The September 10, 2002 Open Space Board meeting was called to order by Supervisor Anderson at 7:30 p.m. at the Campton Township Community Center. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Clerk Johansen called the roll with Supervisor Anderson and Trustees Gillen and Kupar present. Trustees Manser and Judy were absent.
Reports:
Sheriff: Sergeant Baloun: Nothing.
Highway Commissioner: Commissioner Gallucci stated the last brush pick up of the year is underway. North of Route 64 is done. South of Route 64 began the week of September 9th. Trees were trimmed along Knollwood Drive, Pouley, Beith, Denker, Whitney, Happy Hills, Bolcum, and Campton Hills Roads, and Winchester Way. One hundred thirty feet of new drainage tile and driveway culvert was installed on Dairyheard Road to fix a drainage problem, Potholes were patched on Far view, Pouley Road, Crestwood Drive, and West woods Court. Gravel was laid along the shoulder of Denker and Old LaFox Roads. The road crew cleaned up debris in ditches and on roads from the heavy rain of August 21st. Township roads were swept where needed, and necessary repairs and maintenance to several Township vehicles were done in house. Regarding the West Nile Virus, the highway crew will attend a training class at the DuPage County Health Department on the proper use of mosquito larvicide’s in controlling unhatched larva. Through an emergency use grant by the Illinois Department of Agriculture, the highway crew, upon completion of certification in the use of the larvicides, will be using one of three products in Campton Township, which have a very high level of safety for the applicator, the public, animals, birds and the environment. Highway crews will patrol township ditches, and waterways, determine necessary treatment, and apply the proper larvicide product. Areas such as catch basins, flooded roadside ditches, and other small water impoundments that produce mosquitoes that can carry the West Nile Virus will be treated. The program will begin on Wednesday, September 18th ,after training is completed, and will continue until the State of Illinois termination date of October 31st. The product will be supplied by Kane County to the Highway District at no charge to the Township.
Assessor: Assessor Rottmann stated everything’s up to date.
Park Committee: Tom Serewicz stated the Committee had a meeting regarding blacktopping the trail. He doesn’t think asphalt is the way to go because of erosion. They thought a combination of asphalt and concrete curbing was better. For now get a proper base down and then look back on it in the spring to solve erosion. N. Anderson asked if there was anything on the concession stand? Tom said the Committee was split on that because of the issue of manning it. For now he thinks we start with vending machines because of the labor problem.
Supervisor: Supervisor Anderson stated the bond sale was last month. Yesterday we got 8.5 million Open Space funds into our account. We are actively pursuing a couple of land purchases. We have turned in a couple OLT grant requests. There are three residents in the Township on fixed incomes with children and the Elburn food pantry does not have baby needs including formula and diapers. Clerk Johansen stated he will see if he can find these needs for the residents. The Supervisor e-mailed our personnel policy a week or so ago. None of the Board had received this so the Supervisor stated he will send it again. We hired an accountant today. Mary Ann Nelson with the Fox Valley Land Association has 13K to help us with the Corron Farm. R. Manser called our financial advisor, Dave Phillips, to find the difference between our original proposal and the actual cost to residents as it worked out, and we found we saved Township residents 4.1 million in interest over the life of the bonds over what we thought it would be. We proposed .21 per hundred and it came in at .18+ per hundred. We proposed a cost of 1 million to put this together, and it actually cost $100,000 to put together.
Approval of Minutes:
Board Meeting August 13, 2002: D. Gillen moved the Board approve the minutes of the meeting of August 13, 2002. John Kupar seconded the motion. D. Gillen moved the Board amend the minutes by adding “Old” before La Fox Rd. in the first line. The motion to amend was seconded by John Kupar. In a voice vote Supervisor Anderson and Trustees Gillen, and Kupar voted aye. Trustees Manser and Judy were absent. The motion to amend passed. In a voice vote Supervisor Anderson and Trustees Gillen and Kupar voted aye on the motion to approve the minutes of the meeting of August 13, 2002, as amended. Trustees Manser and Judy were absent. The motion passed.
Board Meeting August 26, 2002: D. Gillen moved the Board approve the minutes of the meeting of August 26, 2002. J. Kupar seconded the motion. On a voice vote Supervisor Anderson and Trustees Gillen and Kupar voted aye. Trustees Manser and Judy were absent. The motion passed.
Planning Commission: Nothing.
Citizens Comments: Dick Noreen stated for the last two months Wasco Baseball has no boundaries. Kids can come from anyplace. Taxpayers here are paying for people from outside. Trustee Gillen stated these are private clubs that maintain our fields. We discussed this in the Park Committee and until we are a Park District we cannot limit this. The Park Board cannot change it until we have a Park District. Assessor Rottmann stated these organizations are saving the Township money, not costing the Township money. That is because they maintain the fields at no cost to the Township. Craig Wittenberg of Appaloosa West stated Grand Prairie is the “movable beast”, that didn’t get what it wanted with the County, so it is applying to St. Charles. Supervisor Anderson stated this is later on the Agenda. Craig asked where are the Township minutes on the web page? He can’t find them. Assessor Rottmann stated he would find them for Craig.
