1. 2. 3. The February 14, 2012 Board meeting was called to order by Supervisor Kupar at 7:35 p.m. at the Community Center. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Clerk Johansen called the roll with Supervisor Kupar and Trustees Stutesman, Boissonnas, and VanZandt present. Trustee Murphy was absent.
4. Reports:
Highway Commissioner – Sam Gallucci: Commissioner Gallucci stated there were 5 snow days in January, and 5 snow days in February, for a total of 10 snow days to add to the report. Brine was prepared for tanks and trucks, and treatment of roadways with brine (geo-melt & salt) was preformed on a weekly basis. Untreated salt was mixed with geo-melt for future use. Snowplowing and salting was completed on January 12th, 13th, 20th, 21st, and 28th. Roadways were inspected for drifting and widening following snowfall events. Plow trucks were cleaned and inspected after each use. Tree trimming was completed on Campton Hills Road, debris picked up on Bolcum, Denker, Old Burlington, and Brown Roads. Pothole repairs were performed throughout the Village of Lily Lake. Storm grates were cleaned of debris; chainsaws were repaired and sharpened for tree trimming use; stop signs were checked in Campton Township and the Village of Campton Hills, and damaged or missing ones replaced; roads were inspected throughout the Township and Village for drainage problems, pot holes, and culvert permits; pot holes were repaired with cold patch throughout the township and village; crack sealing was performed on Foxfield and Elodie Drives in Foxfield, and signage replacements were done on Brown Road and Brown Farm Court, Ponderosa Drive and Loretta, Highpoint Court and Highpoint Lane. Maintenance was done on Building A, the office area, and the furnace. Maintenance on vehicles and equipment was done in house by staff. Upcoming projects were evaluated. G. VanZandt stated the Highway District does a lot of work the County would never get to if the township didn’t exist. Smaller roads would go unplowed, potholes would not get filled in rural areas, for example.
Assessor – Alan D. Rottmann: Assessor Rottmann stated the 2011 assessment year is closed off. Tax bills may go out late this year. Currently we are working on the 2012 assessments. We expect them to go down. Last year assessments dropped 7% on average. This year we expect them to go down 7% to 10%. Even though assessed values are going down taxing bodies are raising their taxing rates to make up for loss of revenue due to decreased property values. Senator Lauzen introduced legislation last year which passed that said assessors can take into consideration the decline in home values due to foreclosures and use them as comparables in arriving at assessed value. Township Officials of Kane County (TOKC) is meeting tomorrow night February 15th, at 7:00 p.m., at the University of Illinois Extension Center on Randall Road. The topic is redistricting. All are welcome.
Solid Waste District – Barbara Boissonnas: District President Boissonnas thanked the Board for putting the Solid Waste District on the Campton Township web site. She brought the new electronic recycling law before the Solid Waste District Board. They thought the idea of the District taking on electronic recycling was not a good idea. J. Kupar stated he thinks we can make it work.
Financial Report – Louise McKay: J. Kupar stated we should have a Special Board Meeting in about a week regarding next years budget. See the calendar of important deadlines for the Township. Certified Public Accountant McKay stated the open space PMA 2% interest investment instrument was called and immediately reinvested so no interest was lost. The Town Fund, Open Space Fund, Road Fund, and Special Funds each have a favorable budget variance through January 31st. It is anticipated the fiscal year of March 31st will end with a favorable budget variance or surplus. Any individual line items that are over budget have an offsetting under budget line item. During the last month we met with department supervisors and continued to update the 2012-2013 budgets for next fiscal year. Copies of the worksheets for the budget are included in the envelope and the Supervisor has suggested holding a Special Board Meeting next week to discuss the budget. February is the month the fund transfers for the year are prepared. In the current fiscal year 2011-2012, it is budgeted to transfer $1000 to Capital Improvements and $5000 to General Assistance. Both of these funds have no other source of revenue other then transfers from the Town Fund. Currently there is $557.55 in the Park and Recreation Development account. This account was opened to track the land cash funds used to purchase and develop Anderson Park. There has been no new construction to receive any Land Cash Funds in several years. This is a year-end suggestion to close the Park and Recreation Development fund and transfer the money into the Capital Improvement Fund which has been used to fund Anderson Park improvements for the past two years. This was suggested by the Township auditors. If the Township receives any Land Cash Funds a new account could be opened in the future. The Township’s current auditor, Sikich, submitted a proposal for next years audit for you to review. Attached is a calendar created by staff to keep track of important deadlines for the Township. Please let us know if you would like any changes or additional information.
