McHenry Times

McHenry County Board met Feb. 10.

Here are 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, Collins, Doherty, Gottemoller (Remote), Jindrich (Remote), Jung Jr., Kearns, Meshes, Nowak, Parrish, Schofield, Schwartz, Skala, Smith, Thorsen, Vijuk, Von Bergen, Wegener, Wilbeck, Yensen, Buehler

ABSENT:

Also present: Peter Austin, County Administrator; Scott Hartman, Deputy County Administrator; Kevin Bueso, Chief Financial Officer; Jeffrey Poynter (remote), Director of Workforce Network Board; Alicia Schueller, Communications and Project Manager; Adam Wallern, Director of Planning & Development; Stephen Gray, Senior Accountant; Sandra Salgado, Sheriff's Office Business Manager; Norm Vinton, Chief Civil Division; Carla Wyckoff, Assistant State's Attorney; MaryEllen Howell, Vet Division Manager; Adam Letendre, Director of Purchasing; Julie Courtney (remote), Director of Workforce Network; Joe Korpalski, County Engineer; Debra Nieto, Chief Deputy Clerk; Dr. Michael Rein, County Coroner; Heather Spenard, Chief Deputy Recorder; Hans Mach (remote), Community Development Administrator; Joanna Colletti, Water Resource Manager/Stormwater Chief Engineer; Melissa Adamson, Health Administrator.

After the Roll Call no vote was needed but Dr. Yensen made a motion, seconded by Ms. Aavang to accept the remote attendance of members Althoff and Gottemoller. As well Chairman Buehler verified all members could hear and participate.

4. PUBLIC COMMENT

None.

5. CHAIRMAN'S REMARKS

Full comments can be heard on the McHenry County website audio starting at 43:40.

Chairman Buehler wanted to mention a few items before moving forward to the State of the County Address.

He began stating that on February 2nd, 2022 six candidates were interviewed for the vacancy of County Board District 2, he thanked Vice-Chair Carolyn Schofield and members Paula Yensen, Kelli Wegener, and John Collins for participating. He stated he will be recommending Carolyn Campbell as the nominee to fill the remainder of Jessica Phillips unexpired term, which will be posted the agenda for next Tuesday’s County Board meeting.

1. 2022 State of the County Address

The Full video can be watched beginning at 43:10 and ending at 28:58.

6. REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS

1. Presentation Five-Year Capital Plan

Full comments can be heard on the McHenry County website audio starting at 28:48.

Mr. Austin began stating he wanted to allow Adam Letendre a few minutes to discuss what he has been working on. He stated for many years the County had a multi-capital plan and Scott Hartman was on the owner of that and it was on an excel spreadsheet and did what was needed, but as new software came about he requested Mr. Letendre to take the lead in incorporating the spreadsheet into the new software. He wanted Mr. Letendre to do it because he is almost centered in the process being the Purchasing Director and he is very proud of what he has come up with, and he would like the Board to be introduced to it as well as assist with ideas to improve it.

Mr. Letendre thanked Mr. Austin and Mr. Hartman for the six years of stewardship with the capital plan, as well he thanked the Board for the leadership and having the vision to use the expired debt as funds to begin a robust capital plan. He stated they have finally made the item public, going to the County’s website then to the finance page under budgets and finance there is a new headline that is the “County Capital Plan”, if the link is followed it will take them to Open Book which is the front facing page of the Questica budgeting software. He stated for the capital plan they have populated since November 62 projects across the next 10 years, they have trained 15 power users in the Questica Capital back in December and they are currently populating each projects data and proposed budgets. He stated an interesting option he wanted the Board to see is the filter icon, because the liaison committees and departments will be able to review all the projects that are under their purview. He stated they have been able to provide pictures to associate with the project, it has its own map coded to the site as well as the concept budget available for viewing and if anyone wants to download any information for the project fund budget, they are able to do so. He stated since November they have built what is seen on the site and they have built all 62 projects out approximately 10 years, it is public facing through the finance page and the plan is to add it to administration and potentially purchasing. Any questions members have he invites them to reach out and if the does not have the information he will direct them to the department that does, concluding he thanked the Board for their time.

7. NEW BUSINESS

1. Review of the February 15, 2022 County Board Agenda Items

Full comments can be heard on the McHenry County website audio starting at 21:50.

Chairman Buehler asked for any items that Board members will remove to allow staff that is not necessary for questions to return to their departments.