New Business:
A. Presentation by American Red Cross: Ken Robertson of the American Red Cross offered the Township training programs for the residents. These include baby sitter training, CPR training, etc. He asked if the Township would want to give space and pay for materials for these classes. He gave the Board a list of costs of classes and materials. They can bring these services out from St. Charles to Campton Township. Trustee Gillen agreed to be the Board’s contact person with the Red Cross.
B. Presentation and Act Upon Snow Ball Program – Greg VanZandt: Greg introduced his daughter Emily VanZandt and Tim Meyers who gave a presentation about the Snow Ball Program which is a drug and alcohol prevention program for the youth of the community. Kids meet on Thursdays, or at retreats, and talk over problems or just socialize. They discuss relationships, and drug and alcohol abuse. Some schools and cities give grant money to create a drug free school. Greg said they have two events, one in the fall, and one in the spring. These are three day retreat programs. The first retreat is in November. There is a lot of music and participation involved. They are looking for matching funding or partial funding. D. Gillen asked how many kids attend? Answer is about ten to fifteen. They notify kids in the school paper. D. Gillen asked if we make a decision next month, would that be enough time? Greg said yes. J. Kupar said so you are looking for about $1000.00 for fifteen people? Answer was yes.
C. Review and Act Upon Designation of Historic Area Wasco: D. Gillen asked does this mean Wasco buildings can’t be changed? N. Anderson stated it just gives the County the right to encourage keeping the old fashioned facades. If they get the designation they can get grant money. The County and the Historic Preservation Committee would make the recommendation. D. Gillen moved the Board forward the letter and map to the County Development Department. The motion was seconded by J. Kupar. On a voice vote Supervisor Anderson and Trustees Gillen and Kupar voted aye. Trustees Manser and Judy were absent. The motion passed.
D. Review and Act Upon Grand Prairie Update – Neal Anderson: N. Anderson told the St. Charles Plan Commission on our behalf that Campton Township:
1.) passed a non binding resolution for a moratorium on new development in order to study whether there is enough water to support the new developments, and whether and when the school can absorb students from additional developments.
2.) Campton Township prefers Grand Prairie stay at the County level.
3.) Campton Township wants to preserve the greenway along Route 38. Geneva commented they wouldn’t annex land beyond Peck Road.
Mayor Klinkhammer stated they weren’t in a hurry to annex. N. Anderson stated he wants to be sure we are in the loop.
R. Johansen stated this is about bridges and schools. St. Charles is interested in approving this development in order to get the 10 million dollars this developer is offering for the bridge. The bridge is needed because of the huge amount of traffic that goes through St. Charles daily. That traffic is going through St
Charles because of all the developments St. Charles has approved over the years, far more than Geneva or Batavia has approved. In the 1950’s Geneva and St. Charles were approximately the same size – about seven thousand people. Batavia was even smaller. Today St. Charles is much bigger and has this huge traffic problem because of its own development policy. The development policy created the traffic problem, which created the need for the bridge, which they are trying to solve by creating more development. In the course of solving its bridge problem, St. Charles will shove its traffic into Wayne and Geneva. Wayne is a wonderful two lane rural village that will be overrun with St. Charles traffic that would better have been routed across the rail road bridge in St. Charles, if St. Charles was to pay the price of its own development instead of shoving it onto other towns. The people of Geneva will find this out too when they are overrun with traffic from Grand Prairie, as they will be, because Grand Prairie is directly west of Geneva, not St. Charles. Now, I avoid St. Charles to cross town and go through Geneva instead, even if it means going out of my way to do it. That is because the best kept secret of the tri-cities is that Geneva is quiet and slow moving. Not at all like St. Charles. When Grand Prairie is there all that will change and Geneva will be overrun with traffic like St. Charles. In regard to schools, the same issues exist. School district boundaries do not run with municipal boundaries, but rather, run hither and yon, so that people cannot vote to make the same officials responsible for their policies in the same territory. This creates irresponsibility on the part of municipal public officials as they can take benefits for their taxing body by shoving liabilities onto another taxing body, the school district. St. Charles seeks to do this by taking 10 million, and what ever other benefits they will get from this developer, and shoving most of the school tax burden unto the taxpayers of Geneva and Kaneland. St. Charles has never seen a land developer they didn’t like. They are thinking like land developers instead of public policy makers.
Graig Wittenberg stated the developers are only concerned with profit, not with the well being of La Fox. He presented a document to the Board which was a letter Batavia Mayor Schielke sent to Kane County about the Mill Creek watershed. J. Kupar asked where would they get the water for this development? N. Anderson stated it could affect us even though its a deep well. Wittenberg stated the blank spaces on the map would be filled in with people requesting annexation into St. Charles once Grand Prairie is approved.