Village of Campton Hills – President Patsy Smith: No Report.
Open Space Staff Report – Kristin Bilar: Open Space Coordinator Bilar stated the monthly volunteer workday scheduled for February 11 at Gray Willows was canceled due to minus ten degrees wind chill. Monthly volunteer workdays are normally scheduled for the second Saturday of the month from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Open space employee Dave Corron completed herbicide testing and was certified. Work continues on the 2012-2013 open space budget. Staff is cleaning and organizing files at Township offices, and the Community Center basement, and working on the TOIRMA property control review. Snow plowing and shoveling continues at various Township sites. At Corron Farm staff is clearing brush and cutting down dead ash trees in the woods. We are also cleaning the horse barn in preparation for Prairie Fest this summer. At Gray Willows we burned the brush pile, and Trotter Engineering continued work on emergency culvert and drainage repairs. At Harley Woods we submitted a grant request for invasive species control. We cleared brush and burned the brush pile. Witness Tree continues invasive species removal. At the Headwaters Conservation Area staff burned the brush pile. V3 is seeding areas herbicided last fall. At Town Hall we are meeting with staff and volunteers to complete grant requirements. Removal of the knee wall is scheduled. Poynor Park is closed for the season. There is no report on Anderson Park, Brown Road Meadows, the Community Center, LaFox Fields, or Mongerson Park.
Joint Environmental Resource Management Committee - Rob Linke, John Kupar, Jack Shouba: J. Kupar stated Sue George of the Village of Campton Hills stepped down as the Chairman and Jack Shouba stepped down from the Committee. Rob Linke stated the Committee is looking for funding for a groundwater study. We will also look at the green infrastructure template again.
Engineering Update – Robb Linke: Engineer Rob Linke stated regarding the wing walls that failed at Gray Willows, we have submitted permit applications to Army Corps and DNR (the Department of Natural Resources). To stabilize the wing walls is in the 10K to 20K range.
Supervisor Report – John Kupar: Supervisor Kupar stated he attended two site visits at the bridge at Gray Willows. The first was with Highway Commissioner Gallucci and Highway District personnel. The second was with Highway Commissioner Gallucci, Active Excavating, and Engineer Rob Linke. We continued discussions with Jenn Jarland, Kane County Recycling Coordinator, about Electronic recycling in the Township. We have a copy of the State Bill prohibiting placement of electronic goods in landfills. We have a list of items that can be recycled and a performa from Batavia showing revenue to that city from electronic recycling in 2011. Staff and Township departments have completed their preliminary budgets for fiscal year 2012-2913. Those budgets are in Board packets. We will schedule a meeting next week to review the preliminary budgets.
5. Approval of Minutes:
a. Board Meeting January 10, 2012: T. Stutesman moved the Board approve the minutes of the meeting of January 10, 2012. C. Boissonnas seconded the motion. In a voice vote Supervisor Kupar and Trustees Stutesman, Boissonnas, and VanZandt voted aye. Trustee Murphy was absent. The motion passed.
6. Citizens’ Comments: Clerk Johansen stated the annual Township Officials of Illinois educational seminars are scheduled for this summer. They are at various locations selected for their nearness to township officials that would attend the seminars. They are for Supervisors, Clerks, Assessors, Highway Commissioners, and Trustees. Clerk Johansen stated he attended several of these over the years and found them very valuable. The closest ones to us are at Lisle on June 29th. and Rockford on July 12. Let L. McKay or himself know if you wish to attend.