ITEMS REMOVED FOR DISCUSSION

ZONING PETITIONS

10.1.1 - #2021-027 - Alejandre/Popovich - McHenry TWP - A1-A1C Recommended Approval by ZBA (6-1), removed for discussion by Mr. Wilbeck

16.2.B.4 - Resolution Authorizing the Approval of Grants Awarded from McHenry County's Allotment of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and Emergency Appropriation to the 2022 Fiscal Year Budget ** (Economic and Workforce Development), (Leadership and Governance), (Organizational Advancement), removed for discussion by Mr. Skala

16.2.D.2 - Resolution Granting a Waiver of the Penalty Fee for Stormwater Management Permit SW22-0007, removed for discussion by Mr. Wilbeck

DISCUSSION

ZONING PETITIONS

10.1.1 - #2021-027 - Alejandre/Popovich - McHenry TWP - A1-A1C Recommended Approval by ZBA (6-1)

Mr. Wilbeck stated the request is zoned as an A-1, and the situation is a business, which brings forth questions on the revenue side of property taxes that they are not accepting the proper dollar amounts for Agricultural Zoning because there is a statute that states the zoning must show $25,000 in funding income per year. He stated this is a landscape business, with no mention of crop growth, so he has serious questions regarding the matter.

Mr. Wallen stated in terms of the assessment he would not be able to touch on that because it is out of the Planning and Development purview but his assessment is accurate that it would be for a landscape business and he is not aware of any ongoing agricultural uses on the property. Mr. Wilbeck inquired on how they can change this so it can be zoned correctly. Mr. Wallen stated he will investigate that and discuss it with the Assessor’s Office and get back to the Board prior to the meeting on Tuesday. Mr. Skala stated the zoning and the taxing are two separate issues, the zoning is how property can be used and taxing deals with the assessments department and how the application of what is there gets applied for tax purposes.

PLANNING, ENVIRONMENT & DEVELOPMENT

16.2.D.2 Resolution Granting a Waiver of the Penalty Fee for Stormwater Management Permit SW22- 0007

Mr. Wilbeck stated it is the fee waiver situation and the person who wants the property does not pay any fees as of January 26, 2022. The permit fee is $550 the inspection is $200 and the penalty fee is $550, but the balance that shows is $975, he stated it does not add up and inquired why they should approve a fee waiver if they have not paid any fees.

Ms. Wegener stated the situation sounded familiar and inquired if they had a similar variance request a year or two ago, she would like to review that information to see how the matter was handled before to remain consistent.

Ms. Schofield inquired about the specifics, because the Board has done waivers several times in the past for just the fine.

Ms. Colletti stated that is correct and they typically see the request be the entirety of the waiver and the fees be approved by the County Board but in this case, they are specifically asking for the penalty fee to be waived. She stated in the past they had a couple that were approved as a waiver but at this time they are only asking for the fee waiver to be done. Ms. Wegener inquired if the person requested the fee waiver. Ms. Colletti stated in this case it was after the fact, he put on the fixed roof after the doc installer did the doc, and the roof structure was not a part of the permit so the owner took it upon himself to install that. Ms. Wegener wanted to know if the previous person requested a fee waiver. Ms. Colletti stated she thinks he did as well. Ms. Wegener stated she would like the Board to be consistent, she is unaware of the resolution from last time, but she would like consistency.

Ms. Schofield stated they discussed the consistency aspect before in committee because each situation is so different but from her interpretation that they have been doing is consistently waiving a fee if there is the intent that they are resolving the situation. She stated staff will inform the members to whether it was intentional or accidental and if they are working with the Board to resolve the situation willing or not. In this situation she believes the owner passed away and now the wife is the one to deal with it, she was not involved in the original construction of it and is now willing to pay the fees but is asking for the waiver of the penalty fees. Ms. Colletti stated that is their understanding as well.

Mr. Gottemoller wanted to add on what Ms. Schofield mentioned in this respect, he does not see a reason to put a penalty on someone who has passed away, especially when someone else comes in to solve the problem he feels the Board should allow that to happen, not penalize someone who has passed.

Mr. Wilbeck stated he has no issues waiving the penalty, he wanted to confirm that the permit and inspection fees have not been paid yet. Ms. Colletti confirmed not the entirety. Mr. Wilbeck stated he would agree to waive the penalty once the previous fees are paid, but then again, he has an issue with the $975 balance because he is unsure of where the figure came from. Ms. Colletti stated with respect to the permit it does not fall under a general permit, it is a fix for structure, currently the permit fee is $400 for the minor development plus $150 for a floorplain fee bringing the total to $550 which is doubled because of the violation bringing the new total to $1100 as well as a $200 inspection fee on top of that. Mr. Wilbeck stated that all together would be $1300, but what is written as the balance is $975. Ms. Colletti stated that is correct, mentioning they probably paid some of it when they initially applied for the permit. Mr. Wilbeck inquired on what they owe without the penalty, Ms. Colletti stated $750. Mr. Wilbeck then stated he would agree to waive the penalty if they paid the $750 to bring them current and to be consistent.