D. Gillen asked permission from the Plan Commission to send their letter regarding Grand Prairie to the Editor, and for Supervisor Anderson to send a letter to the Editor also. D. Gillen moved the Board authorize the Supervisor to formulate a letter to St. Charles and the St. Charles Plan Commission about Grand Prairie that incorporates Campton Township’s position about density, schools, traffic, and water resources, and to attach the Campton Township Plan Commission letter. The motion was seconded by J. Kupar. On a voice vote Supervisor Anderson and Trustees Gillen and Kupar voted aye. Trustees Manser and Judy were absent. The motion passed.
Old Business:
Review and Act Upon Ordinance 02-3R Temporary Culvert Permit Amended: D. Gillen moved the Board approve Ordinance No 02-3R An Ordinance Requiring that a Temporary Permit be Obtained Prior to a Temporary Connection to a Township Road, Street, or Highway. J. Kupar seconded the motion. On a roll call vote Supervisor Anderson and Trustees Gillen and Kupar voted aye. Trustees Manser and Judy were absent. The motion passed.
Campton Township Community Park:
Discuss and Act Upon Walking Trail and Other Related Items: D. Gillen stated we need to post a warning sign about the proper use of motorized vehicles on park land. The parking lot is for vehicles and the park is for people. M. Tyrrlle stated driving off road is illegal. N. Anderson stated the path does look like a roadway because of its width. It is that way in case an emergency vehicle needs to get through. D. Gillen moved the Board resolve that until further notice, no motor vehicles (with the exception of authorized Campton Township Emergency personnel) shall be allowed on any Campton Township property that has not been constructed for that purpose. This includes (but is not limited to) greenways, walking and biking paths. Violators will be prosecuted. Signage to be posted at the entrance of all public lands with a warning of misuse. J. Kupar seconded the motion. On a roll call vote Supervisor Anderson and Trustees Gillen and Kupar voted aye. Trustees Manser and Judy were absent. The motion passed. Trustee Manser arrived at 9:45 p.m. D. Gillen moved to authorize staff to notify all leagues of the policy change regarding motor vehicle use of Campton Township property, and to include the policy change in future league contracts. The motion was seconded by J. Kupar. In a voice vote Supervisor Anderson and Trustees Manser, Gillen, and Kupar voted aye. Trustee Judy was absent. The motion passed. N. Anderson stated we need to resolve the park path that is continually washing out in order to protect us from liability. J. Gillen stated we need to get expert knowledge before we do it. Anderson stated a temporary repair is cheaper then a lawsuit. J. Gillen said lets put it off until next spring. D. Gillen moved the Board hold off on any improvements to the park blacktop until further study. The motion was seconded by J. Kupar. In a voice vote Supervisor Anderson and Trustees Manser, Gillen, and Kupar voted aye. Trustee Judy was absent. The motion passed.
Bank Statements: D. Gillen moved the Board approve the bank statements. R. Manser seconded the motion. On a voice vote Supervisor Anderson and Trustees Manser, Gillen, and Kupar voted aye. Trustee Judy was absent. The motion passed.
Claims and Demands for Payment:
Town Fund: D. Gillen moved the Board approve the claims and demands on the Town Fund. The motion was seconded by R. Manser. On a roll call vote Supervisor Anderson and Trustees Manser, Gillen, and Kupar voted aye. Trustee Judy was absent. The motion passed.
Open Space Fund: D. Gillen moved the Board approve the claims and demands on the Open Space Fund. The motion was seconded by R. Manser. On a roll call vote Supervisor Anderson and Trustees Manser, Gillen, and Kupar voted aye. Trustee Judy was absent. The motion passed.
Capital Fund: Nothing.
Park and Recreational Fund: D. Gillen moved the Board approve the claims and demands on the Park and Recreational Fund. The motion was seconded by R. Manser. On a roll call vote Supervisor Anderson and Trustees Manser, Gillen, and Kupar voted aye. Trustee Judy was absent. The motion passed.
Executive Session – Personnel and Land Acquisition: R. Manser moved the Board go into Executive Session for personnel and land acquisition. D. Gillen seconded the motion. On a voice vote Supervisor Anderson and Trustees Manser, Gillen, and Kupar voted aye. Trustee Judy was absent. The motion passed at 9:55 p.m.
Supervisor Anderson reconvened the regular meeting at 10:30 p.m.
Act Upon Any Appropriate Motions or Resolutions as a Result of Executive Session Discussions: Nothing.
Adjournment: D. Gillen moved the Board adjourn the meeting. R. Manser seconded the motion. In a voice vote Supervisor Anderson and Trustees Manser, Gillen, and Kupar voted aye. Trustee Judy was absent. The motion passed and the meeting adjourned at 10:30 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Richard Johansen
Clerk