7. Old Business – Presentation and Discussion for Action: None.
8. New Business - Presentation and Discussion for Action:
a. Discuss and Act Upon V3 Wetland Mitigation Bank Update of Phase I and Phase II: Tom Slowinski, Vice President, Wetlands & Ecology with V3 Companies spoke giving the Blackberry Creek Headwaters Wetland Mitigation Bank summary stating the Phase I permit was issued April 25, 2005 with 52.4 wetland credits proposed. Drain tile disablement and grading was done fall 2005, and dormant seeding winter 2005-06. Supplemental plant plugs were done spring 2006 and the five-year management and monitoring period began from 2006-2010. The fifth year monitoring report was given December 15, 2010. In the 2010 wetland delineation all performance standards were achieved, and the certification of 48.85 credits occurred. The release of escrow was requested. The IRT (Interagency Review Team) site visit occurred August 4, 2011, and the escrow was released November 22, 2011. There was a meeting with the ACOE (Army Corps of Engineers) December 14, 2011 with Phase I certification pending. 2011 management by V3 was vegetation management and a prescribed spring burn. Campton Township is responsible for long-term management that is funded by an escrow fund held by Campton Township from 2.5% of all credit sales. V3 is to assist Campton Township in accordance with the V3-Campton Township agreement until all credits are sold, tentatively 2017. In Phase II 38.3 credits were proposed. Drain tile disablement occurred fall 2005, seeding spring 2007. The five-year management and monitoring period occurred from 2007-2011. In the fourth year monitoring report of December 15, 2010 the preliminary wetland delineation during 2010 was not included in the report. A wetland area of approximately 11 acres met performance standards. Approximately 19 acres of marginal wetland met soils and hydrology standards but generally failed vegetation standards due to blue stem dominance. V3 remedial action in the marginal wetland areas consisted of boom spraying the big blue stem areas with herbicide twice, a prescribed burn in fall 2011, and dormant winter seeding of wet prairie/sedge meadow seed mix. The 2011 monitoring report is in preparation. For Phase II Issues V3 will conduct three additional years of management, monitoring and reporting from 2012-2014. The December 2010 credit release request for Phase II is withdrawn. J. Kupar stated Campton Township is getting about $5000 per credit. This is a small amount per credit. At what point does the Township get a meaningful amount of money? T. Slowinski stated in the next 30 days we will know how we share in the profits from the credits. Army Corps did approve $97,350.00 for certified wetlands credits. We want an entity like the Conservation Foundation to administer, or the Township could do it. We need a letter from Campton Township to the Conservation Foundation Board requesting the Conservation Foundation serve as a third party, with a brokerage fee of 3%, to administer the funds. The Army Corps letter mentions the property to the west for potential expansion of the wetlands bank.
b. Discuss and Act Upon Proposal to Organize Volunteer Disaster Training – Mike Carlson for Illinois Association of Snowmobile Clubs: M. Carlson spoke on behalf of the Illinois Association of Snowmobile Clubs stating at the snowmobile convention the members came up with a way to serve communities. Townships could create a list of volunteers with phone numbers to call up in an emergency, whether for filling sand bags in a flood, or rescuing snowbound residents in a snow emergency, like we had last year. The Township could provide coordination of volunteers in such an emergency. Can we find out if we can create a volunteer emergency force and see if insurance would allow this. C. Boissonnas stated township law allows us to do only enumerated things. The question is can a township do this? J. Kupar stated lets check with TOIRMA to see if they insure us for this. For a snowstorm like we had last year we could have had the list and called the people to mobilize. Direction is for L. McKay to check with TOIRMA to see if our Township insurance covers this.
c. Discuss and Act Upon Ride-in-Kane request: L. McKay stated we set this up for medical appointments only, but this is a request from a handicapped person for rides to work. J. Kupar stated the original intent was for medical so now the question is do we extend it for one time for a ride to work. C. Boissonnas stated we need to find out if this is for one time. The Village put in $1000, and the Township put in $1000, for a total of $2000 for next year. J. Kupar stated we can set the constraints. C. Boissonnas stated we need to find out what is being asked of us, that is, how often? J. Kupar moved the Board table the agenda item. G. VanZandt seconded the motion. In a voice vote Supervisor Kupar and Trustees Stutesman, Boissonnas, and VanZandt voted aye. Trustee Murphy was absent. The motion passed.
d. Review and Act Upon Emergency Repair of Bridge at Gray Willow: J. Kupar asked how does this contractor perform? S. Gallucci stated he does a good job. J. Kupar recommended the Board accept this proposal. G. VanZandt moved the Board approve the Gray Willows emergency culvert repair according to the scope of work quote from Active Excavating in an amount not to exceed $16,000 conditional upon all required regulatory authorizations being approved. The motion was seconded by T. Stutesman. In a roll call vote Supervisor Kupar and Trustees Stutesman, Boissonnas, and VanZandt voted aye. Trustee Murphy was absent. The motion passed.
