Township Board Meeting

STATE OF ILLINOIS CUNNINGHAM TOWNSHIP Diane Wolfe Marlin, Chair Charles A. Smyth, Township Clerk CUNNINGHAM TOWNSHIP BOARD Monday, May 7, 2018 The Cunningham Township Board met in Regular session Monday, May 7, 2018 at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers at the Urbana City Building, 400 S. Vine Street, Urbana, Illinois. ELECTED OFFICIALS PHYSICALLY PRESENT: Chair: Diane Wolfe Marlin Trustees: Aaron Ammons; Bill Brown; Dean Hazen; Eric Jakobsson; Jared Miller; Dennis Roberts; Maryalice Wu; Diane Marlin Township Clerk: Absent Supervisor: Danielle Chynoweth Assessor: Wayne T. Williams ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT VIA TELECONFERENCE: None ELECTED OFFICIALS ABSENT: Charles A. Smyth, Town Clerk OTHERS PRESENT: Frederic Grosser; Kallie-Jo Ho; Wendy Hundley; Members of the Media 1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chair Marlin called the meeting of the Cunningham Township Board to order at 7:03 p.m. following a Special Joint meeting of the Urbana City Council and Township Board. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING Trustee Jared Miller made a motion to approve minutes from April 2, 2018. Trustee Aaron Ammons seconded. Motion carried by voice vote. 3. ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA There was none. 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Chair Marlin acknowledged the presence of Kallie-Jo Ho and her English as a Second Language Class (ESL) from the Urbana Adult Education. 5. COMMITTEE TO VERIFY BILLS The following items presented in omnibus fashion: 1. Town Fund 2. General Assistance Fund Trustee Jared Miller made a motion to approve the Town Fund for $87,295.68 and the General Assistance Fund for $42,659.59. Trustee Dean Hazen seconded. Motion carried by voice vote. Page 1 of 4  Township Supervisor Danielle Chynoweth gave each member a copy of bills. Trustee Bill Brown did not feel comfortable approving this item with such short notice. Supervisor Chynoweth suggested moving the approval of the bills to the end of the agenda under new business. Trustee Bill Brown was okay with changes and made a motion to move this item to the end of the agenda under new business. Trustee Maryalice Wu seconded. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote. 6. REPORTS OF OFFICERS Township Supervisor Danielle Chynoweth provided the board with a monthly written report, where she summarized the assistance statistics by category as of April 1, 2018. She reported the following activity: 124 - Walk-ins 24 - Pending applications 83 – General Assistance active participants Ms. Chynoweth noted an increase in homelessness assistance. She said that April’s homeless budget assistance was used on a single family that required two hotel rooms due to family size and multiple barriers for permanent housing. Ms. Chynoweth reported that the budget process for FY19 is forthcoming. Discussion ensued. 7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was none. 8. NEW BUSINESS a. Resolution No. T-2018-05-003R: Resolution Authorizing Request to Intervene in Formal Hearing with the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board Township Assessor Wayne Williams presented Resolution No. T-2018-05-003R with a recommendation for approval. This resolution will allow the assessor to intervene on behalf of the Cunningham Township. After the presentation and discussion, Trustee Dennis Roberts made a motion to approve Resolution No. T-2018-05-003R as presented. Trustee Bill Brown seconded. Motion carried by a unanimous voice vote. b. Resolution No. T- 2018-05-004R: Resolution Authorizing the Township Supervisor to Execute a Lease Agreement with Urbana Free Library for use of 203 W. Green Street as a Community Garden Township Supervisor Danielle Chynoweth presented Resolution No. T-2018-05-004R with a recommendation for approval. Ms. Chynoweth said that she noticed a need for a community workfare site in Urbana. At this time Urbana residents have to go to Champaign and other places to do their community workfare hours. Having the garden would alleviate some of the burdens. Page 2 of 4  Ms. Chynoweth introduced intern Emily McKown who will be helping with the project. Ms. McKown said that she is excited for the opportunity to share her skills and to collaborate with community residents. Ms. Chynoweth addressed all questions and concerns from trustees regarding the structure of the program of workfare and work track ready, and the possibility to collaborate with other agencies or business for job training and workfare hours. After discussion, Trustee Jared Miller made a motion to approve Resolution No. T-2018- 05-004R. Trustee Aaron Ammons seconded. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote. c. Resolution No. T-2018-05-005R: Resolution Authorizing the Township Supervisor to Establish a Credit Card for Cunningham Township Township Supervisor Danielle Chynoweth presented Resolution No. T-2018-05-005R with a recommendation for approval. The reason for this resolution is to avoid the need for reimbursement of expenses to employees. This credit card would be under the control of the supervisor and employ a strict control method modeled after the Mayor’s office. After discussion, Trustee Eric Jakobsson made a motion to approve Resolution No. T- 2018-05-005R as presented. Trustee Dennis Roberts seconded. Motion carried by a unanimous voice vote. d. COMMITTEE TO VERIFY BILLS Trustee Jared Miller made a motion to approve the Town Fund for $87,295.68 and the General Assistance Fund for $42,659.59. Trustee Dean Hazen seconded. Amended motion carried by unanimous voice vote. Some of the concerns addressed by trustees were as follows: → Page 1. Katherine Moore payment → Page 7. Consolidated Communications and E. Martell Miller corrected from $598.06 to $648.06 → Page 6. Adm. Service – Laura Sandefur contractual fees and conference per diem for Wayne Williams → Hotel Reimbursement → Laptop computer expense Ms. Chynoweth said that Katherine Moore separated from the assessor’s office and that amount reflects all of her benefits from vacation and sick leave pay. She said that the Township signed an agreement to pay $50.00 on Mr. Miller’s phone bill every month. Laura Sandefur is a contractual employee by the assessor’s office and she could not answer any further questions about her qualifications. Ms. Chynoweth explained that the month of April was very critical for homeless assistance and that she had to use her personal credit card to accommodate homeless clients into local hotels. Many barriers contributed to the large expenses one being that it was U of I Wrestling week and they had to pay up to $335.00 per night per client to stay Page 3 of 4  in a hotel, each client was moved various time while looking for the cheapest hotel. Each case is monitored on a weekly basis to make sure that everyone complies with the program. After discussion and clarification to questions. Ms. Chynoweth asked the board to amend the motion to the approval of the bills to add the $50.00 to cover phone expense for Mr. Miller. Trustee Miller and Hazen had no objections. The final amended motion carried by unanimous voice vote. 9. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Cunningham Town Board, Chair Marlin declared the meeting adjourned at 7:51 p.m. Wendy M. Hundley Recording Secretary Wendy M. Hundley Township Deputy Clerk This meeting was taped. This meeting was broadcast on cable television. Website link for this meeting: https://www.urbanaillinois.us/node/7180 Minutes Approved: June 4, 2018 Page 4 of 4