Mr. Schwartz stated that this was discussed in detail and he is in support of what they agreed upon in committee to waive the entirety because the woman is having to deal with enough grief without the County going after her for money that is not necessary.

FINANCE & AUDIT

16.2.B.4 - Resolution Authorizing the Approval of Grants Awarded from McHenry County's Allotment of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and Emergency Appropriation to the 2022 Fiscal Year Budget ** (Economic and Workforce Development), (Leadership and Governance), (Organizational Advancement)

Mr. Skala stated this is the ARPA funds for the American Rescue Plan that the Finance & Audit committee reviewed. He encourages Board members to go back to the meeting and listen, there was about two hours spent reviewing the three proposals that came to the committee, one of which the committee did not accept and sent back to the drawing board for them to look at more closely. The other two for the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center (IMEC) and for McHenry County College (MCC), he stated the one for MCC is listed as the grant but it was a pass through entity the funds pass through them and flows back out to an assortment group. He wanted to pull it because committee members did a great job of asking questions and making suggestions even to those two entities, the committee received an email from IMEC outlining some of the questions that members asked, so he wanted to be sure the committee was satisfied with the answers they received due to some hesitancy based on some of the questions that were asked without answers.

8. ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT

Full comments can be heard on the McHenry County website audio starting at 7:38.

• Mr. Austin stated what the Chairman mentioned in the State of the County Address, which is the County has taken possession of the old Cary Village Hall about 6 days ago. They have the keys and the title and are getting ready to transform it into something that is really going to be an original asset.

• In the Advance McHenry County awards as Mr. Skala mentioned, they have an opportunity to fund paid internships for high schoolers to familiarize themselves with the manufacturing trade. He stated he has been a part of the manufacturing pathways consortium for about 6 months, at a meeting last weekend they can look to see the applications available for high schoolers and once more information is available he will get it to the committee. He stated it is going to be a good opportunity for kids to make money and learn about manufacturing as soon as this summer.

• Many of the Board members have inquired about the statement of economic interest that the state has put out, there have been modifications this year. The State’s Attorney’s Office (SAO) has given him a complete write up on their interpretation, once he reviews it more, he will distribute it out to the members no later than Tuesday evening.

Mr. Thorsen inquired about all the other potential candidates and if they will be presented the very same information that he would provide to the Board members and how that could be done. Chair Buehler inquired if they could post it on the County Clerk’s website. Mr. Austin confirmed that is what he intended but he didn’t want to commit to that before confirming with the clerk but that would be the way to do it. Dr. Yensen stated the Mental Health Board (MHB) had a lot of discussion on the economic interest form and as the Board knows, the people who sit on the MHB are appointed and she would like to know if there is going to be some kind of conversation between the County and the SAO about the intricacies of the new form. Mr. Austin reminded Dr. Yensen that he, Connie and Leonetta are meeting tomorrow to talk more about it, he did mention the State’s Attorney is not the MHB Attorney but the Board is represented by the SAO so they can be very verbal on whom they would like there. Dr. Yensen stated the MHB did receive an opinion from the MHB Attorney but she wants to make sure there is consistent messaging between the MHB Attorney and the State’s Attorney surrounding the particular document, so they are not deviating in any way.

• Lastly he wanted to touch base on Covid-19, they have had some discussion on the counting of the covid deaths and there have been discrepancies between the numbers the Coroner reports versus the Health Department and there are real reasons to why that is. She stated they have responsibilities to report numbers in different ways, but they are going to discuss that more at Tuesdays Board meeting. Additionally, last Sunday he, Norman Vinton, Melissa Adamson, and Chairman Buehler were apart of meeting with about 20 other school superintendents to discuss the preparation for Monday, the first day students would not be wearing masks. He stated if the Board has any empathy to share at all it should be toward the school superintendents because they are going through a no-win situation.

Ms. Parrish wanted to inquire on how the new Regional Superintendent of Schools has been integrated into those conversations as she is building relationships with other superintendents. Mr. Austin stated since she was sworn in she has been a part of all the meetings with regional superintendents and she has been participating and heavily active in the process.

9. OTHER

None.

10. EXECUTIVE SESSION (IF NECESSARY)

None.

11. MOTION TO ADJOURN

A Motion was made by Mr. Skala, Seconded by Ms. Parrish to adjourn the meeting. The Motion passed on a voice vote of all present members voting aye, the meeting was adjourned at 9:45 AM. - TCMcKinnon

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