e. Discuss recent changes to the Open Meetings Act and the Freedom of Information Act: C. Boissonnas stated all committees of the Township are covered by the Open Meetings Act. A quorum in a township is three Trustees. The phrase “majority of a quorum” is no longer relevant to townships. Two Trustees do not make a meeting. Three may, depending on whether their conversation is casual or deliberative. If deliberative, the gathering becomes a meeting which is prohibited. The requirement of an agenda does not preclude discussion of items not on the agenda, so long as they are not voted upon. There is no requirement that anything be discussed in Executive Session. Clerk Johansen elaborated Executive Session information by stating there are 24 reasons in the Open Meetings Act to go into Executive Session. Among these reasons are litigation, personnel, purchase or lease of real property, discussion of minutes closed under the act, appointment of legal council, and selection of a person to fill a public office. The Act says the Board may close meetings for any of these 24 reasons, that is, the Board is not required to close meetings for any of these 24 reasons.
f. Discuss and Act Upon Gail Borden Library District Annexations of Campton Township Properties: C. Boissonnas stated the Gail Borden Library District in Elgin has been annexing Campton Township property without telling anyone. They annexed property in Campton Hills also. He asked to get a legal opinion on what our choices are. J. Kupar stated he will call Township Attorney Britz to find out if we have legal options regarding these annexations. C. Boissonnas moved the Supervisor talk to the Township Attorney to determine if the Township has legal options in regard to annexations by the Gail Borden Library District of Elgin in Campton Township. T. Stutesman seconded the motion. In a roll call vote Supervisor Kupar and Trustees Stutesman, Boissonnas, and VanZandt voted aye. Trustee Murphy was absent. The motion passed.
g. Review and Act Upon Sikich LLP Audit Proposal for Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2012: C. Boissonnas moved the Board approve the Sikich LLP Certified Public Accountants audit proposal for fiscal year ending March 31, 2012. T. Stutesman seconded the motion. In a roll call vote Supervisor Kupar and Trustees Stutesman, Boissonnas, and VanZandt voted aye. Trustee Murphy was absent. The motion passed.
h. Review and Act Upon Acceptance of Offer for Surplus Equipment: G. VanZandt moved the Board accept the offer for purchase of surplus equipment, a used 1992 Case end loader with bucket, Model 580 Super K, Serial NO. JAK0027179, in the amount of $16,000.00. T. Stutesman seconded the motion. In a roll call vote Supervisor Kupar and Trustees Stutesman, Boissonnas, and VanZandt voted aye. Trustee Murphy was absent. The motion passed.
i. Review and Act Upon Setting Public Hearing for Campton Township Budget and Appropriation Ordinance 12-01T on April 5, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.: C. Boissonnas moved the Board approve setting the Public Hearing for the Campton Township Budget and Appropriation Ordinance 12-01T for April 5, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. at the Campton Township Community Center. The motion was seconded by T. Stutesman. In a voice vote Supervisor Kupar and Trustees Stutesman, Boissonnas, and VanZandt voted aye. Trustee Murphy was absent. The motion passed.
j. Review and Act Upon Setting Public Hearing for Campton Township Road District Budget and Appropriation Ordinance 12-01R on April 5, 2012 at 7:15 p.m.: G. VanZandt moved the Board approve setting the Public Hearing for the Campton Township Road District Budget and Appropriation Ordinance 12-01R for April 5, 2012 at 7:15 p.m. at the Campton Township Community Center. The motion was seconded by C. Boissonnas. In a voice vote Supervisor Kupar and Trustees Stutesman, Boissonnas, and VanZandt voted aye. Trustee Murphy was absent. The motion passed.
9. Claims and Demands for Payment:
Town Fund: C. Boissonnas moved the Board approve the claims and demands on the Town Fund. G. VanZandt seconded the motion. In a roll call vote Supervisor Kupar and Trustees Stutesman, Boissonnas, and VanZandt voted aye. Trustee Murphy was absent. The motion passed.
b. Open Space Fund: T. Stutesman moved the Board approve the claims and demands on the Open Space Fund. C. Boissonnas seconded the motion. In a roll call vote Supervisor Kupar and Trustees Stutesman, Boissonnas, and VanZandt voted aye. Trustee Murphy was absent. The motion passed.
c. Capital Improvement Fund: No action.
10. Executive Session – Review Executive Session Minutes: No action.
11. New Business Continued –
k. Discuss and Act Upon Approve Executive Session Minutes: No action.
12. Adjournment: C. Boissonnas moved the Board adjourn the meeting. G. VanZandt seconded the motion. In a voice vote Supervisor Kupar and Trustees Stutesman, Boissonnas, and VanZandt voted aye. Trustee Murphy was absent. The motion passed and the meeting adjourned at 10:00 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Richard Johansen
Clerk