forward to working with everyone to continue our partnership.
3. 6:58 pm Penny Graw: Penny stated that on November 9th at about 11:30 pm,  Mr. Rogers and Jeff Urso frequented the easement by her house. She was asking Jeff what that was about. so Supervisor Urso explained that a neighbor had called and they checked something out but that there are no plans for work there.

VI. Reports:

1. Supervisor: Supervisor Urso proposes to reschedule the December meeting from the 21st to the 14th at 6:30 pm. All agreed.
2. Trustees: No report.
3. Assessor's Office: Carl Kitzerow read aloud the notes from Assessor Scott Helton for his November Monthly Report. Assessor Helton shared that for the 2023 Quadrennial Reassessment Period, Shields Township has increased it’s tax base by approximately 14% to $2, 009, 636, 911. Based on this increase, Assessor Helton is hopeful that the tax rates for many of our taxing bodies will decrease for 2023.  He commended the Board of Trustees for providing him with the tools necessary to complete his job. Due to the diligent explanation of the Quadrennial Assessment process and reasoning behind the increased 2023 assessed values, only 277 formal assessment complaints have been filed with Lake County for Shields Township and 99 of them are on Commercial properties. The 2023 Board of Review Hearings for Shields Township began yesterday. He thanked Carl, Lisette and Warren for their excellent manor and understanding when dealing with residents when they call or visit our office.
4. Community Service Committee: No report.
5. Road & Bridge Committee: No report.

VII. Approval of Bills:

1. Town Fund: Supervisor Urso moved to approve the Town Fund expenses in the amount of $55,620.59. Trustee Weil motioned to approve and Trustee Andersen seconded the motion. Clerk Grum took roll call vote: Ayes: Trustee Weil, Trustee Garrity, Trustee Machnicki, Trustee Andersen and Supervisor Urso; Nays: None. Motion carried.     
2. General Assistance Fund: No need to approve because the balance was $0.
3. Road and Bridge Fund: Supervisor Urso moved to approve the Road and Bridge Fund expenses in the amount of $8,111.65. Trustee Weil motioned to approve and Trustee Machnicki seconded the motion. Clerk Grum took roll call vote: Ayes: Trustee Weil, Trustee Garrity, Trustee Machnicki, Trustee Andersen and Supervisor Urso; Nays: None. Motion carried.

VIII. Old Business:

1. Consideration of Shields Township Social Services Grants: This item was moved to section 4 above per a board vote. See note above for details.
2. Consideration of Purchase of Highway Department Truck: Supervisor Urso moved to discuss this issue. Trustee Machnicki motioned to approve discussion and Trustee Andersen seconded the motion.
   1. Supervisor Urso explains that they reached out to 3 different townships:
      1. Libertyville was not interested
      2. We have not heard back from Lake Forest
      3. Lake Bluff stated that they are happy with the current hybrid model of snow removal that they have set up which involves subcontractors and people who work for the Village of Lake Bluff.
   2. The truck that needs to be replaced is over 25 years old. The cost of repairs is getting expensive.
   3. We contract out with TGF in the case that our equipment fails (This is our emergency plan in place regardless of if we purchase a truck or not). It does cost a lot of money; $81,000 based on last year's snowfall.
   4. We can continue the talks and look at IGA for 24-25 years.
   5. The Roads Committee is pushing for the purchase of a new truck. They have a lead on a truck out of Indiana if we want to buy it now that is built and ready to go. It is a part of a bidding co-op so the price is competitive $120,000.
   6. Trustee Weil asks if the budget can handle this. Supervisor Urso explains that yes, we have money in the reserves. Trustee Andersen asks how much would the IGA cost? Supervisor Urso states that he did not get that far into the discussion, so we are not sure.
   7. Discussion ensued about all possibilities and eventually Trustee Machnicki suggested voting to approve purchase of the new truck. Trustee Andersen stated that as long as we can use the truck for more than snow, he would be in favor. Trustee Weil states that because $200,000 is cleared in the budget to be moved to roads for this and because of the amount of elderly people that will need help with snow removal in the township, he supports moving forward with the truck purchase.
   8. Supervisor Urso makes a move to approve the purchase of the Chevy truck or equivalent not to exceed $125,000. Trustee Machnicki motions to approve and Trustee Andersen second’s motion. There is no more discussion. Clerk Grum took roll call and all were in favor. The motion carried.

IX. New Business:

1. Approval of Regular Meeting Minutes of October 19, 2023: Trustee Weil motion to approve the Regular Meeting Minutes of October 19th, 2023 for Shields Township and Trustee Machnicki seconded the motion. Clerk Grum took roll call and all were in favor. The motion carried.
2. Approval of Property Donation Agreement for 223 Broadway Avenue: Discussion ensued:
   1. There is a resident wanting to donate a parcel of land and we need to vote to approve $1,500 - $5,000 dollars for closing costs. This area is Arden Shore North on the far east side of town which is called Lake Genevieve and maintained by Open Lands. Supervisor Urso believes that residents would be happy about this because it is basically a park and nothing will be built on it. Supervisor Urso moves to approve the donation and closing costs. Trustee Andersen motioned to approve and Trustee Weil seconded the motion. Clerk Grum took roll call and all were in favor. The motion carried.
3. Consideration of Low-Income Senior Citizen Snow Program: Supervisor Urso explained how the Township did this for seniors last year for a total of 20 residents, we spent $3,000 dollars on it, and it went very well last year. We are asking for the discretion of the township supervisor to give a grace of 10 percent. Trustee Weil motioned to approve and Trustee Andersen seconded the motion. Clerk Grum took roll call and all were in favor. The motion carried.
4. Consideration of Consolidating Shields Township Bank Accounts: Supervisor Urso asks for a move to open discussion only regarding this topic. Trustee Weil motions to approve the discussion and Trustee Andersen seconds the motion. Carl Kitzerow shared that we would save $1,200 a year if we went through with consolidating the bank accounts. Clerk Grum took roll call and all were in favor. The motion carried.
5. Consideration of 2024 Health Insurance and Ancillary Benefits for Full-Time Staff: Supervisor Urso moved to discuss this issue, Trustee Andersen motioned to open discussion and Trustee Machnicki second the motion. Discussion ensued. Lisette Rothing is asking for health insurance for herself and her family. Is asking for a plan moving forward for a group or single?  We cannot get group insurance for one person. There is the possibility of setting up HRA for a single person and Supervisor Urso is going to look into making sure we provide this in some way to Lisette. We will vote next month on it. Lisette will look into pricing on plans and then we can set up an account. Trustee Machnicki seconded the motion, Roll call taken at 7:50 and all approved
6. Approval of Amended Rules of Decorum for Township Board and Committee Meetings: Supervisor Urso motions to table this topic until our next meeting. Trustee Machnicki seconded the motion. Clerk Grum took roll call and all were in favor. The motion carried.
7. Estimate of the Levy for Shields Township for Fiscal Year 2024: The Shields Township Accountant Kathryn Andrus was on the phone explaining the estimate of the Levy for Shields Township for the Fiscal Year 2024. Kathryn suggests levying for 4.99 percent which is lower than CPI which is 6.5 percent. Trustee Machnicki motion to approve estimate and Trustee Andersen seconded the motion. See the below information for Estimate details:
   1. Total $932,297.00
   2. 5,199 (check this number)
   3. 680,000
   4. Total: $1,468,144.16

X. Executive Session: No session.
XI. Adjournment: Supervisor Urso motioned to adjourn the meeting. Clerk Grum took Roll Call and all were in favor. The meeting was adjourned at 7:58 pm.
 
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